Matthew 1:2

Verse by verse sometimes seems a hard goal. God, however, knows the reason He included every single verse in His self-revelation. I believe that every verse in my Bible has something to teach me about the God I love. (I love Him a little, and I pray that He will use His word to teach me to love Him more.)

Sometimes I use my Webster's New World College Dictionary, along with the different versions of the Bible, to shine light on the text. The Amplified Bible says, “Abraham was the father of Isaac, Isaac the father of Jacob, Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers.” What does it mean to be the father of someone? One definition says “the male parent of a plant or animal,” but I think that a father is much more than that. A father is a protector. He is deserving of respect and reverence. He is a leader. He is the one responsible for teaching his sons. Exodus 13:8 instructs fathers. “You shall explain to your son on that day, This is done because of what the Lord did for me when I came out of Egypt. Deuteronomy 6:6-9 also commands fathers to be the communicators of God's word: “you shall whet and sharpen them so as to make them penetrate, and teach and impress them diligently upon the [minds and] hearts of your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down and when you rise up.” It is a father's duty to find truth and to communicate it from generation to generation. Many fathers these days seem to be leaving this responsibility to the woman of the house, and we women often feel like we could do a much more adequate job of this. It is not our responsibility though. The man of the family is an important creature. I believe that my society's inversion of God's authority structure is the reason for school shootings and many kinds of chaos in our society. Do you remember a movie called, “The Neverending Story?” In that movie, it was a child's job to hold back “The Nothing.” More and more these days, it seems like we are giving children weights that are too heavy for them to bear. God has made fathers responsible for holding back “The Nothing” so that children can be . . . can perhaps learn to be children once again. How do fathers hold back “The Nothing?” By studying God's word and then impressing God's word with all diligence upon the minds and hearts of their children. I read a book once by Frank E. Peretti called “Piercing the Darkness.” In this book, there was a character named Sally Beth Roe who longed to know where the boundary was between wrong and right. Even if this boundary showed her to be in the wrong, she craved the knowledge that there was a truth that was not relative, a truth that was not based on her perspective. This young woman longed for what we all crave, a father, someone to make the universe make sense, someone to hold the world down. God is our heavenly Father, of course, but we understand and accept Him better if we grow up with earthly fathers who accustom us to authority. So what do “The Neverending Story” and “Piercing the Darkness” show us about Matthew 1:2? “Abraham was the father of Isaac, Isaac the father of Jacob, Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers.” When God set out to build a nation that would birth His Son into this world of sin, He started with a man called Abraham. He kept Abraham's wife Sarah from having children for many, many years. When Abraham and Sarah had children, I believe He wanted them to really treasure the gift of their son Isaac. The opportunity to teach a child is the opportunity to invest your life, to make all the years of your life mean something, to leave something of yourself behind when you die. I believe that Abraham was a FATHER, in the fullest sense of the word, to Isaac. God is my Father, as Abraham was a father to his beloved son.  And that is such a good reason to praise and thank Him for the rest of my days.  

Matthew 1:1

I have great intentions about studying verse by verse through the New Testament.  The genealogy that starts Matthew is very daunting, however.  Here goes:

A record of the genealogy of Jesus Christ the son of David, the son of Abraham.  Matt. 1:1

God has called his people to be on a mission with Him.  He wants to work through them to proclaim Jesus Christ and to redeem a lost world.  How does this statement relate to Matt. 1:1?  When God calls us, too often we react like Moses, giving God all kinds of reasons why we can't do what He asks.  Well, Matthew 1:1 says, in a nutshell, that our lives are not the beginning or the ending of God's work in us.  Many, many years before the birth of Jesus, God was preparing Israel for His birth.  Also, I believe that God started dealing with you and I and preparing us for His work in the generations that came before us.

A record of the genealogy of Jesus Christ the son of David, the son of Abraham.  Matt. 1:1

The Experiencing God Bible encourages us to remember God-encounters in our families.  Have you ever asked your family whether they remember special times when the presence of God seemed very close to them?  No matter what church they go to (or even if it's no church at all), I believe that most (or perhaps all) people have experienced a time when God seemed very close.  Often this memory is hidden in a very tender place inside them.  Most of the time, they don't talk about it for fear that something will corrupt the incredible sweetness of that memory.  Once when I was talking about revival, my mom shared about a time when something seemed to happen at her college.  She said that there was a time when, for whatever reason, everybody seemed to be studying the Bible and talking about what it said.  The way she describes it makes me think that the Holy Spirit came onto that college campus and gave the people a hunger for the things of God.  I don't know.  It's her memory, but hearing her talk about it almost gave me shivers.

A record of the genealogy of Jesus Christ the son of David, the son of Abraham.  Matt. 1:1

God put Joseph (Mary's husband) in a long heritage to prepare for his work in Joseph's time.  What has God done in your heritage?  Too often we view our heritage as a hurdle to get over, so that we can live our lives without being influenced by negative examples, or unfortunate things that were done or said in our past.  If you read the history of the kings of Israel and Judah, God is not ignorant of the influence that family can have on us.  He seems, though, to encourage us to find the pearls in our past.  For instance, I spent many years in therapy complaining about my stepfather.  I didn't think that he was a blessing, at all.  I realize now, however, that I was wrong.  My dad (I call my stepfather "dad" because he adopted my sister and I) was very committed to order.  My mom had a more artistic temperament.  I am now very thankful that my stepdad came into our lives.  He is so good about getting the bills paid.  He wants an orderly house and an orderly life.  I have borderline personality disorder.  All the books and experts and say that people like me crave the kind of order that my dad spent so many years trying to enforce.  Well, my existence isn't very ordered even today.  But, I know that a clean house and orderly living is the direction that I want to go in.  So many people with my personality disorder wind up on drugs, creating disasters wherever they go.  Even though I fought my dad tooth and nail for many years, I value him and the things He tried to teach me now.  My mother was a whole other blessing, but this is getting long so I'll save that for another day.

A record of the genealogy of Jesus Christ the son of David, the son of Abraham.  Matt. 1:1

3/23 Sermon Notes

Last Sunday, Brother Chris Butler began his sermon by asking us to look up 2 Corinthians 9:6-8.  Looking that up in my Amplified Bible, I find this:

[Remember] this:  he who sows sparingly and grudgingly will also reap sparingly and grudgingly, and he who sows generously [that blessings may come to someone] will also reap generously and with blessings.  Let each one [give] as he has made up  his own mind and purposed in his heart, not reluctantly or sorrowfully or under compulsion, for God loves (He takes pleasure in, prizes above other things, and is unwilling to abandon or to do without) a cheerful (joyous, "prompt to do it") giver [whose heart is in his giving].  And God is able to make all grace (every favor and earthly blessing) come to you in abundance, so that you may always and under all circumstances and whatever the need be self-sufficient [possessing enough to require no aid or support and furnished in abundance for every good work and charitable donation].  2 Cor. 9:6-8

It's amazing the priorities we set.  Difficulties come.  What are the values that we should pass on?

3-26-14

This Sunday and Monday, I was so excited about the adventure that I thought I was going to have with God.  But then, I didn't follow through immediately.  And, honestly, I wasted a lot of time that I could have spent trying to change some things in my life and make some good habits.

So, that happened.  But now, it's Wednesday morning, a new day; and it's time to get a handle on things.  I'm kinda scared to try changing.  I have often said that I was going to change.  Anymore, just contemplating the changes I need to make and the habits I need to develop sorta makes me feel like a failure and like I'm scared of failing again.  I just know that I'm going to fail.  I always do.  But God gives more grace.  God, I want to become a great Christian in Your eyes, but I know that it's entirely possible that I'm going to fall down a lot as I try to change some important things in my life.  Please help me to think in a more productive way.  Please help me not to get sidelined by the vision of all my failures.  I am pretty sure that I CAN do this with Your help, but without You nothing will get accomplished in this life of mine.  I'm always praying, asking that You would help me.  I am tired of that prayer.  I need to follow up a prayer like that with faith.  It's my faith in Your willingness to help me that is the problem.  God, I'm going to try to act on the assumption, on the faith, that You are going to help me win this time.

OK, so that said.  Next I have intended to put my sermon notes on this blog, and then to study the Scriptures referenced in those two sermons that I enjoyed this week.

John 1a

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. -- John 1:1

Before time began, Christ was already in existence with God.  This is what is meant by the term "the pre-existent Christ."

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  -- John 1:1

Genesis 1:1  In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
1 John 1:1  What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands, concerning the Word of Life
Colossians 1:17  He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.

(I love this Colossians 1:17 verse.  It emphasizes the sustaining work of God.  Not only did God create the universe and everything in it, but God continues to hold all of the matter that is together.  Without His sustaining hand, I think that chaos would reign.)

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  -- John 1:1

The Greek word Logos means word, thought, concept, and the expressions thereof.  In the Old Testament, the concept conveyed activity and revelation, and the word or wisdom of God is often personified.

Ps. 33:6 By the word of the LORD the heavens were made, And by the breath of His mouth all their host.
Prov. 8:1-5, 22-24  Does not wisdom call, and understanding lift up her voice?  On top of the heights beside the way, where the paths meet, she takes her stand; Beside the gates, at the opening to the city, at the entrance of the doors, she cries out:  "To you, O men, I call, And my voice is to the sons of men.  O naive ones, understand prudence; and O fools, understand wisdom." . . .  "The Lord possessed me at the beginning of His way, Before His works of old.  From everlasting I was established, from the beginning, from the earliest times of the earth.  When there were no depths I was brought forth, When there were no springs abounding with water."

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. -- John 1:1