Today I was listening to Genesis Chapter 22 in the Bible. It is the story of Abraham almost sacrificing Isaac to God on Mt. Moriah. I have read this chapter many times, but today, it hit me hard.
The verses that spoke to me the most were these:
Genesis 22
16 And said, By myself have I sworn, saith the LORD, for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son:
17 That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies;
18And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice.
How often do we hold on to the things we love the most in our life, even at our own peril?
How hard is it to let those things go?
We've all heard the saying, "Let go, and let God!"
In these verses today, I heard my Lord say, "Give it ALL to me, and be blessed in so doing!"
God wants to be more important to you than your children, your spouse, your friends, your things, your family, your job or anything else. Trust God with all these and be content and at peace. Stop worrying and stressing yourself out over things that only God can fix. Stop longing for what only God can give you. Trust that God will provide both for you and Himself.
8 And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together.
This is the question that was asked of me by someone I am ministering to online.
Here is my answer:
Where you go when you die depends on you. If you follow Jesus you go to heaven if you follow Satan you go to hell.
This led to the next question:
"Is there a hell?"
To which I answered, "Jesus said there was.
I followed up with some Bible verses to help.
Matthew 10:28
“And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.”
Revelation 21:8
"But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”
Daniel 12:
1 And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book.
2 And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.
Matthew 25:
46“And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.”
Matthew 5:
28 Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice,
29 And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.
I did a little research and watched this video. It opened even MY eyes to what happens when we die. It answers a whole host of questions I've always had, but brushed off as something that I really didn't need to know, since I am convinced of my salvation. I am one to always fact check everything I hear with the Bible as best I can. What this man says really makes sense to me...so I am open to conversation about it.
It is imperative that you spend a few minutes every day reading the Bible and praying. It is impossible to see what God is doing in your life without the faith that you have to see it.
Every day as I surf the internet, I have made it a habit to listen to the Bible. Over and over I listen to it - a chapter or two a day, sometimes more. Sometimes I listen to the same chapter over and over to make sure that I got what was in it.
It's not like I don't have time to listen. I can listen when I am driving in my car, waiting in the grocery store line, taking a walk, or just sitting at home surfing on the internet. I can even listen while I am cleaning house.
Joshua 1:8
“This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.”
I had a conversation one day with someone I was ministering to about how we could minister to people in a hurting world. The conversation turned to tithes and what exactly it meant to "tithe", and with what should we tithe if we had nothing.
We never have NOTHING. God gives us everything we need to do His Will every day. Perhaps His will is not for you to donate a $1,000 to charity that day. Perhaps His will is just for you to comfort someone, or answer their questions, or steer them toward helpful information that could benefit them. When you tithe, you tithe 10% of the increase on whatever God gives you. If all you have is your ability, then it is your ability to serve that should be tithed.
But, in order for you to prosper and have the tools that you need in order to do God's will, you MUST study and meditate on God's Word, His laws, His lessons for you. You cannot understand God's will if you do not hear God's Word.
God convicts you through His Word. Once you hear His word, you will hear Him in a lot of other ways in your life: through your circumstances, in your prayers, through someone you are ministering to, or even something you experience or see. God communicates with you when you are primed to listen, and the best form of priming is to read and listen to the Bible.
If you are wondering how YOU can do what I do, just go to the KJV Bible online. Find Chapter 1 of Genesis (or any chapter you want of any book) in the search box. On the right side of the page is a list of "Bible Options", and at the bottom is a link that says "Listen". It's as easy as that!
I cannot stress the amount of comfort and inspiration and strength this tool has given me!
