Time with Abba, Singing Praising 親親爸父，唱詩歌頌 : OT DAY 88 - God's Army Is with You (請按此處收聼廣東話Cantonese podcast click here)

Thursday, December 4, 2014

OT DAY 88 - God's Army Is with You (請按此處收聼廣東話Cantonese podcast click here)

Starting last week we add one important thing to our daily devotion. We start our devotion with one to two verses from the Psalms to praise God. We always have so limited vocabulary when we want to praise God. Let's learn from the Psalms so that we can be able to praise God in a better way:

You who fear the Lord, praise him!
    All you offspring of Jacob, glorify him,
    and stand in awe of him, all you offspring of Israel!
24 For he has not despised or abhorred
    the affliction of the afflicted,
and he has not hidden his face from him,
    but has heard, when he cried to him.

25 From you comes my praise in the great congregation;
    my vows I will perform before those who fear him.
26 The afflicted shall eat and be satisfied;
    those who seek him shall praise the Lord!
    May your hearts live forever!

Psalm 22: 23-26

Today's Reading: Genesis 31:55-32:24a

** If you would like to learn a simple and good way of Daily Devotion method please read my “Count Down 5” from my Devotion on Fire blog:

http://bishopsilas.blogspot.ca/2009/08/count-down-5-subject-shifting-devotion.html

To use this simple and good way of Daily Devotion method please click this link:

.Subject Shifting Devotion.pdf

Please click this link to read Genesis 31:55-32:24a

Chinese(CUV): https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=創世記 31&version=CUV
English(ESV): https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis 31&version=ESV

Bible Study

Today's passage is full of meaning. First, it shows us how God's army was with Jacob to give him courage. Then, Jacob's fear exceeds every bit of courage he got from God's confirmation that he acted in fear foolishly.

Let's take a look at what Professor John Goldingay says (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Goldingay) :

The story underlines the irony of the situation in several ways. It rather looks as if God has guessed that Jacob will be somewhat apprehensive of meeting Esau, so God sends some aides to meet him. Jacob gives the name "Two Camps" to the place where this happens, and "camp" commonly denotes a military encampment, which suggests that the aides are a show of supernatural protection to encourage Jacob, like the vision of the stairway to heaven with its similarity to the vision in 2 Kings 6. One irony then lies in the way Jacob then sends off his own aides to meet Esau and divides his own "forces" into two camps, so that if Esau attacks one, the other may escape. Not much confidence in the supernatural camps there.

John Goldingay. Genesis for Everyone - Part Two. Louisville,KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2010, p.114.

Do you think you could act like Jacob did when you are facing with crisis that you can't handle? How could you have courage and faith that God's army is with you?

Let's have a time to be still and give the Holy Spirit space to speak through the passage we have just read. Offer this time up to Jesus as you listen to him, while listening to "Gabriel's Oboe": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jmax47l2hLU

Spiritual Journal

The title I heard from Jesus today is: God's army is with you

What Jesus tells me today is that what Jacob experienced can also happen to us. Do you believe that? God's army is with us because God is with us!

Well, unless you run away from God then you are not protected by the army God sends to protect you just like He sent to protect Jacob and to give him courage.

Jacob did not get that and he lived in fear. How about you?

Dear Lord Jesus,
Lead us each day to be our Lord and King that we can have that total trust in you that we are being protected by you and your army. In Jesus Name we pray. Amen.

I have the honour to have Dr. Philemon Choi inviting me to speak to all the full-time staff of Breakthrough Youth Global Network in Breakthrough Village, Shatin, Hong Kong this Tuesday. After the talk, Dr. Choi asked them to pray for me, my family and ministry.
Also, a photo with Dr. Choi and his younger son, Jonathan who is a staff of that Network.

Please click this link to the app. Andy Ng wrote. You really need to use that if you have an Android cel. Andy said he is going to do the App. for iPhone later:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ideal.rec.app

Please click this link to worship with us -