Daily Radio Bible - January 18th, 22

Week Two Reflections with Hunter https://youtu.be/LnEfwjAyYzA

Never give up. That's a popular sentiment these days. It's used in sports and business. It's found on T-shirts, bumper stickers.  Giving up as easy. I've done way too much in my life. I've given up on goals, I've given up on hopes I've given up on relationships. I'm sad to say that I've given up on way too much that I needed to hold on to in this life. And I've also held on to things I should have given up long ago. I've held on to resentments and angers, my need to be right, my need for approval.  I've held on to these things way too long. I should have given up on them right away. Maybe you can relate. It seems like the trick is to give up on the wrong things and never give up on the right things.

And Luke 18 Jesus says that we should keep praying and never give up. Prayer seems to be connected to our ability to hold on to the right things. Prayer is a two way conversation. It's relational. We share our hearts our fears, our failures are life with him. And he shares his life. His Word, His heart, his hopes for us. It's a two way thing. God is speaking to us in prayer and we are listening to his voice, his leading. We hear from him and respond and we worship Him. Without this relationship giving up is inevitable. It's just way too easy. But when we do pray, we are given the strength to hold on to endure to never give up.

In today's reading, we hear Jacob listening to God speak to him late at night. He hears the voice from heaven. And it happens to be in a place called Beersheba. The last time God spoke to Jacob in Beersheba was many years before. He had been preparing to leave home and head to the land of Huran. fleeing from his brother. As he was leaving, he laid his head on a rock and he fell asleep. And while he was sleeping, he saw a stairway to heaven. And at the top of the stairway he saw the Lord. And the Lord told him, I am the Lord, the God of your grandfather, Abraham, and the God of your father, Isaac, the ground you are lying on belongs to you. I'm giving it to you and your descendants, your descendants will be as numerous as the dust of the earth. They will spread out in all directions to the west and east to the north and south. And all the families of the earth will be blessed through you and your descendants. What's more, I am with you. And I will protect you wherever you go. One day I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have finished giving you everything I have promised.

Well, then Jacob wakes up. And he says Surely the Lord is in this place. And I wasn't even aware of it. But he also said, What an awesome place this is it's none other than the house of God, the very gateway to heaven. That awesome place that gateway to Heaven is where we see him sleeping right now in our passage today. It's years later, and God comes to him once again. And once again Jacob is having to leave this land that God had promised to Him. God is speaking to him. And you might say that God is telling him to keep praying and never give up. Surely this journey of Jacob's didn't look anything like the fulfillment of what God had promised him all those years ago. In that very place. God had promised to make Jacob a great nation, that Canaan would be his inheritance, and that his descendants would be a blessing to all the nations of the world. It didn't look like that promise would be fulfilled anytime soon. Jacob was going in the opposite direction. Jacob would die in a different land all together without seeing this promise fulfilled. But out in the distance. too far for Jacob to see. God was bringing about the fulfillment of all that he had promised. Jacob needed to keep on praying and never give up. He's told that Joseph his son would be with him to the very end, that Joseph would close his eyes. God is saying the same thing to us. Keep praying Never give up. It may look like God has you going in the opposite direction from what he promised you. But out there in the distance too far for you to see. He's bringing about all that He promised.   

Someone far better than Joseph is with us. It's not Jacob's son, but God's Son, who will be with you to the very end. Hebrews 11:13 says all these people died, still believing that God had promised them. They did not receive what was promised. But they saw it all from a distance and welcomed it. They agreed that they were foreigners and nomads here on Earth. So keep praying, never give up. God is faithful. If we live a life of faith, a life of prayer, a life in relationship with Him, then we will have the strength we need to never give up. He who promised these things is faithful. He will fulfill all of his promises. We are the recipients of the promise that he made to Jacob, you and I. That promise that Jacob never got to see with his earthly eyes. God has fulfilled. Most of you aren't Jewish, you're not from the nation of Israel. You are the fulfillment of that promise. You have been included in that blessing. So let's keep praying. Let's never give up. The Son, God's son is with us. And He will be with us to the very end. He will close our eyes and he will wake us up.  hallelujah!

You are loved!