Bible In One Year-Day9 (January 9, 2014)

Many will find it boring reading the names listed in chapter10. It is good for us to read and study genealogies. Atleast, one sense we could get from it is that God has a record of family history. A genealogy is a pedigree; i.e. a register recording a line of ancestor, a lineage, history of a family. Through genealogy, traits and patterns of occurrences could be found. As a matter of factor, hidden problems and the root of occurring issues could be discovered. God keeps record and Satan also keeps record. Through genealogy, we could know which of these records are in effect. If that of God is in effect, blessings flow immeasurably;

Proverbs 10:22 “The blessing of the LORD, it maketh rich, and he addeth no sorrow with it.”

On the other hand, if Satan’s record is in effect, he will always be using it against the progress of the person unless such record is set ablaze in prayer (deliverance). God in His infinite mercy released good fountain to each lineage but Satan will always take advantage of our weakness to sneak in and pollute it. The secrets behind most problems were not known until Jesus revealed them in His words.

Matthew 13:25 “But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and departed.”

These family TARES (bad traits, bad omen, unfavorable evil patterns, curses and bondages, yoke and evil law) are the battles in the families of the earth; ignorance makes it worse. The power of any of these tares is responsible for people putting on sin as cloaks. These tares are the works of the devil and it is the reason Jesus came to the world;

1 John 3:8 “He that committeth sin is of the demon; for the demon sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the demon.”

Jesus is the great deliverer, healer and the Rock of our salvation. Without Him we remain in bondage. Jesus must walk into our lives to break the yoke of family tares and separate us from it. Only Jesus can change the evil law in the family;

Romans 7:6 “But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held; that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter.”

We were in the bondage of the corruption that was introduced in our adamic lineage, but Christ came to set us free by grace.;

Romans 8:21 “Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.”

Abram was in that bondage, God called him out of it by grace. By grace, God decided to re-brand Abram’s lineage. Abram was given certain instructions before the re-branding could start;

Genesis 12:1 “Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee:”

Abram got out of his country as instructed by the Lord but carried his kindred (relative) along. As he was increasing, the kindred was also increasing, until he was being choked. Partial obedience to God’s instruction could make a Christian’s life to be miserable. These tares contend with our progress, health, career, spiritual life and all the good things of life. Apart from carrying Lot along, another of Abram’s weakness was that he lied to the Egyptians. Despite his weaknesses, he still walked with God. The righteousness attributed to Abram was not because he was sinless (i.e. never sinned) but because of his faith in God; he always returned to God in his weaknesses. He was the second person to build an altar for the Lord; he was even more consistent than his ancestor, Noah.

Abram trusted in the Lord, we need to trust and obey Him also.

When we walk with the Lord in the light of His Word,
What a glory He sheds on our way!
While we do His good will, He abides with us still,
And with all who will trust and obey.

Refrain

Trust and obey, for there’s no other way
To be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.

Psalms 48:14 For this God is our God for ever and ever: he will be our guide even unto death.

Our next reading is Gen 13-15. Keep the fire burning and alive.