“Then Jacob was left alone; and a Man wrestled with him until the breaking of day. Now when He saw that He did not prevail against him, He touched the socket of his hip; and the socket of Jacobs hip was out of joint as He wrestled with him. And He said, ‘Let Me go, for the day breaks.’ But he said, ‘I will not let You go unless You bless me!’ So He said to him, ‘What is your name?’ He said, ‘Jacob.’ And He said, ‘Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel; for you have struggled with God and with men, and have prevailed.’” In this story is an excellent truth. Jacob was a self-sufficient, self-made man. He was a real go-getter that relied on his abilities. Yet, it is here, in this incident, that God brought him to the place of relying on Him. Jacob needed a blessing from God. The Lord knew it. Yet, instead of trusting that the Lord would accomplish what He had already promised Jacob he decided to wrestle God for it. What the Lord desired of Jacob in this incident was simply to give up. To give up his self effort and to believe. Yet, the Lord had to bring Jacob to this point by crippling him. The Lord always is faithful, but sometimes he has to chasten us to bring us to that place of blessing. At this point God gave Jacob a new name. He went from being “the heel-catcher” to being “governed by God”, for that is what the name Israel means. He went from wrestling through self-effort to being led by God. We also to be blessed and effective must be led by God; led by the Holy Spirit. “When He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth...and He will tell you things to come.” “The Father will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever— the Spirit of truth.” “And where I go you know, and the way you know.” “Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another.” Praise the Lord!
Posted on: Tue, 21 Jan 2014 19:33:03 +0000
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