Psalm 28:7 The Lord is my strength and my shield: my heart trusted in Him, and I am helped; therefore my heart greatly rejoices.
Psalm 56:3-4 When I am afraid, I put my trust in you. In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I shall not be afraid.
Psalm 118:8 It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in man
Proverbs 3:5-6 Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.
Proverbs 29:25 Fear of man will prove to be a snare, but whoever trusts in the LORD is kept safe.
Isaiah 41:10 Do not fear, for I am with you Do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and I will help you.
Matthew 6:26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?
Romans 8:28 And we know that things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.
Hebrews 11:1,3, 6 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. . . By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible . . . But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him
Faith is built on a relationship and the trust in the other person or member of the relationship. One can have a casual, social relationship when non-deep things are passed—weather, over-work, buying new objects, and casual mention of things you might have in common. Part of building faith is waiting–we test and observe the faithfulness, build the trust, to reassure that you will not be letdown, forgotten, betrayed, or helped when you need it.
Trust builds up when what is shared is deeper, discussing feelings, opening and being slightly more vulnerable with another. We do not share deeper emotional scars, vulnerabilities, or guilt without a bit of trust between the parties. Opening your feelings, emotions or experiences to others takes some trust. No one wants to be judged or take the risk that someone will negatively not like you or your choices and decisions.
As trust in another builds—you begin to learn they will not betray you, they will listen, not judge, and not spread your story to another without your permission. Trust takes a matter of time to grow. It depends on how often you are with the other, what is discussed and shared, if both parties feel respected and accepted. Any indication that one of the parties is being judged or found lacking, the walls go up and trust stops and even may decrease.
Trust isn’t just a passive belief but taking an active role in a relationship. Vulnerability, shared experiences, common interests all help to build times so see another in action and build a strong foundation, and then more of a faith relationship. You have faith the other is not going to use your vulnerabilities against you, will not purposely hurt you or misuse you and what you have shared. it is the same when we come to trust and faith in God. Our faith grows, we understand Him more and hear from Him easier, and find out paths lit. He will never leave nor forsake us. (psalm 119:105)
Faith requires some amount of trust. And we can turn to God in a crisis and know He saved us from whatever the event. But if another major worry or hurt comes up, then we may question and the longer it takes to go through the wilderness, the more our faith can become shaken. Yet, it is the walks through the wilderness, and once we arrive at the other side, our faith, perseverance, and strength have all increased. When we feel over-loaded with problems—illness, children involved in drugs, unemployment, a poor marriage and it feels as though you are smothering, that faith and trust can become wobbly.
God will reassure us and answer us. He wants you to have faith in reaching out for a relationship with Him. This is truly why He created mankind. He wanted a relationship with each of us. But we are a selfish, stubborn, self-serving lot and we do not always choose to live according to the commands God has given us. We seem to believe we create our own lives and destiny. But we can make some dreadful mistakes, and keep rowing the same leaky canoe, believing we can fix whatever is wrong. And we end up paddling frantically in a sinking boat.
There are many people in the bible who did not have a lot of faith and then came to it after a “meet” with God. One of these is Gideon. Gideon was the youngest son in this family, and his clan from Manasseh was the smallest and weakest among all the Hebrew families. He certainly had no confidence in himself. But “the angel of the Lord” came to him and His greeting was “The Lord is with you, mighty warrior.”
That was the start of their relationship. Gideon was pleased, and wanted to show the Lord a sacrifice, so he cooked a meal and served it. The Lord burned the sacrifice with a touch of His staff. How honored Gideon felt when he realized he had been with the Lord—God the creator. He had seen him face to face and lived to tell about it. But the Lord had offered him the reassurance of peace and told him not to be afraid.
But the Lord had told Gideon he would defeat the Midianites who were burning all the crops, terrorizing the Israelites and forcing them to live in cliffs and caves, always hiding what little they had and trying to escape any contact with the Midianites. Gideon had told the angel of the Lord he certainly did not feel as though he was a mighty warrior. But Gideon had received reassurance from the Lord that He would defeat the Midianites, leaving none alive.
So was the beginning of Gideon’s relationship with God. He received reassurance after stating the Midianites were destroying them and asking how the Israelites would receive help from their attacks and from having foods being destroyed.
His belief was so profound that he eliminated most of the people who had joined him to defeat the Midianites per God’s way to have most return home. Any who were afraid, could return back; He then had Gideon take them to the water so they could drink, and the manner in how they drank—those who lapped water from their hands, a total of 300 men were allowed to fight.
But to further build Gideon’s confidence, God had Gideon and his servant Purah to sneak down to the Midianite camp. There they found countless men, numerous camels and it certainly looked like the Israelites would be slaughtered. But God allowed them to hear one man’s dream and the other’s interpretation, and it was clear the interpreter believed they would all be defeated by the Israelites. But it was confidence Gideon needed to know that God had already caused him to win this battle.
He divided the men into three groups of 100 each, gave them items to make loud banging noises, and trumpets (the sound of war approaching) The men had their torches, their trumpets and as they surrounded the edge of the Midianite camp, they blew their trumpets and hollered, “The sword of the Lord and of Gideon!” They stood still, 300 men surrounding the camp.
The Midianites fled back toward their home and were pursued by the Israelites and all Gideon called for the tribes of Manasseh and Ephraim to follow and conquer. His trust and faith had him and the 300 men chasing and defeating totally, even without assistance of food as they fled through some of the smaller towns which were being bullied by the Midianites. But God ensured the Midianites were defeated by Gideon and the band of 300. God wins the battles and t took some testing, silly, things like an available close parking spot, and other simple things, but the trust built. The more I read, listened to pastors, and studied, surrounding myself with other Christians, my faith built. My life is so much more quiet, dependable, without huge stress or worries, because I know He has whatever, and He holds me in His hands.
If you ask something according to His will, it will be given, prayer answered. I may not be in your timing, but it will come to pass. “Seeing God’s faithfulness builds faith in all of us” Bobby Owings sermon Jan 31, 2025
Hearing the initial meeting of God and Gideon, and then Gideon testing God and IF he had really been told he was strong and he had been chosen to defeat the Midianites. It was the day, I chose to follow Jesus and make Him my Savior. Thank You God, that this story brought me to You, and You have steadily been with me and ‘mybellaviews.’
Abide, Adore. Ask, and Agree Devotion written by Bob Sorge (unable to find date written and published). In Bible App
Ps 27:4 One thing I have desired of the LORD, that will I seek; that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in His temple. this verse was in daily readings for the 21 days of the devotional
Psalm 145:18 The LORD is near to all who call on Him, to all who call on Him in truth
Matt 6:33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
John 10:1-5 “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door, but climbs up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice; and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.
John 15:4-7 Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you. By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.
John 17:20-21 “I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe You sent Me.
Ephesians 3:17 that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love,
James 1:27 Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep yourself unpotted from the world.
James 4:8 Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you
1 John 3:16 Whoever keeps his commandments abide in God, and God in him. And this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit whom he has given us.
`“We were created to abide with God—to live and dwell in His presence. When we abide with God, we are near enough to Him that we can hear Him! We recognize His voice” Bob Sorge?????
God created mankind to abide with Him, but sin separates us from Him; but He still wants that with us; but our sinful natures continue to keep us separated. Therefore, He needed to make a sacrifice of blood for our sins. (Knowing what blood can smell like, I can’t imagine how awful that entire area around the altar smelled. The animals had to be so difficult to handle smelling the blood and becoming frantic and frightened, and desperate to escape)
But God, even with all our sins, still wanted to abide with us, and instructed Moses to have a tabernacle built so He could abide among the people. There was a veil that separated the people and even the priests. Once a year, after the chief priest had been cleansed for Atonement Day, he alone was allowed into the Holiest of Holies.
Much of the tabernacle was for the priests to perform their sacred duties. It was no place for anyone who was not a priest. The highest priest could enter and only once yearly into the Holiest of Holies. The priests would kill the offerings, burn them, and encourage the people to learn and know the goodness of God—told through the stories of their history.
But no one except the priests were to go to the altar and perform any duties. That was solely for the priests. But the Holiest of Holies was set apart, even from the majority of the priests. It was a place reserved for God until the Day of Atonement.
The priests at this time were honored and respected by the people they served then. How the priests were honored and respected at this point in their history.
But the priests were human and became full of themselves and made more commandments than the Lord God had given to Moses. And yes, He gave more during the Leviticus period—and there were a lot of rules—food rules—certain animals and things could be eater, while others were forbidden, bathing and cleanliness rules, and what to do when people become unclean. People were unclean and separated from the group when women had their period, after women gave birth—and then were separated from the community after giving birth, people with leprosy or other illnesses, there were strict rules in how to cleanse dishware and so forth.
But as Levites and other priests became settled and served the people, they also grew to like their admiration from the people. They developed several ideas that could “improve” the sacrifices and honor to God. They demanded that people adhere to the stricter nonsense that they made up and then “enforced” to the lay people, not necessarily for themselves. The priests split into a few different factions—Pharisees, Sadducees, Essenes, and Zealots were the four prominent priest groups.
They held different viewpoints, yet regarded themselves as honorable, righteous, higher in God’s view and following God as basically, pure and far more pious than any others. But bottom line they invented rules for all the Hebrews to follow, yet they paraded around as clean and above reproach. They questioned Jesus continually about His decisions, His methods and of course His audacity at quoting scripture, interrupting God’s views, and finally claiming He was the Son of God.
How did so many, especially the priests, no matter the sect, not see that the Messiah had arrived. He was prophesized throughout the Old Testament, the Torah and the prophets. Did they feel this was a bunch of words, but all untrue? Did they believe that God had a a Savior He was sending?
Jesus was in their midst—teaching, living, and healing, and loving people. He treated people with respect, He did not duck from those with leprosy or any illness, and He showed all to revere and abide with God. He showed them how important it is/was to show acceptance and respect to all, how to love others, and most important how He abided with God, His Father.
But even in the very beginning, God knew our faults and sins, and the leaning toward the enticement of sin. Although created in the likeness of God we are sinners. God did feel He should endow us with free will. And sin is created from our free will which comes from self-centeredness, selfishness, and the desire to explore the world view.
But God in His wonderful, ageless wisdom, made a way for us still be able to reside with Him. He created us to abide with Him, to live in our midst, to share our secrets, to enjoy His presence, and to have the benefit of forever in heaven with Him. But we blew it, then continued to blow it. And in all honesty, I still blow it. UGH!
So, it was decided that God’s Son, would in time be sent, to earth and to show people the true teaching of the scriptures, His healing, His love, His cleansing of sin, and most importantly to die for us so we had a path back to God. Knowing He was leaving heaven and after a few short years of teaching, preaching, loving, and healing illnesses, encouraging no further sinning, and loving by example and word, and He finally, willingly, went to the pain and torture of death on the cross for a path for us to have forgiveness and a way back to abiding with God.
Jesus certainly abided with His Father. He arose early each morning and sought private, quiet time with His Father. He prayed, He sought out private time with His Father, and this is what abiding is.
To abide we stay connected with God/Jesus/Holy Spirit. And since the Holy Spirit resides in us once we ask Jesus to forgive our sins, and become our Savior, we cannot get any closer in the abiding manner! Abiding in Him brings wholeness, peace and a sense of stability we do not have without knowing Him. We can feel calmer and better believe that He is with us whenever a bunch of problems and concerns start bombing our lives. Abiding is trusting Him.
With Christ, dying on the cross and arising from the grave tomb, He had taken our sins by shedding His blood as a sacrifice for us. He took our sin and gave us a new, perfect and forgiven life. He opened the “veil” that separated us from God because of our sin, yet God had a means of opening the way to Him and the trinity.
Jesus’ sacrifice freed us to be forgiven, to spend our eternity with God as long as we believe Jesus is the Son of God, He died to take away our sins as long as we believe in Him, was buried, rose again and descended to heaven, and repent of our many, many sins, we can reside with them in heaven. His sacrifice freed us to be forgiven, to have all our sins forgiven, to be able to abide with God, the trinity.
To abide with God, means we stay connected, such as praying daily, seeking His will, letting Him know how grateful we are. We need to adore, honor, praise Him and give Him thanks. We need to give thanks before we ask God to answer prayers, recognizing that not all our prayers will be answered if it is NOT His will for our lives. The healing of all family and friends may not be His will, yet we KNOW, they will be healed in heaven with a new form and never have to deal with illness, sadness or anything negative again. Yet, we still need to thank Him, recognizing He has a plan for our life, and for others. And we also agree with His way by not complaining, whining or balking, and so forth. We must show all—including Him—His way is right, and we have no business acting like a naughty toddler with nasty weather, and the other negative moments in our lives that intermittently show up.
Lord, I am SO unworthy. My heart is so grateful that You called me, I answered and have been blessed with so many blessings You have blessed for me and ‘mybellaviews.’
For this writing, I am not going to quote the scriptural verses, only summarize as there are close to 2000 words as is.
Genesis 50:19-20 But Joseph said to them, “Do not fear, for am I in the place of God? As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.”
Joshua 2:1-24 Two spies were sent by Joshua into the city of Jericho to gauge what the battle would entail. But she willingly and eagerly helped these Israelites. She hid them under flax on her roof, she lied, admitting she had seen the men, but they had left, knowing full well they were still on her roof. (Francine Rivers wrote a great series of five books, The Lineage of Grace, and in the one about Rahab, she proposes that Rahab’s parents had to sell her to pay their taxes. Once the king was finished with her, she was then set up as a prostitute but still was respected by many from the royal lineage. I always preferred this supposition as to how Rahab ended up in her home, rather than believing this was a willing choice.)
Ruth 1-4 The book of Ruth is wonderful to me. Love it. I so admire the genuine feeling and devotion Ruth has to Naomi. I believe she learned enough about God and His love during her time being married and living with the family before her father-in-law and the two sons died. Her preference was NOT to return to her family, the Moabite ways, gods, and culture, but to continue with Naomi. And she did, helping wherever and however she could. Once they arrived in Jerusalem, she worked and supplied food and grain, and did all that Naomi told her, including going into Boaz sleeping area. He, an honorable man, set about to ensure that Naomi was protected, and thus Ruth since she would have been the widow of one of the younger relatives. And they became the grandparents to King David.
1 Samuel, 2 Samuel , 1 Kings 2 all tell of the goodness of King David as well as the sins. King David knew God well and wanted to be led by Him and wanted to be pleasing to Him. There were times he was not following or seeking God—King David lusted after a married woman, demanded she be brought to him, and she became pregnant. Then, he compounded the sin when he brough his ‘friend and soldier’ home so he could spend a few nights with his wife and thus “cover or hide” David’s sin. And when all his attempts to get Uriah to return to his wife failed, he then sent him back to war and gave Joab, his general, orders to put Uriah on the front lines and back off and leave him without support so he would be killed.
He was not a good parent—he did not lead and guide his family in the ways and commands to honor God. He had multiple wives and seems he took no part in the jealousies between the wives as well as the resentments among the children. And when his daughter is raped by her half-brother, Amnon, David took no action once he learned of the sin.
2 Kings 18:5-19, 2 Chronicles 32:25-26 Hezekiah was the only living son of King Ahaz, as he had his eldest thrust into a burning sacrifice to the god Molech. A priest took over most of the raising of Hezekiah, teaching him God’s laws, commands, no idols and so forth. He was arrogant but he wanted to live according to how he could please God. And he had Isaiah as a nearby mentor who was willing to prophesize and try to keep Hezekiah on the straight and narrow. He lived as a good and clever king, designing tunnels and hidden hide-aways for water so enemies could not poison the people. But then he bragged and showed off all his gold treasures and religious objects. This was very wrong in God’s sight and set Judah up for attack and the enemies had the knowledge of where all the treasures were stored. But because of Hezekiah’s good heart, He did not punish Judah during Hezekiah’s reign.
Jesus’ ancestors continued to have some negative persons, flawed and downright sinful people in His direct human line. Thank goodness, He had the direct line of God the Father! His human ancestors are as flawed as we are, and although some I find downright admirable—Rahab, Ruth, David, Hezekiah and so forth, there are many who flaunted their selfish, self-centered, immediate gratification natures. None were perfect, but definitely I have some I admire.
As good a king as Solomon hoped to be–being wise, and wanting only wisdom to govern God’s people, he certainly let his groin area run his decisions most of the time. He even had the wisdom to recognize his foolishness, but still because of his decisions and behaviors, the temple he created and designed was ripped apart with no stone left standing in 70 AD.
Let’s backtrack since we covered much of Jacob’s foolish mistakes as well as the family he married into. He had certainly become adept at deception learning from his mother, yet somehow, his next to the youngest son developed honorable, hard-working, good managerial skills. It seems Jacob’s first son by Rachel, was honorable, honest, with good dependable tendencies, catching the eye of those he served under. Therefore, Joseph was elevated to jobs of responsibility.
His brothers had sold him to the Midianites out of jealousy, anger, and wanting a show of come-uppance. He was then sold to the Egyptians and lived honorably, even when he was imprisoned for a “crime” he did not commit. So, he was thrown into prison and faced difficulty and unfair treatment, but still he maintained the course it seems of honesty, hard work, no deception, no mistreatment of others, and no hard feelings toward his brothers. There is no mention of him holding a grudge or wanting harm to his brothers. And certainly, when he had the opportunity, he treated them very generously.
It seems before Joseph was very old, God already knew his heart and placed him in a situation where he could be a blessing and guide to others. We do not get a lot of insight into the actual ancestry of Jesus until after Moses and Aaron led the Israelites out of the Wilderness. Joseph was able to reassure his brothers, from his true heart, that he recognized they had devised their plans to hurt him, but God had allowed the plans to help many.
In multiple accounts of the genealogy of Jesus, it looks as though only 5 generations while the Hebrews were in Egypt as slaves. For 400(+) years, that does not seem like many listed. But to track from Judah’s son, Perez, to Nahshon, the father of Salmon, who was one of the spies sent to Jericho, met Rahab, a prostitute who had heard and believed in the God of the Israelites. Once the Israelites could promise to protect her and her family, she would do whatever she could to help them. When the air cleared, and Joshua came to know her heart and desire to know God, Salmon and Rahab married and had a son they named Boaz. But the genealogy only shows about 5 generations while in Egypt.
We already know that the Hebrews had been settled in Jerusalem and surrounding areas for several years. Boaz was known to be a wealthy, comfortable landowner who had wheat and other fields and harvests.
Ruth was hard-working and caring, and she decided she was willing to give up her home and go with Naomi to an unfamiliar land. Again, God had chosen a Moabite woman to be one of Jesus’s ancestors—a good, caring, strong woman who acted on her convictions and beliefs.
And we all know he became the husband of Ruth who was a Moabite who had married a Hebrew young man who had died, and she decided to stay with her mother-in-law and went from Moab to Jerusalem when her mother-in-law, Naomi wanted to return.
It was God’s will that Ruth come to work for Boaz and eventually marry and become a set of the ancestors of King David. When she and Boaz married, they became the parents of Obed, and ultimately the great-grandparents of King David.
David, even as a young shepherd tried to live an honorable, brave life protecting, guiding sheep, trying to obey God. He was not perfect, but he did try to do right most of the time in the eyes of God. David, desperately wanted to obey God, see Him face to face.
However, he made some grievous sins—coveting and sleeping with another man’s life, then when finding out she was pregnant, he called back the husband, who was a frontline soldier in his army, and tried to encourage him to go home and sleep with his wife, enjoy her company. But the man did not go home, feeling it was “cheating” his fellow soldiers so David felt compelled to order his demise in the cover of war, ensuring that her husband would die. Once, David received the report of the man’s death, he brought the widow into the castle and married her. This was definitely not following God’s will and commandments.
Later, when one of his sons raped one of his daughters, he seemed to ignore the incident, and not punishing his sinful son. He was not a good parent, allowing many of his children and sons to continue to sin and live against the love and desire of their father obeying and seeking God.
Many of his descendants were faulty leaders, and many did not seek to follow God and His guidance. His son, Solomon initially wanted to be a wise and good leader of the people, but he allowed himself to be led by numerous women, most of which were not Hebrew, and led him to follow their gods and idols. That continued the royal family’s demise.
As the years passed, the Israelites were taken captive by the Assyrians, later by the Babylonians, and finally by the Romans. The Israelites were mostly oppressed and taxed and feeling as though they were not really regarded as God’s special people. They were oppressed and downtrodden.
By the time Jesus was born, his parents, although had ancestors from the royal family, there were no funds, no benefits, they were poor. Joseph was a carpenter and made his living making furniture for others. But God knew the hearts of Joseph and Mary and He had already chosen them to be the mother and “father” for His Son.
I am so glad that God chose those two as Jesus’ earthly parents. They gave Him the guidance and teaching they were able to, and He was able to turn to His heavenly Father daily, and Mary and Joseph were devout Jews who followed all God’s commandments.
How blessed are we to get to know Jesus while He had His ministry on earth. We get to read His direct words and teachings and how He interacted with sinners, forgiving and guiding them back to His Father so they could “go and sin no more.”
His Words and those written before He was born are in the guidebook, instructional manual, and love letter to show us how to live our lives in a more pleasing way to God, to glorify Him with our lives, and thus showing others the joy of living knowing Him and following Him. We all sin and are not perfect. I love the fact that it is clear in the Bible that there are those who sinned but were found worthy to be part of the ancestry of our Lord. Thank You, Lord, for saving me although I am a sinner, and for always loving me and ‘mybellaviews.’
Genesis 26:2-5 And the LORD appeared to him and said, “Do not go down to Egypt; dwell in the land of which I shall tell you. Sojourn in this land, and I will be with you and will bless you, for to you and to your offspring I will give all these lands, and I will establish the oath that I swore to Abraham you father. I will multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and will give to your offspring all these lands. And in your offspring all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because Abraham obeyed my voice and kept my commandments, my statutes, and my laws. (While living in Gerar, Isaac denied his wife as wife, claiming she was his sister, because he feared for his own life. This of course, leave her open to attack and sinning by other men…)
Genesis 27:1-10 When Isaac was old and his eyes were dim so that he could not see, he called Esau his older son and said to him, “My son” and he answered, “Here I am.” He said, “Behold, I am old; I do not know the day of my death. Now then take, your weapons, your quiver and your bow, and go out to the field and hunt game for me, and prepare for me delicious food, such as I love, and bring it to me so that I may eat, that my soul may bless you before I die.” Now Rebekah was listening when Isaac spoke to his son Esau. So when Esau went to the field to hunt for game and bring it, Rebekah said to her son Jacob, “I heard your father speak to your brother Esau, ‘Bring me game and prepare for me a delicious food that I may eat it and bless you before the Lord before I die.’” (She urged him to slaughter two young goats and bring them to her so she could prepare food for her husband, and encouraged Jacob to cover himself in goat skins when he presented it—thus allowing Isaac to “feel” the hairiness of his eldest son.
Genesis 27:18-24 So he went in to his father and said, “My father,” And he said, “Here I am, who are you, my son?”” Jacob said to his father, “I am Esau your firstborn. I have done as you told me; now sit up and eat of my game, that your soul may bless me. . .Then Isaac said to Jacob, “Please come near, that I may feel you, my son, to know whether you are really my son Esau or not.” So Jacob went near to Isaac his father, who felt him and said, “The voice is Jacob’s, but the hands are those of Esau.”. . . He said, “Are you really my son Esau?” He answered, “I am.”
Genesis 37:4 But when his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, they hated him and could not speak peacefully to him.
Abraham’s grandsons were NOT close as brothers, never mind as twins. They were complete opposites—one who loved hunting, killing animals, and the other was more a homebody, fed the lambs and small, young animals, probably gardened, but did not like the more rugged activities of the life at that time.
Their father, Isaac, certainly did not seem devious, but Rebecca, their mother was. She came from a long line of deceivers –her father, her brother, and learned her lessons well. She was frequently playing Esau against Jacob and really ensuring one lost a lot to the other. The elder had already lost his birthright, his privilege as the first born to his brother since it was not of much value to him when he was hungry and selfish for immediate gratification. He did not spend a moment considering what he was callously giving up. His concern was his hunger, his stomach and being satisfied NOW. So, he signed it away with a wave of his hand.
But, then Isaac, only about 60 years old at the time, decided he was dying in the near future and wanted Esau, the oldest, to make him his favorite meal of meat stew and then he could give him his blessing—the blessing to his eldest child. But, Rebecca, Isaac’s wife, the mother of the twins, overheard the plea of Isaac to Esau and intervened—interfered. She called Jacob to hurriedly kill a lamb and quickly fix a stew and urged him to lie and deceive his father so that he, the second son, the one who had already stolen his brother’s birthright, now would cover his body with goat hair, wear his brother’s clothes, and Jacob did. He did lie blatantly. When asked if he was truly Esau, he answered, yes, with no delay, no apparent guilt or remorse.
After he received the blessing Isaac had meant for Esau, Jacob was afraid and at his mother’s urging, fled, heading to her family’s home. Her brother, Laban, lived a long distance away. On arrival, he was immediately attracted to his cousin, Rachel, and decided he wanted to marry her. Her father, Laban agreed if Jacob would work for him tending sheep and goats for the next seven years. Agreement was made, and when the time was complete, Jacob wanted to marry Rachel, but sneaky Laban substituted his eldest daughter instead of Rachel into the marriage bed.
After fourteen years, Jacob was finally able to marry Rachel. In the interim, Leah had delivered several sons, and once he married Rachel, she was unable to conceive for several years. In the interim, Jacob enjoyed the maid of each of his wives, and they each delivered two sons, and finally, Rachel became pregnant.
Laban wanted Jacob to continue working for him, so Jacob made a “deal” regarding the birth of solid versus striped or spotted offspring. He believed the stipes or spotted came from different logs he placed before the males. Laban just recognized that he was wealthy with Jacob caring for his flocks and did not want to lose that.
The flocks continued to flourish, including Jacob’s herds as he gathered more of the spotted or striped animals. However, we know that was God’s protection and provision for Jacob.
About this point, Jacob decided he had had enough of making huge sums for Laban, enlarging his herds and still working for him, not for his own homestead. So, he decided to take his large family and his own herds back to where he came from. Wives in agreement, the large group started out. Unbeknownst to Jacob, his beloved wife Rachel had stolen valuable property from her father.
Laban stopped the group, upset they had left without a goodbye. . . but then stated his real point, which was the theft of his property. He searched all the tents and the animals being ridden: all except Rachel’s since she stated she was having her monthly and unable to dismount. Another dishonest and sneaky move by this family member.
Jacob was nervous about meeting his brother—guilt made him wonder if payback would be as severe as he feared. He divided his family and herds, hoping to protect the ones most important to him. But when he met his brother, it seemed as though Esau had put aside any anger and animosity he had felt twenty years previously.
On arrival, he found his father still alive—which I would have found surprising, as there had been such a blow-up regarding the birthright and the “final blessing”, and that was more than twenty years previous.
Between his four wives, Jacob had twelve sons, and at least one daughter, Dinah. Dinah was raped and two of her brothers decided to get retribution. Because the guilty young man decided he wanted to marry Dinah, the entire town was deceived to be circumcised. The two brothers then slaughtered the entire town since the townsmen were too uncomfortable to be able to fight and protect the town.
Judah, the fourth son, married and had three sons. His eldest son died because he was a sinful man, so the wife, Tamar, was given to the second son, who did not want “to honor the law of being the parent of a child that would belong to his brother,” and that, too, was against God’s desires. The second son was also killed. Judah, then sent his daughter-law- back to her father’s home until the third son was old enough to marry. But Judah had no intention of giving his last son to Tamar.
After a few years of waiting, Tamar took matters into her own hands. She enticed her father-in-law, Judah, to sleep with her. Apparently, there was no discussion, no face to face kissing, and Judah impregnated Tamar, without a clue that she was someone he knew.
When it was learned she was pregnant, he was all for making sure she would be burned for adultery. However, she had his belongings, which she had asked for as reassurance for payment for ‘services rendered.’ When Judah was presented with his own belongings, he declared she was more honorable than he had been. Unsure if Tamar and her twin sons were welcomed into his home and he supported them, but the Bible does state he did not ever again “know” her.
Jacob had made it clear that his favorite child was Joseph, the elder of Rachel’s two sons. The half-brothers from all the different mothers resented the favoritism, even though Joseph goaded them with dreams that they would bow down and worship him. His superiority in attitude annoyed them, so Jacob’s sons also decided to get rid of him. They sold him to the Midianites, but made it seem as though he had been killed by wild animals
Lot of sneakiness to be found in this generation of the Lord’s earthly ancestors. I think God presents us with these true stories to show us those who follow Him are not perfect, they are sinners, and all are sinful—just the human tendencies. But He opened a way for our growth and repentance by confessing and repenting of our sins and asking the Holy Spirit to help us not repeat this sinful behavior again.
Certainly, we know we should not covet, be jealous, crave things another has whether material or physical or even mental, yet often we envy someone else.
God spent years—centuries—walking with people and many of them were chosen to write His words down for the benefit of those who want to be close to God. I knocked and asked to come in, and He opened the door and I am so thankful, blessed ‘me and my bellaviews.’
Deuteronomy 13:1-3 God tests people to see if they love Him.
1 Samuel 16:7 But the Lord said to Samuel, ‘Do not look at his appearance or at his physical stature, because I have refused him. For the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart
Job 23:10 When he has tried me, I shall come out as gold
Psalm 7:9 Oh, let the evil of the wicked come to an end, and may you establish the righteous—you who test the minds and hearts, O righteous God.
Psalm 11:5 the Lord tests the righteous
Proverbs 17:3 The crucible for silver and the furnace for gold, but the Lord tests the heart.
Jeremiah 17:10 I, the Lord search the heart and examine the mind, to reward each person according to their conduct, according to what their deeds deserve.
Matthew 10:38 “If you refuse to take up your cross and follow me, you are not worthy of being mine.”
Matthew 16:24 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me.”
Mark 8:34 “Then, calling the crowd to join his disciples, He said, ‘If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me.’”
Luke 9:23 “Then He said to the crowd, ‘If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross daily, and follow me.’”
Luke 14:27, 33 “And if you do not carry your own cross and follow me, you cannot be my disciple.”. . . “So you cannot become my disciple without giving up everything you own.”
John 12:26 “Anyone who wants to serve me must follow me, because my servants must be where I am. And the Father will honor anyone who serves me.”
Hebrews 11:1 Faith shows the reality of what we hope for; it is the evidence of things we cannot see.
Hebrews 11:6 And it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that He rewards those who sincerely seek Him.
James 1:12 God blesses those who patiently endure testing and temptation. Afterward they will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love Him.”
Revelation 2:10 Don’t be afraid of what you are about to suffer. The devil will throw some of you into prison to test you. You will suffer for ten days. But if you remain faithful even when facing death, I will give you the crown of life.
How’s your communication with God and Jesus each day? Do you start each day with coffee (or whatever your favorite morning drink is) and reading your bible, devotionals, or somehow touching base with the Creator?
I am fortunate as I have a dog to walk each morning, so I quickly dress, run downstairs, turn the coffeepot on, then urge her out and to the street. I get to look at the sky above, feel the warmth and or coolness of the morning, spot the stars if it is not cloudy, listen to some birds have early morning tweets and twitters, and just be grateful for the goodness of this early morning. I enjoy a quick praise to my Creator, smiling as my pup does her business, and I listen to the birds, occasionally see a rabbit, and am just grateful to be here, and enjoying this small part of His creation.
Then, we return to the house, I make her breakfast, then pour my coffee, and read Bobby’s post, then my devotionals, and then read some of my bible. And I feel blessed.
I have several different bible versions and will frequently verses from a couple of them to help clarify and understand. Then I start the chores I have set out for the day. Sometimes, there is a glitch in my plans, but now I handle upsets much easier (most of the time) than I used to. In the past, my response was anxiety, impatience, frustration and depending on my schedule, I could and would get angry. Thankfully now, since I have grown in Jesus and His ways, I can have some frustration for a couple moments but am quickly reminded that any delay is God’s plan. No need for cranky or impatience, I am where I am supposed to be, and in His time, I will get to the next place. I am more appreciative of being patient and waiting for his timing. Although I am not sure of any of the delays, I wonder if sometimes it is to test my growth, and perhaps at other times, it is saving me from a possible larger delay—accident, am able to help someone who needs help and I am available to help, or for any other circumstances when He feels I have a task He has assigned to me for then and there.
Thankfully, now I can sigh, smile, and mentally thank Him and just wonder what will He have for me next. Such a difference from that impatient, scheduled uptight control freak I was. It was a developing change. Initially, I felt the anxiety, the frustration and impatience with any delay. Sometimes those would last for a few minutes, other times, I would purposely remind myself to relax. I could make calls and report to my appointment that I was delayed—maybe to reschedule, might be able to make it fifteen minutes late, but I didn’t need to stress over it. There was a reminder in my mind from the Holy Spirit to cool out, relax, and recognize that God had a reason for any delay—and I am NOT in control always.
How grateful I am that so much of the stress I used to live with—because it was almost constant—was now relieved. Or it could fade away much easier and sooner with a gentle reminder in my mind and spirit and I could relax. It could take a few moments, but I could feel the tenseness ease away. I might have to remind myself often at first that God was in control, and I did not need to think I was so important. But with each reminder, I could again soothe the rising impatience and feel the tension ebb. Over time, this became simpler and happened faster. Now, it is very rare I have to do these reminders, because it has become one of the positive changes the Holy Spirit has developed.
It is interesting to me to remember all the negative ways I handled life—impatience, control, and being stressed. I have grown in my walk with the Lord. I wish I journaled but never have diligently. There have been brief times when I would keep track of things for a couple of weeks but never kept at it. There would seem to be nothing of interest going on, so I didn’t write regularly.
So many are able to journal and keep at it and are able to see their growth and walk with the Lord better than my inadequate memories. They are not as trustworthy—forget dates, forget other things that may be going on at the time, other things happening with family or friends that might have also influenced my growth, my prayer time, my memory of what happened, and all the steps taken could be faulty. Memories can be defective, and I may have forgotten important details without a journal backing.
But God does not forget, and He sees our steps, our growth, our mistakes and all out sins. He wants us walking toward the right direction, being more like His Son. Our lives are a process, our growth is slow, but God created us to complete our growth before He takes us home. He needs our hearts to follow Him and He checks our hearts regularly.
God tests us because when we pass His testing, our faith and commitment grow. It strengthens us, helps us pass the next test, and our commitment to walking with him grows; our confidence that He will always lead us and be there for us.
I am so thankful that I quit doing things my way instead of His way. My life is calmer, I am kinder, less frustrated and stressed, and more patient when I feel my schedule has been interrupted. My life is calmer, and I don’t fret often. I know I can trust God always to come through for my needs. I may have to be patient and remember that my timeframe is not always correct and best. Deep breath, girl. You know who is in charge—and He has not steered you wrong. And the calm comes.
Thank You, Lord for walking with me and showing me a better way, Your way. You are so giving to me and ‘mybellaviews.’
Hi, I'm Kathy. Welcome to my website!