Father's Blessing

As I'm reading in Genesis, I read through the story where Isaac blesses his sons Jacob & Esau as his health is failing. Honestly, their relationship is less than ideal and typifies many rocky family relationships that we would identify with today. Nevertheless, Isaac has a wish to bestow his blessing on them and does so even though his sons aren't exactly bastions of integrity. After receiving his father's blessing Jacob left his home for two decades before returning home in time for his father's death. The thing that struck me is that Isaac didn't wait until his deathbed to bless his children. He gave them God's direction & prayer with time still on the clock.

This is a vivid example for fathers today. It causes us to question the way that we are interacting with our children.

• Are we blessing our children daily or waiting for a sentinel event?
• What words of encouragement, promise, and truth do we speak into their lives each day?
• How are we influencing their perception of God as Father through our attitude towards them?
• What are we waiting for?

There is no time like the present to speak positive life into your children and help set them in a God-focused direction. Don't wait for a graduation, wedding day, or death in the family to give your children a blessing. Positive daily investments produce lifelong blessings.

Give It Away

In Genesis 26 there are two brothers named Esau & Jacob. Esau was a hunter and spent most of his time away from home pursuing wild game. Jacob was the opposite of his brother in many ways and didn't venture from home very often. Esau had been hunting one day and returned extremely hungry and found Jacob who had cooked up some stew. While Esau begged Jacob for something to eat, his brother turned this to his advantage. He asked that Esau give up his rights as the firstborn so that he could eat and Esau flippantly acquiesced. 

It's hard to imagine giving up the birthright as the firstborn for a simple bowl of stew, but it honestly wasn't about the price that was being asked. It was more about Esau's disregard for the importance of the covenant that God had made with Abraham (their grandfather). This trade might seem incredulous to us, but I would argue that we do the same thing on a regular basis. We forfeit greater things for temporary pleasures because we don't realize the greatness of what God offers. Because of our shortsightedness we're not willing to set aside something good for what is best.

We participate in activities that we know are not spiritually or physically healthy, but do so for the immediate gratification it brings. We hide behind the illusion of busy schedules and being financial providers instead of spending invested time with our spouses & children. We convince ourselves that next month will be when we start tithing, serving, reading our Bibles, praying, and exercising because this month is just too busy. 

The concept of trading away a blessing from God for a bowl of soup is completely foreign to us, but we don't have the right to judge Esau. Far too often, we share his guilt in abandoning God's promises for the brief satisfaction found in physical pleasures and spiritual apathy.

In His Presence

We all want God to be for us--we just don't necessarily want Him to be with us. 

Most people would admit that they want God's blessings. We ask people to pray for us and for God to bless financial endeavors, job opportunities, health & medical situations, and our families. It's not a bad thing to ask for God's kindnesses, in fact, He makes promises to us and tells us to seek them out. We have confidence that we can look forward to His deliverance when we pray in faith.

The dilemma for us is that we spend so much time seeking the presents of God that we forget to seek the Presence of God. We desire Him as our advocate, working tirelessly our our behalf and always in our best interests, but we don't necessarily want Him as our traveling companion. Having God on our journey of life means that we have to be more aware of our actions, thoughts, and attitudes. Being conscious of His omnipresence means that we can't (in good conscience) willingly choose to sin and ignore the spiritual consequences. We can't grab onto the blessings God offers and live a life that's not dedicated to His will. 

Some people might say, "Just give me the good stuff!" not realizing that God With Us is the best thing He can give us. It's an adventure of maturing faith as we learn to desire God more than the gifts He can deliver. 

24 Hours

"At the end of the day" is a phrase that is used to describe a situation where everything has been taken into consideration. I was mowing this morning and listening to a pastor who uses that phrase quite often in his preaching and it got me thinking. What is true at the end of the day in my life?

• Whatever I didn't accomplish today will be there tomorrow--and if it's not I really don't have to worry about it
• I am one day closer to the end of my life here
• My wife is still the love of my life
• I love three incredibly beautiful and gifted daughters
• I am a product of heredity, my environment, and God's grace
• God's mercies will be new when I wake up
• Even if today's circumstances have been uneven or unpleasant, God still works all things out for my good
• I tried to better myself today--even in some small way
• I didn't have all the answers to my life when I started this day & still don't
• I am blessed by the people I am fortunate enough to interact with each day
• I have had an impact on someone today--whether positive or negative
• I am a son of the King
• To paraphrase one of my favorite baseball writers, "And tomorrow will be better than today."

Anticipation

I wrote this blog in my head this morning while getting things ready for worship services at Northridge. I found myself thinking about and praying for the people that were going to be filling the halls later that day. I knew they would be coming in with emotional baggage, expectations, frustrations, joyfulness, and a longing for something meaningful. My prayers turned towards God providing exactly what they needed and being faithful as church staff & leadership to do our best to let God work through everything that was going to take place.

The thought resonated with me that we need to have an eager anticipation for our churches to be filled and for God to do His work through our faithful obedience. We never know what each day will hold-I can assure that I could not have predicted all that today would bring-and we need to be ready to do our part as agents filled with the Holy Spirit.