Making A Difference Daily

Today’s Passage – Genesis 27 – 28 (Click on the references to listen to the audio – Click here to view the passage from Blue Letter Bible)

(Second Milers also read – Matthew 19 – 20; Proverbs 10; Psalms 46 – 50)

Listen to this morning’s Scripture Song – Psalm 48:1 & 2

Read the “0110 Evening and Morning” devotion for today, by the late Charles Haddon Spurgeon.

Read a previous post from this passage – “A Disfunctional Family,” “I am with Thee,” “The House of God” and “Savory Meat“

“18 And he came unto his father, and said, My father: and he said, Here am I; who art thou, my son? 19 And Jacob said unto his father, I am Esau thy firstborn; I have done according as thou badest me: arise, I pray thee, sit and eat of my venison, that thy soul may bless me. 20 And Isaac said unto his son, How is it that thou hast found it so quickly, my son? And he said, Because the LORD thy God brought it to me. 21 And Isaac said unto Jacob, Come near, I pray thee, that I may feel thee, my son, whether thou be my very son Esau or not. 22 And Jacob went near unto Isaac his father; and he felt him, and said, The voice is Jacob’s voice, but the hands are the hands of Esau. 23 And he discerned him not, because his hands were hairy, as his brother Esau’s hands: so he blessed him.” (Genesis 27:18-23)

In Genesis 27, we read the very familiar passage of Jacob deceiving his father, Isaac. We see a level of treachery that no one would ever want to see in their family. As I read this passage God stirred a couple of thoughts in my head about the New Testament Church Age that we live in. Just as Jacob was Esau’s brother, we in the family of God have our brothers and sisters in Christ. 

1.     Jacobs Subtlety 

Jacob was willing to go to great lengths just to deceive his brother for his birthright and also to deceive his father for his blessing. What lengths are we willing to go to do the same to our brothers and sisters in Christ? We as Christians are supposed to work together in unity:

 “Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and [that] there be no divisions among you; but [that] ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.)” (1 Corinthians 1:10)

A lot of times all we do is strive for recognition, praise, and the “Blessings of God.” The problem is when we do that we bulldoze everyone in the way to get there and miss what it’s all about.

“And he said, Thy brother came with subtilty, and hath taken away thy blessing.)” (Genesis 27:35)

The devil is all about subtlety; if we are not careful, he will lure us through pride into dividing the church family. 

2.     Isaac’s Lack of Discernment 

Isaac was very fast to just give the blessing to Jacob without discerning who it was.

 “And Jacob went near unto Isaac his father; and he felt him, and said, the voice [is] Jacob’s voice, but the hands [are] the hands of Esau.” (Genesis 27:22)

To Isaac, Jacob smelled, felt, and cooked like Esau, but he sounded like Jacob. Just as Isaac was deceived, Satan is out trying to deceive us.

“Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.” (1 Peter 5:8)

The devil will always try to trick you with a cheap replica. It will always seem just like the real thing but something is always off. That is why we need discernment from God, so when the devil tries to trick us, we will know it’s him and not God. 

“Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.” (1 Thessalonians 5:21)

The devil is very subtle. We saw that in the Garden, but because of the warnings in the Scriptures, we know that and need to have our guard up. We might just want to be lifted up, be recognized, and have praise, but don’t be fooled, the devil is using you to divide and sow strife in God’s church. 

3.     Esau’s Anger

Esau did everything he was supposed to do, he obeyed his father, went out hunting, cooked the meal, and brought it to his father, but his own brother went in before him and stole his blessing. In the Christian life there will be some point where someone you loved, someone who is close to you, wrongs you. Sometimes you are doing exactly what you are supposed to, and the betrayal still happens. In those situations, we cannot act out in anger 

“He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty; and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city.” (Proverbs 16:32)

I think the best New Testament example of this is Jesus. Obviously being Christ, he never did anything wrong. He was doing all the things God commanded Him to do, yet there was still Judas. Jesus didn’t act out in anger but still loved judas. As Christians, we can’t control what others do to us, but we can control our reactions, sometimes the best thing to do after someone stabs us in the back is pull out the blade wipe off the blood and hand it back. If that person betrays or wrongs you and gets a reaction out of you, such as anger, your testimony and the cause of Christ is blasphemed. If you react in the love of Christ and “turn the other cheek,” the other person will see that and will not forget, and will see what it means to be a true Christian. As Christians, we need to live by the truths found in God’s Word because, as this passage spoke to me today about my life, His Word will do the same to you. 

Today’s Passage – Genesis 25 – 26 (Click on the references to listen to the audio – Click here to view the passage from Blue Letter Bible)

(Second Milers also read – Matthew 17 – 18; Proverbs 9; Psalms 41 – 45)

Listen to this morning’s Scripture Song – Psalm 47:1

Read the “0109 Evening and Morning” devotion for today, by the late Charles Haddon Spurgeon.

Read a previous post from this passage – “ “From A Father To A Son”

“And the men of the place asked him of his wife; and he said, She is my sister: for he feared to say, She is my wife; lest, said he, the men of the place should kill me for Rebekah; because she was fair to look upon.” (Genesis 26:7)

In order for you to fully understand this morning’s thought, you might want to go back and read Genesis chapter twenty. If this account of Isaac lying about the true identity of his wife sounds familiar to you, it is because we read back in Genesis 20 that his father Abraham did the exact same thing to Abimelech. It appears that the apple doesn’t fall very far the tree. Isaac apparently had picked up some of his father’s bad habits.

There is an old expression which states that parents don’t get what they want in child-rearing, they get what they are. I have observed that to be true. Our children definitely begin to emulate our values, character traits, and even our mannerisms. As a school teacher, I have closely observed the children in  my charge, and it is amazing how much the children are like their parents. It’s kind of scary to think that we are also passing on our bad habits. Isaac learned how to lie from his dad.

As parents, we must be very careful to remember that our children are always watching us; almost analyzing us. They mistakenly think that everything we do is right, so they have no reason not to mimic who we are. Even later when they are taught with words regarding bad behavior, the message that they received from the life of the parent will often leave a stronger impression. Parents, and mentors, need to be very careful to watch their own behavior, especially around those young ones that are so impressionable. We need to be what we want them to be. Be the right example to your children.

Today’s Passage – Genesis 10 – 12 (Click on the references to listen to the audio – Click here to view the passage from Blue Letter Bible)

(Second Milers also read – Matthew 7 – 8; Proverbs 4; Psalms 16 – 20)

Listen to this morning’s Scripture song – Psalm 89:1

Read the 0104 Evening and Morning devotion for today by the late Charles Haddon Spurgeon.

Read a previous post from this passage – “Don’t Move Unless God Moves You“ and “The Beginning of Globalism; ” “The Land Belongs to Israel.”

“31 And Terah took Abram his son, and Lot the son of Haran his son’s son, and Sarai his daughter in law, his son Abram’s wife; and they went forth with them from Ur of the Chaldees, to go into the land of Canaan; and they came unto Haran, and dwelt there. 32 And the days of Terah were two hundred and five years: and Terah died in Haran.” (Genesis 11:31-32)

There is so much that we can discuss from today’s reading and I would encourage you to look at the previous posts linked above to examine more deeply some of the highlights. My thought for today, however surrounds the call of Abraham and his willingness and reluctance to follow the will of God. Abraham was human just like we are and he struggled with obeying God immediately and completely just like we do.

In Genesis 11:31 – 32, we see that Abraham’s father Terah took Abraham and his wife Sarah, and his grandson Lot, from Ur of the Chaldees and brings them into Haran. [Note – Here Abraham is called “Abram,” and Sarah is called “Sarai.” There names will be changed by God later in Genesis (Genesis 17:5; 17:15).]

After Terah dies, Abraham will then take Sarah and Lot and travel into the land of Canaan.

When we compare the Genesis account with what is recorded about the same event in the New Testament, we learn that Abraham was called by God when he was still living in Ur of the Chaldees to get away from his kindred (his family) and go into Canaan. He was supposed to leave his family behind and follow the will of God. We don’t know much about Terah, but it is evident from Joshua 24:2 that he served other gods. Instead, Abraham travels with his father and nephew, and then does not actually complete the journey all the way to Canaan until after his father had died.

“2 And he said, Men, brethren, and fathers, hearken; The God of glory appeared unto our father Abraham, when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Charran, 3 And said unto him, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and come into the land which I shall shew thee. 4 Then came he out of the land of the Chaldaeans, and dwelt in Charran: and from thence, when his father was dead, he removed him into this land, wherein ye now dwell. 5 And he gave him none inheritance in it, no, not so much as to set his foot on: yet he promised that he would give it to him for a possession, and to his seed after him, when as yet he had no child.” (Acts 7:2-5)

I may be speculating here just a little but it is very possible that Abraham hesitated to obey God until his father was out of the way. Jesus said:

“37 He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.” (Matthew 10:37)

Most of us understand what is like to be pressured by family. Most of the time our families want the very best for us and would want us to follow God wherever that leads. However, there are times that the will of God will lead us away from family or away from where our family would want us to go, or possibly away from what our family would want us to do. In times like that, we must be willing to follow God’s will even if it upsets those that we love.

Abraham would later struggle with this same issue again, this time regarding his own son Isaac. We will read about this and likely discuss it in greater detail when we get to Genesis 22, but for now I will point out that God will put Abraham to the ultimate test and ask him to sacrifice his son Isaac on Mt. Moriah. God wanted to see if Abraham loved God more than the son that God had given him.

Abraham also struggled remaining in the place of God’s will after he arrived in the land of Canaan. Once Abraham finally gets to the place of God’s will, he leaves because of a famine. You would think that if God told him that Canaan was the place where Abraham should go, that he would stay there and trust God to take care of him even during a time of famine.

“7 And the LORD appeared unto Abram, and said, Unto thy seed will I give this land: and there builded he an altar unto the LORD, who appeared unto him. 8 And he removed from thence unto a mountain on the east of Bethel, and pitched his tent, having Bethel on the west, and Hai on the east: and there he builded an altar unto the LORD, and called upon the name of the LORD. 9 And Abram journeyed, going on still toward the south. 10 And there was a famine in the land: and Abram went down into Egypt to sojourn there; for the famine was grievous in the land.” (Genesis 12:7-10)

Personally, I was called by the Lord to come to Galloway, NJ to be the pastor of Jersey Shore Baptist Church. I know that this is the place of God’s will for me because He made it crystal clear where He wanted me to go before I came. I would be foolish to go against the will of God and leave this place. There have been times when my flesh wanted to go to some “greener pasture” elsewhere, but this is where God wants me.

Christian, the safest place for you to be is inside the will of God. Once you discover the place of God’s will for your life, get there quickly and don’t move until you are absolutely sure that God is moving you. Too many of God’s people never find the place of God’s will in the first place because they are too unwilling to leave their comfort zones. And then even when they find the place of God’s choosing, they run from it when their flesh or some trial pulls them away. Find the place that God wants you to go; stay where God places you; bloom where you are planted; and finish your course.

Today’s Passage  – Genesis 4 – 6 (Click on the reference to listen to the audio. Click here to view the passage from Blue Letter Bible)

(Second Milers also read – Matthew 3 – 4; Proverbs 2; Psalms 6 – 10)

Listen to this morning’s Scripture Song – Joshua 1:8

Read the “0102 Evening and Morning“ devotion for today, by the late Charles Haddon Spurgeon.

Read previous posts from this passage – “Walking with God,” “Sin Lieth at the Door,” and “Shining Brightly in a Dark World.”

“5 And GOD saw that the wickedness of man [was] great in the earth, and [that] every imagination of the thoughts of his heart [was] only evil continually. 6 And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart.” (Genesis 6:5 – 6)

“11 The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. 12 And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth.” (Genesis 6:11 – 12)

The spiritual condition of mankind prior to the flood was without doubt a time of complete depravity. Man had gotten as far away from God as they possibly could. Notice that “every imagination of the thought of his heart was only evil continually.” And then, those wicked thoughts overflowed into actions because “the earth was filled with violence.” It got so bad that God actually says that “it repented [Him] that he had made man.” That means that mankind’s rebellion against God caused Him to change directions and destroy nearly all of the people on the earth with the Flood. Everyone was destroyed except Noah and his family. By the way, Noah was not perfect either, but he was a believer, and because of his faith in God, he “found grace in the eyes of the Lord” (Genesis 6:8).

Jesus says that the way things were in the days of Noah are the way things will be before Christ returns:

“26 And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man. 27 They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all.” (Luke 17:26 – 27)

The spiritual condition of our world today is pretty bad as well, but I do not think that we have devolved quite as far as they did prior to the flood. To be sure, we are a wicked people, but the restraining work of the Holy Spirit along with the light of Christians is holding back the evil somewhat.

My thought for this blog post, however, is not about how bad the world is getting, but rather about how our thoughts and actions grieve God. Believers can grieve God, and I believe it is very possible that when we sin, it may grieve God even more than when lost people sin, because we have the indwelling Holy Spirit of God within us. We can choose either to yield to our fleshly lusts and the pressures of this world, or surrender to the Spirit of God within us and submit to what He wants us to do.

“And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.” (Ephesians 4:30)

I get it, we will never be sinless, but we can sin less. And, thank God for His grace and mercy toward us as He forgives our sins. He is also well aware of the fact that we can never be perfect, but we can, by faith, yield to Him. We can choose Him and what He wants over what our our old Adamic and sinful flesh desires.

We also can choose to think about things that are good, holy, righteous, and true:

“8 Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things [are] honest, whatsoever things [are] just, whatsoever things [are] pure, whatsoever things [are] lovely, whatsoever things [are] of good report; if [there be] any virtue, and if [there be] any praise, think on these things. 9 Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you” (Philippians 4:8 – 9).

If we can train our minds to think about good things, then good things will come out of our lives via our actions.

Let us make it a goal – a resolution – in this New Year, not to grieve God.

Today’s Passages – 1 Corinthians 6 – 9 (Click on the references to listen to the audio – click here to view the text from the Blue Letter Bible website)

(Second Milers also read – Psalms 1 – 5; Proverbs 1)

Listen to this morning’s Scripture Song – Joshua 1:8

Read the “1201 Evening and Morning“ devotion for today, by the late Charles Haddon Spurgeon.

Read a previous post from this passage – “Settling Disputes,” “Stumblingblocks“, “Property of Jesus“

“24 Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain. 25 And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible. 26 I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air: 27 But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.” (1 Corinthians 9:24-27)

“22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, 23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. 24 And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. 25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.” (Galatians 5:22-25)

Did you notice while reading 1 Corinthians nine that Paul emphasized the need to control himself. The word “temperate,” means self-control. Paul uses the illustration of people who are in athletic contests who need to have self-control. They cannot expect to win the race if they are overeating and under-exercising. It takes a great deal of self discipline to be able to control one’s fleshly appetites and put in the time and sweat needed to achieve “the crown” or trophy in a sporting event.

It is almost the same spiritually. Paul taught earlier (chronologically) in Galatians that temperance was a fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:23), meaning that it is what the Spirit of God produces in our lives as we are yielded to Him. So, for the believer, temperance is not a fleshly character trait, it occurs when the yielded Christian allows the Spirit of God to control his body, subduing his fleshly appetites. It is not self-discipline, it is Holy Spirit discipline. It is saying no to our flesh and saying yes to what the Spirit of God wants us to do. 

 

Today’s Passage – Jeremiah 37 – 40 (Click on the references to listen to the audio – click here to view the text from the Blue Letter Bible website)

(Second Milers also read – Romans 1 – 4; Psalms 116 – 118; Proverbs 24)

Listen to this morning’s Scripture song – *1 Timothy 1:17*

Read the “0824 Evening and Morning” devotion for today, by the late Charles Haddon Spurgeon.

Read a previous post from this passage – The Truth Sometimes Hurts

“Now when Ebedmelech the Ethiopian, one of the eunuchs which was in the king’s house, heard that they had put Jeremiah in the dungeon; the king then sitting in the gate of Benjamin; Ebedmelech went forth out of the king’s house, and spake to the king, saying, My lord the king, these men have done evil in all that they have done to Jeremiah the prophet, whom they have cast into the dungeon; and he is like to die for hunger in the place where he is: for there is no more bread in the city. Then the king commanded Ebedmelech the Ethiopian, saying, Take from hence thirty men with thee, and take up Jeremiah the prophet out of the dungeon, before he die. So Ebedmelech took the men with him, and went into the house of the king under the treasury, and took thence old cast clouts and old rotten rags, and let them down by cords into the dungeon to Jeremiah. And Ebedmelech the Ethiopian said unto Jeremiah, Put now these old cast clouts and rotten rags under thine armholes under the cords. And Jeremiah did so. So they drew up Jeremiah with cords, and took him up out of the dungeon: and Jeremiah remained in the court of the prison.” (Jeremiah 38:7-13)

“Now the word of the LORD came unto Jeremiah, while he was shut up in the court of the prison, saying, Go and speak to Ebedmelech the Ethiopian, saying, Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will bring my words upon this city for evil, and not for good; and they shall be accomplished in that day before thee. But I will deliver thee in that day, saith the LORD: and thou shalt not be given into the hand of the men of whom thou art afraid. For I will surely deliver thee, and thou shalt not fall by the sword, but thy life shall be for a prey unto thee: because thou hast put thy trust in me, saith the LORD.” (Jeremiah 39:15-18)

In our reading today, the prophet Jeremiah was speaking the Word of the Lord pretty much to deaf ears. He was trying to get the people to do what God wanted them to do, but they were not listening. At the this particular point in Jeremiah’s ministry to the nation of Judah, God told him to tell the people of Judah to submit to the will of King Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonians. At one point, had the people of God repented from their idolatry and wickedness, God would have spared them completely from the Babylonian army, but they did not listen to God then either. Now, the the judgment of God through the Babylonians was coming, and God was warning the people of Judah to submit to them, but He also promises that if they do that, He will be merciful to them, cause them to be treated well, and not allow the city of Jerusalem to be completely destroyed.

The people, however, are convinced that they know better, and that they should resist. Keep in mind, during this whole time the people are still living in rebellion against God, there has been no repentance on their part, and they are certainly not listening to God’s prophet Jeremiah. In fact, they get so upset with what Jeremiah is saying that they throw him in jail. This particular dungeon is so bad that there is no water, just a filthy mire for a floor that Jeremiah sinks into when they lower him down into it.

One of the eunuchs that was in the king’s house, an Ethiopian man named Ebedmelech, realizes that what they are doing to Jeremiah is wrong and he goes to the king to intercede on Jeremiah’s behalf, and the king then sends Ebedmelech with a small army to rescue him and pull him up out of the mire.

Fast forward now to chapter thirty-nine. Babylon has arrived, and judgment is falling on all who refused to listen to Jeremiah, but Jeremiah himself is treated well by the Babylonians and is actually given his choice about whether to stay in Jerusalem or go with the rest of the captives to Babylon. Either way, he would be a free man. Notice in vs. 15 – 18 that Ebedmelech also is promised by God that he will be treated well. God remembered the kindness that Ebedmelech showed Jeremiah when he was in the prison.

Jesus said something very similar in Matthew 25:

“Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.” (Matthew 25:37-40)

Did you notice that one of the things that Jesus will reward (besides the cup of cold water pictured above) is visiting one of His brethren in prison. That’s exactly what Ebedmelech did. His visited Jeremiah and He interceded to the king on his behalf. And, God remembered him. God stated the same thing in Jeremiah 39 that He states in Matthew. He told Ebedmelech that what he did for Jeremiah was just the same as doing it for God.

Ebedmelech was not a prophet, He wasn’t even a Jew, but He demonstrated faith in God by what he did for Jeremiah, God’s man. Not everybody today is a preacher or teacher of the Word of God, but if they faithfully serve God in whatever capacity God has given them and equipped them for, they will also be remembered by God. God remembers.