By Rev. Michael Mwangi
Senior Pastor, Fedha Church KAG
Gen 35:1-7
This (2022) is our year of possessing our blessing. God is ready to bless us but are you ready?
Some background [context]
Gen 33: Jacob meets Esau and they are reconciled, his worst fears are behind him. Verse 18-20 Jacob bought land in Shechem, settled there and built an altar to justify and console himself. But God had commanded him to return to Canaan to his fathers land according to Gen 31:3.
Jacob's 10 years of disobedience left him messed up in Shechem.
Dinah his only daughter was raped in the neighbourhood and his sons became mass murderers. This resulted in his insecurity, fear and Discomfort in the land. This not only endangered his family but also his life Gen 34:30
Some decisions parents make, especially outside God’s will, endanger our kids and sometimes risks the whole family. We expose them to dangers or open them up to vulnerability as is the case here. Our youths want the freedom that endangers them. They see restrictions and rules as prohibitive rather than protective.
He is now messed up, compromised, discouraged and fearful having let the family down and still not yet in Bethel as commanded. Whenever we are out of the will of God, we will also be out of reach of His blessing and suffering.
Jacob is down and in a dilemma.
Gen35 Back to the story [content]
God speaks to him. Arise[go up][ come out of that mess miserable, sinful, failure, backslidden position] it is God in his mercy and love who initiates the process and not Jacob. God is gracious and still loves you no matter how much of a mess you are in or how low you may be riding.
But God is about to bless him because he has not given up on him and that is very true for me and you. God is saying to us.
Arise(go up)
God wants us to arise no matter where we are, no matter how down we are. He is calling every one of us to arise in our prayers and our walk with him. He has given you 2022 because he is not yet done with you. He wants you to possess his blessing.
Go to bethel
Bethel means The house of God. The place of his presence.The place of blessing. It's time to come back to God that you may enjoy your blessing. Bethel was the first place Jacob encountered God. The first place he experienced God and his promises of blessings Gen 28:19. God was calling him back to his first love. He had strayed away from God
Remember when you first got saved
Remember how much you loved God, your passion and your commitment. But like Jacob, over the years, you have strayed. We loved God wholeheartedly but soon we got to love other things more and our love for him grew cold. Other things have captivated your heart and your devotion is not the same. Pleasure and pressure of life have dragged you and taken a toll on your spiritual life. Maybe sin and sinful ways have messed you up thus you are hurting, suffering and discouraged yet still away from God. God is calling you back. Just Arise and possess the blessings. Maybe you have made bad decisions that you are regretting and you feel you have messed up. God has brought you to 2022 not to condemn you but to bless you if you are going to obey.
To arise is a call for action
Jacob realized he had to deal with certain things if he was going to arise and enjoy God's blessings.
We need to do the same if we are going to possess the blessings in 2022.
1. Get rid of idols
Whatever takes the place of God or competes with God in your life, whatever gets your most attention, devotion, time and resources.
Exodus 20:2-3
[2]“I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.
[3]“You shall have no other gods before me.
2. Purify ourselves, Get rid of sin
Hebrews 12:1
[1]Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us,
It is the word of God that purifies us. It teaches us, corrects us and rebukes us as it reveals his ways. Psalms 119:1 how can a young man keep his ways pure and John 15:3 you are already clean because of the word i have spoken to you.
We need to Get back to the word of God.
3. Change clothes. Change our character
We need to put on a garment of righteousness.
Ephesians 4:22-24
[22]You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires;
[23]to be made new in the attitude of your minds;
[24]and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.
4. Surrender all and He buried the idols and ornaments
They surrendered fully and unconditionally. idols were buried and left behind. We must be willing to completely surrender, bury and leave behind sin, sinful ways and its associations. When we don't completely surrender, we hold and keep small portions and connections that the devil uses to get us back to our former ways.
Ephesians 4:27
[27]and do not give the devil a foothold.
We must seek and abide in his presence
Jacob was told to settle there and build an altar there. He was to settle in God's presence not away from his presence. For us to possess the blessing, we can't afford to be visitors and passersby in God's presence. Some of us just come to the presence of God occasionally, maybe when we are in need. We need to abide in his presence constantly experiencing him. We need to dwell in his presence always not occasionally.
Psalms 27:4 one thing that I desire... I may dwell...
We are to seek him when things are okay and when things are not okay. A call to a lifestyle of prayer and devotions
We will pray and fast not just in January but throughout the year. For some people, this is always the first and the last prayer and fasting of the year. Churches are always full in January but as time passes by, seats become empty. 2022 let it be different. Purpose to be found in his house always. Seeking God must become our lifestyle not a seasonal thing or a by the way.
When Jacob obeyed, the fear of God fell upon the people. Nobody dared bother him even if they desired so having heard what his children had done. If we are going to obey, God will fight our battles and nothing will stand in our way. We will start to experience breakthroughs and easy victories. No struggling anymore.
Isaiah 1:19
if you are willing and obedient, you will eat the best of the land
Seek Relationship and not religion
After Jacob came to Bethel [house of God], he built an altar and called the place El Bethel [God of the House]. We must not just come to the house of God but we need to experience the God of the house. You can be in the church religiously without experiencing intimacy with God himself. It is easy to come to church because it is Sunday kama kawaida ama juu umeokoka and not because you have a purpose. The house will never change us; it is the God of the house who holds the blessings. Many believers are in the house of God but they need to come to the God of the house if their lives will have to change. Otherwise, we will just remain religious but struggling and suffering but in the house of God.
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