Audio: https://www.spreaker.com/episode/41921023
Have you ever been offered a fortune that for ethical reasons you could not accept? Not me. What an interesting predicament. But this is exactly what happened to Abram.
Audio: https://www.spreaker.com/episode/41921023
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Has God answered our prayers? Of course He has.
I have walked with the Lord for many years and He has always answered my prayers. He always answers the prayers of His children. Sometimes He has done so in remarkable ways, when rejoicing and celebration exploded from my heart. At other times I have been greatly disappointed, and it took weeks, months, or years before I could heartily give Him thanks. But He has never failed to respond. It is not in His character to ignore His children. However, He always has the big picture in mind, and it’s as wide as eternity. We need to be careful that our focus not be so narrow that we cannot accept His answers when they don’t match up with our hopes and dreams. Besides, He can always surprise us with His goodness. And He will! If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? (Luke 11:12 Millions are voting and the world is watching. Even here in Spain, the headlines are all about the elections in the USA. So many projects, so many plans, and so many dreams are on the table. This week’s devotional is about the decision of multitudes at Babel and that of one man in Ur of the Chaldees. There are important and relevant lessons we can learn for today, even from these events that took place thousands of years ago.
Audio: https://www.spreaker.com/episode/41775936 In the beginning of time, God walked with man, visibly, as best we understand.
Then came a time of at least 6,000 years when His visibility was sort of erratic. At some points, centuries came and went when Jehovah was invisible to the human race. At other times, He appeared as an Angel or similar. Once, for several decades, God the Son walked on earth and was visible to and touchable by anyone nearby. At the end of time, Revelation 22 shows us that the Lord will live among us and we will see His face, FOREVER. Right now our entire world is in a wild battle with an invisible enemy, Covid19. At least it’s invisible to most of us. And if there is one thing man generally fears, it is an evil he cannot see. How important and how “simple” (not necessarily easy) it is for those of us who know and love God, to be different, to be calm, to be light. Our omnipotent Father is not limited like we are. He is visible or not, as He chooses, so invisibility is no issue for Him. He can see any enemy in the darkness better than that enemy can see itself. We can confidently claim this truth: “The Lord is my shepherd… I will fear no evil.” Psalm 139:12, “The darkness and the light are both alike to Thee.” Hebrews 4:13, “All things are naked and open unto the eyes of Him… Everyone enjoys seeing a rainbow. There’s just something about it that grabs and keeps our attention. And the believer is Christ should delight in an extraordinary way because we understand its origen as well as its eternal significance.
Spreakers audio: https://www.spreaker.com/episode/4166637 Habakkuk asked some very serious questions (opening verses of his book). As the political horizon darkened with a coming storm, he cried out, “Why? How long? How can you?”
I’m pretty sure he had no plans to publish his prayers or his fears. They were private. But God had other plans, and not only shocked him His answer, but (2:2), “Write it down”… I want many others to know what I tell you. Habakkuk could only saw his immediate situation. God saw the bigger picture, including the needs of His people for thousands of years to come. He said, THE JUST SHALL LIVE BY HIS FAITH (2:4) Trust me. I know what I’m doing. Well Habakkuk did just that, and later wrote (3:17): THOUGH THE FIG TREE SHALL NOT BLOSSOM… YET I WILL REJOICE IN THE LORD, I WILL JOY IN THE GOD OF MY SALVATION. As I write these words, the Spanish government is meeting to declare our second state of alarm this year. What will follow are deeper restrictions, increased limitations, various kinds of curfews, and so forth. Like Habakkuk, we can only see our immediate situation. But we know beyond a shadow of doubt that our heavenly Father knows exactly what is happening and how He will work through it. So I’m grateful his prophet obeyed and wrote it down Opening comments/intro: Child training can be a touchy subject. It’s pretty easy to offend parents if you start giving advice in that area, unless of course, they’ve asked you for it. But interestingly, God jumps right into the matter with the very first family in the world. That in itself would seem to make it an issue of top priority. Let’s look at a trio of very clear and nasty enemies of family peace.
Audio: https://www.spreaker.com/episode/4155495 I just finished reading Daniel 3 and what caught my attention was the number of government officials present at Nebu’s golden image dedication: Princes, governors, captains, judges, treasurers, counsellors, sheriffs, and a general bunch called provincial rulers. Undoubtedly there were thousands.
So what were three Jews in the midst of that throng? A fairly insignificant trio. But at the end of the day, they caught the attention of the king and anybody who was important on the earthly level. And what made them stick out? The fact that they trusted a fourth Person, who for the most part was invisible. Not much has changed in 2,600 years. Those who honor God continue to be in the minority, little seen or acknowledged by the crowds. But we serve the King of Kings and sometimes He decides to create a scene, in the grandest sense of the phrase! These highly publicized events are for the most part isolated, but they show what God can do if He wants to. Whatever His will is, the rest of us have a clear mandate. We are to trust and be faithful. Psalm 40:4 |
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