Month: January 2023

STAY STRONG, GOD IS WITH YOU!

¹⁵ I AM WITH YOU AND WILL WATCH OVER YOU wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I WILL NOT LEAVE YOU UNTIL I HAVE DONE WHAT I HAVE PROMISED YOU.”Genesis 28

I received this verse from Genesis 28 a long time ago, but I read it again this morning. God met with Jacob when he was fleeing from his brother Esau after stealing his blessing. God spoke three promises to Jacob in a dream.

¹³ There above it stood the Lord, and he said: “I am the Lord, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. I WILL GIVE YOU AND YOUR DESCENDANTS THE LAND ON WHICH YOU ARE LYING.”

God spoke the opposite of Jacob’s circumstances, he was fleeing from the land, but God said He was giving it to him and his and his offspring. Our God is the God of the impossible.

¹⁴ Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south. All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring.

Jacob left Canaan with only his staff, but again God spoke multiplication to him, many descendants. Through this lone man with his staff, God was going to bless ‘all peoples on earth’.

God concluded His message to Jacob with His personal promise that, ‘He was with him (He’s with us today) and would watch over him’. Laban changed his wages ten times, but God was with Jacob and blessed him. WHEN WE WALK WITH GOD, no-one can get the better of His Blessing on our lives!

¹¹ And God said to him, “I am God Almighty; be fruitful and increase in number. A nation and a community of nations will come from you, and kings will be among your descendants. ¹² The land I gave to Abraham and Isaac I also give to you, and I will give this land to your descendants after you.” Genesis 35

More than twenty years later, God brought Jacob back to Bethel, this fulfilling part of His Promise. He reaffirmed the Promise to Jacob that He’d made before. Jacob, now called Israel, had survived many scrapes and struggles. GOD WAS WITH HIM AND BROUGHT HIM THROUGH THEM ALL.

So remember, Stay Strong, God is with you!

God bless and keep you today.

 

 

 

Better Spirit led than man driven – Burnout too common today.

¹² Then Esau said, “Let us be on our way; I’ll accompany you.” (NOPE, INCOMPATIBLE) Genesis 33

We’ve already looked at this verse previously, but it may be good to review it again. Esau had received his brother Jacob, glad to meet him after twenty years apart and Jacob had tried to soften their reunion by offering him some gifts. Now Esau was ready to be on the move again, back to Seir and he wanted Jacob to go with him.

¹¹ Please accept the present that was brought to you, FOR GOD HAS BEEN GRACIOUS TO ME AND I HAVE ALL I NEED.” And because Jacob insisted, Esau accepted it.

¹³ But Jacob said to him, “My lord knows that THE CHILDREN ARE TENDER AND THAT I MUST CARE FOR THE EWES AND COWS THAT ARE NURSING THEIR YOUNG. If they are driven hard just one day, all the animals will die. 

Jacob had worked twenty years for his wives, their children and his livestock. He’d already travelled a long way from Laban and knew well the pace that they could sustain. One day of forced march would destroy everything God had blessed him with. Other believers may consider that we’re moving too slowly, not enough happening, but steady progress is better than exhausted and dead sheep. (We never know what happened to all the stock Jacob gave Esau, no doubt some of his men brought them back to Seir at an easier pace.)

Others may be at a more productive season in their lives (before children come, or after they’re grown) when it’s right for them to push on and accomplish the work at hand. But even in busy periods of life there should be times of rest, to restore and refresh our souls and bodies. We need to discern and keep sustainable rhythms of work and rest for our lives. Jacob and Esau may never have been suited to travel together and we should be wise who we journey with through this life.

Rhythm (noun), a regularly repeated pattern, movement, beat or sequence of events. Comes from the Greek  Rhythmos,  rheein meaning TO FLOW. Chambers Dictionary

Better TO FLOW in a Steady continuous way than live in jerky, Stop Start lifestyle.

Peter went up on the roof to pray.¹⁰ He became hungry and wanted something to eat, and while the meal was being prepared, he fell into a trance. Acts 10

The Apostle Peter was alone on the roof of a house waiting for a meal to be prepared, when God spoke to him in a trance. This would lead to the birthing of the Gentile Church throughout the whole earth. Whether we like it or not GOD OFTEN, THOUGH NOT. ALWAYS, SPEAKS WHEN WE’VE SLOWED DOWN AND ARE STILL BEFORE HIM. Remember He can achieve more in moments than we can over our whole lifetime.

May God bless and keep you today.

⁹ Then Jacob prayed, “O God of my father Abraham, God of my father Isaac, Lord, you who said to me, ‘Go back to your country and your relatives, and I WILL MAKE YOU PROSPER,’ ¹⁰ I am unworthy of all the kindness and faithfulness you have shown your servant. I HAD ONLY MY STAFF WHEN I CROSSED THIS JORDAN, but now I have become two camps. Genesis 32 

If we’re serious about following God we may have to shed much surplus baggage. Jacob LEFT EVERYTHING when he fled to Laban and therefore all that he now had came from God. God is still able to bless and prosper His children.

Sukkoth was the place ‘of Shelters’, for him, his family and stock. Shechem had the EXTRA DIMENSION, where he built the altar to the God of Israel, but his sons, Simeon and Levi, BROUGHT TROUBLE ON HIM THERE. It wasn’t his fault but he had to deal with it.

35 Then God said to Jacob, “GO UP TO BETHEL AND SETTLE THERE, AND BUILD AN ALTAR THERE TO GOD, who appeared to you when you were fleeing from your brother Esau.” Genesis 35

The next place Jacob went to was the place where God had met with him at the beginning of his journey, he’d come full circle back to his First Place.

² So Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him, “GET RID OF THE FOREIGN GODS YOU HAVE WITH YOU, AND PURIFY YOURSELVES AND CHANGE YOUR CLOTHES. ³ Then come, let us go up to Bethel, where I will build an altar to God, who answered me in the day of my distress and who has been with me wherever I have gone.” 

Once again the people had to shed everything that wasn’t of God before they went to Bethel.

⁴ So they gave Jacob ALL THE FOREIGN GODS THEY HAD AND THE RINGS IN THEIR EARS, and Jacob buried them under the oak at Shechem. ⁵ Then they set out, and the terror of God fell on the towns all around them so that no one pursued them.

When they got rid of all the false things that stood between them and God (their idols, we too can ask God to SHOW US what needs to go), they came under HIS PROTECTION from the people all around them. Bethel was a holy place to Jacob, where he’d lay down with only his staff, but now all the rubbish in their camp had to be discarded before they could go back and worship God there.

If God’s calling us to come up higher today we need to make sure we’ve left all the rubbish as we come to Him.

Immanuel, God is with us!

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³⁸ Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” Luke 6

THE LORD IS NO ONE’S DEBTOR, HALLELUJAH.

 

²⁰ There he set up an altar and called it El Elohe Israel. Genesis 33

We saw yesterday after Esau (Type of the Carnal man, operating in the Flesh) and Jacob had parted that Jacob stopped in two places. We also noted that though Jacob and Esau were reconciled they didn’t walk or journey together.

¹⁷ Jacob, however, went to Sukkoth, where HE BUILT A PLACE ‘FOR HIMSELF’ AND MADE SHELTERS FOR HIS LIVESTOCK.

¹⁹ For a hundred pieces of silver, he bought from the sons of Hamor, the father of Shechem, the plot of ground WHERE HE PITCHED HIS TENT. ²⁰ THERE HE SET UP AN ALTAR and called it El Elohe Israel.

At Sukkoth he erected Shelters For Himself and his livestock, but at Shechem, after he’d settled his camp, he built an Altar to the God of Israel. Jacob worshipped God at Shechem in the land of Canaan. There was AN ADDED DIMENSION to his life in Canaan, the land of Promise and Inheritance. We too, need to establish an altar of worship to inherit the promises of God over our own lives.

34 Now Dinah, the daughter Leah had borne to Jacob, went out to visit the women of the land. ² When Shechem son of Hamor the Hivite, the ruler of that area, saw her, he took her and raped her. ³ His heart was drawn to Dinah daughter of Jacob; he loved the young woman and spoke tenderly to her. Genesis 34

Jacob and his family soon experienced trouble from the other people living in the land, an assault on their sister. The people of Shechem then sought peace with Jacob and his sons but Simeon and Levi eventually destroyed them in revenge for the attack on Dinah.

²⁷ The sons of Jacob came upon the dead bodies and looted the city where their sister had been defiled. ²⁸ They seized their flocks and herds and donkeys and everything else of theirs in the city and out in the fields. ²⁹ They carried off all their wealth and all their women and children, taking as plunder everything in the houses. Genesis 34

The Israelites carried off everything of value in Shechem. I believe Derek Prince once said, ‘You’ll never get the better of Jacob’. God watches over His Covenant people to this day.

³⁰ Then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, “YOU HAVE BROUGHT TROUBLE ON ME by making me a stench to the Canaanites and Perizzites, the people living in this land. We are few in number, and if they join forces against me and attack me, I and my household will be destroyed.” Genesis 34

Jacob knew they had won the battle, but they could still lose the war if the enemy returned with greater force. TROUBLE IS NOT ALWAYS OF OUR OWN MAKING, BUT WE STILL HAVE TO DEAL WITH IT.

35 Then God said to Jacob, “GO UP TO BETHEL (Move away) and settle there, AND BUILD AN ALTAR THERE TO GOD, who appeared to you when you were fleeing from your brother Esau.” Genesis 35

God told Jacob to move to another place, where He’d previously met with him and BUILD AN ALTAR THERE. Settle there and worship God at Bethel, which means the House of God.

Immanuel, God is with us.

¹² Then Esau said, “Let us be on our way; I’ll accompany you.” Genesis 33

We said yesterday that even though Jacob was very grateful that Esau had received him back as a brother, Jacob didn’t travel with Esau. In fact Genesis 36:6, 7 tells that the two brothers lived far apart because both had such large flocks, like Abram and Lot. God has His ways of separating us from people we shouldn’t be with, even through His blessings.

¹⁶ So that day Esau started on his way back to Seir. ¹⁷ Jacob, however, WENT TO SUKKOTH, WHERE HE BUILT A PLACE FOR HIMSELF AND MADE SHELTERS FOR HIS LIVESTOCK. That is why the place is called Sukkoth. Genesis 33

As soon as Esau and Jacob reconciled they separated again. They may not have been suited to be together longer term and that may be the case for some of us. No matter how much we may try to build a relationship, if God’s not in it, it won’t work!

¹⁸ After Jacob came from Paddan Aram, HE ARRIVED SAFELY AT THE CITY OF SHECHEM IN CANAAN and camped within sight of the city. ¹⁹ For a hundred pieces of silver, he bought from the sons of Hamor, the father of Shechem, the plot of ground where he pitched his tent. ²⁰ THERE HE SET UP AN ALTAR AND CALLED IT EL ELOHE ISRAEL.

Jacob didn’t need Esau’s men to protect him. He’d already travelled a long way from his uncle Laban and God had kept him all the way. (REMEMBER HOW FAR GOD HAS BROUGHT YOU UNTIL TODAY!) We’re never safer than when we’re travelling under God’s care, BE CAREFUL BEFORE ACCEPTING OFFERS FROM MEN IN PLACE OF THE LORD.

Jacob stopped at two places on his journey. The first was Sukkoth, where he put up shelters for himself and his livestock. He took care of the needs of his people and his animals there, the normal duties of life.

The next place was Shechem, (in Canaan), where he camped outside the city and bought some land, to set up his camp. The last words of Genesis 33 tell us that Jacob set up an altar, place of worship, to God there. Jacob had to deal with the affairs of life, just as we all do, but God was in his life. In Genesis 35 God told Jacob to go and live in Bethel and build an altar there, but in Shechem he appeared to build the altar himself.

Esau and Jacob represent two different types of men in the Bible. Esau is a type of the ‘Carnal man’, no thought for God in his life, taken up with the affairs of daily life. No thanks for all the provision of God in many areas, even despising his own parents by marrying Canaanite women. Genesis 28:8, 9 Jacob represents the ‘Spiritual man’, God has been guiding the course of his life all along. He recognised and worshipped the God of his fathers.

We must have an altar, functional place of worship, in our lives in these days. The natural man cannot cope with life on his own, without the influence of heaven.

Immanuel, God is with us today.

¹⁰ “No, please!” said Jacob. “If I have found favour in your eyes, accept this gift from me. FOR TO SEE YOUR FACE IS LIKE SEEING THE FACE OF GOD, NOW THAT YOU HAVE RECEIVED ME FAVOURABLY. ¹¹ Please accept the present that was brought to you, FOR GOD HAS BEEN GRACIOUS TO ME AND I HAVE ALL I NEED.” And because Jacob insisted, Esau accepted it. Genesis 33

We can almost feel how relieved Jacob was that Esau had accepted him and perhaps still felt guilty at what had happened between them. He also testified to his brother of God’s goodness to him and because of this he insisted on blessing Esau. The former Twister/Deceiver showed generosity in the reconciliation.

¹² Then Esau said, “Let us be on our way; I’ll accompany you.”

The following verses are interesting and confirm the renewed  relationship between the two brothers. Esau offered to accompany Jacob, but his offer was declined.

¹³ But Jacob said to him, “My lord knows that the children are tender and that I must care for the ewes and cows that are nursing their young. If they are driven hard just one day, all the animals will die. ¹⁴ So let my lord go on ahead of his servant, while I move along slowly at the pace of the flocks and herds before me and the pace of the children, until I come to my lord in Seir.”

Esau was ready to get up and go at once, but Jacob the shepherd knew he couldn’t push his herds without dire results.

Then Esau made a further offer of help, to leave some of his men to escort Jacob and his family and herds.

¹⁵ Esau said, “Then let me leave some of my men with you.”

“But why do that?” Jacob asked. “Just let me find favor in the eyes of my lord.”

¹⁶ So that day Esau started on his way back to Seir. ¹⁷ Jacob, however, went to Sukkoth, where he built a place for himself and made shelters for his livestock.

Jacob, although greatly blessed at having just won back his brother’s friendship did not accept his offer to travel with him, nor the help of his men. Before his meeting with Esau, Jacob had come through a major test alone with God. Jacob was cautious in accepting the help of his newly reconciled brother as he returned to the land of God’s Promise!

ONE QUESTION FOR ALL OF US TODAY IS WHO SHOULD WE BE TRAVELLING WITH ON OUR JOURNEY THROUGH LIFE?

It would have been easy for Jacob to have accepted his twin brother’s offers, but he did not. In our own journey we’d be wise to be led by the Spirit and not walk with others just to please them. God’s plan for Abraham did not include his nephew Lot, again someone close to him. ONCE THEY SEPARATED God promised Abram all the land of Canaan. Genesis 13:14-17 Brothers and Sisters we need to seek God for those whom we should walk with in this life,  wrong relationships may be a stumbling block to receiving our God ordained inheritance!

May God bless and keep you today.

 

⁴ But Esau ran to meet Jacob and embraced him; he threw his arms around his neck and kissed him. And they wept. Genesis 33

⁷ When a person’s ways are pleasing to the Lord,
He causes even his enemies to make peace/live at peace with him. Proverbs 16

Jacob met his brother Esau and there was love and forgiveness. Esau, the offended brother, kissed Jacob and wept over him. He’d put aside the stealing of his Father Isaac’s Blessing by Jacob.

33 Jacob looked up and there was Esau, coming with his four hundred men; so he divided the children among Leah, Rachel and the two female servants.   ³ He himself went on ahead and BOWED DOWN TO THE GROUND SEVEN TIMES AS HE APPROACHED HIS BROTHER. Genesis 33

Jacob had wrestled all night with an unnamed man who’d dislocated his hip socket. Genesis 32:25, 31 ‘He was limping because of his hip’, yet Jacob still humbled himself and bowed seven times before his brother. Jacob left the land of Canaan twenty years earlier in his prime, a strong, determined man. Now he returned as Israel, in weakness, after God’s dealings with him. Time does heal as the saying goes, but often it’s God’s dealings in our lives that allows us to reconcile with our brothers and sisters.

There were three elements in the reconciliation of the brothers;

Time, it may take time for TRUE FORGIVENESS to be possible. Jacob HUMBLED HIMSELF greatly before his brother and in our families or the Church we may have come in humility to know true reconciliation. Jacob experienced a DEGREE OF PAIN, bowing SEVEN TIMES (Full and total humility) with a dislocated hip would have been painful. But he was willing to do it ‘to be received by Esau’.

²⁰ So he (Prodigal Son) got up and went to his father.

“But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him. Luke 15

The picture of the Prodigal Son returning in shame to his father’s house and also being received with hugs and kisses is something we need to know about our loving God, who is always good. God loves us unconditionally because He is Love! Religion says we have to perform, do good works and conform, but that’s a lie. WE NEVER HAVE TO WAIT TO RECEIVE OUR FATHER’S LOVE AND FORGIVENESS, IT’S ALWAYS WAITING FOR US.

God bless and keep you today.

⁵⁵ Early the next morning Laban kissed his grandchildren and his daughters and blessed them (eventually parted on good terms). Then he left and returned home.

Jacob Prepares to Meet Esau

32 Jacob also went on his way, and the angels of God met him. ² When Jacob saw them, he said, “This is the camp of God!” So he named that place Mahanaim.

No sooner had Jacob left Laban than he had to prepare to CROSS OVER and meet his brother Esau. Jacob had left with ‘only his staff in his hand’ and now returned with a large family and many herds of livestock – God had truly prospered him.

Jacob had a dream with angels when he left Canaan and now he had another angelic encounter as he approached the border to return again. He had another far more significant experience as he waited alone at night. There are definitely things of the Kingdom life which are strictly personal and God will only reveal them to us alone. This was such a time, Jacob had sent everyone else across the ford at Jabbok, while he waited alone.

²⁴ So Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him till daybreak. ²⁵ When 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. Genesis 32

Jacob wrestled alone all night with this man until daybreak and wouldn’t let Him go until He blessed him.

²⁶ Then the man said, “Let me go, for it is daybreak.”

But Jacob replied, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.”

²⁷ The man asked him, “What is your name?”

“Jacob,” he answered.

²⁸ Then the man said, “Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have STRUGGLED WITH GOD AND WITH MEN AND HAVE OVERCOME.”

Jacob fled from Laban to return to Canaan, but was overtaken on the way. God intervened in a warning dream to Laban and so they eventually parted peacefully. Jacob was about to meet his brother Esau once again as he crossed back into Canaan. But God met Jacob alone in the night between these two meetings and disabled his natural strength. Jacob had to meet his brother in pain and weakness, with a dislocated hip. He still used all his shrewdness to prepare for the meeting, but his strength had gone.

Some of us may have situations where we appear to be the weaker party and we must go through with them, perhaps with some humiliation. God allows us to experience something which humbles us in the course of our lives to make us more dependent on Him. Jacob, with his large family/families and possessions came through the two meetings unscathed, though he was the much weaker party. God can and will bring us through our own trials as we lean on Him.

Immanuel, God is with us!

Fathers Love Ministry welcomes your support today. Please donate at our website;

fathersloveministry.co.uk

We are available to seek personal words of encouragement and to counsel those who wish it online, contact us on our website above.

³⁸ Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” Luke 6

THE LORD IS NO ONE’S DEBTOR, HALLELUJAH.

 

²² Then God remembered Rachel; he listened to her and enabled her to conceive. ²³ She became pregnant and gave birth to a son and said, “God has taken away my disgrace.” ²⁴ She named him Joseph, and said, “May the Lord add to me another son.”

We saw yesterday that God remembered Rachel and enabled her to give birth to Joseph. In naming him Joseph, ‘May He add’, she immediately asked for another and eventually gave birth to Benjamin. We shouldn’t give up on our dreams, if they’re God given they will come to pass. Neither should we settle for only part of what God has for us, Rachel did have a second son.

²⁷ The boys grew up, and Esau became a skillful hunter, a man of the open country, while Jacob was a quiet man staying among the tents. Genesis 25

Rachel’s husband, Jacob, was by nature quieter than Esau, but his life took a very different course than he might have expected. Rebekah plotted with him to steal his elder brother’s blessing and so set him on a very different course of life. He left his home and FLED ALONE TO HIS UNCLE LABAN, Rebekah’s brother. Our lives may take us on a different course than we anticipated, but God can bring good from it as we walk out our lives with Him.

Twenty years later God spoke to Jacob and set him on the run again;

³ Then the Lord said to Jacob, “Go back to the land of your fathers and to your relatives, and I will be with you.” Genesis 31

¹⁷ Then Jacob put his children and his wives on camels, ¹⁸ and he drove all his livestock ahead of him, along with all the goods he had accumulated in Paddan Aram, to go to his father Isaac in the land of Canaan.

²⁰ Moreover, Jacob deceived Laban the Aramean by not telling him he was running away. ²¹ SO HE FLED WITH ALL HE HAD, crossed the Euphrates River, and headed for the hill country of Gilead. 

Jacob FLED from his brother Esau to his uncle and later FLED from his uncle back to his home land of Canaan. Yet God’s Hand was in it all, he’d left alone but through his uncle’s trickery, he was now head of a large household. The nucleus for a people of God upon the earth.

Laban pursued Jacob and just before they met God spoke to Laban in a dream;

²⁹ I have the power to harm you; but last night the God of your father said to me, ‘Be careful not to say anything to Jacob, either good or bad.’ Genesis 31

Laban might have said/done something rash to Jacob in the heat of the moment, but God stopped him. Jacob was at the core of God’s plans for mankind upon the earth and God told the man pursuing him, with greater power TO STOP! We may want to get even with others for slighting us, but God may say No to that! BE CAREFUL NOT TO SAY(OR DO) ANYTHING GOOD OR BAD – leave the situation to God. Take a step back just as Laban did and allow God to work out His plans for all of us.

God bless and keep you today.

 

30 When Rachel saw that she was not bearing Jacob any children, she became jealous of her sister. So she said to Jacob, “GIVE ME CHILDREN, or I’ll die!” (Deepest yearning) Genesis 30:1

²² THEN GOD REMEMBERED RACHEL (one woman); HE LISTENED TO HER AND ENABLED HER TO CONCEIVE. ²³ She became pregnant and gave birth to a son and said, “God has taken away my disgrace.” ²⁴ She named him Joseph, and said, “MAY THE LORD ADD to me another son.” Genesis 30

Some believers may have a deep dissatisfaction in their lives, an unfulfilled longing, FOR SOMETHING MORE. Rachel was such a person, she longed for a child of her own, especially as her sister Leah had given Jacob many sons. Rachel’s longing had never faltered because God had ‘listened to her’ and helped her. It’s easy to lose hope when those around us seem to have all they want, but GOD REMEMBERED RACHEL.

Rachel became pregnant and happily gave birth to her son, Joseph. Jacob loved Rachel and Joseph was his favourite son. Joseph also became God’s instrument for delivering Israel and providing for them in Egypt. He had a special call on his life regarding God’s plans for Israel. We can’t make God do something He hasn’t planned for us, so we need to keep submitting our requests to His will. But for some people the preparation time may be longer (e.g. Moses waited forty years) and we shouldn’t give up our dreams.

Rachel named her son Joseph, meaning, ‘May He add’. God had answered her prayer for a son and so she asked for another. Perhaps we’ve received a portion of what our hearts long for, but we’re not fully satisfied. Rachel wanted another child. Don’t sell yourself short, with God all things are possible. God’s vision for us may be much bigger than we’re seeing at the moment. Press in for the more! We’re about to see the mighty works of God on earth and we want ALL HE HAS FOR US. Rachel knew she was much loved by Jacob and we are also much loved and part of Christ’s bride to be. God has an inspiring plan for all His Children, don’t give up, seek Him for the next part.

May God bless and keep you today.