Biblical Shakers

  (Click on Title for Video Introduction) Monday, Genesis Chapter 49 Genesis 49 Verse 8 Jeanie Boldt September 12, 2006 Verse 8:  All of these are the twelve tribes of Israel, and this is what their father said to them when he blessed them, giving each the blessing appropriate to him. THOUGHT Chapter 49 is not a father’s blessing on his sons. Rather, it is a prophecy of what the sons could expect in the future because of their individual characters and the decisions they had made. Reuben was the lustful prodigal son, but Levi and Simeon were angry elder brothers. Judah would be the ancestor of Israel’s line of kings.  Judah’s line would produce the promised Messiah, Jesus. Joseph was the vine that went over the wall separating Jews and Gentiles.  I cannot touch on them all. Our past also affects our present and future. By tomorrow our actions of today will have become part of the past. Yet they will already have begun to shape the future. Are your actions those that ...

  Click on Title for Video Intro Monday, Genesis Chapter 44 Genesis 44 Verse 20 Kristen Strayer September 1, 2006 Verse 20:   And we answered, “We have an aged Father, and there is a young son born to him in his old age. His brother is dead, and he is the only one of his mother’s sons left, and his father loves him.” THOUGHT I think this chapter shows a good side to Joseph’s brothers. They displayed they loved and were concerned for the well-being of their father. They were not going to leave their youngest brother, Benjamin, behind as they knew it would devastate their father. I think their actions and words showed honor to their father. PRAYER God, thank You for the parents You gave to us. Help us not to focus on their weaknesses, but to honor them for the people you created them to be.  We love you God!  AMEN Tuesday, Genesis Chapter 45 Genesis 45 Verse 8  Mindy Strayer September 3, 2006 Verse 8:  “So then, it was not you who sent me here, but G...

  Click on title for Video Intro Monday, Genesis Chapter 39 Genesis 39 Verse 3 Bart Strayer August 27, 2006 Verse 3: “When his master saw that the LORD was with him and that the LORD gave him success in everything he did.” THOUGHT This is a reoccurring theme in chapter 39. It is mentioned again in verse 23. Let’s not fool ourselves here as to the meaning of, “? success in everything he did”. Does this mean that Joseph’s life was a cake walk?  No. The title of chapter 39 is ‘Joseph thrown into jail’.  How can you call getting thrown into jail a success? Too many of us think that if the Lord is with us then we will have success without strife. Like we are not even going to have to try and things are going to be handed to us. Even if the Lord is for us, we will still have trials and struggles. Can you imagine the type of people we would become if we were just handed things? Joseph had God’s favor because he was in the right place, at the right time, with the right heart for ...

Click on the Title to view Introduction for the week. Monday, Genesis Chapter 34 Genesis 34 Verse 31 Jane Jones August 17, 2006 Verse 31:  “They said, ‘Nobody is going to treat our sister like a whore and get by with it.” THOUGHT When I read this verse, the first thing I thought of was “an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth”.  (Getting even) The brothers took revenge. Their desire for justice was right, but their ways of achieving it were wrong. Because of their sin, their father cursed them with his dying breath.  Jacob was so upset with his sons. His sons’ actions brought trouble on Jacob and his family. The brothers wrongly thought that being set apart meant being better. It was their arrogant attitude that led them to the terrible slaughter of innocent people. Generations later, their descendants lost a part of the Promised Land allotted to them because of these actions. When tempted to return evil for evil, leave revenge to God and spare yourself the dreadful conseq...