#theblessing Canonical bible reading day 17 / Genesis 48-50

Genesis 48:15-16 ESV

And he blessed Joseph and said,

“The God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked,

the God who has been my shepherd all my life long to this day,

the angel who has redeemed me from all evil, bless the boys;

and in them let my name be carried on, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac;

and let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth.”

I see over and over again where the blessing of the father is in the bible.  This is not something that happened during these times but was not mentioned in the bible.  But we read about the blessig from the father over and over.  I have to ask myself why.  I have to conclude that it was important for us to see.  We have little consideration to what a father’s blessing is today.  Many fathers today do not even know what the happenings are in his sons lives.  I have to say that I think that this is tragic.  If we are going to ever be a people of strength, of character, of honor, than fathers will have to fight for thier family.  Fathers will have to live for something bigger than thier own self.  Fathers will have to have a strong sense of responsibility and duty.  Fathers will have to bless thier sons.  That is, fathers will have to be involved in thier sons lives, encouraging them, teaching them, and disciplining them. 

I am convinced that if the men of this country continue to fail to step up and take on all that God has intended for us to be, then this country is only a few short years away from complete destruction.

#thepromise Canonical Bible reading day 5 / Genesis 16-18

Genesis 16:1-3 ESV

Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had borne him no children. She had a female Egyptian servant whose name was Hagar. And Sarai said to Abram, “Behold now, the Lord has prevented me from bearing children. Go in to my servant; it may be that I shall obtain children by her.” And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai. So, after Abram had lived ten years in the land of Canaan, Sarai, Abram’s wife, took Hagar the Egyptian, her servant, and gave her to Abram her husband as a wife.

In an off way these verses give me a great deal of hope.  Abraham (Currently called Abram) is the one through whom God’s promise will be fulfilled.  He is the one through whom a great people will come.  The promise is this, that it would be as counting the stars in the sky to count the great people that will come in the lineage of Abraham.  Kings will be among those that are in the line of Abraham.  All this is to come through Sarah (Now Sarai). But she does not believe that God will do this because of the age of Abraham and Sarah.  So in her unbelief she comes up with an alternative and presents it to Abraham.  Abraham accepts her alternative instead of believing that God will do what He has promised. 

How is this encouraging? It is encouraging to me because Abraham was not infallible.  Though He would be the Father of the greatest nation in the world, God’s chosen people, he chose not to believe that God would make this happen. He chose to believe his wife in her unbelief instead.  God blessed Abraham anyway.  He did fulfill His promise as He said that He would.  The promise came the Abraham and through Sarah even as He said that it would. 

I am fallible like Abraham.  I do not always believe as I should.  I give way to temptation sometimes instead of believing in the mighty hand of the Lord to be my provider, my sustainer.

I do not believe that God will just bless anyone no matter what.  I also do not believe that men will not be held accountable for their actions.  But what I learn about God here is that sometimes He will make a promise that is not dependant on our faith or our obedience.  And that God will follow through on His promises.  God is not like us. He does not make a promise and then fail to come through.  This is just one of the reasons He is so very worthy of my adoration.

#promise Canonical Bible reading day 4 / Genesis 12-15

Genesis 15:1-6 ESV

After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: “Fear not, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.” But Abram said, “O Lord God, what will you give me, for I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” And Abram said, “Behold, you have given me no offspring, and a member of my household will be my heir.” And behold, the word of the Lord came to him: “This man shall not be your heir; your very own son shall be your heir.” And he brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” And he believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness.

He believed and it was counted to him as righteousness.  What was it then that he believed? He believed that God was capable, willing, and indeed would follow through with what he had promised.  Never mind that Abram didn’t understand how.  Never mind that he was advanced in years.  Never mind that the promise was so great that it was staggering.  Would God really multiply his offspring to the number of the stars? 
Abram believed. 

God has made a promise to you and to me.  We can receive the promise if we believe.

He has promised that we can be received into heaven among those who are holy.  He has promised that our sins are forgiven in Jesus Christ.  He has promised that we will be given a new name and immortality.  He has promised that we can live forever.  He has promised joy, peace, patience, wisdom and much more.  This promise is overwhelming.  This promise to us who have betrayed Him by our unrighteousness and sin is staggering.  But the Mighty God in heaven has promised this.  He has given His only son as a sacrifice to make this promise possible.  Jesus is the fulfillment of the promise.  Jesus is the promise.  All of this is only possible in Jesus Christ. 

If we are to receive all that God the Father has promised us then we have to believe in Jesus Christ.  We must believe that God is capable, willing, and that he will follow through.  Believe in Christ Jesus and it will be counted to you as righteousness.  In believing in the Christ you will gain all attributes of Jesus himself.  You will then be as a son (or daughter) to the Heavenly Father.  You will be righteous because of the righteousness of Jesus.  You will be pure, blameless, perfect before God.  This is the promise.

Do you believe?

#setapart Canonical Bible reading day 1 / Genesis 1-3

Genesis 1:24-27 ESV

And God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures according to their kinds—livestock and creeping things and beasts of the earth according to their kinds.” And it was so. And God made the beasts of the earth according to their kinds and the livestock according to their kinds, and everything that creeps on the ground according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”
So God created man in his own image,

in the image of God he created him;

male and female he created them.

Some would elevate the animals and other living things to be as man. But they are not as man. Man is distinct from every living creature. God made all that is living (and all that is not living for that matter) but only man did he create in his own image. This is no subtle distinction. Man was created in the very image of himself. Not even the angels that have no sin and reside in heaven with God were created in the image if God.

We are set apart and very special in the eyes of our maker. One day we will be elevated higher than the angels. Christ died on a cross so that your relationship with God the Father could be redeemed. He did not die for the angels. He did not die for the creatures of the earth. He died for his beloved. He died for you and  for me.

Thanks be to God for receiving the sacrifice of Jesus his Son on our behalf.

#setfreefromsin Life Journal day 335 / Romans 5-8

Romans 6:20-23 ESV

For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. But what fruit were you getting at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Yes and Amen.  We were all once slaves to sin.  We were unable to do anything righteous or be righteous in anything. We were then without hope.  The fruit that sin produces is death.  We were slaves to sin and were obligated to obey sin and to live out our sinful nature.  Thus we were also obligated to death for it is the only fruit of sin. Were it not for grace we would yet remain so obligated to sin and to death.  But we are not longer obligated to sin and to death.  Because of the work of Jesus Christ on the cross and because he was raised from the dead, we have been set free. How then should we make use of that freedom.

Do not use your freedom to return to the sin that so entangled you. You have been given this overwhelming gift of grace from our Father in heaven by way of the horrible sacrifice of his own son Jesus on a cross. Thus by grace you have been given righteousness that produces life. It is for freedom that you have been set free. Walk in your freedom and not in sin and death. Put away the desires of the flesh. Put on the holiness that is yours by faith in Jesus Christ. Become a slave of righteousness. For the fruit of righteousness is life and not death.

#love Life Journal day 317 / Job 39, 40, 1 Corinthians 13, 14

1 Corinthians 13:1-13 ESV

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing. Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways. For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known. So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

The value and the necessity of love is unspeakable.  Where there is no love, Father God is not there.  To be perfect in love is to be like God Himself.  All of the things decsribed here could be good things. but without love they are meaningless if annoying.  But there are many things that would seem to be minimal.  But these things done in love become magnificent. 

None are perfect in love except that they be quickened by the Spirit of God Himself.  God is perfect in love.  Even if one would be able to keep the law perfectly but have no love in his heart, I believe that this would be a tremendous failure and travesty. 

May God grant us this one thing.  That our hearts would be moved by His own Spirit and very full of love.