Category: Obedience

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Lessons from Abraham: SACRIFICE OF THE SON

Remember that God gave Abraham a promised son in his old age. Abraham was one hundred years old when Isaac was born. Abraham’s wife Sarah was ninety years old and passed child-bearing age even by ancient standards.

God had told Abraham that the covenant and promises given to him would flow to future generations through Isaac. All this sounds great until God commands Abraham to offer Issac as a burnt offering.

In our walk with God, at times things will not make any sense. Here is a contradiction, a son of promise is to be offered as a burnt offering. How could Isaac be a link to blessed future generations and a slaughtered son at the same time?

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Take Off Your Sandals

In the desert near Mount Sinai, a fugitive of Egypt is shepherding the sheep of his father-in-law. He was born an Israelite slave in Egypt. It is a point in history when Pharaoh was thinning the Hebrew population by killing all the newborn male slaves.

Surely the enemy of God, Satan himself, had designed this slaughter because a deliverer was destined to be born. The Adversary would plan a similar genocide 1300 years later to extinguish another deliverer—the Messiah.

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Good Intentions

I remember in the late 1990’s having good intentions about door-to-door visitation. I, along with some fellow ministry workers, knocked on every door of a nearby city’s government housing projects. We had good intentions but nothing tangible resulted from it. Maybe one person visited our church but no new converts. I know we encouraged a few people, but we never saw a harvest of our efforts.

I learned that building relationships is more effective than cold-calling.

Churches and mission organizations are full of good intentions. We have to be honest and ask ourselves the question. Are our good intentions bearing fruit or do they just make us feel better about ourselves? We often learn by trial and error.

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Christian Martyrdom

Most of us have read accounts of religious martyrdom in historical books and the Bible. Few of us have witnessed it with our own eyes. Recently, we saw Charlie Kirk killed at one of his events. Some would argue that this was a political hit, not a religious one. Whether you loved or hated him, he was an adamant Christian who never minced his words.

The original Greek New Testament word for martyr is the word ‘martus’ pronounced [mar’-toos]. Its basic meaning is witness. A martyr is a person killed for his witness.

It is estimated that over 70 million Christians have been martyred since Jesus Christ himself was martyred on the cross. Most of those have been in the 1900s under fascist and communist rulers. Depending on the historian, some estimates say that since 2000 there has been an average of 100,000 per year. Martyrdom is not just in biblical times but also in relative modern times.

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Faith Over Fear: Pursuing God’s Calling

The calling of God’s work must be greater than our strength or it is only the work of a man. If it can be accomplished outside of God’s power, it is the mere work of man. The work of God’s kingdom is accomplished only by the strength and power of God.

Jesus said it very plainly in John 15:4-5 (NKJV). “Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.”

When a person believes he has a God-given calling in His kingdom, he must see something beyond himself. With such a calling or dream, there are two possible outcomes. One, it is a miracle only God can do. Secondly, we look foolish. The fear of failure or looking foolish causes many to not pursue the work of God.

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Consequences of Rejection: What Jesus’ Tears Teach Us

Jesus descended from the Mount of Olives on a young donkey in 30 AD. This short journey would be called the Triumphal Entry. Jesus the Messiah entered the Holy City and entered the Temple Complex. As He drew near to the city, He began to cry. His cry turned into a prophetic pronouncement of the city’s destruction forty years later.

He used the words, “If you had known…” and “because you did not know the time of your visitation.” The ‘City of Peace’ as its name implies, would become a city doomed to destruction because of its rejection of the Messiah. The Roman general Titus destroyed the city and the Jewish Temple in 70 AD.

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What Road Are You On??

Are you lost on the wrong road? You are in a dead-spot and the GPS doesn’t work. Are you afraid to stop and ask directions? Maybe you are lost and don’t know it. Please keep reading.

Read, heed, and listen to the words of the Savior of Men. “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. / Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it” (Matthew 7:13-14 NKJV).

Narrow Way
The narrow gate has few who enter. It is not as obvious to men of flesh. One must walk contrary to the natural sway of man to choose this route. It is the difficult way or the way of discipline. It does not appeal to the flesh of man. The lust of the eye has no interest in the road. The lust of the flesh does not either. The pride of life is also uninterested.

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Understanding God’s Plan in a Troubling World

The randomness of life keeps many people on edge, indifferent, completely checked out of life, or deeply troubled. Life can be difficult, and those difficulties can send us looking for the answers to why. Problems cause us to deal with immediate needs and then the lasting aftermath of making sense of it all.

Some resign themselves to fatalism. This is a belief that whatever happens is predetermined. They think, so what’s the use to even try? This would be like someone getting a hurricane warning and taking no action either in preparation or evacuation.

Other folks are overcome by fear. This fear is coupled with hopelessness. They fall into the pit of despondency. This spoils any part of their lives that have moments of joy.

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