Genesis 16:5 (KJV) Temptation Between the Promise and the Answer

Genesis 16:5 (KJV)
And Sarai said unto Abram, My wrong be upon thee: I have given my maid into thy bosom; and when she saw that she had conceived, I was despised in her eyes: the LORD judge between me and thee.

There is a powerful lesson and accompanying warning in the story of Abram, Sarai, and Hagar. It was between God’s promise and God’s fulfillment of that promise that Ishmael was born. 

Ishmael
There were other significant players of evil in the early years of human history:

• Cain
• Esau
• Saul

Likely though, none have caused as much spiritual harm through the centuries as Ishmael. His very name becomes synonymous with Islam and the evil that is – especially against the people of God. 

Very often we will find that the temptations are greatest between when God promises us and when God answers us. It is in that period of waiting, so important for spiritual growth, that we are tempted to take the matter of God’s promise, calling, or burden into our own hands. Nothing is so devastating to the cause of Christ, especially long term, than doing what God has promised He would do in the power of human flesh. 

No doubt, it can be done. That a thing is accomplished is no more a sign that God was in it than was the birth of Ishmael. That a desire is realized. That an answer to your prayer has been had. These are not necessarily evidences of God’s will being done. 

Abram found himself defending Ishmael before God. I think I see the same thing today. I see Christians who have done what they believe to be God’s will, but they did it in the flesh, defending what they have done. 

• They love the results of the flesh
• They would never dream of abandoning it
• They might love it more than they would love what God did

There’s the danger. If we refuse to let God work, if we choose our own work instead of His, we just might create the very monster that eventually turns to fight against the people of God. 

To my readers:
First of all, thank you! It is a great joy to me to know you read the thoughts and lessons God has given me in His word. Secondly, I would love to hear from you. Please feel free to leave comments.

For this and more than 4600 earlier Daily Visits with God visit https://mckenzie-visit-with-god.blogspot.com. There you will find daily visits going back to 2006.

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Genesis 16:5 (KJV) Temptation Between the Promise and the Answer

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Genesis 14:4 (KJV) Not As They Appear

Genesis 14:4 (KJV)
Twelve years they served Chedorlaomer, and in the thirteenth year they rebelled.

It seems obvious to me that, when Lot chose those well-watered plains down by Sodom and Gomorrah, he failed to do his due diligence. Those people, who seemed so prosperous were actually at war and only buying the appearance of peace. I do not know how long Lot had been there before all this began, but at some point, he found himself the unwilling participant in the conflict. Lot and all his goods were taken as spoils of war. Had it not been for Abram Lot’s end could have been much different. 

I have discovered that seldom are things in those prosperous places as good as they appear. There is always some underlying current, some skeleton in the closet, some profound problem that comes with the prosperity. 

This in no way means we ought not to make the move. God needs the right witness in the most difficult circumstances. It does mean is that it is unwise to make choices based on perceived profitability. 

There will be a price for any success had. 

To my readers:
First of all, thank you! It is a great joy to me to know you read the thoughts and lessons God has given me in His word. Secondly, I would love to hear from you. Please feel free to leave comments.

For this and more than 4600 earlier Daily Visits with God visit https://mckenzie-visit-with-god.blogspot.com. There you will find daily visits going back to 2006.

If you have been blessed by this blog, please subscribe to my feed and share it with others.

For more resources from Pastor Marvin McKenzie visit http://puyallupbaptistchurch.com.

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Genesis 14:4 (KJV) Not As They Appear

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Romans 16:19 (KJV) The Wise and the Simple

Romans 16:19 (KJV)
For your obedience is come abroad unto all men. I am glad therefore on your behalf: but yet I would have you wise unto that which is good, and simple concerning evil.

The wisdom the Holy Spirit desires in us is defined in the context as the opposite of simple. 

The simple
The unlearned, the learning challenged the inexperienced. The one who is easily taken because he is not prepared against attack. He is not vigilant, he is not aware, he does not grasp truth. 

To have little or no experience with sin. To have few dealings with evil. To be naïve and unlearned in the art of deception, this is a wonderful quality. 

Wisdom would be the opposite 
Wisdom would imply learning, education, and training. Wisdom would imply experience, practice, and skill. The wise are aware, circumspect, and vigilant. 

The Holy Spirit desires that we be well experienced in that which is good. We ought to practice good, recognize good and become skilled in doing good. 

To my readers:
First of all, thank you! It is a great joy to me to know you read the thoughts and lessons God has given me in His word. Secondly, I would love to hear from you. Please feel free to leave comments.

For this and more than 4600 earlier Daily Visits with God visit https://mckenzie-visit-with-god.blogspot.com. There you will find daily visits going back to 2006.

If you have been blessed by this blog, please subscribe to my feed and share it with others.

For more resources from Pastor Marvin McKenzie visit http://puyallupbaptistchurch.com.

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My author Page for Kindle/Amazon
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Romans 16:19 (KJV) The Wise and the Simple

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Romans 15:4 (KJV) Patience +the Scriptures = Hope

Romans 15:4 (KJV)
For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.

I like to remember this verse, and one like it in 1 Corinthians 10, as keys to properly applying the Old Testament. Through them, we learn what the purpose of preserving the Old Testament history is. They were written for our learning, but not just our intellectual advancement, they were written and preserved by God for our spiritual benefit. 

See in this verse a Biblical formula,
Patience +the Scriptures = Hope

Patience
Enduring difficulties over a long course of time. That’s life on planet earth. We are here for our average seventy years. It’s not all difficult, but it almost always has its challenges. 

The Scriptures 
Those things written aforetime. It’s obvious the Holy Spirit does mean everything that was written but those things He knows to be Holy Scripture. 

I notice the word comfort. We endure our difficulties by finding comfort in the Scriptures. There are lessons to be learned from the accounts of those who have gone before us, especially those God preserved in the Scriptures. Those lessons give us direction in making decisions through our own difficulties. We see similarities between them and our circumstances and we learn from them and find solace, guidance, help, and comfort in them. 

Hope
As we patiently apply those lessons to our circumstances, we gain confidence, hope in the work of God in our own case. 

To my readers:
First of all, thank you! It is a great joy to me to know you read the thoughts and lessons God has given me in His word. Secondly, I would love to hear from you. Please feel free to leave comments.

For this and more than 4600 earlier Daily Visits with God visit https://mckenzie-visit-with-god.blogspot.com. There you will find daily visits going back to 2006.

If you have been blessed by this blog, please subscribe to my feed and share it with others.

For more resources from Pastor Marvin McKenzie visit http://puyallupbaptistchurch.com.

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Romans 15:4 (KJV) Patience +the Scriptures = Hope

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Romans 14:6 (KJV) Soul Liberty and Truth

Romans 14:6 (KJV)
He that regardeth the day, regardeth it unto the Lord; and he that regardeth not the day, to the Lord he doth not regard it. He that eateth, eateth to the Lord, for he giveth God thanks; and he that eateth not, to the Lord he eateth not, and giveth God thanks.

It is important to note that the Bible does not, in this passage, say in regard to eating meat, there is no Scriptural truth. Paul insists both here, in 1 Timothy, and in 1 Corinthians, that there is nothing wrong with eating meat so long as it is not being eaten in the worship of an idol. Even in teaching us the importance of soul liberty he took the opportunity to teach the truth. Each man must be persuaded in his own mind but that implies that persuasion was made and not that he was left to merely figure out his own way. 

What is important to note, and maybe more difficult than ignoring people who think differently, is that after persuasion was attempted Paul still advocated love and respect for the one with whom he disagreed.[1] Don’t shy from giving the truth as you understand it. But don’t shy from loving the one who understands it differently. 

---

[1]There is still a place for separation. Different persuasions ought to assemble around their persuasion. For the sake of unity and peace, remaining separate is necessary. But even in the separation, we may have genuine care and concern for others.

To my readers:
First of all, thank you! It is a great joy to me to know you read the thoughts and lessons God has given me in His word. Secondly, I would love to hear from you. Please feel free to leave comments.

For this and more than 4600 earlier Daily Visits with God visit https://mckenzie-visit-with-god.blogspot.com. There you will find daily visits going back to 2006.

If you have been blessed by this blog, please subscribe to my feed and share it with others.

For more resources from Pastor Marvin McKenzie visit http://puyallupbaptistchurch.com.

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Romans 14:6 (KJV) Soul Liberty and Truth

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Genesis 6:18 (KJV) Enjoy the Covenant

Genesis 6:18 (KJV)
But with thee will I establish my covenant; and thou shalt come into the ark, thou, and thy sons, and thy wife, and thy sons’ wives with thee.

We find here the first mention in the Bible of a covenant. I notice:

That it is God’s possession
“My covenant.” It wasn’t Noah’s or his wife’s or his sons’. It was God’s covenant.

That it is God’s doing
“I will establish.” This wasn’t the result of Noah’s righteousness, his work in building the ark or his faithfulness in preaching. This was God’s doing.

That it is God’s progression 
We know that this covenant passes not to all his sons, but to one. And through him to very specific persons. Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, then David and finally to Jesus.

That it is ultimately about Jesus 
The covenant was never about what people might do but about what God would do. Multiple generations come and go. Good people whose names are significant enter into the narrative:

• Joseph
• Moses
• Joshua
• Later
• Solomon 
• Daniel

But these men, though shining examples in many respects are merely enjoyers of the covenant. 

Thank God you and I can enjoy the covenant of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ. 

To my readers:
First of all, thank you! It is a great joy to me to know you read the thoughts and lessons God has given me in His word. Secondly, I would love to hear from you. Please feel free to leave comments.

For this and more than 4600 earlier Daily Visits with God visit https://mckenzie-visit-with-god.blogspot.com. There you will find daily visits going back to 2006.

If you have been blessed by this blog, please subscribe to my feed and share it with others.

For more resources from Pastor Marvin McKenzie visit http://puyallupbaptistchurch.com.

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Genesis 6:18 (KJV) Enjoy the Covenant

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Genesis 4:1 (KJV) Children, from the Lord

Genesis 4:1 (KJV)
And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the LORD.

Here is the record of the first child born into this world. More importantly, it is the record of the first child born with the sin nature. Eve’s reaction to this birth was, “I have gotten a man from the Lord,” that her son was from the Lord is:

A theological truth
And a universal one as well. There is no such thing as a child born from the devil or even from the nature of the flesh. Though conception and birth are natural, it is because God made it so. 

A particular truth 
There have been a handful of births that supersede the universal nature of childbirth: Isaac’s conception was supernatural, miraculous. There are indications that the same was true of Esau and Jacob, Moses’s parents saw in Him something more than a typical child.  The conception of John the Baptist was certainly from the Lord. That the conception of Christ was miraculous and from the Lord is foundational to every truth in the Word of God. If that isn’t true nothing about the Judeo-Christian faith is true. 

In the case of Eve, her reaction was also
Wishful thinking 
I imagine every parent hopes their child will grow to be a reputable, honest, hardworking person. We would almost all wish our children to be moral, good, and successful. In a way, we wish our children to be our saviors. We wish them to redeem our family, to be better than we have been. We hope our kids will lift the family that follows to levels higher than we could provide them. 

It didn’t happen with Cain, did it? 

The lesson? Love your kids. Raise them in the nurture and the admonition of the Lord. Thank God for your kids. But don’t worship your kids. That belongs to God alone. 

To my readers:
First of all, thank you! It is a great joy to me to know you read the thoughts and lessons God has given me in His word. Secondly, I would love to hear from you. Please feel free to leave comments.

For this and more than 4500 earlier Daily Visits with God visit https://mckenzie-visit-with-god.blogspot.com. There you will find daily visits going back to 2006.

If you have been blessed by this blog, please subscribe to my feed and share it with others.

For more resources from Pastor Marvin McKenzie visit http://puyallupbaptistchurch.com.

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Genesis 4:1 (KJV) Children, from the Lord

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Please consider helping our church’s teen department by signing up for cash back shopping at http://www.dubli.com/M04VB. This program has three levels of participation, the first being completely free.

Genesis 3:6 (KJV) She Took

Genesis 3:6 (KJV)
And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.

It would be an error to say that the word “took” is always negative. In obedience to the Lord, Joseph took the young child, Jesus, and His mother and went to Egypt. On the other hand, it is evident that, in this case, Eve took of this fruit in disobedience. The word itself speaks of willfulness. Among the definitions the Brown Driver Briggs Dictionary gives for the Hebrews word in this passage is:

• To capture
• To seize
• To take away

Picture Eve here. She stopped to reason with the serpent, and he won. Being deceived, she entertained a notion God had undeniably forbidden her. And she took. 

• She seized what was not hers
• She laid hold of what she was forbidden, and in doing so,
• She took away what God had promised the two of them 

We live in a world filled with takers.

• Some take without giving
• Some take what is not theirs to take
• Some take believing they deserve to have it
• Some take the life of another without compassion

What we need right now is a world full of givers yes, but also a world filled with people who will receive as God gives and rejoice in it.

To my readers:
First of all, thank you! It is a great joy to me to know you read the thoughts and lessons God has given me in His word. Secondly, I would love to hear from you. Please feel free to leave comments.

For this and more than 4500 earlier Daily Visits with God visit https://mckenzie-visit-with-god.blogspot.com. There you will find daily visits going back to 2006.

If you have been blessed by this blog, please subscribe to my feed and share it with others.

For more resources from Pastor Marvin McKenzie visit http://puyallupbaptistchurch.com.

My books are available at:
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My author Page for Kindle/Amazon
http://www.amazon.com/author/marvinmckenzie

Genesis 3:6 (KJV) She Took

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Please consider helping our church’s teen department by signing up for cash back shopping at http://www.dubli.com/M04VB. This program has three levels of participation, the first being completely free.