The life of Jacob fills Sunday School classrooms, and it's for good reason! It has a lot to train us about life--whether we're young children or raising children. Will we choose honesty and integrity over deception and love patiently and without preference? Most of all, will we walk with God, knowing His presence doesn't free us from trials, but is absolutely worth it all?

Looking for our free Bible resources? Head to www.entrustedministries.com/podcast

Speaking of wrestling... have you heard the latest AGAIN episodes on raising impulsive, intense kids? https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-again-podcast-on-biblical-motherhood/id1700555502

Today's Reading:

Genesis 28-32

Scripture Read or Referenced

Genesis 28:10-22

Genesis 29:18-35

Genesis 32: 9, 22-30

Matthew 28:18-20

Hebrews 13:5

This is the Dwelling Place from Entrusted

Ministries, and I'm Stephanie Hickox.

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Today we're looking at

Genesis 28 through 32.

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We're gonna focus specifically

on three portions of scripture

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regarding Jacob's story.

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Rebecca asked Isaac to send Jacob

away to find a wife from their people.

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It seems Isaac surrenders

and realizes that Jacob is

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to be the son of the promise.

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what an intimidating journey this

must have been for a man that's

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been raised at his mother's side,

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now he's going to make an

incredibly long journey on his own.

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God shows up and says, I'll be with you

and I'll bless you for the first time, God

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reveals his threefold covenant to Jacob,

give him the land that his offspring will

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be abundant and that he'll bless him.

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And it's intentional that it's

on his way out of the land.

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God says, I'll bring you back.

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In Genesis 28 10, we read Jacob left

Beersheba and went toward Iran and

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came to a certain place and stayed

there that night because the sun had

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set taking one of the stones of the

place, he put it under his head and

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laid down in that place to sleep.

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And he dreamed and behold, there

was a letter set up on the Earth

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and the top of it reached to heaven,

and behold, the angels of God were

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ascending and descending on it.

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And behold, the Lord stood above it all.

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And said, I am the Lord,

the God of Abraham, your

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father, and the God of Isaac.

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The land on which you lie, I will

give to you and to your offspring.

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Your offspring shall be like the dust

of the earth and you shall spread

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abroad to the west and to the east

and to the north and to the south.

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And in you and your offspring shall all

the families of the earth be blessed.

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Behold, I am with you and will keep you

wherever you go and will bring you back to

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this land for I will not leave you until

I have done what I have promised you.

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Then Jacob awoke from sleep and

said, surely the Lord is in this

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place, and I did not know it.

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Then Jacob made a vow saying, if God

will be with me and will keep me in

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this way, that I go and will give me

bread to eat and clothing to wear, so

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that I come again to my father's house

in peace, then the Lord shall be my God

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This is one of those times again

where looking to the Hebrew names

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of God is really going to give us

an indicator of Jacob's heart when

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he says, surely the Lord was in

this place and I didn't know it.

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He uses Yahweh, the Covenant God name.

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But at the end when he says, if

God will keep me safe and bless

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me, then the Lord shall be my God.

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So he is saying, if this happens,

then Yahweh will be my God.

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And we don't see him refer

to God as Yahweh throughout

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the next several chapters.

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He always refers to him as the God

of Abraham or the fear of Isaac.

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Be on the lookout as we keep

reading to see when and how Jacob's

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heart embraces God for himself

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And as Jacob Obediently honors his parents

to go look for a spouse, Esau decides to

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take yet another wife from Ishmael's Line.

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We see over and over that Jacob's line

is the line of the righteous seed, but

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Esau's line is the unrighteous seed.

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Esau's line often represents

the desires of the flesh.

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Jacob does find a woman.

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He wants to make his wife.

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And he approaches her father.

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In chapter 29, beginning in verse

18, Jacob loved Rachel and he

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said, I will serve you seven

years for your younger daughter.

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Rachel Laben said, it is better

that I give her to you than that I

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should give her to any other man.

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Stay with me.

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So Jacob served seven years for Rachel

and they seemed to him, but a few days

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because of the love he had for her.

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Then Jacob said to Leman, give

me my wife, that I may go into

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her for my time is completed.

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So Leman gathered together all the

people of the place and made a feast.

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But in the evening he took his

daughter Leah and brought her to

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Jacob, and he went into her Leman,

gave his female servant Zpa to his

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daughter Leah, to be her servant.

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And in the morning, behold, it

was Leah and Jacob said to Laben.

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What is this that you have done to me?

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Did I not serve with you for Rachel?

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Why then have you deceived me?

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Laben said it is not so done

in our country to give the

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younger before the firstborn.

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Complete the week of this one

and we will give you the other.

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Also in return for serving me

another seven years, Jacob

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did so and completed her week.

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Then Laben gave him his

daughter, Rachel, to be his wife.

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Laben gave his female servant Boha to

his daughter Rachel, to be her servant.

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So Jacob went into Rachel also, and

he loved Rachel more than Leah, and

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served Laben for another seven years.

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When the Lord saw that Leah

was hated, he opened her womb.

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But Rachel was barren and Leah conceived

and Boris's son, and she called his

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name Reuben for she said, because the

Lord has looked upon my affliction

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for now my husband will love me.

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She conceived again and Boris's

son and said, because the Lord

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has heard that I am hated.

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He has given me this son also and

she called his name Simeon again.

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She conceived and bore a son and said,

now, this time my husband will be attached

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to me because I have born him three sons.

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Therefore his name was called Levi, and

she conceived again and bore a son and

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said, this time I will praise the Lord.

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Therefore, she called his name Judah.

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Then she ceased bearing.

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Jacob seems to have met his match here

with Laben Laben tricks and deceives him.

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And how can we not see the irony

when Laben says it is not so

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done in our country to give the

younger before the firstborn?

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I mean, that's the story of Jacob's life.

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This is not God's original plan at all,

and we see disaster written all over it.

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One Corinthians 13 tells

us that love is patient.

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It must have been a deep love that

Jacob had for Rachel that he was willing

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to work so hard and so long for her.

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We'll see an absolute contrast

to that in tomorrow's reading.

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When we're told that Leah had weak eyes.

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Some translations say her eyes

were delicate, it could have meant

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that she had lighter eyes

as opposed to the dark eyes.

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That would've been more prevalent amongst

cultures at that time . It's something

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that's often prized today, but it may

have allowed her to be less preferred

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yet the Lord is consistent in being the

God who sees and hears, particularly

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with these women that have

been cast off by others.

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Jacob May have loved Rachel more

than Leah, but the Lord didn't.

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The progression of the way

that she names her children.

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Is really indicative of her heart.

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For the first three children, she's

focused on her husband's response.

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But the fourth child, when she says,

this time, I will praise the Lord.

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It's really beautiful because this

fourth child, is the messianic line.

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Jesus will be born.

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Through Leah's line,

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she even has two more sons.

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We see an interesting story about

the speckled and the spotted lamps.

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God promised that he would be with

Jacob and that he would bring him back

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to safety, and he has blessed him, but

it's not been in the absence of trials.

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It's an important reminder for us

that the presence of the Lord is our

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greatest blessing on this earth, but

it doesn't mean that we'll be spared

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from injustices or tribulation.

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He's a rescuer and a redeemer, but he

doesn't always spares from difficulties.

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It seems to me that Jacob learns to

honor Leah more as time goes on.

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He consults with her when he decides

what to do about the way that Laben

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is deceiving him over and over,

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In chapter 32, as Jacob praised that God

would protect him, and he says, please

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deliver me from the hand of my brother,

for I fear him that he may come and

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attack me, the mothers and the children,

he's praying for Leah's protection.

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I think we're given some hints that

he grew in the way he treated her.

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Still, we can't shy away from the

fact that Jacob certainly was given

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to favoritism and God is going to

use even that to redeem his people.

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In chapter 32, verse 24, Jacob was

left alone and a man wrestled with

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him until the breaking of the day.

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When the man saw that he did not

prevail against Jacob, he touched his

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hip socket and Jacob's hip was put

out of joint as he wrestled with him.

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Then he said, let me go

for the day as broken.

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But Jacob said, I will not let

you go unless you bless me.

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And he said to him, what is your name?

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And he said, Jacob.

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Then he said, your name shall no

longer be called Jacob, but Israel,

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for you have striven with God

and with men and have prevailed.

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Then Jacob asked him, please tell

me your name, but he said, why

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is it that you asked my name?

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And there he blessed him.

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So Jacob called the name of the place,

penal saying, for I have seen God face to

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face, and yet my life has been delivered.

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The commentaries I've studied are quite

convinced that this was the angel of the

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Lord meaning the pre-incarnate Jesus.

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There are several reasons for this,

but one indicator is the name change.

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I God changed Jacob's name to Israel

and it means he struggles with God.

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And if you look at Jose 12 four, if

you wanna do a little extra research,

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there's additional insight on the life

of Jacob and on this wrestling match.

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it may not be sitting right

with you as you hear that Jacob

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prevailed against the man.

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Well, prevailed doesn't

necessarily mean that Jacob won.

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It means he prevailed in receiving the

blessing that he just didn't give up.

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And at the end where it says, yet

my life has been preserved, it

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might be better translated, and

my soul has been rescued or saved.

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Jacob's life has been characterized

by striving with God and with

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man, but he hasn't given up.

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There's definitely some character

growth in terms of integrity and

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honesty, but we know how nervous he

is to meet his brother, and we'll

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hear how that reunion goes tomorrow.

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But I wonder if all of this

anxiety was pent up in him.

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And if the Lord allowed this wrestling

match to be something that brought his

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body and his soul peace and trusting

in God's plan for him to come back

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to his home and face his brother,

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we can be thankful that we

serve a God that will wrestle

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with us until we submit to him.

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As St.

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Augustine said, our souls are restless.

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Until they find their rest in him.

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Let's pray.

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Heavenly Father, today we come

before you asking for integrity

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to reign in our homes, both in

ourselves and in our children.

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As Jacob said, surely the Lord was in

this place and I did not realize it.

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I pray that we would live lives that

would indicate that we understand you are

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everywhere and that we would live for you.

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Help this reality to impact all that we

do and say, whether it's the tone and

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the way we speak to our children and

our spouses, and the way that we handle

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the stress and the overwhelm of life,

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and we pray.

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That it would impact what our

children say and do, that they would

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be drawn to honor you because they

sense how real and true you are.

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Thank you, Jesus, that as you were

ascending into heaven, you said that

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you would always be with us, and that

Hebrews tells us that you will never,

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never, never leave us or forsake us.

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May that reality give

us an unshakeable peace.

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In your mighty name, Jesus we pray.

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Amen.