Living Under Open Heavens

Living Under Open Heavens

Genesis 28:10-16NKJB

Willie Mays began his major league baseball career with only one hit in his first 26 at-bats. Though he went on to hit 660 home runs (third on the all-time list), and steal more than 300 bases, his debut was so unimpressive it seemed unlikely he would last more than a few weeks as a big-leaguer, let alone become one of the greatest to play the game. He had a very uncertain future in baseball.

The turning point for Mays occurred when his manager, Leo Durocher, found him crying in the dugout after yet another miserable performance at the plate.

The coach put his arm around Mays and said, "What’s the matter, son?" Mays said, "I can’t hit up here. I belong in the minor leagues."

Durocher said this to Willie Mays: "As long as I’m manager of the Giants, you’ll be my centerfielder."

You know how the story ends. It wasn’t long before Mays began hitting the ball, and he was on his way to becoming a baseball super-star!

As we read Genesis, chapter 27& 28 we read about the story of Esau and Jacob, the reader finds out rather quickly that neither man was a saint. These brother’s pulled a lot of pranks and told a lot of lies. Not to mention their integrity flaws. However, like Willy May’s coach, God saw potential, He saw the finished product of each man.

Be reminded that God knows how to work His grace, faith and love within every person’s life, and many times He uses an entire life-span to do it.

Now Jacob went out from Beersheba and went toward Haran. 11 So he came to a certain place and stayed there all night, because the sun had set. And he took one of the stones of that place and put it at his head, and he lay down in that place to sleep. 12 Then he dreamed, and behold, a ladder was set up on the earth, and its top reached to heaven; and there the angels of God were ascending and descending on it.

13 And behold, the Lord stood above it and said: “I am the Lord God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie I will give to you and your descendants. 14 Also your descendants shall be as the dust of the earth; you shall spread abroad to the west and the east, to the north and the south; and in you and in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed. 15 Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have spoken to you.” 16 Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it.” 17 And he was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven!”

Notice Jacob said surly the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it. Testimony: “As I look back throughout my life, even when it seemed terrible, I have come to the realization that the Lord was in that place!” P.H.

Sometimes I hear people say that they were born in the wrong era, but they weren’t. These folks who say this continually think if they could have been born in another time, they would have been happier, done better, and fit in. “I want you to realize this morning that you were born for this era, this year, this month and this day. God created you to flourish in the year of 2016 and so forth. This is the generation you were called to, and He called you to prosper; He called you to live under an open heaven.”

Going back to the story, Jacob had been running for dear life knowing that his brother Esau wanted him dead. Esau had lost the blessing of His Father Isaac, he sold his birthright for a bowl of stew. He acted foolishly squandering his birthright.

However, right in the middle of the mess, while Jacob falls asleep on a rock, God speaks to Jacob and confirms, I Am with you; I am blessing you, you are mine! God shows Jacob a ladder with angels going up and down on it. Proving 103:20 His angel excel to do His word. In fact, this ladder reached heaven while the Lord was above the ladder in the heavenly’s.

Again, Right in the middle of a mess was the time that God spoke to Jacob.

Genesis 28:15 I Am with you…

Think about this, God and heaven came down to the very place where Jacob was sleeping.