“And Cain said to his brother, [a]Let us go out to the field. And when they were in the field, Cain rose up against Abel his brother and killed him.(A) And the Lord said to Cain, Where is Abel your brother? And he said, I do not know. Am I my brother's keeper? And [the Lord] said, What have you done? The voice of your brother's blood is crying to Me from the ground,” Genesis 4:8-10, AMP.
One of the most familiar stories in the Bible is of Cain and Abel, the first two children of Adam and Eve. Due to God’s acceptance of Abel’s offering and rejection of Cain’s, jealousy rose up in Cain against his brother. Jealousy so callously rooted, it incited him to murder. How often does that still happen today?
Crimes are committed, but yet many say that we’re ALL God’s children. Where did that come from that we’re all God’s children? “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name,” John 1:12, KJV. “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God,” Romans 8:14, KJV. “That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world,” Philippians 2:15, KJV. Notice the last scripture quoted, only the sons of God can shine as lights in the world. How can someone who rejects Him shine any kind of light? There is no light in him, only darkness. “Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not,” 1 John 3:1, KJV. So, anyone of the world does not know God, therefore, impossible to be His son.
Understanding that we’re not all God’s children, we who are His children hold an obligation of being one another’s keeper. When we see another doing well, we should not envy them. This is an opportunity to encourage. Notice what God said to Cain, “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood is crying to Me from the ground.” God knows all. When He asked Cain what he had done, He wasn’t asking because He didn’t know, He was asking because He wanted Cain to own up to what he had done. We are called to be honest about our actions. How can God forgive us if we never admit what we’ve done?
As humans, we are far from perfect, but love covers a multitude of sins (1 Peter 4:8). This means that once we begin loving one another, putting away covetousness, we can experience being perfected in love. Not that we will be become perfect, but that we are perfected. So, when someone needs a helping hand, don’t slap their hands away when you have it to give (Proverbs 3:28). Is that love? We must be willing to do His will. If God were to ask me, “Are you your brother’s keeper?” I want to answer with a pure heart, “Yes, yes I am.”
In His Name
Friday, November 27, 2009
Thursday, November 26, 2009
Giving Thanks
On this day, I offer scriptures of meditation. It marks a day set aside to congregate with family and friends to give thanks unto God. Just as many other holidays that have been streamlined into secularism, this day too has been exploited. But as Christians, we must continue to keep God at the heart of everything that we do.
As this day is primarily celebrated in the United States and Canada, let us remember to give thanks everyday for our lives and those fighting overseas. I'm sure for many it is an opportunity to eat a large meal and plop down in front of the tube for some football, but it does go deeper. Consider those less fortunate and many of which this day may be the only day all month they get a hot, nourishing meal.
As I give thanks, I praise God for life, health, and strength. He has given freely to me. He has provided me with family, food, shelter, and transportation. But most of all salvation! Truly, the best gift of all is to be saved. I love you, Lord.
Let us give thanks…
“O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good: because his mercy endureth for ever,” Psalm 118:1, KJV.
“But I will sacrifice unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay that that I have vowed. Salvation is of the LORD,” Jonah 2:9, KJV.
“Being enriched in every thing to all bountifulness, which causeth through us thanksgiving to God. For the administration of this service not only supplieth the want of the saints, but is abundant also by many thanksgivings unto God,” 2 Corinthians 9:11-12, KJV.
“Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God,” Philippians 4:6, KJV.
“As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him: Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving. Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ,” Colossians 2:6-8, KJV.
“Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving,” Colossians 4:2, KJV.
“Saying, Amen: Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honour, and power, and might, be unto our God for ever and ever. Amen,” Revelations 7:12, KJV.
As this day is primarily celebrated in the United States and Canada, let us remember to give thanks everyday for our lives and those fighting overseas. I'm sure for many it is an opportunity to eat a large meal and plop down in front of the tube for some football, but it does go deeper. Consider those less fortunate and many of which this day may be the only day all month they get a hot, nourishing meal.
As I give thanks, I praise God for life, health, and strength. He has given freely to me. He has provided me with family, food, shelter, and transportation. But most of all salvation! Truly, the best gift of all is to be saved. I love you, Lord.
Let us give thanks…
“O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good: because his mercy endureth for ever,” Psalm 118:1, KJV.
“But I will sacrifice unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay that that I have vowed. Salvation is of the LORD,” Jonah 2:9, KJV.
“Being enriched in every thing to all bountifulness, which causeth through us thanksgiving to God. For the administration of this service not only supplieth the want of the saints, but is abundant also by many thanksgivings unto God,” 2 Corinthians 9:11-12, KJV.
“Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God,” Philippians 4:6, KJV.
“As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him: Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving. Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ,” Colossians 2:6-8, KJV.
“Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving,” Colossians 4:2, KJV.
“Saying, Amen: Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honour, and power, and might, be unto our God for ever and ever. Amen,” Revelations 7:12, KJV.
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
The Protection of God
“The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? When the wicked, even mine enemies and my foes, came upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell. Though an host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear: though war should rise against me, in this will I be confident. One thing have I desired of the LORD, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to enquire in his temple. For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion: in the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me; he shall set me up upon a rock. And now shall mine head be lifted up above mine enemies round about me: therefore will I offer in his tabernacle sacrifices of joy; I will sing, yea, I will sing praises unto the LORD,” Psalm 27:1-6, AMP.
I will indeed sing praises unto the Lord! God inhabits the praises of His people (Psalm 22:3). When God inhabits, there shall He live. So, the more we praise, the closer He is. The protection of our Father I believe is felt very deeply in the lives of those who love Him. There have been times when I didn’t know what I was going to do about certain situations, or where I was going to turn, yet somehow God brought me through. In God bringing me through, this strengthened my faith evermore. My faith was already there in Him, but as He proves Himself over and over again, it continues to grow. And I live in expectation of what God is to do in the future.
In this psalm of David, the above passage imprints upon our minds the devotion God has for His children. It’s telling of how we trust in Him and of how He receives us, His children. I think of parents and children and the connection shared. There is a bond of trust that develops over the years, for most families. The child takes note of the parent’s caring ways. When food or clothing is needed, that parent makes a ways. In considering this, I am not oblivious that some have the unfortunate experience of family members who may have abandoned them. This is a case in point of why we must look to God as our example, not each other.
“The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?” It is important to be mindful that we are not to be fearful of those who can kill the body, rather the One who can destroy the body and soul in Hell (Matthew 10:28). This life is short; it doesn’t matter if you’re here one hundred years, that's still short in comparison to eternity. So, why not spend the time allotted serving God. He is the source of strength, the light that guides, and the door of salvation.
“One thing have I desired of the LORD, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to enquire in his temple.” To seek is to pursue, to race after, to actively search for. It is an opportunity of worship which ushers in the very presence of God. To behold the beauty of the Lord is to see Him for who He is. There is a reason why we aren’t to physically see the face of God until we leave this world. I consider that one reason may be so that we aren’t caught up on the outward beauty. When Jesus spoke on Earth, he stressed an emphasis on inward beauty. There wasn’t a criterion of how we must “look” to get into heaven, rather a conduct. “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal,” Matthew 6:19-20, KJV. He spoke clearly of the intangible, those things that we can’t touch, such as love. Simply put, He examines the heart. In doing that, He covers, protects, and shows favor over our lives, shielding us from dangers seen and unseen.
“For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion: in the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me; he shall set me up upon a rock.”
I will indeed sing praises unto the Lord! God inhabits the praises of His people (Psalm 22:3). When God inhabits, there shall He live. So, the more we praise, the closer He is. The protection of our Father I believe is felt very deeply in the lives of those who love Him. There have been times when I didn’t know what I was going to do about certain situations, or where I was going to turn, yet somehow God brought me through. In God bringing me through, this strengthened my faith evermore. My faith was already there in Him, but as He proves Himself over and over again, it continues to grow. And I live in expectation of what God is to do in the future.
In this psalm of David, the above passage imprints upon our minds the devotion God has for His children. It’s telling of how we trust in Him and of how He receives us, His children. I think of parents and children and the connection shared. There is a bond of trust that develops over the years, for most families. The child takes note of the parent’s caring ways. When food or clothing is needed, that parent makes a ways. In considering this, I am not oblivious that some have the unfortunate experience of family members who may have abandoned them. This is a case in point of why we must look to God as our example, not each other.
“The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?” It is important to be mindful that we are not to be fearful of those who can kill the body, rather the One who can destroy the body and soul in Hell (Matthew 10:28). This life is short; it doesn’t matter if you’re here one hundred years, that's still short in comparison to eternity. So, why not spend the time allotted serving God. He is the source of strength, the light that guides, and the door of salvation.
“One thing have I desired of the LORD, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to enquire in his temple.” To seek is to pursue, to race after, to actively search for. It is an opportunity of worship which ushers in the very presence of God. To behold the beauty of the Lord is to see Him for who He is. There is a reason why we aren’t to physically see the face of God until we leave this world. I consider that one reason may be so that we aren’t caught up on the outward beauty. When Jesus spoke on Earth, he stressed an emphasis on inward beauty. There wasn’t a criterion of how we must “look” to get into heaven, rather a conduct. “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal,” Matthew 6:19-20, KJV. He spoke clearly of the intangible, those things that we can’t touch, such as love. Simply put, He examines the heart. In doing that, He covers, protects, and shows favor over our lives, shielding us from dangers seen and unseen.
“For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion: in the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me; he shall set me up upon a rock.”
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