When God Shows Up, Don’t Forget It

Sharon Jaynes 

 

“Then God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water,” (Genesis 21:19 NIV).

Yesterday we looked at Hagar and how God spoke to her in her deepest time of need. Let’s visit that one more time, because Hagar, like you and me, forgot about her encounter with God.

When Hagar encountered God the first time, she fell on her face and gave God the name El Roi, the God who Sees Me “I have now seen the One who sees me,” she cried. She had heard God. She had seen God. More importantly, God had seen Hagar. God had heard Hagar.

Hagar returned to her mistress, gave birth to a son, and placed him into Abram’s arms. But sixteen years later, God was true to His word, and Sarai gave birth to a son of her own. (God also changed Abram’s name to Abraham and Sarai’s to Sarah). 

Abraham : The Man Who Was God’s Friend

Abram, Abraham [Ā'brăm,Ā'brăhăm]—the father of a multitude. The original name of the youngest son of Terah was Abram, meaning “father of height.” Abraham was given to him when the promise of a numerous progeny was renewed to him by God (Gen. 11:26;17:5, 9). The Man Who Was God’s Friend                                Abraham’s place in the Bible’s portrait gallery is altogether unique and unapproachable. He stands out as a landmark in the spiritual history of the world. Chosen of God to become the father of a new spiritual race, the file leader of a mighty host, the revelation of God found in him one of its most important epochs. In himself, there was not much to make him worthy of such a distinction. His choice was all of grace.

Why Did God Sit Me on the Shelf?

Dr. Julie Barrier,


Just got home. Opened the frig. An odiferous gallon of sour milk reminds me that I should have pitched it days ago. Milk has a short shelf life. The rotten cow juice makes my Cheerios taste like poo.

Avocados are the food of the gods, in my estimation. Especially if you pair them with salsa and Doritos. If you grab avocados in the grocery, they are rock-hard and tasteless. Stick them in a sunny windowsill for two days and they become silky and succulent. Leave them too long and they become brown and pasty. Blech. Their shelf life is miniscule. 

Hostess Twinkies have a shelf life of fifty years. I’m not kidding. Hostess is out of business, but the cream filling may be re-purposed as cement for space stations in 2050.

Eliezer : The Man Who Found a Wife for His Master

Eliezer [Ĕli ēzûr]—god is my help.

1. The second son of Moses and Zipporah to whom his father gave this name as a memento of his gratitude to God (Exod. 18:4; 1 Chron. 23:15, 17; 26:25).
2. A son of Becher and grandson of Benjamin (1 Chron. 7:8).
3. A priest who assisted in the return of the Ark to Jerusalem (1 Chron. 15:24).
4. A Reubenite ruler in David’s time (1 Chron. 27:16).
5. The prophet who rebuked Jehoshaphat for his alliance with king Ahaziah in the Ophir expedition (2 Chron. 20:37).
6. A chieftain sent with others to induce many of the Israelites to return with Ezra to Jerusalem (Ezra 8:16).
7. A priest who put away his foreign wife (Ezra 10:18).
8. A Levite who had done the same (Ezra 10:23).
9. One of the sons of Harim who had done likewise (Ezra 10:31).
10. An ancestor of Joseph, husband of Mary (Luke 3:29).
11. Abraham’s chief servant, and “son of his house,” that is, one of his large household. He is named “Eliezer of Damascus” probably to distinguish him from others of the same name (Gen. 15:2; 24).

The Man Who Found a Wife for His Master

The Man Whose Birth Caused a Laugh

Isaac [Ī'zaac] he laugheth or laughing one. The son of Abraham and Sarah, who was born at Gerar when

Abraham as one hundred years of age and Sarah was about ninety years old (Gen. 17:19, 21;21:3-12; 22:2-9).

Isaac is one of the few cases in the Bible in which God selected a name for a child and announced it before he was born. In the Old Testament we have Isaac, Ishmael, Solomon, Josiah, Cyrus and Isaiah’s son; in the New Testament, John the Baptist and Jesus.

Isaac’s beautiful and suggestive name, “he laughed,” commemorates the two laughings at the promise of God—the laughing of the father’s joy and the laughing of Sarah’s incredulity which soon passed into penitence and faith (Gen. 21:6). Isaac was the child of the covenant, “I will establish My covenant with him.” To three patriarchs in succession was this covenant specifically given: to Abraham, as he left Chaldea (Gen. 12:3); toIsaac, when in Canaan during the famine (Gen. 26:4); toJacob, at Bethel (Gen. 28:14). Isaac, however, was the first to inherit the covenant, and to him God gave the whole inheritance of Abraham (Gen. 24:35).

Introducing the Eternal God

“I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob as God Almighty, but by my name the LORD I did not make myself fully known to them.”—Exodus 6:3

This Torah portion for this week, Vaeira, is from Exodus 6:2—9:35 and Ezekiel 28:25–29:12.

This week’s Torah portion is called Vaeira, meaning ‘and I appeared.’ But it isn’t a reference to something happening in this week’s portion; it is speaking about God appearing in the past – to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. It’s as if God were saying to Moses, “In the past I appeared to the forefathers in one way, but you will have a completely different experience. To the Patriarchs I was ‘God Almighty,’ but to you, I am ‘the LORD.’”

What was God trying to tell Moses?

The Sages explain that every name of God – and there are many of them – has a different meaning. Each name describes a different way in which we can experience God. The name revealed to Moses, “the LORD,” is the four-letter name, YHVH, which comes from these three terms: He was, He is, and He will be. This implies that any promise that God has made in the past is remembered in the present and will be fulfilled in the future.

Tired of Waiting

By Tracie Miles

"Isaac was sixty years old when Rebekah gave birth to them." Genesis 25:26b (NIV)

Do you ever get tired of waiting on God to answer your prayers? I do.

I get tired of saying the same old prayer day after day, month after month, year after year. Tired of telling God about the same old problems still going on. Tired of hearing myself pray about the same old issues, leading me to wonder if God is as tired of hearing my prayer requests as I am of praying them.
Recently I bowed my head and admitted to God that I was simply tired of praying and waiting.
In a heavy state of emotional exhaustion, I turned to my Bible. I hoped a few verses would jump straight into my heart and give me patience. That day I read about when Isaac's wife Rebekah gave birth to twin sons. One sentence in particular caught my eye and God used it to speak hope into my soul.

Sarah’s Tent

“Isaac brought her into the tent of his mother Sarah, and he married Rebekah. So she became his wife, and he loved her; and Isaac was comforted after his mother’s death.” — Genesis 24:67

The Torah portion for this week, Chayei Sarah, is from Genesis 23:1–25:18 and 1 Kings 1:1–31.

Nothing can replace the loss of a loved one. But it’s common to feel some degree of comfort when a new love is found – like a new spouse, friend, or baby. So it’s not surprising, Scripture tells us, that “Isaac was comforted after his mother’s death” after he married Rebekah. However, the Sages tell us that Isaac was comforted by much more than the love of his wife. With Rebekah’s entrance into Isaac’s tent, a part of Sarah returned, too.

Is God Really Enough? Part 1

Mary Southerland

Today's Truth
So Abraham called that place The Lord Will Provide. And to this day it is said, "On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided" (Genesis 22:14, NIV).

Friend to Friend

As I worked through the seemingly endless number of emails, my heart grew heavy and my soul cried out to God - so many women in so much pain. I could feel their fear and confusion in every word. Their circumstances were all very different, but they were all really asking the same question, "Where are you, God?"

I was already tired and overwhelmed, having just returned from speaking at a women's conference in an area of the country where the economy had taken a nosedive. So many of the prayer requests were centered around one deep need – the provision of God. And honestly, I was struggling with the same question in my own life.

I hurt. The doctors said it was fibromyalgia and that the medical world doesn't really understand the disease, so my treatment options were "iffy" at best. I had a lot of questions but no one seemed to have any answers.

Men of the Bible - Abram, Abraham

Abram, Abraham [Ā'brăm, Ā'brăhăm] — the father of a multitude. The original name of the youngest son of Terah was Abram, meaning “father of height.” Abraham was given to him when the promise of a numerous progeny was renewed to him by God (Gen. 11:26; 17:5, 9).

The Man Who Was God’s Friend

Abraham’s place in the Bible’s portrait gallery is altogether unique and unapproachable. He stands out as a landmark in the spiritual history of the world. Chosen of God to become the father of a new spiritual race, the file leader of a mighty host, the revelation of God found in him one of its most important epochs. In himself, there was not much to make him worthy of such a distinction. His choice was all of grace.

Abraham’s life is given us in detail, and we know him as we know few men of the Bible. He was from the great and populous city of Ur, and therefore a Gentile although he became the first Hebrew. He was a rough, simple, venerable Bedouin-like sheep master. He uttered no prophecy, wrote no book, sang no song, gave no laws. Yet in the long list of Bible saints he alone is spoken of as “the father of the faithful” and as “the friend of God” (Isa. 41:8). Let us briefly sketch his story and character.

I. He was born in Ur of the Chaldees, of parents who were heathen. Little is known of him until he was seventy years old, a striking proof that he had yielded himself to God before he left his heathen home for the far-off land of Canaan.

II. He received a distinct revelation from God, and of God, but we are not told how and when. This, however, we do know: He gave up a certainty for an uncertainty and went out not knowing whither he went. Willingly he surrendered the seen for the unseen.

III. He was taught the lesson of patience, of waiting upon the Eternal God. It was many years before the promise of God was fulfilled to him—promises three in number—of a country , Canaan; of posterity, as the stars of heaven; of a spiritual seed, through whom all the families of the earth would be blessed.

IV. He believed as he waited. His soul fed upon the promises of God. He believed God in the face of long delay and also amid difficulties that seemed insuperable. This is why he is called “the father of all them that believe.”

V. He was renowned for his active, working, living faith (Gen. 15:6). Abraham believed in God and it was counted to him for righteousness.

VI. He was subject to failures. His character, like the sun, had its spots. Abraham’s conduct to Hagar on two occasions, in sending her away, is painful to remember. Then his departure from Canaan into Egypt when the famine was on was surely not an act of faith. The falsehood which on two occasions he told with regard to Sarah his wife gives us a glimpse into a natural character somewhat cowardly, deceitful and distrustful (Gen. 12:19; 20:2).

VII. He was called to offer up special sacrifices. The first is fully described in Genesis fifteen, where the five victims offered in sacrifice to God were symbolic and typical of the whole Mosaic economy to come. Then we have the offering up of Isaac, an act of faith on Abraham’s part and yet a trial of faith (Gen. 22 ). What a demand God made! But Abraham did not withhold his only son of promise. What God wanted was Abraham’s heart, not Isaac’s life. So when the knife was raised to slay Isaac, a provided substitute appeared. After this sacrifice Abraham received the testimony that he had pleased God.

The Bible offers us many types of Christ, Isaac being one of the chiefest, but Abraham is the only type in Scripture of God the Father. Abraham so loved God as to give up his only son, and centuries before Christ was born entered into the inner heart of John 3:16 . After serving God faithfully, Abraham died when 175 years of age.

There are many profitable lessons to be gleaned from the biography of this notable man of God:

Faith has always trials. Being a Christian does not mean that trial is impossible or unnecessary. The greater the faith, the greater the trial.

Faith shines through the cloud. How the patience and meekness of Jesus are manifest through His trials! Take away Abraham’s trials and where is his faith? Faith must be tried, in order that faith may live.

Faith in spite of trial glorifies God . Abraham’s story is written in tears and blood, but how God was glorified by his trials of faith! Abraham’s obedience of faith earned him the honor, “Abraham My friend!” Truly, there is no greater rank or greater honor than to be described thus. Yet such is our privilege if ours is the obedience of faith, for did not Jesus say, “I have called you friends”? He also said, “Ye are my friends if ye do whatsoever I command you.”

from All the Men of the Bible
by Herbert Lockyer

http://view.lists.biblegateway.com/?j=fe571678726102797413&m=fe621570756203757117&ls=fdc91571706407757510757163&l

A Wife for Isaac Why did Abraham want his son to get a wife from a far land?

In the passage in question, Abraham told his eldest servant:

Genesis 24:3-4
 And I will make thee swear by the LORD, the God of heaven, and the God of the earth, that thou shalt not take a wife unto my son of the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell: But thou shalt go unto my country, and to my kindred, and take a wife unto my son Isaac.

Although we might call Haran a far country from the land of Canaan where Abraham was, he calls it "my country". Abraham had stayed in Haran for a number of years and it became his country. In addition, he had extended family here. That is where the servant was to look in order to obtain a wife for Isaac. The immediate purpose for going to Haran in order to find a wife is so Isaac can have a wife that is of his kindred.

Of course, there must another reason behind this thinking. What was wrong with the women of Canaan? Why was it that when Esau married women of the area that it was "a grief of mind unto Isaac and to Rebekah" (Genesis 26:34-35)? The answer lies in the biblical precept of marriage to women of a false religion. Those who marry women whose family worships other gods will more than likely introduce these false gods to her husband. Consider the following passages:

Exodus 34:15-16
 Lest thou make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, and they go a whoring after their gods, and do sacrifice unto their gods, and one call thee, and thou eat of his sacrifice; And thou take of their daughters unto thy sons, and their daughters go a whoring after their gods, and make thy sons go a whoring after their gods.

Deuteronomy 7:3-4
 Neither shalt thou make marriages with them; thy daughter thou shalt not give unto his son, nor his daughter shalt thou take unto thy son. For they will turn away thy son from following me, that they may serve other gods: so will the anger of the LORD be kindled against you, and destroy thee suddenly.

1 Kings 11:4
 For it came to pass, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned away his heart after other gods: and his heart was not perfect with the LORD his God, as was the heart of David his father.

Abraham and his family in Haran knew of the one God of heaven and earth. Clearly, he wanted a wife for his son who would not lead him to serve false gods.

By application, we who are Christians are to marry other Christians so that we will not be drawn away from the faith. 2 Corinthians 6:14
states, "Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?" Surely, one application of being unequally yoked is being married to one who is lost. In addition, 1 Corinthians 7:39 says of the widow, "she is at liberty to be married to whom she will; only in the Lord." That is, she is free to marry as long as it is to one who is a believer. We should teach this precept to our young people so that they might serve the Lord all their days.

David Reagan

gotquestions http://www.learnthebible.org/a-wife-for-isaac.html