This blog comes from a devotional that I recieve daily from a pastor at Church on the Hill in McMinnville, Oregon.

June 13 The Best of the Best Hebrews 7:4
Entry: 2/24/2006

4 Just think how great he was: Even the patriarch Abraham gave him a tenth of the plunder!

Have you ever invited someone to do something with you and you hoped and prayed it turned out as you promised? Have you ever been promised certain things only to walk away disappointed? Several years ago my wife and I flew to Boise, Idaho for her grandmothers 80th birthday. My wife’s cousin Amos is a highly social and excitable guy. I love being around his contagious energy. For year he had been telling me about the great duck hunting in his home state of Idaho so I finally decided to take him up on his offer. The plan was to wake up at 3:00 a.m. and drive two hours to his favorite hunting spot out of King Hill, Idaho, hunt until 9:00 and then drive back in order to get to his grandma’s birthday party at 12:00!


On this particular morning he was like a dog seeing his master after a week’s absence as we woke up, made a thermos of coffee and Amos, my brother-in-law Chad, and I took off in his Chevy Truck. He was so pumped he decided he would call in the ducks for us and let us take the first shots. By 9:00 we had 21 Mallard dunks and Pintail in the bag! It was a hunt to remember. Amos gave us the best of his best.

Read the New American Standard Bible version of this verse: “Now observe how great this man was to whom Abraham, the patriarch, gave a tenth of the choicest spoils.”

Abraham must have known he was in the presence of God (or at least someone much greater) in this Melchizedek. He gave him the “choicest spoils.” He gave him the best of his best. He gave him the cream that rose to the top. It is easy to be like Cain who gave God his leftovers, but rich blessing awaits those who give God the first offering of their very best.

Make your first check to God.

Make your first meal off His Word.

Make your first words of the day up to heaven.

Give him the very best of your very best and the very first of your very first.


Jim Ramos
Student Ministries Pastor
503-472-8476
Church on the Hill
Check Out Our Website
www.hillchurch.com

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have recieved from God. For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows. If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer. And our hope for you is firm, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our comfort.

2 Corinthians 1:3-7

WHERE DO YOU TYPICALLY TURN TO FOR COMFORT WHEN YOU'RE IN TROUBLE OR DISTRESS?

FOOD?
CLEANING?
HOBBIES?
PEOPLE: RELATIONSHIP, FRIENDS, PARENTS?
SHOPPING?
READING?
WORKING OUT?
ETC...

You fill in the blank. Now, if we're going to be honest here...We all have our tendancies to do anything other than turn to The Comforter in our times of distress and trouble. Am i right? But here's the thing.... 2 cori 1:3&4 state:

" ...THE GOD OF ALL COMFORT, WHO COMFORTS US IN ALL OUR TROUBLES..."

He isn't the god of some comfort....He's the God of ALLLLLL comfort.

Turning to anything in a time of trouble or distress that isn't going to fill you with the comforting spirit of the Lord is going to fill you with false deception. You'll either think your strong enough to comfort and calm yourself, or you'll be filling space in your vulnerable heart for something of this world. And if you truly desire to be transformed...to reflect the heart of Jesus...you will do anything and everything in your power to keep the decieving schemes of this world out of your heart.

IT IS FOOLISH TO TURN TO ANYTHING OTHER THAN GOD IN A TIME OF DISTRESS OR TROUBLE SINCE HE IS THE GOD OF ALL COMFORT. Turning to anything else is idolatry. You are idolizing something else, placing it higher than Almighty God.

Choosing to recieve the comfort of Christ...

Not only will you be resisting the devil in a time where 9 out of 10 times he wins..., you will be giving the Lord reign in your heart to intimately come and comfort you more deeply than you've ever felt! Giving you clarity, peace of mind, understanding and as it is pointed out in the verse "patient endurance."

"..it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance."

Just as a bruise is more tender on the surface on your your skin- so your heart will be to the presence of God in a time of distress.

There is many more benefits to this scripture as you can see without my stressing them.

Dear Comforter,
this is such an important truth. God i ask that you would bless this scripture to our hearts. Stamp it firmly on our minds and hearts and the tips of our tongues so that we can react according to Your Word, and not our own selfish impulses. Most of all, make it simple, clear and easy for us to turn to you in times of distress. Drive the devil away in times where we are prone to fall in his scheme, so that your presence can flood our hearts. In Jesus Name, amen.