Al's Devotional

Well Good Morning, I am reading through Exodus right now, and happened to notice  F.B.Meyer's casual statement that there are three I Ams and Seven I wills in Exodus 6. I started looking at them and other verses kept popping into my mind, so I wrote them down.  This is by no means definitive, but it gives a moment of contemplation to the hopes that are set before us. (For some reason, some words came out in blue.  I don't know why, and I can't change it.) Blessings, ~Al And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.  Exo 3:14    Seven I wills and Three I Ams   And Jehovah said unto Moses, Now shalt thou see what I will do to Pharaoh: for by a strong hand shall he let them go, and by a strong hand shall he drive them out of his land.  And God spake unto Moses, and said unto hi...

OK, I just had the privilege of downloading Illustrations and Meditations, a series of brief thoughts that Thomas Manton had written, that C.H.Spurgeon had collected and published. These really are gems, and I hope to share some of them in the days to come. ~Al ILLUSTRATIONS AND MEDITATIONS;   OR,   FLOWERS   FROM A PURITAN'S GARDEN,   DISTILLED AND DISPENSED   BY   C. H. SPURGEON.       BIRD TIED BY A STRING.   "A bird that is tied by a string seems to have more liberty than a bird in a cage; it flutters up and down, and yet it is held fast."   WHEN a man thinks that he has escaped from the bondage of sin in general, and yet evidently remains under the power of some one favored lust, he is woefully mistaken in his judgment as to his ...

Hello All, I'm reading through Exodus and I came across this gem written by Thomas Manton.  I printed a brief biography of him at the end of the study. I was going to update the English he used,  (turned for turneth, permitted for permitteth), but it is the English of our KJV and he writes during a time of religious upheaval with the sword of the Spirit.  Who am I to edit such a man? ~Al And I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and multiply my signs and my wonders in the land of Egypt.  Exo 7:3    Judicial hardness of heart inflicted by God   I. I shall give some general observations from the story; for in the story of Pharaoh we have the exact platform of a hard heart. 1. Between the hard heart and God there is an actual contest who shall have the better. The parties contesting are God and Pharaoh. 2. The sin that hardened Pharaoh, and put him upon this conte...

And Moses returned unto the LORD, and said, Lord, wherefore hast thou so evil entreated this people? why is it that thou hast sent me?  For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in thy name, he hath done evil to this people; neither hast thou delivered thy people at all.  Exo 5:22 -23     Why is it that Thou hast sent me?   The sorrows of Christian service There is a tone of unspeakable sadness in this complaint of Moses. He had been crossed in his aims, his Divinely-inspired hopes had received an unexpected reverse, and all his plans for liberating Israel lay in ruins. It was a bitter moment, and every one who knows anything of the vicissitudes of Christian work will be able to enter into his feelings on this occasion. There come times to every earnest laborer in God's service, when his efforts seem fruitless, and he gets downcast. There are so many unforeseen contingencies to interrupt our work, that it...

And Moses answered and said, But, behold, they will not believe me, nor hearken unto my voice: for they will say, The LORD hath not appeared unto thee.  And the LORD said unto him, What is that in thine hand? And he said, A rod.  Exo 4:1 -2     Of what worth was the mere rod which Moses held in his hand that day as he stood before the burning bush? In all probability it was only the shepherd's crook which he used while attending the flocks of Jethro. The rod itself was almost of no value whatever. And so exactly with our life. Before we can be really useful, before we can accomplish any great work, before we can live up to the measure of our power, we must first of all meet with God. We must stand before the burning bush; we must listen to the Divine voice; we must receive the heavenly commission; we must accept the Divine command. Until this is done our life is nothing but a rod—a rod without any special use or intrinsic value...

Jesus, when He had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the Ghost.   Seven wonders   There were seven wonders which made the death of Christ exceedingly remarkable. I. Over His head was written an inscription in Hebrew, and Greek, and Latin, " Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews ." That there should be a distinct recognition of His kingship over the Jewish people has ever been regarded as one of the most remarkable splendors of the Savior's death. Typical of His sovereignty over the entire Church, which is but the prelude to His sovereignty over all worlds. Is He King in your heart? II. The conversion of the thief (Luk 23:1-56.). See here the majesty of Christ as a Savior, even in His misery as an atonement. What the thief saw about Christ let us all endeavor to see-His almighty power to save. God hath laid help upon One that is mighty. Trust Him only and fully. III. The total darkness at noon...

And Jacob sod pottage: and Esau came from the field, and he was faint:  And Esau said to Jacob, Feed me, I pray thee, with that same red pottage; for I am faint: therefore was his name called Edom.  And Jacob said, Sell me this day thy birthright.  And Esau said, Behold, I am at the point to die: and what profit shall this birthright do to me?  And Jacob said, Swear to me this day; and he sware unto him: and he sold his birthright unto Jacob.  Then Jacob gave Esau bread and pottage of lentiles; and he did eat and drink, and rose up, and went his way: thus Esau despised his birthright . Gen 25:29 -34     The despised birthright In forfeiting his birthright to his younger brother, Esau gave up— 1. The right of priesthood inherent in the eldest line of the patriarch's family; 2. The promise of the inheritance of the Holy Land; 3. The promise that in...

Good morning, all. I see in Esau the natural, pragmatic man.  To him, if it works, then do it.  If you are hungry, eat.  If you are tired, sleep.  The only thing that he looks for is advantage in his situation.  The only thing that he believes in are the things that he sees and feels, therefor his religion is for the most part superstitious.  Here he is, a grandson of Abraham, who would have been 14 years old at Abraham's death.  Esau, at that time, being the firstborn, would have been considered by Abraham to be the receiver of the birthright.  Abraham never lived to see the day that Esau sold his birthright.  What kind of things do you think Abraham told his grandson in preparation of the inheritance? Esau heard all the same stories that Jacob heard; heard the story of Abraham called to offer Isaac, his father, on the mountain, and how God stayed his grandfather's hand with a substitute.  And after all that, scriptur...