The Christmas Family Tree

Family Trees can be quite educational.  You can learn all kinds of things about your family history.  You might even find out that you have an important historical person or a celebrity in your family.  Sometimes, however, you find out that your family tree holds some questionable people in it.  Whatever you learn about your family is valuable information to know.  God made sure that all throughout the Bible various family genealogies were written down to provide us with valuable information.  In Matthew chapter 1 God provides us with the genealogy of Jesus.  Inside that genealogy we learn all kinds of important things.  Read Matthew 1: 1 –

¹ The historical record of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham: ² Abraham fathered Isaac, Isaac fathered Jacob, Jacob fathered Judah and his brothers, ³ Judah fathered Perez and Zerah by Tamar, Perez fathered Hezron, Hezron fathered Aram, ⁴ Aram fathered Aminadab, Aminadab fathered Nahshon, Nahshon fathered Salmon, ⁵ Salmon fathered Boaz by Rahab, Boaz fathered Obed by Ruth, Obed fathered Jesse, ⁶ and Jesse fathered King David. Then David fathered Solomon by Uriah’s wife, ⁷ Solomon fathered Rehoboam, Rehoboam fathered Abijah, Abijah fathered Asa, ⁸ Asa fathered Jehoshaphat, Jehoshaphat fathered Joram, Joram fathered Uzziah, ⁹ Uzziah fathered Jotham, Jotham fathered Ahaz, Ahaz fathered Hezekiah, ¹⁰ Hezekiah fathered Manasseh, Manasseh fathered Amon, Amon fathered Josiah, ¹¹ and Josiah fathered Jechoniah and his brothers at the time of the exile to Babylon. ¹² Then after the exile to Babylon Jechoniah fathered Salathiel, Salathiel fathered Zerubbabel, ¹³ Zerubbabel fathered Abiud, Abiud fathered Eliakim, Eliakim fathered Azor, ¹⁴ Azor fathered Zadok, Zadok fathered Achim, Achim fathered Eliud, ¹⁵ Eliud fathered Eleazar, Eleazar fathered Matthan, Matthan fathered Jacob, ¹⁶ and Jacob fathered Joseph the husband of Mary, who gave birth to Jesus who is called the Messiah. ¹⁷ So all the generations from Abraham to David were 14 generations; and from David until the exile to Babylon, 14 generations; and from the exile to Babylon until the Messiah, 14 generations.

This time I only want to talk about the women mentioned in this genealogy list.  Women aren’t always listed in Biblical genealogies.  However, Matthew makes a point to name five women in Jesus’ genealogy.  Do you know the Bible stories behind each of those first four women mentioned?  Each one of them had a background tied to sexual impurity.  Tamar deceived her Father-in-law, Judah, and had a child by him.  Rahab was a prostitute.  Ruth was from Moab where many participated in sexual ceremonial worship.  Uriah’s wife, Bathsheba, committed adultery with David.  You would think that God would want a family tree with only “righteous” people in it for His Son Jesus to be born in to.  So why did Matthew list these particular ladies and no other ones?  Was he making a point to the reader?  Most likely he was.  I think he was trying to show us that anyone of us, whether we come from a “good” background or a “bad” background, we can be a part of Jesus’ family tree.  Once we receive Christ in to our lives, none of our past matters anymore.  Only what we do from here on out.  We are called to live for Christ.  All these woman left their past behind and did good things afterwards. 

We can learn many pieces of wisdom from Jesus’ family tree, but today as we approach Christmas and focus on His birth let us remember that this baby that was born brought us a new life to live in Him.  Wisdom would be to show appreciation for what Jesus did for us and live that life.  Are you a part of Jesus family tree yet? 

The Christmas Family Tree

Family Trees can be quite educational.  You can learn all kinds of things about your family history.  You might even find out that you have an important historical person or a celebrity in your family.  Sometimes, however, you find out that your family tree holds some questionable people in it.  Whatever you learn about your family is valuable information to know.  God made sure that all throughout the Bible various family genealogies were written down to provide us with valuable information.  In Matthew chapter 1 God provides us with the genealogy of Jesus.  Inside that genealogy we learn all kinds of important things.  Read Matthew 1: 1 –

¹ The historical record of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham: ² Abraham fathered Isaac, Isaac fathered Jacob, Jacob fathered Judah and his brothers, ³ Judah fathered Perez and Zerah by Tamar, Perez fathered Hezron, Hezron fathered Aram, ⁴ Aram fathered Aminadab, Aminadab fathered Nahshon, Nahshon fathered Salmon, ⁵ Salmon fathered Boaz by Rahab, Boaz fathered Obed by Ruth, Obed fathered Jesse, ⁶ and Jesse fathered King David. Then David fathered Solomon by Uriah’s wife, ⁷ Solomon fathered Rehoboam, Rehoboam fathered Abijah, Abijah fathered Asa, ⁸ Asa fathered Jehoshaphat, Jehoshaphat fathered Joram, Joram fathered Uzziah, ⁹ Uzziah fathered Jotham, Jotham fathered Ahaz, Ahaz fathered Hezekiah, ¹⁰ Hezekiah fathered Manasseh, Manasseh fathered Amon, Amon fathered Josiah, ¹¹ and Josiah fathered Jechoniah and his brothers at the time of the exile to Babylon. ¹² Then after the exile to Babylon Jechoniah fathered Salathiel, Salathiel fathered Zerubbabel, ¹³ Zerubbabel fathered Abiud, Abiud fathered Eliakim, Eliakim fathered Azor, ¹⁴ Azor fathered Zadok, Zadok fathered Achim, Achim fathered Eliud, ¹⁵ Eliud fathered Eleazar, Eleazar fathered Matthan, Matthan fathered Jacob, ¹⁶ and Jacob fathered Joseph the husband of Mary, who gave birth to Jesus who is called the Messiah. ¹⁷ So all the generations from Abraham to David were 14 generations; and from David until the exile to Babylon, 14 generations; and from the exile to Babylon until the Messiah, 14 generations.

This time I only want to talk about the women mentioned in this genealogy list.  Women aren’t always listed in Biblical genealogies.  However, Matthew makes a point to name five women in Jesus’ genealogy.  Do you know the Bible stories behind each of those first four women mentioned?  Each one of them had a background tied to sexual impurity.  Tamar deceived her Father-in-law, Judah, and had a child by him.  Rahab was a prostitute.  Ruth was from Moab where many participated in sexual ceremonial worship.  Uriah’s wife, Bathsheba, committed adultery with David.  You would think that God would want a family tree with only “righteous” people in it for His Son Jesus to be born in to.  So why did Matthew list these particular ladies and no other ones?  Was he making a point to the reader?  Most likely he was.  I think he was trying to show us that anyone of us, whether we come from a “good” background or a “bad” background, we can be a part of Jesus’ family tree.  Once we receive Christ in to our lives, none of our past matters anymore.  Only what we do from here on out.  We are called to live for Christ.  All these woman left their past behind and did good things afterwards. 

We can learn many pieces of wisdom from Jesus’ family tree, but today as we approach Christmas and focus on His birth let us remember that this baby that was born brought us a new life to live in Him.  Wisdom would be to show appreciation for what Jesus did for us and live that life.  Are you a part of Jesus family tree yet? 

The Best Investment We Can Make

People good with their money will usually take some of their money and invest it in safe investments to earn some interest on their money.  They may buy land or stocks.  Of course as many of us have seen over the last few years some of the things we thought were safe and sound investments have turned in to major losses.  There is something else we can invest in that is even more important.  As good parents we should be investing in our children emotionally, physically and spiritually.  We should be spending time with them physically.  We should be encouraging them emotionally and teaching them spiritually.  The Bible takes this investing a step further.  Read Proverbs 13:22:

A good man leaves an inheritance to his grandchildren, but the sinner’s wealth is stored up for the righteous.

All of us love our kids, even when they drive us nuts.  So why not after we have spent years investing in them to help them have a good life as they grow up shouldn’t we be leaving them an inheritance to remember us by and help them out in the future when we are gone?  It just makes good common sense that when you love someone that you would want to help them in any way you can.  It’s interesting to note that this scripture makes the point leaving an inheritance helps to define us as a good parent or grandparent.  This inheritance can be in a variety of forms.  Maybe it is the obvious, money.  Maybe it is some land.  Maybe it is some prized possession or family heirlooms.  Maybe it is book that you have written full of the wisdom you learned living your life.  Maybe it is family history outline and photographs.  Even these sentimental things are a wonderful inheritance.  Not everyone has money that they can leave behind.  Things happen in life to destroy excess money.  However, we can leave something special to our children and grandchildren that will either help them in life physically, emotionally or spiritually.  The important thing is that they see through this inheritance gift your love and a reminder of what you were to them in their lives.  So start now thinking about how you can invest in your children and grandchildren after you are gone with an inheritance you have left for them.

Act Like An Animal

Going to the zoo can be a fun experience.  The bigger the zoo the more animals there are to look at.  You can go to the zoo to study animal habits and see animals you have never seen in person before.  Visiting the zoo is one of the simple pleasures in life.  When you go to the zoo you tend to look for the pandas, bears, lions, giraffes, etc.  They seem like more interesting or exotic animals to watch and learn about.  Throughout history man has used animal characteristics they have learned about to describe characteristics in man.  This can be a very good visual effect.  You find it in artwork, stories, mythology and even the Bible.  Jesus many times tried to explain things to his disciples and the people with things from their everyday lives.  In Matthew 10:16 -20 Jesus uses 4 different animals (some of which you wouldn’t necessarily go to the zoo to learn from) to make some very important points to the disciples:

16 “Look, I’m sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as serpents and as harmless as doves. 17 Because people will hand you over to sanhedrins and flog you in their synagogues, beware of them. 18 You will even be brought before governors and kings because of Me, to bear witness to them and to the nations. 19 But when they hand you over, don’t worry about how or what you should speak. For you will be given what to say at that hour, 20 because you are not speaking, but the Spirit of your Father is speaking through you.

Jesus uses these animals to give us some very important instructions.  In this passage he tells us to “be shrewd as serpents and harmless as doves”.  You can find many places throughout history where serpents have been used to symbolize wisdom or evil.  Serpents are known for being sneaky.  You sometimes don’t even know they are there.  They are known for their slow and deliberate preparation for attack.  They are known for the speed of their attack.  They are known for the deadliness of their attack.  You can’t see their fangs until they attack.  We need to understand that those who are of the world and not a part of the Christian family will not go out of their way to make life easy for us.  They will most likely seek ways to attack.  We need to understand that they can be dangerous and can quickly and successfully attack us.  We need to know they will find ways to sneak up on us and strike when they are ready.  We need to use our knowledge about how serpents work to protect ourselves and our testimony.  Be aware that you might have a serpent sneaking up on you and waiting to attack.  Don’t let yourself walk in to traps.  Be wise.  Don’t let your testimony slip for one moment or it might be used against you.  We are also instructed to be gentle or righteous as a dove.  When you think of the two animals, you tend to think that most people would kill a serpent first and would leave the dove unharmed.  After all they are just a gentle bird and a serpent can kill you.  So if we are righteous in our actions or gentle in our actions people will be more likely to listen to us or leave us unharmed.  They will have less ammunition to attack us with.  The soft cooing of a dove will get us further than the hiss of the snake when it comes to our words.

Take time to study the four animals Jesus used in this passage to see what Jesus was trying to teach you about your walk with Him through this world.  Take His instructions serious.

Go Where?

Can you imagine giving up everything you are familiar with?  Like family, friends, career, home.  Its kind of like joining the military.  They literally take you from your parents in most cases and put you in another state in a very barren set of barracks with nobody you know.  They deprive you of sleep and work you to death.  They assault your personality with abusive words.  The military do this in hopes of bringing out the true you and the best in you.  They try to weed out those who won’t be able to handle tough situations they might face as military men.  They try to take out your stubborn streaks and put in some obedience and military skills.  They have good reason for what they do.  It is just difficult to go through the process.  The disciples were not verbally abused by Jesus, but they did give up home, family and careers to follow Him.  They did spend three years in training.  They received instructions, life lessons, demonstrations and real life practice.  In Matthew 10:16 -20 we learn about what lay ahead for them if they continued to follow Jesus after their training ended:

16 “Look, I’m sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as serpents and as harmless as doves. 17 Because people will hand you over to sanhedrins and flog you in their synagogues, beware of them. 18 You will even be brought before governors and kings because of Me, to bear witness to them and to the nations. 19 But when they hand you over, don’t worry about how or what you should speak. For you will be given what to say at that hour, 20 because you are not speaking, but the Spirit of your Father is speaking through you.

Jesus tells them that things will not be comfortable, because He is sending them out on a dangerous mission.  This is much like what many of our military men face.  They end their training and they go out to do what they have been trained for.  Jesus wants them to understand that they are not going in to the midst of men like themselves, but rather out in to the midst of wolves.  They will be out in the middle of those who would harm them.  For the disciples and for us as followers of Christ, it is important to start with this piece of wisdom.  We are in the world and Jesus expects to go out in it.  To go to those who don’t know Him, even to those who are against Jesus and would harm us as a result.  With this piece of wisdom we will be wiser in how we proceed in the world.  We will watch our testimony knowing full well the wolf pack is waiting to pounce on us when we stumble.  We will be wiser in our choices of words and actions.  We will be wiser about who we befriend.  Remember you are a sheep and should act like one.  Remember you are a sheep and are therefore prey to the wolves.  Remember you have a shepherd who will take care of you.

 

 

In the Habit of Remembering

We all have good memories and bad memories.  Sometimes we dwell on those memories for the wrong reasons.  We think over and over again on the bad memories and drive ourselves insane with what we could have done differently to make the outcome better.  We focus on good memories to pump ourselves emotionally.  Remembering things is important.  God expects us to remember.  However in Psalm 63:6 – 8 God gives us instructions on the best way to use our time to remember things:

“6 When I remember You on my bed, I meditate on You in the night watches. 7 Because You have been my help, Therefore in the shadow of Your wings I will rejoice. 8 My soul follows close behind You; Your right hand upholds me.”

David was on the run from King Saul when he wrote this Psalm.  He was hiding in the wilderness.  His life was in shambles.  His family’s lives were at risk.  He spent his time thinking about what God had done.  He realized that God had been his help all that time and that He should stay faithful and rejoice in what God is doing.

Like David when we have free time, we are to focus on God.  For example, many of us have trouble falling to sleep.  We are consumed with the stresses of our day at work or in our family.  That’s a great time to think on the character of God.  We can spend time remembering the stories we have read or learned out of the Bible about God and His people, we learn about how God thinks and works.  We see fellow believers struggling with issues and learning to hear God and obey.  We see God responding to needs and providing.  We realize that we are not alone and God is there for us.  We, too, can rejoice in what God will do in our lives knowing that He love us.

So, start changing some of your thinking habits.  Get in the habit of remembering what God has done for those in the Bible and what God has done for you and your family during your lifetime.