Know I Am with You 10-3-06

Good morning, Lord Jesus. I welcome Your presence and remember Your promises, as I entrust my life into Your hands again this day. ... "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" (Genesis 28:15). When You spoke these words to Jacob, he was still a liar and a thief, running for his life away from the fury and hatred of his brother Esau. And he was running away from one of the most dysfunctional families of all history -- the family of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Yet even under what seemed to be a curse of calamity and confusion, he was also under the blessing of Your covenant and the comfort of Your presence. Even while he still held sin in his heart and before he worked out his understanding of Your true identity and nature, You spoke words of life and promise deeply into his spirit: "Know that I am with you." It would be a long, long time -- time that is still unfolding, in fact -- before the fullness of "the blessing of Abraham" for Jacob and his children would come to pass (Genesis 28:4). But You encouraged him to look to the covenant and not the circumstances, to the promises and not the problems. "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; 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" (v. 28:13-14). Certainly Jacob had done nothing to merit these great promises or this encounter with Your great presence. And certainly his present circumstances looked like the opposite of all You were promising. Yet there You were, standing beside him, speaking life to his spirit and calling forth his destiny. You were calling him to see with spiritual eyes and an eternal perspective, far bigger and far beyond himself. And his destiny would one day affect my destiny, among "all the families of the earth" -- Gentile and Jew, Black and White, Sunni and Shiite, Republican and Democrat, liar and thief -- all who would receive the blessings of God through repentance and faith in His Provision of grace. Through the blood of a Son of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob who would, one day, willing lay down His life for us through the sacrifice of the cross, despite our sinful ways and selfish hearts, "all the families of the earth shall be blessed." By the blood of the Lamb, You turn our curses into blessings. "Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us -- for it is written, 'Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree' -- in order that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith" (Galatians 3:13-14). Thank Your for the promise of Your Spirit through faith. Thank You for coming to us and standing by us -- especially when we don't deserve it -- to remind us of our calling and destiny in Your eternal purposes. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays Friends, Rob Poindexter will be leading us in worship for our evening healing service during our one day inner healing conference of teaching, worship, and healing ministry, in Lexington on Saturday, October 14th: "From Brokenness to Breakthrough -- healing from grief, sorrow, trauma, and pain in a broken world." We will hold this in The Foundry at my home church, Centenary UMC, 2800 Tates Creek Rd from 9 am to 9 pm (Morning and Afternoon teaching, worship, and ministry; Evening healing service). Please come if you can and please keep us in prayer. Pre-register by contacting Marilyn Walker, our Director of Ministries at 859-317-1591 or email at DirOfMinistries@aol.com Please forward this note and spread the word to your church and friends! To subscribe/unsubscribe or to order my teaching and prayer dvd's and cd's for spiritual transformation, write to me at Messiah Ministries MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Preparing the Way of the Lord." 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, Kentucky 40502: www.messiah-ministries.orgDaily archives of my devotional: www.morningbymorning.injesus.com