WEDNESDAY, September 10th, 2008

Teenagers! Today is Wednesday and I hope that you are planning on coming to church tonight! We are going to have our second SUNCOAST YOUTH NINJA WARRIOR NIGHT! It will be lots of fun! Make sure you come!

A Few Thoughts From Yesterday:
Rob: I think that proton collision machine is very interesting. I am not worried about the earth being destroyed... That will not happen. I think it would be hillarious if NOTHING happens and they will realize that no "big bang" ever happened. What a waste of 6 Billion dollars that would be!! Anyway... they will probably make up some kind of information about it to make their theory of the Big bang sound a little bit more enticing. I am thankful I know the truth. God Created Earth! It is that simple!(somebody needs to give me 6 Billion dollars for that) :)
AMY: Where have you and your sister been? I really miss you two being so involved in our youth group! Wednesday Nights have just not been cutting it!
Michael: I am so thankful for you man! I am excited about meeting your friends tonight!!
Bethany B: We missed you on Sunday! Tell your LAZY brother to DO HIS DEVOTIONS!! :)
Kacey: I really hope you are here in church tonight! I miss seeing you around!
Rachel: I have a printer that I LOVE TO YELL AT!!!! :)

Listen: Read this entire chapter! It is an incredible chapter that shows the sovereignty of God even through our mistakes... I will explain at the end!

Genesis 27

1 Now it came to pass, when Isaac was old and his eyes were so dim that he could not see, that he called Esau his older son and said to him, “My son.”And he answered him, “Here I am.”
2 Then he said, “Behold now, I am old. I do not know the day of my death.
3 Now therefore, please take your weapons, your quiver and your bow, and go out to the field and hunt game for me.
4 And make me savory food, such as I love, and bring it to me that I may eat, that my soul may bless you before I die.”
5 Now Rebekah was listening when Isaac spoke to Esau his son. And Esau went to the field to hunt game and to bring it.
6 So Rebekah spoke to Jacob her son, saying, “Indeed I heard your father speak to Esau your brother, saying,
7 ‘Bring me game and make savory food for me, that I may eat it and bless you in the presence of the LORD before my death.’
8 Now therefore, my son, obey my voice according to what I command you.
9 Go now to the flock and bring me from there two choice kids of the goats, and I will make savory food from them for your father, such as he loves.
10 Then you shall take it to your father, that he may eat it, and that he may bless you before his death.”
11 And Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, “Look, Esau my brother is a hairy man, and I am a smooth-skinned man.
12 Perhaps my father will feel me, and I shall seem to be a deceiver to him; and I shall bring a curse on myself and not a blessing.”
13 But his mother said to him, “Let your curse be on me, my son; only obey my voice, and go, get them for me.”
14 And he went and got them and brought them to his mother, and his mother made savory food, such as his father loved.
15 Then Rebekah took the choice clothes of her elder son Esau, which were with her in the house, and put them on Jacob her younger son.
16 And she put the skins of the kids of the goats on his hands and on the smooth part of his neck.
17 Then she gave the savory food and the bread, which she had prepared, into the hand of her son Jacob.
18 So he went to his father and said, “My father.” And he said, “Here I am. Who are you, my son?”
19 Jacob said to his father, “I am Esau your firstborn; I have done just as you told me; please arise, sit and eat of my game, that your soul may bless me.”
20 But Isaac said to his son, “How is it that you have found it so quickly, my son?” And he said, “Because the LORD your God brought it to me.”
21 Isaac said to Jacob, “Please come near, that I may feel you, my son, whether you are really my son Esau or not.”
22 So Jacob went near to Isaac his father, and he felt him and said, “The voice is Jacob’s voice, but the hands are the hands of Esau.”
23 And he did not recognize him, because his hands were hairy like his brother Esau’s hands; so he blessed him.
24 Then he said, “Are you really my son Esau?” He said, “I am.”
25 He said, “Bring it near to me, and I will eat of my son’s game, so that my soul may bless you.” So he brought it near to him, and he ate; and he brought him wine, and he drank.
26 Then his father Isaac said to him, “Come near now and kiss me, my son.”
27 And he came near and kissed him; and he smelled the smell of his clothing, and blessed him and said: “ Surely, the smell of my son Is like the smell of a field which the LORD has blessed.
28 Therefore may God give you of the dew of heaven, of the fatness of the earth, and plenty of grain and wine.
29 Let peoples serve you, And nations bow down to you. Be master over your brethren, And let your mother’s sons bow down to you. Cursed be everyone who curses you, And blessed be those who bless you!”

Esau’s Lost Hope
30 Now it happened, as soon as Isaac had finished blessing Jacob, and Jacob had scarcely gone out from the presence of Isaac his father, that Esau his brother came in from his hunting.
31 He also had made savory food, and brought it to his father, and said to his father, “Let my father arise and eat of his son’s game, that your soul may bless me.”
32 And his father Isaac said to him, “Who are you?” So he said, “I am your son, your firstborn, Esau.”
33 Then Isaac trembled exceedingly, and said, “Who? Where is the one who hunted game and brought it to me? I ate all of it before you came, and I have blessed him—and indeed he shall be blessed.”
34 When Esau heard the words of his father, he cried with an exceedingly great and bitter cry, and said to his father, “Bless me—me also, O my father!”
35 But he said, “Your brother came with deceit and has taken away your blessing.”
36 And Esau said, “Is he not rightly named Jacob? For he has supplanted me these two times. He took away my birthright, and now look, he has taken away my blessing!” And he said, “Have you not reserved a blessing for me?”
37 Then Isaac answered and said to Esau, “Indeed I have made him your master, and all his brethren I have given to him as servants; with grain and wine I have sustained him. What shall I do now for you, my son?”
38 And Esau said to his father, “Have you only one blessing, my father? Bless me—me also, O my father!” And Esau lifted up his voice and wept.
39 Then Isaac his father answered and said to him: “ Behold, your dwelling shall be of the fatness of the earth, And of the dew of heaven from above.
40 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.”

Jacob Escapes from Esau
41 So Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing with which his father blessed him, and Esau said in his heart, “The days of mourning for my father are at hand; then I will kill my brother Jacob.”
42 And the words of Esau her older son were told to Rebekah. So she sent and called Jacob her younger son, and said to him, “Surely your brother Esau comforts himself concerning you by intending to kill you.
43 Now therefore, my son, obey my voice: arise, flee to my brother Laban in Haran.
44 And stay with him a few days, until your brother’s fury turns away,
45 until your brother’s anger turns away from you, and he forgets what you have done to him; then I will send and bring you from there. Why should I be bereaved also of you both in one day?”
46 And Rebekah 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?”

As I read this passage I had some SERIOUS questions!! Like: Why would God bless Jacob for being deceitful?? Why would Esau be punished for doing what his father told him to do?? I was extremely confused about this... I mean, the easy answer is to just say: That is how God wanted it to work, so He let that happen... But that does not answer the crutial questions about Sin, and Holiness...

I read about 4 pages in a commentary and it all makes sense now. I am so thankful for this passage because it teaches us that God's Will will be accomplished even through our mistakes. Let me explain...

To completely understand we must go back to chapter 25. In chapter 25 we see that Rebekah is about to have twins. God goes to Isaac and Rebekah and tells them that the younger "JACOB" shall serve the older "ESAU". Why? Because God knew the hearts of both of them before they were even born and God chose Jacob to be the son that would be blessed.

Well two chapters later at the end of Isaacs life, for some CRAZY reason, Isaac is about to bless Esau instead of Jacob... Well if you reade the passage then you know what happened. Rebekkah and Jacob wwere deceitful and the lied to Isaac to make Isaac bless Jacob instead of blessing Esau.

Was "the end" of what Rebekkah was trying to do right? YES. Was her "means" or her method right? NO. Teenagers, here is a good way for you to understand it... It would not be right for me to lie to a teenager and tell them I will give them 100 dollars if they will come to church, and then never give them the money.

Yes, I got them to come to church! Good! But I lied to them! Bad!

THE END WILL NEVER JUSTIFY THE MEANS!! That is a very important truth that you should memorize! Another way of saying it is like this:

IT IS NEVER RIGHT TO DO WRONG TO DO RIGHT! (if you can understand that)

Do you think that God could have brought about his will through an honest way? OF COURSE HE COULD HAVE! I believe if Rebekkah would have gone into Isaac with a humble attitude and a loving heart and explained to him that God commanded them to "bless" the younger son and not the older son, I think he would have responded and obeyed God. AND NO ONE WOULD HAVE HAD TO LIE!!

God's plan is always better than ours! I am so thankgul for this passage today! I definitely learned something about God and about Isaac, Jacob, Rebekkah, Esau, and MYSELF!!!

Trust Gods plan, and obey him, it will make life a lot less stressful, and a lot less hurtful!!