Tag: God rewards
Sunday rest and reflection
Greetings! Today is another day of rest and reflection and a time to catch up if you need to. Today, I am reflecting on what it means to seek God during our days here on earth.
Solomon built a temple for the Lord as a place where God’s people could come and seek the Lord. At the dedication of the temple, Solomon’s prayer petitioned God to let His eyes be on the temple and asked that God’s ears would be attentive to the prayers of His people. (2 Chronicles 6:20-21) God answered Solomon by appearing to him and answering his petitions. God promised that His Name would always be there and that His eyes and heart would also be there. (2 Chronicles 7:15) God warned Solomon not to forsake seeking Him and turn away to other gods.
I believe that the first thing needed to seek God is faith. Anyone who comes to God, must believe that He is. Since God is Spirit, we can not see Him with our physical eyes. So if we are seeking to contact God, we must approach Him as if He is really there and can hear and see us. God actually appeared to Solomon after he had prayed and petitioned God. As we approach God in faith, He reveals Himself to us.
We must also believe that God wants to reward us for seeking Him. (Hebrews 11:6) It wouldn’t do much good to seek out God if we did not feel that He would actually hear and understand what we needed. Our God not only understands us, but has compassion on us and loves us. He desires our highest good and wants to bless us. We understand these truths by faith through believing God’s Word. We must choose to believe because we hear the Word. The Word of God has spiritual life and power in it to bring faith to the hearts of those who hear and believe, not just listen.
It was said of Rehoboam that he did evil in the sight of the Lord because he failed to seek the Lord. (2nd Chronicles 12:14) Lord help us to seek You in all we do! In His love, Pastor John
Ancient civil disobedience
Scripture reading for January 19th: Exodus 1-2
Exodus 1:18-20 “So the king of Egypt called the midwives and said to them, “Why have you done this, and let the male children live?” The midwives said to Pharaoh, “Because the Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women, for they are vigorous and give birth before the midwife comes to them.” So God dealt well with the midwives.”
Shiphrah and Puah were ordinary Jewish women who had a job to do. As midwives, they would go to the homes of pregnant Israelite women and sit with them during labor and delivery, washing off the baby and attending to the mother and child. Pharaoh gave an order to these god-fearing women to kill all the male babies. It was a form of late-term abortion being practiced in Egypt 1500 BC.
Satan comes only to kill, steal, and destroy but God is a life-giver and life-saver! These Hebrew women knew God and feared Him more than they feared Pharaoh. They chose a path of civil disobedience that is a good model for us today. They simply ignored Pharaoh’s order and did what was right in God’s eyes. They continued to do what was right before God. They knew that abortion was murder of God’s children. God was kind to them, protected them, and He rewarded them with families of their own. If you are faithful with the little, God can give you much! ( Luke 16:10-12)
Do an inventory today of the things God has given you stewardship over. One thing is your influence and vote in our democracy. Are you voting for those who will authorize abortion? Are you giving approval to those who would perform abortions and kill off human beings made in God’s image? Do you call the politicians that are trying to enact more laws to abort children? Are you like Shiphrah and Puah, staying strong for God and protecting life whenever and wherever you can? God rewards well and is pleased with “civil disobedience” that promotes His life-giving plans.
The fear of man will prove to be a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord will be kept safe. (Proverbs 29:25)