Pastor Samuel Sharing

Brother William Sharing

Introduction

Good morning, everyone. Let's look at the Genesis 28 today. The story in this chapter had progressed to a new stage. Do you know what happened to Jacob? Jacob had a wonderful dream as God was speaking to him in the dream. Jacob was 75 years old at this time and he had been pursuing God over for 70 years. God spoke to him in the dream for the first time as it had never happened in the past years, Jacob was eager to have this kind of experience for many years. This was the time God spoke to him in the dream.

Let me tell you what kind of person Jacob is. You better study well about the people like Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. If you fully understand what was in Jacob's mind, then you will know what kind of faith is called faith. I put it up front, the world was not worthy of them because their thoughts were totally different from an average man.

As the story notes, Isaac called for Jacob and blessed him. Jacob was told to go to the house of his mother’s father Bethuel until Esau’s fury subsided.

May God Almighty bless you and make you fruitful and increase your numbers until you become a community of peoples. May he give you and your descendants the blessing given to Abraham, so that you may take possession of the land where you now reside as a foreigner, the land God gave to Abraham. (Genesis 28:3-4)

It did not mention anything about money or clothes. We need to know that Jacob was an unusual person and he was living in a special family because Isaac and Rebekah never gave any gold, silver, food, camel and donkey to Jacob. This family never talked about any of these things but only the bless from God. If you were to be the person like Jacob, what are you looking for? I am going to talk about the topic of this chapter: “The price you pay for spiritual blessing.”

Different people value different things

We better understand what kind of people they are, what kind of mother, what kind of father and what kind of son. Esau and Jacob were the twin brothers with same education and same parents, but they valued things differently. Jacob only wanted the blessing and saw the great picture in his mind painted by his father: May he give you and your descendants the blessing given to Abraham.

I was thinking in the early days of my Christian life. I said: “What kind of father? What kind of mother? What kind of son?” I was thinking: “They had never talked about money. What is blessing? Is it worth it?For the price of the spiritual blessing, but you need to understand Jacob treated it seriously: “My father had blessed me!”

People don't even need to pay a single cent to say: “I will pray for you or may the Lord bless you.” Is that important? Is that what you are looking for and is that what you value the most? Jacob took a staff in his hand and was sent out to Laban's place by walking several hundred of kilometres and crossing over the mountains. There were different kinds of wild beasts on the way. We need to know that there was a risk for Jacob to go to his uncle Laban’s place.

Do you know that kind of situation? Is it worth it to pay such a price? “I lost a comfortable living environment and I am not sure about the future; I am not sure about whether I can come back or not, and I am not sure what kind of life I'm going to live. Probably I have to work very hard. In my father's place, Isaac was a wealthy person in the place, probably the richest person in the region.” But Jacob did not take any gold or silver from the family, even though Jacob supposed to take a lot of money since Isaac was so wealthy. Jacob only took a staff and went directly to his uncle Laban’s place. Do you understand what kind of person Jacob is?

Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If God will be with me and will watch over me on this journey I am taking and will give me food to eat and clothes to wear. (Genesis 28:20)

Food and clothes were the only basic needs for Jacob. It was not just a journey to go to Laban’s place but also for Jacob to come back to this place in the near future.

So that I return safely to my father’s household, then the Lord will be my God and this stone that I have set up as a pillar will be God’s house, and of all that you give me I will give you a tenth. (Genesis 28:22)

Never give up pursuing your dream

Can you understand the situation? Many pastors criticized Jacob: “Did you see that? Jacob cheated his father and brother; this is the consequence of lying.” Nobody can understand what was in the mind of Jacob. In the Doctrine of Destiny, I really want to give my respectful salute to Jacob because he valued things not so highly. “The spiritual blessing which I had been struggling over 75 years and finally I got this spiritual blessing. The words came out from my father’s mouth.”

May God Almighty bless you and make you fruitful and increase your numbers until you become a community of peoples. May he give you and your descendants the blessing given to Abraham, so that you may take possession of the land where you now reside as a foreigner, the land God gave to Abraham. (Genesis 28:3-4)

“Look at what am I living now? I am taking a staff and walking over to my uncle’s place. There were different kinds of animals in the forest and I need to take a piece of stone and put it under my head as a pillow.” Do you know a piece of stone as a pillow? Imagine a son coming from a wealthy family, Jacob was living in a comfortable environment with food and servants, and he did not have to worry anything about pillow. But now Jacob had to grab a piece of stone and placed under his head as a pillow to sleep.

Jacob was an extraordinary person. Brothers and sisters, probably you own much more than Jacob. I would like to encourage you, Jacob had nothing left and just took a piece of stone and laid down to sleep. Jacob did not know if there would be a tiger or a wolf on the way.

If you were Jacob, are you going to ask the question like: “What am I doing here? Is it worth it? This is called blessing? I may have the blessing but I may not have the faith to enjoy the blessing. “Do you understand what was in the mind of Jacob? Is it called blessing? Jacob was lying on the ground and putting a piece of stone as a pillow and the pillow was so solid and not comfortable at all. “Why was I paying such a price?” It was not comfortable at all! I would say to some of you and including myself, Jacob might be wondering what hewas doing. Was this called God’s blessing? My father blessed me and he sent me away. I put my hands in my pocket, money was running out and previously I have gold and silver. Right? ""

"Father, I did not need many houses at least you could offer me a house, one donkey, or a camel so I did not have to walk with my feet." Isaac did not give him anything. What kind of father? To Jacob, all these were not important to him as he had a very clear goal. We better understand not only his pocket was empty and his life could be empty too. Jacob had exactly the opposite thinking as many people in this world. Jacob’s perspective on life was meaningless if he had no blessings and a covenant from God. In Jacob’s mind, he only needed God. When he laid down to sleep, he took a stone as his pillow and laid on it. God, I wanted to have the same experiences as my grandfather, Abraham and my father Isaac.

Life is meaningless

If you see life as totally meaningless, you will not put hope in this world and would not be afraid of death. If you see your life full of meaning and putting all your hope and goal on running a successful business,hoping to make a name for yourself, develop new software or technology, and become a rich person or organizing a team with a venture capitalist and a wonderful business plan knocking on the doors to search for an investor who is willing to invest in my business, this is my goal and I am pursuing it. I want to beat Jack Ma and become more successful than him.

Jacob’s mind would not be bothered with the world’s success. Jacob was only thinking about God and pursuing God’s blessings. He had been paying a price for 75 years and after all these years, finally, he got the blessing from his father. He got the firstborn rights but his pocket was empty. He was empty-handed and he only wanted to have God. God did not talk to him or speak to him. He was an amazing person as he saw everything as meaningless and the world was not worthy to have people like Jacob. Jacob knew he owned nothing, no camel, no donkey and the only thing he possessed was a staff.

Pursue what Jacob was pursuing and follow his direction

Probably he could hear the tiger and lion roar and he could hear the wolf pack howling in the mountain, in the field, and in the forest but he was not giving up on pursuing this direction. He was an amazing person with a clear direction. Do you have a direction? What are you pursuing? Can you question yourself a little bit more, brothers and sisters? I want to be like Jacob and I want you to know that I have the character of Jacob. I look down at everything. Even though I own nothing at all, I am fine with it as long I have God. After Jacob struggled for 75 years, finally God spoke to him. The faith he had and the direction he was pursuing for this day to arrive, God spoke to him. That was the most valuable moment in Jacob’s mind.

Let me tell you if you value God and have a covenant with Him. Every price you paid is all worth it. You might ask me how do you know? Are you bluffing me? No. Many people criticized Jacob but I understand how Jacob felt. There were many times Jacob wanted to hear God speaking to him, day after day and he was waiting earnestly for this to happen. He was also longing to see the glory of our Almighty God holding on to his faith. His faith had sustained him for years after years until the day finally came true. Jacob had his dream come true.

He had a dream in which he saw a stairway resting on the earth, with its top reaching to heaven, and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. There above it stood the LORD, and he said: "I am the LORD, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your descendants the land on which you are lying. Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south. All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring. I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you." Genesis 28:12-15 NIV

What an amazing word and promise from God? “I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.” Many years ago, I was so touched when I read this paragraph sp that my tears were trickling down my face. What an amazing God? God of Abraham, God of Isaac, God of Jacob, and I want you to be my God. I want to hear this paragraph from God as well. I am very hungry for this promise from our Almighty God.

Become a blessing for many people

Many of us are Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob looking down on everything. God, I am willing to pay this price. Yes, I will take a piece of stone as my pillow which is not comfortable but I do not care. Probably lying on the ground in a field, there are red ants and other creatures crawling everywhere. Probably, there are wild animals or beasts passing by but I am not bothered with the price I am going to pay because life is meaningless.

We must understand what was in the mind of Jacob. The story had developed to the point where God spoke to Jacob in his dream. Perhaps many of us will start to respond that they would not have the dream as Jacob or only some would have a dream like him. They might even respond how much was this dream worth? If you ask this kind of stupid question, I do not think God will speak to you. God said you will become a blessing for many people and that is the meaning of our life.

Not pursuing a comfortable life but for a price that you are supposed to pay

The doctrine of destiny is not pursuing a comfortable living life but for a price that you are supposed to pay. Are you willing to pay the price? Are you looking for a comfortable life? Are you searching for good food? Are you looking to being wealthy? Are you looking for prosperity? Are you looking for a blessing? The blessing that people are looking for is totally different from Jacob’s.

Let me tell you if you have the character of Jacob, you are pursuing the covenant with God and your future is so bright. You might be struggling but if you have God, you have everything. If you have a covenant with God, you have everything. You will be spreading out to the West, to the East, to the North and to the South. This is the day we are going to spread to the West, to the East, to the North, to the South and to the whole Earth. Nowadays it is so easy with the internet, and numerous people from Europe, North America, Asia and all over the world are listening to my sharing.

Jacob was so amazing and he looked down on everything. He was not bothered if he was coming back to see his parents or attending their funerals. He would not be crying over these matters “oh mum, I wanted to hug you. Oh, mum, I missed you so much.” There were many people who still could not lay down their parents. Very interesting indeed,once I was casting out demons, I came across a person who I could not comprehend. He was crying “Mama, Mama, Mama, Mama, Mama.” Jacob loved his mother and father very much. He was in a very good relationship with them and they all loved him dearly. He had quite a pleasant loving family.

But now he lay on the ground and took a stone as a pillow, he said, “God, I want to have you! You are my God, I want to hear that you are the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob!” He was a very special person. There's no such thing as free, you can’t get anything without paying a price. One time Jesus Christ was asking a young man “Do you want to go with me? Are you willing to give away all your money? Sell all of your property and businesses, give the money to the poor and follow me?” The young man said, “No, not at all!” Why? Had he not suffered enough? Suffering will not make people see through life and death, suffering will not enable people to have a spiritual vision, although suffering did contribute a little bit. But it’s your choice. You read the Bible from the perspective of the spiritual world, then you conclude: life is indeed meaningless.

You come to the world and then pass away. One generation comes, one generation gone. A thousand years pass by, another thousand pass by and everybody becomes dust. Probably some parts of your body will become good fertilizer. What’s that? Life is just like that? No, I do not want to live that kind of life. I don’t want to be like a pig, or a dog, or a cat, living and then one day die. I don’t want that. God, I want to have you and eternal life. One day, I will stand in front of you. I want to see God face to face.

The man of faith can open the gate of heaven

If you think this way, you won’t feel sad without money. You are not going to be sad if you don’t yet have a job. You are not going to be sad lying on the ground. You are not going to be sad to take a stone as a pillow because God’s presence is here. If you go with me, cover me and watch over me, that’s all I want. Do you want to be this kind of person? God will say: I will be with you, and I will watch over you, and wherever you go, you have my blessing! If the devil goes with you everywhere, that's a curse.

God said: I will bring you back to this piece of land. Jacob was a man of faith and patience. You see he wanted God to give it to him immediately? He couldn't wait anymore. He had to go to his uncle’s place and shepherd the sheep and the flocks? And then he would come back and God would give him the blessing? But Jacob was a man of faith. He knew that one day God will bring him back surely.
But which day? He didn’t know, but he trusted in the Lord. He put a stone on the ground to make an altar. He said, “Lord, this will be your house, your temple!”

Do you know where is this place? I’m doing a speculation on this place because I couldn’t find exact verses. This was the place Abraham offered Isaac to God, and this was the place Jacob had a dream. This was the place where Jacob wanted to build the temple of God. Today the temple of God in Jerusalem is right there in that place where Isaac was offered to God, where Jacob had a dream.

Do you know what Jacobs' reaction was? “How awesome is this place! Surely the Lord is with me, and I was not aware of it! How awesome! This is none other than the house of God. This is the gate of Heaven!” The man of faith can open the gate of heaven. The man of faith can shake the spiritual world. If you and I choose to go through this journey of Jacob, I tell you that all of the angels in heaven will clap for us. There will be cheerleaders, there will be a group of angels cheering for us, clapping their hands and shouting: oh, there's another Jacob, God is so pleased. Not just the God of Abraham, but the God of Isaac, of Jacob, the God of You and me. How wonderful it is!

It is worth paying the price for the destiny

The meaningless life has become full of meaning: no barriers, no difficulties, nothing. No suffering can cut us off from the relationship between us and God. That is why we built a church of destiny. That's my destiny and my goal. I’m going to move forward, nobody can stop me until I see God face to face. I may drop my tears, I may cry out. But I want to pursue God, I want to seek the presence of God. That’s all I want. Do you want to be like Jacob? Many times, I preached the message like this: we are Abraham of this time, we are Isaac of this time, we are Joseph of this time. And many people will be blessed through us. I want to be this kind of person. Some people asked: how much worth is this? No, there is no price, you can’t name a price at all. That’s why I’m willing to pay a heavy price. I’m willing to lay down my life for God. I’m so determined. I want to see a day when God says, “I will be with you. I will watch over you wherever you go.” How amazing it is!

Today I see a little bit of it. I know God is with me. Do you have the heart of Jesus Christ? Do you have the same desire as our Lord Jesus does? I’m so excited today because the story that happened in Genesis chapter 28 touches my heart. It is what I desire and what is in my heart. Tired? working too hard? Not a big deal. This is the price I pay for this destiny. I came to this world for this purpose. This is my choice. I see that God is really with me. Amen! May God blesses you all.