Tag: genesis

God Sees Me!

nofearlindaLeave a comment

Jehovah Roi was one of the first Hebrew names for God that I encountered in my study of Genesis long ago. It seemed to resonate with me and assured me that God sees Me too! Jehovah Roi means The God Who Sees and appears in Genesis 16 during the story of Hagar in the wilderness. Hagar was the slave servant of Sarai, Abraham’s wife. When Sarai was not getting pregnant, she devised a plan of her own to have children. She gave her servant to Abraham, as it was an acceptable practice to ‘claim’ children as your own from your servants. When Hagar became pregnant, she developed an attitude with Sarai that upset her. Abraham told her to do what she wished with the servant so she treated her harshly. Hagar ran away into the desert.

This is the scene that unfolded in the desert. Genesis 16:7-13 “ The angel of the Lord found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, the spring on the way to Shur. 8 And he said, “Hagar, servant of Sarai, where have you come from and where are you going?” She said, “I am fleeing from my mistress Sarai.” 9 The angel of the Lord said to her, “Return to your mistress and submit to her.” 10 The angel of the Lord also said to her, “I will surely multiply your offspring so that they cannot be numbered for multitude.” 11 And the angel of the Lord said to her,

“Behold, you are pregnant
    and shall bear a son.
You shall call his name Ishmael,
    because the Lord has listened to your affliction.
12 He shall be a wild donkey of a man,
    his hand against everyone
    and everyone’s hand against him,
and he shall dwell over against all his kinsmen.”

13 So she called the name of the Lord who spoke to her, “You are a God of seeing,” for she said, “Truly here I have seen him who looks after me.”

Hagar knew this was divine intervention in her desperate situation. God was gracious and gave her hope that her son would be a strong man to be named Ishmael. They would not die in the wilderness. She was important to God as He looked upon her situation and gave her hope. She knew the Lord had seen her, The God who sees.

How about you? Do you have confidence that God sees you and your situation right now? Just as God saw Hagar, He knows and sees you too. Because Christ died on the cross and rose from the dead, I can live assured that God sees me and knows the answer to the dilemmas of my life. I, like Hagar, often don’t see a way through a situation but God does and He will lead you through it. Walk with Trust in Him.

Linda

What Rainbows mean

nofearlindaLeave a comment

When asked if you know any promises from God, today’s promise probably comes to mind. It is one of the first ones we learn as a child and comes from Genesis 9, the rainbow.

Genesis 9:11-13, 16  I establish my covenant with you: Never again will all life be destroyed by the waters of a flood; never again will there be a flood to destroy the earth.” 12 And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come: 13 I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth…..16 Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth.”

Promise: God promises to never again destroy the creature of the earth by flood, and the rainbow will be our sign that God remembers His promise.

Don’t you love to see rainbows in the sky? Usually they occur after or during a storm and remind us of God’s faithfulness to His creation. Storms will come but God promises that whatever may come it will not destroy us. I think you can take this literally with storms of nature but it also applies to emotional storms that invade our lives. God’s rainbow gives us hope that He is eternally present and His Word is everlasting. We can depend upon Him no matter what the storm may be because He is sovereign and greater than anything we can or will ever face. Like Noah, we can have faith in God as He keeps His promises.

What we can learn from these verses: God’s covenants are eternal, I do not need to fear destruction of the earth by flood, God wants me assured of His promises, the rainbow is His sign to us, God’s Word is eternal, God’s promises do not change.

Lenten Reflections: What does God’s faithfulness look like in my life? How am I thankful for His faithfulness to me?

I know rainbows are a matter of science but God made all the parts of the universe and knows how they work together. They are His rainbows and He uses them to remind us of His faithfulness. Because Christ died on the cross, and rose from the dead, I can trust in God’s faithfulness 100%.

Linda

Related Verses: Job 42:2, Psalm 86:15, Hebrews 6:17-18, Hebrews 10:23, James 1:17, 2 Peter 3:8-9