Pastor Samuel Sharing

Brother William Sharing

Introduction

Good morning everyone! Today we are going to talk about Genesis Chapter 30. Genesis chapter 30 is fascinating. Do you want to become rich? Do you want to become exceedingly prosperous? Do you want to own large flocks, female and male servants, cattle, and donkeys? Do you want to own a lot of properties to collect rent? I don't think anybody would say NO. In this chapter, it's a time when Jacob yields the fruit of the blessing. In Chapter 29, Jacob was a guy of endurance and perseverance. Usually, banners displaying persistence can often be seen in schools. Do you see those kinds of things? If you go into an army camp, you can see these as well.

Endurance and perseverance are good characters. Jacob endured his faith for 14 years and got nothing. But Jacob was a man of character. During those 14 years, God was so humorous that God promised Jacob that his descendants will be as numerous as the stars in the sky, the sand on the sea, and the dust on the earth. Although the story sounds like he lived a typical family life, there were quarrels, competition, and fighting. 4 women were competing against each other to give children to Jacob.

Although God created Adam and Eve, one husband and one wife. Jacob had 4 wives, but God never commented on this. Subsequently, nobody negatively commented on Jacob: how can you have 4 wives and all these things? Nobody cared about these things. God was so humorous that he allowed Jacob to increase in numbers through these things. I'm just saying that God is an amazing God. He increased numbers in this way. Abraham only had one son, Isaac. The other son, Ishmael, was just another son that he sent away. Isaac had 2 sons, Esau and Jacob. Esau was under the curse, but Jacob was under a blessing.

Have Enduring Faith

Now God is doing his work. I would guess Jacob was around age 15-16 when Abraham passed away. Abraham never saw his descendants grow in numbers. He just saw 2 grandsons. But he had a character, so his faith could last until he died. Even if he passed away, he believed, and he could see it in his spirit. He was amazing! I'm sure that Abraham's spirit can still see what is happening. You may ask how you can be so sure, because it has been recorded in the Bible. After so many years, it finally started to grow in numbers. This was the time when the family line expanded. He had about 11 sons. He increased in numbers. After 14 years, Jacob started to accumulate wealth and grew exceedingly prosperous.

Do you have that kind of faith? Can you endure that much time? If you can live 10 000 years, or if you can live until heaven and earth pass away, what will happen, will your faith stay forever? 14 years will not be a problem. I would like to encourage our brothers and sisters to become a man of faith who can endure 14 to 20 years. Compared to eternal life, 100 years is a peanut, which is no big deal. But there's one thing for sure, you will be blessed and you will yield the fruit of the blessing. Can you tell yourself? "I will bear the fruit of the blessing. Although today I am so poor, I have that character. I have the greatest asset in me."

That is the character. People tend to lose faith in dangerous situations. But today, I will tell you that if you have this character, you will become prosperous, which is the result of the blessing. Normally if you read Deuteronomy chapter 28, verses 1-14, you read it carefully. You can read it every day, announce it, openly say it to the air, and shout it in the spiritual world. Then something will indeed happen.

Jacob's blessing was yielded in the end!

What helped Jacob last 14 years? He got his birthright after 75 years. Then he went to his uncle's place and worked for free. His only wage was Laban's 2 daughters. Jacob worked for 14 years for Laban's 2 daughters. After 14 years, Jacob was 89 years old already, but he still owned nothing. He talked to Laban and Laban agreed. He agreed to what? In an amazing calculation, the formula was like this, he said "Uncle, I can take away all the sheep with spots, speckles, and dark colors. Next time anything that is speckled, colored, or spotted, it's mine! You don't bother to know how I get."

In New Zealand, most of the sheep are white-colored. Laban thought, "You stupid guy, I hardly see sheep with colors. Most sheep are white, wonderful! I'll take away all of this! I will make good money from Jacob!" Jacob said, "Uncle, when I came here to work for you, God blessed me so much. That's why the number of sheep, camel, and donkeys all grow exceedingly prosperous." Laban said, "Yes, I can see it. God is with you, and you are a good worker. I can see it with my own eyes."

Are you like Jacob? If not, then you'd better change yourself. When Laban changed Jacobs's wages, Jacob might become a little irritated, angry, and emotional. But he didn't kick the sheep or the donkeys. No, he never did this sort of thing. He still looked after his uncle's flocks and looked after everything very well.

If you are an employee, the company will benefit from what I taught you. I am doing human resource training because I reshape your mind. Jacob was an employee under his uncle's family business, and he paid his due diligence. If you work for a company and your boss mistreats you, never mind. Don't get emotional. Continue trusting in the Lord and understand that if you look after other people's property well.

Enlarge your responsibility at work

Do you understand the logic? If you look after other people's things well, God will give you your own. In the New Testament, Jesus mentioned to us that if you look after other people's things well, I will give you your own. At that time, I could not understand it. When Jesus said if you look after other people's things, other people's property, other people's assets, and other people's money well, I will give you your own.

In the beginning, I did not understand what this verse was all about. Now, I finally understand, and let me tell you if you work for the employer, you are looking after your employer's business, and your job is to take care of your designated area. You are responsible for taking care of the given duties from your employer. In other words, you are taking ownership of your area of responsibility. Are you with me? Jacob looked after Uncle Laban's property, his flock, asset, money, or whatever you called it. He looked after the flocks so well that there were no miscarriages. Jacob protected the sheep from wild animals such as a lion. When the sheep faced danger, he would take them away and would chase after the wild animals away from them. These sheep belonged to his uncle.

And if you have not been trustworthy with someone else's property, who will give you property of your own? Luke 16:12 NIV

Let us look at Luke chapter 16 verse 12 illustrated a good example if you look after people's property well that God had given you and He will give you your own. If you had not been a trustworthy person, no one would give you a property for you to own. As you know, I was a very good employee, looking after any job responsibilities which my boss assigned me to do. My habit of performing my job responsibilities went above and beyond. I would never do less and would do more than required. In the end, do you know what happened to Jacob? His uncle entrusted him to look after his flocks, and he took ownership treating the flocks like his own gaining his uncle's trust. Do you understand this logic? I know for many people it is not easy to understand, and not many people got it right.

Genesis Chapter 30 illustrated the same spiritual principle as Luke 16:12. This spiritual principle is working exactly in this way by applying it to working for your employer, do not eat the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil. If your boss mistreated you, do not bother about the mistreatment; swallow it, continue to do your job and do your due diligence. Are you with me? You must continue to perform well, continue to develop your skills, and push it forward. I enjoyed doing the human resource training. Yes, I am an expert in human resource training.

Become Jacob, and you will become prosperous

Brothers and sisters, I hope one day all of you will become Jacob. All of you will become prosperous and own a large flock of female and male servants, camels, donkeys, and properties collecting rentals. Why? You are looking after all the things well and you have been faithful in what was given to you. You will be given your own. Who is giving you? God is the one who is giving to you. Now, why are you so poor? The main problem is your attitude which is why you are still poor today. Due to your attitude problem, you would not get paid like Jacob as you never worked like Jacob.

Jacob was a man of faith. A man's logic was if you mistreated me, I would shortchange you. If your boss asked you to do 10 tasks and you would only do 5 tasks. You would be asking yourself, why would I do so much? You were working for your employer, but you were thinking about yourself. Don't get it wrong, you are given a job, and that job is the training platform for you to develop yourself. You are given an opportunity to grow yourself. Come on, my friend. Do you understand this? If you understand this, you will enlarge your responsibilities by doing more. Your boss will be fascinated by your attitude towards your job responsibilities, and one day you will get your own. Are you happy with the ending?

What is a gray area?

Jacob looked after his uncle's property so well. Do you know he had developed a set of skills on how to look after the sheep, the flocks? He had not only developed a set of skills but also his character had demonstrated a viable path. Now you know, why I am rich. Do you know I am rich? If not, now you know. I looked after anything; my boss assigned me. My boss had given me many challenging jobs, and I did my due diligence. I kept on enlarging my area of responsibility. Do you know what is a gray area? A gray area in a company means that there is a problem there. You can choose to do it or not do it. Nobody can blame you for not doing it. There are people stating that they will do it and choose not to do it. The gray area does not belong to anyone. The borderline is so gray. I saw the gray area as an opportunity and grabbed this opportunity to enlarge my area of responsibility.

I would not step on other people's toes but I will take care of something which nobody bothers but I cared. My area of responsibility will grow. There are many things that do not belong to anyone. Clearly, you can do it or do not need to do it. No one will blame you but if you do it, the company will benefit from it. I am telling you a secret about getting rich. Do you want to hear that? If you have a shortage of money and you should review what you had been doing in the past years. In the past years, you kept on shrinking in your area of responsibility. You are not the man of blessing, not a man of faith, and not a faithful servant in the eyes of God. God was giving you a good test, testing you from one test to another test.

After years of working, you kept on shrinking your responsibility as you are lazy. You cried and questioned; "God why am I so poor? God, where are you?" Asked yourself "Am I Jacob?" If I am not then I need to change. I want to be a man of character. I want to have this kind of character. When my boss dealt with other colleagues, they could talk very well, which put me in a disadvantageous position. It did not matter whether I was put at an advantage or disadvantage. I did my due diligence and did my job well.

Are you doing well if I gave you one sheep to look after? Are you shepherding well? If I gave you 10 sheep, are you doing well? If I gave you one sheep, you might say that was too little. If I gave you 10 sheep, you might say that was too much. This kind of mind is not a prosperous mind. This kind of mind tends to be lazy. If I gave you 100 sheep, you might say oh God, why are you giving me so much? How come so much work? I noticed that many people think they have done enough. But let me tell you, it would never be enough!

Man's logic and God's logic are totally different

In the gospel, the Book of Luke has many amazing verses. Jesus was teaching human resource training. The environment is a platform given to us as an opportunity to develop ourselves. If we turn to Luke chapter 17, the servant came back from work, and the master asked the servant to cook a meal for him. The master ate the meal and the master was not bothered to say thank you. There should be no thank you, and this is what the servant was supposed to do. It was an interesting logic. Man's logic and God's logic are totally different. What is your logic?

"Won't he rather say, 'Prepare my supper, get yourself ready and wait on me while I eat and drink; after that you may eat and drink'? Will he thank the servant because he did what he was told to do? So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, 'We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty." Luke 17:8-10 NIV

Do you find my bible study carries a lot of down-to-earth teaching? I do not bother about naming this and naming that. Developing you and training you are my job. Never murmuring, and never get a negative attitude because you will shortchange yourself. Have a good look at Luke 17 verses 8 to 10. We should say we are on day seven and have done our duty. What are we supposed to do? That is the kind of attitude that makes me feel disappointed.

Willing to take on more responsibilities and be the top one

Sometimes I was disappointed because when I asked a person to lead Bible Study and pray for someone, the person performed badly and did a lousy job. And I said to him: "If you become my co-worker one day, I will not shortchange you. I will give you a good wage." But people just pretend to be deaf. He said: "Until I can see it with own my eyes." And I said: "Oh, you would never see it because you failed the interview."

I have tested a lot of people, and I gave each person a rating and comment in my mind, so I know who you are. What do you need to do? If you are given a duty, you need to do more work. Your productivity, effectiveness, and efficiency will be improved. I have done more than any other typical Pastors because I hope that I can be a top person. When I was in school, I was a top student. When I was in the workplace, I was a top employee. When I become a Pastor, I hope that I can be a top Pastor. I want to be at the top, never at the bottom.

Are you a top person? Tell yourself: "I am a top person! I have shortchanged myself in the past years, but I am not going back to the old days. I will be at the top in the future." God wants to put you at the top. God wants you to be above, not underneath. God wants you to be the head, not the tail. If you don't want to be at the bottom anymore, pay attention to those extra things that you are supposed to do. Keep developing yourself, become a faithful servant, and do your due diligence. Enjoy working is our duty.

Some of my friends struggle with their work and have long "papaya faces". Have you seen this kind of person? One day they were so happy, and I asked them: "Why are you so happy?" They told me: "I have booked a ticket and I am going to travel to Europe." Many people are not happy about their studies and work. If they work as a housewife, they will be murmuring about the work. The only happiness they have is singing karaoke and travelling around.

Jacob enjoyed working and he had a special formula that allowed flocks to come to drink and mate in front of the branches.

Let me go through all your flocks today and remove from them every speckled or spotted sheep, every dark-coloured lamb and every spotted or speckled goat. They will be my wages. And my honesty will testify for me in the future, whenever you check on the wages you have paid me. Any goat in my possession that is not speckled or spotted, or any lamb that is not dark-coloured, will be considered stolen."

"Agreed," said Laban. "Let it be as you have said." That same day he removed all the male goats that were streaked or spotted, all the speckled or spotted female goats (all that had white on them) and all the dark-coloured lambs, and he placed them in the care of his sons. Then he put a three-day journey between himself and Jacob, while Jacob continued to tend the rest of Laban's flocks.

Jacob, however, took fresh-cut branches from poplar, almond and plane trees and made white stripes on them by peeling the bark and exposing the white inner wood of the branches. Then he placed the peeled branches in all the watering troughs so that they would be directly in front of the flocks when they came to drink. When the flocks were in heat and came to drink. (Genesis 30:32-38)

What would happen if Laban asked the other way round? Jacob would get more flock of sheep because God blessed Jacob. Whatever Jacob did, he would grow exceedingly prosperous. It was because Jacob looked after Laban's flocks well and God gave him His own.

Can you understand this kind of person? I hope you can. Jacob was an amazing person who carried a good working attitude. Do you think Jacob never thought about his interest? No, Jacob was a smart guy. If you observe people like Jacob, I have the character of Jacob. Whatever God gave to me, I will look after the things well. If my employer assigns a task to me, I will look after that very well. I used to strip off unnecessary things like attending a wedding or funeral. If I cannot make it, I will always tell people: "I am sorry, my schedule is occupied with other important things." If you were to ask me: "What things? I said: "I need to serve my God! You better change your wedding time because my time will never be changed."

Can you understand this kind of attitude? Jacob looked after his uncle Laban's flocks. Had Jacob ever taken a day off? No, Jacob had never taken a day off. Sometimes I cannot understand how other Pastors treat the sheep God has given to them. These Pastors would say: "Oh, Monday is my Sabbath Day, and no one is supposed to call me." And they will turn off their phones on this day. I was thinking: "You would not know if your mother passed away because your phone is off, and nobody will be able to reach out to you."

God gave us flocks to look after will require this kind of attitude. Whenever you call me, whether it is 2:00 AM, 4:00 AM or 9:00 AM, when my phone rings, I will pick it up to meet your needs unless I fell into a deep sleep and could not hear it. Do you have that kind of attitude? If you have that kind of attitude, you are someone like Jacob. If you are not Jacob, I am so sorry because God is looking for people like Jacob, that's why God is a God of Jacob. God is looking for people like Abraham, and if you are someone like Abraham, God will bless you!

I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse, and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you. (Genesis 12:3)

Follow the formula of blessing

Many people are not Jacob, and I feel sorry to tell them: "You are not Jacob, God gave you a sheep to look after, but you kill the sheep and eat it instead." Sometimes I ask a person: "Can you pray for this patient?" After he prayed for this patient, then he started to do business with the patient because he thought it was a good opportunity. What about praying for the patient? The person was like: "Oh yea, I will pray for you." I said: "Is this Jacob?" No!

What happens if you follow the formula? You do the same as what Jacob had done.

Jacob, however, took fresh-cut branches from poplar, almond and plane trees and made white stripes on them by peeling the bark and exposing the white inner wood of the branches. Then he placed the peeled branches in all the watering troughs so that they would be directly in front of the flocks when they came to drink. When the flocks were in heat and came to drink. (Genesis 30:37-38)

If you do it, what will happen? Nothing will happen. **The formula is not working but the formula of the blessing is working, which brought out a miracle. It was the spiritual truth and formula of the blessing.

Sometimes I would tell people: "You can press acupoint and pray, the pain will be gone, and you will be set free. A fellow went to the acupuncture, and he came back to me and said: "Pastor, it did not work." I said: "Oh my God, you had the wrong formula." He thought the formula was an acupuncture point. The spirit of God is working, not the acupuncture point.

People always get it wrong with their carnal eyes. They cannot see the spirit behind it. The blessing and the curse are spiritual, attitude, and mentality issues. It is a kind of attitude toward God. Jacob got the blessing from his father Isaac and his brother Esau wanted to kill him; Jacob ran away with a rod in his hand, he got nothing from the family and went to his uncle Laban's place. Jacob had endured 14 years and did his due diligent job of looking after the flocks. You have to do a wonderful job no matter how people treat you.

God is looking for a man with faith, a man with character. God is not looking for a label on your head saying: "I am a Christian." It is useless at all. I saw a lot of people getting cancer in the church. The label will not work; the key is what's inside of you. Do you want to become someone like Jacob? Do you have the heart to become a blessing for many? Are you willing to serve God wholeheartedly? Do you love God with your heart and soul? Are you a treasure in the eyes of God? That is the basic fundamental question.

Your daily working attitude already tells God about who you are. Don't live by the formula of human logic. Learn the spiritual law of the blessing. If you understand the spiritual law of the curse, that is fine as well. We will avoid being cursed and marching into the path of the blessing. May the Lord bless you. Say it to yourself: "Yes, I would like to become someone like Jacob." Amen!

See you next week!