Wednesday, April 22, 2020

Is anything too hard for the Lord?

Genesis 18:1-33
The Lord appeared to Abraham near the great trees of Mamre while he was sitting at the entrance to his tent in the heat of the day.  Abraham looked up and saw three men standing nearby. When he saw them, he hurried from the entrance of his tent to meet them and bowed low to the ground.
He said, “If I have found favor in your eyes, my lord, do not pass your servant by.  Let a little water be brought, and then you may all wash your feet and rest under this tree. Let me get you something to eat, so you can be refreshed and then go on your way—now that you have come to your servant.”
Then one of them said, “I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah your wife will have a son.
Then the Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Will I really have a child, now that I am old?’ Is anything too hard for the LordI will return to you at the appointed time next year, and Sarah will have a son.”
Then the Lord said, “The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is so great and their sin so grievous that I will go down and see if what they have done is as bad as the outcry that has reached me. If not, I will know.”
He answered, “For the sake of ten, I will not destroy it.
When the Lord had finished speaking with Abraham, he left, and Abraham returned home.
Abraham welcomed a stranger and, all unknowingly, took the Lord himself into his home. The lavish welcome and provision are typical of hospitality amongst nomadic desert people even today. The 'morsel of bread' offered to the guests turns out to be a meal of fresh cakes, curds and milk, and the best veal. The words 'Is anything too hard for the Lord' reveal the visitor's true identity, and Sarah's reveal the visitor's true identity, and Sarah's incredulous laughter changes to fear.
Abraham's prayer gives an insight into the quality of his relationship with God. No wonder 2 Chronicles 20:7 describes him as God's friend'. God must know for himself the truth about Sodom and Gomorrah; hearsay will not do. Abraham leaps to the conclusion that judgment is inevitable, yet he knows it is against God's nature to condemn the innocent. He feels his way forward, not changing God's mind, but growing ever more certain that ' the judge of all the earth' will do what is just. In the went, though Sodom could not produce even ten 'innocent' people, God saved four - Lot, his wife and two daughters.
Why?
Welcome strangers might invite angles of the Lord into our home, so this is a custom to Israelite.
Is anything too hard for the Lord? No. my Lord is Almighty God.
To be a blameless man before the Lord.  Trust in the Lord and follow his word.
God is full of love and is righteous to everyone in the world. The judgment came upon Sodom and Gomorrah is for their sin was so great.
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神向亞伯拉罕顯現,藉三個旅人來顯現。三個人沒說誰,神以人形顯現。以這個方式顯現最親近且自然。一開始可能以為是天使,後來才知道是神。
心裏暗笑,沒有笑出來,外表也看不出來。但是神知道,看到了。因為他們不認為可能。
撒拉也看到自己的不信而懼怕,不是不信,實在是人的軟弱。神不受環境的影響,沒有不可能的事。
羅馬書4:19:亞伯拉罕所信的是從死復活、從無到有。
我所要做的事,豈能不讓亞伯拉罕知道呢?亞伯拉罕為所多瑪求,神豈會將惡人、義人一地滅掉嗎?他知道神是公義的。與神談是沒有心機的,不像一般殺價。又像朋友。讓我們信不是因為可能,讓我們與神相處,可以親近?
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How?
The Covid-19 came upon the world for God's judgment and warning. 

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