abraham | Anita Mathias: Dreaming Beneath the Spires

Persistent Prayer Turns Christ’s Silence, His “No,” and “Absolutely Not” to “YES!”

Anita Mathias — Wed, 19 Jul 2023 19:57:15 +0000

From Les Très Riches Heures du duc de Berry (The transcript to the recorded podcast meditation is below, here). Persistent Prayer Turns Christ’s Silence, His “No,” and “Absolutely Not” to YES! Persistent Prayer Turns Christ’s Silence, His “No,” and “Absolutely Not” to YES! So, a Gentile Syro-Phoenician woman comes to Jesus, crying out, “Lord, have […]

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When Sarah snorted, but God had mercy on her, anyway

Anita Mathias — Sun, 06 Jul 2014 22:24:55 +0000

Arent de Gelder 1645-1727 Three white-clad men walk out of the desert, out of the shimmering sands. Calm holiness. Abraham, the Patriarch, “very wealthy in silver and gold, sheep and cattle and camels and male and female donkeys, menservants and maidservants” runs to meet them, bows low to the ground, and offers him his most lavish […]

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On Absolute Surrender. Killing “Isaac” for God’s Fullest Blessing.

Anita Mathias — Tue, 16 Jul 2013 17:20:02 +0000

The angel of the Lord called to Abraham from heaven a second time 16 and said, “I swear by myself, declares the Lord, that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, 17 I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession […]

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And Sarah Snorted. When our Faith Falters, But God’s Goodness Remains Constant

Anita Mathias — Mon, 08 Jul 2013 09:01:16 +0000

Arent de Gelder 1645-1727 Three white-clad men walk out of the desert, out of the shimmering sands. Such is their calm and majesty that Abraham, the Patriarch, “very wealthy in silver and gold, sheep and cattle and camels and male and female donkeys, menservants and maidservants” runs to meet them, bows low to the ground, […]

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The Secret History of Hagar: When God Invisibly Comforts the Oppressed

Anita Mathias — Fri, 28 Jun 2013 19:33:38 +0000

Image: Tissot, Hagar and the Angel in the Desert Hagar, Egyptian maidservant of Sarah, has a hard life. Impregnated, basically raped by Abraham, she is bullied and persecuted by a jealous Sarah—so much so that probable death in the desert feels preferable. (Genesis 16) And in the desert, the runaway slave, with only the clothes […]

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A Very Long Pregnancy: Or, How to Live in the Land of Unfulfilled Promises and Deferred Dreams

Anita Mathias — Sun, 16 Jun 2013 10:23:55 +0000

The early chapters of Abraham’s story make painful reading. Again and again, through the decades God promises him a child: At the great oak of Moreh at Shechem, when he was 75; at Bethel, when he lets his nephew Lot have the more fertile land; and near the great trees of Mamre at Hebron, […]

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The Lowest Bar there ever was

Anita Mathias — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 22:36:00 +0000

Image Credit “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness, and he was called God’s friend” James 2.23. Cool! Isn’t that the lowest bar there ever was? All one needs to do to be the friend of Him who dwells in high places is believe what He says– really believe so that […]

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