Blessed by the Presence of God's People

Let there be no mistake.  Our Creator has blessed this nation due to the presence of His people.  There are those that would argue against the fact that we began as a Christian nation.  They would deny that the presence of God's people, who came seeking to worship without fear of reprisal, resulted in many untold blessings and liberties we enjoy today.  When we look at the Word of God, we find a myriad of examples where people and nations were blessed because of the presence of God’s people in their midst. The Abrahamic Covenant specifically spells out that God will bless the nations that bless His people.  This not only applies to the nation of Israel, but to the people of God in Christ as well.  Our nation seems to be seeking to rid herself of God’s blessings.  We have become a nation which seeks to embrace tolerance for other beliefs and practices while excluding those which are based in the truths of God's Word.  Our nation seems to be embracing those nations which are bent upon the destruction of Israel and the Christian faith. Secularists are seeking to rewrite the history of the founding of our nation to diminish the impact Christianity has had in our history.  The further our nation retreats from God’s truth and His people, the further from His blessings and providence we go.

Verses of the Week:

And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.

Genesis 12:3

The Law of Reaping or What Goes Around, Comes Around

The lives of Jacob, Isaac and Abraham teach us the truism that we reap what we sow.  I have heard it said another way.  What goes around comes around.  There is both a positive and negative connotation to this truth.  We can reap in a positive way or in a negative way.  There are many who strive to live godly and yet suffer much.  But in the end, we find that they are truly blessed.  Take the beggar Lazarus compared to the rich man in Luke 16.  The rich man failed to show compassion to Lazarus when it was in his power to do so.  After both died, the situations were reversed with the exception that the ability to show mercy and grace to the rich man was not possible.  Our text today continues to see the result of family dynamics at work in the life of Jacob and his wives, Leah and Rachel who were sisters.  Rachel was favored over Leah by Jacob and yet we find great honor and blessing fall upon Leah from God’s hand. It would be through Leah that the promise of the Savior would be fulfilled.

Verses of the Week:

Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them: and I will place them, and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in the midst of them for evermore.   _{Ezekiel 37:26}