VIDEO Clothes That Make the Person: Jacob and Esau

Clothes That Make the Person: Jacob and Esau

And [Jacob] came near and kissed [his father Isaac]; and [Isaac] smelled the smell of [Esau’s] clothing, and blessed [Jacob] and said: “Surely, the smell of my son [Esau] is like the smell of a field which the Lord has blessed.” Genesis 27:27

Families can be complicated. Even more so in the ancient world: multiple children from multiple wives, extended families covering several generations living together. The family of Isaac is a good example: Esau was his father’s favorite; Esau’s younger twin brother, Jacob, was his mother’s favorite. As the older twin, Esau was due to receive his father’s blessing, but Rebekah, the twins’ mother, wanted the blessing for Jacob.

Esau was a man of the world—an outdoorsman, a hunter, in whom Isaac took pride. Jacob was a deceiver, his mother’s true son. In order to trick his blind father into giving him Esau’s blessing, Jacob dressed in his brother’s clothes so his father would smell the aroma of Esau and give him the blessing.

Dressing up to be someone we’re not is not the way to God’s blessing. Be true to who you are, who God has called you to be. Wear your own clothes, not those of another.

No wickedness on earth is more common than the various forms of deceit.  William S. Plumer

 

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Bible Stories – Old Testament_ Esau and Jacob

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Jacob & Esau…Ravi

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He Carried Our Burden

“He himself bore our sins” in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; “by his wounds you have been healed.” 1 Peter 2:24

It’s not unusual for utility bills to be surprisingly high. But Kieran Healy of North Carolina received a water bill that would make your heart stop. The notification said that he owed 100 million dollars! Confident he hadn’t used that much water the previous month, Healy jokingly asked if he could pay the bill in installments.

Owing a 100-million-dollar debt would be an overwhelming burden, but that pales in comparison to the real—and immeasurable—burden sin causes us to carry. Attempting to carry the burden and consequences of our own sins ultimately leaves us feeling tired and riddled with guilt and shame. The truth is we are incapable of carrying this load.

And we were never meant to. As Peter reminded believers, only Jesus, the sinless Son of God, could carry the heavy burden of our sin and its weighty consequences (1 Peter 2:24). In His death on the cross, Jesus took all our wrongdoing on Himself and offered us His forgiveness. Because He carried our burden, we don’t have to suffer the punishment we deserve.

Instead of living in fear or guilt, the “empty way of life handed down to” us (1:18), we can enjoy a new life of love and freedom (vv. 22–23).

Lord, sometimes our guilt and shame can feel so heavy. Help us to release our past and its pain to You and experience Your peace, knowing You have carried it all and have set us free.

Jesus carried the burden of our sin so He could give us the blessing of life.

By Marvin Williams 

INSIGHT

Our natural instinct is to lash out against injustice. But Jesus’s example (which is what Peter called it in 1 Peter 2:21) calls us to higher ground. Notice verse 23: “When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly.” Rather than returning what, arguably, His tormenters deserved, Jesus refused. In a sense, He chose to look up to the Father rather than down to those who caused His pain. Perhaps that was behind His prayer, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing” (Luke 23:34). In entrusting Himself to the Father, Jesus felt no need for retaliation.

For more on the cross, read The Mockery and Majesty of the Cross at discoveryseries.org/hp081.

Bill Crowder

Christians at Work

“For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.” (1 John 5:4)

The power behind our overcoming victory is none other than the presence of the Holy Spirit of God who indwells the twice-born (1 John 4:4) because of “our faith.”

Much has been recorded by the apostle John about the basis of our faith in Jesus Christ, the Son of God who came in the flesh to lay down His life as the propitiation for our sins. The completion of His work in us will be realized at His coming: “When he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is” (1 John 3:2).

These great truths are the foundational anchor that keeps our faith strong and our hope secure in Christ. Yet there is much more to come.

• We will “eat of the tree of life” (Revelation 2:7).
• We will “not be hurt of the second death” (Revelation 2:11).
• We will be given “a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it” (Revelation 2:17).
• We will have “power over the nations” (Revelation 2:26).
• We will “be clothed in white raiment” and confessed before the heavenly Father and His angels (Revelation 3:5).
• We will be made “a pillar in the temple” of God, and “shall go no more out” (Revelation 3:12).
• We will be granted “to sit” with the Lord Jesus on His throne (Revelation 3:21).
• We will “inherit all things” (Revelation 21:7).

Is it any wonder that John spoke of our “victory” that awaits us when we have “overcome” the world? May God grant us the steadfast faith to “occupy” until He comes (Luke 19:13). HMM III

Our Overcoming Victory

“For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.” (1 John 5:4)

The power behind our overcoming victory is none other than the presence of the Holy Spirit of God who indwells the twice-born (1 John 4:4) because of “our faith.”

Much has been recorded by the apostle John about the basis of our faith in Jesus Christ, the Son of God who came in the flesh to lay down His life as the propitiation for our sins. The completion of His work in us will be realized at His coming: “When he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is” (1 John 3:2).

These great truths are the foundational anchor that keeps our faith strong and our hope secure in Christ. Yet there is much more to come.

• We will “eat of the tree of life” (Revelation 2:7).
• We will “not be hurt of the second death” (Revelation 2:11).
• We will be given “a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it” (Revelation 2:17).
• We will have “power over the nations” (Revelation 2:26).
• We will “be clothed in white raiment” and confessed before the heavenly Father and His angels (Revelation 3:5).
• We will be made “a pillar in the temple” of God, and “shall go no more out” (Revelation 3:12).
• We will be granted “to sit” with the Lord Jesus on His throne (Revelation 3:21).
• We will “inherit all things” (Revelation 21:7).

Is it any wonder that John spoke of our “victory” that awaits us when we have “overcome” the world? May God grant us the steadfast faith to “occupy” until He comes (Luke 19:13). HMM III

Watch ye, stand fast in the faith

1 Corinthians 16:1, 2, 6-24

The apostle had written that glowing chapter upon the resurrection which we have read on a former occasion, but he did not consider it at all unseemly to close his letter with a few words upon “the collection.” To give of our substance to the poor, or to the cause of Jesus, if done in a right spirit, is one of the highest acts of worship—a deed of love which angels might envy us our power to perform. Is it not wonderful that God should condescend to receive a gift at his creatures’ hands?

1 Corinthians 16:2

Weekly storing is a most healthful Christian practice. If we were to put a portion into the Lord’s bag every Sabbath, we should always have money in hand to give to deserving objects.

1 Corinthians 16:6-11

Timothy was young, and therefore some might slight him: it is pleasing to see how the apostle thus protects him, and requests respect for him. The old should be considerate for the young.

1 Corinthians 16:12

He does not blame Apollos for declining to grant his request, but puts a kind construction upon his action, and is sure that he will visit them when he can. Always think the best you can of others.

1 Corinthians 16:13-15

This would be one of the best cures for the disorders which had marred their church! Watchful pastors are necessary to churches, and those are wrong who attempt to set up assemblies in which all rule, and none submit.

1 Corinthians 16:19

Not with a hollow kiss of hypocrisy, or an unholy kiss of wantonness. A shake of the hand is our western substitute for the kiss; and a good hearty shake of the hand is a noble sign of Christian fellowship.

1 Corinthians 16:21

To prevent imposture the apostle took the pen out of the writer’s hand, and wrote the last few lines himself.

1 Corinthians 16:1

Anathema Maran-atha or accursed when the Lord cometh

1 Corinthians 16:23, 24

A sweet conclusion. He had been obliged to write sharply, but it was all in love. May love be lord of this dear home.

 

Our God is love, and all his saints

His image bear below;

The heart with love to God inspired,

With love to man will glow.

 

Oh, may we love each other, Lord,

As we are loved of thee:

For none are truly born of God,

Who live in enmity.

 

Your Realities of Heaven

Let not your heart be troubled… I go to prepare a place for you. (John 14:1-2)

Much of the secularism and rationalism of our times dismisses the Christian view and teaching about heaven as “nothing more than hopeful thinking.”

But the Christian’s promised hope of future blessedness is founded upon the fullest and plainest revelations of the Old and New Testaments. That it accords with the most sacred yearnings of the human breast does not weaken it, but serves rather to confirm the truth of it, since the One who made the heart might be expected also to make provision for the fulfillment of its deepest longings.

God’s promises are made to the Christian believer, who generally has difficulty picturing himself as inheriting such bliss as the Scriptures describe. The reason is not hard to discover, for the most godly Christian is the one who knows himself best, and no one who knows himself will believe that he deserves anything better than hell. But even justice is on his side, for it is written, “If we confess our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).

 

If, and A Triple Promise

“If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.” 2 Chron. 7:14

Called by the name of the Lord, we are nevertheless erring men and women. What a mercy it is that our God is ready to forgive! Whenever we sin let us hasten to the mercy-seat of our God, seeking pardon.

We are to humble ourselves. Should we not be humbled by the fact that after receiving so much love we yet transgress? O Lord, we bow before thee in the dust, and own our grievous ingratitude. Oh, the infamy of sin! Oh, the sevenfold infamy of it in persons so favored as we have been!

Next, we are to pray for mercy, for cleansing, for deliverance from the power of sin. O Lord, hear us even now, and shut not out our cry.

In this prayer we are to seek the Lord’s face. He has left us because of our faults, and we must entreat Him to return. O Lord, look on us in thy Son Jesus, and smile upon thy servants.

With this must go our own turning from evil, God cannot turn to us unless we turn from sin.

Then comes the triple promise of hearing, pardon, and healing. Our Father, grant us these at once for our Lord Jesus Christ’s sake.