Gen 28:1-5
28:1 So Isaac called for Jacob and blessed him and commanded him: "Do not marry a Canaanite woman. 2 Go at once to Paddan Aram, to the house of your mother’s father Bethuel. Take a wife for yourself there, from among the daughters of Laban, your mother’s brother. 3 May God Almighty bless you and make you fruitful and increase your numbers until you become a community of peoples. 4 May he give you and your descendants the blessing given to Abraham, so that you may take possession of the land where you now live as an alien, the land God gave to Abraham." 5 Then Isaac sent Jacob on his way, and he went to Paddan Aram, to Laban son of Bethuel the Aramean, the brother of Rebekah, who was the mother of Jacob and Esau.
Here we see a 2 part blessing passed on from Isaac to his son Jacob:
1. A prayer that he would be fruitful (many descendants).
2. A prayer that Abraham’s blessing of possessing the land would be realized by Jacob.
Gen 28:10-29:1
10 Jacob left Beersheba and set out for Haran. 11 When he reached a certain place, he stopped for the night because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones there, he put it under his head and lay down to sleep. 12 He had a dream in which he saw a stairway resting on the earth, with its top reaching to heaven, and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. 13 There above it stood the LORD, and he said: "I am the LORD, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your descendants the land on which you are lying. 14 Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south. All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring. 15 I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you."
Jacob, a young man, is off on an adventure – away from home, anxious, fearful, uncertain, lonely. Jacob reminds me of the thousands of young men I met in the military – away from home for the first time – anxious, fearful, uncertain, lonely. God is the last thing on the minds of these young men until they get into trouble.
That night Jacob was more than likely just looking for a safe place to spend the night. Little did he know that was about to have a divine encounter with God.
Like many of us, he was not conscious of God’s presence in his life. Oh, he knew about God, he had worshiped with his dad – he even went through the hassle of stealing the birthright and blessing from his brother Esau. But he, like many of us, went about his every day affairs largely unaware of the continuous presence of God in his life.
He lies down and has a dream in which God confirms his promise to him that he will indeed be fruitful and possess the land. But he adds something else, he says “I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go.”
Notice that in v. 15 God says “I am with you…” He doesn’t say “I was with you” or “I will be with you,” but “I am with you.” Yahweh is not the “I was” God or the “I will be” God, but he is the God of the here and now! Yahweh … the great “I am” is the God of this moment in your life!
Listen Church, God is with you – right now and always! You just don’t realize that you are daily walking in the presence of almighty God. You go through your day as if he didn’t exist, and you’re missing out on benefits of your Christian citizenship. Church, we need to start living as though we were in the presence of the king.
How would you prepare yourself for a visit to President Bush?
How much more should you prepare yourself to be in the presence of God?
Is God with us? Listen to the words of Jesus in John 14:15-21…15 "If you love me, you will obey what I command. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever- 17 the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. 18 I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. 19 Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. 20 On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. 21 Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him."
Let’s begin to practice living in the presence of God.
Notice also that in verse 15 that God not only says “I am with you,” but that “will watch over you wherever you go.”
What does it mean to be “watched over?”
During the Christmas season we read Luke 2:8
8 And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night.
Why do shepherds have to watch over the sheep?
Protection, feeding, watering. The basics – they ensure their survival. Shepherds actively look out for the welfare of their sheep – they would give their lives defending the flock.
Listen, you are far more important to God than a sheep, so know this, HE IS WATCHING OVER YOU!
God is actively watching over you. He does it through the Holy Spirit and His Angels.
Ps 32:8-9 says:
8 I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go;
I will counsel you and watch over you.
Ps 121:7-8 says:
7 The LORD will keep you from all harm -- he will watch over your life; 8 the LORD will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore.
God also promised Jacob that he would not leave him until all his promises were fulfilled.
Look, if you are a Christian, you are BLESSED and HIGHLY FAVORED OF THE LORD. Listen to what the Apostle Paul says in Rom 8:28-33: 28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. 29 For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30 And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified. 31 What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all-how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?
16 When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he thought, "Surely the LORD is in this place, and I was not aware of it." 17 He was afraid and said, "How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God; this is the gate of heaven."
How many times have we gone about our business in life completely unaware of God’s presence? Listen, God is with you WHEREVER you go. He isn’t in some places and not in others. In a since, you are “God Bearers.” The Holy Spirit of God accompanies you wherever you go. And, if you are smart, you would pray about where you go before you go there, that way you’ll be going with God instead of Him going with you. Did you catch that?
Don’t ask, “God what will I do today?” but ask “God what do you want me to do today?”
(Time allowing: Examples of when I was totally unaware of God’s presence.)
18 Early the next morning Jacob took the stone he had placed under his head and set it up as a pillar and poured oil on top of it. 19 He called that place Bethel, though the city used to be called Luz.
20 Then Jacob made a vow, saying, "If God will be with me and will watch over me on this journey I am taking and will give me food to eat and clothes to wear 21 so that I return safely to my father’s house, then the LORD will be my God 22 and this stone that I have set up as a pillar will be God’s house, and of all that you give me I will give you a tenth."
Basically Jacob said, “God, if you will keep your promises to me, then I will do 3 things:
1. I will serve you and you alone
2. I will establish a fixed place of worship
3. I will tithe (give 10% back to God)
What happened here? Did both parties keep their promises? Yes!
God did what he said he would do and so did Jacob. As a result, Jacob was blessed beyond his wildest imagination.
So, I ask you – Do you serve God alone? Do you have a fixed place of worship? Do you give back to God 10% of all he gives you? If you do, you are indeed blessed. If you don’t you are in debt.
Listen, Tithing (Giving back to God 10% of all he gives you) is a time honored Biblical principle of sewing and reaping. You’ve all heard the old saying, “You reap what you sew.” It’s true!
Listen, if your finances are all messed up, the very first thing you need to start doing is tithing even if you think you can’t afford it. The spiritual reality is that you can’t afford not to do it.
Here’s something else you need to know about tithing – you should also tithe a minimum of 10% of your time to God.
Every one of you should be giving at least 12 hours a week to God. How many hours did you give to God this week?
If your finances and your spiritual life are a mess, then start tithing your money and your time and watch what God will do.
Listen Church, God is for you 100%, but it is a two way street. You’ve got responsibilities in God’s Kingdom. Sure, salvation is free, but that doesn’t mean that you can be a spiritual freeloader. God’s Kingdom isn’t a spiritual welfare kingdom, He expects everyone to contribute their time and money to His work.
(Take offering). If you are trouble financially or spiritually here’s your opportunity to make it right with God. If you are willing to contribute into God’s Kingdom, he will contribute good things into you.
