The Gate of Heaven

On Jacob's Journey from Beersheba to Haran in Genesis 28 he stopped for the night along the way and as he slept he dreamed. In his dream there was a ladder that reached from earth to heaven with angels ascending and descending. Above the ladder stood the Lord, and in Jacob's dream the Lord spoke in Genesis 28:13-15.

"I am the LORD, the God of your father Abraham
and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your descendants
the land on which you are lying. Your descendants will be
like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to
the west and to the east, to the north and to the south.
All peoples on earth will be blessed through you
and your offspring. I am with you and will watch over
you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land.
I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you."

Jacob's dream was so overwhelming. Not only did he see heavenly things but he heard God speak to him, renewing the the promises of the covenant that He had with Jacob's father, Isaac, and his grandfather, Abraham. Have you ever dreamed a dream so real that you were not sure if it were a dream or if somehow it was real? Maybe you have experienced a dream where you were vividly aware of God's presence in your dream. I can remember waking from such a dream and feeling God's presence abiding after I awoke. In fact, there was such an awareness of the presence of God that there was hardly any difference between the presence of God I felt in the dream and the awesome presence I felt after waking. Jacob's words after waking cause me to believe it was much the same for him. Verses 16 and 17 record his words on waking.

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."

I believe that God wants us to experience his presence daily. He is ready and waiting to encourage us with the awareness of His awesome and holy presence if we will only acknowledge Him. He has opened the Gate of Heaven for us and reminds us today that the blessings of His promises and His covenant are ours if we will only receive Him. His blessing is yours today!