LOOK UP

Today’s Reading: Genesis 11-13

Click scripture link to read online or HERE to listen online (then click the symbol of the audio speaker above the scripture portion).

Here is a self portrait…well at least those are my feet. I (Reynold Mainse) am looking southeast toward the morning sun. In front is the famous mountain of Masada, and beyond is the Dead Sea. At the bottom left of Masada you can see 2,000-year-old Roman Army encampment sites. The protective walls the soldiers built are in the shape of rectangles.

Key Verse: Genesis 13:14b-15

Lift your eyes now and look from the place where you are — northward, southward, eastward and westward; for all the land which you see I give to you and your descendents forever.

Abram (his name changed later to Abraham – father of nations) showed himself to be a generous man. His heart was being changed over time so that he now could give his nephew, Lot, first choice in land. God honoured Abram by promising him all the land for his descendants…eventually. Abram is father to both the Arabs and the Jews; his offspring have taken over the entire Middle East. Notice what happened before God made such a promise. Abram obeyed God! He left his home. Abram honoured God! He built altars with which to worship God and to make fresh commitments to God. Note the word, “ALTAR” (12:7,12:8,13:4,13:18). He “pitched” his tent, but he BUILT altars. The tent represents the temporal, but the ALTARS represent the ETERNAL! We need to ask this question, “Am I putting up and taking down eternal things and building only the temporary, or am I building that which will be permanent, forever?” Let us search our hearts, asking hard questions such as, “What are my priorities? Is God in first place?” Abram’s actions brought God’s blessings during his life here on earth and will continue to do so throughout eternity!!!

PRAYER FOR TODAY:

Lord God, You responded directly in proportion to Abram’s obedience and faithfulness. Please give me the grace to learn from Abram. Amen & Amen!

100 PERSONAL WORDS:

I think it’s time to introduce my eldest son, David Reynold Mainse. Reynold spent over three months in Israel, Jordan, Egypt, Italy, Greece, and Turkey (lands of the Bible) photographing pictures for this daily blog. He is a professional photographer & video producer. Thank you, Reynold, for your time and for sharing your gifts with us. His full time work is as a missionary in Africa. He is an ordained minister who has given his life to world missions. His wife, Kathy, his children, Rachelle, Elizabeth (and her husband David Lee), and his son David Peter (and his wife Tawny), share his passion to reach the world for Jesus. Check out www.worldembrace.org for more about their missions.

Building an altar for eternity,

David

A NEW BEGINNING

Today’s Reading: Genesis 9-10

Click scripture link to read online or HERE to listen online (then click the symbol of the audio speaker above the scripture portion).

Two friends, actors at the “Nazareth Village”, are having fun with an olive picked from a nearby tree in Nazareth. In today’s reading, the dove sent out by Noah returned to the ark. A “freshly plucked olive leaf was in her mouth” (Genesis 8:11). Ever since that time, the olive branch has been a symbol of peace and safety.

Key Verse: Genesis 9:1

So God blessed Noah and his sons, and said to them: “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth.”

So God is a God of second chances. Instead of giving up on humanity, the Lord saved Noah and his family. The great flood happened because people, who were given dominion over the earth by God, rejected Him, and thus cut Him off from exercising His creative maintenance of the earth. The people, with the exception of Noah and his family, rejected God, excluding Him from their lives. It’s not that God ran out of mercy and love. It’s that when God is not invited, not welcome, to be an integral part of human life, nature erupts into chaos. Society disintegrates, and the human race brings judgment on itself.

Today there is much that separates people from God, but I believe that there are at least one billion precious souls who love and serve God, not just eight people, as was the case in today’s reading. These people, by their prayers and right living, hold back the consequences of the great divide between a Holy God and an unrepentant world. Next time, before a worldwide catastrophe, Jesus, the Ark of Salvation, will lift His family of believers to safety in what has been called “The rapture of His Church!” (read 1 Thess. 4:13-18).

PRAYER FOR TODAY:

Lord, thank You for giving me a second chance. I pray fervently for Salvation to come to at least another billion people. Grant me grace, boldness, wisdom and sacrificial giving of myself and the resources that You have put in my hands, so that the most glorious work of  winning people to Jesus will accelerate. We, the human race, will once again bring disaster upon ourselves, but I thank You, Lord God, that You have another plan. At Christ’s return, You shall lift Your people as in an Ark of safety. In Jesus’ powerful saving Name I pray. Amen!

100 PERSONAL WORDS:

I cannot begin to express my gratitude to God and to special people in my life for leading me to Salvation. I had prayed to be saved as a child, but my mother died of cancer when I was 12 years old and I turned my back on God, blaming Him for mother’s death. I now know that it was the separation of the human race from God that allows the twisting of human cells called cancer. It’s not God’s fault; it’s our fault. My Dad went back to his mission work in Egypt and I was put into a boarding school and was eventually kicked out. In a regular high school (grade 12), I encountered followers of Jesus who became my friends. My boss at work coaxed me to give my life to Jesus. He succeeded in convincing me to attend a Youth for Christ rally by asking me to drive his Chrysler New Yorker from Pembroke to Ottawa to pick up Evangelist Jack Wyrtzen. That night, when the invitation was given to accept Jesus as Saviour and Lord, a friend, Homer James, came beside me and offered to walk to the front of the high school auditorium with me. I did it! I’ve never turned back from Jesus since that time. I’m in Him (the Ark of Salvation) and I’m kept by His power! How about you? Unsure? Call 1-866-273-4444 and ask about your salvation. You too can have a “New Beginning!!!”

Yours very truly,

David

P.S.  HAPPY BIRTHDAY CANADA! The founders declared Psalm 72:8 as Canada’s motto, “He shall have dominion from sea to sea.”