KJB Daily Devotion – Following Jesus Through Every Chapter
Date: Tuesday, January 17, 2017
Chapters: Genesis 16-18
Message: Faith, Trust, And Patience
Hello My Friend,
Visions, we all have them, many fade with time, but there are a few that remain with us forever, these kinds of visions are not just some idea we get that, unless we are living a sinful life, they are from God. When God gives us a vision there is an excitement like no other, it is as if you know you cannot go wrong. Now, God’s visions are not something that we can achieve on our own, these are something that, with faith, trust, and patience only He can achieve. “Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass. And he shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light, and thy judgment as the noonday. Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for him: fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass.” – Psalms 37:4-7.
I use to think that I was a pretty patient person, but the more I walk with Christ and the older I get I find that I am not very patient at all. As Christians, we get the faith part down pretty good, it is the patience that we have a hard time with. At the age of seventy-five, God promised Abram that He would make him a father of so many that it would be like trying to count the stars in the sky. Now, here he is, twelve years later, and still no son, while he had the utmost faith in God, he could not help, but wonder where the promise would come from. Seeing his distraught, his wife, now in her seventies, came up with an idea for him to have a son.
“Now Sarai Abram’s wife bare him no children: and she had an handmaid, an Egyptian, whose name was Hagar. And Sarai said unto Abram, Behold now, the LORD hath restrained me from bearing: I pray thee, go in unto my maid; it may be that I may obtain children by her. And Abram hearkened to the voice of Sarai. And Sarai Abram’s wife took Hagar her maid the Egyptian, after Abram had dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan, and gave her to her husband Abram to be his wife. And he went in unto Hagar, and she conceived: and when she saw that she had conceived, her mistress was despised in her eyes. 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.” – Genesis 16:1-5.
“the LORD judge between me and thee.” You see, God was judging her, He did not need her to help Him along, He knew what He was doing and why He was making them wait for just the right time. This is why we hinder God, there are some things that we are destined to receive from God, but we prolong Him by trying to help Him out. Stop trying to help God out, the only thing He wants is your faith, trust, and patience, those three things will not only keep us from hindering God, it will also put us on on the path we need to be on. Now, after that fiasco, and what led to Ishmael and the Muslim nation we know today, God waited until Abram was ninety-nine until He came to him, reminding him that he would have a son, and Sarai would bare him.
“And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the LORD appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect. And I will make my covenant between me and thee, and will multiply thee exceedingly. And Abram fell on his face: and God talked with him, saying, As for me, behold, my covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be a father of many nations. Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham; for a father of many nations have I made thee. And I will make thee exceeding fruitful, and I will make nations of thee, and kings shall come out of thee. And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee. And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.” – Genesis 17:1-8.
“And I will make my covenant between me and thee,” God makes things happen, it may take days, weeks, months, or like Abraham, twenty-five years, for God to do what He says, but once He makes a commitment to us, He never turns back. Abraham laughed when he heard that his eighty-nine year old wife would be pregnant, but God reminds him again of His covenant.
“Then Abraham fell upon his face, and laughed, and said in his heart, Shall a child be born unto him that is an hundred years old? and shall Sarah, that is ninety years old, bear? And Abraham said unto God, O that Ishmael might live before thee! And God said, Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed; and thou shalt call his name Isaac: and I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his seed after him. And as for Ishmael, I have heard thee: Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly; twelve princes shall he beget, and I will make him a great nation. But my covenant will I establish with Isaac, which Sarah shall bear unto thee at this set time in the next year.” – Genesis 17:17-21.
“and I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant,” Everlasting, that means whenever God commits to someone it is forever, which is why our faith in His Son alone gives us eternal life. When things look impossible to us they are possible to God. “For with God nothing shall be impossible.” – Luke 1:37.
Every time we step out of faith, trust, and patience, God takes a step back, lets us deal with the problem for a little while, then He shows up. God actually makes it look absolutely impossible. Why? To show that with Him all things are possible. As Abraham sits outside his tent trying to comprehend everything that God had said to him he gets a visit, three angels show up, and they converse with him Sarah overheard that she would be pregnant.
“And they said unto him, Where is Sarah thy wife? And he said, Behold, in the tent. And he said, I will certainly return unto thee according to the time of life; and, lo, Sarah thy wife shall have a son. And Sarah heard it in the tent door, which was behind him. Now Abraham and Sarah were old and well stricken in age; and it ceased to be with Sarah after the manner of women. Therefore Sarah laughed within herself, saying, After I am waxed old shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also? And the LORD said unto Abraham, Wherefore did Sarah laugh, saying, Shall I of a surety bear a child, which am old? Is any thing too hard for the LORD? At the time appointed I will return unto thee, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son. Then Sarah denied, saying, I laughed not; for she was afraid. And he said, Nay; but thou didst laugh.” – Genesis 18:9-15.
“Is any thing too hard for the LORD?” Sometimes we forget how big God is, what is absolutely impossible for us is always possible for God. We do not need to figure out why or how He does the things He does, and we do not have to lose sight of those visions, when He gives them to us, He will direct us and get us there no matter how many detours we take along the way. You see, He has all the patience in the world. “Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompence of reward. For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise. For yet a little while, and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry.” – Hebrews 10:35-37.
Jesus Christ Magnified: “He that is born in thy house, and he that is bought with thy money, must needs be circumcised: and my covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant. And the uncircumcised man child whose flesh of his foreskin is not circumcised, that soul shall be cut off from his people; he hath broken my covenant.” – Genesis 17:13-14. Circumcision was a visual sign that they were one of God’s people, today, the same covenant stands, only it is not in the form of removing the foreskin of flesh, rather the foreskin of the heart. “And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power: In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ:” – Colossians 2:10-11.
Today’s Prayer: God, Thank You for visions, they are the hope of every one of Your children, for truly we perish without them. Part of seeing those visions come to pass is our faith, trust, and patience with You. You know exactly when we are ready to receive the things we see, and as long as we let You do Your work we will see them much faster. Lord, lead me and guide me, give me the patience to wait for You, the strength to keep from making foolish decisions that will hinder You, and the discernment to know whether or not any decision I make is something that You approve of. I ask these things in Jesus’ name, Amen.
God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina
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