Today's Reading
The Bible has much to say about words of blessing. Today in our Genesis reading, Jacob blesses his family just before he dies. In more ways than we can imagine, his words of blessing came true in the generations that came later. Read carefully, for instance, his blessing about Jesus' ancestor Judah. See his many things were said that came true in Jesus hundreds of years later.
Matthew again shows us the lavish grace of Jesus as he cares for the hurting of his generation. His actions contrast with those of the religious leaders who said they cared, but didn't show it.
Today's opening verses in Matthew struck me as never before:
Jesus returned to the Sea of Galilee and climbed a hill and sat down. A vast crowd brought to him people who were lame, blind, crippled, those who couldn't speak, and many others. They laid them before Jesus, and he healed them all. The crowd was amazed! Those who hadn't been able to speak were talking, the crippled were made well, the lame were walking, and the blind could see again! And they praised the God of Israel. (Matthew 15:29-31 NLT) Just imagine that scene; people were able to do things they had never done or hadn't done in years. I think it must have been ten thousand times better than the best Christmas morning in a house full of happy little children!
I am reminded in Psalms that God knows me and loves me even when I feel like a failure. Sometimes it's easy to believe that I don't ever please God, but that's not true...
2 May he send you help from his sanctuary
and strengthen you from Jerusalem.
3 May he remember all your gifts
and look favorably on your burnt offerings.
We all fail sometimes, but Christ in our hearts keeps changing us. That means that we also have times when things are "right." Thank God that He remembers those times even when I don't.
The easiest way to conquer evil is to avoid it. That's our teaching today from Proverbs.
I hope to hear from you today!
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What a long and crazy life Jacob had. It seems like blessings played a larger than average role in his life- starting with the one he stole, contInuing with the blessing he insisted upon from whoever he wrestled
ReplyDeleteWith (God?), then getting to bless Phoaroah, and ending with strange blessings for Joseph's two oldest sons and pronouncements that hardly sound like blessings for his own 12 sons. Why do u think we see blessings take such a big role in Jacob's life?
ReplyDeleteHey Julie, you asked a question I never even thought of before. I love how you tied each of these blessings together to formulate a great query. As you know, Jacob the trickster stole the blessing of the firstborn that belonged to his older brother. This was a tragedy because God had promised to give it to him. However, we start to see a major transformation in his life when he left to the land of his mother. On the way back to the home of his youth, he wrestled with the angel of the Lord and was blessed when he wouldn't let go. That blessing included his new name, Israel, which literally means "one who strives with God." He became a picture for us of perseverance in prayer and he named that place "El-Elohe-Israel": "God, the God of those who strive (persevere) with God."
ReplyDeleteThe blessing of the father to the firstborn was for the first and best of what the family had. The firstborn son was to steward that and pass on the family heritage to the next generation. Jacob was God's choice to pass on the heritage of Abraham and Isaac. Jacob didn't pass it on to his first-born (Reuben) because Reuben had sinned against his father and his family in a shameful way. On the one hand, Jacob gave the double-portion (typical first-born blessing) to Joseph by "adopting" Joseph's two sons as his own and giving them each a full portion with Joseph's brothers. On the other hand, the most powerful blessing, not in size of initial inheritance but in scope, was to Judah.
The blessing to Pharoah is powerful. As Tom & Tammy P about the message they heard this weekend and I think it will add a huge appreciate to this blessing for you.