January 24th readings

~ Click on this link for today's readings ~
Genesis 48:1-49:33 ~ Matthew 15:29-16:12
Psalm 20:1-9 ~ Proverbs 4:20-27

Old Testament - Today in Genesis Chapter 48 we read about Jacob blessing Ephraim and Manasseh.  One thing I thought about when reading this chapter and the next chapter was how cool it was that blessings had so much importance and significance back in the days of the patriarchs.  And I wonder - do we have blessings today that are as significant?  Do fathers bless kids or grandkids these days?  Maybe so...  I guess I just haven't noticed it in my family...  :)  I do think there are still some "blessings" today that hold some incredible significance today.  Wedding vows come to mind and the blessings that come from the pastor/priest/minister during this time.  Church ceremonies or sacraments come to mind - Communion, Baptism, Funerals, etc.  And then certainly above all else, there is the amazing and eternal blessing we receive from Jesus himself - the free blessing and free gift of salvation.  What else is there today that I'm missing?  Have you been "blessed" by others in some way, like we read about in today's 2 chapters?  Have you "blessed" others?  Please share in the Comments section below if you are willing.  Thanks!  Commentary on Genesis chapter 48 is at bible.org at this link.  Below is a painting by the American artist Benjamin West from the early 19th century of Jacob blessing Ephraim and Manasseh - and with his arms appropriate crossed as per the text :) -

In Genesis chapter 49 we read about Jacob blessing his sons - and these are some very accurate blessings he gives!  As we will see as we continue through the Bible this year.  Perhaps Predictions or Prophecies might be the better term for Jacob's blessings in this chapter.   Verse 10 is awesome - "The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler's staff from his descendants, until the coming of the one to whom it belongs, the one whom all nations will obey."  This verse can apply to 2 descendants of Judah - King David and then ultimately and eternally to Jesus Christ.  In verse 22 we read this about Joseph - ""Joseph is a fruitful tree,"  And this is certainly true, as his descendants will include Joshua, Deborah & Gideon & Jephthah (3 judges of Israel), and Samuel the prophet. Tons more details on Jacob's blessing / prophecies of his son's in this chapter 49 are online at this link at bible.org.  Below is an image of Jacob blessing his 12 sons -

Below is a map that should be helpful to review based on today's blessing from Jacob of his sons.  Obviously we still need to get through the Exodus and a few other things before the twelve tribes have this land below :), but this is a nice overview for now of where things are going and correlate with Jacob's blessing in today's readings -

New Testament - In Matthew chapter 16 verses 11 & 12 stood out to me today - "So again I say, `Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.' " Then at last they understood that he wasn't speaking about yeast or bread but about the false teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees."  And I wonder today - are there false teachings that we should beware of today?   I believe there are...  and there have been times in my life where I have bought into false teaching's.  How can we know if a teacher is false?  That is a great question.  I would say that each of you are doing an amazing thing to help discern whether a teacher is false by reading the entire Bible.  I believe the Bible to be the ultimate truthful teaching that we can read - and thus, if you come across teachers that differ radically or go against the teachings of the Bible, you need to be wary.  Don't get me wrong - every pastor / minister / priest is going to have some different takes or views or interpretations of the Bible.  By slight degrees...   If there are major differences, then you should be worried.  In addition to knowing the Bible relatively well, the key to discerning false teachers will be the Holy Spirit.  If you are getting bad "gut feelings" (hopefully coming from the Holy Spirit) over and over again about a teacher, there might be an issue.  Pray to God about this and ask for his guidance.  I realize this can be a sensitive issue!  I'd say don't freak out about this and start wondering if your pastor is a false teacher....  :)  But, be aware.  I do believe there are still false teachers out and about today unfortunately.  I hope you don't mind the scary wolf image below... :) I meant to get this up when we read Matthew 7:15, but I think it can work well here too -

Psalms - Psalm 20 is a prayer for a king as he goes out into battle - check out verses 1 through 5 again and you can imagine a group of people saying these words to the king.  Maybe another way to read this Psalm, personally, is as a prayer for yourself as you go out into battle against a sin or a struggle in your life.  And this verse 5 then is for you as you go into this battle - "May we shout for joy when we hear of your victory, flying banners to honor our God. May the LORD answer all your prayers."  Amen! Let the banners fly soon in your life!

Proverbs - Proverbs chapter 4 verse 23 holds so much truth... "Above all else, guard your heart, for it affects everything you do."  Check out yesterday's posting below for tons more reflections on why it is so critical for us to guard our hearts.  How are you doing on guarding your heart these days?

We would do well to obey the teaching of verse 24- "Avoid all perverse talk; stay far from corrupt speech." I have found it sometimes far too easy to be pulled into perverse talk - even if I didn't start it. (look at me - blaming others here! :) I do think we really need to be aware of situations where talk amongst our peers or friends is going in the wrong direction and to realize that we need to get ourselves out of these situations as quickly as possible.  Sure, try to do it gracefully.  Try to change the subject if you can.  But if not, just excuse yourself and get out of Dodge...

Comments from you & Question of the Day -  Proverbs verses 25 & 26 are powerful and bring up a question I'd love feedback on - "Look straight ahead, and fix your eyes on what lies before you. Mark out a straight path for your feet; then stick to the path and stay safe."  One thing that jumped out at me in these verses is the ideas of setting goals.  Are you a goal setter?  I honestly am not really.  I mean, I kind of set short-term goals - work projects, ministry projects, etc.  But I don't really sit down and write down any big lifetime type goals.  Part of my thinking on this is that I want to be as flexible as possible - if Jesus calls me to do something, I don't want to be hung up on some other goal...  :)   But, I'm not sure if this is the best thinking.  This Proverb verse kind of makes me wonder if setting goals helps us keep looking straight ahead?  If goals help us mark out a straight path for our feet?  And to stay on it?   So, let me know in the Comments section below if you are a goal-setter?  And to the extent you can share how you set goals?  How often?  In writing?  How often do you check back in on your goals?  Do they make a difference in your life?  In your spiritual life?  I am really curious on this one...  I am thinking I might need to be setting some goals here!  :)  Thanks.   Also, what verses or insights stand out to you in today's readings?  Please post up by clicking on the "Comments" link below!

Grace,
Mike

Comments

[dcypl]

First an announcement for those who didn't like the music and self-promotion of the www.bibleonradio.com mp3 and streaming audio... its gone! Maybe its only a temporary thing, but the past couple of days of mp3s have been the commentary then straight into the reading for the four readings. It's shrunk from 25min to about 18 minutes.

Secondly, I'm not much of a goal-setter, for me at work, things get done on time by keeping on top of the daily tasks, and in life, I'm trying to see where goal-setting might help, but, I think the "straight path" may differ for each of us, but as long as it is pointing to heaven and things eternal, I think thats all that counts.

[Ramona]

Genesis 48:1-49:33

Jacob said to Joseph, "The Sovereign God appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan and blessed me. He said to me, 'I am going to make you fruitful and will multiply you. I will make you into a group of nations, and I will give this land to your descendants as an everlasting possession.'
(Genesis 48:3-4 NET.)

I find the tenses used in this passage very interesting. Jacob states that God told him He was going to make him, not his descendents, not some group in the future, but him, Jacob/Israel, fruitful. For someone who had no knowledge of the resurrection, someone who the “Soon Coming King” would be way into the future, Jacob had an intense sense of eternity in his heart. Do we, those who come after the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ, see our off-spring, children, grandchildren and great-grand’s in the Big Picture of things as being an extension of ourselves, or do we think everything ends with us? How much of this do I truly understand? I say that I am part of something greater than myself, but do I act it and walk it? Are my actions speaking louder than my words?

I also find it interesting that Leah is buried in the land promised to Abraham, in the cave bought when the land was promised but not obtained fully. However, Rachael was buried on the road outside of Bethlehem. I’m not sure if there is any significance, I just find it interesting. Leah, the “booby” prize, the one not wanted, was the mother of both the priestly line and the kingly line, Levi and Judah. I’m not taking anything away from Joseph, but it seems that God always deals with the unwanted, the outcasts. I believe what we see in these twelve boys played out in this story is a strong reason why we are told to be careful how we judge. We, outside of the revelation of God, do not know how a story will end. It seems the ones with the “badest” reputations don’t end that way. What is that song, “It’s Not How You Start but How You Finish.” I think it is from a musical, but I can’t remember which one.

Grace and peace,

Ramona

[Ramona]

P.S.

Mike-I opted out of Art History in school, I took Theater Games and Improve to fulfill my Art requirement. Thank you for catching me up on that which I missed. (At the time the cost of the text books for that class, kind of helped me with my decision).

Ramona

[Luciano Del Monte (Luch)]

I love Proverbs 21:5 which we read many months from now but it fits Mike's question about planning. "The plans of the diligent lead surely to abundance but those who are hasty come only to want." As well, I think we see 'planning' or looking ahead in the life of Joseph
where he thinks about the famine and how they should provide for the years to come. His wise planning resulted in providing a lot of help for people who were starving. (see Genesis 41)

I am not a neurotic goal setter. I have a few 'big rocks' using Stephen Covey's terminology, that I always have before me, and around those 'big rocks' I place the details of activity to accomplish those.

I like the statement "Goals are good but goals are not God." I set goals because 'the days are evil" and we are exhorted in Ephesians 5 to 'make the most of every opportunity.' I think that implies wise planning and stewardship of our whole lives--planning for our the various dimensions of our lives---physical, spiritual, social and intellectual.

[Micah Girl]

Re: your question about blessing kids...
That is one thing I try to do when I pray with my children at night. I usually pray the Aaronic blessing over them: Lord bless you and keep you, the Lord make his face to shine upon you, may the Lord be gracious to you and grant you his peace.

I actually am also looking for other special blessings from scripture to pray over and for my individual kids that are just for them.

[CB]

What If I Stumble? - welcome to the blogroll!

http://www.chipbennett.net/wordpress/index.php/2006/01/what-if-i-stumble/

[Andrew B]

You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times. Mat 16:2

What are the signs of our times?

In which direction is God's Kingdom moving? What signs do we see and what is our interpretaion of them?

[CB]

Martha's Distraction - welcome to the blogroll!

http://www.chipbennett.net/wordpress/index.php/2006/01/marthas-distraction/

[Bald Man]

Ramona,
Great insight: "God always deals with the unwanted, the outcasts."

[John]

When I was an athlete in training, I set short and long term goals. In life I did not.

As a Christian, I have set goals that are (I think) in the will of God. Attend worship every Sunday of the month. Pray EVERY morning on the way to work. Give a certain amount of God's money back to him each week. Stick with OYB and complete reading the entire Bible. etc.. These are goals I believe God will honor and bless.

[John]

The repeating of the "feeding" to the Gentiles, inabilty of the apostles to "GET IT", the warning to beware the "permeation or spreading" of the pharisees and saducees' teachings, and the "signs of our times"...

Andrew's ?
Since it was the "signs of our times" that prompted me to ask a Christian the question that started the events described in my testimony...

I will list some and more when we get to later chapters of Matthew.

Weather: it is not the intensity of any one event, but the increasing frequency of the events.

Russia: Regaining strength and Putin's new alliances especially with Arab nations.

Israel: Reforming of Sanhedrin and the Discovery of the Lost Tribe of Israel (Manessah).

Apostate Christianity: From within and outside. Watering down of Christ. A less offensive Christ - if you just follow his moral teachings, you will end up in heaven. For surely you will be GOOD enough to gain entry.

Just a few. :)