Bible In One Year –Day 18 (January 18, 2014)

Jacob lived two lives; the ‘disquieted and the quieted’ lives. Disquietedness entered his life when he cunningly took advantage of his brother’s weakness. Deliverance came into his life after he prayed and offered to pay the restitution of what he collected from his brother, Esau (Gen32), the Angel of deliverance met with him. From that time he started living a quiet life; he became broken.

KJV-R (Webster) Genesis 32:11-13 “Deliver me, I pray thee, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau: for I fear him, lest he will come and smite me, and the mother with the children. And thou saidst, I will surely do thee good, and make thy seed as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude. And he lodged there that same night; and took of that which came to his hand a present for Esau his brother;”

Jacob’s life history never ended with the death of his father, rather, since the experience with God, his life changed; he began to live a life of quietness. The Lord will give you His quietness in the name of Jesus. When God gave Jacob quietness in his wrestle with the Angel, Esau had no option but to be at peace with Jacob;

Job 34:29 “When he giveth quietness, who then can make trouble? and when he hideth his face, who then can behold him? whether it be done against a nation, or against a man only:”

When you read chapter 33 (precisely v8-9) you will realize that God had touched the heart of Esau before he met Jacob. The lesson is that we should not give up but wrestle in prayers for God’s quietness. Jacob was trying to bribe his conscience with all the activities of chapter32 (v1-23), but we could see in his prayers that he came out humbly to God;

Genesis 32:10 “I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies, and of all the truth, which thou hast shewed unto thy servant; for with my staff I passed over this Jordan; and now I am become two bands.”

If we want to live a quiet life, we must not bribe our conscience but correct what is wrong. If the heart is noisy, there will be restlessness outside. The voice of our spirit is the conscience.

Our reading, Gen37-39, started with Joseph. The nation, according to God’s word, had been established. The next thing is the fulfillment of Gen15:7-14, which is part of God’s plan. Joseph was enlisted for that. May God use you to carry out His plan in your generation in the name of Jesus. His word shall surely come to pass, Matt24:35. Just like Jacob, Joseph’s character needed some pruning and discipline to prepare him for the great responsibilities in God’s plan. Though he was living a life of honesty, he had attitude that needed to be checked. He had to go through the school of God. He got a vision but had no wisdom (which he needed if he would wear the crown). His father thought he could be of help; instead, he put him in more trouble with his brothers. In my study of the life of Joseph, I guess the father should have worked on his attitude as a parent and not to decorate (pamper) the bad attitude with tunic of many colors. Many parents defend the errors of their children instead of making prompt correction. Some over trust and love them at the detriment of the children future. The wrong you refuse to correct now will definitely grow bigger in their lives and become giants of concerns. Many have been decorated with positions instead of working on the character; i.e. putting right (crucial) responsibilities in the hand of wrong character and unbroken spirits. Joseph had no regard for his seniors; his relationship with his siblings was horrible and full of pride. His attitude introduced hatred and enmity in his father’s house. The lack of godly wisdom is what is breaking families, churches and ministries apart today. Polygamous families face this problems; pride, envy, jealousy, hatred and resentment etc. Though Joseph was enlisted as a vessel in God’s plan, his heart (i.e. the motive to gain father’s favor) and character (how he relates to people) was not prepared for the plan. He helped his father to gain control of activities of the seniors on the field, and, so the father decorated him. But, unfortunately, Joseph lacked the wisdom to do what his father wanted to achieve through him and the wisdom to accomplish God’s plan. He had the trademark of leadership but lacked the spirit. He needed to go through the College of God Almighty. Joseph inherited the grace of prophetic dreams from his father and, I guess, this was how the mantle of fulfillment of God’s word fell on him, Gen15:7-14. Perhaps the training the father was giving him was not good for God’s plan; he had to be taken away from his father. That was another difficult moment for Jacob. Whichever way, God’s plan must be accomplished; PURPOSE is the most important thing. Parents (biological or spiritual) might not be comfortable with what you are going through, but you need it for fruitfulness, humility and total reliance on God’s Spirit, Zech4:6. Whilst in this school of God, Joseph’s character went through gradual change (transformation) and in Gen40:6-8, humility was evident in him, approach to people was more amicable and relationship improved. The spirit of leadership was in operation on pruned platform.. Joseph’s assignment in God’s plan was leadership and so he needed the spirit of that assignment. God has a plan and we all have our different responsibilities in that plan. That responsibility is called destiny. Are you having the spirit of the assignment, the spirit of your destiny? The spirit to walk with God, Ezek36:26-28. This is the Spirit God wants to identify with in His plan. You need the Holy Spirit to re-brand you for this assignment, Isaiah11:2. Prayer: O God, my Father, baptize me with the spirit of my divine assignment, in the name of Jesus. The next mile in the trip is Gen40-42. Keep the fire burning and alive. Tell somebody about the love of JESUS today!!!