Genesis 25:29-34 - "Once when Jacob was cooking some stew, Esau came in from the open country, famished. 30 He said to Jacob, “Quick, let me have some of that red stew! I’m famished!” (That is why he was also called Edom.) 31 Jacob replied, “First sell me your birthright.”32 “Look, I am about to die,” Esau said. “What good is the birthright to me?”33 But Jacob said, “Swear to me first.” So he swore an oath to him, selling his birthright to Jacob.34 Then Jacob gave Esau some bread and some lentil stew. He ate and drank, and then got up and left. So Esau despised his birthright."
The oldest son's birthright made him priest of the home when his father passed away and would receive a double portion of the inheritance as the first son.
How many of us as children of God do the exact same thing?
What do we forfeit in Christ in order to take hold of some worldly gain?
As son's of God we have certain rights, privileges and a rich inheritance in Christ.
Galatians 4:4-7 - "But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship. 6 Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father.” 7 So you are no longer a slave, but God’s child; and since you are his child, God has made you also an heir.
Romans 8:17 - " Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory."
The birthright was not only future, but present. As first born son, he was given certain rights & privileges as the oldest son. After his father, he was head of the household. Even while his father was alive, he enjoyed the riches and pleasures that his father offered. Although, his father's wealth was not officially his, they were at hes disposal.
Even so, we as God's children have certain rights & privileges even now. God's riches, promises and blessings are at our disposal even now. We don't have to wait for heaven to enjoy the benefits of being His sons and daughters. Yet, their will be that day when we receive the full inheritance as co-heirs with Christ.
What rights do we have even now?
We have the right to call on the name of the Lord and be heard.
We have the right to son-ship.
We have the right to rule with Christ even now over the principalities and powers of darkness in this world and the spiritual realm.
We have the right to eternal life with Christ.
We have the right to every spiritual blessing (gifts) in the heavenly places.
We have the right to every need being met.
How do we give up our birthright(s)?
Romans 4:13 - " It was not through the law that Abraham and his offspring received the promise that he would be heir of the world, but through the righteousness that comes by faith."
We give up our birthright(s) through lack of faith. God has given us many glorious promises in His Word. It is through faith that we are able to take hold of these promises, both present and future promises.
Hebrews 12:16 - " See that no one is sexually immoral, or is godless like Esau, who for a single meal sold his inheritance rights as the oldest son."
We give up our birthright(s) through disobedience when we do not understand and/or value God's inheritance.
What are you trading in for your God given birthright?
Are you trading it in for power and glory?
Are you trading it in for money or things?
Are you trading it in for sexual pleasures?
Are you trading it in for immediate gratification?
Are you trading it for your good desires and well intention? (your will, not His will)
I will never forget after the earthquake in Haiti, when we were distributing water in a tent city that when we got down to the last bottle an older girl knocked over a younger girl and grabbed her by the throat to get the last bottle of water from her.
Often it is the little things in life that creep into our lives and rob us of the rights we have as sons and daughters of God.
Thursday, August 18, 2016
Tuesday, August 16, 2016
Esteemed by the World
Genesis 23:5-6 - "The Hittites replied to Abraham, 6 “Listen to us, lord. You are God’s chosen one among us. Bury your dead in our finest burial place. None of us will withhold from you his burial place for burying your dead.” (HCSB)
Abraham was in a foreign land, the land of Canaan. He lived among the Hittites who were idol worshipers and served pagan God's. Yet, they held Abraham in high regard. The saw the hand of God on Abraham. Abraham stood out among the people as a righteous man and blessed by God. The considered it a privilege to have him among them. He was considered as one of the their princes.
How do people look at us in our work place, and in our community? Do they see the God in us and His mighty hand upon us? Are we held in high esteem?
Abraham was in a foreign land, the land of Canaan. He lived among the Hittites who were idol worshipers and served pagan God's. Yet, they held Abraham in high regard. The saw the hand of God on Abraham. Abraham stood out among the people as a righteous man and blessed by God. The considered it a privilege to have him among them. He was considered as one of the their princes.
How do people look at us in our work place, and in our community? Do they see the God in us and His mighty hand upon us? Are we held in high esteem?
Tuesday, August 9, 2016
Thoughts by Bob Sorge from the book of Job #1
The book of Job serves as a pattern to show us how God uses painful circumstances in the lives of His chosen ones - who have qualified for spiritual advancement because of their obedience and blamelessness - in order to bring them to a higher dimension of spiritual reality. (See Hebrews 12:23)
Psalms 34:19 says that many are the afflictions of the but the Lord delivers them from them all.
Job had the hand of God on him, the hand of Satan on him and the hand of man on him and he couldn't distinguish between the two. Job is in the battle of his life, warring with God's sovereign purposes, Satan's evil enticements, peoples carnal approaches, and the imperfect realities of this world.
Job thought God was treating him like an enemy (19:11), but in fact God was counting Job as one of His friends. "Faithful are the wounds of a friend." (Proverbs 27:6)
Psalms 34:19 says that many are the afflictions of the but the Lord delivers them from them all.
Job had the hand of God on him, the hand of Satan on him and the hand of man on him and he couldn't distinguish between the two. Job is in the battle of his life, warring with God's sovereign purposes, Satan's evil enticements, peoples carnal approaches, and the imperfect realities of this world.
Job thought God was treating him like an enemy (19:11), but in fact God was counting Job as one of His friends. "Faithful are the wounds of a friend." (Proverbs 27:6)
The Book of Job
Bob Sorge's Hermeneutical lens on the book of Job.
1. Job is a godly and blameless man.
2. His inexplicable calamity is the result of God's pleasure in his life.
3. The book is a primer on spiritual warfare, charting the perplexing territory between God's sovereign purposes, Satan's harassements, and people's opinions.
4. The purpose of the calamity is to glorify God by changing Job and bringing him to a higher spiritual inheritence.
5. The suffering of Job parallel Christ's cross in many ways.
6. Job's journey lays a pattern for God's dealings in our lives.
7. The book is a prophecy foretelling the nature of God's dealings in preparing the church for the end time harvest.
1. Job is a godly and blameless man.
2. His inexplicable calamity is the result of God's pleasure in his life.
3. The book is a primer on spiritual warfare, charting the perplexing territory between God's sovereign purposes, Satan's harassements, and people's opinions.
4. The purpose of the calamity is to glorify God by changing Job and bringing him to a higher spiritual inheritence.
5. The suffering of Job parallel Christ's cross in many ways.
6. Job's journey lays a pattern for God's dealings in our lives.
7. The book is a prophecy foretelling the nature of God's dealings in preparing the church for the end time harvest.
The Covenant of the Lord
When we study the covenant of God between Him and Abraham, we see a couple of important things. It is God who wrote and established the covenant. (Gen. 17:7) Also, God is the keeper of the covenant. Keeper in the sense that He will never break the covenant. It is an everlasting covenant. Keeper in the sense that we are unable to keep the covenant without his strength.
Yet, in order for Abraham to enter the covenant and keep his end of the covenant, he and all others who wanted to be a part of the covenant had one obligation which was to be circumcised. (Gen. 17:10) Yet, it was not to be only a circumcision of the foreskin, but a circumcision of the heart. He said to Abraham that you must live in my presence and be devout. (Gen. 17:1)
This is no different with the New Covenant that was established through Christ Jesus. It is only through God's strength that we are able to keep the covenant. To enter this covenant we must have a circumcised heart. A heart where the worldly thing and/or sinful things have been cut from our hearts. (Colossians 2:11) As children of God, we are to live in His presence a be devout. If we do not remain in God's presence and devoted to him, the covenant has been broken because of our uncircumcised hearts. (Gen. 17:14) This does not annul the covenant of God but annuls our partaking of His covenant.
Paul explains this in Romans 14:9-12 - "Is this blessing then on the circumcised, or on the uncircumcised also? For we say, “Faith was credited to Abraham as righteousness.” 10 How then was it credited? While he was circumcised, or uncircumcised? Not while circumcised, but while uncircumcised; 11 and he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had while uncircumcised, so that he might be the father of all who believe without being circumcised, that righteousness might be credited to them, 12 and the father of circumcision to those who not only are of the circumcision, but who also follow in the steps of the faith of our father Abraham which he had while uncircumcised."
We see that we enter the covenant of God by faith in Christ. It is not by works we enter into the covenant of salvation through Christ Jesus.
Romans 2:28-29 - " For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh. 29 But he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that which is of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter; and his praise is not from men, but from God."
Our salvation is dependent on Christ's work on the cross, our faith and a circumcised heart. This circumcision is not done with a knife in the the flesh, but by the Spirit of God. We can not circumcise ourselves. We are circumcised when we give place to the Holy Spirit in our lives. Yet, different than natural circumcision in the flesh, we are circumcised by the Holy Spirit in salvation, but the flesh is not gone in a single moment. Therefore, we are still in the circumcising process. We are still under the knife so to speak. Yet, it is not us who cut the worldly things away in our lives, but the Holy Spirit as we remain yielded to him.
Yet, in order for Abraham to enter the covenant and keep his end of the covenant, he and all others who wanted to be a part of the covenant had one obligation which was to be circumcised. (Gen. 17:10) Yet, it was not to be only a circumcision of the foreskin, but a circumcision of the heart. He said to Abraham that you must live in my presence and be devout. (Gen. 17:1)
This is no different with the New Covenant that was established through Christ Jesus. It is only through God's strength that we are able to keep the covenant. To enter this covenant we must have a circumcised heart. A heart where the worldly thing and/or sinful things have been cut from our hearts. (Colossians 2:11) As children of God, we are to live in His presence a be devout. If we do not remain in God's presence and devoted to him, the covenant has been broken because of our uncircumcised hearts. (Gen. 17:14) This does not annul the covenant of God but annuls our partaking of His covenant.
Paul explains this in Romans 14:9-12 - "Is this blessing then on the circumcised, or on the uncircumcised also? For we say, “Faith was credited to Abraham as righteousness.” 10 How then was it credited? While he was circumcised, or uncircumcised? Not while circumcised, but while uncircumcised; 11 and he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had while uncircumcised, so that he might be the father of all who believe without being circumcised, that righteousness might be credited to them, 12 and the father of circumcision to those who not only are of the circumcision, but who also follow in the steps of the faith of our father Abraham which he had while uncircumcised."
We see that we enter the covenant of God by faith in Christ. It is not by works we enter into the covenant of salvation through Christ Jesus.
Romans 2:28-29 - " For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh. 29 But he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that which is of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter; and his praise is not from men, but from God."
Our salvation is dependent on Christ's work on the cross, our faith and a circumcised heart. This circumcision is not done with a knife in the the flesh, but by the Spirit of God. We can not circumcise ourselves. We are circumcised when we give place to the Holy Spirit in our lives. Yet, different than natural circumcision in the flesh, we are circumcised by the Holy Spirit in salvation, but the flesh is not gone in a single moment. Therefore, we are still in the circumcising process. We are still under the knife so to speak. Yet, it is not us who cut the worldly things away in our lives, but the Holy Spirit as we remain yielded to him.
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