Dealing With the Esau in Your Life

Posted by Jennifer Baldwin

Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Jacob and Easu, the names of these brothers are familiar to most of us who have heard their story in Sunday School and in sermons over the years. These two sons of Isaac provide us with several lessons in life. In our message on Sunday, we turned to Genesis 32 as we studied an appearance of the Angel of the Lord to Jacob.

To refresh your memory, Esau and Jacob were twins born to Isaac and Rebekah. Esau was born first and therefore it was his duty in life to carry the name of the family forward and to be the head of the family once Isaac had passed. As Isaac aged, he wanted to pass along his blessing and the family responsibility to Esau. But, Jacob, with his mother’s help, deceived Isaac and was given the family blessing. See Genesis 27. As a result, Jacob angered Esau and Jacob ended up running from his family home. The lesson here is that deception may seem a shortcut to your blessing, but in the end you will pay the price.

Years later, after both Jacob and Esau had married and established their own families, Jacob was visited by the Angel of the Lord. See Genesis 28 for the details. He was told his descendants would bring blessing to all the families of the earth. Jacob married, raised a family, and his flocks increased. But still, he was bothered by the deception that gained him his father’s blessing.

Our study focused on Genesis 32, some 30 years after Jacob deceived his father, when he sought to return to the land of his family. He remembered how he had deceived Esau and in his mind he feared Esau. Once again, he took matters into is own hand and devised a way to avert Esau’s anger and at the same time protect his family and flocks. He sent a peace offering in Esau’s direction in the hopes that Esau would forgive him for his deception. That night, Jacob was once again visited by the Angel of the Lord. They wrestled and Jacob was told his name would become Israel because he had striven with God and with men and had prevailed. The Angel of the Lord touched Jacob’s thigh and it was dislocated. Take a few minutes and reflect on Jacob’s deception and how it possessed him and impacted his life. For 30 years, he’d lived with the results of his deception and in fear of Esau.

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The God Who Wrestles

Posted by Jennifer Baldwin

Friday, May 27, 2011

When, in testing and trials, we refuse to let go, we ultimately awaken to realize that it has not been our hanging on that has brought us the blessing, but rather, it was His hanging on to us!

He would best be described as a “hanger-on”. He clung to his older brother’s heal while being delivered from the womb into the world. He clung to his mother’s apron strings while his brother ventured out into a Cabela’s kind of world. He clung to his devious schemes in an all-consuming pursuit of the benefits reserved for the firstborn. He clung to the stunning, second-born daughter of his mother’s relative. He clung to his extra-ordinary business savvy. And most of all, he hung on tenaciously to his skill of deception, complemented by his power of manipulation!

Leaving home under the real threat of familialcide (i.e. the intention of an offended brother to terminate his sibling’s physical existence), our man of the Promise Line suddenly found himself a fugitive from home. Absolutely alone.  And broke! His father’s household was rich; wealthy beyond imagination. His stables were full, his fields vast, and his flocks continually enlarging. But here was the son of the wealthiest man in the world running for his life, alone and bankrupt on a lonely hill. “And he came to a certain place and spent the night there, because the sun had set; and he took one of the stones of the place and put it under his head, and lay down in that place.” Genesis 28:11 No five-star accommodations. A stone had to do for his feathered pillow. Broke. Scared.  Alone. But still, he was a hanger-on.

Fear, loneliness and isolation were overcome by exhaustion and sleep. And in his rest, he discovered that his travel-agent had been none other than the Living God! The place of lodging for his first night away from home had been Divinely prepared. Suddenly, he was awakened with a new source of fear! “Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, ‘Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it.’ And he was afraid and said, ‘How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God and this is the gate of heaven!” Genesis 28:16-17

God had placed a ladder of access for weary pilgrims; a provision for conniving, deceitful, manipulative fugitives to enter the Holy God’s very presence.

“And behold, I am with you, and will keep you wherever you go…I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.” Genesis 28:15

It would be two decades later before Jacob would find himself again in this place.  His “mission” of finding a wife from among his mother’s people would have been completed…twice. His empty pockets would by then, be overflowing with new wealth. And his solitude would by then, be filled with many sons. He was definitely what we would have to call a “hanger-on”. Yet 20 years later, our man was once again a fleeing fugitive, overwhelmed once more by fear. Behind him, an angry father-in-law and resentful brother-in-laws; before him, a yet unreconciled, offended, murder-minded brother.

And then God wrestled! “Then Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him until daybreak. And when he saw that he had not prevailed against him, he touched the socket of his thigh; so the socket of Jacob’s thigh was dislocated while he wrestled with him…and He blessed him there!” Genesis 32:24-25

It took a long night of unrelenting conflict for Jacob to learn the lesson Corrie ten Boom so eloquently penned, “I have learned to hold loosely those things I consider dear, lest God in His providence, should choose to take them from me.  It hurts to pry my fingers loose.”

When in testing and trials we refuse to let go, we ultimately awaken to realize that it has not been our hanging on that has brought us the blessing, but rather, it was His hanging on to us!

See you Sunday, Church!

Pastor Tom

The Test

Posted by Jennifer Baldwin

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Most of us, after 100+ years following the Lord’s direction, would be somewhat lackadaisical and ready to call it finished. Most of us, after uprooting our family and traveling for years and years living in a tent would be ready to say I’ve obeyed, call on someone else Lord. Most of us, after waiting some 90 years for a promised child, and only having one, would not to respond to the Lord’s calling for that child to be offered as a sacrifice. Most of us, at an old age, when called to climb a mountain would search for transportation. But Abraham, when called by God, said “Here I am.” (not once but three times in this report by the way) And because he responded obediently to the test, we have all received a blessing.

The story of Abraham’s test in Genesis 22 is familiar to nearly everyone. When told to take his only true son, Isaac, up the mountain and offer him as a burnt offering, Abraham obeyed. In fact, he didn’t tarry, but rose early in the morning and started the trip. And, it wasn’t exactly nearby. After three days, he saw Mount Moriah at a distance. At this point, he had his young helpers wait while he and Isaac took the wood and fire up the mountain.

“Then they came to the place of which God had told him; and Abraham built the altar there, and arranged the wood; and bound his son Isaac, and laid him on the altar on top of the wood. And Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven, and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” And he said “Here I am.” And he said, “Do not stretch out your hand against the lad, and do nothing to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me.”’   Genesis 22:9-12

You know the rest of the story about that ram caught in the thicket. But, perhaps you haven’t thought recently about some of the lessons in this passage. Take a moment to reflect on these points.

The Command - True faith must learn to do without everything or everyone but God. It is not so much in what we love...but in what we love the more.

The Compliance - Faith demands a radical, illogical, absurd and unconventional obedience. Faith is often a lonely journey. Only unshakable trust in God’s Word will enable one to see God’s commands in the light of His promises.

The Consequence - True obedience of faith is never unseen and never unrewarded.

Mount Moriah has become a very famous place, what Abraham called “The Lord Will Provide.” And provide He did. God greatly blessed Abraham and multiplied his seed as the stars of the heavens. And in Abraham’s seed all the nations of the earth have been blessed.    Genesis 22:17,18

Where’s your Mount Moriah? How have you been tested? And even more important, how did you respond? 

To Him Who Is Tested

Posted by Jennifer Baldwin

Friday, May 20, 2011

“Now it came about after these things, that God tested Abraham…” Genesis 22:1 

For our man, Abraham, this must have been the moving of the tassel moment!

“Traditionally, the moving of the tassel at graduation is called, “turning the tassel” or “the turning of the tassel ceremony.” It symbolizes one’s transition from candidate to graduate. Standard protocol in the U.S. dictates that the tassel be worn on the right side of one’s mortarboard at commencement and then, during the ceremony, moved to the left side. Teachers and administrators at commencement place their tassels on the left.” (From Answers.Com)

Before graduating, a candidate must have been proven. At least, in the traditional educational sense of the word, tested and approved. For the student/learner, every test along the way is an unsettling, sobering challenge. At the time of the examination, it feels like nothing more difficult or unnerving could possibly enter the life than the work that lies immediately before them. But then, as the learning process continues, the testing also increases and becomes progressively more challenging. By the final exam? Those first ones seem like nothing more than insignificant “pop quizzes.” The journey: from beginning to graduation.

Our man, Abe has faced his tests. Called by the Living God to abandon his homeland of false gods and familial relationships to relocate to an as-yet-undesignated location. Instructed to leave behind almost all of his family. Then, having settled in nicely in his new environment, and with his father’s death fresh on his heart, comes the call to uproot once again. Trial, followed almost immediately by the urgencies of survival, through a season of famine. And the disastrous deception on the Egyptian sojourn. Then the stresses of multiplied wealth and the tension with nephew Lot. And the assault on Sodom and the need for a rescue party, which is followed by the temptation to a short-cut to a financial windfall. Did I mention the continual month-by-month disappointment of infertility while under the cloud of a Divine promise unfulfilled? Or the conflict between the two women of his tent and the painful parting with his only flesh and blood? Our man, Abe has faced his tests. But he was still unqualified for the “moving of the tassel.” There remained yet before him, one major final exam: the mother of all tests!

At the end of a four-year college program, which I had “crammed” into five years, came one final exam. All previous quizzes, papers, and presentations in the rear view mirror seemed as nothing in light of the document that lay before me on that desk. “Bibliology and Theology Proper.” A required course, if the tassel were to be moved. It was make or break time. I stared down at that test and convinced myself that graduation day for this man was not going to come. In resignation to the unavoidable, I marked a few answers, folded my paper and solemnly went to the front. I did not know how I would break the devastating news of personal failure to Linda. I simply did not have what it took to pass that exam! But suddenly the gracious surprise…

I recall, with clarity, the emotion of the moment at the end of that grueling activity packed week when the graduating class of Western Bible College 1976 stood to move their tassels. With the right hand we carefully took it from the right of our mortarboards (perhaps so named to identify the block-heads who wore them) and draped it on the left. The honor granted “to him who is tested.”

“Now it came about after these things, that God tested Abraham…(beyond the multiple relocations, beyond the forsaking of family and friends, beyond the struggles to survive, beyond the temptation to immediate wealth, beyond the sorrow of painful partings…) And He said, ‘For now I know that you fear God…” Genesis 22:1,12

Facing the greatest test of His life, Abraham found the grace and courage to lay before the Lord the absolute dearest thing he had after 115 or so living years.  God asked for the son of the promised blessing, and Abraham placed him on the altar. To him who is tested, God honors with the moving of the tassel.

Congratulations, High School and College Graduates, Class of 2011. May you proudly wear your tassel on the left! And, may He who has tested you and found you faithful, be found abundantly faithful to you!

See you Sunday, Church!

Pastor Tom

The Heat of the Day

Posted by Jennifer Baldwin

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

So, there I was, sitting quietly by my tent. It was hot and I wanted to catch a bit of fresh air. Inside the tent it was too hot and stuffy. I was reflecting on the events of my life. I’d been faithful, well for the most part. God told me to go with Lot and our families and livestock and He’d lead us to a land where we could settle. A land of plenty. Was this it? After 49 years we’re in a hot valley with just a few trees to provide a bit of shade. Sure doesn’t seem that there’s enough here to support a family, let alone a great nation of people. He’d also told me that He would give me a son who would be the first in a long line of many people becoming a great nation. Sarah’s barren, and now we’re old and there’s no hope of having children. What have I done? What was I thinking?
 
And Lot was gone. We separated and he went to Sodom and Gomorrah. It seemed like a good place, on that river with others around to buy his livestock. Maybe Lot had the right idea. There seemed to be plenty there to support a family. But, I’d heard stories about how terrible it was there. The awful things people did to one another. It just didn’t seem right.

But, here I am, out here under these trees by my tent in this desolate place. It’s so hot no one is moving at all. But wait, there are some men coming my way. There are three of them. What could they be doing out here in the middle of nowhere? I ran to them, bowed down and offered to wash their feet. I called to Sarah to prepare a meal. We killed a calf and we shared a meal. That’s the way life is, just when you think there’s no hope left, someone crosses your path and life takes on meaning again.

One of them asked about Sarah. He knew my wife’s name! Imagine that. I told Him she was in the tent and commented on our years wandering in this desolate place. I said we were old, tired, lonely and had given up. Then, you’ll never guess what He said. “I will surely return to you at this time next year; and behold, Sarah your wife shall have a son.” Genesis 18:10

There was a snicker in the tent. It was Sarah and she had been listening. How absurd. We’re old, we don’t have pleasure any longer. And Sarah, after all these years will bear a child? Not possible.

You know what He said? “Is anything too difficult for the Lord? At the appointed time I will return to you, at this time next year, and Sarah shall have a son.” Genesis 18:14

What an incredible story. Abraham and Sarah sought to obey the Lord so they packed up and went in search of the land of plenty. And here they were, in a lonely desolate place. They waited for years and years for that promised son to arrive, the one who would become the next in line and the first of a great nation of people. Nothing. Oh, they’d tried, but the result was a child by Sarah’s maid. But that wasn’t right. And, just when it seemed that it was all a great mistake, the Lord appeared again and said that they long awaited child would come in the next year.

Genesis 18 offers a number of lessons for us. When things seem at their worst, if you’ve been given a promise, God will deliver. Even if you’ve done wrong and tried to fix things yourself, God’s plan is still the best. Have faith. Nothing is too difficult for the Lord.

Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner!

Posted by Jennifer Baldwin

Friday, May 13, 2011

He set the table for three and urged his 90-year-old bride to rush about preparing a virtual feast for unexpected guests. At the time, this elderly couple had no idea who it was that had come for dinner!

He said everyone in heaven had wings. Everyone, that is, except Jesus. Such is the recollection of a small, western-Nebraska boy from what has been reported to be his journey to heaven and back. Some wings, like his grandfather’s, he said, are very large. Other wings, like his own, are much smaller. But only Jesus doesn’t have wings. Hmmm…

For sure, the Seraphim of Isaiah’s vision into the Throne Room of the Living God had wings…six of them apiece, actually. That is not typically how we see them portrayed.  Mostly we picture them with just two. The angels at the gate of no return to the spoiled paradise of Eden’s garden are not described as having such appendages, but rather as holding “flaming swords”. I think the flaming sword thing would definitely catch my attention even if they DID have wings! In Exodus 25, as God instructs Moses concerning the construction of the Ark of the Covenant and the placing of the Mercy Seat, he is told to have cherubim made with wings stretched upward to cover the Seat.

So…do angels have wings? Obviously some do. Or at least sometimes angels do. But then, on the other hand, I wouldn’t expect a drop-in visit by a winged angel anytime soon! However, you MIGHT actually see an angel at some point. Chances are, however, that if you do, you will simply see what appears to be a man or a woman…a person, no wings. And there are many stories of such “visitations” that we could share together. Without getting mystical or mysterious, our own family could relate stories of “angel visitations” at moments in our shared history. On the other hand, the Bible seems to indicate that when and if you ARE visited by an angel, you probably won’t even be aware of it at the time! “Let love of the brethren continue.  Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by this some have entertained angels without knowing it!” Hebrews 13:1-2

We have, on occasion, invited friends to our home and encouraged them to also bring along their children. We had heard that they were “little angels” and it seemed a reasonable thing to invite them to share the evening with our family. But not long after our guests’ arrival, we were suddenly aware that what they brought with them were NOT angels (wings or no wings), but little demons poorly disguised. You know the routine!

Angels are real. Angels are messengers from God. Angels are sent to protect and strengthen those whom the Father loves. In His hour of greatest need, Jesus Himself could have summoned TEN THOUSAND angels to come to His care! And when life deals us a painful blow, His angel messengers come to bring us His personal comfort. But dropping in for dinner? How could THAT happen? The writer of the letter to the Hebrews says it can happen when we selflessly open our homes for acts of hospitality in meeting the needs of our brothers and sisters with hearts of pure love. “For some have even entertained angels without knowing it.”

If God has graced your hour of need with a special visitation from His side, don’t apologize for the unusual experience. Don’t stress out trying to reason it away or interpret it as some mystical revelation. Don’t call your favorite publisher and rush to get your story into print. But rather, simply humbly thank Him for His caring and sustaining grace. 

He set the table for three and urged his 90-year-old bride to rush about preparing a virtual banquet feast for unexpected guests. At the time, this elderly couple had no idea who it was that had come for dinner!

See you Sunday, Church, as we stop by the home of Abraham and Sarah and watch as they are visited by three angels, and host the Lord of Glory…totally unaware!

Pastor Tom

Trust and Obey

Posted by Jennifer Baldwin

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Hagar has a lesson for us. She is an interesting person we first meet in Genesis 16. She was from Egypt and was maid to Abraham’s wife Sarah. She’d become part of the traveling group following Abraham and Lot on their journey to a land promised to them by God. And, God promised to make a great nation from their family. We learn in Genesis 16 of Abraham and Sarah’s difficulty in having children. How could God’s promise of making a great nation from Abraham’s offspring if they couldn’t have children?

Sarah thought of a way. She would send Abraham into Hagar her maid, and their children would be part of Abraham’s offspring, thus helping God with His promise of making a great nation. Problem number one, taking matters into your own hands to “help” God.

Eventually, Ishmael is born to Abraham and Hagar. At last, the promise of God begins to unfold, so they thought. But the new baby raised many issues between Sarah and Hagar and Sarah’s harsh treatment causes Hagar to run away with Ishmael. Problem number two, taking action apart from God’s plan causes strife.

Hagar and Ishmael left the camp and nearly died in the wilderness. Genesis 16 details the first recorded appearance of the Angel of God when Hagar and Ishmael are about to die from lack of water. They’re led to water, then told to return to Abraham’s camp and submit to their authority. Trust and obey were her instructions.

As the story continues to unfold, the Angel of God appears again, this time to Abraham who is told he’ll be the father of many nations. Genesis 21 details the conception and birth of Isaac. Eventually, we learn that from both Ishmael and Isaac, sons of Abraham, great nations are born.

But let’s return to Hagar and the lessons we see from the situation that she found herself in. First, when you run from problems, as Hagar did, you will run directly into the arms of God. Read Genesis 16:6 & 7.

Second, when you cease trusting God, you soon blame God for your problems. Read Genesis 16:5.

And third, the path to God’s blessing will often require you to trust and obey, going back to be under the authority He has established and starting over with your life. Read Genesis 16:9.

As you go about your day, reflect on the words of this old hymn to give guidance to your life.

When we walk with the Lord

In the light of His word

What a glory he sheds on our way!

While we do His good will,

He abides with us still,

And with all who will trust and obey.

Trust and obey, for there’s no other way

To be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.

Pregnant and Homeless: Then Came Jesus

Posted by Jennifer Baldwin

Friday, May 6, 2011

Divine delays. Frustrations. Doubts. Impatience. Second-guessing. Manipulation.  Action. Anything but resting and waiting! 

God’s work done man’s way promises man-made disasters, indelible regret and inescapable disappointments.

On every side, our man was experiencing success. He was rich. He was influential. He was strong, a force to be taken seriously. He was reverent. But he was disappointed and, though still believing, he was also beginning to calculate methods of “helping God out” on this matter of the unfulfilled promise of a son of his own. He began rationalizing the promise of God and considering that perhaps he had “misunderstood”. He offered to be content with the faithfulness of God if one of the young lads born to the family of one of his many servants was selected to carry on his name.

But God dramatically restates His promise and graciously lays out the long-range plan for its fulfillment. God will be faithful. God’s promise will be fulfilled. God’s word will be found true. Just wait.  Genesis 15

And then disaster begins! Painful as the thought of having her husband share their bed with another woman, the pain of growing old yet childless seemed even greater. So a serving maid was sent to become the birth mother of Abram’s child.  And the harsh reality of this propositional truth pierced the home. God’s work done man’s way promises man-made disasters, indelible regret and inescapable disappointments.  Genesis 16

When God has promised, God performs. But oft times His calendar is longer than our patience. And in the face of frustration, doubt and waiting, we yield to the temptation to just “help God out” and attempt to get Divine work done man’s way. 

Finding yourself frustrated with God lately? Beginning to grapple with soul-deep doubts about His true faithfulness? Impatience stirring an unsettled spirit deep within? Download a few snapshots from the iPhoto album of Sarai. Study the faces closely. Look intently into the eyes. What you will read there is painful affirmation of this propositional truth: God’s work done man’s way promises man-made disasters, indelible regret and inescapable disappointments.

And then…when it seems that man can make no greater mess of Divine purposes and when the horrible implications of impatience fall with full weight upon their lives, THEOPHANY. Then comes Jesus!  Genesis 16

See you Sunday, Church, as we begin summer contemplations of the mysteries of THEOPHANY, “Then comes Jesus!”

Pastor Tom

Are You A Diotrephes?

Posted by Jennifer Baldwin

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

No doubt there’s a character in the Bible whom you admire, maybe even one with whom you can identify. Perhaps it’s Nehemiah who saw the need to rebuild Jerusalem and acted. Maybe you’ve thought a lot about Lydia of Thyatira, the seller of purple who was an early European convert to Christianity. It could be Joshua who took over from Moses as leader of Israel, the one who led the Israelites into the Promised Land. What about Elizabeth, mother of John the Baptist. There’s no shortage of admirable examples for living a life that is pleasing to God. A few minutes re-reading Hebrews 11 for a full list of people to be admired will give other examples.

But, it’s in 3 John 9 where we find someone who’s an example of one who causes problems in the church. Diotrephes appeared to be an active member and leader in the early church. But, examine what John says about him, then lay that along side Paul’s letter to Titus.

“I wrote something to the church; but Diotrephes, who loves to be first among them, does not accept what we say. For this reason, if I come I will call attention to his deeds which he does, unjustly accusing us with wicked words; and not satisfied with this, neither does he himself receive the brethren and he forbids those who desire to do so and puts them out of the church. Beloved, do not imitate what is evil, but what is good. The one who does good is of God; the one who does evil has not seen God.”   3 John 9

Diotrephes used two methods to cause strife. First, he sought to discredit the message of the apostles by attacking their character. He chose this method because he couldn’t mount a solid theological debate. Second, his strategy to weaken the church was to interrupt the connection between those who were qualified and good teachers and those whom they sought to teach. Personal attacks and divisiveness, two successful ways to cause harm among God’s people.

On Sunday, pastor Tom challenged us to administer a self test to see if we’re of the nature of Diotrephes. The test questions include:

1.  Do I talk much but listen little?

2.  Am I always convinced I am right therefore all others are wrong?

3.  Do I willingly give other ideas a fair hearing?

4.  Can I identify any longtime relationships with people who disagree with me?

5.  Do I maintain emotional control when discussing differing views?

6.  Is every issue a to-die-for issue?

7.  Is my fellowship circle increasing or decreasing?

8.  Am I grieved by having to disagree?

9.  Do you have to express your opinion no matter what the issue of discussion?

So, how did you do on this exam? In his letter to Titus, Paul warns, “For there are many rebellious men, empty talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision who must be silenced because they are upsetting whole families, teaching things they should not teach for the sake of sordid gain.”  Titus 1:10,11

As we conclude our study of Titus, it’s a good opportunity for each of us to consider the role we play within God’s family. If Paul or John were watching today and writing others about your actions, what would they say?