{"id":16145,"date":"2021-06-08T22:00:19","date_gmt":"2021-06-09T05:00:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/genesis_26_12-22-copy\/"},"modified":"2021-06-06T16:47:06","modified_gmt":"2021-06-06T23:47:06","slug":"genesis_26_23-35","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/genesis_26_23-35\/","title":{"rendered":"Forgiving Brings New Blessings"},"content":{"rendered":"

Genesis 26:23-35 Click here for Bible Verses<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Hi GAMErs,<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is Genesis 26:23-35.\u00a0\u00a0Let\u2019s go!<\/p>\n

Genesis 26:23-25 (NIV)<\/em><\/strong>
\n23\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0From there he went up to Beersheba.
\n24\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0That night the\u00a0LORD\u00a0appeared to him and said, “I am the God of your father Abraham. Do not be afraid, for I am with you; I will bless you and will increase the number of your descendants for the sake of my servant Abraham.”
\n25\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Isaac built an altar there and called on the name of the\u00a0LORD. There he pitched his tent, and there his servants dug a well.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 23-25:\u00a0\u00a0One thing Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, three generations of men, had in common was that after hearing God speak, each of them would build an altar to God and call on His name.\u00a0\u00a0It\u2019s a reminder to me that:<\/p>\n

1. God wants to personally speak to people in every generation.\u00a0\u00a0You were made not simply to hear\u00a0about<\/em>\u00a0God from the generation before you.\u00a0\u00a0You were made to personally hear from God yourself and to worship Him.<\/p>\n

2. Just as Isaac pitched his tent and dug a well in the same place where he worshiped God and heard from God, so may you choose to live near God\u2019s presence every day, make worship your priority, and seek to add more blessings and prosperity to the place where you worship and hear from God.<\/p>\n

Genesis 26:23-31 (NIV)<\/em><\/strong>
\n26\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Meanwhile, Abimelech had come to him from Gerar, with Ahuzzath his personal adviser and Phicol the commander of his forces.
\n27\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Isaac asked them, “Why have you come to me, since you were hostile to me and sent me away?”
\n28\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0They answered, “We saw clearly that the\u00a0LORD\u00a0was with you; so we said, ‘There ought to be a sworn agreement between us’–between us and you. Let us make a treaty with you
\n29\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0that you will do us no harm, just as we did not molest you but always treated you well and sent you away in peace. And now you are blessed by the\u00a0LORD.”
\n30\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Isaac then made a feast for them, and they ate and drank.
\n31\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Early the next morning the men swore an oath to each other. Then Isaac sent them on their way, and they left him in peace.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 26-31:\u00a0\u00a0On behalf of the Philistines, Abimelech reaches out to Isaac.\u00a0\u00a0After having made trouble for Isaac, Abimelech admits that he and his Philistines saw that God was with Isaac.\u00a0\u00a0I believe Abimelech and the Philistines saw that God was with Isaac not just because of how much Isaac was materially blessed, but also by the honourable way he responded to the trouble his enemies caused him.\u00a0\u00a0So Isaac and Abimelech make peace with one another, entering into a treaty to say that they will not harm one another.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Isaac holds a feast for Abimelech and his men, and they part ways in peace.<\/p>\n

What can we learn from this?<\/p>\n

1. When you handle opposition and pressure in the right way, even your enemies will one day \u2013 maybe not right away but one day \u2013 see and acknowledge that God was with you.<\/p>\n

2. Whereas Isaac could have chosen to hold a grudge against the Philistines, Isaac instead chose to forgive and make peace.\u00a0\u00a0Who is someone you need to forgive and make peace with today?<\/p>\n

Genesis 26:32-33 (NIV)<\/em><\/strong>
\n32\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0That day Isaac’s servants came and told him about the well they had dug. They said, “We’ve found water!”
\n33\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0He called it Shibah, and to this day the name of the town has been Beersheba.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verse 32-33:\u00a0\u00a0The same day that Isaac makes peace with Abimelech and the Philistines, Isaac\u2019s servants discover water under the well they had dug.\u00a0\u00a0On the day you forgive your enemies and make peace with them, that is the day when you will discover new blessings.<\/p>\n

Genesis 26:34-35 (NIV)<\/em><\/strong>
\n34\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0When Esau was forty years old, he married Judith daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and also Basemath daughter of Elon the Hittite.
\n35\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0They were a source of grief to Isaac and Rebekah.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 34-35:\u00a0\u00a0At 40 years old, Isaac married Rebekah who was a woman of faith who trusted the Lord and who was a blessing to Isaac\u2019s family (Genesis 25:20).\u00a0\u00a0When Esau reaches the same age of 40, Esau chooses to marry two pagan women who most likely did not worship the Lord, and who would be a source of grief to Isaac and Rebekah.<\/p>\n

What can we learn from this?\u00a0\u00a0The choice of who you marry (if you decide to marry) is incredibly important and will impact not just you but your entire family.\u00a0\u00a0May God give you wisdom to decide wisely whether to marry and who to marry.\u00a0\u00a0If you do choose to marry, marry someone who loves the Lord and who reflects God in her character, for they will be a blessing to you and your family.<\/p>\n

Heavenly Father, thank You that when I choose to forgive, I stop living in the past and I discover peace and new blessings in my life.\u00a0\u00a0Please strengthen me today to live wisely for Your glory.\u00a0\u00a0In Jesus\u2019 name, AMEN!<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hi GAMErs,<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is Genesis 26:23-35.\u00a0\u00a0Let\u2019s go!<\/p>\n

Genesis 26:23-25 (NIV)
\n23\u00a0\u00a0From there he went up to Beersheba.
\n24\u00a0\u00a0That night the\u00a0LORD\u00a0appeared to him and said, “I am the God of your father Abraham. Do not be afraid, for I am with you; I will bless you and will increase the number of your descendants for the sake of my servant Abraham.”
\n25\u00a0\u00a0Isaac built an altar there and called on the name of the\u00a0LORD. There he pitched his tent, and there his servants dug a well.<\/p>\n

On verses 23-25:\u00a0\u00a0One thing Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, three generations of men, had in common was that after hearing God speak, each of them would build an altar to God and call on His name.\u00a0\u00a0It\u2019s a reminder to me that:<\/p>\n

1. God wants to personally speak to people in every generation.\u00a0\u00a0You were made not simply to hear\u00a0about\u00a0God from the generation before you.\u00a0\u00a0You were made to personally hear from God yourself and to worship Him.\u00a0<\/p>\n

2. Just as Isaac pitched his tent and dug a well in the same place where he worshiped God and heard from God, so may you choose to live near God\u2019s presence every day, make worship your priority, and seek to add more blessings and prosperity to the place where you worship and hear from God.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":16147,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16145","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gametime-sharing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16145","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16145"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16145\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16146,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16145\/revisions\/16146"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16147"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16145"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16145"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16145"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}