dailywordofdestiny

“For God so greatly loved and dearly prized the world that He (even) gave up His only begotten (unique) Son, so that whoever believes in Him (who cleaves to Him, trusts Him, relies on Him) may not perish, but have eternal life and (actually) live forever! And because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace that you have been saved” (John 3:16; Ephesians 2:4).

Judah’s life reminds me of God’s great love for sinners such as “all of us (saved by grace).” In Genesis 38 we read the story of his rebellion toward the laws of God in his marriage to Shua, a Canaanite woman. Their first son Er turned out to be so wicked that the LORD put him to death. He left behind his young widow, Tamar and Judah then asked his second son, Onan, to marry her (as per social requirement). Onan’s actions in the relationship with Tamar resulted in an early death for him as well (vs. 8-10). Judah’s third son was quite a bit younger than Tamar but he told Tamar (more or less) that when Shelah grew up he would marry her. Years passed by; Judah’s wife died and Tamar was getting older and she was lonely and there had been no sign that Shelah coming into her life anytime soon. Tamar heard that Judah was going to a sheep-shearing close to where she lived and she decided she would like some revenge.

Judah & Tamar (1667) by Arent de Gelder 1645 – 1727 When Judah saw her, he thought she was a prostitute, for she had covered her face. Not realizing that she was his daughter-in-law, he went over to her by the roadside and said, “Come now, let me sleep with you” (vs. 15, 16). This escapade resulted in Tamar’s becoming pregnant with twins. When news came out that Tamar was to have a child, Judah hit the roof! “Bring her out and have her burned to death” (vs. 24)! As she was being dragged away, she identified her sexual partner by holding up Judah’s seal and its cord along with his staff. Judah was humiliated before all but was willing to admit, “She is more righteous than I” (vs. 26).

When we decide to rely on our own devices, any of us can do exactly what Judah did, or even worse. “There is no one righteous, not even one” (Romans 3: 10). “I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature” (Romans 7: 18). We can all be a little “self-righteous” at times, even having the audacity to judge others for exactly what we ourselves are doing! We tend to overlook the New Testament’s message of God’s amazing grace to change a “sinner such as me.” Many of us often forget that God specializes in changing the Judah’s of this world. We choose to see the glass half empty instead of half full. “Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders nor thieves nor the greedy nor the drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.” And that is what some of you were. BUT you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God” (1Corinthians 6: 9-11).

Satan, on the other hand, wants to hide the fact that God’s mercy is for everyone who has “messed up” (Isaiah 55: 9; James 2: 13). The devil swarms in on people with accusations and negativity (Revelation 12: 10): “You have messed up! If people find out you will be ruined! Think of how this will look? You’ll never get away with this; you’re just no good, etc.” The attacks are often too great for the person to bear; they give up hope of change and their faith in the BLOOD is slowly drained from them. BUT PRAISE THE LORD, God can take them and touch them and heal them and put them in the line that leads them to Christ! What Satan means for evil, God IS ABLE to change and work out for good (Genesis 50: 20; John 10: 10)! Hallelujah!

God sees the end from the beginning and He WILL bring about GOOD THINGS from our lives (Isaiah 46: 10). In Judah’s life story we see how incredible our God truly is. He took a failure like Judah (yes, me too) and wove him into the ancestry of His own Son, Jesus Christ. The genealogy of Jesus in Matthew 1:3 continues through Judah and then goes NOT to his legitimate son, Shelah, but to Perez, Tamar’s boy, the child of incest. How awesome is our God; how precious Christ’s blood; for we who believe have all become “heirs of promise” too! Amen!

It is important for each of us to KNOW that God knows EVERY THING about us and concerning us. “For He created my inmost being; He knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise Him for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; His works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from Him when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, His eyes saw my unformed body. A ll the days ordained for me were written in His book before one of them came to be. The word of the LORD came to me saying, ‘Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you to be a prophet to the nations'” (Psalm 139:13-16; Jeremiah 1:5).

He knows my heart. “…and when a prayer or plea is made by any of Your people Israel—each one aware of the afflictions of his own heart, and spreading out his hands towards this temple—then hear from heaven, Your dwelling place. Forgive and act; deal with each man according to all he does, since You know his heart (for You alone know the hearts of all men)…” (1 Kings 8: 38, 39). “You are the ones who justify yourselves in the eyes of men, but God knows your hearts. What is highly valued among men is detestable in God’s sight” (Luke 16:15).

He knows my thoughts. “The LORD knows the thoughts of man; He knows that they are futile. Now while He was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, many people saw the miraculous signs He was doing and believed in His name. But Jesus would not entrust Himself to them, for He KNEW all men. He did not need man’s testimony about man, for He KNEW what was in a man” (Psalm 94:11; John 2:24, 25).

He sees my tears. “You number and record my wanderings; put my tears into Your bottle—are they not in Your book? Before Isaiah left the middle of the court, the word of the LORD came to him: ‘Go back and tell Hezekiah, the leader of My people, ‘This is what the LORD, the God of your father David, says: I have heard your prayer and seen your tears; I will heal you…’ They who sow in tears shall reap in joy and singing’.” (Psalm 56:8; 2 Kings 20: 5; Psalm 126:5).

He hears me call (pray). “Before they call I will answer; while they are still speaking I will hear. This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to His will, he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of Him” (Isaiah 65: 24; 1 John 5: 14).

What glorious promises that should encourage you in your daily walk; should bring shouts of praise to your lips, and increase your faith to believe that God’s Word is true and no good thing does He withhold for those who love Him! All His promises are “Yes! and “Amen” to the glory of our heavenly Father in and through Jesus, the Christ… Savior of the world! God bless you!