Gen 26
12 Then Isaac sowed in that land, and received in the same year an hundredfold: and the
LORD blessed him. 13 And the man waxed
great, and went forward, and grew until he became very great:
14 For he had possession of flocks, and possession
of herds, and great store of servants: and the Philistines envied him.
Gen 25
11 And it came to pass after the death of Abraham, that God blessed his son Isaac; and
Isaac dwelt by the well Lahairoi.
Abraham was a great man. And God blessed his son Isaac and his
grandson Jacob.
It is heartbreaking when men of God pass away and the work goes
down with them and comes to nothing. It should not be like that. It was not so with
Abraham. Isaac continued with the blessing.
Jesus said that they will come from the east and west and sit down
at the tables with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
There was so much good in the life of Isaac. God blessed him in
earthly and spiritual matters. God blessed him to such an extent that even the Philistines
envied him.
At the beginning the Philistine king liked Isaac. But it wasn't
long and his attitude changed and he envied him and asked him to move away from him. This
spirit is prevalent in the world today. It's true among all nations and especially here in
Africa. When someone is doing well the others are jealous and to their utmost to pull him
down.
However, when someone else is successful you should rejoice with
him.
There's the fable of two eagles. The one however could fly higher
and better than the other. So the one that did not fly as well as his friend was envious
and went to a hunter and asked him to shoot the other bird. He also took one of his
feathers and gave it to the hunter so the arrow would fly straight. But the arrow could
not reach the other eagle. Again he took another feather and asked the hunter to try
again. But he still failed. One by one this eagle plucked his feathers until he could no
longer fly. Then the hunter took this eagle and killed it.
This fable teaches us the evil of envy and how it only harms
yourself.
In London there were three preachers, Spurgeon, also known as the
"prince of preachers", Campbell Morgan and a third one. The first one's church
was packed and so too the second, but this third preacher's church was empty. He felt
jealous of the other two, but then he realised that it was wrong and prayed that God would
help him. The Lord spoke to him to pray for the other Spurgeon and Morgan that God would
bless them even more. He couldn't understand it, but said, "Lord I will nevertheless
obey". God answered his prayer and the other two's churches overflowed even more, so
much that the overflow started to come to his church and eventually his church was full
too, filled to the brim. He was blessed because he blessed others.
God said of Abraham that those that bless you will be blessed and
those that curse you will be cursed.
Do you criticize others or pray for them, and help them when they
do not see a mistake in their life?
Abraham and Isaac had very similar experiences. When Abraham
passed away God blessed his son Isaac.
What does this blessing mean? A person truly blessed of God is
happy and to be envied. He prospers spiritually. That you are spiritually prosperous is of
primary importance to be truly blessed. Even if you are materially pressed from all sides
and persecuted, if your soul prospers then you are truly blessed.
If you have the gift of salvation, then regardless of your outward
condition you are truly blessed. Inwardly you rejoice and have God's peace reigning in
your life so that others envy you; they desire what you have.
Is that true of your life? Or is it so that others want nothing to
do with the faith because of what they see in you?
When Isaac traveled to a new place the first thing he did upon
arrival was to build an altar to God, speak to God and expect God to speak to him. God was
always first in his life. Then only would he pitch his tent and do what needs to be done
for daily life. He did not think of God as an afterthought but God was always first.
Do not get things back to front and only think of God when you're
in trouble. If that's your life then your god is only an idiot of your imagination.
Isaac remained close to the wells with life-giving waters. You're
a fool if you leave the Living Water and dig wells for yourself.
The well was called "Lahairoi", meaning "the Living
One sees me". He knew the Lord sees everything and he always drank from this water.
For that reason he received that spiritual blessing and then the material blessing
followed.
Is that the blessing you desire or do you only desire that your
children get a good jobs and are materially blessed? You're raising your child for hell if
that's the case.
Maybe you're happy that your child earns a good salary but you're
unconcerned about his spiritual poverty.
Jesus spoke about the rich fool that earned a lot and was wealthy
and decided to expand his business. His friends, parents and children were happy about his
wealth, not knowing his utter spiritual poverty. He thought of relaxing for many years
with his wealth but the Lord came to him that evening and "required his soul of
him."
Pastor Duma, a man of God from the Umgeni Road Baptist Church, had
a rebellious, disobedient son. After warning him numerous times the son simply ignored his
father and would come home whenever he wanted. One day when he came home late again, his
father simply packed his bags and told him to leave home. He said, "the Word of God
says that if a pastor cannot rule his own house, how can he take care of the church of
God?" The mother was shocked and started questioning his decision and pleaded for the
son. He then told her to go with the boy if she wanted to side with him. She submitted to
him and supported her husband's decision. The son came back a while later and repented
thoroughly of his rebellious ways. He became his most obedient son.
If you don't discipline your children they will eventually grow up
rebellious and cause you terrible heartache.
Jesus said that all who are rich in this world but not rich
towards God, will go the way of the rich fool.
God's hand that wrote on the wall to King Belteshazzar that he was
weighed and found wanting, will write the same of you if you are rich in this world but
not rich towards God.
All your preaching and singing will help nothing if you are
weighed in God's scale and found to be too light.
God said of Abraham that He knew Abraham, that he would
instruct his household to keep the ways of God. Abraham's household was huge and included
all his servants too. Where did he get this authority? Not from his riches, but his unity
with God.
This word that God said that "He knew Abraham" is very deep in the
Biblical language. It means to know each other intimately. The Bible says that Adam knew
Eve and she bore him a child.
To know God means that you hold nothing from Him, hide nothing
from him and have no deceit in your heart.
Jesus said many will come to Him and say how they have preached and performed miracles but
He will tell them that He doesn't know them for they did not do the will of His
Father in heaven.
You must have that intimate relationship with Jesus that He knows
you and you know Him in a Biblical sense. When you don't hide anything from Him
and He knows you in a Biblical sense, then there is the offspring of the Holy
Spirit that bears the fruit of the Spirit of joy and peace and love and long suffering as
we read in Gal 5.
Woe to you if you don't have the spiritual wealth of knowing God
the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
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