The story of Jethro and his interaction with his son-in-law Moses contain some precious lessons which God taught me during one of my morning Bible reading sessions.
The church had launched a Bible reading program called the Bible Project (available online) and I had been following the chapter reading quite consistently. One morning while reading about Jethro's visit to Moses, I saw some amazing things which are so practical and which can be applied in my workplace.
Jethro had heard of all that God had done so he decided to visit Moses. He brought his daughter, Zipporah and Moses two sons, Gershom and Eliezer with him along for the visit. Even though Moses was encamped in the wilderness at the mountain of God, Jethro braved the journey to meet him in the wilderness.
Moses showed his father-in-law the utmost respect in his manner of greeting in Ex 18:7 "So Moses went out to meet his father-in-law, bowed down, and kissed him. And they asked each other about their well-being, and they went into the tent."
Then in Ex 18:8 "And Moses told his father-in-law all that the Lord had done to Pharaoh and to the Egyptians for Israel's sake, all the hardship that had come upon them on the way and how the Lord had delivered them."
It seems to me that Moses was witnessing to Jethro! This is the first lesson I learnt reading this story:
1. Do not miss out opportunities to share the Gospel
Now Jethro himself was a Midianite priest. He must have been holding some high position among the Midianites. Yet he was willing to hear the wonderful things about God of Israel from Moses. In fact he sought out Moses for this purpose.
Who are the Midianites? They were descendants of Midian, Abraham's son through Keturah.
Gen 25:2
"Then again Abraham took a wife and her name was Keturah. And she bore him Zimran, and Jokshan, and Medan, and Midian, and Ishbak and Shuah"
What did they worship? The Midianites had a political and social connection with the Moabites and they worshiped a multitude of gods which include Baal-peor and the Queen of Heaven, Astheroth.
Thus Jethro was an unbeliever to begin with. However due to his openness to learn about the miracles that God performed through Moses, he became a believer.
Ex 18:8
"And Moses told his father-in-law all that the Lord had done to Pharaoh and to the Egyptians for Israel's sake, all the hardship that had come upon them on the way, and how the Lord had delivered them"
Ex 18:9
"And Jethro rejoiced for all the good which the Lord had done to Israel, whom He had delivered out of the hand of the Egyptians"
Ex 18:10
"And Jethro said, "Blessed be the Lord, who has delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians and out of the hand of Pharaoh, and who has delivered the people from under the hand of the Egyptians"
From the words of his mouth and his own confession, Jethro blessed God and in doing so acknowledged Him as God in his own life.
After accepting God into his life, Jethro willingly followed Moses instructions in offering a burnt offering and other sacrifices to God to seal his faith. Not only that he also sat down to eat bread with the Aaron and the elders of Israel thus signifying that he was given the right hand of fellowship!
Ex18:12
"Then Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, took a burnt offering and other sacrifices to offer to God. And Aaron came with all the elders of Israel to eat bread with Moses' father-in-law before God."
What did I learn from this?
Moses was such a busy person. He was busy judging his people from morning till late night. Yet, the amazing thing was he still had the time to sit down to share his testimonies with Jethro and to fellowship with his father-in-law!
Prayer
"LORD JESUS - Give me the grace not to miss out opportunities to share the gospel in my workplace no matter how busy I am. In Jesus Name. Amen"
No matter what rank or position they may hold in my company - all of them need to hear the gospel.
2. Do not worry about the proud
Not only was Jethro perceptive but he was also very smart. In just one verse, he summed out the reason why Pharaoh was judged so severely and the reason for his downfall.
Ex 18:11
"Now I know that the Lord is greater than all the gods; for in the very thing in which they behaved proudly, He was above them"
Pride brought Pharaoh down. Jethro concluded all that had happened in one sentence! Even though Jethro was not there when the destruction of Egypt happened, he was perceptive and sharp enough to know why Pharaoh was judged so severely.
What is the lesson to be learnt from this? Do not worry about the proud. God will surely bring down the proud as He is above them.
I have seen the proud being humbled in my workplace without me lifting a hand. Colleagues and bosses who had made nasty comments or complained to my boss about me was soon asked to leave. One clerical staff who was totally against me had expressed her unhappiness with me by throwing things about, complaining to the Union about me and refusing to do work assigned to her suddenly went missing in action one day (thus terminating herself) and in the process ended months of suffering for me.
Last year my good friend suffered severe injustice at the hand of her boss. We prayed fervently together for deliverance as she was getting a poor rating (no bonus for the year) through no fault of her own. She had worked so hard during the year but her work was not recognized. She was victimised by a boss who was junior to her. At one time, I just could not bear to see her torment that I felt like walking out of the company to register to all and sundry my utter dislike on the treatment meted out to her.
However we decided to pray against this injustice in order to reverse the evil treatment dished out to her.
It later became known throughout the bank that her boss was called 'proud' by many people. When he spoke or gave training, he sounded as though he was boasting and this became obvious to the young people he trained.
I comforted her with the word of God on this matter. We should not fret because of evildoers nor be envious of workers of iniquity.
Ps 12:3
"May the Lord cut off all flattering lips, and the tongue that speaks proud things."
Those who are boastful will be dealt with by the Lord. We need not be stressed out or oppressed by them.
Do not worry about the proud wherever we go. Just commit our situation and circumstances to God and He will bring them down. God will humble them as pride goes before a fall.
After many months of praying, the boss who lost his title as Head of Department and became an ordinary manager instead! As it turned out the title was not his in the first place but he just accorded it to himself.
A higher boss was appointed to be over him thus making both of them equal in rank and position in the department.
The good news is - he became very likeable and friendly after the humbling episode! Today we remain good friends at work helping each other out. Humility does change a person for the better!
3. Do not be envious of others, your time of promotion will come.
Jethro was not envious of Moses. In Ex 18:9 we were told that Jethro rejoiced for all the good which the Lord had done for Israel. He was not jealous of Moses although he was someone very important in Midian, a Midianite high priest.
Due to his graciousness and his confession that he was happy to see Moses blessed, God saw the integrity and magnanimity of Jethro's heart and gave him an opportunity to be promoted and remembered among the children of Israel for his godly advice which probably lengthened Moses's life.
Stress and overwork does kill people. I have seen a young man who worked till late almost every day suffered a heart attack in his sleep.
A recent news report of a young lady in Indonesia who collapsed and died after working 36 hours non-stop at her desk really shocked us!
If Moses had carried on working like he did, he might not have lived to the ripe old age of 120 years old.
4. Do not think you are indispensable, raise others up
This was how God promoted Jethro. Jethro had the opportunity to give good advice to Moses on the need to delegate responsibility.
The next morning he saw Moses in action judging the people from morning until evening. He immediately saw that this was physically demanding and tiring for Moses.
Ex 18:17-18, Jethro told Moses that "The thing you do is not good. Both you and these people who are with you will surely wear yourselves out. For this thing is too much for you; you are not able to perform it by yourself"
Jethro was as practical as he was wise. He gave good advice to Moses on how to pace himself for the long haul.
He immediately advised Moses to do the following:
- teach the people the statutes and laws
- show them the way in which they must walk
- show them the work which they must do
He also advised Moses to select from all the people able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness and to place them over the people in groups of thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens.
The men selected are to judge the small matters whereas Moses are to judge the great matters.
I decided to apply this in my workplace, calling a meeting and assigning the small tasks to my managers leaving the bigger tasks to myself.
I realized that this principle is really true. No one is indispensable.
When my friend who is a CEO died, the problems that she was trying to solve for us got solved by itself without her being around.
When she was alive, she was known as someone wanting to hold on to everything, to do everything and to be in control. It was so hard for her to let go and assign work to others. This work control freak is really a perfectionist.
But I realized that it's actually ok not to be in control.
This is because problems have the habit of sorting itself out over time. Just pray over it, God will untangle all the knots for us before we even know it. Better still get someone to agree with you as you pray - something I often do in the morning during my journey to work.
Prayer
"LORD JESUS give me a heart like Jethro not being envious of others but to be happy for those who succeed and to rejoice with them. Help me not to be a control freak but to be willing to let go and train others up to do my work. In Jesus Name. Amen"
Some scholars compare Jethro to Melchizedek:
I love Psalms 15.
There are some keys in this Psalm that are very practical and concerns my heart attitude. If I keep my heart attitude right according to this Psalm, I know that I can always dwell in the presence of God.
Ps 15 contains only 5 short verses:
Verse 1 - "Lord, who may abide in Your tabernacle? Who may dwell in Your holy hill?
This verse is a question that the Psalmist is asking of God. Yet it is also like a prayer because the Psalmist is expecting an answer from God.
He is in a way framing his prayer like a question! I believe that he really wanted an answer from God because his heart's desire is to abide in God's tabernacle.
God's tabernacle is equated with "His holy hill". The word in "hill" in Hebrew is har which is a shortened form of a mountain or a range of hills. In the KJV it is equivalent to a mountain. Only once it is used to describe a promotion.
Mountains are places of spiritual encounters with God. Isa 56:7 talks about God bringing us to His holy mountain which is also His house of prayer.
There are 7 important mountains where God was present:
1. Mount Moriah - where Abraham offered his son as a sacrifice but encountered God's provision.
2. Mount Sinai - where Moses communed with God and received His laws for His people.
3. Mount Nebo - where Moses saw the promised land but God spoke to him that he will not enter it because of disobedience.
4. Mount Carmel - where the fire of God came down from heaven to consume the sacrifice and God gained victory over the prophets of Baal.
5. Mount Hermon - where Jesus transfigured and a voice spoke out of a bright cloud to his disciples "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear Him!" Matt 17:5.
6. Mount of Olives - where Jesus was crucified, died and resurrected from the dead gaining authority over death.
7. Mount Zion - the heavenly Jerusalem, the spiritual city of God where God's throne is and innumerable company of angels and in the presence of many witnesses who have gone before us into the presence of God.
Thus God's holy hill = His tabernacle = the Mountain of the Lord = His house of prayer.
As his question is framed like a prayer, God answers him in his heart. Indeed such a prayer pleases God because the Psalmist is only desiring what God desires of him!
Verse 2 - "He who walks uprightly, and works righteousness, and speaks the truth in his heart
There are 3 prerequisites contain in one verse:
1. Walk uprightly - It is to walk in obedience to God's word. It is also to conduct ourselves with confidence and faith knowing our position in Christ who has delivered us and saved us from our sins.
2. Work righteousness - To work righteousness is to do those things that are righteous and pleasing to God for e.g I know that God does not want me to grumble, complain or gripe about my boss. To work righteousness is to have a thankful heart and gracious speech toward my boss and my staff for e.g. if delay in my work is due to my fault and not my staff I should not blame them for my own neglect.
To work righteousness is also to be submissive to my husband whom God has placed over me. One way of ensuring that righteousness is worked out in our lives is to pray for the person who is causing us to be hurt or distressed and to verbalize our forgiveness toward them.
3. Speaks the truth in his heart - To speak the truth in my own heart and not into the hearts of another party is to have a heart to heart conversation with ourselves. It is really like judging ourselves and doing a spiritual ''heart-check" like we do a blood pressure check or a glucose sugar check!
Is my heart bitter toward so and so? Is my heart angry toward this sister or brother? Is my heart offended by her actions or her speech?
If yes, I need to own up to my own heart condition and ask God to help me forgive the other person in order to be set free from bitterness/unforgiveness.
Verse 3 - "He who does not backbite with his tongue, nor does evil to his neighbour, nor does he take up a reproach against his friend.
Again, there are 3 things to be aware of here:
1. Not to backbite with our tongue - Only our tongue can be used for backbiting thus we need to ask God to cleanse our tongue. To backbite is to return evil for evil, reviling for reviling, cursing for cursing or tit for tat. No wonder James firmly admonishes us to bridle our tongue for wrong words used cannot be retracted.
2. Not to do evil to his neighbour - We must harm nobody especially the person closest to us. We must take care not to cause another person to stumble by spreading poison with our tongue about others.
Complaining, grumbling, insulting God and Moses - these actions caused the downfall of the children of Israel in the wilderness.
In Ex 17:3, they complained that Moses took them out of Egypt to die of thirst. Not only did they complained, Moses said that "They are almost ready to stone me!" They were ready to follow through their words with physical violence.
In Ex 16:3, the children of Israel complained that they had no food in the wilderness and started to think of Egypt with the pots of meat and the bread which they could eat to the full. In fact they insulted God who delivered them by saying that they would have preferred to die in Egypt. What a great insult to God!
They directed all their complaints to Moses and Aaron because they were neither dwelling in the tabernacle of the Lord nor in His holy hill. Comparing Moses and his people, it is obvious that only Moses dwelled in God's holy hill and fulfilled the principles of Psalm 15.
However I am fully aware that we cannot escape from grumbling, griping and complaining when we are not happy about things like when I am unhappy with my boss for stressing me out with her harsh words and high demands. What do I do to deal with all the complaints churning in my mind?
Let us frame our complaints directly to God in the form of a prayer like what Moses did each time. Ex 17:8 "For the Lord hears your complaints which you make against Him. And what are we? Your complaints are not against us but against the Lord"
This is how Moses framed his complaint to God like a prayer - Ex 17: 4 "So Moses cried out to the Lord, saying, "What shall I do with this people? They are almost ready to stone me!"
3. Not to take up a reproach against his friend - To me this is keeping offenses committed against us by our friends for too long. Be sure to be quick to forgive. Do not let anger fester in our hearts against the person who offended us...deal with it quickly before God.
Verse 4 - "In whose eyes a vile person is despised, but he honors those who fear the Lord. He who swears to his own hurt and does not change"
There are 2 principles here:
1. We need to take the side of those who fear God including to stand with Israel.
To stand with those who stand with God. To pray for the persecuted church. If others are cursing or blaspheming do not participate by joining in. We are not to allow ourselves to be influenced by those who are vile or who mock the Lord. We are to love those who love God and honor those who honor God. This does not mean we should not fellowship with them but we are not to adopt their values or agree with their corrupted values.
I watched a program once where the father being a Christian had to say the right words without rejecting his gay son. Yet he had to make a stand with regards to the lifestyle of his son. We need to love the sinner but hate the sin.
2. To swear to our own hurt and not to change
We need to be people of principles who say what we mean and mean what we say. Daniel and his friends in not bowing down to the idol made by the king swearing to their own hurt when they said to the king that they will not bow down to the idol even at the risk of perishing in the fire. Joseph in not sleeping with his master's wife swore to his own hurt in the process and was blessed by God in the end.
Verse 5 - "He who does not put his money to usury, nor does he take a bribe against the innocent. He who does these things shall never be moved"
There are 2 principles here:
1. It is important to give graciously.
It speaks about giving without expecting anything in return. Give without expecting any favors.
2. Not bribing the innocent is not to harm those who are helpless to help themselves.
To show mercy to those who are not in the position to defend themselves. Not to use our money, authority or position to threaten people or brow-beat them into obedience.
To sum it up, Psalms 15 requires me to position myself as follows:
1. Walk uprightly
2. Do righteously
3. Speak truthfully
4. Harm nobody
5. Keep my integrity
6. Give generously
7. Show mercy
Psalm 15 is all about the Lord Jesus Christ and we need to follow His example!
A friend of mine died of heart attack recent.
I knew her as a good friend. She was very influential and very successful.
She was very much respected in the financial and business community. She moved in the circle of CEOs (being a CEO herself). Her clothes were impeccable and expensive, her handbags of the best quality, her hair never out of her place. Her personality was cheerful and personable and she always remembered me as a fellow Penang-nite and schoolmate (being one year younger than me she was my sister's classmate). She travelled first-class and had a loving family. She was in every sense of the word - a successful woman.
Well-loved, well-liked, everyone had good memories of her. At the funeral parlor, her room was the one with the most and biggest bouquet of flowers. Many top bosses and datos attended her memorial to pay their last respects.
Before her death I had the opportunity to speak to her a few words at a meeting. She was so dedicated to her work that even though she was not well, she still came to work.
The day after the meeting with her, my boss secretary told me the news in the morning. She had died of cardiac arrest that morning itself.
So many of us were so shaken by her sudden death. This was because she was only very young (just past the previous retirement age) and at the peak of her life. She was doing very well in her career, her relationships and her family.
I took comfort in the fact that she knew Jesus and that her funeral will be a testimony to many of the love of God.
I also kept having the feeling that God had a message for me through her death.
I could not reconcile the fact that she was taken at so young an age. She had worked so hard, she was so committed and dedicated to her job, she had made so much contribution to the banking community....she was what you could say 'indispensable' in her organisation. She wore shoes that few could step into.
But this morning, God spoke to me loud and clear. No one is indispensable, do not think that you are also indispensable. Look at your friend, she has passed on, all her work and labor has ceased, the top CEOs to whom she reports to will find someone else will take her place. Life goes on.....
This morning I got the message while reading Gen 25:5 "And Abraham gave all that he had to Isaac"
Now having an 'Isaac' is not necessarily a bad thing. I have heard messages being preached that an 'Isaac' is something that we idolize in a negative way. Reading this verse I saw the word 'Isaac' in a different light.
Actually it seems to me that having an 'Isaac' can be good and can be bad depending on who is your 'Isaac'.
Abraham gave all that he had to Isaac. If Abraham gave all that he had to his only son surely having an Isaac is not a bad thing. Abraham had been tested in his faith. Indeed Abraham had earned the right to give his all to Isaac, his only son!
God knew that although Abraham gave his all to Isaac, his son, Abraham would also be willing to give up Isaac too if God had asked him to do it again. Abraham had been willing the first time because Abraham believed in God to keep His promises. Thus Isaac was not Abraham's idol at all nor was Isaac a stumbling block to his relationship with God.
God asked me this question "So who/what is your 'Isaac'? Who do you give all that you have to in your life at this period of time? Who do you think your friend (the one who died) gave her all to?"
I pondered God's question and felt that although I could answer the question for myself, I really could not answer it for her.
"So what about you? Who is your Isaac?"
I checked out the parallels between Isaac and Jesus:
1. Both fulfilled promises
Isaac was the promised son to Abraham - Gen 12:3. Jesus was the promised Messiah - Gen 3:15, 13:3.
2. Both were the only son of their father
Genesis 22:2 - Isaac was described as "Your son, your only son, whom you love...."
Matt 3:16-17 - God said "This is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased"
3. Both were loved by their fathers
4. Both had a 3-day experience
Isaac had a 3-day hike to Mount Moriah. Jesus had 3 days from the cross to the grave to the resurrection.
5. Both were followed by 2 men
Isaac had 2 servants followed him to Mount Moriah - Gen 22:3 and Jesus were with 2 thieves - Matt 27:38
6. Both carried their own wood and were bound to it
Isaac carried his wood for his own sacrifice (Gen 22:6) and Jesus carried the crossbeam of his cross to Calvary (John 19:17).
7. Both submitted to their father
Isaac willingly submitted to his father (Gen 22:9) and Jesus submitted to His Father's will (Luke 22:42).
8. Both asked a question of their father
Isaac asked "Here is the fire and the wood but where is the lamb?" Gen 22:7.
Jesus cried "My God, my God, why have you forsaken Me?" Matt 27:46.
9. Both were brought back from the dead
Isaac was brought back figuratively after 3 days journey to Moriah (Gen 22:12) and Jesus rose 3 days after He was crucified (Matt 2:6-7).
10. Both became a blessing
Isaac's seed was multiplied throughout the whole world (Gen 22:17) and as for Jesus through His sacrifice, we become members of the body of Christ. Today many millions are Christians and believers of Jesus throughout the whole world.
I answered God "my 'Isaac' is Jesus based on the comparison between 'Isaac and Jesus"!
Then the Lord responded to me "If you say that your 'Isaac' is Jesus then will you be like Abraham to give your all to Me?
Some people give their all to their hobbies, their leisure activities, their acquisition of material wealth, their pursuit of comfort and security, their pursuit of fame or men's acclaim, some give their all to their work. Some give their all to make more and more money.
You can clearly see who their 'Isaac' is. Those 'Isaacs' are not beneficial to them because they expend their time, energy, money and resources and pour their whole life into them but to what end, to what result? Will these things count for your eternity when you cannot bring your lands, cars, houses and money with you when you leave your body?
What will count for eternity when you stand before Me? How will you answer when I ask you what have you brought with you that will matter for all eternity?
Will you be empty handed when you stand before me in judgment? Do you know what matters to me? The souls and disciples that you have made while you were on earth! Did you bring them with you? Where are they?
Will you shine like the stars in heaven forever and ever having turned many to righteousness?
Where I am not your 'Isaac' but you choose something other than Me to be your 'Isaac' then that 'Isaac' becomes your idol."
Make me you one and only 'Isaac' in this life and determined to give your all to me like Abraham gave his all to his only son!"
Prayer
"LORD JESUS please forgive me. Help me to give my all to You. Forsaking all 'Isaacs' remove all the idolization of material things from me. Let me have You and You alone as my ONLY ISAAC. Deal with my covetousness and my greed for money, status and position. In Jesus Name. Amen"
When I read Genesis 22 yesterday, I felt the Lord speak to me this short message.
In verse 2, God asked a hard thing of Abraham. He asked Abraham to take his son, his only son, whom Abraham loved so much to take him to Mount Moriah. Moriah was about 3 days journey from where Abraham and Isaac lived.
Just thinking about the journey may not be so hard even though it would take up to 3 days to journey to the mountain.
Making the journey was not so hard but the hard part was this:
Gen 22:2 "Then He said, "Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains which I shall tell you"
Did Abraham know what he was supposed to do at Mount Moriah from the start? Certainly he did because God told him to offer Isaac, his only son as a burnt offering to Him!
It was a hard thing to do! What struck me was that Abraham did not give excuses. Abraham did not argue with God. He did not say "Why God? Why my only son when you told me that he would be the one who will give me many descendants?"
I wonder how many times I have given excuses to God when He asked me to do some seemingly "hard" things...
Yet Abraham did not give excuses nor did he delay to perform what God had asked of him to do. He journeyed 3 days to Moriah with 2 young men, prepared the wood for the burnt offering and was ready to kill Isaac with the knife in his hand when God called him by name in verses 11 and 12.
Gen 22:11-12
"But the Angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, "Abraham, Abraham!" So he said, "Here I am." And He said, ""Do not lay your hand on the lad, or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me"
This is what I felt God spoke to me as I read this story:
First lesson - There are a few things that happen only once for you. One of those things that happen only once for you is your life on this earth. Year after year as you draw closer to the end of your life on earth, you realized that this life will only happen only once for you. What I require of you this - do not withheld your life, your only life, from Me.
This life will only come to you ONCE thus it is as precious to you as Isaac was to Abraham.
Another thing that will happen only ONCE is the time you are living in NOW. Not just the time but also the day, date, hour, minute and second - they will only occur ONCE in your lifetime.
You will never be able to relive Jan 7 2017 again. But if you will give me this day, date, hour (and all that makes it up the composite called time), you will be able to REDEEM it.
Remember one speaker who said that prayer is not a waste of time but prayer will actually give you back more time! Thus use your time to serve Me faithfully while you are living in this life - do not withheld this from Me.
In this context, I felt the Lord was speaking to Me to keep my quiet time with Him in the mornings or in the evenings, to memorize and meditate on His Word and to be at the prayer altars in church during the week as much as it is possible for me to be in church.
Yes, it is a hard thing to do if I have had a late night at work and I had to wake up early the next day to prepare myself to go to church for prayer the next day at 6 am. Yet, I have found that whenever I do that, I seem to gain strength for the day, wisdom in my work and a peace that passes all understanding! The blessings that follow such obedience makes the hard things not hard at all!
I seem to sense a protection over my mind and my heart and the storms, stress and emotional entanglements that my boss or my staff may try to put upon at work seems to lose its power over me!
I cannot explain it! It's an exchange of tiredness for His strength, my weariness for His refreshing, my confusion for His clarity and my worries for His absolute peace. I can sense that wall of fire all around me and the glory of God in my midst throughout the day!
Second lesson - Blessing, empowerment, strengthening, help, enablement, grace will be PROVIDED only after I have not withheld the morning hour from God. Indeed His grace and his empowerment will come only after I have passed the test of not withholding the morning hour from Him.
Now don't get me wrong....it's not just about being in church at the prayer altars but it's about giving God that hour to pray and to read His Word. It can be at home, it can be in church, it can be in the office but for me personally I have found it most productive and beneficial if it is in church. It can be in the morning, it can be at night, it can be in the afternoon but for me personally I have found it most beneficial if it is in the morning before the day starts its grind.....
God does not want me to withhold from him the only free time that I can completely focus on Him away from the hustle and bustle of the day before the wheels start moving for me at the start of each new day......
What was the provision that God made for Abraham because he did not withheld Isaac from Him It was a ram for the burnt offering!
Did Abraham really know about this before he even took Isaac to Moriah or at anytime during the 3 day journey or even when Isaac asked his father the question - "Look, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?" Did Abraham know about the ram in the thicket when he responded in verse 8 "God will provide for Himself the lamb for the burnt offering"?
I do not know (and I am sure that it does not matter) but I do believe that Abraham trusted in God and had faith in Him as a God who loves him and as a God who will be able to provide Abraham many descendants whether with or without Isaac!
Abraham may be thinking that if God ask me to do this He will surely find a way to fulfil His promise to me with our without my only son. Such was his confidence and trust in God!
God sometimes test us to see whether we will obey and it's only after we have taken the first step of faith, He comes in to help us in our journey of obedience. Blessings always follow obedience. Blessings follow our sacrifice. Blessings follow an act of hardship (may seem hard initially but it will become easy in the end after we have taken the step of faith).
Verse 14 "And Abraham called the name of the place, the Lord will provide; as it is said to this day, "In the Mount of the Lord it shall be provided"
Third lesson - Blessings will follow us when we do not withheld our life, our time, money, resources, gifts or talents from God.
Verse 16 - 18 "By Myself I have sworn, says the Lord, because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son - blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies. In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed because you have obeyed My voice"
Today at Peacehaven, I believe that God had spoken to each of us individually on the things that He does not want us to withhold from Him for 2017.
Our instructions or obedience tests may be different due to our current spiritual walk with God but I do believe that God is asking us to take small steps of faith.
To some He may be asking to wake up early to go for morning prayer (first watch), to some He may be asking to go for corporate prayer, to some He may be saying be early in church yet to some He may be saying join a life group.....
To me He is saying wake up early, go for the 6 am watch (even if you have had a late night at work), read the Bible in the office even if you can't read it at home (since you are early at work anyway), find a way around the late nights....I WILL PROVIDE THE GRACE & THE STRENGTH!
AMEN!
Here is a short message that God gave me today:
3 Promises & 3 New Year Resolutions
Deut 11:10-14
"For the land which you go to possess is not like the land of Egypt from which you have come, where you sowed your seed and watered it by foot, as a vegetable garden; but the land which you cross over to possess is a land of hills and valleys, which drinks water from the rain of heaven, a land which the Lord your God cares; the eyes of the Lord your God are always on it, from the beginning of the year to the very end of the year.
And it shall be that if you earnestly obey My commandments which I command you today, to love the Lord your God and serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul, then I will give you the rain for your land in its season, the early rain and the latter rain, that you may gather in your grain, your new wine, and your oil"
Here are the 3 Promises for the New Year:
1. The Presence & Power of God will be with us in 2017.
Where there is "rain from heaven" and where there is the "early rain and the latter rain" - there is the promised Presence of God. The "rain from heaven" symbolizes the Presence & Power of the Holy Spirit who will always be with us.
2. The Protection & Providence of God will be with us in 2017.
As we cross over to 2017, God has promised that He will care for us. His eyes will always be on us from the beginning of the year to the very end of the year. God will protect, God will provide and God will show us His favor in every area in 2017!
3. The Prosperity & Productivity of God will be the harvest we can gather in this New Year. The "grain", "new wine" and "oil" will be gathered in 2017.
Here are the 3 New Year Resolutions that we need to make to ensure that we will experience the 3 Promises:
1. Earnestly obey His commandments - not just obey but earnestly obey. To be earnest is to be passionate, to be eager, to be passionate, to be zealous about obeying.
2. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your soul
3. Serve the Lord your God with all your heart and all your soul
PRAYER
"LORD JESUS - Give me the grace to keep the 3 resolutions in 2017 so that I can experience the 3 promises in my life. In Jesus Name. Amen"
Praise God!
The first day of 2017 is also a Sunday. This is a rare occurrence. The last time it happened was on 1 Jan 2012.
Today is such a glorious day. The first thing I did was to read God's Word and to pray it. The second thing I did was to write out my 2017 resolutions.
Here are my New Year resolutions:
1. Witness to one person a month - God is good. We manage to share Christ not only with one person but with 2 persons after church today. The father and mother prayed the sinner's prayer. Thank you Jesus for the team and the open doors. I was so blessed to accept Jesse's invitation to visit the Liew family.
I felt that with their confession of faith today, God had given me a sign on the first day of the New Year that this will be my last year of my 28 years working in the Bank!
2. Memorize a scripture a week - With the help of the Scripture Typer app, I have managed to memorize a hundred over scriptures in 2016 and will continue to do so in 2017. Though not word for word but the essence of the scriptures do come to me when I need them. Indeed the Holy Spirit brings them to my remembrance!
3. Write a short message a week - I know that I need to do this because the Lord had laid it on my heart to do this. Every week there is a short message given to me in my devotion time. The messages have been such a blessing to me. What if the messages can be translated to BM and I can burn them into CDs to bring to Sibu?
This is what Ps Shin had been asking of me to do. God said to me clearly today "Ruth - write SHORT messages. Messages that you can write in one sitting....don't sweat on it....don't be stressed over it!"
4. Go to Sibu - Yes, there is an opportunity in March 2017.
5. Exercise on the power plate once a week - I really need to do this because the power plate has been unused for weeks and months on end in 2016. Time to get it working for me as it is an expensive investment!
