Good morning, 

We are told to “…get wisdom…” “Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding.” (Proverbs 4:7) 

This week we will study wisdom from Proverbs 3. We will see the many benefits that God provides to us, if we get wisdom. 

Honor the Lord and be wise 

2. Benefits of finding wisdom (v13-18) 

¹³ Happy is the man that findeth wisdom, and the man that getteth understanding.¹⁴ For the merchandise of it is better than the merchandise of silver, and the gain thereof than fine gold.¹⁵ She is more precious than rubies: and all the things thou canst desire are not to be compared unto her.¹⁶ Length of days is in her right hand; and in her left hand riches and honor.¹⁷ Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace.¹⁸ She is a tree of life to them that lay hold upon her: and happy is every one that retaineth her. 

First benefit of wisdom is being happy. Why? Because those who have wisdom know God’s word, His mercy, His provision, and His love. The second benefit is understanding. Then length of days, riches, honor, and peace.  

Wisdom is better than silver and gold. More precious than rubies.  

Wisdom is available to all who want it. 

Tom Stearns, WASI Chaplain, 907 715-4001 chaplain@alaskaseniors.com  

Good morning, 

We are told to “…get wisdom…” “Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding.” (Proverbs 4:7) 

This week we will study wisdom from Proverbs 3. We will see the many benefits that God provides to us, if we get wisdom. 

The first twelve verses are expressed in two verses each. The first verse is the command, the second the benefit. 

Honor the Lord and be wise 

1. Commands and Benefits (v1-12) 

My son, forget not my law; but let thine heart keep my commandments: 2 For length of days, and long life, and peace, shall they add to thee. 

³ Let not mercy and truth forsake thee: bind them about thy neck; write them upon the table of thine heart:⁴ So shalt thou find favor and good understanding in the sight of God and man. 

⁵ Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.⁶ In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. 

⁷ Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the Lord, and depart from evil.⁸ It shall be health to thy navel, and marrow to thy bones. 

⁹ Honor the Lord with thy substance, and with the first fruits of all thine increase:¹⁰ So shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine. 

¹¹ My son, despise not the chastening of the Lord; neither be weary of his correction:¹² For whom the Lord loveth he correcteth; even as a father the son in whom he delighteth. 

The father counsels his son to, forget not the law, keep my commandments, be merciful, truthful, trust in the Lord with all thine heart, in all thy ways acknowledge the Lord, be not wise in your own eyes, and despise not God’s chastening. 

If the son chooses to do this, he can expect, length of days, a long life, peace, favor, good understanding, God shall direct his way, health, abundance, and love from the Lord. 

If we are looking for God’s blessings, follow these Scriptural principles. 

Tom Stearns, WASI Chaplain, 907 715-4001 chaplain@alaskaseniors.com 

Good morning, 

Mother’s Day is on May 14^th.  Although Proverbs 31:10-31 is speaking about a wife, a wife is usually a mother.  The descriptions of this virtuous woman are the epitome of a Godly mother. 

Remember your mother and how many of these things were true about her. 

The Godly Mother 

Proverbs 31:10-31 

Relationship to her husband (10-12) 

Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies.¹¹The heart of her husband doth safely trust in her, so that he shall have no need of spoil.¹²She will do him good and not evil all the days of her life. 

She provides for her family (13-14) 

¹³She seeketh wool, and flax, and worketh willingly with her hands.¹⁴She is like the merchants’ ships; she bringeth her food from afar. 

She prepares meals for her family (15) 

¹⁵She riseth also while it is yet night, and giveth meat to her household, and a portion to her maidens. 

She is a gardener (16) 

¹⁶She considereth a field, and buyeth it: with the fruit of her hands she planteth a vineyard. 

She exercises (17) 

¹⁷She girdeth her loins with strength, and strengtheneth her arms. 

She is industrious and hard working (18-19) 

¹⁸She perceiveth that her merchandise is good: her candle goeth not out by night.¹⁹She layeth her hands to the spindle, and her hands hold the distaff. 

She cares for the needy (20) 

²⁰She stretcheth out her hand to the poor; yea, she reacheth forth her hands to the needy. 

She is a seamstress (21-22) 

²¹She is not afraid of the snow for her household: for all her household are clothed with scarlet.²²She maketh herself coverings of tapestry; her clothing is silk and purple. 

She has a good reputation (23) 

²³Her husband is known in the gates, when he sitteth among the elders of the land. 

She makes fine linen and sells it (24) 

²⁴She maketh fine linen, and selleth it; and delivereth girdles unto the merchant. 

She is honorable and wise (25-26) 

²⁵Strength and honor are her clothing; and she shall rejoice in time to come.²⁶She openeth her mouth with wisdom; and in her tongue is the law of kindness. 

She manages her family and they call her blessed (27-28) 

²⁷She looketh well to the ways of her household, and eateth not the bread of idleness.²⁸Her children arise up, and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praiseth her. 

She excels and she fears the Lord (29-31)  

²⁹Many daughters have done virtuously, but thou excellest them all.³⁰Favor is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a woman that feareth the Lord, she shall be praised.³¹Give her of the fruit of her hands; and let her own works praise her in the gates. 

Tom Stearns, WASI Chaplain, 907-715-4001 chaplain@alaskaseniors.com 

Mother’s Day 2023 

Elisabeth-John (Luke 1:5-7, 15-17, 57, 60) 

“There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judaea, a certain priest named Zacharias, of the course of Abia: and his wife was of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elisabeth.⁶ And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless.⁷ And they had no child, because that Elisabeth was barren, and they both were now well stricken in years.” 

“For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother’s womb.¹⁶ And many of the children of Israel shall he turn to the Lord their God.¹⁷ And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.” 

“Now Elisabeth’s full time came that she should be delivered; and she brought forth a son.” 

“And his mother answered and said, Not so; but he shall be called John.” 

Barren in her old age, Elizabeth was another of the miracle mothers in the Bible. She conceived and gave birth to a son. She and her husband named him John, as an angel had instructed. 

Like Hannah before her, Elizabeth dedicated her son to God, and like Hannah’s son, he also became a great prophet, John the Baptist. Elizabeth’s joy was complete when her relative Mary visited her, pregnant with the future Savior of the World. (Zavada, Jack. “8 Mothers in the Bible Who Served God Well.” Learn Religions, Apr. 5, 2023, learnreligions.com/mothers-in-the-bible-701220.) 

Distinctive traits of a Godly mother: 

Righteous before God 

Walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless 

Tom Stearns, WASI Chaplain, 907 715-4001 chaplain@alaskasenior.com 

Mother’s Day 2023 

Jochebed-Moses (Numbers 26:59, Exodus 2:1-10) 

“And the name of Amram’s wife was Jochebed, the daughter of Levi, whom her mother bare to Levi in Egypt: and she bare unto Amram Aaron and Moses, and Miriam their sister.” 

“And there went a man of the house of Levi, and took to wife a daughter of Levi.² And the woman conceived, and bare a son: and when she saw him that he was a goodly child, she hid him three months.³ And when she could not longer hide him, she took for him an ark of bulrushes, and daubed it with slime and with pitch, and put the child therein; and she laid it in the flags by the river’s brink.⁴ And his sister stood afar off, to wit what would be done to him.⁵ And the daughter of Pharaoh came down to wash herself at the river; and her maidens walked along by the river’s side; and when she saw the ark among the flags, she sent her maid to fetch it.⁶ And when she had opened it, she saw the child: and, behold, the babe wept. And she had compassion on him, and said, This is one of the Hebrews’ children.⁷ Then said his sister to Pharaoh’s daughter, Shall I go and call to thee a nurse of the Hebrew women, that she may nurse the child for thee?⁸ And Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, Go. And the maid went and called the child’s mother.⁹ And Pharaoh’s daughter said unto her, Take this child away, and nurse it for me, and I will give thee thy wages. And the women took the child, and nursed it.¹⁰ And the child grew, and she brought him unto Pharaoh’s daughter, and he became her son. And she called his name Moses: and she said, Because I drew him out of the water.” 

Jochebed, the mother of Moses, Aaron, and Miriam, is one of the underappreciated mothers in the Bible, yet she also showed tremendous faith in God. To avoid the mass slaughter of Hebrew boys, she set her baby adrift in the Nile River, hoping someone would find him and raise him. God so worked that her baby was found by Pharaoh’s daughter. Jochebed even became her own son’s nurse, ensuring that Israel’s great leader would grow up under the godly influence of his mother during his most formative years. 

God used Moses mightily to free the Hebrew people from their 400-year bondage to slavery and take them to the Promised Land. The writer of Hebrews pays tribute to Jochebed (Hebrews 11:23), showing that her faith allowed her to see the importance of saving her child’s life so that he might, in turn, save his people. Although little is written about Jochebed in the Bible, her story speaks powerfully to mothers of today. (Zavada, Jack. “8 Mothers in the Bible Who Served God Well.” Learn Religions, Apr. 5, 2023, learnreligions.com/mothers-in-the-bible-701220.) 

Distinctive traits of a Godly mother: 

Courage 

Faith 

Hannah-Samuel (1 Samuel 1:1-11, 20, 26-28) 

“Now there was a certain man of Ramathaimzophim, of mount Ephraim, and his name was Elkanah, the son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of Zuph, an Ephrathite:² And he had two wives; the name of the one was Hannah, and the name of the other Peninnah: and Peninnah had children, but Hannah had no children.³ And this man went up out of his city yearly to worship and to sacrifice unto the Lord of hosts in Shiloh. And the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, the priests of the Lord, were there.⁴ And when the time was that Elkanah offered, he gave to Peninnah his wife, and to all her sons and her daughters, portions:⁵ But unto Hannah he gave a worthy portion; for he loved Hannah: but the Lord had shut up her womb.⁶ And her adversary also provoked her sore, for to make her fret, because the Lord had shut up her womb. ⁷ And as he did so year by year, when she went up to the house of the Lord, so she provoked her; therefore she wept, and did not eat.⁸ Then said Elkanah her husband to her, Hannah, why weepest thou? and why eatest thou not? and why is thy heart grieved? am not I better to thee than ten sons?⁹ So Hannah rose up after they had eaten in Shiloh, and after they had drunk. Now Eli the priest sat upon a seat by a post of the temple of the Lord.¹⁰ And she was in bitterness of soul, and prayed unto the Lord, and wept sore.¹¹ And she vowed a vow, and said, O Lord of hosts, if thou wilt indeed look on the affliction of thine handmaid, and remember me, and not forget thine handmaid, but wilt give unto thine handmaid a man child, then I will give him unto the Lord all the days of his life, and there shall no razor come upon his head.” 

“Wherefore it came to pass, when the time was come about after Hannah had conceived, that she bare a son, and called his name Samuel, saying, Because I have asked him of the Lord.” 

“And she said, Oh my lord, as thy soul liveth, my lord, I am the woman that stood by thee here, praying unto the Lord.²⁷ For this child I prayed; and the Lord hath given me my petition which I asked of him:²⁸ Therefore also I have lent him to the Lord; as long as he liveth he shall be lent to the Lord. And he worshipped the Lord there.” 

Hannah’s story is one of the most touching in the entire Bible. Like several other mothers in the Bible, she knew what it meant to suffer long years of barrenness. 

In Hannah’s case she was cruelly taunted by her husband’s other wife. But Hannah never gave up on God. Finally, her heartfelt prayers were answered. She gave birth to a son, Samuel, then did something entirely selfless to honor her promise to God. God favored Hannah with five more children, bringing great blessing to her life. (Zavada, Jack. “8 Mothers in the Bible Who Served God Well.” Learn Religions, Apr. 5, 2023, learnreligions.com/mothers-in-the-bible-701220.) 

Distinctive traits of a Godly mother: 

Prayer, Patience 

Elisabeth-John (Luke 1:5-7, 15-17, 57, 60) 

“There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judaea, a certain priest named Zacharias, of the course of Abia: and his wife was of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elisabeth.⁶ And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless.⁷ And they had no child, because that Elisabeth was barren, and they both were now well stricken in years.” 

“For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother’s womb.¹⁶ And many of the children of Israel shall he turn to the Lord their God.¹⁷ And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.” 

“Now Elisabeth’s full time came that she should be delivered; and she brought forth a son.” 

“And his mother answered and said, Not so; but he shall be called John.” 

Barren in her old age, Elizabeth was another of the miracle mothers in the Bible. She conceived and gave birth to a son. She and her husband named him John, as an angel had instructed. 

Like Hannah before her, Elizabeth dedicated her son to God, and like Hannah’s son, he also became a great prophet, John the Baptist. Elizabeth’s joy was complete when her relative Mary visited her, pregnant with the future Savior of the World. (Zavada, Jack. “8 Mothers in the Bible Who Served God Well.” Learn Religions, Apr. 5, 2023, learnreligions.com/mothers-in-the-bible-701220.) 

Distinctive traits of a Godly mother: 

Righteous before God 

Walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless 

Tom Stearns, WASI Chaplain, 907 715-4001 chaplain@alaskasenior.com 

Good morning,

This coming Sunday is Mother’s Day. A day to remember and thank them for all they have done for us.

This week we will look at three mothers whose sons had a tremendous impact on the world.

Hannah-Samuel (1 Samuel 1:1-11, 20, 26-28) 

“Now there was a certain man of Ramathaimzophim, of mount Ephraim, and his name was Elkanah, the son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of Zuph, an Ephrathite:² And he had two wives; the name of the one was Hannah, and the name of the other Peninnah: and Peninnah had children, but Hannah had no children.³ And this man went up out of his city yearly to worship and to sacrifice unto the Lord of hosts in Shiloh. And the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, the priests of the Lord, were there.⁴ And when the time was that Elkanah offered, he gave to Peninnah his wife, and to all her sons and her daughters, portions:⁵ But unto Hannah he gave a worthy portion; for he loved Hannah: but the Lord had shut up her womb.⁶ And her adversary also provoked her sore, for to make her fret, because the Lord had shut up her womb. ⁷ And as he did so year by year, when she went up to the house of the Lord, so she provoked her; therefore she wept, and did not eat.⁸ Then said Elkanah her husband to her, Hannah, why weepest thou? and why eatest thou not? and why is thy heart grieved? am not I better to thee than ten sons?⁹ So Hannah rose up after they had eaten in Shiloh, and after they had drunk. Now Eli the priest sat upon a seat by a post of the temple of the Lord.¹⁰ And she was in bitterness of soul, and prayed unto the Lord, and wept sore.¹¹ And she vowed a vow, and said, O Lord of hosts, if thou wilt indeed look on the affliction of thine handmaid, and remember me, and not forget thine handmaid, but wilt give unto thine handmaid a man child, then I will give him unto the Lord all the days of his life, and there shall no razor come upon his head.” 

“Wherefore it came to pass, when the time was come about after Hannah had conceived, that she bare a son, and called his name Samuel, saying, Because I have asked him of the Lord.” 

“And she said, Oh my lord, as thy soul liveth, my lord, I am the woman that stood by thee here, praying unto the Lord.²⁷ For this child I prayed; and the Lord hath given me my petition which I asked of him:²⁸ Therefore also I have lent him to the Lord; as long as he liveth he shall be lent to the Lord. And he worshipped the Lord there.” 

Hannah’s story is one of the most touching in the entire Bible. Like several other mothers in the Bible, she knew what it meant to suffer long years of barrenness. 

In Hannah’s case she was cruelly taunted by her husband’s other wife. But Hannah never gave up on God. Finally, her heartfelt prayers were answered. She gave birth to a son, Samuel, then did something entirely selfless to honor her promise to God. God favored Hannah with five more children, bringing great blessing to her life. (Zavada, Jack. “8 Mothers in the Bible Who Served God Well.” Learn Religions, Apr. 5, 2023, learnreligions.com/mothers-in-the-bible-701220.) 

Distinctive traits of a Godly mother: 

Prayer, Patience 

Tom Stearns, WASI Chaplain, 907 715-4001 chaplain@alaskaseniors.com

Good morning,

This coming Sunday is Mother’s Day. A day to remember and thank them for all they have done for us.

This week we will look at three mothers whose sons had a tremendous impact on the world.

Jochebed-Moses (Numbers 26:59, Exodus 2:1-10) 

“And the name of Amram’s wife was Jochebed, the daughter of Levi, whom her mother bare to Levi in Egypt: and she bare unto Amram Aaron and Moses, and Miriam their sister.” 

“And there went a man of the house of Levi, and took to wife a daughter of Levi.² And the woman conceived, and bare a son: and when she saw him that he was a goodly child, she hid him three months.³ And when she could not longer hide him, she took for him an ark of bulrushes, and daubed it with slime and with pitch, and put the child therein; and she laid it in the flags by the river’s brink.⁴ And his sister stood afar off, to wit what would be done to him.⁵ And the daughter of Pharaoh came down to wash herself at the river; and her maidens walked along by the river’s side; and when she saw the ark among the flags, she sent her maid to fetch it.⁶ And when she had opened it, she saw the child: and, behold, the babe wept. And she had compassion on him, and said, This is one of the Hebrews’ children.⁷ Then said his sister to Pharaoh’s daughter, Shall I go and call to thee a nurse of the Hebrew women, that she may nurse the child for thee?⁸ And Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, Go. And the maid went and called the child’s mother.⁹ And Pharaoh’s daughter said unto her, Take this child away, and nurse it for me, and I will give thee thy wages. And the women took the child, and nursed it.¹⁰ And the child grew, and she brought him unto Pharaoh’s daughter, and he became her son. And she called his name Moses: and she said, Because I drew him out of the water.” 

Jochebed, the mother of Moses, Aaron, and Miriam, is one of the underappreciated mothers in the Bible, yet she also showed tremendous faith in God. To avoid the mass slaughter of Hebrew boys, she set her baby adrift in the Nile River, hoping someone would find him and raise him. God so worked that her baby was found by Pharaoh’s daughter. Jochebed even became her own son’s nurse, ensuring that Israel’s great leader would grow up under the godly influence of his mother during his most formative years. 

God used Moses mightily to free the Hebrew people from their 400-year bondage to slavery and take them to the Promised Land. The writer of Hebrews pays tribute to Jochebed (Hebrews 11:23), showing that her faith allowed her to see the importance of saving her child’s life so that he might, in turn, save his people. Although little is written about Jochebed in the Bible, her story speaks powerfully to mothers of today. (Zavada, Jack. “8 Mothers in the Bible Who Served God Well.” Learn Religions, Apr. 5, 2023, learnreligions.com/mothers-in-the-bible-701220.) 

Distinctive traits of a Godly mother: 

Courage 

Faith 

Tom Stearns, WASI Chaplain, 907 715-4001 chaplain@alaskaseniors.com

Believers place their faith in the God of:

Creation

In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. (Genesis 1:1)

Salvation

For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost. (Luke 19:10)

Protection

Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.³⁵ Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?³⁶ As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.³⁷ Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.³⁸ For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,³⁹ Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:34-39)

Wisdom

If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. (James 1:5)

Is the God of creation, salvation, protection, and wisdom, where we place our faith? All that we have seen this week points to that conclusion.

My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness. Where do we place our faith and hope?

Tom Stearns, WASI Chaplain, 907 715-4001, chaplain@alaskaseniors.com

People of God

Those who rejected God

Satan

How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!¹³ For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north:¹⁴ I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High. (Isaiah 14:12-14)

Moses

Come now therefore, and I will send thee unto Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring forth my people the children of Israel out of Egypt.¹¹ And Moses said unto God, Who am I, that I should go unto Pharaoh, and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt?¹² And he said, Certainly I will be with thee; and this shall be a token unto thee, that I have sent thee: When thou hast brought forth the people out of Egypt, ye shall serve God upon this mountain.¹³ And Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What is his name? what shall I say unto them?¹⁴ And God said unto Moses, I Am That I Am: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I Am hath sent me unto you. (Exodus 3:10-14)

Do we say, “No to God“? It is not a wise course of action. God wants to bless, protect, guide, teach, and send us out to be His ambassadors. We cannot, if we choose not to trust Him. Faith is trusting every aspect of the character of God. Will we?

Tom Stearns, WASI Chaplain, 907 715-4001 chaplain@alaskaseniors.com

Living by faith in 2021

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. (Hebrews 11:1)

Introduction: We live in the realm of the unknown

Experiences of the unknown

Elisha’s servant

Therefore sent he thither horses, and chariots, and a great host: and they came by night, and compassed the city about.¹⁵ And when the servant of the man of God was risen early, and gone forth, behold, an host compassed the city both with horses and chariots. And his servant said unto him, Alas, my master! how shall we do?¹⁶ And he answered, Fear not: for they that be with us are more than they that be with them.¹⁷ And Elisha prayed, and said, Lord, I pray thee, open his eyes, that he may see. And the Lord opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw: and, behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha. (2 Kings 6:14-17)

Balaam’s Donkey

When the donkey saw the angel of the Lord standing in the road with a drawn sword in his hand, it turned off the road into a field. Balaam beat it to get it back on the road.²⁴ Then the angel of the Lord stood in a narrow path through the vineyards, with walls on both sides. ²⁵ When the donkey saw the angel of the Lord, it pressed close to the wall, crushing Balaam’s foot against it. So he beat the donkey again.²⁶ Then the angel of the Lord moved on ahead and stood in a narrow place where there was no room to turn, either to the right or to the left. ²⁷ When the donkey saw the angel of the Lord, it lay down under Balaam, and he was angry and beat it with his staff. ²⁸ Then the Lord opened the donkey’s mouth, and it said to Balaam, “What have I done to you to make you beat me these three times?”²⁹ Balaam answered the donkey, “You have made a fool of me! If only I had a sword in my hand, I would kill you right now.”³⁰ The donkey said to Balaam, “Am I not your own donkey, which you have always ridden, to this day? Have I been in the habit of doing this to you?”

“No,” he said. (Numbers 22:23-30)

People of the Bible

Those who had faith in God

Abraham

Now the Lord had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee:² And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing:³ And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.⁴ So Abram departed, as the Lord had spoken unto him; and Lot went with him: and Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran. (Genesis 12:1-4)

Noah

And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.¹⁴ Make thee an ark of gopher wood; rooms shalt thou make in the ark, and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch. (Genesis 6:13-14)

Thus did Noah; according to all that God commanded him, so did he. (Genesis 6:22)

Those who bargained with God

Gideon

And the Lord said unto him, Surely I will be with thee, and thou shalt smite the Midianites as one man.¹⁷ And he said unto him, If now I have found grace in thy sight, then shew me a sign that thou talkest with me. (Judges 6:16-17)

And Gideon said unto God, If thou wilt save Israel by mine hand, as thou hast said,³⁷ Behold, I will put a fleece of wool in the floor; and if the dew be on the fleece only, and it be dry upon all the earth beside, then shall I know that thou wilt save Israel by mine hand, as thou hast said.³⁸ And it was so: for he rose up early on the morrow, and thrust the fleece together, and wringed the dew out of the fleece, a bowl full of water.³⁹ And Gideon said unto God, Let not thine anger be hot against me, and I will speak but this once: let me prove, I pray thee, but this once with the fleece; let it now be dry only upon the fleece, and upon all the ground let there be dew.⁴⁰ And God did so that night: for it was dry upon the fleece only, and there was dew on all the ground. (Judges 6:36-40)

Jacob

And Jacob vowed a vow, saying, If God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat, and raiment to put on,²¹ So that I come again to my father’s house in peace; then shall the Lord be my God:²² And this stone, which I have set for a pillar, shall be God’s house: and of all that thou shalt give me I will surely give the tenth unto thee. (Genesis 28:20-22)

Those who rejected God

Satan

How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!¹³ For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north:¹⁴ I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High. (Isaiah 14:12-14)

Moses

Come now therefore, and I will send thee unto Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring forth my people the children of Israel out of Egypt.¹¹ And Moses said unto God, Who am I, that I should go unto Pharaoh, and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt?¹² And he said, Certainly I will be with thee; and this shall be a token unto thee, that I have sent thee: When thou hast brought forth the people out of Egypt, ye shall serve God upon this mountain.¹³ And Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What is his name? what shall I say unto them?¹⁴ And God said unto Moses, I Am That I Am: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I Am hath sent me unto you. (Exodus 3:10-14)

Believers place their faith in the God of:

Creation

In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. (Genesis 1:1)

Salvation

For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost. (Luke 19:10)

Protection

Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.³⁵ Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?³⁶ As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.³⁷ Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.³⁸ For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,³⁹ Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:34-39)

Wisdom

If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. (James 1:5)

Tom Stearns, WASI Chaplain, 907 715-4001, chaplain@alaskaseniors.com