Surely the Lord is in this Place part 4
Good Morning!
Amid the end of the year things to do at work for tax preparation and catching up from my two week absence, the Lord has permitted another challenge.
I received a phone call yesterday at work, and we are being audited by the IRS for 2011. They are requesting the tonnage of paperwork which I guess is customary for such things.
This is a ‘place of fear’ for me. Situations where I am questioned by authority figures are a trigger and a challenge.
However, I know the Lord has brought us through many challenges, including law suits and depositions. My visit with my family and brethren in CT has brought me direction and encouragement for this new year.
‘Back to Bethel’ reminds me of the MOTIVATION and INSPIRATION available when we remember past deliverance in the face of fear.
And I will pray for the Lord’s leading on how to rededicate myself to Him as I journey toward this experience:
“He instructed his family to dispose of any foreign gods, to purify themselves and to change their clothes.”
Please pray for me that the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart may be honoring to My Heavenly Father.
May we take every challenge as it is intended, as our ‘gate’ or access to heaven and our access to the presence and power of God!
Much Love in Christ,
Joy
#215 Surely the Lord is in this place Genesis 28.16 Part 4
Back to Bethel
Many events unfolded in Jacob’s life before he was told to return to Bethel. Jacob married Leah and Rachel. They had many children, and Jacob’s flocks increased. Jacob fled from Laban. He wrestled with the Angel and faced the long dreaded meeting with Esau. After the tragedy at Shecham, God sent Jacob back to Bethel. Genesis 35:1 “Then God said to Jacob, ‘Go up to Bethel and settle there, and build an altar there to God, who appeared to you when you were fleeing from your brother Esau.”
God’s instruction reminded Jacob of that night that he felt alone, and the dream that assured him of divine provision in his life. Jacob’s response was to initiate a spiritual cleansing of his family. He instructed his family to dispose of any foreign gods, to purify themselves and to change their clothes. At that point they were ready for the journey to Bethel. “Then come, let us go up to Bethel, where I will build an altar to God, who answered me in the day of my distress and who has been with me wherever I have gone.” Genesis 35:3
When we are reminded of the amazing assurances that the Lord gives to us, we are motivated to greater love and passion to be His entirely in every facet of life. The love of Christ constrains us to put away any limited perceptions of Who our God really is. We are empowered to put away the ineffective gods, the ‘power’ of our own agenda and the ‘power’ of our old thinking. We are constrained by love and awe to purify our thinking and to put on a change of clothes as we put on Christ. 2 Corinthians 5:14-19; 6:16-18 “Since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves form everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God.” 2 Corinthians 7:1
There he built an altar, and he called the place El Bethel, because it was there that God revealed Himself to him when he was fleeing from his brother. Genesis 35:7
Here is another name change, from Bethel to El Bethel, from the House of God to God of the House of God, or the God who manifested himself in the House of God. O Lord, when You send us back to a place of fear, may we revisit that place of our challenge with the memory of Your deliverance. Instead of fearing the place of fear that we revisit may we identify our place of challenge with the new name: You have revealed Your assurance and power to us in the past and You WILL reveal Yourself in every present moment.
Amid the end of the year things to do at work for tax preparation and catching up from my two week absence, the Lord has permitted another challenge.
I received a phone call yesterday at work, and we are being audited by the IRS for 2011. They are requesting the tonnage of paperwork which I guess is customary for such things.
This is a ‘place of fear’ for me. Situations where I am questioned by authority figures are a trigger and a challenge.
However, I know the Lord has brought us through many challenges, including law suits and depositions. My visit with my family and brethren in CT has brought me direction and encouragement for this new year.
‘Back to Bethel’ reminds me of the MOTIVATION and INSPIRATION available when we remember past deliverance in the face of fear.
And I will pray for the Lord’s leading on how to rededicate myself to Him as I journey toward this experience:
“He instructed his family to dispose of any foreign gods, to purify themselves and to change their clothes.”
Please pray for me that the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart may be honoring to My Heavenly Father.
May we take every challenge as it is intended, as our ‘gate’ or access to heaven and our access to the presence and power of God!
Much Love in Christ,
Joy
#215 Surely the Lord is in this place Genesis 28.16 Part 4
Back to Bethel
Many events unfolded in Jacob’s life before he was told to return to Bethel. Jacob married Leah and Rachel. They had many children, and Jacob’s flocks increased. Jacob fled from Laban. He wrestled with the Angel and faced the long dreaded meeting with Esau. After the tragedy at Shecham, God sent Jacob back to Bethel. Genesis 35:1 “Then God said to Jacob, ‘Go up to Bethel and settle there, and build an altar there to God, who appeared to you when you were fleeing from your brother Esau.”
God’s instruction reminded Jacob of that night that he felt alone, and the dream that assured him of divine provision in his life. Jacob’s response was to initiate a spiritual cleansing of his family. He instructed his family to dispose of any foreign gods, to purify themselves and to change their clothes. At that point they were ready for the journey to Bethel. “Then come, let us go up to Bethel, where I will build an altar to God, who answered me in the day of my distress and who has been with me wherever I have gone.” Genesis 35:3
When we are reminded of the amazing assurances that the Lord gives to us, we are motivated to greater love and passion to be His entirely in every facet of life. The love of Christ constrains us to put away any limited perceptions of Who our God really is. We are empowered to put away the ineffective gods, the ‘power’ of our own agenda and the ‘power’ of our old thinking. We are constrained by love and awe to purify our thinking and to put on a change of clothes as we put on Christ. 2 Corinthians 5:14-19; 6:16-18 “Since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves form everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God.” 2 Corinthians 7:1
There he built an altar, and he called the place El Bethel, because it was there that God revealed Himself to him when he was fleeing from his brother. Genesis 35:7
Here is another name change, from Bethel to El Bethel, from the House of God to God of the House of God, or the God who manifested himself in the House of God. O Lord, when You send us back to a place of fear, may we revisit that place of our challenge with the memory of Your deliverance. Instead of fearing the place of fear that we revisit may we identify our place of challenge with the new name: You have revealed Your assurance and power to us in the past and You WILL reveal Yourself in every present moment.
