Pastor’s Blog (Page 12)
let God fend for himself
In Genesis 20 we read that Abraham and Sarah moved to Gerar, where Abraham said of her, “She is my sister.” (Yes, your memory is correct—Abraham has done this once before back in chapter 12, and things got really messy… but here we go again—same song, second verse.) So Abimelech, the king of Gerar, sent for Sarah and had her brought to his palace. The wedding was…
Chesed
You are probably familiar with the Hebrew word chesed, which is often translated “lovingkindness,” or “steadfast love.” Four times in Genesis we come across chesed in the same sentence with emmeth, which is usually translated as “faithfulness.” Separately, these two words occur many times in the Bible. Each is powerful and packed with meaning in its own right. But when…
God’s Keeping Power
“…and I also kept you from sinning against Me; therefore I did not let you touch her.” (Genesis 20:6) In Genesis 20 Abraham and Sarah moved to the region of Gerar. Fearing the people would kill him to get his wife, Abraham said of Sarah, “She is my sister.” So King Abimelech, thinking Sarah was “available,” took her as his wife. But the Lord came to Abimelech in a…
The Spirit of intercession
In Genesis 18 the Lord told Abraham that He was about to destroy the wicked cities of Sodom and Gomorrah because their sin was “exceedingly grave.” Knowing his nephew Lot was down there in Sodom, and not wanting to see him and his family destroyed, Abraham began to plead the cause of the righteous: “Will You indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked? Suppose there…
In recent weeks the abortion debate has reached a fever pitch. Especially since the Supreme Court draft leak. I don’t pretend to comprehend the enormous weight a single mother-to-be feels when she finds herself pregnant and without a husband or network to support her. But I have gasped out loud several times lately at the things people claim are more reasonable…
Famine
Now there was a famine in the land… the famine was severe in the land. Guess when this happened. We read about this instance of famine immediately after the account of Abraham’s call and subsequent arrival in the land of Canaan. You will remember that God had called Abraham to leave his homeland and relatives and move to the land of Canaan, promising Abraham that He would…