{"id":15806,"date":"2021-05-17T22:00:24","date_gmt":"2021-05-18T05:00:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/genesis_17_15-27-copy\/"},"modified":"2021-05-16T17:27:15","modified_gmt":"2021-05-17T00:27:15","slug":"genesis_18_1-15","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/genesis_18_1-15\/","title":{"rendered":"Welcome God\u2019s Presence and God\u2019s Word"},"content":{"rendered":"

Genesis 18:1-15\u00a0\u00a0Click here for Bible Verses<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Hi GAMErs,<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is Genesis 18:1-15.\u00a0 Let\u2019s go!<\/p>\n

Genesis 18:1-10 (NIV)<\/em><\/strong>
\n1\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0The\u00a0LORD\u00a0appeared to Abraham near the great trees of Mamre while he was sitting at the entrance to his tent in the heat of the day.
\n2\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Abraham looked up and saw three men standing nearby. When he saw them, he hurried from the entrance of his tent to meet them and bowed low to the ground.
\n3\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0He said, “If I have found favor in your eyes, my lord, do not pass your servant by.
\n4\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Let a little water be brought, and then you may all wash your feet and rest under this tree.
\n5\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Let me get you something to eat, so you can be refreshed and then go on your way–now that you have come to your servant.” “Very well,” they answered, “do as you say.”
\n6\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0So Abraham hurried into the tent to Sarah. “Quick,” he said, “get three seahs of fine flour and knead it and bake some bread.”
\n7\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Then he ran to the herd and selected a choice, tender calf and gave it to a servant, who hurried to prepare it.
\n8\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0He then brought some curds and milk and the calf that had been prepared, and set these before them. While they ate, he stood near them under a tree.
\n9\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0“Where is your wife Sarah?” they asked him. “There, in the tent,” he said.
\n10\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Then the\u00a0LORD\u00a0said, “I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah your wife will have a son.”\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 1-10a:\u00a0\u00a0A few weeks ago I preached a message\u00a0 called \u201cThe Welcoming Party\u201d sharing some things I learned from these 10 verses.\u00a0\u00a0I pray it\u2019s an encouragement to you.\u00a0\u00a0Check it out HERE<\/u><\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Genesis 18:10b-15 (NIV)<\/em><\/strong>
\n10<\/sup>\u00a0\u2026Now Sarah was listening at the entrance to the tent, which was behind him.
\n11\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Abraham and Sarah were already old and well advanced in years, and Sarah was past the age of childbearing.
\n12\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0So Sarah laughed to herself as she thought, “After I am worn out and my master is old, will I now have this pleasure?”
\n13\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Then the\u00a0LORD\u00a0said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Will I really have a child, now that I am old?’
\n14\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Is anything too hard for the\u00a0LORD? I will return to you at the appointed time next year and Sarah will have a son.”
\n15\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Sarah was afraid, so she lied and said, “I did not laugh.” But he said, “Yes, you did laugh.”<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 10b-15:\u00a0\u00a0Upon hearing the Lord say that about this time next year Sarah will have a son, Sarah laughs to herself and thinks sarcastically, \u201cwill I now have this pleasure?\u201d\u00a0\u00a0Previously Abraham had laughed at the Lord\u2019s message that Sarah would bear a child at the age of 90 (Genesis 17:17), but his laugh was a joyful laugh fueled by faith, wonder and awe.\u00a0\u00a0Here Sarah\u2019s laugh is not fueled by faith or joy, but by unbelief, skepticism and ingratitude (v13).\u00a0\u00a0Perceiving Sarah\u2019s sarcastic thoughts, the Lord responds by asking, \u201cIs anything too hard for the Lord\u201d (v14).\u00a0\u00a0Afraid, Sarah denies laughing but God confirms that she did laugh (v15).<\/p>\n

What can we learn from this?\u00a0\u00a0Here are a number of lessons I learn:<\/p>\n

1. God watches how we respond to His Word.\u00a0\u00a0Do we respond to His Word with humility, faith and wonder?\u00a0\u00a0Or do we respond with unbelief, pride and sarcasm?<\/p>\n

2. Just as Psalm 139:2 and 4 say, God perceives our thoughts from afar even before we speak them out.\u00a0\u00a0We can\u2019t hide our inner thoughts from God if we tried.<\/p>\n

3. Maybe today you\u2019re struggling with unbelief.\u00a0\u00a0God\u2019s word to you is: \u201cIs anything too hard for the Lord?\u201d (v14) Remember that what is impossible for people is possible with God.<\/p>\n

4. Despite Sarah\u2019s momentary unbelief, God would still bless Sarah, even putting her in the list of examples of faith in Hebrews 11.\u00a0\u00a0That is the mercy of God.\u00a0\u00a0It goes to show that we may have a momentary lapses into unbelief, but God\u2019s grace is greater than our failures.<\/p>\n

Heavenly Father, since You watch how I treat others, since You perceive my thoughts from afar, I pray that I would consistently have a welcoming, humble, and expectant posture toward Your presence and Your Word.\u00a0\u00a0For in that there is a great blessing.\u00a0\u00a0In Jesus\u2019 name, AMEN!<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hi GAMErs,<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is Genesis 18:1-15.\u00a0 Let\u2019s go!<\/p>\n

Genesis 18:1-10 (NIV)
\n1\u00a0\u00a0The\u00a0LORD\u00a0appeared to Abraham near the great trees of Mamre while he was sitting at the entrance to his tent in the heat of the day.
\n2\u00a0\u00a0Abraham looked up and saw three men standing nearby. When he saw them, he hurried from the entrance of his tent to meet them and bowed low to the ground.
\n3\u00a0\u00a0He said, “If I have found favor in your eyes, my lord, do not pass your servant by.
\n4\u00a0\u00a0Let a little water be brought, and then you may all wash your feet and rest under this tree…….<\/p>\n

On verses 10b-15:\u00a0\u00a0Upon hearing the Lord say that about this time next year Sarah will have a son, Sarah laughs to herself and thinks sarcastically, \u201cwill I now have this pleasure?\u201d\u00a0\u00a0Previously Abraham had laughed at the Lord\u2019s message that Sarah would bear a child at the age of 90 (Genesis 17:17), but his laugh was a joyful laugh fueled by faith, wonder and awe.\u00a0\u00a0Here Sarah\u2019s laugh is not fueled by faith or joy, but by unbelief, skepticism and ingratitude (v13).\u00a0\u00a0Perceiving Sarah\u2019s sarcastic thoughts, the Lord responds by asking, \u201cIs anything too hard for the Lord\u201d (v14).\u00a0\u00a0Afraid, Sarah denies laughing but God confirms that she did laugh (v15).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":15804,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15806","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gametime-sharing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15806","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15806"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15806\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15807,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15806\/revisions\/15807"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15804"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15806"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15806"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15806"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}