Reading for today
Old Testament: Genesis 22, 23, 24
New Testament: Matthew 8
Thoughts from today’s reading
Genesis 22:7-13. Abraham demonstrated a strong faith in a God he had come to know and trust. This was instrumental in his willingness to offer Isaac as a sacrifice. His body was totally unproductive at the time he had Isaac, yet God enlivened him and Sarah to conceive. He must have thought to himself, surely if God gave me this child by a miracle, He would preserve him also. When Isaac asked for the lamb, Abraham said God would provide a lamb. Abraham continued with God’s instruction until he was told to stop. When he stopped, he looked up and saw a ram already tied up in the bushes. Abraham spoke by faith to declare a lamb would be available, God responded to his faith and went over and beyond a lamb (kid ram) to give him a fully grown ram.
Sometimes we forget what miracles God did to get us what we have and so we wrestle with Him when He asks us to release that thing. In His wisdom, He always has something better for us.
Matthew 8:5-13. In this scripture we see a demonstration of faith in God’s ability by the Roman Centurion and Jesus’ high commendation of that faith. He then responds to it with the miracle requested by the Centurion. Faith comes by hearing the word of God, and faith goes into operation by speaking the word of God.
Prayers
- Let us ask for grace to be obedient to the word of the Lord and to always speak out faith even in situations that seem very contrary to what we believe.
- Pray for a spirit of revelation and understanding of the word of God for any situation you are faced with that as you speak based on your understanding, Jesus Christ will respond with the answer you need.
Genesis 23:5-6 NKJV
The sons of Heth who were pagans referred to Abraham as a prince of God. This makes it clear that Abraham never tried to hide his relationship with God in order to fit in but made his relationship with God known to them all and also very likely conducted himself in a manner that always brought glory to God
Reminds me of the passage
“Be careful to live properly among your unbelieving neighbors. Then even if they accuse you of doing wrong, they will see your honorable behavior, and they will give honor to God when he judges the world.”
1 Peter 2:12 NLT
Gen 23:5-6
The sons of Heth who were pagans referred to Abraham as a prince of God. This makes it clear that Abraham never tried to hide his relationship with God in order to fit in but made his relationship with God known to them all and also very likely conducted himself in a manner that always brought glory to God
Reminds me of the passage
“Be careful to live properly among your unbelieving neighbors. Then even if they accuse you of doing wrong, they will see your honorable behavior, and they will give honor to God when he judges the world.”
1 Peter 2:12 NLT
“But he said to me, ‘The LORD, before whom I walk, will send His angel with you and prosper your way; and you shall take a wife for my son from my family and from my father’s house.”
Genesis 24:40 NKJV
I just love the way Abraham speaks so confidently of God here. May we have that same level of confidence expecting His will to be established in our lives and in our families lives because we walk before Him
“So He touched her hand, and the fever left her. And she arose and served them.”
Matthew 8:15 NKJV
The amount of anointing Jesus carried! I pray we can all get to the place where we are so fully stripped of our flesh that the Holy Spirit can move in this measure through us
“Then the entire town came out to meet Jesus, but they begged him to go away and leave them alone.”
Matthew 8:34 NLT
Instead of them to beg Jesus to stay, they begged him to leave. Such a shame, they missed an opportunity to encounter Christ and chose to see his miracle from a negative point of view for whatever reason, perhaps even fear of the unknown. Reminds me of this scripture
“Yes, you who trust him recognize the honor God has given him. But for those who reject him, “The stone that the builders rejected has now become the cornerstone.” And, “He is the stone that makes people stumble, the rock that makes them fall.” They stumble because they do not obey God’s word, and so they meet the fate that was planned for them.”
1 Peter 2:7-8 NLT