Genesis 29:15-28 At...
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Genesis 29:15-28
At a gloomy time in his life, when he was near bankruptcy after a vain attempt at farming, the Scottish poet, Robert Burns, was out plowing a field, and happened to turn up a mouse's nest with his plow. Appalled at the devastation he'd wreaked on the unsuspecting rodents, he penned a little poem, "To a Mouse." It contains the famous lines,
The best-laid schemes o' Mice an' Men
Gang aft a-gley,
An' lea'e us nought but grief an' pain,
For promis'd joy!
A year or so after he wrote that poem, Robbie Burns gave up on farming. He sold out to his brother and made plans to immigrate to Jamaica. Just as he was making the rounds to say good-bye to his friends, a letter arrived from a certain Dr. Blacklock in Edinburgh. It seemed that the little book of poetry Burns had written, in his off-hours from farming, was the talk of the capital. People were saying Burns had captured the essence of the Scottish soul. The booksellers were clamoring for a second edition.
It is the height of irony that one of the most famous poems in this book that made Burns' reputation was the pessimistic rhyme, "To A Mouse." Just as he was commiserating about plans gone awry, a greater plan yet was unfolding!
Our plans may go awry, but God's never will.
Genesis 29:15-28
You know the old saying, "What goes around comes around."
Well, it's happening here.
Jacob had tricked his brother, Esau, out of not only his inheritance (when he traded him the bowl of stew for his inheritance). He'd also tricked him out of his father's blessing (when he dressed in some of his brother's clothing and fastened the hairy skin of a young goat on his hands and neck to fool his nearly blind father, Isaac).
Then his father-in-law, Laban, tricked him by giving him Leah rather than Rachel as his wife.
How could God ever use a person as deceitful, as untrustworthy, as Jacob?
It all gives me great hope. If God can work through someone as flawed as Jacob, then he can work through me -- and you.
Genesis 29:15-28
Pam was at a turning point in her life. She signed up for an in-depth Bible study at a friend's church. She had many questions and was hoping such a study would help. She wanted to discover what God wanted her to do in her life.
It was a struggle every Tuesday to pick up her son from day care, stop at a fast food restaurant, and be at church by 6 o'clock. Fortunately, there were activities for children while their parents attended the Bible study. Often Pam would just barely make it on time. Frequently, she would be out of breath and appreciated the centering moments of worship before the actual study.
The first several weeks were frustrating for her. Repeatedly she asked herself what she was doing in the Bible study. She thought the study would help her personally and had difficulty making the connection between her life and the Bible passage they were studying. In a moment of frustration, Pam questioned why they were spending so much time studying the book of Genesis. "What does this have to do with me?" she asked. Others in the study nodded in agreed with Pam.
The leader of the study said that he often agreed, the stories from Genesis portray "dysfunctional families" that people should not try to emulate. However, the value of such a study is to see the bigger picture. The lesson is that even when we make major mistakes, when we surrender our lives to God, God can bring something good and positive out of the worst situations.
This explanation was helpful for Pam and the others in the class. No matter where we find ourselves we are never beyond redemption.
Genesis 29:15-28
Geoffrey Chaucer told a marvelous tale of a trickster getting tricked. Actually, he had the pardoner tell it; it's part of the Canterbury Tales. In the "Pardoner's Tale," three revelers decide to seek out death and destroy it. On the way they discover a basket of gold. The youngest lout is sent to get wine, food, and water. While he is away, he schemes to kill his two companions, and to that end, poisons the wine. Unbeknownst to him, his companions decide to kill him and divide his portion of the gold between themselves. When the young man returns he is killed, but the murderous companions celebrate by drinking the poisoned wine and they, too, die. (They found death!)
Jacob was a trickster, tricking his blind father, Isaac, into giving him Esau's birthright. But the trickster met his match in Laban, who switches Leah for Rachel on Jacob's wedding night. I suppose the moral is, "If you live by the sword you will die by the sword."
Romans 8:26-39
A friend told me of a perfect prayer he'd heard. His congregation was experiencing strife. The pastor was praying about it in a meeting and just groaned. That was the simplest, deepest, clearest prayer my friend ever heard. Paul calls it, "sighs too deep for words." It's a groan that God understands, as a family understands each other's moans and mutters. When our thoughts are confused within us and our words are gibberish to others, God understands us perfectly.
God's Spirit searches our heart as we pray. I picture God with a lantern walking through the dark halls of our hearts. Only God can bring our whole being to God, because much of who we are is unconscious and beyond our purposeful grasp. It only appears in dreams or in slips of the tongue.
We can trust that even our final sigh, those broken sentences and pieces of sound uttered by the dying, are heard by God who still understands them in love.
Romans 8:26-39
Over our fifty-plus years of marriage, my wife has prepared many great meals. She's attentive to cooking details and carefully makes tender morsels from many types of dishes. Her chicken casseroles, shepherd pies, and enchiladas are especially savory. She's prepared very few meals over the years that I didn't enjoy.
Suppose that I call her some afternoon when I've been away from the house for a while. She tells me about the dinner she's preparing and the plans to serve my favorite casserole. Knowing her, there might also be two kinds of salad (that I love), other vegetables, the main course, and then some chocolate silk dessert.
After she tells me about the menu, what if I then anxiously remind her, "Don't forget to have salt and pepper on the table"? Silly, isn't it? That's exactly what it's like when we doubt God's care after he has sacrificed Jesus for us.
He who did not withhold his own Son, but gave himself up for all of us -- will he give us everything else through this Son?
Romans 8:26-39
For many, their favorite verse in the Bible is Romans 8:28: "We know that all things work together for good for those who love God who are called according to his purpose."
According to Google, the ten top Bible verses are:
1. John 3:16
2. John 1:1
3. John 14:6
4. Matthew 28:19
5. Romans 3:23
6. Ephesians 2:8
7. Genesis 1:1
8. Acts 1:8
9. 2 Timothy 3:16
10. Romans 10:9
You might want to look these up and bear them in mind.
Whatever verses may be your favorites, I commend God's word and blessings to you. Through all eternity you will continue to be blessed by the strengthening and uplifting power of the word of God.
Matthew 13:31-33, 44-52
An antiques dealer is making the rounds of the garage sales, looking for merchandise. He's hoping to find some costume jewelry, something he can display in his shop and sell for a few bucks. It's late morning, and he's about to call it a day, when he sees some tables out on yet another front lawn. On impulse, he pulls his car to the curb, gets out, and walks over to look. He sees it immediately, gleaming translucently back at him: a huge pearl pendant on a chain, the largest he's ever seen. He picks it up, looking it over with his practiced eye. It's unquestionably genuine -- and it has got to be worth tens of thousands of dollars. Casually, he asks the owner how much she wants for it.
The owner obviously knows she's got something of value, but she doesn't know how much. "A hundred dollars," she says. "And not a penny less."
The dealer reaches into his pocket. Twenty dollars is all he has left. He thanks the woman, walks casually back to his car, and races to the ATM. He returns to the garage sale a few minutes later, just as the homeowner is folding up her tables. There's cold worry in the pit of his stomach, and his heart is racing. "Please, let the pearl still be there," he mutters to himself. It is there. He buys it and returns home rejoicing.
The kingdom of heaven, Jesus is saying, is already present in our world -- hiding in plain sight, but in such a way that not everyone can see it.
Matthew 13:31-33, 44-52
About thirty years ago, a farmer in Xian (SHEE-on), China, was plowing his field when suddenly a clump of the soil beneath him broke through, and he could hear pebbles clinking onto something solid.
When he knelt down and peered into the hole, he saw an amazing sight: rows and rows of life-size soldiers made of terra cotta clay.
Centuries earlier, the emperor of China had these lifelike figures made, then covered with a strong wood ceiling, and the ceiling covered with dirt. No one knew that what we today call "The Terra Cotta Army" lay beneath that ordinary-looking farm field.
Matthew speaks of a treasure hidden in a field, a treasure that someone sold all that he had to buy. He's not speaking of the kingdom of China, but of the kingdom of heaven, which you and I can discover, and put everything we have, and everything we are, into gaining.
Matthew 13:31-33, 44-52
Jane was running late one afternoon for an appointment and as she drove into the church parking lot, she was surprised to see children playing. She wondered where the children lived. With less and less children attending Sunday school she had been told that there were not many children living near the church.
At the next church meeting, Jane told about finding children playing in the parking lot. No one knew anything about them. Bert suggested inviting them to Sunday school. Betty replied that they had invited neighborhood children to Sunday school before and they never came.
Jane suggested starting a parking lot ministry for children one Saturday morning a month. Reluctantly, she was given the go ahead to start a children's program. There would be organized games, Bible stories, crafts, and snacks modeled from vacation Bible school. The first Saturday only four children showed up. The children had a great time and enthusiastically told their friends and parents. The next month there were more children, the following month even more children. Before too long the program was expanded to twice a month.
A year later there were more children attending Jane's Saturday morning program than attended Sunday school. It started with a simple idea and soon blossomed into a fruitful ministry.
Matthew 13:31-33, 44-52
The mustard seed, though tiny, produces a plant that can accommodate many birds. The pixel, that little dot on every television and computer screen, acts in much the same way. (Only instead of growing in size, it multiplies in number.) Here is how it works. The picture we see on our television is really a series of thousands of dots arranged in a way that our brain recognizes them as a tree or whatever. If we were to blow the picture up until we could clearly see the dots or pixels, we would not be able to identify the image on the screen unless we backed at least twenty to thirty feet. From that distance, the dots would appear smaller and our brain could translate the dots into the picture.
If you would like to see how this works, put a digital photo on your computer then enlarge it. Soon the edges of the figures become choppy and indistinct but you still know what you are looking at. Keep going. Soon the picture is unrecognizable. It is really quite remarkable -- the pixel -- small but mighty.
At a gloomy time in his life, when he was near bankruptcy after a vain attempt at farming, the Scottish poet, Robert Burns, was out plowing a field, and happened to turn up a mouse's nest with his plow. Appalled at the devastation he'd wreaked on the unsuspecting rodents, he penned a little poem, "To a Mouse." It contains the famous lines,
The best-laid schemes o' Mice an' Men
Gang aft a-gley,
An' lea'e us nought but grief an' pain,
For promis'd joy!
A year or so after he wrote that poem, Robbie Burns gave up on farming. He sold out to his brother and made plans to immigrate to Jamaica. Just as he was making the rounds to say good-bye to his friends, a letter arrived from a certain Dr. Blacklock in Edinburgh. It seemed that the little book of poetry Burns had written, in his off-hours from farming, was the talk of the capital. People were saying Burns had captured the essence of the Scottish soul. The booksellers were clamoring for a second edition.
It is the height of irony that one of the most famous poems in this book that made Burns' reputation was the pessimistic rhyme, "To A Mouse." Just as he was commiserating about plans gone awry, a greater plan yet was unfolding!
Our plans may go awry, but God's never will.
Genesis 29:15-28
You know the old saying, "What goes around comes around."
Well, it's happening here.
Jacob had tricked his brother, Esau, out of not only his inheritance (when he traded him the bowl of stew for his inheritance). He'd also tricked him out of his father's blessing (when he dressed in some of his brother's clothing and fastened the hairy skin of a young goat on his hands and neck to fool his nearly blind father, Isaac).
Then his father-in-law, Laban, tricked him by giving him Leah rather than Rachel as his wife.
How could God ever use a person as deceitful, as untrustworthy, as Jacob?
It all gives me great hope. If God can work through someone as flawed as Jacob, then he can work through me -- and you.
Genesis 29:15-28
Pam was at a turning point in her life. She signed up for an in-depth Bible study at a friend's church. She had many questions and was hoping such a study would help. She wanted to discover what God wanted her to do in her life.
It was a struggle every Tuesday to pick up her son from day care, stop at a fast food restaurant, and be at church by 6 o'clock. Fortunately, there were activities for children while their parents attended the Bible study. Often Pam would just barely make it on time. Frequently, she would be out of breath and appreciated the centering moments of worship before the actual study.
The first several weeks were frustrating for her. Repeatedly she asked herself what she was doing in the Bible study. She thought the study would help her personally and had difficulty making the connection between her life and the Bible passage they were studying. In a moment of frustration, Pam questioned why they were spending so much time studying the book of Genesis. "What does this have to do with me?" she asked. Others in the study nodded in agreed with Pam.
The leader of the study said that he often agreed, the stories from Genesis portray "dysfunctional families" that people should not try to emulate. However, the value of such a study is to see the bigger picture. The lesson is that even when we make major mistakes, when we surrender our lives to God, God can bring something good and positive out of the worst situations.
This explanation was helpful for Pam and the others in the class. No matter where we find ourselves we are never beyond redemption.
Genesis 29:15-28
Geoffrey Chaucer told a marvelous tale of a trickster getting tricked. Actually, he had the pardoner tell it; it's part of the Canterbury Tales. In the "Pardoner's Tale," three revelers decide to seek out death and destroy it. On the way they discover a basket of gold. The youngest lout is sent to get wine, food, and water. While he is away, he schemes to kill his two companions, and to that end, poisons the wine. Unbeknownst to him, his companions decide to kill him and divide his portion of the gold between themselves. When the young man returns he is killed, but the murderous companions celebrate by drinking the poisoned wine and they, too, die. (They found death!)
Jacob was a trickster, tricking his blind father, Isaac, into giving him Esau's birthright. But the trickster met his match in Laban, who switches Leah for Rachel on Jacob's wedding night. I suppose the moral is, "If you live by the sword you will die by the sword."
Romans 8:26-39
A friend told me of a perfect prayer he'd heard. His congregation was experiencing strife. The pastor was praying about it in a meeting and just groaned. That was the simplest, deepest, clearest prayer my friend ever heard. Paul calls it, "sighs too deep for words." It's a groan that God understands, as a family understands each other's moans and mutters. When our thoughts are confused within us and our words are gibberish to others, God understands us perfectly.
God's Spirit searches our heart as we pray. I picture God with a lantern walking through the dark halls of our hearts. Only God can bring our whole being to God, because much of who we are is unconscious and beyond our purposeful grasp. It only appears in dreams or in slips of the tongue.
We can trust that even our final sigh, those broken sentences and pieces of sound uttered by the dying, are heard by God who still understands them in love.
Romans 8:26-39
Over our fifty-plus years of marriage, my wife has prepared many great meals. She's attentive to cooking details and carefully makes tender morsels from many types of dishes. Her chicken casseroles, shepherd pies, and enchiladas are especially savory. She's prepared very few meals over the years that I didn't enjoy.
Suppose that I call her some afternoon when I've been away from the house for a while. She tells me about the dinner she's preparing and the plans to serve my favorite casserole. Knowing her, there might also be two kinds of salad (that I love), other vegetables, the main course, and then some chocolate silk dessert.
After she tells me about the menu, what if I then anxiously remind her, "Don't forget to have salt and pepper on the table"? Silly, isn't it? That's exactly what it's like when we doubt God's care after he has sacrificed Jesus for us.
He who did not withhold his own Son, but gave himself up for all of us -- will he give us everything else through this Son?
Romans 8:26-39
For many, their favorite verse in the Bible is Romans 8:28: "We know that all things work together for good for those who love God who are called according to his purpose."
According to Google, the ten top Bible verses are:
1. John 3:16
2. John 1:1
3. John 14:6
4. Matthew 28:19
5. Romans 3:23
6. Ephesians 2:8
7. Genesis 1:1
8. Acts 1:8
9. 2 Timothy 3:16
10. Romans 10:9
You might want to look these up and bear them in mind.
Whatever verses may be your favorites, I commend God's word and blessings to you. Through all eternity you will continue to be blessed by the strengthening and uplifting power of the word of God.
Matthew 13:31-33, 44-52
An antiques dealer is making the rounds of the garage sales, looking for merchandise. He's hoping to find some costume jewelry, something he can display in his shop and sell for a few bucks. It's late morning, and he's about to call it a day, when he sees some tables out on yet another front lawn. On impulse, he pulls his car to the curb, gets out, and walks over to look. He sees it immediately, gleaming translucently back at him: a huge pearl pendant on a chain, the largest he's ever seen. He picks it up, looking it over with his practiced eye. It's unquestionably genuine -- and it has got to be worth tens of thousands of dollars. Casually, he asks the owner how much she wants for it.
The owner obviously knows she's got something of value, but she doesn't know how much. "A hundred dollars," she says. "And not a penny less."
The dealer reaches into his pocket. Twenty dollars is all he has left. He thanks the woman, walks casually back to his car, and races to the ATM. He returns to the garage sale a few minutes later, just as the homeowner is folding up her tables. There's cold worry in the pit of his stomach, and his heart is racing. "Please, let the pearl still be there," he mutters to himself. It is there. He buys it and returns home rejoicing.
The kingdom of heaven, Jesus is saying, is already present in our world -- hiding in plain sight, but in such a way that not everyone can see it.
Matthew 13:31-33, 44-52
About thirty years ago, a farmer in Xian (SHEE-on), China, was plowing his field when suddenly a clump of the soil beneath him broke through, and he could hear pebbles clinking onto something solid.
When he knelt down and peered into the hole, he saw an amazing sight: rows and rows of life-size soldiers made of terra cotta clay.
Centuries earlier, the emperor of China had these lifelike figures made, then covered with a strong wood ceiling, and the ceiling covered with dirt. No one knew that what we today call "The Terra Cotta Army" lay beneath that ordinary-looking farm field.
Matthew speaks of a treasure hidden in a field, a treasure that someone sold all that he had to buy. He's not speaking of the kingdom of China, but of the kingdom of heaven, which you and I can discover, and put everything we have, and everything we are, into gaining.
Matthew 13:31-33, 44-52
Jane was running late one afternoon for an appointment and as she drove into the church parking lot, she was surprised to see children playing. She wondered where the children lived. With less and less children attending Sunday school she had been told that there were not many children living near the church.
At the next church meeting, Jane told about finding children playing in the parking lot. No one knew anything about them. Bert suggested inviting them to Sunday school. Betty replied that they had invited neighborhood children to Sunday school before and they never came.
Jane suggested starting a parking lot ministry for children one Saturday morning a month. Reluctantly, she was given the go ahead to start a children's program. There would be organized games, Bible stories, crafts, and snacks modeled from vacation Bible school. The first Saturday only four children showed up. The children had a great time and enthusiastically told their friends and parents. The next month there were more children, the following month even more children. Before too long the program was expanded to twice a month.
A year later there were more children attending Jane's Saturday morning program than attended Sunday school. It started with a simple idea and soon blossomed into a fruitful ministry.
Matthew 13:31-33, 44-52
The mustard seed, though tiny, produces a plant that can accommodate many birds. The pixel, that little dot on every television and computer screen, acts in much the same way. (Only instead of growing in size, it multiplies in number.) Here is how it works. The picture we see on our television is really a series of thousands of dots arranged in a way that our brain recognizes them as a tree or whatever. If we were to blow the picture up until we could clearly see the dots or pixels, we would not be able to identify the image on the screen unless we backed at least twenty to thirty feet. From that distance, the dots would appear smaller and our brain could translate the dots into the picture.
If you would like to see how this works, put a digital photo on your computer then enlarge it. Soon the edges of the figures become choppy and indistinct but you still know what you are looking at. Keep going. Soon the picture is unrecognizable. It is really quite remarkable -- the pixel -- small but mighty.
