Category Archives: Love

Love, Peace / Rest, Righteousness / Serving God, Share the Good News, Sin

Our Lives Should Be A Witness to God

Genesis 21:22-34 provides witness to the fact that when we truly walk with God as the top priority in our lives, people notice. To honor God is not a secret thing we do in private. The Bible tells us to proclaim Jesus as lord publicly.

22 About this time, Abimelech came with Phicol, his army commander, to visit Abraham. “God is obviously with you, helping you in everything you do,” Abimelech said. 23 “Swear to me in God’s name that you will never deceive me, my children, or any of my descendants. I have been loyal to you, so now swear that you will be loyal to me and to this country where you are living as a foreigner.”

24 Abraham replied, “Yes, I swear to it!” 25 Then Abraham complained to Abimelech about a well that Abimelech’s servants had taken by force from Abraham’s servants.

26 “This is the first I’ve heard of it,” Abimelech answered. “I have no idea who is responsible. You have never complained about this before.”

27 Abraham then gave some of his sheep, goats, and cattle to Abimelech, and they made a treaty. 28 But Abraham also took seven additional female lambs and set them off by themselves. 29 Abimelech asked, “Why have you set these seven apart from the others?”

30 Abraham replied, “Please accept these seven lambs to show your agreement that I dug this well.” 31 Then he named the place Beersheba (which means “well of the oath”), because that was where they had sworn the oath.

32 After making their covenant at Beersheba, Abimelech left with Phicol, the commander of his army, and they returned home to the land of the Philistines. 33 Then Abraham planted a tamarisk tree at Beersheba, and there he worshiped the Lord, the Eternal God.[d] 34 And Abraham lived as a foreigner in Philistine country for a long time.

This scripture also reminds us not to hate others because they may not share our faith in God. We love all God’s people, but reject their sin. Abraham was able to get along fine in a foreign land without hiding the fact that He served God.

There are exceptions where we must defend ourselves, but in this case Abraham was able to handle himself in a way that he did not have to fight. He was able to conduct business peacefully without violence and without denying or hiding his faith in God.

As Christians, we are called to love people so much that we tell them the truth of the gospel. Sometimes they respond harshly to us, but we continue because we follow the example of Christ and we want to help save whomever will accept the truth. We are not call to hate or persecute others, but we must never accept or normalize their sin as a way of making peace. Accepting and normalizing sin leads people farther and farther away from God.

—-

Please share our devotionals with your friends and family and visit our website at www.HearingFromJesus.org to see more.

the way with scripture - for posts, medium 2

Am I on the path?, Hebrew Roots / Commands / Law, How do I get started?, Love

The Golden Rule

1 Comment

Jesus has a way of simplifying key concepts to help us remember and apply them to our lives. Many of us have heard of the “Golden Rule”, though it may surprise quite a few that it originates from Jesus Christ in Matthew 7:12.

12 “Do to others whatever you would like them to do to you. This is the essence of all that is taught in the law and the prophets.

This scripture matches closely with Matthew 22:37-40.

37 Jesus replied, “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’[a] 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’[b] 40 The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.”

In the context of Matthew 7:12, Jesus is addressing how His disciples should treat one another. He is not referring to our relationship with God. In Matthew 22:37-40, He addresses both our relationships with God and with one another.

It is genuinely rare for someone to be able to truly think about something from someone else’s perspective. It is much easier to visualize from our own perspective. Thus Jesus has given us an easier way of thinking about how to treat others. Show love to others as we want to be loved and treat one another as we want to be treated.

The concept is easy to remember… the challenge for each of us is to apply it daily in our lives.

—-

Help us to share the good news of the gospel! Please visit our Support Us page at HearingFromJesus.org to find out more.

the way with scripture - for posts, medium 2

Can I Trust the Bible?, Family, Love

Why does God share detailed family lineage in the Bible?

I have often wondered about the significance of the sections of scripture that detail family lineage. At times I recognize in myself a tendency to read over them quickly, without much thought as to why they are in the scripture. Even in sharing my most recent journey through the Bible with these devotionals I nearly skipped this section in Genesis 11:10-32. I encourage you to read through it and I will summarize some points that God showed me at the end of this devotional.

10 This is the account of Shem’s family.

Two years after the great flood, when Shem was 100 years old, he became the father of[c] Arphaxad. 11 After the birth of[d] Arphaxad, Shem lived another 500 years and had other sons and daughters.

12 When Arphaxad was 35 years old, he became the father of Shelah. 13 After the birth of Shelah, Arphaxad lived another 403 years and had other sons and daughters.[e]

14 When Shelah was 30 years old, he became the father of Eber. 15 After the birth of Eber, Shelah lived another 403 years and had other sons and daughters.

16 When Eber was 34 years old, he became the father of Peleg. 17 After the birth of Peleg, Eber lived another 430 years and had other sons and daughters.

18 When Peleg was 30 years old, he became the father of Reu. 19 After the birth of Reu, Peleg lived another 209 years and had other sons and daughters.

20 When Reu was 32 years old, he became the father of Serug. 21 After the birth of Serug, Reu lived another 207 years and had other sons and daughters.

22 When Serug was 30 years old, he became the father of Nahor. 23 After the birth of Nahor, Serug lived another 200 years and had other sons and daughters.

24 When Nahor was 29 years old, he became the father of Terah. 25 After the birth of Terah, Nahor lived another 119 years and had other sons and daughters.

26 After Terah was 70 years old, he became the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran.

27 This is the account of Terah’s family. Terah was the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran; and Haran was the father of Lot. 28 But Haran died in Ur of the Chaldeans, the land of his birth, while his father, Terah, was still living. 29 Meanwhile, Abram and Nahor both married. The name of Abram’s wife was Sarai, and the name of Nahor’s wife was Milcah. (Milcah and her sister Iscah were daughters of Nahor’s brother Haran.) 30 But Sarai was unable to become pregnant and had no children.

31 One day Terah took his son Abram, his daughter-in-law Sarai (his son Abram’s wife), and his grandson Lot (his son Haran’s child) and moved away from Ur of the Chaldeans. He was headed for the land of Canaan, but they stopped at Haran and settled there. 32 Terah lived for 205 years[f] and died while still in Haran.

I am sure if I studied it in detail, I could (and likely will in the future) identify a more complete list of why God shares this type of history with us in scripture. However, as I come before the Lord humbly seeking to understand His word I see several important points in this type of scripture.

  • These were real people, not fictional characters. Studying the Bible from a literary perspective that means that the sections or books of scripture that contain these detailed family lineage are historical records of actual events, not parables.
  • God shows us that the family structure He established for man is important to Him. In other words, family has high significance to God. He further shows us through these lineages how family leaders that had strong faith and obedience before God often set the tone for multiple generations of family to follow.  Though notably there are examples where one person rejecting God or turning to follow God can change the direction of the family’s relationship with God.
  • God loves each of us as individuals and cares about the details of our lives. Every individual is important. We are not just an easily exchangeable part of a block of people called humanity that God cares about only as a whole.

We each need to take time and consider…

1- Am I applying scripture to my life properly, recognizing that the historical books of the Bible are factual records. (Not all books of the Bible are literal, historical documents but many are. Some use other literary approaches to communicate God’s word to His people as in Revelation.)

2-  Am I leading my family to follow God and be different from the world? or letting them blend in with the world? My actions in how I lead or fail to lead may have impacts on multiple generations.

3- Am I living my life truly recognizing how God loves me (and everyone else) as an individual, not just one of many easily exchanagable parts of a whole called humanity?

—-

Help us to share the good news of the gospel! Please visit our Support Us page at HearingFromJesus.org to find out more.

Small Tile for Posts