file: /pub/resources/text/Our.Daily.Bread: db940110.TXT
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          OUR DAILY BREAD                        Monday, January 10, 1994
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          READ:  Genesis 32:1-8, 22-32

                                 WRESTLING WITH GOD

                           Without Me you can do nothing.
                                     --John 15:5

          When  the board members of George Muller's orphanage told him  it
          was impossible to raise enough money to keep the operation going,
          Muller rejoiced.  He said their sense of helplessness would  make
          them  rely more fully on the Lord.  They did, and God  met  their
          need.

          Complete dependence on God is an absolute necessity if we are  to
          enjoy  His  blessing and power.  But we seldom learn  this  truth
          apart from bitter experience.

          Take Jacob, for example.  For many years he had lived by his  own
          schemes.  Even  though distressed when he heard that his  brother
          Esau,  whom he had wronged, was coming with 400 men, Jacob had  a
          plan. He tried to make sure that if he were attacked, half of his
          family  would  survive.  It was then that a "Man" (God  in  human
          form)   wrestled   with  Jacob.  Just  before   dawn,   the   Man
          demonstrated  His deity by putting Jacob's hip out of joint by  a
          mere  touch.  All Jacob could do was cling to the  Man,  pleading
          for  His  blessing (Gen. 32:26; Hos. 12:4).  This was  a  turning
          point  in Jacob's life, for he learned that blessing  comes  only
          from the Lord.

          We  too must realize that the only way to experience God's  favor
          and provision is to depend on Him.

          Author:  Herbert Vander Lugt

                           Once we stop our own devising,
                        Quit the schemes of our own choosing,
                      Cease from all our fruitless striving --
                         God steps in with grace and power!
                                        --DJD

          THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:
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          If we depend wholly on God, we will find Him wholly dependable.

          THE BIBLE IN ONE YEAR:  Genesis 30-32

          
          







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