The aspects of Abraham's life begins with his migration with the rest of his family from Ur of the Chaldeans in ancient southern Babylonia - Gen. 11:31 - He and his family moved north along the trade routes of the ancient world and settled in the flourishing trade center of Haran, several hundred miles to the northeast.
While living in Haran, at the age of 75 Abraham received a call from God to go to a strange, unknown land that God would show him, and promised him that He would make him and his descendants a great nation. The promise must have seemed unbelievable to Abraham because his wife Sarah (called Sarai) was childless. But Abraham obeyed God with no hint of doubt or disbelief. He took his wife and his nephew, Lot, and went to the land that God would show him.
Abraham moved south along the trade routes from Haran, through Shechem's holy place, the Oak of Moreh, and arrived at Canaan. At that time the Canaanites were in the land. God appeared to Abram and said, 'It is to your descendants that I will give this land.' The circumstances seemed quite difficult, but Abraham's faith in God's promises allowed him to trust in the Lord. So Abram built there an altar for God's who had appeared to him. - Gen. 12:1-9 -
Abraham moved south along the trade routes from Haran, through Shechem's holy place, the Oak of Moreh, and arrived at Canaan. At that time the Canaanites were in the land. God appeared to Abram and said, 'It is to your descendants that I will give this land.' The circumstances seemed quite difficult, but Abraham's faith in God's promises allowed him to trust in the Lord. So Abram built there an altar for God's who had appeared to him. - Gen. 12:1-9 -
When famine came to the land of Canaan, Abraham moved to Egypt for a short time. During this trip, Abraham introduced Sarah to the Egyptians as his sister rather than as his wife, thinking that it can help him to avoid trouble, because his wife is very beautiful. When he arrived in Egypt the Egyptians did indeed see that the woman was very beautiful. Pharaoh, the Egyptian ruler, then took Sarah as his wife. It was only because God plagued Pharaoh, and his house with great plagues that Sarah was returned to Abraham. - Gen. 12:10-20 -
Upon his return from Egypt, Abraham and his nephew, Lot, quarreled over pasture lands and went separate ways. Lot settled in the Jordan River Valley, while Abraham moved into Canaan. After the split, God reaffirmed His promise to Abraham.
Yahweh said to Abram after Lot had parted company with him. 'Look all round from where you are towards the north and the south, towards the east and the west. All the land within sight I will give to you and your descendants for ever. I will make your descendants like the dust on the ground: when men succeed in counting the specks of dust on the ground, then they will be able to count your descendants! Come, travel through the length and breadth of the land, for I mean to give it to you.' - Gen. 13:14-17 -
Apparently Abraham headed a strong military force by this time as he is called "Abram the Hebrew." - Gen. 13:16 - He succeeded in rescuing his nephew Lot from the tribal chieftains who had captured him while raiding the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. However, Abraham became anxious about the promise of a nation being found in his descendants because of his advanced age. It is a common practice at that time among heirless families was to adopt a slave who would inherit the master's goods.
Therefore, because Abraham was childless, he proposed to make a slave, his heir. But God rejected this action and instructed Abraham that his heir shall be of his own flesh and blood. Then taking him outside, God said, 'Look up to heaven and count the stars if you can. Such will be your descendants.' Abraham put his faith in God, who counted this as making him justified. That day God's made a Covenant with Abraham and the Divine promises reaffirmed. - Gen. 15:1-21 -
Sarah provided Abraham with a hand-maiden, because she had not borne a child. This also appears to be a familiar custom of the ancient world. According to this custom, if the wife had not had a child (preferably a male) by a certain time in marriage, she was obliged to provide a substitute (usually a slave woman) to bear a child to her husband and thereby insure the leadership of the clan. Thus, Hagar, the Egyptian maidservant, had a son by Abraham. He was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore him Ishmael.
Abraham said to God, 'Oh let Ishmael live in your presence!' But God replied, 'No, but your wife Sarah shall bear you a son whom you are to name Isaac. With him I will establish my Covenant, a Covenant in perpetuity, to be his God and the God of his descendants after him. For Ishmael too I grant you your request: I bless him and I will make him fruitful and greatly increased in numbers. He shall be the father of twelve princes, and I will make him into a great nation. But my Covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear you at this time next year. - Gen. 17:18-21 -
After Abraham's death God blessed his son Isaac. - Gen. 25:11 - His sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpelah opposite Mamre, in the field of Ephron the Hittite, son of Zohar. - Gen. 25:9 -
The most substantial account of the Covenant between Abraham and God is given and told in Genesis 17 - a covenant that extended the promise of the land and descendants to further generations. This covenant required Abraham and the male members of his household to be circumcised. In this chapter Abraham and Sarah receive their new names, [Their old names were Abram and Sarai] The name of the son whom God promises that will bear is designated as Isaac. The practice of Circumcision instituted at this time is not unique to the ancient Hebrews, but its embodies as a religious requirement is a unique feature of God's Covenant People. It became a visible sign and symbol of the covenant between Abraham and his descendants and their redeemer God.
Yahweh appeared to Abraham at the Oak of Mamre while he was sitting by the entrance of the tent during the hottest part of the day. He looked up and there he saw three men standing near him. 'Where is your wife Sarah?' they asked him. 'She is in the tent' he replied. Then his guest said, 'I shall visit you again next year without fail, and your wife will then have a son.' Sarah was listening at the entrance of the tent behind him. Now Abraham and Sarah were old, well on in years, and Sarah had ceased to have her monthly periods. So Sarah laughed to herself, thinking, 'Now that I am past the age of child bearing and my husband is an old man, is pleasure to come my way again!' But Yahweh said to Abraham, 'Why did Sarah laugh and say, "Am I really going to have a child now that I am old?" Is anything too wonderful for Yahweh? At the same time next year I shall visit you again and Sarah will have a son. I did not laugh Sarah said, lying because she was afraid. But he replied, 'Oh yes, you did laugh.' - Gen. 18:1, 9-15 -
Abraham named the son born to him Isaac, the son to whom Sarah had given birth. Abraham circumcised his son Isaac when he was eight days old, as God had commanded him. Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him. Then Sarah said, 'God has given me cause to laugh; all those who hear of it will laugh with me.' She added: "Who would have told Abraham that Sarah would nurse children! Yet I have borne him a child in his old age.' - Gen. 21:3-6 -
The child grew and was weaned, and Abraham gave a great banquet on the day Isaac was weaned. Now Sarah watched the son that Hagar the Egyptian had borne to Abraham, playing with her son Isaac. 'Drive away the slave girl and her son,' she said to Abraham; 'this slave-girl's son is not to share the inheritance with my son Isaac.' This greatly distressed Abraham because of his son, but God said to Abraham, 'Do not distress yourself on account of the boy and your slave girl. Grant Sarah all she asks of you, for it is through Isaac that your name will be carried on. But the slave-girl's son I will also make into a nation for he is your child too.' -Gen. 21:8-13 -
God was with the boy. He grew up and made his home in the wilderness, and became a bowman. He made his home in the wilderness of Paran, and his mother chose him a wife from the land of Egypt. Gen. 21:20-21 -
These are the descendants of Ishmael, the son of Abraham by Hagar, Sarah's Egyptian maidservant. These are the names of the sons of Ishmael in the order of their birth: Ishmael's first born was Nebaioth; then Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam, Mishma, Dumah, Massa, Hadad, Tema, Jetur, Naphish and Kedemah. These are the sons of Ishmael, and these are their names, according to their settlements and encampments, twelve chiefs of as many tribes. The numbers of year Ishmael lived was one hundred and thirty-seven. Then he breathed his last, died, and was gathered to his people. He lived in the territory stretching from havilah to Shur, which is to the east of Egypt, on the way to Assyria. He set himself to defy his brothers. - Gen. 25:12-18 -
God's commands for Abraham to sacrifice his beloved son Isaac was the supreme test of his faith. He was willing to give up his son in obedience to God, although at the last moment God intervened to save Isaac. God's promise of descendants as numerous as the stars of the heavens was once again reaffirmed as a result of Abraham's unquestioning obedience.
It happened some time later that God put Abraham to the test. 'Abraham, Abraham' God called, 'Here I am' he replied. 'Take your son,' God said 'your only child Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah. There you shall offer him as a burnt offering, on a mountain I will point out to you.' ....... 'Do not harm him, for now I know you fear God. You have not refused me your son, your only son.' - Gen. 22:1-19 -
Sarah had died some time earlier. Abraham eventually remarried and fathered several children by Keturah, but Abraham gave all his possessions to Isaac. To the sons of his concubines Abraham gave presents, and during his lifetime he sent them away from his son Isaac eastward, to the east country. - Gen. 25:1-6 -
Abraham was the father of the Hebrews and the prime figure and example of a righteous person. In spite of impossible odds. Abraham had faith in the promises of God. Therefore, he is presented as a model of human behavior. He was a God fearing man and hospitable to strangers, and who was obedient to God's laws. The promises originally given to Abraham were passed on to his son Isaac, and to his grandson Jacob. [also called Israel] In the Sacred Scripture/Holy Bible references, the God of Israel/Jacob is frequently identified as the God of Abraham and Israel is often called the people 'of the God of Abraham.' - Psalms 47:9, 105:6; Is. 41:8 - Abraham was such an important figure in the history of God's people that when they were in trouble, Israel appealed to God to remember the covenant made with Abraham. - Ex. 32:13; Deut. 9:27; Ps. 105:9 -
Sacred Scripture/Holy Bible foretold that God's will make Abraham a great nation; God's will bless Abraham and make his name so famous that it will be used as a blessing. "You are heirs of the prophets, the heirs of the covenant God made with our ancestors when He told Abraham: in your offspring all the families of the earth will be blessed." - Acts 3:25 - In the New Testament, Abraham is presented as the prime example of the faith required for the Christian believer. He is viewed as the spiritual father for all who share a similar faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
In Matthew 3:9 John the Baptist reminded and warned those especially, the Pharisees and Sadducees who abuse God's blessing, for He is the Almighty. "But if you are repentant, produce the appropriate fruit, and do not presume to tell yourselves, "We have Abraham for our father' because I tell you, God can raise children for Abraham from these stones."
Does this mean that God has failed to keep his promise? Of course not. Not all those who descend from Israel are Israel; not all the descendants of Abraham are his true children. Remember: It is through Isaac that your name will be carried on, which means that it is not physical descend that decides who are the children of God; it is only the children of the promise who will count as the true descendants. The actual words in which the promise was made were: I shall visit you at such and such a time, and Sarah will have a son. - Rom.9:6-9 -
Sacred Scripture foresaw that God was going to use faith to justify the pagans, and proclaimed the Good News long ago when Abraham was told: In you all pagans will be blessed. Those therefore who rely on faith receive the same blessing as Abraham, the man of faith. - Gal. 3:8-9 - 4:21-31 -
You believe in the one God - that is credible enough, but the demons have the same belief, and they tremble with fear. Do realize you senseless people, that faith without good deeds is useless. You surely know that Abraham our father was justified by his deed, because he offered his son Isaac on the altar? There you see it: faith and deeds were working together; his faith became perfect by what he did. - James 2:19-22 -
To the Jews who believed in him Jesus said:
'If you make my word your home
you will indeed be my disciples,
you will learn the truth
and the truth will make you free.'
They answered, 'We are descended from Abraham and we have never been the slaves of anyone; what do you mean, "You will be made free"?' Jesus replied:
'I tell you most solemnly,
everyone who commits sin is a slave.
Now the slave's place in the house is not assured,
but the son's placed is assured.
So if the Son makes you free,
you will be free indeed.
I know that you are descended from Abraham;
but in spite of that you want to kill me
because nothing I say has penetrated into you.
What I, for my part, speak of
is what I have seen with my Father;
but you, you put into action
the lessons learnt from your father.'
They repeated, 'Our father is Abraham.' Jesus said to them:
'If you were Abraham's children,
you would do as Abraham did.
As it is, you want to kill me
when I tell you the truth
as I have learnt it from God;
that is not what Abraham did.
What you are doing is what your father does.'
'We were not born of prostitution' they went on 'we have one father: God.' Jesus answered:
'If God were your father, you would love me,
since I have come here from God; yes, I have come from him;
not that I came because I chose,
no, I was sent, and by him.
Do you know why you cannot take in what I say?
It is because you are unable to understand my language.
The devil is your father,
and you prefer to do
what your father wants.
He was a murderer from the start;
he was never grounded in the truth;
there is no truth in him at all:
when he lies
he is drawing on his on store,
because he is a liar, and the father of lies,
But as for me, I speak the truth
and for that very reason,
you do not believe me.
Can one of you convict me of sin?
If I speak the truth, why do you not believe me?
A child of God
listens to the words of God;
if you refuse to listen,
it is because you are not God's children.
The Jews replied, 'Are we not right in saying that you are a Samaritan and possessed by a devil?' Jesus answered:
No, I am not possessed;
no, I honor my Father,
but you want to dishonor me.
Not that I care for my own glory,
there is someone who takes care of that and is the judge of it.
I tell you most solemnly,
whoever keeps my word
will never see death.'
The Jews said, 'Now we know for certain that you are possessed. Abraham is dead, and the prophets are dead, and yet you say, "Whoever keeps my word will never know the taste of death." Are you greater than our father Abraham, who is dead? The prophets are dead too. Who are you claiming to be?' Jesus answered:
'If I were to seek my own glory
that would be no glory at all;
my glory is conferred by the Father,
by the one of whom you say, "He is our God"
although you do not know him.
But I know him,
and if you were to say: I do not know him,
I should be a liar, as you are liars yourselves.
But I do know him, and I faithfully keep his word.
Your father Abraham rejoiced
to think that he would see my Day;
he saw it and was glad.'
The Jews then said, 'You are not fifty yet, and you have seen Abraham!' Jesus replied:
'I tell you most solemnly,
before Abraham ever was,
I Am.'
At this they picked up stones to throw at him; but Jesus hid himself and left the Temple. - John 8:31-59 -
Page 1
Faith . Hope . Love - Welcome donation. Thank You. God bless.
By bank transfer/cheque deposit:
Name: Alex Chan Kok Wah
Bank: Public Bank Berhad account no: 4076577113
Country: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Sunday, May 24, 2009
I have through years of reading, pondering, reflecting and contemplating, the 3 things that last; FAITH . HOPE . LOVE and I would like to made available my sharing from the many thinkers, authors, scholars and theologians whose ideas and thoughts I have borrowed. God be with them always. Amen!
I STILL HAVE MANY THINGS TO SAY TO YOU BUT THEY WOULD BE TOO MUCH FOR YOU NOW. BUT WHEN THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH COMES, HE WILL LEAD YOU TO THE COMPLETE TRUTH, SINCE HE WILL NOT BE SPEAKING AS FROM HIMSELF, BUT WILL SAY ONLY WHAT HE HAS LEARNT; AND HE WILL TELL YOU OF THE THINGS TO COME.
HE WILL GLORIFY ME, SINCE ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. EVERYTHING THE FATHER HAS IS MINE; THAT IS WHY I SAID: ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. - JOHN 16:12-15 -
Yahweh said to Abram after Lot had parted company with him. 'Look all round from where you are towards the north and the south, towards the east and the west. All the land within sight I will give to you and your descendants for ever. I will make your descendants like the dust on the ground: when men succeed in counting the specks of dust on the ground, then they will be able to count your descendants! Come, travel through the length and breadth of the land, for I mean to give it to you.' - Gen. 13:14-17 -
Apparently Abraham headed a strong military force by this time as he is called "Abram the Hebrew." - Gen. 13:16 - He succeeded in rescuing his nephew Lot from the tribal chieftains who had captured him while raiding the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. However, Abraham became anxious about the promise of a nation being found in his descendants because of his advanced age. It is a common practice at that time among heirless families was to adopt a slave who would inherit the master's goods.
Therefore, because Abraham was childless, he proposed to make a slave, his heir. But God rejected this action and instructed Abraham that his heir shall be of his own flesh and blood. Then taking him outside, God said, 'Look up to heaven and count the stars if you can. Such will be your descendants.' Abraham put his faith in God, who counted this as making him justified. That day God's made a Covenant with Abraham and the Divine promises reaffirmed. - Gen. 15:1-21 -
Sarah provided Abraham with a hand-maiden, because she had not borne a child. This also appears to be a familiar custom of the ancient world. According to this custom, if the wife had not had a child (preferably a male) by a certain time in marriage, she was obliged to provide a substitute (usually a slave woman) to bear a child to her husband and thereby insure the leadership of the clan. Thus, Hagar, the Egyptian maidservant, had a son by Abraham. He was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore him Ishmael.
Abraham said to God, 'Oh let Ishmael live in your presence!' But God replied, 'No, but your wife Sarah shall bear you a son whom you are to name Isaac. With him I will establish my Covenant, a Covenant in perpetuity, to be his God and the God of his descendants after him. For Ishmael too I grant you your request: I bless him and I will make him fruitful and greatly increased in numbers. He shall be the father of twelve princes, and I will make him into a great nation. But my Covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear you at this time next year. - Gen. 17:18-21 -
After Abraham's death God blessed his son Isaac. - Gen. 25:11 - His sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpelah opposite Mamre, in the field of Ephron the Hittite, son of Zohar. - Gen. 25:9 -
The most substantial account of the Covenant between Abraham and God is given and told in Genesis 17 - a covenant that extended the promise of the land and descendants to further generations. This covenant required Abraham and the male members of his household to be circumcised. In this chapter Abraham and Sarah receive their new names, [Their old names were Abram and Sarai] The name of the son whom God promises that will bear is designated as Isaac. The practice of Circumcision instituted at this time is not unique to the ancient Hebrews, but its embodies as a religious requirement is a unique feature of God's Covenant People. It became a visible sign and symbol of the covenant between Abraham and his descendants and their redeemer God.
Yahweh appeared to Abraham at the Oak of Mamre while he was sitting by the entrance of the tent during the hottest part of the day. He looked up and there he saw three men standing near him. 'Where is your wife Sarah?' they asked him. 'She is in the tent' he replied. Then his guest said, 'I shall visit you again next year without fail, and your wife will then have a son.' Sarah was listening at the entrance of the tent behind him. Now Abraham and Sarah were old, well on in years, and Sarah had ceased to have her monthly periods. So Sarah laughed to herself, thinking, 'Now that I am past the age of child bearing and my husband is an old man, is pleasure to come my way again!' But Yahweh said to Abraham, 'Why did Sarah laugh and say, "Am I really going to have a child now that I am old?" Is anything too wonderful for Yahweh? At the same time next year I shall visit you again and Sarah will have a son. I did not laugh Sarah said, lying because she was afraid. But he replied, 'Oh yes, you did laugh.' - Gen. 18:1, 9-15 -
Abraham named the son born to him Isaac, the son to whom Sarah had given birth. Abraham circumcised his son Isaac when he was eight days old, as God had commanded him. Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him. Then Sarah said, 'God has given me cause to laugh; all those who hear of it will laugh with me.' She added: "Who would have told Abraham that Sarah would nurse children! Yet I have borne him a child in his old age.' - Gen. 21:3-6 -
The child grew and was weaned, and Abraham gave a great banquet on the day Isaac was weaned. Now Sarah watched the son that Hagar the Egyptian had borne to Abraham, playing with her son Isaac. 'Drive away the slave girl and her son,' she said to Abraham; 'this slave-girl's son is not to share the inheritance with my son Isaac.' This greatly distressed Abraham because of his son, but God said to Abraham, 'Do not distress yourself on account of the boy and your slave girl. Grant Sarah all she asks of you, for it is through Isaac that your name will be carried on. But the slave-girl's son I will also make into a nation for he is your child too.' -Gen. 21:8-13 -
God was with the boy. He grew up and made his home in the wilderness, and became a bowman. He made his home in the wilderness of Paran, and his mother chose him a wife from the land of Egypt. Gen. 21:20-21 -
These are the descendants of Ishmael, the son of Abraham by Hagar, Sarah's Egyptian maidservant. These are the names of the sons of Ishmael in the order of their birth: Ishmael's first born was Nebaioth; then Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam, Mishma, Dumah, Massa, Hadad, Tema, Jetur, Naphish and Kedemah. These are the sons of Ishmael, and these are their names, according to their settlements and encampments, twelve chiefs of as many tribes. The numbers of year Ishmael lived was one hundred and thirty-seven. Then he breathed his last, died, and was gathered to his people. He lived in the territory stretching from havilah to Shur, which is to the east of Egypt, on the way to Assyria. He set himself to defy his brothers. - Gen. 25:12-18 -
God's commands for Abraham to sacrifice his beloved son Isaac was the supreme test of his faith. He was willing to give up his son in obedience to God, although at the last moment God intervened to save Isaac. God's promise of descendants as numerous as the stars of the heavens was once again reaffirmed as a result of Abraham's unquestioning obedience.
It happened some time later that God put Abraham to the test. 'Abraham, Abraham' God called, 'Here I am' he replied. 'Take your son,' God said 'your only child Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah. There you shall offer him as a burnt offering, on a mountain I will point out to you.' ....... 'Do not harm him, for now I know you fear God. You have not refused me your son, your only son.' - Gen. 22:1-19 -
Sarah had died some time earlier. Abraham eventually remarried and fathered several children by Keturah, but Abraham gave all his possessions to Isaac. To the sons of his concubines Abraham gave presents, and during his lifetime he sent them away from his son Isaac eastward, to the east country. - Gen. 25:1-6 -
Abraham was the father of the Hebrews and the prime figure and example of a righteous person. In spite of impossible odds. Abraham had faith in the promises of God. Therefore, he is presented as a model of human behavior. He was a God fearing man and hospitable to strangers, and who was obedient to God's laws. The promises originally given to Abraham were passed on to his son Isaac, and to his grandson Jacob. [also called Israel] In the Sacred Scripture/Holy Bible references, the God of Israel/Jacob is frequently identified as the God of Abraham and Israel is often called the people 'of the God of Abraham.' - Psalms 47:9, 105:6; Is. 41:8 - Abraham was such an important figure in the history of God's people that when they were in trouble, Israel appealed to God to remember the covenant made with Abraham. - Ex. 32:13; Deut. 9:27; Ps. 105:9 -
Sacred Scripture/Holy Bible foretold that God's will make Abraham a great nation; God's will bless Abraham and make his name so famous that it will be used as a blessing. "You are heirs of the prophets, the heirs of the covenant God made with our ancestors when He told Abraham: in your offspring all the families of the earth will be blessed." - Acts 3:25 - In the New Testament, Abraham is presented as the prime example of the faith required for the Christian believer. He is viewed as the spiritual father for all who share a similar faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
In Matthew 3:9 John the Baptist reminded and warned those especially, the Pharisees and Sadducees who abuse God's blessing, for He is the Almighty. "But if you are repentant, produce the appropriate fruit, and do not presume to tell yourselves, "We have Abraham for our father' because I tell you, God can raise children for Abraham from these stones."
Does this mean that God has failed to keep his promise? Of course not. Not all those who descend from Israel are Israel; not all the descendants of Abraham are his true children. Remember: It is through Isaac that your name will be carried on, which means that it is not physical descend that decides who are the children of God; it is only the children of the promise who will count as the true descendants. The actual words in which the promise was made were: I shall visit you at such and such a time, and Sarah will have a son. - Rom.9:6-9 -
Sacred Scripture foresaw that God was going to use faith to justify the pagans, and proclaimed the Good News long ago when Abraham was told: In you all pagans will be blessed. Those therefore who rely on faith receive the same blessing as Abraham, the man of faith. - Gal. 3:8-9 - 4:21-31 -
You believe in the one God - that is credible enough, but the demons have the same belief, and they tremble with fear. Do realize you senseless people, that faith without good deeds is useless. You surely know that Abraham our father was justified by his deed, because he offered his son Isaac on the altar? There you see it: faith and deeds were working together; his faith became perfect by what he did. - James 2:19-22 -
To the Jews who believed in him Jesus said:
'If you make my word your home
you will indeed be my disciples,
you will learn the truth
and the truth will make you free.'
They answered, 'We are descended from Abraham and we have never been the slaves of anyone; what do you mean, "You will be made free"?' Jesus replied:
'I tell you most solemnly,
everyone who commits sin is a slave.
Now the slave's place in the house is not assured,
but the son's placed is assured.
So if the Son makes you free,
you will be free indeed.
I know that you are descended from Abraham;
but in spite of that you want to kill me
because nothing I say has penetrated into you.
What I, for my part, speak of
is what I have seen with my Father;
but you, you put into action
the lessons learnt from your father.'
They repeated, 'Our father is Abraham.' Jesus said to them:
'If you were Abraham's children,
you would do as Abraham did.
As it is, you want to kill me
when I tell you the truth
as I have learnt it from God;
that is not what Abraham did.
What you are doing is what your father does.'
'We were not born of prostitution' they went on 'we have one father: God.' Jesus answered:
'If God were your father, you would love me,
since I have come here from God; yes, I have come from him;
not that I came because I chose,
no, I was sent, and by him.
Do you know why you cannot take in what I say?
It is because you are unable to understand my language.
The devil is your father,
and you prefer to do
what your father wants.
He was a murderer from the start;
he was never grounded in the truth;
there is no truth in him at all:
when he lies
he is drawing on his on store,
because he is a liar, and the father of lies,
But as for me, I speak the truth
and for that very reason,
you do not believe me.
Can one of you convict me of sin?
If I speak the truth, why do you not believe me?
A child of God
listens to the words of God;
if you refuse to listen,
it is because you are not God's children.
The Jews replied, 'Are we not right in saying that you are a Samaritan and possessed by a devil?' Jesus answered:
No, I am not possessed;
no, I honor my Father,
but you want to dishonor me.
Not that I care for my own glory,
there is someone who takes care of that and is the judge of it.
I tell you most solemnly,
whoever keeps my word
will never see death.'
The Jews said, 'Now we know for certain that you are possessed. Abraham is dead, and the prophets are dead, and yet you say, "Whoever keeps my word will never know the taste of death." Are you greater than our father Abraham, who is dead? The prophets are dead too. Who are you claiming to be?' Jesus answered:
'If I were to seek my own glory
that would be no glory at all;
my glory is conferred by the Father,
by the one of whom you say, "He is our God"
although you do not know him.
But I know him,
and if you were to say: I do not know him,
I should be a liar, as you are liars yourselves.
But I do know him, and I faithfully keep his word.
Your father Abraham rejoiced
to think that he would see my Day;
he saw it and was glad.'
The Jews then said, 'You are not fifty yet, and you have seen Abraham!' Jesus replied:
'I tell you most solemnly,
before Abraham ever was,
I Am.'
At this they picked up stones to throw at him; but Jesus hid himself and left the Temple. - John 8:31-59 -
Page 1
Faith . Hope . Love - Welcome donation. Thank You. God bless.
By bank transfer/cheque deposit:
Name: Alex Chan Kok Wah
Bank: Public Bank Berhad account no: 4076577113
Country: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Sunday, May 24, 2009
I have through years of reading, pondering, reflecting and contemplating, the 3 things that last; FAITH . HOPE . LOVE and I would like to made available my sharing from the many thinkers, authors, scholars and theologians whose ideas and thoughts I have borrowed. God be with them always. Amen!
I STILL HAVE MANY THINGS TO SAY TO YOU BUT THEY WOULD BE TOO MUCH FOR YOU NOW. BUT WHEN THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH COMES, HE WILL LEAD YOU TO THE COMPLETE TRUTH, SINCE HE WILL NOT BE SPEAKING AS FROM HIMSELF, BUT WILL SAY ONLY WHAT HE HAS LEARNT; AND HE WILL TELL YOU OF THE THINGS TO COME.
HE WILL GLORIFY ME, SINCE ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. EVERYTHING THE FATHER HAS IS MINE; THAT IS WHY I SAID: ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. - JOHN 16:12-15 -
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