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Jacob’s story was a messed-up story; sibling rivalry, deceit, polygamy; and yet in Psalm 46 God refers to Himself as the God of Jacob

Psalm 46 v 10-11

He says, “Be still, and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth.”

¹¹ The Lord Almighty is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress.

Note in this Psalm that God refers to Himself, not only as the God of an imperfect man, but the same man that wrestles with God Genesis 32 v 22-32

There is our public persona and our private persona. I was having a conversation with a friend recently, a person of faith, and I proposed to him that we all have a degree of self-delusion within us. And that when asked to evaluate ourselves, we would all paint ourselves in a good light. I went on further (the friend is a divorcee) to suggest that, if I were to ask his ex-wife to say something about him, that she would paint a different picture. My friend of course mentioned that his ex-wife would be biased. But that was not the point, the point is we all see ourselves in a good light, while others see us in a different light. The point of all this is self-justification. We are all aware of what is acceptable in public, which is determined by the norms and values of the society. We are aware that nobody is perfect, so some Christians say and pretend publicly that nobody is perfect, but privately, especially Christians that believe in salvation as a result of their works, thinks, and  believe that they are perfect and justified before God, they are therefore intolerant of those they perceive as less than themselves, imperfect, sinners, or those that do not belong to their clique, group, sect, denomination, shared man-made or defined notion of “saved” ones or “Noah’s ark passengers”.

The pharisees (the teachers of the Law) came up with tenets, rules and regulation to supplement Gods precepts, and made it impossible for the ordinary folks to achieve perfection, after given the ordinary folks the impression that they had to have perfection. They themselves, in public gave a show of their piety, and perfection, their clothing and regalia indicated that they are white (pious), with symbols that indicated their rank which corresponds to how high they’ve climbed on the stairways to heaven. Matthew 15 v 1-13: Then some Pharisees and teachers of the law came to Jesus from Jerusalem and asked, ² “Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? They don’t wash their hands before they eat!”

³ Jesus replied, “And why do you break the command of God for the sake of your tradition? ⁴ For God said, ‘Honour your father and mother’^[a] and ‘Anyone who curses their father or mother is to be put to death.’^[b] 5 But you say that if anyone declares that what might have been used to help their father or mother is ‘devoted to God,’ ⁶ they are not to ‘honour their father or mother’ with it. Thus, you nullify the word of God for the sake of your tradition. ⁷ You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you:

⁸ “‘These people honour me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me.
⁹ They worship me in vain;
their teachings are merely human rules.’^[c]”

¹⁰ Jesus called the crowd to him and said, “Listen and understand.¹¹ What goes into someone’s mouth does not defile them, but what comes out of their mouth, that is what defiles them.”

¹² Then the disciples came to him and asked, “Do you know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this?”

¹³ He replied, “Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be pulled up by the roots. ¹⁴ Leave them; they are blind guides.^[d] If the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit.”

However, throughout the scripture God has shown that, we His creation, are not perfect and in His plan, design and execution of the project Salvation, He has and continues to use us, as imperfect as we are, thieves, liars, murderers, adulterers, prostitutes, and so on, if we see ourselves as we truly are and accept our imperfections and weaknesses. The Lord detest the proud: Proverbs 16 v 5 The Lord detests all the proud of heart.
Be sure of this: They will not go unpunished.

When we see ourselves as we are and realise that God is made perfect in our weakness, 2 Corinthians 12 v 9; But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.

Everyone trusts in something. We can even make good things — like our children, our marriages, our families, or even our ministries in the church — into idols.

But trusting in things other than God can have devastating effects upon our lives. If we think who we’re with or what we do will make us totally fulfilled, we’re setting ourselves up for deep disappointment. The Bible reminds us of this in Jeremiah when he says, “Those who make idols are disillusioned” (Jeremiah 10:14 GNT).

But we do it all the time with our careers, relationships, and bank accounts. We act as if those created things give us meaning in life.

And when we do that, we’re just setting ourselves up for failure. The Bible says, “The poor, deluded fool … trusts something that can’t help him at all. Yet he cannot bring himself to ask: ‘Is this idol that I’m holding in my hand a lie?’” (Isaiah 44:20 NLT)

Oh, yes, those idols are lies. Sadly, idols don’t just stop after they’ve disappointed us, though. Eventually, they enslave us, too.

The Bible says, “Those who make idols end up like them. So does everyone who trusts them” (Psalm 115:8 GW). Whatever you value the most in life, you’re going to become like. If you value money, you’ll eventually become a materialist. If you value pleasure, you’ll become a hedonist. If you value works, you’ll become a pragmatist. If you value above all else Jesus Christ, you’ll become a Christian.

So if putting something else first in our lives warps us, why do we do it?

We want a god we can control. We want to be able to manage him. If we make money our god, we feel as if we can control it. If we make other people our gods, we set out to control them. It makes us feel better.

But we can’t control God. He says, “Don’t reduce me. Don’t try to fit me into your lifestyle. Don’t try to control me.

• How have you seen other people set up idols in their lives that eventually dominated them?
• How can even healthy things become idols in our lives?
• What do you need to let go of your control of so that it is not an idol in your life?

Hebrews 12 v 1-2

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, ² fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

We all have our own race to run.

Some of us are competitive. But we are not in competition with each other or against each other.

In our spiritual life, we are forever an athlete.

The Christian life is like running a race. The heroes of the past are watching us. They witness to us. The people in heaven are watching us here on earth. Those in heaven are praying for us. All of us are called to run a race. How to be a champion.

• There is a purpose to pursue; salvation puts us in the race. You must be a citizen of heaven to take part in the race. We can not stop until the race is finished. We are not in competition with each other.
• There is a person to prepare; that is, you. Things could slow us down, weigh us down. Sin does trip us up, weigh us down. Unbelieve comes out of the heart. Right shoes, right uniform are things that can prepare us. Good things become bad things when they keep you from achieving your goal. Everything could be lawful for me, but not everything could be good for me, expedient. Grace and peace be multiply unto you. There is an order of things in the Bible, God’s order. Repentance and faith in order. First repentance, then faith.
• There is a price to pay; patience. Patience is weightier than endurance. If you posses it, it posses you.
• There is a promise to keep, to plead; Jesus is the author and finisher of our faith. Jesus gives us faith. Faith comes by looking unto Jesus. We gain faith by looking unto Jesus.
• There is a price to claim; Jesus endure the cross for you and me, for our salvation, to sit down on the right hand of the Father to plead our case. For us to receive the crown. A crown to lay at Jesus’s feet.

We are not saved by our works. We are saved by our Lord Jesus Christ. Believe in Him and you will be saved and shall not perish. Not an intellectual belief.  Not an emotional belief or feeling or expression. But from your heart.

Courage is doing things even when you’re scared. Being brave isn’t something that happens when you’re not scared anymore.

Brave people don’t stop hearing the whispers of fear. They hear the whispers but take action anyway. 

Being brave is hearing that voice of fear in your head, but saying, “Okay, but the truth is, God made me on purpose and for a purpose.”

The reason for being brave is to be found in 2 Timothy 1 v 8-9

We can only keep on going, after all, by the power of God, who first saved us and then called us to this holy work. We had nothing to do with it. It was all His idea, a gift prepared for us in Jesus long before we knew anything about it. But we know it now.
— 2 Timothy 1:8–9 MSG

God is the only thing that is absolute, sharing your story of Jesus Christ with others, takes guts. Seeing other people be brave makes me want to be brave too.

It is scary to be who you’re meant to be. It doesn’t feel easy because it’s not. But we were made for this. According to the scriptures in 2 Timothy 1 v 8-9, we have holy work. Why be brave? Because when we’re brave enough to share the God stories in our lives, it changes the people around us. It changes us to share them.

Be Brave: Think back on your day. Where can you see God working on your behalf? Or just showing up for you? Tell somebody. 

Excerpted with permission from 100 Days to Brave by Annie F. Downs, copyright Annie F. Downs.