Gleanings for February 20

WORDS OF LIFE

 

              Genesis 17: l – 3, 5 NKJV:  “When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to him and said, “I am ALMIGHTY GOD (El Shaddai) walk before Me blameless and I will make My covenant between Me and you and will multiply you exceedingly.

             “Then Abram fell on his face, and God talked with him, saying:  “No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham; for I have made you a father of a multitude of nations.”

 

              The son God promised Abram and Sari (her name was changed to Sarah—verse 15) had not yet come and they are both beyond child-bearing age (in the natural realm).  They had gone beyond God’s perfect will and Abram had a son with Sari’s handmaid, Hagar.

             El Shaddai is bigger than any of “our overstepping of God’s will.”  Praise God, His love for us can turn our “missing the mark” into something good.  We must never blame God for a mess that we have gotten ourselves into.   God’s Grace and love will be there for us we must have a repentant heart so we can receive the solution He wants to bring.   Read the entire chapter of Genesis 17, in it you will see evidence of the love and compassion of our wonderful Lord!

            Words we speak, affect our thoughts, our thoughts ultimately become the direction our life will take.  Every time Abraham heard or spoke his own name, (after God had called him Abraham); he would be reminded of the promise God made to him.

              We can train ourselves to “say” what God has spoken  Do not get in the habit of speaking “empty words” “idle threats” or “foolish jesting” – that is unprofitable; or as we read in 2nd Timothy 2: 23:  “Avoid foolish and ignorant disputes knowing that they generate strife.”

 

             Every word God has spoken is backed by faith; that word will never return to Him without accomplishing the reason for which it was spoken. (See Isaiah 55: 11.)  Let that be an example for each one of us.  The 10th Chapter of the Book of Proverbs has over a dozen verses that talk about the words we speak.  Verse 31 says:  “The mouth of the righteous brings forth wisdom, but the perverse tongue will be cut out.”

 

              God has given to us wonderful words of LIFE.  Some of you may remember the good-old Hymn “Wonderful Words of Life”.  If you do—find it and make it a part of your praise time today.  One verse says this: 

 

“Sing them over again to me, wonderful words of life; let me more of their beauty see;

Wonderful words of life, words of life and beauty, teach me faith and duty:

Beautiful words, wonderful words, wonderful words of LIFE!”

 

 As that theme rings in your heart, you will find:

 

THE JOY OF THE LORD IS YOUR STRENGTH!!!