“How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me?” (Psalms 13:1 ESV). I remember being in the back seat of our family’s Buick on a long trip and asking my Dad, “How much longer?” And he’d say, “Son, you just asked me that five minutes ago.
“Do not be anxious how you are to speak or what you are to say, for what you are to say will be given to you in that hour. For it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you” (Matthew 10:19-20 ESV). When Jesus sent His disciples out as
“And he dreamed, and behold, there was a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven. And behold, the angels of God were ascending and descending on it!” (Genesis 28:12 ESV). On Jacob’s trip to Haran to find a wife, he had a vision from the Lord. As he
“Honor the Lord with your wealth and with the firstfruits of all your produce; then your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will be bursting with wine” (Proverbs 3:9-10 ESV). The Hebrew verb “honor” (kabad) may also be translated “give glory to” or “to give weight to.” This first involves recognizing that
“Isaac and Ishmael his sons buried him in the cave of Machpelah, in the field of Ephron the son of Zohar the Hittite, east of Mamre (Genesis 25:9 ESV). The last time Isaac and Ishmael were at peace may have been when they buried their father, Abraham. They buried him in the same tomb Abraham
‘And behold, a leper came to him and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, if you will, you can make me clean.” And Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, “I will; be clean.”’ (Matthew 8:2-3 ESV). Notice the approach of the leper. First, he came to Jesus, second, he knelt before Him, third,
‘So Abraham called the name of that place, “The LORD will provide”; as it is said to this day, “On the mount of the LORD it shall be provided.”’ (Genesis 22:14 ESV). Abraham named the place where he took Isaac to be sacrificed in obedience to the LORD’s command, “Jehovah-Jireh,” which is Hebrew for the
“For I have chosen him, that he may command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing righteousness and justice, so that the Lord may bring to Abraham what he has promised him” (Genesis 18:19 ESV). The Lord chose Abraham and gave him a calling to “command”
‘When Abram was ninety-nine years old the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless”‘ (Genesis 17:1 ESV). The Bible is a book for us, but not really about us. It is primarily a book about God. The Lord chooses to reveal Himself to Abram.
“Give to the one who begs from you, and do not refuse the one who would borrow from you” (Matthew 5:42 ESV). In Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, He taught that citizens of His Kingdom will respond generously to those who ask for help. Of course we might think of many reasons why the one