In this short devotional, speaker Greg Ryan opens by likening the idea of modern believers to the "mighty men" of David, aiming to inspire and challenge listeners. He introduces his new video series, "Picturing Christianity," and explains that the first course, "What Does Salvation Look Like?" is designed to help people visualize biblical truths. The core of the teaching focuses on Genesis 15:4‑6, where God promises Abram countless descendants, illustrated through the images of stars at night and sand in the desert. Ryan emphasizes that Abram’s belief in God’s word was "accounted to him for righteousness," using the vivid picture of innumerable stars and sand to show how faith can be understood and trusted even when the promise seems impossible. He encourages the audience to picture Scripture, engage deeply with the Word, and look forward to upcoming courses on faith, the spirit, soul, and body. While mentioning his courses, he frames it as a resource rather than a hard sell, concluding with a friendly sign‑off.
Chapters
Good morning, everybody. Wanted to kick off this Wednesday morning with— I'm going to continue with Abram, but I want to kind of give you an idea. I told you, I think Monday or a couple days ago, that if you're listening to this on tape, but if video, if, uh, that I got the idea for Jesus Mighty Men with the— in 2 Samuel where David had mighty men. And so I figured, you know, if David could use some mighty men, Jesus could use somebody, man. So I really— this is me trying to call people out and encourage them, inspire them. And another— I want to show you another scripture, and that's why I just stay in this word. But I want to show you another scripture that kind of opened up my eyes on— I have a course called Picturing Christianity, and the first course that I've got is a video course. And the first course that I made was What Does Salvation Look Like? And so I just kind of want to give a little background of, you know, kind of what I'm doing. I just enjoy teaching, but, you know, I think God has given me a gift to kind of see things a little bit different. And so what I want to do is hopefully to encourage and inspire you to just get into the Word. And so we're going to get into Genesis 15:4 and 6. It's where God told Abram about the promised child. He said in 15, "And behold, the word of the Lord came to him saying, 'This one shall not be your heir, but one who will come from your own body shall be your heir.'" Then he brought him outside and said, "Look toward the heaven and count the stars, if you are able to number them." And he said to him, "So shall your descendants be." And he believed in the Lord, and he accounted it to him for righteousness. So I just kind of want to show you that, I mean, we're still talking about belief and unbelief and believing the word of God. Abram got a word from God. You know, Abram, uh, Sarai hadn't hadn't had any children. She was barren. And so, you know, Abram was, you know, talking to God, trying to figure out, you know, who's going to be my heir? And, and he thought one of his servant's children was going to be heir. He was going to leave everything to him. And God, and God said, no, it's going to be— it's going to come from your own body. And so to, to kind of nail that point down and to help Abram believe He gave Abram something to picture, and I just want you to picture Abram, you know, in the desert, or, you know, outside. There's no lights, and when he goes outside, he sees all the stars. If you've ever been on a dark, clear, dark night, I mean, it is gorgeous, but it is, you know, you just see stars everywhere. And so God showed Abram a picture of what his descendants be. He said, look up into the, look at the star, look at the sky, into the heavens. And if, you know, that's how your decision— you just count them if you can. I mean, it's just innumerable stars. He couldn't count them all. And so he gave Abram a picture to kind of hang on to that, hey, you know, you may not have a kid, a child yet, but you're going to have so many children, you're going to have so many grandchildren, so many kids that are, you know, that they come from you that you won't even be able to number them. So that, that's kind of, I mean, that's kind of what I want you— I, I try to picture things, and I know I've said it before, but this is, I mean, this is the text that anchored it for me. And it was— and they showed him in another verse, and we may cover it, but it talked about, you know, look at the, look at the stars and then count the sand, you know. And they're walking in a desert, so there's sand everywhere, and, you know, there's stars everywhere. So at night he's looking at stars and that and during the day he's seeing the sand, and it's reminding him how many kids, how many children will be his heirs. So I just want to leave you with that. I mean, it really does help to picture something, and the Picture in Christianity, I'll probably leave a link if any of y'all are interested, but it's a cool little course I started, and you know, it was my first course, but I'm going to do what is, you know, what does faith look like, and what does the spirit, soul, and body look like. I've got all kinds of little courses that I've lined up, But anyway, this isn't really a promotion. It's more of a just, hey, this is, this is how all this came to be. So thanks again for stopping by, and I will see you again tomorrow. Have a great day.
