Category Archives: Genesis

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Reconciled Relationships

A Gift No Other Gift Can Match

God made us to live in reconciled relationships, first with him and then with each other. When we are at peace in our relational world, it is like being ever before the face of God. When a broken relationship has been restored, it is a gift of God’s grace that no other gift in the world can match. Thank God for reconciled relationships!

The Journey // Focus: Genesis 33: 24-25, 10-11

But Jacob insisted, “No, if I have found favor with you, please accept this gift from me. And what a relief to see your friendly smile. It is like seeing the face of God! Please take this gift I have brought you, for God has been very gracious to me. I have more than enough.” And because Jacob insisted, Esau finally accepted the gift.

God made us to live in reconciled relationships, first with him and then with each other. When we are at peace in our relational world, it is like being ever before the face of God. When a broken relationship has been restored, it is a gift of God’s grace that no other gift in the world can match.

Thank God for reconciled relationships!

Unfortunately, sin leads us to deceive one another, or dominate, or even destroy our most priceless treasures—people we love. And once sin sets in, distance is caused between two who were once close. Ultimately, division is created, feelings are wounded and covenants are fractured. Though we might be able to explain the causes and justify the results, disunity is a result of sin, and the divide that is created between two human beings is the Enemy’s stock-in-trade.

Yet God has provided a path for the mending of broken covenants, and the stepping stones on the path are repentance, forgiveness, restitution, reconciliation and restoration. Each of those steps can be seen in Jacob’s outreach to his brother, Esau.

Esau had been the wounded party; Jacob the perpetrator. Thankfully, Jacob took the initiative. In his wrestling match with God in the previous chapter, God had dealt with his deceptive ways, and Jacob repented. He then sought forgiveness from his brother, humbling himself in Esau’s presence. (Genesis 33:3) He even took it a step further by offering restitution, thus the gifts. (Genesis 33:8) Jacob’s act of contrition and Esau’s willingness to accept it led to reconciliation between the two, and ultimately to a restored relationship in the house of Isaac. (Genesis 33:4)

And what a beautiful story this is, one that has the smile of God plastered all over it.

Does reconciliation always happen when outreach is made? Not always. Sometimes the hurt is deep and time is needed. Sometimes the offender has not humbled himself enough to repair the breach. And often the wounded party, who in reality, has to pay the real cost of reconciliation—forgiveness—is simply not ready and willing to bear that price. Never the less, if there is fracture in your relational world, perhaps this story is a reminder to do what you must to reconcile.

If you were the offender, or even the offended, reach out and do what you can. Who knows what will happen, because the other person’s response is an unavoidable part of the equation. But the risk will be worth the reward, for the possibility of seeing the smile of God in the relationship is the best gift ever.

And even if restoration waits for a later day, the smile of God will be within your heart for giving every effort to attain unity with the offended party.

Going Deeper: If you have offended someone, remember, rarely is merely saying “sorry” going to be enough, especially if the offense is deep. Keep in mind that God has established a process, so don’t neglect to follow it step by step: repentance, forgiveness and restitution, then hopefully reconciliation and full restoration.

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Touched By The Divine

Wrestling With God Always Leaves A Mark

When my grandson Noah comes for a visit, quite often the first thing out of his mouth is, “Hey Papa, let’s wrestle!” Every believer, at some point, needs to grapple with God, too. You see, into your relationship with him you bring vestiges of your sin nature: the part of you that resists him, wants to do things your way, wants to hang on to things that are, at worst, destructive, and at best, barriers to his best for you. Sooner or later, that needs to get wrestled out of you; you’ve got to surrender it to God.

The Journey // Focus: Genesis 32: 24-25, 30-31

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…Jacob named the place Peniel (which means “face of God”), for he said, “I have seen God face to face, yet my life has been spared. The sun was rising as Jacob left Peniel, and he was limping because of the injury to his hip.

When my grandson Noah comes for a visit, quite often the first thing out of his mouth is, “Hey Papa, let’s wrestle!” And I oblige him, of course. I even let him prevail, which builds his confidence and courage as a little man, and likewise, builds closeness with his adoring Papa.

Perhaps you, too, are due a wrestling match of sorts with the Almighty. Every believer, at some point in their journey of faith needs to grapple with God. You see, into your relationship with the Lord you bring vestiges of your sin nature, the part of you that resists him, that wants to do things your way, that wants to hang on to things that are, at worst, destructive, and at best, barriers to his best in your life. Sooner or later, that needs to get wrestled out of you; you’ve got to surrender that to God.

Interestingly, as Jacob tangled with God, it left a mark—a permanent one. And that was good. But here is my question for you: is there any evidence—visible, quantifiable, observable proof—that you have encountered the Lord? Has your interaction with the God who longs to interact with you left his fingerprints on your life?

Why did Jacob need to wrestle with the Lord? I am sure there were reasons we may never completely understand. Perhaps it was fear and anxiety about his future. After all, the last time he saw Esau, his brother was none to happy, and now Esau is headed toward him with a full head of steam and an army of warriors. Maybe it was guilt and remorse over his past. Jacob has cheated just about everyone he has ever had a relationship with. It could be it was your run-of-the-mill dissatisfaction over who he was in the presence of the Lord. Jacob’s name meant surplanter or deceiver, and the fact that God renames him after their encounter suggests that Jacob was in desperate need of a new identity if Jacob was to move on with God. Whatever the case, Jacob wrestled all night with God.

And at the end of the contest Jacob is different. He has a new name and a limp. God has given him a new direction, a new identity, a new heritage, but perhaps best of all, an ever-present reminder, the limp, that he now belongs to God in a deeper way. From this point on, every time Jacob takes a step, he will think back to his life-changing encounter with God. And every time someone looks at Jacob and see his uneven gait, they, too, will be reminded that there goes a man who prevailed with God.

I pray that at some point, you and I will have that kind of encounter with God; one that permanently leaves us with his distinguishing touch. May the Lord overcome us with his presence and overwhelm us in his power. And may God leave evidence of his grace and love on us, body, soul and spirit—fingerprints all over our lives that we may be continually reminded that our identity is in him, our past is under his mercy, our future is in his hands and our victory is within his guarantee. And may others know, not for our own glory, but for his, that we have been with and belong to God Almighty.

Perhaps it is time for a wrestling match with the Almighty. Maybe you are still hanging on to anxiety about your future, guilt over your past, or dissatisfaction with your identity. It may sound a little strange, but perhaps you ought to say, “Hey Papa, let’s wrestle!”

And if you are dead serious, and if God graciously obliges, don’t be surprised that you will be touched by the Divine, and come away with a limp to prove it.

Going Deeper: Think about this: “If our identity is in our work [or anything else], rather than Christ, success will go to our heads, and failure will go to our hearts.” (Timothy Keller) In what or whom do you base your identity? The answer is critical. If it is anything or anyone other than Christ, surrender it to him—even if it requires a wrestling match.

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Flawless

God's Word Is Perfect

The Bible declares itself to be flawless, and history has proven that to be true. God’s Word is perfect—in what it declares, in what it calls us to do, in what it promises. It makes no mistakes, it never misleads and it never mismanages our lives when we give total allegiance and perfect obedience to it. Why then, would our walk with God be characterized by anything less than flawless fidelity and perfect obedience to his Word?

The Journey // Focus: Genesis 31:16, cf. Psalm 12:6

“So do whatever God has told you…The words of the Lord are flawless.”

The words of the Lord are flawless. The Bible declares that about itself, and history has proven it to be true. God’s Word is perfect—in what it declares, in what it calls us to do, in what it promises. It makes no mistakes, it never misleads and it never mismanages our lives when we give total allegiance and perfect obedience to it.

Why then, would our walk with God be characterized by anything else than flawless fidelity and perfect obedience to his Word? The Word is God—the revelation of himself to us. And just as his Word is flawless, so is he—perfect in character, true in all his ways, just in everything he says.

What that means is that God is perfect for us. In other words, he has never done us wrong, nor will he ever. And therefore, only perfect and trusting obedience to what he calls us to do is what he deserves, and is what is right. Flawless obedience to the flawless words of the flawless God brings glory to him—and it is good for us.

The Bible is a vein of pure gold, unalloyed by quartz or any earthly substance. This is a star without a speck; a sun without a blot; a light without darkness; a moon without its paleness; a glory without a dimness. O Bible! It cannot be said of any other book that it is perfect and pure; but of thee we can declare all wisdom is gathered up in thee, without a particle of folly. This is the judge that ends the strife, where wit and reason fail. This is the book untainted by any error; but is pure, unalloyed, perfect truth. (Charles Haddon Spurgeon )

May we discover what these two flawed sisters, Leah and Rachel, had come to know about the God they followed: that all of his ways were perfect and each of his words were true. And because he had proven himself as such, they were willing to fully submit to what the Lord had instructed their husband to do.

Going Deeper: Let me suggest a prayer for you to offer to God today: “Perfect Father, I want my walk with you to be characterized 24/7 by perfect obedience. You deserve nothing less. I ask you to give me a heart that passionately longs to obey you. Take away the heart that wants to go my own way, do my own thing, think my own thoughts, satisfy my own desires, and glorify my own ego. Father, your words are flawless, and like Leah and Rachel, I want to do whatever you tell me.”

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The Imperfect People of a Perfect God

The Great Eraser Does It Again

God accommodates his called ones. Yes, their sins have consequences and their actions produce long term effects that make the path to God’s plan unnecessarily painful. Yet God’s permissive will seems to allow for blessing to come through their flawed choices. “All things work together for good to those who are the called according to his purpose.” For instance, Israel foolishly asked for a king, and suffered the consequences for that choice, yet from God granting what they asked for comes kings like David, Hezekiah and Jesus. Newton was right: We serve a gracious Master who knows how to overrule even our mistakes to His glory and our own advantage.”

The Journey // Focus: Genesis 30:22

Then God remembered Rachel; he listened to her and enabled her to conceive.

If I were to arrive at a bottom line for this strange story of the “baby race” between Rachel and Leah, it would be this:

God will fulfill his plan, even through imperfect people!

God over-ruled the competition, jealousy, meanness, devaluing and cheating of these two sisters and their husband to accomplish his purpose of fulfilling his covenant with their forefathers to build a nation through them. As the great hymn writer John Newton observed, “We serve a gracious Master who knows how to overrule even our mistakes to His glory and our own advantage.”

Why God does that, I don’t know, but thank God for his grace. If he didn’t, there would be no fulfillment of the Divine plan through human beings.

And thank God that his sovereign plan is unstoppable. In spite of our imperfections, when he has called us, he will perfect everything that concerns us. (Psalm 138:8) That doesn’t mean he will give us everything we want. Again, thank God for that. Because of our sin nature and our shortsightedness, often what we want would be destructive to our lives and would be damaging to God’s plan for us. No, when God perfects that which concerns us, he is not necessarily giving us what we want, he is giving us what he wants, which is what we really need.

On the surface, this Leah/Rachel narrative of sibling rivalry, manipulation of the divine will and of crediting God for human conniving seems to have the Lord’s stamp of approval. There is no divine rebuke recorded in this story. This is no consequence for sinful actions. It seems that God has winked at their sin in order to keep his long-range plan on track to bless the world through Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. But keep in mind that when you read the narrative sections of the Bible and you run into these kinds of stories of flawed human beings making questionable choices, their inclusion in Scripture is not an excuse of bad behavior; it is an explanation for how things came to be and how God will ultimately fix the human race through his Son.

That leads to another interesting facet to the saga of Jacob, the deceiver. Always attempting to work out God’s will on his own terms, he plans on carrying the family line on through the beautiful Rachel. God’s plan, however, was to fulfill his ultimate plan of a Messiah for the world through the less desirable Leah. God overrode Jacob’s plan by blessing Leah with many children, including the birth of Judah, from whose tribe would come the Lion of Judah, Jesus the Messiah, Lord and King, Savior of the World. God will fulfill his plan, not ours.

Yet God accommodates his called ones. Yes, their sins have consequences and their actions produce long term effects that make the path to God’s plan unnecessarily painful. Yet God’s permissive will seems to allow for blessing to come through their flawed choices. “All things work together for good to those who are the called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:28) For instance, Israel foolishly asked for a king, and suffered the consequences for that choice, yet from God granting what they asked for comes kings like David, Hezekiah and Jesus. Newton was right: God overrules our mistakes.

With that in mind, we come to the text that tells us God remembered Rachel. Throughout Scripture, we see that God remembers his people, flawed as they are. God remembered Noah…God remembered Abraham…God remembered Hannah…God remembered Ephraim…God remembered his people. Is God remembering because he forget? Not at all. Is God simply remembering that person? In part, yes, but there is something more, something far greater that is going on when he remembers a person. The blessed truth is, God is calling to mind his plan, couched in his unbreakable covenant, and bringing back on track the conditions to bring about the results he has eternally declared.

God remember Rachel, and through her blessed with world with a son, Joseph, a type of savior whom God used to preserve his people in Egypt and to serve as an eternal example of ruthless trust in the sovereign plan of God.

The good news from this story is that God remembers you, too. As flawed and shorted sighted as you might be, if you have surrendered your life to him by grace through faith in his Son, Jesus Christ, God will remember his plan for you. And he will fulfill his purposes for you. Even though you may sin, manipulate to get what you want, mess things up a bit, or a lot, God has a way of getting you to the finish of that which he has envisioned for your life as it fits into his eternal plan. At the end of the day,

“All glory to God, who is able to keep you from falling away and will bring you with great joy into his glorious presence without a single fault.” (Jude 1:24)

God remembers you, and he will fulfill his plans for you. You should remember that: it will go a lot better for you if you do.

Going Deep: Think of the consequences of this truth: God remembers you, and he will fulfill all of his purposes for you. What ramifications does that hold for your life today?

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Lights Will Guide You Home

God Is With You—Always

In the journey of faith, you need a revelation—not just a knowledge of, or a hope for, but a guiding light that never dims as it shows you the way through the fog of life; a light that continually reveals a God who is with you always, who’s got your back no matter what you encounter, whose power, not yours, will see you through, who will finish what he’s started in you and who will faithfully guide you home.

The Journey // Focus: Genesis 28:12-15

As Jacob 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.”

To call it the road less travelled would be an understatement. Jesus referred to it as the straight and narrow way, the path of denial, the way of death. Without exception, every giant of faith in Scripture knew of the difficulty of the walk; they experienced it in a variety of manifestations: the pit, the prison, the wilderness, the cave, and the place of exile. Of course, I am talking about the journey of faith.

So why would anyone in their right mind ever choose to enter the way of faith, seeing from such examples that it is the most difficult calling in life? Simply because it is the one and only way to real life—abundant life now and eternal life forever—that’s why!

But to traverse this hard road—to start strong and finish well—the traveller needs a guiding revelation. That is what Jacob received at Bethel, where in a dream of a stairway to heaven, God spoke to him and assured this wandering patriarch-in-training that he would bring to pass everything that had been previously promised to Jacob’s grandfather, Abraham and his father, Isaac.

Similar to Jacob, every believing traveller needs a guiding revelation, whether the revelation comes from a dream (not too likely in this era of God’s activity among humans) or through the Word of God brought to life by the Holy Spirit (a much more likely—and sure—way to receive Divine instructions). And like the divine download Jacob received, that revelation is simply, yet powerfully this:

The promise of God’s presence: “What’s more, I am with you…” (Genesis 28:15a)

The promise of divine preservation: “…and I will protect you wherever you go.” (Genesis 28:15b)

The promise supernatural power: “One day I will bring you back to this land.” (Genesis 28:15c)

The promise of an inalterable plan: “I will not leave you until I have finished giving you everything I have promised you.” (Genesis 28:15d)

Without a revelation—not just a knowledge of, or a hope for, but a rock-solid belief system that becomes your fulcrum of faith—that God is and always will be with you, that he’s got your back no matter what you encounter or are forced to endure, that his power, not yours, will see you through and that he will finish what he has started, you will not complete the journey of faith on the road less traveled.

I know that sounds ominous, but the good news is, success in the journey is not up to you. It is all on God. You just need to commit to the path, ask and receive the guiding revelation, then pursue it with an unfailing focus on the finish, for there is no destination that compares to where you are headed.

Of course, what I have just described doesn’t sound easy. It’s not, but it is worth it. And again, once you commit to the way of faith, heart, soul, mind and strength, you have Someone who will be with you, will protect you, will fulfill his every promise to you, and will finish in you what he started.

Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. (Philippians 1:6)

Go with God—I promise you, you won’t regret it!

Going Deeper: Ask God to reveal his character to you. He will! Get in the journey through is Word, and like Jacob, at some point along the way, you will have your own personal Bethel.

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God’s Vision For Your Child

Show Them The Divine Plan

God has a unique design and a special purpose for every child’s life. It’s the highest priority of the parent to discover, cultivate and delight in that design—not to manipulate it into their own vision for the child. Learning from the parental mistakes of the Biblical Isaac and Rebekah, moms and dads must neither be an “Isaac” — disengage and see what happens, nor a “Rebekah” — helicopter in and rescue the child from every danger. Rather, parents must partner with the Divine Designer who gave their little one life in order to bring out the God-colors as he or she develops.

The Journey // Focus: Genesis 27:1-10

One day when Isaac was old and turning blind, he called for Esau&, his older son, and said, “My son…I am an old man now, and I don’t know when I may die. Take your bow and a quiver full of arrows, and go out to hunt some wild game for me. Prepare my favorite dish, and bring it here for me to eat. Then I will pronounce the blessing that belongs to you, my firstborn son, before I die.” But Rebekah overheard what Isaac had said to Esau. So when Esau left to go hunting, she said to her son Jacob, “Listen to me. Do exactly as I tell you. Go out to the flocks, and bring me two fine young goats. I’ll use them to prepare your father’s favorite dish. Then take the food to your father so he can eat it and bless you instead before he dies.”

Like all parents, Isaac and Rebekah were far from perfect. The father was detached—aloof to the family dynamic played out in this narrative—but complicit in it, nonetheless. The mother was overly-involved, manipulatively so. She had a helicoptering style of parenting: hovering over her favorite son, swooping in to the rescue whenever she perceived that people were hostile to him and circumstances were non-conducive to her plan for his life.

Speaking of which, Rebekah had a vision for Jacob’s life, and in a sense, it wasn’t far off from God’s grand vision for his life. The problem was, she mismanaged the details and the process of the vision in a big way. She felt God needed help fulfilling the Divine plan for Jacob—and she was willing to compromise her moral authority to get the desired result.

By the way, God worked through the dumb things these parents did, as he does with the mistakes we make with our children–thank God.  As John Newton wrote, “We serve a gracious Master who knows how to overrule even our mistakes to His glory and our own.” But negative consequences were unleashed in the patriarchal family dynamic that lasted for decades, and you might even say, for generations.

It’s easy for parents to often confuse their desire for their child’s life with what is really best for that child. It’s the classic story of the high school quarterback who insists on turning his son into an NFL prospect by age 10, or the former home-coming queen who now dresses her little four-year-old up like Miss America, or the high achieving parents who insist that the school treat their second-grader like a Rhodes Scholar.

Christian parents sometimes get their plan mixed up with what God’s vision is for their child. Rebekah did that—and she felt God needed help fulfilling it. And she was willing to compromise. Predictably, Jacob, low in moral character, was more afraid of getting caught than doing wrong—so he went along with his mother’s deception. And that would be the beginning of many more poor choices to come.

God has a unique design and a special purpose for every child’s life. It is the highest priority of the parent to discover, understand, cultivate and delight in that design—not to manipulate it into their vision for the child’s life. A parent must not become a “Rebekah”—manipulative and controlling, helicopter in and rescue the child from every danger. Nor should a parent become an “Isaac” —disengage and see what happens! Rather, the parent must learn to partner with the One who gave the child life in order to bring out the God-colors in that child’s life.

If you are a parent, or involved in rearing the child in any way—as a caregiver, teacher, mentor, coach—the methods you use must never be inconsistent with God’s character, design and plan. You have a precious gem in your care, so take care how you cut and polish that diamond! And never forget, the greatest gift you can give that child is your example. It’s the thumbprint you leave behind for generations to come.

Many years ago a Christian magazine presented some interesting facts about two families. In 1677 an immoral man married a immoral woman. Of the 1900 descendants that came from their marriage, 771 were criminals, 250 were arrested for various crimes—60 for theft and 39 were convicted for murder. Forty of the women were known to have venereal disease. They spent a combined total of 1300 years behind bars, costing the state millions of dollars.

The other family was the Edwards family—the third generation included Jonathan Edwards, the great New England revivalist and president of Princeton. Of the 1,344 descendants, several were college presidents and professors, 186 became ministers, 86 were state senators, 3 were Congressmen, 30 were judges, and 1 became Vice President of the United States. No reference can be found to anyone spending time in jail or in the poorhouse.

Not all children of good parents become amazing adults, nor do children of bad parents always turn out bad. But no one can deny, a parent’s example is extremely powerful – either for good or for evil, sometimes for generations to come!

God has a vision for every child’s life. Carefully, worshipfully, discover the Divine design. And never forget, an act of faith and obedience in following God’s vision for that child’s life today can reverse the curse of family imperfections. A step of faith right now may just be that which will release the blessings of God upon your children’s children!

Going Deeper: Consider the child that God has place under your influence. Take care how you cut and polish the diamond. It matters to God.

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The Blessability Factor

"Oh, That You Would Bless Me!"

Jesus came to give us life more abundantly—a blessed life, life to the full, life overflowing with God’s generosity. For sure, first and foremost, that means spiritually. But that fullness ought to impact us in every other area as well: emotionally, physically, relationally, and financially. It is that kind of blessable life that is perhaps the most compelling Christian witness of all.

The Journey // Focus: Genesis 26:28

Abimelech answered Isaac, “We saw clearly that the Lord was with you; so we said, ‘There ought to be a sworn agreement between us…”

Just as God had sovereignly blessed his father, Abraham, with untold abundance, so God graciously poured out his blessings upon Isaac, who became uncommonly successful. One of the interesting interchanges in this story is the conversation that took place between King Abimelech, in whose land Isaac dwelt, and Isaac regarding this uncommon success.

Have you ever had a conversation with someone like the one captured in this verse: “We saw clearly that the Lord was with you”? Shouldn’t the people of God be attractive to non-believers because of the Lord’s blessings on their lives? Shouldn’t the benefits of walking with God be visible, at least to some extent, causing those who observe us to also admire us?

Of course, not all of God’s blessings are visible, external, and in particular, financial, but we should expect that some blessings will be. For Isaac, God had blessed him with herds and servants to the point that the leaders of the community in which he lived took notice.

Yet even those blessings that are internal and spiritual in nature should also have some observable outward manifestations in our lives. The joy, peace and favor of the Lord ought to translate onto our countenance and into our voices and out through our actions. The knowledge of eternal life ought to give us such a security and confidence that others become aware of “sometime they can’t quite put their finger on” about us, and that ought to cause them to want to know more.

Jesus said, “I have come that you may have life, and that you may have it more abundantly.” (John 10:10) Jesus wants that for you—a blessed life, life to the full, life overflowing with God’s generosity. For sure, first and foremost, that means spiritually. But that fullness ought to impact you in every other area as well: emotionally, physically, relationally, and financially.

It is that kind of blessed and blessable life that is perhaps the most compelling Christian witness of all.

My prayer for you and me is that we may become “Kingdom magnets” because of the abundance of God’s continual blessings upon our lives!

Going Deeper: In light of what you’ve observed about Isaac’s life, here is a payer you might want to offer today: “Father, as Jabez prayed so I pray, ‘Oh, that you would bless me, indeed, and enlarge my territory! Let your hand be with me, and keep me from harm so that I will be free from pain.’ God, you granted his request, so now I ask that you would grant mine, too.”