Genesis 16:1-2 Now Sarai Abram’s wife bare him no children: and she had an handmaid, an Egyptian, whose name was Hagar. And Sarai said unto Abram, Behold now, the LORD hath restrained me from bearing: I pray thee, go in unto my maid; it may be that I may obtain children by her. And Abram hearkened to the voice of Sarai.
The baby that came into the world through the scenario above was named Ishmael. According to Islamic belief, it was Ishmael that was offered as a sacrifice by Abraham, and through him that they became the rightful inheritors of the promises of God. In other words, Ishmael was the seed through which Islam was born. Hmmm.
Sometimes God allows us to be in a barren place for a purpose. Perhaps we’re longing for a child, a spouse, a house, a job, a ministry, a new church building, a trip we’ve wanted to take. Whatever it is, we have to remember that God has His perfect purposes for these difficult times!
When we go ahead of God, we make babies born in the flesh just like Ishmael. But when we wait for God’s perfectly appointed time, a baby is born in the Spirit. That’s what I want. I want to do things in God’s timing — not my own! I want the Lord to develop the patience in me that can wait for His perfect will to be done! How about you?
We all face hardships and difficult decisions today. God has given us the power to do things in our flesh to acquire them — and let me tell you, sometimes I sure do wish He hadn’t. But let’s give these things to the Lord today and allow Him to provide for us in His perfect way and timing. There’s so much work to be done!
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[worthy_plugins_devotion_single_body]Farmers and gardeners plant with great expectations. An abundant harvest is their vision as they sow the seeds for crops and vegetables, fruit, or grains. But everyone who plants, even the most amateur gardener, soon discovers there are competitors for the soil's nutrients...called WEEDS. Weeds are ambitious, resilient, and relentless, and they will affect the harvest if not removed. Every farmer and gardener needs a strategy to deal with weeds.
When Gideon was called by God, a mighty man of valor, his first task was to tear down the idolatrous altars of Baal and Asherah at his father’s house. Though he was ready to obey this command, his obedience was mixed with fear, so he destroyed the idols at night [Judges 6:27]. When the men of the city realized it was Gideon who destroyed their idols, their allegiance to Baal and Asherah drove them to demand Gideon’s life.
Biblical Hebrew uses a grammatical form called “s’michut”. This form joins two words together to form a single word form. We have this in English: for example, a door and a knob are two nouns, which are used to form the word “doorknob”, a compound noun. This form of joining nouns is found in Judges 6:12. The expression, “Angel of the Lord” is rendered, “angel-YHVH”; (Yud-Hay-Vav-Hay); in modern English — “angel-Yehovah”. Then, suddenly, the narrative changes from “angel-Yehovah” to simply, “Yehovah”. Here we see another appearance of YHVH in human form in the Old Testament. The God-Man, Yeshua in a “pre-incarnate” appearance.
Yeshua (Jesus) called himself the Good Shepherd. He described his followers as sheep. Why?
Wolves hunt in packs. Their aggression, power, and cunning, are no match for the sheep they hunt to devour. When wolves gather to form packs they are incredibly vicious and effective predators.
Truly we are living in remarkable times! Tomorrow is probably one of the most significant days of our lifetime, as Americans go to the polls and decide the future of the United States. Of course, voting is important, but let's be sure we know what we're voting for!
Ever heard of "shorting the dollar"? I have to admit, don't know a whole lot about financial investing, but I do know that there are people who invest in other currencies, hoping the dollar will continue to decrease in order to increase their own wealth.
If He was a man of the world, Yeshua (Jesus) would have chosen the elite of His day to accomplish His mission — however He used simple fishermen. These men were considered uneducated, lacking “social status”, wealth or worldly distinction of any kind — yet these “simple” men were the ones the Lord selected to build the Kingdom of God.