Intro: Dreams are images or even stories experienced in the mind while we sleep. Because these images are involuntary, they have the potential of being very surprising, inspiring, as well as fascinating. When we have a rather mysterious dream, we may try to put all the pieces together in our natural minds in order to make sense of them or to discover some hidden meaning. However, in order to gain the righteous interpretation of our dreams, we need a right relationship with Jesus—the Truth.
In our passage today, Jacob has a dream. It is a vivid and Spirit-directed vision where the God of heaven communicates with the man of earth. God wants Jacob to know he is not alone in his journey; God and his angels are with him—protecting and watching over him. At this time, Jacob does not understand the bigger revelation, but we know the stairway he saw was a symbol of Jesus and what he would do through his life, death, and resurrection to connect God with his people once again. This beautiful dream calls for a response from Jacob. Will he reach up to God with respect and gratitude to receive his blessing and offer to guide his life?
God does not show favoritism; what he does for one person he will do for all (Ro 2:11). As believers, we have been given the redeeming work of Jesus to connect us with the Father and have been given the Holy Spirit who guides us into truth so we can live in the blessing. It is the Spirit of Christ poured out at Pentecost who gives revelation knowledge, dreams, and visions for our lives, so we can understand and become blessings to others (Joel 2:28). The presence of the Lord is with us, today; so let’s listen and allow the Spirit to speak revelation to our spirits! Blessings for you and others await!
Genesis 28:10-17 NLT Jacob’s Dream at Bethel
10 Meanwhile, Jacob left Beersheba and traveled toward Haran. 11 At sundown he arrived at a good place to set up camp and stopped there for the night. Jacob found a stone to rest his head against and lay down to sleep. 12 As he slept, he dreamed of a stairway that reached from the earth up to heaven. And he saw the angels of God going up and down the stairway.
13 At the top of the stairway stood the Lord, and he said, “I am the Lord, the God of your grandfather Abraham, and the God of your father, Isaac. The ground you are lying on belongs to you. I am giving it to you and your descendants. 14 Your descendants will be as numerous as the dust of the earth! They will spread out in all directions—to the west and the east, to the north and the south. And all the families of the earth will be blessed through you and your descendants. 15 What’s more, I am with you, and I will protect you wherever you go. One day I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have finished giving you everything I have promised you.”
16 Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I wasn’t even aware of it!” 17 But he was also afraid and said, “What an awesome place this is! It is none other than the house of God, the very gateway to heaven!”
Prayer: Lord, thank you for your protective love covering our lives and loved ones, today. You are so good and gracious in your love for us. Send us out into our communities and cause us to be a blessing to others around us. In Jesus’ name. Amen.