Promise 79 Gen. 32:30

Gen. 32:30 - "So Jacob named the place Peniel for he said, 'I have seen God face to face, yet my life has been preserved.'" Jacob had a rumble with God. I'm not exactly all that sure why that happened, why that specific timing; just as He was going to meet his brother. Maybe God wanted to knock some sense into Jacob's head. God had promised him over and over again that he would prosper, his descendants would be many and that God would be with him, yet he was still terrified that his brother would kill him and his family. Maybe God just wanted to thump him for being so silly. Or maybe, by dislocating his hip, God wanted to take away any possible strength and pride that goes along with it, to show that when Jacob is saved, its not by his own doing but all will be done by God and there wont be any doubt about it. God did meet Jacob face to face, and Jacob survived. We can meet Him face to face too, in all our weaknesses and guilt and shame and feelings of unworthiness and fear, and we will survive too. God invites us to meet Him face to face, and maybe we do need a thumpin' every now and then so that sins in our lives are broken and we yield to the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives. But we will survive. We will not be the same. We might even have a new name, a new identity after it. So go to Him, meet Him!

Promise 78 Gen. 32:1

Gen. 32:1 - "Now as Jacob went on his way, the angels of God met him." This is such a random verse. Its at the beginning of chapter 32 and in a clear transition of thought; Jacob begins to head home. In most literature this would demand a build up or more expansion, but the Bible doesn't do that. Angels met Jacob, Jacob said, "Hey God showed up!" (Di's version) and that was it. I just love that about God. He just "shows up" out of the blue. He just randomly puts His angels around us. It's kind of like when you're walking with a good mate and there is a long pause in conversation, because you really don't "need" to be talking, then he/she just taps you or gently slaps you or throws something your way without saying anything, and you keep going on as before. That's what this is, its just a friendly tap from the loving Daddy to say "hey, I love being with you!" I don't think angels always have to be on intense guard duty, I think they like to go walking and camping too.

Promise 77 Gen. 31:49

Gen. 31:49 - "And Mizpah, for he said, 'May the Lord watch between you and me when we are absent one from the other." As a missionary, being separated from family and beloved friends is a normal part of life. But that separation, even though its always there, doesn't mean its easy. I praise God for modern communication technology that allows me to call family and friends from my computer. I think of those missionaries who had to go to their fields by boat and wouldn't see their families or have verbal contact for four years at a time (Even though that still happens today not due to distance but because of the 'out of sight, out of mind mentality'). Its difficult to wonder all the time how those friends and family are, especially when we hear someone has been sick or injured, we could drive ourselves crazy with worry, but we don't have to. God's promise to us is that He will watch over our loved ones and give us peace in the midst of separation. We must do our bit in trusting them to His care. Thank you Lord for watching over my family and friends who scattered all over the globe. Bless them right where they are at, amen!

Promise 76 Gen. 31:24

Gen. 31:24 - "God came to Laban the Aramean in a dream of the night and said to him, 'Be careful that you do not speak to Jacob either good or bad.'" Even though Laban did not act in righteous ways toward Jacob, he was still from the family of Abraham. God gave him a gentle warning to not do or say anything dumb to Jacob. Laban listened and it all turned out well. Even though we deserve harsh punishment or warnings from God sometimes, He is not one who will act harshly toward His children, like a loving Father does, He gently warns us to keep our thoughts and actions in check, this is how He guides us and grows us up into sanctification. Thank you Father!

Promise 75 Gen. 31:2-3

Gen. 31:2-3 - "Jacob saw the attitude of Laban, and behold, it was not friendly toward him as formerly. Then the Lord said to Jacob, 'Return to the land of your fathers and to your relatives, and I will be with you'." God is right on top of things when we are about to head into a difficult situation. 1st, He gives us discernment of other people's character, then He confirms it. In this case He tells Jacob to go back home to his own land and promises to be with him. God takes care of his own. Thank you Lord!

Promise 74 Gen. 30:22-23

"Then God remembered Rachel and God gave heed to her and opened her womb. So she conceived and bore a son and said, 'God has taken away my reproach.'" The whole story of Rachel and Leah's competition to win or keep Jacob's affection is a crazy one. Leah didn't end her campaign for Jacob with the birth of Judah, she gave her maid to him after Rachel gave hers to Jacob, then she bore a couple more kids. Not once in this story did it mention any of the women or Jacob going to God first and petitioning their concerns to Him, Rachel even blamed Jacob for not coming through for her. It's no wonder it took a while for God to remember Rachel and give her a child, they didn't pursue Him so that they would be on the foremost of His mind. But here is the blessing; No matter how many times we mess up and try to find solutions to our problems on our own, we aren't forgotten by God. Even if we don't immediately go to Him that doesn't mean He will withhold His blessings from us. Because there is nothing we can do to win His love or take it away, He gives it freely. But don't wait for Him to have to "remember" you, go to Him first.

Promise 73 Gen. 29:35

Gen. 29:35 - "And she conceived again and bore a son and said, 'This time I will praise the Lord.' therefore she named him Judah. Then she stopped bearing." Up until Judah's birth Leah had hoped that the child she bore will cause Jacob to love her. When Judah was born she just said, "This time, I will praise the Lord." She realized that God didn't give her children just so her husband would love her, but it was out of His love for her that He blessed her with children. So this time she thanked Him properly by praising Him. It is interesting too that it is from the line of Judah that Jesus comes. He comes from the line of praise to God, that is so cool. With every breath that we have, praise the Lord!

Promise 72 Gen. 28:31

Gen. 28:31 - "Now the Lord saw that Leah was unloved, and He opened her womb, but Rachel was barren." Most people who feel like they are unloved, lonely and abandoned by others tend to think it is the Lord that doesn't love them and that's why nobody else does. But that is so not true. God had compassion on Leah because it seemed as though no one loved her. Her eyesight was poor so I'm guessing she was not as productive as her sister, the shepherdess, plus she wasn't as beautiful as her sister so she was always being compared to her and didn't receive the healthy attention that her sister got. But she wasn't second class to God. He gave her many children for which she would love and in return they would love her as their mother. God is a compassionate God, He does not leave anyone off on their own. His love is equal for all.

Promise 71 Gen. 28:13

Gen. 28:13 - "And behold, the Lord stood above it and said, 'I am the Lord God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie, I will give it to you and to your descendants.'" Ownership of territory seems to be an important thing to the Lord. I know that God likes to see his people prosper but the land is not given for status or just for prosperity sake. God's plan is to dwell with His people, so when He promises to give territory, He also plans to reside there. He plans to be the God of that land. He says, "If you see it, I will give it and you will have it because I'm in your midst." What a great promise! What territory has the Lord given you? Whatever He has promised; where ever He has put you to lay your head, He is there, claim it for His glory!

Promise 70 Gen. 28:12-16

Gen. 28:12-16 - "He had a dream and behold, a ladder was set on the earth with its top reaching to heaven..... then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, "surely The Lord is in this place, and I did not know it.'" I'm sure Jacob would normally think this dream was a weird one, but it was clear and vivid and God was in it speaking to him and referring to his father and grandfather. He saw that God was revealing Himself to him and confirming the promises that come with the blessing that he had just received from his father. God uses dreams to communicate with us, we need to be tuned into our dreams to see if He might be revealing something special to us. They may seem strange like angels climbing up and down a ladder between heaven and earth, but write them down and then ask God if this is something that you need to pay closer attention to.

Promise 69 Gen. 26:24

Gen. 26:24 - "The Lord appeared to him the same night and said, 'I am the God of your father Abraham; Do not fear, for I am with you. I will bless you, and multiply your descendants, for the sake of my servant Abraham." I love this promise to Isaac, "do not fear, for I am with you!" We as Christians have a tendency to fear so unnecessarily. We know that God is in us, we know that He is with us, yet we still fear. Just as He told Isaac over and over again that He will bless him, maybe we need to be reminded over and over again to not fear. I'm glad He takes delight in letting us know that He is with us.

Promise 68 Gen. 26:4-5

Gen. 26:4-5 - "I will multiply your descendants as the stars of heaven, and will give your descendants all these lands; and by your descendants all the nations of the earth shall be blessed; because Abraham obeyed Me and kept my charge, My commandments, My statues and My laws.'". I must admit, as I usually think life revolves around me, I don't usually think about the impact that my actions have on the next generation. God tells Isaac that He is blessing him because his father, Abraham obeyed Him by keeping close to Him and adhering to the laws and rules. Now, I can read this and think this really doesn't apply to me because I don't have children that will reap that blessing, but the verses totally make sense in talking about a new spiritual generation. If I'm obedient to what God is asking me to do and if the private battles are won just as much as the public ones, through obedience then those whom I have a part in their lives will be blessed because of my obedience in what I feel God is calling me to do; To "do as Jesus did yet more!" (Jn.14:12). As it seems there is a lot of pressure in this because my obedience effects many more people other than myself, it is freeing too because I know that I can share God's blessing with so many more people. Thank you Lord!

Promise 67 Gen. 26:2-3a.

Gen. 26:2-3a. - "The Lord appeared to Him and said, 'Do not go down to Egypt; stay in the land of which I shall tell you. Sojourn in this land and I will be with you and bless you....!" When I grew up, I was taught if God said to do something it was a 'Do it, or else!' But this has not been the case so far as God has been appearing to His chosen ones. He tells Isaac, "Stop here, don't go to Egypt and I will BLESS you." There are no negative consequences. I think most people live their lives making choices in order to avoid the consequences or punishment, in other words they live under a fear of God rather than making choices in order to catch the blessing God has for them. There is freedom in living for the blessing. If we are always living in fear that we might displease God it will also cause us to live in fear of displeasing man. Soon displeasing man somehow becomes more important to us than the fear of displeasing God. We see this mind set permeating our societies. The important truth that we are not taught in life, not even in most of our churches is that God gives us choices because He wants to please us! He doesn't dangle us over a consequence, He wants to bless us. He doesn't play hide and seek with the blessings either; hiding them and waiting to see if we will find them. No, He is very clear, 'Hey look over there, see that? Go over there and you'll be blessed!" He is more pleased when we obey His voice so that we'll find the blessings rather than obeying by avoiding the sin out of fear.

Promise 66 Gen. 25:22-23

Gen. 25:22-23 - "But the children struggled together within her, and she said, "if it is so, why then am I this way?' So she went to inquire of the Lord. The Lord said to her, 'Two nations are in your womb; and two peoples will be separated from your body; and one people shall be stronger than the other; and the older shall serve the younger'." Rebekah was bothered about how the twins were struggling in her womb. She basically went to the Lord and said, "What's up with this?" I love that! Most women would think the babies were responding to something she ate and just put up with it, but Rebekah had sense to ask the Lord what was up. I wonder if she really expected to get an answer, a reply back? God cares about everything that we care about and He's happy to answer our questions. Often times His responses are different from what we expected to hear. The main point is: God is always up for a good chat!

Promise 65 Gen. 24:60

Gen. 24:60 - "They blessed Rebekah and said to her, 'May you, our sister, become thousands of ten thousands, and may your descendants possess the gate of those who hate them'." Rebekah's brothers said a word of blessing over her before she set out with Abraham's servant. I must admit I don't speak words of blessings over people near as much as I ought to. God gives people those words as they speak them out. What a blessing to give someone; "May you become thousands of ten thousands," I love that. I'm going to hop on that blessing too and believe that from my existence in God's kingdom here on earth, God will expand that kingdom by thousands upon thousands through the generations of those who will sing out Halleluia to their Heavenly Daddy! Amen! Bring it on Lord!

Promise 64 Gen. 24:26-27

Gen. 24:26-27 - "Then the man bowed low and worshipped the Lord. He said, 'Blessed be the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, who has not forsaken His loving kindness and His truth toward my master; as for me, the Lord has guided me in the way to the house of my master's brothers'." The very first thing the servant does after Rebekah invites him to the house is fall on his face and worship God. It's a God thing that Rebekah didn't think he had lost his marbles and didn't withdraw the invitation. Then after worshipping the Lord, the servant gave testimony. He gave God the glory for what He had done..... the worship continued. Giving testimony about God's great work is a part of worship. Worshipping God isn't confined to a church pew, it happens each time we proclaim His name to others. Keep testifying and of the great things God is doing in you and through you, then watch what else He does because you chose to worship Him.

Promise 63 Gen. 24:12, 50-51

Gen. 24:12, 50-51 - "He said, 'Lord, the God of my master Abraham, please grant me success today, and show loving kindness to my master Abraham... Then Laban and Bethuel replied, 'The matter comes from the Lord; so we cannot speak to you bad or good, here is Rebekah before you, take her and go, and let her be the wife of your master's son, as the Lord has spoken.'" Abraham's servant is interceding in prayer for Abraham. Its kind of funny really because God has totally been right in the middle of this whole thing; the promises to Abraham, Abraham believing that there will be success in this, but blesses that servant any way, and he loves his master and knows that God loves him too. Sure enough, God did His bit and Rebekah was found. I love the servant's heart in this though, he worked out of compassion for his master and his God. All through this story he is interacting with God, speaking to Him and about Him. That's what intercessors do. God loves those who love spending time with Him and telling others about Him. God did bless this servant, but I don't think it was just because God was blessing Abraham and the servant got the leftovers. It was because God also cared for and had compassion on this wonderful servant. God does hear those who call out to Him on behalf of others.

Promise 62 Gen. 24:7

Gen. 24:7 - "The Lord, God of heaven, who took me from my father's house and from the land of my birth, and who spoke to me and who swore to me, saying, 'To your descendants I will give this land; He will send His angel before you, and you will take a wife for my son from there." As Abraham was telling his servant to go back to the land and find a wife for Isaac, the servant was full of "but, what if's" Abraham knew the outcome already because God promised him that the land given to him would be his. He had no doubt in his mind that a daughter-in-law would come from the land of his birth. But to assure the servant, he said, "God will send His angel to go before you." How did Abraham know God would do that? Because God gave him the outcome already through His promise. Because Abraham received what was given, he knew God would send His angel ahead to prepare the way for all this to take place. When God gives you something verbally, when He promises you something, He will send His angels to see to it that you get what was promised. If you don't believe in angels, then you better start sorting that one out right now before God. It's a good thing He sends them to help us regardless if we believe in them or not. I'm proud to say that I am an angel believer, because I'm a Daddy believer and what He says, goes!

Promise 61 Gen. 22:17-18

Gen. 22:17-18 - "Indeed I will greatly bless you, and I will greatly multiply your seed as the stars of the heavens and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your seed shall possess the gate of their enemies. In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice." The key words here are "I will bless.... because you have obeyed my voice." I think most people truly believe they are good, and maybe they are good in that they don't purposely sin or have sinful patterns. But on the whole, it's not "enough" to just be passively "good." Even in our goodness we miss hearing and obeying God's voice. Scriptures are packed full of commands that we ignore for one reason or another and even though we are not "sinning" by ignoring them, we are missing out on some huge blessings. I'm not going to get into details, I'll let you search the scriptures yourself to find out which blessings you are missing out on in not listening and obeying, for its in there you will find most of them and its in the relationship with the Blessing Giver that you will find the rest.

Promise 60 Gen. 22:14

Gen. 22:14 - "Abraham called the name of that place 'The Lord will provide', as it is said to this day. 'In the mount of the Lord it will be provided.'" There are many people in this world who have mountains that need to be moved. Some are debt mountains, others are mountains of broken relationships, there are mountains of addictions, mountains of terminal illnesses and then there is the mountain of lonliness that just can't seem to go away or to be toppled. There are many more mountains such as these. A promise has been given to us long ago. "in the mount of the Lord it will be provided." When we give our mountains over to Him, so that they no longer "belong" to us, then God has His way with them, He is the provider! No matter what He does with them, whether it be a total removal of the mountain or just a buffing. He will always make them more manageable to climb and to conquer. His is the Provider!