(Gen 28:16 CEV) Jacob woke up suddenly and thought, “The Lord is in this place, and I didn’t even know it.”
This morning we continue our new series entitled, “Faith and Patience VOL III – Never Give Up!” I trust you had an enjoying Memorial Day weekend. As I was enjoying my weekend the Father spoke to me about this series. I started this series with a focus on teaching how to hold on while you are waiting on God to manifest something He promised you. I was going to be very specific in my teaching on this subject and then move on. However, the Father wants me to expand a bit. While I will still teach on holding on, remaining in faith, and never giving up on what you are believing God for, I believe the Father wants me to expand on the “Never Give Up” theme, but sharing with you the litany of people in the Bible that had to hold on in spite of negative circumstances. Far too many believers have give up at the first inkling of opposition. This is simply not God’s will. We all face challenges, we all make mistakes, and sometimes… LIFE HAPPENS and we feel the urge to give up. Let’s learn from some great Biblical characters and seek to apply their life lessons to ours. We will start off with Jacob.
Most of us are familiar with the story of how Jacob stole his brother’s birthright, but many of us don’t know what happened next. The rift between Jacob and his brother Esau tore the family apart. Esau wanted to kill Jacob. Jacob’s parents had no other option but to send him away. Before leaving, however, his father gave him some advice on where to go and what family to marry from. So Jacob left the town of Beersheba and started out for Haran. At sunset he stopped for the night and went to sleep. This would be a night that would change his life forever. Jacob had a dream in which he saw a ladder reaching from earth to heaven and God’s angels were going up and down on it. This account is commonly referred to as “Jacob’s Ladder.” In the dream the Lord was standing beside the ladder and said: “I am the Lord God who was worshiped by Abraham and Isaac. I will give to you and your family the land on which you are now sleeping. Your descendants will spread over the earth in all directions and will become as numerous as the specks of dust. Your family will be a blessing to all people. Wherever you go, I will watch over you, then later I will bring you back to this land. I won’t leave you – I will do all I have promised.” The Lord had given this promise to Abraham, Isaac, and now to Jacob. God was letting him know that the blessing was now on him. Jacob was the keeper of the flame.
Jacob woke up suddenly and thought, “The Lord is in this place, and I didn’t even know it.” Jacob was the grandson of Abraham and the son of Isaac. He heard first hand the accounts of what God did for his father and grandfather, but it never sunk in until he had an encounter with God for himself. What an indictment on religion! Religion exposes you to ritual, but you are never going to be truly changed until you develop a relationship with God for yourself. Jacob was raised with the blessing of God on his family. Surely he was around when his father worshipped the Lord. He was there when his family was prospering in the middle of a famine. But it was never real to him. God was around him, but he never acknowledged God for himself. However, after this encounter with God, he would never be the same.
So what does this mean to you today? It means that as a believer you must acknowledge and believe the reality of God for yourself. God is not some distant, unconnected, and unrelated force that is locked up in the pages of a dusty Bible or in the catacombs of a religious organization. God is a passionate and compassionate heavenly Father that wants a personal and intimate relationship with you. Seek His face. Believe you will encounter God in a true and personal way. One encounter with God can take you from a stoic and dispassionate world of religion to a living and personal relationship with your loving, caring, and sharing heavenly Father.
Closing Confession: Father, I want to know You intimately. I seek Your face and You reveal Yourself to me. I don’t ever want to be in a place where I am surrounded by You and not even know it. I declare, by faith, that I encounter You today and every day. I develop a personal relationship with You as my loving, caring, and sharing heavenly Father. You lead me by Your Spirit. You talk to me through Your Word. You infuse me with Your joy. You flood me with Your peace. You clarify Your purpose for me life and I pursue that purpose with all my might. I love You Father and I want to know You more. The more You expose Yourself to me, the more empowered I am to keep going, even when the going gets tough! I am never hopeless, because since You are with me, I am never helpless! In Jesus’ name. Amen!
This is Today’s Word! Apply it and Prosper!
