Genesis 5/20/17

GENESIS

May 20, 2017

by Pastor Kim Hickcox

 

(All Scripture taken from One New Man Bible unless otherwise noted)

 

Genesis 24 is entitled A Wife for Isaac. We do not know how long it was between the death of Sarah and the marriage of Isaac. But considering Abraham lived only another 38 years, in which he remarried and had 6 more sons who grew to adulthood before he died (see Genesis 25), I’m thinking not much time was wasted.

 

And as Isaac was 37 at the time of his mothers’ death, already well past the traditional age of marriage, this was perhaps one of the first things Abraham did when his time of mourning was past and life carried on as usual.

 

Genesis 24:1-4 give us the plan: “And Abraham was old, well stricken in age, and the LORD had blessed Abraham in all things. ²And Abraham said to the oldest servant of his house, who ruled over all that he had, ‘Put, I pray you, your hand under my thigh ³and I shall make you swear by the LORD, the God of heaven and the God of the earth, that you will not take a wife for my son of the daughters of the Canaanites among whom I dwell, ⁴but you will go to my country and to my kindred and take a wife for my son Isaac.’”

 

The term ‘Put your hand under my thigh’ could or could not have been literal. To put one’s hand under one’s thigh was to take a covenantal oath, which is why Abraham had Eliezer (Abraham’s oldest and chief servant as noted in Genesis 15:2-4) swear by the Lord AND I believe why, in his mercy, Abraham also gave him an out when Eliezer questioned his ability to fulfill his oath. “And the servant said to him, ‘Maybe the woman will not be willing to follow me to this land. Perhaps I need to bring your son again to the land from where you came?’ ⁶And Abraham said to him, ‘Beware that you do not bring my son there again. ⁷The LORD God of heaven, who took me from my father’s house and from the land of my kindred and Who spoke to me and Who swore to me saying, “I shall give this land to your seed.” He will send His angel before you and you will take a wife for my son from there. ⁸And if the woman will not be willing to follow you, then you will be clear from this my oath, only do not bring my son there again.’ And the servant put his hand under the thigh of Abraham his master and swore to him concerning this matter.” (24:5-9)

 

Abraham was honoring his personal obedience to the Lord by not allowing his son to enter his kindred’s homeland either, thereby transferring his obedience of the Lord’s call on his life to his son (or seed) also.

 

So Eliezer loaded up and took off. Now Ur was several hundred miles away, so the round trip would have taken months and probably well over a year to complete, which could have been another reason why Abraham not only wanted to do it soon, but did not want Isaac to go either. Should something tragic happen in the interim, someone had to lead the household, make the executive decisions, etc. This was a case when Spiritual obedience matched practicality which, as we all know, doesn’t happen 100% of the time.

 

When Eliezer arrived at his appointed destination, remembering what Abraham said to him, he prayed. “And he said, ‘LORD God of my master Abraham, make something happen right in front of me today, and act gracefully to my master. ¹³Behold, I am standing by the well of water and the daughters of the men of the city come out to draw water. ¹⁴And let it be that the girl to whom I shall say, “Let down your pitcher, please, so I can drink” and she will say, “Drink, and I shall also give your camels drink.” Let the same be she that You have appointed for Your servant Isaac and thereby will I know that You have shown kindness to my master.’

 

“¹⁵And it happened before he had finished speaking that there was Rebeccah (Rivkah) coming out, who was born to Bethuel son of Milkah, the wife of Nahor Abraham’s brother, with her pitcher on her shoulder. ¹⁶And the girl was very fair to look upon, a virgin, neither had any man known her. And she went down to the well and filled her pitcher and came up. ¹⁷And the servant ran to meet her and said, ‘Let me, I beg you, drink a little water from your pitcher.’ ¹⁸And she said, ‘Drink, my lord.’ And she hastened and let down her pitcher upon her hand and gave him a drink. ¹⁹And when she finished giving him a drink she said, ‘I shall draw water for your camels also, until they have done drinking.’ ²⁰And she hastened and emptied her pitcher into the trough and ran again to the well to draw water, and drew for all his camels. ²¹And the man, marveling at her held his peace, to know whether the LORD had made his journey successful or not.” (24:12-21)

 

So he gave her gifts, asked her who she belonged to (family-wise) and found out that she was indeed from Abraham’s family. Fait accompli!

 

After introductions were made, Eliezer told them about his prayer and how it was immediately answered, even before he actually finished it! “Then Laban and Bethuel answered and said, ‘This thing is from the LORD: we cannot speak to you good or bad. ⁵¹Behold, Rebeccah is before you, take her and go, and let her be your master’s son’s wife, as the LORD has spoken.’” (24:50-51)

 

Due to Rebeccah’s mother wanting her to stay for a while longer, she was allowed to make her own decision as to whether or not she wanted to leave with him right away and marry Isaac. She did. So the family prayed blessings over her and her future family and sent her away with her servants and personal possessions.

 

“And Isaac went out to meditate in the field toward evening, and he lifted up his eyes and saw and, behold, the camels were coming. ⁶⁴And Rebeccah lifted up her eyes and when she saw Isaac, she fell off the camel.” (24:63-64) Which simply means that she was very surprised.

 

“And she said to the servant, ‘Who is this man who is walking in the field to meet us?’ And the servant said, ‘He is my master.’ And she took the veil and covered herself. ⁶⁶And the servant told Isaac all things that he had done.⁶⁷And Isaac brought her into his mother Sarah’s tent and took Rebeccah, and she became his wife, and he loved her, and Isaac was comforted after his mother’s death.” (24:65-67)

 

And THIS is why it is so important to be sexually pure before marriage. In ancient times, the consummation of a man and woman was the entirety of the marriage ceremony.  No vows, no parties, no third person presiding – just the man and the woman and the Lord. “And Adam said, ‘This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh. She will be called Wife (Ishah), because she was taken out of Husband (Ish). ²⁴Therefore a man will leave his father and mother and will cling to his wife, and they will be one flesh.” (Genesis 2:23-24) They’re becoming one flesh is not only due to what happens during the actual act of intercourse, but because the result – children; who have the characteristics and DNA of both parents. Thus the husband and wife can look at their child and actually see the result of them becoming one.

 

I believe the lesson for the day is found in verse 12: “And he said, ‘LORD God of my master Abraham, make something happen right in front of me today, and act gracefully to my master.’”  

 

Note that Eliezer was forever thinking and speaking and even praying for his master Abraham, never himself. Such devotion is seldom seen and gave me a personal conviction concerning my walk with the Lord. How many times do I make decisions with only my welfare in mind and not His, Who gave me everything?

 

Eliezer is to me, the epitome of integrity and loyalty!  Right up there with Daniel! We never hear of him doubting or disobeying even when the odds seemed likely to stack against him.

 

LORD let us be to You as Eliezer was to Abraham – a loyal and faithful member of Your household. Help us to keep Your will in mind and to always ask Your advice when a decision comes our way, be it big or small. Help us to always remember that You love us and will not only never lead us astray, but are always there to help and redirect us when we stray on our own.

 

Father thank You for loving us and adopting us into Your eternal family. Thank You for choosing us to be reunited with You before even time began.

 

Y’shua thank You for saving us. Thank You for loving us while knowing us the way You do, which is totally – even better than we know ourselves. Thank You for Your blood that saves, for Your stripes that heal, for Your mercy that forgives, for Your love that delivers and Your righteousness that totally cleanses us making us worthy to belong to You. You did it all! You did it all for us, and for that we can only begin to thank You, because words can never explain how grateful we are for all You have done and continue to do!

 

Holy Spirit thank You for convicting us and then giving our spirit rebirth the instant we accepted Y’shua as our Savior. Thank You for sticking with us no matter how many times we fall! Thank You for Your love and Your steadfast patience and Your constant help in times of need and thank You for Your discernment and teaching. May our hearts be ever open to Your voice and guidance.

 

“Now to the One Who is able to keep you without stumbling and to stand before His glory blameless in extreme joy, to the only God, our Savior through our Lord Y’shua Messiah, be glory, majesty, strength, and power before every age, both now and forever.” (Jude 24-25)  Amen.

 

Let us always remember that when Y’shua said “It is finished!” our account was closed – forever. And we did nothing to help or earn or deserve it. It’s all about You Jesus – ALL ABOUT YOU!!

 

SHALOM!

Genesis 5/6/17

GENESIS

May 6, 2017

By Pastor Kim Hickcox

 

(All Scripture taken from One New Man Bible unless otherwise noted)

 

Genesis 22 is where Abraham is told to sacrifice his son Isaac to God. “And it happened after these things that God tested Abraham and said to him, ‘Abraham.’ And he said, ‘Here I am.’ ²And He said, ‘Now take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love! Get yourself into the land of Moriah! Offer him there as an offering upon one of the mountains of which I tell you!’” (vss1-2)

 

Pretty harsh considering he had just had to cast Hagar and Ishmael, his first born, out on God’s order, NOW He wanted his (and His) promise too!?! And the Lord now called Isaac Abraham’s only son! 

 

I have had a few theories about this over the years, as it is a difficult scripture or even concept to grasp considering what we know about our loving God and how He was so upset with Israel (the Northern Kingdom) when they started doing that. True, they weren’t worshipping Him with human sacrifices, but they were killing His innocents as well as paying homage to a demon. Double indemnity. 

 

Sometimes I would like to think that Abraham just heard wrong. That he was so familiar with all the idols from his youth that he considered it a possibility the whole time and just dealt with it. 

 

But knowing that he was raised by Noah and Shem puts a whole new light on that theory. So why on earth did God tell Abraham to sacrifice his son to Him? He doesn’t do literal/physical human sacrifices! 

 

Well, first and foremost, we must remember that He knew that He was going to supply a sacrifice for Abraham and Isaac when all was said and done and Abraham believed that too (see vs 8). So we can only surmise then, that this was a test. Was God still first in Abraham’s heart now that he had what he had been dreaming of and waiting for, for most of his life? A son! An heir! 

 

We Westerners, globally speaking, don’t as a general rule, burn incense or give food offerings to idols (statues) per se, but what we must always remember is that ANYTHING that is more important to us than our loving God and Savior IS by definition an idol. And He knows about it! He either knows who or what it is or who or what it will be or has the potential of being. 

 

When I moved to Orlando, I was given a choice, and I KNEW that that choice would determine what (or rather Who) was the most important to me: my church, my ministry, my family (which all totaled my comfort zone) or my God. I wasn’t TOLD what to do like Abraham was, I was given a choice. But that choice would have shown me(because He already knew) what was most important to me – God or all the things and relationships He had blessed me with: my church, my ministry, my family, my friends…

 

He had given them ALL to me, so was I now still seeking His Face, His Will and His Presence in my life, or was I just seeking His Hand. I had a grateful heart, but again – for Him or just for all His blessings, pushing Him aside?

 

And even though I made the right choice, it wasn’t for the right reason. How can that be? Well, His answer to my question of Should I stay or should I go? Was: You don’t have to go, but if you don’t you will not fulfill your destiny and you will be miserable very soon. SO I made the right decision, but was my heart with Him? Not at first. As I am not necessarily the sharpest knife in the drawer, it took me a while. The Holy Spirit ever so gently (more gently than I deserved) started to open my eyes as to WHY I should have made that right decision, because He knows I’m a WHY person. Some people just need to know how to do something or what to do and they’re fine. I need to know why I’m doing it in the first place, because if the motive isn’t what I agree with, I’m not doing it.

 

Let’s look at Jeremiah 17:9-10, “The heart is deceitful above all things, desperately sick. Who can know it? ¹⁰I, the LORD, search the heart, I try the heart, even to give each man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doings.” When I [finally] figured out that if had I chosen to stay, it would have made my entire life in Clearwater an idol – more important to me than the God Who gave it to me, I was horrified! THEN when I figured out that even my answer was selfish because my destiny was first and His Will was second, even though they were one-in-the-same…you guessed it – horrified again! So I spent some time repenting. Aren’t you glad God allows as many mistakes as you need to make? I sure am!!

 

So this week, may I suggest we all take a little personal inventory? Perhaps it’s been a while, perhaps not – but let’s just go before God and ask the Holy Spirit if there’s anything askew within us. If we’re sincere, He will let us know, then we can repent (which means to change our mind) and fix it. Call it spring cleaning of the heart. I pray the Lord will gently guide you in the Way you should go and tweak anything that needs tweaking. 

 

Be blessed dear friends and remember that “…the Creator of the ends of the earth, does not faint nor is weary. This is no searching of His understanding. ²⁹He gives power to the faint and to those who have no might He increases strength. ³⁰Even the youths will faint and be weary and the young man will utterly stumble, ³¹but they that wait upon the LORD will renew their strength. They will mount up with eagle’s wings. They will run and not be weary. They will walk and not grow faint.” Isaiah 40:28-30

 

His promises are AMAZING!! But I think Matthew 6:33 says it all and is where we all want to stay, “But you must continually seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, then all these things will be provided for you.”

 

SHALOM!

Genesis 4/29/2017

GENESIS

April 29, 2017

By Pastor Kim Hickcox

 

(All Scripture taken from One New Man Bible unless otherwise noted)

 

Genesis 21:1-3 “And the LORD visited Sarah as He had said and the LORD did for Sarah what He had spoken. ²For Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time of which God had spoken to him. ³And Abraham called the name of his son that was born to him, whom Sarah bore to him, Isaac.”  Which means laughter, due to her reaction as noted in Genesis 18:12-15, “Therefore Sarah laughed within herself saying, ‘After I have grown old, will I have pleasure, my lord being so old?’¹³And the LORD said to Abraham, ‘Why did Sarah laugh saying, “Will I, who am old, of a surety bear a child?” Is anything too hard for the LORD? At the appointed time I shall return to you, about this time next year, and Sarah will have a son.’ ¹⁵Then Sarah denied it saying, ‘I did not laugh,’ for she was afraid. And He said, ‘No, but you did laugh.’” But I believe He spoke this gently and lovingly to reassure her that her fear would not affect His plan.

 

In Genesis 21:1 we see the faithfulness of the Lord to Abraham and Sarah as He fulfills His word given to them in Genesis 18:10, “And He said, ‘I shall certainly return to you at this time next year and, see, Sarah your wife will have a son.’ And Sarah listened in the tent door, which was behind him.”

 

Hebrews 11:11 also speaks of this phenomenon and how Sarah took it when first spoken a year earlier, “By trusting also Sarah, herself barren took power for conception from Abraham’s seed even past the normal age. Because of trust, she considered what was promised.”

 

Genesis 21:4-7 “And Abraham circumcised his son Isaac when he was eight days old, as God commanded him. ⁵And Abraham was one hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him. ⁶And Sarah said, ‘God made me laugh, so that all who hear will laugh with me.’ ⁷And she said, ‘Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah should be given a child to nurse? For I have borne him a son in his old age.’” I guess Sarah was ok with her initial reaction of laughing when the Lord told them that she would have a son in a year. She probably relaxed as soon as she figured out she was pregnant. The Lord is truly merciful and truly is not only slow to anger (as first told us in Nehemiah 9:17), but He totally sees and understands our heart! You will note that Genesis 18:12 says that she “laughed within herself”, so it wasn’t even out loud! And He knew that she was just unbelievably delirious at the very thought! (At least that’s my take on it.)

 

Genesis 21:8-11 “And the child grew and was weaned, and Abraham made a great feast the day that Isaac was weaned.” (This would have been at the age of three years old.) “⁹And Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham, scornful. ¹⁰So she said to Abraham, ‘Cast out this bondwoman and her son, for the son of this bondwoman will not be heir with my son, with Isaac.’ ¹¹And the thing was very grievous in Abraham’s sight because of his son.”

 

Now at first, this may sound like a heartless and even petty thing for Sarah to do, until we understand what was really meant by the English word we read as simply scornful. What first went through my mind was: ok so Ishmael was resentful, and rightly so in his mind, and would probably pick on Isaac or even make his life a bit miserable when on one was looking, but kick him out – really?

 

However, the meaning of scornful is much, much worse – it is 100% negative and can/will eventually erupt into behavior ranging from brutal teasing to abuse to even murder. So given that the Lord upheld Sarah’s decision, we have to conclude that it was the right one. And even more than that, we again see the Lord’s mercy:

 

Genesis 21:12-14 “And God said to Abraham, ‘Do not be distressed in your sight because of the lad and because of the bondwoman. In all that Sarah has said to you, listen to her voice because your seed will be called in Isaac. ¹³And of the son of the bondwoman I shall also make a nation, because he is your seed.’ ¹⁴And Abraham rose up early in the morning and took bread and a skin-bottle of water and gave it to Hagar, putting it on her shoulder and the child, and sent her away. And she left and wandered in the wilderness of Beer-Sheba.”

 

It is now time for the Lord to reveal Himself to Hagar again, and to reassure her that she and her son (now 17) will not die in the wilderness:

 

Genesis 21:15-21 “And the water was spent in the bottle and she put the child under one of the shrubs. ¹⁶And she went and sat down opposite, a good way off, about a bowshot, for she said, ‘Let me now see the death of the child.’ And she was sitting opposite of him and lifted up her voice and wept. ¹⁷And God heard the voice of the lad, and the angel of God called to Hagar out of heaven and said to her, ‘What troubles you, Hagar? Do not be in awe! God has heard the voice of the lad where he is. ¹⁸Arise, lift up the lad and hold him in your hand, for I shall make a nation of him.’ ¹⁹And God opened her eyes and she saw a well of water, and she went and filled the bottle with water and gave the lad a drink.

 

“²⁰And God was with the lad and he grew and lived in the wilderness and became an archer. ²¹And he lived in the wilderness of Paran and his mother took a wife for him out of the land of Egypt.”

 

[I have read biographies of Mohammed, the founder of the Muslim religion, one of Ishmael’s descendants, that said when he found Allah (the generic Arabic name for God, or god) he was on a quest for the One True God. This makes sense considering Hagar and Ishmael certainly knew Him. Somehow he (Mohammed) got spiritually side tracked, and we don’t know why or how the devil got hold of him, but the Allah Muslim’s worship now, is the ancient war god of the Canaanites. And why they hate Israel so much is because Ishmael was Abraham’s eldest son and, by all tradition, should have received the inheritance and promise that the Lord God gave to Isaac.]

 

Had she remembered the Lord’s first visit to her the first time Sarah kicked her out because she was so snotty, her faith could have reassured her that this was not the end, even though it looked like it. But then, we too often need reassurances of His faithfulness, don’t we? (Silly as that sounds when said out loud.)

 

Genesis 16:9-13 “And the angel of the LORD said to her, ‘Return to your mistress and submit yourself to her.’ ¹⁰And the angel of the LORD said to her, ‘I shall multiply your seed exceedingly, that it will not be numbered for multitude.’¹¹And the angel of the LORD said to her, ‘Behold, you are with child and will bear a son, and will call his name Ishmael because the LORD has heard your affliction. ¹²And Ishmael will be a wild man. His hand will be against every man and every man’s hand against him, and he will dwell in the presence if all his brothers.’ ¹³And she called the name of the LORD that spoke to her, ‘You are El-Ro’i,’ for she said, ‘Have I also here looked after Him Who sees me?’”

 

We wrap up this chapter with a bit of a conflict between Abraham’s people and Abimelech and his military captain, Fikhol. Seems that someone violently took a well that Abraham’s people dug and when they found out about it, they hurried over to make amends. They made covenant swearing to live in peace with Abraham as well as allowing him to reclaiming his well.

 

This was the same Abimelech who gave Sarah back after the Lord told him who she really was, so you can imagine his horror when he heard that one of his soldiers had taken Abraham’s well! The segment starts with, “And it happened at that time that Abimelech and Fikhol the chief captain of his army spoke to Abraham saying, ‘God is with you in all that you do. ²³Now therefore swear to me here by God that you will not deal falsely with me or with my son or with my son’s son…²⁴And Abraham said, ‘I shall swear.’” Genesis 21:22-24

And it ends with “And Abraham planted a grove in Beer-Sheba, and there he called on the name of the LORD, Eternal God. ³²And Abraham stayed in the Philistines’ land many days.” Genesis 21:31-32.

 

This chapter not only again outlines the Lord’s faithfulness, but through a little study, also tells us how it is secured in our lives:

 

Hebrews 11:11-12, “By trusting, also Sarah, herself barren took power for conception from Abraham’s seed even past the normal age. ¹²Because of trust, she considered what was promised.” Notice the bold print. It plainly tells us that FAITH = POWER: GOD’S POWER!

 

In the One New Man Bible that I now use most often, Hebrews 11 uses the word trustfor faith throughout the chapter, which I think, makes it easier to grasp and to explain to others. Most everyone understands what faith means, but I think by interchanging it with the word trust periodically just brings it closer to home, especially when you’re sharing your faith with an unbeliever.

 

See, there’s that word again. It sends an instant religious connotation to heathens and to some, it instantly puts up their philosophic armor to block or slant whatever else you may have to say. But the word trust, now that can be handled. Trust can be seen in friendship, family, heck even the stock market if you’re prone to that much optimism! It’s a worldly, yet friendly and recognizable word we can use to show people Who we trust in without closing them off right away.  Isn’t God good?

 

HEBREWS 11

Vs 1 “And trust is being confident of things being hoped for, proof of things not seen.” PROOF, not just hope but proof!

Vs 3 “By trusting we understand that the worlds were created by a spoken Word of God, so that what is seen has not come out of things which are visible.”

Vs 4 “By trusting, Abel, contrary to Cain, bore a better offering to God…”

Vs 5 “By trusting, Enoch was transferred so he did not see death…”

Vs 7 “By trusting, Noah, when he was warned about things not yet seen, in reverence, built a box (ark) for the salvation of his household.”

Vs 8 “By trusting, Abraham, when he was called, obeyed to come out of a place which he was going to take for an inheritance…”

Vs 9 “By trusting, he sojourned in the land of the promise…”

Vs 11a “By trusting, also Sarah, herself barren, took power for conception…” (I LOVE this verse!)

Vs 11b “Because of trust, she considered what was promised.”

Vs 17 “By trusting, Abraham, when he was tested, brought Isaac and he was offering his only son, he who had received the promises…”

Vs 20 “By trusting, then Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau concerning what was coming.”

Vs 21 “By trusting, Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph…”

Vs 22 “By trusting, Joseph, when he was dying, remembered about the exodus of the children of Israel…”

Vs 23 “By trusting, after Moses was born he was hidden three months by his parents…”

Vs 24 “By trusting, after Moses became great, he denied to be called a son of Pharaoh’s daughter.”

Vs 27 “By trusting, he left Egypt although he did not fear the wrath of the king…”

Vs 28 “By trusting, he had instituted the Passover and the sprinkling of the blood…”

Vs 29 “By trusting, they passed through the Red Sea as though dry ground…”

Vs 30 “By trusting, the walls of Jericho fell after they were encircled for seven days.”

Vs 31 “By trusting, Rahab the idolatress…was not destroyed…”

 

And the best verse of all in the entire chapter, in my humble opinion, is verse 6, “and without trusting it is impossible to please God: for it is necessary for the one who comes to God to believe that He is, that He does exist, then He becomes a rewarder to those who seek Him out.”

 

I love the [accurate] translation of this verse because it sets the record straight. I have met many “religious” people over the years who have lorded this statement over others (myself included) as a sort of threat or reprimand. Implying that their/my faith wasn’t strong enough for whatever it was that was being expected. Or that they weren’t or I wasn’t seeking Him diligently enough (you know, just about every other translation says that “He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.”) to activate our faith.

 

And that is not what He meant at all! He wants us to realize the He exists because when we do, it’s not long before we realize what He’s done and Who He really is! And then we can then trust Him with not only our eternal salvation, but everything else too! And come into a loving relationship, get adopted, receive all the blessings He yearns to give us and of course that leads to telling others about Him too. Because “The Lord does not tarry with His promise, as some consider slowness, but He is patient with you, not wanting any to be destroyed but all to come to repentance.” (2^ndPeter 3:9) Repentance meaning of course, to change one’s mind – from not having faith and not believing the He exists, to having faith and believing that He exists.  

 

The world is dying all around us, and we (believers in Y’shua) are the only ones who really know (as Paul Harvey would say) the rest of the story. SO SHARE! Share Who you put your trust in! Live and act in a way that people just know that there is something different about you. My first pastor, Pastor Lloyd used to say that we shouldn’t try to tear done someone else’s house, be it religious, philosophical or spiritual, but that we should make ours so beautiful that others are drawn to it and invite themselves to come and look!

 

We have the Truth, brothers and sisters; let us not make it the best kept secret we have. We can shine His glory without being what the world calls religious, because weknow that we aren’t about religion, we are all about relationship and trust. And what better Person to put your trust in, than the One Who holds the entire universe in His hands?

 

“You are the light of the world. A city laid out on a mountain is not able to be hidden:¹⁵and they do not light a lamp and place it under a peck measure but upon the lamp stand, and it gives light to all those in the house. ¹⁶Your light must now shine like this before all mankind, so that they would see your good deeds and they would glorify your Father, the One in the heavens.” Matthew 5:14-16

 

“²⁴Now to the One Who is able to keep you without stumbling and to stand before His glory blameless in extreme joy, ²⁵to the only God, our Savior through our Lord Y’shua Messiah, be glory, majesty, strength, and power before every age, both now and forever, amen.” (Jude, a bit before 68 AD.)

 

SHALOM!!