COUNTING IT ALL JOY - PART 2 (37 OF 48)
Scripture: Genesis 30:25, Genesis 30:31-43, Genesis 31:1-55
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Counting It All Joy - Part 2 (37 of 48)
Series: Kingdom Foundations - Genesis
Patrick Edwards
Genesis 30:25-31:55
Introduction
James tells the church, ''Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.'' The apostle Paul, likewise, adds, ''We rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.'' This is where we ended last week in the story of Jacob and his family and this is exactly where we pick up again this week.
You see we find ourselves this morning in the middle of Jacob's sojourn in Haran, a traveling that is both geographical as well as spiritual. As you recall, after stealing his father's blessing Jacob was sent to his extended family in Haran both for his protection and to find a proper wife. When Jacob arrives in Haran he is a proud, self-sufficient trickster who has the promise of God but requires redemption and transformation before he can receive and come into that promise. Genesis 29-32 are thus a season of his life in which Jacob endures hardship and adversity so that he may be refined in character and might fully come into the blessing of God. In other words, it was not necessary that Jacob go through such suffering in order to be blessed by God, but because of his arrogance and wayward actions, God both allows and creates obstacles in Jacob's path to make him into the man he has been called to be by God.
Last week the key theme was humility. Jacob got a dose of his own medicine, being deceived by Laban into marrying Leah and ultimately having to work for Laban another seven years to marry the woman he loved, Rachel. Jacob is greatly humbl ...
Series: Kingdom Foundations - Genesis
Patrick Edwards
Genesis 30:25-31:55
Introduction
James tells the church, ''Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.'' The apostle Paul, likewise, adds, ''We rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.'' This is where we ended last week in the story of Jacob and his family and this is exactly where we pick up again this week.
You see we find ourselves this morning in the middle of Jacob's sojourn in Haran, a traveling that is both geographical as well as spiritual. As you recall, after stealing his father's blessing Jacob was sent to his extended family in Haran both for his protection and to find a proper wife. When Jacob arrives in Haran he is a proud, self-sufficient trickster who has the promise of God but requires redemption and transformation before he can receive and come into that promise. Genesis 29-32 are thus a season of his life in which Jacob endures hardship and adversity so that he may be refined in character and might fully come into the blessing of God. In other words, it was not necessary that Jacob go through such suffering in order to be blessed by God, but because of his arrogance and wayward actions, God both allows and creates obstacles in Jacob's path to make him into the man he has been called to be by God.
Last week the key theme was humility. Jacob got a dose of his own medicine, being deceived by Laban into marrying Leah and ultimately having to work for Laban another seven years to marry the woman he loved, Rachel. Jacob is greatly humbl ...
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