So I have this women of the Bible devotional book and I love it.
I have learned so much about God and his grace towards us.
This past week I was reading about Rebekah.
There are lots of similarites between Rebekah and Sarah.
For instance
They both married close relatives..... yes I know icky now but totally acceptable back then (not sure why it was acceptable then???)
They were both barren for a period of time in their marriage. Rebekah's barrenness was only for 20 years. Sarah's was much longer.
They both had a promise from God and instead of waiting on God to fulfill his promise they decided to stick their grubby little hands all in it and make it happen themselves before God's timing. This ends up being a HUGE problem in both of their lives. For Sarah it was having a child born to her maidservent that she had to watch grow up and get married and prosper all while not having the promised son. For Rebekah it was taking it upon her self to fulfill God's promise of the older serving the younger. She coerced her younger son Jacob to trick his father into believing he was Esau to get his blessing. Bad move on Rebekah's part. Once she did that Jacob had to leave because Esau was so mad at his brother (and not his mother) that he wanted to kill his brother (potentially another Cain and Abel incident) so Rebekah sent him away and never saw her youngest son again. Jacob was her favorite son (also something parents should not do........... have favorites, never a good idea.) Esau, Jacob and Isaac knew it.
God however, blesses his children repeatedly unlike in the times of Isaac and Abraham the father of the family only had a blessing for the oldest son. The other children just did not get blessed in that way.
Thank goodness God blesses his children over and over and over and over. Even though we don't deserve it and we stick our grubby little hands into everything God wants to bless us in.
Saturday, September 27, 2008
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
GOD IS GOOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Yesterday I read about Lot's wife in the Bible but learned more about God's amazing grace and love for his children.
In the story God sent two angels to tell Abraham what they were going to do to the cities of the valley (Sodom and Gommorah) (Bad places). When Abraham found out he bargained with God to spare the city for several amounts of people all the way down to ten.
Well when the angels went to the city and met Lot at the gate and Lot insisted that they stay with him that night, because he knew what the men of the city were like. ( I wonder if they treated Lot that way when he first came to the city) Questions always more questions.
Ok sorry rabbit trail. So when I was reading this and the angels told Lot and his wife and his two daughters and the men that they were pleged to (from the city) ..... the math reveals only 6 people in the city that could have qualified in Abrahams bargaining with God.....
But the great thing about God is that even though the only conversation to Abraham was about saving the city God saved Lot and his family (except for the whole pillar of salt thing) (that is another blog). So even though the bargain that God made with Abraham did not get fulfilled becuase Sodom and Gomorrah were so wicked God still saved his children.
He did not have to warn Lot and his wife and daughters. The angels did not have to drag them out of town. They could have left them in the town to die with the others. But because God loves his children and knew the heart of all the people in the city he spared Lot and his family.
Once the family got to a certain distance away from the cities then God's wrath fell on the very wicked cities.
I am thankfull that God is willing to drag me out of places. But I am also thankfull that God is willing to let me suffer in certain places for me to learn to lean on Him wholly
Isn't God good.
In the story God sent two angels to tell Abraham what they were going to do to the cities of the valley (Sodom and Gommorah) (Bad places). When Abraham found out he bargained with God to spare the city for several amounts of people all the way down to ten.
Well when the angels went to the city and met Lot at the gate and Lot insisted that they stay with him that night, because he knew what the men of the city were like. ( I wonder if they treated Lot that way when he first came to the city) Questions always more questions.
Ok sorry rabbit trail. So when I was reading this and the angels told Lot and his wife and his two daughters and the men that they were pleged to (from the city) ..... the math reveals only 6 people in the city that could have qualified in Abrahams bargaining with God.....
But the great thing about God is that even though the only conversation to Abraham was about saving the city God saved Lot and his family (except for the whole pillar of salt thing) (that is another blog). So even though the bargain that God made with Abraham did not get fulfilled becuase Sodom and Gomorrah were so wicked God still saved his children.
He did not have to warn Lot and his wife and daughters. The angels did not have to drag them out of town. They could have left them in the town to die with the others. But because God loves his children and knew the heart of all the people in the city he spared Lot and his family.
Once the family got to a certain distance away from the cities then God's wrath fell on the very wicked cities.
I am thankfull that God is willing to drag me out of places. But I am also thankfull that God is willing to let me suffer in certain places for me to learn to lean on Him wholly
Isn't God good.
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
Dr's Appointments.... Gotta Love 'Em
Ok So today we had a follow up appt with the shoulder dr that we were referred to.
And shock of all shock apparently nothing is wrong with Matt's shoulders. (Yeah right).
He now has to go to therapy 3 times a week for four weeks (more money) and then come back for a follow up appt with the shoulder dr, because the shoulder dr thinks the problem is stemming from Matt's neck.
Ok enough of that.
In my quiet time yesterday I read about Hagar. You know there was never an age given for Hagar. We don't know how old she was when she had Ishamel, or when she was banished when Ishmael was 16 or when she died. How sad to have the only thing remembered for was being the second wife of Abraham, being treated badly by Sarah and having Ishmael. But I guess we know about her becuase of those things. Reading about Hagar opened up more questions about Sarah.
When Ishamel was born Sarah was 76, Sarah had Isaac 22 years after Ishamel was born. How hard that must have been to have to see this boy that was supposed to "build her family" up but not the promised son grow, eventually marry and have children all before Sarah and Abraham had the blessing of the promised son.
This is just a small show of how God works. I honestly believe that Sarah and Abraham were not given the promised son until they were ready to raise him the way he should have been raised.
I would love to read a journal of Sarah's from the time that she heard the promise of a son that would lead to a nation to the time that she actually had Isaac and after. I would love to know how she handled the struggle of trust that the Lord would come through with his promise of a child. I would love to know if she was joyful, if she was happy, if her faith faltered at all. There is nothing about how she dealt with the "shame" of not having a child until very late in life.
It is amazing the type of questions that come up when you dive into God's word. Sometimes they are questions that will never be answered but they are more to get you thinking so you can maybe move forward in your own journey. God does answer our questions we just need to be bold enough to ask Him and to be open for His answer.
And shock of all shock apparently nothing is wrong with Matt's shoulders. (Yeah right).
He now has to go to therapy 3 times a week for four weeks (more money) and then come back for a follow up appt with the shoulder dr, because the shoulder dr thinks the problem is stemming from Matt's neck.
Ok enough of that.
In my quiet time yesterday I read about Hagar. You know there was never an age given for Hagar. We don't know how old she was when she had Ishamel, or when she was banished when Ishmael was 16 or when she died. How sad to have the only thing remembered for was being the second wife of Abraham, being treated badly by Sarah and having Ishmael. But I guess we know about her becuase of those things. Reading about Hagar opened up more questions about Sarah.
When Ishamel was born Sarah was 76, Sarah had Isaac 22 years after Ishamel was born. How hard that must have been to have to see this boy that was supposed to "build her family" up but not the promised son grow, eventually marry and have children all before Sarah and Abraham had the blessing of the promised son.
This is just a small show of how God works. I honestly believe that Sarah and Abraham were not given the promised son until they were ready to raise him the way he should have been raised.
I would love to read a journal of Sarah's from the time that she heard the promise of a son that would lead to a nation to the time that she actually had Isaac and after. I would love to know how she handled the struggle of trust that the Lord would come through with his promise of a child. I would love to know if she was joyful, if she was happy, if her faith faltered at all. There is nothing about how she dealt with the "shame" of not having a child until very late in life.
It is amazing the type of questions that come up when you dive into God's word. Sometimes they are questions that will never be answered but they are more to get you thinking so you can maybe move forward in your own journey. God does answer our questions we just need to be bold enough to ask Him and to be open for His answer.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)