by Pastor Tim Klein
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Read Genesis 29:1–20
In yesterday’s devotion, in Genesis 28:2,3, Jacob’s father Isaac sends him on his way with instructions and a blessing:
Arise, go to Paddan-aram to the house of Bethuel your mother’s father, and take as your wife from there one of the daughters of Laban your mother’s brother. God Almighty bless you and make you fruitful and multiply you, that you may become a company of peoples.
So much for ‘the best-laid plans of mice and men’ (thank you, Robert Burns). Those plans soon went astray. With some significant manipulation (dare we say ‘skullduggery and trickery’) by Laban, not one, but two wives – both the daughters of Laban – were married to Jacob. But God’s plan was still at work. Fulfilment of the blessing took more than one wife; it took both wives and two maidservants, Bilhah and Zilpah (whom Jacob also married), to produce Jacob’s 12 sons, the founding fathers of the tribes of Israel.
It is amazing how God persists with his plan. It’s the big salvation plan. One of the sons is Judah – and his house is the house of Israel from which Jesus came.
If you are interested in the story, keep reading Genesis for the extraordinary roll-out of God’s saving plan all those generations ago.
Is there some encouragement in this for you and me? If you read on, you will discover the characters of the 12 leaders of the tribes of Israel. They were many and varied, and God had something to say and do through each of their lives.
You may find a direct comparison to your life among them. However, in general terms, you will see the miracle of how the Lord works through different people, in good and bad situations, always working for the good of his people and the sake of his kingdom.
By all means, we lay our plans. But most of all, we trust the Lord to guide us through them all.
Lord: you must laugh sometimes at the plans we make. Yet despite us, you remain working in and through us. Please continue to give us the confidence to boldly step ahead in faith, trusting in you, knowing that you are there with us, working your good for the sake of your kingdom. Amen.
Tim has served as a pastor for more than 30 years in Australia and New Zealand. He plans to retire on 12 January in 2025. Husband to his wife Joy, father of three and grandfather of more than 10, Tim says he is living in hope. He enjoys gardening (especially his orchard of more than 60 trees, succulents and flowering plants), making music (he loves to sing), beekeeping and taking photos.
To live in the steadfast love of the Lord
by Tim Klein
Click here to download your printable verse to carry with you today.
I will sing of the steadfast love of the Lord forever (Psalm 89:1a).
Read Psalm 89:1–4,15–18
Yesterday’s devotion posed the question: What do you really, really want? From 1 Peter 3:8–14, we learnt what the Lord really, really wants from us: unity of spirit, sympathy, love for one another, a tender heart and a humble mind.
What I really, really want is what the Lord really, really wants. More than that, I want to be with the Lord into eternity. I want to sing of the steadfast love of the Lord forever in all circumstances, to sing and dwell in the house of the Lord (Psalm 23), and to live in peace, unafraid.
Those of you who know me know I love to sing, especially the Lord’s songs. I love to sing with my brothers and sisters in Christ in the house of the Lord. It’s a place and way in which I experience the sublime love and presence of God among us.
I have sung solo, in small and large choirs, in folk groups and accompanied by guitars, organs, pianos and orchestras. I have sung with my wife beside me and my children, too. I hope and pray I will sing of the steadfast love of the Lord forever, from this moment into eternity.
My voice (and yours, too), however, is not just mine. It is the voice of the Lord’s Spirit, stirring up in his people the desire to make melody to the Lord. We’re not all what people might describe as good singers, but it doesn’t matter to the Lord. He’s listening for something deeper – the melody that comes from his heart into and through the hearts of those who love him.
If you know this prayer of confession and praise, sing with me now:
The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases,
His mercies never come to an end,
They are new ev’ry morning, new ev’ry morning.
Great is your faithfulness, O Lord,
Great is your faithfulness.
(From Lamentations 3:22–33; Edith McNeill AT 153)
Tim is a recently retired LCANZ pastor. He enjoys spending time with family, connecting with neighbours and gardening.
What you really, really want
by Tim Klein
Click here to download your printable verse to carry with you today.
Whoever desires to love life and see good days (1 Peter 3:10a).
Read 1 Peter 3:8–14
One of the things I really, really want right now is for my rainwater tanks – all 205,000 litres of them – to be full before summer and the need to water my garden begins again. Right now, I’m watching steady, gentle rain falling. Every drop is flowing into the gutters and rolling down into the tanks! It’s one week into winter, and already one-third of my annual need is stored. Hallelujah!
While rain is something I really, really want, it’s not the ultimate thing I need. Even if it doesn’t rain and I must turn the water off in my garden, there are more important things – not just for me, but for everyone.
In 1996, the pop group Spice Girls sang, ‘Tell me what you want, what you really, really want.’ They may have found short-term satisfaction, but they weren’t singing about what we ultimately need – you, me and the whole world.
So, what do we all really need in this life? This short list from the online US fatherhood program allprodad.com is an attempt to document our basic needs:
- to connect
- to be valued
- to be understood/seen
- to overcome adversity
- to love and be loved.
Of course, we could all write our own lists of what would seem most relevant to us and our needs. There are many needs and wants we all have in common. I can identify with those five needs, and perhaps you may too, to a greater or lesser extent.
But God knows our bigger picture, and in 1 Peter 3:8–14, he spells it out for us.
Dear Lord, I want to lose my life in you and be found in you for all of my days and into eternity. Let your Spirit guide my thoughts and actions in ways that please and bless you and others. Let what you want for all of us be what I really, really want – and a motivation in my life. Amen.
Tim is a recently retired LCANZ pastor. He enjoys spending time with family, connecting with neighbours and gardening.
Do you really want to be free?
by Tim Klein
Click here to download your printable verse to carry with you today.
If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the world, why, as if you were still alive in the world, do you submit to regulations …? (Colossians 2:20)
Read Colossians 2:11–20a
And we’re still on about life, death and freedom this week – day five!
I recently received one of those government health letters inviting me to do the ‘poo test’ – you know the one (at least you probably do if you’re over 50). Here’s a regulatory letter. Will I submit?
I self-administered the test, and bang, less than a week later, I was told that I needed a colonoscopy. Thankfully, there was no indication of any cancerous growth, only several small polyps removed on the spot. Thank you, Lord.
Along the way, I had blood tests. My surgeon identified some anomalies. Long story short, within a very short space of time, I was diagnosed as coeliac.
Now, it seems I must die to my love of bread products – anything containing gluten. The rules and regulations of coeliac disease are very clear: no more pizza, cakes, sourdough breads or cream buns.
I’m thinking about this in the light of Colossians 2:20. I’m faced with a choice: obey the coeliac regulations and give up gluten, or continue as though the disease does not affect me. It’s a kind of ‘to sin or not to sin’. I’m well aware of the consequences either way.
In a way, knowing I have this disease frees me up to make choices that, in the long term, are better for me than if I hadn’t known.
That has some connection with Colossians 2:20 – and even Romans 7:15: I do not understand what I do. What I want to do, I do not do, but what I hate, I do. I now know gluten is very bad for me, but I still want creamy honey doughnuts.
Of course, this word in Colossians is not about gluten; it’s about temptation, submission to the law and freedom. I must ask myself: Do I really want to be free? Do I truly desire to love life and see good days? We will take up that question tomorrow …
Lord, we hear you say in Galatians 5:1, ‘It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.’ Prompt us with your Holy Spirit to stand firm in the freedom you have won for us. Amen.
Tim is a recently retired LCANZ pastor. He enjoys spending time with family, connecting with neighbours and gardening.