The God of Jacob, and Us
12/20/2020
Do not put your trust in princes,
in human beings, who cannot save.
4 When their spirit departs, they return to the ground;
on that very day their plans come to nothing.
5 Blessed are those whose help is the God of Jacob,
whose hope is in the Lord their God.
6 He is the Maker of heaven and earth,
the sea, and everything in them—
he remains faithful forever.
7 He upholds the cause of the oppressed
and gives food to the hungry.
The Lord sets prisoners free,
8 the Lord gives sight to the blind,
the Lord lifts up those who are bowed down,
the Lord loves the righteous.
9 The Lord watches over the foreigner
and sustains the fatherless and the widow,
but he frustrates the ways of the wicked.
10 The Lord reigns forever,
your God, O Zion, for all generations.
Psalm 146:3-10
So if THIS is how GOD defines his relationship to man, “the God of Jacob,” one has to ask some honest questions:
1. What was a “day in the life of Jacob” like? Is that good enough for you? Is that what you expect out of life, too?
2. How many miracles did Jacob see in his lifetime? Do the math. That would be “one miracle for every X days or X years.” Is that a good number for you, son and daughter of Jacob? :)
3. Oh! But wait! What does God go on to say?
Are you “in” with that way of looking at a Christian’s daily life?
This is HOW all men will know.
I’m looking forward to more Miracles also, but you understand the point, probably?
A Day in the Life of Jacob, our grandpa and namesake, Israel.
I don’t need any miracles, but I hope to always have His Involvement, with deep relationship.
It’s not about us (if He wants it to be for certain seasons, that’s His business). We don’t have ground to logically “expect” anything (as pots to a Potter). Every move He makes in this realm IS a “miracle.” We’ve got our unending debt of love, which He graciously lets us pay Him by paying it to others. I am here to make Him smile and be ready for His bidding. And when He graciously lends His ear to our voices, because HE is awesome through and through, then whew!!
This audio, titled Love Is Everything, helped me press into some of the recent thoughts and this morning’s note.
Jacob had His full involvement, but I can remember only three times when God lifted the curtain and gave Jacob a glimpse: the dream in Bethel, the dream about Laban’s flocks, and the broken hip. But there was a lifetime of Hebrews 12:3-13 “enduring hardship as discipline” and “submitting to the Father of his spirit and living” and reaping “the peaceful fruit of righteousness.” Jacob was a VERY different man at the end of his life than he was at the beginning, which must have been the miracle God was after.
And the next day…
I was looking forward to this morning, to follow up on yesterday morning. :) Having seen the “quality of Life” Abba lives, and we as Israel, Jacob’s offspring live for (below), then out of RELATIONSHIP we can enter back in to the topic of how Jesus intermingles PRIORITIES (in the Scripture below) with His miracles. I hope that makes sense.
Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob,
whose hope is in the LORD his God,
who made heaven and earth,
the sea, and all that is in them,
who keeps faith forever;
who executes justice for the oppressed,
who gives food to the hungry.
The LORD sets the prisoners free;
the LORD opens the eyes of the blind.
The LORD lifts up those who are bowed down;
the LORD loves the righteous.
The LORD watches over the sojourners;
he upholds the widow and the fatherless,
but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin.
The LORD will reign forever,
your God, O Zion, to all generations.
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