Thoughts from daily Bible reading for today – January 29, 2016
This is the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah the son of David, the son of Abraham…Boaz the father of Obed, whose mother was Ruth, Obed the father of Jesse, and Jesse the father of King David. Matthew 1:1, 5-6
My wife Rita gave me the best gift for Christmas. No, not a quiet weekend in the mountains or at the beach—though I would have enjoyed either. She surprised me with a three volume set of the Bailey family history from the late 1700’s until the mid 1980’s. As you can imagine it has been surreal to see my Dad’s photo as a young child, and his grandfather who I am named after: a circuit riding Baptist preacher in eastern Kentucky named Reverend Wallace and not surprisingly other more unseemly characters. My family background is very modest, rural and not without drama.
Jesus came to earth from heaven, so those of us on earth could go to heaven. He was born to a virgin whose family background was as diverse as most of our own. Encouragingly, Christ’s genealogy is made up of farmers, soldiers, kings, a prostitute and unbelievers to name but a few. Jesus was sinless, but He came from a long line of sinners. His family background is full of those who needed the Lord and others who loved the Lord. He was born in God’s timing, in a tiny town, to be the Savior of the world. His family background was part of God’s unique story.
“But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons” (Galatians 4:4-5).
Your family background is part of God’s story for your life: the good, the bad and the ugly! Your unique story is penned by God’s grace with spattered ink blots of love. The antagonist is the devil, the hero is Jesus and the one being rescued is you. Past guilt and ignorance need not shame and define you, because you have been bought and adopted by Christ. Health and wealth are not your family’s security—the eternal security of Jesus is where you find peace and joy. Your family background is a testament to the transforming power of God in your life today.
Followers of Jesus are part of His immediate and extended family. His immediate family of believers may include our children, parents, relatives and church family. His extended family of faithful followers are found with slum children in India, the rich on Wall Street or those suffering from persecution around the world. Wherever we find ourselves—we are not alone. If our earthly family ignores us we have a heavenly family who accepts us. We may be closer to the blood bought family of Christ than our own blood relatives. Our faith family is forever with Jesus!
“Resist him [the devil], standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings” (1 Peter 5:9).
Prayer: Heavenly Father, thank You for my family background, use me to influence my family toward faith in Jesus.
Application: Do I see the big picture of how God’s story scripted my family background?
Related Readings: 1 Samuel 2:27; 1 Chronicles 28:4; Acts 10:2; 1 Thessalonians 4:10
Post/Tweet this today: Jesus was sinless, but He came from a long line of sinners. #WisdomHunters #familybackground
Worship Resource: 6 minute video – United Pursuit: Hidden
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You can trace your genealogy to the bible by connecting to royalty. It comes into the bible at Gen.38 and the story of Tamar. Tamar is Jesus 45 th g.grandmother. She had two sons, Perez which connects down to Jesus, Zahar of the red thread (royal) that comes out of the bible and connects to all the royalty of Europe. Abraham is our 90th g. grandfather. Jesus is our 9th cousin 45 times removed. We connect through William Marshall 1st Earl of Pembroke, he connects to all the other royals and can be connected to the bible. So continue with your search of your tree. It is worth it. I got there at 2:30 am one morning through prayer. I had hit a brick wall and was woke out of a sound sleep by Father to google a name. In 1/2 hour I was back to Adam and Eve. Prayer always gets answers, even miracles for this prayer intercessor and genealogist. To God goes the Glory Always!
Hello
what did you mean by this phrase “His extended family of faithful followers are found with slum children in India, the rich on Wall Street or those suffering from persecution around the world.”
Can you please explain.
Thank you
Susan Rayes
Dear Darlene,
Gracious me! Thank you for sharing your exciting and inspiring genealogy “adventure”. I love the fact you were awakened by the Father to continue on with your search! Thank you for your example of obedience to Him. You could have pulled up the covers, turned over and gone back to sleep, waiting until the morning to continue. Your persistence and obedience really paid off in the divine answers you received. What an incredible blessing.
This devotional, “Family Background”, along with your “research”, is a powerful reminder of our lineage to our Savior. When Boyd wrote “Jesus was sinless, but He came from a long line of sinners. His family background is full of those who needed the Lord and others who loved the Lord”, I recognized how His family was made up of imperfect folks just like us. Boyd further stated “Our faith family is forever with Jesus!” So thankful to be a part of that family, aren’t you? Amen and Amen!
Thank you again, Darlene. I know that many readers in the Wisdom Hunter’s family were blessed when they read your story. You are so right when you said:
“To God goes the Glory Always!”
Grateful for you,
A sister in the family~
Gwynne
“Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.”
Galatians 6:10
Dear Susan,
First, I must apologize for taking so long in responding to your question. I read over it several times and then, re-read the devotional, “Family Background” a few more times. While I cannot speak for Boyd, I would like to offer a few thoughts.
When I read “His extended family of faithful followers are found with the slum children in India, the rich on Wall Street or those suffering from persecution around the world” my first thought was that they are “extended family” members in the body of Christ because we do not know them by name as we do our immediate family (our children, church family, relatives, etc..). I think the examples of “slum children”, “the rich on Wall Street” and “those suffering from persecution” was to let us know that our extended family (HIS extended family) reaches all groups people everywhere, not just in our immediate world. HIS extended family could be referring the many in the Body of Christ that we do not know or have a earthly connection with but of course will have a heavenly connection with!
But, I also think that HIS extended family (slum children, Wall Street folks, those persecuted) may consist of the many people that have yet to know our Lord and Savior but will someday. Our hope is that someday they will know HIM and will truly be a part of our extended family.
Susan, I hope I haven’t made this more complicated. Please know how much I appreciate your question. It made me really dig into this, pray about it, and stop and think about His extended family.
What I loved about “Family Background” is the assurance that God is in the details of our very family lineage and has it all planned out.
“My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place.
When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body.
All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.”
Psalm 139: 15-16
When Boyd stated “Your family background is a testament to the transforming power of God in your life today” I was reminded of the gift that God gives us with the relationships we have and how that gift is woven into our relationship with Jesus. Gracious….
We are so thankful for you, Susan, and look forward to hearing from you again. If you would like to continue this conversation, please email me gwynne@wisdomhunters.com. I would love to hear more of your thoughts on this.
Blessings to you,
a sister in Christ
“Therefore, as we have the opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.” Gal. 6:10