Monday 7 July 2025 - Know that I am with you

Monday 7 July 2025

Today is Monday the 7th of July, in the 14th week of Ordinary Time. Nick Chambers sings, ‘It Is Good To Be Here With You’. As you listen, are these words you can say to God today? When you bring me up the mount, Into the brightness of the cloud Even when I cannot stay, when I don’t know what to say. It is good to be here with you, with you. When I hear the voice above “This is my Beloved Son” When I’m shaken by the sound With my face pressed to the ground It is good to be here It is good to be here with you, with you. With your touch, I hear you say, “Rise and do not be afraid” When I look it’s only you The face that I thought that I knew It is good to be here It is good to be here with you, with you. Today’s reading is from the Book of Genesis. Our scripture passage is a long one today, so we’ll reflect with it section by section, with space in between each moment. Genesis 28:10-22 Jacob left Beer-sheba and went towards Haran. He came to a certain place and stayed there for the night, because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones of the place, he put it under his head and lay down in that place. And he dreamed that there was a ladder set up on the earth, the top of it reaching to heaven; and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. And the Lord stood beside him and said, ‘I am the Lord, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie I will give to you and to your offspring; and your offspring shall be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south; and all the families of the earth shall be blessed in you and in your offspring. Know that I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.’ Jacob is on a journey to the land that God had first promised to his grandfather, Abraham, and then to his father, Isaac. Now, in his dream, he hears that promise confirmed for himself. The scriptures are full of God promising to give his people good things. What are, in particular, the good things that you look to God for? Then Jacob woke from his sleep and said, ‘Surely the Lord is in this place—and I did not know it!’ And he was afraid, and said, ‘How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.’ When Jacob wakes up, he is very aware that God had been with him as he slept, and is conscious of the awesome power of God. Can you perhaps recall one or two times in your own life when you have been particularly aware of the presence of God with you? So Jacob rose early in the morning, and he took the stone that he had put under his head and set it up for a pillar and poured oil on the top of it. He called that place Bethel; but the name of the city was Luz at the first. Then Jacob made a vow, saying, ‘If God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat and clothing to wear, so that I come again to my father’s house in peace, then the Lord shall be my God, and this stone, which I have set up for a pillar, shall be God’s house; and of all that you give me I will surely give one-tenth to you.’ Jacob’s response to becoming more aware of God’s presence, and of his promises, is to do something. He builds an altar and names the place to commemorate his experience. As you yourself become more aware of a generous God with you today, what might you want to do in response? As this prayer comes to an end, speak to God about what you have seen and felt as freely as Jacob does here. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be World without end Amen