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Genesis 31

Oct28

Good morning y’all. Today we in chapter 31 of Genesis. In this chapter Jacob leaves Laban and starts his journey back home.

I’m gonna use the Soap method today.

Be blessed 🙂

S – Scriptures that stood out for me

Genesis 31:5 NLT: He said to them, “I have noticed that your father’s attitude toward me has changed. But the God of my father has been with me.

Genesis 31:7 NLT : but he has cheated me, changing my wages ten times. But God has not allowed him to do me any harm.

O – Observations :
O1) God is aware of everything thats happening to us and is always with us. Even when we are being mistreated he is aware and he is working out something on our behalf. Jacob said in verse 5 and 7 “but the God of my father has been with me” and “but God has not allowed him to do me any harm“.

O2) God made provision for him. Verse 8 and 9 tells of how God provided for him even though Laban meant to cheat him and not give him his rightful wages. God made things work in his favour.

For if he said, ‘The speckled animals will be your wages,’ the whole flock began to produce speckled young. And when he changed his mind and said, ‘The striped animals will be your wages,’ then the whole flock produced striped young. In this way, God has taken your father’s animals and given them to me. Genesis 31:8-9 NLT

O3) Jacob obeyed God’s instruction and left Laban as God told him to do. Obedience to God is key to us enjoying his blessings.

O4) God protects his own. Laban found out Jacob had left. He was furious and went about to find him but the Lord appeared to Laban and warned him to leave Jacob alone. God is able to keep us and protect us from harm. Remember in Chapter 28, God promised Jacob He will protect him and bring him back to the land He promised his father’s. I believe this was God fulfilling that promise.

O5) Don’t be quick to make a rash statement. Jacob was quick to say whoever stole the gods will die. I guess he said that cos he never expected any of his family to be interested in idols seeing as they all know he worships the God Almighty. Had he known Rachel had stolen the gods, would he have spoken differently?

O6) One sin always leads to another. Rachel stole the gods and and lied to cover her actions.

O7) Jacob acknowledges Gods help in his life. Verse 42 says “in fact, if the God of my father had not been on my side—the God of Abraham and the fearsome God of Isaac —you would have sent me away empty-handed. But God has seen your abuse and my hard work. That is why he appeared to you last night and rebuked you!”

Jacob understood that all he had was by God’s help. He didn’t take the glory for himself, rather He gave all the glory back to God.

O8) God is always looking even when no one else is looking. We can hide from man but we can’t hide from God. He sees everything even up to our innermost thoughts.

A – Application
A1) Continue to do the right thing even when we are being mistreated.

A2) Be ready and willing to obey God’s instruction

A3) Trust God to provide and protect us

A4) Be quick to give the praise and glory back to God for all He has done for us.

P – Prayer
Dear Lord we thank you for today. Thank you for your word. Today we ask for your help to continue to do the right thing even when we are being mistreated. Give us the grace to trust you to take care and protect us. Help us be willing to obey your commands and be quick to give all the praise and glory back to you. Thank you Lord. In Jesus Name. Amen.

Thanks for joining today. Pls feel free to share your thot on the chapter 🙂

Have a blessed Tuesday and remember to give all the praise and glory back to God 🙂

***With God all things are possible***

Genesis 30

Oct27

Good morning y’all. Today we in Genesis 30. In this chapter we see end and jealousy at work in life of Rachel and Leah. Laban a greedy man tried to dupe Jacob again but it backfired on him and Jacob lived up to his name as trickster as he tricked Laban and got the good flocks and left Laban with the not so good ones.

I pray the Holyspirit fills us with insight as we study. Be blessed 🙂

Rachel became Jealous and envious of Leah to the extent that she started taking out her frustrations on Jacob. Constantly nagging him for a child.

I like Jacobs response to her constant nagging and ranting. He said “Am I God? Am I the one who refused you babies” Jacob knew only God could give Rachel what she wanted. This is one situation where he just couldn’t fix the issue. Her constant nagging was putting a strain on their marriage. Scripture says his anger was kindled against her. That’s what Jealousy and envy does. It causes strains in relationships.

Rachel should have spent her time petitioning God and thanking him in advance for the children he will give her. Or she could have been nice to Leah and helped with her kids but instead she chose to be jealous and envious of her sister.

Envy is described as “desire to have a quality, possession, or other desirable thing belonging to (someone else)”

Jealousy is described as “feeling or showing an envious resentment of someone or their achievements, possessions, or perceived advantages”

Proverbs 14:30 NCV: Peace of mind means a healthy body, but jealousy will rot your bones.

Proverbs 27:4 NCV: Anger is cruel and destroys like a flood, but no one can put up with jealousy!

From these two scriptures and definitions, we can see that envy and jealoysy are not good traits to have in our lives especially if we  intend to live a healthy long life.

Rachels desire for a child was not because she really wanted one. I believe it’s because she just wanted something that her sister had. Come on, this was the beautiful Rachel and now for the 1st time in her life there is something the ugly Leah can do that she cannot do! Can anyone relate to this…i sure do. Number of times I find myself just like Rachel wondering why someone else can have something I don’t have seeing as I think I’m better than them!. Thank God for his mercies and grace, now I know better 🙂

Her jealousy was so bad that she was okay with giving her maid to her husband to sleep with.  Like really! Is this the bible or what? Another woman petitioning her husband to sleep with another lady so the lady can get pregnant and have a child for her, just so she can compete with her sister. Funny though Jacob also agreed to the idea. He impregnated the maid twice. I guess probably he was just tired of Rachels nagging 🙂

Leah now realising what’s going on decided to retaliate as well. She also gave Jacob her maid to sleep with. It seems Leah and Rachel are always in competition with one another. Their relationship definately was not an healthy one and I can imagine the strain and strife this caused within the family especially amongst the kids. There must have been so much tension.

Envy and jealousy robbed them of their joy. They could have been having a good time together as a family. But they wasted so much time in competition. Scripture says in John 10:10 that “the devil comes to kill, steal and destroy” and that’s what he was doing with Rachel and Leah. He clouded their eyes with so much bitterness and hatred that they couldn’t enjoy the blessings God gave them.

Eventually God gives Rachel a son. Even at that she still wasn’t satisfied though. She named him Joseph which means adding. That is she was expecting God to add more to her. Envy consumes you so much that you can’t see past that thing that you want. One becomes so self absorbed in one self that one fails to notice all the blessings and good things around.  Here she was with a new baby and all she was thinking is God adding another to her. Envy is never satisfied. It always wants more and more.

No wonder Heb 12:15 tells us not to let the root of bitterness grow in us there by causing trouble.

looking carefully lest anyone fall short of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up cause trouble, and by this many become defiled; Hebrews 12:15 NKJV

Today I want us to examine ourselves. How do we respond when others have something we want badly. Do we rejoice with them or are do we become a Rachel who gets jealous about it.

All hope is not lost for us. Their is grace and help available for us today.  Hebrews 12:1-3 says:

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne. Think of all the hostility he endured from sinful people; then you won’t become weary and give up.

Today lets keep our eyes on Jesus and the course that He has set for us to run in this life rather than on other people’s course.

Prayer:
Dear Lord we thank you for today. Thank you for your word. We ask for your forgiveness for the many times we have been envious or jealous of others around us. We ask for the grace to learn to be content with what we have and to be happy with others when they are being blessed and we feel we are not. Teach us to keep our eyes on you at all times and be satisfied each day as we walk along the path you have set for us. Thank you Lord. In Jesus Name.

Thanks for joining today.

Have a great Monday and remember to keep your eyes on Jesus 🙂

***With God all things are possible***