Genesis 3:21-32 describes the all night blow by blow account of Jacob wrestling with the pre-incarnate Jesus Christ. Some say it was an angel. When Jesus dislocated his thigh, Jacob stopped wrestling and started clinging.
Genesis 32:26 And He said, Let me go, for the day breaketh. And he [Jacob] said I will not let thee go, except Thou bless me.
When Jesus asked, "What is your name?" He was really asking, "Who are you?"
He could have answered, "I'm Jacob, the schemer, the scared Mama's boy, the con-man, the self-centered, self-serving, self-sufficient one!"
Then God changed his name to Israel and blessed him.
The struggle of Jacob is our own. We all tend to wrestle with life, to take things in our own hands. When we get to the end of ourselves, we find the arms of a loving and caring Savior, Jesus Christ.
Stop wrestling and surrender your wills, your dreams and schemes to the Lordship of Jesus. He will change you and bless you.
As believers, we are to love, help, and accept one another no matter how different they are. Some people are weird. Maybe we are too and don't know. Remember Jesus telling us not to show preference to the rich man visiting and ignore the poor man?
Romans 15:5,6 Now the God of patience and consolation grant you to be likeminded one toward another according to Christ Jesus: That ye may with one mind and one mouth glorify God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
When we allow the Spirit of The Lord to operate in our lives, we produce a symphony of harmony that the world can't duplicate as we glorify God together. This kind of unity is accomplished by tolerance.
To serve God like He deserves to be served is often a simple matter of priorities. People do the things that are important to them. Those things you attach values to determine the priorities of your life.
For instance, church attendance will be determined by the priority you allow. The same is true of prayer, Bible study, witnessing, etc.
1 Corinthians 15;58 Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast unmoveable, always abounding in the work of The Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in The Lord.
God knows our hearts. He knows priorities will be interrupted at times. When that happens, keep abounding in the work of The Lord. Make Him your first priority again.
The Bible doesn't tell us to believe in ourselves. It teaches us to believe in God. Why?
Because God is all powerful, all knowing, ever present, and never changes. God is good. God is merciful. God is on your side. Focus on the great things He has already accomplished in your life.
Psalm 118:8 It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in men.
God moves in a mysterious way
His wonders to perform;
He plants His footsteps in the sea
And rides upon the storm
Deep in unfathomable mines
Of never-failing skill
He treasures up His bright designs
And works His sovereign will
The fearful saints, fresh courage take;
The clouds ye so much dread
Are big with mercy and shall break
In blessings on your head
William Cowper 1779
Psalm 27:1 The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?
Do we fully grasp what God has in store for the redeemed? Imagine walking around one moment and being up in the clouds with Jesus the next.
And death doesn't have the final word for saints who left a body at the cemetery. They will experience a wonderful and powerful change called the RESURRECTION.
The body of the believer laid in the grave or cast into the sea will be quickened back to life, rising up at the rapture, a perfect body like Jesus.
1 Corinthians 15:42-44 So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption: It is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory: It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power: It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body and there is a spiritual body.
OH WOW! .... CAN'T WAIT!
Jesus didn't want us to remember Him as the greatest Teacher, greatest Leader or greatest Healer. He wanted us to remember Him for His cross, His shed blood, His sacrificial death, His broken body. Redemption came through a broken Savior.
1 Corinthians 11:24 And when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, Take eat; this is my body which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me.
The body of Jesus was battered, bruised, bloodied, and broken. Jesus was punched and slapped, and crowned with thorns. His back was plowed with a cat of nine-tails, His beard plucked from His face. His hands and feet were nailed to the cross, and every bone of his body torn out of joint.
May we never forget as we take the broken bread at the Lord's Supper.
"Oh, the old rugged cross,so despised by the world, has a wondrous attraction for me."
George Bennard
Don't be afraid. God is in control, and He's coming back for His own.
There are two parts to the coming of Christ. First, Jesus will steal away His saints from the earth and take them to Heaven. The rapture will be so sudden and swift that people won't know what happened.
1 Thessalonians 4:16,17 For The Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet The Lord in the air; and so shall we ever be with The Lord.
He will return the second time in glory and power with all his saints, and everyone everywhere will know it. He will defeat His enemies and reign upon this earth.
Revelation 1:7 Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen.
