Creator's Joy

I hope you received some healing and clearance by removing the previous mentioned blockages for experiencing God.
But there is more…
The greatest way we can resist God is through striving.
What does that mean?

It means we try to earn God.
I a sense we fight God to get blessing from him.
Like Jacob did.

Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him there until daybreak. When the man saw that He did not prevail against Jacob, He touched the socket of his thigh, so the socket of Jacob’s thigh was dislocated, as he wrestled with Him. Then He said, “Let Me go, for the day breaks.”
But Jacob said, “I will not let You go, unless You bless me.”
So He said to him, “What is your name?”
And he said, “Jacob.”
Then the man said, “Your name will no more be called Jacob, but Israel. For you have fought with God and with men, and have prevailed.”
Then Jacob asked Him, “Tell me, I pray You, Your name.”
But He said, “Why do you ask Me My name?” Then He blessed him there.
Jacob called the name of the place Peniel, saying, “I have seen God face to face, and my life has been preserved.”
As he crossed over Peniel, the sun rose over him, and he was limping on his thigh.

Genesis 32:24-31

…by his strength he strove with God.
He struggled with the angel, and prevailed;
he wept, and sought favor from Him.

Hosea 12:3,4

It is amazing to me that God lets us fight with him and lets us even prevail!
It shows part of his nature, what He is like.
That He’s gentle and humble and doesn’t barge into our lives and takes over.
He gives us full choice whether we ackowledge him as God or make ourselves god instead by placing ourselves above him.

Jacob fought with God, who appeared here in the form of a man, to extort a blessing from him!
Think about that.
He clearly didn’t believe that God willingly wanted to bless him.
Appearently he didn’t realise that by fighting God he was placing himself above God.
Trying to subdue God and even making him do his will.
It didn’t even dawn on Jacob that the fact this is even is possible, and God allows us to put ourselves above him shows how kind God is.
He thought he had to force a blessing from God.
Like that is even possible.
Like we are more powerful than him.

Jacobs behaviour here seems rather presumptuous right?
And yet, I have been doing the same thing many many times…
Every time I come to spend time with God, and I don’t come in the full confidence that God is there to bless me and surround me with his love.
That I think I have to earn him somehow.
That I’m afraid of not being able to receive anything from him.
I’m actually resisting him and fighting him when I do that.
The opposite of what I want, to receive, happens.
I block him by doing that rather than just soaking him in through faith.
The bible says God opposes the proud.
The mere thought that I can get anything from God through something that I do is plain pride.
Even if I am perfect, my perfection still comes from him.
So life is always a gift.
All of it.

Ho! Everyone who thirsts,
come to the waters;
and you who have no money,
come, buy and eat.
Come, buy wine and milk
without money and without price.

Is. 55:1

I’ve heard it say we “buy” things from God with our faith.
That’s the currency of heaven.
Not our own achievements (money).
Note that Jacob fought God with his own strength.
We don’t have to weep and work to twist God’s arm to bless us!

Let him who is thirsty come. Let him who desires take the water of life freely.

Rev. 22:17

Now a price has to be paid for sinners to enter heaven.
Not because there’s a pricetag for entering but rather because we were in debt with heaven and this debt had to be settled first.
However Jesus paid this price for us.
Jesus is our legal representative.
He lived a perfect life on our behalf and He paid the penalty for our sin.
The punishment for my past, present and future sin was suffered by Jesus.
He died once and for all.

WE ARE IN RIGHTSTANDING WITH GOD!

If we choose to fight God He will let us win!

When the man saw that He did not prevail against Jacob,

God wants our full surrender but it has to be by our own free will.
So He allows us even to resist him.
But it does have consequences…

He touched the socket of his thigh, so the socket of Jacob’s thigh was dislocated, as he wrestled with Him.

The thigh is the place of a man’s greatest strength.
If we wrestle God it will damage our own strength.
God does allow us to fight him but he allows no man to take his honor.
It will impair us and leave us with a limp.

Then He said, “Let Me go, for the day breaks.”

He could have overpowered Jacob and just left but God still wanted to bless Jacob!!
That was the reason He came in the first place.
Not to fight him.
Maybe Jacob initially thought that He was an enemy but it’s clear he didn’t know God’s good intentions towards him.

But Jacob said, “I will not let You go, unless You bless me.”
So He said to him, “What is your name?”
And he said, “Jacob.”
Then the man said, “Your name will no more be called Jacob, but Israel. For you have fought with God and with men, and have prevailed.”

Jacob means “supplanter”.
It means to take over by force. To take someone elses place.
Basicly a deceiver.
It started all with his birth.
He was the youngest of twins and when his brother came out Jacob grapped his heel.
Trying to hold him back because the oldest gets the greatest inheritance.
Little did he now God would give him the greatest inheritance anyways.
Not because he earned it by birth but because God is the one who chooses whom He blesses.
Not man.
(You may be offended by that but think about it. God does not owe us anything! And He is good to all. It may just look different for different people.)

And here we see again that Jacob tried to take someone elses place.
He tried to overtake God!
His name was fitting still.
Yet God blesses him and gives him another name!

Israel means “God contends/fights”.
Or “one who fights with God”.
What was the difference?
God had become the main character now!
The name still speaks about how Jacob had fought with God.
And when we read the bible we see that the Israelites contended with God all the time.
But it would be different now.
It was a promise that God would be the one that would fight for his people.
He would fight for Jacob.
No need for deception and supplanting anymore.
No need to twist God’s arm.

GOD FIGTHS FOR US!

Jacob called the name of the place Peniel, saying, “I have seen God face to face, and my life has been preserved.”

Finally Jacob realises the wonder of this encounter.
Of God appearing to him and allowing him to fight with him.
So what’s the lesson?
That we can trust God.
That He’s good on his promises and wants to bless us beyond our own ability to secure blessings.
God chose to bless us even before we were born.
He intends to lavish us with gifts more than we can even imagine.

Activation

REST
Put on some soothing christian music like Julie True or Dappey T Keys.
Let go of every concern and occupation of your mind and just be.
Just drink in his presence.
Make this a daily habit.

Be blessed!

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