“God is not an employer looking for employees. He is an Eagle looking for people who will take refuge under his wings. He is looking for people who will leave father and mother and homeland or anything else that may hold them back from a life of love under the wings of Jesus.”
GENESIS 31-32
22That night Jacob got up and took his two wives, his two female servants and his eleven sons and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. 23After he had sent them across the stream, he sent over all his possessions. 24So Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him till daybreak. 25When the man saw that he could not overpower him, he touched the socket of Jacob’s hip so that his hip was wrenched as he wrestled with the man. 26Then the man said, “Let me go, for it is daybreak.”
But Jacob replied, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.”
27The man asked him, “What is your name?”
“Jacob,” he answered.
28Then the man said, “Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel,e because you have struggled with God and with humans and have overcome.”
29Jacob said, “Please tell me your name.”
But he replied, “Why do you ask my name?” Then he blessed him there.
30So Jacob called the place Peniel,f saying, “It is because I saw God face to face, and yet my life was spared.”
31The sun rose above him as he passed Peniel,g and he was limping because of his hip. 32Therefore to this day the Israelites do not eat the tendon attached to the socket of the hip, because the socket of Jacob’s hip was touched near the tendon.(32:22-32)MATTHEW 10:24-42
26“So do not be afraid of them, for there is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known. 27What I tell you in the dark, speak in the daylight; what is whispered in your ear, proclaim from the roofs. 28Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell. 29Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care.b 30And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. 31So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.
32“Whoever acknowledges me before others, I will also acknowledge before my Father in heaven. 33But whoever disowns me before others, I will disown before my Father in heaven.
34“Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. 35For I have come to turn
“ ‘a man against his father,
a daughter against her mother,
a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law—
37“Anyone who loves their father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves their son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.38Whoever does not take up their cross and follow me is not worthy of me.39Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it.
40“Anyone who welcomes you welcomes me, and anyone who welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. 41Whoever welcomes a prophet as a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward, and whoever welcomes a righteous person as a righteous person will receive a righteous person’s reward. 42And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones who is my disciple, truly I tell you, that person will certainly not lose their reward.”
JOURNAL
Ok so Jacob wrestles with God and Jesus tells that we are to not love our family and children over him...these verses are tough ones and have caused more questions than answers for me over the years. So what is the deal of Jacob wrestling with God?
Quite frankly I have always been a little put out by Jacob. He seems like a fearful, conniving snake to me. He is always manipulating, always fearful, always scheming...yet God loves and blesses him. Why?
The easy answer is that it was because of the promise to Abraham...yet in that same vein I wonder why God would still choose him...there were others and God is sovereign and in control so why Jacob?
I don't know that there is an easy answer...God's grace though is evident and again shows up without question. Jacob definitely did not deserve the blessing but neither do I deserve the blessings in my life. Yet Jacob changed, his story is a light into the process of God changing a man over time. Jacob became a better man and it was through God's provision, in both suffering and blessing.
In sitting back in judgment, it is easy to cast stones, yet when I am honest with myself I realize I have been blessed beyond measure, my sins have been forgiven and are not held against me. God has also forgiven me when I did not deserve it, and allowed me to suffer in circumstances that at times didn't seem fair. Yet I can see looking back that it was part of a process. The lesson for me is to always consider my own journey before judging others and to continue to seek obedience to God in humility and gratitude. In doing so God will continue to transform me from a getter to a giver.
For ultimately the greatest gift I can give to God is to be the best version of me...that can only happen when I seek God and fully surrender to his love and the unique talents and life in which I live. When I seek to give the best of myself in love and obedience to God. This changes things because my objective no longer becomes what I can get but rather what can I give. Because what I get is the all-powerful living God and what I can give is the best of myself fueled from his love for me.
6You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. 7Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. 8But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Ok so Jacob wrestles with God and Jesus tells that we are to not love our family and children over him...these verses are tough ones and have caused more questions than answers for me over the years. So what is the deal of Jacob wrestling with God?
Quite frankly I have always been a little put out by Jacob. He seems like a fearful, conniving snake to me. He is always manipulating, always fearful, always scheming...yet God loves and blesses him. Why?
The easy answer is that it was because of the promise to Abraham...yet in that same vein I wonder why God would still choose him...there were others and God is sovereign and in control so why Jacob?
I don't know that there is an easy answer...God's grace though is evident and again shows up without question. Jacob definitely did not deserve the blessing but neither do I deserve the blessings in my life. Yet Jacob changed, his story is a light into the process of God changing a man over time. Jacob became a better man and it was through God's provision, in both suffering and blessing.
In sitting back in judgment, it is easy to cast stones, yet when I am honest with myself I realize I have been blessed beyond measure, my sins have been forgiven and are not held against me. God has also forgiven me when I did not deserve it, and allowed me to suffer in circumstances that at times didn't seem fair. Yet I can see looking back that it was part of a process. The lesson for me is to always consider my own journey before judging others and to continue to seek obedience to God in humility and gratitude. In doing so God will continue to transform me from a getter to a giver.
For ultimately the greatest gift I can give to God is to be the best version of me...that can only happen when I seek God and fully surrender to his love and the unique talents and life in which I live. When I seek to give the best of myself in love and obedience to God. This changes things because my objective no longer becomes what I can get but rather what can I give. Because what I get is the all-powerful living God and what I can give is the best of myself fueled from his love for me.
Quite frankly I have always been a little put out by Jacob. He seems like a fearful, conniving snake to me. He is always manipulating, always fearful, always scheming...yet God loves and blesses him. Why?
The easy answer is that it was because of the promise to Abraham...yet in that same vein I wonder why God would still choose him...there were others and God is sovereign and in control so why Jacob?
I don't know that there is an easy answer...God's grace though is evident and again shows up without question. Jacob definitely did not deserve the blessing but neither do I deserve the blessings in my life. Yet Jacob changed, his story is a light into the process of God changing a man over time. Jacob became a better man and it was through God's provision, in both suffering and blessing.
In sitting back in judgment, it is easy to cast stones, yet when I am honest with myself I realize I have been blessed beyond measure, my sins have been forgiven and are not held against me. God has also forgiven me when I did not deserve it, and allowed me to suffer in circumstances that at times didn't seem fair. Yet I can see looking back that it was part of a process. The lesson for me is to always consider my own journey before judging others and to continue to seek obedience to God in humility and gratitude. In doing so God will continue to transform me from a getter to a giver.
For ultimately the greatest gift I can give to God is to be the best version of me...that can only happen when I seek God and fully surrender to his love and the unique talents and life in which I live. When I seek to give the best of myself in love and obedience to God. This changes things because my objective no longer becomes what I can get but rather what can I give. Because what I get is the all-powerful living God and what I can give is the best of myself fueled from his love for me.
6You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. 7Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. 8But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
ROMANS 5:6-8
No comments:
Post a Comment