January 6

Genesis 15  

Believing the promises of God.

 

When Abraham was 100 years old and his wife Sarah was 90, God promised them a son. Abraham believed God, and God counted Abraham's faith as righteousness.  The word righteousness means "having a right relationship with God."  The words "it was credited to him" show us the foundation of salvation throughout the Bible. Many people believe that the Jews were saved by keeping the law. No one can keep the law; we all fall short of God's standard. To make it into God's heaven, you have to be perfect because there is no sin in heaven. The bad news is that just one sin will cause you to see a NO VACANCY SIGN when you get there. The Bible makes it clear that we are not saved by being "Good People" we are saved by believing a "Good God."  The words, "it was credited to him" were not written for him alone, but also for us. When we believe the promises of God, he also credits us with righteousness. Faith simply believes the promises of God. 

 

The nature of God's promise is revealed in this chapter. His promise is  unconditional. His promise is based totally on his faithfulness, not on ours.  God obligates Himself in grace to bring about what He has promised.   The word "covenant" means "to cut." When a covenant was cut, it was literally cut. Animals were cut in half and placed in a line, and then the parties making a covenant would walk between them. When they did this they were saying, "If I don't keep this covenant let me become like these hunks of meat." Maybe this was the origin of the phrase, "I'm dead meat" no, that is a joke.  The critical observation is this, who passed through the pieces?  Only God did, so the land and the heir promise are unilateral covenants.

 

Here is the issue for us as we start out this New Year. Are you living by the "promises" or are you living on human "power?" The best way to take an inventory is to examine your prayer life. If you didn't take time today to pray or if your prayer life consists of desperate cries for parking spaces, it is most likely you are living on human power.  

 

Today would be a great day to switch from trusting your power to trusting God's promises.

 

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"Multiplying leaders to change the world"

Re: Matthew 5:1-26

Patricia

Thanks for the email...  looking forward to you being a blog writer. 

Your Brother

Scott

On Thu, Jan 5, 2017 at 10:43 PM, Patricia Foucault <stamfordpatricia@aol.com> wrote:

The proper motive to influence us is not simply that we may be seen but it should be that our Heavenly Father may be Glorified. Christ is the light we will shine if we walk in his light. God is light in him there is no darkness at all. We must do all we can to Glorify God ourselves & bring others to Glorify Him. John 1:4-5 Jesus calls himself the light of the world. Christ has the power to transform lives, we need to trust Him & know that everything will work together for our own good in Jesus name I pray Amen 🙏

Ps: sorry for the first email I send out it was by accident ignored thanks.

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"Multiplying leaders to change the world"

Matthew 5:1-26

The proper motive to influence us is not simply that we may be seen but it should be that our Heavenly Father may be Glorified. Christ is the light we will shine if we walk in his light. God is light in him there is no darkness at all. We must do all we can to Glorify God ourselves & bring others to Glorify Him. John 1:4-5 Jesus calls himself the light of the world. Christ has the power to transform lives, we need to trust Him & know that everything will work together for our own good in Jesus name I pray Amen 🙏

Ps: sorry for the first email I send out it was by accident ignored thanks.

Matthew 5:1-26

The proper motive to influence us is not








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Thursday, January 5

THURSDAY, JANUARY 5

In today's reading, we encounter the Beatitudes, a series of statements that reveal truths about the radical nature of God's economy.  These verses start off the Sermon on the Mount, the longest consecutive teaching from our Lord.  Throughout the Sermon, we recognize that the high demands included therein are completely out of our reach under our own efforts.  Rather, these exacting moral standards draw us to our loving Father and His abundant grace.  Indeed, His grace does not just bring about our effective and lasting salvation, but also empowers us to become more like our Master.

These Beatitudes indicate the precursors and ingredients to experience a "blessed" life.  "Beatitudes" stems from the Latin "beatus," meaning "happy" or "blessed."  In the Catholic tradition, "beatification" speaks to the identification of a potential "saint."  (The Scriptures explain that each believer has become a saint, set apart for God's Kingdom at the time of trusting in Christ.). Theologically, a "beatific vision" refers to God's direct communication with a person, most clearly towards His saints in heaven.

What speaks to you from the Beatitudes?  How would you like to experience life as expressed in them?

For me, hungering and thirsting for righteousness must be my top priority.  As Pastor Scott has often mentioned, what we think about first in the morning or about the most helps us to see our priorities.  Bringing forward a hunger for God -- above the natural human hungers that we all have -- is a consistent struggle.

I had the pleasure of reading a book of apologetics (the discussion and support for the Gospel and the Kingdom worldview) over Christmastime, called Letters to a Skeptic.  The book ended with a discussion of how our living out the Beatitudes really comes from having the life of Christ displayed in us.  We are incapable of creating this life by ourselves, but we may do all things through Christ Who strengthens us (Philippians 4:13).  That has been my daily reflection in these first days of 2017.  Knowing that Christ is living in me has removed some "guesswork" about making the right decisions and has given me greater courage.  I am His servant, and He will never abandon me.

Lord Jesus, thank You for sharing these Beatitudes.  We thank You that, for Your followers, You desire to live Your life out in us.  We desire to bring You glory in 2017 by exemplifying the Beatitudes in our walks with You.  Please show us where we may grow and how we may trust You more for strength, wisdom, and guidance.  We love You and give You praise this day.  In Jesus's Name, amen.

Jan 3

Genesis 8:1, 9:13

Reading today's passage brought a flood of memories and tears. I don't know about anyone else, but I write in my Bible. Each year when I read, I see where I was, what I was praying for and how God, in His sovereignty,  chose to answer me.   When waiting for God to answer a prayer, I will often insert my name and claim the Scripture promise for myself and my family.  So, in my Bible, Genesis 8:1 reads "But God remembered Randi and her family, and the problems (the waters) receded.  We faced foreclosure and financial difficulties not too long ago, and we knew only God could lead us out of the mess. I prayed hard, Antonio worked hard and there was no "Plan B".  During that time, on one of my birthdays I prayed, and asked God to give me a birthday present that I knew could only come to me from Him. I needed hope.  "I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth.  Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind" (9:13-15)  That day, as I was driving home, there was a rainstorm, and as I approached my house, there was a brilliant light, and rainbow over my home.  I started to cry knowing that God heard me, and answered me. I'm sure that rainbow wasn't just for me. I'm sure there were other people in Stamford who looked up, saw the rainbow, and saw hope in God's promises.  I'm learning that part of following Christ means living from one answered prayer to the next.  Each answered prayer builds our faith.  I don't know what any one else reading this blog is praying for, or what struggle you are going through, but I do know that we serve an awesome God. In our reading today, we see a glimpse into God's love, promise, grace and mercy. God has made an everlasting covenant with us that was fulfilled at Calvery. As we go through the reading again this year, I encourage you to jot down which of God's promises you are holding onto, and then look back and see how He answered.  Psalm 4:1 says "Answer me when I call to you, O my righteous God.  Give me relief from my distress; be merciful to me and hear my prayer"  Just as God remembered Noah and the Psalmist, He remembers us when we pray.

Randi 

January 2nd bible reading post

January 2, 2017

"The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline." –Proverbs 1:7

 

Adam and Eve walked with the Lord.  They spoke to him in person, in the flesh.  They did not need to read His instructions and question if they were reading them with accuracy.  They heard for themselves and had full knowledge of what the guidelines for life were: "You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden or you will die."  Seems pretty straightforward.  Instructions with the consequence clearly laid out.

 

So what happened???  The truth got "muddled".  Muddled truth is a term I use often.  It's what happens when the opposing world's views mix in with the clear truth of God's word (his instructions). You get something that still looks like the truth, sounds so very similar to the truth, but it fits into our world with greater ease, not making any waves that can often times feel uncomfortable to our self pleasing natures.  For Eve, an outside voice began to muddle the truth and knowledge she had.  Even though she knew very well what the LORD, her creator, had said she allowed her ears to be tickled, tempted by something that sounded similar but offered more, offered a possible deeper explanation of the simple instruction she and Adam had gotten from the LORD.  What harm could really come of something that sounded so innocent: "You will not surely die, for God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."  A partial truth (muddled truth-which really isn't truth at all) that caused Eve to turn away from the knowledge of the truth she had lived with and to abandon the discipline she and her husband had shown by previously obeying God's instructions.  It wasn't till after they bought into the lie and partook of the muddle truth that they learned the full consequence of their actions, not just on their lives but on all humanity.

 

So what does this have to do with us?  How can this help us as we start our journey into reading the bible in a year?  I believe it shows us the great importance of reading God's word and, with the help of the Holy Spirit, knowing the unspoiled truths and instructions that the word holds for us.  As I said, Adam and Eve walked and talked with the Lord.  His full power and glory were on display for them in a way no other human has every known.  Their knowledge of the Lord, their fearful understanding of His power is unmatched.  From the LORD's mouth to their ears, there was no doubt in them.  They lived in disciplined obedience to the one they knew intimately yet one simple moment, one small lie from the enemy in the world muddied the waters of truth and caused them to sip from it and fall.  That same enemy whom the word calls "crafty" still crawls about with the same desire and motives as that first deceptive lie.  I dare say that he has had much practice in muddling the truth, in dirtying it in such a way that we can and often are caught up in its deception and stumble.  Not just those who call ourselves children of faith but the world as a whole. 

 

Why is it so important for us to read God's word daily and to mediate on it, to discuss it, to let it soak into our hearts and mind?  It is our best defense in being able to recognize the muddled truth that is growing in the world and to speak against it.  Our knowledge and fear of the LORD, our wisdom and discipline of God's word is not something for us to hoard for ourselves but to share with a world who drinks of the muddled truth that the enemy so eagerly desires it to consume. 

 

Today is day two of our journey towards wisdom through the discipline of reading God's world every single day.  Let us encourage each other in doing so and help us grow stronger in the pure truth of the word.