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Hear the narration of this devotional here: https://bit.ly/2WknILo
10 Jacob left Beer-sheba and went toward Haran. 11 He came to a certain place and stayed there for the night, because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones of the place, he put it under his head and lay down in that place. 12 And he dreamed that there was a ladder set up on the earth, the top of it reaching to heaven; and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. 13 And the Lord stood beside him and said, "I am the Lord, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie I will give to you and to your offspring; 14 and your offspring shall be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south; and all the families of the earth shall be blessed in you and in your offspring. 15 Know that I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you." 16 Then Jacob woke from his sleep and said, "Surely the Lord is in this place—and I did not know it!" 17 And he was afraid, and said, "How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven." 18 So Jacob rose early in the morning, and he took the stone that he had put under his head and set it up for a pillar and poured oil on the top of it. 19 He called that place Bethel; but the name of the city was Luz at the first. (Genesis 28:10-19a NRSV)
A wonderful Wednesday greeting to you, Friend! Praying this finds all is well with you and yours.
As a child, this story fascinated me a lot, as I am sure it did you as well. We have Jacob, a troubled soul, the youngest of the twins, on the run and he comes to this certain place where he chooses to camp for the night. We can assume many questions cloud his mind as to his purpose in God's plan at this point. He had a troubled childhood and youth with his parents having taken sides; Dad with big brother, Esau, and Mom with little brother, Jacob. Jacob has stolen the birthright and might have been questioning the why behind that move. Tired from the journey, he falls fast asleep and begins to dream of a ladder, actually more of a staircase, that reached from where he lay to the entrance of heaven; and on it were angels ascending and descending. God stands beside him and presents Himself to Jacob and then reaffirms the covenant He had made with Abraham, which is an important part of this dream, as is the declaration from God that He will be with Jacob wherever he goes. Then Jacob awakes and realizes that the place where he slept was holy. If you're keeping track, we've covered two hymns/songs so far. Jacob's Ladder, a longtime youth favorite of mine and perhaps yours? And "Surely the Lord is in this place." This makes Jacob fearful for he realizes that he is standing in a holy space, and as soon as he can, he dedicates that place as being "God's House" which in Hebrew is Bethel.
It is believed that what we dream reveals a bit about what we've done, who we are, what makes us nervous, a replay of joys and fears, and yes, sometimes God uses dreams to reveal comfort and purpose. The dream of this young man reveals a lot of that, but overall the comfort and purpose of God. It was important at that point of his life to hear God reaffirm what He had offered his grandfather, and to reassure Jacob of His presence with him until the fulfillment of the promises God made to grandpa. It is also important to note that God is everywhere and made more so to those people who stay connected with Him. People of prayer, Bible study, worship and small groups, Sunday school, et al, will have a keener sense of God and God's Holy Spirit at work in our lives and the place we find ourselves, and especially if we have had times of questioning and reflection. The connected one can say, Lord, with You by my side, I know this is the place where I need to be, and with You guiding me, I will know what it is you would have me do, and with Your help I will do it.
PRAYER: Heavenly Father, guide and bless us to faithfulness and fruitfulness; let us stay connected to You so that we may bless You and Your work. Bless those for whom we are praying; and may Thy will be done, In Christ Jesus we pray, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord! Bless those around you with grace!
Receive my blessings of love and peace,
Pastor Eradio Valverde
