Genesis-117-Truly He is here

The word of God is from Genesis, chapter 35, verses 1 to 7.

 

"God said to Jacob, 'Arise, go up to Bethel and live there, and make an altar there to God, who appeared to you when you fled from your brother Esau.' So Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him, 'Get rid of the foreign gods you have with you, and purify yourselves and change your clothes. Then come, let's go up to Bethel, where I will build an altar to God, who answered me in my day of distress and who has been with me wherever I have gone.' So they gave Jacob all the foreign gods they had and the earrings they wore, and Jacob buried them under the oak tree in Shechem. Then they set out, and a great terror fell on the towns all around them, so that no one pursued them. Jacob and all the people with him came to Luz (that is, Bethel) in the land of Canaan. There he built an altar and called the place El Bethel, because it was there that God had appeared to him when he was fleeing from his brother." Amen.

 

Two Facts About Jacob's Life

As we continue to examine the life of Jacob, we see that after spending time in the lands of Succoth and Shechem, he finally experienced a major event. This was the Dinah incident, which we explored over the past two weeks.

 

It was a truly shocking event in Jacob's life, and it brought about a great change in him. But as we read Jacob’s story, there are two facts in the Dinah incident that we often miss.

 

The first is the time. When the Dinah incident occurred, Dinah was estimated to be around 14 or 15 years old. In fact, when Jacob left Laban’s house, Dinah was either a newborn or a very young baby. This tells us that more than 10 years had passed since he met Esau. For at least 10 years, Jacob had been staying in Shechem and Succoth.

 

Another fact that you might miss while reading is revealed in the command Jacob gives to his family. For those 10 years, there were idols in Jacob’s household. It wasn't just the teraphim stolen from Laban’s house, but idols that had been in his family for a decade. He had been living like that for a whole 10 years, not just a year or two.

 

These facts become a very important basis for understanding and interpreting chapter 35.

 

Jacob, in Spiritual Stagnation

Jacob had met the God of Peniel, but he began to fall into a state of complacency and the false peace he had found. So he tried to escape or solve his problems in a way that wouldn’t disrupt his life. His children, on the other hand, acted in the opposite way. They used the covenant of God, circumcision, as a tool for revenge. They were not living in peace, but were consumed by revenge.

 

This shows that there was a clear spiritual problem, a spiritual stagnation, among them. The most terrifying part of spiritual stagnation is thinking that everything is going well and that there are no problems. It was in this very situation, where they thought, 'I have peace,' that they were slowly sinking into spiritual stagnation. The incident simply brought it to light.

 

Jacob was filled with fear and wanted to run away. However, his children, especially his sons, were filled with anger and wanted to attack, which ultimately led to a tragic act of murder. This incident revealed the spiritual state not only of Jacob, but of his entire family, of which he was the head—the spiritual state of Israel.

 

At the root of this problem was certainly Jacob. He had only gone as far as Shechem, which means "shoulder." He was supposed to go all the way to Bethel, but he spent a long time, 10 years, in Shechem. He was a person who had seen heaven; he had seen God seated on His throne; he was a person who knew what the blessings of heaven were. But now, he had become bound by the visible peace and the peace that the land gave him, and in reality, he had lost his way and the life of looking toward heaven.

 

A Lost Soul

When I came to the United States, I lived in Irvine for several years. This was before I came to this church. One day, I had to go to Santa Barbara. It was a long time ago. So I left Irvine and drove north toward Santa Barbara for about an hour, but something felt strange. The road seemed a little odd. I had been driving for about an hour and there was nothing wrong with the car or my driving, so I just kept going, thinking everything was fine. But the buildings looked different from those in LA. I should have reached LA after about an hour, but the ocean kept appearing on the side, and the buildings were completely different from LA's.

 

At that time, I didn't think, 'Did I take a wrong turn?' Instead, I thought, 'Has LA changed so much?' It had been a while since I'd been to LA, so I wondered if it had changed that dramatically. You see, if you don't pay attention, things like that happen. In fact, I was in San Diego. I had been going south, not north.

 

The meaning of Jacob being lost is that instead of looking up to God and walking the path toward heaven, he was heading in the opposite direction, toward the ground. I went in the wrong direction for about an hour, but Jacob did for 10 years. How spiritually drained would he have been in 10 years? Yet he thought he was at peace. Did Jacob ever come to his senses? Did he get a strange feeling? He might have, but he certainly didn't know what to do. He was very confused about where he was and where he was heading.

 

How did I realize what was going on? I didn't figure it out by looking at the buildings. I realized it when I saw the sign for I-5 South. When I saw the 'South' sign, I thought, 'I need to go north,' and only then did I realize, 'Ah, I’ve gone the wrong way.'

 

God’s Signpost: Go Up to Bethel

What about Jacob? A signpost appeared to him as well. It was God's signpost. God Himself came to Jacob and said, "Go up to Bethel."

 

We often think that neglecting God's word means not reading it or forgetting it. However, neglecting the word means passing by its signposts even while reading it. If you are distant from the word, you can't simply decide to 'eat a lot of the word you haven't been eating' by opening the Bible and reading it diligently, and expect to immediately understand it and find your way. Passing by the signposts that God constantly gives is what tells us that we have actually drifted far away from His word.

 

Most of those people—including me—think they know where they are supposed to be going. Spiritually speaking, they think they are trying to go the right way, that they are on the right path. They think they are driving well, their car isn’t broken, and they are doing fine. But even if everything looks okay, if the direction itself is wrong, you go just as far in the wrong direction. You miss just as much, and you suffer just as much loss. Every time your eyes miss a signpost, you suffer a loss equivalent to that distance.

 

In verse 1, God clearly appears to Jacob. Jacob did not seek God out; God was the first to speak to Jacob. "Arise, go up to Bethel." This is an incredibly surprising fact. Even when we are going the opposite way, as if to leave God, He finds us and puts His signpost in front of us.

 

The Path to the Peak: Olah

The command "go up to Bethel" literally means to ascend. Shechem is "shoulder-level," and God truly commanded him to go up to Bethel. It is a metaphorical expression, but it also means to physically go up. The Hebrew word used is "olah" (עֹלָה). The well-known burnt offering is a sacrifice offered up to God as a fragrant aroma. That is why the Hebrew word for burnt offering is "olah." It means to ascend.

 

When God said, "Go up to Bethel and build an altar there," it was a very important statement because it was related to the burnt offering. We don’t have enough time to cover all of that today, but we will talk about it next week when we discuss worship. The word "olah" is also used frequently in the Psalms, such as, "Who may ascend the hill of the Lord?" It uses this very word, "olah."

 

It sounds as if God is saying, "Go up to Bethel. Don't stay at the shoulder, but ascend to the peak." The shoulder and the peak might seem insignificant, but for a mountain, they are a world apart. A person who constantly circles the middle of the mountain will be able to see the trees, but they will never be able to see the breathtaking view from the peak. It is only when we ascend to the peak that we experience a change and our perspective is altered.

 

True Change Begins With God

Pastor Iain Duguid expressed it this way: "True change always happens that way. Like a spiritual birth, or being born again, the first step of spiritual renewal or revival always begins with God. Left to themselves, our hearts begin to grow as cold as ice toward God. We quickly fall into compromise, are swayed by false goals, and are attracted to the appeal of idols."

 

He also mentions "the second law of thermodynamics, where matter always moves from a state of order to disorder." Scientists believe this law is absolutely unchanging. All matter moves from a state of order to a state of disorder because maintaining order requires energy. All matter without energy will naturally gravitate toward disorder. If we apply this law to our faith, our souls, without God holding onto them, will inevitably move from a state of order to disorder.

 

But here is the twist: "However, God does not let go of or abandon His chosen ones, those with whom He has made a covenant. Just as He came to Jacob, He also comes to us, calling us back and renewing our walk with Him." Please remember that Jacob's stagnation did not happen overnight. It came on him over a period of 10 years. It would have been very difficult for Jacob to realize this on his own.

 

It would be the same for us. If we don’t examine our faith every day, we might not even realize that we are in a spiritual slump. We may attend church on Sunday, sing praises, sometimes feel moved, and gain understanding from the word. But when you think your faith is safe, you must think about this again. Our decline is often not visible. If you are hearing this message today and think, 'Could I also be in a spiritual slump?', do not ignore it. Take it as a warning and examine yourself again. The Bible says, "constantly examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith." This is not said to shake your certainty. It means that the more we believe we are certain, the more we need to reconsider, knowing our own weaknesses.

 

We Who Have Experienced the Peak

Just like you, Jacob had also experienced it. In his life, there was Bethel and there was Peniel. God says, "Go to the place where I appeared to you when you were fleeing from your brother Esau." That place was Bethel.

 

You and I also have our Bethel and our Peniel, just like Jacob did. You and I have had that peak experience where our perspective on our problems changed in an instant.

 

The Misunderstanding of the Term 'First Love'

Many people express this as "first love." They often say, "In my good old days as a Christian, I served diligently and did many things, but now my faith has grown cold." That is not right. You are using the term "first love" incorrectly.

 

As you all know, I have asked many people over 70, "Elder, Deacon, if you could go back to being 20, would you like that?" I expected them to say yes, but 90% said no. 'Go back to being 20 and do all that again? Go back and have all those ups and downs? Go through that whole journey all over again?' That makes perfect sense, doesn’t it?

 

You constantly refer to your first meeting with God as "first love" and think that the dating period was the best. It's not. The same is true for a married relationship. Dating was good. But there is a huge difference between knowing your wife or husband now and knowing them when you were dating. The problem is not that you have knowledge, but that you use it for harm instead of for good. When I say this, I know it can be a sensitive topic or a difficult truth to hear. But we have definitely gained knowledge. So why do you say you want to go back to your first love? You shouldn't go back to the dating stage. Now, you must live a mature life based on your mature knowledge.

 

We Who Stand in a Place of Greater Knowledge

Faith is the same way. I am not telling you to go backward. It’s not about 'When I used to believe in Jesus so fervently...' You know God more now. It has to be. God began this salvation by saving you and walking with you. Unless you are 'thick-headed,' how could you have ignored God's guidance? You have come to a place where you know God more without even realizing it. You are in a much better spiritual position.

 

So, the reason your heart hurts is not that you are not obeying God’s word more; it's that you know God’s will more but are not living according to it. This is what breaks God's heart. Going back to how you were before is not going to fix the problem. So I am not telling you to go back to your first love. What I am saying is, we need to remember that experience of the peak, when we walked with God, and that we did not stay at the middle of the mountain or the shoulder, but went with the Lord.

 

The Path to the Peak

When you climb a mountain, it's disappointing to stop halfway, but it feels great to reach the peak, doesn't it? The best part is being able to see everything below. You see those houses looking so tiny? You realize that you've been struggling and paying a mortgage every month just to have one of those tiny houses, and you feel it from the mountaintop. "Wow, what have I been living for?" It is then that you finally get to see the sky. After being trapped in a car or a building and unable to see the sky, you finally get to see it.

 

You get to see so far. Isn't that where the expression 'your heart feels wide open' comes from? In other words, you realize that 'my life is not stuck to the ground,' and that is why you feel a refreshing change in your perspective and your heart.

 

Of course, some people enjoy the walk itself, enjoying the forest and the flowers on the way to the peak. Why is that? It's because they have the physical stamina. They have the skill. A long time ago, I climbed to the top of Daecheongbong in Seoraksan. But besides a vague memory of what Daecheongbong looked like, I have only one memory of the entire climb: the heels of the person in front of me. I don’t remember anything else. I was so exhausted that I didn't see the trees or the rocks. I just looked at the heels of the person in front of me so I wouldn't fall behind or collapse. So I have no memory other than the fact that I climbed Daecheongbong. How could I have enjoyed the path with my poor physical stamina? Therefore, it is something we need to build up. To climb to the peak in our faith, we must joyfully accept the training that God gives us to build our stamina.

 

However, what I am saying now is that you and I also have the experience of God walking with us to the peak, where we worshipped Him and looked at this world with His eyes. So when we look at Jacob, we see that he must have initially been going toward the peak as well. But now he is only looking at the ground. His spiritual stamina is depleted. He has forgotten Bethel. So God makes him remember Bethel. He commands him to worship.

 

The First Step Toward Worship: Abandon Idols

What does this mean? It means Jacob read God's signpost. If you are driving on the highway and take a wrong turn, going south when you should be going north, what should you do? You can't just say, "Well, I'm already heading this way, so let's just go to San Diego," can you? You must exit and turn back around. That is the first thing that needs to happen.

 

Now that Jacob saw the signpost, he realized his state. He remembered what he had forgotten. He realized, 'What have I been living for all this time? How insignificant the peace I thought I had was.' And so, he said something he would never have imagined. God had only said, "Go up to Bethel. Build an altar there." This is all God said.

 

But upon hearing these words, Jacob didn’t just gather his family and say, "Let's go up to Bethel. Pack your bags! Let's go!" He said, "Let's go up to Bethel. Bring all the foreign gods, the idols, that you have!" Don't you see the change in Jacob's heart and the message he heard through this? What message Jacob heard and what he discovered is perhaps the part that we need most as well.

 

Another Lens is an Idol

They were the circumcised people of God, yet they must have still had the teraphim they brought from Laban's house. And they had gained numerous idols in Canaan, so "idols" was not a singular word, but plural. When God is not our all, we will always make or seek idols. There are no exceptions. Jacob and his family were clearly people who knew God. They were not people who had left God. But God was not their all. They had forgotten that. And so, they began to seek and make idols.

 

When I say this, you might think, "I still consider God the most important person in my life." So I will explain it a little differently. Making or seeking an idol is not so much about 'making something great to worship' but is closer to this: an idol is when you wear your "God lens" to look at the world and try to live according to His will, and then you put another lens on top of it.

 

Other than sunglasses with no prescription, what would happen if you put another pair of glasses on top of the ones that match your eyes perfectly? The world would look distorted. You wouldn’t be able to see properly. That is what an idol is. An idol is something you love more than God, something you think about before God. If I say this, you will try to run away. You'll say, 'But God is my priority. I'm so tired, but I still came to church. Even if I'm sleepy, I'm still in worship.' Or if I ask, 'Why don't you attend Bible study?' you might say, 'I read the Bible at home.'

 

That’s why I’m saying this. An idol is not only something you love more than God, but also adding another lens on top of your existing lens. As a result, we begin to look at ourselves not with God's eyes, but with the values of the world, and we start to consider those things more important.

 

What Are You Rejoicing In?

Sharing and discussing faith with people of strong faith is a truly joyful thing. But sometimes, when you think, 'This person has really great faith,' you get a surprise. While talking, someone might say, "Oh, Deacon, I am so thankful to God." When asked, "For what?" they reply, "You know, my child didn't seem to study all that hard, but this time, he got an acceptance letter from Harvard. Oh, I'm not trying to brag, I don't know why it happened." We then realize, 'This person has started to wear an additional set of glasses.'

 

It is, of course, a reason to be thankful. But what should we be thankful for? We should be thankful for God's goodness. My friends, it is a reason for gratitude when our children do well. But in this closed society, for one child to do well, hundreds or thousands of other children have to suffer. For one child to be first, there are 61 other students in a class who have to suffer and endure all the nagging and pain of their parents. This is not a simple matter.

 

What are you rejoicing in? What is truly precious in your life? When we face difficulties or our children face problems, it feels like the world is collapsing. Do you know why? It’s because you have another set of glasses on, not just God's glasses. Without even realizing it, you are worshipping an idol. When the world is shaken, you are also shaken. God is not shaken, but we are easily shaken. Why? If your glasses were God's glasses, why would we be shaken? We would rely on the Lord instead. But we are shaken too easily.

 

That is why I believe that placing an idol on top of everything and then asking God for blessings or something that He provides is not a blessing, but rather a great trial for you. Your priority is not to receive another peace or blessing from God, but to first remove the idols you have plastered onto God's things and come down from there. That is the priority.

 

Bury the Idols in the Ground

When you read today’s text, it says that when they brought their idols in response to Jacob’s command, they also brought their earrings. We don’t know exactly what these were, but there are two most common understandings. One is that in Canaan at the time, people would engrave images of gods or other writings on their earrings. So they were like amulets, and that's why they brought them. The other is that if you read Exodus, in chapters 32 to 34, there is the incident where Aaron makes the golden calf. Do you know what they bring to him? Earrings. They bring earrings. So some scholars think that perhaps this action of gathering the earrings was to make another idol. In any case, these earrings are related to what? Idols. We often make these idols, and we always try to have them.

 

Let me tell you the exact expression from the Bible. It says that they were buried in the ground. Buried. Jacob took all of them and buried them in the ground. So when you hear “buried,” if you think, 'Now I have finally abandoned all the things of this world' and you say you are 'letting go,' 'I am letting go of my greed,' 'I am letting go of my worldly desires,' 'I am letting go of money and material things,' this is not actually a biblical expression.

 

This is because God is not telling you to let go of the things of this world so that you can live without any connection to them. He is telling you to use those things to bring glory to Him. That is why God tells you, "whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God," not that eating and drinking are useless, or that you should just pray every day, or fast and not eat.

 

Burying your material possessions and everything else means burying the idols, not burying all the things that God has given you as a steward to live according to His will. So when you think, 'Why is that person working so hard to make so much money?' you need to ask yourself again, 'Why is he trying to make money?' You must ask that question. You should not assume that a person with money or a person trying to make money is just someone who loves the world.

 

You are people who are to contemplate how to establish God’s kingdom with the things you have. You are not people who say, “I will live the most pure life in this world. I have nothing to do with money.” If you live like that, the people next to you will be miserable. You may live a clean life, but the people next to you have to work hard to feed you.

 

Perhaps you haven't had that experience. I have. I might get in trouble for saying this, but my last name is Han. People named Han have a bit of a scholar's spirit. I know none of you agree, but my father was like that. My father was a very sincere and good person, but he had little regard for money. So while he worked hard and accomplished a lot, I think my mother had much greater practical ability. Why? Because my father was "high-minded." My father never became an elder in his whole life because he had a very firm conviction from the start that what God had given him as a deacon was sufficient and that he could not handle the work of an elder. This caused my mother a great deal of worry. My mother was the one who worried more. In the end, when he got old, my father gave in. But even then, I don't think he accepted the role of an elder because he truly intended to do the work. This is also a pain of the Korean church, but the people next to you suffer greatly.

 

The truth is, it is not about that. What the Bible wants is not for you to live a pure life, detached from the world. It is for you to make a lotus bloom in the dirtiest place. It is to find work there that reveals God’s glory and to give God glory. Not a lotus in the mud as Buddhism talks about. It means to reveal God's glory. Not for you to become like a lotus.

 

Change Your Garments

While Jacob’s command to abandon idols is important, his last command is to “change your garments.” The next step is worship.

 

Changing garments is a very important theme in the Old Testament. If I had the time, I would love to explain how this theme of clothing runs from Genesis to Revelation, but today, as you look at this idea of clothing, consider that Adam and Eve were not clothed. But what did God do? He clothed them in animal skins. And this theme of clothing does not disappear; it continues to appear. You can see it in the clothes of the priests in the tabernacle and the temple.

 

You will see one of these examples through Joshua. The Joshua I am talking about is not the Joshua from the book of Joshua, but the high priest Joshua. This is a word from the prophet Zechariah. Listen. This is from the book of Zechariah. "Now Joshua was standing before the angel, clothed with filthy garments. The Lord said to those who were standing before him, 'Take off his filthy garments.' And to him he said, 'See, I have removed your iniquity from you, and I will clothe you with beautiful garments.'" So, the high priest was wearing filthy garments in this vision. He is told to take them off. The act of taking them off is described as, "I have removed your iniquity from you." And then He says, "I will clothe you with beautiful garments."

 

Changing garments clearly does not just mean putting on new clothes. It means taking off filthy clothes. And putting on beautiful clothes. This simple story is actually expressed in the New Testament by Paul, as you know. It is from Ephesians 4. "If indeed you have heard him and have been taught in him, just as the truth is in Jesus, to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness."

 

The Power of Those Who Have Put on the New Self

You are people who have already put on the new self. In the past, you might have heard it explained like this: "You need to keep putting off your old self. And keep putting on the new self." It is true that such an element exists in our lives because our habits don't disappear all at once; they require continuous training. However, that is not what the Bible is trying to say. My friends, in Korea, you have bathhouses, right? Can you go to a bathhouse and put on new clothes without taking off the old ones you were wearing? Is there a brilliant way to do that? Can you put on new clothes without taking off the old ones first? No. You have to take them off first to put on the new ones. What the Bible is saying now is that you have already put on the new self.

 

Of course, the old habits and what we call the "gravity" from the old self still remain. Just as we feel an inertia that keeps us going in the same direction after we stop, we feel our sins holding us back, even though we are no longer slaves to them. But you are people who have put on the new self. That is why the Bible says that you have died to sin and are alive to righteousness.

 

The prophet Zechariah says this about it: “'It is not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,' says the Lord Almighty." Do you have the Holy Spirit? Do you not? Those who believe in Jesus are people who are said to have the Holy Spirit. Many of you don't understand this well or don't rely on it. You often rely too much on your intellect, your ability, your biblical knowledge, or your prayer skills. But the truth is, the more you pray and the more you study the Bible, the more you should learn this: the way to rely on the Holy Spirit is to realize how weak you are and that you can't do anything by your own power. You must realize, 'I need to rely on God. I need to meet Jesus. I need to hold on to the cross. I need to rely on the Holy Spirit who is in me.'

 

The Holy Spirit is in you. He is the one who does this work. So you must rely on Him. Instead of making a resolution every day, cling to the Holy Spirit. "Holy Spirit, I really can't love, what should I do?" And before you try to find a way to love by thinking, 'Should I try this or that?' first rely on the Holy Spirit. "I am a person who cannot love. Holy Spirit, please work in me." Because they say there is no other way. They say it is not by your might or power. Therefore, there is no other option but to rely on the Holy Spirit.

 

The Pain of Losing the Path to the Peak

Through this, we hear Jacob’s final words, telling them to go up to Bethel. Therefore, you are now going to the place of worship. So focused on the ground, Jacob didn’t know he was going down the mountain. In fact, he was so focused on the ground that he didn’t even know whether he was going up or down. He had lost the path to the peak and at times even lost the way to the peak. But for us, in that state, God will make a signpost, even if He has to cut down a tree.

 

Jacob walked for more than 10 years during that time. But he was only hovering in the middle of the mountain. He was going back and forth in Shechem. He must have stumbled, been hurt, and been in great pain. We know the Dinah incident would have left him with great pain. It was a painful event. But what is the real pain? Was it really heartbreaking that he stumbled over rocks or fell into a pit while walking in the middle of the mountain? No. The real pain was that even with the peak right in front of him, he did not seek God, he did not see Him, he did not cling to Him, he did not rely on Him, and he could not go to Him. That is the real pain. That is the truly regrettable thing, and that is his most painful and bitter situation.

 

Instead of looking to God, the path to the peak, he was a person who worried about 'what to eat and what to wear' and was only concerned about his own shoes. That is what is truly heartbreaking.

 

My friends, was it only true for Jacob? When I look at you, my heart hurts the most. It is not because you are struggling with financial problems. It is not because you have lost a loved one. It is not just because you are having a hard time at a good job. These all seem like painful things, and there are times when it looks as if you have fallen over a rock and your knee is scraped and bleeding. I am not heartbroken because you have not achieved the kind of happiness the world talks about.

 

When you are in that situation, God shows you the most precious path to the peak, a signpost, and says to go with Him, but you do not follow God to the peak. Instead, you look only at your slightly bleeding knee from falling, you look at your torn clothes, you look to see if water has gotten into your house, or you look to see if you have lost anything. That is what is most heartbreaking.

 

God's Word Is Still Faithful

Before us, God stands as a signpost even today. "You are now going south. Turn back north quickly. You are going down the mountain. Change direction and go up the mountain. Look at Me." To us, who neglect God and instead put on idols, looking at the world as we please, this is what can truly be called our last hope. This is our true hope. Because it is God's promise that He will hold onto us until the very end. God's word is still faithful, so He speaks to us again.

 

My friends, it has been 10 years. He is speaking to you again. "Go up to Bethel." My friends, it has been 10 years. My friends, it has been 5 years. For some, it might be 1 year. For others, it might be 20 years. Take a look back at your faith life. The Lord is still saying to you, "Let's go up to Bethel." The Lord is surely waiting there, and He will surely walk with you.

 

Jeremiah says this to the Israelites, who were so disloyal to the Lord, who did not listen to His word, who only worshipped idols and denied God: "The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness." Because the Lord’s love and patience for you, who endure and bear with you, and who has become a signpost saying, “Let’s go with Me” are unending, we are not consumed. I pray that you will go before this Lord who is new every morning.

 

Let's Pray

Loving Lord, we come before You.

 

O Lord, lift up our eyes that only stare at the ground and do not see heaven while we linger in the middle of the mountain. Help us to read the amazing signposts You speak to us.

 

"I love you. Let's go up to Bethel together. I will be with you forever."

 

In the name of Jesus Christ, we pray. Amen.