Daily Devotions with Greg Laurie – Monday,
6 January 2014 – “By Faith”
We walk by faith, not by sight.(2
Corinthians 5:7)
The inspired writers of Scripture did not
use the phrase walk by faith in a random way. Those three words are there for a
purpose. Notice that the Bible doesn't tell us to sprint by faith; it tells us
to walk by faith. To walk speaks of continual, regulated motion. The Bible says
Enoch walked with God. Many believers have their bursts of energy. For a few
months, they run. Then they collapse for a while. They need to learn what it is
to walk with God.
Of course, most of us like things fast.
We have microwave dinners, e-mail, cell phones, and instant messaging. We have
so much technology to make our lives a little easier and, most importantly,
faster. Then, when we come to the Christian life, we say, "All right,
what's the angle? What's the shortcut?"
Here it is: "The just shall live by
faith" (Romans 1:17). It's a day-by-day process.
We are always looking for the angle, for
the inside track. But it's very simple. The Bible declares that the just shall
live by faith — not by feeling, not by emotion, not by fear, not by worries —
by faith.
I know sometimes that it seems like
nothing is happening in terms of our spiritual growth. There are times when we
don't really feel like we are changing, because as we look at ourselves every
day, we don't necessarily see any changes. But as we are walking by faith day
by day, month by month, and year by year, we are being transformed.
Colossians 2:6 tells us, "As you
therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, rooted and built
up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in
it with thanksgiving."
-------
Today's Bible Reading:
Genesis God’s Covenant with Abram
15: After these things the word of the
Lord came to Abram in a vision, “Do not be afraid, Abram, I am your shield;
your reward shall be very great.” 2 But Abram said, “O Lord God, what will you
give me, for I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of
Damascus?”[a] 3 And Abram said, “You have given me no offspring, and so a slave
born in my house is to be my heir.” 4 But the word of the Lord came to him,
“This man shall not be your heir; no one but your very own issue shall be your
heir.” 5 He brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven and count the
stars, if you are able to count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your
descendants be.” 6 And he believed the Lord; and the Lord[b] reckoned it to him
as righteousness.
7 Then he said to him, “I am the Lord who
brought you from Ur of the Chaldeans, to give you this land to possess.” 8 But
he said, “O Lord God, how am I to know that I shall possess it?” 9 He said to
him, “Bring me a heifer three years old, a female goat three years old, a ram
three years old, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.” 10 He brought him all these
and cut them in two, laying each half over against the other; but he did not
cut the birds in two. 11 And when birds of prey came down on the carcasses,
Abram drove them away.
12 As the sun was going down, a deep
sleep fell upon Abram, and a deep and terrifying darkness descended upon him.
13 Then the Lord[c] said to Abram, “Know this for certain, that your offspring
shall be aliens in a land that is not theirs, and shall be slaves there, and
they shall be oppressed for four hundred years; 14 but I will bring judgment on
the nation that they serve, and afterward they shall come out with great
possessions. 15 As for yourself, you shall go to your ancestors in peace; you
shall be buried in a good old age. 16 And they shall come back here in the
fourth generation; for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.”
17 When the sun had gone down and it was
dark, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch passed between these pieces. 18 On
that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your descendants I
give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river
Euphrates, 19 the land of the Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites, 20 the
Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim, 21 the Amorites, the Canaanites, the
Girgashites, and the Jebusites.”
The Birth of Ishmael
16: Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, bore him no
children. She had an Egyptian slave-girl whose name was Hagar, 2 and Sarai said
to Abram, “You see that the Lord has prevented me from bearing children; go in
to my slave-girl; it may be that I shall obtain children by her.” And Abram
listened to the voice of Sarai. 3 So, after Abram had lived ten years in the
land of Canaan, Sarai, Abram’s wife, took Hagar the Egyptian, her slave-girl,
and gave her to her husband Abram as a wife. 4 He went in to Hagar, and she
conceived; and when she saw that she had conceived, she looked with contempt on
her mistress. 5 Then Sarai said to Abram, “May the wrong done to me be on you!
I gave my slave-girl to your embrace, and when she saw that she had conceived,
she looked on me with contempt. May the Lord judge between you and me!” 6 But
Abram said to Sarai, “Your slave-girl is in your power; do to her as you
please.” Then Sarai dealt harshly with her, and she ran away from her.
7 The angel of the Lord found her by a
spring of water in the wilderness, the spring on the way to Shur. 8 And he
said, “Hagar, slave-girl of Sarai, where have you come from and where are you
going?” She said, “I am running away from my mistress Sarai.” 9 The angel of
the Lord said to her, “Return to your mistress, and submit to her.” 10 The
angel of the Lord also said to her, “I will so greatly multiply your offspring
that they cannot be counted for multitude.” 11 And the angel of the Lord said
to her,
“Now you have conceived and shall bear a
son;
you shall call him Ishmael,[d]
for the Lord has given heed to your affliction.
12 He shall be a wild ass of a man,
with his hand against everyone,
and everyone’s hand against him;
and he shall live at odds with all his
kin.”
13 So she named the Lord who spoke to
her, “You are El-roi”;[e] for she said, “Have I really seen God and remained
alive after seeing him?”[f] 14 Therefore the well was called Beer-lahai-roi;[g]
it lies between Kadesh and Bered.
15 Hagar bore Abram a son; and Abram
named his son, whom Hagar bore, Ishmael. 16 Abram was eighty-six years old when
Hagar bore him[h] Ishmael.
The Sign of the Covenant
17: When Abram was ninety-nine years old,
the Lord appeared to Abram, and said to him, “I am God Almighty;[i] walk before
me, and be blameless. 2 And I will make my covenant between me and you, and
will make you exceedingly numerous.” 3 Then Abram fell on his face; and God
said to him, 4 “As for me, this is my covenant with you: You shall be the
ancestor of a multitude of nations. 5 No longer shall your name be Abram,[j]
but your name shall be Abraham;[k] for I have made you the ancestor of a
multitude of nations. 6 I will make you exceedingly fruitful; and I will make
nations of you, and kings shall come from you. 7 I will establish my covenant
between me and you, and your offspring after you throughout their generations,
for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring[l] after
you. 8 And I will give to you, and to your offspring after you, the land where
you are now an alien, all the land of Canaan, for a perpetual holding; and I
will be their God.”
9 God said to Abraham, “As for you, you
shall keep my covenant, you and your offspring after you throughout their
generations. 10 This is my covenant, which you shall keep, between me and you
and your offspring after you: Every male among you shall be circumcised. 11 You
shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the
covenant between me and you. 12 Throughout your generations every male among
you shall be circumcised when he is eight days old, including the slave born in
your house and the one bought with your money from any foreigner who is not of
your offspring. 13 Both the slave born in your house and the one bought with your
money must be circumcised. So shall my covenant be in your flesh an everlasting
covenant. 14 Any uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his
foreskin shall be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant.”
15 God said to Abraham, “As for Sarai
your wife, you shall not call her Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name. 16 I will
bless her, and moreover I will give you a son by her. I will bless her, and she
shall give rise to nations; kings of peoples shall come from her.” 17 Then Abraham
fell on his face and laughed, and said to himself, “Can a child be born to a
man who is a hundred years old? Can Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a
child?” 18 And Abraham said to God, “O that Ishmael might live in your sight!”
19 God said, “No, but your wife Sarah shall bear you a son, and you shall name
him Isaac.[m] I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant
for his offspring after him. 20 As for Ishmael, I have heard you; I will bless
him and make him fruitful and exceedingly numerous; he shall be the father of
twelve princes, and I will make him a great nation. 21 But my covenant I will
establish with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear to you at this season next year.”
22 And when he had finished talking with him, God went up from Abraham.
23 Then Abraham took his son Ishmael and
all the slaves born in his house or bought with his money, every male among the
men of Abraham’s house, and he circumcised the flesh of their foreskins that
very day, as God had said to him. 24 Abraham was ninety-nine years old when he
was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. 25 And his son Ishmael was
thirteen years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. 26
That very day Abraham and his son Ishmael were circumcised; 27 and all the men
of his house, slaves born in the house and those bought with money from a
foreigner, were circumcised with him.
Footnotes:
a. Genesis 15:2 Meaning of Heb uncertain
b. Genesis 15:6 Heb he
c. Genesis 15:13 Heb he
d. Genesis 16:11 That is God hears
e. Genesis 16:13 Perhaps God of seeing or
God who sees
f. Genesis 16:13 Meaning of Heb uncertain
g. Genesis 16:14 That is the Well of the
Living One who sees me
h. Genesis 16:16 Heb Abram
i. Genesis 17:1 Traditional rendering of
Heb El Shaddai
j. Genesis 17:5 That is exalted ancestor
k. Genesis 17:5 Here taken to mean
ancestor of a multitude
l. Genesis 17:7 Heb seed
m. Genesis 17:19 That is he laughs
Luke Edition)
Page Options
Share on facebook Share on twitter Share
on email
<<
<
=
=
>
>>
Show resourcesAdd parallel
Genesis 15-17
New Revised Standard Version Catholic
Edition (NRSVCE)
God’s Covenant with Abram
15 After these things the word of the
Lord came to Abram in a vision, “Do not be afraid, Abram, I am your shield;
your reward shall be very great.” 2 But Abram said, “O Lord God, what will you give
me, for I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of
Damascus?”[a] 3 And Abram said, “You have given me no offspring, and so a slave
born in my house is to be my heir.” 4 But the word of the Lord came to him,
“This man shall not be your heir; no one but your very own issue shall be your
heir.” 5 He brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven and count the
stars, if you are able to count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your
descendants be.” 6 And he believed the Lord; and the Lord[b] reckoned it to him
as righteousness.
7 Then he said to him, “I am the Lord who
brought you from Ur of the Chaldeans, to give you this land to possess.” 8 But
he said, “O Lord God, how am I to know that I shall possess it?” 9 He said to
him, “Bring me a heifer three years old, a female goat three years old, a ram
three years old, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.” 10 He brought him all these
and cut them in two, laying each half over against the other; but he did not
cut the birds in two. 11 And when birds of prey came down on the carcasses,
Abram drove them away.
12 As the sun was going down, a deep
sleep fell upon Abram, and a deep and terrifying darkness descended upon him.
13 Then the Lord[c] said to Abram, “Know this for certain, that your offspring
shall be aliens in a land that is not theirs, and shall be slaves there, and
they shall be oppressed for four hundred years; 14 but I will bring judgment on
the nation that they serve, and afterward they shall come out with great
possessions. 15 As for yourself, you shall go to your ancestors in peace; you
shall be buried in a good old age. 16 And they shall come back here in the
fourth generation; for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.”
17 When the sun had gone down and it was
dark, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch passed between these pieces. 18 On
that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your descendants I
give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river
Euphrates, 19 the land of the Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites, 20 the
Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim, 21 the Amorites, the Canaanites, the
Girgashites, and the Jebusites.”
The Birth of Ishmael
16 Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, bore him no
children. She had an Egyptian slave-girl whose name was Hagar, 2 and Sarai said
to Abram, “You see that the Lord has prevented me from bearing children; go in
to my slave-girl; it may be that I shall obtain children by her.” And Abram
listened to the voice of Sarai. 3 So, after Abram had lived ten years in the
land of Canaan, Sarai, Abram’s wife, took Hagar the Egyptian, her slave-girl,
and gave her to her husband Abram as a wife. 4 He went in to Hagar, and she
conceived; and when she saw that she had conceived, she looked with contempt on
her mistress. 5 Then Sarai said to Abram, “May the wrong done to me be on you!
I gave my slave-girl to your embrace, and when she saw that she had conceived,
she looked on me with contempt. May the Lord judge between you and me!” 6 But
Abram said to Sarai, “Your slave-girl is in your power; do to her as you
please.” Then Sarai dealt harshly with her, and she ran away from her.
7 The angel of the Lord found her by a
spring of water in the wilderness, the spring on the way to Shur. 8 And he
said, “Hagar, slave-girl of Sarai, where have you come from and where are you
going?” She said, “I am running away from my mistress Sarai.” 9 The angel of
the Lord said to her, “Return to your mistress, and submit to her.” 10 The
angel of the Lord also said to her, “I will so greatly multiply your offspring
that they cannot be counted for multitude.” 11 And the angel of the Lord said
to her,
“Now you have conceived and shall bear a
son;
you shall call him Ishmael,[d]
for the Lord has given heed to your affliction.
12 He shall be a wild ass of a man,
with his hand against everyone,
and everyone’s hand against him;
and he shall live at odds with all his
kin.”
13 So she named the Lord who spoke to
her, “You are El-roi”;[e] for she said, “Have I really seen God and remained
alive after seeing him?”[f] 14 Therefore the well was called Beer-lahai-roi;[g]
it lies between Kadesh and Bered.
15 Hagar bore Abram a son; and Abram
named his son, whom Hagar bore, Ishmael. 16 Abram was eighty-six years old when
Hagar bore him[h] Ishmael.
The Sign of the Covenant
17 When Abram was ninety-nine years old,
the Lord appeared to Abram, and said to him, “I am God Almighty;[i] walk before
me, and be blameless. 2 And I will make my covenant between me and you, and
will make you exceedingly numerous.” 3 Then Abram fell on his face; and God
said to him, 4 “As for me, this is my covenant with you: You shall be the
ancestor of a multitude of nations. 5 No longer shall your name be Abram,[j]
but your name shall be Abraham;[k] for I have made you the ancestor of a
multitude of nations. 6 I will make you exceedingly fruitful; and I will make
nations of you, and kings shall come from you. 7 I will establish my covenant
between me and you, and your offspring after you throughout their generations,
for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring[l] after
you. 8 And I will give to you, and to your offspring after you, the land where
you are now an alien, all the land of Canaan, for a perpetual holding; and I
will be their God.”
9 God said to Abraham, “As for you, you
shall keep my covenant, you and your offspring after you throughout their
generations. 10 This is my covenant, which you shall keep, between me and you
and your offspring after you: Every male among you shall be circumcised. 11 You
shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the
covenant between me and you. 12 Throughout your generations every male among
you shall be circumcised when he is eight days old, including the slave born in
your house and the one bought with your money from any foreigner who is not of
your offspring. 13 Both the slave born in your house and the one bought with
your money must be circumcised. So shall my covenant be in your flesh an
everlasting covenant. 14 Any uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the
flesh of his foreskin shall be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant.”
15 God said to Abraham, “As for Sarai
your wife, you shall not call her Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name. 16 I will
bless her, and moreover I will give you a son by her. I will bless her, and she
shall give rise to nations; kings of peoples shall come from her.” 17 Then
Abraham fell on his face and laughed, and said to himself, “Can a child be born
to a man who is a hundred years old? Can Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a
child?” 18 And Abraham said to God, “O that Ishmael might live in your sight!”
19 God said, “No, but your wife Sarah shall bear you a son, and you shall name
him Isaac.[m] I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant
for his offspring after him. 20 As for Ishmael, I have heard you; I will bless
him and make him fruitful and exceedingly numerous; he shall be the father of
twelve princes, and I will make him a great nation. 21 But my covenant I will
establish with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear to you at this season next year.”
22 And when he had finished talking with him, God went up from Abraham.
23 Then Abraham took his son Ishmael and
all the slaves born in his house or bought with his money, every male among the
men of Abraham’s house, and he circumcised the flesh of their foreskins that
very day, as God had said to him. 24 Abraham was ninety-nine years old when he
was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. 25 And his son Ishmael was
thirteen years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. 26
That very day Abraham and his son Ishmael were circumcised; 27 and all the men
of his house, slaves born in the house and those bought with money from a
foreigner, were circumcised with him.
Footnotes:
Genesis 15:2 Meaning of Heb uncertain
Genesis 15:6 Heb he
Genesis 15:13 Heb he
Genesis 16:11 That is God hears
Genesis 16:13 Perhaps God of seeing or
God who sees
Genesis 16:13 Meaning of Heb uncertain
Genesis 16:14 That is the Well of the
Living One who sees me
Genesis 16:16 Heb Abram
Genesis 17:1 Traditional rendering of Heb
El Shaddai
Genesis 17:5 That is exalted ancestor
Genesis 17:5 Here taken to mean ancestor
of a multitude
Genesis 17:7 Heb seed
Genesis 17:19 That is he laughs
Luke The Question about the Sabbath
6: One sabbath[a] while Jesus[b] was
going through the grainfields, his disciples plucked some heads of grain,
rubbed them in their hands, and ate them. 2 But some of the Pharisees said,
“Why are you doing what is not lawful[c] on the sabbath?” 3 Jesus answered,
“Have you not read what David did when he and his companions were hungry? 4 He
entered the house of God and took and ate the bread of the Presence, which it
is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and gave some to his companions?”
5 Then he said to them, “The Son of Man is lord of the sabbath.”
The Man with a Withered Hand
6 On another sabbath he entered the
synagogue and taught, and there was a man there whose right hand was withered.
7 The scribes and the Pharisees watched him to see whether he would cure on the
sabbath, so that they might find an accusation against him. 8 Even though he
knew what they were thinking, he said to the man who had the withered hand,
“Come and stand here.” He got up and stood there. 9 Then Jesus said to them, “I
ask you, is it lawful to do good or to do harm on the sabbath, to save life or
to destroy it?” 10 After looking around at all of them, he said to him,
“Stretch out your hand.” He did so, and his hand was restored. 11 But they were
filled with fury and discussed with one another what they might do to Jesus.
Jesus Chooses the Twelve Apostles
12 Now during those days he went out to
the mountain to pray; and he spent the night in prayer to God. 13 And when day
came, he called his disciples and chose twelve of them, whom he also named
apostles: 14 Simon, whom he named Peter, and his brother Andrew, and James, and
John, and Philip, and Bartholomew, 15 and Matthew, and Thomas, and James son of
Alphaeus, and Simon, who was called the Zealot, 16 and Judas son of James, and
Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor.
Jesus Teaches and Heals
17 He came down with them and stood on a
level place, with a great crowd of his disciples and a great multitude of
people from all Judea, Jerusalem, and the coast of Tyre and Sidon. 18 They had
come to hear him and to be healed of their diseases; and those who were
troubled with unclean spirits were cured. 19 And all in the crowd were trying
to touch him, for power came out from him and healed all of them.
Blessings and Woes
20 Then he looked up at his disciples and
said:
“Blessed are you who are poor,
for yours is the kingdom of God.
21 “Blessed are you who are hungry now,
for you will be filled.
“Blessed are you who weep now,
for you will laugh.
22 “Blessed are you when people hate you,
and when they exclude you, revile you, and defame you[d] on account of the Son
of Man. 23 Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, for surely your reward is
great in heaven; for that is what their ancestors did to the prophets.
24 “But woe to you who are rich,
for you have received your consolation.
25 “Woe to you who are full now,
for you will be hungry.
“Woe to you who are laughing now,
for you will mourn and weep.
26 “Woe to you when all speak well of
you, for that is what their ancestors did to the false prophets.
Love for Enemies
27 “But I say to you that listen, Love
your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28 bless those who curse you, pray
for those who abuse you. 29 If anyone strikes you on the cheek, offer the other
also; and from anyone who takes away your coat do not withhold even your shirt.
30 Give to everyone who begs from you; and if anyone takes away your goods, do
not ask for them again. 31 Do to others as you would have them do to you.
32 “If you love those who love you, what
credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. 33 If you do
good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners
do the same. 34 If you lend to those from whom you hope to receive, what credit
is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to receive as much again. 35 But
love your enemies, do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return.[e] Your
reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High; for he is kind
to the ungrateful and the wicked. 36 Be merciful, just as your Father is
merciful.
Judging Others
37 “Do not judge, and you will not be
judged; do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be
forgiven; 38 give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down,
shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap; for the measure you
give will be the measure you get back.”
39 He also told them a parable: “Can a
blind person guide a blind person? Will not both fall into a pit? 40 A disciple
is not above the teacher, but everyone who is fully qualified will be like the
teacher. 41 Why do you see the speck in your neighbor’s[f] eye, but do not
notice the log in your own eye? 42 Or how can you say to your neighbor,[g]
‘Friend,[h] let me take out the speck in your eye,’ when you yourself do not
see the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own
eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your neighbor’s[i]
eye.
A Tree and Its Fruit
43 “No good tree bears bad fruit, nor
again does a bad tree bear good fruit; 44 for each tree is known by its own
fruit. Figs are not gathered from thorns, nor are grapes picked from a bramble
bush. 45 The good person out of the good treasure of the heart produces good,
and the evil person out of evil treasure produces evil; for it is out of the
abundance of the heart that the mouth speaks.
The Two Foundations
46 “Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and
do not do what I tell you? 47 I will show you what someone is like who comes to
me, hears my words, and acts on them. 48 That one is like a man building a
house, who dug deeply and laid the foundation on rock; when a flood arose, the
river burst against that house but could not shake it, because it had been well
built.[j] 49 But the one who hears and does not act is like a man who built a
house on the ground without a foundation. When the river burst against it,
immediately it fell, and great was the ruin of that house.”
Footnotes:
a. Luke 6:1 Other ancient authorities
read On the second first sabbath
b. Luke 6:1 Gk he
c. Luke 6:2 Other ancient authorities add
to do
d. Luke 6:22 Gk cast out your name as
evil
e. Luke 6:35 Other ancient authorities
read despairing of no one
f. Luke 6:41 Gk brother’s
g. Luke 6:42 Gk brother
h. Luke 6:42 Gk brother
i. Luke 6:42 Gk brother’s
j. Luke 6:48 Other ancient authorities
read founded upon the rock
-------
Harvest Ministries with Greg Laurie
P.O. Box 4000
Riverside, CA 92514-4000 United States
Phone: 1(800)821-3300
-------
No comments:
Post a Comment