buildingbodies4christ

building on the foundation of Jesus Christ

Archive for the tag “Bible”

01 Jan 2025

A Story to Tell

Happy New Year! New year, new challenges, new mercies. I don’t know what this year will bring. My prayer is Jesus will be made known throughout my community, my state, the nation and the world. A big prayer ask, but one God can fulfill in His time and in His way. He’s proved it over and over that He can do the impossible.

Recently, I was reminded of the importance of handing down the story to the next generation. God promised Abraham his offspring would one day own the land in which he had walked (Genesis 12:7). At that time, Abraham had no children and the prospects of a child were fading. But Abraham was told he would have children as numerous as the grains of sand or the stars in the sky (Genesis 15:5; 22:17).

Children were born to Abraham as was promised. The promised child, Isaac, came by a supernatural gift as both Abraham and Sarah were old. At just the right time, Isaac was born and the promise was handed down to him.

The Lord appeared to Isaac and said, “Do not go down to Egypt, live in the land where I tell you to live. Stay in this land for a while, and I will be with you and will bless you. For to you and your descendants I will give all these lands and will confirm the oath I swore to your father Abrahm. I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and will give them all these lands, and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed.” (Genesis 26:2-4)

Isaac had two sons, Esau and Jacob. Jacob was the one chosen to continue the line of the promise.

There above it stood the LORD and he said: “I am the LORD, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your descendants the land on which you are lying. Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south. All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring. I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.” Genesis 28:13-15

There is so much that happens to Jacob, but the promise remains. Eventually, Jacob has to go to Egypt because of a famine. But God prepared a place for Jacob and the family through his son Joseph.

“I am God, the God of your father,” he said. “Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for I will make you into a great nation there. I will go down to Egypt with you, and I will surely bring you back again. And Joseph’s own hand will close your eyes.”  Genesis 46:3-4

Jacob died in Egypt and his sons buried him in the land in which one day his offspring would inherit. However, the family stayed in Egypt and multiplied according to God’s word to them. Jacob went down to Egypt with a family of seventy in all. When Jacob’s son Joseph died, he remembered the promise and gave the instructions to his family about the promise.

Then Joseph said to his brothers, “I am about to die. But God will surely come to your aid and take you up out of this land to the land he promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.” And Joseph made the sons of Israel (Jacob) swear on oath and said, “God will surely come to your aid, and then you must carry my bones up from this place.” Genesis 50:24-25

Jacob’s family stayed in the land for 430 years. They multiplied and became a threat to the Egyptians who eventually enslaved them. When the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob finally had enough, they cried out to the Lord for deliverance. And God heard their cry and sent Moses to the rescue.

Through miraculous signs and wonders, God delivered them.

Now the length of time the Israelite people lived in Egypt was 430 years. At the end of the 430 years, to the very day, all the Lords’ divisions left Egypt. Exodus 12:40-41

And Moses remembered the oath to Joseph.

Moses took the bones of Joseph with him because Joseph had made the sons of Israel swear an oath. Exodus 13:19

The story was passed down for 430 years. Someone was faithful to tell it to each generation. I was reminded again; if not for the Bible, would we know the story too? Or would we even know this Jesus who was ultimately the Promised One through Abraham’s descendants that would eventually come to be our deliverer? What a story! But would those who came before us have been as faithful to tell it?

For 2000 years, we have waited for another promise to come to fulfillment. Scripture tells us many times Jesus will one day return. Are we faithfully telling the story to the next generation?

I look at our society in this time and see a generation who is lost and searching for something to believe in. They are looking for hope. They are searching for truth. And we have this story that changes lives and gives hope, peace, joy and love. There is nothing like it. God is faithful to His promises. He is trustworthy and true.

My prayer for this year, is a pouring out of the Holy Spirit upon this generation to know Jesus and to give them the same hope of a coming Jesus who will give us this gift of salvation and deliverance once and for all. Let’s be faithful to tell the old, old story. May God bless us and have His face shine upon us and to the generations to come as we wait on His second coming.

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10 Dec 2014

The Yuck Factor

If you had asked me at some point in the last week or so whether I was a clean person – meaning that I am a neat freak – I would say yes and no. I don’t like clutter. I believe in keeping my house clean, but I am not fanatic about it. I will get into a real cleaning mode at some point within the year and get into those dark places. Recently, I had one of those moods to clean. I started the cleaning spell one Saturday morning when I knew I needed to flip the mattress. I took off the mattress cover and gave it a wash. I even gave the dust ruffle a fluff in the dryer. I was stopped in the middle of the cleaning though to meet a friend for lunch. Like everything else when interrupted, the momentum stopped; the cleaning spell was gone. Until Sunday.

I don’t normally do much on Sunday. But I do cook. The afternoon was sort of overcast, and it was a little dark in the kitchen. With the cooking done and the cleanup now at hand, I started to clean up the dishes that I piled in the sink. I was too lazy to walk over and flip on the overhead kitchen light, so I flipped on the overhead sink light instead. I usually don’t use this light. The overhead kitchen light is usually sufficient and normally on when I am cooking. With this new light shining in the sink, I was shocked to see what is usually hidden by the dimmer kitchen light. There was a “yuck” factor as soon as I looked down. I thought I kept my kitchen sink in good condition. But this light brought out something that was hidden to my eyes. And the cleaning began once again!

I say all that to say, that’s what the Bible does for me as well. The Bible to me is a light to show me “the yuck factor” in my life. Sometimes though, I really don’t see the yuck until Jesus shines a light into that dark place which has been hidden from me. I have been praying recently for my spiritual blindness to be revealed. And the light has been shining in those dark places. I love the song “Amazing Grace” but I have always thought that the “wretch” in the song was only the songwriter’s dirtiness. The songwriter knew his sins of selling slaves as one of complete wretchedness. He saw his sins as God saw them. Yet, when I sing that song, I don’t see my own wretchedness. Sure I am a sinner – aren’t we all? But are we wretched? Is my sin as bad as selling slaves? Or even murder? To God, all sins are wretched. We all fall short of God’s glory as Paul wrote in Romans 3. It’s not until we truly see as God sees that we see the sin in our hearts as wretched.

Our deeds are even filthiness in God’s sight. So how in the world can God look upon us in our filthiness? If you are in Christ, you know the answer. Through Jesus. He is the only thing good in us. I may not see the wretchedness, but God sees all things. It’s by His grace and mercy that He covers that sin and shame with the love of Jesus. Jesus died so that we could live a new life of righteousness. Not by our works; not by what we can accomplish, but what was accomplished through Jesus. As I contemplate my blindness and my dirtiness, Jesus says He has made me clean. The dirt in the corners will be brought into the light so that He can provide a good reflection for all to see. If we are living right with Him, His light will shine through us so that God will get all the glory for the new heart and new life that is now present. He will make everything new.

It’s nothing like the shiny reflection of a new kitchen sink! When the scrubbing has to be done to get the sink back to a good reflection, it’s going to take a little elbow grease. It’s going to take a few pangs along the way. But it’s worth the cost when the reflection is back. It’s a constant battle to keep the grime from building up. But with the Word of God shining the light, the pain is worth it to keep the yuck factor away!

For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires. Nothing in all creation is hidden from God. Everything is naked and exposed before his eyes, and he is the one to whom we are accountable. Hebrews 4:12-13 (NLT)

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