Please read my recent article
CONTRADICTORY – OR – COMPLEMENTARY
I refer to things in the Bible we might not understand, and things we can understand.
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I will get to the title of this article later.
But first—reality check and more encouragement for the true Christian life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
God loves us, and shows His love, and we can receive His love—and yet we cannot understand Him, because God is beyond our understanding.
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What is happening in the world today is also beyond understanding, and we try to get hold of something to keep our sanity and personal peace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Some seek and offer resolution by explanations through Bible prophecy.
I’m not smart enough or anointed enough to join one, or offer my own.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There are conflicts in this world—in life—in our life.
There are loads of conflicts in the Bible, because it tells history like it is, even with His People.
His People—Israel, the Jews.
His People—Christians, Jesus Followers.
You could say we’re stuck in this world with evil, and we’re stuck in this body and soul with its power and pattern to pull us down.
If we follow Jesus, we will have conflict—from outside and from inside ourselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Remember, when we accept Jesus and follow Him, we have it all—forgiveness, peace with God, heaven, promised rewards—we just don’t have everything we want, here, like understanding why so much bad stuff is happening.
We have the Truth, the Bible, with loads of promises to “fear not, for I AM with you . . .”—and Jesus and the Holy Spirit are praying for us now.
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If these verses seem cliche or antithetical at the moment, so be it—they still have power in our lives:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all.” And if you’re really serious, – – –<\/p>\n\n\n\n “I will serve Thee because I love Thee; “Teach me Your Way, O Lord, “Thank You, Lord, for hearing me; “God, I trust in You; “Abraham had two sons: the one by a bondwoman (Hagar), the other by a freewoman (Sarah). But he who was of the bondwoman was born according to the flesh (out of the will of God), and he of the freewoman through promise (God’s promise), <\/sup>which things are symbolic. Now we, brethren, as Isaac was,<\/em> are children of promise. <\/sup>But, as he who was born according to the flesh (Ishmael) then persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit (Isaac), even so it is now.”—–from Galatians 4<\/p>\n\n\n\n Perhaps the most puzzling and disturbing reality in today’s world conflict—Israel vs Muslims (Arabs)—is how it started, and what God said about it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 3800 years ago God promised Abraham that he and Sarah would have a son and a great nation of descendants like the stars and the sand. – – –<\/p>\n\n\n\n That one time—sex outside God’s will—and now this, today, in the headline news—all-out war between descendants of Ishmael (Arabs, plus Islam) and descendants of Isaac (Jews).<\/p>\n\n\n\n The part I can’t understand in this story spanning two-thirds of human history, is what God said to Hagar when Sarah made Abraham kick Hagar and Ishmael out (for conflict in the home). Never say sex outside God’s will can’t hurt anybody.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Consider the Truth in our own lives—how you and I must take God and His Word seriously, literally, completely, continually, in everything.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n *God repeatedly raised up evil nations to punish His people for their sin, to bring them back to Him. Please read my recent articleCONTRADICTORY – OR – COMPLEMENTARYI refer to things in the Bible we might not understand, and things we can understand.– – –I will get to the title of this article later.But first—reality check and more encouragement for the true Christian life. God loves us, and shows His love, and we can […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12,2,3,7,9,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5975","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-educational","category-faith_based","category-family","category-inspire_lifter","category-political-cultural","category-time"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.awordforthought.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5975"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.awordforthought.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.awordforthought.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.awordforthought.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.awordforthought.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5975"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/www.awordforthought.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5975\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5978,"href":"http:\/\/www.awordforthought.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5975\/revisions\/5978"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.awordforthought.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5975"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.awordforthought.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5975"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.awordforthought.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5975"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
“In the world you will have tribulation, but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”
“We know that all things work together for good to them that love God<\/span>, to those who are called<\/span> according to His Purpose<\/span>.”
“We’ll understand it all by and by.” (song)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“All<\/span> who live Godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You have given life to me.
I was nothing until You found me;
You have given life to me.
Heartaches, broken pieces, ruined lives
Are why You died on Calvary.
Your touch is what I longed for;
You have given life to me.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Teach me Your Way.
Your guiding grace afford,
Teach me Your Way.
Help me to walk aright,
More by faith, less by sight.
Lead me with heavenly light;
Teach me Your Way.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Thank You, Lord, for knowing who I am.
Thank You, Lord, for seeing me;
It’s so easy to get lost these days
In the shuffle and the noise.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Let me not be ashamed.
Let not my enemies triumph over me.”
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And now, turning to what prompted this article, and the title—<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But they were old, and years kept passing with no child.
Sarah got Abraham to have a child with her servant girl Hagar.
That was Ishmael.
Then, years later Abraham and Sarah had the promised son.
That was Isaac.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
God met Hagar in the desert when she and her son were about to die.
God told her to keep going, that He would be with them, and that He would also make a great nation out of Ishmael.
God kept His promises to her, in spite of human weakness, doubt, and sin—and in spite of my not understanding why He did so—with the results we see today.*
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Can one act of sex cause this much trouble, this much hell, for this many centuries, for this many people ?
The Bible records it as it happened, then—and the news reports it as it happens, today.
Isaac’s descendants and Ishmael’s descendants—all-out war again.
No peace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It worked—sometimes it took awhile.
He will do it again, and America also meets the conditions now<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"