Day 215 God's Favor

As we have seen through our reading today, the nation of Israel was not living as the Lord had declared. They had turned from the Lord and worshipped other gods, they had done things their own way and forsaken the Lord. Yet, He is now giving these same people hope, knowing that they will turn away from their wicked ways and he "will look on you with favor" (Eze 36:9b NIV). "I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh" (Eze 36:26 NIV).

Even today when so many have fallen into doing their own thing, doing what is right in their own eyes, we must remember that God allows pain and suffering for a purpose. That is, to draw us closer to Him. But once again we are reminded that we must be careful to follow His decrees and laws. (see Eze 37:24) He longs to show Himself holy through us, His people, who have surrendered to Him. We are here to bring glory to Him, not for our own pleasure. We are here to bring His love to the people around us, not what we can get from those around us. He longs for us to open our hearts to Him and to do what He has called each of us to do.

Read: Ezekiel 36-39 Taken from "Faithful Promises of God"

Give Him the Shame of Your Past

What I am about to share, I do so with great trepidation, for I am disclosing a part of my heritage that is full of sin, full of pain and continues to this day. As I continue to read in Genesis, I was struck this past week with something so weighty that it tore at my heart. In my humanness, I would much rather just pass this by and move forward, but in my obedience to my Heavenly Father, I must reflect upon this subject. For, in all my years of reading through the Bible, I had never seen what God is showing me to share.

My longing is for my family to grasp what I am about to reveal, but I cannot force myself nor my God on anyone, I can only communicate through my own experience and genealogy what God has impressed upon my heart. In doing so, I am opening myself up to ridicule, to judgment of those who think they are so much better, and to the shame of my past. But in doing so, my hope is to shed light on the darkness of that shame and as it is exposed, not only my family but perhaps yours, will be set free through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Several years ago, I did a DNA test to check on my heritage. Yes, there was question in my mind as to where I came from and I will leave it at that. As I worked on my family history, I started noticing a pattern. A child is born, not naming a father. In those times, they would have said the child was “born out of wedlock”. Then the mother of that child would pass the child on to her mother and leave. It then appears that several generations not only passed their children on rather than face their sin but then had very little or no communication with their child let alone their own mother, who was caring for that child.

To some extent, I am speculating that these women were strong-willed, did not know the Savior, and chose to go their own way concerning morality. Perhaps they were free women, before their time, not held back by the Biblically strong society of that time. Perhaps…

Then enters Dinah, in Genesis 34, she is the daughter of Jacob and Leah (see Gen. 30:21), who takes liberty and “went out to see the daughters of the land”. She was curious as to how the women of the nearby city lived, seems innocent enough, doesn’t it?

For a little background, Jacob had been living in the land of his ancestors (his mother’s family) for 20 years and God had now called him to “return to the land of your fathers and to your family, and I will be with you.” (see Gen 31:3) After wrestling with God (see Gen 32:22-32), Jacob met with Esau in Chapter 33 and finally came into the land of Canaan and stayed near Padan Aram. It appears he is considering on staying here because he purchased a piece of land. Jacob still had some ways to go to his final destination but it didn’t look like he was going any further.

Now, back to Dinah wanting to see how these people lived. The world lives so much differently than we are called to live and sometimes we just want to see what goes on. To experience just a little of the world. To make that choice to go against God’s Word. For aren’t we strong enough to do so without being burned?

Dinah encountered Shechem, “son of Hamor the Hitite, prince of the country,” he saw her and “took her and lay with her, and violated her.” MacArthur explains in his commentary, “Shechem’s action was forcible rape, no matter how sincerely he might have expressed his love for her afterwards (v3) and desire for marriage (vv11,12).” Then, like a spoiled child who knows no shame, he demands, “get me the young woman as a wife.” (v4) (see Gen 34)

The whole transaction that is about to take place, speaks of a self-centered people, is then accentuated by Jacob’s sons as they pretend to make a treaty with Hamor and Shechem so that Shechem can marry their sister. They added fuel to the fire by their ponderings, “spoke deceitfully, because he defiled Dinah” (34:13), as they plotted their scheme to kill all the men of the city and plunder it.

Two wrong do not make a right!

As we close Chapter 34, Jacob’s sons justify their actions by saying, “Should he treat our sister like a harlot?” Somewhere in my reading journey, I put this note in my Bible concerning verse 31: when a man has pre-marital sex with a woman, he is treating the woman as a prostitute. Now, that is powerful words and certainly words we don’t want to hear when so many live in such “freedom”.

As we continue into Chapter 35, we see that God, in his Sovereignty, used the events to move Jacob on. This also happened in Abraham’s life, Lot’s life, Job’s life, Joseph’s life and if we look hard, we will see and understand He works the same way in each of our lives.

It strikes me with severe reality as I contemplate my own family history. How many women in my own family were strong women, going against the instruction of the Lord and their family only to find themselves pregnant and having a child? Never once do we consider that we are going against the Lord’s best for our lives. Oh no, we are strong and free, we can do as we please. But there are consequences for such behavior. Maybe you may not feel the sting of those consequences but perhaps your child or grandchild will suffer for such freedom that you took!

When women do not recognize that pre-marital sex is a violation of God’s intended purpose for such a sacred act and allow men to treat them as a prostitute, you not only violate God’s protection but set your future generations up for further violation, defilement and abuse. And all because we were strong, free women.

All this takes us to a rather depressing low point. We see so many focusing on their self-interests, fulfilling their own desires, falling into deep depression and other health issues. They turn to worldly remedies, as sometimes they should, but not once do they think of looking to God for forgiveness. And that is where the answer is, surrendering your self-will to our Heavenly Father, who will forgive you.

As you continue in that surrender and have a desire to do His will rather than your own, you will find peace. He has been waiting for you, never forcing Himself on you, treating you with a respect but longs so deeply for you! Ask Him to forgive your sin and make a choice to turn to Him daily rather than turning to the sin that is so painful in your heart.

A New Year: Drawing Closer to Jesus

Around thirty years ago, I went to a conference where one of the speakers shared that she was reading through the Bible for the 50th time. She was a humble, mature lady that shared how God had used each time to show her more of what He wanted from her.

At that point, I had read through the Bible once and was just starting my second time. I was encouraged by this woman sharing her blessings with reading through the Bible but she also shared the struggles. When we set out to learn what God wants for our lives, there will always be opposition. That day I put it in my heart that I would read my Bible each day for the rest of my days, Lord willing. That dear woman helped me set a goal that until then, I never even thought about obtaining.

She inspired me to press on towards the goal of His high calling. I am pretty sure at that point in my Christian walk, I hadn’t even thought about Him actually calling me to anything, but I have come to understand that without His calling me, I wouldn’t be where I am today.

With reading the Bible daily, methodically from beginning to end in one year, I started recognizing some patterns. That God does call us to a position so He can use us. Sometimes He has to allow us to go through much purging to let go of the past and reach for the goal that He has in store for us. Can you imagine? I certainly couldn’t even comprehend that He had called me to Him so He could use me to further His work! And yet, Scripture revealed that very idea to me.

We just finished the book of Ephesians but I will remind you of a very key verse that also encourages me to keep going,

“For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works so that no one may boast. For; we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” (Eph 8-10)

We are also reminded in James how important it is to put your faith to work for Him,

“In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action is dead.” (James 2:17)

“As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.” (James 1:16)

We see in Genesis 6-8 that Noah put his faith into practice and obeyed God in the calling of building a boat. There is example after example throughout the Bible where you will see that God has a purpose for each of us. Make that your goal this year, to find these examples.

Before reading each day, ask God to show you just exactly what He wants you to know from His Word. Believe me, year by year, He continues to reveal more of His Word when you are ready and willing to obey.

Have you noticed that I’ve mentioned several times about obeying God’s Word? What is the use of reading the Word if you are not going to be obedient? Knowledge without wisdom is worthless. We are so weak at times but all we have to do is ask Him for help, to show us what He expects and the strength to do exactly what He is calling us to do. Oh sure, we will meet resistance many times but as we keep our eyes on Him and His Word, He will guide us through the dark days. The strength we gain with Jesus walking alongside us is empowering!

No matter what your age, take the challenge to read through the Bible, to learn from the Master. If you are young enough, perhaps you will one day say you’ve read through the Bible 50 times and encourage those around you. In the meantime, draw upon His Wisdom one day at a time and seek to do His will.

If you are wanting to take this challenge but know you need some help, I have a few copies of “Faithful Promises of God” that I am able to give away, if you cannot afford to buy one from Amazon. Just let me know and we will make arrangements to get it to you. If you haven’t noticed, my email address is on the first page of this blog: manager@afaeoriginal.com I want to hear from you, how I can help encourage you throughout 2021. May you be drawn closer to the One who can make a difference in your life!