June 25, 2008 6:37 AM
Tony wrote:
Abraham had many sons yet only two of them buried him. Issac his favorite and Ishmael whom he sent out to the desert to die. To sell your birthright, what a thought, especially back in that time when most things went to the first born. Hope you all have a great day. Reply to this
June 25, 2008 8:41 AM
rik wrote:
there was resentment between the brothers. the parents had favorites. we as parents should never have favorites. It is a dificult thing because children that are like ourselves are harder to deal with. It is a challange to say the least, but if we do not want resentment like we read in ch 25 we must focus on equall treatment. Reply to this
June 25, 2008 8:48 AM
Rich wrote:
Amazing how behind one can get when one drops out for awhile. The last time I was here we were in the first few chapters of Genesis (Noah and the flood). I have been distracted with much of late, very busy, and on and on but I have no excuse for not having my quiet times. This should be my refuge. Instead, I have been thinking of it as a chore. I apologize for being so inconsistent (apology to both God and all of you). I had a great prayer time this morning and things now look so much different. Pray for me that I will again form a habit of having DAILY quiet times (evidenced by daily input in the blog). A good friend once told me that a habit is formed in 30 days. After that, there is a craving to continue. My goal is to post daily for 30 days to form a healthy habit in my life. I need that right now. Thanks Mac for your concern, your brotherly love and your gentle "kick." We all need people in our lives to help us stay on the path. You have most definitely been a "kiss from God" to me. I appreciate you more than I could ever properly express.
If I understand history properly (I am sure that Mac will correct me here if I am wrong), all nations in the Middle East descended from Abraham. The descendants of Issac became the 12 tribes of Israel and all of his other children became all of the other nations in the Middle East. So, the fighting that exists today has been there since Abraham.
If I am correct, verses 5 and 6 are very interesting: "Abraham left everything he owned to Isaac. But while he was still living, he gave gifts to the sons of his concubines and sent them away from his son Isaac to the land of the east." I guess the animosity that exists among the nations in the Middle East started at this point - fighting among half-brothers and sisters. We see similar in many families today.
Also, fighting among the brothers within families (now nations in the Middle East) started at this time. See verse 17b (And they lived in hostility toward all their brothers).
One possible lesson in all of this to us (as fathers) might be to be sure we strive to foster peace within our family - regardless of how "family" is defined for us. If we allow or foster hostility (Abraham gave all to Isaac and sent others away with a few mere gifts), it could last for generations after us and it can grow to something much worse than sibling rivalry. We must work to promote peace in our family. I have some work to do - starting by spending daily quality time with God!!! Reply to this
June 25, 2008 11:44 AM
Sam wrote:
Sounds like when my sister used to make fudge (from sugar and stuff that belonged to my parents) and SELL pieces of it to my brother and I. Esau and Jacob. Twins, yet so different. God gave each of us differences on purpose. Unlike the twins here, we should respect the differences in each other. Each of you is different in some way....what makes you different? What traits do you have which the rest of us on the blog do not? In a non-prideful way, talk about your positive differences (how you are 'better', if you please, than the rest of us) as well as your differences which may be considered negative compared to the rest of us. What I am talking about is YOU. What makes up YOU? What skills/talents/gifts to you have that the rest of us may not, or at least in lesser degrees? And on the flip side, what lack of talents/gifts/skills do you have in comparison with the rest of us. When we can boldly talk about both our strengths and our weaknesses, we will learn to love our differences as well as our similarities. For instance---I am comfortable in my faith, yet am constantly challenged by 'facts' in the history of the Bible and the Church. God gave me a gift of discernment and leadership, vice following blindly. On the other hand, I love less, I think. My weakness is my ability to love others as much as I know I should. I get self-centered way too much and concentrate on myself, much like Jacob was doing when he gave into greed to get Esau's birthright. These are just a coupla examples of what I am talking about in our differences. Instead of me telling you what "I" think your differences are, why don't YOU tell us?
Awesome to see Rick's humbleness (oops, I mentioned one of his difference) about 'forgetting about God' this weekend. Great to see the consistency of Tony this last month, as well as his questions and comments. great also to see Rich 'back in the fold' as I missed his seasoned wisdom. Different? Yes we are, but those differences make us what we are individually, and can bring us closer together as a group. Reply to this
June 25, 2008 2:36 PM
rik wrote:
STRENGTHS: My compassion for others, I believe I have learned to listen quite well (this used to be a weakness) the ability to forgive.
WEAKNESSES: I have terrible lazy streaks, I am quick to anger, and I lack ambition at times. Reply to this
Abraham had many sons yet only two of them buried him. Issac his favorite and Ishmael whom he sent out to the desert to die. To sell your birthright, what a thought, especially back in that time when most things went to the first born. Hope you all have a great day.
Reply to this
there was resentment between the brothers. the parents had favorites. we as parents should never have favorites. It is a dificult thing because children that are like ourselves are harder to deal with. It is a challange to say the least, but if we do not want resentment like we read in ch 25 we must focus on equall treatment.
Reply to this
Amazing how behind one can get when one drops out for awhile. The last time I was here we were in the first few chapters of Genesis (Noah and the flood). I have been distracted with much of late, very busy, and on and on but I have no excuse for not having my quiet times. This should be my refuge. Instead, I have been thinking of it as a chore. I apologize for being so inconsistent (apology to both God and all of you). I had a great prayer time this morning and things now look so much different. Pray for me that I will again form a habit of having DAILY quiet times (evidenced by daily input in the blog). A good friend once told me that a habit is formed in 30 days. After that, there is a craving to continue. My goal is to post daily for 30 days to form a healthy habit in my life. I need that right now. Thanks Mac for your concern, your brotherly love and your gentle "kick." We all need people in our lives to help us stay on the path. You have most definitely been a "kiss from God" to me. I appreciate you more than I could ever properly express.
If I understand history properly (I am sure that Mac will correct me here if I am wrong), all nations in the Middle East descended from Abraham. The descendants of Issac became the 12 tribes of Israel and all of his other children became all of the other nations in the Middle East. So, the fighting that exists today has been there since Abraham.
If I am correct, verses 5 and 6 are very interesting: "Abraham left everything he owned to Isaac. But while he was still living, he gave gifts to the sons of his concubines and sent them away from his son Isaac to the land of the east." I guess the animosity that exists among the nations in the Middle East started at this point - fighting among half-brothers and sisters. We see similar in many families today.
Also, fighting among the brothers within families (now nations in the Middle East) started at this time. See verse 17b (And they lived in hostility toward all their brothers).
One possible lesson in all of this to us (as fathers) might be to be sure we strive to foster peace within our family - regardless of how "family" is defined for us. If we allow or foster hostility (Abraham gave all to Isaac and sent others away with a few mere gifts), it could last for generations after us and it can grow to something much worse than sibling rivalry. We must work to promote peace in our family. I have some work to do - starting by spending daily quality time with God!!!
Reply to this
Sounds like when my sister used to make fudge (from sugar and stuff that belonged to my parents) and SELL pieces of it to my brother and I. Esau and Jacob. Twins, yet so different. God gave each of us differences on purpose. Unlike the twins here, we should respect the differences in each other. Each of you is different in some way....what makes you different? What traits do you have which the rest of us on the blog do not? In a non-prideful way, talk about your positive differences (how you are 'better', if you please, than the rest of us) as well as your differences which may be considered negative compared to the rest of us. What I am talking about is YOU. What makes up YOU? What skills/talents/gifts to you have that the rest of us may not, or at least in lesser degrees? And on the flip side, what lack of talents/gifts/skills do you have in comparison with the rest of us. When we can boldly talk about both our strengths and our weaknesses, we will learn to love our differences as well as our similarities. For instance---I am comfortable in my faith, yet am constantly challenged by 'facts' in the history of the Bible and the Church. God gave me a gift of discernment and leadership, vice following blindly. On the other hand, I love less, I think. My weakness is my ability to love others as much as I know I should. I get self-centered way too much and concentrate on myself, much like Jacob was doing when he gave into greed to get Esau's birthright.
These are just a coupla examples of what I am talking about in our differences. Instead of me telling you what "I" think your differences are, why don't YOU tell us?
Awesome to see Rick's humbleness (oops, I mentioned one of his difference) about 'forgetting about God' this weekend. Great to see the consistency of Tony this last month, as well as his questions and comments. great also to see Rich 'back in the fold' as I missed his seasoned wisdom. Different? Yes we are, but those differences make us what we are individually, and can bring us closer together as a group.
Reply to this
STRENGTHS:
My compassion for others, I believe I have learned to listen quite well (this used to be a weakness) the ability to forgive.
WEAKNESSES:
I have terrible lazy streaks, I am quick to anger, and I lack ambition at times.
Reply to this