Fri.’s Devo- Jacob Returns Home

Read: Genesis 35:1-36:43; Matthew 12:1-21; Psalm 12:1-21; Psal 15:1-5; Proverbs 3:21-26 God told Jacob to move to Bethel and reestablish the altar to God he had set up when he was fleeing from Esau. Jacob told everyone in his household to get rid of their pagan gods and change their clothes. This was a call to return to God. Jacob had not led his family spiritually as the head of his household, but God was calling him to change that. Jacob took their objects of pagan worship and buried them under a tree in Shechem. (Remember they had destroyed Shechem and had taken the women and children from that town with them. No doubt, they had brought idols with them.) I wonder if Rachel gave up the household idols she had stolen from Laban. *** Jacob and his family came to Bethel and Jacob built the altar and named it Elbethel which means “God of God’s house.” *** The nurse, Deborah, who had taken care of Rebekah when she was a child, died. She was buried in Bethel. *** God appeared to Jacob and once again told him that he was to start using is new name, Israel. God also gave himself another name - El Shaddai which means “God Almighty.” He told him to be fruitful and multiply and he would become many nations. Kings would come from his offspring and he would be given the land God have to Abraham and Isaac. Jacob set up a stone pillar to mark its place and poured wine over it as an offering then anointed the pillar with olive oil. He named that place Bethel which means “house of God.” *** Jacob continued traveling and when he got close to Ephrath which means “fruitfulness”, Rachel went into labor and died having her son. She named him Benoni which means “son of my sorrow” but Jacob changed it to Benjamin which means “son of my right hand.” Jacob buried Rachel in Bethlehem. *** Jacob traveled on to Migdal-eder which means “tower of flock” and there Reuben slept with Bilhah who had been Rachel’s servant and Dan and Naphtali’s mother. This dishonorable act cost Reuben his birthright. *** Jacob finally made it back home. Isaac was still alive and lived a total of 180 years. When he died, Esau and Jacob buried him. *** Esau’s lineage is given. He had married the two Canaanite women which his mother loathed, then he had married a Hivitte and then his cousin on Ishmael’s side. He had 5 sons by these wives. From his descendants came princes and eleven clan leaders. They lived in the land of Edom and Seir. The kings of Edom were listed, also. *** In Matthew, Jesus was walking through the grain fields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry so they began breaking off some heads of grain and eating them. The religious Pharisees saw this and accused them of harvesting grain on the Sabbath. (This was what Jesus called, ‘straining at a gnat to swallow a camel’) *** Jesus reminded them of what David did when his men were hungry. They broke the law by eating the shewbread that was reserved for the priests alone. He also reminded them of the work the priests do in the Temple every Sabbath. He told them they would have not condemned his disciples if they realized who was there among them and understood the scripture that said, “I want you to show mercy, not offer sacrifices.” Then he told them that the Son of Man was Lord, even over the Sabbath.” I bet this ticked them off. *** Jesus went into ‘their’ synagogue and noticed a man with a deformed hand. The Pharisees were ready to charge him with blasphemy so they asked him if the law permitted them to heal on the Sabbath. He asked them if they would pull out a sheep that fell into a well on the Sabbath. They all would. So he compared the man to the sheep and said how much more valuable is a person than a sheep. Then he answered their question - yes, the law permits you to do good on the Sabbath. What could they say to that? *** Jesus told the man to hold out his hand and when he did, it was restored. This ticked them off even more. They wanted Jesus gone. Jesus knew this so he left that area. He continued to heal those who followed him and to fulfill Isaiah 42:1-4. *** Lord, may we do the things that you did and greater. May we not be afraid of opposition or threats. We see through the ministry of Jesus that you can protect and empower us like you did for him.

Thurs.’s Devo - Wrestling with God and Winning

Read: Genesis 32:13-34:31; Matthew 11:7-30; Psalm 14:1-7; Proverbs 3:19-20 Jacob selected a list of animals from his flocks to present to Esau. Each animal group had a different shepherd, and when he approached Esau, he was to give him his herd and say that Jacob was right behind them. Jacob hoped to appease any anger Esau might still have towards him with his gifts. *** During the night, Jacob sent everyone across the Jabbok River and he stayed alone in the camp. A man came and wrestled with him until the dawn was breaking. When the man saw he couldn’t win, he touched Jacob in his thigh and injured it. Jacob still would not let him go so the man asked Jacob his name. The man changed his name to Israel which means ‘he will rule as a prince of God’. Jacob asked the man his name but he didn’t tell him. *** Jacob named the place Peniel which means ‘face of God’ for he knew he had seen God face to face and yet been spared. Jacob limped back to his family. *** Jacob saw Esau coming with his 400 men and divided his children with Bilhah and Zilpah and their children in the first group, then Leah and her children in the second group, and last of all Rachel and her son. Jacob went ahead of them all and met Esau. Esau ran and embraced him and they both wept. Jacob introduced his family to Esau and insisted that he kept the flocks he had sent ahead. Both Esau and Jacob had become very wealthy. *** Esau wanted to lead Jacob back with him to Seir but Jacob insisted on coming alone at their own pace. Jacob ended up in Shechem in Canaan. Jacob bought his first plot of land in Canaan for 100 pieces of silver. (Abraham had bought his first plot of land in Canaan for 400 pieces of silver.) *** One day Leah’s daughter, Dinah, was defiled by Shechem who was the local prince and the son of Hamor. Afterwards, Shechem fell in love with Dinah and wanted to marry her. Her brothers found out she had been raped and were furious. Hamor came to Jacob and his sons to ask for the hand of Dinah in marriage for his son, Shechem. He wanted to enter into a covenant through this marriage between his people and Jacob’s. Jacob’s reply was that they could only agree to this if their men were circumcised. Hamor and his son, Shechem were able to get the men in the town to agree so they all got circumcised. *** Three days later, while the men were good and sore, Simeon and Levi, Leah’s sons, attacked the town and slaughtered all the male there including Hamor and his son. The men were too sore to even put up a fight. When the other sons of Jacob arrived they saw the slaughter and plundered the town of all their wealth. They also took flocks and herds, the women and children. *** When Jacob found out what had happened, he was very upset, he was afraid the people around there would retaliate and he would lose everything, but this didn’t happen. Jacob would curse Simeon and Levi because of this act in his blessing at the end of his life (Genesis 49:5-8). This was not a small injustice they had done. God was not pleased. *** In Matthew, Jesus had just answered John the Baptist’s disciples question about whether he was the Messiah. As they left to go tell John what Jesus had said, Jesus turned to the crowd and asked them why they had gone out to listen to John. He reminded them that John was a prophet who didn’t dress in expensive clothes, but he was the one that scriptures had said would prepare the way for the Messiah. John was the greatest prophet that ever lived and yet he was less than those who lived in the Kingdom of Heaven. When John began preaching about the Kingdom, a war in heaven had begun and the Kingdom of Heaven was winning. *** People found every kind of reason to find fault in John because he wasn’t what they had expected. The same went for Jesus. He did miracles the people had never seen before and yet many had not repented of their sins. Every place Jesus had gone and displayed the Kingdom of God would be judged for how they received him. Yet there were those with child-like faith who had accepted Jesus, and they would be given the gift of salvation. They would enter into God’s rest and learn of him. *** Jacob had struggled with God and won and we must struggle with him also and win. We struggle with our pride and giving our whole will over to him. We struggle with sin and losing our lives. But, we always find that God’s life is better. *** Lord, may we never take lightly the gift of salvation and the joy of knowing you. May we always have child-like faith and struggle to enter into your rest.

Wed.’s Devo - Facing Our Fears

Read: Genesis 31:17-32:12; Matthew 10:24-11:6; Psalm 13:1-6; Provers 3:16-18 Jacob was fleeing from Laban secretly, to go back to his homeland. On the way, he would have to face the one who had tricked him repeatedly (Laban) and the one he had tricked and done wrong (Esau). Sometimes we need to experience what we have dealt out to others to understand its severity and our need to repent. Jacob reaped in Laban what he had done to Esau. *** When Laban found out Jacob had left, he went after him. The night before he caught up with him, God came to Laban in a dream and told him to leave Jacob alone. But, it didn’t keep him from letting him have it with his words. What he was really saying was, ‘I can’t believe you broke out of my control.’ He was more upset over loosing his stuff than the welfare of Jacob and his family. He was most upset about someone stealing his household gods. *** Jacob told him to search for his gods and pronounced a curse of death over whoever had them. This came true. Rachel had taken them and hidden them. She would later die in childbirth to Benjamin. *** When Laban didn’t find his gods, Jacob felt emboldened to speak and he told Laban exactly why he had left and how wrongly Laban had treated him. There was nothing Laban could say in defense. Laban had lost his control, so he now wanted to make a covenant of peace so Jacob wouldn’t one day decide to take out vengeance on him. They made a peace treaty and put up a pile of stones to mark their agreement and it became a boundary line that neither would cross to harm the other. *** Laban left the next day after blessing his daughters and his grandchildren. Jacob went the other way and encountered some of God’s angels. He realized he had happened upon a camp of angels. He called the place Mahanaim which means ‘double camp’. *** Next, Jacob had to meet Esau, the one he had tricked and wronged. He sent messengers ahead of him to feel out Esau’s attitude towards him. He sent gifts with them to pacify any anger Esau might have. The messengers returned with news that Esau was on his way to meet him with an army of 400 men. Because of his guilt, he couldn’t imagine that maybe it was a welcoming party of 400. *** Jacob panicked. He divided his group into three groups leaving his family in the last group. Then he prayed that God would protect them and reminded the Lord of the promises he had given him to make him into a multitude of people. In Matthew, Jesus made it clear that he was their master and he was being called the prince of demons, so we should expect to be accused of being demons also. Jesus told us not to be afraid of those who threaten us because God is going to reveal the truth about everything that is done in secret. He told us not to be afraid of those who want to kill us because they can’t kill our soul. God sees everything and will reward everyone according to their deeds. *** Jesus told us that he didn’t come to bring peace on earth first, but a sword to cut through the lies and hypocrisy. He came to expose evil and reward faithfulness. We are to support other believers, like we would have wanted to support Jesus when he walked the earth. *** John the Baptist was in prison for his testimony of Christ and he knew the Messiah would ‘set the prisoner free’ according to Isaiah. Since Christ was not doing that for him, he sent a message to Jesus asking him it he was the Messiah or if they should wait for someone else. Jesus sent him a message back reminding John of the miracles he was doing and then said, “and blessed are those who are not offended in me.” He was saying to John, instead of being offended by what I am not doing, look at what I am doing. *** What a good word for us. It is so easy to let one unanswered prayer take away the blessing of all the answered prayers God has done. That is why we need to constantly remind ourselves of the things God has done for us, and know that he is always at work. *** Lord, thank you for your perfect timing. Thank you that your ways are so much better and higher than ours. May we trust in your ways, your timing and your results. We trust in your unfailing love and goodness to us.

Tues.’s Devo - Jacob’s Sons

Read: Genesis 30:1-31:16; Matthew 10:1-23; Psalm 12:1-8; Proverbs 3:13-15 Rachel was so distraught that she was barren, she took it out on Jacob and blamed him. Jacob told her it was God’s fault she wasn’t having any children. Rachel gave him her maid, Bilhah so she could have a child through her. Jacob slept with Bilhah and she did have a son. Rachel named him Dan which means “judge”. Rachel said that through Dan, God had vindicated her. Bilhah had another son and Rachel named him Naphtali which means “my wrestling.” Rachel named him this to prove that in her struggle with Leah, she was beginning to win. *** Leah realized Rachel might truly win, because she had stopped having children, so she gave her servant, Zilpah to Jacob. Zilpah had a son Leah named Gad. Gad means “my fortune.” Zilpah had another son and Leah named him Asher, which means “joy.” Leah was on top of the world. She was winning 6-2. *** Reuben, Leah’s firstborn found some mandrakes in the field and brought them home to his mother. Rachel saw them and begged to buy them. Mandrakes were considered an aphrodisiac. Leah argued that it wasn’t enough that Rachel stole her husband, but now she wanted to steal her son’s mandrakes. This was the exact opposite of what had happened. Leah had stolen Rachel’s husband and now Rachel asked to buy them, not steal them. Rachel told Leah that if she would just share some of them with her, Leah could sleep with Jacob that night. Leah agreed. *** Leah met Jacob coming home that night. She told him that he had to sleep with her because he had paid for a night with him. That night Leah got pregnant and later had Issachar which means “he will be hired: he will bring a reward.” She said that God had rewarded her for giving her servant to her husband. Leah had a sixth son and named him Zebulun which means “dwelling”. She felt that now that she had given her husband six sons, he would respect her and dwell with her. She later had a daughter and named her Dinah which means “judgement”. She had no statement about Dinah; maybe this was God’s statement. *** Finally, God opened Rachel’s womb and she became pregnant and had Joseph, meaning “let him add.” She was so happy that God had added another son to her. *** Jacob went to Laban and asked to be released from his contract with Laban so he could return to his homeland. He asked for a payment for all his work. Laban told him to come up with a plan for a salary. Jacob told him he would continue working for him for a while and his wages would be all the speckled and black sheep. Laban agreed so Jacob took his cattle out and set them aside. Then he had all the healthy strong cattle mate in front of something that was spotted and streaked. They produced what they saw which is a spiritual concept: we become what we behold. *** God spoke to Jacob and told him it was time to leave and go home. He asked Rachel and Leah if they would go with him and they both said they had no respect for their father. He had spent all their money, so all God had given Jacob of their fathers was legally theirs. They were more than willing to leave. *** In Matthew, Jesus called his twelve disciples and gave them authority to cast out evil spirits and heal every kind of disease and illness. The disciples were Simon Peter, Andrew, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, Thomas, Matthew, James, Thaddeus, Simon, the zealot, and Judas Iscariot. He sent these men out to the people of Israel to announce that the Kingdom of Heaven was near. He have them authority to heal the sick, raise the dead, cure the leper and cast out demons. *** Jesus told them not to take any money, extra clothes, or even a walking stick. They were to accept any hospitality given. When they came into a new town, they were to seek out the godly and stay with them. They were to bless that home if it was worthy, but to take back their blessing if it was not. *** They would encounter wolves who would take them to court, but they were not to worry because the Holy Sprit would give them a defense. It would be an opportunity to be a witness of Jesus. *** Lord, help us to remember that when we are being persecuted that we are being given the privilege of sharing in the sufferings of Christ. Our lives are but a vapor, but we are living for eternity.

Mon.’s Devo - New Wineskins

Read: Genesis 28:1-29:35; Matthew 9:18-38; Psalm 11:1-7; Proverbs 3:11-12 Isaac called Jacob in to bless him before sending him to Paddan-aram to visit the house of his grandfather Bethuel, Abraham’s brother and Rebekah’s father. Isaac told him to marry one of Laban’s daughters. *** Esau knew that Jacob had been sent away to marry a wife from his mother’s side of the family that was not a Canaanite so he decided to do the same thing. He went the other way and visited with his uncle Ishmael from his father’s side of the family and married one of Ishmael’s daughters, Mahalath. Her name means “making sick”. *** Jacob left Beersheba and traveled to Haran and stopped for the night. As he laid his head upon one of the rocks, he had a dream of a stairway to heaven. He saw angels going up and down the stairway. At the top stood the Lord. He spoke and told Jacob who he was - the father of Abraham and Isaac. He promised him the same thing he had promised them. God would make them multiply on the earth and they would be a blessing to the world. He would bring him back to this land and be with him to bring to pass all had had promised. *** The place he was in was called Luz which means “perverse”. When Jacob awoke he realized that God was in that place and changed the name to Bethel which means “house of God.” Jacob vowed that if God did what he had said he would do, then He would be his God. He set up a pillar to mark the place. He would come back and give God one tenth of everything he received. *** When Jacob arrived in the land of Paddanaram he stopped by a well. He saw flocks of sheep waiting to be watered. At the well, he asked why they weren’t watering their sheep and was told that the stone was too heavy for one or two of them to lift so they would wait till all the shepherds arrived and together they could lift the stone. *** Jacob found that the shepherds were from Haran and asked if they knew Laban. They said they did and that his daughter, Racheal was just then walking up. Jacob went to the well and lifted the stone by himself and watered all of Rachel’s sheep. He kissed Rachel and wept. He told Rachel who he was and how he was related to her. *** Rachel ran home and told her father, Laban and he ran out to meet Jacob and brought him home. He stayed with Laban, working for him for a month. Then Laban offered to pay him and asked him what he wanted as his wages. Jacob said he would like to marry Rachel. He agreed to work for 7 years for her. But when the time came to marry her, Laban slipped Leah in at the last minute and Jacob didn’t know till the next morning. He was livid. Laban explained that it was not their custom to marry the second born before marrying the first born and Leah was the first born. Laban told Jacob to just finish out the week with Leah and the next week he would be given Rachel, but he had to work for him another 7 years without pay. Jacob agree. Jacob had met his match on being tricky. He was reaping what he had sowed with his own brother. *** God had compassion on Leah since she was unloved by her husband and opened her womb. She named her first son Reuben which means “see, a son.” She hoped that it would make Jacob notice her and love her. She had a second son and named him Simeon which means “hearkening”. She hoped that with this son, Jacob would not only see her but hear her, also. She had a third son and named him Levi which means “joined.” Through him she hoped to be bonded to her husband. With her fourth son, Judah she finally learned to put her focus on the Lord and just praise him. *** In Matthew, Jesus had just made the statement about putting new wine in old wineskins and how it wouldn’t work when one of the leaders of the synagogue came to him humbly begging Jesus to raise his 12 year old daughter from the dead. What a picture of new wineskin. He was a leader of the synagogue who opposed Jesus and yet he broke out of that mold and he is came to Jesus, asking the greatest miracle of all - to raise someone from the dead. Jesus was going with him to pray for his daughter when a woman who had been bleeding for 12 years reached out and took some of Jesus’ healing virtue. Jesus stopped in his tracks and turned to confront her. He told her that her faith had made her well. She was instantly healed. Having faith was part of this new wineskin. *** The story doesn’t tell us if the daughter had been born with an infirmity or not but the fact that she was 12 and the lady had been sick for 12 years is not a coincidence we can ignore. We just read of two women, Leah and Rachel who would together have 12 sons who would become the 12 tribes of Israel. All of these women suffered to have their dreams come true and to see salvation come to them. *** Jesus did raise the girl from the dead, and healed the woman who had been bleeding for 12 years and healed Rachel’s womb so she would have two sons. He did heal Leah’s heart so she could praise the Lord again. *** The number 12 has to do with God’s government. He was establishing his kingdom on earth by all the things he did. He next healed a blind man and a man who was deaf and dumb. When God’s government is set up on earth all who were blind to what was happening will be able to see, and those who couldn’t hear the truth will be able to. *** The religious leaders couldn’t stand what Jesus was doing because it was bad for their business. They said that what he did was because he was working for Satan who allowed him to do all these miracles. They accused Jesus of what they were doing. *** People from everywhere began coming to Jesus, breaking out of their old wineskins, and Jesus told his disciples to pray for the Lord of the harvest to send out more workers. *** Lord, how exciting is the time of right now! You are opening the eyes and ears of people who didn’t see the truth. They are now being able to see. Continue to open our eyes and ears to see and hear the truth and give us great discernment and wisdom. May we be your new wineskins.

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.

Sat.’s Devo - The Power of God

Read: Genesis 24:52-26:16; Matthew 8:18-34; Psalm 10:1-15; Proverbs 3:7-8 When Abraham’s servant found that Rebekah’s father and brother were going to let him take her back, he brought out all the gifts he had brought for Isaac’s wife-to-be. The servant was eager to get back and present Rebekah to Isaac. Her mother and Laban had wanted her to stay another 10 days, but they left the decision with Rebekah. Rebekah said she was ready to go. *** Rebekah was given her childhood nurse and their blessings that she would have millions of descendants and they would conquer their enemies. *** When Rebekah and the servant got close to home, Isaac saw them from afar and started walking toward them. He welcomed Rebekah and loved her deeply. She comforted him over his mother’s death. *** Meanwhile his father remarried a woman named Keturah and had six sons. This was God’s way of comforting him also. Jokshan and Midian became leaders of several nations. Abraham left his inheritance to Isaac but gave his other sons gifts and sent them to the land in the east… apart from Isaac. *** Abraham lived 75 years after he had Isaac, and was buried in the same cave in Machpelah as Sarah was buried. *** Ishmael had 12 sons who became princes and lived in open hostility with their relatives just as God had said. *** Rebekah had been barren but God answered Isaac’s prayer and she became pregnant. Her stomach was so active she asked the Lord about it. He told her she was having twins and they would become two nations. They would be rivals from the start and the younger son would rule over the older. *** She did have twins. The first son was red and covered with thick hair like fur. They named him Esau which means “his doings is shaggy”. The next boy came out holding on to Esau’s heel. They named him Jacob which means “he will take by the heel; supplanter.” *** As they grew up. Esau became a hunter and Jacob, a homebody. Isaac related to Esau and loved eating his wild game but Rebekah loved Jacob the most. *** Jacob was tricky and wanted Esau’s birthright as the first born. He tricked Esau into giving it to him over a bowl of red stew. In this way, Esau showed contempt for his birthright which was suppose to be a holy honor. *** A famine came to the land so Isaac moved his family to Gerar where his father had gone during the famine of his day. Isaac did the same thing his father Abraham had done. He told Rebekah to tell everyone that he was her brother. The king saw him caressing her one day and called Isaac in and rebuked him for lying to him. He made a proclamation that anyone who touched his wife would be dead. *** Isaac planted his crops that year and produced 100 times what he planted. That is amazing! He became so rich that the Philistines began to become jealous and started filling up the wells with dirt. These were the wells that Abraham’s servants had dug. Finally, Abimelech ordered Isaac to leave the country because he had become too powerful. *** That is serious blessing when your enemy says you are too powerful to stay around. That is why the enemy has done so much to steal our blessings from us as a nation and as the people of God. He knows how powerful we are if we just knew it too. Satan is doing everything he can to get rid of us. It won’t work because we are to inherit the earth! *** In Matthew, Jesus instructed his disciples to cross the lake. Many had excuses why they couldn’t go with him. They were all things that the disciples had given up. As they were crossing the lake, a huge storm rose up in defiance. Jesus was sleeping and was awakened by the distressed disciples. He rebuked them for having such little faith. He rebuked the wind and the waves and there was total calm. The disciples were amazed. *** They met the reason for the storm as soon as they got there. Two men were possessed by demons who were the principalities of the region. They lived among the dead and terrorized anyone who came near. But they were terrorized when Jesus came near. They knew who he was, and that they were about to be cast out. They begged to go into the swine. Jesus let them and the swine ran off a cliff and drown in the water below. *** The herdsmen of the swine ran into town and told everyone what had happened and instead of being grateful, they begged Jesus to leave them alone. They were just like Abimelech - too afraid of the power of God. *** We should be that affective over Satan’s kingdom. The day is coming when demons will flee when we walk into the room because we have the power of God inside us and we know how to release it. Satan is so afraid we are going to learn how to do this. *** Lord, teach us how to let your power out and witness your redemption on the earth.