Easter Sunday is always such a powerful celebration of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ! Jesus is alive and God is mightily at work in all of our lives!!! We serve a perfect God who uses imperfect people. Our God can take any mess and turn it into a message, because He is The MESSiah.
Andrew Carnegie said, “Finding greatness in an individual is a lot like mining for gold. You have to move a ton of dirt to find an ounce of gold. U never go in looking for dirt. You always go in looking for the gold!”
God was writing a story of redemption after The Fall: Man suffered sorrow as a result of sin but God came down revealing that his death would bring restoration and rest to our fallen, broken lives! Is that beautiful?
Gen 5 provides the genealogy from Adam to Noah. Here are the most basic and agreed upon root name meanings.
Adam – means “Man”
Seth – “Appointed”
Enosh – “Mortal”
Kenan – “Sorrow”
Mahalalel – “The Blessed God”
Jared – “Descend” or “Shall come down”
Enoch – “Teaching”
Methuselah – “His death shall bring”
Lamech – “Despairing”
Noah – means “To bring relief” “Rest” and/or “Comfort”
God was writing a story of redemption after The Fall: “Man (is) appointed mortal sorrow (but) the blessed God shall come down teaching (that) his death shall bring (the) despair bringing rest and comfort.”
In our churchwide Bible study we started with verse 1:
Gen 1:1 In the beginning God…
Nothing makes sense unless you begin with God. Your day won’t make sense. Your life won’t make sense. Unless you begin with God, your marriage won’t make sense. Unless you begin with God your family won’t make sense. Nothing makes sense until you begin with God. Without starting here, you won’t understand yourself, others or anything happening to you or around you. The beginning of everything starts with God. What Genesis does for us is it reorients us and says, always begin with God.
The problem most people have daily is they simply don’t start their day with God. Take the Turn The Page challenge and let your day begin with God. https://www.destinyokc.com/turn-the-page-challenge
Most of us would say that we want to be spiritually strong. But we cannot be spiritually strong if are not spiritually fed. If the only time we’re eating spiritually is when someone else is feeding us, then we are spiritually malnourished and living in a weakened state of spiritual warfare. Every day begin with God.
Don’t let your issues be your excuses.
Today we are looking at a story in the book of Genesis that spans over about 20 years, explained 7 chapters - Genesis 28-35.
Genesis 28:16-20 Now Laban had two daughters. The name of the older was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel. 17 Leah’s eyes were weak, but Rachel was beautiful in form and appearance. 18 Jacob loved Rachel. And he said, “I will serve you seven years for your younger daughter Rachel.” 19 Laban said, “It is better that I give her to you than that I should give her to any other man; stay with me.” 20 So Jacob served seven years for Rachel, and they seemed to him but a few days because of the love he had for her. ESV
There is always a story within the story that God is telling. Our lives are not merely a progression of events. Finding Jesus in the events of our lives is what converts our lives from a story into a message that encourages others!
At first glance of Israel’s twelve sons, you simply see the names of children born into his family. Further evaluation of the progression of these twelve sons tells a fascinating story.
Amazingly the birth of the twelve sons of Israel qualifies for possibly the most dysfunctional family in the history of the world. Jacob wanted to marry Rachel but was tricked into marrying her unattractive older sister after working for seven years. He then had to commit to seven more years to be given the love of his life. The animosity, jealousy and pain of this situation must have been beyond our wildest imagination.
Clearly Leah knew Jacob loved Rachel! They were both his wives, so he started a family. Rachel couldn’t have kids and Leah probably really liked that! Leah went so far as to name the children with names that had meanings to spite her younger, more beautiful and more loved sister.
Leah, who was not Jacob’s first choice, conceived first and gave birth to Reuben, then Simeon and then Levi. This entire time Rachel could not conceive so she provided a maid to conceive on her behalf named Bilhah. Bilhah gave birth to Dan and Naphtali before Leah decided to get her maid, Zilpah, in on this situation now with four women trying to have a baby by Jacob.
Zilpah gave birth to Gad and then to Asher. Then Leah conceived again giving birth to Issachar and then Zebulun. At last Rachel conceived and gave birth to Joseph. Finally Rachel conceived for the last time and died during child birth naming the child Ben Oni but Jacob changed his name to Benjamin.
A closer examination to this dysfunctional progression reveals that God was actually writing a story through it all. The reality that God could write a story in this very complicated family situation gives us all hope that if he can use them then certainly he can use our dysfunctional situation. The names actually have meanings that tell a story.
Reuben: He has seen my misery
Simeon: One who hears
Levi: Attached
Judah: Praise
Dan: He has vindicated me.
Naphtali: My struggle
Gad: Good fortune.
Asher: Happy
Issachar: Reward
Zebulun: Honor
Joseph: May he add
With Rachel’s last breath she named her son Ben Oni meaning “son of my trouble”. Jacob stepped in here saying no he’ll not be known for misery and trouble but he’ll be known as Benjamin which means, “son of my right hand.”
Take a look at the message of these names in progression and how it tells our story of finding Jesus. He saw our misery. He heard our cry. We became attached to him. We began to praise him. He vindicated us against our enemies. We struggled at times in the process. Good fortune came as we did not give up in times of struggle. Happy were we when rewarded and honored for our faithfulness. God added to our lives through Christ. Notice this very interesting concluding son. He was first named Ben Oni by a suffering mother who knew death. The father changed this name saying he won’t be known for suffering and death but rather he’ll be known as Benjamin, which means son of my right hand. Just as Jesus would suffer and die. The Father would raise him from the dead and seat him at his right hand. This is also where we are now seated in Christ. We are part of this family tree! We are God's family, the family of the forgiven!
What a total mess!!! Thank God He is the MESSiah!
God’s love in our messed up lives is the message of Gospel. Events of your life may explain you but don’t have to define you.
A man was in a terrible accident requiring reconstructive surgery on his nose. A very capable doctor took a piece of ear cartilage and reconstructed the nose to look absolutely perfect.
A few years later, a problem emerged. The ear cartilage, now part of the nose construct, never forgot it was always intended to be an ear and it kept working to take its original shape.
He had another procedure and a few years later, the same problem emerged again. No matter what the ear cartilage had been forced to become it never forgot its original design.
Some people consider a complete change to their identity to heal something that feels so intimately wounded. You’ll never feel comfortably whole in this world because you’re designed for eternity.
The deepest part of you always remembers what it was originally meant to be. None of us can ever fully understand our sense of destiny until we are personally and intimately connected to the one who deposited those purposes in our lives.
1 Thessalonians 2:13 …the word of God, is effectually at work in you (exercising its inherent, supernatural power in those who believe). AMP
GP2RL: Take The Turn The Page Challenge and read your Bible daily trusting God is at work deep in your heart.
