KJB Daily Devotion – Following Jesus Through Every Chapter
Date: Sunday, January 22, 2017
Chapters: Genesis 30-31
Message: For The Glory Of God
Hello My Friend,
Any faithful Christian must admit that if we left it up to our own form of righteousness to seek the things of God that we would all be thrown to the curb. Why? We base our righteousness or goodness on what we think is right rather than what God actually thinks, therefore, we are all unrighteous. And in our many attempts to do what we think is right we often fall short of the glory of God, meaning measuring up to God’s goodness. “There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one. For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;” – Romans 3:11,12,23.
Much of his life, Jacob was known to be a subtle deceiver, but God still promised to use him to further the seed of His people. Now, with two wives, who are sisters you can imagine it would cause some envy and strife between the two, especially when Leah knew how much Jacob loved Rachel in the first place. Leah envied the love Jacob had for Rachel and Rachel envied the many children that Leah had with Jacob, and brought two more women into this crazy love triangle.
“And when Rachel saw that she bare Jacob no children, Rachel envied her sister; and said unto Jacob, Give me children, or else I die. And Jacob’s anger was kindled against Rachel: and he said, Am I in God’s stead, who hath withheld from thee the fruit of the womb? And she said, Behold my maid Bilhah, go in unto her; and she shall bear upon my knees, that I may also have children by her. When Leah saw that she had left bearing, she took Zilpah her maid, and gave her Jacob to wife. And Leah said, God hath endued me with a good dowry; now will my husband dwell with me, because I have born him six sons: and she called his name Zebulun.” – Genesis 30:1-3,9,20.
“Rachel envied her sister;” God has always made it to be one husband for one wife, but people are going to do what they want, yet still used this situation for His glory, these children would become the promised seed that would make up the Hebrew nation, from which Jesus would descend. God could have just used Rachael for Jacob to have twelve children, but He used this whole messed up situation for His glory to make all of this happen. The crazy thing about us making some ungodly decisions is that God will turn it into something good if we come to Him. “Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded. Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.” – James 4:8-10.
When we are in the will of God others get blessed as well, Laban was blessed tremendously when Jacob was serving him, but now the time had come for him to leave, yet Laban still pressured him to stay, he knew that the blessings he received were due to God blessing Jacob. However, Jacob being the deceiver that he was chose to deceive Laban before taking off with his family and more than half the cattle he had.
“And Laban said unto him, I pray thee, if I have found favour in thine eyes, tarry: for I have learned by experience that the LORD hath blessed me for thy sake. And he said, Appoint me thy wages, and I will give it. And he said unto him, Thou knowest how I have served thee, and how thy cattle was with me. For it was little which thou hadst before I came, and it is now increased unto a multitude; and the LORD hath blessed thee since my coming: and now when shall I provide for mine own house also? And he said, What shall I give thee? And Jacob said, Thou shalt not give me any thing: if thou wilt do this thing for me, I will again feed and keep thy flock: I will pass through all thy flock to day, removing from thence all the speckled and spotted cattle, and all the brown cattle among the sheep, and the spotted and speckled among the goats: and of such shall be my hire.” – Genesis 30:27-32.
“Thou shalt not give me any thing:” Jacob did not want wages, he wanted Laban’s substance, probably because he was deceive by him in the first place with Rachael and Leah. Worldly men, who choose their portion in this life, are often blessed with an abundance of this world’s goods. Godly men are blessings to the places where they live, even God often blesses ungodly men with outward mercies for the sake of their godly relations. The toiling and scheming of men is the result of ignorance of God’s Grace, and inability to put confidence in God’s promises. However, those who remain faithful in what is another man’s shall be entrusted with something of his own, even more abundantly. “The desire of the righteous is only good: but the expectation of the wicked is wrath. There is that scattereth, and yet increaseth; and there is that withholdeth more than is meet, but it tendeth to poverty. The liberal soul shall be made fat: and he that watereth shall be watered also himself.” – Proverbs 11:23-25.
Jacob upon hearing that Laban’s sons found out his scheme, decided to take off and head back to Canaan, he gathered his wives, children, and possessions and snuck out before anyone could find out they were gone. Laban did find out and went after them.
“Then Jacob rose up, and set his sons and his wives upon camels; And he carried away all his cattle, and all his goods which he had gotten, the cattle of his getting, which he had gotten in Padanaram, for to go to Isaac his father in the land of Canaan. And Laban went to shear his sheep: and Rachel had stolen the images that were her father’s. And Jacob stole away unawares to Laban the Syrian, in that he told him not that he fled. So he fled with all that he had; and he rose up, and passed over the river, and set his face toward the mount Gilead. And it was told Laban on the third day that Jacob was fled. And he took his brethren with him, and pursued after him seven days’ journey; and they overtook him in the mount Gilead. And Jacob was wroth, and chode with Laban: and Jacob answered and said to Laban, What is my trespass? what is my sin, that thou hast so hotly pursued after me?” – Genesis 31:17-23,36.
“So he fled with all that he had;” Those who were born in a God fearing home from birth are truly blessed, and while many do go on to serve the Lord all their lives, quite a few walk away from God for a time, getting caught up in sin. How does this happen? One can never understand the sacrifice how merciful God is until they endure suffering for their sins. However, only when they acknowledge their sin, and repent will they ever be restored within themselves. “Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted. Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ. For if a man think himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself.” – Galatians 6:1-3.
Jesus Christ Magnified: Jesus Christ is revealed through Joseph, who was born to save and preserve his people. “And the Lord shall deliver me from every evil work, and will preserve me unto his heavenly kingdom: to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.” – II Timothy 4:18.
Today’s Prayer: God, With our many attempts to do the right thing in seeking Your promises we often fail, in fact, all we do is hinder You and slow the process. Yet You remain faithful to us, never leave nor forsake no matter how many times we try to do things with our own thinking. Lord, thank You for Your endless mercy and grace, for loving us despite our falling short of Your glory, and for sending Your Son to save us. Help us to look to You, to study Your Word, not only to know Your ways, but to see the lessons You give from ordinary people just like us who also failed in their own attempts. Since You work everything out for Your glory and our own good, help us to learn from our mistakes and understand just what a blessing and purpose it will bring as we trust You and seek Your purpose for our lives. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina
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