God is faithful to His promises and still disciplines.

Jacob journey to Haran continues.

After the dream in an open place where he slept during the night time and the assurance of the LORD God that He would be with Him, watch over him wherever he goes and brings him back to the land of promise, Jacob continued his journey to the land of the eastern people-his uncle’s house in Paddan-Aram in Haran. Jacob followed the advice of his parents in seeking for a wife. It was commendable that he did not want to get a wife from the daughters of Hittite and Amorites. (Genesis 26:34-35 and 27:46). In this matter, Jacob followed the guidance of God instead of his own desires. When we read the ensuing chapters from 29 we come to the understanding that though he was fleeing from the land due to the anger of Esau, there was another higher purpose in the plan of the LORD God. The plan was to seek a wife and a family for Jacob by which all the Abrahamic blessings could continue.

In the twists and turns of our lives also, God has a higher plan and purpose behind it all. God of Jacob is our God who guides our steps and open the ways even when we do not understand the details.

The sovereign guidance of God for Jacob.

When Abraham sent his servant to find a wife for his son, Isaac, it was God who sovereignly guided the steps of the servant to Rebekah. (Genesis 24). In the case of the servant of God when he was assigned with the task to find a wife for Isaac, he was leaning on the Lord in prayer and sought continuously His directions. We do not see such prayers of continuous learning on the guidance of the Lord in Jacob’s case. Though God promised his blessings and presence wherever he goes, Jacob is not claiming these promises like Abraham’s servant did. However, God was behind Jacob’s moves in accordance with His blessings.

God directed Jacob’s steps to the well where Rachel, Laban’s daughter, would come to water her flocks. This is also comparable to Abraham’s servant who was guided by God to the well where Rebekah (Jacob’s mother) would come to water the flocks. Chapter 29:2 says, “He looked, and a saw a well in the field, and behold, three flocks of sheep were lying there beside it.” This is the well they watered the flocks. Jacob inquired about his uncle, Laban. They said Laban is well and his daughter, Rachel, was coming with the sheep to water her flocks. When he was speaking with the shepherds there, Rachel came with her flocks. When he saw her and the flocks of Laban, he went and moved the big stone on the mouth of the well and watered the flock of his uncle. This incident reminds when Rebekah gave water to drink to the servant of Abraham and watered the flocks when he was supernaturally guided by God to seek a wife for Isaac, according to the direction of Abraham.

29:3 says the big stone is moved by them which means it is not possible to move the big stone by one man. However, God apparently gave supernatural strength to Jacob and he moved the stone by himself. Rachel may have noticed his unusual strength and his kindness toward her in watering her flocks. Jacob then kissed her and wept loudly and told her he is related to her and Laban is his uncle. Rachel got very excited and ran to her father and told him about Jacob. Laban ran and came to meet his sister’s son, embraced and received Jacob to his house. Jacob stayed with him a month.

Blooming love and the deception of Laban.

Laban then said to Jacob you should not work for him for anything and asked him what wages he like? Jacob loved Rachel from the very beginning because her eyes and face were beautiful. Now Laban had two daughters- Leah was the first born and Rachel was the second. Leah’s eyes and face were not beautiful like Rachel. Jacob said he would serve Laban seven years for his younger daughter Rachel because he loved her. Laban agreed and Jacob served him for seven years. 29:20 says, “So Jacob served seven years to get Rachel, but they seemed like only a few days to him because of his love for her.” When he completed seven years, Jacob asked for his wife Rachel. Laban made a feast and invited all the men of the place. However, in the evening, he took Leah and give to him as his wife. It must be real late in night and dark. Jacob did not recognize it was Leah. He lied with her and in the morning he recognized it was Leah. Jacob asked Laban didn’t he work for Rachel for all these seven years and why he deceived him? Laban’s explanation was it was not the practice of their place to marry the younger one first before the first-born. Jacob became apparently speechless at this deception. He also said to Jacob to complete another seven years and he would give Rachel also to Jacob. Jacob had to complete another seven more years of labor to get his loved one, Rachel, which he did and received her as well.

Jacob was clearly deceived by Laban. I believe there is a lesson to learn here. God performed his justice on Jacob for his deception. He lied and deceived his blind father Isaac for the birthright. Of course, God promised his presence and blessings for Jacob. Of course, God is going to fulfill the blessings of Abraham through the line of the children of Jacob. However, God would also discipline him for his deception. God committed fulfilling all His plan in the life of Jacob but still punishes Jacob’s deception and scheming.

From self-reliance to God-reliance is a lesson progressively learned.

Even after the planned deception, the Bible does not record Jacob was remorseful over the incident. Did we wonder why? Basically, Jacob was different from his parents – Abraham and Isaac. Abraham leaned on the Lord and was a friend of God (James 2:23). Isaac was more a passive person who relied on the Lord. However, Jacob relied on his plans and schemes in the early part of his life until later when his name was changed from Jacob to Israel. We will look into this change later in our study. God was in the process of changing Jacob from a self leaning man to a God leaning man. The process had to take some painful life experience for Jacob because he was basically a self-reliant man.

Bible says it is very important to seek His face in confession when we recognize we did wrong in the sight of the Lord. Bible says in 1 John 1:9, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”

A divine principle.

Galatians 6:7-10 says, “Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have the opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.”

In short, Jacob reaped what he sowed. The extra seven more years of working for Laban was apparently a discipline by the hand of the Lord for Jacob’s deception and scheming. Laban was the instrument God used to bring retributive justice. A principle to keep in mind. God would keep His promises, no matter what happens. In the end, God’s promises were the tower and shield for Jacob. Jacob came out blessed and the lineage of the savior of the world would come in the line of his son, Judah. However, that does not take away the principle of reaping what he sowed along the way.

God balances the scale of unfairness sovereignly

There was another issue faced. Leah was the unloved and Rachel was the loved and preferred wife for Jacob. 29:31 says, “When the Lord saw that Leah was not loved, he enabled her to conceive, but Rachel remained childless.” You see, God favors those who are treated unfairly. This is another principle we can learn from the pages of the Bible. He goes to work in favor of the one who was treated unjustly. Therefore, let us be thoughtful to avoid unfair and unjust treatments. God moves His scale in favor of the lowly and unfairly treated. Leah was not a wanted wife for Jacob but God turned her to become the mother of Judah, in whose line the savior of the world (full fulfillment of the Abrahamic covenant) would eventually come. Jacob was a patriarch of Israel and God made Leah a matriarch of the nation Israel. God turned table when He saw that Leah was not loved. You see, God watches and takes note of what happens in our lives and moves sovereignly.

Genesis 30:1 says when Rachel got jealous and said to Jacob give her children or else she would die. She came to a point that she could not take it anymore because by this time Leah had four sons from Jacob and the fourth one was Judah. Jacob’s anger got burned against Rachel and said, “Am I in the place of God, who has withheld from you the fruit of the womb?” This gives us some lessons. First of all, the fruit of the womb, the children, are given to us from God only. He only determine who gets the fruit of the womb and at what time. We cannot make it happen with our own ability and cannot expedite God’s time. Slowly Jacob is learning a lesson. Of course, Rachel was the preferred and loved one in his eyes. However, God meant Leah to be his wife to become a matriarch in the promised lineage. Jacob was apparently learning a lesson now that God’s plan was different from his plans and ways.

Jacob was lying with Rachel ignoring Leah that she had to hire him for one night with her son’s mandrakes. (30:15-16). That night again God gave heed to Leah and she conceived and gave birth a fifth son.

Bible says in 30:22 says, “Then God remembered Rachel; he listened to her and enabled her to conceive.” She bore her first born-Joseph.

In total Jacob had twelve sons and one daughter. All twelve of his sons are important and became the twelve tribes of Israel. These are 12 tribes upon which God built the nation Israel according to his promise to Abraham (Genesis 12). However, in the narrative history, Judah and Joseph stand out for the readers to take note off. However, the descendants of Abraham and the fulfillment of God’s promises to Him would be through Judah, the son of Leah.

Some of the lessons:

• First, Take note- in the twists and turns of our lives, God has a bigger plan and purpose.

He is able and powerful to accomplish His plans in and through our heartbreaking circumstances. Jesus himself said to those who labor and heavy laden these kind words. “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” Be restful in the plan and purpose of God. Run to Jesus for help. Do not run away from Him in difficulties. He is faithful to help you because He said: “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” Deuteronomy 31:6 and Hebrews 13:5-6. God’s bigger plan in our turbulences was evident all through the pages of the Bible. We can see this not only in Jacob’s life but also in the life of Joseph, Moses, Ruth, David and so forth, Christ being the prime example of turbulence and the fulfillment of God’s plan for the whole world-the ultimate fulfillment of the Abrahamic covenant. Find rest in the Lord instead of being heavily laden and too much worried. The one who called you, the Christ Jesus, the Son of God, is able to lead you to success in the end. How often we go to the promise God gave in Romans 8:28? It says, “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.”

• Second, God is in your life leading each of your steps and nothing is luck, chance or accidental in the life of a believer.

God is the one who orders our steps on a daily basis. Bible says in Psalms 37:23, “The steps of a man are ordered by the LORD.” Nothing happens without the order of the sovereign God in our lives. Proverbs 16:9 says, “We can make our plans, but the LORD determines our steps.” God led Jacob to the well to meet with Rachel. God led the servant of the Lord to the well where he met the bride of Isaac. God led the feet of Ruth to the field of Boas, although there were many fields in Bethlehem during the harvest time owned by many.

• Third, God does not need our plans and schemes to accomplish His purposes.

His provision is based on His gracious gifts only. Hebrews 10:23 says, “He who promised is faithful.” 1 Thessalonians 5:24 says, “the one who calls you is faithful, and he will do it.” Jacob was blessed and granted Abrahamic blessings not because of his cleverness but because of God’s grace only. Zechariah 4:6 says, “This is the word of the Lord unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the Lord of hosts.” Whatever Jacob tried to accomplish by his might and power are going to crumble. However, God will keep His promises by His gracious gifts only. Jacob was in the school of learning to learn this principle. We will see eventually in future lessons that he finally got this message. However, let us hold on because we do not want to jump ahead now.

• Fourth, Jacob reaped what he sowed

He deceived his blind father and he was deceived in his uncle’s house. As Galatians 6:7-10 says, we can not mock God. What we sow we reap is a divine principle. Galatians 6:4 says, “Each one should test their own actions.”

• Fifth, God brings justice when there are unfairness and injustice.

God looks down from heaven and He sees what happens in our lives and all over the world. He takes note of it and He responds. Exodus 2:25 says, “God saw the sons of Israel, and God took notice of them.” If God took notice, He is going to take an action. He took an action when he saw Leah’s condition and opened her womb to bear children. Later God showed mercy to Rachel also. He took action when he saw the condition of the sons of Israel. He raised Moses and delivered them from slavery and brought them to the promised land. However, all of God’s dealings are based on His grace and mercy and none of our efforts can earn only what grace can offer.

• Sixthly, Very important point but many are confused with this truth of the Bible. Our salvation and eternal life are also based on His grace.

Bible says in Ephesians 2:8-9, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.” In short, our salvation is by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. It is the gift of God-not by works. If by works, there are opportunities for boasting. But no one can ever boast before God. However, once you are the recipient of God’s grace we become God’s handiwork because we are newly created in and through faith in Jesus Christ to do good works. These works we would do are prepared in advance for us to do. (Ephesians 2:10). All are equal in the sight of the Lord. All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Make mark! ‘All’ means simply ‘all’. There is no other meaning to it. No works can ever save a person and allow them to go to heaven and live eternally because there is no one who does what is right and never sins.” (Ecclesiastes 7:20). All humans are equal at the foot of the cross of Christ where he paid for all of our sins with His divine and sinless blood.

• Seventhly, do not neglect the grace of God.

Bible says Esau ignored the grace of God because he wanted to live based on his fleshly desires and not according to God’s plans. Bible says, “See to it that no one comes short of the grace of God.” God is full of grace and mercy thereby He can fill us with His abundant grace. God’s grace is in the person of Christ. In other words, God’s grace is personified in Christ Jesus. Those who have Christ have the grace of God and those who do not believe in Christ do not have the grace of God. It is that simple. Bible says in John 1:14 the glory of God is seen in the glory of Jesus because He is the glory of the one and only Son because He came from the Father. It says there He (Jesus) is full of grace and truth. Then verse 16 says, “Out of his fullness we have all received grace upon grace.” In other words, in Jesus, we have received grace heaped upon grace.

Beloved, God is calling you today because of His grace and mercy. He invites you to come to His Son, Jesus Christ, who died, buried and rose again for all of your sins. When you come and accept Him as your savior and Lord God is going heap grace upon grace. You are saved from sins and God gives you eternal life with Him in heaven. Not because of your merits or efforts, but because you accepted God’s Son, who died in your place, as your savior and Lord.

Where do we find perfect protection and guidance? God’s faithful promises are your armor and protection.

Frustrated and fury Esau and fear-filled Jacob and Rebekah.

Now Jacob had to flee from his house to Paddan-Aram because of the fear of Esau. Esau had decided in his heart that he will kill Jacob. Rebekah said to Jacob your bother is planning to kill him and she advised him to flee to her brother Laban’s house and stay with him until Esau’s anger subsides. She also said after the fury of Jacob is gone, she will send and get Jacob from Laban’s house. She also said this is a better solution than she losing both of her children on one day.

Another reasoning behind sending Jacob to Laban’s house was expressed by Rebekah. She said to Isaac she was tired by the wives of Esau because they are from the daughters of Heth. She was worried if Jacob also takes wives from the daughters of Heth, what good to continue living. You see Esau already engaged in ungodly alliances in marriage with the idol-worshipping people of the land. Rebekah was so tired by his decisions to engage in ungodly yoke and alliances with these ungodly idol worshiping wives. Both Isaac and Rebekah agreed in this matter. They want Jacob to get his wife from their own people and not from the people of the land who were immersed in ungodly and idol-worshipping lifestyles.

Chapter 27 ends with a frustrated and angry Esau. It also ends with a fearful Jacob, Rebekah, and Isaac. Sometimes, when God’s plan unfolds in our lives it could result in an immediate frustration, fear, and anxieties. However, keep in mind God is behind it and He is in control and He is going to keep His words and promises no matter what or who stands against it.

Isaac called Jacob, blessed him and gave him the commandment that he would not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan. He advised him to go to his mother’s father’s house and take a wife from there. He gave two major blessings as he was sending Jacob away. Isaac said may God almighty bless Jacob, make him fruitful and multiply that he becomes a company of peoples. Secondly, He also said may God gave the blessings of Abraham to him and his descendants that Abrahamic blessings of the land of the promised land would come upon him and descendants.

You see the land and seed blessings God gave to Abraham in Genesis 12:1-3, 15:2-21 had intended to continue not through Ishmael but through His son Isaac (Genesis 17:19; 26:2-4) and then not through Esau but through Jacob (Genesis 28:13-15).

Isaac sent Jacob away and he started traveling to Paddan-Aram to Laban his uncle’s house. When Esau heard Isaac had blessed Jacob and sent him away to take a wife from his own people and charged him not to take a wife from the daughters of Canaan and Jacob obeyed his father and mother in this matter, he went and married the daughter of Ishmael, Abraham’s son through Hagar in addition to his other Canaanite wives. The intention of his heart could be to make things good. However, the promised offspring and line of the Abrahamic covenant was already pre-determined by God and not by human wills or actions. The promises and covenants that God made to Abraham had to funnel through the line of Jacob and not in the line of Esau.

Flight to Paddan-Aram.

Jacob departed his father’s house to an unknown future. One this was sure he could not continue living there because of the fury of his brother Esau. He obeyed the advice of his parents and now on the way to Laban’s house. This was a long journey and on the way, he came to a place and because it was the night he was going to sleep in an open place with two stones as his pillows. There the God of Abraham appeared to him in a dream. There was a ladder that was set on the earth with its top reaching to heaven. The angels of God were ascending and descending on it. The LORD stood above and said this to Jacob, ‘“I am the Lord, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your descendants the land on which you are lying. Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south. All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring. I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.”
The LORD was reiterating His promise given to his grandfather Abraham to Jacob acknowledging the promised line through Him.

What an experience Jacob had. A doubt filled, fearful, anxious heart getting the consolation, comfort, assurance, guidance, and the promise of God. This was a turning point in Jacob’s life. He knew God would be with him in his journey and that was huge for him. Jacob awoke from his sleep and said the Lord was in this place and he acknowledged he was not aware of it. He said this is the place of God and that was the gate of heaven. Next morning, he took the stone that he used as his pillow and poured oil on it and called the place Bethel. The name of the city prior to this incident was Luz.

Beloved, if you are a child of God in and through Jesus Christ, His Son, then God’s divine presence, protection, guidance, and blessings are with you wherever you go. The promise of the LORD, “I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you” became the inspiration and guiding torch and light for Jacob’s life from here on. A fearful man with worried of unknown future found solace and comfort in the promise of God. What we also need is the same assurance as we face an unknown future. The Bible gives many promises and assurances to His children. Just a few of them are listed below:

“The LORD says , “So do not fear, for I am with you;
do not be dismayed, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you and help you;
I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” (Isaiah 41:10).

“For I am the Lord your God
who takes hold of your right hand
and says to you, Do not fear;
I will help you.” (Isaiah 41:13).

“But now, this is what the Lord says—
he who created you, Jacob,
he who formed you, Israel:
“Do not fear, for I have redeemed you;
I have summoned you by name; you are mine.” (Isaiah 43:1).

“Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself.” (Matthew 6:34).

“say to those with fearful hearts,
“Be strong, do not fear;
your God will come,
he will come with vengeance;
with divine retribution
he will come to save you.” (Isaiah 35:4).

Jesus said, “And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Matthew 28:20(b).

Jesus says, “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.” John 14:18

“Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.” (1 Peter 5:7).

Beloved, are you a person like Jacob on the run to an unknown future? Are you worried and filled with anxieties because of your circumstances? The LORD tell you this,
“I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you”.
The LORD is with you and He will watch over you wherever you go. He will bring you back to the land. He will not leave you until He has done all that He promised on your life. Take heart, the LORD is going to be with you. protect you and guide you and fulfill all His purposes for your life.

The faithfulness of God – an armor and shield.

The LORD kept His promise in Jacob’s life. He will do the same in our lives as well. In fact, God specifically reminded him to do this when he returned from Paddan-Aram. Then God said to Jacob, “Go up to Bethel and settle there, and build an altar there to God, who appeared to you when you were fleeing from your brother Esau.” (Genesis 35:1).

About twenty years after, God made Jacob a multitude of people with wives, sons, daughters, servants, flocks, herds and camels and made him wealthy and powerful. The once timid and fearful Jacob went back to this same place called Bethel, where God appeared to Him in his fearful flight and granted the original promises and set up a stone pillar. He poured out a drink offering to the LORD on it and worshipped Him. What a beautiful remembrance of Almighty God’s unshaken and unbroken promises in his life.

Beloved, God is one hundred percent faithful. You will discover many people you deal with becomes unfaithful and untrustworthy as you progress your life’s journey. However, God will remain faithful no matter what happens to you. Bible says,
“if we are faithless, he remains faithful, for he cannot disown himself.” (2 Timothy 2:13). If nothing else, God’s faithfulness to His promises and covenants are the lessons we learn from this week’s insight.

Few lessons:

• When God’s purpose unfolds in our life, we could encounter confusion, frustration and even fear. However, God’s promise, protection, and guidance He provides. Remember what God says:
  •  I am with you.
  • and will watch over you wherever you go.
  • and I will bring you back to this land.
  • I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.

What is the lesson? Do not be afraid to step out in faith. Many of our forefathers stepped out in faith trusting in the Lord God and later testified how faithful the Lord was in their life. Hebrew chapter 12 says we are surrounded by such a cloud of witnesses (numerous witnesses) and it exhorts us to fix our eyes on the Lord Jesus Christ who is the pioneer and perfecter of our faith and run the race uniquely marked out for us with perseverance.

• Secondly, when God talks and reveals His plans, let us take it to our hearts.  May His words inspire, energize and motivate us to face life’s challenges and goliaths.
  God talks through the Bible. Bible is God’s love letter to us. It is the light to our path. Carefully read it, underline it and memorize it. God’s talks to our spirit when you pray to Him. Listen carefully in silence. God talks to us through the words of Jesus Christ in the Bible. God talks to us through God’s children and their Godly counsels. Finally God’s talks to us through the circumstances and crossroads of our lives. God can still talk to us through dreams although His main way of communications is through the other channels explained above.
• Most of all, if we obey the voice of God and come to Jesus Christ, His only begotten Son, and accept Him as our savior and Lord, we become the children of God. By believing in the Gospel which is the good news that God loves you and Jesus died and rose again for all your sins, God grants forgiveness of all your sins and eternal life. This is the first step for your successful spiritual life. God calls us through His Son, Jesus Christ, and what He has accomplished for us on the cross of Calvary. There is no other way to come to God. Do not be deceived by mere people’s ideas and opinions!  There is no multiple paths to God of the heaven. There is only one lifeline that God dropped from heaven for our salvation and eternal life in heaven with Him. And one way is Christ Jesus. Bible says in Acts 4:12, “There is salvation in no one else! God has given no other name under heaven by which we must be saved.” Jesus said, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” John 14:6.

God loves you and has a beautiful and wonderful plan for your life. He calls you to come to His son, Jesus Christ and through Him receive forgiveness of your sins and connect with God and all His heavenly riches. Let us not be like Esau who despised his wonderful opportunities God granted. Instead, when God calls you today, come now and I will help you to get re-connected to God in a small prayer right now.

Prayer time: “Father in heaven, I come to you in prayer and I believe your Son, died in my place for all of my sins and rose again. I accept Him as my savior and Lord. Please forgive my sins and make me your child now. I want to spend the rest of my life for your purposes. Use me for your glory. Thank you for saving me and granting me eternal life in heaven with you. In the name of Jesus Christ, I pray. Amen.”

Lessons from Jacob’s life history: Lesson #2.

God can use even the usual day to day circumstances and affairs to accomplish His purpose. However, no matter what happened in your life in the past, it is never late to come to God and seek Him because, mercy, grace, forgiveness, and blessings are abundant in Him.

In the first lesson, we were introduced into the first glimpse of the problem in the character of Esau. He despised his birthright for a bowl of red soup. He traded his future destiny for immediate sensual gratification. We also know this is a usual tactic of the devil. He tried to tempt Jesus with the same trick of instant gratification of flesh and power without He going through the pain of the cross in Matthew chapter 3.

Unequal yoke in marriage leads to serious and dangerous consequences.

Now the Bible gives another side of the lifestyle of Esau. An important comment is there in Genesis 26:34-34 before all the turn of events in chapter 27 and I think it is crucial to understand the importance of that statement before we dive into chapter 27. It says, “When Esau was forty years old, he married Judith, daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and also Basemath daughter of Elon the Hittite. They were a source of grief to Isaac and Rebekah.”

Don’t we remember what Abraham did when Issac became old enough to get married? Genesis 24:1-4 says, “Abraham was now very old, and the LORD had blessed him in every way. He said to the senior servant in his household, the one in charge of all that he had, “Put your hand under my thigh. I want you to swear by the LORD, the God of heaven and the God of earth, that you will not get a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I am living, but will go to my country and my own relatives and get a wife for my son Isaac.” How things turned around with God’s help, and guidance in finding a wife for Issac is very interesting to read and keep in mind. Why such a move of finding a wife for Issac was so important? The reason is God made His covenant with Abraham, and the seed of Abraham has to be kept separate from the seed of the Canaanites and other local people who lived in the promised land. People of Canaan were getting ripe for God’s judgment in future which God fulfilled according to His verdict (Genesis 15:16) when children of Israel entered into the promised land. Abraham knew the expectation and plan of God. Not only the line of the promised seed need to be kept separate from the seed of the Canaan but also Abraham said, “Make sure that you do not take my son back there.” No going back to that place that God called him from which was filled with idols. Such was the influence of idols in their life that even Rachel when she left from there to come to the promised land with Jacob, stole and hid idols. So do not take my son back there, Abraham insisted.

Now Esau decided to marry the Hittite wives was not according to the expectation of God as revealed in the Scripture. The last verse of chapter 27 Rebekah again says her sad situation in the family due to Esau’s wives. It says, “Then Rebekah said to Isaac, “I’m disgusted with living because of these Hittite women. If Jacob takes a wife from among the women of this land, from Hittite women like these, my life will not be worth living.” In short, by Easu’s action, he proved to be unfit to inherit the Abrahamic blessing.

The lesson here is the role of the parents and also of the children in choosing a wife according to God’s way and expectation. If Abraham was so concerned about God’s word, why we do not care these days when it comes to our children’s marriages? The prohibition of interracial marriage was strictly for Jews in the old testament (Ezra 9). However, there is a prohibition for new testament believers in Christ which all believers need to keep in mind. That prohibition is not against interracial marriage but against unequally yoked with an unbeliever. A true Christian should not marry a person who is not a believer in Christ. Bible says in 2 Corinthians 6:14, “Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness?” The importance of a Godly wife who honors and loves the Lord is cardinally important for a man who professed his faith in the Lord. Bible has several examples of people who unequally yoked with unbelievers in the marriage and ended up in sad and pathetic situations. Esau, Solomon, and Samson are good examples we always remember in this regard. God who knew Esau before his birth understood the bend in Esau’s life and pronounced the verdict to Rachel, ““Two nations are in your womb,
and two peoples from within you will be separated;
one people will be stronger than the other,
and the older will serve the younger.” (Genesis 25:23).

Esau made himself unfit for the Abrahamic covenant blessings by his life style.

It appears from the text that the resourceful and cunning counsel of Rebekah and Jacob following that counsel was because of their conviction that Esau proved himself unfit for the line of the promised seed. First He despised his unique privilege and position  with all it blessings ((the first born right) in order to  satisfy his physical hunger. Secondly, he yoked  himself together in marriages with Hittite women, disregarding the holy line of the covenant blessings and promised seed. Chapter 27 begin with the statement that Isaac was old and his eyes were weak and could longer see. He called his older son, Esau, and said to him, “I am now an old man and don’t know the day of my death. Now then, get your equipment—your quiver and bow—and go out to the open country to hunt some wild game for me. Prepare me the kind of tasty food I like and bring it to me to eat, so that I may give you my blessing before I die.” Genesis 27:2. Isaac liked the meat of his son Esau.

He decided to pass the Abrahamic blessings to Esau after enjoying his tasty meat from hunting. Here we see a connection between father and son in enjoying delicious and tasty meat. Even though father and son were hooked real good, I sometimes wonder why Isaac did not instruct Esau what he learned from his father, Abraham. You see a father’s role is significant in children’s spiritual life. An example of a passive father is Ely the priest who did not instruct his sons in Godly ways, and that resulted in not only their immoral life and eventual destruction but also the nation’s destruction. Eli also enjoyed the meat from the offerings of the people which his wicked sons forcefully demanded when people came to offer sacrifices to the Lord. You see our sensual lifestyle can influence our children and it can lead them astray into ruin if parents are not careful and live a godly life in front of them. Isaac decided to bless Esau with all Abrahamic blessings (if you read Isaac’s blessing to Jacob, it shows the seed and rulership blessings are in it) even though he knew Esau is not fit for Abrahamic blessings for the line of the promised seed. These are the points apparently he ignored – the precise word of God that was told when the two boys were in the womb. Esau’s despising of the precious birthright and marrying Hittite wives which he should not have done. However, Rebekah took note of these things, and she knew Esau is not fit for Abrahamic blessings. However, did she need to rush with invented schemes and even forcing Jacob to lie to his father is another critical question? God can fulfill His promises without our schemes which could result in evil actions. Jacob had to deceive his father and even say repeated lies to his father.

Rebekah and Jacob intervened

This is what happened -Rebekah listened to what Isaac told Esau, and she reported to Jacob what she heard. She said to Jacob to go and get two choicest goats from the flock. She cooked tasty food like the way Isaac liked and asked him to take it to the father to get his blessings before the arrival of Esau with his food and this way Jacob can get the blessings. Rebekah put the best clothes of Esau on Jacob and covered his hands and smooth parts of the body with goat skins so that if Isaac touches him, he would not doubt because Esau was a hairy person. Apparently, Jacob was not hairy but had smooth skin on his body. Jacob went to His Dad and called him, “my father.” Jacob asked who is it? He said He is Esau his firstborn. He said he did father told him. He asked father to sit up and eat to give him his blessing. Isaac asked him how did he find the meat so quickly. Jacob said the LORD your God gave him success. Isaac asked him to come near him so that he can touch him to know whether he is really Esau or not. This tells Isaac had some initial doubts. However, when Isaac touched him, he said the voice is Jacob’s but the hands are of Esau. He thought he is Esau because his hands were hairy because of the goat skins. Isaac asked again, “are you really my son Esau or not?” Jacob said yes he is. Then Isaac again said to come to him and kiss him. When Isaac smelled Esau’s clothes and touched goat skin hands, his doubt gone away and started to give the blessing. The last part of his blessing is the covenant blessing for the promised seed. It says, “May nations serve you
and peoples bow down to you.
Be lord over your brothers,
and may the sons of your mother bow down to you.
May those who curse you be cursed
and those who bless you be blessed.” Therefore the promised nation, king and seed blessings are going to be in the line of Jacob. You see, what a significant loss Esau had at this point?

Esau’s exceedingly great and bitter cry

When Jacob left from Isaac Esau came in with his tasty prepared meat from hunting. He said to the father, please arise and eat the food that he may bless. Father asked who you are? And Esau said, “I am your son, your firstborn, Esau.” Bible ways Isaac trembled exceedingly when he heard this, and he asked then who brought the hunted food? He admitted he already ate and blessed him and indeed he shall be blessed. Esau heard this he cried with exceedingly great and bitter cry. Bible says in Hebrews 12:17 this about Esau, “For you know that afterward, when he wanted to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place for repentance, though he sought it diligently with tears.” He said to the father to bless him also. Isaac said your brother came with deceit and had taken away your blessing. Esau asked “have you only one blessing, my father? Bless me also, O my father!” Then he lifted up his voice and wept. Isaac answered and said to him, “ Behold, your dwelling shall be of the fatness of the earth,
And of the dew of heaven from above.
By your sword you shall live,
And you shall serve your brother;
And it shall come to pass, when you become restless,
That you shall break his yoke from your neck.”

This was much inferior to the blessing Jacob got from Isaac. Esau hated Jacob, and he said in his heart when the father dies, he is going revenge by killing his brother Jacob. However, when Rebekah heard the words, she called Jacob and said to him about Esau’s plan. She asked him to flee to her brother Laban’s house in Haran and stay until Esau’s fury goes away, which he did because they feared the disposition of Esau. Rebekah repeated her displeasure toward Esau’s Hittite wives. She said to Isaac, “ I am weary of my life because of the daughters of Heth; if Jacob takes a wife of the daughters of Heth, like these who are the daughters of the land, what good will my life be to me?” 27:46. This insight about Esau’s wives and weariness of Rebekah gives much light into the turn of events described in chapter 27.

What are some of the valuable insights/lessons to learn from this incident happened in Isaac’s family?

1. God’s choice and the election is done even before our birth

2. God in his foreknowledge knows all about us- what kind of person we are going to be, our lifestyle, attitudes, choices and all and hence it is easy for him to make his election and choice even before our birth. We live in the limitation of time, and we do not know what is going to happen in our lives in the future. However, God knows all about it, and he is at the end of time waiting for us to arrive. He knows all and has seen all from eternity to eternity.

3. This does not take away our responsibility to come to God in repentance. We cannot say because God had already made his choice before our birth, we do not have a choice. We have a choice to obey God and come to him for the cleansing of our sins and forgiveness. If we go to God in repentance, He will give mercy, grace, forgiveness, and love again. In other words, if we have a heart of repentance and if we are willing to turn to the mercy, love, and forgiveness of Lord, then we know for sure we are elected and chosen by God. Esau also could have done this, but he did not. He hardened his heart and kept anger in his heart to kill his brother. He never repented about his flesh oriented and sinful lifestyle. Saul, the first king of Israel, never repented off his sins either. In contrary, he hardened his heart. Cain is another example of the one who hardened his heart even though God gave two direct chances for repentance. (Genesis 4). In contrast, David although he committed terrible sins, he cried out to the Lord, repented and confessed his sins and thereby received the blessings from the Lord. You see, our wrong lifestyle, attitudes, and sins are not an end in itself. We can still run to God for his mercy and forgiveness. That is the right thing to do. I will say how to accomplish this at the end of this article. Do not miss that opportunity. Stay with me.

4. I believe Rebekah and Jacob did not have to conceive such plans of lie and cheating to achieve God’s promise. I think when they understood Esau is not fit for the blessings, they took the matter in their own hands and implemented individual plans to accomplish God’s verdict. God does not need our evil scheme filled intends to accomplish His purposes. However, in this case, God used their plans anyway. God used the evil plans of the religious and political leaders in Israel to accomplish His eternal plans regarding Jesus Christ. They decided to Kill Jesus, but God used their evil plans to bring salvation to all people. (Acts 2:22-24). God used people’s ideas to accomplish His purpose does not mean God approved their evil schemes and plans.

5. Both Jacob and Rebekah paid for the consequences of their action for a long time. Jacob had to run away from his beloved home and parents. He was deceived many times by Laban in his house. He suffered a lot in his life for his deceptive plans in Padan Aram. Rebekah has never been able to see his beloved son Jacob after he fled from their home. It appeared when Jacob came back from Padan Aram after more than twenty years, he rejoined with Isaac (Genesis 35:27), but Rebekah was no more there. No reference of Rebekah after this incident in chapter 27. Jacob did not get the opportunity to see his mother and spent time with her in her last days.

6. God can use the daily affairs and circumstances and even man’s sinful plans to accomplish His purposes. God used their schemes and plans to fulfill His promise that said the older would serve the younger.

7. We should not take casually what God gave us. There is a purpose behind all that he gave to us. Esau sold his birthright which was of immense value and blessing to fulfill his short-term sensual desires. He went and married the Canaanite women in contrary to the expectation of the Lord. In short, Esau dug his fate by an ungodly lifestyle and thereby lost his privilege for the covenant blessings for the promised line of the seed. (Genesis 12:2-3)

8. Parents have a big role in children’s life. I am not sure how well Isaac performed this role when I look at Esau and his appetites. Of course, Isaac had a strong and godly father in Abraham, who diligently took care the promised son- Isaac.

9. Rebekah’s role of taking the matter in her own hands to expedite God’s plan had also reaped far-reaching adverse consequences. God may have used His unique plan to fulfill His promise. It does not need to be achieved by lying and cheating games of people. However, that is what happened in this incident. Both mom and dearly loved son paid enormous prices for their involvement in this matter. Jacob was fooled and deceived many times in Laban’s house, and Rebekah never got an opportunity to see her beloved son and receive his help and care in her old age.

However, the most important lesson is this. Beloved, please do not harden your heart when God calls you with His love. It is never late to come to the Lord. In Him, there is the abundance of mercy and forgiveness. Today, right now, you can settle the matter with God of the universe. God loves you. He wants to give you a beautiful future and great and divine hope. God gave us the only way to come to Him, and that is Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the only savior and the Lord of the world. God sent His Son Jesus Christ, and He carried all of our sins and wrongdoings on His body and died in our place on the cross. He paid it all for you. Then He was buried, and God raised Him from the dead. This way Jesus defeated sin and death. When you call upon Jesus Christ and accept Him as your savior and Lord, you will become the child of God, and your name will be written in the book of life. No matter what horrible is your past, listen to me now. God loves you and wants to save you and make you His own child. Please pray after me now. God will make you a brand new person and design your future bright and blessed again.

“Father in heaven, I come to you in prayer. I believe you sent your only Son, Jesus Christ into this world and He died for my sins and wrongdoings. Please forgive my sins and save me today. I accept Christ Jesus as my savior and Lord. In the name of Christ, I pray. Amen.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

God’s election and the danger of immediate gratification vs. delayed gratification.

Issac and Rebekah – childless couples for twenty years.

Jacob’s father Isaac and his mother Rebekah had two sons, and they were twins. They did not have children, and in their old age because of Isaac’s prayer, the LORD gave them twins. Isaac was married at the age of 40, and they did not have children until he is at 60 years of age. Beloved, the Bible gives several examples of God giving a child to childless couples. Isaac’s mother, Sarah, was barren until she reached 99 years of old. In their old age, Abraham being at 100 years of age, God fulfilled His promise and gave them the promised child, and he was Isaac. Hannah was barren, and it says she was barren because “the LORD had closed her womb. Because the LORD had closed Hannah’s womb, her rival kept provoking her in order to irritate her.´(1 Samuel 1). You see, Peninnah, her rival, irritated her on an ongoing basis. One time while she was in the temple, she prayed to the Lord God with much grief in her heart, and the Lord gave her a child who became one of the greatest priest and prophet of Israel called Samuel. Luke describes another incident in chapter 1 of Zechariah and Elizabeth who were advanced in age and did not have children. God gave them a child, and he is John the Baptist. Our Lord said this about John the Baptist, I tell you, among those born of women there is no one greater than John.” Think about this statement of Jesus Christ. John was greater than all who are born of women. Greater than all the prophets –even greater than Moses. You see, sometimes there is a divine reason why couples do not have children. If God willing, in response to our prayer He is able to provide children when we least expect Psalm 113:9 says, “He (God) settles the childless woman in her home as a happy mother of children. Praise the LORD.” I know several examples of parents who did not have children, and when they called upon the Lord and prayed earnestly, the Lord gave them children. I also understand there are situations when God plans that you won’t have children. If that is true about you, thank God and seek His plan for your life. God, our father in heaven, is far better than thousands of children. God will take care of all your need because he cares about you better than all.

Did you know God knew all about us even before our birth?

Let us come back to our lesson from the life of Jacob. When Rebekah was pregnant, due to Isaac’s prayers, two babies jostled each other in her womb. When she inquired about the reason, the Lord told her “Two nations are in your womb,
and two peoples from within you will be separated;
one people will be stronger than the other,
and the older will serve the younger.”.
Bible reveals God as an all-knowing God. God knows the end from the beginning. The Lord God declares in Isaiah 46:10 this, “I make known the end from the beginning,
from ancient times, what is still to come.
I say, ‘My purpose will stand,
and I will do all that I please.”

You see, God already made known to us all that we should know about the future in the pages of the Bible. In other words, Bible reveals all about the future especially in the prophecy section of the Bible, and it informs in detail all that is going to happen in the last book of the Bible, the book of Revelation.
Not only God knows and told us what is going to happen in the future, but he also knows the future of us all. In our passage, God already predestined who is going to be stronger out of this twin brothers and who is going to serve who.
God said in Isaiah 46:10 that His purpose will stand and He will do all that He pleases. Later Paul discusses God’s election of Jacob in Roman 9:11-16. God’s choice and predestination is a significant topic in the Bible. Bible says even before Esau and Jacob were born or had done anything good or bad, Rebekah received a message from God. It said the older son will serve the younger son. This message from God shows God chooses people according to His pleasure and purpose. It is not based on their good or bad works. Then verse 14 ask this question, does it mean God was unfair? It says no God is not unfair. God already declared that He would show mercy to anyone He chooses and show compassion to anyone He chooses. (Exodus33:19b). Therefore it is God who makes that decision sovereignly, and even before our birth, the Bible reveals God already made that choice. Bible says in Ephesians 1:4-6 this when Paul wrote this epistle to the Christ believers in Ephesus. It says God chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world so that we will be holy and blameless in His sight. This happened because God predestined us, in His love, to adopt us as His |Children in and through Jesus Christ. This was in accordance with God’s pleasure and will. Also, this was for the praise of His glorious grace. This grace (unmerited divine favor) God freely bestowed on us because of Christ Jesus.

However, it is important to know we do not know who are predestined by God to become His children and to stand before Him blames and holy. Only God knows. He gave us the commission to go and preach the Gospel and whoever would come and accept Christ Jesus as their Lord and Savior and repent of their sins are the ones who are predestined. How do we know if we are predestined? It is simple. If Holy Spirit of God works in your heart to listen to the message of the good news of Jesus, and He prompts inside of you to come to Jesus and believe in Him as your only savior for salvation, and as a result you accept Christ Jesus as your savior, then you are positively predestined by God. Someone said like this suppose you are walking on a street and you see an invitation to come inside. You could have passed walking ignoring the sign, but you had an inner prompt to go inside, and you did and when you were inside the rook and closed the door behind you read a big board saying, “you are chosen by God eternally to be with Him with no blame and blemish. You are declared blameless and holy by God.” Jesus Himself said, “For many are called, but few are chosen.” (Matthew 22:14). The context is this- A king sent his invitation to his son’s wedding. Many did not come to the marriage supper by saying different lame excuses. Many were invited but only a few were chosen.

Birth of the twins.

At the time of birth, the first one came out in red color, and his whole body was like a hairy garment. So they named him Esau. Then came the second one and his hand was grasping Esau’s heel. They called him Jacob. These names proved prophetical because Esau became a hunter and Jacob became a deceiver because he deceived his brother. Isaac loved Esau because he liked the meat he got from, and Rebekah loved Jacob. Though they were twins, they had pretty much different characters. Jacob had smooth skin and loved dwelling in the house. Esau and Jacob both lived up to their names. One day when came from hunting, he was so hungry. Jacob was cooking a red color and delicious stew. He said to Jacob quick give some of your stew because “I am famished.” Jacob used this time to use his deceiving character. He said first sell me your birthright then I would give the stew. Esau said I am going to die and what good is the birthright and Jacob asked him to swear to him first regarding the sale of the birthright. Esau swore an oath and sold his birthright for a bowl of stew. Jacob gave Esau some bread and lentil stew. Esau ate and drank and then got up and left. Then there is one sentence Bible records there. It says “So Esau despised his birthright.”

A firstborn birthright per the old testament scriptures was a unique privilege to the double portion of the inheritance from the father. Besides, it was an honor of the head of the household status in the family. In this particular case, the Lord had already predetermined Esau will serve the younger one Jacob. In short God’s pre-determined plan was for Jacob’s to get more blessings. We will learn more about it in the next session about Jacob’s life.

The danger of focusing on immediate gratification.

As far our heart goes after Esau, he was a man living for the moment, wasn’t he? He wanted quick fulfillment of satisfaction. If we look through the pages of the Bible, we can see immediate gratification is the scheme of the devil. Lord wants us to wait on Him. When Jesus Christ was in the wilderness fasting for 40 days, the devil used the same technique of immediate gratification about which we can read in the Bible in chapter 4 of the book of Matthew. I will give you right now. What is good in waiting and have the stew now is devils’ counsel. Bible says let us not be defiled like Esau. It says, “See that no one is sexually immoral, or is godless like Esau, who for a single meal sold his inheritance rights as the oldest son. Afterward, as you know, when he wanted to inherit this blessing, he was rejected. Even though he sought the blessing with tears, he could not change what he had done. (Hebrews 12:16-17). Esau was just a man of the flesh, and he did not care about the blessings that come in future along with his firstborn birthright but despised and sold the precious and unique blessing for the immediate gratification of the desire of his flesh.
Hebrews 12 begins with an exhortation. It says because we are surrounded by a huge crowd of witnesses who led the life of faith in the midst of various pressures, temptations, persecutions, sufferings, and trials, we are exhorted to lay aside every weight that affects our faith life which can slow our progress in Christ. Especially the Bible asks us to strip off the sin that so easily trips us on the way. The writer showed the faith life of faith warriors in chapter 11 as an example to motivate us to continue in our faith life in Christ Jesus. It says there is a race God has set for us. We need to run that race God has set for us with endurance and discipline. Our patience and endurance to run the race are possible only if we keep our eyes on Jesus Christ. Why? Because He is the initiator who initiated the divine work in us and He is the one who is going to perfect our faith. His example was this – even He endured the cross and disregarded the shame because of the future joy set before Him. What was His joy? His victory over sin, devil and death and salvation and giving eternal life to us. That was the future joy, and Jesus endured the sufferings. He disregarded the shame to attain the future joy.

The lesson learned.

Esau failed in this aspect. He traded the future joy and blessings for the momentary satisfaction of the desires of his flesh. How big was his loss when he made such a foolish trade? The command to wait on the Lord for His blessings can be traced all through the Bible. However, many times we also became fools in going after immediate gratification without waiting on the Lord, didn’t we? Bible says in Isaiah 40:30-31, Even the youth in their young age may faint and become weary. But those who wait on the LORD will renew their strength. Those who wait on the LORD shall mount up with wings like eagles. They shall run and not be weary. They shall walk and not faint. What a beautiful promise to those who wait on the LORD! However, may we learn from our past failures! Because you see God has not called us from earth as of yet. We are still here. He in His grace given us more days. I want to learn from my mistakes and not repeat those again. Don’t you want to do the same? We have forfeited many blessings because of our rush decisions and not waiting on the Lord’s time. We became faint and weary, and we were unable to mount up like eagles just because we did not wait on the LORD. May we seek the Lord in prayer? Bible promises in him there is an abundance of forgiveness. Bible promise in God there is forgiveness, so that we can, with reverence serve Him for the rest of our days. (Psalms 130:4). Bible says in Joel 2:25 the LORD will restore to you the years that the swarming locusts have eaten. Then in verse 22, the LORD says, “I am the LORD your God, and there is no other. Then He promises, “My people shall never be put to shame.”

The Lord promises He will restore the years that the swarming locusts have eaten. You can still place your hope and faith in the Lord. God says, it is not late yet. First thing first! Remember God sent His only one Son, Jesus Christ, to die in your place for your sins. This is the beginning point. By understanding, God took the first step to reconcile you with Him, come to the Savior, Christ Jesus, for the forgiveness of all your sins. This is the first step of blessing from heaven. God promised He will make you a brand new creation,  grant all heavenly blessings and eternal life in heaven with Him, if you would come to him now. I will help you to make that decision now.

Prayer time: Father in heaven, I thank you for loving me and sending your Son for my sins. I believe Jesus died and rose again for my sins. I accept Him as my savior and Lord. Please forgive my sins and save me. In Christ’s name, I pray. Amen.”

Can God be trusted in the midst of our storms and harsh circumstances?

“Naked I came from my mother’s womb,
and naked I will depart.
The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away;
may the name of the Lord be praised.” Job 1:21

Haruki Murakami, a Japanese writer, said this, “And once the storm is over, you won’t remember how you made it through, how you managed to survive. You won’t even be sure, whether the storm is really over. But one thing is certain. When you come out of the storm, you won’t be the same person who walked in. That’s what this storm’s all about.”

I will bring to your attention a good and wealthy man who lost all he had in a matter of minutes or hours and bounced back two times more blessed at the end. What was the secret of his victory over adversities? When many people end up in depression and suicide, what is that kept this man going and obtain double blessings?

In the land of Uz lived a man called Job. He was a perfect man, blameless, feared God, upright character and avoided all kinds of evil behavior and actions. The man had seven sons and three daughters. Pretty big family. He also owned 7000 sheep, 3000 camels, 500 yokes of oxen and 500 donkeys. On top of all these, he had a large number of servants. He was wealthy, famous and greatest man among all the people lived in the East.

His children held feasts on their birthdays, and they ate and drink and be joyful. Job made sure after each birthday feasts the children are purified from all blemishes. He used to rise early in the morning and offered sacrifices of burnt offering for each one of his children thinking his children may have sinned and cursed God in their hearts. Such a good man was Job.

However, Satan, the accuser of believers blamed and challenged God and said you have blessed Job and put a hedge around him and his family and everything he possesses and that is why he is following you. But if you remove all he has from you, then he will surely curse you to your face. In short, Satan was saying Job is following you only because of your blessings and protection and not because he honors and loves you.

The Lord accepted the challenge and allowed Satan to send troubles on Job but said do not lay his fingers on the man’s life. In other words, God knew Job well and recognized the sincerity of his faith.

One after another Job lost everything in one day. All his children died due to a severe mighty wind struck the house they were having a birthday feast. Imagine all ten children killed in a matter of minutes. Sabeans attacked and got all his oxen and donkeys. The Sabeans killed his servants as well. The three raiding parties of Chaldeans swept all his camels. All this happened one after another on the same day.

Beloved, I don’t know such horrible things happened to anyone so far one after another. All ten children, all wealth and finances and all servants all lost in a matter of few minutes. When the stock market crash happens, people could lose their wealth in a matter of hours, and that is possible. However, they would still typically lose everything like happened to Job.

Beloved, we know now what was the reason for all such horrible things that happened to Job, don’t we? He was in a severe trial allowed by God to prove his faithfulness and devotion. However, keep in mind Job did not have any clue what was happening to him at that time.

Then come our today’s insight. At this time when all these horrible things happened one after another, what did Job do? “Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground in worship and said,
“Naked I came from my mother’s womb,
and naked I will depart;
The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away;
may the name of the LORD be praised. In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing.”
Did you notice it said, “Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing? Instead, he fell to the ground and worshipped. He proved he put His trust and faith in God not for the benefits, but because of who God really is.

Satan accused Job’s sincerity and integrity again harshly and said to God if you strike his flesh and bones, he will surely curse you. God allowed Satan to touch his skin but did not permit to touch his life. Satan afflicted Job with painful sores from the soles of his feet to the crown of his head. Job took a piece of pottery and scrapped himself and sat among the ashes.
At this time his wife came to him and said these harsh words, “Are you still maintaining your integrity? Curse God and die!” See, the man is on big emotional and physical torture and pain. The one who was expected to be with Job to comfort him also turned against him and said such cruel words. But Job replied to her and said, “you are talking like a foolish woman. Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?”

Beloved, I do not know what terrible trial or tragedy you are facing today. If nothing else is taught, Job surely admonishes us this – even in the midst of tragic, horrible, dangerous, hopeless and confused times; we can endure, preserve and come out victoriously if we focus on the loving Lord and keep our faith in Him. He only knows why things are happening the way it happens and we do not know the whole story because, like Job on his severe trial day, we too are very limited in our understanding and knowledge. However, one day the Lord will reveal the truth behind it all. That day the good and faithful Lord will reward you the crown of life because you loved God in the midst of your trials. (James 1:12).

Of course, Job was a man like us. He had times of despair, hopelessness, many complaints, doubts, and irrational questions. However, through it all, Job kept his faith in the Lord God and never sinned against Him. When we come to the final chapter 42, it says there; The LORD blessed the latter part of Job’s life more than the former part with a double portion of blessings. He had 14000 sheep, 6000 camels, 1000 yoke of oxen and 1000 donkeys. He had seven more sons and three more daughters. Job’s daughters were more beautiful than all the other women in the land. Job lived 140 years and saw his children and their children to the 4th generation. He died as an old man and full of years.

Now, you decide can God be trusted in the midst of your seemingly harsh circumstances? Let me ask you a different question. Do you really think you can trust anyone else in the midst of your storms and harsh circumstances? If you read the book of Job, not only he lost all, but even his wife spoke to him unkindly. Moreover, his friends who visited him in his sorrow to comfort him turned against him and started accusing him of doing evil. They even spoke lie about him. Humanly, they could not figure out what is happening in Job’s life.

My friend, in the end only God is faithful and He is the only one we can trust find peace, comfort, and deliverance. No-one else would do it and nowhere else would you find it. 2 Timothy 2:13 reminds this, “if we are faithless, he (God) remains faithful, for he cannot disown himself.” Bible says in Isaiah 40:29-30, The LORD God “gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall, but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. The will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.”

The secret of Job’s success- he knew who God is and he had an intimate and personal relationship with God and no matter what nothing could break his tie with Him. Job plunged into the heartbreaking sufferings but emerged with a renewed confidence and a deeper thirst for God. He said chapter 42:5, “My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you.” The pages of the Bible have several life histories that teach the fact that sufferings and harsh circumstances can disturb the peace and well beings in us but can create a double portion of confidence and can emerge out of it with a much deeper faith and thirst for God for the remaining years of our life. (Job 19:25)

Do you know God intimately and personally? How do we know God personally? Is it possible? Bible says in 1 Corinthians 1:9, “God is faithful, who has called you into fellowship with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.” You see, God calls us to have fellowship with Him. He invites us into his fellowship and the way we can have fellowship with God is through our fellowship and friendship with Christ Jesus, His Son. Don’t try to make it complicated. It is that simple!

Hebrews 1 this, God spoke in the past in many ways through His prophets. However, in these last days that we live in, He has spoken to us in His Son, Jesus Christ. Christ is the radiance of God’s glory and He is the exact representation of His nature. Not only this, but He also made the solution to our sin problem, that separated us from the holy God and His fellowship, by paying for our sins. This is accomplished by His death in our place for our sins on the cross of Calvary. Jesus was then buried and rose again from the dead. The only open tomb we will see on this earth is Christ’s and it is still can be seen empty in Jerusalem. The heaven declared this regarding Jesus on that day of resurrection, “He isn’t here! He is risen from the dead, just as he said would happen. Come, see where his body was lying.” (Matthew 28:6). God solved our sin problem by putting all our sins on His Son, Christ Jesus. Now you and I can know God personally and have an intimate relationship and fellowship with Him by accepting His Son, Jesus Christ, the only savior of the whole world, into our hearts and lives. This who have Christ in their lives have fellowship with God. This can be accomplished by a small prayer with me today.

Beloved, God a moment for today’s prayer? “Father in heaven, I trust you in the midst of my heart breaking trials because you said you will never leave nor forsake me. I trust in your wonderful promises. Lord give me strength because I am weary and weak. I call upon your help and deliverance. I know you loved me and gave Jesus Christ for my sins. I accept your Son, Jesus Christ, as my savior and Lord. I pray in Christ’s name. Amen.”

 

Craving for new beginnings and refreshments these days? There is only one key to it and discover what it is!

“Now fellow Israelites, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did your leaders. But this is how God fulfilled what he had foretold through all the prophets, saying that his Messiah would suffer. Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord, and that he may send the Messiah, who has been appointed for you—even Jesus.” (Acts 3:17-20).

Human oppositions can never stop God’s promises and purposes.

Four points I want to bring to your mind from this passage. First of all, human oppositions do not stop God’s foretold promises in the scripture. You see, the incarnation of Jesus Christ- His birth, life, death, burial, and resurrection was foretold in the old testament scripture hundreds of time. All these prophecies regarding Christ were fulfilled exactly as it was prophesied. There is not another book on this planet earth like the Bible because it has hundreds, and hundreds of prophecies fulfilled precisely predicted. Why don’t you find out by yourself this truth?

This is the reason why the Bible has always been the most read and best-sold book in the past, and even today this is true. Bible is God inspired, and God originated. It is not a book produced on this earth by earthly human beings. Peter in His preaching on the day of Pentecost says to the thousands of people gathered there, Now, fellow Israelites, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did you leaders. However, this is how God fulfilled what He had foretold through all the prophets (in the Bible), saying that His Messiah would suffer.

The point I want to impress in your heart is this. No human oppositions can stop God’s promises given in the Bible. Peter said in another preaching that Jesus was handed over to you by God’s deliberate plan and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of the wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross. However, God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him. It says God gave Jesus to us for our salvation according to His pre-determined and deliberate plan and foreknowledge. However, they with the help of wicked men put Jesus to death by nailing Him to the cross. However, you see, God raised Him from the dead because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on Him.

What is this means? If God decrees and appoints something to fulfill in our life, no matter what the ignorance or opposition of people, God is going to make it happen. If someone or something stands in the way to fulfill God’s purposes and plans it is going to fail ultimately. God even uses the enemies, ignorances and determined oppositions to serve His ultimate purposes. Is this not what happened in the incident of Jesus? Jewish people and especially the religious leaders among them opposed and acted against God’s decree and purpose. They thought they would end the movement of God by killing Jesus. They did all they could to stop the plan and purpose of God. However, God raised Him from the dead because the death could not hold its grip on Him. Therefore the first point is you can grab on the promises of God with no doubt because if God promised it would happen no matter what. No human opposition, plans, enmities, and acts can stop God.

I am sure some of you can agree with this point in your personal life experience. People and your friends thought your life was gone. They thought you are history. They believed God left you and abandoned you. However, now you are in the church praising God, worshipping God and serving the Lord. What happened? No human opposition, from whatever sources it might be from, can stop what God has started in you. He is the God who turns the coin and works in favor of you as He did to Jesus, the savior of the world. You see you, and I are serving the same Lord who raised Jesus from the dead. He is able and powerful to do that in your personal life as well. When David was fleeing from His kingdom by fearing his own son and his team, David might have thought that is the end of it. Absalom and his team thought they won. However, God turned the coin eventually. David came back to his kingdom and ruled again. Joseph was the victim of his brother severe jealousy, and they initially tried to kill him and then sold him to Egypt as a slave. All people including his jealous brothers thought the life and story of Joseph ended. However, God was with Joseph, and he became the Prime Minister of Egypt, second office to Pharoah, the king of Egypt.
Let me ask you what are you facing now? If you are a child of God, no matter what happens, no matter what the oppositions and enemies talk about you and do to you, God is the same God today. God is the God of Abraham, Jacob, Joseph, David and so forth. No human oppositions can stop God’s promises in your life.

Repentance is the key that unlocks all of God’s blessings in our life.

The second point I want to talk to you is this. There is only one key that unlocks our future blessings, and that is repentance. Repentance is the key that unlocks God’s favor and blessings in our life. No other thing can and would do this. Peter says to the people that he knows that they acted in ignorance. However, he asks them to repent and then turn to God. You heard it right! There is only one key that unlocks God’s favor and blessings, and that is repentance and turning to God. Sometimes God even uses ordinary circumstances like hearing a message like the one you are listening now, personal sickness or the sickness of someone in the family or even natural calamities to bring this truth to our attention. Hundreds of people’s houses were destroyed in Houston and Florida when severe hurricane and flooding happened there. Many people’s homes were burned in a fire recently in California when the fire spread there. Most recently severe flooding like never occurred took the lives and comforts of hundreds of people in Kerala, India. God in heaven is talking in a loud voice “repent and turn to God.” God speaks through all these incidents. Are we listening?

Every day people live un-repented life around the world. Governments and leaders live un-repented life. The world we live in an unrepented culture. Repentance became an old-fashioned word for many. However, in the olden days and today, there is only one way to get God’s favor and blessing, and that is called repentance. Repent and turn to God! The people when they heard the preaching of Peter asked this question, “what must we do?” Peter said, “repent and turn to God.” The more we are silent on this wonderworking word –repentance- the more problem we are going to get into in the coming years of our life. How come preachers are not preaching God’s message to repent these days? I don’t understand. People need to hear “repent and then turn to God.”

What is the real repentance?

By the way, what is repentance? Repentance is not just an emotional experience or just feeling sorry. Jesus said this in Matthew 7:13-14 that broad and wide is the gate and road that leads to destruction and many people enter that gate and travel that road. It is like a high way and very convenient to walk, and it leads to destruction. However, there is a narrow gate and a narrow road. Small is this gate, and narrow is the road, and it leads to life. Also, only a few people find it.

Listen, in your ignorance, you may have joined with people who walk on the wide and broad road that many walks and when you walk in it, you hear the message of the God in heaven, and it tells you the road you walk leads only to destruction. You listened to preaching, or you listened to a Bible verse that says you God loves and want to save you and He gave His Son Jesus Christ for you. It tells of coming to Christ. God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whoever believes in Him shall never perish but have eternal life. It says God does not want you to perish. (John 3:16). God cares about you and loves you, and so you can come to Jesus Christ and get saved. When you heard the message, you stepped out of the broad road that you were walking and step into the narrow gate which is Jesus Christ. This is repentance. It means you were going in one road in one direction- destruction. Now you turned around and going in another direction- life. You took a determined step to turn to God and obey Him and live for him. This is repentance. You remember prodigal son. He was going in the way of destruction, went as far as he could away from his loving fathers home and if he continued in that road he would have been destroyed and ruined for sure. However, God talked to him, and he came to his sense, started walking in the opposite direction, back to his loving father and home. This is repentance.

Have you repented? Repentance is needed for Christians and non-Christians. Billy Graham, the greatest evangelist of our time has seen on this earth, once said this, biggest harvest field in the world is the church. Many people go to church but never repented of their sins. Many think they will go to heaven when they die, and attend the activities and programs of the church but they never been repented and turned from their old path. They still walk in the wide road that leads to destruction and Sunday morning they go to church and go through just some feelings. No real repentance happened. They are walking near or around the narrow road every Sunday but never step into the narrow road. What a sad situation? Bible says we must repent and there is no other way to enter into God’s kingdom. Jesus said, “repent, the kingdom of God is at hand.” Bible says in 2 Peter 3:9, “but God is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” Beloved, God was longsuffering toward us. He sent his messengers to us, and they preached to us, God’s Holy Spirit convicted us many times, God spoke and cried loud through some personal experiences He allowed to happen and He spoke through natural calamities. God was longsuffering toward us. Why? He is not willing that any should perish, but all of us should come to repentance. Do not test His longsuffering any-more. Come to Him when He calls you in love. Come today and repent and turn to God.

Listen, two supernatural benefits of repentance.

Then the passage says repentance and turning to God results in results. What are they?

Sins wiped out, erased and blotted out forever.

First one, our sins may be wiped out. If no other good things occurred, this is enough to thank and praise God. God says when we repent and turn to Him, He will wipe out all our sins. It means all sins and wrongdoing wrote against you will be gone forever. Imagine a white or blackboard where all your mistakes, sins and wrongdoings listed one by one. The moment you repent and turn to God, God will erase all listed sins against you. Lord God declared and promised this in Isaiah 43:25, “I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions, for my own sake, and remembers your sins no more.” Not only He erases your sins and wrongdoings but he blots out, wipe out and nothing there to see any more. Micah 7:18 says, “He will again have compassion on us; he will tread our iniquities underfoot. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea.” Did you read the Lord will tread our iniquities underfoot and will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea? So that it will never come back again to haunt us. Oh my Lord, this is a good enough blessing for you and me. If nothing else happened, this would be good enough. Bible says in Romans 8:1 says, “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” Reread this. It promises you will never be condemned for your sins. No condemnation for those who come to Christ in repentance. People may and the court may, but God never condemns for our sins. Devil will try to condemn us to stop our progress in the Lord. However, remind him what his future is and tell him to get out of your way because God never condemns you for your sins. Remind him God prepared a lake of fire for him and his demons. Use the Bible verses I cited above. Another passage is 103:12 and it says there, “as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.” He removed our transgressions, sins, and wrongdoing away from us like east is from the west. East will never meet west and west will never meet east. When you repent and turn to God, your sins will never meet you again. OH, what a blessing! You may say your sin is big, and you may think no one can forgive it. However, do you know God will never remember it, He removed far away from it so that you will never see it again and God will never condemn you for your sins. It does not matter, big or small, the Bible says God has nailed your sins to the cross where Jesus died and it all died with Christ and no more alive to blame you. God will never remember nor blame you and He keeps His promises. Psalm 32 says, “Blessed is the one whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the one whose sin the LORD does not count against them and in whose spirit is no deceit.” Upon repentance and turning to God you are the most blessed out of many others in this world. You are far better than billionaires and other wealthy people because God the creator of the universe is on your side and He forgave and covered your sins.

Not only God will never remember your sins and condemn you but also, upon repentance and turning to God, we become the new creation. Bible says He makes you and I like a brand new creation as if we never sinned. Bible says in 2 Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things become new.” You become a new creation and all things are passed away. All things become new in your life.

Times of refreshments comes from the Lord in heaven.

This leads us to the second result of repentance and turning to God. It says “times of refreshment may come from the Lord.” You see, the first result of repentance and turning to God is He will wipe away, erase, blot out, remember no more your sins. The second fantastic benefit is the Lord now sends you times of refreshment. After the flood of Florida and Houston, people yearned for new refreshments in their partially ruined life. The same is true with Kerala flood in India. People are in a recovery mode there now. Governments, organizations, people groups, and nations are pouring help there now to rebuild the state of Kerala. However, do you know all these rebuilding efforts are of course excellent and well, but none of these human efforts are comparable to God’s refreshments? When He opens the doors of heaven and send the showers of blessings for you, that is the real blessings and refreshments. Repentance and turning to god is what causes God’s refreshments in your life.

David says in Psalm 23, “The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not

want. He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters. He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness.” David says God restores his soul. All rebuilding and restoration are not going to do much benefit if our spirit or soul is not refreshed by the divine hand and touch of God. David says the Lord restores his soul not just once but on an ongoing basis. “Restores” is a present ongoing truth. It is not a one-time event. God loves is a truth. Sun gives heat is always the truth. God is the one who restores/refreshes our inner-being on an on-going basis. This is a result of repentance and turning to Lord. God says in Jeremiah 31:25, “I will refresh the weary and satisfy the faint.” You had a weary and faint soul because of the heaviness in your heart. Not the Lord promises He will refresh the weary and satisfy the faint. Dear one, when God of the universe says He will satisfy the faint. This is going to be a kind of refreshment you never accustomed in the past. Bible says in 1 Corinthians 16:17-18, “I was glad when Stephanas, Fortunatus, and Achaicus arrived because they have supplied what was lacking from you. For they refreshed my spirit and yours also.” You see you are going to meet with and fellowship with people who you never dreamed off. God will send people into your life, and they are going to come to refresh your spirit. You see God directly refresh you with His supernatural power, and He is going to send people in your way to refresh and help you. Paul says in 2 Timothy 1:16, “May the Lord show mercy to the household of Onesiphorus, because he often refreshed me and was not ashamed of my chains.” God sent Onesiphorus to Paul to refresh him, and Onesiphorus was not ashamed because Paul was in prison. This is what you are going to get from the Lord. Paul says to Philemon in verse 7, “Your love has given me great joy and encouragement, because you, brother, have refreshed the hearts of the Lord’s people.” Do you know God has thousands of helping hands to refresh you in your need and He will dispose them faithfully? I have more references but do not want to take all. The point is the second benefit of repentance and turning to God is the season of refreshments in your life.

Beloved, How big and high are the indescribable blessings and refreshments we enjoy here upon repentance and turning to God? However, even though they are showers of perfect and good blessings from the Lord today, it is only a small appetizer when we compare to the one in store for us soon. The full course meal or the fullness of all refreshments is when God send Jesus Christ back to this world. This is referring to the second coming of Jesus Christ. The same Bible that promised and prophesied the first coming of Christ for the solution of our sins prophesied the second coming of Christ to this earth. Two times more prophecies are there for the second coming of Christ. If the first coming of Christ fulfilled with pinpoint accuracy, the second coming of Christ would also be fulfilled with no shadow of a doubt. The Bible in our weekly insight passage says Jesus, the Messiah, who was appointed for you must be in heaven until the times comes for God to restore everything, as he promised long ago through His holy prophets.

When the doors of eternity open up, the holy city that the Lord built will come down out of heaven from God. It is beautiful like a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. By faith, the faith warriors of the olden days including Abraham, Issac, and Jacob lived in tents even in the promised land. They lived like strangers in a foreign land. Why? For they were looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God. The Bible says on that day, God’s dwelling place will be with His people, and He will dwell with them. God will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying, or pain for all the old order of things has passes away. God restores all brand new. The curse on this sin-bound earth due to the original sin will be lifted up. God Himself affirmed this truth by His statement. God said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” Revelation 21:2-5

Do you know you can exchange your earthly tent to a permanent building?

“Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands.” 2 Corinthians 5:1

Did you ever think what is in store for you after death? Where can you find an answer? People who already gone before us would not give any testimony to us. All cemeteries are filled with dead bodies 6 feet under and you see no one is going to talk to us or come back from there. In short, I am almost sure we won’t find a reliable answer anywhere else other than in the Bible. Historians, Philosophers and smart thinkers may give their own opinions or wild imaginations. People, in general, know this – one day they are born, and one uncertain future day they all would die but not sure what day they would depart from this world. But where are they going? No one knows. Only the Bible and Christ Jesus reveal the truth about where we would be after death.

Bible gives us no confusion or doubt about this matter. It does not matter if you die as an infant, young man/woman, older person, disabled. Moreover, it does not matter where you died – in the ocean, in the desert, in hospital, on the road or in your own home. Bible informs us we do not need to be the nervous or fearful period if you have a relationship with God through His Son Jesus Christ!
Bible says in 2 Corinthians 5:1 to the believers in Jesus Christ, “Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands.”
It does not say I believe, I suppose, or I imagine, but the verse gives an affirmation of the truth -We know for sure. This means this is the truth of what is going to happen after our death. In other words, death by no means an end by itself. You see all those born into this world would die one day. The only exception to this rule is those people who live at the time of the rapture. The believers in Christ who live on the day of the rapture will not see death, and they would be immediately translated to heaven with glorified bodies. However, all who die before the time of the rapture would have to go through the door of death. However, do you want to hear the truth the Bible loudly and emphatically tell us?– Death is not an end.

Our weekly insight says “we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands.”

Few observations from this passage:

• It says now people live in a tent. My children are excited about making a tent and living in it. When my neighbor has kids birthday parties, they pitch a tent outside the house. In a day or so, the tent is not there anymore. Why? A tent is temporary and is not permanent. Bible says our bodies are like a tent. Now if you make a tent and leave it there, pretty soon it will subside or sag, and the pins and screws will get loosened. Our current body is like a tent. Our beauty and strength fade away over the years, lose eyesight and hearing abilities, skin gets wrinkled and right youthful colors, vitality and energy will disappear pretty soon. When we are at a young age, we do not think about seriously. However, when we get older, we will be more aware of the limitations and weaknesses of our bodies. You see, it is like a vanity. Solomon, the wisest person, ever lived said, “vanity of vanities. All is vanity.” He wrote Ecclesiastes when He became old and looked back he says all is vanity. Very soon youth life will be gone, and we enter into old age. Then we will look back and remember the excellent youth ages of our lives. Our body surely is like a tent. Indeed, the Bible says our body is an earthly tent.

• Secondly, the truth is the earthly tent will be destroyed one day. None of us would know what the last day we live in this tent is. But it is certain that one day with no prior notice or knowledge when we least expect, this earthly tent will be destroyed. My nephew’s body was destroyed in a car wreck on the way back from the library after his studies. Full of youth and many dreams. However, all gone in the flash of a moment. It was heartbreaking for all of his. I am sure you have incidents like this in your family or friends circle. Truth is this body will be destroyed in so many different ways- diseases, accidents, aging and in some other ways. We can go to fitness centers, take the right vitamins and healthy organic foods. We may feel good by doing all these things. However, the truth is our body, which is this earthly tent will one day stop to breathe. Enjoy each breath now and be thankful to God for each breath. Every day and each breath is a beautiful and amazing gift from God. However, the solemn truth is our earthly tent will undoubtedly be destroyed one day.

• Aren’t you glad God says death is not an end? Praise God! It would have been vanity without this knowledge. This is why Solomon at the end of his book Ecclesiastes concludes that life is just vanity if we don’t have reverence and grab hold of God in faith. He says, Ecclesiastes 12:1, “Remember now your Creator in the days of your youth,
Before the difficult days come”. In other words, if we remember God in our youthful days, we would be much more blessed. Turning to God when we become older becomes hard. Therefore, remember God your creator in the days of your youth. Later when difficult things we may say I don’t want to hear about God. Why? Because the conscience became dull, and no more we hear from God because we already hardened our hearts by saying no to Him many times. Bible says we have a building from God. Now compare a tent to a building. A tent is for a short-term purpose, but a building is for a permanent purpose. A tent is not strong but the building is permanent. A tent is for the purpose of constant moving, but the building is a permanent structure. No need to move around. It is strong, build on the strong foundation and short-term in nature. You see death is not the end and death is not changing the body as reincarnation informs people. Our earthly tent is not moving into another tent of short-term life. No, not at all. Once this earthly tent, our body, is destroyed, we have a strong building from God. Tent is going to be replaced with a building.

• You see, this building we are going to get at the time of death is a building from God. God is going to give this permanent building structure to us by replacing the old temporary tent. The it describes this building is an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. You see the building that is going to replace this earthly tent will never be destroyed. The tent will be destroyed by the new building type strong, eternal body, built by God Himself. The new building type permanent, strong, beautiful and glorified bodies we will get at the time of death is heavenly built, built by God. This wonderful, new, strong and glorified bodies are not build by human hands.

• Meanwhile, as long as we live in this earthly tent, Bible says we groan. We groan because often we are burdened, worried and sorrowful over many things. Our body aches. It gets hurt, prone to diseases and accidents. We worry about our close relationships. Worry about children going in wrong ways. Worry our spouse may not be able to help us. We worry our parents may get old and suffer a lot and the list goes on and on. In addition, we groan because we get discouraged and deceived by others. We are sad because our dreams did not fulfill. Bible says this is the reality of life in this earthly tent. The previous chapter 2 Corinthians 4:7-10 says our body is like jars of clay. You see the jars of clay is very delicate, and it can break or get destroyed any time if not handled carefully. However, there it says we have this ‘treasure’ in jars of clay. What is the treasure? The building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. The permanent and glorified body with no aches, pains, sorrows, limitations or weakness. That treasure is kept in the jars of clay, earthly tent now for the time being. You see, Paul says there in the above verse that we are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies.”
Bible says, therefore, we do not lose heart. In other words, if we get older and weak, if we get sick and immobile or whatever happens we do not lose heart. Our outer body may be wasting away, but God has given us hope in our inner being, and that hope of the eternal house, permanent building, built not by human hands and by God himself renews day by day. Bible says in Chapter 4 that our affliction, whatever that may be, is a light one when compared to the eternal weight of glory which is beyond comparison and wild imagination. When you and I try to compare the affliction here in this earthly tent and clays of the jar to the eternal weight of glory we are going to receive at the moment of death, it is not comparable. The future glory is incalculably superior to the current sufferings, Bible promises.

• Beloved, the Bible says the Son of God, the eternal one, who is the creator of all came and lived in this earthly tent, in this jar of clay for a period. The whole purpose of His incarnation was to transform our lowly mortal bodies so that they will be like His glorious and eternal body.  Jesus Christ stood at the tomb of Lazarus who was dead for four days. You can read about this incident in John 11. He said this, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live.” Read slowly and may these words of Jesus sink deeply into our hearts and minds. Martha, the sister of Lazarus, said to Jesus, “Lord, by this time there is a stench, for he has been dead four days.” Jesus said to Martha, “if you would believe you would see the glory of God.” Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead man was lying. Jesus lifted up His eyes to and said, “Father I know you always hear Me, but because of the people who are standing there – that they may believe You sent Me.” Jesus Christ, the Son of God, was sent by God the Father from heaven so that we can believe in Him as our savior and Lord. The Jesus cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come forth!” And he who had died came out bound hand and foot with graveclothes, and his face was wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Loose him, and let him go.”

Jesus Christ came to die for the punishment of our sins. He did it on the cross. He carried your sins and my sins on His divine shoulders and paid it all with his divine, sinless blood. You do not need to anything more to get salvation. No works or your efforts required. God did it for you. Jesus is the resurrection and life. When you come to Jesus and accept Him as your savior, you are granted forgiveness of sins. All your past that hunt you will be thrown to the deepest part of the ocean. It will never come back to give you sorrows. Your earthly tent or the jar of clay is transformed into gloried, permanent, eternal house made by God. Your future address is changed from hell to God’s beautiful heaven, in a moment when you accept Christ as your savior and Lord. Then you can face death with smile and courage. God loves you and has an excellent plan and purpose for your life.

I can lead you to Him in prayer right now.

Got a moment for today’s prayer? Father in heaven, I need Jesus Christ in my life. I believe he came, died and rose again to pay for all of my sins. Please come to my life and save me. I thank you for saving me and giving me resurrection and eternal life when I close my eyes here. In Jesus Christ’s name, I pray. Amen.”

If you prayed this prayer, I will be thrilled to hear from you. Please go to teachbible.org and then go to the menu ‘contact’ and send me a note. Please start attending a local Bible teaching and preaching church. Or go to facebook page of teachbible.org and send me a message. Thank you.

“When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;
And through the rivers, they will not overflow you.
When you walk through the fire, you will not be scorched, Nor will the flame burn you.” (Isaiah 43:2).

Great promises in the midst of your severe and heartbreaking trials you can bank on.

I know as I am sharing this message with you today, so many people out there are hurting, discouraged, disappointed, bleeding inside and outside and at the edge of hopelessness and despair. I agree. Life is hard. Especially when bad things and severe trials happen to good people, to those who are believers in Christ, we wonder what in the world is happening and how can we comfort them.
God is the healer inside out. He is not only the healer for extreme body sickness, but He is the healer for inside hurting and hopelessness. Bible says in Psalm 107:20 in their trials and distresses,“ they cried to the LORD in their trouble, and he saved them from their distress. He sent out his word and healed them; he rescued them from the grave.” Thank the Lord for His wonder-working eternal and everlasting Words. Bible says they cried out to the Lord and He sent His Word and healed them. The Word of God, the Bible verses, has the power to heal you because the Word of God is sent from heaven by God Himself for our healing, recovery, wellbeing, and salvation.
The passage cited above is talking three type of trials we may face in our earthly journey.

Firstly, “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you.”

The abundance of water like flooding the streets impacts negatively our progress. I was watching an elephant who caught up in a flooded area. The elephant could not make any progress. When it takes one step forward then falls back two levels. All of its efforts to get out from the flood became vain apart from outside help. There is no way you can escape a big surging tide of water. David said in Psalm 69:1-2, “Save me, O God, for the waters have threatened my life. I have come into deep waters, and a flood overflows me.” David again said in Psalm 124, “If the LORD had not been on our side, Then the waters would have engulfed us, The stream would have swept over our soul; Then the raging waters would have swept over our soul.” You see the flood type of trials has the power to engulf us, swept our soul away. Water and flood can resist our way, slows us down, and it can snap away our strength, energy, and hope. Sometimes water and wind come together and makes it hard to get rescued.

Luke 8:22-25 Bible described an incident when Jesus said to the disciples “let us go over to the other side of the lake.” They all got in, and Jesus fell asleep. Suddenly a fierce gale of wind descended on the lake, and they began to be swamped and to be in danger. They came to Jesus and woke Him up and said, “Master, Master, we are perishing!” Jesus got up and rebuked the wind and the surging waves, they all stopped and became calm. They were all afraid and amazed and said to one another, “Who is this man? He commands the winds and the water, and they obey Him.” Jesus Christ in His incarnation was one hundred percent man and one hundred percent, God. This is what the theologian calls the hypostatic union. Jesus was fully human and fully God. Both divine and human natures were in Him. He did not possess two different persons. He was one person with two natures. That is why Jesus slept in the boat and when He woke up rebuked the wind and storm, and it all stopped and became calm. Jesus Christ the God-Man, fully capable of controlling the nature. Only God -man can control the nature, and He did exactly that. Do you think the wind and waves came as a surprise to Him? Do you think Jesus said, I did not know about this wind and storm? No, not at all. He was on a mission to teach the disciples the lessons of patience, perseverance and strong faith when all goes against them and faced with despair. They had a crash course on who they can turn to when all goes against them. How, the Son of God, Jesus Christ can help them in the midst of their trials. He knew exactly what he meant when He said let us go to the other side of the lake, didn’t he?

You see Jesus asked disciples to go to the other side and they were in the perfect plan and will of God. Still gale of winds, waters and waves happened. You may be in the perfect plan and will of God, but even still do you know severe water, and flood type trials can happen to you?
But Bible promises in such colossal water and flood times God’s presence is with His children. It says, “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you.” It was God’s presence right in the midst of David’s trails that saved him from all his troubles. My dearly beloved, God loves you, and he will never leave you nor abandon you. He promises His incredible presence with you when you pass through the waters. You see you will pass through water and flood type of trials, but His presence with you will make sure you will reach the place safely. It says ‘you pass through the waters.’ You are not going to stay there permanently. It is just passing through. You will pass through and will reach the other side of the lake safe and secure because Christ is with you in your arduous journey that is hindered by water and flood. ‘Say in loud Jesus is with me.’ Repeat this again and again.

Say and claim God’s promise when you pass through waters, Jesus is with me.

Secondly, “When you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you.”

This signifies more difficult trials because it is not just a flood, but you are in a river surrounded by waters and more serious dangers. But when you are in this type of trial, God promises it will not overflow you. You see, you may have to pass through this type of river trials, but God is in control. He will not allow it to overflow you. In other words, God watches, and He comes to your rescue, and this is guaranteed.

Remember in another occasion in Matthew 14:22-33, Jesus immediately after the multiplication of loaves and fishes to satisfy the hunger of more than five thousand men asked the disciples to go to the other side of the river. Then He went to the mountain to pray, and the disciples were in the river in the midnight, struggling their best effort to drive through the strong winds and waves. The waters were even raging into their boat. They were scared and faced immediate danger. Jesus saw their hardship from the mountain. It was not a surprise to him. He knew what He was up to. After the miraculous loaf incident, He wanted to teach them the depth of the requirement of trust and faith in Him. He did not stay in the distance in the mountain and shouted at the disciples. He came near to them walking on water. God-man walked on water because Jesus was fully God and fully man. He was the perfect savior for all of our sins and problems. He came to this earth as the sacrificial lamb for our sins. When Peter recognized it is Jesus who is walking to them in the night hours when they were scared and struggling hard, said to the Lord to command him to come to Jesus on the water. Jesus said, “come.” Peter got down from the boat and walked toward Jesus. But when he saw the wind coming, he became afraid and began to sink and cried out, “Lord, save me! Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?” It said there when they climbed into the boat; the wind died down. Those who were in the boat ‘worshipped him and said truly you are the Son of God.”
Beloved, Jesus did not allow the disciples or Peter to be overflowed by the waters of the river, did He? He reached at the right time for their rescue and helped them miraculously. This is the promise when you face river type of trails. God’s promise to you is “They will not overflow you.” Jesus asked Peter, “Why did you doubt?” Jesus asks the same question to you. Are you in despair and doubt the good Lord? Do not fear or doubt. God promises you it will not overflow you, period! Again the disciples and Peter had a crash course on river type of trials. Who can help them and what is needed in those times. Only Jesus Christ can help and what is needed is faith in Jesus and leaning on Him for help. He will come at the right time and rescue you. Say ‘rivers will not overflow me because Jesus delivers me.’ Repeat this again and again. Say it loud and clear. Expect great things from Lord Jesus Christ.

Say and claim God’s promise when you pass through the rivers, they will not overflow me.

Sometimes we experience severe temptation comes upon us like mighty and flowing rivers. But God guards us safe in the midst of such severe temptations. Bible says in 1 Corinthians 10:13, “No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.” The temptation is common to all mankind. But God will not let you be tempted beyond the limit -what you can bear. In other words, God set a boundary – this far and no more to tempt or trial us. Bible says God set a boundary for the ocean when waves come. This far and not anymore. This is why the earth is not flooded in water although the area of ocean is more than the dry land. Water to dry land ratio is 71% to 29%. But God already set a boundary so that water won’t engulf the dry land. God did the same thing for your trials and temptations. Is this not comforting to us? He will not let you be tempted beyond the fence he set. He will not let you be tempted before the set boundaries. God knows. He will protect you even if temptations comes like flood and river in your life. Isaiah 59:19 says, “When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard against him.” For sure, God will provide a way out so that you will endure and not be destroyed. Bible says in Romans 8:37-39, “No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Nothing can separate us from the love and presence of God in our lives. Even the temptations you face will not sweep over you. God will make sure the boundaries He set are safe enough. Seek the Lord in prayer for a way out if you are severely tempted. Seek his face continually. He will help you and you will testify to Him for His glory. The admission and confession of our sins, not trusting in our ability but trusting and leaning on the power of the Holy Spirit is the key to our success. But do not be afraid and keep on trusting the Lord every new day.

Thirdly, “When you walk through the fire, you will not be scorched, Nor will the flame burn you.”

This is the most server trials of all. In this type of trail, one goes through the fire. In fact, one walks through the furnace and blazing fire. It is the most severe trial but these fiery trials come with the most rejoicing exultation at the coming of Jesus Christ. (1 Peter 4:13). When we are faced with these fiery trials because of the seriousness of such trials, we may think about why it happened to me? Peter says, “Beloved do not be surprised at the fiery trials, which come upon you as though some strange things were happening to you.” We may think it is unusual, but he says such severe fiery trials are not unusual. He says in 1 Peter 1:7, such fiery trails proof the genuineness of your faith. It is more precious than gold or silver. God and silver are purified and perfected by going through the furnace of fire, through the blazing fire. A silversmith places a bar of silver or gold in the fire and to allow the impurities to pop up. Nobody would know there were impurities in the bar of gold or silver until and unless it goes under the fire. Then the bar melts, and all the impurities come upon the top, and he uses a skimmer to skim off the surfaced impurities. Then it becomes perfect, pure and much more precious and valuable gold or silver. This is the purpose of the fiery trails of our lives. God allows such trials, and these are not unusual although it seems strange to us when happens. But God has a purpose. The purpose is to remove the hidden impurities that nobody knows there in our lives. Once we come out of the fiery trial, we become more precious, valuable and ready to shine for His glory.

Say and claim God’s promise when you walk through the fire– I will not be scorched, Nor will the flame burn me.

Remember, Daniel and his three friends went through the blazing fire for their faith and obedience to the one and true LORD who created the heavens and the earth. (Daniel 3:19-30). Bible says King Nebuchadnezzar saw four men walking in the midst of the blazing fire. The fourth man appeared to be like ‘a son of gods’. You see, the eternal Son of God, the pre-incarnate Jesus Christ, walked with His dear children in the midst of the fire in their fiery trials. They came out safely. The fire did not affect their bodies. Did not damage their clothes or even their hair. Dearly beloved when you go through the fire, it will not scorch you, nor will the flame burn you. The three Jewish young men who stood firm in their faith in the midst of an ungodly culture came out from the fire with more strength, power, new ministry and new visions. King called them ‘servants of the most high God.” He and many people in his kingdom are influenced by the greatness of the living God in heaven who created the heavens and the earth. You see the phrase says when you ‘walk through the fire’. You are not going to stay there. It is a temporary thing and you are walking through it. The presence of the Son of God, Jesus Christ, protects you from harm and danger even in the midst of your fiery trials. You will also come out with more strength, power and new ministry and visions.

Do you know the LORD who loves you and want to save you from all of your sins and problems? God loves you, and He sent His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, to save you and grant you eternal life. Jesus Christ came to this earth in fulfillment of hundreds of old testament prophecies, lived on this earth, carried all of the human sins on His shoulders, went to the cross and died there for your sins. He was buried, and God raised Him from the dead on the third day. The grave and tomb of Jesus are still empty. If you visit Jerusalem, Israel, you can see with your own eyes. He is not there, He is risen and went back to heaven according to the description given in Acts 1. Bible says in John 1:12-13, “But as many as received Him (Jesus), to them He (God) gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.” God the Father gave the right to become children of God to all who would receive Jesus as their savior. As a result, they will be born into God’s family.
Come to the loving God who loves you. He has plans to bless and prosper you. He has a wonderful plan of hope and future for you. His plans are not to harm or hurt you. But he has excellent plan and future in store for you. You should not settle for anything less than that. (Jeremiah 29:11). Accept Jesus Christ as your savior. God has the power to deliver you from all trials and temptations. He will rescue and deliver you. He promises His salvation and eternal life if you would come to Him now. I can help you.

Pray with me dear now. “Father, I believe in Jesus Christ as my savior. I believe he came, died, buried and rose again for my sins and problems. Please save me and grant me eternal life today. Lord, thank you, you sent your Word and saved me today. Deliver me from my trials and temptations. In the name of Jesus Christ, I pray. Amen.”

If you prayed this prayer or if you need prayer support, please go to www.teachbible.org, and send me a note. Do you know how much I will be thrilled to hear from you? Yes, I will be. May the loving Lord bless and guide you. Please locate a Bible teaching and preaching church in your area and continuously attend there and let me know your progress. Thank you.

A rich and short man’s curiosity resulted in a big transformation! A huge change!

But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.” Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. 10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.” (Luke 19:8-10).

People hated him but a curiosity aroused in him.

Jesus changed many people’s lives forever. Whoever came in contact with Him was not the same. Jesus reached out to many people from different backgrounds, styles, and cultures. But their life changed for good forever when He encountered people. Our study today is about a man called Zacchaeus who was rich but short in stature and how Jesus changed his life radically for good.
Zacchaeus was a rich and short man. He was not just a tax collector but a chief tax collector. He was an employee of the Roman Empire. The people disliked tax collectors and chief collectors of the Roman Government because they were notorious for overcharging the people. The problem people faced was this. If Rome’s tax levy was 10 percent, they charged 15 or 20 percent. The difference was their portion. Because the tax collectors had the power and authority of the Government of Rome, no one could hurt them. They made money by this overcharging of ordinary people. And Zacchaeus was the chief tax collector- A senior tax collector or a manager of tax collectors.

Zacchaeus heard about Jesus. He understood Jesus healed many people, raised people from death and many marveled at this teaching. Therefore, Zacchaeus wanted to see Jesus. He was curious to see and know more about Jesus because of all the good news, miracles and teachings he heard about Him. He knew there was something unusual about Jesus.

The previous chapter (18) ends with a description of Jesus’s journey to Jericho. When he was approaching the city of Jericho, there was a man called Bartimaeus who was blind sitting on the roadside begging. By hearing the big sound of a multitude, he asked what is going on. They said to him Jesus of Nazareth is passing by. Immediately when he heard Jesus is passing by, he called out in a loud voice said, “the Son of David, have mercy on me!” The leaders who led the way for Jesus sternly commanded him to be quiet. But Bible says He kept on crying out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” Jesus stopped and commanded that he be brought to Him; and when this man came near to Jesus, He asked what do you want Me to do for you? The man said, Lord, I want to regain my sight! Jesus said to him, “Receive your sight; your faith has made you well. Immediately he regained his sight and began following Him, glorifying God. When the people saw this, they gave praises to God.

The above account was just one of the numerous compassionate and gracious healings and deliverances recorded in the pages of the Bible by Jesus Christ. Maybe Zacchaeus heard about all these good reports about Jesus, and that could be the reason why he wanted to see Jesus. Or Zacchaeus knew that he overcharged many people and made himself rich by cheating people. The Spirit of God was working in his heart to go and see Jesus clean up His messed life. You see, if God is at work in your heart and life, you will get the hunger to know God and His ways. You will want to see Jesus Christ, the Son of God. You will develop a thirst for Him.  It is the work of the Holy Spirit in a person. Do you want to know more about Jesus? I can tell you God’s Holy Spirit is at work inside you to bring you to Jesus. Zacchaeus ran ahead of the crowd with his determination to see Jesus and then climbed on a sycamore tree so that he can sit there and see Jesus. He had to overcome some hindrances to reach out and see Jesus. The crowd was too large, and he was short and was unable to see Jesus over the heads of other people.

Beloved, Don’t you agree, other people around you can become a problem for you to see Jesus and know him more? Your friends, family and even so-called church-going people. The leaders of the multitude said to the blind man to be quiet and do not call Jesus in a loud voice. But when he kept crying in a loud voice, Jesus Himself stopped and talked to him and miraculously restored his eyesight. The big crowd became a hindrance for Zacchaeus also to see Jesus. He had to ran ahead of the crowd and climb on a sycamore tree to see Jesus properly. How about you? Do you worry about what people would say about you? The pressure of other people around you can quench your desire and thirst for God. People may say to you, stop following Jesus. You should not do it and you are not fit for this etc. But you see, both these men did not care about the people around them. The blind man cried out in loud voice although they asked him to be quiet and got the blessings from Jesus. He got his eyesight back. Now he could see all the shapes, styles, colors, trees, sky and his relatives and friends. What a joy! Zacchaeus had to run ahead of the crowd and climb on a tree to see Jesus. If crowd stops you and ask you to be quiet about Jesus, you can tell them that I want to see Jesus and learn more about Him, no matter what! Zacchaeus knew that these people wouldn’t be there with him for a long time. But after all, I want someone who will be with me all of my future. Do you know I don’t remember many of friends I had in my school days? Now I live in another country, and I don’t even know about my college friends either. They were my good friends but only for a short period. You see people gradually goes away from your life. They may be with you for an average of 7-10 years but not going to be with you after a short period of time. You can say I do care about Jesus Christ because He will be with me forever and all thru the eternity. So ignore the peer pressure and follow Christ. Be thirsty for God and His kingdom. Make loud voice to talk to Jesus and ran ahead of the crowd and climb a tree or whatever you should do, do it so that you can see Jesus Christ.

Jesus was walking in the midst of the crowd, and when he came to the sycamore tree, He looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for today I must stay at your house.” I am sure Zacchaeus was stunned and almost frozen. He never expected Jesus to stop right below the tree and call him by his name. How do you know my name?

Do you know Jesus knew all about people before He met them? Because Jesus Christ is God, who is incarnate. He is the Son of God who came down to this earth to save you and me from our sins. He knows all about you- your name, the place you were standing or sitting, where you born, etc. Nothing is unknown to Him because He is God. There were other incidents in the Bible to prove this fact. He was talking to a woman in Samaria. Jesus told all about her past. She was astonished and went to her city and reported to everyone there and said, “Come, see a man who told me all the things that I have done.” Large number of people based on her testimony came out to see Jesus. It says many of the Samaritans believed in Jesus and they testified ‘we know that this One (referring to Jesus) is indeed the savior of the world.

There was another occasion when Jesus found Phillip, He said to him, “Follow Me.” Now Phillip found Nathanael and said to him, “ We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” Then Nathanael replied and said, “Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?” When Jesus saw Nathanael approaching, he said of him, “Here truly is an Israelite in whom there is no deceit.”

“How do you know me?” Nathanael asked. Jesus answered, “I saw you while you were still under the fig tree before Philip called you.”
Then Nathanael declared, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the king of Israel.” Did you hear what Jesus said to Nathanael? First Jesus said about his inner character. An Israelite in whom there is no deceit, and then Jesus said He saw Nathanael when he was still sitting under the fig tree before Philip called him. Nathanael understood Jesus is the Son of God.

Resulted in a big transformation.

Now when Jesus said to Zacchaeus to hurry and come down, Bible says he rushed and came down almost as he fell from the tree. Such was the power and authority behind the words of Jesus. He did not reply to Jesus I would just sit here, and it is not a good day to come to my house. He never expected Jesus and this vast crowds to go to his house and he was not planned for it. But it was not a problem. When Jesus comes to your home, that is the best day ever no matter how mess your home or your lives are. It does not matter how much mess and baggage we have. He is coming in to clean thoroughly and make you a brand new creation by His divine power. Then it says Zacchaeus accepted Jesus gladly. It means he accepted the call of Jesus to come into his home and life. The word ‘accepted Him’ has much deeper meaning. It does not just mean he accepted Jesus like any other person. It means deep in his heart; he felt a massive change. He knew what he was doing was not correct. He was ready for a significant transformation. That is why he repented genuinely. Zacchaeus said to Jesus, “”Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.” This was the direct result of genuine repentance. He was not acting in front of Jesus and other people. This was a real repentance when Jesus came into him. More than Jesus came into his house; He came into Zacchaeus heart and personal life for ever.

When crowd saw Jesus went to Zacchaeus house, they grumbled and said, “He has gone to be the guest of a man who is a sinner.” Even today, the crowd would say the same grumbling words, when Jesus goes into the house of a sinner. But they never know the fact Jesus always like to go to the home of  sinners and change them to a saint. Not only He changes a sinner to a saint, but also, He will always be with them to the end of their life and through the all of eternity. What a marvelous savior Jesus is!
Jesus said this in Zacchaeus house, “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”

All are welcome to God now. You have a personal invitation- Come.

Jesus came to seek and save the people who are lost in their sins. In fact, this is the whole purpose of the incarnation of Jesus Christ. Jesus came to turn sinners into saints. Jesus wants to declare this announcement loud and clear -people who are unworthy to go to God’s presence (truly all of us) are now welcome to come in through His matchless name. “The Son of Man (Jesus Christ) came to seek and to save the lost”. Zacchaeus thought he was seeking and looking for Jesus. But don’t you think the opposite was true? Jesus was seeking him, wasn’t He?

My friend, Jesus changed many people from different backgrounds. Multicolor, multi-culture, multi-nation people because He shed his blood for all of our sins. This is why He came to this world. He is the savior of the whole world. He is not just the God and savior of Christians. He is the only savior of the world. You can stand in front of an idol, animal, sun, river and sacred places and pray. These will never save you and grant you eternal life in heaven when you die. You and I need to come to the right place and source of forgiveness and eternal life. That place is Christ Jesus. Acts 8:12 says, “And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name given among men, by which we must be saved.” Salvation is available only in Christ Jesus because He carried your sins on His shoulders and went to the cross of Calvary, died in your place and then rose again for the forgiveness of your sins. All the judgments of our sins are paid in full by Christ on the Calvary. Now, come to a loving God in and through the name of the savior- Jesus Christ.

Like Jesus called Zacchaeus name, He knows your name. He knows all about your past, present, and future because He is God. He invites you today personally. He calls you with your name. He says hurry and come down from where ever you are. Maybe you are far away from God. It does not matter. Perhaps you are in addiction or an immoral relationship and lifestyle. You may be thinking it is too late to come to Jesus. Dear, it is never late. This is the moment Jesus knocks on your door. He will change you to a new person, and you will love it. Your guilts, burdens, and sorrows will go away. Bible says He will give you a new song in your mouth and a thankful heart toward Him. You will start praising God for His mighty deliverance in your life. Do not try to clean your messes by your efforts. You will not be able to wash your messes. You need a mighty savior who can get you out of your messes. That is why Jesus is calling you right now. Hurry and come down to Jesus. Do not delay. Do not say I will think about it and do it later. Because if you do not hurry and come to Him now, you are not going to come to Him another time. He calls your name and go to Him now.

When He calls you, there are many promises attached to that call. It is not just a casual talk and spending few minutes with Him. It is a lifelong fellowship and friendship with your creator and the creator of the whole universe. His call is filled with wonderful and divine promises. God said “Never will I leave you; Never will I forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5). Jesus said, “And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matthew 28:20). Bible promises He will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” Can you fathom God’s riches? According to God’s riches by the name of Christ Jesus, He will supply all your needs. Your future is safe and secure in God’s hand and Jesus’s hand. Jesus said, I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand.” You are going to be in Jesus’s hand and Father God’s hand. God grants you forgiveness of all your sins – past, present, and future and going to take you to His presence in the moment of your death. At the time of your death, if Christ does not come to take his children before it, you will be raptured to His presence in heaven for all of eternity. When you invite Jesus to your life, it comes with a lot of promises for your safety, security and well being. You will be filled with God’s peace, grace and love all through your life.
Jesus calls you personally and He calls you with His promises. Like Zacchaeus, you and I know we are sinners who need a savior. Bible says all are sinners. There is not even one person who does right all the time. We all need a big savior who can save/rescue us. Come out of your closet of self-deception and acknowledge your sins to Jesus. Sin is not just big ones like murder or adultery. All un right behavior, attitudes, and words are also sins. All lawlessness is sin. All are tainted by sins because we all are born with a sinful nature as Adam’s posterity. There is nothing we can do about it. Jesus Christ, the son of God, the savior of the world has to rescue us from its power and grip.
First, accept that you are a sinner. That is the truth you can not ignore. Just accept the fact as it is. Do not try to hide it or fake it. Then believe you need a savior. Bible says whoever calls on the name of the Lord Jesus will be save. It does not matter who they are- thieves, criminals, murderers, good people, bad people, poor people, rich people, educated, uneducated, black, white, Asians, tribal people- all need the savior. If you call upon the name of Jesus Christ, you will be saved. Therefore, believe in Christ today.

Thirdly, confirm that you are saved. Bible gives you confirmation that you are wholly saved once for all when you accept Christ as your savior. That is why our verse above promises, “whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” It doesn’t say may be saved or could be saved. It says ‘will be saved.” John 3:16 says, “whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” Read again -Whoever believes in Christ Jesus shall not perish but have eternal life. A person who comes to Christ and accepts Him as the savior ‘shall not perish’, but at the moment of the confession of their faith in Jesus, they ‘have eternal life’ granted to them. Immediately at the moment of faith in Christ. Transaction happens so quickly. Not another day,  but at the same time of your faith.

Would you come to Jesus Christ now? Please pray after me now.

“Father in heaven, I know you were searching for me all this time. Here I am. I accept Jesus Christ as my savior and Lord. I believe He died, rose again for my sins. I am accepting you my home and to my personal life. I am sorry about my sins. Please clean me by your power and make me a brand new creation. I thank you for saving me. In the name of Jesus Christ, I pray. Amen.”

If you prayed this prayer, please go to www.teachbible.org and got to the contact/tab page and send me a note. Or go to face book/twitter page and send me a note. I will be thrilled to hear from you and will start praying for you. May the good and lovin[bctt tweet=”Rich but short man’s curiosity in transformation” username=”sam2017insights”]g Lord bless you today and for the rest of your life. Thank you.