[Thursday's Devotional] - Total Salvation: of Spirit, Soul and Body

Total Salvation: of Spirit, Soul and Body Wouldn't it be so good for the people of God to be so powerful that they would be recognised by heathen kings?  Well, that's what God did for Isaac in Genesis 26.  There was a famine in the land and God instructed Isaac not to go to prosperous Egypt but to stay in the land.   "Isaac sowed seed in that land, and in that year he reaped a hundred times what was sown. The Lord blessed him, and the man became rich and kept getting richer until he was very wealthy. He had flocks of sheep, herds of cattle, and many slaves, and the Philistines were envious of him." Genesis 26: 12-14 [HCSB]   As a result, the Philistines chased Isaac away, but soon regretted what they had done. So they approached him: "Now Abimelech came to him from Gerar with Ahuzzath his adviser and Phicol the commander of his army. Isaac said to them, "Why have you come to me? You hated me and sent me away from you." They replied, "We have clearly seen how the Lord has been with you. We think there should be an oath between two parties—between us and you. Let us make a covenant with you: You will not harm us, just as we have not harmed you but have only done what was good to you, sending you away in peace. You are now blessed by the Lord." Genesis 26: 26-29 [HCSB]   Isaac was so blessed by the Lord that the heathens around him saw it for themselves that his blessings were from God. Years later, Isaac's descendant, king Solomon was blessed by the Lord so much that one of the heathen queens heard about the fame of Solomon and his relationship to the Lord and came all the way from Sheba to see for herself.   "When the queen of Sheba saw all the wisdom of Solomon and the palace he had built, the food on his table, the seating of his officials, the attending servants in their robes, his cupbearers, and the burnt offerings he made at the temple of the Lord, she was overwhelmed. She said to the king, "The report I heard in my own country about your achievements and your wisdom is true. But I did not believe these things until I came and saw with my own eyes. Indeed, not even half was told me; in wisdom and wealth you have far exceeded the report I heard."  1 Kings 10:4-7 [NIV]    Recently I was surprised at the great financial need we have as a church yet God's children have the greatest examples and promises in the bible of how the Lord desires to bless us but somehow religious thinking does not permit us to believe for these things.   Personally I do not believe in cherry picking parts of the bible but I believe in the entire bible, Genesis to Revelation.   "Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely. And may your spirit, soul, and body be kept sound and blameless for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ"  1 Thessalonians 5:23 – [HCSB]    Farai Mutsambiwa     Twitter Website Copyright © 2017 St. Matthew & St. Oswald's Church, All rights reserved. You are receiving this email as a subscriber to the Daily Devotionals Our mailing address is: St. Matthew & St. Oswald's Church 1a New Street Rugby, Warwickshire CV22 7BE United Kingdom Add us to your address book Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list Want to be added to our mailing list? - sign up here!