“Do not let kindness and truth leave you; bind them around your neck; write them on the tablet of your heart.” (Proverbs 3:3)
Be kind and tell the truth. Always. Hard to find better advice than that.
Matthew 4:4 #Biblebites
This Week’s Reading: Genesis 24-30; Psalm 3; Proverbs 3
This year, #Biblebites are looking at lessons from the history of the Old Testament. Each week reads a section of history with a Psalm to meditate on and a dash of Proverbs to dwell upon. If you would like a copy of the reading schedule, you can view it here: https://eastlandchristians.org/news-events/2024-vision
“Salvation belongs to the Lord; Your blessing be upon Your people!” (Psalm 3:8)
If you want something, you need to go to who has it. We go to car dealerships to buy cars, grocery stores for food, and home improvement centers for tools. We make the journey or the call to connect ourselves to whomever has the goods and services we are in need of.
Salvation belongs to God. When we are in distress, afraid, surrounded by enemies, or beset by weaknesses, we need to remember who has the strength we are looking for. Go to God first (not last) for help.
Matthew 4:4 #Biblebites
This Week’s Reading: Genesis 24-30; Psalm 3; Proverbs 3 This year, #Biblebites are looking at lessons from the history of the Old Testament. Each week reads a section of history with a Psalm to meditate on and a dash of Proverbs to dwell upon. If you would like a copy of the reading schedule, you can view it here: https://eastlandchristians.org/news-events/2024-vision
“Now the LORD saw that Leah was unloved, and He opened her womb…” (Genesis 29:31)
Through the deception of Laban (and to some degree, Leah’s participation, too), Jacob is tricked into marrying Leah, but he didn’t love her. Most people would see her circumstance and shrug their shoulders that she had “gotten what she deserved”, but not God.
God saw that Leah was unloved, and it bothered Him. Does it bother us when we see people who are unloved? In Proverbs, it says that the earth trembles at an unloved woman when she gets a husband (see Proverbs 30:21-23), but I fear that we see people live lives without love, and we simply shrug our shoulders and move on.
Look for those in need of love, and find some way to help. Remember, even a cup of cold water is a comfort that counts (see Matthew 10:42).
Matthew 4:4 #Biblebites
This Week’s Reading: Genesis 24-30; Psalm 3; Proverbs 3
This year, #Biblebites are looking at lessons from the history of the Old Testament. Each week reads a section of history with a Psalm to meditate on and a dash of Proverbs to dwell upon. If you would like a copy of the reading schedule, you can view it here: https://eastlandchristians.org/news-events/2024-vision
“When Esau was forty years old, he married Judith, the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Basemath, the daughter of Elon the Hittite, and they brought grief to Isaac and Rebekah.” (Genesis 26:34-35)
Esau had a reputation for making bold moves without always thinking them through. Selling his birthright seemed like a good idea at the time, but later, there wasn’t any room for him to change his mind once he’d thought it through (Heb 12:16-17). Snickers didn’t coin the phrase “Forgive me for the things I said when I was hungry.” – I think Esau got the patent on that.
Marriage is a beautiful thing, but marriage to the wrong person (or in Esau’s case, more than one person – yikes!) is a choice that comes with lasting consequences. Rebekah would later beg Isaac to send their other son, Jacob, away, so he wouldn’t hurt her heart the way Esau had (Gen 27:46).
“House and wealth are inherited from fathers, but a prudent wife is from the LORD.” (Prov 19:14)
Matthew 4:4 #Biblebites
This Week’s Reading: Genesis 24-30; Psalm 3; Proverbs 3 This year, #Biblebites are looking at lessons from the history of the Old Testament. Each week reads a section of history with a Psalm to meditate on and a dash of Proverbs to dwell upon. If you would like a copy of the reading schedule, you can view it here: https://eastlandchristians.org/news-events/2024-vision
“He [Isaac] took Rebekah, and she became his wife, and he loved her; thus Isaac was comforted after his mother’s death.” (Genesis 24:67)
Loss is something we all will face. When Isaac’s mother, Sarah, died, he grieved. His marriage to Rebekah brought him comfort from that grief. Comfort doesn’t mean Sarah ceased to matter to Isaac, but his companionship with Rebekah eased the pain of such loss.
One of the great lessons of life is that we need community to grieve. God did not design us to isolate during loss (although that is a definite temptation during deep mourning). God always intend us to surround ourselves with a multiplicity of relationships – not to replace those we lose through the sting of death, but to hold us up during the grieving process.
Solomon had it right – we find strength through the support of others (see Ecclesiastes 4:10-12). Build up your support network, and when the losses come, you will not face them alone. We are meant to comfort one another (see 2 Corinthians 13:11)
Matthew 4:4 #Biblebites
This Week’s Reading: Genesis 24-30; Psalm 3; Proverbs 3 This year, #Biblebites are looking at lessons from the history of the Old Testament. Each week reads a section of history with a Psalm to meditate on and a dash of Proverbs to dwell upon. If you would like a copy of the reading schedule, you can view it here: https://eastlandchristians.org/news-events/2024-vision
“Discretion will guard you; understanding will watch over you” (Proverbs 2:11)
Discretion and understanding go together like peanut butter and jelly. Discretion is the ability to act thoughtfully and refrain from saying or doing something foolish. Understanding is the ability to see the big picture, how the individual parts fit together, and recognize other viewpoints.
The person who exhibits these two traits is better at life. They will have more friends, make better life choices, and in general, live a safer and happier life. Not to mention the fact they will avoid being a nasty, slanderous gossip or a foolish babbler. I call that a win.
“Even a fool, when he keeps silent, is considered wise; when he closes his lips, he is considered prudent.” (Proverbs 17:28)
Matthew 4:4 #Biblebites
This Week’s Reading: Genesis 13-23; Psalm 2; Proverbs 2 This year, #Biblebites are looking at lessons from the history of the Old Testament. Each week reads a section of history with a Psalm to meditate on and a dash of Proverbs to dwell upon. If you would like a copy of the reading schedule, you can view it here: https://eastlandchristians.org/news-events/2024-vision
“Why are the nations in an uproar and the peoples devising a vain thing?… He who sits in the heavens laughs; the Lord scoffs at them.” (Psalm 2:1,4)
This Psalm is quoted by the apostles in Acts 4 after they were threatened by the Jewish authorities and commanded to stop preaching in Jesus’ name. After all the bluster and finger-wagging… the apostles were released.
Let the politicians wring their hands and make their plans. The kingdom of Christ will outlast them all. Is it a blessing when a nation chooses wise and ethical laws? Absolutely. What about when a nation despises Christian values and promotes worldliness? Our light can shine brighter as the world gets darker… and God laughs at their schemes to repress what He has built and bought with the blood of His Son.
Good luck destroying what God has built.
“Therefore, let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe,”
(Hebrews 12:28)
Matthew 4:4 #Biblebites
This Week’s Reading: Genesis 13-23; Psalm 2; Proverbs 2 This year, #Biblebites are looking at lessons from the history of the Old Testament. Each week reads a section of history with a Psalm to meditate on and a dash of Proverbs to dwell upon. If you would like a copy of the reading schedule, you can view it here: https://eastlandchristians.org/news-events/2024-vision
“…for we are about to destroy this place because their outcry has become so great before the LORD that the LORD has sent us to destroy it.” (Genesis 19:13)
The destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah stands as a reminder that God watches and considers the events of history and the ways of man. God is not distant and unaware of our sufferings or of the wickedness of oppressors. God sees sin and its ability to become a cancer that must be cut out for the sake of the salvation of the rest of the body of mankind.
God is a just God, and He is also a God who sees. He saw and delivered Lot, and He also saw and returned vengeance upon those wicked cities. Do not make the mistake of thinking that your life is hidden from Him.
Matthew 4:4 #Biblebites
This Week’s Reading: Genesis 13-23; Psalm 2; Proverbs 2
This year, #Biblebites are looking at lessons from the history of the Old Testament. Each week reads a section of history with a Psalm to meditate on and a dash of Proverbs to dwell upon. If you would like a copy of the reading schedule, you can view it here: https://eastlandchristians.org/news-events/2024-vision
“Then he believed in the LORD, and He reckoned it to him as righteousness.” (Genesis 15:6)
Abraham, a childless nonagenarian, was told by God to look to the stars and accept that he will someday have descendants as innumerable as countless burning stars… and Abraham took God at His Word.
That is faith. To accept as fact what God has said though it may seem impossible in your own sight. That moment of belief by Abraham is quoted over and over again in the New Testament as the guiding principle of salvation in Jesus. God does the work, we live as people who trust His Word as fact, and through God’s efforts, we are counted as righteous. The entirety of God’s plan of salvation can be summarized in Genesis 15:6.
Matthew 4:4 #Biblebites
This Week’s Reading: Genesis 13-23; Psalm 2; Proverbs 2 This year, #Biblebites are looking at lessons from the history of the Old Testament. Each week reads a section of history with a Psalm to meditate on and a dash of Proverbs to dwell upon. If you would like a copy of the reading schedule, you can view it here: https://eastlandchristians.org/news-events/2024-vision
“Is not the whole land before you? Please separate from me; if to the left, then I will go to the right; or if to the right, then I will go to the left.” (Genesis 13:9)
When Abram told Lot to pick first what land he wanted to dwell in, it isn’t likely that he was thinking about anything other than being generous to his nephew. Abram was just doing the right thing – being kind and putting someone else’s interests above his own.
Yet, that decision to let Lot choose led to Lot settling in the land of the valley of the Jordan, the land of Sodom and Gomorrah. Lot chose the good land with the bad people, and Abram was spared a whole world of heartache and suffering.
When we put the needs of others above our own, we put ourselves last, and that allows God to raise you up as He sees fit. Lot got the better land, but Abram got the better life.
Matthew 4:4 #Biblebites
This Week’s Reading: Genesis 13-23; Psalm 2; Proverbs 2 This year, #Biblebites are looking at lessons from the history of the Old Testament. Each week reads a section of history with a Psalm to meditate on and a dash of Proverbs to dwell upon. If you would like a copy of the reading schedule, you can view it here: https://eastlandchristians.org/news-events/2024-vision
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