(Genesis) - Part 22 — Zac Poonen

Abraham’s Provision for His Children

Let's turn to Genesis and chapter 25. This is after Sarah's death. Abraham took another wife, whose name was Keturah, and she bore to him Zimran, Jokshan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah. These were six other children that Abraham had after Isaac.

And Jokshan became the father of Sheba and Dedan. And the other sons of Midian are mentioned in verse 4 and then verse 5. Abraham gave all that he had to Isaac, but to the sons of his concubines Abraham gave gifts, while he was still living, and sent them away from his son Isaac eastward to the land of the east.

And there we see a good thing that Abraham did, that he had made provision for his children. It's something that is mentioned even in the New Testament. And it is good for us to see that, so that we recognize our responsibility as parents.

In 2 Corinthians 12 .14 it says, in the last part, children are not responsible to save up for their parents, but parents for their children. Did you know that there was a verse in the New Testament which says that parents should save up something for their children?

Here it is. If a man does not provide for his own family, 1 Timothy 5 .8, it says in God's word that he is worse than an unbeliever. And that is why we encourage people not to spend everything they earn, but even if it is a little, to save a little, so that you can meet the needs of your children as they grow up.

Abraham did that. And we read here, further in verse 7, these are all the years, Genesis 25 .7, these are all the years of Abraham's life, that he lived 175 years. And Abraham breathed his last, and died in a ripe old age.

Abraham’s Satisfaction in Doing God’s Will

Here's a very beautiful expression, an old man, and satisfied with life. And he was gathered to his people. And we can ask what it was that made Abraham satisfied. He had left his relatives nearly 100 years ago.

He was 75 when he left Ur of the Chaldeans. For 100 years he had never seen his relatives. Think of that. Some people who just can't live without seeing their relatives. But Abraham lived 100 years to do the will of God, to be where God wanted him to be, to fulfill God's purpose for him.

Even if it meant that for 100 years of his life he'd never see his relatives, he was satisfied. It's foolish when we think our satisfaction comes from these earthly values that we have acquired from childhood.

He had lived comfortably in Ur of the Chaldeans, and he lived as a pilgrim, never having a permanent house, always in a tent, moving from place to place. And he was satisfied with life. And that is a tremendous expression that we can ask ourselves when we come to the end of our life, whether we will honestly be able to say that, that we are satisfied with the life we have lived.

I believe the only person who could say it would be one who has really sought with all of his heart to break free from the ties of earth, and relatives and friends and money and earthly things, to do the will of God.

Even if it meant misunderstanding, I'm sure Abraham's relatives misunderstood him a lot for the stand he took. He was not bothered. He wanted to do the will of God, whatever his relatives thought. He was satisfied with life.

And those others who lived comfortably way back in Ur of the Chaldeans, they died too, but we don't even hear about them. They never did God's will. Humanly speaking, it wasn't an easy life Abraham had.

It says he was rich, but this constant moving around in tents and no certain dwelling place, he was willing to face all that. And he died satisfied with life, satisfied that he had brought up one son who would live for God and through whom his purposes would be fulfilled.

These were the things that made him satisfied with life when the time came finally for him to die. And then his sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machphela in the field of Ephron, the son of Zohar.

We know that that was the only place in Canaan that Abraham ever owned during his lifetime. And God said, one day this land will be yours. But the only place in that land that he owned in his lifetime was a graveyard.

And it came about that verse 11, after the death of Abraham, that God blessed his son Isaac. And Isaac lived by Beer Lahai Roy. And then we read a record of the generations of Ishmael, Abraham's son, described in the next few verses.

And it says about the—it's just one phrase here—it says about Ishmael and his children in verse 18, They settled from Havilah to Shur, which is east of Egypt as one goes toward Assyria. He settled in defiance of all his brothers.

Defiance Versus Following God

See, there can be an attitude towards our brothers and relatives which is one of defiance. This is a contrast to the attitude Abraham had. Because I find that when we speak in the church about hating father, mother, brothers, sisters, wives, and children, there are people who get it in this spirit of Ishmael's children, in a spirit of defiance.

And then you know you're following Ishmael, not Abraham. That's the wrong spirit. Abraham didn't have that spirit. He was glad to live in peace, but he wanted to follow God. And we need to distinguish between these two spirits.

He settled in defiance of his brothers. Yes, they hated their brothers, but not in the right spirit. And there are people today who hate their father and mother, but not in the right spirit. Or any of the others whom the Bible tells us to hate, but not in the right way.

It's in a spirit of defiance, which is the spirit of Ishmael's children. That's just in passing. He was 60 years old when she gave birth to them. We just read that he was 40 years old, verse 20, when he got married.

For 20 years he had no children. And that was quite a depressing thing in those days, more depressing than it is today. But you can imagine the questions that went through Abraham, through Isaac's mind.

Is this the one God has chosen for me? Have I made a mistake? Because she is barren? And yet we saw in our study last week that this was one of the clearest examples of the leading of God in a marriage.

And yet God led him to be married to a barren woman. Think of that. Many people think that if we are led by God in something, it means there will be no problems, no difficulties. Everything is going to be smooth sailing.

That's not what God's word teaches. We read in the leading of Paul and his party in one of their missionary journeys that once they got a clear leading from God. It's the only place in the Acts of the Apostles where we read Paul getting a clear leading from God in a vision to go to Macedonia.

He saw a vision. He went to many places, but there was once when it was under the clear leading of God. And as soon as he reached Macedonia Philippi, we read he was locked up in jail. We read of a time when Jesus told his disciples to go across the lake.

As soon as they got into the boat and went across, there was a storm. So we shouldn't think that just because we got into a little difficulty somewhere that we are out of God's will. There are many people who get married who begin to question the wisdom of their marriage just because they face a little difficulty.

That's foolish. That's the devil coming in and saying, oh, you may have missed the will of God. Well, what did he do? And this is what we should do. Pray to the Lord. Pray to the Lord. And he prayed to the Lord.

And I can imagine he prayed for 20 years. 20 years he was barren. He prayed and prayed and prayed and didn't give up. Prayed and prayed and prayed and prayed and prayed. He had a long wait to get a son, just like his father Abraham had to get him.

And no doubt he had heard from his father how God is a God who answers prayer. He would have heard from his father, son, I waited nearly 20 years to get you, and I'm glad I got you. And his faith was strengthened that he could also lay hold of the same God and pray for his wife.

For his mother was barren too, and God had done a miracle in her. And now his wife is barren, and God can do a miracle for her. And that teaches us something as parents, that in the different situations in life, if we can teach our children faith, that God is a God who answers prayer and give them examples and demonstrations of it.

When they grow up, and they set up their own homes, and they are in a difficult situation, they will remember what they learned from their parents and say, yeah, I remember that type of situation years ago when I was a child and I know what my dad did.

He prayed, trusted God, and God did wonderful things. That is an example for us, brothers and sisters. That's why Isaac prayed. He didn't give up hope. He didn't give up hope in 20 years, because he had seen something in his father's life.

Living Faith Passed Through Generations

It was not a message, it was not a doctrine that Abraham gave Isaac, but a living faith. It's a very beautiful verse in 2 Timothy. 2 Timothy 1. It's not just the father who can give it. Timothy didn't get it from his father, he got it from his mother.

And so the sisters can take heart too. 2 Timothy 1, verse 5. Timothy says, I am mindful of the sincere faith, Paul says to Timothy, I am mindful of the sincere faith, not the right doctrine, but the sincere faith within you, which first dwelt in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I'm sure it is in you as well.

Paul knew that grandmother had faith first, and she transmitted that faith to her daughter Eunice, and Eunice transmitted that faith on to her son Timothy, so that Timothy could be one day a mighty co-worker of the Apostle Paul.

So that's what Abraham and Sarah passed on to Isaac. Faith that God can do miracles, and God did it. He prayed for twenty years. Many another man would have given up hope after maybe four or five years.

Not Isaac. He prayed, and the Lord answered him. It just says the Lord answered him, but we know from verse 26 that it took twenty years for that answer to come. Twenty years. He had an almost similar experience as his father, and then his wife conceived.

There was another miracle. Rebekah the barren conceived just like Sarah, and it teaches us here the power of fervent, continuous prayer. Finally, the children, there were twins in her womb, struggled together within her, and she said, why the struggle?

Why am I this way? And she had acquired some good habits too, after having come into Abraham's family for twenty years, being with Isaac for twenty years now. She knew that when she had a question, she should go to the Lord.

Lord, why like this? Why is it like this? Why this tussle going on inside my womb? A good example for us to do, to go to the Lord. Isaac went to the Lord. Rebekah went to the Lord. Wonderful example for husbands and wives.

When you have a question, to inquire of the Lord. There are certain things that even your husband cannot answer. Rebekah could not have got an answer for that from Isaac. There are many things a husband can help you in, but certain things you have to go to the Lord.

And she went to the Lord. And the Lord spoke to her, and said, two nations are in your womb. That is, Jacob and Esau, who are going to be the head of two separate nations. Two peoples will be separated from your body.

One people shall be stronger than the other, and the older shall serve the younger. That is, Esau will serve Jacob. It's a picture, we can say, of the struggle that goes on within us, of the flesh and the spirit.

The struggle that went on in Rebekah's womb is the struggle that goes on in us. Flesh versus spirit. And the flesh is the older one, because we were born of the flesh long before we were born of the spirit.

But the promise is, the older will serve the younger. The spirit will triumph. The promise of victory that we can lay hold of and thank God for. The one people will be stronger than the other. The power of the spirit is far stronger than the power of the flesh.

The struggle is there, but one will triumph. That's God's word. We have faith in it. We believe it will be so in our lives. And the other thing I want you to notice here, it says here, the older will serve the younger.

Apart from the illustration of it being a type of the flesh and the spirit, in actual terms, it was Jacob and Esau. Now I want you to turn to Romans chapter 9 and see what the Holy Spirit says about this statement of God through the Apostle Paul in Romans 9.

God’s Sovereign Choice

In Romans 9, the subject of Romans 9 is the sovereign choice of God. God sovereignly chooses. Now I want you to understand what I mean by that. Sovereign choosing means that he does it because he has the right to choose.

Romans chapter 9 and verse 10. And not only this, but there was Rebekah also when she had conceived twins by one man, our father Isaac. For though the twins were not yet born and had done nothing good or bad.

It's obvious. They had done nothing good or bad. And I think when Esau was born, he looked just as beautiful and just as innocent as any other child. Sure. I'm sure Judas Iscariot looked just as innocent and just as beautiful as any other child when he was born.

And they had not done anything good or bad in order that God's purpose according to his choice, that is his sovereign choice, might stand. Not because of works, that's the point, but because of him who called.

It was said to her, the older will serve the younger. That's the verse we just read. The older will serve the younger, God told Rebekah. And we can ask, why? There's an answer to that also. You will say to me then, verse 19, why?

The Holy Spirit anticipates that question. You will ask why? And the answer is in verse 20. On the contrary, who are you, O man, who answers back to God? The thing molded cannot say to the molder, why did you make me like this?

Why? I think it's very important for us to understand a little bit at least of the fact that God chooses sovereignly. It's not according to works. It's according to his choice. Have you ever marveled at how God chose you to be his child when perhaps your brothers and sisters have no interest in the things of God?

If you think it is because you were a little better, that's conceit. It's God's choice. He picks up the worst one. It's his sovereign choice. Have you ever thought why it is that God's enabled us to hear some of these truths that led us into a godly life that so many others have not had the opportunity to hear?

I hope you don't think it's luck or good fortune. It's God's sovereign choice that he allowed you to come to a particular town and live in a particular place and come across certain people and come to hear the truth.

It should humble us. It's sovereign choice, brothers and sisters. Meditate on it. Many a time it's something that has humbled me very deeply before God, that it's sovereign choice that's placed me where I am.

And once we understand this, it brings a tremendous rest in us also concerning ministry in the church. Do you know that ministry in the church is a matter of God's sovereign choice? Even if you try all your life, you can't have the ministry that God has given to another.

It's got nothing to do with works. It's God's sovereign choice. That's why it's good for each of us to humble ourselves and say, Lord, I'm quite content with the ministry you have appointed for me and the circle and boundary that you have drawn around my life.

I'm not in competition with anybody else. I'm not jealous of anyone else. It is your sovereign choice that gave another person that task and has given me this. The sovereign choice of God. Nothing to do with works so that God's purpose according to his choice might stand.

So that's something we must learn. While they were in the womb. Think of this verse in the book of Jeremiah, chapter 1, verse 5. Jeremiah 1 .5, it says, The word of the Lord came to me saying, Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you.

When did God know Jeremiah? Before he was conceived in his mother's womb. And when was he appointed to be a prophet? He wasn't appointed to be a prophet when he was twenty years old. He was appointed to be a prophet before he was born.

He was consecrated and appointed to be a prophet to the nations. The ministry was given to him sovereignly when he was in his mother's womb. And in his mother's womb, God equipped him with the intelligence and the abilities and the talents and the gifts so that when he would come forth, he would grow up to be a prophet.

You can't fight with that. You can't imitate that. You can't imitate it. That's why I say it's the height of folly when somebody tries to imitate somebody else's ministry. You've got to get back into your mother's womb and ask God to start all over again if you want to do that.

It's impossible. You've just got to humble yourself and accept the way God made you. In the mother's womb, God said, the younger is going to rule over the older. That's it. That settles it. That's the thing that brings us rest.

That's the thing that delivers us completely from jealousy and competition. We need to see it. If Esau had seen it, he could have humbled himself. But we read in Esau's life, all through he was fighting, fighting, fighting against God's purpose, but he didn't succeed.

God's purpose still succeeded. We can't fight against God's purpose. When God's given a task and a ministry and a calling to somebody else, it's no use fighting against it. You just lose out yourself.

That's what we learn from Esau. If only he had humbled himself and accepted God's verdict, it might have gone a little better with him. He came forth with his hand holding on to Esau's heel. So his name was called Jacob, which means grabber, the one who takes hold of the heel, grabber.

Jacob the Grabber and God’s Transforming Grace

So we see that he didn't begin his life in a very good way. He came out grabbing his brother's heel. All through his life he was like that. He grabbed his brother's butt right, by cheating his father.

He went away to grab a beautiful girl, grabbed his father-in-law's property. It began from the mother's womb, this grabber. And the interesting thing is that God could choose such a person. One would think that it would be a sweet, innocent little one whom God chose as a grabber.

And that is an encouragement to us, that Jesus came to choose sinners. He changed that grabber into a prince. His name became Israel later on. We are also grabbers, I tell you. We are all grabbers. We can be pious looking on the outside, but this grabbing spirit, to grab the brother by the heel, is there in our flesh.

And if you haven't seen it, ask God to help you to see it. To seek my own, to seek what will profit me, is very much in our flesh. Tremendous encouragement that God chooses to call Himself the God of Jacob, the God of the grabber.

One would think that He should call Himself the God of Israel by the new name which He gave. Have you noticed this in Psalm 46? Psalm 46. This is written many, many years after Jacob died, after Israel died.

Jacob's new name was Israel, just like Abram's new name was Abraham. You know that. Abram's new name was Abraham. And you never read, after Genesis 17, you never read that old name of Abraham again in the Old Testament.

Have you noticed that? He is never called the God of Abram. He is always called the God of Abraham. And following that rule, one would think that once Jacob's name was changed to Israel, God should call Himself the God of Israel.

Always. But He doesn't. It says here in Psalm 46, in verse 11, the last part, the God of Jacob is our stronghold. In verse 7 also. The God of Jacob, and even at the burning bush in Exodus 3, verse 6, Exodus 3, 6, God told Moses, I am the God of your father.

Not the God of Abram, that was his old name, but Abraham. The God of Isaac, He had only one name. But when it comes to Jacob, why doesn't He use the new name? Why doesn't He say the God of Israel? Why the God of Jacob?

That is to encourage us grabbers. To encourage us sinners that He has come for us. He is the God of the grabbers, so that He can transform them. If you can get the encouragement out of that, praise the Lord.

So we see that Jacob wasn't a saint. He was a crook. He had a different personality. Quite two extreme personalities, like very often we see in our children too. One this extreme, the other extreme. We read in Genesis 25, when the boys grew up, Genesis 25, verse 27, Esau became a skillful hunter.

He was a hairy man, tough, muscular, out in the fields, rough, can tackle hardship, outgoing, extrovert, making friends with everyone, popular, popular in school, tough, big built, timid, shy, retiring, not spiritual.

Retiring people are pretty good grabbers, in secret. Don't be deceived by that outward appearance. Oh, what a humble brother. Rubbish. If God does a work of transformation, something will happen. Otherwise this outward, shy, timid, quiet disposition can conceal a pretty covetous grabbing nature inside.

And don't think this tough, brawny, muscular, extrovert type of person is useless to God. Esau didn't become useless to God because he had hair on his chest. That's not the reason. It's because he made the wrong choice.

It makes no difference whether you're an Esau or a Jacob, an extrovert, outgoing, brawny, muscular, tough, or shy, retiring, timid. Both are grabbers. And both are equally lost in sin. Both need equal salvation.

I say that because very often, particularly among young believers, they don't seem to have discernment in this area. They get fooled very easily as to what true spirituality is. They think being introverted is true spirituality.

No, Jacob was a grabber. But he was a quiet man. He didn't go out in the field. He was sitting in the tent. He was not popular. That's true. But God chose him because of his sovereign choice. Esau was a hunter.

He didn't have much time for God. There are only two hunters mentioned in the Bible. One is Nimrod and the other is Esau. It's pretty bad company to be in, to have no time for God. Now Isaac loved Esau.

These boys were probably about twenty years old. Isaac must have been about eighty now. And unfortunately, Isaac is no longer the type who goes out into the field to pray and meditate like he was when he was forty years old.

You know, we read that last time, that when he was forty years old, he was going out into the field, praying and meditating. But now, at the age of eighty, some of his lusts have been developed. He likes deer's meat very much.

Deer's meat. That meant more to him now than meditating in the field. And it's an amazing word that says Isaac loved Esau because, not even because he was his firstborn, and that would have been some reason, but because he had a taste for venison, for deer's meat.

Think of that. Think of how this man drifted. You know, it's a sad thing when you contrast the beginning and ending of Abraham's life with the beginning and ending of Isaac's life. Abraham began out as an idolater, but he ended satisfied, as we just read, because he lived for God.

He grew from grace to grace to grace to grace, glory to, not grace in the New Testament sense, but according to that level in the Old Testament, from one degree of glory to another. But Isaac started off so well.

Think of that submissive son in Genesis 22, submitting to being tied to be slain by his father, meditating in the field. And at the age of eighty, at the age of forty, he's meditating. At the age of eighty, he's thinking of which of my sons can get me venison.

I love that one. But Rebecca loved Jacob. There was a division in the family through love for the children, instead of loving one another. Very common in Indian families. Father and mother love their children more than they love each other.

And what is worse, partiality. I love this child of mine more than this one, because he is more intelligent, because he is more good-looking, because he is my firstborn. All equally stupid reasons as, because I love deer's meat.

Or, here's another stupid reason, because this is the only daughter I have, the others are boys. That is like loving deer's meat. That is the partiality that has ruined children. I've seen many cases of parents who have been partial towards some children for some of these stupid reasons, which I just mentioned.

And then they treat maybe one of their children in a little despising way. And you see, that one who is despised turns out to be the most spiritual of the lot. Just like here. Jacob turned out to be more spiritual.

The father loved Esau. Be careful, dear parents, that you don't drive away your children from God. God is on the side of those who are despised and rejected and who are weak and considered as nothing.

He's not on the side of those who are attractive and intelligent and who are appreciated by the father and mother necessarily. It's a very sad thing when there's partiality towards a child. And Jacob, no doubt, was conscious that my father doesn't love me as much as he loved Esau.

Many children are sometimes conscious. My father or mother don't love me as much as they love another. It's a very sad thing. And they can carry that memory all through life, even if they forgive you when they are grown up.

It's a very sad thing. We harm children by making one of our children into a favorite, doing special favors for one that we won't do for another. Ungodly. With God there is no partiality. Let's be like Him.

And what is worse, when father loves one, mother loves another. And there are sides, there's a division that must never be found in the church. Never be found. This, it could be the other way around. I have so many daughters.

This is my only son. Oh, so he is special. That could be like that also in our country, unfortunately. All these evil things, we have to cleanse ourselves from it and be like God. That all are the same, firstborn or boy or girl or middle child or last child or anything, deformed child, intelligent child.

No difference. That is to be like God. And if we don't partake of divine nature here, we are just talking a lot of rubbish when we talk about the new and living way. Partiality is evil. And it is in our flesh.

We have to get rid of it. And that's what we saw divided that family. Isaac and Esau versus Rebekah and Jacob. And it was like that throughout, till the end of their family life. Isaac and Esau versus Rebekah and Jacob.

And whose responsibility was that? Isaac. If he had meditated on the fields at the age of eighty like he had done at the age of forty, he would not have been so foolish. If he had stopped loving deer's meat and loved prayer a little more than deer's meat, he wouldn't have been so foolish.

It's sad. That family got divided because father and mother were divided. When father and mother are divided, children are divided. Remember that? You destroy your children when you are not one with your wife or husband to the best of your ability?

Keep that in mind. For example, a warning here. Then we read in verse twenty-nine, when Jacob had cooked stew, Esau came in from the field. He was famished. And Esau said to Jacob, Please let me have a swallow of that red stuff there, for I am famished.

Therefore his name was called Edom. Red. That's how he got that name, Edom, because he ate that red stuff. So Jacob said, First tell me your birthright. You see, he was not such a sadhu after all. He was pretty shrewd.

He knew, this is the time to get what I want out of this fellow. These shy, quiet, timid, retiring types, they know when the time comes to grab not only my brother's heel, but my brother's birthright as well.

Don't be deceived by the outward appearance. He said, First tell me your birthright. He was a real businessman, this sadhu-looking fellow. Like a lot of sadhu-looking people today are, real businessmen inside.

The spirit of a businessman. I'll give you this. And Jacob knew, this is what I want from this chap. He happened to be born just a few seconds before me, and therefore he's got the birthright, but I'm going to get it back from him.

And Esau said, Maybe Jacob has been waiting, waiting, waiting. I wouldn't be surprised if Jacob sort of purposely made it when he saw Esau coming, just to sort of tempt him to grab him. He's capable of anything.

And Esau said, Behold, I am about to die. What use then is this birthright to me? And Jacob said, First swear to me. He's a real businessman. He's got to, if they had registrar's offices and all, he'd have taken him there before he gave him the meal and got it all sealed and signed.

Swear to me that you've really given it. And so he swore. He said, Alright. I've come to see that these people who are outwardly very brash and open and very brusque about their manner are actually safer than these quiet, timid types.

They say still waters run deep, and it's usually like that. They're more dangerous very often. And he got it. With his shrewdness he managed it. He sold his birthright to Jacob, and Jacob gave Esau bread and lentil stew.

And he ate and drank and rose and went on his way. Thus Esau despised his birthright. For Esau is a young man, around twenty years of age, I presume. That was a moment of crucial decision. He made a decision that day that affected the whole course of the rest of his life, his children, grandchildren and all his posterity.

Esau’s Birthright and the Cost of One Lust

One decision. And I believe that with many young people there comes a time in their late teens or early twenties. It's usually around that time of life. Late teens or early twenties, when they have to make a decision.

It can affect the course of their whole life. In most cases the direction is set. There are few cases where miracles take place later on, but in most cases the direction is pretty well set. Particularly if you're a believer.

The choice is between that which will satisfy my physical earthly need now, this pottage. It may not be pottage, it may be sex, it may be money, it may be some earthly ambition. It can be anything. Put anything into that bowl.

In Esau's case it was food. Some lust in the body, whatever it is. Maybe the desire for food which I haven't mastered, that I'm a glutton. Anything. But it's a choice between that and what is spiritual.

Because the birthright meant that whoever got it would get the promises that were given to Abraham and Isaac. And Jacob knew that's a tremendous thing to get those promises. And it says Esau despised his birthright.

And in the New Testament the Holy Spirit warns us in Hebrews chapter 12, verse 14. That there be no immoral or godless person like Esau. Esau was an immoral, godless person who sold his own birthright for a single meal.

Who sold his spiritual calling for the sake of one lust in his flesh. I believe that there are people whom God could have used mightily if they had conquered one bad habit that they kept in their life.

One habit, not two, one. One bad habit that they never really mastered and overcame. And because of that of course God blesses them in a limited way in which God does things for them and through them.

But it can never be what God really wanted to accomplish through them. Because of one habit, one bowl of porridge they wanted to satisfy their bodily lusts. Be careful dear young brothers and sisters, that you don't lose out your calling for the sake of one dirty habit.

You will discover in eternity what you have missed by retaining one dirty habit in your life. One. One dirty thought process that keeps on going around in your mind and you never really take it seriously radically to get rid of it.

It could be a habit of gossiping with some of you sisters. One dirty habit that you never master, never get a hold of your tongue and you become just a meeting attender and not a powerful effective member in the body of Christ.

Remember the word of God that you hear so that you don't have any regrets in eternity. The word of God in the church is to save us from regrets at the judgment seat of Christ. Yes, for one meal he gave up his birthright and there are millions, millions who have followed in the footsteps of Esau.

He was very cunning in earthly matters, cunning to catch that deer, cunning to kill those leopards and the other wild animals. But Satan was too cunning for him. Many who are so cunning in earthly matters, Satan is far too cunning for them.

Why does that habit remain? Only because the person is not radical enough. That's all. That's why that one dirty habit remains in many believers. Because they are not radical. They don't fear God sufficiently.