Category Archives: Thankfulness

Character of God, Disobeying, Rebelling Against, Ignoring God, Family, Hearing from God, Holy / Set Apart, Idols / False Gods, Obeying God, Thankfulness, Traditions / Holidays

Let Your Family Be Set Apart For God’s Purpose

We join Jacob and his family as they follow God’s instruction to move to Bethel in Genesis 35:1-8. Jacob had previously settled and remained among ungodly people. In His daughter, Dinah, was raped and then the man who did so came and asked for her in marriage as if his behavior was normal.  Jacob’s sons responded violently in Genesis 34. Now Jacob feared the people of the land would be hostile to him.

Jacob Moves to Bethel

      1Then God said to Jacob, “Arise, go up to Bethel and live there, and make an altar there to God, who appeared to you when you fled from your brother Esau.” 2So Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him, “Put away the foreign gods which are among you, and purify yourselves and change your garments; 3and let us arise and go up to Bethel, and I will make an altar there to God, who answered me in the day of my distress and has been with me wherever I have gone.” 4So they gave to Jacob all the foreign gods which they had and the rings which were in their ears, and Jacob hid them under the oak which was near Shechem.

      5As they journeyed, there was a great terror upon the cities which were around them, and they did not pursue the sons of Jacob. 6So Jacob came to Luz (that is, Bethel), which is in the land of Canaan, he and all the people who were with him. 7He built an altar there, and called the place El-bethel, because there God had revealed Himself to him when he fled from his brother. 8Now Deborah, Rebekah’s nurse, died, and she was buried below Bethel under the oak; it was named Allon-bacuth.

God personally replied to Jacob in his time of distress. God provided specific directions and Jacob, to his credit, obeyed. Jacob built an altar to show he was thankful to God. However we also see evidence of Jacob’s failure as head of his household.

2So Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him, “Put away the foreign gods which are among you, and purify yourselves and change your garments

Jacob not only settled and remained among the pagans, putting his family at physical risk as we saw in Genesis 34, but he further had allowed his household to blend with the pagans putting them at spiritual risk. He did not keep them set apart for God, or holy. He was aware, or became aware, that they had foreign gods among them and needed purification. Why had he not taken notice and addressed this earlier? Why only now that they were leaving? Why only after Dinah had been raped?

We don’t know for sure, but I suspect that we are all at risk of rationalizing and accepting pagan practices that dishonor God. It starts by making excuses to accept that they are not bad or “not all bad”. Perhaps they seem “fun”. Then we may start to participate in some way. Then our household just starts to accept them. God does not want us to make excuses and rationalize why the pagan practices of the ungodly can be considered acceptable. He wants us to remain holy… set apart for His service and purpose.

We see insight into the character of God in this scripture as well. Despite his mistakes, Jacob was a man of faith and obeyed God’s direct instructions when he heard them. God protected Jacob and delivered his family to Bethel. God does not give up on us because we make mistakes. So long as we wholeheartedly seek Him and submit to Him, He will remain with us. What a merciful and loving God! Praise God for His patience in our weakness. However, as with Jacob’s family, we still face consequences for our mistakes.

Are there any idols or worldly activities that you are accepting in your family? Idols are not always statues, but may be other things like sports, money, fame, traditions, or other things we place in importance before God. Most of us immediately say we don’t do that, but look closely at how you spend our time, money, and talent. Is God really first? or do you just fit Him in once a week for church?

Separate from idols, false gods, and close relationships with ungodly people. Pray God would reveal to you what you need to purge from your family’s life now. Don’t wait until something bad happens as did to Dinah in Genesis 34. The decisions you make today may affect generations in your household to come.

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Have you submitted your life to Jesus Christ? If you die today, do you know for sure that you would be with God in heaven? Learn more about salvation through The Message of the Cross.

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Consequences of Sin, False Prophets / Teachers, Forgive Others / Seek Forgiveness, Grace / Forgiveness, Heaven and Hell, Humility, Jesus Christ / Yeshua, Obeying God, Parables, Pride, Salvation, Thankfulness

Who Is Truly Doing the Will of the Father?

Jesus appears to be still talking to the chief priests and elders at the temple, or perhaps to others who had come to the temple to worship and hear God’s word, when he shares the content of Matthew 21:28-32. He has just finished a rather clever rebuke for their effort to question His authority. Then He speaks to show us who is truly doing the will of the father… those with nice words and a good front or those who act on God’s instruction, humbly submitting to Him in repentance of their sin.

  28“But what do you think? A man had two sons, and he came to the first and said, ‘Son, go work today in the vineyard.’ 29“And he answered, ‘I will not’; but afterward he regretted it and went. 30“The man came to the second and said the same thing; and he answered, ‘I will, sir’; but he did not go. 31“Which of the two did the will of his father?” They said, “The first.” Jesus said to them, “Truly I say to you that the tax collectors and prostitutes will get into the kingdom of God before you. 32“For John came to you in the way of righteousness and you did not believe him; but the tax collectors and prostitutes did believe him; and you, seeing this, did not even feel remorse afterward so as to believe him.

Jesus is sharing an important message with us. Notice His target audience, by context… those that were religious leaders and those that had come to the temple. (Think of it like this… Jesus came to a church to speak to a congregation that already thought of themselves as obeying and serving God.) He is not speaking to those that did not come to the temple.  It is important to do God’s will, even if we get off to a poor start. On the other hand, it is intentional deception and wickedness (or perhaps sloth), to say we will obey God’s instructions but then fail to do so. Not understanding God’s instruction clearly is a call for us to study it more and seek answers in scripture and in prayer… it is not an excuse to keep living the way we want to… that, too, is sloth.

None of us are “good enough” to meet God’s standard. We are all sinners. Those of us who recognize our sin, who recognize that our sin is so ugly to God that the punishment is death, should genuinely repent and turn from our sins, asking God’s forgiveness and submitting to Jesus Christ as Lord. We do not hide from our sin or deny our sin, but rather ask God’s help to overcome it! God loves us so much that He made a way for us to be reconciled to Him and forgiven of our sins. Jesus died, was buried, and rose from the dead so that those who believe in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life. We come thankfully and humbly before God in the name of Jesus Christ, repent from our wrong behaviors and thoughts, and ask Him to be Lord of our lives. Then we begin to live our lives for God instead of our own way.

Those who put a nice image, or front, of being perfect or good enough are fooling themselves, and perhaps fooling others, but they are certainly not fooling God. In particular, the chief priests and elders had every opportunity to know and follow God’s law, but instead followed traditions of men and looked out for their own power and status. The punishment they receive is great. Many who claim to teach about Jesus even today do likewise, misleading many or living in hypocrisy, teaching about God and living for themselves.

Do not get complacent, taking confidence in your church attendance or even your church leaders. Test what they teach against scripture to confirm it. The wise welcome reproof and correction and get wiser still; only fools despise correction and testing. We should come before God like the tax collectors and prostitutes to whom Jesus referred. Accept and admit to our sins and turn from them. Live like Jesus Christ is truly Lord of our life and turn loose of any pride that we must be righteous on our own… we are not!

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Have you submitted your life to Jesus Christ? If you die today, do you know for sure that you would be with God in heaven? Learn more about salvation through The Message of the Cross.

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Character of God, Jesus Christ / Yeshua, Obeying God, Peace / Rest, Prayer, Thankfulness

Thank God For Doing It His Way

In Matthew 11:25-30, Jesus teaches us to thank God for how He decided to do things. Jesus also highlights what can often be a confusing point for many… that no one truly knows God except those to whom He reveals Himself.

25 At that time Jesus prayed this prayer: “O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, thank you for hiding these things from those who think themselves wise and clever, and for revealing them to the childlike. 26 Yes, Father, it pleased you to do it this way!

27 “My Father has entrusted everything to me. No one truly knows the Son except the Father, and no one truly knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.”

28 Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.”

All too often in prayer we come to God to ask Him to do something differently. Jesus reminds us to thank God for doing things the way it is pleasing to Him. This demonstrates a lot of trust in God, even when we do not understand why He does something a certain way.

The second point Jesus makes about God choosing to reveal Himself to some, but implying not to others is difficult to fully digest for many. Studying all of scripture we see that both God and each individual have a role in building the relationship that ultimately draws us to God and to salvation through Jesus Christ.

I believe God was purposeful in putting the first two points together in one prayer in scripture. When we struggle to understand fully why God does something a certain way, He instructs us to trust that God has reasons for doing so and it is pleasing to Him. His ways are above our ways and we are unable to fully understand His perspective.

Jesus also invites us to come to Him when we are weary from suffering and “carrying heavy burdens”. He will help us. In particular, I have experienced many of the burdens I was bearing become lighter by growing closer to Jesus Christ. The more I understand what is truly important… advancing the kingdom of Go and serving Him… the less I am burdened by earthly concerns.

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