…Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen (Heb 11:1 KJV). When my father was dying, I struggled with not wanting to say goodbye. I snuck down the stairs quietly to catch my flight early that morning. Since his bedroom was at the bottom of the stairway, I was hoping not to disturb him. He heard me and called me in for a parting acknowledgement and hug. A short time later my husband and I were flying back when his condition deteriorated. I called home at the connecting flight and found out that he had already passed on to a better place. He asked about me before he died and where I was. My sister told him that I was with Mike (my husband). He had faith that I would be cared for since I was with my husband and more importantly he had faith that he was securely accepted with God based on his relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ for all eternity!- Teresa #wegrieveasthosewhohavehope

 Matthew 21: 18-22 (ESV)

18 In the morning, as he was returning to the city, he became hungry. 19 And seeing a fig tree by the wayside, he went to it and found nothing on it but only leaves. And he said to it, “May no fruit ever come from you again!” And the fig tree withered at once.

20 When the disciples saw it, they marveled, saying, “How did the fig tree wither at once?” 21 And Jesus answered them, “Truly, I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what has been done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ it will happen. 22 And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith.”

When refreshing water is available yet the tempation is to drink from polluted sources, we must remember the treasure God provides. God sees and ponders all our paths! Like the Psalmist we can say, He has shown us the path of life, in His presence is fullness of joy. Without Him first, our thirst cannot be sated whether from pure or polluted water. – Teresa #newcreationinChrist

Proverbs 5:15-21 (ESV)

15 Drink water from your own cistern,

    flowing water from your own well.

16 Should your springs be scattered abroad,

    streams of water in the streets?

17 Let them be for yourself alone,

    and not for strangers with you.

18 Let your fountain be blessed,

    and rejoice in the wife of your youth,

19 a lovely deer, a graceful doe.

Let her breasts fill you at all times with delight;

    be intoxicated[a] always in her love.

20 Why should you be intoxicated, my son, with a forbidden woman

    and embrace the bosom of an adulteress?[b]

21 For a man’s ways are before the eyes of the Lord,

    and he ponders[c] all his paths.

When it is in someone’s power to do good but they choose not to do it, there may be torment instead of love. Perfect love is in the assurance that we are the apple of His eye, hidden by the shadow of His wing. Love is the promise of Christ’s righteousness as enough to bring us into God’s presence being delivered by His powerful sword (the Word of God).-Teresa

 Psalm 17: 8-15 (ESV)

8 Keep me as the apple of your eye;

    hide me in the shadow of your wings,

9 from the wicked who do me violence,

    my deadly enemies who surround me.

10 They close their hearts to pity;

    with their mouths they speak arrogantly.

11 They have now surrounded our steps;

    they set their eyes to cast us to the ground.

12 He is like a lion eager to tear,

    as a young lion lurking in ambush.

13 Arise, O Lord! Confront him, subdue him!

    Deliver my soul from the wicked by your sword,

14 from men by your hand, O Lord,

    from men of the world whose portion is in this life.[b]

You fill their womb with treasure;[c]

    they are satisfied with children,

    and they leave their abundance to their infants.

15 As for me, I shall behold your face in righteousness;

    when I awake, I shall be satisfied with your likeness.

   After Jacob wrestled with the angel of the Lord and prevailed, he was no longer afraid of his brother, Esau. Jacob learned a valuable lesson that no matter how much he deserved retribution for being deceptive, he was now a different person. He longed for God’s blessing, which was more valuable to him than acting on his natural instincts of outfoxing others.- Teresa #strengthinhumility

Genesis 32: 22- 33:3 (ESV)

22 The same night he arose and took his two wives, his two female servants, and his eleven children,[c] and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. 23 He took them and sent them across the stream, and everything else that he had. 24 And Jacob was left alone. And a man wrestled with him until the breaking of the day. 25 When the man saw that he did not prevail against Jacob, he touched his hip socket, and Jacob’s hip was put out of joint as he wrestled with him. 26 Then he said, “Let me go, for the day has broken.” But Jacob said, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.” 27 And he said to him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Jacob.” 28 Then he said, “Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel,[d] for you have striven with God and with men, and have prevailed.” 29 Then Jacob asked him, “Please tell me your name.” But he said, “Why is it that you ask my name?” And there he blessed him. 30 So Jacob called the name of the place Peniel,[e] saying, “For I have seen God face to face, and yet my life has been delivered.” 31 The sun rose upon him as he passed Penuel, limping because of his hip. 32 Therefore to this day the people of Israel do not eat the sinew of the thigh that is on the hip socket, because he touched the socket of Jacob’s hip on the sinew of the thigh.

Jacob Meets Esau

33 And Jacob lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, Esau was coming, and four hundred men with him. So he divided the children among Leah and Rachel and the two female servants. 2 And he put the servants with their children in front, then Leah with her children, and Rachel and Joseph last of all. 3 He himself went on before them, bowing himself to the ground seven times, until he came near to his brother.

Sisters in Christ! When we realize our need of a Savior, then salvation is real. It is not those who are well who seek out medical assistance. Even so, those who are righteous in their own eyes will have no need for salvation. It is the lost whom Jesus came to seek and to save. – Teresa

Matthew 9:9-13 (ESV)

9 As Jesus passed on from there, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he rose and followed him.

10 And as Jesus[b] reclined at table in the house, behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and were reclining with Jesus and his disciples. 11 And when the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” 12 But when he heard it, he said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. 13 Go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’ For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”

Snow in Rocklin? Even before the prophecy of a son born to Sarah was fulfilled, Abraham was considered a prophet in God’s eyes. He believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness. During a time of testing in a foreign land God faithfully watched over Abraham and Sarah (in spite of their half truths). The next chapter speaks to the fulfillment of God’s promise. Believe how God sees you, not the circumstances!- Teresa

  Genesis 20: 1-18 (ESV)20 From there Abraham journeyed toward the territory of the Negeb and lived between Kadesh and Shur; and he sojourned in Gerar. 2 And Abraham said of Sarah his wife, “She is my sister.” And Abimelech king of Gerar sent and took Sarah. 3 But God came to Abimelech in a dream by night and said to him, “Behold, you are a dead man because of the woman whom you have taken, for she is a man’s wife.” 4 Now Abimelech had not approached her. So he said, “Lord, will you kill an innocent people? 5 Did he not himself say to me, ‘She is my sister’? And she herself said, ‘He is my brother.’ In the integrity of my heart and the innocence of my hands I have done this.” 6 Then God said to him in the dream, “Yes, I know that you have done this in the integrity of your heart, and it was I who kept you from sinning against me. Therefore I did not let you touch her. 7 Now then, return the man’s wife, for he is a prophet, so that he will pray for you, and you shall live. But if you do not return her, know that you shall surely die, you and all who are yours.”

8 So Abimelech rose early in the morning and called all his servants and told them all these things. And the men were very much afraid. 9 Then Abimelech called Abraham and said to him, “What have you done to us? And how have I sinned against you, that you have brought on me and my kingdom a great sin? You have done to me things that ought not to be done.” 10 And Abimelech said to Abraham, “What did you see, that you did this thing?” 11 Abraham said, “I did it because I thought, ‘There is no fear of God at all in this place, and they will kill me because of my wife.’ 12 Besides, she is indeed my sister, the daughter of my father though not the daughter of my mother, and she became my wife. 13 And when God caused me to wander from my father’s house, I said to her, ‘This is the kindness you must do me: at every place to which we come, say of me, “He is my brother.”’”
14 Then Abimelech took sheep and oxen, and male servants and female servants, and gave them to Abraham, and returned Sarah his wife to him. 15 And Abimelech said, “Behold, my land is before you; dwell where it pleases you.” 16 To Sarah he said, “Behold, I have given your brother a thousand pieces of silver. It is a sign of your innocence in the eyes of all[a] who are with you, and before everyone you are vindicated.” 17 Then Abraham prayed to God, and God healed Abimelech, and also healed his wife and female slaves so that they bore children. 18 For the Lord had closed all the wombs of the house of Abimelech because of Sarah, Abraham’s wife.

This beautiful sunrise greeted us on our icy walk today. It reminded me that at times the seed of hope is planted when circumstances look the bleakest or when conflict abounds. Abram and Lot had to separate before God was able to bless Abram (who would later become Abraham) to the full extent. Are there things or people in our lives that tie us to the created world system rather than free us to be our best for the Creator? The length and breadth of His love for us takes resurrection power to allow us insight into what this means….(see Eph 3: 16-18). -Teresa #thisisHiskingdomcome

 Genesis 13: 8-18 (ESV)

8 Then Abram said to Lot, “Let there be no strife between you and me, and between your herdsmen and my herdsmen, for we are kinsmen.[a] 9 Is not the whole land before you? Separate yourself from me. If you take the left hand, then I will go to the right, or if you take the right hand, then I will go to the left.” 10 And Lot lifted up his eyes and saw that the Jordan Valley was well watered everywhere like the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt, in the direction of Zoar. (This was before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.) 11 So Lot chose for himself all the Jordan Valley, and Lot journeyed east. Thus they separated from each other. 12 Abram settled in the land of Canaan, while Lot settled among the cities of the valley and moved his tent as far as Sodom. 13 Now the men of Sodom were wicked, great sinners against the Lord.

14 The Lord said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him, “Lift up your eyes and look from the place where you are, northward and southward and eastward and westward, 15 for all the land that you see I will give to you and to your offspring forever. 16 I will make your offspring as the dust of the earth, so that if one can count the dust of the earth, your offspring also can be counted. 17 Arise, walk through the length and the breadth of the land, for I will give it to you.” 18 So Abram moved his tent and came and settled by the oaks[b] of Mamre, which are at Hebron, and there he built an altar to the Lord.

When Adam received judgment for disobeying God, he was reminded of his frailty. God, our creator, displays His handiwork through every human being- fearfully and wonderfully made! He made exquisitely beautiful and intelligent people out of the dust of the earth. Our job is to recognize how precious the people around us are every day. #Christinthecommonplace – Teresa

 Genesis 3:19

19 …By the sweat of your face

    you shall eat bread,

till you return to the ground,

    for out of it you were taken;

for you are dust,

    and to dust you shall return.