Working the Work Book

IDOK DEVOTION FOR MONDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 2009

It is Friday morning and I am already looking to Monday’s devotion. I am interrupting my Day One of Week Seven to make this note for you before I get back to page 151 of The Patriarch workbook (by Beth Moore); this is what she wrote: “An intense encounter with God can give us the courage to do the necessary things we wish we didn’t have to do. We may still be afraid, but we’re more afraid of disobeying God than facing a mess we helped make.”

My initial thought is if we lack the courage to do that thing we know we need to do but have not done yet, then maybe we lack the courage to do it because we have not had a Face to face with Jesus about it yet. Jacob had a Face to face with God in Genesis 32. Here’s a link to read the text in you like:

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis%2032:22-32&version=HCSB

And in the morning Jacob (Israel) arose with a limp but never before had he walked so straight! Oh, my goodness that is good!

Some minutes of Friday morning has elapsed and I am now on page 154. Let me set this up for you a little bit. We are at the place in Scripture, Genesis 33, where Jacob and Esau met again after many years of separation. You may recall that Jacob prior to Genesis 32 was a scoundrel, a cheat, a liar, and a thief, just to name a few of his character flaws and he fled from his home because Esau was mad enough at him to kill him. Remember they are brothers, same Momma, same Daddy. Now, we are ready for page 154 (maybe) and she wrote: “Consider the following quote from The Beginning of Wisdom: “”Jacob’s return to Canaan and especially to his father’s house means, almost certainly, meeting up with Esau. But confronting Esau is more than a practical inevitability; it is also a moral imperative. Failure to settle accounts with Esau and to make amends for his conniving past would leave a permanent blot on Jacob’s supremacy. It would also cast grave doubts on his fitness as the next patriarch under the covenant. For under God’s new way—in contrast to the uninstructed human way—a man cannot properly take his father’s place by denying or destroying his father’s other sons, that is, his brothers . . . Thus, when a man fights with his brother, he is indirectly fighting with his father.””

At least two concluding points come from this quote. First, our unwillingness to make amends can also “cast grave doubts on [our] fitness” for our promised lands. If we cannot humble ourselves and make amends—whether or not we feel we’re chiefly to blame—how are we going to be people who can do “greater works than these.” (John 14:12, KJV)?

Finally, when we fight with our believing brothers and sisters, we are also “indirectly fighting with [our heavenly] father.” Esau and Jacob were ‘blood brothers,’ but no greater kinship exists than the one formed by the blood of Christ. Those of us who are Christians are blood brothers and sisters in the most significant way. We know God has called us to forgive even our enemies and certainly our brothers and sisters.”

Before you wonder – this did not arise from someone confiding to me concerning family or friend conflicts – this is just where I working the work book and unless I misunderstood, the Holy Spirit prompted me to share. After all, I got to have something to write about, don’t I? 🙂

Father, Help us keep the faith in all these hard things like loved ones so gravely ill. We know apart from You intervening, the natural order of things will come to pass; help us take none of these natural order of things in the natural way but pass through them supernaturally, depending upon You and giving You glory as we do.

Many hours have expired since the writing of this devotion and I pray You will not only make it fresh to me again but to each of our Readers. I pray it will encourage each of us to do the right thing when the wrong thing is so much more appealing to our ‘natural man’. You know I’ve had the opportunity very recently; thank You that I did not do what I wanted. And thank You that in this moment I am now glad I did not do what I wanted and only You deserve the praise for that.

Thank You for the good news with Joshua and for the rest of his needs, Your will be done we pray. We pray for grace and care and support and LORD unless You do otherwise and bring complete healing here, we pray for sweet transition for some listed here. And we pray for we left behind to accept Your comfort.

Thank You for our IDOK Troops and for their safe keeping and we pray each will return home safe and sound. Thank You for this ministry; grow it, prune it, and develop it as You will for Your glory only. Amen and amen in the Mighty and Holy Name of Jesus.

As I post this it is 54°F and partly cloudy in Balad, IQ (Airport) and the time is 7:19 AM AST on November 9, 2009.