The Blessing of Abraham 

Greetings in the name of Jesus! This is Rob Haymes. This is 15 Minutes With Jesus. Wherever two or three are gathered together in My name, Jesus said, there am I in the midst of them. To those of you who love Him in truth: mercy unto you and peace and love be multiplied. (Jude 1:2)

Today’s program is called, The Blessing of Abraham. Let’s turn to Genesis 12:1, Now the Lord had said to Abram: "Get out of your country, From your family And from your father's house, to a land that I will show you. I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; and in you all the families of the Earth shall be blessed." 

Now let’s turn to Galatians 3:10, For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse; for it is written, Cursed is everyone who does not continue in all things which are written in the Book of the Law, to do them. But that no one is justified by the law in the sight of God is evident, for The just shall live by faith. Yet the law is not of faith, but The man who does them shall live by them. Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us for it is written, Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree, that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. 

Abraham believed God; he obeyed God. He was righteous by faith. He loved God. He worshiped God. Everywhere that Abraham went he built altars, and worshiped God. He was righteous by faith working by love. So are we righteous by faith in Jesus; faith in His sacrifice for our sins. Jesus bore all our sins, all the sins of the human race, in His sinless body on the cross. Our faith is through the Gospel. We are righteous by believing in His shed blood atoning perfectly for all of our sins. Through repentance and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ we are righteous. And then we are to be led by the Holy Spirit. We receive the Holy Spirit, fulfilling the righteousness of the law, obeying the Lord, being led by the Spirit. 

Love does no ill to his neighbor, therefore love is the fulfilling of the law. So, as we walk in love we are going to be keeping the sayings of Jesus. He said, this is love, that you keep my sayings. So as we continue with the Lord, we’re going to be keeping His sayings; that’s love; we’re going to be walking in love, being led by the Spirit to do the will of the Father. We need the Holy Spirit. The gift of the Holy Spirit is not an option. It’s absolutely essential to fulfill the righteousness of the law; to walk in obedience; to understand the scriptures; so many things are given to us through the Spirit. You cannot possibly be led by the Spirit without receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit. If we look in Acts 1:8, Jesus said, But you shall receive power, after that the Holy Spirit is come upon you, and you shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the Earth. John the Baptist said, in John 1:33, I did not know Him, but He who sent me to baptize with water said to me, “Upon whom you see the Spirit descending and remaining on Him, this is He who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.”

So you need the Holy Spirit. You need the power of the Holy Spirit to lead you, to give you the words to speak, to be witnesses to Jesus. The Bible says the Gospel is not in word only, but it is also in power. Jesus Christ was raised from the dead by the power of the Holy Spirit, and we preach the Gospel by the power of the Spirit as He leads us. He leads us to the people He wants us to talk to. He gives us the words by the Spirit, what to say, and the power of the Lord will be manifested. The Holy Spirit also convinces of sin, righteousness and judgment. The Father, through the Holy Spirit, draws people to Jesus. And the Holy Spirit is the one who sends us, as in Acts chapter 13 where the Holy Spirit sent Saul and Barnabas to start their ministry in Asia. We need the Holy Spirit. It’s not an option to receive the Holy Spirit.

If you look at the beginnings of the Church: the Gospel was preached; people heard the Gospel; they were convicted of their sins; they repented; they believed; they were baptized in water, and they were baptized in the Holy Spirit; three separate experiences. Let’s look in Acts 8. If you look at this scripture, and you consider it clearly, you can see what I’m talking about. Phillip went down to Samaria and preached the Gospel, verse 6, And the multitudes with one accord heeded the things spoken by Philip, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did. For unclean spirits, crying with a loud voice, came out of many who were possessed; and many who were paralyzed and lame were healed. And there was great joy in that city. Verse 12, But when they believed Philip as he preached the things concerning the Kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, both men and women were baptized. Verse 14, Now when the apostles who were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the Word of God, they sent Peter and John to them, who, when they had come down, prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit. For as yet He had fallen upon none of them. They had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then they laid hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit. So you can clearly see here, they heard the Gospel; they saw the power of God; they saw the Gospel demonstrated; they repented; they believed the Gospel; they were baptized in water for the remission of sins, and then, later, the Apostles came, laid hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit. As you see in verse 16, He was not yet fallen upon them. The Holy Spirit comes upon a believer when they receive Him.

Luk 11:9, So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. If a son asks for bread from any father among you, will he give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent instead of a fish? Or if he asks for an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him! So you seek after the baptism in the Holy Spirit, you ask, but it is the blessing of Abraham to receive the Holy Spirit, to be led by the Holy Spirit, to do the will of the Father. So it is with us: if there is wickedness in our lives, if there is witchcraft in our lives, we need to be delivered, we need to repent, we need to seek after God and be cleansed, and then we can receive the Holy Spirit. Some people ask, but they don’t receive because of these problems. But if a person will humble themselves and seek the Lord, and seek to be purified, and then ask for the Holy Spirit, they shall receive. Whatever you have to do; fast, pray, and seek the Lord to lead you in repentance, and to deliver you from witchcraft. Many preachers operate in witchcraft to control the people, and if we have been in a situation like that for any number of days, we can be bound up with that witchcraft. It says in Acts 8 about Simon, that he had for a long time bewitched the people, and he wanted to give Peter money so that he could lay hands on people to receive the Holy Spirit, and Peter said, "Your money perish with you, because you thought that the gift of God could be purchased with money! You have neither part nor portion in this matter, for your heart is not right in the sight of God. Repent therefore of this your wickedness, and pray God if perhaps the thought of your heart may be forgiven you. For I see that you are poisoned by bitterness and bound by iniquity." So we see that Simon was not in a position to receive the Holy Ghost, even though he had believed, and was baptized in water, because of the witchcraft, because of the bitterness; unforgiveness in his heart. He needed to repent. He needed to forgive. He needed to be cleansed. Unforgiveness will cut you off, because you are not forgiven until you forgive, according to the Words of the Lord Jesus.

We need the Holy Spirit to be led by the Spirit and to do the will of the Father; to walk in the Spirit and not fulfill the lust of the flesh, otherwise you are walking in the flesh, and the righteousness of the law is not being fulfilled in you. In Romans 8 it says, the righteousness of the law will be fulfilled in those who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. If you don’t have the Holy Spirit, you cannot walk in the Spirit. So you will be walking in the flesh, and you will be justifying yourself by keeping some form of law, religious rules, or traditions. And people do that. They go to church; they sit in a certain place in the church; they do certain things in the church, and they feel like, because they are keeping those traditions and rules, that they are righteous before God. Righteousness is by faith, and by obedience. And to obey God you need to be led by the Spirit. To be led by the Spirit you need to receive the Holy Spirit. The gift of the Holy Spirit is absolutely essential, not an option, to walk in righteousness and do the will of God, and be led by the Spirit, and not be under the law, doing the will of the Father. 

If we look in Matthew 7, at the end of the Sermon on the Mount, we see how serious this is: Mat 7:21   "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the Kingdom of Heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in Heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?' And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!' This brings another dimension into this: These people had the Holy Spirit. There is no way you can cast out devils, according to the Words of Jesus, except by the Holy Spirit. There is no way you can prophecy except by the Holy Spirit. So, even if you have the Holy Spirit, you must have faith; you must have love; you must love God: you want to obey God; you want to do the will of God. But you must have the Spirit in order to be led by the Spirit to do the will of the Father.

Also, you cannot pray in tongues and build yourself up on your most holy faith, as it says in Jude, unless you have the Holy Spirit, unless you’re filled with the Holy Spirit. So what do people do? They are taught that they have the Holy Spirit; they are taught that they got the Holy Spirit when they were baptized in water. They go to church, they keep their religious traditions, and they feel like they are righteous before God. They have no need to be baptized in the Holy Spirit. They have no need to speak in tongues. They are even taught that tongues are of the devil, tongues are not of God, tongues have passed away. Speaking in tongues is just one gift of the Holy Spirit. We need the gifts of the Spirit in order to edify one another, in order to edify the Church, to build one another up. In 1 Corinthians, chapter 12, it talks about the various gifts of the Spirit, and various ministries and governments that the Lord has given to the Church. At the end of chapter 12 it says, But earnestly desire the best gifts. And yet I show you a more excellent way. 1 Co 13:1 Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing. So, we walk in the Spirit; we walk in love; we edify the body of Christ. 1Co 14:26  How is it then, brethren? Whenever you come together, each of you has a psalm, has a teaching, has a tongue, has a revelation, has an interpretation. Let all things be done for edification. 

So what is it? The Lord is making a holy people, by the power of the Holy Spirit and the Word of God. Also, the Holy Spirit is the comforter and He will be with you forever. Jesus said, I’m not going to leave you alone. When I go to the Father I’m going to send the Holy Spirit, I’m going to send the Comforter, and He will be with you forever. We need the Holy Spirit. He is not an option; He is God. If you want to walk with God, you need the Holy Spirit. If you want to be religious, that’s another story altogether.

The Word with the Spirit is life. As Jesus said in John chapter six, Unless you eat of my flesh and drink of my blood you have no life in you; people were offended at Him, and He said, Does this offend you? He said, It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The Words that I speak to you are Spirit, and they are life. So it’s the Word of God with the Spirit, not just the Word of God. And, the Word of God is the sword of the Spirit. So as you pray, the Holy Spirit will lead you in warfare against powers of darkness, against the devil, who wants to destroy you. You have no power against the devil without the Holy Spirit, and he wants to destroy you, and he has power. So you need, as it says in Ephesians 6, the whole armor of God, otherwise you are not equipped to war a good warfare: Eph 6:10, Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having girded your loins with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God; praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints…This is how you’re going to war a good warfare, by which you’re going to overcome, by which you’re going to inherit all the promises of God. You overcome by the power of God through faith in the Gospel: God so loved us, that He gave His only Son a living sacrifice for our sins, that whosoever lives and believes in Him, should not perish, but have everlasting life. So, all things are for edification. Love God, and be led by His Spirit to do His will, keep His Words, and love your brother and your sister.

Thank you for reading this message from 15 Minutes With Jesus at roberthaymes.com . May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with all of you who love Him in truth, Amen. (2 Cor 13:14)

 Noah Found Grace

Greetings in the name of Jesus! This is Rob Haymes. This is 15 Minutes With Jesus. Wherever two or three are gathered together in My name, Jesus said, there am I in the midst of them. To those of you who love Him in truth: mercy unto you and peace and love be multiplied. (Jude 1:2)

Thank you Lord for this day! Thank you Lord for this program. Today’s program is called, Noah Found Grace. Let’s turn to Gen 5:28. In verse 1 of chapter 5 it says, This is the book of the genealogy of Adam, and we’re going to skip on down to verse 28,  Lamech lived one hundred and eighty-two years, and had a son. And he called his name Noah, saying, "This one will comfort us concerning our work and the toil of our hands, because of the ground which the Lord has cursed." After he begot Noah, Lamech lived five hundred and ninety-five years, and had sons and daughters. So all the days of Lamech were seven hundred and seventy-seven years; and he died. And Noah was five hundred years old, and Noah begot Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Gen 6:1, Now it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the Earth, and daughters were born to them, that the sons of God saw the daughters of men, that they were beautiful; and they took wives for themselves of all whom they chose. And the Lord said, "My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, for he is indeed flesh; yet his days shall be one hundred and twenty years." There were giants on the Earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men and they bore children to them. Those were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown. Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the Earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And the Lord was sorry that He had made man on the Earth, and He was grieved in His heart. So the Lord said, "I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the Earth, both man and beast, creeping thing and birds of the air, for I am sorry that I have made them." But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. 

This is the genealogy of Noah. Noah was a just man, perfect in his generations. Noah walked with God. And Noah begot three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth. The Earth also was corrupt before God, and the Earth was filled with violence. So God looked upon the Earth, and indeed it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted their way on the Earth. And God said to Noah, "The end of all flesh has come before Me, for the Earth is filled with violence through them; and behold, I will destroy them with the Earth. Make yourself an ark of gopherwood; make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and outside with pitch. And this is how you shall make it: The length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits, its width fifty cubits, and its height thirty cubits. You shall make a window for the ark, and you shall finish it to a cubit from above; and set the door of the ark in its side. You shall make it with lower, second, and third decks. And behold, I Myself am bringing floodwaters on the Earth, to destroy from under heaven all flesh in which is the breath of life; everything that is on the Earth shall die. But I will establish My covenant with you; and you shall go into the ark—you, your sons, your wife, and your sons' wives with you. And of every living thing of all flesh you shall bring two of every sort into the ark, to keep them alive with you; they shall be male and female. Of the birds after their kind, of animals after their kind, and of every creeping thing of the Earth after its kind, two of every kind will come to you to keep them alive. And you shall take for yourself of all food that is eaten, and you shall gather it to yourself; and it shall be food for you and for them." Thus Noah did; according to all that God commanded him, so he did. 

Gen 7:1, Then the Lord said to Noah, "Come into the ark, you and all your household, because I have seen that you are righteous before Me in this generation. You shall take with you seven each of every clean animal, a male and his female; two each of animals that are unclean, a male and his female; also seven each of birds of the air, male and female, to keep the species alive on the face of all the Earth. For after seven more days I will cause it to rain on the Earth forty days and forty nights, and I will destroy from the face of the Earth all living things that I have made." And Noah did according to all that the Lord commanded him. Noah was six hundred years old when the floodwaters were on the Earth. So Noah, with his sons, his wife, and his sons' wives, went into the ark because of the waters of the flood. Of clean animals, of animals that are unclean, of birds, and of everything that creeps on the earth, two by two they went into the ark to Noah, male and female, as God had commanded Noah. And it came to pass after seven days that the waters of the flood were on the Earth. In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, on that day all the fountains of the great deep were broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened. 

And the rain was on the Earth forty days and forty nights. On the very same day Noah and Noah's sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth, and Noah's wife and the three wives of his sons with them, entered the ark—they and every beast after its kind, all cattle after their kind, every creeping thing that creeps on the earth after its kind, and every bird after its kind, every bird of every sort. And they went into the ark to Noah, two by two, of all flesh in which is the breath of life. So those that entered, male and female of all flesh, went in as God had commanded him; and the Lord shut him in. Now the flood was on the Earth forty days. The waters increased and lifted up the ark, and it rose high above the Earth. 

The waters prevailed and greatly increased on the earth, and the ark moved about on the surface of the waters. And the waters prevailed exceedingly on the Earth, and all the high hills under the whole heaven were covered. The waters prevailed fifteen cubits upward, and the mountains were covered. And all flesh died that moved on the Earth: birds and cattle and beasts and every creeping thing that creeps on the Earth, and every man. 

All in whose nostrils was the breath of the spirit of life, all that was on the dry land, died. 

So He destroyed all living things which were on the face of the ground: both man and cattle, creeping thing and bird of the air. They were destroyed from the Earth. Only Noah and those who were with him in the ark remained alive. And the waters prevailed on the Earth one hundred and fifty days. 

Gen 8:1, Then God remembered Noah, and every living thing, and all the animals that were with him in the ark. And God made a wind to pass over the Earth, and the waters subsided.  Noah’s family was saved, his immediate family; his children, because of his righteousness, through the grace that he found in the eyes of the Lord. He was a just man, and a preacher of righteousness. In 1 John 3:7&8 we read, Little children, let no one deceive you. He who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous. 

He who sins, or he who practices sin,  is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil. Noah was a man who practiced righteousness. Noah walked with God. In the original Hebrew, Gen 6:9, it is written, Noah, a man righteous, was blameless in his generation. In verse 8, Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. Noah walked in righteousness. When he sinned, and everyone has sinned, except our Lord Jesus Christ, he confessed his sin; he made an offering; he did not continue in it. He repented and walked on with God in faith. He did not practice sin. He found grace because his heart was toward God: he feared Him, and he obeyed Him. Verse 22, Thus Noah did; according to all that God commanded him, so he did. 

Let’s turn to Heb 11:7, By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household, by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith. Notice: faith and the fear of God work together. As we said earlier, Noah’s immediate family: his wife, his sons, and his son’s wives were saved because of his righteousness, his faith, and his obedience in the fear of God. As Peter said in Acts 2:39, For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call. Jesus said, No one can come to Me except My Father draw him. So there is a promise, but there must also be a calling. We must walk with God in faith and righteousness, as we read in 1 John 3:7, He that does righteousness is righteous. We must intercede for our children and teach them God’s good way. Psalm 89:30, If his sons forsake My law and do not walk in My judgments, if they break My statutes and do not keep My commandments, then I will punish their transgression with the rod, and their iniquity with stripes. Nevertheless My lovingkindness I will not utterly take from him, nor allow My faithfulness to fail. My covenant I will not break, nor alter the Word that has gone out of My lips. As we continue to walk with God, in fear and love and obedience, doing the work He has called us to, our children will be saved, according to His will; according to His promise, and according to His calling. The promise is there; the calling is there, but they must come to Him. If they reject Jesus, they condemn themselves. 

In Hos 4:6, God has also promised that He will forget our children if we forget His Word; if we reject His knowledge: My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I also will reject you from being priest for Me; Because you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children. How important it is that we continue in His Word and keep His commandments, reading and meditating in His Word, and doing His Word, as the Holy Spirit continues to teach us and lead us in obedience in every situation! When we reject the true knowledge of God in His Word; when we follow after false doctrines and lies to appease our flesh, not only will we suffer greatly in the end, unless we repent, but also our children will suffer. God is just: He will have mercy on whom He will, and whom He will, He will harden. The promise is for us and for our children, as many as the Lord our God shall call, if we will continue on to know the Lord and walk with Him in the Earth, denying ourselves; taking up our cross every day, and yielding to the Holy Spirit to follow Jesus, to do the will of our Father in Heaven. May your Kingdom come, Father; may your will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven. Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord, and you will find grace if you will believe in the sacrifice of God’s dear Son, Jesus Christ for your sins; you will find His grace.

Thank you for reading this message from 15 Minutes With Jesus at roberthaymes.com . May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with all of you who love Him in truth, Amen. (2 Cor 13:14)