Okay, I've got the morning thing down, I think!!
Sunday's are another story. As you can see, it's 10:20 and I'm just now sitting down at the computer. This is definitely not going to work. Between, early church services, Sunday school responsibilities, choir practice and the phone ministry on Sunday's it's very difficult to find the time and energy to sit at the computer to spend another two to three hours reading, studying and typing the blog. So I am going to streamline the Sunday blog and depend on you to read your passage without a bunch of commentary from me. But, I will still communicate something each Sunday. Just not quite as much as the normal week days. You may be saying, "praise the Lord" because I tend to be a little wordy anyway. Either way, I will settle into a better routine soon, so just bear with me and thanks for your patience.

The reading for today is Genesis 27-29
If you've been in church or read your Bible much the story in chapter 27 is familiar to you. Isaac is tricked by his son, Jacob and his mother Rebekah, into giving his blessing to Jacob rather than Esau. If you will remember, we learned in a previous chapter that Jacob was the favorite son of his mother and Esau was the favorite son of his father (that kind of favoritism in a family can never produce good things). And it doesn't in this case either. Rebekah and Jacob devise a very elaborate plan to deceive Isaac so that Jacob can receive the blessing before his father dies. In verse 12 Jacob says to his mother "Perhaps my father will feel me, and I shall seem to be a deceiver to him and I shall bring a curse on myself and not a blessing." How can we deceive ourselves into believing that we can avoid the consequences for sin? Jacob didn't stop to think that by deceiving his father he was also disobeying God's commands, and ultimately God would be the one to judge his sin. Don't we do that too. Living contrary to the Bible and failing to think about God's consequences, "be sure, your sins will find you out." Whatsoever we sow, that shall we also reap. God does punish sin, in due time.

Isaac gave the blessing to Jacob and soon after Jacob left, his brother Esau came in with all his father had asked for only to realize from his father that Jacob had deceived him into giving away what should have rightfully been Esau's. Because Jacob have stolen Esau's birthright as well as his blessing, he hated Jacob. Esau would seek to kill Jacob as soon as his father died.

Rebekah again devises a plan to save Jacob, she convinced Isaac that Jacob should leave and go find a wife from their home land (from the family of Laban, Rebekah's brother) and hopes that while he was away his brother would get over being so angry with him. This is yet another way that Jacob's blood line is preserved. Esau heard that his father blessed Jacob a second time and didn't want Jacob to marry a Canaanites woman because it displeased him, so he went to Ishmael and chose one of his daughters to marry. In other word he was so angry that his father had blessed Jacob that he married someone that he knew his father would disapprove of (an Arab).

Remember when Rebekah was pregnant with (Jacob and Esau) remember what happened in chapter 25, it was a glimpse into their future. The Bible says in verse 22; "But the children struggled together within her and she said, If all is well, why am I like this? So she went to inquire of the Lord.
And the Lord said the following of the two children; "Two nations are in your womb, Two peoples shall be separated from your body;

The two nations that the Lord was speaking of were the Arabs (born through Esau's blood line) and the Jews (born through Jacob's blood line) and they have been fighting ever since. Through the blood line of Isaac and Jacob the Jewish blood line has been preserved. Through the blood line of Ishmael and Esau the Arab nation was born and has persecuted the Jewish nation down through history and even into today.

In chapter 28 Isaac blesses Jacob and sends him to find a wife. While Jacob is gone Esau marries the Arab woman, Mahalath the daughter of Ishmael.

This is also the chapter in which the story of "Jacob's ladder" is told.
He lays his head on a stone to sleep and dreams of a ladder that stretched up to heaven, angels are ascending and descending. At the top of the ladder he sees the Lord and God gives him the same promises He made to Abraham and Isaac.
Because of this Jacob becomes a believer in the God of his father's and he makes a promise to God to give a tenth of all that God prospers him with. I believe this is one of the scriptures that is used to support the idea that a tenth (as a tithe) is required of God.

In chapter 29, Another very familiar story is told of Jacobs agreement to work for seven years for the hand of Rachel, the daughter of Laban. He chooses to marry Rachel, but Laban sends Leah to him instead and he must stay and work another seven years to also have Rachel, whom he loves dearly. He agrees to do so, but actually stays and extra seven years as well. A total of 21 years and he leaves with his two wives. By the end of the chapter, Leah, the wife who was not Jacob's first choice, and feels unloved by him, has borne him four sons. With each birth she hopes that it will be enough for Jacob to love her as deeply as he loves her sister Rachel. At this point Rachel is still barren. This will cause some strife as you will see when you continue reading in chapter 30.

Isn't it interesting that as we look at these Bible characters, they are people just like us, we tend to lose sight of the fact that they hated, envied, lied, deceived one another and even murdered when they didn't get what they wanted.
Sounds a lot like today, doesn't it. Well, in 10,000 years, not a lot has changed really; we still have the sin nature and without the grace and mercy of a loving God, we are capable of the same types of things. Stay close to God this week.
Strive to be like Christ. See you in a few hours.
Well, so much for "not a lot of commentary" SORRY!!!!!