THE BLESSING OF SOLITUDE I – Saturday October 1st
2016
Memorise: And when he had sent
the multitudes away, he went up into a mountain apart to pray: and when the
evening was come, he was there alone. Matthew 14:23
Read: Genesis 32:23-30, (KJV)
24 And Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a man with
him until the breaking of the day.
25 And when he saw that he prevailed not against him, he
touched the hollow of his thigh; and the hollow of Jacob's thigh was out of
joint, as he wrestled with him.
26 And he said, Let me go, for the day breaketh. And he
said, I will not let thee go, except thou bless me.
27 And he said unto him, What is thy name? And he said,
Jacob.
28 And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but
Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast
prevailed.
29 And Jacob asked him, and said, Tell me, I pray thee, thy
name. And he said, Wherefore is it that thou dost ask after my name? And he
blessed him there.
30 And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: for I have
seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.
Bible in one year: Ezekiel
25-27, Psalms 71:14-24
MESSAGE
One
of the characteristics of the eagle that we learn from the School of Disciples
of the Redeemed Christian Church of God is its lonely lifestyle. We learn the
virtues of a solitary lifestyle because more often than not, the crowd could be
distracting. Our Lord Jesus Christ, in our memory verse for today, demonstrated
the need to withdraw and be alone with God periodically. Open Heavens 1 October
2016:-The Blessing of Solitude I The Bible says in Matthew 14:23:
“And when he had sent the
multitude away, he went up into a mountain apart to pray: and when the evening
was come, he was there alone.”
What
was Jesus doing alone? He was having fellowship with His Father and probably
the angels were ministering to Him as we read in Matthew 4:11
In
our text for today, Jacob wad facing a frightening situation and he needed to
sort some things out with his Maker. So, he decided to be alone after
discharging his family to go before him. What he was doing could be assumed in
the light of verse 9 to verse 26. There are many lessons we can learn from this
story: Firstly, to be alone with God we must separate ourselves from the crowd.
Secondly, to be alone with God requires denying ourselves the luxury of family
fellowship and affection. Jacob parted with is family including the wife he laboured
to have for fourteen years. The only time the Bible allows a temporary
separation between the husband and the wife is when it comes to being alone
with God. The Bible says:
“Defraud ye not one the other,
except it be with consent for a time, that ye may give yourselves to fasting
and prayer; and come together again, that Satan tempt you not for your
incontinency.”
1st Corinthians 7:5
The
third lesson we can learn from this story is that solitary living is of no use
if you cannot get the best out of it. Jacob did not just isolate himself from
the crowd, he had a nice and meaningful time with his Maker, and he did not
miss out the essence when he said: “.., I will not let thee go, except thou
bless me.” (Genesis
32:26). I always pity people when they come for big meetings like
the Holy Ghost service, Festival of life, Holy Ghost Congress, etc. and they
sleep all through the programme, even while prayers are going on. These people
left the luxury of their beds and comfortable houses, only to come here and
waste their time in the presence of the Lord. Jacob did not do this; he went
for the best from his God. Another lesson we can learn here is that as a result
of this separation unto God, Jacob’s terrible past was erased and he was
mightily blessed. Finally in this story, we learn that we don’t need the
details of how God will perform our desperately needed miracles. All we need is
faith to believe whatever the Lord says concerning us, either in His Word or
through prophetic utterances from His genuine prophets. Jacob asked for the
name of the man with whom he was wrestling and the man said that knowing his
name was not necessary; all he needed was miracles and blessings, so he blessed
him. This is a mighty reward of solitary living; being alone with God pays a
lot. As you choose to separate yourself unto the Lord and away from the world,
I pray that the blessings of the Lord shall characterise your separated life in
Jesus’ name. 1 October 2016 open heavens
Action Point
Decide to dedicate some
solitary time for prayer and have meaningful fellowship with your Maker.
Open Heavens Daily Devotional, written by Pastor E.A
Adeboye
No comments:
Post a Comment