And the LORD said to Abram…”Lift your eyes now and look from the place where you are – northward, southward, eastward, and westward; for all the land which you see I give to you and your descendants forever.” – Genesis 13:14-15 REFERENCE Genesis 13:14-18 (Continued from yesterday) Yesterday we concluded with the thought that God wants you to keep advancing in life. But, that can only happen if you are willing to step out of your world. (the familiar – what you are used to), to the bigger world – the whole earth and all of human society...
Now the LORD had said to Abram: “Get out of your country, From your family And from your father’s house, To a land that I will show you.” – Genesis 12:1 REFERENCE Genesis 12:1-4a A popular Proverb says, “A child thinks his father’s farm is the biggest farm in the world until he goes out and sees other farms.” This proverb summarizes a central truth about life. Your world (your environment and experiences), is smaller than the world out there. However, you will not know this until you leave the familiar. It is only by leaving the familiar...
Now Ahaziah fell through the lattice of his upper room in Samaria, and was injured; so he sent messengers and said to them, “Go, inquire of Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron, whether I shall recover from this injury.” - II Kings 1:2 REFERENCE II Kings 1:1-4 It is quite paradoxical to hear a king of Israel send to a heathen god, Baal-Zebub, to make inquiries concerning his health. It is as if a Pastor of a church goes to a ritualist to make inquiries concerning certain matters. That is ‘knocking on the wrong door,’ you may not like...
But Hannah did not go up, for she said to her husband, 'Not until the child is weaned; then I will take him, that he may appear before the LORD and remain there forever.' ~ I Samuel 1:22 REFERENCE I Samuel 1:21-24 The process of weaning is to cut a child off depending on the mother’s milk and to begin to introduce him to solid food. It metaphorically also refers to detaching someone from some comfort they are used to; depriving the flesh of certain affections and indulgence. Spiritually, it speaks of maturity, growing in grace, obedience to...
Then this Daniel distinguished himself above the governors and satraps, because an excellent spirit was in him; and the king gave thought to setting him over the whole realm. – Daniel 6:3 REFERENCE Daniel 6:1-3 God is a God of excellence and He created us in His image. He is not a shabby God, for the Bible says, “He does all things well.” (Mark 7:37) Statistics shows us that ‘poor service’ is the number one reason why companies lose businesses. Why? Because excellence attracts but mediocrity repels. As we look around us in our country, mediocrity surrounds us,...
The king loved Esther more than all the other women, and she obtained grace and favor in his sight more than all the virgins; so he set the royal crown upon her head and made her queen instead of Vashti. - Esther 2:17 REFERENCE Esther 2:1-17 One area in which God demonstrates His generosity to us is ‘divine favor.’ This simply means, God granting us advantages, preferential treatment and special privileges by His own unique formula, not based on how deserving or how good we are. God specializes in granting His favor to unlikely or even seemingly undeserving...
So the king said to Joab the commander of the army who was with him, 'Now go throughout all the tribes of Israel, from Dan to Beersheba, and count the people, that I may know the number of the people.' - II Samuel 24:2 REFERENCE II Samuel 24:2-14 “In the multitude of people is a king’s honor,” (Proverbs 14:28a). Perhaps, David was seeking glory for himself by numbering the valiant men who followed him; he was to derive a sense of accomplishment from the size of his army or kingdom. It may also be that he did...
And Peter answered Him and said, 'Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.' - Matthew 14:28 REFERENCE Matthew 14:25-29 Any time you sense to do something significant in your heart, it is advisable to get a word from God, so you don’t just step out and sink. Peter knew that to do the impossible, he had to get a Word from the Lord. When he said, 'Lord, if it is You, command me to come…' He was in essence saying, 'Lord give me a Word.' Whilst the other disciples probably reasoned...
For thus says the LORD: ‘You shall not see wind, nor shall you see rain; yet that valley shall be filled with water, so that you, your cattle, and your animals may drink.’ And this is a simple matter in the sight of the LORD... - II Kings 3:17-18 REFERENCE II Kings 3:4-24 Most times we make plans and draw our conclusions from what we can see around us. E.g. If you are a salary earner and you run out of money just half way through the month, and there is no one to bail you...
And she conceived and bore a son, and said, 'God has taken away my reproach.' Genesis 30:23 REFERENCE Genesis 30:1-24 What stands out in this passage is the story of Rachel’s conception. Even though she originally was Jacob’s beloved and first wife, it was difficult for her to have children, while at the same time her sister was having children for their husband. Rachel tried everything in her human effort, to have a child for Jacob, even to the extent of giving her maid to him. But the child that came from that union didn’t really give...