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Kindle Notes & Highlights
by
Max Lucado
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April 27 - April 27, 2024
Wherever we go, we carry God’s blessings with us, blessings that overflow into the lives of others.1
Jacob said, “You don’t have to pay me a thing. But how about this? I will go back to pasture and care for your flocks. Go through your entire flock today and take out every speckled or spotted sheep, every dark-colored lamb, every spotted or speckled goat. They will be my wages. That way you can check on my honesty when you assess my wages. If you find any goat that’s not speckled or spotted or a sheep that’s not black, you will know that I stole it.” (Gen. 30:31–33 THE MESSAGE)
“This trouble you’re in isn’t punishment; it’s training, the normal experience of children . . . . God is doing what is best for us, training us to live God’s holy best” (Heb. 12:8, 10 THE MESSAGE, emphasis in the original).
But he has promised to . . . anoint you with the oil of gladness. (Ps. 45:7) supply all your needs according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus. (Phil. 4:19) bless you with good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over. (Luke 6:38) grant sufficient grace. (2 Cor. 12:9) make all things work together for good. (Rom. 8:28) defeat any weapon that is forged against you. (Isa. 54:17) provide streams in the desert. (Isa. 43:19) make a way when there is no way. (Isa. 43:16) turn sorrow into joy. (Ps. 30:11)
bind up your broken heart. (Ps. 147:3)
“When troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow” (James 1:2–3 NLT).
“And Jacob went his way. Angels of God met him. When Jacob saw them he said, ‘Oh! God’s Camp!’ And he named the place Mahanaim (Campground)” (Gen. 32:1–2 THE MESSAGE).
O God of my father Abraham and God of my father Isaac, O LORD who said to me, “Return to your country and to your kindred, that I may do you good,” I am not worthy of the least of all the deeds of steadfast love and all the faithfulness that you have shown to your servant, for with only my staff I crossed this Jordan, and now I have become two camps. Please deliver me from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau, for I fear him, that he may come and attack me, the mothers with the children.” (Gen. 32:9–11 ESV)
But Jacob stayed behind by himself, and a man wrestled with him until daybreak. When the man saw that he couldn’t get the best of Jacob as they wrestled, he deliberately threw Jacob’s hip out of joint. The man said, “Let me go; it’s daybreak.” Jacob said, “I’m not letting you go ’til you bless me.” The man said, “What’s your name?” He answered, “Jacob.” The man said, “But no longer. Your name is no longer Jacob. From now on it’s Israel (God-Wrestler); you’ve wrestled with God and you’ve come through.” (Gen. 32:24–28 THE MESSAGE)
And of all the times to be given this name.3 Israel means “God fights” or “God strives.” The name celebrated, and celebrates, God’s power and loyalty.
God told him, “Return to the land of your father and grandfather and to your relatives there, and I will be with you” (Gen. 31:3 NLT).
God had gone ahead of him. God had kept the promise he had made in Bethel: “I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land” (Gen. 28:15).
It is a story of “the Almighty’s single-minded dedication to love humanity and to implement his plan through flawed persons.”
You are no longer Jacob. You are Israel, and God fights for you.
You no longer swagger in false strength; you limp in God’s power.
The act of circumcision was a holy deed, a designation of God’s chosen people. It was a symbol of faith.
Apart from God’s help, we are a disaster.
How quickly the heart turns dark.
Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it. Keep your mouth free of perversity; keep corrupt talk far from your lips. Let your eyes look straight ahead; fix your gaze directly before you. Give careful thought to the paths for your feet and be steadfast in all your ways. Do not turn to the right or the left; keep your foot from evil. (Prov. 4:23–27 NIV)
“Though sin is shown to be wide and deep, thank God his grace is wider and deeper still!” (Rom. 5:20 PHILLIPS).
God pursues us when we turn away from him.
Grace is God’s greatest idea. That he would treat us according to his heart and not ours. That he would see us and see
his Son. That he would relentlessly attach himself to us in a love that no sin can sever. That he would swing the doors of heaven open to anyone who would trust, not impress, but trust him. Amazing grace!
God does great things through brokenness.
“By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, and worshiped, leaning on the top of his staff” (Heb. 11:21).
