Word for the day by Christian Education Forum
JESUS CHRIST -THE LORD AND GOD
Bible portion : Gen:32: 22-32
Verse: 26: And he said, Let me go, for the day breaketh. And he said, I will not let you go, except thou bless me.
Devotional text
Verse: 26: And he said, Let me go, for the day breaketh. And he said, I will not let you go, except thou bless me.
Devotional text
Jacob finds blessing from God through pain. Jacob took over his immediate family across the river Jabbok. He was alone and was afraid of the darkness in the night. Probably he wanted to be alone for sometime , preparing himself to meet his brother Esau and his army of 400 men, the next day. suddenly there appeared a man from no where, trying to subdue him with wrestling. After a while Jacob found out that he is not going to win, however, he was given the strength to wrestle almost to the break of the day by the divine help which he did not realize immediately. The man tried to identify Jacob as if he did not know, and was trying to leave him near to the dawn. At that point Jacob started begging to the man to bless him before he left.. God/angel of the Lord was seen to be blessing Jacob from then on, and changed his name to Israel.
The main point of this text is that God's blessing often comes to His people only through pain. God some tines breaks us in order to bless, His blessing comes to the self aware, and broken.
Jacob isolated himself for a night of prayer and be alone with God. He had one other similar confrontation with God while he was at “Bethel”. That was when God decided to meet jacob in his solitude. When Jacob was alone at the bank of the river jabbok, It was God in an angel's form posed as a man and started to wrestle with him all night till early part of the morning. Jacob found himself defeated by Him to the point of getting his hip dislocated. It was then Jacob started begging the Man to bless before leaving him.
In our life situations also when we face trials and tribulations, God or his angel may be at work behind our circumstances without our knowledge. It is better to understand that God is using our adverse situations to transform our lives for His glory. It seems, one of the purpose of God's intervention
was to teach Jacob's perseverance. James 1:4 “ suffering produce endurance, endurance character, and character hope. Romans 5: 3-4 God uses perseverance to complete us, and to make us mature.
After the experience, Jacob named the place “Peniel” , where he encountered the Man which means “face of God or face to face” with God. God changed his name to Israel because, he fought with God and man and have prevailed. In every trial, there is spiritual reality that oversees the situation. Jacob's struggle was not only with Esau, it was also with God and himself. God wrestled with him seeking His will done in Jacob's life. It is nice to remember that, God has always been lovingly wrestling with us seeking our submission to His will and Kingdom.
Prayer
Lord our master, oftentimes we do not feel your presence during our trials, instead we fight against it without submitting ourselves to your will and Glory. Pardon our weakness, kindly use our struggles to bless us through your loving wrestling in our life situations. Amen
Thought for the Day
F.B Meyer said” The lord cannot fully bless a man until he first conquered him”.
A.W Tuzer Said,” God whispers to us in our pleasure, but shouts at us in our trials”.
God's purpose in our trials is for us to recognize and confess our sin, and to change our character, also to know the God better.
The main point of this text is that God's blessing often comes to His people only through pain. God some tines breaks us in order to bless, His blessing comes to the self aware, and broken.
Jacob isolated himself for a night of prayer and be alone with God. He had one other similar confrontation with God while he was at “Bethel”. That was when God decided to meet jacob in his solitude. When Jacob was alone at the bank of the river jabbok, It was God in an angel's form posed as a man and started to wrestle with him all night till early part of the morning. Jacob found himself defeated by Him to the point of getting his hip dislocated. It was then Jacob started begging the Man to bless before leaving him.
In our life situations also when we face trials and tribulations, God or his angel may be at work behind our circumstances without our knowledge. It is better to understand that God is using our adverse situations to transform our lives for His glory. It seems, one of the purpose of God's intervention
was to teach Jacob's perseverance. James 1:4 “ suffering produce endurance, endurance character, and character hope. Romans 5: 3-4 God uses perseverance to complete us, and to make us mature.
After the experience, Jacob named the place “Peniel” , where he encountered the Man which means “face of God or face to face” with God. God changed his name to Israel because, he fought with God and man and have prevailed. In every trial, there is spiritual reality that oversees the situation. Jacob's struggle was not only with Esau, it was also with God and himself. God wrestled with him seeking His will done in Jacob's life. It is nice to remember that, God has always been lovingly wrestling with us seeking our submission to His will and Kingdom.
Prayer
Lord our master, oftentimes we do not feel your presence during our trials, instead we fight against it without submitting ourselves to your will and Glory. Pardon our weakness, kindly use our struggles to bless us through your loving wrestling in our life situations. Amen
Thought for the Day
F.B Meyer said” The lord cannot fully bless a man until he first conquered him”.
A.W Tuzer Said,” God whispers to us in our pleasure, but shouts at us in our trials”.
God's purpose in our trials is for us to recognize and confess our sin, and to change our character, also to know the God better.
Dr .John K. Thomas Tabor MTC New York