This picutre stinks. Sure it’s beautiful, but if we only see the world through 2D images like this, we may not encounter awe or wonderment. We can know who we are better and our place in this world when we include a healthy and vibrant visual ingestion of the beauty around us, outdoors.
I’m putting you up to a challenge.
Don’t let this day go by without going outside…until you are amazed.
Notice the natural world. Take in the sights of the clouds, trees, the birds, the mountains, valleys, rivers, or plains around you. Soak it in until you are in awe. The glory of nature in a window into the transcendent. The intricacy, careful design, loveliness, and goodness of the created/natural world should astonish us.
When was the last time you made time to be astonished by God’s world?
Oh, and please don’t forget to tell us what amazed you!
It happened in a spot located on the north bank of the Jabbok close to the Jordan River. God and Jacob grappled. Um, what?
This has to be one of the most fascinating stories in the Bible. It’s just 9 verses long. Click this to read it quickly, in a cute, new window.
(And, no, I don’t think the angel/incarnation of God had wings like we see depicted in this illustration. And I have to believe he had a much nicer hairdo, too.)
SO! After that all-night bout, Jacob names the place Peniel, which means “facing God”. Once you go head-to-head with God Almighty, in the flesh, in an epic OT (Old Testament) Smackdown, you just have to name the place something cool, or memorable. You have to do it…so you don’t convince yourself that you were just dreaming, like before. Later, you’ll say, “Yes, kids, I wrestled God all night right here. I had a pretty mean grip on him, and my hip has been killing me ever since.”
The incarnation of God dislocates Jacob’s hip, with just a touch. But, you know what? Jacob still hung on tightly and relentlessly until the angel granted him a blessing. Thus, Jacob carried a permanent reminder of struggling with God.
The hip joint is very strong. Hip injuries like this are not too common, but they do occur sometimes in rough and tumble sports. Here is a little research I gathered, so we can better understand the marathon of a match, and the (possible) physical consequences.
This injury is more common in such sports as football, rugby, hurling, and soccer, the individual is hit in the front of the thigh, forcing the thigh/hip complex backward, resulting in hip dislocations. This tears the ligamentum teres and the posterior capsule.
(In folk style/scholastic wrestling, there is a technique/move called “Jacob’s hook”. Yes, it can be dangerous, cause a hip dislocation, and lasting pain.)
Sciatic nerve and the hip joint. Ouchy.
The vascular supply to the femoral head is stretched and torn as the posterior displacement increases. Generally (in athletics), the participant is not allowed to return to athletics for a minimum of three months. Long-term consequences of posterior hip dislocations can include sciatic nerve injury, avascular necrosis of the femoral head (hip joint damage due to decreased blood supply), and significant arthritis and cartilage damage.
A joint dislocation significantly disrupts all the structures that support the joint. The athlete will be out of commission for a minimum of three months if he/she does traditional sports medicine treatments. Even after all of that time, there is no guarantee that one will be left with a strong hip joint.
The children of Israel remember the event by never eating this part of an animal. The sciatic nerve is known in Hebrew as the gid hanasheh. The process of removing the sciatic nerve (as well as certain large blood vessels and forbidden fats) from the surrounding meat is known as nikkur, or “deveining.” Since this is a difficult and delicate process, cuts from an animal’s hindquarters (including the Filet mignon) are generally not sold as kosher.[2] (from wiki)
Part of the blessing Jacob receives involves his name change ushering in a new identity for this youngest and far sneakier of the twins boys of Isaac. He is given the name Israel.
Yes, Jacob hangs on all night. Yes, the passage makes it seem like the angel had to keep an early morning appointment elsewhere, with all that “Let me go for it is daybreak” business, as if he’s Edward (the vampire) in the Twilight series. He seems to give in to Jacob’s iron grip. But…
Israel means “God prevails”.
The ending of the name Israel, “el” is most often translated from Hebrew as God, or god.
The first part of the word (isra, or some approximation) is translated – as contended, or striven, or wrestled.
Sometimes this story is interpreted that it is Jacob who does the prevailing or overcoming; but it is God who heals Jacob by revealing himself to him, man-to-man. He “breaks” him to begin to heal him, in every way. God perpetuates a grappling stalemate. Although he could, God chooses not to defeat Jacob in a straight-forward victory by a submission hold, or pin, etc. Jacob’s tenacity is rewarded. Eye of the tiger, baby!
God welcomes our struggling with him, when we patiently and boldly holdout for the blessings that only can come from him.
Have you ever realized that God wants you close, even if you are struggling against him? He wants us to know him in that up close way, face-to-face in all our messiness. He seems to route for us, and hope we hang on all the way to the end of the dark night for the blessing.
I got a cheap App for my Mac today called Smoovie. It’s a super stripped down stop animation Application. It’s quite lowbrow for anyone into film/animation, but for about 50 minutes, I had some fun. It’s 35 seconds long.
Tell us what it’s about (in your opinion).
No worries. There is no right answer.
This is really beautiful because you can tell the dino feels God's love.CAUTION: Dinosaur related humor in this post is to be read as comedy.
(The Jesus picture isn’t perfectly related to this post. But sharing it seemed like the right thing to do–especially within the scope of the topic today. You see, if God gave me a baby T-Rex, I’d give him back; both out of fear, but as a offering of first fruits too. Mostly because Jesus would probably tame him into a “little lamb”. Sort of like he when he changed things up as he called out to Mary in the garden: “Mary”. He would say, “baby dino,” and that would be it. I guess that’s just the power of God.)Instead of the word “Rules” in the title, I was going to use the word “Laws”. But, I soon realized Laws aren’t what the used to be. Even what we’ve thought of as “Laws of Physics” have been bent or misshapen somehow, in recents times.
Here, I use the word “rule” to highlight what seems to be invariably consequential. Or , “It seems thus.” If you’d like to debate it, I welcome that.
The #1 Giving Rule: Hoarding causes spoilage. Not just the material variety of hoarding, but also as a spiritual reality. An inner decay.
A helpful (Biblical) case in point is the spiritual lesson gathered (ahem) from a physical instance with an ancient wandering people group. Here we see what happens with a “hoarding of mana” (or sustenance): Exodus 16:20. In a word: Maggots.
Yet, the story begs the question for us all: Do we think our daily provision (in every way) is really up to us?
It seems that all gifts and blessing that are not shared with others and given back to God as a love offering, ferment and grow toxic.
This includes spiritual blessings, talents, and material blessings. There seems to be scads on this principle demonstrated in the Bible.
I came up with an equation a few years back, and I feel a burst mathematical jubilation to use it here.
Think about the equation below for about 15 full seconds, and please tell me what you think.
Gifts (from God) – Fruit (of the Spirit) = Corruption
Do you agree? How does this play out?
And-Please Help me with the reverse equation. (What formula does not cause corruption?)
So-What is the best “giving back” to God? Worship in Spirit and Truth. John 4: 22-23
Worship is giving: A gift of one’s first affections.
This has a board range starting with core loyalty, and moving into every other area or currency that involves us. (Yes. Including your time, talents, thoughts, technology, and legal tender. It’s all-encompassing.) And it is all thoroughly swaddled in gratitude.
I thank you to participate in thought and word today. :)
I know what you’re thinking, “I never realized the beauty of Sumo wrestling.” Or maybe you’re thinking, “This is pure poetry in motion.” Or perhaps you’re thinking, “I wish I could scrub my brain!”
Would you like me to make a spiritual connection here? uh. Yeah. Sure… No problem.
This photo illustrates fat spiritual babies. Even when doing great there is still a hefty…ahem…amount of observable foolishness. (Old timers may remember Amy Grant’s little ditty, Fat Baby. Age to Age album 1982. Can you hear this music in the background? Read the fascinating lyrics here. (They don’t write them like this much anymore.) Link to video of live performance here. It’s worth it to see the early 80s hairdos.)
