We are all part of the bigger story of God and in this story, we begin to realize how we are part of the eternal plans and purposes of God. A deeper narrative exists within all of us. We are all created to experience This Garden where we know God intimately and interact with Him conversationally. In this place we discover deep and meaningful friendship and a joining of our lives realizing it is not good for man to be alone. Even in our brokenness God is working to restore and rescue us. In his image we discover our design to build some form of an Ark to help and even rescue others.
As we journey forward God invites us to explore the reality of a Ladder that exists between heaven and earth revealing how God’s presence can come into any place in which we dwell. The house of God is the gate of heaven. We are the house of God. We are the gates of heaven. Lift up your heads oh ye gates that the king of glory may come in.
We read about this amazing encounter with God in Genesis 28 that has very famously become known as Jacob’s Ladder. If only we could have this kind of encounter! Perhaps we can if we can figure out what it was that Jacob was doing just before this all took place.
Jacob had just deceived his father, stolen the birthright from his brother and was running for his life. Lonely, desperate, weary and tired of dealing with instability and confusion in every direction. He was afraid, exhausted and in a very bad place.
Genesis 28:11-16 At sunset Jacob stopped for the night and went to sleep, resting his head on a large rock. 12 In a dream he saw a ladder that reached from earth to heaven, and God’s angels were going up and down on it. 13 The Lord was standing beside the ladder and said: I am the Lord God who was worshiped by Abraham and Isaac. I will give to you and your family the land on which you are now sleeping. 14 Your descendants will spread over the earth in all directions and will become as numerous as the specks of dust. Your family will be a blessing to all people. 15 Wherever you go, I will watch over you, then later I will bring you back to this land. I won’t leave you—I will do all I have promised. 16 Jacob woke up suddenly and thought, “The Lord is in this place, and I didn’t even know it… CEV
No matter how destitute your situation may be God’s point of view can change it all! The sun had gone down and Jacob was all alone, but not really. The Lord was standing at the top of this stairway declaring God’s promises were still alive even though he’d made such a mess of things in this season of his life.
He’s a God who functions in another realm! Your impossible circumstances are not an issue to your eternal God! God is doing more than you think he is doing even in what may feel like your worst moment! Aren’t you glad God’s promises are alive even when you grow discouraged!
Genesis 28:16-17 When Jacob woke up, he thought, “Surely the LORD is in this place, and I was unaware of it.” 17 And he was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God; this is the gate of heaven!” NIV
Notice the house of God is the gate of heaven. The Bible clearly says in 1 Corinthians 3:16 that you and I are the Temple of God. We are the house of God. We are the gate of heaven. This is why Psalms 24 declares, “Lift up your heads oh ye gates the that this King of Glory may come in!” Wherever we are is the place heaven and earth intersect. Not because of what we do but because of what He has done!
Daniel 11:32 “…the people who know their God shall be strong, and carry out (do) great exploits.” NKJV
We have no true ability to be fruitful in ministry without the rich and deep love union with Him. Everything flourishes from this place of intimacy with God! Think for a moment about what was taking place in common believers’ lives just before The Great Awakening was taking place. Surely there were thousands of personal encounters that began to be experienced in a deeper way.
Last week I noticed there are some unusual things taking place in the lives of people in our church family. One person messaged me saying she was reading her Bible and had a question about something she was reading. She did what she always does. She immediately reached for her phone to google. As she did she felt the Lord prompting her to consider that the Bible says the Holy Spirit is our teacher. She put her phone down and before googling anything she prayed and felt the Lord spoke an explanation to her about this text. She then googled it and found out the Lord was right! LOL. She messaged me in astonishment that God is awakening a deeper reality of what it means to truly sit with the Author as we read his Book that carries so much life for all of us. Another person shared an experience of reading the Bible where the words seem to just be leaping off the page. This person has been reading the Bible for years and years but something seems so different right now. God is up to something and he’s inviting us to a deeper place of participating in what He’s desiring to reveal.
We Bring GP2RL Action Point
Practice God’s presence every morning this week to develop a deeper awareness of what God is doing throughout the day.
DEEPER: A Ladder In This Place
DISCUSSION GUIDE
Click here for a downloadable pdf file of this guide.
A deeper narrative exists within us. We are all created to experience The Garden where we know God and interact with Him intimately. In this place we discover deep and meaningful friendship and relationship realizing it is not good for man to be alone. Even in our brokenness God is working to restore us and rescue us. In his image we discover our design to build an Ark to help rescue others. Promises are awakened within us even if we feel we may be too old or question being qualified or capable in any way. As we journey forward God invites us to explore the reality of a Ladder between heaven and earth revealing how God’s presence exists in any place even if we didn’t realize it at first. We explore a greater place of promise realizing we were born to conquer giants and strongholds that try to keep us from all God says is ours.
Philippians 3:10 [For my determined purpose is] that I may know Him [that I may progressively become more deeply and intimately acquainted with Him... (AMP)
Daniel 11:32 “...the people who know their God shall be strong, and carry out great exploits.” (NKJV) God’s plan is for us to hear his voice together as a family. This is why we start each group with this question
first:
DISCUSSION QUESTION:
1. Where are you reading in your Bible and what are you sensing from God?
Ask each person in your group to answer the discussion questions below after reading the verses. Realize there is great power in just reading the Bible together and allowing the Holy Spirit to awaken his conversational nature in the group.
Genesis 28:11-16 At sunset Jacob stopped for the night and went to sleep, resting his head on a large rock. 12 In a dream he saw a ladder that reached from earth to heaven, and God’s angels were going up and down on it. 13 The Lord was standing beside the ladder and said: I am the Lord God who was worshiped by Abraham and Isaac. I will give to you and your family the land on which you are now sleeping. 14 Your descendants will spread over the earth in all directions and will become as numerous as the specks of dust. Your family will be a blessing to all people. 15 Wherever you go, I will watch over you, then later I will bring you back to this land. I won’t leave you—I will do all I have promised. 16 Jacob woke up suddenly and thought, “The Lord is in this place, and I didn’t even know it... CEV Contemporary English Version
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
2. Have each person give a 60 second summary of what these verses are saying, in their own words.
3. What do these verses teach us about God
4. What do these verses teach us about people?
5. What should you do this week in response to what we are reading and what God is revealing?
6. Who comes to mind when considering a person you might share this with this week?
We Bring GP2RL Action Point:
Practice God’s presence every morning this week to develop a deeper awareness of what God is doing throughout the day.