January 16, 2021 – I'm Following Jesus

King James Bible Study – “And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.” – Mark 8:34

Date: Saturday, January 16, 2021
Chapters: Genesis 12-15
Message: It Is God’s Plan

Hello My Friend,

As wicked as the entire world is getting is seems as though very few believe in God anymore and it is all gone to Satan. The truth is, there many who do believe in God, just look at how many religions there are that reference God, and even Jesus. The sad truth is, most of those cannot comprehend that receiving Jesus as your Saviour is the only thing necessary for your soul to be saved from hell once you die, and that includes those who do accept that you do need Jesus for your salvation. The number one reason for their doubt is that the believe the people of Old Testament times were saved by their works, and therefore, it cannot be as simple as calling upon the name of the LORD to save you. Well, salvation has always been the same, by grace through our faith in the LORD, [John 8:55-56 Yet ye have not known him; but I know him: and if I should say, I know him not, I shall be a liar like unto you: but I know him, and keep his saying. 56 Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it, and was glad.]

[Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day:] I want you to keep in mind, and maybe this will help you understand it better, even though believers did not physically see or know His name as Jesus, He has always been present. Any time you see LORD written in all caps, this is actually Jesus. As we read through the Old Testament with that mindset it makes more sense. We just finished reading how Job was blessed by God with twice as much as he lost after he suffered for about a year, no thanks to Satan. Now, we come to Abram, whom God would establish a covenant with that would prove to all the world that there is only one living God who blesses those who call upon the name of the LORD.

[Genesis 12:1-2,4-5,7-8 Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee: 2 And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: 4 So Abram departed, as the LORD had spoken unto him; and Lot went with him: and Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran. 5 And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother’s son, and all their substance that they had gathered, and the souls that they had gotten in Haran; and they went forth to go into the land of Canaan; and into the land of Canaan they came. 7 And the LORD appeared unto Abram, and said, Unto thy seed will I give this land: and there builded he an altar unto the LORD, who appeared unto him. 8 And he removed from thence unto a mountain on the east of Bethel, and pitched his tent, having Bethel on the west, and Hai on the east: and there he builded an altar unto the LORD, and called upon the name of the LORD.]

[and Lot went with him:] Okay, do you see where Abram messed up already? God told him to leave his kin. The only person he was supposed to take with him was his wife. [and called upon the name of the LORD.] It was right here actually that Abraham was saved, just as if he called upon Jesus to save Him as we do today. Our salvation has never been about our works, it has always been about our faith in the LORD. Of course, our faith in Him will lead us to obey His commands, but we must call upon the LORD to be saved, [Romans 10:4,13 For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth. 13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.]

I want to make a quick note that the reason why Lord is not in all caps at this time is because now we know the LORD is Jesus. Of course, there is something else that we need to understand when we get saved, God is going to test our faith (He already knows, He is just making it known to ourselves). Some time had passed, and a famine had hit the land of Canaan, Abram decided to leave for a while, and ended up in Egypt, of all places.

[Genesis 12:10-13,16-19 And there was a famine in the land: and Abram went down into Egypt to sojourn there; for the famine was grievous in the land. 11 And it came to pass, when he was come near to enter into Egypt, that he said unto Sarai his wife, Behold now, I know that thou art a fair woman to look upon: 12 Therefore it shall come to pass, when the Egyptians shall see thee, that they shall say, This is his wife: and they will kill me, but they will save thee alive. 13 Say, I pray thee, thou art my sister: that it may be well with me for thy sake; and my soul shall live because of thee. 16 And he entreated Abram well for her sake: and he had sheep, and oxen, and he asses, and menservants, and maidservants, and she asses, and camels. 17 And the LORD plagued Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai Abram’s wife. 18 And Pharaoh called Abram, and said, What is this that thou hast done unto me? why didst thou not tell me that she was thy wife? 19 Why saidst thou, She is my sister? so I might have taken her to me to wife: now therefore behold thy wife, take her, and go thy way.]

[tAnd he entreated Abram well for her sake:] Do you see where he messed up? Instead of asking God what to do they traveled and decided to stay in Egypt, but here was the thing, they were eyeing his wife, and would have taken her because she was the only reason why they let them stay there. [And the LORD plagued Pharaoh] Another proof that we are not saved by our works is the fact that we mess up every day, and yet, God protects His people and actually does intervene to keep them from suffering more than they are able, [I Corinthians 10:13 There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.]

Now, it is important to understand that while salvation has not nor ever has been about our works, it is the works that we do, meaning our obedience to Him that brings he greatest blessings. God will not give us what He has promised until we are in His will. Remember, God commanded Abram to leave his family, but he took Lot with him. Lot even went down with them to Egypt, but now it was time for them to separate.

[Genesis 13:1,4,7-11,13 And Abram went up out of Egypt, he, and his wife, and all that he had, and Lot with him, into the south. 4 Unto the place of the altar, which he had made there at the first: and there Abram called on the name of the LORD. 7 And there was a strife between the herdmen of Abram’s cattle and the herdmen of Lot’s cattle: and the Canaanite and the Perizzite dwelled then in the land. 8 And Abram said unto Lot, Let there be no strife, I pray thee, between me and thee, and between my herdmen and thy herdmen; for we be brethren. 9 Is not the whole land before thee? separate thyself, I pray thee, from me: if thou wilt take the left hand, then I will go to the right; or if thou depart to the right hand, then I will go to the left. 10 And Lot lifted up his eyes, and beheld all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered every where, before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, even as the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt, as thou comest unto Zoar. 11 Then Lot chose him all the plain of Jordan; and Lot journeyed east: and they separated themselves the one from the other. 13 But the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the LORD exceedingly.]

[were wicked and sinners before the LORD exceedingly.] Do you see what I mean about there being two kinds of evil, natural and wicked? Wicked evil is all Satan, and while we are all sinners, the wicked are reprobates, they will never call upon the LORD, [Romans 1:28 And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient;]

[Then Lot chose him all the plain of Jordan;] And do you see why God wanted Abram to be separated from Lot? While Lot was well aware of God’s blessings, his faith was no further than his sight. You know, when God first told Abram what His plans were, He did not reveal everything, but as soon as they separated, that was God showed him everything, [Genesis 13:14-16,18 And the LORD said unto Abram, after that Lot was separated from him, Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward: 15 For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever. 16 And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth: so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then shall thy seed also be numbered. 18 Then Abram removed his tent, and came and dwelt in the plain of Mamre, which is in Hebron, and built there an altar unto the LORD.]

[after that Lot was separated from him,] While God does often separate us from family and friends because of their faith, that does not mean He does not give us the opportunity to love them, care for them, and show them Christ through their trials. Lot probably thought that God blessed him with that beautiful land, he soon found out that that land was no blessing from God, it was so bad that he built on land that was away from it. He ended up being captured during a war. Abram, hearing of this, and being the nobleman that he was, gathered his army together to go after them, and was successful at retrieving them.

[Genesis 14:17-23 And the king of Sodom went out to meet him after his return from the slaughter of Chedorlaomer, and of the kings that were with him, at the valley of Shaveh, which is the king’s dale. 18 And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine: and he was the priest of the most high God. 19 And he blessed him, and said, Blessed be Abram of the most high God, possessor of heaven and earth: 20 And blessed be the most high God, which hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand. And he gave him tithes of all. 21 And the king of Sodom said unto Abram, Give me the persons, and take the goods to thyself. 22 And Abram said to the king of Sodom, I have lift up mine hand unto the LORD, the most high God, the possessor of heaven and earth, 23 That I will not take from a thread even to a shoelatchet, and that I will not take any thing that is thine, lest thou shouldest say, I have made Abram rich:]

[Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine:] Melchizedek, king of Salem, later called Jerusalem, was a type of Christ in his kingly and priestly offices, who is both King and Priest upon His throne, [Hebrews 5:5-6 So also Christ glorified not himself to be made an high priest; but he that said unto him, Thou art my Son, to day have I begotten thee. 6 As he saith also in another place, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec.]

[lest thou shouldest say, I have made Abram rich:] Abraham did not want the king going around saying that the riches he was about to receive came from him, as they had already begun. When we trust God and His promises, we will receive them, and we dare not trust the world’s riches because they always have an agenda. Now, after all that, God reassures and reconfirms His covenant with Abraham.

[Genesis 15:1-6 After these things the word of the LORD came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward. 2 And Abram said, Lord GOD, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless, and the steward of my house is this Eliezer of Damascus? 3 And Abram said, Behold, to me thou hast given no seed: and, lo, one born in my house is mine heir. 4 And, behold, the word of the LORD came unto him, saying, This shall not be thine heir; but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir. 5 And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be. 6 And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness.]

[and he counted it to him for righteousness.] Here is further proof that Abraham was saved by grace and not of works. Again, salvation has never been about our works, it has been about believing in, accepting and calling upon the LORD. And just is case we need further proof of that, much of what we read in the Old Testament is reconfirmed in the New, [Romans 4:3 For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.]

Remember, God knows everything about us, in fact, even before we are born, God already knew all the crazy things we would do, when we would get saved, and even what we are doing today. While God did show Abraham what he was getting, He also showed him something else, a grim future for his generations to come, [Genesis 15:12-16 And when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and, lo, an horror of great darkness fell upon him. 13 And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years; 14 And also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge: and afterward shall they come out with great substance. 15 And thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace; thou shalt be buried in a good old age. 16 But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again: for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full.]

[But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again:] Go had already foretold to Abram that his future generations would end up in Egypt, becoming enslaved to them for four hundred years, and that He would also judge Egypt before they were set free. We may not like it, but our lives are already planned out by God Himself, we are possessed in His reins, fully knowing what we are capable of, and yet, He still loves us and gave His life for us. It is how we react to life that makes things easier or harder, [Psalms 139:13-17 For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother’s womb. 14 I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well. 15 My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. 16 Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them. 17 How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! how great is the sum of them!]

Jesus Christ Magnified: [Genesis 14:18 And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine: and he was the priest of the most high God.]

Today’s Prayer: God, It is amazing how much You bless us just by receiving Your Son as our Saviour, but what You do after we are saved is hard to comprehend sometimes as You tell us to follow You by faith, and yet it is all planned out. The paths You lead us down are often unknown and quite scary sometimes, but with faith and faithfulness, we not only live a blessed life, we live a prosperous life, one that leads to the promise land. Lord, lead us and guide us, give us Your power and strength to walk by faith and remain faithful, even when we mess things up. I ask these things in Your name, Jesus, Amen.

God Bless You, I am praying for you,

Christina

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