Should I attempt to write five more paragraphs and use three point enumeration? I am stumped. How do I take the glimpses of light that flickered as I read those chapters, and explain the impact they made on my heart?
I believe a brief overview would be helpful today…”
“God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?” Numbers 23:19 KJV
“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.” James 1:17 KJV
“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” Hebrews 11:1 KJV
“By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau concerning things to come.” Hebrews 11:20 KJV
There is so much in Genesis chapters 25-35 that deeply touches me. I am thinking about the human race, believers, sins, feelings, reputation, and age. I am thinking about sons and fathers, mothers and daughters, hearts, wonder, intrigue, romantic love, lust, passion, violation, and anguish. I am thinking about pride, anger, resentment, hate, vengeance/revenge, deception, treachery, violence, destruction, fear…
“17 How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! how great is the sum of them!
18 If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand: when I awake, I am still with thee.” Psalm139:17-18 KJV
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O Lord, you have searched me [thoroughly] and have known me. 2 You know when I sit down and when I rise up [my entire life, everything I do]; You understand my thought from afar. 3 You scrutinize my path and my lying down, And You are intimately acquainted with all my ways. 4 Even before there is a word on my tongue [still unspoken], Behold, O Lord, You know it all. 5 You have enclosed me behind and before, And [You have] placed Your hand upon me. 6 Such [infinite] knowledge is too wonderful for me; It is too high [above me], I cannot reach it.
7 Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? 8 If I ascend to heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in Sheol (the nether world, the place of the dead), behold, You are there. 9 If I take the wings of the dawn, If I dwell in the remotest part of the sea, 10 Even there Your hand will lead me, And Your right hand will take hold of me. 11 If I say, “Surely the darkness will cover me, And the night will be the only light around me,” 12 Even the darkness is not dark to You and conceals nothing from You, But the night shines as bright as the day; Darkness and light are alike to You.
13 For You formed my innermost parts; You knit me [together] in my mother’s womb. 14 I will give thanks and praise to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Wonderful are Your works, And my soul knows it very well. 15 My frame was not hidden from You, When I was being formed in secret, And intricately and skillfully formed [as if embroidered with many colors] in the depths of the earth. 16 Your eyes have seen my unformed substance; And in Your book were all written The days that were appointed for me, When as yet there was not one of them [even taking shape].
17 How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How vast is the sum of them! 18 If I could count them, they would outnumber the sand. When I awake, I am still with You.” Psalm 139:1-18 AMP
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10 Then the servant took ten of his master’s camels and departed, taking all sorts of choice gifts from his master; and he arose and went to Mesopotamia[a] to the city of Nahor. 11 And he made the camels kneel down outside the city by the well of water at the time of evening, the time when women go out to draw water.
12 And he said, “O Lord, God of my master Abraham, please grant me success today and show steadfast love to my master Abraham. 13 Behold, I am standing by the spring of water, and the daughters of the men of the city are coming out to draw water. 14 Let the young woman to whom I shall say, ‘Please let down your jar that I may drink,’ and who shall say, ‘Drink, and I will water your camels’—let her be the one whom you have appointed for your servant Isaac.By this[b] I shall know that you have shown steadfast love to my master.”
15 Before he had finished speaking, behold, Rebekah, who was born to Bethuel the son of Milcah, the wife of Nahor, Abraham’s brother, came out with her water jar on her shoulder. 16 The young woman was very attractive in appearance, a maiden[c] whom no man had known. She went down to the spring and filled her jar and came up. 17 Then the servant ran to meet her and said, “Please give me a little water to drink from your jar.” 18 She said, “Drink, my lord.” And she quickly let down her jar upon her hand and gave him a drink. 19 When she had finished giving him a drink, she said, “I will draw water for your camels also, until they have finished drinking.” 20 So she quickly emptied her jar into the trough and ran again to the well to draw water, and she drew for all his camels. 21 The man gazed at her in silence to learn whether the Lord had prospered his journey or not.
22 When the camels had finished drinking, the man took a gold ring weighing a half shekel,[d] and two bracelets for her arms weighing ten gold shekels, 23 and said, “Please tell me whose daughter you are. Is there room in your father’s house for us to spend the night?” 24 She said to him, “I am the daughter of Bethuel the son of Milcah, whom she bore to Nahor.” 25 She added, “We have plenty of both straw and fodder, and room to spend the night.” 26 The man bowed his head and worshiped the Lord 27 and said, “Blessed be the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, who has not forsaken his steadfast love and his faithfulness toward my master. As for me, the Lord has led me in the way to the house of my master’s kinsmen.” 28 Then the young woman ran and told her mother’s household about these things. Genesis: 24:1-28 ESV
When I wrote the post in this series that precedes this one the focus was on the servant.
Now…..years later, I am finally getting around to continuing in this series from the book of Genesis.
I am re-posting the posts I had written so far, and intend to take up where I left off and write part 32. However, as I have been re-posting I have noticed some characters that I originally skipped. I have decided to share glimpses I hope to capture of God’s “loving pursuit” of them, too. That is why you will see letters such as “b” and “c” added to the titles of these recent posts.
Today I want to look at Rebekah.
A maiden of both outward and inward beauty, made her way to the well that evening. She wasn’t alone. A number of other women were on the same errand. How many young and attractive ladies were there among them? I would imagine quite a few.
However, the servant’s prayer reveals that there was criteria of greater value that would be required in his selection of his master’s daughter-in-law. He didn’t have to look far. The answer to his petition was already being delivered to him before he even began to pray and had arrived before that prayer was concluded!
Who was this maiden? The above passage of scripture tells us a little. But who was she? What were her habits? Her quirks? Her personality and temperament? Her hopes and dreams?
The upcoming chapters of the book of Genesis will provide some clues for us, but much will still remain a mystery….a mystery to us but not to the Lord. He allowed Rebekah to choose whether she would become Isaac’s wife. Yet He also knew beforehand what her decision would be, and in His unsurpassed loving and gracious manner mapped out her life accordingly.
Do you have a Bible? If you don’t have one, you need not worry. Just click here: www.biblegateway.com They have many versions and translations of the Bible that you can read. Some of the best things in life are free!
They were a motley collection of misfits. A tiny purple alyssum and a scraggly white alyssum. Two mini daisies. A wee snapdragon with a single bloom. Each had volunteered in various annual pots left on our deck over the winter. As spring sprung, so did these tenacious sprouts.
We wanted to plant new, healthy flowers in the old pots. But I couldn’t bear to toss my little band of misfits. Somehow I knew they held such promise. They were of hearty stock, small though they were. So I replanted them all in what I dubbed my planter of misfits.
Kind of pitiful, isn’t it? Still, this silly planter grew dear to my heart.
Jesus’s Band of Misfits
The disciples that Jesus called to follow him were a lot like the sprouts in this planter. They were a motley collection of misfits. A few fishermen. A tax collector. A zealot and…
Happy Birthday precious one. I hope the upcoming year will hold moments you will treasure. I love you. ❤
“2 Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears[a] we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.3 And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure.” 1 John 3:2-3 ESV
Do you have a Bible? If you don’t have one, you need not worry. Justclick here:www.biblegateway.comThey have many versions and translations of the Bible that you can read. Some of the best things in life are free!
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
2 The same was in the beginning with God.
3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.
4 In him was life; and the life was the light of men.” John 1:1-4 KJV
“God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets,
2 Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;
3 Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high:
4 Being made so much better than the angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they.” Hebrews 1:1-4 KJV
“For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” Hebrews 4:12 KJV
“9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.
10 For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater:
11 So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.” Isaiah 55:9-11 KJV
“44 No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.
45 It is written in the prophets, And they shall be all taught of God. Every man therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto me.” John 6:44-45 KJV
“16 And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him.
17 Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world.
18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.
19 We love him, because he first loved us.” 1 John 4:16-19 KJV
“For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.” Romans 15:4 KJV
“Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.” Matthew 24:35 KJV
Lately I have not been spending as much time in Bible study as I should. About an hour ago I paused to think about His Holy Word, and all of these verses surfaced in my mind.
Do you have a Bible? If you don’t have one, you need not worry. Just click here:www.biblegateway.com They have many versions and translations of the Bible that you can read. Some of the best things in life are free!
This picture was taken 6 or 7 years ago while I was on a trip with my children. There was an
impending storm at the time.
Scripture reference;
“For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.” 2 Timothy 1:7
“And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”Romans 12:2
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You’re driving along under a sky that “had” been blue until those thick gray clouds you noticed earlier, maybe ten miles to the west, finally made their way overhead. You scan the sky wondering.
Then it happens—that first raindrop makes a hurried descent splashing against your windshield. Two seconds pass, and a few of her companions arrive—splat! Then the clouds can contain themselves no longer—your car, the road, the entire landscape—all is at the mercy of a heavy downpour. You reach for that little switch, and feel the satisfaction that comes once those wipers are set in motion. The song on the radio is interrupted as the station makes the announcement that the “National Weather Service” has issued a “Flash Flood Warning” for your area.
Next you pull into the parking lot of your favorite grocery store. What luck! There’s an empty parking space right by the entrance. You rush inside quickly gathering the items on your list, and make your way to the check out.
A few moments later you are once again in your car pulling out of the parking lot, and back onto the street; parts of which are already under an inch or two of water, so you gingerly make your way through town, and finally pull into your own driveway—safe and sound.
Do you live in an area that is prone to flooding? If you do, you already have this memorized. I copied and pasted the following from wikipedia.
There are two types of alerts for flash floods which are issued by the National Weather Service. One is a flash flood watch, which means that conditions are favorable for flash flooding, and the other is a flash flood warning, meaning that a flash flood is occurring or one will occur imminently and is usually issued when there are strong weather radar echoes for an area that is prone to flash flooding. Flash floods can also occur because of a dam or levee failure, or because of a sudden release of water held by an ice jam.”
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Today I am once again thinking about words, phrases, and expressions. Let’s look at these:
“rain”, “rain drops”, “weather”, and “flood”.
Each of these words have both literal and figurative (or allegorical) meanings. Figuratively speaking, rain can have both positive and negative meanings. Rain can be that precious resource that nourishes and hydrates the earth and all of its inhabitants. Too much rain can bring destruction along with it.
Flooding often has a negative and obvious meaning. However, it can also have a positive meaning. At daybreak the sun floods the earth with life giving light. Sun loving plants literally reach out to the sun. Our minds can become flooded with thoughts, and our hearts flooded with emotions.
Weather can be equated with circumstances. It also can be equated with the prevailing mood or mindset of a group of people, may they be those who dwell in our homes, those we encounter at work, school, or church, or those whose words we read or listen to by using various types of media.
Now I am once again thinking of the scenario at the beginning of this post, but in a figurative way. I believe we can find some spiritual parallels there if we try.
“9 And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.
10 For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.
11 If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent?
12 Or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion?
13 If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?” Luke 11:9-13
Our minds are like that windshield.
Do we truly understand why we must daily go to the Lord in prayer and in the reading of scripture if we are to have our minds renewed? Do we truly understand that a sound mind is a precious gift that only our Heavenly Father can bestow? Do we understand that He delights in bestowing us with this gift, and will withhold neither the Holy Spirit nor the gift of a renewed mind…(or a sound mind) from a single person who asks for them?
The Bible reveals what the Father desires, what each of us needs, and just how those needs are supplied. It will even help us to pray when words seem to fail us. Do you know the Lord’s prayer? Here it is below.
Love and Blessings,
Theresa
“9 After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.
10 Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.
11 Give us this day our daily bread.
12 And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.” Matthew 6:9-13 KJV
Do you have a Bible? If you don’t have one, you need not worry. Just click here:www.biblegateway.comThey have many versions and translations of the Bible that you can read. Some of the best things in life are free!
I wanted to re-blog this post, but I had already re-blogged it at my other blog, “Serenaded Softly”, so I am just going to insert a link to the post here:
“But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.” John 14:26 KJV
I was reading a blog post that touched my heart and reminded me of a post I wrote about a year ago. Below is the link to my post. I hope it blesses you.
Do you have a Bible? If you don’t have one, you need not worry. Just click here: www.biblegateway.com They have many versions and translations of the Bible that you can read. Some of the best things in life are free!
“Do you ever think about Heaven? Have you ever wondered what it is like? The Bible also mentions that some day there will be a new Heaven and a new earth…”
“After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.” Matthew 6:9 KJV
“ Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones; for I say unto you, That in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven.” Matthew 18:10 KJV
“2 In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.
3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.” John 14:2-3 KJV
“37 All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.
“It had always seemed to Emily, ever since she could remember, that she was very, very near to a world of wonderful beauty. Between it and herself hung only a thin curtain; she could never draw the curtain aside — but sometimes, just for a moment, a wind fluttered it and then it was as if she caught a glimpse of the enchanting realm beyond — only a glimpse — and heard a note of unearthly music…”
“5 The Lord is the portion of mine inheritance and of my cup: thou maintainest my lot.
6 The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places; yea, I have a goodly heritage.” Psalm 16:5-6 KJV
9 But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.” 1 Corinthians 2:1-9 KJV
“It had always seemed to Emily, ever since she could remember, that she was very, very near to a world of wonderful beauty. Between it and herself hung only a thin curtain; she could never draw the curtain aside — but sometimes, just for a moment, a wind fluttered it and then it was as if she caught a glimpse of the enchanting realm beyond — only a glimpse — and heard a note of…
Moore to Ponder 