The Family Tree

If you are anything like me, you probably opened up to today’s reading, and thought “holy crud, two pages of nothing but names…..!”, and you were half tempted (more like 99%) to skip over all of those names about descendants and who’s son belonged to whom, and so and so had this person, this person was father to these 40 people, and the list goes on and on. I think you get the point. Not to mention you need a master’s degree just to be able to pronounce most of the names. I think the biggest reason why we tend to skip over these sections of the bible is because we really have no idea who most of these people are. Sure, we might see one name or so that we recognize, but in all honesty, it’s just a list of names to us. But I would like make a challenge to you, it will only take a couple minutes, but it will get the point across. Grab a piece of paper and start writing down the names of every single person in your family that you can remember starting with the oldest. First you would write down your great great or your great grandparents, then your grandparents, then probably your parents. You would then think of all your aunts and uncles and their kids, then you would get to you and your siblings. Then, if you are married, you would think about your spouse’s family, and for those you know you would start doing the same for that side. Then you might get to the spouse’s of your siblings, then your kids and their kids, then still depending on how old you are, you might start adding their husbands and wives and then their kids (which if you are keeping up, this would end up being your grandchildren), and the list goes on. Now try doing the same thing for maybe some friends that you know, who their parents are, who their kids are, and anyone else you know that could be associated with them. The point I am trying to make is this: without even trying to do so, while you thought of every family member you could think of, a memory of that person popped in your mind at the same time. It could have been bad, good, hilarious, whatever, but the point is, it happened. You may not like most of your family, but you know who they are, and that is why you had a memory about them. God is the exact same way. We may not see the point or the purpose in having chapter after chapter of names of people you have no clue or no desire to know who they are (I say that because you will come across a lot more lol), but God knows who they are, because every single one of us are important to Him. The same way you look at your list of family and think of memories about them, God does the exact same thing. Because He knows everything about us, even down to how many hairs on our head. That is how much He loves us, and how well He knows us, and how much He longs to have a relationship with us. So we have established how well He knows us, and I leave you with this question, how well do you know God?
Tanner

I Cannot Do It

Wow, there are a lot of things you can notice about Joseph, but to me one of the most important things to grab a hold of is that so often we forget we cannot do it! But God can!Verse 16 “I cannot do it,” Joseph replied to Pharaoh, “but God will give Pharaoh the answer He desires.”He reminds me of another young man that you will read about later on: Daniel. He was also given the ability to interpret dreams. His approach was the same, not by his power but By God’s power, will you have the answers you seek.I pray that today you will grasp that line of thought, not by your power, but by the power of God, it is by what you know, and what you can accomplish. Are you so humbled by that, that it is the first thing that comes from your mouth when you talk to people? “I cannot accomplish that, but my God can, and He will help you find out the answer to your difficulties if you will listen to His Word.”They might not be the answers you will be looking for, but they will be His answers none the less. Continue to allow people to see that it is God working through you and His name will be glorified.

Reconciliation

Wow, 20 years is a long time to be separated from a brother or any other family member. My brothers and I never really got along growing up and we still have our differences today, but I could not imagine being apart from them for 20 years. However, that is what happened to Jacob and Esau. Esau had reason to be mad and Jacob had reason to fear his brother, but in today’s reading we see reconciliation take place between the two and his fears are put to rest. Jacob expected to have to beg for mercy and perhaps even beg for his life for the pain and heartache he had caused in his brother’s life. However, when Esau saw his brother he ran to him. Esau offered to give Jacob all 550 of the animals back to his brother but Jacob insisted that he take the gift. I was reading this in the Hebrew today and the word Jacob used was birkati. By using this word, Jacob literally says, “accept my present”. Jacob wanted to share his blessing with his brother Esau to make up for the past. Esau says all is forgiven and you don’t have to give me you animals, but the custom of the day required that he accept the gift and so he did. A miracle was worked in the life of Jacob and Esau that day. God brought two brothers who had been separated, back together again. God had changed Jacob’s heart, and we see this in his acts of humility and generosity. He had changed the heart of Esau as well from seeking revenge to wanting to restore the relationship with his brother. At the end of the reading we see these two grown men together for their fathers funeral, as a family once again.
Do you fear forgiveness and reconciliation? I believe we all have someone in our lives we need to reconcile something with. Are you Jacob or Esau in your story? Do you need to humble yourself and be generous, or perhaps quit seeking revenge and just get over your issue with another person? Don’t let 20 years pass, don’t let another day pass, do whatever you can to bring reconciliation into your broken relationships. Life is too short to spend so much time divided and separated from those we love and care for.

Pastor Pete

A Planned Mistake With A Purpose

One thing that I have always enjoyed about this story is how God has even predestined our mistakes to be a part of His glorious plan. In order to explain this I first need ya’ll to recall a scripture you should have read yesterday: Genesis 25:23 ‘and the lord said to her “two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from within you will be separated; one people will be stronger than the other, and the older will serve the younger”. Many of us have read today’s scripture before, it’s the story of how a younger brother deceives his father and steals his older brother’s blessing. Now, some of us may be thinking, “that’s not a big deal”, but in the culture of the time, the father’s passing of the blessing had huge significance. The first born male in every household inherited the bulk of his father’s estate and possessions and usually the other children worked for, or served, the oldest. So for Jacob to come in and steal his brother’s blessing pretty much meant that he just stole his brother’s entire future, possessions, inheritance, the whole thing. No, you might say, Jacob was just doing what his mother told him to do, but that is really a lame excuse. Jacob knew exactly what he was doing, he knew what the consequences were going to be, and the risk he was taking in deceiving his father. But you see, God is always at work, and has a plan and a purpose for everything that He allows to happen. You will see as you read farther along, Jacob didn’t necessarily rule physically over Esau, but because of Jacob’s deception, it sent him on journey that would one day lead to one of his son’s becoming ruler over all of Egypt, second only to the Pharaoh himself, fulfilling the prophecy that was read at the beginning of this blog. It acts as a reassurance to me, that even though I make mistakes, and I know that I will continue to make mistakes, that God is always in control. Not only am I confident that He is in control, but everything that happens, no matter how bad it is, is part of purpose and plan that He has set out for my life, and there is a reason for everything. My challenge to you today, is to not blame God for what might be happening in your life, or for what may have already happened in your life, but to trust in Him with all your heart, and to lean not on your own understanding, but in all your ways acknowledge Him (Proverbs 3:5, 6), and trust that everything, even our sin that we commit, is part of a planned mistake with a purpose.
Tanner Butkay

The Lord Will Provide

January 21
“The Lord Will Provide”

I love the first sentence of Genesis 22:14, it says: “So Abraham called that place The LORD Will Provide.” God came through and provided for Abraham in a big way on that day, it seems reasonable that he would name that piece of ground “The LORD Will Provide.” This was no doubt one of those days and one of those moments in a person’s life that would never be forgotten. The reminder of this day and the provision of the Lord would help Abraham trust God in future circumstances. This day, above all others, showed Abraham just how much God cared for him and his family, it was a day he would never forget. What about you, do you have a day like this in your life? Can you remember a time in your life when God provided something that came just in the nick of time? A day when His provision amazed you? Is there a day you can point to and say, that was the day the Lord provided for me? We all have a day like that, many of us have many days like this. My challenge to you is to name that day. Don’t forget that time and never lose sight of how much God cares for you. Remember and name that day so when you are down you can go back to that time and know that God is truly your provider. Remember the days when the Lord came through for you in a BIG way and then you will never forget how important you are to God. Abraham gave that place of provision a name so it would never be forgotten. Let us do the same in our own way so we too will never forget the power and love found in God’s Holy provision.

Trust

January 19

Do you trust God? Most of us know we can trust God, but knowing we can trust him and trusting him, are two different things. In today’s scripture reading we see how Abram and Sarai place their trust in themselves rather then in God. It should be said that what Sarai told Abram to do with her maid servant Hagar was an accepted social custom of the day, one that allowed men in their old age to have an heir to carry on the family line. There can be much debate over whether what they did was a sin or not, but there can be no debate over their lack of trust. They simply decided to do it themselves, like we often do. When they did, relationships were destroyed, separation, pain, and suffering all entered into their lives because of their lack of trust. When we fail to trust God and instead choose to do it our way, or just make things happen ourselves, the result is always the same. You know you can trust God, now take the next step: trust HIM! Whatever it may be that you are having trouble with, trust God, don’t turn away, don’t do it yourself, wait on the Lord and trust.
Keep up the good work, don’t skip a reading and check back here on Wed. for another quick message. Until then place our trust in God!

Before you Start

WOW!!! I am so proud of you and our church as a whole. I was amazed to learn that over 200 of you took the 1-92 challenge this past Sunday. It is a simple challenge that will be difficult to complete. In the next year give God 92 hours, 15 minutes a day to read through the Bible. It sounds simple, but I promise you the enemy does not want you to complete the challenge and finish the race. So we are going to do this together. The FIRST thing each of you should do is sign up on the right hand side of this post to "follow this blog" and "subscribe" as well. This will let you know each time a new post is added. Here is the basic idea of the blog A few times each week we (Pete, Tanner, & Scotty) will post blogs on this page to hopefully give some insight and more detail to what you are reading. It will also be useful when we get to the hard parts as we encourage each other and “spur one another on.” So check back often or better yet sign up to follow the blog and post your own thoughts and comments for others to read.
For this first post let me give you some basic things you will need to do to complete the 1-92 challenge in the coming year.

1. Set a time and place- Try to read your Bible around the same time and in the same place as much as possible. I know this will not be practical for those who travel a lot, but if you can do it I promise it will make it easier to get in the habit of giving God 15 minutes each day without forgetting.
2. Be consistent- Don’t skip a day unless it is absolutely unavoidable. I promise you will hear this voice. “I will catch up tomorrow” that’s the DEVIL talking to you!!!! Don’t fall for it! Chances are if you skip a day or two you will not catch up and before you know it you will be weeks then months behind. Should you fall way behind, don’t quit, just look at the date on your watch, turn there and pick up and go again. DON’T QUIT NO MATTER WHAT!
3. Don’t expect to understand everything- Don’t try to study it all till you understand it, just read it and let God speak to you. I don’t understand it all, it’s ok, just keep reading and more will come to you as you go farther.
4. Expect to hear from God- When you come to read, come expecting to hear God. Don’t come thinking oh great another day of hard names, or man I don’t know why I am doing this. Expect to hear a word from the Lord.
5. Find a quite place and get rid of the distractions- I know it is hard but do your best to find the quietest place possible with the fewest distractions possible to read. If you leave the cell phone on it will ring, the devil will see to it. If you have supper on the stove, your mind will wonder to the time left before it is ready. If the TV is on, you will lose focus. Turn everything off or on silent for 15 minutes. Open with prayer, read, then close with prayer. Enjoy the peace and quiet, listen for the voice of God to break through and speak to you.

Don’t quit, don’t give up, don’t get frustrated, you need to make up your mind on day one that you are going to do this thing!!! Let’s do it together, and see what God will do in 2009!

Praying for us all!
Pastor Pete