Building Faith

So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.         5 Do your best to improve your faith. You can do this by adding goodness, understanding, 6 self-control, patience, devotion to God, 7 concern for others, and love. 8 If you keep growing in this way, it will show that what you know about our Lord Jesus Christ has made your lives useful and meaningful. 2 Peter 1:5-8 (CEV)   The Apostle Peter encourages us to continuously grow in our faith because he understood so clearly that this growth would strengthen us against the stresses of this world. When we try to follow Peter's advice we can find many encouraging examples in scripture.                How do we add goodness except through a conscious effort to love our brothers.          We know that the inability to forgive hinders all efforts to love.           A beautiful example of the power of forgiveness is seen in Esau's forgiveness              of  his brother, Jacob.          We understand that our Savior expects us to show love beyond the love we have           for our friends and family 46 If you love only those people who love you, will God           reward you for that? Even tax collectors love their friends. Matthew 5:46 (CEV)          An exciting picture of brotherly love is seen in the stranger who stopped to help a          “neighbor” he did not know.  We all know about the "Good Samaritan" and this            group which was viewed with derision is now seen as the prime example of the            way a good man should behave.          Our bible provides for us the “building blocks” we need to improve our faith and           grow in our love of God, but it is up to us to study and use this gift. Every bible           study, Sunday school lesson and sermon provide opportunities to grow in faith.          6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected           knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou           hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children. Hosea 4:6 (KJV)              Self control, patience and devotion to God can be shown in our willingness to           spend time in His word as we prepare ourselves to hear with understanding the            Word as it is presented to us.          15 Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be           ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. 2 Timothy 2:15 (KJV)         Peter encourages us to live lives that are useful and meaningful, lives that fulfill           the “Great Commission” (8 If you keep growing in this way, it will show that what           you know about our Lord Jesus Christ has made your lives useful and meaningful.        Father God we thank you for wonderful teachers and pray that You strengthen         our resolve to do all that we can to be worthy of Your bountiful gifts. Amen.        May God Forever Be a Blessing in Your Life!!!

Seeking Grace, Not Entitlement

Now, please, forgive the trespass of the servants of the God of your father

Seeking Grace, Not Entitlement

Genesis 32:9-12 New International Version (NIV)

9 Then Jacob prayed, “O God of my father Abraham, God of my father Isaac, Lord, you who said to me, ‘Go back to your country and your relatives, and I will make you prosper,’ 10 I am unworthy of all the kindness and faithfulness you have shown your servant. I had only my staff when I crossed this Jordan, but now I have become two camps. 11 Save me, I pray, from the hand of my brother Esau, for I am afraid he will come and attack me, and also the mothers with their children. 12 But you have said, ‘I will surely make you prosper and will make your descendants like the sand of the sea, which cannot be counted.’”

 

          Esau is often pictured as somewhat of a crude man, the hairy hunter, the man's  

          man.   We are not prepared for the graciousness with which he greets his brother  

         after his brother had stolen that which was most precious to him, the blessing due   

         the older son.

  

         When Jacob prepared to meet his brother he had to acknowledge to himself and to  

         God that he had seriously wronged his brother and that his brother was justified in  

         seeking vengeance. What he did not know was that his brother had prospered in  

         material as well as spiritual ways in his absence and no longer needed vengeance.

        Although Jacob was not entitled to his brother's love and forgiveness, he did     

        receive it through Esau's grace.

 

        Many years later Jacob, now called Israel, had to reach out to his favorite son and  

        beg him to show that same unmerited favor to brothers who had sorely wronged   

        him.  Joseph, like Esau, had grown in material as well as spiritual ways and had a  

        heart that could forgive past wrongs.

 

        Esau and Joseph provide good examples for us in the art of forgiveness. One   

        endured  the theft of a birthright, the other slavery and prison yet each was able to 

        embrace his brother(s) in the warmth of forgiveness.

        Sometimes we feel entitled to our hurt feelings and justified in our wish for    

        retribution, but are we robbing ourselves of moments of God's grace?

 

       We pray...”forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us”...

       The “gift of forgiveness” is a gift to both the giver and the receiver. Let us be eager 

       for this gift.

 

       May God Forever Be a Blessing in Your Life!!!