Matthew 2

In Matthew 2 we see King Herod asking the teachers and priests where the Christ was to be born:"When he had called together all the people's chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Christ was to be born. 5"In Bethlehem in Judea," they replied, "for this is what the prophet has written:
6" 'But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
for out of you will come a ruler
who will be the shepherd of my people Israel.'(Matt 2:4-6)

What is so clear here is the importance of knowing the scriptures - the teachers of the law knew their Old Testament, and were able to quote Michah 5:2 which answered Herod's question. All of our answers are in the Bible, and we must not let our own ignorance stop us from knowing them. Get in the word, learn it, eat it, breathe it and know the answers to life's questions!

An interesting point in verse 9 when the magi come to the 'house' where the 'child' was. This shows that this takes place some time later, as they are no longer in the inn, and Jesus is now a child, not a baby. It is suggested that it took a year or two for the magi to get to Jesus - whatever the case, it clearly wasn't on the night he was born like the nativity suggests.

In verse 13, 'an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream'. This is an intersting thought, but it seems to me to point to different stages of faith in God. When the angel told Joseph that Mary was pregnant with God's son, he appeared to him in person. After this, no doubt, Joseph's faith was sky high, and so God was able to communicate through a dream the next time, and Joseph would trust God's message.

God is doing a new thing: Matthew 1

OK, I'm a bit tired of the Old Testament, so am moving onto the new, and using Chuck Smith's C2000 Bible Study series to help me along the way too. Same as before, one chapter a day :)

Matthew 1:
The Gospel of Matthew begins with a genealogy to prove the Old Testament prophecies that Jesus came from the line of both Abraham and David (Is 11:1-5). I've never really thought there was much to glean from genealogies, but this one has proven me wrong:

Judah the father of Perez and Zerah, whose mother was Tamar,
Perez the father of Hezron (Matt 1:3)
Salmon the father of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab,
Boaz the father of Obed, whose mother was Ruth, (Matt 1:5)

What is interesting in these two verses is the mention of Tamar, Rahab and Ruth. All three of these were less than virtuous women: Tamar was the woman who disguised herself as a prostitute and tricked Judah into bed, Rahab was the prostitute, and Ruth was a Moabitess, a race under a curse from God which denied them entry to the temple).

It seems, on one level, remarkable that these sort of people should be in Jesus's family line, but of course it is not: right away, even in his genealogy, Jesus is showing to us God's grace. None of us are excluded from God because of what we have done, and God can use our sins n his plan. Look where the son of God came from, and we can see that there is nothing we have done that cannot be forgiven.

Exodus 18: Testify

In Exodus 18 we read of Jethro, Moses's father in law, coming to visit his son in law. Moses has the opportunity to tell him all the good things God has been doing through him, and Jethro was 'deligthed to hear about all the good things the Lord had done for Israel in rescuing them from the hand of the Egyptians. He said "Praise be to the Lord, who rescued you from the hand of the Egyptians and Pharso...Now I know that the Lord is greater than all other gods, for he did this to those who had treated Israel arrogantly". Then Jethro, Moses' father in law, brought a burnt offering and other sacrifices to God' (Ex 18:9-12).

Here we see how the testimony of God's goodness in our lives can bring people to God. When God does something amazing for us, we shouldn't be afraid to share it.

Exodus 16: Day by Day

Carrying on from where they left off in chapter 15, 'The whole community grumbled' (Ex 16:2). Now, Joyce Meyer does a lovely bit about how this journey into the Promised Land was only a ten or eleven day hike away but took 40 years to get there: why? Because the people had a negative attitude to their situation. It's food for thought that our attitude affects our outcomes.

In verse 12 God tells Moses "I have heard the grumbling of the Israelites. Tell them, 'At twilight you will eat meat, and in the morning you will be filled with bread. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God'. Basically the people are moaning about not having food, and God turns around and responds to their moaning; what grace! God could have fireballed them all to death for moaning, yet actually treated their groaning like a prayer request and sorted it for them.

God then provides food for everyone, with one stipulation: "No-one is to keep any of it until morning" (Ex 16:19). What stands out here is the importance of a day by day relationship with God - he will give you everything you need for today, so stop worrying about tomorrow, stop regretting yesterday, and focus on today.

Just a small point, but the Manna God gave the people was a honey tasting pancake. I think there's something in that: God wants us to enjoy life, and the fact that he gave them something sweet rather than savoury suggests he is a God of joy.

Finally, Moses tells the people to "Take an omer of manna and keep it for the generations to come" (Ex 16:32). In this verse we see yet another example of the altar building principle; when God does something big for you, buy or make a physical symbol of it to remind you of his goodness.

Exodus 15: Let God take the lead

Well I’m back! A two month hiatus from the blog, but rest assured I’ve been reading my daily chapter throughout that whole time (just one day missed I think), and simply got a bit bogged down at work and didn’t put the time in on the net. However, it’s the summer holidays now, so there’s no excuse not to kick start the blog again.

Exodus 15 gives us a very simple message in the song of Moses and Miriam:

“In your unfailing love you will lead
The people you have redeemed,
In your strength you will guide them
To your holy dwelling” (Ex 15:13-14)

God will lead us! We don’t need to stress about which way to go, just follow his leading! How wonderful to know that God has a plan, a road laid out for us.

The next verse is not so positive, yet a very accurate portrayal of human nature. Fresh from being set free from the Egyptians, Moses is leading the Israelites through the desert and they are struggling to find water. We then read in Ex 15:24 ‘So the people grumbled’. What a joke! God has just miraculously freed his people and now their attitude has turned negative and they’re moaning. Sadly, I can relate all too well to that, and it brings me back to the message of building an altar – we need to remember our past victories with God, to encourage us for our current situation.

Exodus 14: God proves himself in the hard times

In Exodus 14 we see God tell Moses that everything he and his people are going through is all so that the "Egyptians will know that I am God" (Ex 14:4). In the hard times we must trust that God will bring us through and, when he does, it will glorify him.

A bit later, in verse 7, Pharaoh "took siz hundred of the best chariots" (Ex 14:7) to attack the Israelites. In the natural, this would have looked dead scary, but in the spiritual it was nothing to fear as God was going to protect his people. We need to take our eyes off the natural and lift them to the spiritual reality of the situation: we serve a mighty God.

However, the Israelites did see it in the natural and "were terrified and cried out to God" (Ex 14:10). Why didn't they remember God's saving them from the plagues before? We need to learn from their mistake and remember God's acts of the past and not worry about what's going on right now. By focusing on God's faithfulness in the past, we can face crises with confidence rather than fear and complaining.

An epiphany!

On the 19th April I wrote this:

I know my salvation is secure, no matter what - when I die I am going to heaven. However, I strive earnestly (calling on God's help) to live a God honouring life day to day. When I mess up, as we all inevitably do (and as Joseph is here), I often worry about the possible consequences of my mistakes bringing everything crashing down around me. I still don't fully have peace about God not only forgiving us, but protecting us from the possible worst case scenario consequences of our actions. For example, Joseph was out of line here, being deceitful and certainly not Godly, but God didn't bring his whole kingdom falling down around him. I think it probably has something to do with God looking at the heart, but I don't have any clear answer. Much of the Bible talks about the consequences of our sin, but if everything we did wrong was punished in a worse case scenario sort of way, surely no-one would live in victory? Perhaps it's the heart that counts: if you are trying to do the right thing and mess up, God forgives and covers you from getting into trouble? But then what happens when you stop doing something you know was wrong: will God protect you from the consequences of it? Let me try and think of a good example: I download films, which is illegal. Let's say I stop because I am convicted it was wrong: will God protect me from the consequences of the copyright owners finding and prosecuting me?

Well today I had an epiphany and feel like God gave me the answer. In Psalm 103 it says:

The Lord is compassionate and gracious,
Slow to anger, abounding in love.
He will not always accuse,
nor will he harbour his anger forever;
he does not treat us as our sins deserve
or repay us according to our iniquities.
For as high as the heavesn are aabout the earth,
so great is his love for those who fear him;
as far as the east is from the west,
so far has he removed our transgressions from us.
As a father has compassion on his children
so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him;
for he knows how we are formed
he remembers that we are dust (Psalm 103 8-15)

All I can say is WOW! This, to me, proves that God will cover up the possible consequences of our sin if our hearts are right, and that just blows me away! It's not a license to sin, because then our hearts wouldn't be right and he would let us fall (possibly), but if we are right inside, then he will protect us from the consequences of our sins being discovered! You don't know how much that means to me right now!

Exodus 11&12: Don't put up with it any longer

Earlier on in Exodus we saw the cocky Pharaoh put off getting rid of the plague until 'tomorrow'. Here in Exodus 12 we see the plagues have moved on, and this time it is the plague of the death of first-born children. When this happens, Pharaoh has a change of heart and 'During the night...summoned Moses and Aaron and said "Up! Leave my people". (Ex 12:21) What a massive contrast to his previous attitude, where we decided (along with John Ortberg) that Pharaoh was just putting up with something he could handle. Now that's all changed, and something so bad has happened he needs to act. It makes me think about how hard times push us to God, but also how they may be avoidable if we would just come to God in the first place.

In Exoduse 12:36 we read how 'The Lord had made the Egyptians favourably disposed towards the peopel, and they gave them what they asked for'. Basically the Egyptian people are here giving the Israelites silver and gold, even though their children had all just died as a direct result of the curse brought upon them by them. This shows how we shouldn't look at the circumstances - if God wants to bless us he will do it, whatever the situation.

Exodus 10: Humble yourself before God does it for you!

A nice verse in Exoud 10:2, where God tells Moses he is doing lots of amazing things so 'that you may tell your chidren and grandchildren how I dealt harshly with the Egyptians and how I performed my signs among them, and that you may know that I am the Lord'. The notes in my Bible say 'It is important to tell our children aout God's work in our past and to help them see what he is doing right now.' Just a simple, but very valid point I thought.

Also in Exodus 10 we see a message from God to Pharaoh: 'How long will you refuse to humble yourself before me?>' As we go on to learn in the new testament, God is definitely a God who gives us opportunities to humble ourselves, and if we don't take them he humbles us himself. Now take my warning: don't leave it to him, but do it yourself!

Exodus 9: God is gracious

OK, in reply to the 30,000 emails, I'm still here, reading my Bible every day, but I've drifted off from being online so apologies for that!

Exodus 9 sees Pharaoh still at odds with God and his messengers, Moses and Aaron. In verses 15-17 we see God say 'For by now I could have streched out my hand and struck you and your people with plague that would have wiped you off the earth. But I have raised you up for this very purpose, that I might show you my power and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth'. What I love here is how God is merciful and patient, and gives Pharaoh lots of chances. We serve a God who is merciful and will give us chances and more chances!

Later in the chapter, God warns people to avoid his wrath by getting their animals out of the way. In verse 20 we see that 'those officials of Pharaoh who feared the word of the Lord hurried to bring their slaves and their livestock inside'. Here we see God giving the bad guys a chance to avoid punishment, showing he is not out to get us, but just wants us to learn his lesson. He is gracious and gives us chances!

Finally, in verse 34 we read how 'when Paraoh saw that the rain and hail had stopped, he sinned again'. This verse warns us not to fall into sin when we are not in a disaster. Don't go luke warm when nothing bad is happening, but stay faithful to God throughout.

Exodus 5 - 8: Do it today!

Nothing much from Exodus 5,6 and 7, but chapter 8 has proven fruitful. In this chapter we see Pharaoh under seige by a plague of frogs. He eventually agrees to let Moses and the Israelites leave the land, and Moses asks him when he wants the frogs to disappear, to which Pharaoh replies "Tomorrow" (Ex 8:10).

John Ortberg, in 'God Is Closer than you Think', writes about just how crazy this reply of Pharaoh's was; here's a whole nation completely weighed down by frogs everywhere and yet the main man doesn't want to get rid of them right away. Why? Ortberg argues it is because they are bearable,and claims that people will always put up with things whilst they can. He says we become anaesthatised to our own sins and bad habits because they are bearable, and calls us to evaluate our lives and cut off all the bits that are bad, not just put up with them because we can.

Exodus 4: God adapts his plan

This whole chapter just blows me away. God tells Moses to take His message to Phaoraoh, and Moses replies with "I have never been eloquent..." (Ex 4:10). Basically he's telling God 'I can't do it- you've got the wrong guy'. Now, for me, God has every right to flip out here, but instead says "What about your brother Aaron...He will speak to the people for you" (Ex 4:16).

Again, we see a God of mercy, who here adapts his plan to Moses wouldn't have to go through with something he couldn't handle. I truly believe that God will do the same for us if we only ask, so let's get asking!

Exodus 3: Pour it out to the Lord

In Exodus 3 we hear the word of God saying "I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out...and I am concerned...so I have come to rescue them". (Ex 3:7/8). To me this scripture highlights the importance of pouring our hearts out to God, letting him know everything, and trusting that he will hear and respond.

Later we see an amazing act of mercy from God towards Moses, who responds to his instruction about confrongting Pharaoh with "Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh?" (Ex 3:11). God could have flipped his lid here, but instead comforted Moses that he would be with him. In many ways, Moses is the most influential and close to God man in the Bible (second to Jesus), and yet we see his frailty and fear here. God is merciful!

Exodus 2: A little baby

Exodus 2 has to contain one of the nicest stories in the Bible. It's Egypt, and Hebrew babies are being killed, so Moses' mum pops him in a basket and floats him down the river. God only knows (literally) what she was hoping for, but it couldn't have worked out much better. Downriver, the princess of Egypt finds him and decides to raise him as her own, and Moses's mother sticks her head up, being told by the princess "Take this baby and nurse him for me, and I will pay you". (Ex 2:9) What a stunning scripture: when God has a plan for you, nothing will stop that blessing!

Later on we see Moses 'Glancing this way and that and seeing no-one, he killed the Egyptian' (Ex 2:12) Now here's a man with a dodgy past - literally a murderer, but God still used him in a mighty way: nothing is too big for God to handle and forgive!

Finally in this chapter, the Hebrews were groaning in their slavery and 'God heard their groaning' (Ex 2:24). God hears our prayers, so if you have a need, pray about it and believe that he will hear and deliver you.

Exodus 1: Time to leave

Exodus 1:12 tells us an interesting fact about the persecuted Israelites in Egypt: 'the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and spread'. As the notes in my Bible so eloquently say, 'when we are burdened or mistreated it can make us stronger and develop qualities in us that will prepare us for the future'.

Later in the chapter we see Midwives going against Pharaoh and not killing the Hebrew babies. They lied to Pharaoh, saying they just weren't getting there in time to do it, and God 'gave them families of their own' (vs 21). What jumps out at me here is how God is not looking for ways to punish (which he could have done for the lying), but to bless, which he did for saving the babies.

Genesis: an introduction

OK truth is I am being really slack, but here's the intro I wrote about Genesis:

Genesis is one of those books of the Bible that I have to admit having some negative feelings about, at least early on in my faith. Of all the 66 books that make up the old and new testament, it is this one that I had become majorly numb to. Are you, like me, numb to the wonders of the book of Genesis? It begins with the Sunday School that goes over the stories of creation and Noah and the flood a hundred times, sending you home with a hundred worksheets to colour in. Next are the children’s Bibles, with their multicoloured pictorial representations, again so often giving Noah and creation the big focus. And of course, who can forget the musical Joseph and his Technicolour Dreamcoat, whose audio cassette my mother played to death, to the point where I knew many of the songs word for word. Yet for all its childish vivacity, as a young-in-faith adult Christian I remember finding very little of interest in Genesis, or indeed much of the Old Testament. It seemed to be somehow removed from the loving God, father of Jesus, who I was learning to know in my own faith. The Old Testament in general was something I all but ignored for a good ten years in my Christian walk; I just didn’t get how the God shown there matched up with the one I knew. However, over the last year or two, I have begun to see the beauty of the Old Testament, and through intent study have discovered that it is just as important, just as relevant, and just as fantastic as the New Testament, and so began my journey into Genesis.

Genesis (greek for ‘birth’ or ‘origin’) is where it all began, a historical account of the first days. The oldest copies we currently have are those found among the Dead Sea Scrolls, dating from between 150BC and AD 70. It tells the true stories of creation, Adam and Eve, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Joseph, and was itself written by Moses around 1450-1410 BC.

There is a lot to learn in Genesis, and there was barely a chapter that didn’t have some powerful message for me to learn. What I began to see as I studied, was that God was consistently presenting the same values and messages through the different people that the book focuses on; these points are just as relevant to today’s world as they were back then, so let me get on with showing them to you!

Genesis 50: It is finished!

Well today marks the first landmark of this blog, in that the end of Genesis has been reached (literally the end of the beginning!) It's a nice feeling to have read and taken online notes on 50 chapters of the Bible, and after today we are propelled into the depths of Exodus. I think I will come up with some sort of 'the main 6 things I learnt from Genesis' blog, but for today here are the notes on Chapter 50.

Only one thing really jumps out. When Joseph is talking to his brothers, he says to them "Don't be afraid. Am I in the place of God?" (Gen 50:20). What he is saying is, in essence, 'don't worry, I am not out to get revenge on you for what you did to me'. I like the way he doesn't say 'you don't deserve any punishment', but simply announces that it is God's place to judge and punish. We hear it a lot, but God truly is our vindicator, and if we leave those who hurt us in his hands we will be blessed.

Genesis 46 - 49

Had an interesting time with God this morning, and really felt him telling me to slow down in the day. As a teacher, I am always cramming work in, working through break and lunch, doing two things at once etc etc, and I felt God say that I won't hear his still small voice if I'm so hectic, so to take things at a calmer pace.

Genesis 46-48 didn't really speak to me, but boy did chapter 49. In it we see Jacob blessing his sons before he dies. Of particular interest was the blessing for Judah: 'Your brothers will praise you; your hand will be on the neck of your enemies, your father's sons will bow down to you...the sceptre will not depart from Judah...he will wash his garments in wine (gen 49:8-11).

This is by far the best blessing of the lot, and it's interesting simply because Judah was the one who convinced his brothers to sell Joseph into slavery (Gen 37). Later on he has sex with what he believes to be a prostitute. My point: he's a sinner, a low down rotten sinner! So why does he get that big blessing? Maybe it's because he turned all that around, and in Gen 44 was the one who offered himself up for the sins of his brothers. Whatever the reason, is this not proof of a God who will forgive you your sins and bless you mightily if you turn from your sins and start doing what is right? I think so!

Genesis 45: Trust God!

It seems the same old themes are coming through time and time again in Genesis, and chapter 45 is no different. In this chapter we see Joseph reveal himself to his brothers, and in verse 8 he tells them "It was not you who sent me here, but God". This just blows me away: thrown down a well, sold into slavery, falsely accused and imprisoned, and able to turn to those who were to blame and tell them 'you meant it for harm, but God turned it to good'. WOW! So how do we apply that to our own lives? We need to trust God in whatever our circumstances; whether we're in the well or the palace, the mountain or the valley, trust God! What a challenge, but what a great one to embark upon, a life full of trust, no matter what comes our way.

Genesis 43&44

OK, nothing from 43, so straight onto 44. In this chapter, Joseph plants the silver cup on his brother to trick him. In verse 2 he tells his steward "Then put my cup, the silver one, in the mouth of the youngest one's sack, along with the silver for his grain". What hit me reading this was how this plan was surely not from God, as it was deceitful. However, God still blessed him mightily. For me, it is evidence that being a follower of God (even one of Biblical proportions such as Joseph) does not mean you can't make mistakes and mess up; furthermore, it indicates that God can and will still bless you and bring his plans for you to fruition, even if you stray from doing what is right. Am I explaining this right?

I guess what I mean is this: I know my salvation is secure, no matter what - when I die I am going to heaven. However, I strive earnestly (calling on God's help) to live a God honouring life day to day. When I mess up, as we all inevitably do (and as Joseph is here), I often worry about the possible consequences of my mistakes bringing everything crashing down around me. I still don't fully have peace about God not only forgiving us, but protecting us from the possible worst case scenario consequences of our actions. For example, Joseph was out of line here, being deceitful and certainly not Godly, but God didn't bring his whole kingdom falling down around him. I think it probably has something to do with God looking at the heart, but I don't have any clear answer. Much of the Bible talks about the consequences of our sin, but if everything we did wrong was punished in a worse case scenario sort of way, surely no-one would live in victory? Perhaps it's the heart that counts: if you are trying to do the right thing and mess up, God forgives and covers you from getting into trouble? But then what happens when you stop doing something you know was wrong: will God protect you from the consequences of it? Let me try and think of a good example: I download films, which is illegal. Let's say I stop because I am convicted it was wrong: will God protect me from the consequences of the copyright owners finding and prosecuting me?

I wonder if it comes down to that scripture where we are told God will not let us go through more than we can handle, meaning we will be protected from the consequences if they would bring such despair on us we couldn't handle it? Or maybe God deals with us on a case by case basis? Final food for thought: can our prayers save us from God's planned 'punishment'? Plenty of times in the Old Testament we see people pleading with God and he hears them and seems to change his mind e.g. Abraham pleading for Sodom.

Anyway, sorry for the ramble, I'm just still confused on this one: answers in the comments section!

Genesis 42: Readership up by 100%

Something quite God-inspired happened today. I think there have now been 3 days where I haven't blogged, and that is in the month and a bit I have been going. As I said in my blurb bit, the main point of this thing is to keep notes for myself, but of course I got a little down-hearted at the complete lack of readers at one point. Well, the day after I missed blogging for the first time, I found I had a follower (God bless you Jayne!) This boosted me to go on. Again, I missed my blog yesterday, and today my good man Jay approached me in Church and said he had been reading! I really felt that both occasions were God inspired encouragement, and so I am back at it now and on track!

Genesis 42 sees Joseph reunited with his brothers, but they don't yet know who he is. In verse 9 we read 'Then he remembered his dreams about them...' Of course, his dreams were of ruling over his family, but what hit me was HOW did he feel about those dreams when he was locked up in prison for something he didn't do? How do we feel when God's promises and our dreams seem a million miles away? Like Joseph we should never falter; we may be in some sort of prison today, but God can still make a way for us to 'lead a nation'.

Beginning in verse 16, Joseph makes a plan where he will imprison all but one of his brothers, but later changes that plan to just keeping one of them, citing 'for I fear God' (Gen 42:18). It seems Joseph changed his plan and went back on his decision, because he knew it wasn't right in God. There's a lot to be said about fearing God, but the main point is that we choose to do the right thing because we know God will bless that.

And finally, in verse 36, Jacob hears that Joseph (still hidden to them as their brother) wants to see Benjamin, and he says "Everything is against me!" (v 36). What hit me here is that he was seeing the natural and fearing, rather than seeing the spiritual (i.e. it was all going to work out well). Now Jacob was a Godly man in his time, and I just wondered what would have happened if he had really sought God on this matter; would God have told him it was going to be OK? Either way, he was stressed out for nothing, because he was acting in the natural, not seeing the spiritual reality that God would work it out for his good. That reminded me of Geoff Lee's brilliant message a few weeks back, which you can ready my blog on here: http://onemanandhisbible.blogspot.com/2010/03/taking-back-what-has-been-taken-from.html

Genesis 41 To God be the glory

In Genesis 41 we see Joseph finally released from prison, interpreting the dreams of the Pharaoh himself. However, in verse 16 Joseph says "I cannot do it...but God will give pharaoh the answer he desires". Only a simple point, but we must acknowledge to ourselves and others that our good points come from God. Every good thing we can do is a gift from God, and if we remember this it will stop us from getting proud.

For something on a totally different track, see verse 34, where Joseph instructs "take a fifth of the harvest of Egypt during the seven years of abundance". Just a practical tip this, but saving 20% of our income seems like a very good figure to reap a harvest in the future. By adopting a living below your means lifestyle it is not too tough to do this; we were saving £700 a month over the last couple of years to clear our debts. The point is, having a buffer zone, savings and money you can fall back on is clearly worthwhile, and they knew it back in Bible times.

Sex Begins in the Kitchen

Whilst perusing my friend's bookcase for a new read, I was grabbed by the somewhat bizarrely titled 'Sex Begins in the Kitchen'. Far from shying away from admitting they owned the book, Neil and Sue actually recommended it, and so began a week of reading, with Claire, a book that is all about marriage relationships. So much of it jumped out at me that I thought I would keep notes here. I am about halfway through the book, and here are the bits that have been really good so far:

1) Men don't just need sex, they need to be wanted sexually
2) We often become the sort of spouse that our gender specific parent was, so can look at their example to see where we are likely to 'go wrong', and what we are going to need to work on.
3) By marrying a middle child, I married someone who will struggle to express their true feelings, and will often seem to go along with something but actually need pressing to find her true opinion on the issue.
4) As a 'carrot-seeker' who gets a lot of his worth out of the affirmation of others, I need to take time out, get out of the house and do things for myself only on a regular basis.
5) People have affairs because their partner is not giving them a certain thing in the relationship; if you meet all their needs then your spouse will have no reason to cheat on you.
6)HIS needs are sexual fulfilment,respect and the need to be needed
HER needs are affection that doesn't lead to sex, honest and open communication and commitment to the family (kids).
7) MY love languages (the way I like to receive love) are physical touch and words of affirmation.
Claire's love languages are quality time and acts of service. Acts of service is going beyond the norm of what you normally do e.g. go to work for me, or cook and clean for Claire. Those are not acts of service, but the norm!
8) I need to communicate with Claire - show an interest in what she is interested in, actively listen, give her my undivided attention and ask her opinion of things.

Well, it's all a bit open this forum, but it's a good way for me to keep notes and it might interest someone in the book!

Genesis 40: Keep your commitments

I have to say that one of the areas God has really been challenging me in is keeping my commitments; I find it all too easy to say yes to something I ultimately don't want to do, only to battle with incredibly cold feet as the event draws closer and closer.

Well, in Genesis 40 we see Joseph, wrongfully imprisoned, interpreting the dreams of the cupbearer, whom he makes vow to put in a good word for him when he is released. In verse 40 we read 'The chief cupbearer, however, did not remember Joseph; he forgot him'.

Now, by forgetting Joseph, the cupbearer ultimately left him in prison for another two years before he got out. We need to stick to our commitments and honour our word. We need to be people of integrity, and learn to say no right away if that's what is right. Like the cupbearer, if we go back on something we said we would do, we ultimately let people down.

Genesis 39 (yes 39!)

A big skip now all the way to Genesis 39, and a short and simple message:

Gen 39:2 'The Lord was with Joseph and he prospered'

Nothing too out of the ordinary at first glance when it comes to this verse, except Joseph was a slave in a foreign land, and yet God STILL prospered him. This one really makes me think that circumstances don't matter: God is able to prosper you in any situation.

Genesis 33: Be generous!

Years after cheating Esau out of his birthright, a worried Jacob prepares to meet him. As he approaches, he sends wave after wave of gifts - animals etc, to appease the brother he imagines may well still want to kill him. Anyway, it turns out Esau has forgiven his brother, and says he can have his gifts back, to which Jacob replies "No, please!" said Jacob. "If I have found favour in your eyes, accept this gift from me...Please accept the present that was brought to you, for God has been gracious to me and I have all I need". And because Jacob insisted, Esau accepted it. Gen 33:10-11

What I love here is the way Jacob insisted on being good to his brother, just like that persistence we saw earlier in the blog when it came to Abraham blessing his guests with a meal. Again, it hit me how we should be generous - God gives to us so that we can be a river of giving, not a reservoir to store it all up for ourselves.

Genesis 32: Use the sword

I have only recently begun to understand the concept of using the sword of the spirit, which means to quote scripture to fend off the devil's attacks and lies. In Gen 32 we see Jacob praying, and in verse 12 he says "But you have said 'I will surely make you prosper and will make your descendants like the sand of the sea". What Jacob is doing here is claiming the promises of God and praying them into fruition.

The Bible is filled with amazing promises from God, and we need to memorise them and speak them out. I begin my day by reading out 7 or 8 hand-picked scriptures which are relevant to me and my issues, and I recommend that as good practice for every believer. When we feel fear, or whatever it is,we can speak the scriptures out, refusing to give into the emotions we are experiencing; that's what Jacob was doing here.


Later in the chapter, Jacob wrestles the angel all night long, refusing to let him go "Unless you bless me" (Gen 32:26). What we see here is a call to be relentless, to pursue God wholeheartedly and not give up. Keep on keeping on - your breakthrough could be just around the corner!

Genesis 31: Man plans, God laughs

Well today's message kind of involves chapter 30 too, but I left it for today for purposes that will soon become clear!

In Genesis 30, Laban tries to ruin Jacob by taking all the speckled flocks (the ones whose offspring is vowed to Jacob, and putting 'a three-day journey between himself and Jacob' (Gen 30:36)

Now, in Genesis 31 we see God's reply to Laban's plan when Jacob tells Rachel "God has not allowed him to harm me...God has taken away your father's livestock and has given them to me' Gen 31:8/9

What a lovely verse that shows us how we don't have to worry about things, just do what we know is right to do, and do it with excellence. God will provide for us as he did for Jacob, and of course Laban's plans all came to nothing in the end: take your eyes off of your problems and put them onto God.

Later on in the chapter, God spoke to Laban in a dream, confirming that it was indeed He who had provided in this way with the speckled flocks. Again this amazes me how God is willing to get involved in the run of the mill, everyday parts of our lives: awesome.


After these verses Jacob and Rachel flee from Laban, but Rachel steals his idol, and he comes looking for it. He searches everywhere, but she is sat on it and says to him:

Genesis 31:35 Rachel said to her father "don't be angry, my lord, that I cannot stand up in your presence; I'm having my period" Gen 31:35

Now I'll tell you what I love about this: God did not reveal Rachel's sin. She was in the wrong, and did something very silly and very ungodly, but he was gracious and merciful towards her, knowing she could well be killed if she was found out. This points to something I have been thinking a lot of lately: God is a God of justice, but I am also beginning to believe that does not mean he will bring out the worst consequences for everything we do wrong. We sin every day, and often (I believe as long as our heart is right) he will not only forgive us, but protect us from the worst case consequences of what we've done wrong. I can't say that with 100% confidence yet, but watch this space because it's one of the things I am searching the scriptures for.

Genesis 30: God wants to give you what you want!

Gen 30:15: 'God listened to Leah'

Just like in yesterday's blog, we find our awesome God listening to, and granting the prayers of, his child. What I love is that this is Leah's fifth child he blesses her with, which to me speaks of how God is a god of abundance; it's not like Leah was childless and destitute, but God didn't turn round and say "you've got four, don't be so needy all the time". Inside I know my mental picture of God doesn't add up to the one I see here- I struggle to believe he wants to bless me abundantly,and do good things for me, giving me the desires of my heart. However, I want to change!

Gen 30:22 'Then God remembered Rachel; he listened to her and opened her womb'>

Here we see God doing the same thing for Rachel, even though she was jealous of her sister. God's mercy covered her sin. He didn't say "right, stuff you for your bad attitude'. Again, we see a picture of a God who WANTS to bless us and give us the desires of our hearts, showing mercy and grace when we fail to have the right attitude.

Genesis 29: Ain't no mountain high enough, ain't no valley low enough

Gen 29:31 ‘When the Lord saw that Leah was not loved, he opened her womb’.

I love this scripture, as once again it shows an amazing scene; almighty God is watching the earth, and intervening in the smallest of issues. Basically, Leah isn’t being loved, and so he steps in and blesses her with a baby. What does that mean to us? For a start, it means that we can rest assured that God is watching over us and will take care of us. There is nothing too mundane for him to care about, and I think that’s just wonderful!

Gensis 27 & 28: What God has done for one he will do for all!

As we move into the second half of Genesis, our journey focuses now on Jacob. There wasn't a lot jumping off the page at me, so I went through a couple of chapters today.

Gen 28:15 "I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go...I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you".

Here we see God saying some amazing stuff to Jacob, things I am sure we would all like to hear. I always find it interesting and a tad confusing about which verses we can claim and believe for ourselves, and which (if any) were just specific messages to a person and not ones we can claim. However, since God is no respector of persons (Acts 10:34) I do believe what he has done for one he will do for another, and I would say this is a brilliant verse to speak out when we need some encouragement.

Genesis 26: Family matters

Well today is Easter Sunday, and the sun is shining! I was tempted to go and look at the chapters to do with Jesus' death and ressurection, but I ended up sticking with Genesis to see what God had for me there.

Genesis 26 continues with yesterday's theme of generational sin. In this chapter we see Isaac commiting the same sin his father did: afraid he would be killed so the locals could take his wife, he told them "she is my sister" (v 6). For me it's no coincidence that Isaac did the exact same thing his father did, and it reminds me again of how we need to be a good influence on our family.

Genesis 25: You've gotta eat!

Broken up for Easter now, but still starting my day with God. I am blessed that I won't have to be pulling my eyelids open at 6:15am for a couple of weeks, but I am also aware that I still need to seek God every day. So today is Genesis 25, and a couple of interesting points came up.

Gen 25:`After Abraham's death, God blessed his son Isaac'.

There are a couple of different ways of thinking about this verse. First off, our parents have an effect on us, and we can inherit God's blessings from them if they were close to God. Of course that can go the other way too, and I am testament to the fact that many of us inherit the good AND bad things of our parents. It's a bit of a double edged sword this teaching, and for many of us we will have inherited our share of rubbish from previous generations. However, it also reminds me how important it is for my own children that I seek God and live the life he has for me. I came across a lovely verse on proverbs the other day which basically said the same thing, something like 'if you love God he will look after your kids'.

If we are aware of the bad points we have inherited from our parents, then we can do battle with them, and lookout for their traps. For example, I have inherited my mother's worrying attitude,and so KNOW I need to build myself up with scripture and prayer etc.

Genesis 25:21 Isaac prayed to the Lord on behalf of his wife, because she was barren. The Lord answered his prayer.

I just love this: God answers prayer.It really hit me reading this how God involves himself in our own everyday desires, needs and requests, such as having a baby. The God who made the world is listening: what are you going to ask him for?

Genesis 25:32 "Look,I am about to die"

Here we see Esau so hungry that he gives away his birthright for a meal. God really spoke to me here about how we need to eat and eat well, because we can often fall into sin if we are hungry. It's an odd, but accurate observation I think.

Genesis 24: reap what you sow

Missed another day yesterday, but still did my Bible study. If I'm honest, I am losing a bit of the desire to write the blog, but I keep telling myself it's a good place to record things,and a valuable site if only for me!

OK, Genesis 24. Here we see a couple of really nice examples of generosity. First off, there's Rebekah, who not only drew water from the well but also offered to 'Draw water for your camels too' (Gen 24:19). This would have required a lot more work, but ultimately God used this as a sign that Rebekah was the woman for Jacob. I guess the message is treat everyone well, and in the meantime you could well be entertaining God's annointed. Either way, you'll reap a reward.

The same thing is seen later in the chapter. Rebekah's generosity continues in verse 25, where she tells the servant "we have plenty of straw and fodder, as well as room for you to spend the night". This above and beyond generosity is such a good example, and a continuation of the theme from a couple of days ago. God calls us to be generous.

Genesis 23: Don't take advantage

Genesis 23:13 and he said to Ephron in their hearing, "Listen to me, if you will. I will pay the price of the field. Accept it from me so I can bury my dead there."

To put this into perspective, Abraham's wife, Sarah, has just died. Abraham is looking for a place to bury her, and wants to buy some land off of a local guy, who offers it to him for free, then for a discount. Abe refuses, ultimately paying beyond the value.

Now I've heard a lot about how this was the norm, a bartering custom, but I still think it shouws Abraham's spirit of generosity, and a desire not to take advantage of people in a situation where he could have done.

Genesis 22: The longest 50 mile trip in the world

No actual scripture for today, just a general musing. Genesis 22 concerns Abraham's trip with Isaac, where he is responding to God's call to sacrifice his son. As we all know, God doesn't make himm go through with it, but what hit me today was that the journey to the place of sacrifice was 50 miles. Think of how long that would have taken (three days maybe?) and how Abraham would have been wrestling with the idea of killing his son for that whole time. Those of us who look for an immediate answer need to hold on and trust God that it WILL come in his timing. Like Abraham, trust God, and you won't be disappointed.

Genesis 21:

Genesis 21:17-18 God heard the boy crying, and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and said to her, "What is the matter, Hagar? Do not be afraid; God has heard the boy crying as he lies there.Lift the boy up and take him by the hand, for I will make him into a great nation."

This made me think about how God is so good to jump in and resolve the consequences of our sin - he did not tell Abraham to have a child with Hagar, but he still came in and turned the situation around when Hagar and her son were near death. We are fallen people, and God's original plan for us may need revision as we sin, but he works with us even as sinners, forging new paths to our destiny.

Genesis 20

Genesis 20:3 But God came to Abimelech in a dream one night and said to him, "You are as good as dead because of the woman you have taken; she is a married woman".

What I like about this is the way Sarah and Abraham were protected from the potential consequences of their sin - Abimelech hadn't slept with Sarah, and God spoke to him to return her. Abraham's plan could have seen him never seeing his wife again, and another man sleeping with her, but again we see a God who is gracious and merciful, who intervenes to get things back on track. Again, we mustn't try and solve things in our own 'wisdom' or strength, but rather rely on God.

Genesis 19: Give and it will be given unto you

Gen 19 2-3: "My lords," he said, "please turn aside to your servant's house. You can wash your feet and spend the night and then go on your way early in the morning." "No," they answered, "we will spend the night in the square". But he insisted so strongly that they did go with him and entered his house. He prepared a meal for them, baking bread without yeast, and they ate.

Here's yet another scripture about eh power of generosity. Abraham was insistent - he found a way to be generous: what a challenge!

Gen 19:16 16 When he hesitated, the men grasped his hand and the hands of his wife and of his two daughters and led them safely out of the city, for the LORD was merciful to them.

Here we see Lot unsure whether to act on the word of God, and God is so generous to him. He doesn't think 'fine, stuff you then', but his angels grab the hands of Lot and his family and lead them off to safety. This is a picture, to me, of God's great mercy. He WANTS to bless us and help us, so let's not fight against him.

Taking Back What Has Been Taken From You: Geoff Lee

Notes on last week's sermon from Church which was just awesome! Find the podcast at www.plymouthchristiancentre.org in the 'messages' section.

The sermon began in 2 Kings. The Arameans are attacking Israel, but God keeps telling Elisha what they are plannig to do, so the Israelites avoid the traps of the Arameans. The King of Aram sends soldiers to kill Elisha. Elisha's servant sees the soldiers surrounding Elisha and feels helpless, but Elisha sees the spiritual reality:

2 Kings 6:16-17 And he answered, Fear not: for they that be with us are more than they that be with them. And Elisha prayed, and said, LORD, I pray thee, open his eyes, that he may see. And the LORD opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw: and, behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha.

Elisha saw the spiritual reality of the situation, and didn't focus on the physical.

In verse 24, the Arameans come back: And it came to pass after this, that Benhadad king of Syria gathered all his host, and went up, and besieged Samaria.

They besieged the area until there was a great famine, and food was selling at a ridiculous price.

In 2 Kings 7, Elisha points to tomorrow: 2 Kings 7:1 Elisha said, "Hear the word of the LORD. This is what the LORD says: About this time tomorrow, a seah of flour will sell for a shekel and two seahs of barley for a shekel at the gate of Samaria." In other words, everything will soon be fine and food will be cheap again!

Then some lepers went to the enemy camp to beg mercy, and found the enemy gone! God had scared them away. There's something here about being afraid of something that isn't even there is there not? BUT the lepers had to face their enemy (problem) before seeing there was nothing to fear: reminds me of 'resist the devil and he will flee from you'. They were trapped in 'false fear', and until they confronted it,they would never have escaped from it (I love that!)

Next, the lepers gorge themselves on the enemies' spoils, eating and taking gold etc and hiding it. They go back to the camp and tell them the enemy have disappeared, but the king won't believe it, thinking it's a trap, until eventually he believes it.

Psalm 23: He lays a table before us in the presence of our enemies

Even in the presence of our enemies, God will provide us with what we need.

Romans 8:28 If God is for us, who can be against us?

God is our father, he's on our side, he won't leave us, and he will provide for us. The situation is going to change, and you will go into the enemy's camp.

2 Kings 18/19 sees the Assyrians attacking Israel. The king of Assyria says 'on what are you basing your confidence?' The question to us today is 'on what are you basing your confidence?' The answer needs to be 'GOD!'

The king tries to bargain witht them, lie to them and threaten them. It's another difficult situation of being surrounded and besieged. The situation looks absolutely helpless.

Hezekiah receives a letter full of threats, then goes to God's temple and spreads it out before the Lord. He tells God the whole thing, and prays about it. He calls out for God's help, and God says 'I have heard your prayer...' and He saves them.

Psalm 20:7 Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God.

That night, God killed 185,000 Assyrians, saving an impossible and hopeless situation.

So what do we need to do when the enemy attacks or threatens us?:

1) Have faith that God will deliver us
2) Pray, spread it out before the Lord, confront the brutal facts

2 Cor 10: 3For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. 4The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. 5We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.

We can take captive every accusation that comes from satan.

Take the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God. Use it to defeat satan, quoting scriptures to deflect his attack and claim the truth of God.

We serve an awesome, mighty and powerful God who can deal with our situation, whatever it may be.

Satan comes to us and whispers lies and accusations to us, but we should take the sword of the spirit.

Phillipians 4: 19 And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.

We should say things like: I am fearfully and wonderfully made, God has a hope for me, he has written down all the good works he has planned for me, he has a future and a hope for me where goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life, he is my shepherd....

We need to deflect the enemy's arrows and claim the truth from the Bible. "God has said..."

If the enemy has taken from you your joy and peace and confidence of God's supply and provision, the time has come to go into the enemy's camp and take back what he has taken from you.

Get up! Get moving!

Judges 6:11 The angel of the LORD came and sat down under the oak in Ophrah that belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, where his son Gideon was threshing wheat in a winepress to keep it from the Midianites. 12 When the angel of the LORD appeared to Gideon, he said, "The LORD is with you, mighty warrior." "But sir," Gideon replied, "if the LORD is with us, why has all this happened to us?

If God is with us, why has this bad stuff happened? Gideon is angry with God. God said to Gideon 'go in the strength you have'. Take what you have, and God does the rest.

Gideon tries to do it in his own strength, so God whittles it down to a small number so he has to be reliant on God.

Some of us are like Gideon - we're cowering and we've given up territory, but it's time to rise mighty warrior. Go in our strength and God will go with us.

God wants us to know that HE is in control of our situation, not us!

Psalm 68: 1 Let God arise, and let his enemies be scattered
Romans 8:37 We are more than conquerers through Christ who loves us

We have to decide whether to listen to what God says or what the devil says. We need to take back what the devil has taken from us.

Romans 16:20 He will crush satan under your feet

What are you basing your confidence on? It's the Lord who gives the ability to make wealth, and who can make a way where there is no way. When you are surrounded, the word of the Lord will come. Spread it out before God and he will deliver you!

Stop lying down under the lies of satan, and stand your ground against the devil!

Genesis 18:

Had a full night's sleep last night, so getting up this morning was easy which was nice. A few interesting things from Gen 18.

Gen 18:3-5 He said, "If I have found favor in your eyes, my lord, do not pass your servant by. Let a little water be brought, and then you may all wash your feet and rest under this tree. Let me get you something to eat, so you can be refreshed and then go on your way—now that you have come to your servant."

Here we see Abraham's generous spirit; not only is he generous when strangers come along, but he goes out of his way to be generous to others. He wants to bless them, and is a great example of how we should be with others. For me, I have lately been challenged about SEEKING opportunities to bless others - I will possibly drag my feet and almost begrudgingly bless someone if God makes it absolutely clear to me that he is calling me to, but wil I jump on any opportunity I can to be good to people like Abraham did here? The answer is I aspire to!

Gen 18:7 Then he ran to the herd and selected a choice, tender calf and gave it to a servant, who hurried to prepare it.

The key word for me here is 'ran'. Abraham lived a life of excellence, and literally RAN to get the blessing to his guests quicker - what a great example of going the extra mile and living a life of excellence.


Gen 18:11-12 Sarah was past the age of childbearing. So Sarah laughed to herself as she thought, "After I am worn out and my master is old, will I now have this pleasure?"

Sarah literally laughed at God's promise, but he still granted it. His mercy caused him to overlook Sarah's doubt, which is a great example of how merciful God is.

Genesis 18:16 When the men got up to leave, they looked down toward Sodom, and Abraham walked along with them to see them on their way

When his guests were leaving, Abe went with them. He pursued them, and quite literally went the extra mile. What we then learn is that God spoke to Abraham about the impeding doom coming to Sodom, and Abe pleaded for the people there. This would not have happened if he had not followed, so the message for me is to pursue God and follow him, going the extra mile in our pursuit of him. Don't settle for second best, lazy Christianity, but pursue with passion and energy and it will pay off.

Genesis 17: Just Do It!

Gen 17:15-16 God also said to Abraham, "As for Sarai your wife...I will bless her and will surely give you a son by her"

What I love here is the way that God still came through on his earlier promise to Sarai, despite the fact that she had taken the matter into her hands by giving Hagar to Abe. God is gracious and forgiving, and gives Sarah another chance to receive her promise. We mustn't feel that we have walked out on God's promises when we sin, but repent and believe he will still do what he has said he will do.

Gen 17:20: 'And as for Ishmael, I have heard you. I will surely bless him"

God heard Abraham's prayer and answered it, building Ishmael (a child born outside of God's plan) into his plans. This reminds me of those wonderful words of Jesus "ask and it will be given to you". We need to ask God for what we want, as he is a loving father who WANTS to give us what we want! Don't judge your requests like Abe could have, thinking 'oh no, this is my lot, and it was my own fault for drifting from God's plan', just ask HIM!

Gen 17:23 'On that very day'

Why did God bless Abe so much? One possible answer is seen here: he didn't procrastinate, but got on and did what was asked of him by God. Do we put stuff off that we know is right? As Nike like to say: Just Do It.

God's get out of jail free card

Another Podcast for me this evening, taking notes as I go along. This one is entitled 'God's plan for your peace', and is a wonderful message from Pastor David Beresford.

God could have left man in his self inflicted darkness caused by our rebellion, but he sent Jesus.

Jesus reverses the curse that Adam brought upon the world.

Jesus is God's plan for your peace.

Isaiah 61:1 The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners,:

God comes to free us from prison. Prison is the punishment of restriction.

THE PRISON OF GUILT:

Real guilt: everyone has it- we have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. There is a cure for guilt which is repentance.
False guilt: can be caused by our upbringing, over-critical parents who made us feel awful or the accusations of satan who accuses us. We must resist false guilt. When we have come to the foot of the cross and confessed our sins, praise God: he is faithful and just to forgive us and cleanse us.

THE PRISON OF FEAR
Fear that something bad will happen, fear of the future, fear of death, fear of divination - horoscopes etc. We must not fear. Jesus said "I will never leave you or forsake you".

THE PRISON OF HABITS:
anger, lust etc

PRISON OF DOUBT AND DESPAIR
We need to get hold of God's promises

THE ANSWER:
Jesus said "I have come to set the prisoners free"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Jesus came to bring release to the oppressed.

Jesus came to proclaim the year of the Lord's favour: all debts were cancelled, all slaves were released!!


As I read this message, I am so aware of how imprisoned I am, and want to take hold of the freedom which Jesus died to give me :)

Genesis 16: The problem with being married

Genesis 16:1 Now Sarai, Abram's wife, had borne him no children. But she had an Egyptian maidservant named Hagar, so she said to Abram, "The Lord has kept me from having children. Go, sleep with my maidservant; perhaps I can build a family through her'

Marriage can be the most intimate and close of relationships, but it must not take the place of God in our lives. Here we see Abram persuaded to drift off from God's promise of giving Sarai a baby. Now let's face it, he didn't take much persuading to go and bed another woman, so I'm not really blaming Sarai, but this verse does remind me how easy it is to lead eachother astray in a marriage. Likewise, it can seem almost impossible to be close to God at a time of falling out with our spouse. We need to put God first, and not let our husband or wife take their place - certainly an important message for me this one.


Genesis 16:4 When she knew she was pregnant, she began to despise her mistress. Then Sarai said to Abramm "You are responsible for the wrong I am suffering".
In 16:4 we see that the plan backfires, which just shows how we must not try to rush God's plan or promise for us, but rely wholeheartedly on him and his timing. He who has begun a good work in you will surely bring it to pass AMEN?

20th March: Fear Not!

Although I did do my Bible study this morning, I thought I would use today's blog to take notes as I listen to a series from the Plymouth Christian Centre podcasts http://www.plymouthchristiancentre.org/messages.shtml on fear. Fear is something which has plagued me for as long as I can remember, so I am using this day off of work to spend some extra time seeking God on the subject.


2 Timothy 1:7 God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love, and a sound mind


False
Expectations
Appearing
Real

Fearfulness can come in numerous ways:

1)Personality - some people are naturally timid and fearful
2)Induced by people - those around you rub off on you
3)Trauma- bad incidents which make us afraid
4)Satanic - satan is the author of fear

Wherever fear comes from it is not from God!


Types Of Fear Found in the Bible

Fear of death is a big fear in the Bible, which Jesus came to break.
Fear of exposure - being discovered
Fear of disease - anxiety about becoming ill
Fear of the night e.g. being burgled
Fear of being attacked
Fear of other people
Fear of failure

Fear is a tormentor. Perfect love casts out fear.

There was a lurking fear in the life of Job: "what I always feared has happened to me". Even in the good times, Job had a fear things would go wrong. God was with him and he was prosperous, BUT he still felt bad was on its way.

So what do we do when we have these fears that attack our soul and keep on reoccurring?

1) Remind yourself that God did not give you a spirit of fear
2) Face the fear - name what you are afraid of. Speak to the mountain and cast it into the sea.
3) Believe in the love of God for you; there is no fear in God's love. Fear has to do with torment and punishment, and God has not given us a spirit of fear.

KEY VERSES:

Psalm 139:16 All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.


If God has not given us a spirit of fear, then what HAS he given us? Power, love and a sound mind!

'Be anxious for nothing, but in everything... make your requests known to God'.

When we become Christians, the spirit of God comes into us a seed which needs to grow.

God has given us a spirit of power:

1)Power in the presence of God e.g. praying in tongues defeats evil
2)Power in believing prayer e.g. Elijah is described as being a man like you and I, but he prayed. There is power in persistent prayer - ask and it will be given to you, is actually from the Greek, the continuous 'keep asking'. Those who prayed for Peter prayed through the night and he was saved- persist in prayer.
3)Power in praise e.g. remember what God has done for us,answered our prayers and brought us through. Magnify the Lord.
4)The power of proclamation e.g.speak it out, claim the scripture, build yourself and others up.

God has given us a spirit of love:
1) To love God back
2) To love other Christians - don't major on minor differences, just love them!
3) To love our enemies - do good to those who hate us and pray for those who ill-treat us!

God has given us a spirit of a sound mind:
From the greek 'a safe mind, good judgement, disciplined thought patterns, including self control and self discipline'. What we think about is important.

Whatever is true, whatever is noble, right, lovely, admirable, excellent and praise-worthy, think about such things!

Genesis 15: Do not be afraid, I am your shield...

15:1 After this, the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision:
“Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield,your very great reward.

Just to put the 'after this' in context, Abram had just rescued Lot and taken loads of treasure which the king offered him. Well, Abram refused, saying he wanted the glory to go to God alone, and the next thing we read is the above - an almighty promise. It was after Abram's integrity that God brought a blessing and a vision, proving that sowing good things means you will reap good things.

15: 6 Abram believed the LORD, and he credited it to him as righteousness.

This bit is about God promising Abe a baby, even though he and his wife were dead old! Abram didn't reason or think about the circumstances, he just (like Noah) believed!

His faith was credited to him as righteousness; I love this one. Even though the Lord himself spoke to Abram, he was still honoured for believing God. Do we always believe God? What does he promise us in the Bible, and do we believe it?

This makes me wonder why Abram found it so easy to trust God. Was it because of what he had been through up to this point? I mean, he was 75, and clearly his life experiences had made him the man he was. He'd left his country, people and family, and was totally reliant on God, who was blessing him mightily. This makes me think about how we need to remember that the good things we have come from God alone, and we mustn't get proud about them.

Finally, Abe had walked in generosity, been prepared for attack, and shown himself to be a man of integrity. This is a challenge to me to walk in God's ways, so that I will believe him and do whatever he wants me to do, just like good old Abram.

Genesis 13 & 14 - be prepared

Nothing from chapter 13, but 14 was insightful.

Genesis 14: 14 'When Abram heard that his relative had been taken captive, he called out the 318 trained men born in his household and went in pursuit...'

What I love here is that Abram was prepared for an attack, and we too should prepare for the attacks of Satan. Rather than walking around with your head in the clouds, remember that the devil is out there on the prowl. Know your particular areas of sin where he is likely to attack, look at the day ahead and consider when those areas are likely to strike, and ask God for his help. As you approach those times, be on high alert, quoting scripture etc, and basically win the battle before it's begun. Expanded to every area of our lives, this is a life-changing principle I reckon.

Genesis 12: Build an altar

OK first off, if Neil or Sue are about to read this then STOP! The following is really the basis of what I am going to share at cell group next week, and I don't want to spoil it for you now! Anyone else: read on!

12:1 & 2 1 The LORD had said to Abram, “Leave your country, your people and your father's household and go to the land I will show you. “I will make you into a great nationand I will bless you;I will make your name great,and you will be a blessing.

We can see here how Abram had to give up everything he had before the blessing came; like I previously examined with Noah, if we do our part then God will do his part. The notes in my Life Application Bible quite rightly say 'Don't let the comfort and security of your present position make you miss God's plan for you'.

12:7 So he built an altar there

This was really the big thing for me, and a true revelation. Again, from the notes, an altar is a reminder of God's goodness. When God is good to us we should build an altar so that in future hard times we can look back and remember the goodness of God, telling ourselves that if he got us through it in the past, he will surely do it again.

It is so easy to forget God's goodness, and be plagued by worries on issues he has previously come through on. This altar thing has made me think of actually creating or buying an object when God does something really big for me, and placing it around my house as a reminder. Not to be mistaken with an idol, I just think this very practical idea would be very helpful to someone like me who has been at battle with worry my whole life!


12:11-13 As he was about to enter Egypt, he said to his wife Sarai, “I know what a beautiful woman you are.When the Egyptians see you, they will say, ‘This is his wife.’ Then they will kill me but will let you live.Say you are my sister, so that I will be treated well for your sake and my life will be spared because of you.”

Abram saw the situation and used his own logic and reasoning to come up with a 'solution' to the men killing him and taking his wife - saying she was his sister. Of course, it all seemed to be going OK, but then it turned terribly wrong:

12:17 But the LORD inflicted serious diseases on Pharaoh and his household because of Abram's wife Sarai.

Here we see Abram's plan backfiring, and it just made me think how we must not reason - do what God says, not what YOU think! Us intellectual types can often figure out a 'fix' for everything, but that's not the point - God is the one we should rely on.

Genesis 9/10/11 - a 'terah'fying prospect

Nothing from chapters 9 and 10 today, so right into the 11th.

11:31 Terah took his son Abram, his grandson Lot son of Haran, and his daughter in law Sarai, the wife of his son Abram, and together they set out from Ur of the Chaldeans to go to Canaan. But when they came to Haran, they settle there.

We don't hear much about Terah in Church, but he was Abram's dad, who was leading the whole family on their way to Canaan but never made it. Terah never completed his journey, and that had a knock-on effect on Abram. Eventually Abram continued on his own, and I like the way that God's plan was not thwarted by Terah's decisions. God made the way for him. Ultimately, our journey of faith is about us and God, no-one else. We mustn't let what others did or didn't do to/for us affect our relationship with God.

Genesis 8: Ignore the dove!

Another early morning, and now this rising with the sun (or lack of it) is getting easy! A little tip I found for if my eyelids are closing and sending me back off to sleep: go and jump in the shower, then continue after!

Ok, here's one for Genesis 8:11-15

11When the dove returned to him in the evening, there in its beak was a freshly plucked olive leaf! Then Noah knew that the water had receded from the earth.
He waited seven more days and sent the dove out again, but this time it did not return to him.By the first day of the first month of Noah's six hundred and first year, the water had dried up from the earth. Noah then removed the covering from the ark and saw that the surface of the ground was dry.By the twenty-seventh day of the second month the earth was completely dry.Then God said to Noah,“Come out of the ark, you and your wife and your sons and their wives.

OK, here's what I love about this: Noah did not leave the ark when the dove didn't return; he left it almost two months later, when God told him to. To me this is a massive revelation - even though the dove experiment made it look like the earth was safe again, God knew there were still lots of submerged bits, and Noah waited for God's OK at the end of the next month before leaving. What a great message about listening to God - even if everything 'looks' right, we still need to listen for God's OK (or lack of it).


8:21 The LORD smelled the pleasing aroma and said in his heart: “Never again will I curse the ground because of man, even though† every inclination of his heart is evil from childhood. And never again will I destroy all living creatures, as I have done.

OK, bit of an odd one this, but it just makes me see clearly how we (I) cannot do this Christianity thing without God's help. Every inclination of my heart is evil, and it's only with God's daily help that I can make it through. Too often we get into works of the flesh, trying to do the right thing and failing, but we need to daily lean on God's strength and tell him 'I can't do this without you, so please help me!' That's something I'm learning more and more as I try and fail, try and fail, try and fail. In my own strength I am literally the chief of sinners (roll over Paul), but if I daily give myself to God, between the two of us we can make it: what a revelation!

Genesis 7: Do what you can do and leave the rest to God

OK, first off - I missed uploading yesterday's ponderings, but I still did the study in the morning. I was rushed for time, and figured it wouldn't exactly displease any followers to miss a day as I didn't have any. Then I log on this morning, and low and behold there is my first follower: thanks Jane! So now I will stick to it :)

My thoughts today actually include a verse from chapter 6 too, but it really only makes sense with Chapter 7 involved.

6:13-22 So God said to Noah, “I am going to put an end to all people, for the earth is filled with violence because of them. I am surely going to destroy both them and the earth.So make yourself an ark of cypress† wood; make rooms in it and coat it with pitch inside and out.This is how you are to build it: The ark is to be 450 feet long, 75 feet wide and 45 feet high.†Make a roof for it and finish† the ark to within 18 inches† of the top. Put a door in the side of the ark and make lower, middle and upper decks.I am going to bring floodwaters on the earth to destroy all life under the heavens, every creature that has the breath of life in it. Everything on earth will perish.But I will establish my covenant with you, and you will enter the ark—you and your sons and your wife and your sons' wives with you.
19You are to bring into the ark two of all living creatures, male and female, to keep them alive with you.Two of every kind of bird, of every kind of animal and of every kind of creature that moves along the ground will come to you to be kept alive.
21You are to take every kind of food that is to be eaten and store it away as food for you and for them.” Noah did everything just as God commanded him.

The main bit I am looking at here is the last bit, verse 22, where Noah did everything just as God commanded him.Noah then built the ark, and in verse 16 of chapter 7 we read:

7:16 The animals going in were male and female of every living thing, as God had commanded Noah.

What hit me today about this is the way Noah did not reason or doubt, or question God as to how his seemingly impossible task would come to fruition. He focused on what he was told to do at that moment, which was to build the ark, and God took care of the rest (the animals). As my favourite preacher, Joyce Meyer, is fond of saying, if we do what we CAN do, God will do what we CANNOT do. We need to focus on what IS under our control and leave the rest to God.

7:2 Take with you seven† of every kind of clean animal, a male and its mate, and two of every kind of unclean animal, a male and its mate,

What I love about this is the way that we, as readers of the Bible, have yet to be told about clean and unclean animals, but obviously Noah knew all about it. It just makes me think about how the Bible doesn't record absolutely everything about God, which is pretty amazing I think. Obviously Noah knew the details from somewhere (from God himself?) but we don't read about that.

Finally, something I thought today about the whole chapter - we can often see God's flooding the world as something that is brutal and vicious, yet it hit me today that it was HIS to do with how he pleased. For example, if we painted a painting and weren't happy with it, we could do what we liked with it - this is the same with God. We can get so hung up on our own supreme self worth, but at the end of the day he is the potter and we are the clay, and what he wants to do is up to Him!

Genesis 5 & 6: I'm no angel

Nothing from chapter 5, but a couple of fascinating points from chapter 6 today.

6:1/4 Now it came about, when men began to multiply on the face of the land, and daughters were born to them, that the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful; and they took wives for themselves, whomever they chose...The Nephilim were on the earth in those days—and also afterward—when the sons of God went to the daughters of men and had children by them. They were the heroes of old, men of renown.

There is some debate over the Nephilim, but for me they are fallen angels (the word means fallen ones). Not really something I want to debate here the reason why they make sense as fallen angels, but email me if you're interested! In my view, this scripture says that fallen angels slept with women and their children were special (the word also has connotations of 'giant' which may suggest where those like Goliath came from). Anyway, cool mythology-like stuff aside, this scripture just highlights to me how big a deal sexual sin is. Even the angels, who lived with God in heaven, were not exempt from the temptation, which reminds me how it is a big issue for most guys. It also reminds me that to be victorious, we should rely solely on God and not on our own strength (or lack of it). I'm no angel, so if those guys fell, I need God's help for sure!

6: 7 So the LORD said, “I will wipe mankind, whom I have created, from the face of the earth—men and animals, and creatures that move along the ground, and birds of the air—for I am grieved that I have made them.”

Does this mean God didn't kill the fish? Just an observation - would have been tough to drown them!

6:15 This is how you are to build it: The ark is to be 450 feet long, 75 feet wide and 45 feet high.

Definitely the coolest thing here. The ark was exactly six times longer than it was wide - the same ratio used by modern ship-builders. I just thought that was a really cool example of how something from the Bible, written so long ago is proof of God who knew long before humans did, the ideal proportions for a boat of that size. Here we are all these years later with the clever tests done with computers etc to work out pressure and force and size and stuff, but God knew that ages ago: love it!

Genesis 4: Cain you believe how gracious God is?

Just one for today:

Genesis 4: 13-16: 'Cain said to the Lord, "my punishment is more than I can bear. Today you are driving me from the land, and I will be hidden from your presence; I will be a restless wanderer on the eath, and whoever finds me will kill me." But the Lord said to him, "Not so; if anyone kills Cain, he will suffer vengeance seven times over." Then the Lord put a mark on Cain so that no-one who found him would kill him.'

A couple of weeks back, in my workplace Christian Union meeting, another Christian was talking to me about how loving and gracious God is when non-Christian friend in the room cockily replied "except in the first half of the Bible". I knew where he was coming from: when I was young in my own faith I felt there was very little to learn from reading the Old Testament, which showed a lot of anger, wrath, pestilence and death, but now I know just how wrong I was. Here, in these verses, we see yet another example of how God is gracious and giving; even in our own sin, still God provides, and in his punishment he still gave Cain what he needed. Just like the skins he made for Adam and Eve, God has mercy and stays with us - works for our good, no matter what we have done! What a gracious God!

Genesis 2 & 3

Nothing hit me about Genesis 2, so I moved right onto the next chapter; I think I will do that if nothing comes from the day's reading, as the purpose of this whole thing is to be fed every day, and there's no stopping til it happens! Genesis 3 proved to be much more fruitful (if you'll pardon the pun!)

GENESIS 3:1 [the serpent] said to the woman, "Did God really say, 'you must not eat from any tree in the garden'?"

This is the first example of Satan testing people on what God or His word says, and I think it highlights how important it is to know the word of God. Obviously the devil is twisting God's words - he didn't say Eve couldn't eat any of the fruit, just one type. We need to know the truth of God's word (i.e. the details of the Bible) so that we can stand on it and make the right choices. When a situation comes along we need to be able to refer to the Bible to come to a decision.

Also, Satan made Eve forget all that God had given her and instead focus on the one thing she wasn't allowed. We can also get into trouble when we dwell on the few things we don't have,rather than the numerous things God HAS given us.

3:6 'When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it'.

This is a great bit from the notes in my Life Application Bible on this verse:'The battle is often lost at the first look! Are you struggling with temptation because you have not learned that looking is the first step towards sin? You would win over temptation more often if you followed Paul's advice to run from those things that produce evil thoughts'.

3:21 'The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them'

Such a powerful image this; God provided the way out and met Adam and Eve's needs despite their sin- he didn't write them off for their sin. He punished them, but also provided a new route for them, which to me makes me very happy: God won't let us be ruined by sin, but will always have a plan for our lives no matter what we do. For example, if I lost my job tomorrow through my own mistakes, God would still have something for me- it wouldn't all be over. This helps me to see that we shouldn't get our security from job, money, position etc, but instead the one who gives it.

Until next time...

March 9th 2010: Genesis 1

Up at 6.15am, a whole hour earlier than usual, and ready to go!

I have to admit I was a bit dubious about just what I would 'get' from the first chapter of the Bible. It has to be one of the most well known parts of the good book, referenced time and time again both in and out of Church, and a childhood of colourful Sunday-school lessons had left me a tad numb about it. However, I wasn't about to ignore it, so I dove in: I'm glad I did!

Here's what meant something to me:

GEN 1:5 'God called the light "day", and the darkness he called "night".

This is such a simple verse, and yet something really hit me today when I read this; God made the world for us. It's just a practical thing, but we've already read in verse two that God was hovering over the waters in the 'dark'. It hit me this morning, as I sat in my own early winter morning darkness, that God didn't need the light, we did. He made the light for us, as indeed he made the whole world for us. WE need light in order to see, move around, and enjoy the world.

What hit me next was the simple but often overlooked fact that the whole world was made for US to enjoy, and that was pretty profound to me.

GEN 1:20 'And God said, "let the water teem with living creatures".

This verse reminds me that God is an extravagant God - he didn't just make a few fish, he made the water 'teem' (abound, swarm, be prolific) with creatures. In our finite view of God we can often minimise what he wants to do for us, but God is a God of extravagance - the God of more than enough.

There are currently something like 230,00o species of marine creature that have gone through the process of being classified as unique creatures by scientists. This means that God was not lying when he said 'teem', and to me it paints a picture of a God who is extravagant and generous, giving, creative and abundant: very cool!

Gen 1:28 God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground."

Similar to my comment on verse 5, this verse speaks again to the way God made the world FOR us. The Earth and everything God put in it is for us, and if we allow ourselves we can see God through it. This particularly made me think of the urban nature of my life at the moment - I walk from a street of terraced houses, along a main road, into my work building. I stay there all day, then reverse the trip and almost always stay at home all evening. It made me think about how we limit ourselves if we don't experience God through nature, and made me resolve to do this more. In John Ortberg's book 'God is Closer than you Think', he writes about relationship pathways - ways we commune with God, and one of those I resonate with is the nature pathway. I won't go into his book here, but it just made me realise that the world, and nature is ours to enjoy and to see God through.

Quite a lot today - obviously God blessing me for the start I've made :)