The Father's Love
October 05, 2021
00:01:00
The Hamilton Minute is a power packed 60 seconds where we tackle the issues of the day through the lens of God’s Word. You don’t want to miss a moment of it.
The Hamilton Minute is a power packed 60 seconds where we tackle the issues of the day through the lens of God’s Word. You don’t want to miss a moment of it.
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"But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him." Luke 15:20 (ESV).
My name is Abraham Hamilton, III and this is The Hamilton Minute.
When the the Prodigal Son parable is discussed the focus is usually placed on the young son who squandered his inheritance, yet returned home when “he came to himself.” But, if you look closely at the biblical text you will see it actually reveals the inexhaustible love of The Father.
Jesus’ story-telling reveals that this was no usual earthly father. When the young son squandered all, brought shame upon himself and his family, The Father sees him from a distance, runs to him and restores him. That’s our heavenly Father.
"Martha, Martha, you are worried and bothered about so many things; but [only] one thing is necessary, for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her." Luke 10:41(b)-42 (NASB).
My name is Abraham Hamilton, III and this is The Hamilton Minute.
After Jesus resurrected their brother, Lazarus, Martha and Mary, hosted a dinner party in their Bethany home. You can imagine the excitement and the buzz that swirled through the town and the number of people who came because the Rabbi had returned.
Martha busied herself with preparations. Mary sat at Jesus’s feet, basking in his teaching.
Life’s demands can easily consume our focus, but one thing is necessary: that we remain at Jesus’ feet, anchored in His word!
"And Moses said, ‘I will turn aside to see this great sight, why the bush is not burned’” Exodus 3:3.
My name is Abraham Hamilton, III and this is The Hamilton Minute.
In the burning bush encounter Scripture records that it began as Moses kept Jethro’s flock Exodus 3:1.
“When the LORD saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, 'Moses, Moses!' And he said, 'Here I am'" Exodus 3:4.
Notice, God didn’t speak to Moses until He gave full attention to what God was trying to show him.
Diligent attention to daily duty is necessary. We must be careful, however, not to allow duty to become an idol. Are our hearts still sensitive to God? Can God still get our attention?
"For just as the body is one and has many members and all the members of the body, though they be many are one body, so it is with Christ. For the body does not consist of one member, but of many."
My name is Abraham Hamilton III, and this is The Hamilton Minute.
Look briefly at one of your fingers.
You've just witness one of the greatest displays of God's creative intent there is. No other person in all the world, even an identical twin, shares your fingerprint.
God specifically designed each of us to be unique. That means we shouldn't try to carbon-copy anyone else in the Christian faith.
If God made you an arm in His body, or a kneecap, praise be to our glorious God for drawing us to become a part of His body.
How freeing it is to realize that we were never meant to copy anyone but Jesus.
“Therefore do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward” Hebrews 10:35 (ESV).
My name is Abraham Hamilton, III and this is The Hamilton Minute.
Sometimes there’s a delay between crying out to God in prayer and seeing those prayers answered.
It is imperative for us in those times that we don’t waver in our confidence in our God.
The next verse goes on to say, “For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised.” Hebrews 10:36 (ESV).
You see, the delay between supplication and delivered answer is one of the ways God develops endurance in us.
He desires that the roots of our faith grow down deep, that we become trees planted by rivers of living water … steadfast, immovable, always abounding in His work. In this we grow beyond superficial Christianity.
Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, what about this man?”
My name is Abraham Hamilton, III and this is The Hamilton Minute.
At the climax of the account when Jesus restored Peter’s personal relationship with him, and Peter’s call to ministry, He saw John following them.
Jesus had just predicted that Peter would give his life for the Gospel, when Peter said, “What about John, LORD?”
Jesus responded, “What does he have to do with your calling? You follow me.”
With those words, Jesus hit a consistent flaw of the human condition. We derive value and self-worth by comparing ourselves to other people.
Your ups, your downs, your failures, your victories were never meant to be compared to other people.
We have been called to serve an audience of One. The only approval you need is His.
"So Aaron took it as Moses said and ran into the midst of the assembly. And behold, the plague had already begun among the people. And he put on the incense and made atonement for the people. And he stood between the dead and the living, and the plague was stopped" Numbers 16:47-48 (ESV).
My name is Abraham Hamilton, III and this is The Hamilton Minute.
Often, when the concept of intercession is raised, we normally think about prayer and we should. Prayer is one form of intercession.
Here, we see another – living intercession.
At the climax of a plague, Aaron runs into the fray, armed with incense, and where he stands, the plague stops. Aaron literally stands between the living and the dead.
May God move us to be living intercessors for our day, and where we take our stand in Christ, the plague stops!
You shall have no other gods before me.
My name is Abraham Hamilton III, and this is the Hamilton Minute.
In 1954 Americans lived under constant threat of nuclear attack from the USSR.
When American children practiced duck and cover in classrooms across the country, President Eisenhower realized that our pledge had no distinction from any other republic.
After hearing a sermon on February 7th of that year, President Eisenhower signed a law adding the words “under God” to our pledge.
The president recognized the true source of unity, of indivisibility is unwavering submission to the God of the bible.
As we go about our day, let us all remember the only true source of national unity is submission to almighty God.
"Immediately He made the disciples get into the boat and go before Him to the other side, while He dismissed the crowds” Matthew 14:22.
My name is Abraham Hamilton, III and this is The Hamilton Minute.
Here Jesus instructed His disciples to cross a lake and meet Him on the other side of it. As they went, they were met by a violent wind storm that halted their progress.
Often in our Christian lives we receive clear instruction from the LORD, only to be met by an obstacle that halts our progress. We must, however, recognize that the onset of a storm does not cancel out God’s instructions.
Halted progress does not equal denied destination.
When Jesus directed the disciples to go to the other side, He absolutely meant for them to get there.
Delay does not equal denial.
"Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord."
My name is Abraham Hamilton III and this is the Hamilton Minute.
Statistics show that children who grow up without a father are 5 times more likely to live in poverty and commit crime. They’re 9 times more likely to drop out of school and 20 times more likely to end up in prison. Yet the percentage of children born to fatherless homes has skyrocketed in America. As of 2015, 25 percent of white, 53 percent of Hispanic and 73 percent of black babies are born into fatherless homes.
While Scripture teaches that the weight of raising children in the discipline and instruction of the Lord falls upon fathers, seems like we need a movement that says fatherhood matters.
"Then David said to Saul, 'I cannot go with these, for I have not tested them.' So David put them off.
My name is Abraham Hamilton, III and this is The Hamilton Corner.
As David prepared to face Goliath, Saul tried to outfit David with Saul’s personal armor. But David didn’t have Saul’s armor when he faced the lion or the bear, and David realized he did not need the armor to slay Goliath.
Today, many Christians yield to the temptation to be hipper, cooler, and even a little fuzzy on the clear teachings of Scripture in order to face the Goliaths of our day. But Jesus said, “If I be lifted up, I will draw all men" John 12:32.
We don’t need a cool light show to be an ambassador for Christ. All we need is to offer what we have freely received.
We know the transforming power of Christ because He has transformed us.
I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
My name is Abraham Hamilton, III and this is The Hamilton Minute.
What are gates? They are defensive tools used to keep stuff out, to keep an advancing force at bay.
Too often the enemy is successful in putting Christians on defense, when the facts are the Lord established His church as an aggressive, offensive, territory-taking body.
The Lord never meant for us to sit on the sidelines of life or to cower in the corner as a result of the wickedness in our culture.
A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. The light of the world cannot be contained.
The Lord is building His church and the mamby-pamby gates of Hell shall not prevail against us.
Blessed is the man who doesn’t walk in the counsel of the wicked nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scoffers.
My name is Abraham Hamilton III, and this is the Hamilton Minute.
One word has proven to be debilitating in our society: the D-word. Discrimination.
What we fail to realize is discrimination is not automatically a dirty concept. We discriminate against thieves and murderers when we send them to prison. We discriminated against sexual predators by keeping them away from children. And yes, we rightly discriminated against men when we keep them out of women’s restrooms.
According to Psalm 1, we have to discriminate against the counsel of the wicked in order to be blessed. Good thing God isn’t debilitated by the D-word.
My name is Abraham Hamilton, III and this is The Hamilton Minute.
Paul’s epistle to the Romans was written to believers. This verse highlights the fact that it’s possible for Christians to be conformed to the world’s ways.
The word “conformed” there means to be squeezed into the mold of another. Rather than to be squeezed into the world’s mold, the Lord requires us to be transformed by having our minds renewed by God’s Word.
Everything about us must be held up to the light of Scripture. And whenever there’s any discrepancy, we must be transformed.
My name is Abraham Hamilton, III and this is The Hamilton Minute.
Newly published information from Lifeway Research shows 77% of self-identified Christians in dozens of states think it’s a sin to lend money to someone who can’t afford to pay it back. Still, few say payday loans are immoral and one in six Christians have admitted to taking out a high-interest payday loan.
The federal government’s Consumer Financial Protection Bureau says the typical two-week payday loan charges the equivalent of a 400% interest rate.
These “sharks” prey on the poor, elderly, and most vulnerable in society.
Sound the alarm and make sure your family, church, and neighborhood steer clear of this vermin.
But be doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. James 1:22.
My name is Abraham Hamilton III, and this is the Hamilton Minute.
This Scripture underscores the harrowing reality that permeates the life of many who profess to be Christians. The blessing of being a Christ follower comes not only from hearing God’s Word, but obeying it.
James continues, “for if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But the one who looks into the perfect law of liberty and perseveres, being not a hearer who forgets, but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing."
“And who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this” Esther 4:14.
My name is Abraham Hamilton, III and this is The Hamilton Minute
Esther, a young girl became Queen of the Persian Empire when Israel was subject to Persian rule. A wicked man named Haman tried to get the King to exterminate all Jews. Esther, a Jew herself, was Queen when this genocidal conspiracy was brought to bear. But her uncle Mordecai put her royal position in perspective.
“Perhaps God made you Queen for this very moment, to intervene on behalf of the Jewish people.”
Like Esther, perhaps God gave you the platform, position and influence you have for this very moment, to stand against darkness. Perhaps you were born for such a time as this.
David, the son of Jesse, just an ordinary giant slayer.
My name is Abraham Hamilton, III and this is The Hamilton Minute.
David’s battle with Goliath is an epic drama where the little boy stands in God’s power to conquer the Philistine giant.
David didn’t awaken that morning expecting to slay a giant. He didn’t stroll in with an entourage after a rugged mountain range training camp like Rocky in Rocky IV. He was just a regular kid bringing his brothers’ lunch. But fully confident in God’s immeasurable power, though he saw Goliath, David never acknowledged him as a giant, saying, “Who is this uncircumcised Philistine who dares defy the Lord of hosts?”
When regular people are fully persuaded, fully confident in God’s power, giant’s fall.
“And He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place.”
I'm Abraham Hamilton, III and this is The Hamilton Minute.
Acts 17:26 conveys to us the reality that we were born and placed in the 21st century by God’s specific design. He determined before time where we would live and when we would live there.
If you’re in Minnesota, Mississippi, or Maine, God put you there on purpose.
He’s not surprised by the darkness we see around us, nor is He caught off guard by it. In fact, He specifically prepared for it by making sure you’re alive right now. God can do whatever He wants, but He’s chosen to use you and me as ambassadors of His kingdom.
We are His torches to light up the darkness.
"Always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for the reason for the hope that is in you” 1 Peter 3:15 (ESV).
I'm Abraham Hamilton, III and this is The Hamilton Minute.
Many who oppose Christianity target their hostility on our foundation, the Bible. They say it is unreliable because Genesis 1 and Genesis 2 are contradictory accounts of the creation story.
In actuality, the 2 chapters are complimentary and not contradictory.
When Jesus was asked about marriage, He quoted from both chapters 1 and 2, saying that He made them both to be male and female in the beginning. "And for this cause shall a man leave his mother and father and cleave unto his wife."
Genesis 1 is an overview of the creation story and Genesis 2 is an up close examination of day 6. If Jesus relies on them both, so can we.
