by Eric Holter on April 5, 2006
“When Esau heard the words of his father, he cried out with an exceedingly great and bitter cry, and said to his father, “Bless me, even me also, O my father!”
Genesis 27:34
In the very moment, being famished, and the smell of Jacob’s tasty red stew filling the room, a very small thing, like a bowl of porridge, seemed more desirable to Esau than a much bigger thing, his birthright. Thus Esau despised his birthright, a big thing far off, for stew – a small thing immediately available. Unbelief is like that, it uses time and distance to distort the true value of precious things. To despise means to think little of, to be dismissive toward, and to disregard. Esau thought little of, and was dismissive of, the true value of his birthright – when it seemed far off. Esau was an earthy man, a hunter, a man of the fields – he lived in the moment and gave little thought to tomorrow. Better, he thought, was good stew right now when hungry, than a birthright which could only be enjoyed in the distant future.
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by Eric Holter on January 5, 2006
“Abraham called the name of that place The LORD Will Provide, as it is said to this day, ‘In the mount of the LORD it will be provided.’”
Genesis 22:14
A popular application question from the story of Abraham offering Isaac is whether or not you would have enough faith to offer your child, if God told you to. But I think this question is somewhat flawed. Because Abraham’s test was not merely the hardest test God could think of to determine how much faith Abraham had. It did not test the quantity of Abraham’s faith, but rather the basis of it. The task wasn’t designed to see whether or not Abraham would do something outrageous simply because God told him to. The task corresponded with God’s specific promises regarding Isaac and his decendants.
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by Eric Holter on June 10, 2004
“O may Thy lovingkindness comfort me,
According to Thy word to Thy servant.
May Thy compassion come to me that I may live,
For Thy law is my delight.”
Psalm 119:76-77
I am so thankful this morning for the constant effectiveness of God’s word. God faithfully ministers, through His word, to bring His comforting love, and His life giving compassion to my soul. God has made so many promises to me; promises to be for me all that I need. He has connected these promises to a sure and steadfast delivery method; the method of contemplating His word. To be sure God uses many other delivery methods for imparting grace. In fact, He uses every good thing as a channel of His grace and mercy so that my soul’s satisfaction and joy may always be full in Christ. Yet the sure effectiveness and power of His word constantly and continually produces the fruit of faith. No wonder Psalm 119 expresses so much love and delight in God’s word. The word of God is a well spring of revelation, it is a touch stone for faith, it is a channel through which the Spirit continually flows with soul satisfying power.
O Lord, let your word always deliver your comforts to me by showing me much of your astounding lovingkindness. Cause my heart to overflow with delight as your compassion rests on me through your word. Your word is such a delight because it brings you closer to me. Thank you for your faithfulness. Thank you for giving me such a means for drawing near to you. Amen.
by Eric Holter on December 28, 2003
“Open your mouth wide and I will fill it… O that my people would listen to me… I would feed you with the finest of the wheat; and with honey from the rock I would satisfy you.” Psalm 81:10, 13, 16
What a wonderful promise, “Open your mouth wide and I will fill it.” It is like another of my favorite verses, Isaiah 55:1 “Ho! Everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and you who have no money come, buy and eat. Come by wine and milk without money and without cost.” God so often appeals to our hunger drive to call us to itself. This is why he designed hunger, to be able to teach us how we ought to seek after him. Yet the phrase “open our mouths,” in this verse, is a metaphor. We do not literally walk around with open mouths, waiting for food to drop-in. Nevertheless, this metaphor is used to indicate how urgently we ought to seek after God. With the same intensity that our hunger drive seeks after food to satisfy itself, our souls need to seek after God for their satisfaction.
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by Eric Holter on November 12, 2003
“But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God; for He has prepared a city for them.” Hebrews 11:16
My faith rests on a solid foundation, a firm platform confirmed and established in the past. My faith is secure because of what God has done and declared in the past. He demonstrated with all earnestness His purpose to save me on the cross. In the past God declared an oath by which I have a sure and steadfast anchor for my soul. What great encouragement I have in such a refuge of hope. God has done all this so that I can look back and have great confidence that I will lay hold of it.
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by Eric Holter on November 1, 2003
Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
Blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.
Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me.
Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
Matthew 5:3-12
To me the beatitudes are not a list of qualifications which determine my acceptance into the kingdom of God. Rather, I consider them as both gifts given to me in Christ, and powerful promises held out to me by Christ.
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