Enter God's house through Jesus

Monday, January 3, 2011 Devotions: Ps 68, 72; Gen 28:10-22; Heb 11:13-22; Jn 10:7-18

Let God arise and scatter His enemies! And let God's people sing songs to praise His name, YHWH. Let us exult before Him—Father of the orphan, Husband of widows, Protector of the powerless. Nature quakes before His might. Blessed is YHWH, Who daily lifts me up, my Savior, my Lord. Let all the earth bow before our God, terrible and wonderful. Blessed be God! May His Son Jesus reign forever; may His peace abound. He delivers the needy and the helpless poor. May the land flourish and the peoples prosper under His majesty and mercy. Blessed be YHWH, God of Israel, God of the church. May His glory fill all the earth forever. Amen!

Jacob had set out from his father and mother to travel to Paddan-Aram to seek a wife. As he departed Beer-sheba and approached Haran, the sun set. He took a stone for a pillow and lay down to sleep. And he dreamed of a great ladder set up on earth and reaching to heaven above. As Jacob watched, God's angels were ascending and descending on the ladder. And he saw the Lord standing above it, and God declared, 'I Am YHWH, the God of Abraham your ancestor and of Isaac; the land on which you lie I will give to you and your descendants; and they shall bel like the dust of the earth. Your tribe will spread abroad in every direction; and every family of the earth will bless themselves by you and your descendants. Behold, I Am with you and will keep you wherever you go; and I will bring you back to this land. For I will not leave you until I have done what I said to you.' Then Jacob awoke; he said, 'Surely the Lord is in this place and I did not know it.' Jacob was afraid; he said, 'How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and the gate of heaven!' So Jacob rose early and took the stone which he had used for a pillow, and set it up as a pillar; he poured oil over the pillar and named the place Bethel--'The House of God.' (It had been called Luz previously). And Jacob made this vow: 'If God will be with me, and wilkeep my in this way that I must go, and will provide me bread to eat and clothing to wear, so that I return again to my father's house in peace, then YHWH shall be my God and this stone, which I have erected as a pillar, will be God's house. And of all that You give me, I will return a tithe to You.'

All the mortal pioneers of faith named by the Hebrew writer died in faith; none of them had received what was promised. But they had seen it and greeted it from afar; and they acknowledged that they were aliens and strangers on the earth. People that speak in this way affirm that they are seeking a homeland—a better country than the one they left behind—that is, a heavenly home. Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them!

Jesus told His followers, 'I tell you most truly, I Am the door of the sheep. All who preceded Me were thieves and robbers; but the sheep did not heed them. I Am the gate; whoever enters through Me will be saved; they will come in and go out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I have come that they may have life, and have it abundantly. I Am the good shepherd, who lays down His life for the sheep. The hireling is not a shepherd; the sheep don't belong to him, so when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away; and the wolf snatches and scatters the fheep. He runs because he is a hireling and cares nothing for the sheep. I Am the good shepherd; I know My own, and they know Me, just as the Father knows Me and I know the Father. And I lay down My life for the sheep. I have other sheep, not of this sheepfold; I must gather them also, and they will heed My voice. So there shall be one flock, one shepherd. For this reason the Father loves Me, because I lay down My life, that I may take it up again. No one takes it from Me, because I lay it down of My own accord. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it up again: this charge I have received from My Father