Matthew 1:2 (NKJV) <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAbraham begot Isaac, Isaac begot Jacob, and Jacob begot Judah and his brothers.\u201d<\/em> <\/p>\n\n\n\n Although Ishmael was the first born of Abraham and a great warrior in his time, he was not mentioned in the genealogy of the Son of God. It is not who finished first or who started first, but who Heaven chooses to recognize who is recognized. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The fingers of destiny snake through life and single out some individuals; leaving out others. Of all the sons of Jacob, one cannot comprehend why Judah had to be chosen to be part of the Holy genealogy while other more seemingly significant persons like Joseph were left out. But not all of destiny can be understood. In Heaven, some things shall be made clear, but for now, our calling is to live holy unto the Lord, serve faithfully and let the fingers of destiny paint its tapestry of life according to the sovereign will of God. One thing is sure, God honors faithfulness, and even if one is never recognized in this life, one will surely be remembered in the hereafter. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cLord, again, I state openly that my sole purpose in life is to please You, serve You and worship You. I do so with no desire for human accolades or applause, but merely to serve You faithfully in my generation. I know that in Your divine arrangement, You will remember me in Your eternal tapestry. Amen.\u201d<\/em> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Matthew 1:2 (NKJV) \u201cAbraham begot Isaac, Isaac begot Jacob, and Jacob begot Judah and his brothers.\u201d Although Ishmael was the first born of Abraham and a great warrior in his time, he was not mentioned in the genealogy of the Son of God. It is not who finished first or who started first, but who […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7384,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"off","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1,23],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3429","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","category-reflections-from-matthew"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t