Genesis: Wrestling With God And Ourselves

KJB Daily Devotion – Following Jesus Through Every Chapter
Date: Monday, January 11, 2016
Chapters: Genesis 31-33
Message: Genesis: Wrestling With God And Ourselves

Hello My Friend,

We have all done things in the past that we wish we could take back, but dwelling on them and haunting ourselves over them will not change the situation. We cannot do anything about our past, but we can do something about today, and until we hand it all over to God we will never have peace with ourselves. “Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.” - Galatians 5:1.

Jacob upon hearing that Laban's sons found out his scheme in creating well bred cattle for him, decided it was time to leave, God spoke to him and told him to head back to Canaan. He gathered his wives, children, cattle, and possessions and snuck out before anyone could find out they were gone. Three days later, Laban went after them. It was in Gilead that Jacob met with him and they settled their dispute.

“Except the God of my father, the God of Abraham, and the fear of Isaac, had been with me, surely thou hadst sent me away now empty. God hath seen mine affliction and the labour of my hands, and rebuked thee yesternight. And Laban answered and said unto Jacob, These daughters are my daughters, and these children are my children, and these cattle are my cattle, and all that thou seest is mine: and what can I do this day unto these my daughters, or unto their children which they have born? Now therefore come thou, let us make a covenant, I and thou; and let it be for a witness between me and thee. If thou shalt afflict my daughters, or if thou shalt take other wives beside my daughters, no man is with us; see, God is witness betwixt me and thee. The God of Abraham, and the God of Nahor, the God of their father, judge betwixt us. And Jacob sware by the fear of his father Isaac. Then Jacob offered sacrifice upon the mount, and called his brethren to eat bread: and they did eat bread, and tarried all night in the mount.” - Genesis 31:42-44,50,53,54.

“God is witness betwixt me and thee.” The second we believed in and accepted Jesus Christ as our Saviour we make a covenant with Jesus, one that only God is a witness to. We might say a prayer in front of people if we were led to the Lord, but only God knows if we truly believed in and received His Son as the only one who can save us from the fiery pits of hell. Once saved, always saved, we are forgiven of all our sins, past, present, and future, this is God's promise, we do not have to do anything to keep our salvation, but we must admit we have sinned and confess we are in order to be saved. “For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth. That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” - Romans 10:4,9,10.

Bondage, Slavery or involuntary servitude. We may not realize it, but we hold ourselves bondage when we are hung up in the past of our sins, most of all, if we do not confess them to God. We might be saved and our sins forgiven, but if we do not come to God and repent, put them away forever, we are not going to be at peace, and to be honest, we make some unwise decisions when fear they will come back to haunt us. As Jacob headed back to Canaan he had a lot to think about, it had been over twenty years since he seen his brother. He sent messengers to Esau to let him know that he was coming only to find out that Esau was coming to meet him, with four hundred men. Fearing for his life, Jacob did the one and only thing he had not done, pray to God. Jacob was all alone when he began to pray, it was then that he wrestles with man.

“And Jacob said, O God of my father Abraham, and God of my father Isaac, the LORD which saidst unto me, Return unto thy country, and to thy kindred, and I will deal well with thee: I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies, and of all the truth, which thou hast shewed unto thy servant; for with my staff I passed over this Jordan; and now I am become two bands. Deliver me, I pray thee, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau: for I fear him, lest he will come and smite me, and the mother with the children. And Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day. And when he saw that he prevailed not against him, he touched the hollow of his thigh; and the hollow of Jacob's thigh was out of joint, as he wrestled with him. And he said, Let me go, for the day breaketh. And he said, I will not let thee go, except thou bless me. And he said unto him, What is thy name? And he said, Jacob. And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed.” - Genesis 32:9-11,24-28.

“I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies,” We must come to the knowledge that we are a sinner and humble ourselves before God if we want to be set free from our past sins. Do you think that God does not know what we have done or that we have a past? Of course, He does, He just wants us to admit we have sinned and need Him, and until we do we will wrestle with Him. The punishment from sin is far less severe when we confess it than when we are confronted by someone who caught us. “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.” - 1 John 1:8-10.

When we trust Christ to save us from our sins, but repeatedly remind Him of what we have done, even after we confessed them, we wrestle with ourselves, God has already forgiven us, but we must forgive ourselves also. Still a little fearful, Jacob divided his wives, children, and flocks into two groups, reasoning that if Esau should destroy one group the remaining would escape in the opposite direction. Now, the time had come for Jacob to meet Esau face to face, and what he got was the surprise of his life.

“And Esau ran to meet him, and embraced him, and fell on his neck, and kissed him: and they wept. And he lifted up his eyes, and saw the women and the children; and said, Who are those with thee? And he said, The children which God hath graciously given thy servant. Then the handmaidens came near, they and their children, and they bowed themselves. And Leah also with her children came near, and bowed themselves: and after came Joseph near and Rachel, and they bowed themselves. And he said, What meanest thou by all this drove which I met? And he said, These are to find grace in the sight of my lord. And Esau said, Let me now leave with thee some of the folk that are with me. And he said, What needeth it? let me find grace in the sight of my lord.” - Genesis 33:4-8,15.

“These are to find grace in the sight of my lord.” Jacob and Esau found peace and forgiveness with each other, Jacob no longer had to wrestle with his conscience, he was at peace with himself, Esau, and with God. Either we lean on God or we try to do things on our own, but until we get to the point where we realize only God can help us, we are going to be a constant battle within ourselves. God must bring us to the end of our own strength before He gives us His strength to handle our greatest fear, our past. “Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded. Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.” - James 4:8-10.

Today's Prayer: God, It is amazing to think that even when we mess up You are there to help us get out of our troubles. While we wrestle with our conscience and guilt of the past, give us direction, guidance, and help us to move forward, by confessing our sins to You, and standing on Your promises. Give us peace from all our distress and help us come to the end of ourselves so that You can do Your work to fulfill Your promises. In Jesus' name. Amen.

God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina

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