I would say that Isaac was probably marked with an identifier that prevented Abimelech from taking Rebekah as his wife, since he put a death penalty out on anyone who touched either Isaac or Rebekah.  Perhaps the men of the land were rough, violent, or just plain senseless to spiritual things as the Gentiles, who belonged to Paul’s day, and about whom the former Pharisee wrote much.


At any rate, Isaac’s family was preserved in the land of the Philistines, which is infinitely more than we can say about Saul, whom the Philistines caused to tremble under subjugation, until David arose as a Deliverer (1 Samuel 10-16).


I think it benefits the reader of the text of the four books of the kingdoms (1 and 2 Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings) for them to see the interaction between these nations and the nation of Israel, in order for us to understand why Israel dealt with these nations in such a harsh manner.  This interaction certainly gives us an eyeful as to the groundwork that was laid (some in Isaac’s wells), for the interactions between the children of Jacob and the children of the Philistines, particularly v. 16 and v. 26-31 of this chapter.  However having said all that, let us cover the portion of Scripture at hand,  vv. 12-about 15, which precipitates the exile levied upon Isaac’s family by Abimelech.


 ¹²And Isaac sowed in that land and reaped in the same year a hundredfold. The LORD blessed him,


So Isaac, whatever he put his hand to in the land of the Philistines, because he obeyed the Lord, and because his father obeyed the Lord, and lived where God told Him to live (vv. 2-3), God blessed him and was with him.


¹³and the man became rich, and gained more and more until he became very wealthy.


So, the key to the provision of the Lord (being given what you need to sustain the vision you have been given by the lord-provision is for your vision) is obedience.  If we obey in all things the Lord has given us in which to be faithful, then He will bless us, as befits His goodness and our needs.  Blessing is the goodness of God meeting the need of His people.  


A note on this.  The evil and wicked, who rebel and disobey and are still never lacking, that which they are being given is no blessed and set apart.  It is filthy lucre, not dedicated to the Lord, and is a weight to their souls and it will be something for which the justice of God will call them to account.  It is a burden.  The major difference between a blessed person and a cursed person is not the amount they are given, but their willingness to live their life and whatever they are given in obedience to the Lord, obedience reaps the blessing, the true guilt-free blessing, whereas disobedience reaps the guilt-laden gift, which ultimately in some form or another becomes a curse to the individual, who refuses to recognize, by giving back to God in honor for what He has given that individual.  


We can reap trillions, but if we refuse to honor the Lord with the firstfruits, then whether we lose it all or keep it all, in the end, it will be something for which we will one day be called to account.


The pattern of Scripture for the people of God to follow is this.  
1) Person hears the voice of God. 
2) Person responds to the voice of God.
3) Person reaps in reaction to his/her response.


Job is the premier example of this.  Job refused to blame God, and responded as best he could to his accusers (despite some obvious flaws brought on by an excess of innocent pain), and thus reaped the rewards of a double portion.  Saul on the other hand, disobeyed and progressively slid into a place of depravity read the difference between (1 Samuel, chapter 9 with chapter 16, chapter 17 and chapter 20 and following, and you will see a different king Saul, though still given authority and ordained by God for His purposes).  Israel in the Torah, Joshua, and Judges had a similar experience.  Where disobedience was given place, cursing followed and destruction reigned.  Where obedience followed, blessing endured.  And frequently illustrated was the fact that the blessed people returned back to God a the honored first portion of those blessings.  In the Bible, and in many churches, we call this honored first portion a “tithe.”  More on this later in a post about tithing.


 ¹⁴He had possessions of flocks and herds and many servants, so that the Philistines envied him.


Those who opposed Isaac and saw this sick and obscene blessing opposed and envied the man of God whom obeyed God.


.¹⁵(Now the Philistines had stopped and filled with earth all the wells that his father’s servants had dug in the days of Abraham his father.).


This verse showcases a context for the envy of the Philistines.  This is the result of envy.  If we see someone else prospering and we do not, frequently, our response is one of envy, and if we cannot have the blessing, it would only seem fair to us that no one else should have what we do not have.  Envy leads to all sorts of bad things happening, such as what happened to Saul (1 Samuel 17-20).


Consequently, Abimelech told Isaac, out of his people’s (and arguably his as well) envy, to “move away from them, since, in similar words to those of the so-called “Pharaoh of the Oppression,” Isaac had “become too powerful for [them].” (Genesis 26:16 and Exodus 1:9-10)

 ⁶So Isaac settled in Gerar. ⁷When the men of the place asked him about his wife, he said, “She is my sister,” for he feared to say, “My wife,” thinking, “lest the men of the place should kill me because of Rebekah,” because she was attractive in appearance. ⁸When he had been there a long time, Abimelech king of the Philistines looked out of a window and saw Isaac laughing with Rebekah his wife. ⁹So Abimelech called Isaac and said, “Behold, she is your wife. How then could you say, ‘She is my sister’?” Isaac said to him, “Because I thought, ‘Lest I die because of her.'”¹⁰Abimelech said, “What is this you have done to us? One of the people might easily have lain with your wife, and you would have brought guilt upon us.” ¹¹So Abimelech warned all the people, saying, “Whoever touches this man or his wife shall surely be put to death.”




So, Isaac settled in the land of the Philistines, which God promised him in addition to the rest of the land promised to Isaac for Abraham’s obedience.  


Nevertheless, in dealing with the king of the Philistines, Isaac resorted to the same tactics as Abraham, by lying.  Lying does not solve the problem, nor is it a pathway to the promises God has for us.  Rebekah might have been beautiful, but lying will not protect your spouse.  Nor will it protect or help anyone else.  


I think it’s silly that Isaac tried the same thing that Abraham tried, and it worked out the same way Abraham’s lie worked out. 


Evidentally, Abimelech never forgot what happened with Abraham, because he treated Isaac the same way he did Abraham.


Thoughts?

Check out these four links and then I have a thought or two

http://revdmarkstevens.wordpress.com/2010/11/17/where-are-niv-profits-going/
http://www.wnd.com/?pageId=41520
http://www.contendingfortruth.com/?p=910
http://www.originaldissent.com/forums/showthread.php?16316-Rick-Warren-is-Rupert-Murdoch-s-pastor!

So, Rupert Murdoch owns HarperCollins, and, by extension, Zondervan, publisher of the NIV among other books, like The Purpose Driven Life.

Rupert Murdoch is owner of News Corporation, some of whose subsidiaries are the largest providers of pornography.

Rick Warren is connected to Rupert Murdoch by way of Saddleback Valley Community Church, and claims to be Murdoch’s pastor, yet it would seem he refuses to rebuke Murdoch for his sins.

Does this concern anyone else?

I wonder where the profits, if any, for the NIV and other Zondervan publications go.

To me, this is eminently sad.

I wonder if anyone at Fox News or anyone else has anything to say along these lines.

Two words come to mind here:  Matthew 18.

One final question:  Does a watching of Fox News, or any other news equate a condonation of the industries that said news channel funds.  What would Jesus do in this case, seriously?

Thoughts???

My memory is nearly gone;
but I remember two things;
That I am a great sinner, and
that Christ is a great Saviour.
John Newton (1725-1807)
English minister and hymn writer


Christ came to save sinners, of whom I am chief
Saul of Taursus to Timothy

Lust is one of those things that has, it seems, been hit upon and missed in the conversation of the church.  


From my experience of news concerning the church, with the scandals of various ministers such as Ted Haggard, Jimmy Swaggart, Eddie Long, Todd Bentley, this is a subject that takes a scandal in order to talk about at length, and then only pertaining to the minister in question, and frequently, solutions are not part of the discussions, but rather stuff that turns to gossip masquerading ad denouncing the “false prophet in our midst.”


 Many ministers, particularly male ministers, it is said, fight this on a daily basis.  I know I have dealt with it every day for the last 25 years (nearly since becoming a Christian).  I want you to know tonight, that if you fight lust and you feel like you are not going to beat it, and you feel alone in this battle, you are not alone. 


Moreover, there are those of us who are called to classical ministry (ministry that occurs within a church, missionary, bible college, seminary, or church administration context) To those ministers, I have the following to say.


If you are like me, you have felt that the merest mention of your sexual sins (specifically, “looking on a member of the opposite sex to lust after them”) to anyone, even fellow ministers would cause you to lose credibility, standing, credentials with your church. congregations, you are not alone.  If you felt you could never do this because you are a minister, ordained and licensed, you are not alone.  I am there with you. 


I would like to share some thoughts on the subject.


Some time ago, I confessed to my wife that I was fighting lust.  She asked me several questions, and one of those questions she asked me stuck out.  “Do you enjoy it anymore?”  This brought to me a realization.


“No.” I replied. “I do not.”


In the past, I used pornography and stuff as a comfort and unconditional acceptance from the fact that my father abandoned me and my mother did not treat me with a whole lot of grace.  Now that I had been married, and had all sorts of respect, love, acceptance, and solid healthy relationships, I still reacted the same unhealthy way when presented with sexual thoughts, images, etc. (call it a knee-jerk response, or like Pavlov’s dog, ring the bell and start drooling).  


So, my wife responded, “you know, the point is not that I am angry with you, but rather that I pity and feel sad for you.”


The drug or crutch (in this case of lust) looses its effectiveness, so that the high takes more drug to remain at the same levels, and after a while it looses its appeal.


If you are stuck, I have one major response to give to you.  It is simple though difficult, and it requires a major bit of preparation and commitment to Christ to finally succeed.  This is the method of deliverance, barring an immediate healing.


Flee!!!!


You and I put our running shoes on and we must run.  Run to the refuge of the Scripture, the refuge of worship, the refuge of intercession, and get on our face before God and ask Him to retrain our minds.  We have to ask God to teach us to view brothers and sisters with completely pure mindsets.  The will of God, according to 1 Thessalonians 4:3-5 is sanctification, that we are set apart from the patterns of this world, that we are not driven and fueled by lust as the First Century Gentiles were, whose understanding and thoughts were darkened by this garbage.  We must be driven by the Holy Spirit into the wilderness that you and I fast, pray, spend time with God in communion that we overcome this ploy of the enemy to undermine the work of God’s kingdom.


AND THIS IS A PLOY!!!!!


The enemy uses lust to undermine authority in the church, to undermine the work of making disciples of all nations.  If you and I allow the enemy to hook us with lust, to hook us with the programming of this world, then the church will never fulfill her mission to make disciples.  Lust is a major preventer of trust in the church and thus, a major tool the enemy uses to keep us from being wholly discipled in the church.  It’s time to put on our battle gear, leave it on, and keep up the fight


Several Scriptures that cover this are found are listed below.


I would like to say this.  I will soon be licensed, pending any complications, with the Assemblies of God.  If you are in the process of getting licensed or ordained, or even if you are not in that process, but you know God has something special for you, that He has a definite calling for you, and desire to conquer and overcome this problem, as if my desire, then you cannot do it alone. You need someone to pray with you, talk to you, hold you accountable, and do so in a manner that keeps confidence, I would like to suggest a 12-step group called Celebrate Recovery.  It has proven to be one of the most effective helps for me in dealing with this fight, since it provides a group of like-minded men, who are willing to pray for me, listen to me, and gives the the chance for an anonymous, Christ-centered, gossip-free environment.  It teaches us how to biblically recover from not only things like alcohol and drugs, but also sexual sin, as well as any other probelm we may be facing. 


Also, if you need someone to talk with you who will keep you in prayer, seriously, as well as keep you in strict confidence, then you can get in touch with me.  I honestly wish someone had done this for me sooner, but I am so glad to have friends with whom I can talk about these struggles, with not only lust, but also anger.


Again, I will be willing to confidentially and faithfully hold you in prayer, and encourage you in your daily walk as you seek to work out your walk with God in this area.


My cell phone number for both calls and texting is 417-522-3000 and my e-mail is theblacksmithshammer91@gmail.com.  I am willing to take calls any time during the day or night, when I am not at work.  I have a lot of faith and belief for you in this area, and I have a lot of compassion for men who struggle with lust and sexual sin, especially those of you who, like me, are called to full-time ministry and do not feel supported or willing to trust people in their current network with this potentially damaging information.










David 

http://www.archdaily.com/33604/toy-fanatic-builds-a-house-from-lego/

I guess you could build a house with practically any material. But I never thought you could actually build one from LEGO pieces. So James May, a toy fanatic from the UK surprised me, by building a real house from one of my favorite toys as a child.

The two-story Lego palace is located in the middle of a vineyard and has a working bathroom. James used bricks pieced together by 272 Legos. Over three million bricks were used so that’s about 816 million Lego pieces. Quite an amazing job.

Seen at Geeksugar. More images after the break.

Makes one wonder, as one commenter said if “the UK doesn’t have child labor laws.