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Genesis 46

Nov17

Good morning y’all. Happy Monday :). Today we are looking at Chapter 46 of Genesis. In this chapter, Jacob and his family start their journey to Egypt; Jacob stops to offer sacrifice to God; God reassures him of his presence with him as he journeys to Egypt and Joseph meets his father at Goshen.

Be blessed 🙂

We need to be willing to take risks in order to get to the place God has for us. In verse 1, we see Jacob pack up his family to leave for Egypt. Egypt for Jacob, was unknown territory. I’m sure he must have been afraid of leaving certainty for uncertainty. Jacob stepped out despite the fear and doubt that must have been going through his mind. Often times, following God’s plan includes stepping out in faith and taking a risk

We need to be thankful even on our way to where God has promised us. The latter part of verse 1 says “he offered sacrifices to the God of his father; Isaac”. That is, Jacob stopped on his way to thank God. He didnt wait to get to Egypt before offering thanks. No, he offered thanks while he was still on his way.
Are we waiting for the promise to come before we start thanking God? If we are not thankful now, when the promise comes we still won’t be thankful. We need to cultivate the habit of thanksgiving. 1thessalonians 5:18 tells us to give thanks in all situation for this is the will of God for us

I also believe part of offering the sacrifice was to seek Gods face regards his joruney to Egypt. Jacob wanted to make sure this was Gods will for him. He didn’t want to go without God.
Do we seek Gods guidance before making decisions. Some of us make those decisions based on the flesh. We are easily swayed by what we see, forgetting that just because it looks enticing and good doesnt necessarily mean that’s what God wants for us. It’s important we ask God for direction and guidance before making decisions. Proverbs 3: 5-6 tells us not to lean on our own understanding but in all our ways acknowledge God and He will direct our path.

God honours the faith of his people. God met Jacob later that night and spoke to him in a vision. God reassured him of his presence with him. Let’s see what God told him in verse 3 and 4.
“I am God, the God of your father,” the voice said. “Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for there I will make your family into a great nation. I will go with you down to Egypt, and I will bring you back again. You will die in Egypt, but Joseph will be with you to close your eyes.” (Genesis 46:3-4 NLT)

a) I am God, the God of your father – God affirms who He is. He tells Jacob I am the same God your fathers worshipped. That is, reminding Jacob of the fact that he hasn’t changed neither will He ever change.

b) Don’t be afraid to go down to Egypt – Egypt was unknown territory for Jacob; it was a foreign land. It’s only natural for him to be afraid and unsure of what lies on the other side. God was reassuring Jacob that he is in the right path and need not be afraid to go down. When we include God in our plans, He will assure of us of where he is taking us.

c) For there I will make your family into a great nation – God again reaffirming the covenant  he made to Abraham and also to Isaac (see Genesis 12:2; 13:16; 22:17; 26:4; 28:14-15 ). God effectively here was reminding Jacob that He had not forgotten what He told his father’s. Gods word always come to pass.

d) I will go down with you – God is just too amazing!!! Here the creator of the universe is saying to Jacob, I will go down with you; My presence will be with you. What else does Jacob need when he has the presence of the One who owns it all; the One who speaks and even the storms obey him.
The presence of God is all we need. Once we have his presence there is nothing the enemy or any man can do to stop or hinder us. Moses when they were about to leave Egypt back to Cannan told God that  if His presence will not go with them, they were not going to leave. If God is not in it, don’t go!

e) I will bring you back again- God again confirming the promise he told Abraham in Genesis 15:13-14; that his people will be foreigners in a foreign land for years but He will bring them back. Gods word never fails. If God says it, He surely will do it.

f) You will die in Egypt, but Joseph will be with you to close your eyes – Jacobs desire was to see his son again before he died and here God was telling him he will grant that desire. Psalms 37:4 tells us if we delight ourselves in God, He will give us the desires of our hearts.

Let’s make sure we include God in our decisions and don’t step out until He tells us to. Stepping outside of God’s will leaves us exposed and vulnerable.

Prayer:
Dear Lord we thank you for today..Thank you for reassuring us again that you care for us. Today we ask for the grace to obey and step out of our comfort zone as we feel you nudging our spirits that it’s time to step out. Give us the grace to be thankful at all times both in good and bad times. Lord for as many of us that are weary and afraid, I ask that your Holy Spirit will comfort and encourage us, you will give us an assurance of your presence. Give us a word we can hold onto as we go through this phase. Thank you Lord. We love you. In Jesus Name. Amen

Thanks for joining today.

Have a blessed day and remember God is the same yesterday, today and forever 🙂

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

GENESIS -THE STORY SO FAR… part 1

Nov16

Good morning y’all . Today we doing a summary of what we’ve learnt so far from the book of Genesis from chapter 1 to 10.

Be blessed 🙂

Chapter 1
This chapter is a beautiful description of creation; how God spoke it all into being and how he looked upon his creation and declared it all to be good. All this happened in 6 days by the way :). Ain’t God awesome!!!. If he created it all in 6 days then surely whatever you need him to do can be done in nanoseconds!

8 times in the chapter it was mentioned God said.(reading from the NIV version). That got me thinking….God didn’t have to do any manual labour or hard work to create all that we enjoy today. In fact the only labour he did was to open his mouth and SPEAK!. Not just any kind of speaking cos some of us know how to open our mouths, unfortunately the wrong things come out. Hey there is hope for us!. Back to God, he Spoke the right word. For example, he wanted light so he said Let there be light and indeed there was light. So what he spoke was in agreement with what he wanted to see. Are you speaking words that are in agreement with what you want in your life, family, business..etc.
There is power in the Word of God backed by faith. We are creators, we have the ability to create with our mouth. Our words are powerful!.
Read full blog here

Chapter 2
Naked but not ashamed that’s because there was no sin. Sin is what brings the guilt and shame. Thanks to Jesus we are no longer ashamed. His blood has washed away our sins and we can boldly come before the father without feeling ashamed or condemned.
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Chapter 3
The best way to beat the devil at his game is to resist him at the onset. From the moment we notice him rearing his ugly head, we rebuke him and flee. Don’t try reasoning with the devil, it just won’t work. Don’t forget the devil also knows the bible. James 4:7 tells us to humble ourselves before God, resist the devil and he will flee from us. Let’s make humbling and resisting a priority in our lives today.

If you are going to indulge sin, then be bold enough to take responsibility for your actions! God knew they had sin but he wanted them to report themselves to him. He came looking for them as usual and lo and behold they weren’t at the usual spot. So God asked where they were. The man’s response was yeah we hid cos we naked and God’s like hold up, how do you know you were naked, have you eaten what I told you not to eat. Now my brother Adam refused to take responsibility and blamed it on his helpmeet. Can you imagine? Did she force him to eat it. He willingly ate the fruit plus he was there when she was about to eat the fruit anyway. God was probably like fair enough let’s ask the woman what happened. And she also didn’t take responsibility for her actions rather she blamed on the serpent.
We all have choices. You can choose to obey or not. God won’t force you, he will try as much as he can because He is a loving father to steer you in the right direction. But at the end of the day the choice is yours. Choose wisely!.
Read full blog here

Chapter 4
Sin is always on the look out for its next victim. 1 Peter 5:8 says
“Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.” (NLT Version).
We have to keep close watch on our feelings, emotions and thoughts. Make sure they are in line with Gods word. Cain was angry, envious, depressed, dejected and God knew if those feelings were not kept in check, will lead him to commit sin, hence the warning he gave him about sin crouching at his door in v7.

The only way to overcome sin is to be led by the spirit of God. Yield ourselves to the leading of the holy spirit and starve our flesh of its desires. Something you dont feed will eventually die. Its the same in our spirtual life. If we dont give in to every whimp and desire of our flesh, it will eventually submit and realise who is in control. Romans 8:12-14 says
“My dear friends, we must not live to satisfy our desires. If you do, you will die. But you will live, if by the help of God’s Spirit you say “No” to your desires. Only those people who are led by God’s Spirit are his children.” ( CEVUS06 version).
Read full blog here.

Chapter 5
Enoch walked with God……
The term ‘walk’ is used often in the bible when referring to our relationship with God. For example God told Abraham walk before me and be blameless – Gen17:1. I googled the meaning of walk and one of the definitions I found says its to “guide, accompany, or escort (someone) on foot”. Based on the definition, we can conclude that Enoch was guided, accompanied, escorted by God for the 365 years he lived. No matter what happened, he trusted God and obeyed God.

Our christian life is a daily walk of faith. 2 Corinthians 5:7 tells us “for we walk by faith, not by sight”. I believe Enoch walked by faith. Hebrews 11 tells us His faith was pleasing to God. We too are called to this life of faith walk. We can achieve this only in spending time with God. Be it in prayer or in our study and meditation of His word, in obedience to his commands. Living with a deep consciousness of his presence.
Read full blog here

Chapter 6
When others around us are doing the wrong thing, we have the choice to either join in or be different and do the right thing. Doing the right thing will earn us favour with God as it did Noah. God will be pleased with us.

Noah also walked in close fellowship with God and thats why he was able to stand out and not be part of all the evil going on. His relationship with God influenced his lifestyle and his choices.
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Chapter 7
Noah was fully obedient to God’s instruction- God gave him instructions on what and who needs to be in the boat. V 5 says and Noah did as the Lord commanded. He didn’t deviate one bit from it. Partial obedience is not the same as obedience. God demands total obedience from us. We see in the life of King Saul how partial obedience cost him the throne. What is God asking of us?. Let’s choose with the help of the holy spirit to obey fully. Isaiah says if we are willing and obedient we will eat of the fruit of the land.
Read full blog here

Genesis 8
God turned his attention to Noah! Wow that’s pretty awesome! Just to know that the creator of the universe, the one who holds it all in his hands will actually turn his attention to us. That He will remember us. That he will make time for us, to listen and communicate with us. For me it’s just amazing. The psalmist says what is man that you are mindful of him…

Not only did he turn his attention to them, He made the elements to work in their favour.V 2 and 3 tells of how God caused the wind to blow and the flood waters began to go down…..I pray God will cause everything around us to begin to work in our favour.
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Genesis 9
Noah planted a vineyard and one day had too much too drink and was drunk. Ham is youngest son came into his tent and saw him naked. He went out and told his brothers. I’ve always wondered what Ham did wrong when he saw his father naked and went to tell his brothers. I guess it was the motive behind his action that was the issue. Perhaps he did it to shame his father or ridicule him. His other brothers on the other hand, did the right thing by protecting their father’s dignity. They took a cloak and walking backwards covered their father without seeing his nakedness.

The lesson here is for us to check our motives. Why do we do the things we do?  We can fool man but God can’t be fooled. He knows the intents of our hearts. The psalmist understood this and said search me oh God and know my thoughts….
Psalms 139:23-24 NLT: “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life”.
Read full blog here

Chapter 10
God is not happy when we turn to man instead of him, when we put our absolute trust in what man can do for us instead of what He can do. Jeremiah 17:5 says:
This is what the LORD says: “Cursed are those who put their trust in mere humans, who rely on human strength and turn their hearts away from the LORD. (‭Jeremiah‬ ‭17‬:‭5‬ NLT)

Nimrods source of power was God and that’s why he was a mighty warrior. He was able to do far above what his peers were doing because he didn’t rely on his ability but rather on Gods ability within him.
Read full blog here

Prayer:
Thank you dear Lord for today. Thank you for all you have been teaching us in Genesis. We ask for grace to be doers of your word and not just hearers.  Open our eyes to see the areas we need to work on with the help of your Holy Spirit. Thank you dear Lord. In Jesus Name. Amen

Thanks for joining today

Tomorrow we continue in chapter 46.

Have a blessed Sunday walking with the King 🙂

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