S. O. A. P.

Here’s Your 90 second AM Devotional!

S-cripture:

Genesis 28:16

When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he thought, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I was not aware of it.”

O-bservation:

Jacob was on his way to his Uncle Laban’s house to find a wife at his father’s direction. He stopped for the night to sleep and placed a rock under his head to sleep on. He saw a stairway that led to heaven and heard the Lord prophesy a blessing over him during the night. When he awoke, he was mystified by the vision and anointed the rock and called it “Bethel,” which means “House of God.” He said that God was there even though he was unaware of it, and the sense was one of awesomeness.

A-pplication:

The power of this passage of scripture is, “Anywhere You Are God’s Already There.” When I was a boy, my father pastored a small church in West Palm Beach, Florida, called Bethel Temple. All of my friends in public school assumed that I was Jewish because of the church I attended. When I became a youth pastor as a young man in Sacramento, California, the church I was employed by was called Bethel Temple. A massive building housed the church. But all Jacob had was a rock. He anointed it and called it “Bethel,” the “House Of God.” In my own Gentile lifetime, I’ve experienced two buildings made of rock that were both called Bethel. One was very small, and one was massive. But it doesn’t matter if it’s just a rock like Jacob had, or a big or small building made of rock. In fact, you really don’t even need a rock. Why? Because “Anywhere You Are God’s Already There.”

P-rayer:

Dear Jesus,

This AM, I don’t need anything to house you or help me get to You because, “Anywhere I Am, You’re Already There.” Thank you for always being with me and never leaving. Amen