Daily Devotions – A Moment For The Master

 January 10, 2023 
 Daily Reading – Genesis 21 – 23 / Matthew 7

 GOD’S WORD:

Genesis 21:1-2 And the LORD visited Sarah as he had said, and the LORD did unto Sarah as he had spoken. For Sarah conceived, and bare Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time of which God had spoken to him.

GETTING INTO GOD’S WORD:

    All of us have done it at one time or another. Broken a promise. Not because we wanted to or planned to. However, things come up, situations arise, and the next thing you know, the promise you made has been broken. Maybe you promised to be on time for an event. Then, a flat tire, a train, or an alarm clock that will never work again after you have thrown it across the room one to many times, and now you are late. Promise broken. If it happens too often, people begin to lose faith in you. Your promise means nothing.

    Man often measures God by our own earthly abilities. God says something and man wonders if He will keep His promise. Sarah and Abraham were promised a child in their old age. Not just a child, a male child. Not someday, but at a time pre-set by God. They both laughed. That was until the promises came true exactly as God had said. In our verses today it says, “…the LORD did unto Sarah as he had spoken.” & “…at the set time of which God had spoken to him.” Now Sarah and Abraham realized, never doubt God’s promises. In the next chapter, the Lord tests Abraham to see if he believes Him or not. He has promised Abraham that his son Isaac will be a great nation. Now God asks Abraham to sacrifice him. Abraham prepares to do just that. Why? Well, God has promised his son would become a great nation. Abraham believes God will keep his promise so he would have to bring Isaac back to life. 

GETTING GOD’S WORD INTO ME:

  There is a difference between the promises of man and of God. With man, unknown variables may change the outcome. With God there are never any unknown variables. 

When reading God’s Word and you run across His promise, is there really any question if it will happen?

Living In His Word Ministries
       “Getting people into the Word of God…
                               … and the Word of God into people.”

Dr. Franklin J. Senters Th.D.
Founder and Executive Director
Hebrews 2:12

 January 09, 2023
 Daily Reading – Genesis 18 – 20 / Matthew 6:16-34

 GOD’S WORD:

Genesis 18:14 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.

GETTING INTO GOD’S WORD:

    Isn’t it amazing what little children see in their parents. Little boys especially will argue that their daddy is able to do superhuman feats. This hero in their eyes can outrun, out jump, out fight, out climb, and just out-and-out do anything better that anyone else’s daddy. Even if their daddy is five foot nothing and weighs a total of one hundred pounds soaking wet, and the opponent’s daddy is ginormous, it did not matter. Little children want to believe their daddy is the best. As they grow older and the reality that their daddy may not be the best at everything, respect for who he is and what he does, should replace that childhood fantasy. Parents should always be special in the eyes of their children. Honor thy father and mother.

    However, if you are a child of God, then your Heavenly Father can do anything. Anything that He decides is worthy of doing. God told Abraham and Sarah that they were going to have a son in their old age. They both laughed at the idea. Abraham in Genesis 17:17 and Sarah laughed in Genesis 18:12. Yet God reminds them that He is God. In Genesis 18:14 He asks a rhetorical question; “Is any thing too hard for the LORD?” It might be good for us to be reminded from time to time during our toughest trials or our greatest temptations in life, just who our heavenly Father is. When it comes to a question of Power, Your Heavenly Father has all that is necessary. 

GETTING GOD’S WORD INTO ME:

  Jesus reminded us of this same truth in Matthew 28:18 “…All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.” Yup, if we as the children of God need help, we have a reliable source in our Heavenly Father. 

Is there anywhere else we could get better help?

Living In His Word Ministries
       “Getting people into the Word of God…
                               … and the Word of God into people.”

Dr. Franklin J. Senters Th.D.
Founder and Executive Director
Hebrews 2:12

January 06, 2023
Daily Reading – Genesis 12 – 14 / Matthew 5

GOD’S WORD:

Genesis 12:2-3 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: 3 And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed..

GETTING INTO GOD’S WORD:

  As a child it is easy to think that at times our parents might not love us. When we have directly disobeyed what they had told us to do, we might think they cannot love me now. Maybe when we had been reckless in life, and our recklessness destroyed something they cherished. It is easy to believe, surly they do not love me for this. It may have been when we were not so kind to one of our siblings or talked back to them that we began to think, I am sure they hate me. This is often how a child begins to become discouraged, thinking real love is tied only to actions. While it may be true that a parent is angry with a child for what they have done, real love is much deeper than a moment in time. A punishment for an action is to help someone understand the seriousness of the situation. During the punishment it may feel as if they do not love them, but it is because of love the parent tries to help a child grown and learn. Love has not been destroyed.

    We have seen God’s creation so disobedient in only eleven chapters, yet God loved them. Man was reckless with God’s perfect design; He still loved them. God has always loved us and had a solution for our sin. That solution is the promised Messiah, Jesus. God tells Abram; “…in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.” It is through the lineage of Abram, Jesus comes to us. God has never stopped loving man, nor ever stopped trying to mend our relationship with Him. 

GETTING GOD’S WORD INTO ME:

     Still today, Jesus is the answer for the world. There will never be another solution or another way. We do not need another solution; we need to have faith in God’s solution for sin.

Why would we search for another way when
the creator of humanity has made a way?

Living In His Word Ministries
       “Getting people into the Word of God…
                               … and the Word of God into people.”

Dr. Franklin J. Senters Th.D.
Founder and Executive Director
Hebrews 2:12

January 05, 2023
Daily Reading – Genesis 9 – 11 / Matthew 4

GOD’S WORD:

Genesis 11:4 And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.

GETTING INTO GOD’S WORD:

    If you ever have an opportunity to get around little children who are about the same age and know one another well, you will see the truth of scripture played out before your very eyes. Once they have the awareness of things, they also have the awareness of others having those things and they want them. Once they have them in their hands, they gain a sense of ownership. They will parade them around the room so everyone can see that they have it. That is until they see the next great trinket. Then, when they lay the first item down to go for the next, if someone goes for the first item, they have a fit. Scream and cry, “It is mine, I had it first.” When truly they did not, they had it last. Selfishness sneaks in and shows up very early in life.

    It was selfishness in Genesis 11 that caused man to violate God’s original command. God told man in Genesis 9:1 “…Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth.” However, time and selfish motives caused man to forget God’s desire and to go for their own. In today’s verse it says, “…let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.” The selfish desire of man said, if we can make a name for ourselves, everyone will see how great we are and want to come to us. Selfishness seeks the glorifying man and what we see as mine. When the truth is, everything belongs to God. He really had it first. 

GETTING GOD’S WORD INTO ME:

  The only way for us to keep that silly selfishness from taking root in our own life, is to keep our eyes focused on Christ. He is the one who said He would supply for our every need. 

As we examine our own lives, can we see any selfishness sneaking in?

Living In His Word Ministries
       “Getting people into the Word of God…
                               … and the Word of God into people.”

Dr. Franklin J. Senters Th.D.
Founder and Executive Director
Hebrews 2:12

GOD’S WORD:

Genesis 6:5 And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.

GETTING INTO GOD’S WORD:

    I have seen many who wear as artwork in their jewelry or as a sticker on their tablets or laptops the “yin and yang” symbol. It looks like two commas, one black and the other white, facing each other and forming a circle. Inside the white section is a black dot, and inside the black section is a white dot. This symbol comes from old Chinese philosophy but has been adapted recently by the New Age thinking. The basic idea is that there are complimentary opposites for everything. Hot/Cold, Male/Female, Up/Down, Light/Dark, etc. The dots inside the shapes imply that inside of every evil, (the black space) there is a little good, (the white dot) and inside every good, (the white space) there is a little evil, (the black dot). The Bible however leads us to understand the saturation of sin in man is complete.

    Without Christ in our life, the imaginations of the heart of man are evil continually. Romans 3:10-12 says, “As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.” While we want to believe the heart of man is basically kind, the truth is in Jeremiah 17:9 it says, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” Sin Saturates the heart of all man. 

GETTING GOD’S WORD INTO ME:

  If the Yin and Yang symbol could ever resemble any real truth, a person would have to be saved first. Then, with Christ inside, there is good in the heart of man. Even so, that goodness is never man, it is God in man. 

Is there good in you?
If so, where do you think it came from?

Living In His Word Ministries
       “Getting people into the Word of God…
                               … and the Word of God into people.”

Dr. Franklin J. Senters Th.D.
Founder and Executive Director
Hebrews 2:12