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Genesis 15 - Fear Not - Part Two Genesis 15:1 After these things the word of the LORD came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not , Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward. 1) Fear not, the Lord will fight for you, and give you victory: Exodus 14:13-14 And Moses said unto the people, Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD, which he will shew to you to day: for the Egyptians whom ye have seen to day, ye shall see them again no more for ever. The LORD shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace. Numbers 14:8-9 If the LORD delight in us, then he will bring us into this land, and give it us; a land which floweth with milk and honey. Only rebel not ye against the LORD, neither fear ye the people of the land; for they are bread for us: their defence is departed from them, and the LORD is with us: fear them not. Deuteronomy 3:21-22 And I commanded Joshua at that time, saying, Thine eyes have seen all that the LORD your God hath done unto these two k...

Genesis 15 - Fear Not - Part One Genesis 15:1 After these things the word of the LORD came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not , Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward. The first time in the Bible we see the word fear is in Genesis 9:2 - but here we see God's command to Abram, and the second use of the word fear - but now it is in the negative: fear not . Abram had just come back from a battle where he had risked his life to rescue his nephew, Lot, but God had kept him safe. Then he met the king of Sodom and was faced with a choice - the choice to take some of the spoil of the battle. Before he could choose, Melchizedek (a type of Christ) came out and met him, and encouraged him in his walk with the Lord by blessing him. His faith was strengthened and he thereafter chose not to take any of the spoils, lest the king of Sodom should say, I have made Abram rich . Perhaps Abram was tempted by the riches or was wondering about the possibilities that the battle might...

But God... I was reading another blog the other day, and I came across this quote in one of the comments that were posted: "But God" ... What a wonderful phrase ... what a wonderful truth. I do not recall the passage the poster was referring to (if he had actually stated it or not), but the phrase and his comment stuck with me. But God... So I started looking through the Bible to see some passages where this phrase (as well as " But the LORD ") is used. Here are some that particularly blessed me: Genesis 39:20-21 And Joseph's master took him, and put him into the prison, a place where the king's prisoners were bound: and he was there in the prison. But the LORD was with Joseph, and shewed him mercy, and gave him favour in the sight of the keeper of the prison. Acts 7:9-10 And the patriarchs, moved with envy, sold Joseph into Egypt: but God was with him, And delivered him out of all his afflictions, and gave him favour and wisdom in the sight of Pharaoh ki...

Living By The Word Of God One word I have come across within the last couple of months is the word rhema . It is one of the Greek words used in the New Testament and translated as " word " in our Bibles. The main word used for " word " (as in the Word of God) is logos , and is generally a reference to all of the Bible - whereas rhema refers to a specific portion of the Scriptures. When you read these two definitions of this term that are quoted below and see its usage in various New Testament passages, you will see the important distinction that is being made by using this word. (It was these two articles that first introduced me to the meaning of this word - and challenged me to dig a little deeper.) The following explanation of this term is from a blog entitled Meditate In Thy Precepts: In Ephesians 6:17b we see, "...and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God." The word translated "word" is rhema , which is a Greek term describing in...

Shadows And Wings One theme that I enjoy reading in the Psalms is that of being under God's shadow, under His wings. The idea there is that of protection and safety, provision and security, and also of tenderness. Song of Solomon 2:3 As the apple tree among the trees of the wood, so is my beloved among the sons. I sat down under his shadow with great delight, and his fruit was sweet to my taste. There is an element of quietness and assurance under God's shadow. There we can be free from worry and fear, and there we can have rest in the presence of our Saviour. Psalms 91:1 He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. It is a place where we can dwell in safety - knowing that the Lord is in control and is watching over us. God's shadow is a place of refuge - a place we can run to in the storms of life; a place of refreshing in the heat of the trials we face; a place where we can abide in perfect peace of mind and contentme...

Marrow In Your Bones - Spiritually This was something I had posted on a message board in March 2005, when my Mom was undergoing cancer treatments and the complications that resulted from that: What happens when the marrow in your bones is depleted and how does that effect you physically? This is what my Mom is experiencing due to her health problems this past year. When she mentioned the fact of her marrow being depleted last week, it caused me to think of several passages in the Scriptures. I was wondering how the physical effects could picture spiritual effects. Psalms 32:3-5 When I kept silence, my bones waxed old through my roaring all the day long. For day and night Thy hand was heavy upon me: my moisture is turned into the drought of summer. Selah. I acknowledged my sin unto Thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the LORD; and Thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin. Selah. Job 21:24 His breasts are full of milk, and his bones are mois...

EXpiration Or INspiration? Breathed Out Or Breathed In? 2 Timothy 3:16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God , and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: Most people refer to Inspiration in the manner that God " breathed OUT " the Scriptures, and therefore this only refers to the originals. Ie. in the sense that He breathed out the exact Hebrew, Greek, and Aramaic words - therefore some of these same people have a problem with using the term inspiration to refer to copies or translations (though that is EXACTLY what the Apostle Paul WAS referring to in the above verse). But the English word IN spiration and the Greek word theopneustos both mean " breathed IN " (for clarity's sake - the Greek word means "God breathed" - see below definition - and the English equivalent is the phrase "given by inspiration of God"), not " breathed OUT " - that would be " EX piration ...

Genesis: Claiming The Promises In studying out Bible types, one theme that has intrigued me for years has been the command to Abraham (then later to Joshua) to claim the land. Genesis 13:14-17 And the LORD said unto Abram, after that Lot was separated from him, Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward: For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever. And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth: so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then shall thy seed also be numbered. Arise, walk through the land in the length of it and in the breadth of it; for I will give it unto thee . Joshua 1:2-6 Moses my servant is dead; now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, thou, and all this people, unto the land which I do give to them, even to the children of Israel. Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that have I given unto you, as I said unto Moses. Fr...

The Great Commission It is interesting to note that there are five places in the New Testament that the Great Commission is given to Jesus' disciples (the NT church) - but each passage has a slightly different emphasis: The Content Of The Great Commission: Luke 24:46-49 And said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day: And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. And ye are witnesses of these things. And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high. The Recipients Of This Commission: Mark 16:15-16 And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned. Who's To Go Fulfill It: All New Testament believers - John 20:21 Then said Jes...

I have been meditating a lot on the book of Job lately, and last night at church I figured out what the Lord would have me preach on Friday - In The Dark - from Job 9:11; 23:8-10; 35:10, 14; and Isaiah 50:10-11. Also, I was thinking of some of those passages sort of to the tune of Since The Saviour Found Me (it was the last song we sang before the message). I know the syllables don't completely fit the song, but they can go to the basic tune, if it was adapted slightly. A Song In The Night Though darkness hides the sunlight, A song is in my soul; In the night of my affliction, The Lord is in control. I cannot see His footsteps – The path He leads me down; All the way, there’s a promise: His path leads to a crown. Within the stormy blackness, Jesus has His eye on me; Though the darkness hide Him, By faith I still can see. Though nighttime falls around me, The cross leads to the tomb, My footsteps will not falter, His Word lights up the gloom. Though I know not the journey, The Lord...

Genesis: God Remembered Did you ever stop to think about what God meant when He said He remembered someone or something? Our omniscient (all-knowing) God surely cannot forget about His creation. Yet we find statements like this in Scripture: And God remembered Noah... God remembered Abraham... God remembered His covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob... It is not that God forgot, but that now it was time for God to act! To step in on behalf of His chosen people, His nation of Israel, or individual believers who have placed their faith in Him - act on their behalf, move in response to their heartfelt cries and prayers, and resolve their dilemma or relieve their distress. Now it was time to remember Noah, abate the waters off the earth, bring Noah, his family, and all the animals safely out of the ark: Genesis 8:1-3 And God remembered Noah, and every living thing, and all the cattle that was with him in the ark: and God made a wind to pass over the earth, and the waters asswag...

Genesis: God's Sovereignty At times I will be reading some passage of Scripture, and be reminded anew of God's sovereignty over His creation. Take for example this passage: Genesis 6:19 And of every living thing of all flesh, two of every sort shalt thou bring into the ark, to keep them alive with thee; they shall be male and female. What if God wasn't keeping those animals safe in the ark for that year? What if they were to die on the journey? That would be it for that species! What if when Noah released the animals from the ark the lions decided they wanted a chicken dinner, and ate up a bunch of the other animals before they had an opportunity to be fruitful and multiply? What if some of these wild animals got hungry and had a taste for Shem Kabobs and Ham burgers? Goodbye human race... But God was in control then, and still is today. Consider the following passage: Matthew 10:29-31 Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground ...

Earthen Vessels John 9:1-7 And as Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind from his birth. And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind? Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him. I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world. When he had thus spoken, he spat on the ground, and made clay of the spittle, and he anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay , And said unto him, Go, wash in the pool of Siloam, (which is by interpretation, Sent.) He went his way therefore, and washed, and came seeing. Jesus is not limited by methodology - He healed various people in various ways. He even healed blind men in several different ways. Many find His actions here puzzling, but I find them intriguing. Why did Jesus heal the man with clay He ...