Family Friday: Jacob's Surrender

Jacob was worried about coming home after 20+ years away from his brother, Esau. Now, at long last he was coming home, a rich man with a big family. But the closer Jacob got to home, the more his heart was filled with dread. What were things like at home? Was Esau still angry for the terrible, deceitful way his brother had treated him? Was his father Isaac still alive? What about his mother Rebekah?

Jacob received the news that his brother had an army of 400 men! Frantic with fear, Jacob thought his entire family would surely be killed. Acting in haste, without trusting God and His promises to take care of his family, he quickly came up with an idea. He would divide his household, along with the flocks, herds, and camels, into two groups. If Esau attacked and destroyed one group, the other group would have a chance to escape.

Where was Jacob’s faith and trust in Jehovah God? After Jacob had made his plans and decided what he would do, as sort of an afterthought, he prayed. I wonder why he didn’t pray and call on the Lord the very first thing? It would have saved him a lot of worry and anxiety! But many times we do exactly as Jacob did. We make our own plans and work out our own ideas and then ask God to bless them, instead of asking Him to show us His will and what He wants and has planned for us.

That night Jacob had his family cross the river Jabbok, while he stayed behind, alone. Suddenly, in the dark, a hand seized Jacob. Jacob started struggling with an opponent who had the muscles and power of a wrestler This One was the Lord God Himself! He wanted Jacob to let Him be Lord and King of Jacob’s life – his Ruler, not just his Saviour. God wanted Jacob to quit having his own way, making his own plans, scheming, cheating, swindling, and trying to get what he wanted by being clever and crafty. 

Jacob fought and stubbornly refused to give in all through the night. They battled until dawn, when the Lord struck Jacob’s hip and knocked it out of joint at the socket. Jacob was helpless. He clung to the Angle of the Lord crying out that He could have His way. The Lord changed his name to Israel, which means “God rules or God commands.”

All through his life, Jacob had tried to rule and command his own life and the lives of others. Now he must be willing to be ruled, and to receive commands, and to obey orders. Jacob called the wrestling place Peniel or “Face of God”, for he said, “I have seen God face to face.”

In the dawn of a new day, a new Jacob limped away from the wrestling place. At last he had yielded himself to the God of his fathers. Jacob was a new man; he had a new name, Israel. No one can meet God face to face and be the same – He will be changed and transformed; he will live differently after seeing the Lord.

Early that morning Jacob crossed the river and joined his family. Far in the distance he saw Esau coming with his four hundred men. Jacob went out alone to meet Esau; he bowed low in a very humble manner. Then Esau ran toward Jacob, his arms in the air welcoming his brother home. He was no longer angry! The brothers were sweetly reunited!

As years passed, Jacob never forgot that wrestling match with the Lord at the river Jabbok, for it caused him to give up his own ways and let God rule his life. None of us today have had and actual wrestling match with the Lord like Jacob did, but deep down in our souls, we have fought with the Lord, too. God says to us, “Will you give up? Will you turn your whole life over to Me an let Me be your Lord and King? I love you and bought you on Calvary’s cross by shedding My blood for you. Will you surrender your own will for Mine?”

I hope we will not wait till we are old and have lived out most of our lives like Jacob, but that right now while we are young(ish) and have our lives before us, we will say, “Yes, Lord. I give myself to You. I give up my way and ‘doing my own thing,’ I want YOU to have YOUR way in my life. I gladly make you Lord and ruler of my life. I want to be changed; I want to be different; I want to live a surrendered life. I want to be made like Jesus.” This is the only way to true happiness and joy. Let’s ask God to help us yield to His way in our lives.

Thoughtful Thursday: Wonderfully Made

I am writing this from a woman’s perspective, but I believe it is a truth that can apply to all.

I have struggled with self-confidence and body image for most of my life. I have put a lot of weight into how I perceive that others see me. I have (mostly) placed my self-worth in their opinion of me. Their love and acceptance or lack thereof, have determined my love and acceptance of myself a lot of times. I know it’s wrong and I have tried to take some measures to improve my self-confidence, but I still struggle.

Recently, I have been holding on to the truth of Psalms 139:14 “I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made:” I love how the psalmist points out that he was “wonderfully” made.  The design of the human body is a wonder that even the greatest of minds have had a hard time understanding. God’s design is extraordinary, intricate and complete. He pays attention to detail and makes no mistakes. Yet, in our weakness, we think that this same Creator, who takes the time to design us each individually, would somehow make us flawed and lacking.

So, to say that he was “wonderfully” made, was the psalmist boasting himself of perfection?

  No.  None of us are perfect in the sense that our flesh fails us daily.  But he recognized that God made him exactly how He wanted him, and he praised Him for that.  Isn’t that convicting?  Realizing that each time we critique and criticize ourselves, we are critiquing and criticizing God’s creation.  His perfect creation. 

When I think of it this way, I am reminded that I should place my self-worth in how God sees me, and not others. 

I should love myself, because He loves me.  John 3:16 “For God so loved the world…” 

I should be confident, because He gives me the ability. Philippians 4:13 “I can do all things through Christ…” 

I should accept who I am, because He accepts me.  And He makes no mistakes.

We Pray Wednesday: 10 things to pray for your spouse

We know that we should pray every day for our spouse.  Many times, however, we simply pray for them by name and do not pray specific things for them, (at least that is usually what I do).  There are many ways to be more specific.  There are challenges that you can download to help you pray specifically for your spouse for 30 or 31 days.  If that is what you do, GREAT, don't stop doing it.  Most of us, myself included, need to pray MORE for our spouse.  Below is a list that I found to help me to pray better for my spouse on a daily basis.  This list is not mine. I simply found that it works best for me to help me pray for my spouse.

 

1.  That God will be their God. If God is their focus, everything else will fall into the right place.   If anything else is in first place, including you, everything else will fail.

 

2.  To increase their faith in God.  They should have their faith in God, not in the things that this world can offer.

 

3.  To intensify their joy in God.  True joy can only come from God.  If their joy is in God, they will find the happiness and peace that many seek.

 

4.  To soften their heart from the hardness of life.   Life is hard.  We do not want our spouse to become hard from all of the things that life throws at us.  

 

5. To make them to cherish the church.  The Bible says that the church is the body of Christ.  We love ourselves and each other, yet sometime fail to love the body of Christ.  We should want them to build relationships in church that challenge and encourage them to walk in the truth of God's Word.

 

6.  To give them wisdom from God. The only true wisdom is from God and His Word.

 

7.  Sustain their health. Pray that God will give them the health and energy that they need to be the Christian that God can use.

 

8.  Multiply their Godly influence to others.  Everyone has influence.  Ask God to help them influence others, including yourself and your children, to become more like GOD and to show the lost their need for God.

 

9.  Make them hear God's voice.  As they read the Bible, they will see how God wants to use them.  Also, as they hear the preaching of the Bible, they will hear God's voice and He will show them how to become a better Christian.

 

10.  Overcome them with your Holy Spirit. We need the Holy Spirit on us on a daily basis so that we can become more like Christ.  We live in our flesh and this sinful world every day.  If the Holy Spirit is not on us, we will not have the right spirit.  

Monday's Message: Groaning for Home

Have you ever performed some strenuous labor or exercised vigorously and the next day woken up sore? You could barely move and when you finally did, it was probably with a loud groan. It’s your body’s way of telling you that you did too much, pushed it passed its physical ability and wore it out. It seems that the older we get the more our bodies tend to creak and groan. As we age we slowly start to realize that we can’t do all the things that we could when we were younger.  We get tired quickly, get grumpy easily, till at some point, like an impatient child on a long trip we just want to go “home.” For the believer this groaning comes naturally, God has given us his Spirit and His Spirit longs to shed this old body of sin and put on our new heavenly body.

In II Corinthians 5:1, the Apostle Paul calls our bodies an earthly house and tabernacle. If you recall in the Old Testament, the tabernacle was where God lived while the children of Israel wandered in the desert waiting on the Promised Land. God had a purpose in their wandering. It was to teach them to have faith, to depend on Him, and to learn to serve Him and not themselves. It is the same for the believer today, though we are saved and have His Spirit living within us, it is God’s will that we live out our days in this body of flesh, learning to have faith, depend on God, and serve Him with our lives while we are still here on this earth. And just as the children of Israel groaned for their Promised Land so we as believers groan for our Heavenly home.

1For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.

2For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven:

3If so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked.

4For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened: not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life.

5Now he that hath wrought us for the selfsame thing is God, who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit.

6Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord:

7(For we walk by faith, not by sight:)

8We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.

9Wherefore we labour, that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted of him.

Family Friday: THE BEST MARRIAGE ADVICE EVER!!

Choose to love each other even in those moments when you struggle to like each other. Love is a commitment, not a feeling.

Always answer the phone when your husband/wife is calling and when possible, try to keep your phone off when you’re together with your spouse.

Make time together a priority. Budget for a consistent date night. Time is the “currency of relationships” so consistently invest time into your marriage.

Surround yourself with friends who will strengthen your marriage and remove yourself from people who may tempt you to compromise your character.

Make laughter the soundtrack of your marriage. Share moments of joy, and even in the hard times, find reasons to laugh.

In every argument, remember that there won’t be a “winner” and a “loser.” You are partners in everything so you’ll either win together or lose together. Work together to find a solution.

Remember that a strong marriage rarely has two strong people at the same time. It’s usually a husband and wife taking turns being strong for each other in the moments when the other feels weak. 

Prioritize what happens in the bedroom. It takes more than sex to build a strong marriage, but it’s nearly impossible to build a strong marriage without it!

Remember that marriage isn’t 50-50, divorce is 50-50. Marriage has to be 100-100. It’s not splitting everything in half, but both partners giving everything they’ve got!

Give your best to each other, not your leftovers after you’ve given your best to everyone else.

Learn from other people, but don’t feel the need to compare your life or your marriage to anyone else’s. God’s plan for your life is masterfully unique!

Don’t put your marriage on hold while you’re raising your kids or else you’ll end up with an empty nest and an empty marriage.

Never keep secrets from each other. Secrecy is the enemy of intimacy.

Never lie to each other. Lies break trust and trust is the foundation of a strong marriage.

When you’ve made a mistake, admit it and humbly seek forgiveness. You should be quick to say, “I was wrong. I’m sorry. Please forgive me.”

When your husband/wife breaks your trust, give them your forgiveness instantly which will promote healing and create the opportunity for trust to be rebuilt. You should be quick to say, “I love you. I forgive you. Let’s move forward.”

Be patient with each other. Your spouse is always more important that your schedule.

Model the kind of marriage that will make your sons want to grow up to be good husbands and your daughters want to grow up to be good wives.

Learn from other people, but don’t feel the need to compare your life or your marriage to anyone else. God’s plan for your life is masterfully unique!

Never talk badly about your spouse to other people or vent about them online. Protect your spouse at all times and in all places.

Always wear your wedding ring. It will remind you that you’re always connected to your spouse and it will remind the rest of the world that you’re off limits!

Connect into a community of faith. A good church can make a world of difference in your marriage and family.

Pray together. Every marriage is stronger with God in the middle of it.

When you have to choose between saying nothing or saying something mean to your spouse, say nothing every time!

Never consider divorce as an option. Remember that a “perfect marriage” is just two imperfect people who refuse to give up on each.

Writer: Unknown