Review:

Last week, we conducted a review of the pastoral work in 2015 and a projection for the work in 2016. Why do we need to do reviews and projections? Because we have an anticipation for the New Year and a hope for a new season from God. We yearn for a greater breakthrough for God's sake. We are not content to just stay on the original basis. We are eager to comprehensively improve our system, to possess the land in the spiritual realm, and to bring down the Kingdom of God. It is because we are not satisfied with what we have now that we yearn to accomplish greater things for God. This has become our sacred dissatisfaction in our hearts! Today, let us look at a typical figure in the Bible with a sense of sacred dissatisfaction - Jacob.

Scripture:

Genesis 28:16-17: And Jacob awaked out of his sleep, and he said, Surely the Lord is in this place; and I knew it not. And he was afraid, and said, How dreadful is this place! this is none other but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.

Prayer:

Lord Jesus, we ask for your Spirit to lead us to a new breakthrough. We joyfully welcome the arrival of your new season. We are not satisfied with just staying at the present stage. We yearn for a greater breakthrough. We thank you for what we have already received, but we are not proud. We are not discouraged by our shortcomings, but we must continue to move forward and break through. May you work in the hearts of every brother and sister, and open up our hearts to the yearning for fresh things. We are never satisfied and never stay put. We never stop climbing the mountain of the Lord and entering the temple of the God of Jacob. We pray in the name of Jesus Christ!

Scripture Background - The Story of Jacob

Jacob is a legendary biblical figure, and today's story begins with Jacob leaving his father and returning to his own clan to marry, as his father had requested. Imagine such a scene, Jacob and Isaac at this time. Isaac is Jacob's father. These two fathers and sons are like people who came to the city to work from the countryside. They were penniless, but they have become the richest people in that place. After Jacob received the blessing from his father, he was arranged to return to his own clan to marry a wife. Interestingly, his wealthy father did not give him a penny. Today's passage is about Jacob having a dream while camping in the wild on his way back to his hometown. He saw the angels of God going up and down the ladder. After waking up from the dream, he said the words in today's scripture, This is the house of God and the gate of heaven.

After such a beautiful dream, Jacob's nightmarish life began. Jacob came to the house of his uncle Laban and fell in love with Laban's youngest daughter, Rachel. I was in love in high school. Everyone should know that when a young and vigorous young man falls in love with a girl, he can basically do anything, and I mean he is willing to pay any price. Jacob agreed to serve Laban for seven years, herding sheep for him. After seven years, Rachel would marry Jacob as the reward. But what I did not expect was that Laban actually married his eldest daughter, Leah, to Jacob after seven years. Jacob unknowingly slept with Leah without knowing it. It was too late when he found out. It is true that heroes have a weakness with beautiful women. Laban even coerced Jacob to serve him for another seven years with enticements. Well, Jacob is true love! He served Laban for another seven years, and finally got his wish and married Rachel. The real challenge began after this. Jacob's two wives should have been spoiled by Laban. They were always jealous and compared each other at home. Comparing each other to see who could give birth to more children for Jacob, but basically did not do farm work or housework. Jacob herded sheep and farmed from morning till night, and had to listen to his two wives arguing when he returned home. From this entire relationship, it can be summed up that Jacob was in a situation of being a live-in son-in-law. And Laban's two daughters were basically in a state of princess syndrome. From a family point of view, Jacob was quite a failure.

From a career point of view, Jacob worked for Laban for 14 years, and then another 6 years. During the 6 years, Laban changed Jacob's wages 10 times. Jacob wanted to return to his father Isaac, which was the place God promised to go to. When he made this request to Laban, Laban did not allow it. Because Jacob herded sheep well, Laban did not want to lose this money-making machine, so he stopped Jacob from doing so. Wow, Jacob is so pitiful! He is completely an image of a migrant worker whose wages are deducted by the boss. You may think that Jacob is a very unsuccessful person when the story is told here. For a man, the situation in his family and career can be said to be terrible! Then I will directly tell you about Jacob's later situation. Jacob is the later Israel. He later became the wealthiest man of that generation. His descendants are the 12 tribes of Israel. The God we believe in is called the God of Jacob. The name of God and the name of Jacob are put together. You can imagine how precious Jacob is in the eyes of God. Then today we will take a good look at the quality of Jacob, which is called sacred dissatisfaction!

What is sacred dissatisfaction!

What is sacred dissatisfaction? I give it the most popular explanation, which is to get the best! That is to say, once you find something better in life, you put what you thought was the best in second place. Adjust the order when you find it, and adjust the order when you find it, until you find the best one, the one that cannot be better. Jacob is so great in that, when he was in his mother's womb, Jacob found the best, which is God. In fact, many people misunderstood Jacob. Many people will say that Jacob defrauded the blessing from his father, not for money. Many people like to link blessings with money alone and criticize Jacob for being snobbish. In fact, he did not. Jacob received the blessing from his father, but everyone knows that when he came out of his father's house to go back to his hometown to marry a wife, his father did not give Jacob a penny. If Jacob really valued money, he should have complained but he did not. Jacob was born to live for God, and such a person is a person with a mission. Jacob's logical system is different from that of ordinary people. Jacob listened to his father and grandfather, living and dying, so can people not die! From childhood, there was a concept of eternal life in Jacob, and Jacob kept pursuing this concept of eternal life. This is sacred dissatisfaction! If people want to live well, they must have a clear understanding of life and a clear understanding of living. Next, let's study Jacob carefully to see what special qualities this person has that enable him to pursue the true meaning of life with this sacred dissatisfaction.

Sacred Ambition

The first thing we want to look at is this Kingdom ambition. Jacob is a person who has ambition for the Kingdom of Heaven, and his actions and personality reveal his ambition everywhere. In his mother's womb, he grabbed the ankle of his brother Esau and was born. Jacob is a child who is not willing to be second to others even before he is born. Even something that is almost impossible to change, that is, the status of the eldest son, Jacob said in his heart that he must change such a thing. This is Jacob's ambition.

I don’t know if you have watched a newly released movie called Mr. Six. The protagonist in the story is Lao Liu, who is an old man in his 50s and 60s. Lao Liu was actually a gangster in society when he was young. Until he was old, the term Lao Pao Er was used to describe the local ruffians in Beijing. Lao Liu has defended brotherhood and Jianghu morality throughout his life. He was shocked that his brothers who were born and died with him no longer live for their ideals, and began to be restricted by work and life. When he mentioned the so-called brotherhood and Jianghu morality, everyone sneered at him and thought he was an old stubborn who lived in the old days.
When I was in junior high school, there was a boy in my class who was very good at singing and playing guitar. I found that he could attract the attention of many girls. I was very jealous. Haha, I also had an ambition to surpass him and attract everyone's attention. Then I took a broom as a guitar, played and sang, and found that it did attract a lot of attention, but it did not seem to be admiration, haha!

I’m not telling everyone to talk about Jianghu loyalty or brooms in the church. I’m saying that this is what people need in this era. Why make such a movie? It's because people are looking for something. When the movie ends, many people will applaud Lao Liu's image and be moved by it. People are constantly seeking those things that they can live and die for. People are constantly trying to find a home in the depths of their hearts, that is, why they live. Lao Liu lived for his ideals, and finally died for his ideals. He never gave up his Jianghu rules until his death. This is Lao Liu's ambition. Jacob's ambition is to get God. From the womb to the day he left this world, he lived for it and died for it. Then I want to ask, what are we trying to do with our hearts, what do we live for, and what do we die for? I think if we find it, we can find the meaning of living. Then back to the Bible, the most wonderful life and the most meaningful life is like Jacob, living for God and dying for God. God puts eternal life in everyone's heart. Whether we value it or not, whether we have an ambition for eternal life, and whether we are willing to pay the price for eternal life, that is our choice.

Sacred Security

Another characteristic of Jacob's character is his extraordinary sense of security! Everyone should know that the whole thing is actually quite interesting. After Jacob received the blessing from his father, his father Isaac asked Jacob to return to his hometown to marry a wife. Everyone should know that the road back to his hometown was long and the journey was long. Isaac did not give Jacob a penny. How do you know? If Jacob had money, would he sleep in the wild? Not only did he have no money, but I believe he did not bring many clothes. If he had clothes, Jacob could probably sleep with his clothes as a pillow, but we know that Jacob slept with his head on a stone. Because Jacob was full of trust in God, he could enjoy a very stable sense of security in any environment. It is reflected in the first point that he just received the blessing and came out as a poor and destitute image. Jacob did not doubt his father's blessing. If an ordinary person, I just received the blessing and then slept on the street, what blessing, let's withdraw! Second, sleeping alone in the wild, what if you encounter a lion or a tiger! Jacob was not worried at all. He slept soundly and had beautiful dreams! What an amazing person!

I remember when I was in love in high school, I really didn’t like my girlfriend being with many other boys. Because I didn’t know God, I always wanted to control some things. I often hid behind the bushes and watched! Hmm! You didn’t go home with me today. I want to see who you go home with. Everyone should know that sometimes it’s very cold in winter, so I suffer from the cold and must investigate thoroughly, haha! How insecure! But it won’t happen now.
Therefore, brothers and sisters, we must learn to have a sense of security in the church! Jacob knew that his life was controlled by God, and God would not let him die in such a daze before he completed his mission. We must also know in the church that Jesus Christ is king and reigns! We don’t need to do something to reign for Jesus Christ! Don’t cross the line and manage things that are not your responsibility. Do your job well. This is God’s church. God will not allow it to collapse. We don’t need to worry so much! Jacob’s sense of security comes from God. My father blessed me and I am very safe. Jacob’s blessing to his father is unshakable, not half-hearted, but wholeheartedly, this is the sense of security from God!

The Sacred Dream

Jacob was a dreamer! Understand that this was a man sleeping on the streets! He dreamt that Jehovah God said to him, I am the Lord, the God of your father Abraham, and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie, I will give it to you and to your descendants. This was what Jehovah said to Isaac in a dream, and Isaac believed it. Even if Jehovah were to give me a promise through a dream, I would believe it. Why? Because Jacob himself had long dreamt of such things coming to pass in his life.

The main point is, we must learn from Jacob's character of dreaming and wanting to dream. A person without dreams is numb, living like a walking corpse, which is pitiful! We must begin to be people with dreams, for only with dreams do we have the drive to strive, the determination and motivation to run towards the goal!

The Sacred Rich Mindset (No Complaining)

Another important quality in Jacob is that he had the mindset of a rich man. Understand that Jacob volunteered for Laban, working without wages for over 14 years. Plus, he left home with nothing, meaning Jacob was poor for at least 14-20 years. But strangely, you never read about Jacob complaining in the Bible. You never see Jacob crying about being poor; don't you find that odd? Not only did Jacob not cry about being poor, but also, understand that Jacob was working unjustly as a volunteer. After agreeing to work for 7 years, Laban promised to give him his younger daughter Rachel in marriage, but Laban broke his promise, and Jacob worked for another 7 years. He was already poor, and then he was treated unfairly. Would you complain if you were in his shoes? I think if it were me, I would be at my wit's end, but not Jacob. He not only did not complain, but also worked diligently, tending the sheep exceptionally well. This is Jacob's rich mindset. A person with a rich mindset is one who doesn't complain about anything, a person who is generous and gives (Jacob knew that God was directing his life, that God was in control of his life!).

There is a TED speaker named Kelly McGonigal, who gave a speech called How to Make Stress Your Friend. She is a seasoned psychologist, and the focus of her work is to help more people be healthy and happy. She spent 10 years telling people about the dangers of stress, telling them that stress would harm their health and bring crises to their lives, studies, and work. She regarded stress as a major enemy that hindered people's mental health, trying to eliminate people's stress through understanding the harmfulness of stress. Later, she discovered that she had made a huge mistake. When she did this, she found that it brought even greater stress to people, and the disadvantages far outweighed the advantages. The United States conducted a survey, which monitored 30,000,000 Americans for 8 years. This survey mentioned two questions: 1. How much stress did you feel you faced in your life last year? 2. Do you think this stress will harm your health? Then, after 8 years, they looked at how many people had died. The bad news is that the results showed that the mortality rate increased by 43% for those who thought they were under high pressure, but this is only really effective for those who believe that stress will harm their health. An interesting survey result is that after 8 years, 182,000 people died. These 180,000 people were not under high pressure, but these 180,000 people had a common understanding that stress would harm their health. If such research is true, this number is astonishing, even higher than the harm cancer does to people. This is why Kelly was shocked, because she spent 10 years telling people that stress harms their health. Later, the United States conducted another study, studying a population base of 1,000,000 people, with ages ranging from 34-93. The first question was the same: What kind of stress did you feel you were under last year? The second question was: How much time do you spend helping your friends, community, and organization? Then they investigated how many people died after 5 years. Regarding the stress part, the survey results were similar to the first time, with the mortality rate increasing by 30%. However, those who spent time helping others and caring for others, the survey showed that the connection between stress and death was absolutely 0%. I'm not talking about stress; I'm talking about giving.

In the book The Blessed Church, Robert Morris, the senior pastor of Gateway Church, raised a very pointed question, which is, who exactly is the preacher of the church? The book records that 99% of church members will point to the church's pastor and full-time preachers. The biblical model is that God longs for every church member to become a servant, to serve the world. The book records that in the 20th century, God had a novel work, that is, he wanted to put all kinds of gifts in his people, the purpose is - to bless others and show that the gospel is the power of God. That is to say, brothers and sisters, we are a group of people who have the gifts of God, maybe you are an apostle, maybe you are a prophet, maybe you have the gift of evangelism, maybe you are the later pastors and teachers. We must strive to discover the gifts that God has added to our personal lives. That is to say, God's intention is that everyone is called to be a preacher, but whether we are willing to obey and respond to God's call. God has given gifts to every congregation, and we must experience the greatest satisfaction and joy in it, that is, to use the gifts God has given us in God's constantly advancing and expanding will for us and the world. Only by serving the needs of others can we experience true satisfaction and a sense of mission!

Brothers and sisters, I encourage everyone to start having the mindset of a rich man. That is, don't always think that you can't do it, start taking action to serve, don't see your shortcomings, but see the abundance of God. 2 Corinthians 4:7, But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us. We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair. I have a new understanding of this sentence, that being hard-pressed on every side and being perplexed not only refers to external pressure and difficult situations, but also includes our own lack, our weakness and inadequacy. But God's ability makes our weakness strong and our lack satisfied, because this ability comes from God. With God backing us up, what are we afraid of? In fact, we can boldly rise up to serve, starting from serving the weak in the church, and step by step we can serve this generation. This is the mindset of a rich man!

The Sacred Loyalty (Enjoy What You Do With Your Hands)

Jacob was a person who enjoyed the work of his hands. In fact, this was quite difficult for Jacob at the time! Jacob was also a person. Everyone, try to put yourself in Jacob's situation and imagine it. His two wives did nothing, enjoying themselves at home. He was out there raising sheep and farming from morning till night. When he came home, he faced two wives who were arguing and jealous. He was already very tired, and when he came home, he had to listen to his two wives quarrel. He worked for Laban for 14 years for nothing. Now he wanted to go home to visit his relatives, but Laban tried his best to stop him. His family life failed, and his career failed. Can everyone imagine Jacob's mood when he was herding sheep? Maybe he was herding sheep on the grassland while singing Boundless Oceans, Vast Skies, I once doubted myself, walking in the grassland, never bearing fruit, no matter what dreams I planted, every drop of sweat I shed, my life became thicker, walking out of frustration before seeing a new universe. Boundless oceans, vast skies, after being brave, I want to herd sheep and break the chains of fate. Hahaha, Jacob cheered himself up while herding sheep, otherwise he would have been really frustrated! It was in such an environment that Jacob developed the ability to enjoy the work he did with his hands. Only when he was herding sheep was Jacob the happiest and most enjoyable. Herding sheep became Jacob's best time to adjust his mood!

In our lives, we will all face challenges and frustrations. Working with an unwilling and frustrated mood is also a day, enjoying it and working with enthusiasm is also a day, so why don't we enjoy what we do with our hands! I think Jacob understood this, so later when Jacob was herding sheep, he became very focused. He would not allow those things that interfered with his focus to enter his mind, and began to learn to enjoy the work in his hands to the fullest.
```