Rants 11 January 2013 Matthew 4:18-25; Acts 5:17-42; Psalm 9; Genesis 16-17
feels as though he has left so little to follow Christ, wonders how much he’s willing to leave to follow Christ. Mat 4:20&22 @WeeManWest
believes that men need to spend more time listening to God than to anything else as we wait for God’s timing. Gen 16:2 @WeeManWest
Matthew 4:20 & Matthew 4:22 Jesus called His disciples and they each had to leave something to follow Him. What are we willing to leave in order to be obedient?
Acts 5:28 The Jewish leaders were concerned about being found guilty of the blood of Christ. Maybe they knew their guilt and hence persecuted the church to keep it quiet. I am drawing from this that some may have been very well aware of the reality of who Jesus is.
Acts 5:33 How sad a state it is for one to be found that even the very Gospel of their deliverance drives them to rage and murderous intentions.
Acts 5:39 What wisdom to see that God’s hand may very well be in the events of the early church. Yet, it was unheaded wisdom. How often have we, through our pride or selfishness, stood directly in the path of what God was trying to do?
Acts 5:41 The disciples rejoiced because they were considered worthy enough to suffer for the Gospel. What does that say about the church today?
Psalm 9:7-8 God is always on His throne. He is in control. He will be the final judge of this world. We can trust that in the end He will make things right. No matter the difficulty or trouble of our circumstance, He will be the final judge.
Psalm 9:18 We need to understand that we are indeed needy before God. Our spiritual poverty is the greatest prison in which we reside.
Genesis 16:2 Abram, the man of faith, is tempted as Adam was tempted. His wife comes to him with a solution to their problem. A solution that will not require them to wait around in dependence on God. Why not just use the means at you disposal, the plans you’ve imagined, to make things happen on your own schedule? Why should they continue to wait around for God’s schedule when it is apparent to them that Sarai is the problem.
We seek our own human, fast, solutions when God has told us simply to wait for His timing. Abram listened to the voice of Sarai. He gave in. Satan seems often to attack the woman, for she is the quickest path to perverting the heart of a man.
Genesis 16:9 The angel of the LORD finds Hagar as she is afflicted and driven to the wilderness. Christ will always find us in the wilderness if we are willing that He come into our lives.
Genesis 16:13 God sees. Isn’t this such a comforting thought in the midst of our afflictions? God sees our afflictions. In our every affliction we must look to Christ. Instead, we look to the world and its ways and methods for our deliverance.
Genesis 17:11-13 God institutes circumcision. Such is a picture of what God desires to do in our hearts. God desires to circumcise our hearts so that they will be tender and receptive to Him. Circumcision is to occur on the 8th day, which is the 1st day of a new week. 8 is the number of new beginnings. Circumcision is to be an 8th day thing.
Some believe the 8th day is significant for other reasons. They believe that Adam and Eve sinned on their first day in Eden, which would have been the 7th day. Thus the 8th day was inaugurated with the sacrifice that gave them new clothing.
We are a new creation in Christ Jesus, hence a new beginning, the 8th day for our life.
All of God’s covenants have accompanying signs. God’s covenant with Abraham had circumcision as its sign.
Genesis 17:5 & Genesis 17:15 God adds an “h” or the Hebrew letter “hey” which is considered a breath. Some say this passage, this renaming, is God breathing into the lives of Abraham and Sarah. Even in the Hebrew, the one letter makes a difference in the meaning of their names.
Abram meant exalted father while Abraham means father of a multitude. Sarai meant princess while Sarah means noble woman.
God’s word makes a difference in this world. It’s what we learn in Genesis 1 with the Creation story. It’s what we learn in every story of the Bible.
Radical Ranting Patriot 
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