Eve, who admitted the devil deceived her Genesis 3:13c. Of course, had she listened to God, she wouldn't have been. The wisdom she thought existed in knowledge comes only from obedience to God. But, then, her admission of sin bettered her husband's blame-shift: Adam said the woman God gave him caused him to sin, in essence blaming both God and the woman—the first and most used response of sinners—"I'm not responsible".
Sarah, for demanding Ismael's banishment from Abraham's camp Genesis 21:10. Of course, had she not assumed personal control of God's will by thrusting a slave girl into her husband's arms, Hagar's fertility wouldn't have become a world-wide threat 4000 years later, as it has now with Islam. Nevertheless, her demand excelled Abraham's attachment to his son Ishmael. And only God's direct command moved him to banish the pair. Sarah's demand removed foreign contamination from Abraham's camp. Had she not acted, undoubtedly out of feminine rage, and stood her ground against her husband's wishes, Islam could claim equality with Christ by reason of Ishmael remaining in Abraham's family. Obviously, no equality exists between Christ and anyone else, especially Christ and myth-loving Mohammed. (That's all I'll say here, but will preach it more comprehensively Mother's Day.) Leah, Jacob's first, but unloved, wife Genesis 29:16-30. The names given her first three sons reflected her melancholy hope of securing Jacob's attention. See 29:31-34 and Proverbs 30:21-23a. The name given her fourth son reflected her faith in God Genesis 29:35. She began to realize that God alone offered her peace of mind. Teaching us that we will find that God is all we need when we discover that God is all we have. Happy Mom's Day, Ladies. God Bless.
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Based on a study of Titus 2:11-14, we discover three values of God's Grace.
It Teaches Us to Say NO to Satan That's an unexpected jolt to those stressing only Positive-Reinforcement—considering negatives as plagues on language. Thankfully, Bible teaching everywhere demands negatives:
It Teaches Us to Say YES to Jesus For what he saves us FROM frees us to mature in what he saved us FOR:
Grace grants us privileges we can't deserve:
Again, a word hated by a humanity obsessed with:
Some time ago a Mexican family paid a large ransom to secure the release of a family member. It secured his release. Long ago Jesus paid the ransom to secure our freedom from sin. That redemption still works for all believers. One difference characterizes the two releases:
It Teaches Us to Fix Our Attention on a Future of Rewards Some unbelievers, David Hume and John Galsworthy among them, ridiculed the idea of rewards. To them, being good is in itself reason enough NOT to do wrong. However rational that sounds, that's merely human morality strutting before God Almighty! When God uses the threat of punishment if we disobey hm, and the promise of reward if we serve him, who are skeptics to say he can't? And what kind of disciples do skeptics think we are to let their doubt weaken our faith in the Son of God? The Master's return from Heaven is the all-embracing, all-rewarding experience of believers. Our hope of a resurrected body, new in every way, influences our present morality. Because we intend to LIVE ON, we presently LIVE RIGHT. Amen |
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