Once Again

All Night Long

(Gen 32:24 NKJV) Then Jacob was left alone; and a Man wrestled with him until the breaking of day. 25 Now when He saw that He did not prevail against him, He touched the socket of his hip; and the socket of Jacob’s hip was out of joint as He wrestled with him. 26 And He said, “Let Me go, for the day breaks.”
But he said, “I will not let You go unless You bless me!”
27 So He said to him, “What is your name?”
He said, “Jacob.”
28 And He said, “Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel; for you have struggled with God and with men, and have prevailed.”
29 Then Jacob asked, saying, “Tell me Your name, I pray.”
And He said, “Why is it that you ask about My name?” And He blessed him there.
30 So Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: “For I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.”

Imagine you are on your way to meet your estranged brother and you have sent the others a little ahead so you can have a quiet night to yourself to think about what’s coming. Then all of a sudden you’re not alone there is a stranger struggling with you. This was not in your plan, you were trying to figure out a way to avoid the fight you know is coming and suddenly you are in another fight. An unexpected fight.
This unexpected fight goes on and on literally all night. When the stranger didn’t clearly win the contest he makes what an official might call a foul and gets the hip out of joint. You cling to your opponent seeking a blessing.
In those days words were taken far more seriously than they are these days. To receive a blessing was considered nearly the same as receiving the thing itself. Jacob must have been weary after the night of struggle and was still facing the meeting with his brother, he needed the gift of blessing.
That blessing he received had to be one of the most important things imaginable. He was given the gift of a name change. Names always meant something and his had been a rather negative thing. Because he had come out of the womb holding his brother’s heal he was given a name which meant “He who grabs the heal”, or deceiver. Living up to his name, he had stolen his brother’s birthright and ended up running for his life. His new name, Israel, was “he who struggles with God.” It was a princely name not a label for a liar and thief. He had seen the face of God and lived.
Lord, help me in the times of struggle. Change me till I am something better than I was. Thank you for being there to lean on whenever I find myself limping through life.

Labels

(Exodus 28:36 NKJV) “You shall also make a plate of pure gold and engrave on it, like the engraving of a signet: HOLINESS TO THE LORD.

The priest wore a gold plate on his headpiece, there for all to see. How would you like to have to wear what you are as a label all your life? What if it said doctor, lawyer, housewife, or whatever you were so people could identify you at a glance. Wouldn’t they tend to put you in a box?
Yesterday, our pastor said he didn’t like the way some people chose to call him “Pastor” using it as a label. Later some of the church members teased him about that. But he had gone on to explain some people use the term like they were addressing someone too holy to even talk to. It was dehumanizing. I have heard other ministers making the same complaint. There are also those who make the declaration about themselves looking for a special honor beyond what they have earned or deserve.
Even though we are not High Priests we are a cut above the children of Israel in the tale of Exodus. As born again believers we are also Holy to the Lord. The word holy means “set apart for a special purpose.” We were set apart from old friends and our old lifestyle when we started our walk with the Lord. We were sealed not with gold but with the blood shed on the cross.
Lord in all capitals in most translations stands for Yahweh translated Jehovah in older translations was the name first used by God as he spoke to Moses from the burning bush. It is the highest of all of God’s names and the one He chose to use in labeling his High Priest.
Lord, show me the purpose I was set apart for. Teach me to perform that duty in a why that will honor you. Help me to always see you as the Highest of all.

Written by God’s Own Hand

Did you ever consider God having fingers and hands and arms? All of them are mentioned in the Bible.

When the Lord finished speaking they had been talking for 40 days. The Lord had given him the laws, set up times and plans for worship, and planned the tabernacle and all of its furnishings. It was one very long conversation with a lot of details. If it had been me I would have needed to at least write down the measurements for the furniture of the tabernacle. The only thing he had in writing were the ten commandments and those had been spoken 34 or 40 days earlier.

Moses most likely did not have pen and paper so God had to write it on rock. God was not one to go tapping with a hammer and chisel. He just wrote in the granite with his finger as easily as you or I might write in the sand. That talks of a strength and gentleness.

Exodus 32:15 – 16 (NKJV) 15And Moses turned and went down from the mountain, and the two tablets of the Testimony were in his hand. The tablets were written on both sides; on the one side and on the other they were written. 16Now the tablets were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God engraved on the tablets.
I have heard people say we need to write the law on the tablets of our heart. I’m glad we have a gentle God doing the writing.

Lord, teach me to be more aware of your fingers gently writing my life. Help me not to be hard and unyielding as stone. Thank you for your tenderness when you call me to come up your mountain to spend time with you.

The Shoe-less Moment

When God first spoke to Moses he was told to take off his shoes because he was standing on holy ground (Exo 3:5-6). Few people notice that Joshua also had his shoeless moment. Josh6:14-15.

• Exo 3:5Then He said, “Do not draw near this place. Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground.” 6Moreover He said, “I am the God of your father—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look upon God.

• Josh 6:14 So He said, “No, but as Commander of the army of the Lord I have now come.”
And Joshua fell on his face to the earth and worshiped, and said to Him, “What does my Lord say to His servant?”
15Then the Commander of the Lord’s army said to Joshua, “Take your sandal off your foot, for the place where you stand is holy.” And Joshua did so.

In both instances the place was made holy by the presence of the Lord. The burning bush was an interaction of the Lord himself putting the plan for redemption in motion. Even though he had to deal with a very reluctant Moses. Who had gone towards the burning bush out of curiosity. He did not know what to expect to see, and meeting the Lord himself had never entered his wildest dreams. His initial reaction was, “You’ve got the wrong man.” He was reluctant to learn God doesn’t make mistakes and to grow into the position he was destined to fulfill.

Joshua had been Moses’ right hand man for forty years and knew immediately what he was dealing with and fell on his face to worship Him. Through Moses he had learned a lot about the Lord. What he probably did not know was the commander of the Lord’s army was another form of God. In the form of a pre-incarnate Jesus. I know that is a fancy term, it just means before Jesus came in the flesh. There are several of these starting with the creation as John tells us in his opening chapter. The Lord in one form or another is always there in a time of need.

Now the Holy Spirit is the most likely representative of the Trinity in today’s world. This is because He is not limited to one place at a time. He can be there to assist the sick child in Uganda at the same time He is guiding the heads of nations world wide, not to mention be there for each of us at the same time.

This is the time to treat your moments with God with extreme respect. All of us can at one time or another have a shoeless moments.

Annette C. Agnello
Annette, has been writing for over forty years. Until recently she has worked in the public school system. Her husband, Mario, is a minister who curently has a prison ministry.
“It is only with the heart that one sees rightly. What is essential is invisible to the eye.” ~Antoine de Saint-Exupery- from The Little Prince.~ http://onceagain.freeblogit.com/ and
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/just4christianwomen2journal/ and http://annette-agnello.livejournal.com/