sneaking away from your problems

Posted on March 28, 2014 by Jefferson Vann

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Genesis 31:14-25

14 Then Rachel and Leah answered and said to him, “Is there yet any portion or inheritance to us in our father’s household?

15 Are we not thought by him as foreigners? Because he has sold us, and he has also devoured our silver.

16 All the wealth that God has plucked up from our father belongs to us and to our children. So, whatever God has said to you, do.”

17 So Jacob got up and put his sons and his wives on camels.

18 He sent all his livestock, all his property that he had gained, the livestock in his possession that he had acquired in Paddan-aram, to the land of Canaan to his father Isaac.

19 Laban had gone to shear his sheep, and Rachel stole her father’s teraphim.[1]

20 And Jacob tricked Laban the Aramean, by not telling him that he intended to go away.

21 He fled with all that he had and crossed the Euphrates, and set out in the direction of the hill country of Gilead.

22 When it was told Laban on the third day that Jacob had fled,

23 he took his relatives with him and chased him for seven days and followed close after him into the hill country of Gilead.

24 But God came to Laban the Aramean in a dream at night and said to him, “Be careful not to say anything to Jacob, either good or bad.”

25 Then Laban overtook Jacob. And Jacob had pitched his tent in the hill country, and Laban with his relatives also pitched tents in the hill country of Gilead. _________________________________________

sneaking away from your problems

It was right for Jacob and his family to pick up and leave Laban. Things would have only gotten worse, maybe even fatal had they decided to stick it out. Even Rachel & Leah agreed that they had nothing to gain by staying on with their father’s clan.

But how they did it was not right. When we have to make a change, we owe it to those affected to tell them why. Laban needed to be confronted with his failure as a leader, and his abuse as a father. Instead, Jacob and his family try to sneak away from their troubles. Rachel probably told herself that Laban had trusted those teraphim more than he did her, and stole them out of spite. Bad form.

LORD, when it is time to make a change, give us the wisdom to do it right.

[1] small idols used for divination.

Posted in consideration of others, discernment, Jacob, wisdom | Tagged | 1 Comment

healing on the Sabbath

Posted on March 27, 2014 by Jefferson Vann

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Matthew 12:9-13

9 And after he departed from there, he entered their synagogue.

10 And see, a man was there with a deformed hand. And they questioned him, saying “Is it allowed on the Sabbath to heal?”- in order to accuse him.

11 But he said to them, “Which man among you has a sheep, and if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will not take hold of it and lift it out?

12 Then, how much more valuable is a man than a sheep! So it is allowed to do good on the Sabbath.”

13 Then he said to the man, “Extend your hand.” And the man extended it, and it was restored, complete like the other.

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healing on the Sabbath

The religious professionals thought that they had found Jesus’ flaw. He was visiting a synagogue, and there was a man there with a deformed hand. The problem was obvious, and they knew Jesus would not avoid it. If he healed the man, he would be breaking the Sabbath taboo. No work on the Sabbath meant no help for this man. If Jesus obeyed the cultural norm, he would be denying who he was.

Notice the reason Jesus chose to heal that day. He pointed out to these critics that even they would rescue their property from danger on a Sabbath day. Doing good – especially the good of rescuing the hurting – is never outside of God’s will. God is less interested in our ritual purity and more interested in our caring for each other. Caring for people is his heart.

LORD, may we never neglect the opportunities we have to bring wholeness and healing into the lives of those who hurt. May even our religious habits never get in the way of showing your heart for the broken among us.

Posted in compassion, healing, Jesus Christ, love | Tagged | Leave a comment

making life decisions

Posted on March 26, 2014 by Jefferson Vann

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Genesis 31:1-13

1 Jacob had heard the words that the sons of Laban were saying, “Jacob has taken all that was our father’s, and from what was our father’s he has gained all this abundance.”

2 Jacob also saw Laban’s face. See, nothing with him was like it was before.

3 Then the LORD told Jacob, “Return to the land of your fathers and to your relatives, and I will be with you.”

4 So Jacob sent for Rachel and Leah, calling them into the field where his flock was

5 and saying to them, “I see your father’s face, that that nothing with me is like before. But the God of my father has been with me.

6 You know that I have worked for your father with all my strength,

7 but your father has cheated me and changed my wages ten times. Yet God did not allow him to harm me.

8 If he said, ‘The spotted will be your wages,’ then all the flock gave birth to spotted; and if he said, ‘The striped will be your wages,’ then all the flock gave birth to striped.

9 This is how God has taken away the livestock of your father and given them to me.

10 In the breeding season of the flock I lifted up my eyes and saw in a dream that the goats that had mated with the flock were striped, spotted, and mottled.

11 And an angel from God said to me in the dream, ‘Jacob,’ and I said, ‘Here I am!’

12 And he said, ‘Lift up your eyes and see, all the goats that have mated with the flock are striped, spotted, and mottled, because I have seen all that Laban is doing to you.

13 I am the God of Bethel, where you have anointed a pillar and made a vow to me. Now get up, go out from this land and return to the land of your relatives.'” _________________________________________

making life decisions

Three separate sets of information are coming together for Jacob to help him make his next life decision. First, he hears the complaints of Laban’s sons. He knows that unless he gets along with them, he cannot stay with Laban’s clan forever. Secondly, he sees a change in the face of Laban. He can tell that Laban’s attitude is different now. Jacob is no longer the flavor of the month. Thirdly, the LORD comes in a dream and leaves no doubt: it is time to leave Laban.

Jacob calls a family meeting out in the field to let Rachel and Leah know what is going to happen next. The decision is made, but he owes it to them to explain why. Any life decision is a major one. We owe it to ourselves and those who are with us to have very good reasons for changing course.

LORD, help us to be considerate and cautious when making life decisions.

Posted in consideration of others, dependence upon God, family, Jacob | Tagged | 1 Comment

snacking on the Sabbath

Posted on March 25, 2014 by Jefferson Vann

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Matthew 12:1-8

At that time Jesus was passing through the grain fields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry, so they began to pluck heads of grain and to eat them.

2 But when the Pharisees saw it, they said to him, “See, your disciples are doing what is not allowed for them to do on the Sabbath.”

3 He answered them, “Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, and also those who accompanied him:

4 how he even entered the house of God and ate the bread of the Presence, which it was not allowed for him to eat nor for those who were with him, but only for the priests?

5 Or have you not read in the Law how on the Sabbath the priests in the temple regularly desecrate the Sabbath but are innocent of wrong?

6 I am telling you, something greater than the temple is here.

7 And if you had known what this means, ‘I want you to show mercy, and not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the innocent ones.

8 Because the master of the Sabbath is the Son of Man.”

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snacking on the Sabbath

The mass rejection that Jesus and the apostles were now experiencing in the Galilean region was being spearheaded by the Pharisees. They had just had enough of Jesus’ failure to accommodate himself to their culture.

A case in point: Jesus’ disciples were breaking the taboo against doing manual labor when they grab a snack in the grain fields. That is an unholy thing, and an insult to good respectful people who know the boundaries and keep them diligently. The Sabbath was God’s idea, not man’s. Those disciples had no right to treat that holy day so casually.

Jesus obviously saw the issue differently. Like David in the Old Testament, Jesus put the needs of those with him above the cultural taboos of the self-righteous. It was not about the show. It was about showing mercy. Besides, as master of the Sabbath, it is Jesus who decides what is allowed, not the Pharisees, or the traditions of their society. Like the priests in the temple, if their ministry requires it, they can break the rules. Under the new kingdom from the sky, each believer decides how to keep the Sabbath. And each believer answers not to the Pharisees or even the church. He answers to his Lord, the master of the Sabbath.

LORD, forgive us for demanding that other believers live up to our standards. Give us your insight to see our fellow believers as equal workers for the same master, and the wisdom to let you be their judge.

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remapping a relationship

Posted on March 24, 2014 by Jefferson Vann

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Genesis 30:31-43

31 Laban said, “What should I give you?” Jacob said, “You will not give me anything. If you will do this for me, I will again pasture your flock and keep it:

32 let me pass through all your flock today, putting aside from it every speckled and spotted sheep and every black lamb, and the spotted and speckled among the goats, and they will be my wages.

33 So my integrity will answer for me later, when you come to look into my wages with you. Every one that is not speckled and spotted among the goats and black among the lambs, if found with me, shall be considered stolen.”

34 Laban said, “Alright, It will be as you have said.”

35 But that day Laban removed the male goats that were striped and spotted, and all the female goats that were speckled and spotted, every one that had white on it, and every lamb that was black, and put them in charge of his sons.

36 And he set a distance of three days’ journey between himself and Jacob, and Jacob pastured the rest of Laban’s flock.

37 Then Jacob took new sticks from poplar and almond and plane trees, and peeled white streaks in them, exposing the white of the sticks.

38 He set the sticks that he had peeled in front of the flocks in the troughs where they watered, where the flocks came to drink. And since they bred when they came to drink,

39 the flocks bred in front of the sticks and so the flocks brought forth striped, speckled, and spotted.

40 And Jacob separated the lambs and set the faces of the flocks toward the striped and all the black in the flock of Laban. He put his own droves by themselves and did not put them with Laban’s flock.

41 Whenever the stronger of the flock were breeding, Jacob would lay the sticks in the troughs in front of the eyes of the flock, that they would breed among the sticks,

42 but for the weaker of the flock he would not lay them there. So the weaker would be Laban’s, and the stronger Jacob’s.

43 Thus Jacob got much wealthier and had large flocks, female servants and male servants, and camels and donkeys.

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remapping a relationship

Jacob and Laban’s family/work environment had become so tense and toxic that it became clear to both that change was needed. They needed to put some distance between themselves, and establish new boundaries, with a better understanding of what belonged to whom. Both men had their own interests at heart, but God was at work in the remapping of the relationship.

The LORD’s interests were the same as they had been at first. He wanted Jacob to be safe, and to prosper. As we learn later, he orchestrates the elaborate stick ritual, not because there was some magical power behind the sticks, but as a way of teaching Jacob to trust his instructions. Another relationship is being remapped. Changes in the social structure of Jacob’s life are touching Jacob’s spiritual life as well.

LORD, give us the wisdom to let you guide our lives, and the sensitivity to your guidance that we will need in order to see our life adjustments as ways to become more like you.

Posted in conflict, dependence upon God, family, Jacob, relationship with God | Tagged | 1 Comment

infants and idiots

Posted on March 23, 2014 by Jefferson Vann

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Matthew 11:25-30

25 At that time Jesus responded, “I confess to you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and introduced them to infants;

26 yes, Father, for it was your good pleasure to do this.

27 All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one gets to know the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to introduce him.

28 Come to me, all who work hard and carry a heavy load, and I will give you rest.

29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, because I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

30 Because my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” _________________________________________

infants and idiots

Jesus is still reeling from a mass rejection of him and his message that is taking place in the Galilean region. He thinks about all those souls who had a taste of his coming kingdom through his ministry, and that of his twelve apostles. He thankfully confesses that those who did come to know the Father were drawn by the Father’s love. He is grateful for being the mediator who brought the Father into the lives of those orphaned infants.

As mediator, he then calls on all to come to him, learn from him, taking on his yoke. The world is filled with people doing hard work, and carrying a heavy load – a load too heavy for them to bear. Jesus offers the lighter option, the easier yoke. It is still work to learn from Jesus the ways of his coming kingdom and put those ways into practice in one’s life. But it is far harder to try to get to God on one’s own. That is the way of the idiot – the way of the rejecting cities. That way leads to disaster and destruction. Jesus is the only way to the Father and the eternal life he promises.

JESUS, we accept your yoke. Teach us your way – the only way to your Father. Give us rest from the idiotic path of “I can handle this.”

Posted in dependence upon God, destruction in hell, Jesus Christ, peace, works | Tagged | Leave a comment

trusting within the trial

Posted on March 22, 2014 by Jefferson Vann

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Genesis 30:22-30

22 Then God remembered Rachel, and God listened to her prayers and opened her womb.

23 She conceived and gave birth to a son and said, “God has taken away my disgrace.”

24 And she called his name Joseph,[1] saying, “May the LORD add to me another son!”

25 As soon as Rachel had given birth to Joseph, Jacob said to Laban, “Send me away, that I may go to my own home and country.

26 Give me my wives and my children for whom I have served you, that I may go, for you know the service that I have given you.”

27 But Laban said to him, “If I have found favor in your sight, I have learned by divination that the LORD has blessed me for your sake.

28 Designate your desired wages, and I will give it.”

29 Jacob said to him, “You yourself know how I have served you, and how your livestock has done well with me here.

30 For you had little before I came, and it has increased abundantly, and the LORD has blessed you wherever I turned. But now when shall I provide for my own household also?”

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trusting within the trial

Jacob’s household must have been an extremely toxic environment. Even the names of his children were reminders of a bitter rivalry between two mothers for his affections and respect . Added to that, Jacob himself felt like a servant. His father-in-law was in control, and Jacob was quite certain that Laban’s prosperity was due to his joining the team. So, Jacob wants to break away. Yet Laban does not want him to go. He is willing to pay more for Jacob to stay among his people.

Life gets complicated, and sometimes family is at the root of that complication. Sometimes families get broken from the outside, and sometimes they break apart from within. Sometimes your family can be a healing force, sometimes it can feel like a disease. Sometimes the pain gets so bad that it controls your life, and all you want to escape. Sometimes escape is the answer.

For Jacob, though, the time was not right for him to break away. He had been sent to Laban to protect him from another family rivalry. His staying with and working for Laban protected him from the vengeance of Esau. God would provide a release for Jacob. Until then, Jacob had to learn to trust within the trial.

LORD, for those caught in a toxic life situation, give them discernment to know when escape is your will, and when they should stay and trust you to protect them from within the trial.

[1] Joseph: he increases.

Posted in conflict, deliverance, family, Jacob, Joseph, trust | Tagged | 1 Comment

turning off the switch

Posted on March 21, 2014 by Jefferson Vann

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Matthew 11:21-24

21 “Tragedy is coming to you, Chorazin! Tragedy is coming to you, Bethsaida! Because if the miracles done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.

22 But I am telling you, things will be more bearable on the day of judgment for Tyre and Sidon than for you.

23 And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to the sky? You will be brought down to Hades. For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have stayed alive until this day.

24 But I am telling you that things will be more tolerable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom than for you.”

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turning off the switch

Chorazin, Bethsaida and Capernaum had seen more proof of the power of Jesus than any other place. They had seen the Holy Spirit at work in all of the Galilean missions. Yet they were rejecting Jesus and his message. Jesus pronounces judgment upon them – a terrible destructive tragedy that they will experience on the judgment day. Even the three cities famous for being destroyed by God in the Old Testament (Tyre, Sidon & Sodom) will fare better on judgment day than them. It is a terrible thing to reject what the Holy Spirit is doing.

Oh, Christian, have you seen the Lord at work? Have you experienced his blessing on your life and your family? What is your response? The three cities in Galilee were being condemned by Jesus because after having experienced God’s grace, they stopped living in it. They did not have to publically declare their opposition to Jesus. All they had to do was stop being into Jesus, stop passing on the word. The light of the kingdom is not a switch that people have the right to turn off when they no longer feel the need for it.

LORD, help us to pass on the message about the ways that you have touched us, so that our experience of you does not stop with this time, this generation.

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entitlement

Posted on March 20, 2014 by Jefferson Vann

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Genesis 30:7-21

7 And Bilhah, Rachel’s servant concieved again and gave birth to a second son for Jacob.

8 Then Rachel said, “With god-like[1] wrestlings I have wrestled with my sister and have been able to win.” So she called his name Naphtali.[2]

9 When Leah saw that she had stopped giving birth, she took her servant Zilpah and gave her to Jacob as a wife.

10 Then Leah’s servant Zilpah bore Jacob a son.

11 And Leah said, “Luck has come!” so she called his name Gad.[3]

12 Leah’s servant Zilpah gave birth to a second son for Jacob.

13 And Leah said, “I am happy! Because women have called me happy.” So she called his name Asher.[4]

14 In the days of wheat harvest Reuben went and found mandrakes in the field and brought them to his mother Leah. Then Rachel said to Leah, “Give me some of your son’s mandrakes now.”

15 But she said to her, “Is it a small thing that you have taken away my husband? Will you take away my son’s mandrakes too?” Rachel said, “Alright, he may lie with you tonight in exchange for your son’s mandrakes.”

16 When Jacob came from the field in the evening, Leah went out to meet him and said, “You must come in to me, for I have certainly hired you with my son’s mandrakes.” So he lay with her that night.

17 And God listened to Leah, and she conceived and gave birth to a fifth son for Jacob.

18 Leah said, “God has given me my wages because I gave my servant to my husband.” So she called his name Issachar.[5]

19 And Leah conceived again, and she gave birth to a sixth son for Jacob.

20 Then Leah said, “God has honored me with a good honor; now my husband will honor me, because I have borne him six sons.” So she called his name Zebulun.[6]

21 Afterward she bore a daughter and called her name Dinah.[7] _________________________________________

entitlement

This passage continues the story of how the children born to Jacob became pawns in a battle for Jacob’s love and respect. While God is still at work, this section focuses less on his sovereignty and more on the competition between the two sisters for their husband’s love. The children are merely objects used to gain the prize. In fact, it becomes less and less about Jacob, and more and more about what Rachel and Leah want. That is how selfishness works. We begin by telling ourselves all kinds of lies to justify our selfish acts, but eventually those lies do not matter anymore. All that matters is what we want — what we think we are entitled to.

LORD, purge from us the feeling of entitlement that we use to justify our selfish acts.

[1] The word is ‘elohim here, the word for God, but it is being used as an adjective. Most render it mighty.

[2] Naphtali: my wrestlings.

[3] Gad: luck

[4] Asher: happy.

[5] Issachur: hired.

[6] Zebulun: a gift of honor.

[7] Dinah: justice (the feminine of Dan).

Posted in conflict, greed, Jacob | Tagged | 1 Comment

calling off the game

Posted on March 19, 2014 by Jefferson Vann

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Matthew 11:16-20

16 “But what shall I compare this generation to? It is like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling to their playmates,

17 “‘We played the flute for you, but you did not dance; we sang a dirge, and you did not beat your breast in mourning.’

18 Because John came neither eating nor drinking, and they are saying, ‘He has a demon.’

19 The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they are saying, ‘See! A gluttonous man and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ But wisdom is proved right by what it does.”

20 Then he began to denounce the cities where most of his miraculous works had been done, because they did not repent.

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calling off the game

The kid was losing, so he called off the game. It was his ball, so he took it and went home. That is the kind of thing that Jesus is talking about here. The cities who had been first to hear the gospel preached to them, and who saw all the wonderful miracles demonstrating its truth – they had begun to reject him.

These were the cities of Galilee. That marvelous light shone in the land of Zebulun & Naphtali – Galilee of the nations. Now that land who had been privileged to see so much of what the LORD was doing had second thoughts about joining him. Darkness was winning them back. They criticized John the Baptist for his austere ways, and then began criticizing Jesus because he accepted the dregs of society.

Basically, these cities were telling God that if he wanted to save them, it would have to be on their terms. You do not tell God that. It’s his grace, his salvation, his plan. He sets the rules. You can join this generation and take your ball and go home if you want, but you will be missing out on the only thing that truly matters.

LORD, thank you for the many ways you have blessed us with your word and involved us in your plan. Give us the wisdom to accept this grace, and stay true to you.

Posted in discipleship, grace, Jesus Christ, John the Baptist, relationship with God | Tagged | Leave a comment