Daily Devotional
There are accounts of personal encounters with God sprinkled throughout the Bible. This week we will spend time looking at some of those accounts and exploring how God spoke to ordinary people – like you and me.
At the top of the stairway stood the Lord, and he said, “I am the Lord, the God of your grandfather Abraham, and the God of your father, Isaac. The ground you are lying on belongs to you. I am giving it to you and your descendants. Your descendants will be as numerous as the dust of the earth! They will spread out in all directions—to the west and the east, to the north and the south. And all the families of the earth will be blessed through you and your descendants. What’s more, I am with you, and I will protect you wherever you go. One day I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have finished giving you everything I have promised you.”
Jacob was smart and sneaky. He used his wits to trick his brother Esau out of his birthright and his blessing. So, when we meet up with Jacob in today’s verses, he is running away from his brother in fear for his life. Jacob lays down for the night and in his sleep, meets God for the first time. God reminds Jacob where he comes from and the lineage of faith that has brought his family this far. And then details the plans he has for Jacob’s life. Magnificent plans! Plans beyond what Jacob can imagine filled with blessing after blessing – the fulfillment of God’s covenant with his forefathers through Jacob’s family line.
This was Jacob’s new beginning. He certainly wasn’t perfect but God did bless Jacob and his family as he listened to God. God had a plan for Jacob all along and although there was sin and deceit in Jacob’s past, it didn’t disqualify him from the future God had for him. When God spoke, Jacob listened and followed God’s leading.
Maybe today what you need to hear is that what is in the past…is in the past. God is speaking to you today. He has great plans for you. Will you choose to listen and begin a new journey with God leading the way?
