Jacob Describes His Lord...

“[Jacob blessing Joseph's sons]: ‘God, before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked,
The God who has fed me all my life long to this day,
The Angel who has redeemed me from all evil,
Bless the lads;
Let my name be named upon them,
And the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac;
And let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth.’” ~ Genesis 48:15-16, NKJV

Jacob bestowed the double portion of the firstborn on his son Joseph. By blessing Joseph's two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, and taking them as his own, Jacob caused Joseph to inherit twice as much as each of his brothers (since a portion of inheritance would come to both Ephraim and Manasseh). I love how Jacob first describes the God who will secure his grandsons' blessing before actually giving them the blessing. The Lord is the God of Abraham and Isaac, who did such great things for them; the Lord is the God who provided for Jacob and blessed him all his life; the Lord is the Angel of the LORD, Christ Himself, who redeemed Jacob from all evil. Jacob was a sinner who lived in a fallen world. Yet as his life came to a close he could look back and say, with certainty, that the Lord had paid the price to get him out of the evil that tried to claim him. Jesus did the same for us on the cross, when He paid - once and for all - the price required to buy us back after we sold ourselves into the slavery of sin and death. A believer need never fear evil. Yes, he may endure trials; he may encounter troubles, tribulation, bodily harm, and whatever else the world has to throw at us. But to him, none of those things will be evil. They may be unpleasant. They may be painful. They may bring sorrow. But thanks to the redemption of God, these things and every thing are being worked together for our good. (Romans 8:28) After all, "If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written: 'For Your sake we are killed all day long; We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.' Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 8:31-39)

by Rebecca....

Desiring the Best Gifts...

“But earnestly desire the best gifts. And yet I show you a more excellent way.” ~ 1 Corinthians 12:31, NKJV

Paul spends much of 1 Corinthians 12 discussing spiritual gifts. He emphasizes that these gifts, while diverse, are all from one God and one Spirit. Individual believers are members of the body of Christ (the church), and their unique assortment of spiritual gifts supports the function of the body just as the members of our physical bodies supports their functions. Paul urges the Corinthians to desire the best gifts (for the role God had for each one), but he also says, “And yet I show you a more excellent way.” This "more excellent way" is love, discussed at length in chapter 13. Without love we have nothing. Paul says himself in chapter 13, "Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing." Even the best spiritual gifts are worth nothing without love. The selfishly ambitious, prideful, and divided Corinthians were primed to misuse and abuse even the best spiritual gifts due to the fact that love was not foremost in their hearts. Love rises above spiritual gifts and even faith. Our God IS love. If love for Him (which becomes possible for us after we receive His love for us) is not the overarching, dominating factor of our lives, we have nothing and we are nothing worthwhile. It will all burn. It will all be futile, empty, vain. We will have nothing to show for ourselves or our labor, because we were invested in things impermanent and unimportant. Earnestly desire the best gifts, yes, Paul is saying - but there is something better. The way of love is more excellent than all the other ways one can take. And it leads to joy and everlasting life.

by Rebecca

Love Never Fails..

Love never fails. But whether there are prophecies, they will fail; whether there are tongues, they will cease; whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away.” ~ 1 Corinthians 13:8, NKJV

Paul promised to show the Corinthians a "more excellent way." (1 Cor. 12:31) Love, famously described in verses 4-8 of this chapter, is that more excellent way - a way of living that rises above all others and, indeed, gives life meaning. One of love's defining characteristics is its unfailing nature. If you can stop "loving," someone, you never really loved them in the first place. Love can't stop loving. In importance, it ranks greater than faith, hope, prophecy, knowledge, or tongues (as in speaking in tongues). The Corinthians were all about spiritual superiority. They exalted prophecy, tongues, and knowledge because these were qualities or gifts that they could use to one-up each other. Someone could say they had more knowledge, or more prophecy, or more speaking in tongues than someone else. Paul exposes the Corinthians' disordered hierarchy by pointing out that prophecy fails (we won't need it when it is fulfilled), knowledge vanishes (the partial knowledge we have now will pass away when we come face-to-face with God, because then we shall know just as we are known), and tongues cease (we won't need the gift of tongues in the kingdom of God). Like baby teeth, these things - though good and desirable - are all temporary, imperfect, partial. "...when that which is perfect has come, then that which is in part will be done away." (vs. 10) So while they have their place in the Christian life, it is a mistake to give them a higher place than they deserve. They will pass away; love will not. Love never fails. The love we have now we will carry with us into eternity, where the only change will be the increasing of our capacity for love. Love is what matters; love is what lasts; love is what should be given the highest priority in our lives. That's why Paul explains the end of chapter 13, "And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love." Right now, the believer abides in faith, hope, and love. But when Christ comes for us, faith will become sight, and hope will be fulfilled. Those two will pass away like knowledge, tongues, and prophecy. But not love! It abides forever. Not superiority. Not pride. Not power. Not pleasure. Not personal glory. Not control. Not possessions. Not any of those things. Love. It's the fruit of the Spirit from which joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control derive. If you have love, you have everything; if you do not have love, you have nothing. The more excellent way makes it easy to decide we are best invested.

by Rebecca

Home is Still Up Ahead...

“Then Joseph brought in his father Jacob and set him before Pharaoh; and Jacob blessed Pharaoh. Pharaoh said to Jacob, ‘How old are you?’

And Jacob said to Pharaoh, ‘The days of the years of my pilgrimage are one hundred and thirty years; few and evil have been the days of the years of my life, and they have not attained to the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their pilgrimage.’” ~ Genesis 47:7-9, NKJV

Jacob died at the age of 147. Today, this would be an example of unprecedented longevity. Maybe it was a remarkable even in Jacob's day (hence Pharaoh's question). But Jacob calls his days "few and evil," with good reason. Though blessed by the Lord, he was a fallen man who lived in a broken world. He spent his youth fleeing his home, laboring for his uncle, being cheated and deceived by the same uncle, and finally fleeing his new home; later, he lived in fear of his brother; he lost his beloved wife in childbirth; his sons sold his other son into slavery and lied to him about it; and he watched his grown sons make tragic mistakes (Simeon and Levi slaughtered all the men in a city to avenge their sister; Judah married a Canaanite woman; Reuben slept with his father's concubine). As for longevity, Jacob did not even attain to the days of his father and grandfather, Abraham and Isaac (Abraham died at 175; Isaac at 180). Neither Jacob nor any of his nearer ancestors came close to attaining the years of their pre-Flood forefathers (even Noah made it to 950). So when Pharaoh asks Jacob about his age, Jacob answers honestly. His days have been few and evil. He has seen the brokenness of the world and of himself. He understands that creation groans under the subjection of futility (Romans 8:20). He sees death working in everything thanks to man's rebellion against God. Yet for Jacob, this life is not the end. He says specifically, "The days of the years of my pilgrimage..." (vs. 9) Pilgrimage. Paul writes concerning the patriarchs, "By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. By faith he dwelt in the land of promise as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise; for he waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God." (Hebrews 11:8-10) Jacob, like all those who Abraham's children by faith, was a pilgrim. His true citizenship was in heaven, and his time on this earth was merely the road home. Jacob's hope was not in this world. He looked for "a better, that is, a heavenly country." (Hebrews 11:16) Because of His children's faith, Paul declares, "Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them." (Heb. 11:16) The believer acknowledges that his days are few and evil. True, he has plenty of room for thankfulness (indeed, he may overflow with it), and he knows the Lord works all things together for good for him. (Romans 8:28) But when he feels the darkness of this world weighing on him, he takes comfort in the knowledge that this world is not his home. Home is still up ahead. The best is yet to come. This earth is not all there is. We look for a new heavens and a new earth, where righteousness dwells (2 Peter 3:13), where death has no power, and where God Himself walks with us.

May our Lord come quickly!

by Rebecca

The Author of Peace...

“For God is not the author of confusion but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints.” ~ 1 Corinthians 14:33, NKJV

The Corinthians neglected order when exercising their spiritual gifts. Their focus on self-glorifcation led to chaotic, unprofitable meetings that were all about them and not all about the Lord. Paul gently calls the Corinthian believers on their error, and gives them instructions on how their meetings should be conducted, saying in verse 26, "Let all things be done for edification." The selfishly ambitious madness that characterized the Corinthian church gatherings was not of God; for God is not the author of confusion, but of peace. This is a principle that holds true for all the churches of the saints. It also holds true in the lives of these saints (that is, all believers). The world today is confused. It denies truth. Its wisdom is convoluted, temporal, fallacious, and even deadly. It has no foundation on which to stand, or to which to cling in the storms and tempests of existence. It does not know how to answer the difficult questions, like evil, suffering, death, meaning, or human value. It lacks self-control. It is a roiling mass of unguided emotion and directionless groupthink snowballing into chaos and destruction. The world is not the place to go if you want peace. God is. He sacrificed Himself in order to make peace between us and Him, breaking down the barrier of sin that separated man from the righteous God. His Son takes away our sin, makes us new creations, sets us before His Father as beloved sons and daughters, gives us eternal life, and gives us His own Spirit and His own mind (one of order and truth!). He takes our troubled souls and soothes them with His peace that surpasses all understanding, peace that can come because the sovereign Creator God is at peace with us, loves us, cares for us, empowers us, works all things together for good for us, and has prepared a place for us in His kingdom. That peace we have with God and within ourselves then enables us to have peace with one another, because we are no longer controlled by sin, or driven to pursue an endless, futile quest to satisfy our own inner longings, fears, and insufficiencies. In Christ, we have the power to say "No," to the sins of selfishness, pride, anger, envy, and unforgiveness. In Christ we are also filled to the overflowing with all that we need and so much more. We have the room and the resources to extend God's love to others rather than pushing them down in an attempt to put ourselves forward! We can live at peace with God, at peace within ourselves, and at peace with others. Our God is not the author of confusion. He is the author of peace. Peace is His freely-given gift to all those who ask it of Him. Jesus Himself cries out to the troubled soul: “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30)

by Rebecca