Have you lost your life to find life in Jesus?

 13 Jan 26

Today's devotional: taken from YouVersion, Devotions on F.I.R.E. Year One

Readings:

Genesis 31

Genesis 32

Matthew 10:24-42

He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it (Matthew 10:39). 

Have you lost your life to find life in Jesus?

God pursues Jacob, whose name means supplanter. He trips up his brother, snatching the birthright (Genesis 25) and the blessing (Genesis 27), and now fears for his life. Moses records, “Then Jacob was left alone; and a Man wrestled with him until the breaking of day” (Genesis 32:24). (Perhaps this is the only prayer meeting leaving the petitioner injured!) Hosea informs us that Jacob wrestles with the Angel of the Lord (Hosea 12:2-5), who is the pre-incarnate Jesus. Jacob finds his life by yielding to the Lord and subsequently is called a man of faith. The writer of Hebrews shares, “By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, and worshiped, leaning on the top of his staff” (Hebrews 11:21). 

Employment Point: Submit to God’s will to find your life.

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Reflections

“Then Rachel and Leah replied, “Do we still have any share in the inheritance of our father’s estate? Does he not regard us as foreigners? Not only has he sold us, but he has used up what was paid for us. Surely all the wealth that God took away from our father belongs to us and our children. So do whatever God has told you.””

‭‭Genesis‬ ‭31‬:‭14‬-‭16‬ ‭NIV‬‬

“When Laban had gone to shear his sheep, Rachel stole her father’s household gods.”

‭‭Genesis‬ ‭31‬:‭19‬ ‭NIV‬‬

• we can tell from the above bible verses that Rachel did not probably have an intimate relationship with God. She may have submitted to God’s will on the surface, seeing that her husband has the upper hand in everything and grew more powerful than her father but her actions speak for themselves. One will not steal something that is not of value to them. When Rachel steals her father’s household gods, she is indirectly saying these gods have power. Either by the removal of it from her father’s household so he has no blessings or bringing it with her will grant her blessings. Either way, it definitely didn’t say she trusted in the Lord.

“He instructed the one in the lead: “When my brother Esau meets you and asks, ‘Who do you belong to, and where are you going, and who owns all these animals in front of you?’ then you are to say, ‘They belong to your servant Jacob. They are a gift sent to my Lord Esau, and he is coming behind us.’ ””Genesis‬ ‭32‬:‭17‬-‭18‬ ‭NIV‬‬

• this verse is a good example on how we can make use of the possessions we have to seek peace, bring harmony, and put it to good use instead of spending it for meaningless purposes. 

“That night Jacob got up and took his two wives, his two female servants and his eleven sons and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. After he had sent them across the stream, he sent over all his possessions.”Genesis‬ ‭32‬:‭22‬-‭23‬ ‭NIV‬‬

It’s interesting how he sent away everyone and everything to his brother Esau, as if remembering how he has started off with only a staff in hand. It was as if at this point, nothing matters more than his own life anymore. Not even his beloved Rachel, his other wives and children and grandchildren and all the other possessions. It is also a reminder that all these things are just relationships or things that we have on earth and nothing of it will lasts. Build up for ourselves treasures in heaven instead.

“Whoever does not take up their cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it.”Matthew‬ ‭10‬:‭38‬-‭39‬ ‭NIV‬‬

We are all called to a surrendered life of obedience, following His commands and His plans that are set out for us. If we try to do things our way it won’t work because it will not fall according  to His will. We need to be committed to do His will, live a new risen life and allow Him to lead us to the future forward. We should not need to strive to achieve anything for that is futile but instead learn to just flow and walk with God.

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God’s Solitude with Us

BY OSWALD CHAMBERS

January 13

Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place. —Mark 6:31

When God gets us alone—isolating us through sickness, heartbreak, or disappointment, through affliction, temptation, or unrequited love—when he gets us totally alone and we are so bewildered that we cannot ask him even one question, this is when he begins to teach us.

Most of the time, we are not alone with God in this way: it’s why he must produce a crisis. We spend our lives distracted by fussy little worries about our work or our health or what other people are doing. Jesus can explain nothing to us until we learn to quiet our minds and leave others alone. If I am walking with him, the only thing he intends me to see clearly is how he is dealing with my soul. We think we understand other people’s situations; then God shows us our own hearts, and we see that there are whole regions of stubbornness and ignorance inside us that we cannot access on our own. Only the Holy Spirit can reach these places.

If God has gotten you alone right now, if you are feeling isolated and bewildered, turn to the Spirit he has placed inside. It is the fine art of the Holy Spirit to be alone with God; it is a purpose of the Holy Spirit to guide and instruct: “The Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things” (John 14:26). Remember that God has not left you alone; he has gotten you alone with him. Go with God to a quiet place, and his Spirit will teach you all you need to know.

Genesis 31-32; Matthew 9:18-38

WISDOM FROM OSWALD

The Bible is a relation of facts, the truth of which must be tested. Life may go on all right for a while, when suddenly a bereavement comes, or some crisis; unrequited love or a new love, a disaster, a business collapse, or a shocking sin, and we turn up our Bibles again and God’s word comes straight home, and we say, “Why, I never saw that there before.”

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Reflections

In retrospect, I find that we learn best when we are in the low valleys. The pain and sufferings we experience or at least I encountered are the ones that brought me low to my knees. Those encounters are the ones that made me realised no amount of knowledge or wisdom I have is enough. It was never me and always Him. And it is in those moments that He reminds me each and every time that only He, has the power to change. What do I know?

To keep going back to Him is what He has called me to do and perhaps for you too. Rely not on our understanding-this verse has probably been spoken more than we can understand. Only when you have to live through this verse, will you be able to fully appreciate what this verse means. To fully rely on Him and nothing else.

As I write this reflection, the song “cornerstone” plays in my head and the lyrics, too, made good sense of what He is trying to tell us.

[Verse 1]

My hope is built on nothing less

Than Jesus blood and righteousness

I dare not trust the sweetest frame

But wholly trust in Jesus name

My hope is built on nothing less

Than Jesus blood and righteousness

I dare not trust the sweetest frame

But wholly trust in Jesus name

[Chorus]

Christ alone, Cornerstone

Weak made strong in the Saviour's love

Through the storm, He is Lord

Lord of all

[Verse 2]

When darkness seems to hide His face

I rest on His unchanging grace

In every high and stormy gale

My anchor holds within the veil

My anchor holds within the veil

[Verse 3]

When He shall come with trumpet sound

Oh may I then in Him be found

Dressed in His righteousness alone

Faultless stand before the throne

Link of the song here: https://youtu.be/QvLxZEU02uI?si=fAZ9e4BLTMX5EHlP

May this song minister to you.