Category: Royalty

Digging Wells of the Past – Special Dedication

R. Mangold

And Isaac dug again the wells of water, which they had dug in the days of Abraham his father; for the Philistines had stopped them after the death of Abraham: and he called their names after the names by which his father had called them. Genesis 26:18

The legacy we leave to our children is of utmost importance. A prime example was Abraham. Even God said, “I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the LORD, to do justice and judgment (Gen. 18:19).” Abraham’s legacy went beyond wealth and prestige, it instituted a perpetual generational blessing. Many times over God described Himself as the “God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.” What a testament to the integrity and longevity of Abraham’s dynasty!

As important however, was Isaac’s continuation of that dynasty. When the malevolent Philistines filled the wells Isaac dug with his father, Isaac never hesitated, he dug them again. Yes, water in Isaac’s day was paramount, but his purpose for unearthing those wells “ran much deeper.” You see, Isaac was a pivotal figure in the propagation of God’s purpose. He was the inescapable link between the past of his father Abraham, and the future of his son Jacob (later named Israel).

They may have just been wells to the Philistines, but they represented far more to Isaac. The wells represented a perpetuation of God’s blessings; flowing from the past in which they were promised, to the future in which they would come to fruition.

NOTE: This Serminute is dedicated to my grandson Gavin Rodger Mangold. Born April 21, 2011, weighing 9.15 lbs. and measuring 23″ long. Today Gavin will be dedicated at our church, Grace Apostolic Church of Clawson. May his father, Nathanael Rodger Mangold, continue to allow the flow of God’s perpetual blessings from my generation, to Gavin’s. I’ve carried this legacy as it was handed down to me by my parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents. To God be the glory!

“Serminutes” – Sermon in a Minute. A one minute spiritual pick-me-up for busy Christians!  Visit this POST for details on what exactly that is. Thank you for visiting today! May the Lord richly bless you. Rodger Mangold

Power of the "Moment"

R. Mangold

13Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain: 14Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. 15For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that. James 4:13 – 15

There is within each of our lives “that moment,” that defines us. “That moment” which forever etches into our lives, a pattern. It’s “that moment” that forever alters the direction our life will take. Our first love, first kiss, first child, and even our first encounter with God are just such moments.

Sometimes we live in anticipation of “that moment.” We feel it will be the crescendo, the climax, our arrival on the scene. Ironically, if we’re not careful we can live in such anticipation of “that moment” – our graduation, our wedding, our new home; that we dismiss those precious moments in between.

Just as important as “that moment” are those seemingly inconsequential “moments” that have just as much merit and purpose. For without those “between moments” developing the story and its character, there would be no big climactic “moment.”

For David the “between moments,” the bear, the lion, the attempts on his life by King Saul, led to his “crowning” achievement as King of Israel!

Don’t be quick to dismiss the seemingly mundane moments of life in pursuit of the glory moments. There’s life to be lived in the “between moments” that powerfully sweeten our “moment” in the spotlight!

“Serminutes” – Sermon in a Minute. A one minute spiritual pick-me-up for busy Christians!  Visit this POST for details on what exactly that is. Thank you for visiting today! May the Lord richly bless you. Rodger Mangold

Big Lessons in Small Packages – The Lilly

R. Mangold

“So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; 29 and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Matthew 6:28 – 30 (NKJV)

“Indeed the half was not told me. Your wisdom and prosperity exceed the fame of which I heard.” After a thorough investigation of her own, the Queen of Sheba was left in a state of bewilderment over the sheer enormity of Solomon’s Kingdom, wealth, and wisdom. First Kings Chapter 10 attempts to inventory Solomon’s earthly treasure, but even that could not adequately capture “Solomon’s glory.”  Even more baffling is Jesus said, “Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like” one of the lilies of the field! Yes, the beauty of ONE lily exceeded that of Solomon in “all his glory.”

We’re easily impressed with the immense wealth of Bill Gates and Warren Buffet, but in “all their glory” they pale when compared to ONE that is arrayed by God’s beauty. If you’re a child of God, don’t you dare stoop to compare yourself to the fleeting fortune and fame of this world. We are sons and daughter of the MOST HIGH GOD!

You may be struggling now, but Apostle Paul said in Romans 8:18, “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.”

“Serminute” Series – Big Lessons in Small Packages

“Serminutes” – Sermon in a Minute. A one minute spiritual pick-me-up for busy Christians!  Visit this POST for details on what exactly that is. Thank you for visiting today! May the Lord richly bless you. Rodger Mangold

Royal by Birth or Royal by Death

R. Mangold

April 29, 2011 marked the epic marriage of Prince William to former flight attendant and commoner Catherine Middleton. Every young girl’s dream, she married a prince and became the “Duchess of Cambridge.” William is royal by birth, Catherine by marriage, but we’ve been made royal by death – the Death, Burial, and Resurrection of Jesus Christ. Yes, the true Royal Blood of the Lamb has redeemed us all. Now we’re “a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people” or God’s own possession! Welcome to your very own coronation from the true King of Kings! See I Peter 2:9

Serminutes – Sermon in a Minute. A one minute spiritual pick-me-up for busy Christians!  Visit this POST for details on what exactly that is. Thank you for visiting today! May the Lord richly bless you. Rodger Mangold