Husband and Wife

S- So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep. While the man slept, the Lord God took out one of the man's ribs and closed up the opening. Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib and he brought her to the man. “At last!” the man exclaimed. “This one is bone from my bone, and flesh from my flesh! She will be called ‘woman,’ because she was taken from ‘man.’” This explains why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one. http://bible.us/Gen2.23.NLT

O- The woman was taken out of man. She was bone of his bone and flesh of his flesh. This explains why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife and the two are united into one. If she is created out of Him then she is a product of who he is. She is one with him.

A- The wife is an extension of the man. If you really want to know the man, look no further than his wife. If you want to know the wife, look no further than her husband. The two are one. We are also one with Christ. We were taken from His side when Blood and Water poured out. If you want to know who we are, then you must look at Christ. 

P- God, please help me. As I become one with you, help my wife and my family to become one with you as well. 

Double Portion

S- “Now then, your two sons born to you in Egypt before I came to you here will be reckoned as mine; Ephraim and Manasseh will be mine, just as Reuben and Simeon are mine. 6Any children born to you after them will be yours; in the territory they inherit they will be reckoned under the names of their brothers. Gen 48:5-6

O- There was no tribe of Joseph. Joseph was not named a patriarch of the faith. Joseph was not named as a son. He grew up an orphan, then had to also give away his first 2 sons. It was in living as an orphan and then giving of his sons that he secured a double portion legacy. This was a perfect reflection of Jesus. Jesus would be orphaned by His father and give the Jews and Gentiles to His Father and receive a great inheritance.


A- Because of what Jesus did, we can never be orphaned. We can enjoy a relationship with the Father, and everything that we do that bears fruit, should be given to God as a sacrifice and as we do that, we can be confident that a legacy will be secured.

P- Father, thank you that you have adopted me into your family and that everything you allow me to do for you is yours. Please give me the grace to give you everything you ask for.

What's Not Written

Scripture: I Chronicles 1:1, "Adam, Seth, Enosh"
Observation: Do you notice what is missing? Cain and Abel. What do we learn from what's missing about them?
1. Family conflicts alienating family members is part of our life of sin. That's true for the first children of Adam and Eve. Cain killed Abel and both of them are missing from the genealogy of Adam. Without Christ, our families would live fractured and divided, too.
2. God's purpose will always be fulfilled. Though Cain and Abel aren't in the lineup, God replaced them with Seth. God wants to use us but, if we aren't willing, He'll fulfill His purpose without us.
3. This is a prophecy of Jesus killed by the Jews. The 1st son of Adam was killed by his brother. Jesus, the only begotten of the Father, was betrayed and killed by his brothers, the Jews. The Jews were replaced by the Gentiles, like Seth replaced Cain.
Application: I have difficulty accepting family squabbles whenever I work with it. I realize that will always follow human life, even in my life, so I need to always watch my heart toward my family. I want God to use me, not replace me with someone else. I appreciate that I, a Gentile, am part of God's plan.
Prayer: "Thank you for speaking to me about my attitude toward family and my destiny in Christ. I want follow and please You."

Grace and Truth

Hey GBC family,

Just thought I'd post a thought from a devotional this morning. It comes from Genesis 3 where Eve says "We cannot eat of the tree, neither can we touch it or we will die."

An interesting thing to note is that God never told Adam that he could not touch the fruit. Several things that are significant. In this passage we see our tendency to err on the side of either legalism or grace. This happens when we ADD to the Word or TAKE AWAY from it.

God said, "But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die."

Eve ADDED, "neither shall we touch it". This is legalism that we tend to pull toward. We always put more restrictions on ourselves than God puts on us. That makes us judgmental.

Eve TOOK AWAY the word "Surely". This is erring on the side of grace. Satan took advantage of this by telling her, "you will not SURELY die". Many Christians do this by taking away the severity of sin and they become loose in their lifestyle thinking that God will overlook sin and they will not "Surely" have to pay for it.

The perfect balance it knowing the freedom God gives us to live and love life and also the severity of sin if we choose to disobey. :)

Another cool thing is in revelations 22, it talks of the restoration of Eden and at the end Jesus gives a warning,

"I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this scroll: If anyone ADDS anything to them, God will add to that person the plagues described in this scroll. 19 And if anyone TAKES WORDS AWAY from this scroll of prophecy, God will take away from that person any share in the tree of life and in the Holy City, which are described in this scroll."

It's almost as if Jesus is saying, "Let's not repeat the mistake that got us into this mess in the beginning".

This is one of the coolest insights I've gotten from that passage and just wanted to share it! :) Our Church name is fitting. Lets strive to live the balance of Grace and Bible.
Love you guys
Jonavan

Does my religion match my words?

S - "If anyone among you thinks he is religious, and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this one's religion is useless". James 1:26
O - Plain and straightforward, James says if I don't control what comes out of your mouth  then my testimony will be a candle without a flame. It's easy to be negative, backbiting, swearing, cursing,  speaking rumors, just like the guy next door.  It's easy to criticize and jump on the bandwagon especially when people rub you the wrong way or even when things get difficult does curses come out of my mouth?
A - I looked at my daily life and had one thought that if  I was to live for just one more day, what would I carry into the day. I would want to be a person who carries words of Christ to others at work and home. I want to be a life giver to people no matter who it is.
P - Lord, change my heart and let me be a mouthpiece for You so that You will be glorified.

Helping the Poor

TITLE: Helping the Poor
DATE: March 26, 2011

SCRIPTURE: Deuteronomy 15:11
“There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore I command you to be openhanded toward your brothers and toward the poor and needy in your land.”

OBSERVATION: The eradication of poverty is possible. God gives the key to accomplish that goal – 1) cancel all debts every seven years (v.1), and thereby stabilizing asset ownership so no one can accumulate more than their original possessions, and 2) carefully obeying “with care” God’s commands (v.4, 5). If these would be done, poverty would become history. But God is realistic and understanding of human nature. He realize that 1) and 2) will not be carried out and declares that “There will always be poor people in the land.” (15:11) Therefore, those with assets must be generous to those without to assist them. And we need to be “openhanded” or generous to the poor. (v.7-10)

APPLICATION: We are helping Maui’s hungry and poor, but need to go beyond, providing for the poor, and position them for prosperity through education, opportunities and mentorship. Empowering the poor is just as great, or even greater, a need as giving them a helping hand. For me, the eradication of poverty should be a major goal as helping them in their poverty. Our Maui pastors and churches need wisdom to know how to empower the poor in the island to lift them into self-sufficiency.

PRAYER: “Broaden my heart to see needs as You see them and help the poor in the long term as we are in the short term.”

Is God Responsible For Natural Disaster?

Click on picture to read story of Christians helping Japan

Natural Disaster is NOT God's judgement. It's His mercy.

S- Haggai 2:17 NLT

I sent blight and mildew and hail to destroy everything you worked so hard to produce. Even so, you refused to return to me, says the Lord.

O- God sent evil to bring us back to Him. Many times we look as evil as evil and because of that we reason that those things could never come from the hand of God. This is not congruent with the Bible. Many times God sent plagues, war, and hunger to bring people back to himself. When we see that God is better than health, peace and food, we will understand that the absence of these things are good if it leads us to God. People that see these things as better than God will never understand the goodness of God in absence of these things.

A- I need to see that God is better than anything else in my life. Right now I need to see that God is better than peace. He is asking me to do things that will bring tension and stress, but if I am obedient I know that I will experience the presence of God and that is better than peace. Right now I am struggling to see God as good because of what He is asking me to do. This is because I value peace more than Him. 

P- God, you are good. You are the best thing that could ever happen to me. Help me to let go of things that I view as important and embrace you. I love you and know there is nothing better in my life than growing closer to you.