CAN YOU MAKE IT TO THE PLACE? GENESIS 28:11-22

INTRODUCTION

THIS WEEK WE ARE GOING TO LOOK AT A PERSON BY THE NAME OF JACOB

A MAN WHO FOUGHT ALL OF HIS LIFE

Genesis 40:9 KJV 1900

And the chief butler told his dream to Joseph, and said to him, In my dream, behold, a vine was before me;

Genesis 47:9 KJV 1900

And Jacob said unto Pharaoh, The days of the years of my pilgrimage are an hundred and thirty years: few and evil have the days of the years of my life been, and have not attained unto the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their pilgrimage.

FIGHTING IN HIS MOTHER’S WOUMB

IF IT WAS JUST ABRAHAM AND ISAAC, IT WOULD NOT BE COMPLETE

FIGHTING FOR HIS DIVINE BLESSING

ABRAHAM, ISAAC, AND JACOB-IT JUST SOUNDS BETTER

FIGHTING FOR HIS WIVES

FIGHTING TO GET BACK TO THE PROMISED LAND

THE TRICKERY/DECEPTION TOOK PLACE SHOWS THE FAITH OF HIS MOTHER AND HIM

THERE WASN’T MUCH FAITH AS THEY USED HUMAN MEANS TO GRAB THE BLESSING

HE FELT LIKE HE HAD TO STEAL WHAT REALLY BELONGED TO HIM

HE WANTED THINGS TOO FAST AND AS A RESULT, HE HAD TO LEAVE HOME BECAUSE ESAU WANTED TO KILL HIM

HE DID NOT NEED TO DISGUISE HIMSELF TO RECEIVE THE DIVINE BLESSING FROM GOD

HE DID NOT NEED TO LIE

HE DID NOT NEED TO MANIPULATE OR TAKE THE LORD’S NAME IN VAIN

THEIR DECEPTION HAD COST 20 YEARS OF JACOB’S LIFE

AFTER HEARING HIS BROTHER’S PLAN TO KILL HIM, HE HAD TO FLEE

HE WAS RUNNING FOR HIS LIFE

ALL HIS PLANNING AND SCHEMING HAD BACKFIRED

JACOB HAD NO RELIGIOUS PREFERENCE, A LYING FUGITIVE ON THE RUN

JACOB HAD A LONG JOURNEY, WHERE THERE WOULD BE MANY INCIDENTS, HOWEVER THE NARRATOR SELECTS JUST ONE INCIDENT

JACOB HAD COME TO A SPECIAL PLACE

A PLACE WHERE ABRAHAM HAD BUILT AN ALTAR AND A PORTHOLE TO HEAVEN

WHEN YOU SPEND TIME WORSHIPPING, PRAYING, FASTING IN ONE PLACE

GOD OPENS THE WINDOWS OF HEAVEN AND THERE IS ACCESS TO HEAVEN

JACOB’S PLACE APPEARS DARK, STONY, AND HARD UNTIL THE PRESENCE OF GOD SHOWS UP

THE CHURCH OFTEN APPEARS INSIGNIFICANT AND OUR LIVES ARE DARK AND HARD UNTIL GOD OPENS OUR EYES TO SEE GOD’S PRESENCE TRANSFORMING US INTO THE AXIS BETWEEN HEAVEN AND EARTH

JACOB HAS NO RELIGIOUS PREFERENCE; HE WAS A LYING SELFISH FUGITIVE ON THE RUN

HE DIDN’T DESERVE AN ENCOUNTER WITH GOD, BUT LOOK HOW FAR GOD’S GRACE REACHES

IF HE CAN REACH SOMEONE LIKE JACOB, THEN HE CAN REACH SOMEONE LIKE ME

IT WAS GETTING DARK, ATIME TO REST AND UNAWARES PURPOSE HAS BROUGHT JACOB TO BETHEL

HE DIDN’T EVEN KNOW GOD, HOW COULD PURPOSE LEAD HIM TO BETHEL?

WHEN GOD HAS A PLAN FOR YOUR LIFE, YOU CAN TRUST THAT HIS PURPOSE WILL LEAD YOU

AS WE WILL SEE GOD’S PURPOSE PREVAIL AS HE IS RUNNING FOR HIS LIFE

BODY

THE SUN HAS SET, JACOB IS LOST BUT GOD HAS BEEN DIRECTING HIS STEPS AS HE