We have all experienced times when our situation seemed impossible. The lesson I have learned through many such trials is to press into the Lord and never let go.

This lesson is informed by the story of Jacob in Genesis 32–36. We pick it up where Jacob spent the night alone in an unspecified place, fearing an attack by his brother Esau. The text tells us that a “man” wrestled with Jacob until daybreak. Jacob called the place Peni’el (face of God), “Because I have seen God face to face, yet my life was spared” (32:30).  His adversary says as much. The man said, “From now on, you will no longer be called Ya’akov, but Isra’el because you have shown your strength to both God and men, and have prevailed” (32:28).

The interpretation of these verses is key to understanding the Jewish people. Jacob was given the name that his descendants would carry throughout eternity. The people of the covenant are called “the children of Israel,” it was only after the Assyrian defeat of the Northern Kingdom that those that remained were called Judah (the Southern Kingdom) and Yehudim, or Jews, in English. Names in the Torah, or those given by God, are meant to convey a person’s character or calling. Jacob’s new name also contains the clue to who his descendants would be—the people who struggled with God and with men yet prevailed.

And so it is today still! Jacob’s breakthrough occurred after the struggle when the Angel touched his hip and dislocated it, then Jacob refused to let go until the “man” blessed him.

It was as if the man was saying that Jacob had struggled to take the place of Esau. He held onto Esau’s heel. In the future, Jacob will let go of Esau and hold onto God— he will hold onto God, and God will never let go of Jacob.

The next day, a whole new Jacob emerges. Jacob returned the blessing he took from Esau by giving Esau the wealth of his flocks, and also the power by bowing seven times and repeatedly calling Esau “my lord” (Genesis 27:29). This was the blessing Isaac had originally meant for Esau when he was blind and couldn’t see Jacob’s face. Jacob’s true blessing that Isaac gave him before he left to go to Mesopotamia, however, had nothing to do with wealth or power. It was about land and descendants of the covenant (Genesis 28:3-4). Jacob did not have to become Esau to receive that blessing. Jacob just had to be himself.

Though Jacob limped from his encounter with God, he learned that his was an alternate and more glorious destiny, another face, so to speak—the face he saw reflected in the Face of God when he wrestled with Him and refused to let go.

And so it is with us as followers of Messiah, as stated in 2 Corinthians 3:18, “So all of us, with faces unveiled, see as in a mirror the glory of the Lord; and we are being changed into his very image, from one degree of glory to the next, by ADONAI the Spirit.”

Whenever you face difficulty or need wisdom or clarity, call on the name of the LORD. And keep calling until you have your answer. Know who you are and whose you are. Never doubt God’s love and blessings for you. Hold fast, and never let go!

Posted in The Daily Jot

There has been a lot of “analysis” of Joe Biden’s pardon of his son Hunter after countless statements that he would not pardon Hunter because “no one is above the law.” There is a longstanding mantra by Democratic Party leadership saying that no one is above the law. Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, Joe Biden, Adam Schiff, Alvin Bragg, Jack Smith, and the list goes on and on of people who claim nobody is above the law, yet they are above the law.

Fact is, if you disagree with the Democratic Party and you can be brought to lawfare persecution in a Democrat-controlled court or prosecutor, you will see first-hand who is above the law and who is under it. Joe Biden’s pardon of Hunter is just one example of the hypocrisy.

After nearly a decade of lawfare persecution against Donald Trump—all of which has failed to remotely prove his guilt of charges—and claiming that everybody is under the law, the Bidon pardon is a true example of the Democrat-class of law and everybody else. The White House said numerous times over the past two years that Biden would not pardon Hunter. Biden said he would not pardon Hunter. The Democrats used this commitment to demonstrate that Trump had to face his legal consequences because no one—not even the “president’s” son—is above the law. Except when he is, which is now when Biden is leaving office and all the lawfare persecution against Trump is left in shambles. But this is nothing new.

Let us recall Hillary Clinton, who had classified emails on a server in her home’s closet. Clinton also used a pay-for-play scheme as Secretary of State to fatten the pockets–$74-88 million worth–of the Clinton Foundation by brokering high-level meetings for Algeria, Brunei, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. Let’s not forget about her gaslighting all of America about Benghazi. The foundation shut down after she left office.

How about Clinton conspiring with Obama and the Democratic Party to use the secret FISA court to spy on Trump and mock-up fake documents saying Trump colluded with the Russians? Nothing to see here. Then FBI Director James Comey pronounced his own law when he said, “Our judgment is that no reasonable prosecutor would bring such a case.”

Trump’s home was raided by the FBI, and he was brought to trial by Democrat prosecutors in a Democrat-controlled court over classified documents. Biden also had classified documents piled in his garage. A special counsel concluded that Biden “willfully retained” those documents after he was vice president, but “as a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory,” no jury would convict him, so there would be no charges filed.

Now, the leftist media is saying that Biden was just being a good father by pardoning Hunter. Not so. A good father understands that his son must face consequences for his actions.

Colossians 3:25 says, “But he who does wrong shall receive justice for the wrong which he did, and there is no respect of persons.”

In America these days, there are two sets of laws, and believing that no one is above the law is… say it with me… Stupidocrisy.

Posted in The Daily Jot