It's day 22 of the Heart Dive 365. I am your Bible study friend, Kanoi. Welcome to the Heart Dive podcast. Well, today we are in Genesis chapters 30 and 31, where we are witnessing the power struggle between the two sisters, Rachel and Leah, and then also between Jacob and his father-in-law Laban. But before we get into it, just one quick reminder that if you ever wonder, where in the world did she get that information? I do have all of the references listed below of the three main sources that I am using in this Bible study, so you can check that out if you ever want to refer to any of those.
wonderful study sources. Now, I will say that I don't agree 100% with everything that is written in those books. I always say we all have to be personally responsible and diligent in our own studying and not simply relying on secondhand knowledge. Like, the Word of God is our ultimate commentary. It's our ultimate source.
But of course, we have teachers and scholars who have gone before us, done the dirty work, done the hard work to help us better understand that. But sometimes those interpretations can be a little bit skewed or maybe different than what we believe or what our heart feels is right. So the main thing is that we never waver from the gospel, but there may be some disagreements with other parts of theology. And I think we just have to be conscious of that.
And just remember that we're in the same direction. We're on the same boat. And with that said, let us pray and get into it. Heavenly Father, thank you so much for this time that we get to spend with you. Oh Lord, will you just hear our hearts cry today that we want to know you more.
As we open up your word today, I pray you will open up our hearts to be able to receive the seeds that you are about to plant. Lord, we know that you have a specific word to be spoken to us every single time we draw near to you. Even if it is just one word that makes no sense. that doesn't even apply to the word, the fact that we have been obedient to come into this space, to be in your presence, opens up the channels for you to be able to come in and do your work.
And so I pray that you'll do that today. And I pray that we will be obedient to it. Taking whatever you have spoken, then applying it to our lives in a way, Lord, that will guide us in your righteousness.
Thank you so much for... lighting our path, Lord, for allowing the word to be that headlamp for us. And so I pray as you do illuminate our path, Lord, that we will take steps toward your goodness and in your purpose for our lives.
Forgive us, Lord, where we have gone off the path. I pray that you will bring us back, Lord. We give you full permission to always grab us. by the shoulders and yank us back in line. And when we say that we're giving you permission, Lord, it is not us saying that we actually are in authority over you.
But what we are saying is we're no longer wanting to take control of our lives, but we want to give full control to you because we know that when we have done that in the past, Lord, it has led us in all kinds of directions. We want to be in your direction today, in your flow. And so I just pray that you will do that today.
And Lord, if there's any pride in us, any anxiety, any worry, any fear, anything at all that is blocking our ability to be able to hear clearly from you, will you just remove that today, Lord? Will you come and just infiltrate our spirit, our minds, take captive our thoughts, Lord, so that we do not get derailed and do not get distracted. So I just pray that you will bless every single person here today.
I pray for unity in this space, Lord. And I pray, God, that your love will cover everything we do in thought. in action and deed.
We love you so much, Lord, and I just pray that everything we do will be glorifying to you. So be blessed in this moment. We love you in Jesus'name. Amen.
All right, chapter 30. When Rachel saw that she bore Jacob no children, she envied her sister, and she said to Jacob, give me children or I shall die. So this word envy here is actually saying she was raging inside. And this fascinates me that Rachel who has probably been in the limelight and highly favored her whole life because of her beauty, suddenly feels as though she will die if she doesn't have children. That's the thing that she is putting all of her identity in.
And to give her a little bit of credit, back in this day, if you were not able to have children, that would have been considered a curse. And sadly, it will be childbirth that actually ends up taking her life. But such is the case in our human nature that the more we get, the more we want. We think that if we can just get that job, then we'll be happy.
Or maybe if we have a baby, then our lives will be complete. Or if we could just get over this hump in life, then life will get easier. But we get on the other side only to be met with yet another unmet need. And this is why Paul says he has learned to be content in every circumstance. Because it doesn't come naturally.
And if we're looking at what everyone else has and then comparing it to what's in front of us or or what we lack, then we'll never get there. And I think that if we remove other people out of the equation in our minds, it actually might be a lot easier to be content with what we have. So heart check, do you have an if only then I'll be happy in your heart? And if you were the only one left on earth, would you still feel the same?
Now remember when I said yesterday that I was rooting for Rachel in my early 20s? This usually was the point where I would stop rooting for her because I just thought, wow, you're really starting to look a little bratty. But that was also my 20-something-year-old self talking. So verse 2, Jacob's anger was kindled against Rachel.
And he said, am I in the place of God who has withheld from you the fruit of the womb? So he's like, do you really think this is my fault? Then she said, here's my servant Bilhah, go into her so that she may give birth on my behalf, that even I may have children through her. Now, mind you, this would have actually been an accepted cultural practice in society, not by God.
But this was normal back in the day to give your servant as a surrogate for you if you were barren. So she gave him her servant Bilhah as a wife and Jacob went into her. And Bilhah conceived and bore Jacob a son.
Then Rachel said, God has judged me and has also heard my voice and given me a son. Therefore, she called his name Dan, which sounds like the word for judged. So in a sense, she feels as though she's been vindicated.
Rachel's servant Bilhah conceived again and bore Jacob a second son. Then Rachel said, with mighty wrestlings, I have wrestled with my sister and have prevailed. So she called his name Naphtali, which sounds like the Hebrew word for wrestling.
Now, when Leah saw that she had ceased bearing children, she took her servant Zilpah and gave her to Jacob as a wife. So you can kind of see this struggle going on here, like tit for tat. Then Leah's servant Zilpah bore Jacob a son. And Leah said, good fortune has come.
So she called his name Gad, which sounds like good fortune. Leah's servant Zilpah bore Jacob a second son and Leah said, happy am I for women have called me happy. So she called his name Asher, which of course means happy. I've always loved that name. I used to want to name my kid Asher because I just thought that'd be a wonderful name to name a child.
Well, in the days of wheat harvest, Reuben went and found mandrakes in the field and brought them to his mother Leah. So mandrakes were an herb back in this day and they would sprout these little red fruit that looked like apples. And so they would call these the love apples because they believed that it acted as an aphrodisiac and would help in fertility. Then Rachel said to Leah, please give me some of your son's mandrakes.
But she said to her, is it a small matter that you've taken away my husband? Would you take away my son's mandrakes also? And Rachel said, then he may lie with you tonight in exchange for your son's mandrakes. So when Jacob came from the field in the evening, Leah went out to meet him and said, you must come into me for I have hired you with my son's mandrakes. So she has basically bought an evening with her husband by the payment of her son's mandrakes to Rachel.
This just seems so weird. So he lay with her that night and God listened to Leah and she conceived and bore Jacob, a fifth son. And Leah said, God has given me my wages or my reward because I gave my servant to my husband.
So he called him Issachar. And Leah conceived again and she bore Jacob a sixth son. Then Leah said, God has endowed me with a good endowment.
Now my husband will honor me because I have born him six sons. So again, just as we spoke about yesterday, she is wanting to bear children for the sake of getting her husband to love and to honor her. So she called his name Zebulun. Afterwards, she bore a daughter and called her name Dinah, which I believe Dinah means judgment.
Then God remembered Rachel, and God listened to her, so He heard her pleas and opened her womb. This is a wonderful promise because I know there's a lot of people out there who are believing for and waiting for a child, so hold on to that promise if God has spoken that over you. She conceived and bore a son and said, God has taken away my reproach. And she called his name Joseph, saying, May the Lord add to me another son.
So Joseph means, may he add. And some scholars say this is her saying that she wants more kids after she just got the one. But I'd prefer to take the route of believing that she is just simply grateful for the one son, this miracle child that she has.
Now, as soon as Rachel had born Joseph, Jacob said to Laban, send me away that I may go to my own home and country. in the promised land. Give me my wives and my children for whom I have served you, that I may go, for you know the service that I have given you.
So why is he having to ask Laban for permission? Well, usually whenever a man did not have sons but only had daughters, he would then adopt the son-in-law to become the principal heir. So it seemed as though he may have done this because at the time of this marriage, he didn't have sons. Now, we know later on, and we will see in chapter 31, he does have sons, but perhaps at the time of Jacob marrying the two daughters, there weren't any sons. So, that's why he has to ask.
But Laban said to him, if I have found favor in your side, I have learned by divination, so this goes to show that he's not a full-on believer because he's practicing divination, that the Lord has blessed me because of you. So, he sees the power of God in the life of Jacob, which is a wonderful thing because this tells us, that the way that we conduct ourselves and the way that we live can even minister to unbelievers. Name your wages and I will give it.
I'm sure this put a sour taste in his mouth because remember, he said this whenever he was trying to marry Rachel. Jacob said to him, you yourself know how I have served you and how your livestock has fared with me. For you have had little before I came and it has increased abundantly and the Lord has blessed you wherever I turned. But now when shall I provide for my own household also? He said, what shall I give you?
And Jacob said, you shall not give me anything. If you will do this for me, I will again pasture your flock and keep it. So he's saying, if you let me move away into my homeland, I will still work for you. Let me pass through all your flock today, removing from it every speckled and spotted sheep and every black lamb and the spotted and speckled among the goats, and they shall be my wages. So he is putting himself in the lesser position because spotted and speckled.
flocks would have actually been very rare in those days. So Laban has the advantage here because the solid animals would have actually been the higher valued animals. Verse 33, so my honesty will answer for me later when you come to look into my wages with you. Don't you just wish we could go back to the day where honesty was so highly valued?
I mean, it feels as though today we are swimming in this endless sea of disinformation, skepticism. conspiracy theories, and it just gets harder and harder to decipher truth. This is where we have to stay anchored in the Word.
This is the truth that we can stand on. And what truly matters for us is that we keep our hearts integrous, and we allow our honesty to give an answer whenever our words are not sufficient. So, Heart Check, how honest is your heart? Could your honesty answer for you if your words could not?
And Jacob continues, everyone that is not speckled and spotted among the goats and black among the lambs, if found with me shall be counted stolen. And Laban said, good, let it be as you have said. So he agrees with this. He's like, yep, I love this idea.
But that day Laban removed the male goats that were striped and spotted and all the female goats that were speckled and spotted, everyone that had white on it and every lamb that was black and put them in the charge of his sons. So he is now being as deceitful as Jacob is. And he set a distance of three days journey between himself and Jacob and Jacob pastured the rest of Laban's flock.
So he put about a 60 mile distance between them. Then Jacob took fresh sticks of poplar and almond and plane trees and peeled white streaks in them, exposing the whites of the sticks. He set the sticks that he had peeled in front of the flocks in the troughs, that is the watering places where the flocks came to drink. So this was...
an act of symbolism here. And the flocks bred in front of the sticks, and so the flocks brought forth stripes, speckled and spotted. And I was like, was this some just supernatural event?
Like, how did this all work out? It never really tells us, but we know that it did. God obviously in control here. And Jacob separated the lambs and set the faces of the flocks toward the striped and all the black in the flock of Laban. He put his own droves apart and did not put them with Laban's flock.
Whenever the stronger of the flock were breeding, Jacob would lay the sticks in the troughs before the eyes of the flock that they might breed among the sticks. But for the feebler of the flock, he would not lay them there. So, the feebler would be Laban's and the stronger Jacob's.
Thus, the man increased greatly and had large flocks, female servants and male servants, and camels and donkeys as promised. So, in the end, we see God's promise being fulfilled both through the descendants of Abraham and Jacob. as well as Jacob's prosperity. And God's purpose will always prevail.
But here we see a contrast of both manipulation and partnership with God. You see, Jacob had an incredible work ethic and clearly was not working to make Forbes 30 under 30, or maybe in this case, 80 under 80. His goal was not to be wealthy, as we saw that he took the lesser of the flock. But he also wasn't sitting back and just saying, Jesus, take the wheel. I mean, he got his hands dirty and he was faithful in his prayers and his dedication to not only his flock, but also to his employers. And as dirty as Laban was to him, Jacob still honored him and he still worked hard for him.
But the main ingredient was that Jacob trusted that God would be the source of his increase. So heart check, how is your work ethic? Where is God in the equation of your success?
Chapter 31. Now Jacob heard that the sons of Laban were saying, Jacob has taken all that was our father's, and from what was our father's he has gained all this wealth. And Jacob saw that Laban did not regard him with favor as before. So this whole issue is so twisted.
I mean, Jacob, he hasn't taken anything. What's happening is that his wealth is increasing, and therefore the brothers are growing more and more envious, and therefore twisting the truth. Because envy will do that.
It will begin to distort reality in such a way that will turn your heart toward believing a lie. And now they've dragged Laban into the mix, which is making him uncomfortable with the deal that he was previously pleased with. So if you ever feel the need to bring accusation against someone, or maybe if you are led to go and tattle, maybe check your heart first to see if there's anything screaming, it's not fair, or I need attention. This is the root of envy.
It's based on selfishness and maybe not getting something that you think you deserve. So, heart check, is there anything in your life that you feel you deserve that someone else has? Verse 3, Then the Lord said to Jacob, Return to the land of your fathers and to your kindred, and I will be with you.
So, his situation has clearly soured here, which is leading him to want to get out of Dodge. And now God is giving him a confirmation through a word to be able to return to that land. So he's, in a sense, repeating the promise once again to him.
So Jacob sent and called Rachel and Leah into the field where his flock was and said to them, I see that your father does not regard me with favor as he did before. But the God of my father has been with me. You know that I have served your father with all my strength. Yet your father has cheated me and changed my wages 10 times. Now, keep note.
how many times Jacob will call his father-in-law a cheater, which honestly is pretty ironic considering the meaning of his name being deceiver and the way that he cheated his own brother. But oftentimes this will be the case. I mean, the very things that we struggle with the most will be the things that we see in other people. We tend to have a mirror mentality and this can be a good thing, but it can also be a very bad thing if we don't know what to do with that reflection. You see, the enemy loves to put a fun house mirror in front of us so that everything will be distorted.
And then our instinct will be to then go and point out all of those twisted flaws that we see in ourselves in other people. But if we can take that image and return the same grace and mercy that our Father gives to us, that mirror will be beneficial. So heart check, what flaws do you see the most in other people? And do they reflect what you're dealing with in your own life? And so Jacob continues in his speech saying, but God did not permit him to harm me.
So God protected him. If he said, the spotted shall be your wages, then all the flock bore spotted. And if he said, the stripes shall be your wages, then all the flock bore striped. Thus God has taken away the livestock of your father and given them to me.
In the breeding season of the flock, I lifted up my eyes and saw in a dream. that the goats that mated with the flock were striped, spotted, and mottled. Then the angel of God said to me in the dream, Jacob, and I said, here I am.
And he said, lift up your eyes and see all the goats that mate with the flock are striped, spotted, and mottled. For I have seen all that Laban is doing to you. I am the God of Bethel, where you anointed a pillar and made a vow to me.
So basically where you were worshiping Jacob, I saw you there. Now arise, go out from this land and return to the land of your kindred. Then Rachel and Leah answered and said to him, Is there any portion of inheritance left to us in our father's house?
Are we not regarded by him as foreigners? For he has sold us, and he has indeed devoured our money. All the wealth that God has taken away from our father belongs to us and to our children.
Now then, whatever God has said to you, do. So here he is getting a second confirmation. He got the word from the Lord, and now his wives are confirming that very word.
And it's interesting here that Rachel and Leah are finally agreeing on something. And thank God they are uniting in the purpose of fighting against the enemy, in a sense. So we can always have disagreements. But as long as we know who the real enemy is and what he's trying to do to divide us, then that is the most important thing. So Jacob arose and set his sons and his wives on camels.
And he drove away all his livestock and all his property that he had gained, the livestock in his possession that he had acquired in Paddan Aram. to go to the land of Canaan to his father Isaac. Laban had gone to shear his sheep, and Rachel stole her father's household gods. So, this goes to tell us that they were either polytheistic, which if you remember from your 7th grade history class, that means the worship of many gods, or they could have been henotheistic, which still believes in many gods, but that Yahweh is also in existence, and he is a god above other gods. But why is Rachel doing this?
Why did she steal the household gods? No one really knows. I saw a lot of different theories out there. The two that seemed to stand out to me was that either she was trying to retain that right for Jacob, because typically the one who had the household gods would have been the principal heir, so she may have been trying to preserve that. But also, it could have been that she was trying to keep her father from idolatry, perhaps.
Or she could have just simply believed in the household gods and worshipped them. So those were the three that I said, okay, those would make the most sense. I don't really know, though, the answer as to why she did it.
Doesn't really ever say. And Jacob tricked Laban the Aramean by not telling him that he intended to flee. So he's trying to secretly get out of there. He fled with all that he had and arose and crossed the Euphrates and set his face toward the hill country of Gilead. Now, when it was told Laban on the third day, So there was some distance between them that it took three days for Laban to find this out that Jacob had fled.
He took his kinsmen with him and pursued him for seven days and followed close after him into the hill country of Gilead. But God came to Laban, the Aramean in a dream by night and said to him, be careful not to say anything to Jacob, either good or bad. So God is clearly protecting Jacob here by speaking this to Laban and Laban overtook Jacob. Now, Jacob had pitched his tent in the hill country, and Laban, with his kinsmen, pitched tents in the hill country of Gilead.
And Laban said to Jacob, What have you done that you have tricked me and driven away my daughters like captives of the sword? So here again, mirror mentality, right? Like he's all about the fact that Jacob is tricking him, but not worried so much about the fact that he has tricked Jacob. Why did you flee secretly and trick me and did not tell me so that I might have sent you away with mirth and songs, with tambourine and lyre? And I'm like, lies.
Those are all lies. You would not have done that. And why did you not permit me to kiss my sons and my daughters farewell? Now you have done foolishly. It is in my power to do you harm.
But the God of your father spoke to me last night saying, be careful not to say anything to Jacob, either good or bad. And now you have gone away because you have longed greatly for your father's house. but why did you steal my gods?
And Jacob answered and said to Laban, because I was afraid, for I thought that you would take your daughters from me by force. So here we see that Jacob is simply confessing, not trying to make any excuses, just saying, I was scared. And fear will do that.
Fear will lead us to do foolish things. Anyone with whom you find your God shall not live. In the presence of your kinsmen, point out what I have that isn't yours and take it. Now, Jacob did not know that Rachel had stolen them.
So, he's declaring innocence here, but technically not innocent because of the fact that Rachel stole the gods. So, Laban went into Jacob's tent and into Leah's tent and into the tent of the two female servants, which by the way, everybody having their own tents means they were very wealthy, but he did not find them. And he went out of Leah's tent and entered Rachel's. Uh-oh. Now, Rachel had taken the household gods and put them in the camel's saddle and sat on them.
And Laban felt all about the tent, but he did not find them. And she said to her father, let not my Lord be angry that I cannot rise before you for the way of women is upon me. So in other words, as my sweet niece says it, she saw a parrot. See, my niece has Down syndrome.
I just love her. And that's the way that she says that she has her period. I saw a parrot.
So we always say, I saw a parrot this week. So he searched, but did not find the household gods. In that day, it would have actually been taboo for a man to make a woman stand if she was on her period, if she saw a parrot. Then Jacob became angry and berated Laban. So, we're talking 20 years of pent-up anger here.
Jacob said to Laban, what is my offense? What is my sin that you have hotly pursued me? Now, sin means to miss the mark. Offense might be in your translation as trespass, if you ever... said the prayer, forgive our trespasses.
Trespass actually means to step over the line. So there is a difference between sin and trespass. Sin, again, means to, you kind of missed the mark, you didn't do the right thing, you landed in the wrong spot. Trespass means you actually stepped over the boundary line of which you were not supposed to go.
For you have felt through all my goods, what have you found of all your household goods? Set it here before my kinsmen and your kinsmen, that they may decide between us too. These 20 years I have been with you.
Your ewes and your female goats have not miscarried, and I have not eaten the rams of your flocks. What was torn by wild beasts I did not bring to you. I bore the loss of it myself. From my hand you required it, whether stolen by day or stolen by night. There I was, by day the heat consumed me, and the cold by night and my sleep fled from my eyes.
So he's like, I worked so hard for you. I took the loss whenever there was one. I was the one suffering the extremes of the weather out there.
These twenty years I have been in your house, and I served you fourteen years for your two daughters and six years for your flock, and you have changed my wages ten times. If the God of my father, the God of Abraham, and the fear of Isaac had not been on my side, surely now you would have sent me away empty-handed. God saw my affliction and the labor of my hands and rebuked rebuked you last night.
And this is one of those things that I hold on to. You know, if I ever feel like I am being wronged, I just hang on to the hope that God is going to make it right. Then Laban answered and said to Jacob, the daughters are my daughters.
The children are my children. The flocks are my flocks. And all that you see is mine. I just said, wow. Okay.
But what can I do this day for these, my daughters or for their children whom they have born? Come now, let us make a covenant, you and I. and let it be a witness between you and me. So this would be a parity treaty, parity covenant, two equals on each side coming together in agreement, and it would serve as a lasting reminder between the two of them. That's what it means by it would be a witness.
So Jacob took a stone and set it up as a pillar. And Jacob said to his kinsmen, gather stones. And they took stones and made a heap as a memorial, and they ate there by the heap. Laban called it Jigar Seyaduthah, but Jacob called it Gilead. Laban said, this heap is a witness between you and me today.
Therefore, he named it Gilead and Mizpah. Mizpah means outlook point or watch post. For he said, the Lord watched between you and me when we are out of one another's sight.
So in other words, he's saying, I don't trust you as far as I can throw you. So this is going to be a witness. Now, I don't know if you've ever seen this. verse taken out of context before, the Lord watched between you and me. It's been written on cards and on jewelry as like a romantic gesture.
But when you look at the context of it, I'm like, I would not be wanting to wear that. And it sounds sweet and all, the Lord watched between you and me, but I'm like, wrong. Totally out of context. If you oppress my daughters, or if you take wives beside my daughters, although no one is with us, see, God is witness between you and me. Then Laban said to Jacob, see this heap and the pillar, which I have set between you and me.
This heap is a witness and the pillar is a witness. So it's like a double witness here that I will not pass over this heap to you and you will not pass over this heap and this pillar to me to do harm. The God of Abraham and the God of Nahor, the God of their father judged between us.
So Jacob swore by the fear of his father, Isaac, and Jacob offered a sacrifice in the hill country and called his kinsmen to eat bread. They ate bread and spent the night in the hill country. So, in other words, they are saying, don't cross the line.
This is our boundary mark. And this kind of goes to show that there's definitely some purpose in what God had intended when He said in the beginning that man shall leave his father and his mother to become one with his wife. You know, my husband and I, when we moved here to Las Vegas, I mean, we raised our children pretty much in the household of our parents. I mean, they were such an essential part. and we needed their help in raising our kids.
And there was a little bit of worry, I think, whenever we decided to up and move to Las Vegas. I mean, I kind of feel like they were worried that maybe we couldn't do it on our own, but it really, in the end, was such a healthy thing to have that boundary between us because then they are able to kind of let go a little bit and say, wow, these kids are able to fly on their own. They are able to flourish.
So there is... Goodness in separating and creating a boundary. It's a very healthy thing to do. Not saying that's why we moved away, but we definitely see now how that benefited the relationships with our parents.
Even though there's some days that I wish I could just call my mama up and send my kids on over to her house like I used to. Now I got to send them on a plane 3,000 miles away. But anyway, I digress.
Verse 55, early in the morning, Laban arose and he kissed his grandchildren and his daughters and blessed them. He didn't kiss Jacob. Then Laban departed and he returned home. So, throughout all of this, we can see once again, the providence of God, the loving care that he has on Jacob and his family to be able to allow his purposes to prevail. Such a beautiful thing to see, regardless of their manipulation, regardless of when they went wayward and didn't do things God's way.
And I know a lot of the time I'll sit here and question, why did they do that? Or, How could they do that? And someone brought up a good point.
They said, who are we to question what God is going to do in His purpose? But then I thought about it and I said, actually, it's good to question because then it teaches us what not to do. Because again, God's purposes will always prevail regardless of whether or not we are in line with Him and we are in His flow.
He's going to do it through somebody else if He has to. But when we question what others did in the Bible, we can say, okay, that, I don't want to go that direction. I actually think I would do it this way instead. So it's a good thing for us to be questioning and wrestling with the word.
It's very healthy, I believe. Not questioning what God has done, but questioning what people have done. So with that, let's ask some more questions in our deep dive.
Do you believe Jacob's anger in chapter 30 was righteous? Why or why not? Do you still believe in God's sovereignty over the womb of a woman? And where does modern fertility treatment or birth control fit into this?
How do we reconcile God's sovereignty with our own efforts? Do you believe Jacob's anger in chapter 31 was warranted? And why do you think Laban's attitude toward Jacob was ever-changing? What drove this change? So Heavenly Father, we thank you so much once again for your providence, the providential care over our lives.
We can clearly see how your purpose will always prevail despite our own selfishness or our manipulation of a situation or where we become envious or just outright waywardness. I pray that we will always listen to your guidance so that we will not delay your plans. Open our hearts and minds today, Lord, so we will have unobstructed airwaves for you to be able to communicate to us.
I pray for dreams and visions to be awakened within us. We believe that you can still speak to us in this way, Lord. Help us to have discernment to know when it is your voice or when it is our own.
And forgive us where we may have grown envious of other people. I pray that you will help us to stay focused and in our own lane so that we won't be pulled into the comparison trap of what others are doing and worried that we aren't living up to the standards that maybe they are. We know that you deal with each of us uniquely and not everyone is called to do and have what someone else does. So I pray that we will see and know what you have allotted to us for our portion, fully trusting that you will equip us to properly live it out. And help us not to be judgmental of others, especially of their lives and what they have, but instead see them through the lens of grace, where we feel the need to tear someone down.
I pray, Holy Spirit, that you will stop us in our tracks and make us look within ourselves to ask what the purpose is in doing it. And I pray that we will live out lives of honesty and integrity so that we will never feel the need to have to defend ourselves. We know that you are our defender, so may we be at peace in that today.
May our honesty answer for us in the face of opposition. And should someone mistreat us in the process, show us how to respond and what to do, what to say. Keep us humble and focused on our task at hand.
We know that the enemy will try to derail us and drive us to fear that we will be left with nothing if we don't do it his way or our way, but you are so much more powerful than that. And we know that you will always come through. And if there is anyone facing a decision today to flee or to leave, whether it is in a job or a place in which they live, will you give them a word of direction today? Give them confirmation, surround them with people with wise counsel.
So not only will that word come through your written word and by your Holy Spirit, but also through people. And I pray that your peace will guide their decision in the end. Help us, Lord, to have a clear view of our own motives, our desires, and our desires. and our shortcomings so that when we see it in others, we won't lash out, but rather heap grace upon grace, just the same way that you deal with us. So we thank you for that, Lord, for we are so heavily flawed and in desperate need of that grace every single day.
Help us to see truth for what it is and not give way to the lie or the distortion that the enemy will try to make us see. And help us not to be led by fear right into that trap of foolishness, but may our faith in your protection. Guide us as we walk in the footsteps of your presence that goes before us.
We know that your eyes are always on us, and therefore we can press on in this life as we head toward our own homeland in heaven. So we thank you so much for this promise today. We love you.
In Jesus'name, amen. Heaven and salvation is a divine gift that is given to us by grace. None of us deserve it.
In fact, the Bible says that the wages of sin is death. And every single one of us have fallen short, and then we desperately need someone to pay that price. And Jesus did it. He didn't do it because we are righteous on our own merit. He did it because he loves us, and he wants to spend eternity with us.
But it won't happen if we don't receive him before we leave this earth as Lord and Savior. Hell is a very real thing, and there is no second chance after we take our last breath here. So I want to be able to give someone.
the opportunity today who is saying, I'm ready. I've never given my life to Christ. I don't know where I'm going to end up after I die, but I don't want to live another day without knowing beyond a shadow of a doubt where I am going to end up. I see now that this is real and I want to believe. So if that is you, we're going to say a prayer and I'm going to put the words on the screen so that you can say them audibly with your mouth because the Bible says that when you believe and confess with your mouth, that Jesus is Lord and that he died and rose again, then you will be saved.
So we're going to say this prayer together. Believe it in your heart, speak it with your mouth, and know that this is indeed the day of your salvation. Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for Jesus. Jesus, thank you for dying for me.
I believe that you came, you died, and you rose again. I confess my sins to you today, and I turn from them. And I now live my life for you. I know that I am forgiven of all my sins.
So I receive you now as Lord and Savior, and I belong to you, Jesus. I pray these things in Jesus'name. Amen.