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I was deeply moved by these verses from Genesis this morning. The servant of Abraham not only showed great faith in obeying God and recognizing His provision, but the parents of Rebekah (Laban and Bethuel) did too! How incredibly difficult it would have been to make that decision, which was borne of both faith and courage.

God grant me the wisdom to see and understand your will for my life, and the courage to embrace the path you have laid out for my family and I to follow together.

Genesis 24:48-52 NLT

““Then I bowed low and worshiped the Lord. I praised the Lord, the God of my master, Abraham, because he had led me straight to my master’s niece to be his son’s wife. So tell me—will you or won’t you show unfailing love and faithfulness to my master? Please tell me yes or no, and then I’ll know what to do next.” Then Laban and Bethuel replied, “The Lord has obviously brought you here, so there is nothing we can say. Here is Rebekah; take her and go. Yes, let her be the wife of your master’s son, as the Lord has directed.” When Abraham’s servant heard their answer, he bowed down to the ground and worshiped the Lord.”

See it at YouVersion.com:

http://bible.us/Gen24.48.NLT

When Moses questioned God about whether he was qualified to lead the nation of Israel out of Egypt, God didn’t recite his credentials and preparation. God simply reminded Moses that He would be with him. I think it is significant God also reminded Moses that He would give him rest. I am sure Moses needed to hear that. His new “flock” was quite a bit more challenging than the actual sheep he had led and cared for in the desert.

Exodus 33:14 NIV

“The Lord replied, “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.””

See it at YouVersion.com:

http://bible.us/Exod33.14.NIV

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Psalm 101:3, 4 NLT

“I will refuse to look at anything vile and vulgar. I hate all who deal crookedly; I will have nothing to do with them. I will reject perverse ideas and stay away from every evil.”

See it at YouVersion.com:

http://bible.us/Ps101.3.NLT

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Why did God respond this way to Satan? I don’t understand this.

Job 2:4-7 NLT

“Satan replied to the Lord, “Skin for skin! A man will give up everything he has to save his life. But reach out and take away his health, and he will surely curse you to your face!” “All right, do with him as you please,” the Lord said to Satan. “But spare his life.” So Satan left the Lord’s presence, and he struck Job with terrible boils from head to foot.”

See it at YouVersion.com:

http://bible.us/Job2.4.NLT

Happy New Year! It is 2012, and as Christians we are called to live differently than “the world.” John reminds us we are called to imitate what is good, not what is evil. Others around us constantly encourage us to listen to worldly voices, rather than God’s voice. Evil behaviors are modeled and championed around us in our culture in media, music, films, and advertisements. 

As we consider what resolutions we will make and follow in 2012, let us commit to imitating what is GOOD.

3 John 1:11, 12 NIV

“Dear friend, do not imitate what is evil but what is good. Anyone who does what is good is from God. Anyone who does what is evil has not seen God. Demetrius is well spoken of by everyone—and even by the truth itself. We also speak well of him, and you know that our testimony is true.”

See it at YouVersion.com:

http://bible.us/3John1.11.NIV

We should not lie and should never joke about lying to friends. Here, then, is a partial litmus test for true friendship. Passing this test is no guarantee of true friendship, but failing it is surely a sign of false friendship.

Proverbs 26:18, 19 NLT

“Just as damaging as a madman shooting a deadly weapon is someone who lies to a friend and then says, “I was only joking.””

See it at YouVersion.com:

http://bible.us/Prov26.18.NLT

Worship defined:

“To represent with a gesture or attitude your complete submission, adoration and devotion to someone or something.”

Matthew 2:2 NIV

“Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.””

See it at YouVersion.com:

http://bible.us/Matt2.2.NIV

This morning in our Friday Morning Men’s group, we studied and discussed Chapter 11 of Craig Groeschel’s book, “Weird: Because Normal Isn’t Working.” The chapter is titled, “Sex Cymbals.” This is one of the verses Craig cites in the chapter, and he notes God does not use this word (in Greek originally) for “flee” for any other sin or temptation.

1 Corinthians 6:18-20 NIV

“Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a person commits are outside the body, but whoever sins sexually, sins against their own body. Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.”

See it at YouVersion.com:

http://bible.us/1Cor6.18.NIV

Craig paints a vivid picture of how we need to build gates, moats, and other protective boundaries around ourselves to provide “moral margin” from sexual temptation. The world doesn’t want us to have these boundaries and is constantly at war with us to break them down. We must “man the walls” and be continually vigilant. The enemy is always on the prowl, and like the Greeks at the walls of Troy our enemy constantly seeks an opening to sneak inside for malicious purposes.

We must keep him out.

Check out Craig’s book, it is excellent.

http://www.amazon.com/WEIRD-Because-Normal-Working-ebook/dp/B004DCAUX8/ref=tmm_kin_title_0

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