Happy Friday!
Here is another exciting adventure in Exodus. In this video I look at the Fourth Plague – Flies in the Ointment.
Check out it on:
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Additionally, here are a few other thoughts that I hope cheers your day:
In the 22 years I have been researching my genealogy I have discovered connections to some pretty amazing people. I have two ancestors that came over on the Mayflower and one who was an early settler in Jamestown. I have ancestors that were the founders of Plymouth (MA), Boston (MA), Hartford (CT), Stonington (CT), Providence (RI), Newport (RI), Westerly (RI), and Polk County (WI). I am cousins to 7 Presidents. I am descended from 8 patriots who fought in the Revolutionary War (not including being related to both Nathaniel Greene and Benedict Arnold), a royalist whose land was lost due to his allegiance to King George, one who fought in the War of 1812, and 4 who fought for Georgia and the Confederacy (one lost his leg in the Battle of Chattanooga and was brought to Chicago as a POW). I can claim Humphry Bogart and Lucille Ball as distant cousins. Moreover, I am descended from a Bible translator who worked with Tyndale, 2 Protestant martyrs under Bloody Mary, a Scottish Covenantor, and numerous pastors. I also can trace my line to many kings of England, Scotland and France, several barons who signed the Magna Carta, and to Charlemagne through William the Conqueror. Are you impressed? I also have nutcases in my family tree. One ancestor was sent to the Tower of London for being an alchemist who bilked people by selling an elixir containing gold that was to fix all ailments (a.k.a., snake oil). Several ancestors were friends and disciples of Anne Hutchinson, the famous antinomian who caused an uproar in Boston and was forced out.
Some may be impressed with my ancestry, but I have no claim to any throne, I have no inheritance, and in fact, I have nothing at all to show for it. In my case, there is no benefit being related to famous people. But I do rejoice in the fact that God has “predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will” (Eph. 1:5). This sonship is not based on anything I did or who I am or from whence I came. It is according to the kind intention of His will. It is founded on His eternal love. One of the benefits of this sonship is that I can cry to the great God who created all things saying “Abba! Father!” And I can come to Him no matter what time of day or how great my need (Gal. 4:6). And as I cry out, He hears me (Matt. 7:11), so I even have boldness before the Father (Eph. 3:12). In this sonship, I have all the riches of heaven (Phil 4:19-20). In this sonship I have eternal life (Jn. 3:16). Rom. 8:14-17 says that in this sonship the Holy Spirit leads us out of slavery into the liberty that comes by being a fellow-heir with Christ. Jesus Himself said that the Father even loves us as He loves Jesus (Jn. 17:23). As I experience affliction, as a son of God, I have a promise that my Father is using it to conform me into the image of Jesus Christ (Rom. 8:29, that He is training me in righteousness (Heb. 12:5-11), and that all things will work together for my good (Rom. 8:28). While I got nothing from my earthly sonship, I get everything in my heavenly sonship. And, if truth were told, I would rather be God’s son than a son of any great king, president, or celebrity. That’s what drove Moses to leave Pharaoh’s house to endure affliction with Israel (Heb. 11:24-26). Indeed, Psalm 84:10 says, “For a day in Your courts is better than a thousand outside. I would rather stand at the threshold of the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness.” But the good news of Jesus Christ is, that we WILL dwell FOREVER in God’s court, and we will dwell there as beloved sons. Such is the grace of your God, O Christian!
—Pastor Michael