60IN60 Day 17 - Wed Mar 20

It's Day 17 and we're in Genesis 15.

Where God Spoke To Me:
- Verse 6 - Having faith in what God says is one of the greatest things we can do to honor Him.

Help:
- Verses 12-13 - This is an unusual sequence.  Apparently God wants to let Abraham know the struggles that are ahead and so this dark incident occurs.
- Verse 16 - "the iniquity. . . is not yet complete" - In other words, they had sinned, but not enough to merit destructive judgment yet by a patient God.  It's an interesting phrase.

If you want to read the chapter online, here's a link.

If you have a question or comment, email me at butcher@ymail.com.

Your Questions and Comments:

- "When scripture talks about the sick being anointed with oil for healing, I need some clarity. Many people are healed without anointing, so when is anointing needed or useful? I don't believe the oil has healing properties any more than water baptism has soul-saving properties. But are we neglecting God's best for us when we don't seek anointing for illness ? (Similar to receiving salvation but not following in baptism?)" - That is a an interesting passage and one that we just recently had an extensive (and lively) discussion on during our Wednesday evening Bible study. A few of the key points on the passage: 1. You are right that the power is not in the oil. It's in the One who can heal. But God asks us to do this as an expression of our faith in Him and our desire to see Him heal. 2. I think it's really important that the sick person is the one who is supposed to initiate this process. The sick person needs to have faith that God will heal them. 3. This passage is not a guarantee that God will always heal. We have other passages, such as Paul and his thorn in the flesh, that indicate that it is not always God's will to heal. But how many healings do we miss because we don't ask? 4. I think we are free to ask for healing whenever we feel led, although most do it for more serious situations. God can heal with or without the oil, but the oil and the prayers of the leaders in the church is one avenue for us to express our belief that God can heal us.