Struggle with God

I will be the first to admit that I struggled with God. I love God greatly but I do not understand His ways. There are many people that want to make me legalistic but they forgot about God's grace.

I can relate to Jacob. He had his own will and didn't always do what God wanted for him.
Life has an way to humble an person. A friend that the family lived died. I just went to an funeral of someone that was murdered. Life doesn't always make sense to me.

God appeared to Jacob in Genesis 35:9-10. Genesis 35:9-10 says, "After Jacob returned from Paddan Aram, God appeared to him again and blessed him. God said to him, Your name is Jacob, but you will no longer be called Jacob; your name will be Israel. So he named him Israel."

If you are wondering where Paddan Aram is at, it is in the area of Northwest Mesopotamia. This area was most likely the Eastern part of modern-day Syria and Iraq.  God appears to us in different times of our lives. God appeared to me in special ways.

I had trials that seem that it will never end then it does. God did great spiritual surgery upon my heart.
God did the same to Jacob. Jacob means 'he grasps the heels.' It is an idiom for people that are not honest.

I always find it interesting to think that people can live by following the Old Testament law after following Jesus. Jesus came to fulfill the Old Testament law so when He died on the cross and arose from the dead. That the curse of the law would be no more. We are like Jacob. We can't live the law and be right before God, that includes Christians. Galatians 3:10 says, "For who rely on the works of the law are under a curse, as it is written: 'Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the book of the law." If you want to further study, you can study Deuteronomy 27:26.
I am sad to say that there a few movement that suppose to Christians that follow the Old Testament like Old Testament Jews should read Deuteronomy 27:26.

Even the best Christian will sin everyday. James 2:10 says, "For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles are one point is guilty of breaking it all." There are over 600 Old Testament laws. If you are an Sabbath Christians that believe in following the 600 laws, you can't follow over 600 of them.
You break these laws everyday.

If you a non-believer, you can't be made right by following the law. We need Jesus to be made right.
That is why Jesus died on the cross and arose from the dead. May we all from the legalist Christian to the non-believer realize Matthew 5:17-20. Only Jesus is sinless.

Genesis 35:10 says, "But you will no longer be called Jacob but your name be called Israel.' So he named him Israel." Many Christians say the Jews are more spiritual than they are because they keep the law. Israel means 'he struggles with God.'

We all struggle with God, this includes myself but we need more grace and not more legalism.
May we learn this.
May we embrace Hebrews 4:16.

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_B9hh8omaRg