Tuesday's with Jesus #74

#74 "What Are You Thirsty For?" November 28, 2006 "..."Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst." (John 4: 13-14a)   She came to the well that day, just like she did every other day. We don't know her age or her name. But we do know a little of her history. With five failed marriages behind her, she was now living with another man and not married to him. Wonder what had happened to this woman in her past. Wonder what made her keep searching for fulfillment and purpose in men. Did her father die? Had he been alive but rejected her or mistreated her? Something made this woman want. Something was broken inside of her. Something kept making her search for the answer to her inner pain in all the wrong places. It doesn't really matter what it was. I don't think, consciously, that even she knew what it was. She was just empty and trying to fill the void..in her case, it was men. What is it for you?   When we seek contentment with physical things, we can never get enough. The Samaritan woman sought it in relationships. We do that too. We seek it in new toys and gadgets, possessions or power, health, wealth or notoriety. But Solomon tells us that all these things are vanity. Vain attempts to fill an empty space in our souls. It is commonly said that there is a God-shaped vacuum inside each one of us that only He can fill. If that is the case, and I believe it is, no amount of searching and seeking and trying to fill it with anything other than Christ will make the ache go away.    I've been there myself and right now I am watching someone that I love deeply "looking for love in all the wrong places."  And truly, lest we judge, I didn't even know what I was doing at the time and neither does she. Neither did this Samaritan woman. We all just knew that something was missing. Something was broken. There was no sense of fulfillment or contentment...life was just lived with a dull ache inside ... an empty hole...a need...and trying to fill it up became a way of life. But the problem is that "it" is never enough. It's like a drug addiction...the more you use, the more you need. Frederick Douglass said, "Whenever my condition was improved, instead of its' increasing my contentment, it only increased my desire to be free, and set me to thinking of plans to gain my freedom." Anything earthly, relationships or material things, cannot satisfy. You will always want more...want FOR more. Relationships and things can fail...leaving you empty again. Empty and thirsty.   The Greek verb used in this passage for thirsty is "dipsao". It means to painfully feel the want of, and eagerly long for, those things by which the soul is refreshed, supported and strengthened.  The King James Dictionary defines "thirst" as having a vehement desire of anything. Jesus used this very word because He could see deep inside this woman's soul. He saw how serious this need was. He knew that she felt it painfully, intensely and deeply. He cut right to the chase to help her. He told her about living water...water that is alive.    To the Jew, living water was water that was always flowing and moving along. It was a creek or a lake that had an inflow and an outflow. It was not the still water of a stagnant pond that was always sitting still. Jesus, Himself, was the Living Water. What she needed was a drink of Him. A continual inflow and outflow of His Holy Spirit, not the stagnant pond of earthly water that never satisfies. Stagnant water goes bad. It gets slimy and buggy. Living Water is clean and fresh...and it satisfies the thirst, the need, the ache deep down inside.   Are you thirsty today? Are you drinking the muddy contaminated waters of the world and destroying yourself? The waters the world offers cannot quench your thirst. Jesus says we should come to Him, and out of our bellies shall flow rivers of living water. Jesus Christ is able to meet our needs. And I must say that I'm not talking merely of just believing in Him. That will absolutely get you to Heaven, but don't you want more of the abundant life that He died to give you? The end to all of your searching? I'm talking "relationship" here. A walking, talking, breathing, enduring, close (like a branch to a vine) relationship with Him each and every day. He calls to you from Isaiah 55:1 and says, "Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters." And in verse 2, He says, "Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy?" What are you spending your time or money or energy on that will never satisfy? Only Jesus can satisfy your deepest longings. Jeremiah 2: 13 says, "My people have committed two sins: They have forsaken me, the spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water."  Have you forsaken Him? Are you digging your own broken cistern?   In researching for this "Tuesday's", I came across these words that I will close with:  "Jesus is the One who makes life possible, who makes peace possible, and who makes joy possible. He makes it possible under all circumstances and in all places to possess everything the soul desires. If Christ lives within us, then we will be like a fortress that has in its courtyard a fountain, fed from some source high up in the mountains, and finds its way into the fortress by underground rivers that no one can ever touch. It does not matter who surrounds such a fortress, those who are inside can survive for years with abundant water. When people are deprived of a thing they ?want,? they generally get along pretty well without it; however, when it?s something they ?need,? or require, they suffer horribly in its absence. Just as a man thirsts for physical water, so also he thirsts for spiritual water. Only Jesus Christ can satisfy that thirst. He is The Living Water. He is the one who supplies the water. He paid for it with His life. Today take a drink by taking hold of Jesus and letting the fountain of God?s provision overflow in your life to the praise and glory of God. Amen!"   Blessings to you,   Donna Schultz Savemom@aol.com   See www.tuesdayswithjesus.blogspot.com for archives.   If you would prefer to not receive these e-mails, please let me know at savemom@aol.com. Feel free to forward them as the Lord leads you and if others would like to receive it, e- mail savemom@aol.com to be added to the list.   If you are viewing this on Blogger.com and would like to receive "Tuesday's with Jesus" in your e-mail box each Tuesday, please e-mail Savemom@aol.com and you will be added to the list.

Tuesday's with Jesus #74

#74 "What Are You Thirsty For?" November 28, 2006 "..."Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst." (John 4: 13-14a)   She came to the well that day, just like she did every other day. We don't know her age or her name. But we do know a little of her history. With five failed marriages behind her, she was now living with another man and not married to him. Wonder what had happened to this woman in her past. Wonder what made her keep searching for fulfillment and purpose in men. Did her father die? Had he been alive but rejected her or mistreated her? Something made this woman want. Something was broken inside of her. Something kept making her search for the answer to her inner pain in all the wrong places. It doesn't really matter what it was. I don't think, consciously, that even she knew what it was. She was just empty and trying to fill the void..in her case, it was men. What is it for you?   When we seek contentment with physical things, we can never get enough. The Samaritan woman sought it in relationships. We do that too. We seek it in new toys and gadgets, possessions or power, health, wealth or notoriety. But Solomon tells us that all these things are vanity. Vain attempts to fill an empty space in our souls. It is commonly said that there is a God-shaped vacuum inside each one of us that only He can fill. If that is the case, and I believe it is, no amount of searching and seeking and trying to fill it with anything other than Christ will make the ache go away.    I've been there myself and right now I am watching someone that I love deeply "looking for love in all the wrong places."  And truly, lest we judge, I didn't even know what I was doing at the time and neither does she. Neither did this Samaritan woman. We all just knew that something was missing. Something was broken. There was no sense of fulfillment or contentment...life was just lived with a dull ache inside ... an empty hole...a need...and trying to fill it up became a way of life. But the problem is that "it" is never enough. It's like a drug addiction...the more you use, the more you need. Frederick Douglass said, "Whenever my condition was improved, instead of its' increasing my contentment, it only increased my desire to be free, and set me to thinking of plans to gain my freedom." Anything earthly, relationships or material things, cannot satisfy. You will always want more...want FOR more. Relationships and things can fail...leaving you empty again. Empty and thirsty.   The Greek verb used in this passage for thirsty is "dipsao". It means to painfully feel the want of, and eagerly long for, those things by which the soul is refreshed, supported and strengthened.  The King James Dictionary defines "thirst" as having a vehement desire of anything. Jesus used this very word because He could see deep inside this woman's soul. He saw how serious this need was. He knew that she felt it painfully, intensely and deeply. He cut right to the chase to help her. He told her about living water...water that is alive.    To the Jew, living water was water that was always flowing and moving along. It was a creek or a lake that had an inflow and an outflow. It was not the still water of a stagnant pond that was always sitting still. Jesus, Himself, was the Living Water. What she needed was a drink of Him. A continual inflow and outflow of His Holy Spirit, not the stagnant pond of earthly water that never satisfies. Stagnant water goes bad. It gets slimy and buggy. Living Water is clean and fresh...and it satisfies the thirst, the need, the ache deep down inside.   Are you thirsty today? Are you drinking the muddy contaminated waters of the world and destroying yourself? The waters the world offers cannot quench your thirst. Jesus says we should come to Him, and out of our bellies shall flow rivers of living water. Jesus Christ is able to meet our needs. And I must say that I'm not talking merely of just believing in Him. That will absolutely get you to Heaven, but don't you want more of the abundant life that He died to give you? The end to all of your searching? I'm talking "relationship" here. A walking, talking, breathing, enduring, close (like a branch to a vine) relationship with Him each and every day. He calls to you from Isaiah 55:1 and says, "Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters." And in verse 2, He says, "Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy?" What are you spending your time or money or energy on that will never satisfy? Only Jesus can satisfy your deepest longings. Jeremiah 2: 13 says, "My people have committed two sins: They have forsaken me, the spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water."  Have you forsaken Him? Are you digging your own broken cistern?   In researching for this "Tuesday's", I came across these words that I will close with:  "Jesus is the One who makes life possible, who makes peace possible, and who makes joy possible. He makes it possible under all circumstances and in all places to possess everything the soul desires. If Christ lives within us, then we will be like a fortress that has in its courtyard a fountain, fed from some source high up in the mountains, and finds its way into the fortress by underground rivers that no one can ever touch. It does not matter who surrounds such a fortress, those who are inside can survive for years with abundant water. When people are deprived of a thing they ?want,? they generally get along pretty well without it; however, when it?s something they ?need,? or require, they suffer horribly in its absence. Just as a man thirsts for physical water, so also he thirsts for spiritual water. Only Jesus Christ can satisfy that thirst. He is The Living Water. He is the one who supplies the water. He paid for it with His life. Today take a drink by taking hold of Jesus and letting the fountain of God?s provision overflow in your life to the praise and glory of God. Amen!"   Blessings to you,   Donna Schultz Savemom@aol.com   See www.tuesdayswithjesus.blogspot.com for archives.   If you would prefer to not receive these e-mails, please let me know at savemom@aol.com. Feel free to forward them as the Lord leads you and if others would like to receive it, e- mail savemom@aol.com to be added to the list.   If you are viewing this on Blogger.com and would like to receive "Tuesday's with Jesus" in your e-mail box each Tuesday, please e-mail Savemom@aol.com and you will be added to the list.

Tuesday's with Jesus #73

#73 "When 'Thank You' Just Isn't Enough" November 21, 2006 "Therefore, I urge you brothers [and sisters], in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God - this is your spiritual [reasonable] act of worship." (Romans 12: 1)   Have you ever gotten an answer to prayer that was so awesome, so miraculous, and so amazing that the words "Thank you, Lord" just weren't enough? You can say those words a hundred times and yet they just seem so empty in the light of the great blessing that God has given you. This has happened to me in the past and the not so distant past, as a matter of fact. I yelled, "Thank You, Jesus!" over and over again. Even fell on my knees and lifted my hands to the Lord in thanksgiving. But it still just didn't seem to be enough.    When David received answers to his cries for help, he wrote poetry and songs. Old Testament saints offered fellowship offerings to the Lord as an expression of thankfulness. But how should we, followers of Christ in the year 2006, offer our thanksgiving to God Almighty for the things He has done in our lives? For those awesome, unbelievable answers to our prayers?   You and I have nothing that God needs. Everything that we have has come from His hand. He is the giver of every good and perfect gift. (James 1: 17) He has given us our lives. He doesn't need our money. He is the one who gives us the ability to produce wealth (Deut. 8: 18). He owns the cattle on a thousand hills. (Psalm 50:10) All of the silver and gold belongs to Him. (Haggai 2:8) He doesn't need our gifts, our talents, our money or our abilities...He is the one who gave them to us in the first place. We have nothing to give Him. Or do we???   I think that Romans, Chapter 12, verse 1 gives us the answer. I really do. What can we give? Ourselves! Plain and simple...ourselves. The apostle Paul spent the first 11 chapters of Romans to exhort people on God's tremendous mercy and compassion. In light of Paul's closely reasoned and finely argued exposition of the mercies of God, he comes to chapter 12 and says, "Therefore". This word shows the transition. He is saying.."Because of God's mercy. Because of God's compassion. Because of all God has done for you, this is what you should do"....Here comes the desirable response for believers. "Offer your bodies a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing [devoted, consecrated] to God-this is your reasonable, acceptable act of worship." In light of all of His mercies, blessings and answers to your prayers...offer yourself to Him.   The Message version of the Bible says it in such a cool way... "So here's what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life?your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life?and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for Him." Bible teacher, Martha Kilpatrick is quoted as saying, "Thanksgiving to God is an exuberant response to giving me HIS everything...by giving Him MY everything."  A believer's offering of his total life as a sacrifice to God is sacred service. And it is the desirable response to our blessings and the way that we can respond when the words "thank you" just aren't enough.   And what does this offering of ourselves mean? God showed me a few scriptures that helped me understand. Offering myself means that I "fear the Lord and walk in His ways." (Ps. 128) It means that I "act justly, love mercy and walk humbly with my God." (Micah 6:8) It means that I offer myself to Him each day, an empty vessel, presented to my God for His use in any way that He calls me to be, on any given day. It means that I include Him in every thought and conversation and decision and circumstance. I don't just rattle off some morning prayers and go on my own way. God is all about relationship. He wants to be involved in the minutest details of your life. Include Him. Talk to Him. Ask Him. Seek Him. Serve Him. Obey Him. This is what a living sacrifice to Him looks like. The branch connected to the Vine. So close and intimate in relationship with Him, that you can be used at any given moment for His purposes. A cracked pot in the hands of the Potter, but a pot that can be shaped as seems best to Him (Jeremiah 18: 4). Moldable, pliable, not hard and unyielding. A vessel ready to have the Spirit of God poured into it, to be used for His holy and eternal purposes. That's what we can give in response to God when "thank you" just doesn't seem to be enough.   John F. Kennedy once said, "As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them." Are you truly thankful to God today? I challenged my Bible study group this past weekend to find things to be thankful for and truly thank God for them. Even in the midst of life's hard circumstances, we all have things to be grateful for. Things that we should never take for granted. Things that would never be possible without God's intervention in our lives. Things like eternal life and forgiveness and grace and God's presence...things that we can never lose. I take that challenge with you today, friend, even deeper. Don't just SAY "Thank you". Show your gratitude to the Lord with your life. The offering of all you are - of everything - good and bad - perfect and imperfect - to God so that God can take it and do what He wills with it. Seems to me that it is our reasonable, acceptable service and offering to the Lord when the words, "Thank You" just aren't enough.   Entering His gates with thanksgiving,   Donna Schultz Savemom@aol.com   ~ One Night with the King ~ The Story of Esther ~   See www.tuesdayswithjesus.blogspot.com for archives.   If you would prefer to not receive these e-mails, please let me know at savemom@aol.com. Feel free to forward them as the Lord leads you and if others would like to receive it, e- mail savemom@aol.com to be added to the list.   If you are viewing this on Blogger.com and would like to receive "Tuesday's with Jesus" in your e-mail box each Tuesday, please e-mail Savemom@aol.com and you will be added to the list.

Tuesday's with Jesus #72

#72 "When All Hell Breaks Loose" November 14, 2006 "I have told you these things, so that in Me you may have [perfect] peace and confidence. In the world you have tribulation and trials and distress and frustration; but be of good cheer [take courage; be confident, certain, undaunted]! For I have overcome the world. [I have deprived it of power to harm you and have conquered it for you.]" (John 16:33 Amplified Bible) Sometimes life just hits you in the gut. It seems as if it's just one thing after the other. Life is sometimes a big, fat, ugly bully...in your face...making you feel bewildered, discouraged, confused and unable to make sense of it all. British author, Gilbert K. Chesterton says, "I believe in getting into hot water. I think it keeps you clean." I don't know about that, but I do know that sometimes all hell breaks loose in life and we ask "what in the world are we supposed to do????" Jesus' disciples must have felt just that way. They were bewildered. They were confused. Jesus told them that He had to go away (John 7:34, 8:21, 12:8, 35, 13:33). He told them that He would die (12: 32-33). He said that one of them would be a traitor (13:21), that Peter would disown Him three times (13: 38). To add insult to injury, Jesus said that Satan was at work against all of them (Luke 22: 31-32) and that all the disciples would fall away (Matt. 26: 31). The cumulative weight of these revelations must have greatly depressed them. They thought that Jesus was going to usher in the earthly Kingdom and get them out from under Roman rule. They thought that His saving work was in the here and now. Even though He had told them the things that must happen over and over again, they just didn't get it and now they hear nothing but bad news, one thing after another. All hell was breaking loose. God, my gracious Father, allowed me to read this passage of Scripture at the beginning of a day where all hell was breaking loose in my life. Things just seemed to be getting worse by the minute. I was reading about all the trouble that the disciples were finding themselves in and then, wait a minute, the next words were in red! Jesus was about to speak. I said, "Okay, Lord. I feel like all hell is breaking loose. You're about to speak. Tell me what I'm supposed to do." Aren't you thankful for the Word of God? In the midst of the roaring waves and burning fire, Jesus can speak right to the situation. Right where you are. And that morning, He showed me three things to do when all hell breaks loose in your life. I'd like to share those with you. They are too important and too life-saving to miss. So turn your ears to John, Chapter 14 and listen to Jesus speaking right into your situation. The first thing to do is Trust God. Sounds too simple and maybe a little like a platitude, but this was the command of Jesus, not a suggestion. John 14:1 says, "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, trust also in me." The Greek word for "troubled" is "tarassestho" which means "stirred or agitated." So Jesus commands, "Don't let your hearts be stirred or agitated." When He says "do not let", it implies that you have control over this. Don't let yourself get stirred up, troubled and agitated. Trust God. The King James Version used the word "believe" instead of trust. Strong's Bible Concordance defines this as "to be persuaded, place confidence in, to trust Jesus as able to aid in doing something". So to some it all up: "Do not let your heart be stirred up and agitated and troubled over this. Believe, trust, be persuaded and place your confidence in Christ. He is able to do what you need done. And He's an Ephesians 3:20 Savior...He's able to do exceedingly, abundantly more than you could ever ask or think." Need I say more! Second, Pray. In Verses 12-14, Jesus says, "I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it." Praying in Jesus' name is not a magical formula of invocation. But the prayers of believers, as Christ's representatives doing His business, will be answered. Philippians 4:6 says, "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God." 1 Thessalonians 5: 17 says, "pray without ceasing [continually]." In Luke 18:1 "Jesus told His disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up." The words that struck me to the heart were "and I will do it." If I ask in Jesus' name, which means with faith in all that He is and according to His will, HE WILL DO IT! He will do it! Are you praying for something that is in God's will? Are you filled with faith in who Jesus is? Then, my friend, He will do it! So when all hell is breaking loose....Pray! Third, know that you are not alone. The Holy Spirit indwells every believer. The very Spirit of the Living God is living on the inside of you. Right now, in the midst of your trial...Jesus is there, by His Spirit. The Holy Spirit is your Counselor, the Spirit of Truth in the midst of the lies of the enemy. Jesus says that He lives in you and is with you. He says that the Holy Spirit will teach you all things and remind you of everything that Jesus has for you. Romans 8: 11 says that "the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you." That's some kind of power living on the inside of you! You have power, you have a Counselor to lead you and guide you in the way you should go. And the Bible says that same Spirit helps you in your weakness. And when you don't know how to pray, He himself intercedes for you with groans that words cannot express. (Romans 8: 26) Author, Sue Richards says, "How empowering in our weakest moments, when we don't know how to express our own overwhelming needs, to cling to the words of God. When Christ gave us the Holy Spirit, he left us much more than an inner spiritual discernment. Our triune God lives within and intercedes for each of us when we are at our weakest moments." The Holy Spirit will lead you into the truth of God's Word. He will call to mind Scriptures for you to hang on to and confess to replace those lies that the devil is putting into your head. You will say, "It is written..." and you will be able to wield that Sword of the Spirit, the Word of God, because the Holy Spirit Himself will call those to mind for you. Our God is an Awesome God! You are not alone!!Isaiah 43: 2 says, "When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze." I don't know who I'm writing for today. What I do know is that I write as someone who has just come out of a week of all hell breaking loose. I can testify that if it weren't for the truths that I have given you today...well, I don't know where I would be. I am so thankful for the Word of God. It truly does hold all of the answers. I fall more in love with Jesus and more in love with His Word each day and with each new trial. In this passage of Scripture Jesus tells His disciples twice that He leaves them His peace. And in our headline verse, John 16:33, He says that in this world we will have trouble, but that we are to take heart [be courageous, cheer up] because He has overcome the world. Jesus is the Victor! And so are you! Psalm 108: 13 says, "With God we will gain the victory, and he will trample down our enemies." Hallelujah! It's true. I'm telling you so that you will be encouraged. God gained the victory in my situation. He trampled down my enemies! His Word is true. And He is no respecter of persons. He'll do it for you too. If He will do it for me, He'll do it for you! If God is for you, who can be against you? (Romans 8:31) "No weapon forged against you will prevail, and you will refute every tongue that accuses you." (Isaiah 54: 17) Are you a servant of the Lord? This same verse says that if you are, this is your heritage and your vindication from the Lord. This is for you. Claim it. Hold onto it! It is the truth! God heard and answered my prayers rather quickly this time. Maybe because of the gravity of the situations. But it doesn't always happen that way. Sometimes hell is breaking loose for a much longer time. You may be there today. In the midst of some hell the devil has sent your way to destroy you. Don't let him. Trust God. Pray. Rely on the Holy Spirit...He is with you...you are not alone. And remember that Jesus has already overcome what you are going through. He has defeated Satan, death, hell and the grave. This problem is not too much for Him. He knows what you're going through. He sees your tears. He will hear your cry for mercy when all hell is breaking loose. And because Jesus won, you, in union with Him, can win also. Donna Schultz Savemom@aol.com ~ One Night with the King ~ The Story of Esther ~ See www.tuesdayswithjesus.blogspot.com for archives. If you would prefer to not receive these e-mails, please let me know at savemom@aol.com. Feel free to forward them as the Lord leads you and if others would like to receive it, e- mail savemom@aol.com to be added to the list. If you are viewing this on Blogger.com and would like to receive "Tuesday's with Jesus" in your e-mail box each Tuesday, please e-mail Savemom@aol.com and you will be added to the list.

Tuesday's with Jesus #71

#71 "Rejection...The Gift That Keeps On Giving" November 7, 2006 "Now Laban had two daughters; the name of the older was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel. Leah had weak eyes, but Rachel was lovely in form, and beautiful. Jacob was in love with Rachel." (Genesis 29: 16-18a) "..and [Jacob] loved Rachel more than Leah." (Genesis 29: 30b)   We live in a disposable society. Everything comes in throw away form to make life easy on us. This disposable mind set has sadly seeped it's way into our relationships as well. We see it in the attitude of some who marry and say, "well, if it doesn't work out, we can always get a divorce." We see it in the booming abortion industry where live human beings are murdered for the sake of convenience. Children are abandoned by their parents when life just gets too hard and some other pursuit seems better. Relationships fall apart when the work to repair them requires forgiveness and acceptance and it's too much work or requires too much grace.    I think all of us have suffered the pain of rejection in one way or another during our lives. The word "rejection" means to be cast aside; to be thrown away as having no value. To be rejected means being told, "I don't want you--you have no value! You're not what I want! You're not right!" And we don't accept that well. We were created by God to be accepted, loved and valued. Rejection is very painful and it's effects can last a lifetime. Rejection is the gift that keeps on giving.    No one knew the pain and sting of rejection better than Leah, Jacob's first wife. She wasn't his first by choice. The deceitfulness of her father, Laban, got her the place of first wife. The Bible tells us that Leah had weak eyes. She was most likely cross eyed or had a "lazy eye." She was plain in comparison to her sister Rachel's beauty. Leah probably had no prospective suitors and was probably past the age that most women were married. Her father Laban used her. Her life of rejection began with one deceitful act of her father. He used her to get seven years of work out of Jacob and he rid himself of supporting an "old maid." In those days, daughters were forced to marry the man of her father's choosing. Rejected and used by her father ... married to a man who would reject her as well. The gift that keeps on giving.   Being rejected displays itself in many different ways. It can cause someone to be rebellious, angry, or bitter. You may feel guilty, inferior and have a poor self-image. Often it results in perfectionism. We try to be perfect, do everything right, and try to make no mistakes, so that we won't ever be rejected by anyone again. This is where we find Leah. Trying to gain the acceptance and love of a husband who didn't love her, by being perfect in outward circumstances. Never realizing that the only acceptance and love that we should crave should be the love of God. God, the One that we don't have to perform for..the One we don't have to be perfect for...the One who loves us anyway, always and no matter what.   This Biblical account plays like a bad soap opera. Jacob is shuffled from bed to bed, from tent to tent. (You fellows are probably thinking, "Oh, pooor guy!) Because of timing, in all of these pregnancies and births between Rachel and Leah, there had to be some overlap. It's like watching a tennis match ... Leah, Rachel, Leah, Rachel.  The name Leah means "weary". Ya think! I'd be weary too if I spent all my life getting pregnant and having babies, just to win the love of a husband who was in love with someone else. Who are you wearing yourself out to please? Who are you trying to be perfect for so that they will accept you and not reject you? A spouse, parents, children, a boss? Give it up, my friend. It can't happen. There are some people that no matter how much you do, how perfectly you do things...will never accept you for who you are. If you trip up once, just once, out you go! Stop living your life to win the acceptance of people who will never change. See your God given destiny and go after it. He's the one who has made you "accepted in the beloved."  (Ephesians 1:6 KJV) God is the one who loves you with an everlasting love...no matter what. He will never reject you.   To understand Leah's mind set and our own desire to please others to be accepted we need to look at what she said after the birth of her sons. This gives us a bird's eye view into her thinking: After Reuban's birth, Leah said, "Surely my husband will love me now." After Simeon's, "because the Lord heard that I am not loved." Levi, "Now at last my husband will become attached to me, because I have borne him three sons." She was desperately seeking Jacob's approval. She was finding her own self worth in what she did...not in who she was. Never confuse your "who" with your "do". Ephesians 2:8 tells us that "it is by grace you have been saved, through faith - and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God-not by works, so that no one can boast." It is not what we do that makes us acceptable. We have to know who we are in Christ. We are the righteousness of God in Christ, the apple of God's eye, dearly loved. Never abandoned, dropped, left or forsaken. Your worth and value is in Christ Jesus, not in what you do.   None of this child-bearing changed Jacob's attitude anyway. No amount of effort will make people accept you if they don't want to. You can never do enough or be perfect enough for some folks. Smith's Bible Dictionary says that "Jacob's preference of Rachel grew into hatred of Leah after he had married both sisters." None of her striving to please him made him love her. He still spent every night in Rachel's tent. Nothing Leah did could change Jacob. But Leah could change herself.   We begin to see this change with the birth of the fourth son, Judah. For the first time in naming a son, Leah turned from expressing her yearning for Jacob's love to accepting God's love. She says in verse 35, "This time I will praise the Lord." Judah sounds like and may be derived from the Hebrew for "praise." Leah begins to take her focus off of her lack and starts to look at what she possesses in God. She is finally recognizing the hand of God and the fact that God is giving her the significance that she is looking for. We can be like Leah was and focus on our lack of acceptance by people and be miserable, or focus on what we have and praise God for what He has given us, what He's done for us and who we are in His eyes. Leah is recognizing that to be loved and be led by God was a far greater thing than to be loved by any man. She could be content with the abundant love of God.   As this Old Testament story of "Desperate Housewives" continues, Rachel bears two children through her servant Bilhah. Leah feels that old feeling again and even though she is leading in this match, 4 to 2, she gets in gear again. It's never enough when you're riveted on getting the approval of man. As I said, rejection is the gift that keeps on giving. It just keeps rearing it's ugly head and messing with our emotions. We may think we have it under control, but the roots can be so deep that it shows up, time and time again in our people pleasing behavior. So Leah adds two more points to the scoreboard with the use of her servant, Zilpah. Again her words after their births are interesting and revealing. After the birth of Gad, Leah says, "What good fortune!" She's back to leaving God out of the equation and sees the birth as only good fortune. After the birth of Asher, her attitude shifts to pleasing more than just her husband. She says, "The women will call me happy!" Rejection and the resulting need for approval grows tentacles and grips every area of our relationships. We move from trying to please the one who rejected us to trying to please EVERYONE, so as to never be rejected by ANYONE.   The last part of our story shows the desperation that rejection can cause. Leah was so desperate to be with Jacob, loved or unloved, that she resorts to a form of prostitution by purchasing her husband's services from Rachel with mandrakes. Mandrakes were referred to as "love apples" and were thought to induce fertility (which is why Rachel had them) and were supposed to act as a love potion (Leah's desire). So ready or not, Jacob slept with Leah and two more sons came with the deal. After the birth of Zebulin, Leah's back to her old way of thinking again, and says, "This time my husband will treat me with honor, because I have borne him six sons." She also had a daughter named Dinah who is involved in a story that is for a whole 'nother day.  The roots of rejection run deep....the gift that keeps on giving.   What a miserable life this must have been. What a miserable life it is when you live it to please someone else and when you only feel significant because people accept you. What a greater and more abundant life it would be to find that significance in God Almighty. The God who has a plan for your life. The God who created you for a purpose. Leah was so blessed and favored by God but her life of Jacob-pleasing blinded her eyes to the truth. She was the mother of half of the twelve tribes of Israel. Her son Judah would be the ancestor of the leading tribe among the Jews, of the royal line, and of the Lion of the Tribe of Judah, Jesus Christ. There was a plan for her life, God designed, God ordained and she was too busy Jacob-pleasing to see God's hand on her life and submit to His will, obediently and gratefully. Too busy looking for man's approval to see the complete approval of God, the only approval that really matters.   Friend, if you are living your life with a root of rejection, trying to please people and be accepted in this world, I beg you to stop. Know Jesus Christ as your personal Savior. He is the only cure for the feelings of rejection that you have that lasts. He took your rejection on Himself on the Cross at Calvary. Because of His death and resurrection, you can truly be free from the feelings of rejection and the behavior that those feelings produce. Immerse yourself in the Word of God and find out what He has to say about you. I might suggest that you put aside all other studies and Bible adventures that you are involved in and make this your mission...to find out who I am in Christ. He has left a love letter to you in His Word. His Word has transforming power. Only through Christ and His word to you in His Word will you ever be truly free to be exactly who He wants you to be. Whether men like it or not. Jesus will become to you all that matters. Then instead of rejection being the gift that keeps on giving, it can be the gift that has been sent back, "Return to Sender"...right back to Hell where it belongs.   Donna Schultz Savemom@aol.com   ~ One Night with the King ~ The Story of Esther ~   See www.tuesdayswithjesus.blogspot.com for archives.   If you would prefer to not receive these e-mails, please let me know at savemom@aol.com. Feel free to forward them as the Lord leads you and if others would like to receive it, e- mail savemom@aol.com to be added to the list.   If you are viewing this on Blogger.com and would like to receive "Tuesday's with Jesus" in your e-mail box each Tuesday, please e-mail Savemom@aol.com and you will be added to the list.

#71 "Rejection..The Gift That Keeps On Giving"

November 7, 2006
"Now Laban had two daughters; the name of the older was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel. Leah had weak eyes, but Rachel was lovely in form, and beautiful. Jacob was in love with Rachel." (Genesis 29: 16-18a) "..and [Jacob] loved Rachel more than Leah." (Genesis 29: 30b)

We live in a disposable society. Everything comes in throw away form to make life easy on us. This disposable mind set has sadly seeped it's way into our relationships as well. We see it in the attitude of some who marry and say, "well, if it doesn't work out, we can always get a divorce." We see it in the booming abortion industry where live human beings are murdered for the sake of convenience. Children are abandoned by their parents when life just gets too hard and some other pursuit seems better. Relationships fall apart when the work to repair them requires forgiveness and acceptance and it's too much work or requires too much grace.

I think all of us have suffered the pain of rejection in one way or another during our lives. The word "rejection" means to be cast aside; to be thrown away as having no value. To be rejected means being told, "I don't want you--you have no value! You're not what I want! You're not right!" And we don't accept that well. We were created by God to be accepted, loved and valued. Rejection is very painful and it's effects can last a lifetime. Rejection is the gift that keeps on giving.

No one knew the pain and sting of rejection better than Leah, Jacob's first wife. She wasn't his first by choice. The deceitfulness of her father, Laban, got her the place of first wife. The Bible tells us that Leah had weak eyes. She was most likely cross eyed or had a "lazy eye." She was plain in comparison to her sister Rachel's beauty. Leah probably had no prospective suitors and was probably past the age that most women were married. Her father Laban used her. Her life of rejection began with one deceitful act of her father. He used her to get seven years of work out of Jacob and he rid himself of supporting an "old maid." In those days, daughters were forced to marry the man of her father's choosing. Rejected and used by her father ... married to a man who would reject her as well. The gift that keeps on giving.

Being rejected displays itself in many different ways. It can cause someone to be rebellious, angry, or bitter. You may feel guilty, inferior and have a poor self-image. Often it results in perfectionism. We try to be perfect, do everything right, and try to make no mistakes, so that we won't ever be rejected by anyone again. This is where we find Leah. Trying to gain the acceptance and love of a husband who didn't love her, by being perfect in outward circumstances. Never realizing that the only acceptance and love that we should crave should be the love of God. God, the One that we don't have to perform for..the One we don't have to be perfect for...the One who loves us anyway, always and no matter what.

This Biblical account plays like a bad soap opera. Jacob is shuffled from bed to bed, from tent to tent. (You fellows are probably thinking, "Oh, pooor guy!) Because of timing, in all of these pregnancies and births between Rachel and Leah, there had to be some overlap. It's like watching a tennis match ... Leah, Rachel, Leah, Rachel. The name Leah means "weary". Ya think! I'd be weary too if I spent all my life getting pregnant and having babies, just to win the love of a husband who was in love with someone else. Who are you wearing yourself out to please? Who are you trying to be perfect for so that they will accept you and not reject you? A spouse, parents, children, a boss? Give it up, my friend. It can't happen. There are some people that no matter how much you do, how perfectly you do things...will never accept you for who you are. If you trip up once, just once, out you go! Stop living your life to win the acceptance of people who will never change. See your God given destiny and go after it. He's the one who has made you "accepted in the beloved." (Ephesians 1:6 KJV) God is the one who loves you with an everlasting love...no matter what. He will never reject you.

To understand Leah's mind set and our own desire to please others to be accepted we need to look at what she said after the birth of her sons. This gives us a bird's eye view into her thinking: After Reuban's birth, Leah said, "Surely my husband will love me now." After Simeon's, "because the Lord heard that I am not loved." Levi, "Now at last my husband will become attached to me, because I have borne him three sons." She was desperately seeking Jacob's approval. She was finding her own self worth in what she did...not in who she was. Never confuse your "who" with your "do". Ephesians 2:8 tells us that "it is by grace you have been saved, through faith - and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God-not by works, so that no one can boast." It is not what we do that makes us acceptable. We have to know who we are in Christ. We are the righteousness of God in Christ, the apple of God's eye, dearly loved. Never abandoned, dropped, left or forsaken. Your worth and value is in Christ Jesus, not in what you do.

None of this child-bearing changed Jacob's attitude anyway. No amount of effort will make people accept you if they don't want to. You can never do enough or be perfect enough for some folks. Smith's Bible Dictionary says that "Jacob's preference of Rachel grew into hatred of Leah after he had married both sisters." None of her striving to please him made him love her. He still spent every night in Rachel's tent. Nothing Leah did could change Jacob. But Leah could change herself.

We begin to see this change with the birth of the fourth son, Judah. For the first time in naming a son, Leah turned from expressing her yearning for Jacob's love to accepting God's love. She says in verse 35, "This time I will praise the Lord." Judah sounds like and may be derived from the Hebrew for "praise." Leah begins to take her focus off of her lack and starts to look at what she possesses in God. She is finally recognizing the hand of God and the fact that God is giving her the significance that she is looking for. We can be like Leah was and focus on our lack of acceptance by people and be miserable, or focus on what we have and praise God for what He has given us, what He's done for us and who we are in His eyes. Leah is recognizing that to be loved and be led by God was a far greater thing than to be loved by any man. She could be content with the abundant love of God.

As this Old Testament story of "Desperate Housewives" continues, Rachel bears two children through her servant Bilhah. Leah feels that old feeling again and even though she is leading in this match, 4 to 2, she gets in gear again. It's never enough when you're riveted on getting the approval of man. As I said, rejection is the gift that keeps on giving. It just keeps rearing it's ugly head and messing with our emotions. We may think we have it under control, but the roots can be so deep that it shows up, time and time again in our people pleasing behavior. So Leah adds two more points to the scoreboard with the use of her servant, Zilpah. Again her words after their births are interesting and revealing. After the birth of Gad, Leah says, "What good fortune!" She's back to leaving God out of the equation and sees the birth as only good fortune. After the birth of Asher, her attitude shifts to pleasing more than just her husband. She says, "The women will call me happy!" Rejection and the resulting need for approval grows tentacles and grips every area of our relationships. We move from trying to please the one who rejected us to trying to please EVERYONE, so as to never be rejected by ANYONE.

The last part of our story shows the desperation that rejection can cause. Leah was so desperate to be with Jacob, loved or unloved, that she resorts to a form of prostitution by purchasing her husband's services from Rachel with mandrakes. Mandrakes were referred to as "love apples" and were thought to induce fertility (which is why Rachel had them) and were supposed to act as a love potion (Leah's desire). So ready or not, Jacob slept with Leah and two more sons came with the deal. After the birth of Zebulin, Leah's back to her old way of thinking again, and says, "This time my husband will treat me with honor, because I have borne him six sons." She also had a daughter named Dinah who is involved in a story that is for a whole 'nother day. The roots of rejection run deep....the gift that keeps on giving.

What a miserable life this must have been. What a miserable life it is when you live it to please someone else and when you only feel significant because people accept you. What a greater and more abundant life it would be to find that significance in God Almighty. The God who has a plan for your life. The God who created you for a purpose. Leah was so blessed and favored by God but her life of Jacob-pleasing blinded her eyes to the truth. She was the mother of half of the twelve tribes of Israel. Her son Judah would be the ancestor of the leading tribe among the Jews, of the royal line, and of the Lion of the Tribe of Judah, Jesus Christ. There was a plan for her life, God designed, God ordained and she was too busy Jacob-pleasing to see God's hand on her life and submit to His will, obediently and gratefully. Too busy looking for man's approval to see the complete approval of God, the only approval that really matters.

Friend, if you are living your life with a root of rejection, trying to please people and be accepted in this world, I beg you to stop. Know Jesus Christ as your personal Savior. He is the only cure for the feelings of rejection that you have that lasts. He took your rejection on Himself on the Cross at Calvary. Because of His death and resurrection, you can truly be free from the feelings of rejection and the behavior that those feelings produce. Immerse yourself in the Word of God and find out what He has to say about you. I might suggest that you put aside all other studies and Bible adventures that you are involved in and make this your mission...to find out who I am in Christ. He has left a love letter to you in His Word. His Word has transforming power. Only through Christ and His word to you in His Word will you ever be truly free to be exactly who He wants you to be. Whether men like it or not. Jesus will become to you all that matters. Then instead of rejection being the gift that keeps on giving, it can be the gift that has been sent back, "Return to Sender"...right back to Hell where it belongs.

Donna Schultz
Savemom@aol.com

~ One Night with the King ~ The Story of Esther ~


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