In the last article, we looked at destiny and what it means. Each of us is born with a destiny. At a minimum, that means that God has designed a purpose or destination for our life.

Some people believe that destiny and fate are the same – that their destiny/fate is sealed and irresistible.  But my personal opinion is that our destiny is not irresistible. God has set it as a destination that we have the ability to reach – if we make the correct decisions.

It seems clear that in order for Jacob to fulfill his destiny (become the patriarch of the 12 tribes of Israel) HE had to make some changes. Before Jacob could lead the great nation that God had promised (Gen 28:14), he had to learn to follow.

Until Jacob submitted to God, he could never be the great leader that God intended. Jacob demonstrated his inability to follow God in the bad choices he made:

• He deceived Laban, leaving without telling his father-in-law/uncle (Gen 31:20)
• He tried to pacify Esau rather than trust God to manage the reunion (Gen 32:20)
• He submitted to Esau as a “servant” (Gen 32:4) when the prophecy (his destiny) said “the older [Esau] shall serve the younger [Jacob]” (Gen 25:23)

God wanted Jacob to make some changes in his character. He asked Jacob his NAME. Biblical names often represented a person’s character. God already knew Jacob perfectly (including his name) but He wanted Jacob to admit that his character was true to his name. Read the rest of this entry »

I especially like the old BBC sitcom “Keeping Up Appearances.” Here is a short description from the www.tv.com website…

Patricia Routledge played Hyacinth Bucket, a woman who pretended to be upper-class but wasn’t. To side herself with Britain’s top ten percent, Hyacinth insisted her surname be pronounced “bouquet.” Her attention to cleanliness, candlelight suppers, and desire to sing gave pain to her husband Richard and her neighbors.

The name of the show is so descriptive of how a lot of people try to live. Hyacinth wanted to be something that she was not. Many people today want to be more than they really are – but are unwilling to pay the price to accomplish their desires.

On the other hand, the people in Berea (Acts 17) were NOT “nobility” by birth but they chose to develop a more noble character. They demonstrated characteristics that the Bible described as “noble character.”

Acts 17:10-12 As soon as it was night, the brothers sent Paul and Silas away to Berea. On arriving there, they went to the Jewish synagogue.  11 Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.  12 Many of the Jews believed, as did also a number of prominent Greek women and many Greek men.

There are at least three qualities of noble Christian Character which the people in Berea demonstrated:

1. They were open to hear – Paul preached the same message in Thessalonica & in Berea but the responses were very different. The people of Thessalonica rejected the message & started a riot while the Bereans “RECEIVED the message with great eagerness.”
2. They were loyal to truth – The excitement of hearing about Jesus & that He fulfilled the Biblical prophecies of the Messiah had to be CHECKED OUT. Each day, they “examined the Scriptures” to make certain that what they were hearing was actually true.
3. They were wise to chose – The emotional component of hearing that Messiah has come was balanced with the intellectual component of checking it against the Bible. The result was a decision to accept it and “Many of the Jews BELIEVED”

I preached this message today and the audio of that service is available below, the sermon notes and a video clip from the “appearances” show are all on the other side of the break.  Read the rest of this entry »