Perfectly Imperfect Together

In Genesis 43, the brothers return to Joseph since they again run out of grain. Reluctantly, and only with faith, hope, and trust in God, Jacob agrees to let Benjamin go with. This famine is rough and lasts 7 years, much like the coming 7 years of tribulation and trials that will be needed to encourage God's people to return to Jesus.  They freak out a bit when they get there and Joseph invit...

In Genesis 42, Jacob has now believed the lie that his son Joseph has been dead for the last 20 years. Joseph's brothers go to Egypt for grain due to the huge famine and are face to face with Joseph but don't recognize him. Joseph uses that to his advantage to press them. He wants to know if their hearts have changed as well as whether or not his brother Benjamin is still around. He tells them one...

In Genesis 41, Pharaoh has two dreams back to back that disturb him and no one can tell him what they mean. God reminds the cup-bearer of Joseph because God's time has arrived and Joseph's day and life are about to be turned upside down. Joseph tells Pharaoh the dreams mean 7 years of abundance followed by 7 years of famine and also lays out a plan of how to make it through the famine years. Phara...

In Genesis 39 & 40, Joseph is working as a slave in Potiphar's house and is honored by God and blessings follow him. Potiphar's wife tries to tempt him but Joseph refuses her and refuses to commit this sin against God. He is falsely accused and thrown into prison. God again honors him and is with him through it all. He is committed to being a kick-butt slave and prisoner and intentionally brin...

In Chapter 38, Judah has 3 sons and promises Tamar marriage to his eldest son who is struck dead by God because he's so evil. The 2nd son in line is the next runner up but lies, disobeys and deceives. He too is taken out by God. Judah gets some cold feet and thinks she's bad luck so he sends her back home with the promise that he'll send for her when his youngest son is old enough. He had no inten...

In Genesis 37, we see the destructive forces of favoritism, envy, and hatred bubbling up in Jacob's family. Joseph has dreams of God's plan for his future and his family wants nothing to do with it. God's plan for Joseph includes bringing his brothers into humility and ultimately saving them but they don't know about the saving part and don't want anything to do with the humility part. They make a...

In Genesis 35 & 36, God calls Jacob back to Bethel, back to the place God became real to him. At times we all need to intentionally go back to our Bethels, back to when the passion of God and the very realness of Him became the fierce burning fire in our spirits and souls. Jacob tells his family to toss away and get rid of all the false idols in their possession. All the soulless, empty foreig...

In Genesis 33 & 34, Jacob and Esau unite and it appears to be a friendly reunion. It seems Esau did indeed make the decision to release the yolk of comparison from his neck. The moment you become dead to everything around you other than God, it no longer matters what anyone else says to you or what anyone else has that you don't. You become dead to affirmations, condemnation, and comparison an...

In Genesis 32, Jacob is on his way home. When he left, him and Esau were not on good terms. God has been with him over the last 20 years and he has indeed changed, but he still has to face his past. He is humbly returning and is terrified of Esau's response. He stops in his terror to remind God of the promises He gave over his life. God is not the one who needs reminding, Jacob is . He is able to...

Genesis 31, Jacob had been working for Laban for 20 years and tensions are rising. Jacob wants to go home and make a life of his own with his family separate from Laban. Through the 20 years of struggle and hard work, God has been with Jacob and has blessed him. He is trying to leave his trickery behind him but falls into old habits and secretly flees with his wives and children. Laban finds out a...

In Genesis 30, Rachel and Leah enter into a childbearing rivalry. Rachel is upset she has not been able to have any children yet and has Jacob take her servant as a wife to give her some surrogate babies. She feels like she's then winning; however, there are no winners when the battle is driven by envy and jealousy. Leah then gives Jacob her servant as well as a wife so he could have surrogate bab...

In Genesis 28 & 29, Jacob is sent away to find himself a non-Canaanite wife.  Along the way, God speaks the covenant over Jacob when he stops for a rest in Bethel and also shows him a ladder to the heavens that God Himself built connecting us to God in a dream. Jesus actually came down to Earth and died on the cross for us becoming THE ladder connecting and bridging us to God. This dream...

In Genesis 27,  Isaac denies God's plan, Jacob lies, and Rebekah refuses to trust God's plan. Jacob tricks his father into giving him Esau's blessing. Thankfully, God's grace is not dependent on our "goodness". Esau cries out in desperation for a blessing as well. He is given a blessing, but it's a proclamation that he will have a hard life full of warring and will always be a servant. At the...

In Genesis 25 & 26, Abraham passes and Esau and Jacob are born to Rebekah and Isaac. They are fighting and struggling right from the start in the womb. Just like we have an internal struggle daily between our flesh and spirit. Esau sells his birthright for a mere bowl of stew because he's so driven by his intense fleshly desires. It's never a good idea to make important decisions when you're h...

In Genesis 24, we see a beautiful Biblical story of love at first sight. Abraham sends his oldest servant on a God-commissioned mission to find a wife for Isaac. They pray fervently for a successful mission and boy, does God deliver! God leads him square in the face of Rebekah who is quite a beautiful face to see by the way. He watches her silently and also confirms she has impeccable character. T...

In Genesis 23, Abraham loses Sarah. She was 127 years old when she died and they had lived a full life of tents and altars before God. They were in Canaan living as foreigners. This was the very land God promised Abraham his descendants would be given. He purchases a plot of land at the highest opening bid price and buries Sarah. He essentially makes an investment into the very land God had promis...

In Genesis 22, God tests Abraham's faith and asks him to offer his one and only son, who he loves so much and waited 25 years for, as a sacrifice. Abraham knows God's voice, His promises over his life, and that he can trust Him faithfully. Abraham obeys. Just like Jesus carrying His wooden cross on his shoulders, Isaac carries the wood for his sacrifice on his. Just like Jesus rescues us from eter...

In Genesis 20 & 21, Abraham again makes the same mistake he made with Pharaoh. He tells a king Sarah is his sister. God again swoops in and tidies up the mess. Even after his boo-boo, God refers to him as a prophet. Our callings and commissions in life with Christ do not change when we make a mistake. We are human, mistakes will happen. Then, Isaac is finally born! The promise they waited for...

In Genesis 19, we find a level of sin and wickedness reigning free similar to the days before the flood of Noah's time. God has mercy on Lot and rescues him from the city that is about to be destroyed. Judgment is coming and God is going to rescue the one righteous man remaining. Lot's wife can't seem to let go and looks back instead of urgently running forward in obedience to the direction God se...

In Genesis 18, God visits Abraham and Sarah and lets them know this time next year, they will have a son. Sarah hears and laughs because they are in their 90's. God asks why she laughed and she denies it instead of just being honest with God who always knows the truth, even when we try to hide or deny things. God asks "Is anything too hard for the Lord?" No, nothing is too hard for the Lord. Abrah...

In Genesis chapter 17, Abram and Sarai are brought to higher levels of growth and maturity and God changes their names to Abraham and Sarah as He continually changes them into who He intends them to be. God reiterates the eternal aspect of the covenant and requires circumcision as a sign and seal of the covenant. Noah got a rainbow, Abraham gets circumcision. It shows the MUCH higher level of impo...

In Genesis 15 & 16, Abram chooses to trust God and believe and God calls him righteous - because of his faith, not actions. God then walks Abram through the cutting of the covenant but only God passes through the pieces of dead animals showing it is a unilateral covenant that Abram cannot mess up. It's a promise God will bring forth regardless of any circumstances or mistakes along the way. Go...

In Genesis Chapter 14, a war breaks out and Sodom, where Lot chose to live, is taken. The two men went into the land not asking for a war but life doesn't ask our permission to get crazy on us. Abram hears of the news and swoops in to rescue Lot. The man who kept a close knit walk with God goes and rescues the one who inadvertently wandered into the world. Melchizedek, the king of Salem and a prie...

In Genesis Chapter 12, we have a shift in focus from a global view to zooming in on one man and his family. Abram is chosen as a super-star because he obeys God. Obedience is key. He wasn't perfect but he was obedient. The Abrahamic Covenant is spilled out promising that God will make Abram into a great nation, will bless him and nations would be blessed through him, and God is going to give them...

In Genesis Chapters 10 & 11, we have the breakdown of Noah's three sons and where they migrated and settled to. Before the scattering occurred, the people were trying to settle together in one spot. They all spoke the same language and were trying to build a tall tower up to the heavens instead of scattering like God had instructed. God intervenes and stops the madness and scatters them. He ch...