January 11, 2018
Genesis 28:15
"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.”
New International Version (NIV)
                Sooner or later we sit down to a big banquet of consequences.   Jacob faced a day of reckoning with his older brother whom he had defrauded twice.  First, Jacob stole his brother’s birthright.  Then he swindled him out of his blessing by lying to his own father.   Why does God choose to use broken people?  Do you ever wonder?  What other kind of people except broken ones are available.  Spurgeon comments on God’s story, “The Holy Spirit does not write for the credit of man; he writes for the glory of God’s grace.”  If God could use Jacob he can use anyone, even me and you. 
                As Jacob fled from his brother and sought a spouse in a distant land, God showed up in the middle of nowhere.  Imagine Jacob lying down with his head on a rock, feeling sorry for himself.  Then of all the places in the world that night, God met him at a place called Luz.  Jacob realized then that in spite of who he had been, God would be with him on his journey.  By grace, God is also with us.  Again Spurgeon writes, “As a man delights to be with a friend, so are the delights of Christ with the sons of men whom he has chosen and redeemed with his blood.” 
                Greater even than our consequences is the grace of our God.  As God kept his promises to Jacob, he keeps his promises to us.  Knowing our failures, still he is with us, watching over us.  God will not leave us until he has done all he has promised us.  In Christ, all of God’s promises are fulfilled.  God takes delight in being with us today.  Will we live our lives conscious of his promised presence?  This makes all the difference in the world. 
Pray with me:
Father, surely you, the Lord are in this place.  What an awesome place this is!  This is none other than the house of God.  This is the gate of heaven.  Because you have given us life abundant and eternal, we give our whole lives back to you today.  Use us as you will.  We belong to you alone.   In Jesus’ name we pray.  Amen. 
This year we focus our Every Day with Jesus readings on Jesus’ story. 
Let’s focus our undivided attention on Jesus and follow where he leads us. 
He will not fail.  Neither will we!
Joyfully, 
Duane 
About Duane Archives
Subscribe to our email list.