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HOW JACOB DECEIVED HIS FATHER

Now Isaac prayed to Jehovah for his wife, because she had no children; and Jehovah heard his prayer, and Rebekah became the mother of twin boys. They named one Esau and the other Jacob.

As they grew up, Esau became a skilful hunter, a man who lived out in the fields; but Jacob was a quiet man who stayed about the tents. Isaac loved Esau, for he was fond of the game; but Rebekah loved Jacob.

Once when Jacob was preparing a stew, Esau came in from the fields, and he was very hungry; so he said to Jacob, “Let me swallow some of that red stew, for I am very hungry.” But Jacob said, “Sell me first of all your right as the eldest.” Esau replied, “See, I am nearly dead now! So of what use is this birthright to me?” Jacob said, “First solemnly promise to give it to me.” So Esau solemnly promised and sold his birthright to Jacob. Then Jacob gave Esau bread and stewed lentils, and when he had had something to eat and drink, he got up and went away. In this way Esau gave away his birthright.

When Isaac was so old and so nearly blind that he could not see,[20] he called Esau his oldest son and said to him, “My son.” Esau answered, “Here am I.” Then Isaac said, “See, I am old and do not know how soon I may die. Now, therefore, take your quiver and your bow and go out into the fields and hunt game for me and prepare for me savory food, such as I love, and bring it to me that I may eat and that I may bless you before I die.”

Rebekah was listening when Isaac spoke to his son Esau. So when Esau went into the fields to hunt game, Rebekah said to her son Jacob, “I just now heard your father say to your brother Esau, ‘Bring me game and prepare for me savory food that I may eat and bless you before I die.’ Now, my son, do as I tell you: Go to the flock and bring me two good kids, and I will make them savory food for your father, such as he loves. Then take it to him, so that he may eat, so that he may bless you before he dies.” But Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, “You know that my brother Esau is a hairy man, while I am smooth. Perhaps my father will feel of me; then I shall appear to him as a deceiver, and I shall bring blame upon me and not a blessing.” But his mother said to him, “Upon me be the blame, my son; only obey me and go, bring the kids to me.” So he went and brought them to his mother, and his mother made savory food such as his father loved.

Rebekah also took the fine clothes of her older son Esau, which she had with her in the tent, and put them on her younger son Jacob. Then she put the skins of the kids upon his hands and upon the smooth part of his neck, and she placed the savory food and the bread which she had prepared in his hand, and he went to his father and said, “My father.” Isaac answered, “Here am I; who are you, my son?” Jacob said, “I am Esau, your oldest son. I have done as you commanded me. Sit up and eat my game, so that you may bless me.” Isaac said to his son, “How very quickly you have found it, my son.” He answered, “Yes, because Jehovah your God gave me success.”

Then Isaac said to Jacob, “Come here, my son, that I may feel for you to find out whether you are really my son Esau or not.” So Jacob went near Isaac, his father, and he felt for him and said, “The voice is the voice of Jacob, but the hands are the hands of Esau. Are you really my son Esau?” Jacob answered, “I am.” And Isaac did not recognize him, for his hands were hairy like his brother Esau’s. So he blessed him. Then Isaac said, “Bring the food to me, that I may eat of my son’s game and bless you.” So he[21] brought it to him, and he ate. Jacob also brought him wine, and he drank.

Then his father Isaac said to him, “Come near now and kiss me, my son.” As he came near and kissed him, he smelled the smell of his garment, and blessed him.

As soon as Isaac had given Jacob his blessing, and Jacob was about to leave his father, Esau his brother came in from his hunting. He also had made savory food and was bringing it to his father. So he said to him, “Father, rise and eat of your son’s game, that you may bless me.” But Isaac, his father said to him, “Who are you?” He answered, “I am your son, your oldest, Esau.” Then Isaac trembled and said, “Who then is he that has hunted game and brought it to me, so that I ate plenty before you came, and blessed him? Also blessed shall he be!”

When Esau heard the words of his father, he uttered a loud and bitter cry and said to his father, “Bless me, even me also, O my father.”

But Isaac said, “Your brother came with deceit and has taken away your blessing.” Esau said, “Is it not because he was named Jacob, which means Supplanter, that he has supplanted me these two times: he took my birthright, and now he has taken my blessing!” Then he said, “Have you kept a blessing for me?” Isaac answered Esau, “See, I have made him your master and I have given to him all his relatives as servants and grain and wine as his food. What then can I do for you, my son?” Esau said to his father, “Is that the only blessing you have, my father?” and Esau began to weep aloud. Then Isaac his father answered him:

“You shall live far from earth’s fertile places,
And away from the dew of heaven.
By your sword you shall live,
And your brother you shall serve.”

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LOT’S ESCAPE FROM A WICKED CITY

And Abraham went along with them to start them on their way. Jehovah said, “The complaint has come that the people of Sodom and Gomorrah have committed great and terrible sins. I will go down and see whether they have done exactly as the complaint comes to me; and if they have not, I will know.”[12]

Then the men turned from there and looked off in the direction of Sodom.

Then Abraham drew near to Jehovah and said, “Wilt thou sweep away the righteous with the wicked? Suppose there are within the city fifty people who are righteous. Wilt thou sweep away and not spare the place for the fifty righteous who are in it? Far be it from thee to do this: to slay the righteous with the wicked! And that the righteous should be treated as the wicked, far be it from thee! Shall not the Judge of all the earth do what is just?” Jehovah said, “If I find in the city of Sodom fifty who are righteous, I will spare the whole place for their sake.” Abraham answered, “I have dared to speak to Jehovah, even though I am but dust and ashes. Suppose there be five lacking of the fifty righteous. Wilt thou sweep away all the city for lack of five?” Jehovah said, “I will not sweep it away, if I find forty-five there.”

Then Abraham spoke to him again, and said, “Suppose forty are found there?” He replied, “For the sake of forty I will not do it.” Then Abraham said, “Oh, let not Jehovah be angry, but let me speak. Suppose thirty are found there?” He answered, “I will not do it, if I find thirty there.” Then Abraham said, “Thou seest that I have dared to speak to Jehovah. Suppose twenty are found there?” He replied, “For the sake of twenty I will not destroy it.” Then Abraham said, “Oh, let not Jehovah be angry, but let me speak just once more. Suppose ten are found there?” And he said, “For the sake of the ten I will not destroy it.” Then Jehovah went his way, and Abraham returned home.

Two angels in human form came to Sodom in the evening, as Lot was sitting at the gate of Sodom. When Lot saw them, he rose up to meet them, and he bowed with his face to the earth and said, “Sirs, turn aside, I beg of you, into your servant’s house and spend the night and wash your feet; then you can rise up early and go on your way.” They said, “No, we will spend the night in the street.” But he urged them so strongly that they went with him and entered his house. And he made a feast for them and baked bread made without yeast, and they ate.

But before they had lain down, the people of Sodom, both young and old, all the people from every quarter, surrounded the house. And they called out to Lot, “Where are the men who came in to you to-night? Bring them out to us that we may do to them what we desire.”[13]

Then Lot went out to them at the entrance of his house, but he shut the door after him. And he said, “I beg of you, my friends, do not do what is wrong. Do nothing to these men, for they have come under the shadow of my roof.” But they replied, “Stand back, or we will treat you worse than them.” And they pressed hard against Lot and advanced to break the door. But the men reached out and drew Lot to them into the house and shut the door. Then they smote the men who were at the door of the house, both small and great, with blindness, so that they grew tired of searching for the door.

Then the men said to Lot, “Have you any one else here? Bring your sons-in-law, your sons, and daughters, and whoever you have in the city out of this place, for we are about to destroy it, because great complaint concerning the people has come to Jehovah and he has sent us to destroy it.” So Lot went out and said to his sons-in-law, “Up, go out of this place, for Jehovah will destroy the city.” But his sons-in-law thought he was only jesting.

When the dawn appeared, the angels urged Lot, saying, “Get up, take your wife and your two daughters that you may not be swept away in the punishment of the city.” When he hesitated, the men took him by the hand and led him and his wife and his two daughters outside the city, for Jehovah was merciful to him.

When they had brought them outside, they said, “Run for your life; do not look behind you nor stay anywhere in the plain. Escape to the heights, that you may not be swept away!” But Lot said to them, “Oh, sirs, not so! See, your servant has found favor with you, and you have shown great mercy to me in saving my life. I cannot escape to the heights, lest some evil overtake me, and I die. See now, this village is near enough to run to, and it is small. Oh, let me escape there, and my life will be saved.” Jehovah said to him, “I have also granted you this favor, in that I will not destroy the village of which you have spoken. Make haste, escape to it, for I can do nothing until you arrive there.”

The sun had risen when Lot came to Zoar. Then Jehovah caused brimstone and fire from heaven to rain upon Sodom and Gomorrah, and he destroyed those cities and all the plain, with all the people who lived in it and all that grew on the ground. But Lot’s wife, who was following him, looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.

Early in the morning Abraham rose and went to the place where he had stood before Jehovah; and as he looked toward Sodom and[14] Gomorrah and all the plain, he saw the smoke of the land going up as the smoke of a smelting-furnace.

ABRAHAM’S LOYALTY TO GOD

Later Jehovah tested Abraham, saying to him, “Abraham”; and he answered, “Here am I.” Jehovah said, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt-offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.”

So Abraham rose early in the morning and saddled his ass and took two of his servants with him, and his son Isaac. When he had split the wood for the burnt-offering, he set out for the place of which God had told him. On the third day, when Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance, he said to his servants, “Stay here with the ass, while I and the lad go over there. When we have wordshipped, we will come back to you.”

Then Abraham took the wood for the burnt-offering and laid it on Isaac, his son. And he took the fire and the knife, and they both went on together. And Isaac spoke to Abraham his father and said, “My father!” and Abraham answered, “Yes, my son.” Isaac said, “Here is the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt-offering?” Abraham answered, “My son, God will himself provide a lamb for a burnt-offering.” So the two went on together.

When they came to the place of which God had told him, Abraham built the altar there and laid the wood on it and bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar upon the wood. Then Abraham reached out his hand, and took the knife to kill his son. But the angel of Jehovah called to him from heaven, saying, “Abraham, Abraham!” and he answered, “Here am I.” And he said, “Do not put your hand upon the boy, nor do anything to him, for now I know that you love God, for you have not refused to give your son, your only son, to him.”

Then Abraham looked up, and he saw a ram caught in the thicket by his horns. So Abraham took the ram and offered him up as a burnt-offering instead of his son. And he named the place Jehovah-jireh, which means, “Jehovah will Provide.”

The angel of Jehovah again called to Abraham and said, “Jehovah declares, ‘Because you have done this thing and have not kept back your son, your only son, I will surely bless you, and I will make your children as many as the stars of the heavens and as the sand, which is on the seashore, so that they shall conquer their enemies, and all the nations of the earth shall ask for themselves a blessing like theirs, because you have obeyed my command.'”

THE HOUSE BUILT UPON THE SAND

What a foolish man the builder of the house shown in our picture must have been! Of course, when the wind blew and the waves dashed against his house, it would fall. Look how the sea has washed the foundation away, and how the roof is falling in! And the people; see how they are fleeing to save their lives! And all this calamity because he built his house upon the sand. But the other house, shown in the distance: how firmly that stands! What a bold front it offers to the waves, and how safely it resists the fury of the storm. Its foundations are sure, because they rest upon the solid rock.

Jesus had been teaching the people. He had taught them many wonderful truths, which you will find written in the fifth, sixth, and seventh chapters of Matthew; and in closing He said, “Whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man who built his house upon a rock. And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not, for it was founded upon a rock. And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man which built his house upon the sand. And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.” The lesson Jesus sought to impress upon the people by this parable was, that it is not enough simply to hear what He says. Many will do that; but it is only those who remember Christ’s commandments and keep them, whose work will stand when the time of trial comes.

Joseph sold as a slave

JOSEPH SOLD AS A SLAVE BY HIS BROTHERS

When Joseph was seventeen years old, he and his brothers were shepherds, but he made them angry, for he brought a bad report about them to their father. Now Jacob loved his son Joseph, who was born in his old age; and he made him a long coat with sleeves. When his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his other sons, they hated Joseph and would not speak to him in a friendly way.

Joseph had a dream which he told to his brothers; and they hated him still more. This is what he said to them, “I dreamed that, as we were binding sheaves in the field, my sheaf rose up and remained standing, while your sheaves came around and bowed down to my sheaf.” His brothers said to him, “Will you really be king over us? Will you indeed rule over us?” So they hated him still more because of his dreams and his words.

Then he had another dream and told it to his brothers, saying, “I have had another dream, and it seemed to me that the sun and the moon and eleven stars bowed down to me.” But when he told it to his father and his brothers, his father reproved him and said, “What is this dream that you have dreamed? Shall I and your mother and your brothers indeed come and bow down to the earth before you?” Therefore his brothers were jealous of him; but his father remembered the dream.

When his brothers went to pasture his father’s flocks in Shechem, Jacob said to Joseph, “Go, see whether all goes well with your brothers and with the flock, and bring me back word.” So he sent him out, and a certain man found him, as he was wandering in the field, and the man asked him, “What are you looking for?” He said, “I am looking for my brothers; tell me, I beg of you, where they are pasturing the flock.” The man said, “They have gone[27] away, for I heard them say, ‘Let us go to Dothan.'” So Joseph went after his brothers and found them in Dothan.

When they saw him in the distance, before he came to them, they planned together to kill him. And they said one to another, “See, here comes that great dreamer! Come, let us kill him and throw him into one of the pits, and we will say, ‘A fierce beast has devoured him.’ Then we shall see what will become of his dreams!”

Judah, however, when he heard it, saved Joseph’s life by saying, “Let us not take his life.” Reuben also said to them, “Do not shed blood; throw him into this pit, here in the wilderness; but do not harm him.” Reuben said this to save Joseph from their hands so that he could bring him back to his father. So when Joseph came to his brothers, they took off his long coat with sleeves and threw him into the pit. But the pit was empty, there being no water in it.

Then they sat down to eat and, when they looked up, they saw a band of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead; and their camels were loaded with spices, gum, and ladanum on their way to carry it down to Egypt. And Judah said to his brothers, “What do we gain if we kill our brother and hide his blood? Come, let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, and let us do him no harm, for he is our brother, our own flesh and blood.” So his brothers listened to him; and, drawing up Joseph, they sold him for twenty pieces of silver to the Ishmaelites, who brought him to Egypt.

Then his brothers took Joseph’s long coat, killed a he-goat, dipped the coat in the blood, and brought it to their father, and said, “We found this; see whether it is your son’s coat or not.” He recognized it and said, “It is my son’s coat! A wild beast has devoured him! Joseph surely is torn in pieces.” Then Jacob tore his clothes, put sackcloth about his waist, and mourned for his son many days. All his sons and his daughters tried to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted, saying, “I shall go down to the grave mourning for my son.” Thus Joseph’s father mourned for him.

HOW REBEKAH BECAME THE WIFE OF ISAAC

HOW REBEKAH BECAME THE WIFE OF ISAAC

When Abraham was very old and Jehovah had blessed him in every way, Abraham said to the eldest of his household servants, who had charge of all his affairs, “Put your hand under my hip,[16] while I make you promise by Jehovah, the God of heaven and earth, that you will not let my son marry one of the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I live, but that you will go to my own country and to my relatives and there get a wife for my son Isaac.” The servant said to him, “Perhaps the woman will not be willing to follow me to this land. Must I then take your son back to the land from which you came?” Abraham said to him, “See to it that you do not take my son back there. Jehovah, the God of heaven, who took me from my father’s house and from my native land and who solemnly promised me, ‘To your children I will give this land,’ will send his angel before you and there you will get a wife for my son. But if the woman is not willing to come with you, then you will be free from this promise to me; only never take my son back there.” So the servant put his hand under Abraham’s hip and made the promise.

Then the servant took ten of his master’s camels and set out with precious gifts from his master. So he went to the town of Nahor. And he made the camels kneel down outside the town by the well in the evening, at the time when women go out to draw water. Then he said, “O Jehovah, the God of my master Abraham, give me, I pray thee, success to-day, and show kindness to my master Abraham. Here I am standing by the spring of water, and the daughters of the men of the town are coming out to draw water. May that young woman to whom I shall say, ‘Please let down your water-jar that I may drink’; and who answers, ‘Drink and I will also water your camels,’ may she be the one thou hast chosen for thy servant Isaac. By this I shall know that thou hast shown kindness to my master.”

Then even before he was through speaking, Rebekah, who was the grand-daughter of Nahor, Abraham’s brother, came out with her water-jar upon her shoulder. She was very beautiful and unmarried. She went down to the spring, filled her jar, and came up. Then the servant ran to meet her and said, “Please let me drink a little water from your jar.” She answered, “Drink, sir,” and quickly let down her water-jar from her shoulder upon her hand and gave him a drink.

When she had finished giving him a drink she said, “I will draw water for your camels also, until they have finished drinking.” So she quickly emptied her jar into the trough and ran again to the well to draw water, and drew for all his camels. Meanwhile the[17] man was silently gazing at her in order to find out whether Jehovah had made his journey successful or not.

As soon as the camels had finished drinking, the man took a gold ring, five ounces in weight, and put it in her nose, and put on her arms two golden bracelets weighing five ounces, and said, “Whose daughter are you? Tell me, I beg of you. Is there room in your father’s house for us to spend the night?” She answered, “I am the grand-daughter of Milcah and Nahor. We have plenty of straw and feed, and there is a place for you to spend the night.”

Then the man bowed his head and worshipped Jehovah, saying, “Blessed be Jehovah, the God of my master Abraham, who has continued to show his mercy and his faithfulness toward my master. As for me, Jehovah has led me on the way to the house of my master’s relatives.”

Then the young woman ran and told these things to her mother’s family. Now Rebekah had a brother named Laban; and Laban ran out to the man at the spring. And when he saw the bracelets on his sister’s hands and the ring, and when he heard Rebekah say, “This is what the man said to me,” he went to the man, who was still standing by the camels at the spring, and said, “Come in, you who are blessed by Jehovah! Why do you stand outside? For I have cleared the house and have room for the camels.” So he brought the man into the house and took the packs off the camels and furnished straw and feed for them, and water to wash his feet and the feet of the men who were with him.

But when food was set before him to eat, he said, “I will not eat until I have made known my errand.” They answered, “Speak.” He said, “I am Abraham’s servant; and Jehovah has blessed my master greatly, so that he has become very rich. He has given him flocks and herds, silver and gold, servants, and camels and asses. Now Sarah, my master’s wife, had a son when she was old, and my master has given him all that he has. My master also made me promise, saying, ‘Do not let my son marry one of the daughters of the Canaanites, in whose land I live, but go to my father’s home and to my relatives and there find a wife for my son.

“When I said to my master, ‘What if the woman will not follow me?’ he said to me, ‘Jehovah, whom I love and serve, will send his angel with you and make you successful, and you will find for my son a wife from among my relatives and my father’s family.[18] Then you shall be free from your promise to me. But if you go to my family and they do not give her to you, you shall also be free from your promise to me.’ So I came to-day to the spring and said, ‘O Jehovah, the God of my master Abraham, see, I am standing by the spring of water, if thou wilt make the errand on which I am going successful, then let the young woman who comes to draw, to whom I say, Please give me a little water from your jar to drink, and who shall say to me, Drink, and I will also draw for your camels, let that one be the woman whom Jehovah has chosen for my master’s son.’

“Even before I was through speaking, Rebekah came out with her water-jar on her shoulder and went down to the spring and drew water. And when I said to her, ‘Please let me drink,’ she quickly let down her water-jar from her shoulder and answered, ‘Drink, and I will also water your camels.’ So I drank, and she also watered the camels. Then I asked her, ‘Whose daughter are you?’ And she said, ‘The grand-daughter of Nahor and Milcah.’ So I put the ring in her nose and the bracelets on her arms. And I bowed my head and worshipped and blessed Jehovah the God of my master Abraham who had led me on the right way to find the daughter of my master’s brother for his son. Tell me whether or not you will deal kindly and truly with my master, so that I shall know what to do!”

Then Laban and his family answered, “The matter is in the hands of Jehovah. We cannot say either ‘yes’ or ‘no.’ See, Rebekah is before you; take her and go and let her be the wife of your master’s son, as Jehovah has said.”

When Abraham’s servant heard their words, he bowed to the ground before Jehovah. Then he brought out gold and silver ornaments and clothing and gave them to Rebekah. He also gave costly gifts to her brother and to her mother. And he and the men who were with him ate and drank and spent the night there.

When they rose in the morning, the servant said, “Send me away to my master.” But Rebekah’s brother and mother answered, “Let the young woman stay with us a month or at least ten days; after that she may go.” But he said to them, “Do not delay me, for Jehovah has given me success. Send me away that I may go to my master.”

Then they said, “We will call the young woman and ask her.” So they called Rebekah and said to her, “Will you go with this[19] man?” She answered, “I will go.” So they sent away their sister Rebekah and her nurse with Abraham’s servant and his men.

They also blessed Rebekah, saying to her, “Our sister! may your children and their children become thousands and thousands!” Then Rebekah set out with her maids and, riding upon the camels, they followed the man. So the servant took Rebekah and went away.

Now Abraham had given all that he had to Isaac and had breathed his last, dying in a good old age, satisfied with living. In the evening, when Isaac had gone out in the field to meditate, he looked up and saw camels coming. Rebekah too looked up, and when she saw Isaac, she quickly alighted from the camel and said to the servant, “Who is this man walking in the field to meet us?” When the servant said, “It is my master,” she took her veil and covered her face. Then the servant told Isaac all that he had done. And Isaac brought Rebekah to the tent of Sarah his mother, and she became his wife; and he loved her.

Abraham’s Loyalty to God

ABRAHAM’S LOYALTY TO GOD

Later Jehovah tested Abraham, saying to him, “Abraham”; and he answered, “Here am I.” Jehovah said, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt-offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.”

[15]

Then Abraham took the wood for the burnt-offering and laid it on Isaac, his son. And he took the fire and the knife, and they both went on together. And Isaac spoke to Abraham, his father and said, “My father!” and Abraham answered, “Yes, my son.” Isaac said, “Here is the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt-offering?” Abraham answered, “My son, God will himself provide a lamb for a burnt-offering.” So the two went on together.

CAIN AND ABEL.

Adam and Eve had two sons, Cain and Abel. Cain, when he got old enough, became a farmer, Abel a shepherd. They both brought gifts to God. Cain’s gift was fruit; Abel’s gift was the very best of his lambs. For some reason God liked Abel’s gift, but did not like Cain’s. This made Cain hate Abel so much that he killed him.

When God asked Cain what had become of his brother he said: “I know not: Am I my brother’s keeper?” But God, who sees everything, had seen what Cain had done and punished him by making him wander homeless and friendless over all the earth.

How to serve the Lord while dating at the same time

How to serve the Lord while dating at the same time

We are instructed to serve the Lord with all of our actions. Your focus must always be on serving Christ and spreading his message of everlasting life. Dating and being a Christian doesn’t have to conflict with each other. As long as you understand that your purpose is to serve a higher power, everything will be fine. You also need to make sure that the relationships you forge are centered around Christ.

Church activities make for the best dates

Does your church operate a food pantry? Maybe you are fortunate enough to run a soup kitchen in the basement of your church. A great date idea is to donate your time together to serve the public. Your actions speak of the life-changing aspects of Christ’s blood, but you’ll also be making your community better. Everywhere you turn, there are all kinds of activities that need volunteers at your church and can turn into a date. What a better way to glorify the Lord than to do it while you’re seeking your soulmate?

Visit the elderly and sick in nursing homes

Your church probably has quite a few people in nursing homes. Why not visit them? You’ll get an opportunity to go out on a date and also to cheer up someone who really needs it. Let’s be honest; no one ever wants to end up in a nursing home. It helps those living in nursing homes know that there’s someone out there who cares about them. You can also bring them all kinds of goodies and snacks if their health permits.

Avoid temptation at all costs

Let’s be honest and say that dating is filled with all kinds of temptation. You can’t avoid desires of the flesh, and it’s natural to feel that way. You must understand that it’s vital to your walk with the Lord that you don’t allow your desires to get the best of you. That means you are honest with yourself, and you don’t put yourself in those situations. Try to limit any physical contact and never allow yourself to be alone in situations that might get out of hand. You do have control of where you go on dates and the things you do while out. Always remember that your purpose in life is to glorify Jesus, and anything short of that is a sin.

Above all else, enjoy the process of dating

You are going to date several people who aren’t a good match for you. That’s the way dating works, and there’s nothing that you can do about it. You can, however, build lasting friendships with the people you date that can last a lifetime. Just because a date falls through the cracks doesn’t mean you can’t use the relationship in some way to magnify the presence of the Lord here on earth. As long as the people you date are focused on Christ’s teachings, even if things don’t work out, you still have someone you can rely on to spread the gospel.

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Feel Good about yourself

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Feel Good about yourself

“We have this treasure in earthen vessels.”-2 Corinthians 4:7 NKJV

When you don’t feel good about yourself, you live with a sense of insecurity. You keep looking for others for approval, and when you don’t get it your sense of worth shrivels. As a result you can spend your life living far short of your God-given potential. You are the only person you can’t get away from, and until you learn to accept yourself based on the fact that God loves and accepts you as you are, you will always battle insecurity.

Think about the last time you were around somebody, you didn’t particularly enjoy it. How did it feel? Not good, right? Good or bad, we project onto others the thoughts and feelings we have about ourselves. So if you want people to think well of you, you must have a good opinion of yourself-one based on God’s word. Now, the bible cautions about having an overinflated opinion of yourself-but don’t go to the other extreme. Living in continual self-rejection in an open invitation to Satan, whom the bible says is like a roaring lion prowling for someone to devour(see 1 Peter 5:8). You say, “But didn’t Paul write, “Nothing good lives in me, that is in my sinful nature” (Romans 7:18 NLT)? Yes, but that means the good qualities you do possess are evidence that God is at work in your life.

The Bible says, “We have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us. (2 Corinthians 4:7 NKJV). Today, instead of focusing on your flaws and feeling bad, recognise the “treasure” of God’s presence, power and potential that live within.

The article above was published in the Word for Today devotional (May/June/July 1923) Used by permission. Rhemia Media Inc. www.rhemamedia.co.nz A free copy the Word for Today devotional can be obtained at the following address: Freepost Rhema, Rhema Media Inc, 53 Upper Queen Street, Private Bag 92636, Symonds Street, Auckland 1150, New Zealand

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