RESTORING A DECEIVER. By Pastor Fernando

SCRIPTURE
After Jacob returned from Paddan Aram, God appeared to him again and blessed him. God said to him, "Your name is Jacob, but you will no longer be called Jacob; your name will be Israel." So he named him Israel.
Genesis 35:9-10

OBSERVATION
Jacob, as his name indicates, was a deceiver. We moved up in life by deceiving his father, his brother, his uncle, and many others. Some of his sons grew up to be like him and became deceivers. They deceived Hamor, his son Shechem, and the men of their city. Ruben deceived his father by sleeping with his concubine. And later on, the ten older brothers would deceive their father about the whereabouts of Joseph. Certainly, when you consider Jacob's life, this name change event while in Bethel is very significant. God is dealing with the sinful nature within Jacob. God himself declares that Jacob will not be known as a deceiver, but as Israel, a man who struggles with God. Jacob was the man who wrestled with the Angel of the Lord until daybreak and it seems that his new name reflects that event.

When reading the way God changes Jacob's name, I would expect a better name, something like, "the man of truth" or "the honest man." But the name God gave him was Israel, "he who struggles with God." Certainly, the reality of Israel from that point forward was of struggle and the same struggle continues even today. I seems that the path towards living in the truth has to go though struggles first.

APPLICATION
I don't want to have a relationship with the Lord where I'm constantly struggling with him. I want to have a relationship where I surrender to Him. The root of deception is still deep in my heart. My sin is a reality that manifests with self-deception, with lack of honesty, with a spin of the truth, and with compromise. Just like Jacob, the temptation to move up in life through deception is very real. And certainly, when we want to walk with Christ, we will struggle with Him and His ways. We want our will and He wants His. We wrestle with God in our minds. And when El Shadai, the God Almighty, pins us down on the mat, we have two options: to let our faith be weakened and resent God, or surrender to Him fully convinced that God's ways are better than our ways.

That's why my relationship with God through Christ makes the whole difference in the world. The Holy Spirit will always point out my deception to set me free from it. And even though is natural to struggle and wrestle with God, at the end I hope always to surrender to His ways.

PRAYER
Dear heavenly Father, please help me to always surrender to your ways, even when I call you on the mat for things I don't understand. Right now I don't understand why the people in Haiti are suffering so much. Even though you didn't cause this disaster, I know you are in control and you allow it to happen. I believe you have a great plan, but it seems very hard to see the good side when there is so much devastation in front of my eyes. I choose to trust you. But there are millions of people right now struggling, wrestling in their hearts with you about this. Please guide them to surrender and to trust in your ways. Help us to put our trust in you and to the promise of one day bringing the entire world under your dominion. And help us to be restored from our own deception until we can live in the full truth of your will. Amen!