Genesis 35:1-29

These past few weeks have been a blur. I want to thank you all for your prayers and support for the McPherson family. This past week and a half has been so hard for them, but the amazing amount of love and support you all show is more and more proof that the church is doing it’s job serving those who need fellowship and support.

I am so blessed to be your pastor, and to see the church mobilize to support and heal is, I’m sure, exactly what Jesus would teach and lead us to do.

A few weeks ago, we were in Genesis 34 and it was heavy, we talked at length about the fact that we need to take care of our kids and lead them. We need to know their friends, those who are around them. Not to pry into their lives, but so we can help them navigate a world that is becoming more and more evil.

It’s important we make our children hardened targets for the enemy, who’s whispering sweet emptiness into their ears as they get older. We need to teach them the voices to listen to and have good reasons why we give the instructions we give them. That training doesn’t get forgotten. Be the mom’s and dads the Lord needs you to be. Have hard talks, open your story up to them, they need to know you struggled too and you can help them.

As much as we want our kids to think we’re superman and wonder woman, they should understand that most superheros aren’t born, they’re made. Something happened to them that changed their lives forever and helped them step into the roles they play in our comics. Just like each of us, we have the opportunities to take those events and let them drive us toward good, or evil. It’s a choice we make, and it has to do with our focus. Inward or outward. Do we choose to serve ourselves? Or do we choose to serve others.

In that chapter, we read of Dinah, the only daughter we know about of Jacob, and the fact that, as a young girl, not a teen, but a girl maximum age of 12 years old was playing with some older girls in her neighborhood and a predator named Shechem kidnapped her and did unspeakable things to her. Then tries to smooth talk her and make her feel ok about what happened.

Then he goes and tells his dad and says “make this legal, get her for me a a wife.” So they go together to speak with Jacob about it, and Jacob freezes when he’s told, so his boys show up and they get really angry listening to what has happened.

Hamor, who’s name means male donkey, who is Shechem’s father tries to make his case that the families should live in peace, but then Beavis opens his mouth and says “Name your price and I’ll pay it. I have to have her.” This is reminiscent of the fact that the devil wants to corrupt everything precious and pure in our lives, and he’s willing to pay whatever it takes to get it from us.

Simeon and Levi, the second and 3rd oldest boys of Jacob’s, come up with a plan quick and respond: “If all of your men get circumcised like we are, then we’ll consider it.” They gambled knowing that if they are going to get revenge they’d need a diminished fighting force, especially considering they were in their late teens. A very bold move for these boys.

So, now what Shechem has his price, he must now sell that to the men of the town, so they go home and he makes his pitch. The Bible then states that Shechem was the most honorable man in all of his family, so the people would listen to him, and after a short pitch meeting, then a clarification as to WHY they ALL needed to get circumcised, every man foolishly went thru with the deed.

When they were in pain and healing, the boys launched Operation Dina Out. The 2 boys entered the city and killed all of the men, and the other boys came in and took all of the women and children and plunder back with them to show Jacob.

Jacob then gets really angry, not because his boys rescued Dinah, and probably all of these other women and children that were being enslaved by this culture of people, but because they embarrassed him and made him the stink of the country because they would know about this event.

Now, I find it a bit insulting that Jacob was more embarrassed that his sons went and took revenge, rather than his inaction to try to even find out how his daughter was doing and defend her honor. I would look at a dad like that and say, at least someone did something.

The bottom line was, this was all wrong. Jacob’s inaction lead to his son’s taking matters into their own hands. They then used something that is supposed to be a sign from God of someone’s allegiance to Him to take advantage of a people for revenge. Let’s learn something here: protect as we can, we can’t do it all of the time, but do as much as we can to prepare our kids for what’s ahead. We don’t know what tomorrow holds, so hold onto them tight with your arms, and your hearts.

These past few chapters we’ve seen the breaking of a man, now we’ll see the beginning steps of the making of a man of God.

Genesis 35:1 NKJV

1 Then God said to Jacob, “Arise, go up to Bethel and dwell there; and make an altar there to God, who appeared to you when you fled from the face of Esau your brother.”

Again, this “Then God” doesn’t specify the time frame it took for the Lord to speak with Jacob about this. What’s important to know, though, is the Lord spoke. So many times in our lives, we miss when the Lord speaks to us. There is so much noise in our lives, sometimes that noise comes from the people around us too. We need to spend time getting to know the Lord and His voice. There is only peace in doing what He is calling us to do. It was 4 chapters ago, many years have gone by since this command was first given:

Genesis 31:13 NKJV

13 I am the God of Bethel, where you anointed the pillar and where you made a vow to Me. Now arise, get out of this land, and return to the land of your family.’ ”

God reminds Jacob here, that his instruction was to return to Bethel, not stop short. He made it just inside family territory, just across the finish line and stopped. Could you imagine if you were watching a marathon and every person just stopped just past the finish line? What a mess, right?

How many of us do that when we come to Christ? We are right to take comfort in having our names written in the Lamb’s book of Life, but that’s not when our life ends, it’s when real living begins. Go all the way,

Is there special significance for this place called Succoth, otherwise knows as Shechem? There is!

We can draw parallels to the story from last week with the abuse of Dinah to the woman at the well. Jacob’s well is in Shechem, and that is where Jesus meets her:

John 4:5–6 NKJV

5 So He (Jesus) came to a city of Samaria which is called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. 6 Now Jacob’s well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied from His journey, sat thus by the well. It was about the sixth hour.

At this well, he is left by his disciples as they go into town and a woman comes to the well to draw water. He asks her for a drink and as they talk, he asks her to bring her husband out, and she says she has none. Jesus says that’s right, you’ve had 5, and the one she’s with is not her husband either.

This woman was broken in societies eyes. Worthless. The same way that Dinah was said thought to be. This town was named Sychar in the New Testament, but was originally Succoth or Shechem.

Nobody is too far away from the Lord that He can’t reach. If you don’t think He sees you, you’re wrong. When you feel farthest away, He’s still right there with you. He gives us strength to continue on, a hope for the future. Just like when we’re teaching our kids to ride their bikes, they see they can do it, and find we’re not helping and the fear sets back in. You see their progress and you think...just keep going, I know you can do it. He’s teaching us, like we taught them...you can do all things thru Me. And like that, there comes a day when we’re sent out without our mentors, what do we take with us when we go? That memory.

This isn’t where God wanted Jacob to be though, he said return to Bethel. When God gives you a command, follow thru with the instructions. If you do, things can’t go wrong. Every time we take matters into our own hands and try to do our own spin on what we think God meant by his instructions, we fail and someone gets hurt. Usually it’s us who gets hurt too, isn’t it?

Genesis 35:2–4 NKJV

2 And Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him, “Put away the foreign gods that are among you, purify yourselves, and change your garments. 3 Then let us arise and go up to Bethel; and I will make an altar there to God, who answered me in the day of my distress and has been with me in the way which I have gone.” 4 So they gave Jacob all the foreign gods which were in their hands, and the earrings which were in their ears; and Jacob hid them under the terebinth tree which was by Shechem.

This is a Sunday morning for us, right? This is your Sunday morning today. Turn that game off, you can check the score of the game after church. But it’s the playoff’s! I know, it’s not that important...Change your clothes, you need to look nice when you go up to the House of the Lord (Which is what Bethel means), and we’re going to do our worship and rejoice because we’ve been delivered from all the hard stuff this week.

Isn’t this our Sunday mornings? We spend all week in the world, and go and do the one thing that we think makes us holy and should give us strength to walk thru the next week. We lose what God is saying to Jacob, though. It’s not get dressed and ready, it was much deeper than that.

Remember, he’s over 100 years old now, he’s lived a life that is shameful, isn’t it? Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, I’d have a hard time putting them on my top 100 list of men to be like, if you factor in the disappointing things they’ve done in their lives. I respect these men, not because of who they are, but because of what they became when they surrendered.

As we’ve talked about though, the Bible doesn’t condone sinful behavior, but it does expose it so we can make connections with our lives and see that there’s hope. In a lot of the stories that are told, also, we either find great consequence for continuing in that sin, or redemption from turning from it. Important lessons for us to learn, right? So, let’s look at this portion of scripture here:

Jacob knows that there are false gods among his people. He has a wife who stole the gods of his father-in-law Laban. At the time, he didn’t know about it, but I’m sure by now he found out and, being the do-nothing dad and husband he’s been thru out the past few chapters, I’m sure he didn’t stand up for what the Lord asked him to do. It had been a few years too since he wrestled with the Lord and had his name changed too.

It’s always interesting to me how long the Lord will make us wait to take next steps in our walk. We have a lot of growing up to do, and a lot of learning to do from our mistakes too. Like any good silversmith, he will hold you in the fire, being right there watching closely, boiling out those impurities and discarding them…waiting for you to be made useful to Him.

Jacob has learned his most egregious lessons. This time, though, he’s not just making a temporary change. He’s saying “It’s time to clean this house out. Enough is enough, everything that distracts us from the Lord must go. Starting fresh and new, they would be journeying to the place the Lord has called them to.”

Abraham, Isaac, and now Jacob recognize, any relationship with the Lord must start with sacrifice and worship. That’s what the altars they made for. That’s why it’s so important, when you move into a new location to seek a house of worship first that will feed you properly.

Jacob wants to not just turn over a new leaf, but he wants to start righteously. Even going to the point that he takes the earrings in their ears, things that were not only things that would prove to someone you had wealth. In that time too, jewelry held pagan significance too in idol worship. Jacob wanted to humble his people completely and start over…and that started with separating them all from sin and doing what with it? With those idols? He buried them.

When we make a decision to allow Jesus to enter our lives and clean out our hearts, the first thing we must do is make room. A lot of times we get so caught up in the fact that He will be so disappointed in us when he sees who we’ve become and how far we are from him that we have no worth anymore.

There is a reason why history is split in BC and AD. It’s split by one moment in history. Not a date, because it got calculated wrong…but a moment, an event. The birth of a child, of THE Child. That Child would grow to be a man and take our sin and shame to the grave with him and be buried with him.

Romans 6:4–6 NKJV

4 Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. 5 For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, 6 knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin.

There is a BC and AD point in our lives. This is it for Jacob. The Lord wrestled with him, telling him he had to give up the things of this world to hang onto him…and after that, he said “learn to walk.” He didn’t tell Jacob “I’ll make you follow me, do this, this, and this.” He simply told him to surrender, then gave him a reminder of a limp for the rest of his life. Oh how often do we despise or even forget about the limp…until the devil turns up the heat and thinks he’s won. When we’re scared, hurting, alone, we call…but we don’t when the good times roll, when our plans are working. Wisdom comes from experience, integrity comes thru choices.

When we put off the old garments and put on the new PERMANENTLY, that’s when the Spirit starts to work in us. Not when we dabble in our sin, when we keep it at arms length. What does Jacob do with the distractions? He takes the computers and the PS5 and the TV and the jewelry and burys them under trees that grow or centuries…not to remind you to come back and get them, but to say “This is where it all began.” My life made new. What will it take to have that BC/AD moment?

You know when you get to that point, when your sin grieves you. When you go back to the trough and start to tremble. It happens, we are all sinners, but what do you do when you fall? We must make better choices to change.

When Jesus starts to settle in your heart, you are now on Holy Ground. Treat it as such. Take those things that are the vehicles that drive you to your sin and bury them. Dig deep, AND I KNOW, digging is hard. You get to about 6 inches and want to stop. I know I always think I’ve got better things to do, but if you dig the hole right, it serves it’s purpose.

Dig deep and get rid of it all and see what the Lord does with you then. Something else that I find interesting, this terebinth tree was probably close to where Jesus met with the woman at the well, probably within eye-shot. Jesus would have known, this is where Jacob finally started following me. He knows those landmarks for you too.

What does the Lord do for Jacob making this choice? Remember, at the end of the last chapter that his sons had made him a stink in the land and everyone would be against them. Fear crept up, but we talked about the fact that, Jacob woe’d that he could not defend his family in this land, someone else would have to do it.

Genesis 35:5–7 NKJV

5 And they journeyed, and the terror of God was upon the cities that were all around them, and they did not pursue the sons of Jacob. 6 So Jacob came to Luz (that is, Bethel), which is in the land of Canaan, he and all the people who were with him. 7 And he built an altar there and called the place El Bethel, because there God appeared to him when he fled from the face of his brother.

The Lord protected them. How many times in your life have you seen the Hand of the Lord work in your favor? We call it today “luck.” You ask my kids, they’ll be the first to tell you there’s no such thing as luck.

If you haven’t seen Him move to provide for you, I would encourage you to think about what you’ve done for Him lately? I don’t mean “Hey, I went to church, and God didn’t show up and pay this bill for me!” I mean what change have you made that you’re going to stick to, given to Him, maybe fasted for Him. It may take time to see those changes, but I’ll tell you, the times I was away from the Lord, when I look back on those times, and the events afterward, I see now his plan to allow me to get back on track.

Just you being alive right now, it’s a miracle of the Lord. Recognize just that. We can’t sit around and wait on him though. Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Noah…they were all busy while they were waiting. Preparing for a harvest, for the Lord to show up. If you believe He will you will be moving closer toward Him in preparation.

We talked about Luz before, this is where Jacob slept and was given the vision by the Lord of the ladder to heaven, where the angels were ascending and descending from the earth. He had the chance to see the spirit realm, foreshadowing that there would again be a bridge between heaven and earth and that bridge would have a name.

The name Luz means almond tree, it’s a symbol of new birth because the almond tree is the first to bud in the spring of all trees in that time. Jacob had now come full-circle, literally, from the seed planted, now many years later it was sprouting in him. He renamed the place “God, The House of God.” Further emphiasizing that Jacob wanted more than anything to show respect to the Lord and start following after him.

This is where this story begins to get sad, as we will find, as our walks progress, the enemy will bring death and destruction around us as a distraction. Death is a natural part of life, and it does effect us, it should effect us, but we need to be wise and remember that healing from those hurts takes time, and a lot of the time it takes good friends too. At those low points, the Lord will comfort you in amazing ways.

In those times, too, you will witness great feats of compassion, wisdom, and leadership. I have witnessed so much of that in this last week. I am so proud to have seen these acts.

Genesis 35:8 NKJV

8 Now Deborah, Rebekah’s nurse, died, and she was buried below Bethel under the terebinth tree. So the name of it was called Allon Bachuth.

Deborah was Rebekah’s nurse, Rebekah was Jacob and Esau’s mother. Between now and Genesis 49 we don’t hear anything more of Rebekah. This means that Jacob never saw his mother again after he was sent away those 20 years ago. Jacob now hears of the last reminder of his mother, the last of the ladies of his family left has now passed, and in that sorrow, this time the Lord doesn’t speak to him, but appears to him.

Genesis 35:9–12 NKJV

9 Then God appeared to Jacob again, when he came from Padan Aram, and blessed him. 10 And God said to him, “Your name is Jacob; your name shall not be called Jacob anymore, but Israel shall be your name.” So He called his name Israel. 11 Also God said to him: “I am God Almighty. Be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company of nations shall proceed from you, and kings shall come from your body. 12 The land which I gave Abraham and Isaac I give to you; and to your descendants after you I give this land.”

The first time he was called Israel was in Gen 32 when he wrestled with The Man, with The Angel of the Lord. Now, the God who spoke to him from the top of the ladder those years ago confirmed, now you will be called Israel, which means “God Prevails” or “Governed by God.” He’s reminding Jacob, you’re Israel now, walk worthy of the name.

How I wish that the Lord would do this for people today. Show himself and give instruction. We have so much trouble trusting our other senses, sight is so convincing for us.

Then the Lord comforts him, but not by wrapping his arms around him, but by reminding him that now it’s time to lead. The birthright passed to him for a reason. The birthright was different than the blessing. The blessing gives instruction to the recipient.

The birthright of the firstborn meant YOU ARE NOW THE SPIRITUAL LEADER of this household when your father is not around anymore. You get a double inheritance, so you’re doubly responsible. The Lord is telling him: Root yourself where I have planted you and LEAD YOUR PEOPLE, BECAUSE THEY ARE MY PEOPLE.

Genesis 35:13–15 NKJV

13 Then God went up from him in the place where He talked with him. 14 So Jacob set up a pillar in the place where He talked with him, a pillar of stone; and he poured a drink offering on it, and he poured oil on it. 15 And Jacob called the name of the place where God spoke with him, Bethel.

Jacob then shows his respect for the Lord and anoints the pillar as a reminder that this place is Holy. This is the first time in the Bible where there is a drink offering. This is where a wine or oil would be poured over a hot altar and would instantly give off steam and the steam would rise up to the Lord and He would approve of it. The last time we hear about it isn’t a physical pouring out, but it’s in Philippians when Paul talks about his soul being poured out as a representation of a work of the Spirit.

I wish we had more dialogue captured of what was said to people when the Lord talked to them. I always think there must have been more…but I understand too, that giving someone direction and seeing what they do with it allows you to measure that person and give direction. We are given a free will for a reason.

I asked my kids to do a couple of repairs around the house in recent weeks. They weren’t done to my liking…but they WERE done effectively. They give me a chance to then impart what I think and allow them to exercise their brains for the next task. I’m proud of the work they did, because they accomplished the task, even though it wasn’t the way I would have done it, they got it done!

He wants that satisfaction in us too…get the job that He’s trusted us with done. THEN, refine it. Don’t get paralyzed in the details, move. Get a little dirty, and see what happens next for you.

This was a return back to square one for Jacob. For whatever reason, though, he couldn’t stay in Bethel, which leads to another direct connection between Jacob and his story to Jesus.

Genesis 35:16–20 NKJV

16 Then they journeyed from Bethel. And when there was but a little distance to go to Ephrath, Rachel labored in childbirth, and she had hard labor. 17 Now it came to pass, when she was in hard labor, that the midwife said to her, “Do not fear; you will have this son also.” 18 And so it was, as her soul was departing (for she died), that she called his name Ben-Oni; but his father called him Benjamin. 19 So Rachel died and was buried on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem). 20 And Jacob set a pillar on her grave, which is the pillar of Rachel’s grave to this day.

Of the two wives, Jacob married Leah first, but she was unloved, and then worked another 7 years for Rachel, all the while there was a competition between the sisters for the affections of their husband. Leah was seen as unloved, so the Lord opened her womb first. All she wanted was to be loved by Jacob, not for what she produced for him as a family, but just the love a husband should have for a wife.

Rachel, on the other hand was the chosen wife, and being the pretty one, and the one who was most desired in every way, she wanted more than anything regain her spotlight. The love of Jacob didn’t mean as much to her, as did the fact that she was greater than her sister in every way.

There came a time when she cried out to her husband Jacob and she told him: “Give me children or else I will die!” She did not cry out to the Lord for this, she cried out in her bruised pride to her husband. The Lord had remembered her to bring Joseph, who’s story we’ll be getting to soon, but also Ben-Oni or Benjamin. The Lord gave her the wish of her heart, but that would sadly be her end.

Jacob had lost the last woman close to his mother, now his favorite wife, and they buried her in Bethlehem. Does anyone know what the names Ben-Oni and Benjamin mean? Ben-Oni is “son of my sorrow.” Benjamin is “son of my right hand.”

The Lord is such a good storyteller, that everything written in it has meaning, everything has a depth that, if you search for it, you’ll find it and it’s powerful. A baby would be born in Bethlehem we’ve talked about today, his name was Jesus.

Isaiah 53:3 NKJV

3 He is despised and rejected by men, A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.

Mark 16:19 NKJV

19 So then, after the Lord had spoken to them, He was received up into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God.

The birth of this child, the 12th of the tribes, would be a reminder, thru this sorrow, thru this pain, remember, the Lord is bringing a savior. These dark times in our lives are meant to point us to Him. To make us look up and call upon His name. It’s not just the Bible that points to Jesus, everything today that points to this book being true, should lead us to the fact that God knew all of this in advance, and wants us to open our eyes to it.

Genesis 35:21–26 NKJV

21 Then Israel journeyed and pitched his tent beyond the tower of Eder. 22 And it happened, when Israel dwelt in that land, that Reuben went and lay with Bilhah his father’s concubine; and Israel heard about it. Now the sons of Jacob were twelve: 23 the sons of Leah were Reuben, Jacob’s firstborn, and Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun; 24 the sons of Rachel were Joseph and Benjamin; 25 the sons of Bilhah, Rachel’s maidservant, were Dan and Naphtali; 26 and the sons of Zilpah, Leah’s maidservant, were Gad and Asher. These were the sons of Jacob who were born to him in Padan Aram.

Last chapter, it was Simeon and Levi who went and avenged their sister’s death. Reuben was off making a sandwich or something and couldn’t help I guess. It doesn’t say he was involved at all with the attack on Shechem, or the plundering because the Word says the younger siblings came and plundered the town.

Some scholars see this as a strategic move instead of sin, and because there’s no definitive answer on this I’ll express both. The reason they say this is strategic is because Bilhah was Rachel’s maidservant. In that culture and time, what that says is that she would rise to the level of being the replacement wife for Jacob. Jacob would not have wanted that, so I think you can see where that comes from.

I look at this as the fact that maybe Reuben wasn’t a man of honor either. He is not blessed by his father in Genesis 49, as won’t his brothers Simeon and Levi. The 3 oldest brothers were disgraceful in Jacob’s eyes, and we’ll see more of that in the upcoming chapters.

I encourage my oldest son all the time, lead with righteousness. Don’t let your flesh take you over. It’s right there. We’ve had some hard talks about serious things. He’s 14 and needs to know this stuff. I wish I had started talking with him sooner about some of this stuff...and I pray he learns from my mistakes. Mom’s, Dad’s, ask the right questions, that’s how you lead.

These boys were not lead by a father who was around, and the nation of Israel would pay for that. Let’s finish the chapter here and we’ll close.

Genesis 35:27–29 NKJV

27 Then Jacob came to his father Isaac at Mamre, or Kirjath Arba (that is, Hebron), where Abraham and Isaac had dwelt. 28 Now the days of Isaac were one hundred and eighty years. 29 So Isaac breathed his last and died, and was gathered to his people, being old and full of days. And his sons Esau and Jacob buried him.

Jacob and Esau are about 120 years old at the time of Isaac’s death. Thus endeth the lesson for today.

Death brings families together, even those who are divided. We’re seeing that happen in real time with our church body these past 2 months.

Between Chapter 33 and 35 is another span of 20 years. God is so patient in teaching us things, and especially in our society today, to know that we want everything now or it’s too late...that really doesn’t give us any satisfaction. It only delivers irritation. It makes us feel alone, forgotten, and distant.

The making of a man or woman of God does not come easy or quickly. For Jacob to truly settle in to the name Israel, he needed to grow up and lead. THEN lead CONSISTENTLY, especially thru hard times. That is the test of a man or woman of God, how do they react when they are tested? Do they react in anger? Depression? Are they quick to defend themselves? Do they need to?

I was given some excellent AND VERY HARD advice a couple of months ago by a pastor and good friend of mine. He told me that if I need to defend myself when other people attack my character, or if I’m worried about my reputation, then I’m doing something wrong and I need to repent and change. The Lord wants to catch us doing the right things and praise us for it. We should be doing what He has called us to do.

Is it time for you to return to Bethel in your life? Do you feel away? Is the Lord your pal, or is He your Savior? Maybe it’s time that we do what Jacob did, tell our whole house to gather the idols, purify themselves, take off the clothes that glorify this world and put on the ones that bring glory to Him? That means, though, that our houses need strong leadership. Men and women who will dig the hole deep enough to not just conceal, but destroy those idols so they are no longer a distraction. What is the Lord calling you from? What is He calling you to? It starts with the question, and Joshua poses it perfectly:

Joshua 24:15 NKJV

15 And if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”

Can you declare that? This is the line in the sand Joshua drew. Choose whom you will serve. Only one will survive within you, the one you feed the most. Jesus said: I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Noone comes to the Father except thru me. I believe it. I heard Pastor Greg Laurie say once: If you are born twice, you’ll only die once. If you are only born once, you’ll die twice.

When we feel we’re furthest from Him, that’s when He’s doing his best work in us. Those who travel the furthest can make the greatest impact when they come home. He’s calling you back home.

I am watching and experienceing the most difficult times in some of your lives right now. I’m proud of how you all handle these situations. Not giving up on each other, praying without ceasing, serving sacrificially, fighting the good fight. Jesus it the mission, You are HIS church.

I see acts of heroism, selfless love, compassion, fortitude, grace, mercy, and most importantly unconditional love flowing from each of you being poured out as a drink offering to the Lord. I don’t know what He is doing in and thru us, but we need to stay together. Even when we’re apart, in other towns, even a part of other church bodies, WE ARE THE CHURCH. Act like it.

Worship team:

It was pointed out to me this past week as I was listening to a message, that the word “Unity” in the greek used by Paul is not a “hold my hand” kind of term. It was a military term, and was translated “As One!” While in phalynx or in ranks, they would cry it out with every step, calling on you to do your duty, stay in formation, move together and fight. Let’s stop fighting with each other, and start fighting for each other. Amen?

Let’s pray.

Psalm 27:11–14 NKJV

11 Teach me Your way, O Lord, And lead me in a smooth path, because of my enemies. 12 Do not deliver me to the will of my adversaries; For false witnesses have risen against me, And such as breathe out violence. 13 I would have lost heart, unless I had believed That I would see the goodness of the Lord In the land of the living. 14 Wait on the Lord; Be of good courage, And He shall strengthen your heart; Wait, I say, on the Lord!