Have a personal encounter to build intimacy

I am third generation Malaysian of Indian descent. I have nothing against my Indian roots but I have little "heart connection" to India, though I enjoy all the different Indian foods. The main reason for this is that I have had minimal personal experience with the people and culture. I am sure a few extended visits there would help. The same is true with our relationship with God. Jacob needed his own personal encounter with God.

Genesis 28:4, And give you the blessing of Abraham, To you and your descendants with you, That you may inherit the land
In which you are a stranger, Which God gave to Abraham.”

It is clear that the Abrahamic promise was passed down to Isaac and now Jacob. The oldest manuscripts continue to show this clearly. In fact, as a side statement, Esau is recorded as trying to please his parents by marrying Ishmael's daughter. But it only helped partly because Ishmael is half Egyptian. Jacob was going back to Haran to find a wife as instructed.

God meets Jacob at the famous staircase of heaven on the way to Haran. He has a personal encounter with God and names the place Bethel. And he makes some strong statements.

Genesis 28:20-21, Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If God will be with me, and keep me in this way that I am going, and give me bread to eat and clothing to put on, so that I come back to my father's house in peace, then the Lord shall be my God.

Abraham his grandfather, and Isaac his father, had encountered God in their lives. Jacob now had his personal encounter with God. He now understood more clearly the sense of God's presence and His blessing upon him. Have you encountered God yourself?

Father, I thank you for the many personal encounters and I cannot not have that personal intimacy with you.

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