![Read the Bible Through, Day 14]()
by Suellen | Project 2013: Read The Bible
Genesis 33-35
Throughout God’s dealings with His covenant people, we see flip-flopping extremes. From time to time, the people are setting up altars and showing themselves honorable, and the next thing we know, there’s violence and bloodshed.
These chapters certainly exemplify this trend. Jacob, very concerned about his reconnection with Esau, plans his approach very carefully. When things go well, he builds an altar to God as thanksgiving.
Next thing you know, Jacob’s daughter gets raped, and two of his sons trick the local clan into weakening themselves through circumcision, so they can slaughter every male. Not exactly the best way to win friends in the new territory.
Back to God. As Jacob approaches Bethel, where he had wrestled with the angel, he encounters God again – with another promise that God will continue to bless him and his lineage.
We have a long suffering Heavenly Father. As we proceed through these chapters, there will be times when we can’t imagine how God could bless such a raucous bunch of people.
Then we realize that He is dealing with us in this day and age. He blesses us – many times in spite of ourselves. He picks us up, dusts us off, and tells us to go again, and try to do better next time.
Matthew 11
I think there is a powerful lesson in the first part of chapter 11. John the Baptist had baptised Jesus and recognized Him as the Lamb of God. But now, as John is in prison, he begins to doubt.
That’s the way we can be sometimes. We may hear God’s voice so clearly giving us direction. We know that we know that He has spoken to us. Then when circumstances arise which look differently, we need more confirmation. We begin to doubt.
So John sends to Jesus a question. “Are you the One or do we look for another?”
Notice how Jesus answers. He could have easily said, “Yes. I am the One.” But he doesn’t do that. Instead He answers with scripture.
He says “The blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raise, and the poor have the Gospel preached to them. And blessed is he who is not offended because of Me.” All of these are prophecies which appeared in Isaiah when he was speaking of the Messiah to come. (Is. 29:18; 35:5,6; 61:1; and 8:14) Jesus knows that John the Baptist is familiar with the prophecy. He is saying, “Yes, John. All of these prophecies are being fulfilled.”
I use this same principle when I am asking the Lord for confirmation. I ask for scripture. It’s amazing how much faith is generated when He answers with the Word.
Verses 28-30 are some of my favorite verses. Jesus speaks of His yoke, which is not burdensome.
When we are yoked to Jesus, He is the load-puller. We are just along for the ride, so to speak. He is the One with the power and strength.
There have been times during my walk with the Lord when extremely troublesome issues have come up. During those times, I have seen myself gathering the problem into a net – much like a fisherman’s net and handing it to the Lord.
Every time I hand it to Him, an unspeakable peace comes upon me – even when a storm is raging around. He will then give direction – say this; do that. I am working with Him, but Jesus is the burden-bearer. I am yoked to Him, and He is carrying the load.
Blessings and be sure to let Him carry your load!
Suellen Estes
by Suellen | Project 2013: Read The Bible
Well, we begin to see some Rules of the Universe here at work, don’t we? You know the ones about “As you sow, so shall you reap?” Or “By the measure you mete, it shall be meted unto you?”
The name Jacob means “deceiver” or “supplanter.” And he lived up to his name when he deceived his father and Esau. Now he’s eating the fruit of his deception. Laban tricked him into marrying the wrong daughter.
One time I heard John Kilpatrick talk about Rachel and Leah. Rachel was the one Jacob desired. She was beautiful to behold, and he loved her. But he got Leah.
The interesting thing about it is that God had a greater blessing for Leah. She was more fruitful. Rachel was actually barren at first, and Leah bore four sons in a row. Further, one of her sons was Levi, who brought forth all of the priesthood for Israel. Another of her sons was Judah, whose descendant was David – and eventually Jesus Christ. What a blessing to her!
Pastor Kilpatrick emphasized the fact that very often the more fruitful callings we have are not that “desirable” in the natural. We want something that looks good; appealing to our carnal nature. But sometimes God calls us to something which is not that “showy,” but extremely fruitful. (And sometimes only God Himself sees the fruit).
If we want to look good to other men, we want Rachel. If we want to do the will of God, sometimes we will have a Leah as our call. The important thing is to trust God and just continue in the path He sets before us. Our true reward is from HIm.
One interesting note is that when Jacob was dying, he gave instructions to his sons about where he wanted to be buried. He was in Egypt, but he charged them to take him back to Canaan so that he could be buried with his father and grandfather. He said, “There they buried Abraham and Sarah his wife, and there they buried Isaac and Rebekah his wife, and there I buried Leah.”(Genesis 49:31)
I believe that over the years his love for Leah grew. He “fell” in love with Rachel. But he “grew” to love Leah, and she was the one he chose to be buried next to. He knew that she had been a blessing to him.
Matthew 10:1-20
This gets really good! So far we have just seen Jesus perform the miracles; now He is sharing the gifts.
So He calls His disciples to follow Him, and then He sends them out to do the things He has been doing. They are to “heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons. Freely you have received. now freely give.”
I wonder if they are ready for that! They have been seeing Jesus do those things – performing miracles. Now He is telling them to do the same things! Would you like to have seen the looks on their faces? I would. I’m sure that as they were following Him, they didn’t realize that He was going to empower them to do the same.
You know the saying, “What would Jesus do?” When people say that sometimes it seems that they are implying that “Jesus would bake a pie for that person, or Jesus would say something sweet.”
I’m not knocking those natural acts of kindness, for they are truly necessary. But what Jesus would do is what we see in this passage. Jesus would “heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, etc.” Are we ready to really do what He would do?
Unfortunately, the gospel has been watered down by “precepts of men,” so that many people do not even know that God’s power is still available today. When I first realized that it was, I felt like I was entering a new world. (Actually I had entered a new world. I had entered the Kingdom of God).
I pray that as we continue to discover the truths of God that our eyes will be opened to see more of what He has for us. As I have continued in my walk with Him, I have come to believe that no one – not even the greatest ministers around – have completely tapped into all that God desires for us.
I want more of Him! I want to continue to press toward the higher mark He has for us! Don’t you?
by Suellen | Project 2013: Read The Bible
Genesis 16-18
Uh-oh!! There’s about to be trouble in Canaan!
Abram acted just like we do sometimes. Have you ever had a promise from God and then tried to “force it to happen” by your own planning? I have. And it doesn’t work that way. When God says he is going to do something, He is perfectly capable of bringing it to pass.
Abram knew that God had said he was going to have an heir, but he thought that Sarai couldn’t conceive. So he took his wife’s advice and decided to have a son by her maid, Hagar. Big mistake. That’s not what God meant.
So Abram had Ishmael and created contention between Sarai and Hagar. God still protected Hagar and her son. Then He said something which may seem strange, but if you think about it, you will recognize that spirit in the middle east today. God said that Ishmael will be a “wild man; his hand shall be against every man and every man’s hand against him.”(Gen. 16:12). Think about that.
Another 13 years went by, and Abram was 99 years old. Once again, God appears to Abram and offers a covenant. If Abram will walk with God and continue to be faithful, there will be great blessings upon him. He will have many descendants – and His covenant will continue throughout Abram’s lineage.
Then God up’s the ante. He says for Abram to circumcise himself, his children, and every male of his household as a sign of the covenant. So God changed Abram’s name to Abraham, which means “Father of Many Nations.” And He changed Sarai’s name to Sarah, which means “Beautiful Princess.”
As this special covenant continues to develop, God finds it necessary to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah. Their evil had increased to epic proportions. (In all of these dealings, remember that God’s intentions were not to destroy, but to save his righteous people. The influence of evil can destroy the world, so God judged them for the sake of His people.
Since He is in covenant with Abraham, God tells him His plan. Then Abraham tries to intercede for the city where his nephew Lot lives. He says, “Would you destroy it if you find fifty righteous?” God says, “No.” Then Abraham continues to wind down to 10. And God said He would not destroy Sodom and Gomorrah if He found 10 righteous people.
Think what a close walk Abraham had with God. It had been 25 years since God had called him to leave his homeland. There had been promises many times, and the covenant had been developing over the years. Abraham wasn’t perfect (no man is), but to the best of his ability, he remained faithful to God and their relationship increased as time went on.
Do you see yourself in these pages? I hope so.
Matthew 7
Jesus is still introducing this new Kingdom to the people, and boy, does it sound strange to many. Yet they were hanging on every word. There was really something unusual about this Man.
One of the most significant principles of the new Kingdom is that we decide our outcome. “With the measure you use, it will be measured back to you.”(7:2) There is a law of God which says that we decide “how much we receive back.” My husband calls this the Law of Measure. You want a teaspoonful of love? Give out a teaspoonful. Do you want a truckload? Give a truckload.
This doesn’t necessarily happen the next day, but over a lifetime, you will see patterns. You will see certain people who seem to have great favor. Take a look at what they have given out.
Then Jesus takes this a step further. He says what you continue to seek, you will find. If you continue to ask, seek, and knock for a closer walk with God, it will be given unto you.
Do you want to be really close to God? You will be in the minority. Don’t look for the path everyone is walking down; look for the way God is showing you. If you really want a close walk, you can’t just let the crowd persuade you, you have to have your own conviction about your life. It may seem hard sometimes, but the reward is tremendous!
When my son was a little boy, he had a t- shirt which I loved. On the front were some colorful fish swimming upward. And on the back it said, “Any Dead Fish Can Float Down Stream. Go Against The Flow.” Sometimes we do have to do just that if we are to walk closely with God.
The chapter winds up with another admonition. It’s not enough to “hear the word.” We have to “do it.” Many people may listen. They may memorize scripture and be able to recite it on the spot. However, if they are not “doing” what they know, they are not truly disciples of the Lord.
The stakes are high, aren’t they? He is looking for people who are truly His. I want to be in that crowd, and I know that you do too!
Blessings,
Suellen
P.S. This photograph was taken by Mickey Estes Photography https://www.mickeyestes.com
![Read the Bible Through, Day 14]()
by Suellen | Project 2013: Read The Bible
Happy New Year!
It’s time to start our Read The Bible Through Project. And, boy, does it start off with a bang. (That’s my version of the “big bang theory,” God’s Word surely starts with a bang)!
Genesis 1 and Matthew 1.
In the Genesis chapter, we could spend hours gleaning all of what is being said. There are just a few points I would like to make.
1. God created the earth, and notice how He did it. He spoke the world into existence. When God speaks, things happen. If ever you doubted the significance of words, this should change that forever. Words are powerful, and they can change things around you.
2. Throughout the Bible, if we dig a little deeper than the surface, we will find deeper meaning. For instance, in verse two, most translations say that the earth “was” without form and void. If you look at the original Hebrew, you will find that it really says that the earth “became” without form and void. For those who think that the Bible isn’t true because it says that the world is only 6,000 years old, they just haven’t studied it enough.
Actually, the word doesn’t say how long it was after God created the earth that it became without form and void. There was obviously a time gap between verses 1 and 2. I have found throughout my life of studying that the more you study, the greater truth you find. (You know, that “wow” truth).
3. God delegated His authority to man and gave him “dominion” over the earth and all the creatures of the earth. He wanted man to manage the earth according to His purposes.
So how was man to rule the earth? If God created man in His image, then man operates in a mirror fashion of God: man speaks and things change.
If we look out across our territory and see darkness, as God did, what do we say? Do we say, “Things surely are dark out there?” If so, we aren’t operating in God’s image. If we are acting in God’s image, we say, “Let there be light.” Think about this . It’s one of the most important keys for living the life of faith we are called to live. We can learn to live so that our words have meaning and power. That was God’s original intention.
4. Everything that God created was good. He is a good God.
Matthew 1
1. God shows us what a covenant-keeping God He is. Sometimes, when we read the “begats, ” we think they are boring, so we skip them. This time, read the names. In a few days, we will be reading about the covenant God cut with Abraham. In this first chapter, we see God’s faithfulness to fulfill His part of the covenant. If you belong to Jesus, God is in covenant with you also. He will keep His end of the bargain, will you?
2. In verses 18 through 24 the Word speaks about the virgin birth. Jesus was and is truly the Son of God. He was the fulfillment of Isaiah 7:14 which says that His name shall be called Immanuel. (God with us).
3. He came to “save His people from their sins.”
So these are a few of my thoughts as I read today. I’m sure you have some of your own. I would love to hear from you also, so please share what’s on your heart as you read.
See you tomorrow.
Suellen
by Suellen | Project 2013: Read The Bible
On a cold winter night in 1981, I had a life changing experience with the Lord. I remember the year, because our country was going through a crisis at the time. A revolution in Iran had occurred, overthrowing the Shah, and putting the radical Islamic rulers (the same ones who threaten the world today) into power, and in the process, seizing the American Embassy. By the time of my encounter, all of the workers had been held hostage for more than a year, and there seemed to be no solution to getting them released.
That night, as I drifted off to sleep, a voice woke me suddenly. I knew that God was speaking to me, but the message seemed strange. “What if you could send a coded message to the hostages in Iran which would contain a perfect plan of escape?” I sat up in bed, pondering this unusual message. Of course, I thought that was a good idea, but the question seemed so strange. I knew it was God speaking, but I didn’t understand why he was saying that.
Then He clarified the statement. “That’s what I have done with My Word.” Suddenly what he was saying became crystal clear.
People all around the world are being held hostage by their circumstances. They may be victims of abuse, neglect, or poverty. They may have hurts, fears, and frustrations which run very deep. Anger, resentment, and bitterness may seem to rule their lives.
Yet they don’t have to stay that way, because we have been given a plan of escape. God’s Word is that plan of escape. It will point us in the direction of release from all of the negative influences which try to hold us, and it will give us the power to overcome those influences.
Some see the Bible as merely a history book; others see it as a rule book. Yet the Bible is so much more than either of those things. If we will begin to read it and ask Him to show us His plans and purposes, we will begin to see a God of unconditional love who is reaching out to us. We will begin to understand His power toward us and we will want to latch onto it.
Here’s the thing. We have to read it for it to make a difference, and we have to meditate on what we have read. It is a coded message which only God’s Holy Spirit can reveal in its entirety. As we read, pray, and listen, our eyes are opened to see realities we have never seen before.
Joshua 1:8 says it well. This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have success.
There’s wisdom in God’s word and there is power. When you allow yourself to feed upon His word, something happens on the inside of you. You find your faith and confidence increasing. You also see your world view changing – coming closer to the way God sees things.
The best part is that you receive the liberating message which sets you free from the negative elements of the world around you. You are no longer a hostage to these evil forces, but you are set free – into the liberty of God’s plan.
Forever Upward!
P.S. Check out my daily Bible readings available on Amazon. As you allow the context of God’s Word to come into focus, your life will be changed. https://www.amazon.com/Soar-Bible-Through-First-Quarter/dp/150521503X/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1426682950&sr=1-3&keywords=suellen+estes
