Month: July 2017

Reflection on Genesis 25:19-34

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Passage: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis+25.19-34

Scripture

Thus Esau despised his birthright.

Observation

Isaac, Abraham’s son, marries Rebekah. He prays to the Lord for a child as she is barren. She then becomes pregnant with twins.

The children struggle within her womb, so Rebekah prays and the Lord tells her that she has two nations inside her, and the elder will serve the younger.

When the twins are born, the first-born is covered in red hair so she names him Esau. The younger is clutching Esau’s foot so they name him Jacob.

Many years later, Esau returns from hunting one day to find Jacob cooking up a red stew. He demands some from his brother, but Jacob requires Esau to give his birthright to him, which he does.

Application

Esau despised his birthright. He was so driven by his flesh that he was willing to trade off his inheritance and position in the family for a bowl of stew.

It can be dangerously easy for christians to trade off their spiritual inheritance for some potentially short-lived fleshly desire. It might be sexual sin, an addiction or greed that leads us into a place where we are willing to give up our relationship with God, eternal life even, for some worldly gain.

The problem is that we see with our physical eyes rather than the eyes of faith, physical vision not spiritual vision.

Unlike Esau, the birthright can be regained if only we will confess our sins and walk in fellowship with the Lord.

The Lord has a birthright for every one of His children. We must not despise it.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, please protect me from every temptation to despise my birthright, the inheritance that I have in you. Let my eyes not be tempted by anything that leads me away from you. Amen.

Reflection on Matthew 11:16-30

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burden

Passage: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+11.16-30

Scripture

“My Father has entrusted everything to me. No one truly knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.”

Observation

Jesus compares the generation to children complaining that their friends don’t dance to wedding songs or mourn for funeral songs. They rejected John as being demonised because he fasted, but criticise Jesus for being a “glutton.” He then passes judgement on the towns that had rejected Him despite the miracles He performed there.

The Father has entrusted all things to the Son. Only the Father and Son know each other, apart from those to whom the Son reveals them. Jesus then invites all who are burdened to come to Him and enter His rest.

Application

There are people who believe that they can work out salvation on their own terms. Some people think that they can encounter God through nature.

Jesus says that we can’t work it out on our own. Sure, we might be able to figure out who God is and what He is like, but we cannot enter into an intimate relationship with the Father unless we get that revelation from the Son.

He then invites all who are burdened to come to Him. The revelation of the Father being talked about here is not a mystical vision given to a select few. It is the ability and desire to receive Christ’s invitation to fellowship.

Jesus is the way, the truth and the life. He is the only way to the Father. There is no other means of salvation.

All we need is the faith to say “Yes” to Jesus.

Prayer

Lord Jesus, I thank you that you welcome all who say “Yes” to you. Help me to live in an ever deeper fellowship with you and the Father in the grace of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Reflection on Romans 7:15-25

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Passage: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans+7.15-25

Scripture

I love God’s law with all my heart, but there is another power within me that is at war with my mind. This power makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me.

Observation

Paul shares a dilemma that we all have. We know what is right, but we don’t do it. In fact often when we try to act God’s way, we end up sinning.

Nothing good lives in our sinful nature, and so the good we want to do we cannot do. It is as if a power called sin dominates our mind and body.

Who can set me free from this state of warfare? Only our Lord Jesus Christ.

Application

A person is only a christian in theory, or a person who said “Yes” to Christ only in his mind, is going to struggle with this law of sin and death.

We know what we should do in order to please God, but the unredeemed nature gets in the way over and over again.

The answer is in Christ, but not just as a theory.

Jesus told us that to follow Him we must take up our cross and die to ourselves. That means all of our desires, ambitions and dreams need to be put to death. Every sentence that starts with “I” must die.

The christian life, the way of salvation, is not about changing our lifestyle. It is about letting Christ change us from the inside out.

The problem with sin is in our mind. This is where the war takes place. We must surrender ourselves entirely to Christ, especially our way of thinking.

This process of dying to ourselves does not take place instantly when we get saved. It is a life-long process of letting go of everything that stands between us and the Lord.

Every day we have an opportunity to die again. The refiner of our hearts brings the flames to purify us. The true follower of Jesus embraces the flames rather than running away from them.

Prayer

Lord Jesus Christ, you are the answer to the war with sin. You are the victory. I lay my life at your feet. Take all of me and let my mind be transformed by your refining fire. Amen.