Jacob. and. Esau.
So, the first thing that is talked about here between Jacob and Esau is how Jacob basically bribed Esau into selling him his birthright which Esau did.
Why would Jacob do that? Is it just because of greed? Does he want his father's blessing? Does he want to inherit a relationship with the Lord?
Who really knows?
The Lord continues to bless Isaac, keeping His promise. He reiterates His promise that He made to Abraham several times. He is constantly reminding Isaac who He is, what He has done, and what He will do.
So, Isaac is old and blind and he tells Esau to go hunt and prepare food for him so that he can bless him. Rebekah, overhearing this goes and tells Jacob to do the same thing but faster so that HE could receive the blessing. (Rebekah loved Jacob) So Jacob does these things with his mother's help, disguises himself as Esau and approaches his father.
27:19 - "Jacob said to his father, 'I am Esau your firstborn; I have done just as you told me; please arise, sit, and eat of my game so that your soul may bless me"
Wow. Not only this but Isaac QUESTIONS if it is really Esau and Jacob continues to lie multiple times about his identity. So...
27:28 - "Therefore may God give you of the dew of heaven, of the fatness of the earth, and plenty of grain and wine. Let peoples serve you, and nations bow down to you. Be master over your brethren, and let your mother's sons bow down to you. Cursed be everyone who curses you, and blessed be those who bless you!"
Isaac gives Jacob the blessing that Esau was supposed to get...
And of course, they eventually found out and Esau and Isaac were incredibly upset.
But when I read this, I thought to myself why did the Lord let these things happen? Then it hit me....we have a choice. We always have a choice. Jacob chose to deceive His father.
So shouldn't the Lord punish him? Or shouldn't He have prevented that from happening so that Esau could receive his rightful blessing?
I really don't know! I want to say that the Lord wanted Jacob to be the one who carrried out the promise all along....but He IS sovereign and He knew everything that would happen before it existed.
But then, I know that the Lord gives us choice. And on the other hand, I think this is a perfect example of the Lord's redemption.
No matter what, He is going to carry out His promises. He is going to make good out of bad. He can redeem anything. So if Jacob turned out to be the one with the blessing, the Lord could use him instead of Esau because He is capable of doing anything.
Again, these are the types of questions that make my head spin in circles. All I know is that God is good. He can do whatever He wants. His plan is perfect. Done and done.
The section ends with Isaac and Rebekah sending Jacob to Padan Aram to find himself a wife from among their people.
Monday, August 31, 2009
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Genesis 25:1 - 25:26, 1 Chronicles 1:28 - 34
Short blog today.
Abraham dies :(. And is buried with Sarah...
Isaac and Rebekah have twins: Jacob and Esau.
This is the beginning of a whole new story, a lot more drama, and a lot more of God's glory.
25:23 And the Lord said to her, 'Two nations are in your womb, two peoples shall be separated from your body; One people shall be stronger than the other, and the older shall serve the younger'"
So, basically Esau came out first and Jacob came out second and took hold of Esau's heel. This is a great foreshadow of Jacob and Esau's relationship throughout their lives.
On another note...GREAT message from Frontline service tonight on biblical community and Christian fellowship. He looked at Romans 12:9-10 and DOVE into the attributes of a Christian body and how to apply them to each of our lives. He gave 3 checkpoints for us to use to check ourselves:
1)Are you being transparent?
2)Are you striving to be holy and set apart?
3)Are you treating your brothers and sisters in Christ like family?
GOOD STUFF! Read it.
Abraham dies :(. And is buried with Sarah...
Isaac and Rebekah have twins: Jacob and Esau.
This is the beginning of a whole new story, a lot more drama, and a lot more of God's glory.
25:23 And the Lord said to her, 'Two nations are in your womb, two peoples shall be separated from your body; One people shall be stronger than the other, and the older shall serve the younger'"
So, basically Esau came out first and Jacob came out second and took hold of Esau's heel. This is a great foreshadow of Jacob and Esau's relationship throughout their lives.
On another note...GREAT message from Frontline service tonight on biblical community and Christian fellowship. He looked at Romans 12:9-10 and DOVE into the attributes of a Christian body and how to apply them to each of our lives. He gave 3 checkpoints for us to use to check ourselves:
1)Are you being transparent?
2)Are you striving to be holy and set apart?
3)Are you treating your brothers and sisters in Christ like family?
GOOD STUFF! Read it.
Saturday, August 29, 2009
Genesis 18:1 - 24:67
Double blog today on two sections.
Our history is some juicy stuff. Talk about people going through some crap.....they certainly did back in the day.
First of all, Abraham is chilling under a tree one day, and God walks up with two other men and come in to eat with him and Sarah. That is one of the reasons why I love God.
He is so real. He meets us at our level.
He knows us....so deeply and so intimately. He knows what we need and He knows everything that goes on in us and around us. He knows you.
18:16-33 - I think that these verses show two things. First, it shows the mercy and perfect judgement of the Lord. Secondly, it shows our DOUBT....
The Lord tells Abraham that He will spare the righteous and Abraham doubts. God gives us one good gift and promises to protect us and be our reward but we still doubt all the time. Doubt leads to fear and fear distorts our reality. Our reality should be the truth.
Chapter 19 - Okay....Sodom sounds like the grossest place on earth. Just thinking about it makes me want to puke...not because of the people but because of the hold that Satan had on them and the way that he had twisted, perverted, and corrupted them.
I like the part in this chapter when the Sodomites are trying to attack Lot...."But the men reached out their hands and pulled Lot into the house with them, and shut the door" (18:10).
Sometimes I feel like this....like I'm being pulled. I'm being pulled in one direction by temptations, by lies that the enemy is throwing at me, by sin, by impure desires. But on the other side, I am being pulled in to safety by the Lord.
He never lets go of my hand.
And we know that we have triumph in Jesus Christ so as long as we obey the Lord, there should be nothing to worry about.
I think that a central theme in these chapters is the lack of trust that we have in the Lord. Pretty much every problem that Abraham (or any of us) encounters is because he doesn't fully trust the Lord and he tries to work out things on his own.
Why is it so hard for us to trust the Lord? Is it because we cannot see him? Is it because we so desperately want to be in control of our lives. I wonder if this is why some people have such a hard time believing in the Lord...because by doing so, they would be giving up control.
The funny thing is, that when we DO give up control to the Lord...that is the only time that our lives are...in control.
The other thing that was kinda bugging me was the lack of emotion that some of these chapters are written with. I mean here is Lot....he lives in a city where evil has taken over and is surrounding him but he remains righteous so the Lord spares him when he destroys Sodom. So great!! That's awesome! But then, his wife looks back (which she was told not to do) and bam, she's dead.
Then we go on to the next chapter.
WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?? Are you serious? Lot just lost everything he has.....but no emotion. He must have been devastated and questioning everything about his life and the Lord.
I think the point here (and I'm not certain) might be that it doesn't matter what we feel. What matters is that we are obedient to the Lord and that we love Him FIRST. That's all that matters. It's what mattered with Noah and it is what mattered here.
22:2 - "Then He said, 'Take now your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you'".
Hmm....okay, God. Sounds great! What?
So Abraham goes...but he goes in faith. I am convinced that Abraham believed the whole time that the Lord wouldn't actually take Isaac. I think he believed that the Lord would provide. I mean, he had to believe that. Otherwise, he probably would have lost his mind.
22:12 - "And He said, 'Do not lay your hand on the lad, or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me."
Do I fear God? Do I withhold anything from Him....?
So Sarah dies and Abraham wants to make sure that Isaac gets a wife from his own family, the land that he came from. So, he sends his servant to go find someone and what do ya know?
The Lord provides. Surprise, surprise...
Another theme in these chapters is to obey. Obey. God prompts you. You go.
Sounds so easy...but I know so well that it is not. But that is my goal. To hear the Lord and follow Him so closely that I am covered by His dust. I mean what have we got to lose??? I know that doing things my way leads to nothing great....
Our history is some juicy stuff. Talk about people going through some crap.....they certainly did back in the day.
First of all, Abraham is chilling under a tree one day, and God walks up with two other men and come in to eat with him and Sarah. That is one of the reasons why I love God.
He is so real. He meets us at our level.
He knows us....so deeply and so intimately. He knows what we need and He knows everything that goes on in us and around us. He knows you.
18:16-33 - I think that these verses show two things. First, it shows the mercy and perfect judgement of the Lord. Secondly, it shows our DOUBT....
The Lord tells Abraham that He will spare the righteous and Abraham doubts. God gives us one good gift and promises to protect us and be our reward but we still doubt all the time. Doubt leads to fear and fear distorts our reality. Our reality should be the truth.
Chapter 19 - Okay....Sodom sounds like the grossest place on earth. Just thinking about it makes me want to puke...not because of the people but because of the hold that Satan had on them and the way that he had twisted, perverted, and corrupted them.
I like the part in this chapter when the Sodomites are trying to attack Lot...."But the men reached out their hands and pulled Lot into the house with them, and shut the door" (18:10).
Sometimes I feel like this....like I'm being pulled. I'm being pulled in one direction by temptations, by lies that the enemy is throwing at me, by sin, by impure desires. But on the other side, I am being pulled in to safety by the Lord.
He never lets go of my hand.
And we know that we have triumph in Jesus Christ so as long as we obey the Lord, there should be nothing to worry about.
I think that a central theme in these chapters is the lack of trust that we have in the Lord. Pretty much every problem that Abraham (or any of us) encounters is because he doesn't fully trust the Lord and he tries to work out things on his own.
Why is it so hard for us to trust the Lord? Is it because we cannot see him? Is it because we so desperately want to be in control of our lives. I wonder if this is why some people have such a hard time believing in the Lord...because by doing so, they would be giving up control.
The funny thing is, that when we DO give up control to the Lord...that is the only time that our lives are...in control.
The other thing that was kinda bugging me was the lack of emotion that some of these chapters are written with. I mean here is Lot....he lives in a city where evil has taken over and is surrounding him but he remains righteous so the Lord spares him when he destroys Sodom. So great!! That's awesome! But then, his wife looks back (which she was told not to do) and bam, she's dead.
Then we go on to the next chapter.
WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?? Are you serious? Lot just lost everything he has.....but no emotion. He must have been devastated and questioning everything about his life and the Lord.
I think the point here (and I'm not certain) might be that it doesn't matter what we feel. What matters is that we are obedient to the Lord and that we love Him FIRST. That's all that matters. It's what mattered with Noah and it is what mattered here.
22:2 - "Then He said, 'Take now your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you'".
Hmm....okay, God. Sounds great! What?
So Abraham goes...but he goes in faith. I am convinced that Abraham believed the whole time that the Lord wouldn't actually take Isaac. I think he believed that the Lord would provide. I mean, he had to believe that. Otherwise, he probably would have lost his mind.
22:12 - "And He said, 'Do not lay your hand on the lad, or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me."
Do I fear God? Do I withhold anything from Him....?
So Sarah dies and Abraham wants to make sure that Isaac gets a wife from his own family, the land that he came from. So, he sends his servant to go find someone and what do ya know?
The Lord provides. Surprise, surprise...
Another theme in these chapters is to obey. Obey. God prompts you. You go.
Sounds so easy...but I know so well that it is not. But that is my goal. To hear the Lord and follow Him so closely that I am covered by His dust. I mean what have we got to lose??? I know that doing things my way leads to nothing great....
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Genesis 15:1 - 17:27
15:1 - "...Do not be afraid Abram. I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward"
This is a verse that I need to memorize....lock it in my brain. I need to recite this any time I have fear over and over and over until I believe it and walk in it. This. is. amazing. It makes my heart melt.
He is this for all of us. Our shield and our exceedingly great reward. He protects us and is the best thing that we could ever have. He is there.
At this point, Abram is a little concerned that he is not going to have an offspring of his own. And when he expresses this concern, the first thing God does is this....
15:5 - "Then He brought him outside and said, 'Look now toward heaven and count the stars if you are able to number them'. And He said to him, 'So shall your descendants be'"
I heard a teaching once about this saying that this was not only significant because God is showing Abram that he will be the father of many nations but the way that God handles Abram's concern is even more important. He responds by showing Abram His incredible majesty kinda proving that HE CAN DO ANYTHING. Booyeah.
In these chapters, God pretty much tells Abram that he will be the father of many nations and He tells him exactly what will happen to his people. God is so clear when he speaks to Abram. Very straightforward. I think He talks to me like that all the time but I choose to overcomplicate it and second guess and on and on and on.
I need to simplify.
You - Are - the - God - Who - Sees (16:13)
The way that God comforts and treats Hagar shows his deep love and compassion for the broken and needy. He yearns for them. He seeks THEM out, finds them, and lifts them up.
So when Abram must think that God is crazy.....He goes one step further. He tells Abram that he and Sarah are going to have a son, Isaac.
They are both around a hundred years old. This is impossible.
But the impossible is possible with God. Sounds so cliche but its true.
These chapters are full of promises, blessings, comfort, majesty, glory, surprises, gifts. In just these few chapters we see so much of how INCREDIBLE the Lord is. He is amazing. Amazing.
And He is still amazing. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. (Hebrews 13:8)
This is a verse that I need to memorize....lock it in my brain. I need to recite this any time I have fear over and over and over until I believe it and walk in it. This. is. amazing. It makes my heart melt.
He is this for all of us. Our shield and our exceedingly great reward. He protects us and is the best thing that we could ever have. He is there.
At this point, Abram is a little concerned that he is not going to have an offspring of his own. And when he expresses this concern, the first thing God does is this....
15:5 - "Then He brought him outside and said, 'Look now toward heaven and count the stars if you are able to number them'. And He said to him, 'So shall your descendants be'"
I heard a teaching once about this saying that this was not only significant because God is showing Abram that he will be the father of many nations but the way that God handles Abram's concern is even more important. He responds by showing Abram His incredible majesty kinda proving that HE CAN DO ANYTHING. Booyeah.
In these chapters, God pretty much tells Abram that he will be the father of many nations and He tells him exactly what will happen to his people. God is so clear when he speaks to Abram. Very straightforward. I think He talks to me like that all the time but I choose to overcomplicate it and second guess and on and on and on.
I need to simplify.
You - Are - the - God - Who - Sees (16:13)
The way that God comforts and treats Hagar shows his deep love and compassion for the broken and needy. He yearns for them. He seeks THEM out, finds them, and lifts them up.
So when Abram must think that God is crazy.....He goes one step further. He tells Abram that he and Sarah are going to have a son, Isaac.
They are both around a hundred years old. This is impossible.
But the impossible is possible with God. Sounds so cliche but its true.
These chapters are full of promises, blessings, comfort, majesty, glory, surprises, gifts. In just these few chapters we see so much of how INCREDIBLE the Lord is. He is amazing. Amazing.
And He is still amazing. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. (Hebrews 13:8)
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Genesis 11:1 - 14:24, 1 Chronicles 1: 24 -27
The Tower of Babel.
What is it about man that no matter what God has done for them or what they have been delivered from, we are still so inclined to follow our fleshly nature. I wish we weren't like this. And to make things even worse....we have a constant enemy lying to us trying to tell us that whatever it is is "not that bad".
Chapter 12: Enter Abraham.
I love Abraham. I love his faith.
12:1-3 "Get out of your country, from your family. And from your father's house, to a land that I will show you. I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; And you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed"
Gosh, how incredible!! God chose someone as insignificant as Abraham to carry out his purposes. He is strong through our weaknesses.
So what does Abraham do?.....Just like Noah, he does exactly what he is told.
Although, a little later we do see that Abraham is human like us. As they are entering Egypt, he gets worried that people will hate him because of the beauty of his wife so he asks her to pretend to be his sister. What he didn't realize was that by lying and taking "precautions" that weren't necessary, he was causing more damage.
This reminds me so much of myself. I get worried about things that are so rediculous, that haven't happened, that can't even be real....and I work myself into a frenzy about them. If I would just relax and let the Lord lead me and trust Him, then everything would be a whole lot easier.
12:17 - "The Lord plagued Pharoah and his house with great plagues because of Sarai, Abram's wife"
I do not get this.....I do not understand why God plagues PHAROAH when Abraham is the one who lied and said that Sarai was his sister. It seems like Pharoah didn't know any better. This is one of those things that I just don't get...why would God do that?
So after this, Abraham inherits Canaan, a war breaks loose... Lot (Abraham's brother) is taken captive, Abraham and his servants go after him and retrieve him.
Then, Melchizedek king of Salem, meets Abraham and blesses him. And Mel is described as the priest of God Most High...
I thought to myself...why don't we hear more about him? Why didn't God use someone like Mel instead of Abraham in such a huge way? Why Abraham??
To me, it confirms that HE can use anyone and that when He uses the weak or "insignificant", you cannot mistake His glory that shines through.
What is it about man that no matter what God has done for them or what they have been delivered from, we are still so inclined to follow our fleshly nature. I wish we weren't like this. And to make things even worse....we have a constant enemy lying to us trying to tell us that whatever it is is "not that bad".
Chapter 12: Enter Abraham.
I love Abraham. I love his faith.
12:1-3 "Get out of your country, from your family. And from your father's house, to a land that I will show you. I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; And you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed"
Gosh, how incredible!! God chose someone as insignificant as Abraham to carry out his purposes. He is strong through our weaknesses.
So what does Abraham do?.....Just like Noah, he does exactly what he is told.
Although, a little later we do see that Abraham is human like us. As they are entering Egypt, he gets worried that people will hate him because of the beauty of his wife so he asks her to pretend to be his sister. What he didn't realize was that by lying and taking "precautions" that weren't necessary, he was causing more damage.
This reminds me so much of myself. I get worried about things that are so rediculous, that haven't happened, that can't even be real....and I work myself into a frenzy about them. If I would just relax and let the Lord lead me and trust Him, then everything would be a whole lot easier.
12:17 - "The Lord plagued Pharoah and his house with great plagues because of Sarai, Abram's wife"
I do not get this.....I do not understand why God plagues PHAROAH when Abraham is the one who lied and said that Sarai was his sister. It seems like Pharoah didn't know any better. This is one of those things that I just don't get...why would God do that?
So after this, Abraham inherits Canaan, a war breaks loose... Lot (Abraham's brother) is taken captive, Abraham and his servants go after him and retrieve him.
Then, Melchizedek king of Salem, meets Abraham and blesses him. And Mel is described as the priest of God Most High...
I thought to myself...why don't we hear more about him? Why didn't God use someone like Mel instead of Abraham in such a huge way? Why Abraham??
To me, it confirms that HE can use anyone and that when He uses the weak or "insignificant", you cannot mistake His glory that shines through.
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Genesis 7:1 - 10:32, 1 Chronicles 1:5 - 23
The grace that the Lord showed Noah and his family was/is incredible. He literally picked one man out of everyone on the earth and saved him because he was "righteous before the Lord in this generation".
How is Noah righteous in this generation? What did he do to get this kind of favor? I want to know!!
7:11 "In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, on that day all the fountains of the great deep were broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened"
I love how much detail is given to describe the day of Noah's life that the flood arrived. Why?? Because this is HUGE in Noah's life.....this is a crazy/hard/traumatic/exciting/challenging/LIFE CHANGING day.
It makes me think of the days in my life that I remember the most...how most of the days that I remember in such detail are the ones that were incredibly awesome and the ones that were incredibly awful. Whichever, they are days where the Lord either did a work in me or was getting ready to do a work in me.
The same detail is given to the day that the flood ended and Noah was free from the ark.
I wonder how Noah remembered these two days in his life. I wonder what he went through in that ark over the YEAR that they were in there. Did he ever lose faith? Was he ever angry with God? Regardless of how he felt, the first thing that he did once they got off that ark was...
8:20 - "...Noah built an altar to the Lord"
I think this demonstrates so clearly and beautifully that no matter what our circumstances are, no matter what situation we are in, no matter what we are feeling, we still must love the Lord first.
And the awesome thing is that we are promised that when we do put Him first, everything else will fall into place (Matthew 6:33). Amen.
Now, thankfully, God promises never to destroy the earth again. Good news for us.
Then, we start hearing about Noah, his sons, and all of their descendants. They are in essence repopulating the earth now. We go through a bunch of names (most of whom, I will forget, haha) and listings of where they are located. I think the most important parts of this section are:
a) Ham and his descendants (Canaan) were cursed by Noah.
b) It is clear that ALL people (no matter what language, nation, etc.) are descendants of Noah.
This is my history. This is your history.
How is Noah righteous in this generation? What did he do to get this kind of favor? I want to know!!
7:11 "In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, on that day all the fountains of the great deep were broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened"
I love how much detail is given to describe the day of Noah's life that the flood arrived. Why?? Because this is HUGE in Noah's life.....this is a crazy/hard/traumatic/exciting/challenging/LIFE CHANGING day.
It makes me think of the days in my life that I remember the most...how most of the days that I remember in such detail are the ones that were incredibly awesome and the ones that were incredibly awful. Whichever, they are days where the Lord either did a work in me or was getting ready to do a work in me.
The same detail is given to the day that the flood ended and Noah was free from the ark.
I wonder how Noah remembered these two days in his life. I wonder what he went through in that ark over the YEAR that they were in there. Did he ever lose faith? Was he ever angry with God? Regardless of how he felt, the first thing that he did once they got off that ark was...
8:20 - "...Noah built an altar to the Lord"
I think this demonstrates so clearly and beautifully that no matter what our circumstances are, no matter what situation we are in, no matter what we are feeling, we still must love the Lord first.
And the awesome thing is that we are promised that when we do put Him first, everything else will fall into place (Matthew 6:33). Amen.
Now, thankfully, God promises never to destroy the earth again. Good news for us.
Then, we start hearing about Noah, his sons, and all of their descendants. They are in essence repopulating the earth now. We go through a bunch of names (most of whom, I will forget, haha) and listings of where they are located. I think the most important parts of this section are:
a) Ham and his descendants (Canaan) were cursed by Noah.
b) It is clear that ALL people (no matter what language, nation, etc.) are descendants of Noah.
This is my history. This is your history.
Monday, August 24, 2009
Genesis 4:1 - 6:22, 1 Chronicles 1:1-4
These chapters are loaded with so much information....lots of names of descendants, etc. but there are many interesting things in these chapters as well.
First of all, there is the situation between Cain and Abel. These brothers (sons of Adam and Eve) both bring a sacrifice to the Lord. The Lord is pleased with Abel's sacrifice but NOT Cain's because Abel's sacrifice is the BEST that he could offer. Cain is upset about this and this is the Lord's response to him:
4:6-7 "Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it"
Already...we see the grace of God and the simplicity of obeying Him.
When Cain chooses to give into his sinful nature and kills his brother, the Lord banishes him from his family and land where Cain starts his own family.
In chapter 5, we go through the descendants of Adam and Eve starting with Seth.
5:22, 5:24 - "...Enoch walked with God three hundred years..." and "Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him"
This is incredible.....out of all the descendants listed here, the writer goes out of his way to describe Enoch as one who WALKED WITH GOD. Gosh, can you imagine the favor, grace, love, relationship that he must have had with the Lord for the Lord to find him worthy of that description. This is what I want to do......walk with God every single day.
5:29 - "And he called his name Noah, saying 'This one will comfort us concerning our work and the toil of our hands, because of the ground which the Lord has cursed"
Noah is the only other descendant who had a description attached to his name. The name Noah also means "to rest" implying that he would be a part of the end of the curse.
In chapter 6...God shows his DEEP disappointment in the people that He created and says that He is going to destroy everything on earth EXCEPT for....NOAH!!
Noah, described as a "just man, perfect in his generation" found favor in God's eyes and was chosen to serve Him in this way. I want to know what that means....how was Noah just and perfect in his generation? How was he so different and set apart from everyone else? What did that look like....walking with God in that time?
So God tells Noah to build an ark and makes a COVENANT with him. He gives him extremely specific directions on how to build this ark.
6:22 - "Thus Noah did; according to all that God commanded him, so he did"
Thats it.
It's that simple.
Noah did.
I want my faith to be like Noah's.....I want to believe enough so that if God told me to do something that seems so incredibly OUTRAGEOUS (keep in mind..it had never rained before, Noah probably didn't know what a flood is) that I would ask no questions but instead do it excellently.
Lord, mold me and make me more like You.
First of all, there is the situation between Cain and Abel. These brothers (sons of Adam and Eve) both bring a sacrifice to the Lord. The Lord is pleased with Abel's sacrifice but NOT Cain's because Abel's sacrifice is the BEST that he could offer. Cain is upset about this and this is the Lord's response to him:
4:6-7 "Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it"
Already...we see the grace of God and the simplicity of obeying Him.
When Cain chooses to give into his sinful nature and kills his brother, the Lord banishes him from his family and land where Cain starts his own family.
In chapter 5, we go through the descendants of Adam and Eve starting with Seth.
5:22, 5:24 - "...Enoch walked with God three hundred years..." and "Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him"
This is incredible.....out of all the descendants listed here, the writer goes out of his way to describe Enoch as one who WALKED WITH GOD. Gosh, can you imagine the favor, grace, love, relationship that he must have had with the Lord for the Lord to find him worthy of that description. This is what I want to do......walk with God every single day.
5:29 - "And he called his name Noah, saying 'This one will comfort us concerning our work and the toil of our hands, because of the ground which the Lord has cursed"
Noah is the only other descendant who had a description attached to his name. The name Noah also means "to rest" implying that he would be a part of the end of the curse.
In chapter 6...God shows his DEEP disappointment in the people that He created and says that He is going to destroy everything on earth EXCEPT for....NOAH!!
Noah, described as a "just man, perfect in his generation" found favor in God's eyes and was chosen to serve Him in this way. I want to know what that means....how was Noah just and perfect in his generation? How was he so different and set apart from everyone else? What did that look like....walking with God in that time?
So God tells Noah to build an ark and makes a COVENANT with him. He gives him extremely specific directions on how to build this ark.
6:22 - "Thus Noah did; according to all that God commanded him, so he did"
Thats it.
It's that simple.
Noah did.
I want my faith to be like Noah's.....I want to believe enough so that if God told me to do something that seems so incredibly OUTRAGEOUS (keep in mind..it had never rained before, Noah probably didn't know what a flood is) that I would ask no questions but instead do it excellently.
Lord, mold me and make me more like You.
Sunday, August 23, 2009
I have been trying to figure out what to do with this blog and I finally decided what to do today!! Dun dun dun....this is the challenge:
Read through the Bible in chronological order in 1 year. 365 days. From start to finish.
I will use a plan that I found online that goes through the scriptures in chronological order and blog about what I read, what the Lord teaches me, my experiences, etc. etc..... This is the plan: http://www.oneyearbibleonline.com/readingplan/oneyearchronologicalbiblereadingplan.pdf
Woohooo! I am excited!!
Good word from church today: Get up everyday ready to obey Jesus, be covered with His dust, and be excellent at what He has for you that day. HE will unveil His destiny for us in His perfect timing.
Read through the Bible in chronological order in 1 year. 365 days. From start to finish.
I will use a plan that I found online that goes through the scriptures in chronological order and blog about what I read, what the Lord teaches me, my experiences, etc. etc..... This is the plan: http://www.oneyearbibleonline.com/readingplan/oneyearchronologicalbiblereadingplan.pdf
Woohooo! I am excited!!
Good word from church today: Get up everyday ready to obey Jesus, be covered with His dust, and be excellent at what He has for you that day. HE will unveil His destiny for us in His perfect timing.
Genesis 1:1 - 3:24
It is amazing how many times I have read this scripture and how many times I have gone through it so quickly without taking time to revere God and be in awe of Him....
HE CREATED THE WORLD...He created everything in it...EVERYTHING.
To me, this is just a known fact but I so often forget how AWESOME that is and how AWESOME God is.
1:3 - The first thing God created was light. Right away, He reveals His character and His desire to drown out ALL darkness and all evil. He always brings light, He IS light...He is life.
1:27 - "So God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created them..." In my Bible's commentary, it talks about how the language in these verses where its talking about how God created man, the language used is elevated prose or pure poetry. It's like the language shows how much God loves us and is in love with us....and it started from the very second he created us proving that there is nothing we can do to earn His love....its just there.
2:18 - The Lord says that it is not good for man to be alone so He creates a wife for Adam. The Lord LOVES fellowship and its through fellowship with other people that we see more fully God's heart, purposes, and desires for us.
3:1-24 - This last chapter is about how the serpent deceived Eve and convinced her to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Of course, Eve and Adam eat from it and immediately, they are aware of sin..
The first question that comes up is why would God even create the serpent? He knew ahead of time that this was going to happen because He knows all things. So why would He even allow the fall to occur?....
It's these kind of questions that can make your mind spin around and around getting to no conclusion at all...and it brings up all of the debates about predestination and God's sovereignty...but this is what is clear to me from this:
1) God gave us choice. (If we didn't have this, then we would be forced to love Him which then wouldn't be LOVE at all)
2) God is FULL of MYSTERY. (Who the heck knows why all of this happened? We do know that despite of the fall God showed the greatest act of love ever recorded in the history of time and redeemed our lives and allowed us to KNOW Him through Christ)
Things like this are things that cause people not to believe in God. People want answers to questions and facts...which I completely understand. I think that this is something the Lord is teaching me frequently about at this point in my life because of certain things that have happened....that I simply have to trust Him. I'm NEVER going to know the answers to everything....but He does and that is what faith is.....believing in someone or something even if you can't put all the pieces of the puzzle together. If you could...then you wouldn't need faith and you wouldn't need a Savior.
One more thing about this scripture...
We have a constant and persistent enemy. Just realize this....Almost immediately after the Lord created Adam and Eve and told them not to do something....the serpent arrives. He asks Eve what he already knows....and then blatantly lies to her telling her that she will not die and that its a good thing to eat from the tree.
Satan is STILL DOING THIS TODAY. He is constantly trying to change our minds and put thoughts into our heads and most importantly LIE to us. He is the king of lies (John 8:44).
We have to understand that any thought, idea, theology, doctrine, whatever that does not align with the Word of God is a lie from the enemy and we DO NOT have to listen to it.
We must choose (and we CAN choose because we are FREE in Christ) to listen to, live by, and obey what we hear and learn from the Lord.
God is so good. He is our creator. And from the very beginning He revealed Himself as a lover.
HE CREATED THE WORLD...He created everything in it...EVERYTHING.
To me, this is just a known fact but I so often forget how AWESOME that is and how AWESOME God is.
1:3 - The first thing God created was light. Right away, He reveals His character and His desire to drown out ALL darkness and all evil. He always brings light, He IS light...He is life.
1:27 - "So God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created them..." In my Bible's commentary, it talks about how the language in these verses where its talking about how God created man, the language used is elevated prose or pure poetry. It's like the language shows how much God loves us and is in love with us....and it started from the very second he created us proving that there is nothing we can do to earn His love....its just there.
2:18 - The Lord says that it is not good for man to be alone so He creates a wife for Adam. The Lord LOVES fellowship and its through fellowship with other people that we see more fully God's heart, purposes, and desires for us.
3:1-24 - This last chapter is about how the serpent deceived Eve and convinced her to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Of course, Eve and Adam eat from it and immediately, they are aware of sin..
The first question that comes up is why would God even create the serpent? He knew ahead of time that this was going to happen because He knows all things. So why would He even allow the fall to occur?....
It's these kind of questions that can make your mind spin around and around getting to no conclusion at all...and it brings up all of the debates about predestination and God's sovereignty...but this is what is clear to me from this:
1) God gave us choice. (If we didn't have this, then we would be forced to love Him which then wouldn't be LOVE at all)
2) God is FULL of MYSTERY. (Who the heck knows why all of this happened? We do know that despite of the fall God showed the greatest act of love ever recorded in the history of time and redeemed our lives and allowed us to KNOW Him through Christ)
Things like this are things that cause people not to believe in God. People want answers to questions and facts...which I completely understand. I think that this is something the Lord is teaching me frequently about at this point in my life because of certain things that have happened....that I simply have to trust Him. I'm NEVER going to know the answers to everything....but He does and that is what faith is.....believing in someone or something even if you can't put all the pieces of the puzzle together. If you could...then you wouldn't need faith and you wouldn't need a Savior.
One more thing about this scripture...
We have a constant and persistent enemy. Just realize this....Almost immediately after the Lord created Adam and Eve and told them not to do something....the serpent arrives. He asks Eve what he already knows....and then blatantly lies to her telling her that she will not die and that its a good thing to eat from the tree.
Satan is STILL DOING THIS TODAY. He is constantly trying to change our minds and put thoughts into our heads and most importantly LIE to us. He is the king of lies (John 8:44).
We have to understand that any thought, idea, theology, doctrine, whatever that does not align with the Word of God is a lie from the enemy and we DO NOT have to listen to it.
We must choose (and we CAN choose because we are FREE in Christ) to listen to, live by, and obey what we hear and learn from the Lord.
God is so good. He is our creator. And from the very beginning He revealed Himself as a lover.
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