New Beginnings, Day 35 Renewal. Read Genesis chapter 35. Jacob has been through quite a lot in the past few chapters. Some situations he has handled well, other situations he has not. Regardless, God uses the first part of this chapter as an opportunity to renew his commitment to Jacob. God reminds Jacob that he is going to bless him and that he is going to make a great nation of him. God changes his name to Israel so that he will be permanently reminded of this blessing. When we go through all the things that God allows us to, even if we don’t handle everything well, that doesn’t change…

New Beginnings, Day 34 Anger and deceit. Read Genesis chapter 34. Jacob’s daughter was raped and Jacob’s sons are upset. They are furious it happened. They are furious that Jacob hasn’t done anything. So, they devise a plan to get revenge. Throughout this time, they never came to God. They never consulted Him. With sin in the world, unfortunately evil happens. What happened to Dinah was horrible and inexcusable. Jacob’s sons had every right to be furious. But, even in our anger at the injustices of the world, we can’t outstep God. Vengeance is the Lord’s. We can be angry, but we must bring our anger to God and allow…

New Beginnings, Day 33 Relationships. Read Genesis chapter 33. Jacob had been so worried about this encounter. Honestly, he probably thought about it for years and it may have been why he stayed where he did for as long as he did. How would his brother treat him? Now he has the answer to that. His brother is kind to him. Jacob’s response is to recognize that it wasn’t about gifts or stuff, but the relationship was what mattered. When we look at our lives, it’s not about the things that we have. Our possessions will come to mean nothing and will ultimately belong to someone else after we die.…

New Beginnings, Day 32 Where we came from. Read Genesis chapter 32. As we go through new beginnings, it’s important to take time to look back and see where we’ve been. We are only where we are because of where we have been in the past. Our situations and circumstances, even the hard ones, have forged us into the individuals that we are today. Our perspective is colored by the experiences we have lived through up to this point. Jacob has this moment as well. As Jacob is remembering what his life was like 20 years ago when he came through that land at that time, we also need to…

New Beginnings, Day 31 God sees. Read Genesis chapter 31. Jacob is heading home. He leaves and he’s worried about leaving. As it turns out, he had reason to be worried. Laban chased them down. God has the situation in complete control. Jacob was concerned and was worried. But, God had the entire situation under control. Jacob says here the importance of the fact that God sees him. God sees us too. He knows what we are going through and he keeps the situation well in hand. Are we trusting God to take control of all situations, because he is in control of all situations? Check out today’s video devotional…

New Beginnings, Day 29 Recognize where our blessings come from. Read Genesis chapter 29. A lot happens in this chapter, and we learn a lot about Jacob and who he is. We also realize that he meets his match in his uncle Laban, as far as deceitfulness is concerned. But today, this verse about Leah really struck me. Leah was in a difficult situation. She was unloved in marriage and God saw that. God took care of her, but Leah didn’t recognize that. The first three sons she had, she thought she could use that to be able to make Jacob love her, instead of recognizing where those blessings came…

New Beginnings, Day 28 Stairway to heaven. Read Genesis chapter 28. Despite what any song may say, this is the original, and the only stairway to heaven. As we read about Jacob’s dream and seek to understand how this applies to him, we see that God was letting him know he’s with him. He is there. It didn’t matter what Jacob was going through and didn’t matter where he was going to, he needed to understand that God was always going to be with him. As we go through new beginnings and move toward the new things that God has for us, we need to understand that God is with…

New Beginnings, Day 27 “Do what I say.” Read Genesis chapter 27. Parents have a greater responsibility. Similar to leaders, they are giving advice and counsel to others so what they tell people to do matters. Rebekah wanted what she wanted for her don and she directed him to do it. While she said to let the consequences fall on her, it’s hard to believe that she had really thought them through. Do we make rash decisions and then lead others in those as well? Do we really think through the consequences of what we are saying and directing others to do? How can we lead people to do like…

New Beginnings, Day 26 Peace. Read Genesis chapter 26. In this chapter, we learn much more about Isaac the man. Typically throughout scripture, we think of Isaac as either the son of Abraham or as the father of Jacob and Esau. Rarely do we think of him as his own person. This chapter allows us to get a glimpse into who Isaac was as a man. We see that he had several of the same faults as his father, but we also see him as the consummate peacemaker. He is always looking for a way in which to live in peace and harmony with those around him. It does not…

New Beginnings, Day 25 Excessive. Read Genesis chapter 25. Rebekah wasn’t the only woman to have her kids wrestle around in her womb, but it must have been so excessive since she went to ask God about it. It’s amazing to think about how much movement would have been considered excessive, and just how much fussing and fighting was going on between Jacob and Esau before they were even born. God obviously had planned for all of that, but it’s interesting to realize that Rebekah wanted to understand what that plan was and why things seemed to be unusual. Do we try to fix them or do we go to…