“When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he thought, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I was not aware of it.” He was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God; this is the gate of heaven.” Genesis 28:16-17
In these passages, Jacob was sleeping with a stone for a pillow; dreaming of a ladder connecting earth to Heaven. He saw heavenly messengers who were descending and ascending; Heaven and earth were connected. Heaven came down to earth, but earth cannot ascend to Heaven unless God makes it possible by providing a door. That night, back in ancient times, Jacob learned that God had opened such a door and Jacob called it Bethel. Now, during Lent, we learn that in John 10:9 Jesus tells us, “I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved.”
My reason for sharing this passage is to bring you a similar point to the story of the above photo that I captured from Google Earth street view. In the photo, you are on the border bridge looking into Ouanaminthe, Haiti while standing in Abanico, Dominican Republic (DR). In case you were unaware, the DR has begun to construct a border wall between their country and Haiti and are starting at this location. One striking image from this photo is that there is a long line of Haitians seeking to come into the DR legally and only two going into Haiti. Things are growing more challenging by the day for people living in Haiti. If there were a ladder that led up to the gate of Heaven in your city today, how long would the line be?
Too many people do not know that the way into Heaven is through Jesus Christ. You can’t get in by doing good works, clean living…only through Jesus. There are over 52,000 kids in Haiti who will be sharing that truth during the 40 days of Lent and every day after. Thank you for feeding and helping them do that along their and your journey as well.
Heavenly Father, you have called your servants to ventures of which we cannot see the ending, by paths as yet untrodden, through perils unknown. Give us faith to go out with good courage, not knowing where we go but only that your hand is leading us and your love supporting us through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. Amen.
May God be with you…Jay