From: Ben Kelley
Subject: Not all the "alls", part 2
For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever. (Genesis 13:15 (KJV) Despite the fact there are hundreds of thousands square miles of unused land in the countries surrounding and close to Israel, all of them want Israel to give up large portions of her tiny landmass to the so-called "Palestinian state" within her current borders. Never mind that "state" did not exist before Israel became a nation again, they all demand the Jewish people give up land. Well, God has a different idea. His plan will take most of those surrounding countries' lands and give them back to His people for their home. Their boundaries, as promised by God, will run North and South from Lebanon to the Nile River, and East to West from the Mediterranean Sea to the Euphrates River. Here's one depiction of it, with the promised borders lined in red:
Subject: Not all the "alls", part 2
For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever. (Genesis 13:15 (KJV) Despite the fact there are hundreds of thousands square miles of unused land in the countries surrounding and close to Israel, all of them want Israel to give up large portions of her tiny landmass to the so-called "Palestinian state" within her current borders. Never mind that "state" did not exist before Israel became a nation again, they all demand the Jewish people give up land. Well, God has a different idea. His plan will take most of those surrounding countries' lands and give them back to His people for their home. Their boundaries, as promised by God, will run North and South from Lebanon to the Nile River, and East to West from the Mediterranean Sea to the Euphrates River. Here's one depiction of it, with the promised borders lined in red:
God honors His Word; what HE says will be, will
be! These neighboring countries, who, by the way, aren't very neighborly,
better get ready to shrink, and some even to disappear! Israel is going
to expand; her borders will grow immensely! God, the Lord of all, says so.
Seeing that Abraham shall
surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of
the earth shall be blessed in him? (Genesis 18:18 (KJV) Most of us
can only reach and be a blessing to a small number of people, but not so for
Abraham. Because of his faith towards God, though it faltered at
times, God made the promise his seed would include the promised Messiah.
We need to remember this "all", because many of us act as if
our Messiah is only for some people groups, and not others. Some don't
witness of Him to, say, Jews, or Muslims, as if God's Word doesn't apply to them
and Jesus didn't give Himself as a sacrifice for them. All
the nations need Him, and HE came to offer Himself to redeem them to
God the Father. All the nations will only be blessed
through the promised seed of Abraham if they are told of Him. We are to
tell all people of the one true Messiah!
For the ways of man are before the
eyes of the LORD, and he pondereth all his going.
Proverbs 5:21 (KJV) This
verse is located in the middle of an admonition to keep ourselves sexually pure,
especially addressing the relationship of a marriage. We may be able to
"hide" our sins from those around us, but God sees and considers each and every
one of them. Sexual sins are probably one of the most prevalent kinds in
our modern world. Pornography, lustful thoughts, etc., are not "harmless",
as some like to think. Jesus said: But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a
woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.
(Matthew 5:28 (KJV) HE sees and examines
all our thoughts, looks, words, and actions. Let us work
to keep our hearts, minds, and bodies pure.
Neither is there any creature that is not
manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto
the eyes of him with whom we have to do. (Hebrews 4:13
(KJV) How would we feel, if suddenly our friends, families, and
acquaintances could see into our very thoughts, into the things we think are
hidden from view? Would we be embarrased and ashamed? This verse
reminds us that our God sees everything about us, no matter how
hard we work to conceal them. They are naked and
opened to His eyes. Nothing is hidden from His view.
Sometimes I stop and think, "how would I feel if, suddenly, God stood before
me? How would what I'm thinking, saying, or doing affect the One Who gave
Himself as the sacrifice for me?" Too often, I have to admit, I would be
ashamed and HE would be hurt. When we consider the truth of this verse
from Hebrews, we have to realize HE is standing in front of
us!!!! May God keep this fact close in our minds and hearts, that
we might keep ourselves from bringing hurt to our blessed Savior and Lord, the
One Who loves us with a love that is beyond our comprehension. We already
caused the awesome pain and suffering HE endured when HE gave Himself for
us. Let us not cause Him more. HE sees all we do,
say, and think, nothing is hidden from Him.
Ben