Genesis 28

Father God, we thank you that this is the day that You have made and we shall be glad and rejoice in it. Thank you for today's Word and as always LORD, speak to our hearts, give our minds understanding as we read and meditate on Your Word in the name of Jesus, Amen.

Genesis chapter 28 starts off with Isaac summoning Jacob and charging him to not marry any of the girls from Canaan but rather to go to his mother's brother, Laban and get a wife from there (Genesis 28:1-2). Unlike now, their customs at the time permitted cousins to marry each other. Before Jacob's departure from his family home to his uncle Laban's house, Isaac blessed him again (Genesis 28:3-4).

On his journey, Jacob decided to rest as it was evening time. So he gathered a stone and put his head on it and slept (Genesis 28:11). During his sleep, he saw a ladder set up on the earth and angels of God were descending and ascending on it and the LORD stood above the ladder and said to him,

"I am the LORD God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie I will give to you and your descendants. Also your descendants shall be as the dust of the earth; you shall spread abroad to the west and the east, to the north and the south; and in you and in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed. Behold, I am with you and I will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have spoken to you." (Genesis 28:13-15 NKJV)

This text is powerful for many reasons. First of all, we see God's covenant keeping qualities. When the LORD God meets Jacob, Abraham's grandson who is born in a lineage of God's covenant and blessings, He reiterates the promise that He gave Abraham to Jacob as well.

Friend, this shows us that God can be trusted to stay true to His Word. When God speaks, He does not change His mind (Numbers 23:19). Despite Jacob departing from the land of Canaan on a "bad note", the LORD continually provided comfort and re assurance to him that indeed His presence would go with him wherever he stayed. The LORD also re assured Jacob that he would certainly return to the land that He promised him and his descendants. God's assurance was important to Jacob because it was a reminder that God would see him through every challenge including the friction he was facing with his brother Esau and the journey to unknown new territory.

Secondly, this text also shows us that Jacob's personal relationship with the LORD God became enhanced the moment he left his father and mother's house. That is, he was now able to personally relate and recognize through experiencing the God of Abraham and Isaac with his own eyes and ears in a dream or vision in the night time.

This chapter also re echoes a reminder that this would not have been the first time that God seeks to separate his people from their biological lineages and families. This physical separation as we previously saw with Abraham and Lot, although painful, is not meant to destroy the people but rather for the LORD God's good pleasure and to fulfill every blessing and promise upon His people's lives. Only when Abraham completely separated from Lot, was he then fully able to receive and walk in the blessings that the LORD God had prepared for his life which are still a blessing to us today as God's sons and daughters in Christ Jesus.

Thirdly, this text also shows us that when God blesses, He is not only limited to one individual. He is a big God whose mercy, love and blessings will be passed on not only to you but to your descendants and thousands of generations (Exodus 20:6). It is important to note that Jacob did not have any kind of spectacular behaviour that made him earn these blessings over his brother, but rather it was God's will and unmerited grace (Romans 9:11).

So my question to you today is, what difficult situation are you currently facing? To make matters worse, you may be partially responsible or not responsible in anyway for getting yourself in this situation as well.

As of today, God is saying to you, take heart. He will not leave you alone and He is with you to deliver you from your enemies in the name of Jesus, Amen. If the LORD God's promise to bless Jacob, his descendants and to not leave him until the manifestation of His Word proved true, God is more than able to keep you and protect you as well until He fulfils every promise you are currently believing Him for in the name of Jesus.

In addition, you child of God are also a descendant of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and included in this covenantal blessings that are accessible to you and I by faith in Christ Jesus, His finished works on the cross, His resurrection from the dead and ascension to heaven. Amen.

I'll end with this Word found in Hebrews 4:15-16 (NKJV)

"15.For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin."

16.Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need."

AMEN. THANK YOU LORD.

Invitation to salvation: In the same way, God works in His children by giving them the will and desire to receive and walk in obedience to His Son Christ Jesus who washes away all their sins and gives them a brand new life where you will live and abide eternally in God's presence while experiencing all the blessings He has for them.

If you would like to become a child of God as well; I invite you to make this confession:

"I believe with my heart and confess with my mouth that; Jesus Christ, the Son of God came in a human body to die for my sins so that I could have a new life where I am dead to sin and alive to God. I repent of my past sins and enter the Kingdom of light where I choose relationship with Jesus Christ as my Lord and Saviour and with God as my loving Father today and forever." AMEN.

Congratulations, by grace you are saved and are now a new creation in Christ Jesus. The old life has passed away and you have received the free gift of salvation into your life (2 Corinthians 5:17) where you get to freely access everything I've shared in this post. To the glory of the Almighty God. Amen.

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