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Leave Bethel

Leave Bethel "Leaving Bethel, they traveled on toward Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem). But Rachel's pains of childbirth began while they were still some distance away." (Gen.35.16 NLT) One would wonder why God would ask Jacob to leave Bethel when He was the One that asked Jacob to go and stay there in the first place. We must understand that God is a God of purpose and that He never does anything without purpose. Purpose that may not be obvious to us at the time.  God sometimes takes us through, in order to bring us to. Bethel was a place Jacob needed to go through in order to come into the promises of God. Sometimes, God let's us go through stuff so He could reveal an aspect of Himself to us. He allows us go through those seeming difficult situations, only for Him to show us an aspect of Himself we would never find out otherwise.  They had to leave Bethel.  Why?  So that they can come into the age-long promise that God had handpicked him for.  "the land I gave Abra
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Go back to Bethel

Go back to Bethel "God spoke to Jacob: "Go back to Bethel. Stay there and build an altar to the God who revealed himself to you when you were running for your life from your brother Esau." (Gen.35.1)  This is a clarion call to all who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ - "Go back to Bethel". Bethel when translated means the house of God and God spoke to Jacob asking him to go back to the house of God. There at the house of God, Jacob encountered God personally, God revealed himself to Jacob at Bethel.  Bethel symbolically is that place where you find God for yourself. It is the place where God is real to you. Job, at some point came to this place and he said: "I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye seeth thee." (Job.42.5 KJV) Bethel is the place where you experience God firsthand. God told Jacob not only to go back there but "to stay there and build an alter". He that dwells in the secret place of the Most High. If we
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Don't marry for wealth

Don't marry for wealth "This is a very good deal for us--these people are very wealthy with great herds of livestock and we're going to get our hands on it. So let's do what they ask and have them settle down with us." Everyone who was anyone in the city agreed with Hamor and his son, Shechem; every male was circumcised." (Gen.34.23-24)  For many people, marriage is transactional. They said to themselves "this is a very good deal for us". They were not looking at what they were bringing to the table but what they were going to be taking away.  And then they added, "These people are very wealthy". This is a blinding factor for most people. They refuse to see the person for who the person is but for what the person has. The person's wealth now becomes a blindfold over their minds and eyes such that they cannot see his or her faults, failings and faltering.  "we are going to get our hands on it" they opined. Greed has replaced g
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Emotional intelligence

Emotional intelligence  "But Jacob said, "My master can see that the children are frail. And the flocks and herds are nursing, making for slow going. If I push them too hard, even for a day, I'd lose them all. So, master, you go on ahead of your servant, while I take it easy at the pace of my flocks and children. I'll catch up with you in Seir." (Gen.33.13-34) Managing people, dealing wisely or relating with people is one of the great skills you will ever learn. It is not an easy task to manage or lead people, it requires a lot of emotional intelligence.  The story of Jacob reuniting with his brother Esau and how he, though, trying to please his brother wisely turned down the request by Esau is a classic example for managers, and indeed everyone to learn from.  If Jacob was a 'yes man' - a person who always say yes just so the other person would not get angry - he would have jeopardised the wellbeing of his young ones and his flocks. So he says, you go ah
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He led the way

He led the way "He led the way and, as he approached his brother, bowed seven times, honoring his brother." (Gen.33.3)  Jacob and his family faced a possible annihilation as they journeyed towards what they believed was God's destiny for them. God had appeared to Jacob and instructed him to go back to the land of his birth. The same land he ran from twenty-plus year earlier for fear of his brother's treat to his life. Now he goes back there but this time he is not alone; he is with all that he had become - wives, children and more. He has more to loose now, but the Bible informed us that despiste this treat, he led the way.  As men we must learn to lead our families. He was up in front of them. He did not do this until he had first faced God in the place of prayer. Before he had the courage to lead the way, he had the courage to stand before God.  "He got them safely across the brook along with all his possessions. But Jacob stayed behind by himself, and a man wr
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Let your gift go before you

Let your gift go before you "So his gifts went before him while he settled down for the night in the camp." (Gen.32.21)  The wise King Solomon tells us that a man's gift makes room for him. Every single one of us is born with a gift, not a skill but a gift. That is something you are good at.  "A man 's gift makes room for him and brings him before great men." (Prov.18.14 AMP) The world however is full of gifted but broke people. A gift, otherwise known as a talent is not enough. Your gift opens the door for you and introduces you to great men but what you do with your gift afterwsrds determine whether you will stay there or not.  Joseph, a gifted interpreter of dreams, did not just interpret dreams, he added the solution. In other words, he turned his gift into a skill for which he could be paid. That is, something helpful to other people. Your gift facilitate you but your skill facilities others. Your gift helps you but your skill helps others. Your gift so
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Take words back to God

Take words back to God  "So Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed; and he divided the people that were with him, and the flocks and herds and camels, into two companies. And then Jacob prayed, "God of my father Abraham, God of my father Isaac, GOD who told me, "Go back to your parents' homeland and I'll treat you well.'  (Gen.32.7, 9) Life can be stressful and sometimes overwhelming. This was one of such times for Jacob. He has just resigned his job and has to relocate his entire family, servants and all from his present location because he had been instructed to by God to do so. He had had the opportunity to explain this decision to his wives. Thank God they understood with him.  The fear of the unknown had taken hold of him. What was he going to meet when he gets there, knowing that when he left, some people, specifically his twin brother had secretly vowed to kill him. And now he heard that this brother was coming to him with four hundred men.  Our text
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