Daily Encouragement for the Family of God by Kenton Cheek
21 January 2026
Reading From Genesis 27-29
“He had a dream in which he saw a stairway resting on the earth, with its top reaching to heaven, and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. There above it stood the Lord, and he said: “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.”
—Genesis 28:12-15
We place too much pressure on our human relationships. The satisfaction and fulfillment we are searching for can only be found in God. Whatever your relationship with your earthly father figure is or isn’t, was or wasn’t, if we bravely reach out in faith and trust in God as our Heavenly Father, our Perfect Parent, we will never be disappointed. Only He is all-powerful, all-knowing and everywhere at the same time. No one else can redeem, heal, empower and give us hope like God can. And Jesus is the exact representation of the Father. In fact, Hebrews 1:3 reveals to us that, “The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word.” And Jesus Himself said that “If you have seen me, you’ve seen the Father.”[1]
I would like to remind you of seven promises from your Heavenly Father to you. If you make the decision to follow Jesus, the promises of God will be yours as well. These seven promises come from a conversation between Yahweh, God’s proper Name, and the ancient father of Israel, Jacob in Genesis 28:10-17. Let’s read again this beautiful, ancient passage of Scripture:
Jacob left Beersheba and set out for Harran. When he reached a certain place, he stopped for the night because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones there, he put it under his head and lay down to sleep. He had a dream in which he saw a stairway resting on the earth, with its top reaching to heaven, and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it.
There above it stood the Lord, and he said: “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.” 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.
- You will dwell in the land
God told Jacob’s Grandpa Abraham to leave behind his idols in Ur of the Chaldeans and by faith follow Yahweh to the Promised Land. My Grandpa Cheek called our family home on Canaan Road in Deer Island, “Canaan Land” because our community is called Canaan but also because he loved our home. For him it was a place of love and abundance. Our family genuinely loved one another, cared for each other in practical ways. We had cattle, chickens, an orchard, and a vegetable garden. The old farmhouse was friendly and cozy.
This promise was given to Jacob and the nation that would be comprised of his literal descendants, but we are also spiritual children of Abraham along with Isaac and Jacob in that we believe in God and trust Him in faith. It is unlikely that I will live in the land of Israel in this life, but Jesus has delivered me from the dominion of darkness and brought me into His Kingdom of Light. The borders of His Kingdom extend to wherever the Light touches.
How did He bring me into His Kingdom of Light? The way to become part of God’s eternal family is to trust in Jesus. The Bible tells us that if we confess with our mouths and believe in our hearts that Jesus is Lord, we will be saved. The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Jesus paid the penalty for our sin on the cross and He conquered death by rising again from the tomb. God loves you and wants you to be in a healthy, balanced, life-giving relationship with Him. When we dare to believe in Him, confess and repent, we are born again and the Holy Spirit makes our bodies His temples. This is what we mean by saying that Jesus lives in our hearts. When we are born again, we become sons and daughters of the Most High God. We find our identity, sense of community, and destiny in His eternal family. We live in His Kingdom.
- All nations will be blessed through you
This promise finds its fulfillment in Jesus Christ and His Church. “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life.” The love and the message of Jesus blesses all nations as the sons and daughters of God the Father obey the Great Commandment and the Great Commission. Love God, love people, and love yourself in healthy and holy ways. Make disciples of people here in the Lower Columbia region, of people who are not like us, and of people all around the world. By sharing the love and message of Jesus, all nations are blessed through us.
- I am with you
As sons and daughters of God, He dwells within our hearts, the very core of our being and we are sealed by the Holy Spirit unto the Day of redemption. Our salvation will be made complete when we go to the Promised Land of Heaven. Until then, He is with us wherever we go because we are His temple. It has always been the desire of God to dwell among His people and making His home in your heart is part of the fulfillment of His dream. We see this in the Garden of Eden when God walked with Adam and Eve in the cool of the day. We also see His desire to be among His children as they wandered in the desert. He had them build a tent called the Tabernacle and His localized Presence was there camping out with them. Now, through the New Covenant, He lives in our hearts forever.
The angels were descending on the staircase in Jacob’s dream. God will meet you where you are at in your life. “Just as I am, without one plea, But that Thy blood was shed for me, And that Thou bidst me come to Thee, O Lamb of God, I come, I come.” You don’t need to clean up your act before you come to Jesus. In fact, you can’t. Only He can wash us clean and make us whole.
- I will keep you safe
Because you are sealed by the Holy Spirit, you belong to God.
Ephesians 1:13-14 says, “And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory.”
He has the ability to protect you not only from physical harm according to His plan, but spiritual harm according to His promise. We are living in a fallen world. The earth is not functioning as God intended it. As part of His eternal family, we are spiritually connected to God and with every single child of God who has ever lived. The Bible says that we are seated together with Christ in Heavenly places.[2] The mess of the world around us cannot mess with our right standing with God through the all-sufficient, finished work of Jesus Christ in the garden, the cross and the empty tomb. Whatever happens to us physically, our souls, that unseen spiritual part of ourselves, are hidden with Christ in God.
- I will bring you home to be with me
The angels were also ascending from earth to heaven in Jacob’s dream. This shows us that God will transform us from glory to glory ever upward until one day we leave this present existence and are with Him in perfect unity and holiness. Jesus comforted us in John 14, “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God[a]; believe also in me. 2 My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am” God not only helps His children navigate our present reality, but will take us home to be with Him forever in the New Heaven and the New Earth. What will this be like? We will reign with Him in a place of indescribable love, beauty and harmony.
Revelation 21:1-4 reveals to us, “Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,”[a] for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”
- I will not leave you
No matter what happens, know that God loves you and He will never leave you nor forsake you. Human relationships come and go, marriages have troubled seasons, family ties are strained, people we love die, but God is a friend who sticks closer than a brother and will never fail us. We can build our lives upon the promises of His Word the Bible because He is trustworthy and true. He will never leave us nor forsake us.[3]
- I will keep my promise to you
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever. He is the Word of God in bodily form, the literal fulfillment of hundreds of messianic prophecies and promises made in the hundreds of years that the Old Testament was written in.
I testify that God is real, that His Word the Bible is true, and that He loves you more deeply than you will ever know or imagine. He desires to have a healthy, life-giving relationship with you, but He will not force you into this covenant relationship. Only you are able to make the decision to trust in Jesus and become a son or a daughter of the only Perfect Parent. The eternal family of God is a bond that can never be broken, a community where we find our deepest sense of belonging, and where we discover not only our true identity but our eternal destiny. Will you dare to believe in God today and accept His invitation to become His child? His arms are open to you today. Today is the day of salvation. The Bible says that it is appointed for men once to die and after that the judgment. Don’t wait until it’s too late. Make the decision to trust in Jesus today. He is the exact representation of our Heavenly Father. Glory to His matchless Name!
If you have never trusted Jesus as your Savior, or if you would like to rededicate your life to Him, I invite you to pray this prayer with me. The Bible says that all who call on the Name of the Lord will be saved. It isn’t enough to say a prayer, we must also truly believe in our hearts. Let’s all pray this together
“Heavenly Father, I know that I’m a sinner
I need your forgiveness.
I believe and confess that Jesus is God.
I turn away from my old way of life
Cleanse my heart from sin
Wash me clean in Your blood
Come into my heart and make me a new person
Transform me with Your love, grace and mercy
Write my name in the Lamb’s Book of Life
Thank You Jesus for saving me
Help me to live my life for Your glory. Amen.”
If you prayed that prayer and believe in your heart, then I’d like to welcome you to the family of God!
Remember these 7 promises from our Heavenly Father:
- You live in my Kingdom as my sons and daughters
- I will bless all nations as you share My love and message
- I am with you
- I will keep you safe
- I will bring you home to be with Me
- I will never leave you
- I will keep all of My promises to you
For the word of the Lord is right and true;
he is faithful in all he does.
—Psalm 33:4
[1] John 14:9
[2] Ephesians 2:6
[3] Deuteronomy 31:6
Forever Home in the Eternal Family of God 
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