Twenty Seven....

Another beautiful day of paddle boarding, bible study in the morning and now home to rest before work.

What I ate, greek scramble, scone fruit, sonic for lunch: chicken sandwich and tots, rice with turkey burger.

What I read.... Genesis 27

So, a great deal of deception and lies and stealing go on in this chapter... Isaac is getting old and thinks he's going to die so he tells his son Esau to go kill him some tasty game and then he will give him his blessing. So Esau goes out, meanwhile, scheming Rebekah and Jacob come up with a plan to steal the blessing, the cook some goats to taste the way the Isaac likes, then dress him up and make him a hairy man and slather him him goat skins to make him hairy and smell like Esau... Isaac is not quite positive, but eventually falls to the deception and delivers the blessing to Jacob...

“Ah, the smell of my son
is like the smell of a field
that the LORD has blessed.
²⁸ May God give you heaven’s dew
and earth’s richness—
an abundance of grain and new wine.
²⁹ May nations serve you
and peoples bow down to you.
Be lord over your brothers,
and may the sons of your mother bow down to you.
May those who curse you be cursed
and those who bless you be blessed.”

So Jacob receives the blessing. It is slightly amazing to me how important the blessing is to his children, where the birthright meant nothing to Esau before, not it means everything. Where a blessing nowadays does not seem to pack the same punch that it did back them. I know that my parents pray for my siblings and me, however, I do not think at the time of their death they will call us to their bedside to deliver a blessing, nor do I think they would hold favoritism between us and deliver one child a more favorable blessing than the other. But than again, my father was not told by God that he would be the father of many nations. However, now that I've written this, if my parents do read this I would not put it past my father to give us blessings, if he can remember to his dying days, which I hope is many decades from now. I can see it now...

"ah the smell of my daughter

like lavender and rose oil

from a Fred meyer shelf

May God give you an abundance of rain

for your living in a Texas drought

May you serve many people

as your nursing skills improve.

Be charge nurse over others

and may you bow down to others in servanthood

May those who curse you be cursed

and those you bless you be blessed.

Ok so I totally made that up and my father would probably never say that... nor do I think servanthood is an actual word. But sometimes, it's interesting to think of your life in Bible times. As the story goes on Esau gets to his fathers bedside with the game and now the blessing is gone, he gets the crap blessing I guess you could say. He gets angry and vows to kill his brother, when Rebekah hears of this she sends him away. Now everyone is happy... try NOT! Isaac is dying and giving away blessings, Rebekah tells her favorite son to deceive his father and now for fear of losing him he has to run away. Esau, already sold his birthright for a cup of soup and now is wanting to kill his brother because he got the good blessing and Jacob- spineless Jacob, listens to his mother and deceives his father and runs away. I'm not really sure who is the most wrong in the picture, but I can tell you one thing. At least the Lord redeems us and are sins are forgiven and forgotten. I don't know how much I learned from this chapter. It is not good to have a favorite child, for it will tear apart the family, the couple, and in the end someone might end up dying and another in exile, while those remaining are left with bitterness, anger and rejection. But hey at least the Lord forgives!!

God Bless and Good Night!

Twenty Six...

Today was a lazy day, I sat around, watched movies, finished my puzzle and went to church. However, I did make some really awesome gluten free penne noodles and some amazing baked chicken, which tastes delicious!!

what I ate... greek scramble, clementines, ice cream left in the freezer, (trying to finish it up to get it out of here), chicken with noodles and cucumbers and feta cheese.

What I read... Genesis 26

I know a lot happens in this chapter as well, however, I kind of focused on this one area, because it appears that history seems to be repeating itself...

¹ Now there was a famine in the land—besides the previous famine in Abraham’s time—and Isaac went to Abimelek king of the Philistines in Gerar. ² The LORD appeared to Isaac and said, “Do not go down to Egypt; live in the land where I tell you to live. ³ Stay in this land for a while, and I will be with you and will bless you. For to you and your descendants I will give all these lands and will confirm the oath I swore to your father Abraham. ⁴ I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and will give them all these lands, and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, ⁵ because Abraham obeyed me and did everything I required of him, keeping my commands, my decrees and my instructions.” ⁶ So Isaac stayed in Gerar.

⁷ When the men of that place asked him about his wife, he said, “She is my sister,” because he was afraid to say, “She is my wife.” He thought, “The men of this place might kill me on account of Rebekah, because she is beautiful.”

That is awesome that the Lord still loved Abraham even though, he did the same thing with Sarah, just as Isaac is now doing with Rebecca, well these must be some really good looking women, for they were both well advanced in age and still being sought after by other men.

In verse 5 The Lord says, "because Abraham obeyed me and did everything I required of him, keeping my commands, my decrees and my instructions.” I know that I may be only reading a chapter a day, but Abraham messed up a lot like at least once every chapter. How awesome is it that the Lord keeps no record of wrongs, but sees his heart and his desire to follow the Lord and his faith was credited to him as righteousness and now the blessing is passing from Abraham to Isaac. So, cool. I am so glad that the Lord sees the good things we try to do and does not focus on the bad stuff that ends up happening most the time. How blessed we are that the Lord sees us through a rose colored glass that is called Jesus. Amazing!! How blessed we are to be part of the children of God. Thank you Lord for loving the world and me so much that you sent the Son and for giving all who accept it eternal life. Blessed is he whose sins are taken from us and are separated as far as the east is from the west and Blessed is he whose sins are no more, because they are not kept in a record log of things that we have done wrong. God is love and we learn in 1 Cor 13, that Love keeps no record of wrongs. How blessed are we.

Have a blessed night!

Twenty five...

So today was weigh in day, yet another disastrous week of no loss, but still down 2 lbs. Upping the ante again, maybe back to the first week hardcore scene again.

What I ate... breakfast shake, lunch- was a bit out of the ordinary it was a going away potluck- pizza and cupcakes, deviled eggs and other goodies. dinner- left over stirfry

What I read... Genesis 25

A lot happens in the chapter, Abraham marries another woman, they reproduce many more kids, We learn of Ishmael's growing family and how everyone is hostile towards them... And Jacob has some kids and the parents each favor one of the twins- not good between children or couples. However, the part I want to focus on is this.

²¹ Isaac prayed to the LORD on behalf of his wife, because she was childless. The LORD answered his prayer, and his wife Rebekah became pregnant. ²² The babies jostled each other within her, and she said, “Why is this happening to me?” So she went to inquire of the LORD.

²³ The LORD said to her,

“Two nations are in your womb,
and two peoples from within you will be separated;
one people will be stronger than the other,
and the older will serve the younger.”

I love that Isaac prays to God to allow let Rebecca bear children. She doesn't send in the maid servant when she can't bear children. He doesn't argue or get upset with God that his wife can't bear children. He just prays that the Lord allows his wife to bear children. I love that. All we need do sometimes is ask and the Lord not only delivers but gives her 2 sons. Amazing!! It's so cool the way the Lord will provide if you only ask. Sometimes, prayers that are unanswered are still answered. It's like when making choices, you can do or not do, however, by not doing you are still making a choice. Thank you Lord for all the answered prayers you have given me, and all the unanswered prayers that I am far better without those. Blessed is your good and perfect will for me and help me to stay in it and glean and learn to be your child.

God Bless