Today’s reading always makes me wonder how deception and sin could turn into God’s perfect plan. As I read the story of Jacob, I kept thinking to myself how wrong he was with the decisions he made. Then I realized that in the end, none of the things he ended up possessing came without a heavy cost. After all, the deceiver became the deceived when it came to receiving his bride(s). And while this man became the father of the 12 tribes of Israel, it did not come without great sacrifice and cost. Could it have been that the cost came because of the sins of the father? I have to believe that it did. For this reason I must always be careful with my actions and the downstream affect it will cause to my family. God’s grace is sufficient for me, but there are always consequences to the choices I make. I hope I always keep that in mind and work hard for the future of my family.
2013 Day 11 – Genesis 27-29, Psalm 10
11 Friday Jan 2013
Posted in Daily Reading
Daily Devotion 
Dino, you’re a great dad. No, I know you’re not perfect, but the fact that you are aware of the responsibility that you have to your family puts your heart in alignment with God’s, and you will see blessings from that.
I spent a bit of time in a pentecostal church that focused a lot on the “sins of the father” being passed down. And then they just prayed against all sorts of stuff, mainly blaming the devil. While I know their heart was in the right place, I think it was misguided. The more therapy Tim and I do, the more we see the family cycles that simply get passed down because that’s what you know, that’s what you are used to, and that’s why you continue it. i.e. abused people tend to become abusers. It’s what they know. We have found that breaking these family cycles or stopping the “sins of the father” has a lot more to do with becoming aware of what those cycles are and proactively putting a stop to them than just praying against some evil spirit. Sometimes we need the help of a therapist to get through some stuff. Sometimes we just have to ask God to show us those spots and ask his guidance in working through it. When we become aware of a cycle and then figure out the “why” behind it, we tend to be able to figure out the “what” and the “how” of fixing it.
You and Nancy are pretty awesome, and I encourage you guys to keep it up. You aren’t stagnant and your hearts really, truly seek after God. He will bless that. Heck, if he brought his son through the lineage of serious dysfunction of unaware people and blessed them, I think we can rest in the fact that he will do the same for us.
Thanks Sarah!