January 11- The Product of A True Love's Kiss

January 11, 2011

Scripture Reading:
Genesis 24:52-26:16

I've been dreaming of a true love's kiss

And a prince, I'm hoping, comes with this

That's what brings ever-aftering so happy

That's the reason we need lips so much

For lips are the only things that touch

So to spend a life of endless bliss

Just find who you love through true love's kiss

~Disney's Enchanted

Do you like Disney movies?  Back in the day every Disney princess movie had the beautiful princess find her true love prince. There was always some conflict though. An evil character or two would try to stop them, but the princess always managed to find her man. It was so romantic.

Today we have a real-life true love story! Rebekah agrees to leave her family and follow Abraham's servant back to the land of Canaan.  She agrees to marry Isaac and start a new life in a strange new land. You can imagine as a young virgin she is hoping to meet and marry a dashing wonderful man.

Can you feel the anticipation as Isaac meditates in the field and then raises his eyes up to see the camels coming in the distance? Rebekah, who surely heard plenty about her future husband on this long journey, jumps off of her camel to meet her true love.

They are apparently compatible as they consummate their marriage that night with their "true love kiss." Isaac is comforted by Rebekah after the death of his mother. May I take a moment to remind the wives reading this blog that your physical relationship with your husband is a tremendous source of comfort to him.  As you are intimate with one another, his sense of well-being is cemented. Let this Scripture be a reminder to all of us to embrace our intimate relationships and nurture them.

Yesterday I mentioned that Isaac and Rebekah's union is a picture of Christ and his Bride (the Church).  Just as Rebekah and Isaac finally meet face to face in this story, one day we will meet our True Love face to face.  We will see Christ in person. What a glorious day that will be filled with love, passion, and comfort.

Are you prepared to meet your True Love?

Genesis 25

As we have noted from day one,  Jesus is the central character of the Bible.  Therefore, the Bible focuses on the lives of the people through whom the Christ will come.

Isaac marries Rebekah and she is initially barren just like her mother-in-law Sarah.  Why does God keep doing this?  Why is Rebekah having to suffer with infertility?

God is allowing a wilderness experience for both Isaac and Rebekah.  God develops our faith through times of trials. Our communication with Him grows through our prayers and cries to Him during our hardships.  He is able to draw near to us and show us His love and strength.

We will see this pattern of God allowing wilderness experiences and Him providing triumph over the hardships repeated throughout the whole Bible. The sooner you and I learn to accept this pattern in our lives, the better.

Isaac pleads with God to open Rebekah's womb.  Rebekah becomes pregnant with twins who struggle within her womb.  Here is the product of their true love's kiss!  She cries to God asking what's happening within her.  His answer from verse 24 is, "The sons in your womb will become two rival nations. One nation will become stronger than the other; the descendants of your older son will serve the descendants of your younger son." (NLT)

Here we go again!  Remember, the first shall be last and the last shall be first? Remember Cain and Seth, and Ishmael and Isaac? This is another pattern that is repeated in the Bible.  It is a picture of Romans 11. One other spiritual truth this pattern pictures is that Adam (the first man born from God ) cannot enter heaven until Christ (the last man born from God) enters first. Jesus is the first fruit of those resurrected in the body and entering into heaven.

Next, we have the story of how hairy, impetuous Esau sells his birthright to Isaac's fortune to crafty and deceptive Jacob. The younger son, Jacob, steals the older son, Esau's, right to the family's material inheritance by taking advantage of Esau's impulsive and impatient tendencies.  This is sanctioned by God as we have already seen in His prophecy to Rebekah.  Have you noticed that deception runs in this family?

Isaac, like his father before him, moves to Gerar and deceives King Abimelech by saying that Rebekah is just his sister.  The apple doesn't fall far from the tree does it.  Abraham deceives. Isaac deceives.  Jacob deceives.

Isaac, like his father, acquires wealth from this deceptive situation.  God chooses to bless Isaac, not because of Isaac's good character, but simply because of God's promise to Abraham.  Isaac is a man of faith, but that does not mean he is a perfect man.

Before we get too judgmental of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, remember that IF my life and your life were recorded in a book for all to see there would be many times that we, too, would look bad. The story would reveal that we made mistakes, were deceitful, and participated in incidents in our lives of which we would not be proud.


Lesson:  God chooses who He will bless and who He will curse.  It is not based on behavior. It is based on His sovereignty.

Can you humble yourself to this aspect of God's power and personality?

Matthew 8:18-34

Jesus has completed his wonderful Sermon on the Mount and has healed a number of people publicly.  Not surprisingly, he begins to be followed by an increasingly large number of fans.  Perhaps we could say he was the Justin Bieber of his day.  (OR NOT!)

Anyway, Jesus wants a break from the crowds, so he and the disciples (his posse) get in a boat and go out into the middle of the lake.  A large storm comes up and threatens to capsize the boat.  The disciples cry out in fear, but Jesus calms the waves by speaking.  Here we see that the prophesied Redeemer Child of the world, who was with God in the beginning (See Genesis 1:1-2 and John 1:1-2) is able to control the physical world with his voice alone.  

What storm in your life does Jesus need to calm with his words alone?  Do you allow the voice of Jesus through Scripture to calm the storms in your life?

The disciples wonder who this is that he has this kind of power.  The next scene in the story shows us that although the disciples can't figure out who Christ is, the demons have no problem identifying Jesus' role in the universe.

As he is getting out of the boat some evil spirits, who are possessing some people, shout to Jesus saying that they know he is the Son of God and they want him to leave them alone.  Christ sends them into a herd of pigs owned by some local towns people. Once in the pigs, the demons rush over a cliff and die.

The townspeople are upset by this incident, seein' as how they just lost their source of income because of this man.  They ask Jesus to leave them alone.  I guess they don't care that the demon-possessed people among them have been rescued by Christ.  They are only thinking about their pigs and their lost income.

Does belief in Christ get in the way of your worldly possessions?  Is he more trouble than he is worth to you?

Psalm 10:1-15

This psalm asks the very honest question of why God allows the wicked to get away with believing that God is not watching their behavior.

The psalmist cries out for God to stop the wicked.

Lesson:  You can cry out to God about the injustices you see.  He wants to hear your opinion.

Proverbs 3:7-8

Don't be impressed with yourself.  This is wise advice!

What did you notice today?

Blessings,

Jubilee Gal

Kathy Fullerton