Suggested Reading: Genesis 20-21
(click on photo to enlarge)
One of the many stone covered walkways in the old city of Jerusalem
Key Verse: Genesis 21:2
For Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time of which God had spoken to him.
Abraham named the baby Isaac, which means, “laughter,” for good reasons. (1) When Abraham was promised by God that he would have a son with his wife Sarah, Abraham “Fell on his face and laughed” (Gen. 17:17). (2) When Sarah heard the promise of God she laughed also, but it was a different laugh. Abraham laughed for joy, and Sarah laughed because of unbelief (Gen. 18:12). (3) The promise, of which Isaac was the heir, has become a cause for laughter as an expression of joy down through the ages. Isaac was born “at the set time.” God is rarely early in fulfilling His promises, but He is never late! God is punctual. His promised mercies may not come on our schedule. They will come in His timing. “Wait on the Lord; be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart; wait, I say, on the Lord!” (Psalm 27:14).
PRAYER FOR TODAY:
Lord, I heard that someone prayed,”Dear Lord give me patience, and please hurry up.” That thought brings me laughter, and that’s okay with You. May Your joy fill my heart because You are good and the most often repeated verse in the Bible is “His mercy endures forever” (see Psalm 136).
100 PERSONAL WORDS:
I make sure I watch the 100 Huntley Street telecast every day. Even if I’m not near a TV set, I can watch it on the internet at www.100huntley.com. I pay close attention to every word spoken, to the body language, and to the visuals shown. You see, these television productions were promised to Norma-Jean and me years ago. My wife had the vision of a continent-wide TV ministry before I did. I laughed at her definite statement. I had unbelief, but God did it anyway. There we were in a small congregation in a small town in the north. How could this ever be? I look back now and marvel at the plan and grace of God. If you want to see what God has done over 50 years, check www.crossroads.ca and browse through the various sites. Now I laugh for joy realizing that God has done “more than we could ever ask or think according to the power that works within us” (Ephesians 3:20).
Yours with joyful laughter,
David
REMINDER: If you are reading the email version and wish to post a comment on my blog, go to www.100words.ca and “Leave a Reply.”
I marvel at how God took me from a desperate world of personal destruction to new life in Christ. And along with that brought my love for Him, a love for people, a love for media and a love for winning people to Christ all together by working alongside many wonderful friends and colleagues at 100 Huntley Street for the past 35 years of my life. All I can say is Praise God!!
Many aimlessly wander through their lives without a thought or care about the consequences of their actions or decisions, made or not made. We live in an era where it’s all about ‘me’ and what ‘I’ can get out of something, an era of individualism and self-expression. We are a culture driven by advertising, polls, special interest groups and political correctness … and dare we step out of line, we are made to feel shamed by the popular standards of the day. We serve a Lord that is much larger than all of this … God knows our days and our span of life … He has the very hairs on our head counted. If you know the Lord, relax in Him, as the Bible states, He will lead and guide your steps and He will not allow your foot to slip, trust in Him for all things. I believe God uses what we call ‘consequences’ in life to form and bring about great things. We need only to live our life by His standards through His word, wait on Him, and keep our eye on His Kingdom promises.
David…Have a wonderful Friday…and Weekend….God Bless you always..
as we wait on the Lord to Return..in Joy and Hope for His ways for sure are past finding out…but on time ….as He is the Great I am……
Looking back over the past and seeing How He carried me…..so awesome…..Thank you Jesus…..
Decades ago a friend shared that she was saved through 100 Huntley St. I laughed at what I thought was a ridiculous idea via a TV show. As an unbeliever I couldn’t begin to grasp it.
Decades later I now laugh with joy as I was the show and wouldn’t miss Full Circle.
God bless you David, your family, and everyone connected with your ministry. It is such a blessing to us.
Decades ago a friend shared that she was saved through 100 Huntley St. I laughed at what I thought was a ridiculous idea via a TV show. As an unbeliever I couldn’t begin to grasp it.
Decades later I now laugh with joy as I watch the show. I wouldn’t miss Full Circle either which provides much laughter and tears.
God bless you David, your family, and everyone connected with your ministry. It is such a blessing to us.
Your topic of God’s timing is surely no coincidence for me.
God taught me yesterday that sometimes if I must keep praying and put more effort into my prayers and that He will answer in His time. Here is the story.
My husband and I are farmers in Alberta. Our main crop is exporting alfalfa hay to the United States. We ship our own hay and other farmers hay. This year has been unusually wet for us. Normally we worry about getting enough rain however this summer so far we have had one storm after another. I have prayed to my Father in Heaven about all of the rain, and one or two have just missed us. But yesterday, my Abba Father taught me that sometimes His answer depends on the effort I put into my prayers. For all the other storms, I have sent up to Him a quick plea to protect us and then went on with my life (gone back to watching tv or other things).
Yesterday I prayed for God to move this storm away from us and then I sat down to read my current book – Miracle for Jen. I’m at the part where her mom said she had the sense of overwhelming urgency to pray for her daughter and that her life was on the line. She said that despite the morphine, she stayed up all night praying. I will quote one line here from the book. “I was praying for Andy and Josh too, but something in my soul told me that Jen’s very life depended on our prayers.”
I put the book down, got on my knees on my living room floor and told God I was not going to stop praying until I heard his answer. If it was possible for that mother to save her daughters life by continuing in prayer, then maybe it was possible for me too. I did pray much longer and more passionately than I have ever prayed before but the storm kept coming. I pleaded with God, please don’t even let it come close. Just make it go away now, right now. I could not stay up all night, and I did stop praying before I heard God’s answer but He was merciful to us.
Of course, God always works in His time and never rushes. Hours later in the middle of the night, my husband phoned me and said he just had to tell me what happened. The storm swung north just a few miles away from our fields. On the radar that storm had been going straight east. My husband said it was like God reached out and put His hand down to protect us.
In that second sentence, there is not supposed to be an if. Sorry. If you can fix it great, if not thanks anyway. Also, if you do, you can delete this comment as well.
God definitely has a good sense of humor. A couple of weeks ago, I was taking my youngest two children to a doctor’s appointment. It was a crazy morning; it took them longer than usual to get ready and so, we missed the bus. I told them we would have to walk (it would be a 45 minutes
Good morning David…your words this morning made me think of the following poem. It is wonderful to know the Lord is faithful, trustworthy, and always on time even if it is not always in our timing. We sometimes need to ‘look back’ to see how far we have come and how the Lord has led and worked in our lives, working everything out for our good and His glory. Bless you David for your years of faithfulness, to Him and to ‘us’.
Sorry…the Poem never showed up in my my post above so will try again.
The Weaver
My life is but a weaving, between the Lord and me,
I cannot chose the colors, He worketh steadily
Oft times He weaveth sorrow, and I in foolish pride
forget He sees the upper, and I the underside.
Not til the loom is silent, and the shutters cease to fly,
shall God unfold the canvas, and explain the reason why,
The dark threads are as needful, in the Weaver’s skillful hand
as the threads of gold and silver, in the pattern He has planned.
—Benjamin Malachi Franklin—
“God’s clock keeps perfect time!” We know that everything works together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. God’s faithful Love abides NOW and forever!
Life definately presents times when the question “what’s next” sets in and all we can do is place our faith in God’s timing. ?The old addage “God incidence” instead of “coincidence” proves to be true over and over again!? I give thanks for the many memorable times I’ve shared with my wife and family. ?When I look back upon this, it has been in God’s timing and not always what I had planned for or could have even imagined!
Life definately presents times when the question
Thanks for the encouraging blog David. It’s always exciting to hear your stories and your comments on the scriptures. I look forward to following your blog.
Bless you
Paul