Genesis 30 verses 22 – 24

²² Then God remembered Rachel, and God listened to her and opened her womb. ²³ And she conceived and bore a son, and said, “God has taken away my reproach.” ²⁴ So she called his name Joseph, and said, “The Lord shall add to me another son.”

Our heavenly Father is a faithful Father who never forgets his children. No matter how long it takes, wait for Him He will surely remember you.

When you read Genesis 30 from the beginning, you will find that after Rachel got married to Jacob, she did not have children. Her sister Leah did not have the same problem and was giving birth to children for Jacob. This made Rachel envious and desperate to have her own children.  She went to her husband in desperation which is understandable, but he couldn’t help her.  She then decided out of her pain and desperation to give her maid to Jacob to sleep with so she could have a child through her maid Bilhah. Bilhah conceived and had 2 boys for Jacob.  There is no indication that Rachel consulted God before taking this decision. No matter how dire our situation, let us always remember to go to God and ask Him to guide and direct us. Let us hear from Him first, let us know His mind. He will never lead us astray

1 Corinthians 7: 1 - 16

Now concerning the things of which you wrote to me: It is good for a man not to touch a woman. ² Nevertheless, because of sexual immorality, let each man have his own wife, and let each woman have her own husband. ³ Let the husband render to his wife the affection due her, and likewise also the wife to her husband. ⁴ The wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does. And likewise the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does. ⁵ Do not deprive one another except with consent for a time, that you may give yourselves to fasting and prayer; and come together again so that Satan does not tempt you because of your lack of self-control. ⁶ But I say this as a concession, not as a commandment. ⁷ For I wish that all men were even as I myself. But each one has his own gift from God, one in this manner and another in that. ⁸ But I say to the unmarried and to the widows: It is good for them if they remain even as I am; ⁹ but if they cannot exercise self-control, let them marry. For it is better to marry than to burn with passion. ¹⁰ Now to the married I command, yet not I but the Lord: A wife is not to depart from her husband. ¹¹ But even if she does depart, let her remain unmarried or be reconciled to her husband. And a husband is not to divorce his wife. ¹² But to the rest I, not the Lord, say: If any brother has a wife who does not believe, and she is willing to live with him, let him not divorce her. ¹³ And a woman who has a husband who does not believe, if he is willing to live with her, let her not divorce him. ¹⁴ For the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified by the husband; otherwise your children would be unclean, but now they are holy. ¹⁵ But if the unbeliever departs, let him depart; a brother or a sister is not under bondage in such cases. But God has called us to peace. ¹⁶ For how do you know, O wife, whether you will save your husband? Or how do you know, O husband, whether you will save your wife?

The Bible is such an amazing book that it covers a wide range of areas that concern us as ladies. Sexual immorality is a real issue that Satan uses a lot to tempt all, both men and women, So, our verses of scripture today show us that God has made marriage available to us as means of combatting sexual immorality. So, if you are married the Bible says you and I should show due affection to our husbands. We must not deprive them of sexual intimacy. This is a gift that God has given in marriage to be used to satisfy each other.  Ladies if you married and there is an issue in this area, seek help. There is nothing to be ashamed of.  I have been there before and I sought help. Get medical and pastoral help. Pray till there is a breakthrough with your sexual intimacy. Don’t allow the enemy to use your silence, shame or pride to destroy your marriage because of lack of sexual intimacy.

Psalm 41: 1 – 3

Blessed is he who considers the poor; The Lord will deliver him in time of trouble. ² The Lord will preserve him and keep him alive, And he will be blessed on the earth; You will not deliver him to the will of his enemies. ³ The Lord will strengthen him on his bed of illness; You will sustain him on his sickbed.

This week ladies God is speaking to us about how we should relate to the poor. You see, the poor are very close to God’s heart and so He wants them to be close to our hearts too. When God talks about considering the poor, he is talking about paying attention to them - those who are materially and financially poor. He is talking about you and I doing something to help them and alleviate their situation.

2 Samuel 6: 16 - 23 (NKJV)

⁶ Now as the ark of the Lord came into the City of David, Michal, Saul’s daughter, looked through a window and saw King David leaping and whirling before the Lord; and she despised him in her heart. ¹⁷ So they brought the ark of the Lord, and set it in its place in the midst of the tabernacle that David had erected for it. Then David offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the Lord. ¹⁸ And when David had finished offering burnt offerings and peace offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the Lord of hosts. ¹⁹ Then he distributed among all the people, among the whole multitude of Israel, both the women and the men, to everyone a loaf of bread, a piece of meat, and a cake of raisins. So all the people departed, everyone to his house. ²⁰ Then David returned to bless his household. And Michal the daughter of Saul came out to meet David, and said, “How glorious was the king of Israel today, uncovering himself today in the eyes of the maids of his servants, as one of the base fellows shamelessly uncovers himself!” ²¹ So David said to Michal, “It was before the Lord, who chose me instead of your father and all his house, to appoint me ruler over the people of the Lord, over Israel. Therefore I will play music before the Lord. ²² And I will be even more undignified than this, and will be humble in my own sight. But as for the maidservants of whom you have spoken, by them I will be held in honor.” ²³ Therefore Michal the daughter of Saul had no children to the day of her death.

In this account of the Bible, we see Michal, King David’s wife and her reaction to her husband. She despised him and looked down on him because of his whirling and leaping before the Lord. She was disgusted with Him. She obviously did not realise that He was doing this as unto the Lord. She felt that He had disgraced himself before his subjects. He had brought himself low. Her perception was wrong.

Genesis 7: 5 -17 (NKJV)

Now Rebekah was listening when Isaac spoke to Esau his son. And Esau went to the field to hunt game and to bring it. ⁶ So Rebekah spoke to Jacob her son, saying, “Indeed I heard your father speak to Esau your brother, saying, ⁷ ‘Bring me game and make savory food for me, that I may eat it and bless you in the presence of the Lord before my death.’ ⁸ Now therefore, my son, obey my voice according to what I command you. ⁹ Go now to the flock and bring me from there two choice kids of the goats, and I will make savory food from them for your father, such as he loves. ¹⁰ Then you shall take it to your father, that he may eat it, and that he may bless you before his death.” ¹¹ And Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, “Look, Esau my brother is a hairy man, and I am a smooth-skinned man. ¹² Perhaps my father will feel me, and I shall seem to be a deceiver to him; and I shall bring a curse on myself and not a blessing.” ¹³ But his mother said to him, “Let your curse be on me, my son; only obey my voice, and go, get them for me.” ¹⁴ And he went and got them and brought them to his mother, and his mother made savory food, such as his father loved. ¹⁵ Then Rebekah took the choice clothes of her elder son Esau, which were with her in the house, and put them on Jacob her younger son. ¹⁶ And she put the skins of the kids of the goats on his hands and on the smooth part of his neck. ¹⁷ Then she gave the savory food and the bread, which she had prepared, into the hand of her son Jacob.

Rebekah was what you will call a schemer. In actual fact she committed fraud. She manipulated a situation and caused her son Jacob to lie and cheat. Even when Jacob was hesitant in doing what she asked him to do because he knew it was wrong and could backfire, she still pushed till she had her way.

In today’s language, we will say she organised a scam making her a fraudster and a scammer. That might seem a little harsh but when we read the above verses of scripture that is exactly what she did.