Sunday 8/1/2021 Devotional by Pastor Dan Giles

Now there was a famine in the land, besides the former famine that was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went to Gerar to Abimelech king of the Philistines. ‭‭Genesis‬ ‭26:1, 12‬ We Christians live in this world so of course what happens in the world affects us. We have to behave with wisdom and get our direction from God, always in accordance with His Word as we deal with whatever happens around us. Isaac, living in the land of Canaan, was affected by the drought and famine that came upon the land. But as he prayed about what to do the Lord told him, "Do not go down to Egypt; dwell in the land of which I shall tell you.” (Genesis‬ ‭26:2‬) So Isaac stayed in Canaan but moved temporarily into the Philistine city of Gerar. And Isaac sowed in that land and reaped in the same year a hundredfold. The Lord blessed him. (Genesis 26:12) While everyone else was losing their shirts, Isaac’s crops yielded a hundredfold increase. For every bushel of seed he planted, he harvested 100 bushels. Any farmer will tell you that’s really good profit, even in a good year. And since nobody else was harvesting, the law of supply and demand meant that Isaac was suddenly very, very wealthy. Like Isaac, even though we live in this world, we aren’t of this world. We aren’t from around here; our citizenship is in Heaven and we are sojourners, pilgrims on our way home, just a-passim’ through. Like Isaac, even though the conditions of this world affect us, we aren’t subject to them. We get our directions from God, and we live by His provision and His blessing. Pandemics, inflations and recessions, the rise and fall of the market and even the rise and fall of governments affect us but don’t control our lives as we follow Jesus on this pilgrimage. What comes to us comes from God’s hand. There are no second causes. We live by a different set of rules, and like Isaac, living as a sojourner in the land that God had promised would one day be his, we have a direct link to the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, who owns it all. We’re learning by practice to administrate God’s creation, because one day we will be reigning together with Him. What that will mean we have yet to learn, but our experience now is getting us ready for it in eternity. Lord Jesus, I know that nothing can touch me without Your permission and that You are leading me day by day. Keep my eyes on You, whatever comes. Help me to learn all that I need to know as You prepare me for Heaven. Forgiven, redeemed and set apart by Your grace, I will trust and obey. Amen. Pastor Dan Giles