DOMINION MANDATE DAILY DEVOTIONALWEDNESDAY, MARCH 20, 2024
UNRAVELLING THE PENIEL EXPERIENCE
BIBLE READING: GENESIS 41:1-46; ROMANS 8:18-39; GENESIS 32:24-32
"So Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: “For I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved." Genesis 32:30(NKJV)
Anyone who will be used of God to the fullest must of necessity pass through the Peniel Experience. In the Hebrew language, the word "Peniel" literally means "the Face of God." Through the course of this experience, Jacob’s natural strength was dealt with, and his eyes were open to his weaknesses and inadequacies. What he initially used to brag about became a thing of shame to him. Before the Peniel Experience, he used to think of himself as more important and significant than every other person. He once took unholy advantage of people’s weaknesses with his strength and grace. But after the Man touched the socket of his hip and dislocated it, the manner in which he walked and portrayed himself changed: Arrogance, fraudulence, lying, self-absorption, hedonism and lust for worldly things disappeared. The end result was that the wealthiest and most peaceful moments of Jacob’s life were in his old age in Goshen.
Joseph had his own Peniel Experience in an Egyptian prison. In his youth, he had absolutely no respect for his seniors and often times leveraged on his father’s favouritism to exercise undue control over his elder brothers. Both Jacob and Joseph became so humbled just because they were children of Purpose who needed to be conformed to that Purpose through the process of Divine Discipline. All they went through was designed not to K*ll them but rather to change and pattern them for Purpose (Rom. 8:18,35-39). In order for the Word of God which He spoke to Abraham the Patriarch according to Genesis 17:6 to be fulfilled, Jacob’s natural life had to be broken and dealt with and for His Word according to Genesis 15:13 to come to pass, Joseph had to be humbled through the prison life. Multitudes of us are children of destiny but are seriously lacking the Humility to attain the heights of destiny. Hence, we must be disciplined in order to suit that Purpose for which we were created. Through the Transforming Process of the Peniel Experience, the Lord God Almighty touches us with His Spirit and the Light of His Word (Ps. 119:130; Jn. 6:63). The closer we get to His Glory, the more we see our filthiness, weaknesses, and inadequacies, and the more we cease to behold our strength (Isa. 6:1-8). Our walk becomes totally different as we appreciate people when we are accepted. The prayer of Isaac for his son Jacob recorded in Genesis 27:28 was fulfilled in Genesis 45:18. As Jacob’s story was rounding off, we could see a gradual but sure transition into the Next Phase of God’s Promises and Covenant to Abraham, the father of Faith.
Jacob passed through a lot in life: Pursued by his twin brother Esau, maltreatment from his father-in-law Laban, the loss of Rachel his beloved wife to childbirth, his only daughter Dinah defiled and his favourite son Joseph taken from him. He had a bruised and wounded heart, refusing to be comforted for thirteen years because of Joseph (Gen. 37:35). Howbeit, it was this same Joseph who ended up being the vessel for the fulfilment of the Next Level in God’s Plan. When he heard that Joseph was alive, his spirit was revived, and his heart was healed (Gen. 45:27). Herein lies the bottom line: Just trust the process involved in your own Peniel Experience for the wine of life comes from crushed grapes. The Lord grant us the Grace to recognize and appreciate the Peniel Experience.
PRAYER:
Heavenly Father, we magnify You for Who You are to us. O Lord, we pray that You grant us a Revelation of the Peniel Experience so that we may yield fully to Your Perfect Will for our lives in Jesus' Mighty Name. Amen.
Event Venue
Pan Pacific Toronto, 900 York Mills Road,Toronto, Ontario, Canada
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