- araratchurch
- Nov 9, 2023
- 4 min read
“Now Isaac pleaded with the Lord for his wife, because she was barren; and the Lord granted his plea, and Rebekah his wife conceived. But the children struggled together within her; and she said, “If all is well, why am I like this?” So she went to inquire of the Lord. And the Lord said to her: “Two nations are in your womb, Two peoples shall be separated from your body; One people shall be stronger than the other, And the older shall serve the younger.” So when her days were fulfilled for her to give birth, indeed there were twins in her womb. And the first came out red. He was like a hairy garment all over; so they called his name Esau. Afterward his brother came out, and his hand took hold of Esau’s heel; so his name was called Jacob. Isaac was sixty years old when she bore them.”
Genesis 25:21-26 NKJV
Our society presents the concept of being a “self-made man” as being something that is desirable and praiseworthy.
Now, whereas I understand the concept of not waiting for someone else to make things happen for you, as well as the importance of having personal initiative, the concept of being self-made, actually goes against how we should see ourselves, and how we should operate, as children of God.
Indeed, Jesus made it clear to His disciples that He was the source of their ability.
“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.”
John 15:5 NKJV
Paul thought of himself as a self-made man until the Lord encountered him on the road to Damascus. Then, he came to count his own accomplishments, as trash.
“For we are the circumcision, who worship God in the Spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh, though I also might have confidence in the flesh. If anyone else thinks he may have confidence in the flesh, I more so: circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews; concerning the law, a Pharisee; concerning zeal, persecuting the church; concerning the righteousness which is in the law, blameless. But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith; that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.”
Philippians 3:3-11 NKJV
Think of it, Paul had spent his entire life achieving great levels of knowledge and prestige in the religious community. But, he came to know that he could never be sufficient without the Lord.
“Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God,”
II Corinthians 3:5 NKJV
We have talked recently about how King Nebuchadnezzar found out the hard way that his authority, his prowess, was an allusion. What he had attained, could be taken away by the Lord, in a moment.
“At the end of the twelve months he was walking about the royal palace of Babylon. The king spoke, saying, “Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for a royal dwelling by my mighty power and for the honor of my majesty?” While the word was still in the king’s mouth, a voice fell from heaven: “King Nebuchadnezzar, to you it is spoken: the kingdom has departed from you!”
Daniel 4:29-31 NKJV
In our opening scripture we see that Jacob was born trying to promote himself and push ahead.
Yes, Jacob was well on the road of self-assertion. Indeed, he took advantage of Esau’s hunger to take his birthright.
“And Esau said to Jacob, “Please feed me with that same red stew, for I am weary.” Therefore his name was called Edom. But Jacob said, “Sell me your birthright as of this day.” And Esau said, “Look, I am about to die; so what is this birthright to me?” Then Jacob said, “Swear to me as of this day.” So he swore to him, and sold his birthright to Jacob. And Jacob gave Esau bread and stew of lentils; then he ate and drank, arose, and went his way. Thus Esau despised his birthright.”
Genesis 25:30-34 NKJV
Then, when it came time for his father to die, he again turned to his own devices (with the help of his mother) to receive the blessing that would’ve been Esau’s blessing.
“So he went 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 just as you told me; please arise, sit and eat of my game, that your soul may bless me.” But he said, “Your brother came with deceit and has taken away your blessing.” And Esau said, “Is he not rightly named Jacob? For he has supplanted me these two times. He took away my birthright, and now look, he has taken away my blessing!” And he said, “Have you not reserved a blessing for me?””
Genesis 27:18-19, 35-36 NKJV
Now, please understand, the Lord had told Rebecca before Jacob and Esau were born that Jacob would rule over his brother. So, it wasn’t the fact that he became the receiver of the birthright and the blessing that made him in error, those were assigned to him by the Lord.
What truly made him a supplanter is that he apparently thought it was his own manipulating and maneuvering that had put him over Esau.
But, if Jacob was ever going to receive the blessing from God, he was going to have to lay aside his way of being and doing. But, that would be a process.
We will talk more about that tomorrow.
Peace to you.
Jesus is coming! Get ready for Him!
- araratchurch
- Nov 9, 2023
- 2 min read
In preparation for our discussion over the next five days, please carefully read and meditate on these passages of scripture:
“Meanwhile, Jacob left Beersheba and traveled toward Haran. At sundown he arrived at a good place to set up camp and stopped there for the night. Jacob found a stone to rest his head against and lay down to sleep. As he slept, he dreamed of a stairway that reached from the earth up to heaven. And he saw the angels of God going up and down the stairway. At the top of the stairway stood the Lord, and he said, “I am the Lord, the God of your grandfather Abraham, and the God of your father, Isaac. The ground you are lying on belongs to you. I am giving it to you and your descendants. Your descendants will be as numerous as the dust of the earth! They will spread out in all directions—to the west and the east, to the north and the south. And all the families of the earth will be blessed through you and your descendants. What’s more, I am with you, and I will protect you wherever you go. One day I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have finished giving you everything I have promised you.” Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I wasn’t even aware of it!””
Genesis 28:10-16 NLT
“This left Jacob all alone in the camp, and a man came and wrestled with him until the dawn began to break. When the man saw that he would not win the match, he touched Jacob’s hip and wrenched it out of its socket. Then the man said, “Let me go, for the dawn is breaking!” But Jacob said, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.” “What is your name?” the man asked. He replied, “Jacob.” “Your name will no longer be Jacob,” the man told him. “From now on you will be called Israel, because you have fought with God and with men and have won.””
Genesis 32:24-28 NLT
“Then God said to Jacob, “Get ready and move to Bethel and settle there. Build an altar there to the God who appeared to you when you fled from your brother, Esau.” So Jacob told everyone in his household, “Get rid of all your pagan idols, purify yourselves, and put on clean clothing. Eventually, Jacob and his household arrived at Luz (also called Bethel) in Canaan. Jacob built an altar there and named the place El-bethel (which means “God of Bethel”), because God had appeared to him there when he was fleeing from his brother, Esau.”
Genesis 35:1-2, 6-7 NLT
I believe that many Christians have a mistaken idea of what their spiritual journey is to be.
Now sadly—for a variety of reasons we will discuss later—some never even begin their spiritual journey.
Over the next several days we will look at the spiritual journey through the lens of Jacob’s going from serving God as the God of Abraham and Isaac, to serving Him as the God of Abraham, Isaac, AND Jacob.
Peace to you.
Jesus is coming! Get ready for Him!
- araratchurch
- Nov 9, 2023
- 5 min read
“See that you do not refuse Him who speaks. For if they did not escape who refused Him who spoke on earth, much more shall we not escape if we turn away from Him who speaks from heaven, whose voice then shook the earth; but now He has promised, saying, “Yet once more I shake not only the earth, but also heaven.” Now this, “Yet once more,” indicates the removal of those things that are being shaken, as of things that are made, that the things which cannot be shaken may remain. Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. For our God is a consuming fire.”
Hebrews 12:25-29 NKJV
Some people will go to great extents, to far extremes, to attain power in this world. Yes, many people—past, present, and future—use force, intimidation, fear, whatever it takes, to lord over others and enjoy the perks of power.
Now, being in a position of power per se, is not wrong. Indeed, as we have discussed, throughout history the Lord has put people in positions of power in order for them to carry out His will. But, seeking power for power’s sake, is contrary to God’s way of being and doing.
“But Jesus called them to Himself and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles Lord it over them, and those who are great exercise authority over them. Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant. And whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave— just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.””
Matthew 20:25-28 NKJV
Yes, we are to seek the Kingdom of God, not our own kingdom or power.
“But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.”
Matthew 6:33 NKJV
Jesus didn’t come seeking power, He already had power.
“Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men.”
Philippians 2:5-7 NKJV
As a matter of fact, in the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry, the devil offered Him rulership over all the kingdoms of this world. Jesus refused.
“Then the devil, taking Him up on a high mountain, showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. And the devil said to Him, “All this authority I will give You, and their glory; for this has been delivered to me, and I give it to whomever I wish. Therefore, if You will worship before me, all will be Yours.” And Jesus answered and said to him, “Get behind Me, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.’ ””
Luke 4:5-8 NKJV
When the people were determined to forcibly take Jesus and make Him king, He refused.
“Then those men, when they had seen the sign that Jesus did, said, “This is truly the Prophet who is to come into the world.” Therefore when Jesus perceived that they were about to come and take Him by force to make Him king, He departed again to the mountain by Himself alone.”
John 6:14-15 NKJV
However, when Pilate was questioning Jesus as to whether or not He was a king, Jesus did not deny it.
As a matter of fact, Jesus confirmed that He was a King, but also made it clear that the source of His power, His rule, was not a function of the world system; it was not assigned to Him (or maintained) by men.
“Then Pilate entered the Praetorium again, called Jesus, and said to Him, “Are You the King of the Jews?” Jesus answered him, “Are you speaking for yourself about this, or did others tell you this concerning Me?” Pilate answered, “Am I a Jew? Your own nation and the chief priests have delivered You to me. What have You done?” Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would fight, so that I should not be delivered to the Jews; but now My kingdom is not from here.” Pilate therefore said to Him, “Are You a king then?” Jesus answered, “You say rightly that I am a king. For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.””
John 18:33-37 NKJV
Make no mistake, Jesus’ power and authority came from above.
“Then Jesus said to them again, “I am going away, and you will seek Me, and will die in your sin. Where I go you cannot come.” So the Jews said, “Will He kill Himself, because He says, ‘Where I go you cannot come’?” And He said to them, “You are from beneath; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for if you do not believe that I am He, you will die in your sins.””
John 8:21-24 NKJV
As we have been discussing over the last several days, we are seeing great turmoil and strife all over the world. Indeed, many forces, yes, forces of evil, are trying to forcibly exert themselves.
However, we do not have to be distressed. These things are not happening because God has somehow lost control of the situation. As Jesus said, these things must come to pass.
“And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.”
Matthew 24:6 NKJV
We are now seeing what our opening scripture references: the shaking of all things that can be shaken.
Please understand, the referenced “shaking,” doesn’t just mean affecting the stability of all things. No, it references the shaking OUT, or destruction, of anything that is not eternal.
The good news is, we are part of the unshakable, eternal Kingdom of God. As such, we do not have to be anxious as to who will end up ruling over us; we already know Him. Indeed, He is already our King!
Praise God! We have nothing to fear in terms of the stability of the power, rule, and authority of our King. Remember, the world didn’t give it to Him, and the world can’t take it away!
Peace to you.
Jesus is coming! Get ready for Him!