Archive | October 2014

Genesis 19

Oct16

Good morning y’all.  Today we in chapter 19 of Genesis. Here we see Sodom and Gomorrah be destroyed, Lot and his family saved and the deplorable act committed by Lots daughters.

I’ll be using the SOAP method today

Be blessed 🙂

S – Scriptures that stood out for me

Genesis 19:16 NLT: When Lot still hesitated, the angels seized his hand and the hands of his wife and two daughters and rushed them to safety outside the city, for the lord was merciful.

O – Observations

O1) God is Patient and merciful to us. Lot was hesitant in leaving the town. Perhaps he was afraid of what’s to come. God was merciful to him seeing as He had promised Abraham he won’t destroy Lot and his family. Sometimes we too like Lot are hesitant to step out of our comfort zone but thank God for his patience and mercy He keeps prodding and prodding till we finally step out.

O2) God protects his own. The Angels led him out of the city safely and told them he would not destroy until they were safely in the village

O3) There is a price for disobedience. The Angels gave Lot and his family instruction not to look back but Lots wife decided to and she became a pillar of salt.

O4) God knows best. Lot couldn’t stay in Zoar anymore and he moved to the hill country. This was the same hill country the angels told him to move to earlier but he bargained with them to let him stay in Zoar instead. When we step outside of God’s will, we won’t be comfortable or at peace till we are back where He wants us to be.

O5) Verses 31 – 38 – I couldn’t believe I was reading the bible while reading these verses. It felt like I was reading a scandal magazine!. The bible is full of surprises and it sure ain’t boring :). 
2 things i picked out from the verses:
1) Don’t get drunk!. When you are drunk, things that you will naturally reject, you end up doing. Its a lot more easier to fall into sin as you are no longer in control of yourself. I’m sure Lot wouldn’t have agreed to sleep with his daughters if he wasn’t drunk.
2) Be on guard at all times. Even those who are your relatives don’t always have good intentions for you. Surely Lots daughters must have known what they planned was a sin in the eyes of God seeing as God just destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah for similar offences.

Interestingly though, Ruth who was in the lineage of Jesus was a Moabite. Moab is the son of Lot and his eldest daughter. God always knows how to turn what the enemy meant for evil around for good!

A – Application

A1) Trust God for safety and protection from all that’s going on around us and obey whatever instructions He has given us.

A2) Avoid being drunk…The end result is never good.

P – Prayer
Dear Lord we thank you for today. We pray your protection over us and our families. Give us the grace to be obedient to whatever it is you require of us and help us to trust that you always know whats best for us. In Jesus Name. Amen

Thanks for joining today. Pls feel free to leave your thots on the chapter especially on the actions of Lots daughters.

Have a blessed day. Remember God is Sovereign and knows best.

***With God all things are possible***

Genesis 18

Oct15

Good morning y’all. Happy mid week 🙂
Today we in chapter 18 of Genesis. In this chapter we see Abraham entertain angels, Sarah doubt God’s promise, God responds by asking if there is anything to hard for him to do and God confiding in Abraham about his plans for Sodom and Gommorah

Be blessed 🙂

We need to be nice and hospitable to people for we never know they maybe sent from God to us. Scripture says some have entertained angels without knowing.
Don’t forget to show hospitality to strangers, for some who have done this have entertained angels without realizing it! (‭Hebrews‬ ‭13‬:‭2‬ NLT)
Abraham in his case, entertained three men who I believe were Angels from God.

Abraham entertained the three men and while they were dining, one of them prophesied that Abraham and Sarah will have a son by this time next year. Sarah was eaves dropping and when she heard, she laughed. I must say it seems the couple just enjoy laughing a lot (Abraham laughed in the previous chapter too) no wonder God promised them a son named Isaac which means Laughter…lol.

Now let’s compare Sarahs response to the prophecy to Marys response when Angel came to tell her she has been chosen to birth our Lord Jesus Christ. Marys response was ‘be it unto me according to your word oh Lord’ – faith. Sarah on the other hand, laughed and tried to reason in her mind how this could be – doubt. Sometimes God’s promises to us won’t make sense to the natural man, in that they just seem so out of this world and impossible.

How are you respondong to Gods promises for you? Are you a Sarah or Mary? Remember, It’s not our job to figure out how God is going to do what He has promised, nah that’s God’s remit. Our job is to believe the promise, trust the one who made the promise and keep thanking him for the fulfilment of the promise. God still works miracles today!!!

Oh how I love verse 14- Is there anything to hard for the Lord to do? The answer is NONE. He may not do it the way we want him to but there is surely nothing too hard for him to do. In Isaiah 55:8-9, God says my ways are not your ways and my thoughts are not your thoughts. One thing is certain that God always comes through on his promises.

We need to trust His Sovereignty that He knows best as He is the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. He already knows how the story is going to end.
Psalms 62:11 -12a says: I heard God say two things: “I am powerful, and I am very kind.”(CEVUS06) and Jeremiah 29:11says: For I know the plans I have for you,” says the lord . “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope (NLT). I believe once we have the truth of these verses settled in our spirit, it will be easier to trust God and his plans when trials come our way.

Verse17 oh my oh my, I’m just amazed at this verse.
“Should I hide my plan from Abraham?” the lord asked. Genesis 18:17 NLT
Here is God the all powerful one asking whether to hide his plan regards Sodom and Gommorah from Abraham! I ask myself what has Abraham done to earn this kind of trust and relationship with God. Verse 18 and 19 gives us the answer.
“For Abraham will certainly become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth will be blessed through him. I have singled him out so that he will direct his sons and their families to keep the way of the lord by doing what is right and just. Then I will do for Abraham all that I have promised.”Genesis 18:18-19 NLT
Abraham had a purpose to fulfill and that was to “direct his sons and families to keep the way of the Lord by doing what is right and just”.
I came to the conclusion that as long as we are living and walking in the purpose of God for our lives, we too can enjoy the kind of relationship Abraham had with God.

Do we know our purpose for being here? We are not an accident or an explosion that just happened, we are Gods own creation created with a specific purpose in mind. Lets ask God to reveal that purpose to us.

God told Abraham about his plan for Sodom and Gommorah. Abraham reasoned with God and asked him why he would destroy the wicked along with the righteous. He started bargaining with God about how many righteous people if there are in the land will stop God from destroying the entire land. I am amazed because he bargained with God from 50 to 10 righteous people!. Dude was persistent in his request to God, humble and had reverential fear and God gave him an audience! This is amazing…like im trying to imagine myself and God discussing like that.(is it safe to say I’m jealous of Abraham right now 🙈. I so want that kind of deep intimacy with God as well :)).

One more thing I want to bring out from this chapter is the awareness of God’s presence. God was present from verse 1 all the way to verse 33. Are we aware of God’s presence around us and in us. V1 started with “the Lord appeared to Abraham” and verse 33 ended with “the Lord went his way”. Good news is God doesn’t go away anymore! He now dwells in us through the Holyspirit. How awesome, we are carriers of God. Lets live with the awareness that God is present and with us wherever we go.

Prayer:
Dear Lord we thank you for today. We thank you for your love toward us. Thank you for reminding us again that Nothing is too difficult for you to do. We ask for the grace to trust you more. We ask you reveal to us your purpose for our lives and help us walk and live in that purpose. We thank you for your presence that is alawyas with us. In Jesus Name. Amen

Thank you for joining today.

Have a blessed day and remember Nothing is to difficult for God 🙂

***With God all things are possible***