I'm Following Jesus – Page 2293 – Mark 8:34 And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.

KJB Daily Devotion – Following Jesus Through Every Chapter
Date: Sunday, January 21, 2018
Chapters: Genesis 27-29
Message: Reaping What Was Sown

Hello My Friend,

Those of us who are saved and living our lives with Christ truly understand the reason why God does not base our salvation on our works. If God left it up to our own works there would be no one left because no matter how good we try to be we only go as far as our human understanding can comprehend. On top of that, we have this flesh that desires things and can do some crazy things sometimes to get them, even if our eyes are on God. We must realize that nothing good ever comes out of seeking to only please our flesh, even if we are saved we will reap whatever we sow from our flesh. “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.” – Galatians 6:7-9.

We do not hear much about Isaac’s life beyond him being the seed that God promised He would be to establish His covenant with Abraham. Much of this is due to the fact that he was about to bless Esau with great power, since Rebekah never forgot what God told her, she came up with a scheme to deceive Isaac into giving the blessing to Jacob, thinking it was Esau. This was not going to be easy, and Jacob himself would soon find out that by listening to his mother he will face the consequences for deceiving his father, but the plan worked.

“And he came near, and kissed him: and he smelled the smell of his raiment, and blessed him, and said, See, the smell of my son is as the smell of a field which the LORD hath blessed: Therefore God give thee of the dew of heaven, and the fatness of the earth, and plenty of corn and wine: Let people serve thee, and nations bow down to thee: be lord over thy brethren, and let thy mother’s sons bow down to thee: cursed be every one that curseth thee, and blessed be he that blesseth thee. And it came to pass, as soon as Isaac had made an end of blessing Jacob, and Jacob was yet scarce gone out from the presence of Isaac his father, that Esau his brother came in from his hunting. And he also had made savoury meat, and brought it unto his father, and said unto his father, Let my father arise, and eat of his son’s venison, that thy soul may bless me. And Isaac his father said unto him, Who art thou? And he said, I am thy son, thy firstborn Esau. And Isaac trembled very exceedingly, and said, Who? where is he that hath taken venison, and brought it me, and I have eaten of all before thou camest, and have blessed him? yea, and he shall be blessed.” – Genesis 27:27-33.

“And Isaac trembled very exceedingly,” Isaac not only was embarrassed by being deceived by his son and wife, he also realized he was wrong on what he had done. God told Rebekah that the first born would be weaker and serve his younger brother. He mentioned two nations, meaning that they would both be rulers of a nation and that Jacob’s would be stronger and rule over Esau’s. Esau is a type of the man of the earth, in many respects he is more nobler than Jacob, yet the fact that he lacked faith in God and despised his birthright made Him of no value to God. God’s choice of His children does not depend on their character, or even what family they are born into, it is dependent upon their faith in His Son. “As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated. What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid. For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy.” -Romans 9:13-16.

I like many others had the mentality that as long as I treated people right and obeyed the laws I was doing were good. I will admit that I lived with a man before I dedicated my life to Christ and thought that as long as we were committed to each other and did not cheat on each other than I was doing the right thing. Of course, after I got in the Bible I discovered that I was living in sin the entire time we were together. We live, we learn, and by the mercies and grace of God we are not given the punishment we truly deserve. Now, after Esau vowed to kill Jacob after their parents died you can imagine he was not very happy about himself. He took the advice of his parents and headed to his uncle’s house, Rebekah’s brother Laban. While on his way he rested and had the strangest dream of his life.

“And he dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven: and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it. And, behold, the LORD stood above it, and said, I am the LORD God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac: the land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed; And thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and thou shalt spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south: and in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed. And, behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest, and will bring thee again into this land; for I will not leave thee, until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of. And Jacob vowed a vow, saying, If God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat, and raiment to put on, So that I come again to my father’s house in peace; then shall the LORD be my God:” – Genesis 28:12-25,20,21.

“then shall the LORD be my God:” After years of his father’s guidance about God, Jacob finally heard from Him, and realized that He was directing his path. We can all get diverted in other directions sometimes, but that does not mean God has walked away from us. We might have to suffer a bit for the things we have done wrong, but He is never too far from us, and when the time is right He will reveal Himself. “I shall not die, but live, and declare the works of the LORD. The LORD hath chastened me sore: but he hath not given me over unto death. Open to me the gates of righteousness: I will go into them, and I will praise the LORD:” – Psalms 118:17-19.

When we do things to satisfy the lusts of our flesh, we really do reap what we sow. I know God chastened me for my living in sin, but I learned some amazing things about God and gotten blessed tremendously after I endured my chastening. You see, God loves us even if we do sin whether intentionally or ignorantly, but it is still sin so we will be accountable for our actions, even if we did not realize what we did was wrong. Jacob arrived in town and shortly after met Rachel, one of Laban’s daughters he was so in love with her that he agreed to serve Laban for seven years to make her his wife. Little did he realize that he would be deceived himself.

“And Laban had two daughters: the name of the elder was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel. And Jacob served seven years for Rachel; and they seemed unto him but a few days, for the love he had to her. And it came to pass in the evening, that he took Leah his daughter, and brought her to him; and he went in unto her. And Laban gave unto his daughter Leah Zilpah his maid for an handmaid. And it came to pass, that in the morning, behold, it was Leah: and he said to Laban, What is this thou hast done unto me? did not I serve with thee for Rachel? wherefore then hast thou beguiled me? And Laban said, It must not be so done in our country, to give the younger before the firstborn. Fulfil her week, and we will give thee this also for the service which thou shalt serve with me yet seven other years. And Jacob did so, and fulfilled her week: and he gave him Rachel his daughter to wife also.” – Genesis 29:16,20.23-28.

“What is this thou hast done unto me?” When Jacob deceived his dad he was blind, it was not until Esau returned that he found out that he had been deceived. The same thing was kind of done to Jacob, I use to wonder how he could not have known that it what Leah, but in ancient times the wife to be was covered with a veil before they were to be married. Laban made sure it was dark before he let Jacob and Leah enter their tent, it took an entire night for him to realize that he was actually with Leah. The sad thing was that he worked another seven years in order to have Rachel for his wife. In most cases, God will not chasten us with physical punishment, He gets to our heart so that we learn to have a heart for Him, and he does it subtly also. “The preparations of the heart in man, and the answer of the tongue, is from the LORD. All the ways of a man are clean in his own eyes; but the LORD weigheth the spirits. Commit thy works unto the LORD, and thy thoughts shall be established.” – Proverbs 16:1-3.

Jesus Christ Magnified: “And this stone, which I have set for a pillar, shall be God’s house: and of all that thou shalt give me I will surely give the tenth unto thee.” – Genesis 28:22.

Today’s Prayer: God, You know the path that I take, and while I know that You have a windy and crooked road for me sometimes, Your strength and guidance will help me get to where You want be to be. Lord, lead me and guide me, help me to know the path that You want for me and let me get through every trial and error I make along the way. Give me Your wisdom to know the direction You want me to take, the motivation, and willingness to keep going until You get me there. In the end, I know that no matter where You take me, my final destination will be with You, and I thank You for that great sacrifice that blessed my life completely. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

God Bless You, I am praying for you,

Christina

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