TUESDAY, September 16th, 2008

Hey Guys! I want more people to do their devotions! Call anyone that you know who has ever done them and tell them to come on TODAY!!!! This is important! We must stay in the Word of God daily!!

A Few Thoughts From Yesterday:
Rachel: Hey Girl, call me today and let me know how your grandmother is! We are praying for her and your family! Sorry you had such a tough day yesterday! Let me know if I can help in any way!
Michael: I missed you Sunday man! Sunday Night Mr. Wutka preached on Creation and it was GREAT! I really wish you would have been there!
TAYLOR!!!!!! I AM SO GLAD THAT YOU ARE ON HERE!! STAY FAITHFUL AND I WILL SEE YOU WEDNESDAY! :)
Brooks: I am glad you are back! I have missed you on here!
Amy: Thanks for your encouragement! Are you coming Thrusday night?
Jon! Preach it SON!!!!! Wow! What an incredible devotions yesterday! Good Job!
Jessica! Preach is SON!!!!!! (I mean Daughter) :) Wow! Great Devotion Yesterday!!! By the way: That was a great sentance!! :)
KACEY!! Hey Girl! I missed you on Sunday! Will you be here tomorrow night?
RYAN: Hey man! Good to see you!!! :)
Olivia: Great Insight!!!! I am thankful that you reminded me of that message! I too heard brother Gibson Preach that! I love that man!! :) Glad you came on to visit! :) I hope things are going well for you way over in Japan.

Genesis 33

1 Now Jacob lifted his eyes and looked, and there, Esau was coming, and with him were four hundred men. So he divided the children among Leah, Rachel, and the two maidservants.
2 And he put the maidservants and their children in front, Leah and her children behind, and Rachel and Joseph last.
3 Then he crossed over before them and bowed himself to the ground seven times, until he came near to his brother.
4 But Esau ran to meet him, and embraced him, and fell on his neck and kissed him, and they wept.
5 And he lifted his eyes and saw the women and children, and said, “Who are these with you?” So he said, “The children whom God has graciously given your servant.”
6 Then the maidservants came near, they and their children, and bowed down.
7 And Leah also came near with her children, and they bowed down. Afterward Joseph and Rachel came near, and they bowed down.
8 Then Esau said, “What do you mean by all this company which I met?” And he said, “These are to find favor in the sight of my lord.”
9 But Esau said, “I have enough, my brother; keep what you have for yourself.”
10 And Jacob said, “No, please, if I have now found favor in your sight, then receive my present from my hand, inasmuch as I have seen your face as though I had seen the face of God, and you were pleased with me.
11 Please, take my blessing that is brought to you, because God has dealt graciously with me, and because I have enough.” So he urged him, and he took it.
12 Then Esau said, “Let us take our journey; let us go, and I will go before you.”
13 But Jacob said to him, “My lord knows that the children are weak, and the flocks and herds which are nursing are with me. And if the men should drive them hard one day, all the flock will die.
14 Please let my lord go on ahead before his servant. I will lead on slowly at a pace which the livestock that go before me, and the children, are able to endure, until I come to my lord in Seir.”
15 And Esau said, “Now let me leave with you some of the people who are with me.” But he said, “What need is there? Let me find favor in the sight of my lord.”
16 So Esau returned that day on his way to Seir.
17 And Jacob journeyed to Succoth, built himself a house, and made booths for his livestock. Therefore the name of the place is called Succoth.

Jacob Comes to Canaan
18 Then Jacob came safely to the city of Shechem, which is in the land of Canaan, when he came from Padan Aram; and he pitched his tent before the city.
19 And he bought the parcel of land, where he had pitched his tent, from the children of Hamor, Shechem’s father, for one hundred pieces of money.
20 Then he erected an altar there and called it El Elohe Israel.

I Love Happy Endings! This story is definitely a good one! Think about this! Jacob obeyed God, EVEN WHEN IT WAS HARD!!! And God rewarded Him for it. Even up to the last moment, Jacob must have been scared to death. He saw his barbaric brother Esau coming toward him with 400 other men. He must have thought that He was toast!!! But instead of taking matters into his own hand and coming up with a plan to attack Esau before Esau attacked him, HE SIMPLY TRUSTED GOD!!! And GOD PROVED FAITHFUL! God took care of Jacob and softened the heart of Esau.

What an incredible family reunion that must have been! All of those horrible broken memories of the past were healed that day. Jacob was able to sleep easier that night knowing that his brother had forgiven him and his brother loved him! Thank God for FORGIVENESS!!!

Esau definitely made some mistakes in his time, but this was a great turnaround for him. I know many people who would have let that bitterness DESTROY their life because they would not have been willing to JUST FORGIVE like Esau did.

Have you ever had a broken relationship? Have you ever had to forgive someone that wronged you? Well, if you have then you know just how much joy that Jacob and Esau are experiencing here! Maybe you need to forgive someone, but you have not? Well, if that is you REMEMBER: Bitterness is the only poison that destroys the container that holds it!! Biterness will destroy you if you hold on to it. Let it God with FORGIVENESS ** NOT BECAUSE THEY DESERVE IT, BUT BECAUSE IT IS AN OPPORTUNITY FOR YOU TO BE JUST LIKE JESUS CHRIST!! God forgive someone TODAY!!!

17 comments:

Anonymous said...

Rachel, I am praying for you and your family. God's strength will carry all of you through your situation.

Mrs. W.

P. S. - Wow! I am first today!

Godservant said...

Ahhh, Pastor Lee, I should have come sunday night! I love to talk about creation! It was my Father's weekend to have me, but I was home. And my Mother is to tired to drive me everywhere. Maybe someone could hitch me a ride (hint).

Something a lot of people do(especially the lost) is when someone hurt them, they hold a grudge for the rest of their life! Just about every kid in school probably has that saying that goes, "I don't get mad, I get even." You shouldn't get mad OR even. The saying should be "I don't hold a grudge, I forgive." Does it not say in Luke 6:37, "Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven." Forgiving people will be hard if you are not used to it. But look how many hardships Christ had to go through for your soul to be forgiven.

Godservant said...

Rachel, I will be praying for you as well as Mrs.W.

weird high school kid said...

WOW I can only imagine these two running in slow motion toward each other dramaticly like in a movie. So like this hairy beast of a brother esau goes up to jacob and its a big family reunion. So jacob is all like yo god has blest me and i got all this stuff so i want you to have some my brother. So his brother reluctantly takes it and they go their seperate ways. So in their newfound happiness all is resolved thanks to the power of forgiveness.

Have you been experiencing some bitter relationships lately, or just can't forgive someone that you feel wronged you. Well all that can change just forgive them and it will be like taking some penacillin during an infectionous disease (unless your bruce lee), or taking off your school backpack after walking three miles under the hot florida sun.

weird high school kid said...

OH YEAH BABY I'M BACK AND HERE TO STAY WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

well bye got some homework to do.

Jessica M said...

HEYYY GO CHECK OUT paulakennedyphoto.com especially you seniors.....


Jess

Anonymous said...

hello everyone!!!!!

well you are correct pastor lee, this is a happy ending.just as uyou said he trusted and obeyed god and he rewarded him for that.it reminds me of that song we sing"trust and obey there is no other way..."

well i will see you all tomorrow night and i am still praying for your family rachel!

Anonymous said...

I think that it would have been hard for Esua to do that!!! i know that IF I wantedto kill someone it would be REALLY hard to just forgive them and start hugging them!! well i gtg but i think i will be at church tomorrow!!! bye. :)

Amy :) said...

Sorry Pastor Lee, I probably not coming on Thursday, Oh Im sorry also to say I can't come to the Magic Kingdom with you guys either. - I wish I could but I just can't come up with 50 bucks by the end of the week.


I got really mad today for something really stupid and then I thought about it and my madness went away. I thought about this in this passage where it says that whenever he saw him Esau ran up to Jacob and hugged and kissed him and forgave him because he wanted to kill him. That would be so hard for me to do. I tend to get mad at people for no reason sometimes I have learned that anger isnt the answer but forgivness is.

Rachel☺; said...

Ok. So Im reallyyy sorry i didnt come back on lastnight. I promise i read it, and after todays devotions, ill go back and post something.

Its cool how Esaus love for his brother overcame the past.
Instead of holding on to the bitterness of what had happened in the past, Esau let it go and forgave his brother.
Thats something i was thinking about today, actually.

A friend has decided to hold something against me for something i said, and for a little while, i realized i wasnt doing, but thinking the same thing.
Remembering how it can make me bitter, ruin a good attitude, and how its not worth saving to anger me; i let it go.
(For me, I dont stay outwardly, steaming, mad for a long time; but mostly keep little things inside that im not willing to let go.)
Im getting pretty good at controlling it but, i will always need to be better.


**My grandma is okay. After i posted lastnight i went to the hospital, then stayed the night with my aunt and granmda to help and tale care of her.
She cant be alone anymore and cant sleep more than two hours for the next two days but shes not internally damaged or anything, just REALLLLLLLY swollen, dark purple on most of her face, & her left eye completetly swollen shut. I guess it just looks way more serious. BUT HEY, thats fineee with meeee.
She might permanently move in with us soon because my aunt cant take care of her like she needs anymore.
Thankyou for praying for her guys!!

Rachel☺; said...

& Jessica, those pictures are soooo pretty (:

Anonymous said...

Ok so im having a really bad day so my devos are gonna be in all lower caps because im sad and angry the only thing thats gonna be in caps is Gods name.
ok so jacob is an incredible example of forgivness and nonbitterness and i think that we need to be like that. when something bad is happening in life and you think your gonna die not litterally but you know what i mean just trust in God they cant be mad at you if your coming to them with a soft heart. "Cast your burden on the Lord, and He shall sustain you; He shall never permit the righteous to be moved." (Psalm 55:22)
4 days till disney!!!!!!!

RYAN said...

wow this was great. so basically htis passage was about forgiveness and trusting God. Jacob mde a pretty big desicion that day and he chose the right one he could have ran away from his brother and the 400 men but he trusted in God and believed that GOd would protect him and nothing would happen to him and thats excactly what happened. When Esau saw his brother he starteed to weepp and he immediatly forgave his brother isnt that grea. even after all of the cruel things Jacob did to Esau he forgave him.

RYAN said...

Rachel you and your family are ALWAYS in my prayers and you know that already. :)

Mallory B (basketball team) said...

Weel If I were Jacob I would have thought that I was going to be destroyed having 400 men coming towards me! I would have been scared and probably ran the other direction. But Jacob TRUSTED God!!! We need to do the same even if its something we dont think will work out well, in the end God will help you through it as long as you trust and obey! I am also so glad that we are forgiven for the wrong that we do! It would be hard to have friends if you didnt forgive them and they didnt forgive you. AND thankfully God forgives US for the sins that we make!!! So trust and obey God and you will be blessed!!! i G2G C-A MAYBE 2moro everyone! bye for now!

Rachel☺; said...

i cant wait for church tomorrow,
you guys are the most comforting people in the worlddd (:

AND PASTOR LEE; URGENTTTTT******
that person i talked to you about before you dropped me off last week might not be doing good, im not sure. that person hasnt answered their phone and i havent seen them for two days and im SO SO SO SOOOO worried.
pleasepleaseplease pray for them.

Jessica M said...

Rachel I was thinking of you and keeping you in prayer! we love you!

FORGIVENESS! That is def. something I struggle with and especially when it seems like they do not deserve it. But I think it is great what you said Pastor L. about it is an oppurtunity to be Christ like. Now when I think about that, it truly truly is....but I need all the help I can get from Christ to be able to do that! Don't we all?? Because with God before us, who can be against us??

I think is also neat to see how Jacob was so obedient even though he may not have understood. That is a huge process for me. Becasue when things are goign smooth and fine it is easy to be faithful to God and obey HIM, but when those tough times come well.....not so easy anymore.


Thnak you God for never giving up on me even when I continue to mess up over and over again!

Buffalo Wild Wings Reward Activity!! Thanks for being faithful!

Stay Faithful and Join us Next Time!