Wonderful Jesus!

Tag: Abraham

• Jesus, the Seed of Abraham!

  Posted at 9:00 am by wonderfuljesus8, on June 23, 2020

  Galatians 3:16 – Now to Abraham and his Seed were the promises made. He does not say, “And to seeds,” as of many, but as of one, “And to your Seed,” who is Christ. NKJV

  

  jesus_-the-seed-of-abraham_.mp3

  Genesis is the book of beginnings! It is in this book that God begins His redemptive plan for mankind. Actually, it was begun before the foundations of the world, but it is in the first book of the Bible that we see the plan begin to unfold. I am going to do a series about Jesus and how He was the spiritual fulfillment of types and shadows in the Old Testament.

  God told Abraham, when He called him out of Ur, that He was going to bless him. Abraham wanted a son more than anything else and God promises to deliver a son. Then when Isaac is deep in Abraham’s heart, God tells him to go and sacrifice Isaac, his only son, to the Lord. Abraham obeys the Lord and as he is about to take Isaac’s life, God stops him. The Lord then tells him:

  Genesis 22:17-18 – “blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies. In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.” NKJV

  Now, we might say that this referred to Isaac. And you will be correct, because through Isaac, God multiplied Abraham’s seed and they now live all over the earth. But that wasn’t the only thing that God meant. Paul, being intentional, let us know that this seed God referred to was not “seeds” as in descendants, but to a particular seed, as in Jesus, singular.

  When Matthew begins his record of the genealogy of Jesus, he begins with Abraham letting us know that Jesus was the seed of Abraham. This is important because Jesus was a natural descendant of the father of faith, or the patriarch of Israel, Abraham!

  God’s promise, that the nations of the world would be blessed through Abraham’s Seed is therefore, not fulfilled in Isaac, but in Jesus! In the book of Revelation, John wrote, that we are called out of every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people. All because of the spread of the gospel of Jesus Christ, and the salvation that He bestows to all those who believe. Paul also let’s us know that the promise came to Abraham when he had stepped out in faith and obeyed God and that through faith we receive Jesus and have access to the same favor and blessings that Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and the children of Israel had access to.

  Not only that, but the promise of the Holy Spirit, which Jesus said was the promise of the Father, was part of that promise made to Abraham. (Galatians 3:14) And Isaac was not capable of bestowing or being party to making that a reality. This promise to Abraham covered every aspect of our lives, natural blessings, salvation, the promise of the Holy Spirit, and access to the Father.

  Jesus, is a fulfillment of the covenant that God made with Abraham. Through Jesus all the nations have an opportunity to be blessed. Through Jesus, Abraham’s Seed, there have been an innumerable, increase in the Body of Christ. Surely we have increased to the point that we are more numerous than the sand in the sea or the stars in the sky. And contrary to polls and naysayers, we are continually growing.

  Also, we are possessing the gates of our enemy. Jesus has given us authority to trample over demons; authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out; and authority over all the works of the devil. Isaac was not able to bring us to the place where we could possess the gates of the enemy!

  So let’s look at what we have in Jesus because He is the seed of Abraham:

  • If we are of faith, we are blessed with believing Abraham
  • Jesus has redeemed us from the curse of the law of sin and death
  • Abraham’s blessings are to come upon us through Christ Jesus
  • We will receive the promise of the Spirit through faith
  • We are justified by faith
  • We are sons of God through faith
  • We are heirs according to the promise
  • We’re all one in Christ Jesus

  It was so important to our redemption, that Jesus fulfill the promise of God as the Seed of Abraham! When I read the Old Testament, I marvel at all God did for the children of Israel, but I don’t have to be jealous, for I also am an heir to the same blessings they experienced and so much more! I’m gonna get my blessings, right now! Wonderful Jesus!

  Posted in Blessing of Abraham, Jesus, Promises of God | 2 Comments | Tagged Abraham, Blessing of Abraham, blessings, Galatians, heirs, heirs with Christ, Holy Spirit, Jesus, redemption, Salvation, seed, sons of God

• Don’t Settle For Less

  Posted at 9:00 am by wonderfuljesus8, on May 7, 2020

  Genesis 17:17-18 – “Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed, and said in his heart, “Shall a child be born to a man who is one hundred years old? And shall Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child? ” And Abraham said to God, “Oh, that Ishmael might live before You!” NKJV

  Everyone wants a word from the Lord! And when we get a word from the Lord we get so excited. I know Abram got excited when God told him that he would not only have a son, but that his seed would be as numerous as the stars in the sky! The Bible tells us that Abram believed God. And believed God. And believed God. Especially since he was 75 years old when the promise was made and 100 when it was fulfilled. I know that he had to have been excited when he told Sarai. They probably thought at first that the baby would be born within the year, but he wasn’t. And for years they kept believing that the baby would come, but it didn’t come. And so their faith began to wane.

  Many people know how Abram and Sarai felt. I know I do! God gives an exciting word to us which will give us the desire of our heart. You will be healed! Your debts will be forgiven! I’ve called you to preach the gospel. Go ahead, and put the word He has given you in the list. And you light upon that word, rehearse that word, confess that word and that word is yet to be fulfilled in your life. Well, Abram and Sarai took matters into their own hands to “help” God fulfill His promise to them.

  One day Sarai suggested to Abram that he take Hagar to have a baby with. And Abram did. And he had Ishmael. He was 86 years old! What a joy Ishmael was to Abram, but not to Sarai. Even though it was her suggestion, she and Hagar didn’t appear to be on the same page with Ishmael. I don’t know many women who would have handled the situation much better. But Abram was a dad! And he was so excited about it! He had what he wanted! A son!

  But Abram didn’t have what God wanted for him. In chapter 17, God visits Abram again and changes his name to Abraham and Sarai’s name to Sarah. Abraham would be the father of many nations and Sarah would be the mother of many nations, and out of her kings would come. Well, by now, Abraham is laughing at this word from God. It’s more impossible now than it was at 75. And since he wanted a son, and he had Ishmael, he felt God had kept His word and all was well. Except, all wasn’t well!

  Sometimes when we are believing God for something we don’t hold out for God’s best. We settle for anything that looks like what He said and go on through life as if it’s okay. You’re not healed, but you feel better, so much better and stop believing for complete and total healing in your body. Your house isn’t paid off yet, but you have the money to pay your mortgage, or whatever bill, and you are just happy that you have the money needed, and it’s ok that your debt isn’t forgiven because it’s manageable. And the list can go on and on…

  Abram wanted a baby with Sarai. He loved her and wanted their posterity to continue, but they got tired of waiting and decided to settle for the next best thing. Ishmael. As a matter of fact, when God told Abraham about Sarah having a baby he reminded God of how old they both were, said that it was okay that he had Ishmael, and asked God to allow Ishmael to live before Him. But that wasn’t what God had planned for Abraham when He spoke to him, and therefore, it was not His will for Abraham’s life!

  God wants us to feel better, but more importantly, He wants us whole! He wants us to pay our bills, but He wants us debt free. He wants us to work in ministry, and adopt kids, and be satisfied and single, but He often has so much more for us than we receive because we are often willing to settle for that which He doesn’t have planned for us.

  I remember years ago, when I was a single woman, I was often teased by my seemingly high standards for the man I wanted to married. Once I was told that I acted like I was waiting for Jesus to come back and marry me. I replied that if He came back and married me I would accept. I did get engaged to a nice young man, but I knew I was settling. Fortunately I got out of that before I had made a big mistake. He wasn’t God’s best for me. Then I was told I would have to change my personality because men would be put off by it. I responded that I wasn’t changing to get a man, because I was better off single if I had to be somebody other than myself. Well, I eventually met the man of my dreams who loved me the way I was. I’ve changed over the years, but I didn’t have to change to get him or to keep him. I changed because of the power of the Spirit working in my life while the word transformed it!

  Now I’m in that place where I am believing God for ministry opportunities. I am so excited about blogging. This blog is being read by people in 44 different countries of the world. That’s amazing to me and I am so grateful to God for that exposure. I’ve already surpassed last year’s totals in views. (Not that they were so numerous, but they were my best at that time). And I found myself getting into that settling mode. I was getting satisfied with the blog and thinking, okay, this may be what the Lord had in mind for me. But today I was challenged by the word to not settle. God has great things in store for me, for you! He isn’t calling us to settle. Yes, be thankful, be content! But don’t become satisfied with today’s success when tomorrow hasn’t even gotten here yet and you don’t know what it holds! It may be many tomorrows as it has already been, as Abraham and Sarah experienced, but if it was a word from God, you can bank on it! It will surely come to pass! Wonderful Jesus!

  Posted in God’s Blessings, God’s faithfulness, Promises of God | 3 Comments | Tagged Abraham, blessings, encouragement, Faith, Healing, Sarah, trust in God, will of God, word from God

• The Battle For Family!

  Posted at 5:58 pm by wonderfuljesus8, on February 8, 2020

  Genesis 14:14 – “Now when Abram heard that his brother was taken captive, he armed his three hundred and eighteen trained servants who were born in his own house, and went in pursuit as far as Dan.” NKJV

  Family creates an interesting dynamic to the lives of believers. Some of our family members keep us on our knees praying, confessing, and believing God for their deliverance. If it wasn’t for the fact that we know worry is a sin, some of us would live in the place of worry. But this is nothing new! And there is some great news ahead!

  Abram had been given a directive from God to leave his country, his family, and his heritage to go to a place chosen by God (Genesis 12). And he did! Kinda sorta! He took his nephew, Lot, with him. It wasn’t that Lot was some little kid that needed Abram to raise him, but when Terah left Ur, he had taken Lot, so maybe Abram felt responsible for Lot. Whatever the reason, whatever the case, they are together.

  Both men are prosperous. Verse 2, of chapter 13 lets us know that Abram was very rich in livestock, silver and gold. And we find that Lot is prosperous when the herdsmen of Abram and Lot begin arguing over the water and the land. Not only do they have to share with each other this land and water, but we are told that they have to share with the Canaanites and the Perizzites as well.

  This causes them to have to separate from each other. Lot was given a choice by Abram in verse 9, “Is not the whole land before you? Please separate from me. If you take the left, then I will go to the right; or, if you go to the right, then I will go to the left.” Lot chooses to go to Sodom. Some translations of the Bible states that Lot moved near Sodom, while others refer to him moving into Sodom. Which ever way it really was, he eventually ended up living in Sodom.

  In chapter 14, a battle is gearing up, and Sodom and Gomorrah joins with three other kings to fight, five agains four. During the battle, Sodom and Gomorrah are overtaken, along with Lot and his goods. Someone escapes and tells Abram, and he gears up for battle. If you have not read this in its entirety, you should do so, because I can only give highlights. In our key verse, Abram, with his trained men, go in pursuit of Lot to recover him and his goods.

  It doesn’t matter to Abram that Lot made his own choice to live in Sodom. It doesn’t matter to Abram that five kings lost to four. It doesn’t even matter to Abram that in helping Lot, he will end up helping Sodom and Gomorrah, whom I am sure he understood the nature of their lives. No! The only thing that mattered to Abram was that his beloved nephew was in trouble and needed his help!

  I’ve lived long enough to know that we all have that family member that can get into some situations. Not always of their own making, it just seems that trouble follows him or her. But family is family! And if you are a believer, your heart for your family is to see every one of them delivered from the enemy, as Abram felt. Abram pursued those kings, rescued Lot and his positions, and all the prisoners and possessions. In other words, they went into that battle and recovered all, returning quite victorious!

  I am from a large family. I had seven sisters and two brothers. All with families of their own. So we have seen some things. I also married into a good sized family. My husband had five siblings. So our families combined with siblings, with nieces, nephews and cousins are quite extensive. We’ve fought many battles over the year. We’ve lost some (seemingly in the natural), we’ve won all (in the spirit), and we find that we have become trained warriors. There is no sitting back on our family members saying that they got themselves into that, or it’s their lifestyle, or we are tired of them. We fight for our family!

  My mother died from lupus while in her forties, leaving all of us very young. Many years later when my sister was in her forties, they diagnosed her with lupus. She called me and told me about it, saying that she was going die in her forties like mama. Something rose up on the inside of me, we know it was the Holy Ghost, and I decreed the devil is a liar! I prayed for her on that phone and continued to pray until I felt the victory. She went back to the doctor and they couldn’t find it! Glory!!! She’s in her sixties. Another time, she was about to lose her job (not sure why she keeps coming to mind) because a patient lied on her. I want you to know we got to praying and she never did lose that job! Years later, she is still on it!! God is such a good God! We’ve gone to battle against sickness and diseases, financial attacks, legal battles, setups, and put downs, and we find that there is nothing God won’t do!

  I have friends, church members, acquaintances, with similar victories. As a believer, I have noticed that when the devil really gets messy, he starts attacking our family members when he wants to get at us. But we have to have the same mind Abram had, “not my family” knowing that God will go with us! Abram had no fear of losing his life or the battle. God had made a promise to him about inheriting the land of Canaan. He couldn’t inherit it if he was dead. So he went out sure of his victory. God has made us similar promises. Promises of victory! Promises that greater is He that is with us, then he that is in the world! A promise that we are more than a conqueror! A promise of household salvation! A promise of generational blessings!

  Don’t you quit on your family! Even if you believe or know you are the only one praying, the only one standing on the promises, the only one who believes! God cares about your family, because He loves them more than you do! I believe this is the first physical battle mentioned in the Bible and it’s about family! What does that say? God is aware that family can get into some altercations, but He is for you and your family! Don’t accept drug addiction, alcohol addiction, unemployment, sickness and disease, and no other lying attack the devil comes up with! This is your family! Fight, for you are inked in as the winner! Wonderful Jesus!!

  Posted in Battle plans, Believers, Christian, Spiritual warfare, Victorious Living | 4 Comments | Tagged Abraham, Believer, Christian, consequences, encouragement, Family, Genesis 14:14, hard times, Prayer, Spiritual warfare, Victorious Living, victory

• He’s Already Provided!

  Posted at 1:00 pm by wonderfuljesus8, on August 7, 2019

  Genesis 22:13-14 -Then Abraham lifted his eyes and looked, and there behind him was a ram caught in a thicket by its horns. So Abraham went and took the ram, and offered it up for a burnt offering instead of his son. And Abraham called the name of the place, The- Lord -Will-Provide; as it is said to this day, “In the Mount of the Lord it shall be provided.”

  One day I was reading an article about a miraculous provision from God. In the article the missionary shared how he and the children were praying for a need for the mission and as they were praying, one of the little girls prayed for a baby doll. Now this has been a while and I don’t remember all the details of why they were praying, but I remember she prayed for a baby doll.

  Well, not long after they prayed, a box came to him from his sister. She would send boxes of things to him, but usually they were needs. However, in this box was a baby doll. Now since she had mailed the box to him weeks before they prayed, there was no way for her to know the girl prayed for a doll. But lo and behold, a doll was in the box. She explained it by saying that as she packed the box she saw the doll and felt impressed to add it! She had no way of knowing that a little girl would pray for a doll, but God knew. (If you have read this and I didn’t tell it completely accurately, don’t be offended! I just want to get the point across!)

  Another time I was reading, could have been the same article, not sure, but I was reading when I read about a missionary who had lost his glasses. He was really at a disadvantage without his glasses and had no way of getting another pair where he was at. So he asked God for some new glasses. Again, a box came in with a pair of glasses with the perfect prescription for him! They got in the box because a packer of the box dropped them accidentally in the box and they were mailed off. Apparently the person who lost his glasses had access the missionary didn’t have to a new pair of glasses. (Surmising here!) But God sent those glasses in the mail, before the need arrived and provided for it in advance!

  Well, recently, I had a similar thing happen to me. Our daughter had a washer and dryer in her apartment, in another state, that she needed to have moved because it was sitting in her living room. We decided to go and visit her, but we would go in our truck so that we could bring it back home and store it in our basement until she decided what she wanted to do with it. You guessed it, my washer died on me suddenly. And yes! He had already provided a washer for me! Sitting in my basement ready for use!

  He is good like that! He knows what we have need of before we ask and often times He just provides it without us asking or sends it to us before we even know we have the need.

  That’s what happened with Abraham. He went to obey God and offer up his son, knowing the promise God had given him concerning Isaac! I think Abraham was expecting to see his first resurrection. When he told his servants that he and his son was going to worship and would return, he was fully expecting God to give him a miracle. God watched as Abraham was ready to obey Him and in the moment of complete obedience God stopped him and showed him the ram! He had already provided!

  Peter wrote: “as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue,” (2 Peter 1:3). As Christians we spend half of our lives begging God to provide to us that which He has already provided! Every thing we need that pertains to life and godliness has been given to us already. Now we trust and believe that He has provided it and will get it to us! This isn’t an easy transition to make-going from begging, to praying and trusting, but it’s a necessary transition.

  What do you have need of today? What are you asking Him for? Can you believe that He has already provided? If you can, He has! Now believe and receive it! Not name it and claim it and blab it and grab it! But trust that your Heavenly Father truly wants to bless you with all that He has provided! Wonderful Jesus!

  Posted in encouragement, God’s Blessings, Jehovah Jireh, provision | 0 Comments | Tagged Abraham, encouragement, provision

• Step On the Grasshoppers!

  Posted at 3:55 am by wonderfuljesus8, on April 8, 2018

  There we saw the giants (the descendants of Anak came from the giants); and we were like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight.”
  Numbers 13:33

  If you are unfamiliar with this verse, let me give you a little background.

  Moses and the children of Israel have crossed the Red Sea and are ready to go into Canaan to possess the land. But before they go in, Moses sends 12 spies to check the land out. When they return, the Bible states that 10 of the men gave an evil report and 2 (Joshua and Caleb) gave a good report.

  The evil report had to do with the size of the people and the obstacles ahead of them, but the good report focused on the victory promised them from God. But no matter what Joshua and Caleb had to say, the 10 won the people over to their side when they said, “we were like grasshoppers in our sight, and so we were in their sight.”

  God had Moses send the 12 to spy out the land and I can imagine when they left they were excited. Finally, they have arrived to the Promised Land given to them and their descendants because of Abraham! And since it was the Promise Land given to them by God, surely everything would go smoothly. When they arrived the place was beautiful, but as they venture across the land they see giants. And as they come across the giants, the fire begins to dim.

  Life is full of giants. But how we view the giants make all the difference in our outcome. The way we view ourselves and think others view us will also affect the end result.

  I recently taught my students about the “frame of reference” people write from, make decisions from, etc. We were actually discussing the Ancient Israelites in World History. The “frame of reference” came into play as we discussed the ways that the Jews, Christians, and Islamic faiths tend to view Abraham. And then we talked about the author’s frame of reference and how diligently he tried to ignore the God of Abraham. You can’t correctly teach about Abraham and the children of Israel without speaking of God.

  Anyway, when we look at a situation in life, our frame of reference will determine our outcome in the situation. The ten spies frame of reference was what they saw and how they saw themselves; Joshua and Caleb’s frame of reference was-God will be with us, so we are well able to take the land. God was pleased with Joshua and Caleb and displeased with the ten and their ability to lead millions to their death instead of their inheritance.

  What is your frame of reference today? Are you looking at your problems and situations through the lens of the word of God, the promises of God; or are you looking at the size of your problems, how you see yourself or how you feel others are viewing you. I know sometimes I have fallen in that trap of thinking that the promise of God couldn’t happen in my own life because of this, that and the other. But I challenge you today, as I have challenged myself, to change your frame of reference to what God has promised and step on those grasshoppers as you cross over into your promise! Wonderful Jesus!

  Posted in Faith, Victorious Living | 0 Comments | Tagged Abraham, Faith, frame of reference, Grasshopper, hard times

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