Monday, 17th July 2023
Alex Buabeng-Korsah
TOPIC: NO ONE IS BEYOND GOD’S REACH
THEME SCRIPTURE: “Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, ‘Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it’”.” – Genesis 28:16
PREPARATORY QUESTIONS:
- How did Jacob come to the conclusion that God is in the place he was?
Jacob had deceived his brother for his birthright. He went ahead to receive the father’s blessing with subtlety. This caused huge contention between Jacob and his brother Esau. His name, Jacob (meaning supplanter), was exactly what he was living up to (Gen 27:36). Yet he was the blessed one.
Different people have different ways of waking up to God, but few people needed to wake up to Him more than Jacob.
His propensities, which had been so clearly demonstrated in his taking his brother’s heel at birth (Gen 25:26), the birthright of Esau (Gen 25:30–32), and the blessing that goes with the birthright (Gen 27:41), were his nemesis. This has led to his being exiled from home (Gen 27:2-43). Jacob knew how to be smart and exploit every situation. But this also meant that he was not free from trouble. Without God, there would have been little hope for Jacob to live above his name.
Isn’t it amazing that God, in his infinite wisdom, chose Jacob (the supplanter) to play a significant role in His plan to bless the nations of the world?
“Why will God do that”, you may wonder. Simply put, His ways are not our ways, nor are His thoughts our thoughts. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are His ways higher than our ways and His thoughts higher than our thoughts (Isa 55:8–9). Has God not chosen the foolish things of this world to confound the wise and the weak things to confound the mighty. Has He not chosen the base things of this world, and things that are not, to bring to nought the things which are (1 Cor 1:27-28)? Jacob woke up, and he knew that he had had an encounter with God. So he took a stone that he had laid his head on, set it up as a pillar, and poured oil on top of it. He then called the name of that place Bethel (Gen 28:18–19).
These actions were designed to memorialise the place of his encounter.
Beloved, it does not matter who you are or how hopeless your life may be. It does not matter how deep you have sunk into iniquity or how drunk you are with sin. One encounter with God is enough to spark your awakening and transformation. Bethel means “the house of God,” and in so renaming the site, Jacob made a lasting statement regarding his meeting there with God.
Precious One, no one is beyond God’s reach.
God can meet you at the point of your need if only you will draw near to Him. He is a God of relationships. Such that He would want to deal with you personally. If you will invite Him into your life today, He will make you a new person; if you will rededicate your life to Him, He will restore you once again. The love of God is strong enough to cater for your past, establish you in the present, and guide you into the future God intended for you. Remain blessed.
FURTHER READING – Genesis 28
Call to Salvation: Today is your day if you have not received salvation by turning over your life to Jesus Christ. Click here to do so
QUESTIONS TO HELP YOU MEDITATE ON THE WORD:
- Have you had the opportunity to encounter the love of God in the person of Christ?
- Or, do you see yourself as veered off the path of righteousness and wants another chance?
PRAYER
Precious Lord, it is by your mercies that I am not consumed. Your compassion does not fail. I yield myself to you, Lord. Invade my life, have the preeminence in my life also, and guide me according to the skillfulness of your hands, in Jesus’ precious name. Amen
1-Year Bible Reading Plan
2 Samuel 1; Jeremiah 7; Matthew 18
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