Genesis Chapter 31

 

In this chapter Jacob and his family determine to leave Laban’s house and return to Canaan.

Verses 1-16

Jacob became wealthier and Laban’s sons were getting upset. They were accusing him of taking from their father instead of seeing what God was doing in Jacobs life. 

God appeared to Jacob and told him to return to Canaan the land of his birth.

Jacob was feeling threatened by Laban and his sons. He told Leah and Rachel what God had instructed. 

Laban had not been honest in his business dealings with them but God blessed them anyways. Jacob was very much aware how Laban was deceiving him financially but he trusted God would take care of him.

Vs 7 Your father has deceived me and changed my wages ten times, but God did not allow him to hurt me.

No matter how Laban tried to change Jacob’s wages God continued to bless him.

Verses 17-21

Jacob and his family quietly left Labans land while he was busy shearing sheep.

Rachel stole her fathers idols. (Some believe that she did this because she was an unbeliever and she didn’t want her fathers idols telling him where they were going and I have also heard it was because she wanted them for her self to worship)

Verses 22-25

Three days later Laban discovered they left and gathered a small army of men to go after them.

God appeared to Laban not to speak good or bad to Jacob.

Verses 26-43

Laban was angry and told Jacob he did not get a chance to say goodbye to his daughters and grandchildren. He also wanted to know why they stole his idols.

Jacob denied stealing his idols because he didn’t know what Rachel had done. Laban searched for them but Rachel was sitting on them in her saddle. 

She told her father that she didn’t feel well so her saddle was not searched and they did not find them.

Jacob berated Laban for his accusations and his dishonesty toward him. 

Verses 44-55

They agreed to make a covenant of peace between them.

Jacob offered a sacrifice to the Lord and they ate with their relatives.

Laban said goodbye and kissed his daughters and grandchildren.

Jacobs dishonesty to his father and brother caused him to leave his own family and lose those relationships.

Now Laban’s dishonesty has caused him to lose his daughters and grandchildren. 

Honesty is important in our relationships with each other.

Jacob grew spiritually by putting his hope in God. He didn’t worry that Laban was cheating him financially but knew God would handle it for him. Somehow supernaturally Jacob became wealthy even though his boss (father n law) was cheating him.

He did not become a victim of his circumstance’s.

No matter what the world tries to take away from us our God will restore to us. Jacob didn’t trust his boss or his job to take care of him but in God who would restore to him everything and then some. He became very wealthy in an impossible situation but he trusted God completely.

Jacob didn’t go after Laban because he knew that Laban was not his source but God was his source. 

There are times in our own life that people have robbed us financially and emotionally. God will restore what others do to us in a way that we never dreamed possible when we trust Him to do so.

Hebrews 13:5 says “Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.”

Jesus even warns us that people will lie about us and persecute us but blessed are you when this happens. 

Our job is not to get mad and even with people but instead look to the God that restores. God will vindicate us! 

God is in charge of our destiny, not man. God will find a way to bless us in the midst of any situation man tries to put on us. 

Christine Cane said it best:

We serve a supernatural God, who is able to bring supernatural provision and open supernatural doors and make a way where there is no way! What is impossible with man is possible with God because nothing is impossible with God!

 Trust Him!

Kindness Is Always The Answer

 

I wrote this blog on kindness several years ago and posted on a piece of corrugated cardboard. I painted a heart and it’s background. The tea cup I inherited when my dads sister passed away. The bird on the teacup was a picture I took of a bird at St. Lucie Locks while camping. My art, my words, my photography and my keepsake all together for me to share with you!

Unmet Expectations

  

I wrote this blog about expectations while sitting in the woods of a beautiful state park in Ohio. The yellow background of this blog is a photo I took of a tree with its fall foliage. Then I placed a turquoise painting on the photo and included a mandala I sketched freehanded and also painted. The beautiful fall leaves this time of year inspire me!

Genesis Chapter 6

 

In this chapter we will study how wicked the world had become. Noah, his wife Namath, their sons and their wives were the only ones on the ark during the flood. 

Verses 1-7

The “sons of God” and the “daughters of men.”

What does sons of God mean? Are these men or some other being?

Verse 5 says that God saw the wickedness of man on earth was great. It doesn’t say God saw the wickedness of any type of being was great. 

Matthew 5:9 Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the sons of God. 

Romans 8:14 For as many as are led by the spirit of God, these are sons of God.

In the family generations we studied in chapter 5 we see the line of Seth being the line of the faithful which I believe are the sons of God. They were marrying the line of Cain from chapter 4, who rebelled against God. 

Their children were known as the Nephilim

The blending of these two lines caused wickedness to run rampant here on earth. Only 8 people were being faithful to God. Noah and his family.

Verses 8-22

God told Noah he was going to destroy man and beast in a global flood and for him to build an ark.

God told him the exact materials to use: gopher wood and covered with pitch. 

God also told Noah the exact dimensions that Noah would need to get his family and all the animals on this ark. (A pair of every kind of animal) 450 feet long, 75 feet wide and 45 feet high. Make a roof for it and finish the ark within 18 inches of the top. Put a door inside of the ark and make lower, middle and upper decks. The ark was the equivalent of 500 to 550 boxcars on a train.

Noah was instructed to begin gathering food for his family and the animals.

Noah obeyed God. 

In the previous chapters we have seen that obedience brings blessings and disobedience brings a cursed life. 

God was merciful to Noah and his family because of their faithfulness. The ark was God’s plan for their salvation.

God has been merciful to us as well not only in our obedience but even when we have let Him, ourselves and others down because of His goodness towards us. 

Romans 5:8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

This scripture tells us that just as God provided for Noah and his family to be rescued then. God has continued to provide a way of salvation for us today.

Discipleship

...and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”  Matthew 28:20

I am convinced that discipleship has been a crucial element in my growth and transformation. It is more than just a program or a process; discipleship helped deepen my understanding of God's Word and develop a consistent prayer life. I am so grateful for those in my life growing up who took the time to encourage me in my faith and walk with God.

Discipleship is teaching others how to follow Jesus. We don't have to be great theologians to teach others how to follow. It's in the simple everyday things that we do all day that we can teach those around us how to follow Jesus.

When my grandkids are in the car we always sang songs from Sunday school that I have taught over the years. Their favorite was "Jesus Loves Me" and we always discussed afterward God's love and said the verse together John 3:16. I used my car rides with my kids and grandkids as an opportunity to worship as we sang and learned more about God together!

May we leave behind a generation of men, women, children, and grandchildren who love Christ with all their hearts!

 This is a picture of me with my nephews at Dubois Lagoon in the 1990s ~ we would go there some days from 8:30 am to 8:30 pm having breakfast, lunch, and dinner by the water.

Friendship Making an Eternal Impact

This is a story that my mother (Kay Smith) wrote about how she came to know Christ:

I grew up in a home where neither Mom or Dad or my sister attended church.  My grandmother would come each month and take me to Sunday School.  She later gave me a Bible for my 16th birthday.  I had a neighbor who attended a church nearby and constantly invited me to attend church with her.  I did not pay much attention to her constant invitations but decided one day to tell her that I would go with her if we invited other friends in the neighborhood.  We decided on a Sunday and all of us walked to church with her.  I remember that the first thing that caught my attention was the choir singing and later the congregational singing.  I don’t remember the sermon but we all enjoyed the music and decided to repeat our visit in future Sundays.  

The preacher seemed to emphasize salvation by grace in each service and gave an invitation  to accept Christ and become a Christian.  One Sunday morning in January I realized that I had never taken that step and thought about it all day.  That evening we all returned to the church and I stepped out into the aisle to go forward and make a profession of faith in Christ.  In fact, my friends followed me to the front of the church and we prayed and accepted Christ and were baptized that evening.  

That was in January, 1955.  My life changed spiritually from that day forward and I thank God for a friend who did not give up on inviting me to church.  Thank God for churches that preach the Gospel and reach out to all those who are willing to come and listen.  Thank God for good music in churches which was the first thing that drew my attention and made me want to return.

Psalm 145:16 You open your hand and satisfy the desire of every living thing.

This picture was taken of my mom and me in Ardales, Spain overlooking the lake in 2022.

Crazy People

Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go...Genesis 28:15a 

The Bible is full of crazy people according to the worlds standards. To name just a few, let's look at Noah who was building an ark to prepare for a flood in an area of the world that had never seen rain. Joseph who took care of his family in spite of being sold into slavery by them when he was young. Moses who gave up all the comforts of Egypt to lead the Israeli nation into the wilderness for 40 years. There are so many stories in the Bible about people who looked like losers but died winners.

God has created us to be winners not losers. The one thing all of these "crazy" people have in common is that their natural ability played a minor role in their success, instead it took courage & faith. These individuals had supernatural success. When God is with us, we cannot fail. It does not matter who we are, what we have gone through, or what others think of us; what matters is that God is with us, in us and for us.

Kay Warren writes in her book, Choose Joy: At Saddleback Church, sometimes we repeat this sentence together as a congregation: "I'm broken, but I'm not crazy." You can sense the release  and relief that washes over those gathered as we affirm this truth to one another.  

 A picture I took of one of my grandkids, December 2013.

Be Considerate Of Others

“Instead, be humble and give more honor to others than to yourself.”  Phil. 2:3b

Can you imagine what kind of world this would be if people would treat others better than they would treat themselves? It would change all relationships within our community, the church and our nation.

Instead we disrespect, mock and treat each other as if we do not value each other. When I hear someone make fun of another person (especially if it is towards one of my kids) my heart grieves. I have made it clear that I HATE sarcasm and the excuse I get from people is.....oh, it's just their way of joking, it doesn't mean anything or my favorite reply, "don't be so sensitive." My answer is, what gives you the right to treat me or someone else with such lack of respect? It's no one's right to criticize or humiliate another person for a laugh!

 This is a picture I took of the water from our backyard fountain.

Joy Killer or Builder

And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. Romans 8:28 

Each day we have the opportunity to either be a "Joy" killer or builder to those around us. For some of us it will depend on our personalities and for others it will depend upon the circumstances. Romans 8:28 tells us that everything will work out for the good if we give it (the problem) and us (doing His will). 

Joy can be killed in us and in others around us by negativity, criticism and bad behavior. Joy can be built in us and in others around us by being positive, building each other up and trusting God in all our circumstances.

The scriptures are full of God's promises that no matter what is said to us or no matter what the circumstances that He (God) is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think within us according to Ephesians 3:20.

Joy comes when I let go of control for my life and give God the control. 

My prayer: Lord, please forgive me for killing any "JOY" in myself or those around me with my attitude or words and please help me to always be a "JOY" builder instead. 

This picture was taken by our office.

Happiness or Joy

Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Romans 12:12

What is the difference in happiness and joy? ~ Happiness comes when circumstances are good and joy can come in good and difficult circumstances.  It is God who gives us joy even in the midst of something difficult. 

How often have I heard someone say, "I just want to be happy!" They begin to pursue what they believe will make them happy but most of the time pleasure seeking in the wrong places.  Some pursue sports, hobbies, traveling, dancing, shopping, home improvements, wealth, status, alcohol, food and drugs. These will fail except for a brief moment!

We cannot find true joy just by seeking pleasurable excitement. The best and longest sustained joys come from pursuing things God's way and His working in our life.

Jesus slept in the boat during a terrible storm. 

We need to learn how to sleep in the storms too. 

God wants us to let Him take control during our storms of life!

This picture I took of my sons youngest daughter at a festival November 
2012 as she watched her sister and cousins riding the swings.

Taking Pictures of Life!

Written in 2022:

There is nothing in this world that I enjoy more than taking a picture of something or someone. The pictures that I take now or have taken many years ago encourage me in my daily life. They were all taken at different phases of my life that I am so thankful for and all good memories. I love looking back at the good times and I look forward to the good times ahead. No matter what time in my life that I look back on my pictures I remember more the joy of that time than the difficult circumstances because of those pictures.

We don't take pictures of the ugly or the mess of life but instead of the moments we want to cherish forever. The pictures we take are wonderful reminders of the joyful times. When I look at pictures of my kids when I was a single parent and all their smiles and our celebrations together, it makes my heart smile. We struggled then financially and emotionally but we still had fun too! The things we did together then are priceless memories that I love to reflect on again and again.

My pictures are a constant reminder of the joy then and the joy now! I thank God for my dad who recorded my entire childhood to remind me of the good family times we all had together. I am also thankful to be able to take pictures of my own kids and grandkids to cherish all our memories together. Most of all I am thankful to God that as I grow older I have become more forgetful of the less than joyful moments of life!

Psalm 30:5b Weeping may endure for a night,
But joy comes in the morning.

 This is one of my grand~girls popping bubbles on Easter 2014.

Listening

 ... a man of understanding holds his tongue. Proverbs 11:12b

Do I take time to listen? In my own life I look back and wish I had been listening more and talking less. I wish those who misunderstood me listened and heard what I was saying instead of what they thought they heard.  For me personally, talking has gotten me more in trouble than listening ever could. 

I took this picture of a Halloween Pennant Dragonfly while we were watching the sunset across the water in front of our camper.

Leadership

These were chosen from the congregation, leaders of their fathers’ tribes, heads of the divisions in Israel. Numbers 1:16

God spoke to Moses in this chapter and orchestrated the first census to prepare them for battle. It describes exactly how they were supposed to go about it to see what each person was capable of doing. Tribes of people were chosen for battle and tribes of people were chosen just to protect the tabernacle. The leader was Moses and then there were leaders of each tribe. Everyone knew their position and their job to do in order for victory.

This is how I see the church, the role of our pastors and the leadership. If people believe that God has ordained them with the future and decisions of the church and don't follow the leadership of the pastor then it will not lead their church to victory. Our job is not to conjure up our own ambitions and missions for the churches we attend. We are to follow our pastors and his leadership. If we feel they are wrong then it's our job to pray for them because I believe God can make any wrong be right.

God has given us political leaders, parents, bosses, etc. and if this same truth is applied it will bring blessing!  

 This is a picture of a young girl leading the elephant at the circus that I
 attended with my grandkids on November 9, 2012.

Land Mines Of Life

 When I was a young woman, I remember fearing certain losses or death of a loved one. Wondering if I had enough faith and trust to endure the land mines of life that I would see others having to deal with themselves. I would imagine some scenario in my life and think I don't think I would be able to go on if.......and filled in the blank. 

Looking back, some of those things did come to pass but many did not happen. Other things happened that I didn't or couldn't possibly have imagined and I realize that God did and will sustain us. It is difficult to imagine the grace that God has for us in the middle of what we would have thought would have destroyed us otherwise.

There have been moments in my life where we have been crippled but not defeated. We can't always understand what is happening or why but we can see God carrying us through the land mines of life!

This picture was taken of the brightest full moon 

I have ever seen over the ocean, October 2013

Life’s Losses

Therefore David took hold of his own clothes and tore them, and so did all the men who were with him. And they mourned and wept and fasted until evening for Saul and for Jonathan his son, for the people of the Lord and for the house of Israel, because they had fallen by the sword. II Samuel 1:11-12

David experienced great grief in the loss of Saul and Jonathan in this passage. David had spent years running from Saul who wanted to kill him. He did not rejoice in the death of an enemy. 

Today death is so trivial because people are watching it every day on television or reading about it in the news. Experiencing losses comes in many forms: death, moving away, broken relationships, loss of a job or health, etc. A defense mechanisms that many people use in handling loss is to minimize its significance. We convince ourselves that the loss is not a big deal or get into some busyness to forget. 

Others are going to hurt us intentionally or unintentionally and we will do the same to them. It is so difficult to not dwell on the pain that causes us emotionally and physically. David was able to grieve not just for his best friend, Jonathan, but for Saul who had been trying to kill him for years. David refused to get stuck in the past hurts that Saul had caused him.

This picture was taken on one of many walks I shared with my youngest daughter 

and my nephew James after school in 1996. James was killed in an accident at the age of 21. 

My Love Life

 Written April 2, 2016

“Which is the most important command?” Jesus replied, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind. ‘This is the first and greatest commandment. The second most important is similar: ‘Love your neighbor as much as you love yourself.” Matt. 22:36-39

Life is all about learning to love and God gives us a lifetime to get this commandment right. We fill our life up with so many other things and even good things. For example, the first thing we do when we have a child is accumulate all that is needed for that child. The crib, the layette set, the diapers and all the beautiful little things we see in the baby stores for our little ones. We focus on accumulating the money needed to bring up that child, our careers and our children's education. All of these things are important and well meaning in life.

At this stage of my life as I look back and realize now that all those things and all those concerns were not really where I needed to focus. The best use of my life, my time and my energy for my husband and my children would have been a life of Love. Yes, of course I loved them all but was it really my primary focus each day? As parents, we do the best we know how to do but humanly speaking it can lead to much disappointment.

If we really understood God's redeeming love for us then everything else would be fine. Why? Because if we believe in a God that is all about "Love & Grace" then we will reflect that same "Love & Grace." Do our children see our love for God and our love for others in our daily life? What would our children say was our focus? A million other things? 

Do I write this because that is exactly what I did or do now? No, I write this because I didn't get it right at all and want others to learn from my own mistakes. My blogs need to expose me for all my own sins and my own mistakes, not the sins of others. There is much to be learned from just my mistakes, trust me! Thank God I am redeemed at the cross for ALL my mistakes in the past and ALL my mistakes in the present and future. 

Romans 7:18-20For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.  For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do. Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. 

This picture was taken many years ago of our family when we stayed in the Cumberland Mountains ~ wonderful memories!

Genesis 3 The Fruit

 

This chapter took place before records were being made so it is called pre-history. Also, it doesn’t specifically tell us how long they lived in the Garden of Eden. 

This chapter continues to discuss, God, Adam & Eve. This is the introduction of the serpent who is described as a deceiver. 

Verses 1-7: The serpent came to Eve and asked her what rules God made about the trees. Eve explained which tree and what would happen. The serpent deceived her by telling her that wasn’t true at all but instead eating the fruit would make them more like God. Eve ate the fruit and then gave some to her husband. Immediately they felt shame for being naked.

Simple Things

Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.  I Thessalonians 5:23

God is constantly ministering to our spirit in some way. A touch, a sentence, a scene, a flower, an animal, a person, a sunrise, a sermon, a sunset, the ocean, a lake, a stream, a sweet memory and the list goes on. There are so many ways that God lifts our spirits and fills us with joy each day. I seem to find His touch in the small and simpler things of life!

One of the most amazing revelations of God comes when we learn that it is in the commonplace things that the Deity of Jesus Christ is realized. ~Oswald Chambers

I want to take time to notice how God is speaking to me today and may it guide my day differently! The scriptures describe that God speaks in a still small voice which I believe can be drowned out in the clutter of my every day life. Where will God reveal himself to me today? 

I took this picture of my husband and grand~girl last week during their play time together....I enjoy watching these two.....they are soul mates and understand each other....

He Will Keep Us From Sinking

 written by Tracey Schultz Graham 4/1/15:

This morning as I was journaling my time with God, I wrote down on my index card Matthew 14:30-31.  But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was frightened; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me.  And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?

As I was writing I focused on the words "frightened" vs 30 and "immediately" vs 31. There are times I become "frightened" just like Peter, then I start to doubt and just like Peter, I begin to sink. Then I feel guilty because of "my little faith." This verse tells us that although we start out with good intentions, sometimes our faith falters. But this doesn't mean we have failed - failing would be staying in our doubt. True faith is calling out to Jesus to save us, to keep us from sinking, knowing that he's the only one who can. 

Then I focused on the word "immediately" vs 31. Jesus "immediately" answered Peter's cry for help! How awesome to know that God will "immediately" save us no matter how many times we fail him. He may not change our storm right now but he will keep us from sinking. 

Sunset over Lake Okeechobee on one of our camping trips 2021.

Genesis 3 A Deceiver

  

This chapter took place before records were being made so it is called pre-history. Also, it doesn’t specifically tell us how long they lived in the Garden of Eden. 

This chapter continues to discuss, God, Adam & Eve. This is the introduction of the serpent who is described as a deceiver.