Here is a preview of some of the perspectives on our spiritual roots in the biblical books we will read during Roots Season:

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Old Testament

• Genesis 12-36: The life stories of Abraham, his son Isaac, and Isaac's son Jacob, the patriarchs of Israel. (Genesis 1-11 belongs to Life Season and Genesis 37-50 to Mercy Season)

• Exodus 19-40: God linking himself to Abraham's descendants through the covenant at Mt. Sinai and and other revelations to Moses (Exodus 1-18 belongs to Freedom Season.)

• Joshua: After Moses died, Joshua led Israel to conquer and settle the homeland God promised to Abraham

• 1 Chronicles: The genealogy of the clans of Israel and the life stories of David and Saul, the first two kings of the nation

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New Testament

• Matthew: the first book in the New Testament, which begins by tracing the ancestry of Jesus back to Abraham. Matthew tells the sad story of the official leaders of the descendants of Abraham rejecting the "Descendant" of Abraham, even though many of the common people welcomed him as the Messia

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As we read these parts of the Bible, we gradually realize where and how we fit into the biblical story, and a fantastic thought dawns on us--this is OUR story, too! We have spiritual roots in Abraham through Jesus, the Descendant of Abraham.

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Our roots guarantee our security and significance. We have a share in Abraham's purpose, which makes us valuable and brings us real satisfaction. Among other benefits, this realization gives a huge boost to our immunity to mental illness. People rarely slide into mental illness if they know what they are worth and why.

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As we stay connected with our Abrahamic roots, we discover that life is more about spreading blessings than getting them for ourselves. The goal is to connect, heal, and bless others; blessings we receive are often byproducts that come as we work for that goal. 

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As branches on the Abraham family tree, our confidence of a fruitful life is sky-high because the campaign work (blessing the world) was originally given to Abraham as a promise, not a command. God did not tell him, "It is good to bless the world, and that is what I expect of you. Try your best, and I'll reward you if you do well."

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No, God promised him that all the families on earth would be blessed through him and his descendants. Abraham did try to be a blessing but he didn't obsess over it. Instead of trying to maximize his work to bless others, he focused on listening to God and doing what God told him, even to the point of being willing to sacrifice his long-awaited son Isaac. 

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Abraham was obsessed with hearing God's instructions and trusting God's strategy, even when the strategy did not make sense and seemed certain to fail. Abraham was like a beginning chess player who has a chess master whispering moves into his ear. When the master says, "Move the rook forward three squares," the beginner trusts the advice and makes the move, whether he can see the advantage of the move or not. Later on the reason will become obvious.

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The way to live fruitful lives is to throw ourselves into God's campaign to bless the world. To get better at that, we read the Bible and listen for the direction of the Spirit.

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