Sun.’s Devo - Respond, Not React

Read: Genesis 26:17-27:46; Matthew 9:1-17; Psalm 10:16-18; Proverbs 3:9-10 Isaac had been asked by Abimelech to leave the land of the Philistines because his family was getting so powerful, the king was afraid he would overpower him. Isaac traveled away from Gerar and settled in the valley, but every time his servants dug a new well, the men of Gerar would come and say it was theirs. Finally, King Abimelech came to meet with Isaac and offered to make a covenant of peace with him. Isaac did and the next well he dug was not disputed over. He named it Beersheba. It was the same well that Hagar had been shown when she and Ishmael had been kicked out of Abraham’s house. *** Isaac was getting old and wanted to bless Esau, his first born, before he died. Apparently, Isaac knew nothing about how Esau had sold his right of first born to Jacob over a bowl of soup. Rebekah did, and she knew that the blessing now belonged to Jacob. She told Jacob what to do to trick Isaac into believing Jacob was Esau and Jacob got the blessing. Isaac blessed him with wealth and great harvests, with power and position among the nations. He would rule over his brother and all who cursed him would be cursed and all who blessed him would be blessed. *** When Esau realized he had been tricked by Jacob, he cried and begged his father to give him a blessing. Isaac finally said, that he would not be blessed with abundance, and would live by his sword and serve Jacob, but the time would come when he would break free from Jacob’s yoke. *** Esau was so angry with Jacob and planned to kill him as soon as Isaac was buried. Rebekah heard about his plans and told Jacob to flee to her brother, Laban’s house. She would send for him as soon as Esau calmed down. She also didn’t want Isaac to marry any of the Hittite women. *** In Matthew, Jesus had been kicked out of the Gadarenes when he cast the demons out of the two men and the demons went into the swine. This had caused the whole town to be afraid of him and his power. *** This sounds a lot like what we just read about the Philistines kicking Isaac out. People are afraid of power they can’t understand. Their first reaction is to reject it. We are about to enter into a game of great manifestation of God’s power on the earth and he is going to use us for it to flow through. We will face rejection and people will be afraid of us, but, we have to not react to this rejection and wait and let the Holy Spirit work in their hearts. Then, hopefully, they will embrace it. *** Jesus went back across the lake to where he was welcomed and Jesus healed the paralyzed man and told him that his sins were forgiven. Obviously it was sin that got him in the physical state he was in and Jesus dealt with it. The teachers of the law accused him of blasphemy. They asked if he thought he was God. (Little did they know, they were getting really close to the truth.) *** Jesus told them their thoughts were evil and asked them what was harder to say ‘your sins are forgiven’ or to say ‘stand up and walk’? To prove that he did have the authority to forgive sins, he told the paralyzed man to stand up, pick up his mat and go home. *** The man leaped up and took his mat and went home. The people were full of the fear of the Lord but they praised him for giving man the authority to forgive sins. *** Jesus called Matthew, who was a tax-collector, to become one of his disciples. That night Matthew invited Jesus to his home where all his friends who were tax collectors and sinners joined them. The Pharisees saw this and asked Jesus’ disciples why Jesus would eat with such lowly sinners. Jesus heard this and said that it wasn’t healthy people who need a doctor, it was the sick. Then he told them to go and study the Scripture that said, ‘I want you to show mercy, not offer sacrifices.’ Jesus added that he had not come to call those who think they are righteous, but to those who knew they were sinners. He was saying this about them because they thought they were the only righteous ones when really, they were the sickest. *** Some of John the Baptist’s disciples came to Jesus to ask him why his disciples didn’t fast like they did. Jesus asked them, ‘Do wedding guests mourn while celebrating the groom? When the groom is taken away from them, then they will fast, too.’ *** Then he added that you don’t patch old clothing with new fabric or else when the new fabric gets wet, it will shrink making a bigger tear in the fabric. The same is true about the new wine Jesus was offering to the people. They couldn’t put this new wine in the constructs of the law. They had to have new hearts to be able to accept Jesus and what he was bringing. *** Jesus is pouring out new wine today, and we must be able to shift into this new paradigm. What we have always thought about the end of the world and the rapture and Revelation has to shift. If we shift with it, we will see God’s kingdom coming to the earth and be a part of it. It is happening right before our eyes but we have to have eyes to see. The Age of Aquarius is coming and the Holy Spirit is pouring his spirit upon all flesh. It is a great day to live in and its going to get even better. *** Lord give us eyes to see your kingdom coming. May we not reject the next move of God because we don’t understand it or it is not how we thought it would come. May we respond to the new and embrace it and not react to it and reject You.