How To Overcome Excuses. Part [2] 03/21/2026 (Morning thought)

Genesis 16:1 Now Sarai Abram's wife bare him no children: and she had an handmaid, an Egyptian, whose name was Hagar. 4 And he went in unto Hagar, and she conceived: and when she saw that she had conceived, her mistress was despised in her eyes.

Genesis 16:15 And Hagar bare Abram a son: and Abram called his son's name, which Hagar bare, Ishmael. 16 And Abram was fourscore and six years old, when Hagar bare Ishmael to Abram…. All of this was considered normal behavior by folks back then, and there are certain passages that may seem as if God was okay with it. He never was, but He “Blinked” as it were, until the full knowledge of His ideal will would become set in stone.

Thus, when you fast forward to our day, under the full blaze of the gospel in America, and across the globe wherever Christianity has taken root, it is very unlikely to find those perspectives or practices being held as the norm, or being acceptable anymore, for God has moved humanity from darkness to light on this point. Here are a couple of seemingly paradoxical passages which illustrate what is being said.

On the one hand it might seem as if God is condoning something that is proscribed in the Old Testament, but then in other verses in the New Testament He says absolutely not…. 2nd Samuel 12: 8 And I gave thee thy master's house, and thy master's wives into thy bosom, and I gave thee the house of Israel and of Judah; and if that had been too little, I would moreover have given to thee such and such things.

Genesis 17:1 And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the Lord appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect.

May The Lord add His blessing to the study of His word. God bless!

How To Overcome Excuses. Part [1] 03/21/2026 (Evening thought)

Acts 17:30 And at the times of this ignorance God winked; but now He commands all men everywhere to repent. 31 Because he has appointed a day, in the which He will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom He has ordained.

Back then, in the days of the Old Testament God did allow certain things to take place, which were never His ideal will. He permitted them because humanity was been gradually brought out of darkness into the full light of the gospel. In those days some issues pertaining to God’s ideal will were fuzzy, and even when mention was made of His ideals, they may not have been cemented in one’s conscience.

This is because customs, cultures, and the proliferation of spiritual darkness had blurred the lines between good and evil in some instances. But ever so gradually, God made His ideal will to be clearer and clearer, until, by the time of the gospel dispensation, His ideal will was revealed in distinct lines, so that what was considered the norm, or may have been acceptable in times past, are now a hell no, after He made His ideals known.

That is what our first passage is referring to when it says God winked. In other words, up until such time that people were fully aware of His ideals, He would permit certain things to slide, not that He agreed in any way with them, but He exercised forbearance as the human family was brought to a full knowledge of His requirements. Case in point was the common practice of polygamy where men would marry multiple women, and this was accepted as normal back then.

Genesis 16:2 And Sarai said unto Abram, Behold now, the Lord hath restrained me from bearing: I pray thee, go in unto my maid; it may be that I may obtain children by her. And Abram hearkened to the voice of Sarai.

May God add His blessing to the study of His word. “Good night” and God bless!