The Family Bible Journey Podcast

Jacob flees for his life, and to find a wife in his mother's homeland. Along the way, God appears to him in a vision of angels ascending and descending a ladder to heaven. He hears God's promises for him and his family, and dedicates the rest of his life to following His God.

Jacob, the deceiver and schemer, cooks up a plan with his mother to steal Isaac's blessing from Esau. We will learn of the depth of their treachery and consider how it is that those we love the most have the capacity to hurt us the most. Because of this cunning, Jacob will flee for his life, to avoid the murderous wrath of his elder brother Esau.

Matthew inserts himself into his gospel by showing us that he was the sort of character that Jesus came to redeem. We learn how the plight of humanity tugs at God's heartstrings. In response, He reaches out to those who need His love and yearn for the life, love, and forgiveness that is only found in Him.

God blesses Isaac a hundredfold in one year, even though he repeats the folly of his father by trying to pass his wife Rebecca off as his sister. When God affirms him, He affirms us, because we are blessed for the sake of another, just as Isaac was affirmed for the sake of his father Abraham.

Ever have God answer your prayers, but not how you wanted or expected Him to? If so, you know how Rebecca felt when God granted her prayer for a child, only to become pregnant with twins who were wrestling with each other within her womb. Today we learn of the burden of infertility, how God can create family, and the dynamics within this family that were evident before the boys were even born.

Healing and peace are the themes of Jesus ministry when he returns home to Capernaum, following his Sermon on the Mount. He demonstrated His mighty power to heal, to cast out demons, and calm a storm. We are both encouraged by the centurion's humble faithful and challenged by the fearful hearts of the disciples in this chapter.

Abraham sends a servant back to Haran to find a wife for his son Isaac. God blesses his servant's journey by leading young, kind, faithful and strong Rebecca to go with him to the land of promise to marry Isaac. In Isaac and Rebecca, we see a loving and committed couple, who will be a great blessing to us all.

Jesus concludes his sermon on the mount by encouraging his disciples to put his words into action in the familiar parable of the man who built his house on the rock. If we are to receive the benefit of God's Word, we must learn to listen to it for ourselves and apply it to our lives. If we fall into the trap of looking down on those who are suffering for not putting God's Word into practice, we are setting ourselves up for failure instead of the faithfulness God asks of His beloved saints.

Abraham loses the love of his life, Sarah. His wife was so devoted and loving that she even went along with some of his crazy schemes. Her death gives us opportunity to reflect on how we mourn. We watch Abraham, in the midst of his grief, making a deal to procure for his wife a burial place. Here, we consider the place of God's people in the economy. As weird as some customs may seem, God blesses us to participate in the lives of those around us, regardless of the cultural and social norms of the place we find ourselves.

When God asked Abraham to sacrifice his beloved Isaac, He tests the old man by seeing if he will listen and obey. In asking Abraham to sacrifice Isaac, the patriarch demonstrates how God is going to redeem humanity by sacrificing his only Son. There are so many parallels to what Jesus did on the cross that this is one of the clearest Old Testament types in the Bible. The writer of Hebrews informs us that Abraham was able to go through with God's command because he believed that if went all the way through with God's request that God would raise Isaac from the dead, because of the promise that Isaac would be his heir. This legendary chapter of the Bible gives us opportunity to compare three types found in the New Testament as we grow in our knowledge and understanding of these powerful prophecies.

When we put first things first, God orders our lives for us. When we give in to the three temptations of lust, greed, or worry, we diminish our own joy. Here Jesus teaches how seeking God and his righteousness fills us with peace.

Abraham repeats his folly by passing Sarah off as his sister and giving her to yet another king as a wife. Thankfully, God intervenes and rescues them all from Abraham's foolishness. Following this foolish episode, Abraham and Sarah are blessed with their son Isaac. This great news for Abraham and Sarah is bad news for Hagar and Ishmail, who are sent off into the desert. But God is there for them too, as he appears to Hagar and blesses them. This is good news for all who are neglected or abandoned, because God doesn't forget us when others cast us off.

The angels sent to investigate the immorality of Sodom find a warm welcome from Lot, who offers them a place to spend the night. But when evening comes, all the men of the city come to sexually assault these visitors. Lot tries to fend them off, but the angels must rescue Lot and his family from the men of Sodom and lead them out of Sodom before they destroy the city. This chapter deals with sexual assault, moral decay of society and incest. People tend to make a mess of things, but God's mercy prevailed for Lot and his daughters, who were the only survivors of His wrath poured out upon evil Sodom.

Hypocrites. One of the biggest turn-offs for people who don't like the church. Jesus takes issue with hypocrisy, showing that the way of God is the opposite of human pride. It is a humble faith. When we follow the Lord humbly, we are blessed to be a blessing.

When God promised Abraham that he would have a son with Sarah, he falls on the ground in laughter. Sarah also laughed at this impossibly good news. But God wasn't joking, He was serious. But before promising Abraham that he would have a son with Sarah, God instituted circumcision as a tangible reminder of faith for all the males of Abraham's household. The child they thought was impossible would be one of the first Hebrew males circumcised in this new rite, on the eighth day after his birth. The promise, and this very personal reminder of faith, was about to be passed to the next generation.

Abram and Sarai concoct a plan to get pregnant, but their plan is not that they have a child together, but rather that Abram have a child with her servant Hagar. No surprise all hell breaks loose in their family after they take matters into their own hands following God's promise to bless Abram with a son. Hagar gets kicked out of the family. Pregnant and alone in the desert, God appears to her and promises to bless her and her son. The family is restored. We can join in Hagar's praise, knowing the God Who sees us and seeks us when we are down.

You are the Light of the World! As God's love dispells the darkness of sin and selfishness, our lives are transformed by God's love. While we may never attain perfection on this side of eternity, we might as well try, and see how God uses us to overcome the darkness present in the souls and lives of those around us.

Abram is given wonderful and borderline unbelievable promises from God. How is a man, whose wife was barren, become a father, let alone the father of nations? God knows how, because the God of promises is powerful enough to accomplish all He plans and proposes for His people.

Abram is a hero in this chapter as he rescues his nephew Lot from trouble. We are introduced to the enigmatic Melchizedek, who is the only person in the Bible besides Jesus who is a prophet, priest and king. We also stumble across one of the few archeological sites you can visit that connects us to the life of the patriarchs of 4,000 years ago.

The Beatitudes are a list of blessings God's children receive by the work of His Holy Spirit in our lives. Too many miss the blessing of this passage because they take it as a list of to-dos, turning the Lord's blessing into a burden. You are blessed by God, our Father in Heaven, to be a blessing! What great news it is, to know that the very same Word Who spoke light into existence brings faith and love to bear on our lives simply because God loves us.

Abram is chosen, of all humanity, to be the one through whom God's promise of salvation will be carried. God calls him to faith and he leaves his idolatrous hometown to follow the God of Promise. But when the prospect of trouble comes, Abram trusts in his own wisdom over the Lord's provision, exposing his wife to danger and causing all sorts of problems. Here we learn of the Lord's faithfulness to His foolish people.

How quickly could Noah's family repopulate the earth? Simple math shows that it is much quicker than many imagine, with a global population of over a billion people within Noah's lifetime. We'll do the math on repopulation before considering the impact of confused languages and the tremendous cost to human productivity the language divide still inflicts today.

Jesus shows us what it looks like when heaven comes to earth. He performed mighty miracles to demonstrate His power over the darkness of this present world. He gave eternal significance the the lives of those He called to be His disciples. Our lives are likewise transformed when God calls us to faith and makes us His own.

Noah and his family quickly learned that the sin which caused the deluge of God's wrath was still present among them. Sadly, Noah himself was the victim of abuse at the hands of one of his sons. These chapters offer hope for the victims of abuse as we consider the blessing of God's unconditional love.

In His temptation, Jesus was tempted in every way we are, yet was without sin. Satan attacked His mind, body and spirit during His fasting. Through it all, Jesus refused to avail Himself of His divine power, fulfilling God's law with perfect obedience as a human being. Even though we succumb to temptation and sin, Jesus's victory is our victory, because we are God's beloved and forgiven saints.

How did humanity become so corrupt, so quickly, that God decided it best to wipe planet earth clean and start over with faithful Noah and his family? We will consider how sin plays on our deepest desires, leading us away from God, and how Noah represents hope for all who are saved by faith in the God who forgives and rescues His people.

The baptism of Jesus marks the end of the Old Testament and the beginning of the New. Here we see all three persons of the Godhead present, as the Father affirms His Son and the Holy Spirit anoints the Him. Great things are spoken of Jesus in His baptism, and these blessings are yours by the power of God's Holy Spirit. What a blessing we receive in our baptism!

We consider how the fall into sin changed everything for Adam and his descendants. Humanity lost far more in the fall into sin than we could ever imagine. Their life became a struggle. They fought to survive. They were at war within themselves. Yet God was still there, blessing and providing for them every step of the way.

Nazareth was a backwater, hill country town of just a few hundred people when Joseph moved there with his young family. All Mary and Joseph wanted, when they returned to Israel, was a safe place to raise their baby boy in the faith. In Nazareth they found just the right place. Here Jesus would learn and grow as the son of a humble tradesman, fulfilling prophecies time and time again, before He even had a say in the matter.

Eve thought she had given birth to her savior when Cain was born. Instead of bringing life and love into the world, he brought hatred and death. Learn how Abel is a "type" or a foreshadowing of Christ as he suffers the injustice of being hated and killed for doing the right thing.

The faithful magi star in this episode of the podcast. These men waited hundreds of years and risked their lives, likely traveling a thousand miles to greet the newborn King of the Jews. All the while, most of God's people Israel missed it. May you be encouraged by their humble faith.

satan's schemes haven't changed one iota since the Garden. (That "s" is lower-case on purpose because some beings don't deserve to have the first letter of their name capitalized.) Every temptation begins with a simple question. There are four steps in every fall into sin. There are four ways human beings try to deal with their sin apart from God. But God, in His love, promises to save His people despite their sin, and blesses Adam and Eve with the first promise of salvation in Genesis 3:15. If you understand the meaning of that one verse, you are well on your way to understanding the rest of the Bible!

The circumstances around the birth of Jesus were complicated, especially for Joseph. If you ever wonder what in the world God is doing in your life, you have a friend in Joseph. Learn from his faithful example the blessing of following the Lord even when you don't understand and have no idea what He's up to.

Why did God put the Tree of Life and the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil in the Garden, if the second tree opened the possibility of death? We consider the perfect place God created for His favored beings, Adam and Eve. We will learn how real choices with real blessings and curses opened the way to real love-and-trust-based relationships, even in the Garden of Eden.

Matthew's gospel focuses on the humanity of Christ. Even in His genealogy, we see those who are often looked down upon exalted. Five women are listed, each with a questionable, if not downright objectionable past. Yet God exalts each and used each to bring the Savior, His Son Jesus, into the world. If you have some "baggage," find good company in these women, as God loved them and used each of them to accomplish His loving plan for us!

Right from the beginning of the Bible we are introduced to a God who is never not doing something. He's acting, in love for His people, before He's even named! This is no random God, nor is He an indifferent God. Hear how His love created all things, in ways we can't imagine, as He prepared the perfect place for His favored creation, you!

How Bill, a retired bull-dozer driver, inspired me to begin journaling through the Bible by faithfully journaling through the Bible for over a dozen grandkids. Now I invite you to join me on a journey through the Bible, journaling along the way, to leave the legacy of faith for a loved one.