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   where have you come from   
   and where are you going?"   
   And she said, "I am fleeing from the presence of my mistress Sarai."   
   9 Then the angel of the Lord said to her,   
   "Return to your mistress, and submit yourself to her authority."   
   10 The angel of the Lord also said to her,   
   "I will multiply your descendants exceedingly   
   so that they will be too many to count."   
   11 Then the angel of the Lord said to her,   
   "You are pregnant   
   and will bear a son.   
   You shall call his name Ishmael,   
   because the Lord has heard your affliction.   
   12 He will be a wild man;   
   his hand will be against every man,   
   and every man's hand will be against him.   
   And he will dwell   
   in the presence of all his brothers."   
   13 Then she called the name of the Lord that spoke to her,   
   "You are the God who sees," for she said,   
   "Have I now looked on Him who sees me?"   
      
   (Ishmael is the father of the Arab race)   
      
   Genesis 16   
      
   [5] And Sarai said unto Abram, My wrong be upon thee: I have given my maid   
   into thy bosom; and when she saw that she had conceived, I was despised in   
   her eyes: the LORD judge between me and thee.   
   [6] But Abram said unto Sarai, Behold, thy maid is in thy hand; do to her as   
   it pleaseth thee. And when Sarai dealt hardly with her, she fled from her   
   face.   
   [7] And the angel of the LORD found her by a fountain of water in the   
   wilderness, by the fountain in the way to Shur.   
   [8] And he said, Hagar, Sarai's maid, whence camest thou? and whither wilt   
   thou go? And she said, I flee from the face of my mistress Sarai.   
   [9] And the angel of the LORD said unto her, Return to thy mistress, and   
   submit thyself under her hands.   
   [10] And the angel of the LORD said unto her, I will multiply thy seed   
   exceedingly, that it shall not be numbered for multitude.   
   [11] And the angel of the LORD said unto her, Behold, thou art with child,   
   and shalt bear a son, and shalt call his name Ishmael; because the LORD hath   
   heard thy affliction.   
   [12] And he will be a wild man; his hand will be against every man, and   
   every man's hand against him; and he shall dwell in the presence of all his   
   brethren.   
   [13] And she called the name of the LORD that spake unto her, Thou God seest   
   me: for she said, Have I also here looked after him that seeth me?   
      
   When Sun's husband had a stroke, her life took a dramatic turn. She found   
   herself having to assist her husband with the activities of daily living   
   and cope with his emotional outbursts. For seventeen years, she'd faithfully   
   cared for her husband. When a fall hastened his decline, however, the weight   
   of caregiving finally became too much, and Sun sank into depression.   
   "I felt I'd lost my faith," she shared, "and I couldn't see God."   
      
   But looking back, Sun now believes that God saw her because He provided   
   subsidised home medical and nursing care to manage her husband's chronic   
   condition and sent social workers to support Sun in managing the emotional   
   challenges of caregiving.   
      
   God revealed himself as the God who sees in the story of Hagar. In Genesis 16,   
   the slave Hagar was running away from her mistress' mistreatment (v. 6) when   
   the "angel of the Lord" found her "near a spring in the desert" (v. 7).   
   He urged Hagar to "go back to [her] mistress" (v. 9) and assured her   
   of His blessing. Even though Hagar was a nobody in her culture, God was   
   watching out for her well-being. In gratitude, Hagar declared,   
   "You are the God who sees me" (v. 13).   
      
   God sees us in our distress too. We're never alone because our loving Father   
   knows our situation, and He's trustworthy. We can cry out to Him for help,   
   and He'll lift us up.   
      
   Reflect & Pray   
      
   How have you experienced that God sees and knows your need in the past?   
   How can this knowledge help you in your present trials?   
      
   Dear Father, thank You for assuring me that You see what I'm going through.   
      
      
   For further study, listen to What's True About God.   
      
   3) Daily verses taken from Billy Graham Evangelical Organisation   
      
   Words in Season Scripture Memory Tools   
      
   Week 4 - The Blessings of Grace Day 7 God's Bulldozer - Luke 3:5-6   
      
   5 (Isa 40:4; 42:16) Every valley shall be filled   
   and every mountain and hill shall be brought low;   
   and the crooked shall be made straight   
   and the rough ways shall be made smooth;   
   6 (Isa 40:5; 52:10) and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.   
      
   5 Every valley shall be filled,   
   And every mountain and hill shall be brought low;   
   And the crooked shall be made straight,   
   And the rough ways shall be made smooth;   
   6 And all flesh shall see the salvation of God.   
      
   When a new highway is being constructed, the roads crew work hard   
   in preparing for the new surface to be laid. Giant bulldozers cut through   
   the hillsides, moving earth, leveling, filling, evening the path out where   
   the roadway will run. When the work is first begun, if often looks like chaos:   
   and even after the highway begins to take shape, the land is still ugly,   
   scarred by the unsightly gashes cut through the landscape. Yet after   
   the work is completed and the grass and trees are replanted, we forget   
   the temporary upheaval and see only the   
   beauty of the land and the convenience of the new roadway.   
   In Luke 3:5-6, John the Baptist presents a prophecy of the coming of Christ,   
   a prophecy quoted from Isaiah 40:3-5 . The prophecy speaks of the preparation   
   of the world for the coming Messiah, but is also applies to the preparation   
   of the individual heart to receive him.   
   Sometimes, the Holy Spirit must do major work in our hearts to prepare us for   
   the coming of Christ into our live. Like a bulldozer, he brings down the   
   mountains of pride in our lives. He fill the empty places , corrects   
   the crooked, grades down the rough edges of our hearts.   
   Often this is not pleasant work. We prefer to maintain the rugged landscape   
   of Self, and we do not like the ugly scars that are left after the bulldozer   
   has done its job.   
   But if we submit to the Spirit's "Construction work" in us, the way will be   
   paved for the Lord to enter into our lives, and others will see in us,   
   the way be paved for the Lord to enter into our lives, and other will see   
   in us the glory and salvation of our God.   
      
   Application   
      
   a) What "construction work" has to Holy Spirit done in me?   
      
   b) What restoration has taken place because of that work?   
      
   c) How do today's verses help me put in perspective the work   
   God still want to do in me?   
      
   4) From Prosperity Promises - Kenneth Copeland   
      
   Ps 35:27   
      
   27 May those who favour my righteous cause shout for joy and be glad;   
   may they say continually, "The Lord be magnified,   
   who delights in the peace of His servant."   
      
   27 Let them shout for joy, and be glad, that favour my righteous cause:   
   Yea, let them say continually, Let the LORD be magnified,   
   which hath pleasure in the prosperity of his servant.   
      
   5) From a Book called God's Promises for you:   
      
   God's Generous Provision   
      
   Matthew 6:24-34   
      
   God and Money   
      
   24 (Lk 16:13; 16:11; 16:9) "No one can serve two masters.   
   For either he will hate the one and love the other,   
   or else he will hold to the one and despise the other.   
   You cannot serve God and money."   
      
   Care and Anxiety   
      
   Lk 12:22-34   
      
   25 (Mt 6:31; 6:34; Php 4:6) "Therefore, I say to you,   
   take no thought about your life, what you will eat,   
   or what you will drink, nor about your body,   
   what you will put on. Is not life more than   
   and the body than clothing?   
   26 (Job 38:41; Ps 147:9) Look at the birds of the air,   
   for they do not sow, nor do they reap, nor gather into barns.   
      
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   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)