God is faithful to His Word and His promises. In Genesis 12:1-3, God promised Abraham that He would multiply his descendants as the stars in the sky. He would be their God and give them a specific piece of land forever. From that promise came Isaac who was born to Abraham when he was 100 years old and his wife Sarah 90 years old. Isaac married Rebekkah and they had the twins Jacob and Esau. Although Esau was born first the birthright blessing went to Jacob.
Jacob obtained the birthright blessings through deceit but would experience being deceived by his uncle Laban. During his twenty years working for his uncle, he had been tricked into marrying Leah instead of her younger sister Rachel and had to work for 14 years to pay off his debt for Rachel. The next six years he would work to provide for his growing family and build his own wealth. God had promised Jacob that he would be blessed and while he was with Laban, Laban was blessed. Laban used Jacob and changed his wages ten times. Because God was with Jacob, Laban’s wealth increased, and naturally he didn’t want the blessings to leave.
Jacob wanted to go back to his home and take care of his own family. By this time he had many sons with Leah and one son, Joseph, with Rachel. He asked his uncle for his wages. Although Laban didn’t want him to leave with his family he agreed to give Jacob all the spotted, speckled and streaked livestock of sheep and goats. This was a good deal for Laban because he expected very few would go to Jacob. Jacob separated the livestock so they would not breed with Laban’s flock and produce spotted, streaked, or speckled offspring. Any newborns that were speckled, spotted, or streaked would go to Jacob.
Jacob continued to take care of the livestock and did something unusual. When the animals would go to the water troughs to drink, he put in some sticks of peeled poplar, chestnut, and almond branches so that the white parts would be exposed. When the animals came to drink they would also breed. Jacob used the sticks when the stronger flocks would drink and remove them when the weaker ones came to drink. When the animals gave birth they produced spotted, speckled, and streaked offspring. Remember, these animals were not spotted, speckled, and streaked to begin with, so it was God that blessed Jacob. The number of Jacob’s flocks increased greatly and Laban could not cheat him out of his wages. It was plain to see the difference in the flocks. When Laban’s sons began to complain that Jacob was becoming wealthy off of their father’s flocks and Jacob could see that Laban had a different look on his face, Jacob knew it was time to leave. God also told him it was time to take his family and leave. Without telling Laban, Jacob took his family, his livestock, and possessions and left without saying goodbye.
God was faithful to His promise and blessed Jacob financially. Jacob was exceedingly prosperous when he left with livestock, camels, donkeys, and servants. By this time Jacob had matured and was the leader of his family. It took him twenty years but God was with him.
You may be believing God for one or more of His promises to come to pass in your situation. Don’t give up if it seems to be taking a long time. Keep speaking His Word and allow the Holy Spirit to guide you.
(2 Tim. 2:13; Numbers 23:19)
Exciting News!
Applications are now open for our upcoming NonProfit, The Litwithprayer Foundation where we will be providing Christian Counseling from Licensed therapists for anyone struggling with mental health challenges. We launch on October 7 next month!
If you would like to apply or donate you can here: beacons.ai/litwithprayer
Personal Development Tip of the week:
How many of us can agree that the decisions we make every day shape much of our life? If we are to believe that’s true I want to share with you 3 decisions you make every day that you may or may not be aware of that can completely change your life.
Decision number 1: What am I going to focus on?
We decide each day what we are going to focus on which directly impacts how we feel. Are you going to focus on what you have or what’s missing in your life? Are you going to focus on what you can do about your situation or why it’s not fair? I can go on and on with this but as you can see whatever you decide you are going to focus on each day is going to directly impact how you feel. I think we can all agree that if we focus on what we have in our life vs. what’s missing it creates an entirely different experience in our lives.
Decision number 2: What does this mean?
The meaning you give to the experience you go through each day creates the emotions you feel. For example, Let’s say you didn’t get the job you were really hoping for. This can either mean for you, God has something better in my future and I’m going to keep applying knowing that a great job is right around the corner. Or this could mean to you that because you didn’t get this job you are never going to be able to get a job like this so you should settle for something less. What you decide about what your experiences mean to you can either be the beginning of something great or the end but it’s up to you.
Decision number 3: What am I going to do?
After you decide what something means this directly impacts the actions you take next and the actions you take determine your life. If this means it’s the beginning for you, you continue to pursue something great with the hope that God will provide for you. However, if you decide this is the end you might not do anything to continue to pursue what’s next in your life.
This is why it’s so important to consider these 3 decisions you make every day because they are going to shape the emotions you feel and the quality of life you experience.
Question for you? What decision that we discussed today do you need to work on improving for your own life?
Prayer for the week
Father, You said that You are love. Help me to be more like You and be a positive influence on others. Help me to show my love, not in words only, but with my deeds as well. Help me to have right motives when I deal with others so that Your love will show through me in Jesus name, Amen.
PS. If you would like to support us consider checking out www.litwithprayer.com and picking up our devotional prayer journal to our new pieces of Christian-based Jewelry.
Do you know Jesus?
If you have never asked Jesus to be the leader of your life and forgive you of all your sins, this is the right time to act. Pray this simple prayer and believe it in your heart: “Dear God, Your Word says that You loved me so much that You sent Your Son Jesus to die on the cross for me. I want to be saved and have all my sins forgiven, past, present, and future. Forgive me now as I receive Jesus as my personal Lord and Savior. You promised me salvation and an abundant life. I believe and receive Your free gift. Fill me with Your Holy Spirit and help me grow stronger in You each day, in Jesus name I pray, Amen.” (John 3:16)
The Lord is gracious and full of compassion, Slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness.
God is Faithful