WEBVTT NOTE Podcast: Acts 29 Vancouver Episode: Pushing-into-Favour-2 Publishing Date: 2020-06-21T06:00:44-07:00 Podcast URL: https://acts29.ca Episode URL: https://acts29.ca/pushing-into-favour-2/ 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:08.000 Okay guys, today we continue with pushing into FAVOUR Part 2, pushing into FAVOUR Part 2. 00:00:08.000 --> 00:00:18.000 So if you want to hear the first series, go either to the podcast or to the livestream last week. 00:00:18.000 --> 00:00:22.000 Pushing into FAVOUR Part 2. 00:00:22.000 --> 00:00:34.000 So here's what we said last week. We said that FAVOUR demands engagement. FAVOUR demands engagement. 00:00:34.000 --> 00:00:44.000 That if you want to step into FAVOUR, guys the thing is you can have the kind of FAVOUR that God gives everybody and settle in it, 00:00:44.000 --> 00:00:51.000 which is what one would do when one first starts. It's like, I don't want to call it less FAVOUR. 00:00:51.000 --> 00:01:03.000 I'm talking about just settling in knowing that you are special and that you hold this I am special position and I am pleased with your position with God. 00:01:03.000 --> 00:01:10.000 That's where you can settle. But God would rather have you discover Him through the FAVOUR that He's giving you. 00:01:10.000 --> 00:01:16.000 That's the whole idea. What happens with the world is we think of grace, we think of FAVOUR and it is true. 00:01:16.000 --> 00:01:21.000 It is for everyone. It's released to everybody. But what happens is if you settle in it, 00:01:21.000 --> 00:01:29.000 then you never discover the ways, the presence and the plans of God. You only discover FAVOUR and grace. 00:01:29.000 --> 00:01:42.000 Don't get stuck with a characteristic of God. Get stuck with the personhood, the very nature of God because there's no end to it. 00:01:42.000 --> 00:01:52.000 Otherwise you'll only know an aspect of Him. While here is an opportunity where because of the you are special to God 00:01:53.000 --> 00:02:05.000 and He is pleased with your position that you occupy, you now have the ability to dive deeper into God since you have that position and explore Him. 00:02:05.000 --> 00:02:13.000 Which is why we said last week, hey, can I have a tiny bit of volume on this so I don't feel like I have to shout? 00:02:13.000 --> 00:02:17.000 I know everyone must be hearing it right, but just for my sake. 00:02:17.000 --> 00:02:27.000 So FAVOUR demands, which is why we said last week that FAVOUR demands engagement, meaning you have to engage God's FAVOUR. 00:02:27.000 --> 00:02:36.000 And FAVOUR encourages contending. FAVOUR encourages contending. 00:02:36.000 --> 00:02:43.000 So let's assume that I show FAVOUR to somebody. Let's take Tuni as an example. 00:02:44.000 --> 00:02:52.000 So let's assume that I showed him FAVOUR today by bringing him my guitar, leaving it in the car and then saying to Tuni, hey, do you want to play? 00:02:52.000 --> 00:03:00.000 And I didn't even ask him myself. I sent Tate to ask him. I wanted to be as low-key as possible to see if Tuni will respond. 00:03:00.000 --> 00:03:07.000 So I sent Tate and Tuni said yes. So then I brought the guitar and I left it in the car. I wouldn't bring it in. 00:03:07.000 --> 00:03:12.000 So let's assume that I show Tate. Because it has to... 00:03:12.000 --> 00:03:20.000 Sometimes God wants to see how badly you want something before it's given to you. 00:03:20.000 --> 00:03:27.000 Sometimes God wants to see how badly you want something before it's given to you. 00:03:27.000 --> 00:03:36.000 It is yours for the taking, but he wants to see how badly you want it. And you don't know the number of times we fail in this. 00:03:36.000 --> 00:03:42.000 So Tate goes and asks Tuni. Tuni says yes. And then I give Tate my keys and say, just give it to Derek to go get the guitar. 00:03:42.000 --> 00:03:47.000 And so he gets the guitar. And then Tuni comes and stands in front of me. I say, hey, it's completely up to you, man. No pressure. 00:03:47.000 --> 00:03:54.000 If you want to play, you'll be sitting in the back there. You'll be strumming the guitar. You won't be singing. I made it as difficult as possible for him. 00:03:57.000 --> 00:04:05.000 But all along, I brought the guitar hoping that he will play. Otherwise, I wouldn't bring the guitar because Jane had already told me she's sending her guitar. 00:04:05.000 --> 00:04:11.000 And now I wanted to see how enthusiastic he'll be. And so he said yes, yes, yes. And he sat there. 00:04:11.000 --> 00:04:16.000 And then someone plugged it in. And I didn't even want to tell Praful to plug it in. I wanted to see if Tuni will ask for it. 00:04:16.000 --> 00:04:27.000 And so eventually it was plugged in. That is how favor works. It is there for the taking, but it is up to you whether you actually push into it or not. 00:04:27.000 --> 00:04:36.000 And so favor demands engagement and favor encourages contending. God literally says, okay, so now show me. 00:04:36.000 --> 00:04:40.000 And so we've stopped singing. And then he plays gently in the background. 00:04:40.000 --> 00:04:46.000 And Josh almost fell off the drum seat because he thought I was playing. And it sounded really amazing. 00:04:46.000 --> 00:04:50.000 And then he realized it's not me. It's someone else. And so then he started drumming again. 00:04:50.000 --> 00:04:56.000 And so now we begin to find out that, okay, here is someone beginning to play now. And then we begin to enjoy something else. 00:04:56.000 --> 00:05:01.000 The point being, guys, this is not a silly example I'm giving. 00:05:01.000 --> 00:05:12.000 I'm giving you an example to show you how critical it is that you take grace and you take favor and you take these gifts of God and you begin to enjoy it. 00:05:12.000 --> 00:05:24.000 In every gift is a key to the next gift. What happens with us as humans is when we receive a gift from God, we take the gift and we begin to play with it, not realizing that in the gift there's a key to the next gift. 00:05:24.000 --> 00:05:30.000 It's always the case. In every gift there is a key to the next gift. 00:05:30.000 --> 00:05:37.000 And then we said that favor grants access to God's ways. Favor grants access to God's ways, to God's plans. 00:05:37.000 --> 00:05:47.000 And then we said that favor grants access to God's ways. And then we said that favor grants access to God's ways. 00:05:47.000 --> 00:05:56.000 And then we said that favor grants access to God's ways. And then we said that favor grants access to God's ways. 00:05:56.000 --> 00:06:03.000 To God's ways, to God's plans, to God's presence. 00:06:03.000 --> 00:06:10.000 Favor grants access to God's ways, God's plans, God's presence. 00:06:10.000 --> 00:06:22.000 And if you cling on till daybreak, if you cling on till daybreak, you will see and ask for the impossible. 00:06:22.000 --> 00:06:30.000 If you cling on till daybreak, you will see and ask for the impossible. 00:06:36.000 --> 00:06:38.000 The last word is impossible. 00:06:38.000 --> 00:06:50.000 So once you start diving in into God's favor, again remember favor gives us permission, favor gives us access. 00:06:50.000 --> 00:06:54.000 Favor is God saying you are special to me. Favor is God saying I'm pleased with you. 00:06:54.000 --> 00:07:02.000 The moment you hear these things, you now know that you can go further and further into the ways of God, into the plans of God. 00:07:02.000 --> 00:07:07.000 You can discover greater and greater depths of the presence of God. 00:07:07.000 --> 00:07:19.000 And as you do, and if you hold on and keep at it till daybreak, as in go past midnight, go past 3am, go past 6am. 00:07:19.000 --> 00:07:22.000 I don't know what time daybreak happens because I've never seen it. 00:07:22.000 --> 00:07:30.000 But the point is you keep pushing till you get to a point where you will see and ask for the impossible. 00:07:30.000 --> 00:07:35.000 You will see things that God is showing because he's seen how you pressed in. 00:07:35.000 --> 00:07:40.000 Once you pressed in, God shows you things and now you begin to ask for the impossible. 00:07:40.000 --> 00:07:43.000 Otherwise you will not. Any questions? 00:07:48.000 --> 00:07:50.000 Any questions? 00:07:56.000 --> 00:07:58.000 Any questions? 00:08:01.000 --> 00:08:08.000 Yeah, so Moses had to press in and spend 40 days up on the mountain. 00:08:08.000 --> 00:08:13.000 But he wouldn't back off. And then he comes down, breaks the tablets, has to go up again for 40 days. 00:08:13.000 --> 00:08:18.000 How did the guy survive there for 40 days without food and drink? 00:08:18.000 --> 00:08:21.000 But what does he see? He begins to see Yahweh. 00:08:21.000 --> 00:08:28.000 He begins to hear for the first time in the universe the meaning of his name. 00:08:28.000 --> 00:08:30.000 Moses saw things nobody else saw. 00:08:30.000 --> 00:08:36.000 Peter, James and John had the same ability to press in in intimacy with Jesus. 00:08:36.000 --> 00:08:39.000 And then Jesus takes them up the Mount of Transfiguration. 00:08:39.000 --> 00:08:49.000 John knew how to connect with Jesus and ends up on the island of Patmos seeing a revelation of Christ like nobody else has seen. 00:08:49.000 --> 00:08:53.000 David began to press into God, writes Psalm 119. 00:08:53.000 --> 00:08:56.000 We can't even press into reading Psalm 119. 00:08:56.000 --> 00:09:03.000 He pressed into God and at the end of the day he finds a God that has the ability to take down anything. 00:09:03.000 --> 00:09:12.000 Most of us, and I'll talk about it, most of us press into God till we get what we need or till it is sufficient. 00:09:12.000 --> 00:09:16.000 Sufficient is not a Christian word. 00:09:18.000 --> 00:09:21.000 Sufficient is a human word. 00:09:21.000 --> 00:09:25.000 How can one find God sufficient? 00:09:25.000 --> 00:09:28.000 God is far, far more than sufficient. 00:09:28.000 --> 00:09:32.000 To stop at sufficiency with God is almost sinful man. 00:09:32.000 --> 00:09:34.000 I'm not quoting scripture, I'm just telling you. 00:09:34.000 --> 00:09:41.000 It's a really bad idea to stop with God when you feel this is sufficient. 00:09:41.000 --> 00:09:46.000 There's nothing about God that is just enough. 00:09:46.000 --> 00:09:49.000 It's a bad idea. 00:09:56.000 --> 00:10:01.000 Once you begin to see what is impossible, you begin to ask for what is impossible. 00:10:01.000 --> 00:10:07.000 This is why Moses now has the audacity to ask, show me your glory. 00:10:07.000 --> 00:10:14.000 He's seen the burning bush, he's seen the plagues and now he wants to see God's Shekinah. 00:10:14.000 --> 00:10:21.000 It is unheard of but he dares ask it and God shows it to him. 00:10:22.000 --> 00:10:27.000 Now the man is accustomed to the glory of God so that every time he goes into the tent of meeting, 00:10:27.000 --> 00:10:30.000 he now sees the glory of God on a regular basis. 00:10:30.000 --> 00:10:33.000 He comes out with his hair and face blazing. 00:10:33.000 --> 00:10:38.000 He's been in the presence of God. It is just nuts what that man accomplished. 00:10:40.000 --> 00:10:42.000 Never satisfied. 00:10:42.000 --> 00:10:48.000 And then he had his assistant, Joshua, never satisfied, never satisfied. 00:10:51.000 --> 00:10:56.000 Yep, I will. 00:10:56.000 --> 00:11:02.000 Yep, I'll be in about 4 minutes 13 seconds. 00:11:02.000 --> 00:11:06.000 No, actually 8 minutes 13 seconds we'll be talking about it. 00:11:06.000 --> 00:11:11.000 So Hosea 12 verse 4, really. 00:11:11.000 --> 00:11:14.000 Hosea 12 verse 4, the first part says, 00:11:14.000 --> 00:11:17.000 He struggled with the angel and it's talking about Jacob. 00:11:17.000 --> 00:11:20.000 He struggled with the angel and overcame him. 00:11:20.000 --> 00:11:22.000 He wept and begged for his favor. 00:11:22.000 --> 00:11:26.000 It's speaking of Jacob and it says in Hosea 12 verse 4, the first part, 00:11:26.000 --> 00:11:30.000 He struggled with the angel and overcame him. 00:11:30.000 --> 00:11:33.000 He wept and begged for his favor. 00:11:33.000 --> 00:11:36.000 And so this is the story of Jacob and that's what we'll be looking at today. 00:11:36.000 --> 00:11:42.000 And you'll have to go to Genesis 32, Genesis 32 verse 22 to 31. 00:11:42.000 --> 00:11:45.000 Genesis 32 verse 22 to 31. 00:11:46.000 --> 00:11:50.000 And here's how it reads. Genesis 32, 22 to 31. 00:11:50.000 --> 00:11:53.000 Hey guys, it's good to make notes. 00:11:53.000 --> 00:11:56.000 If you're married then one of the spouses should make notes. 00:11:56.000 --> 00:12:00.000 If you're not married then you have to make notes or get a spouse. 00:12:00.000 --> 00:12:05.000 And if you, I mean it's easier making notes and it's less expensive. 00:12:05.000 --> 00:12:10.000 But make sure you're making notes because it's so helpful when you make notes. 00:12:10.000 --> 00:12:16.000 Okay, so here's Genesis 32 verse 22 to 31. 00:12:16.000 --> 00:12:19.000 That night Jacob got up. 00:12:19.000 --> 00:12:24.000 Why make notes? Because there'll be things you hear right now that you will not hear later. 00:12:24.000 --> 00:12:26.000 Not from me, but from the Holy Spirit. 00:12:26.000 --> 00:12:29.000 Please don't think it's from me. 00:12:29.000 --> 00:12:33.000 Me you can hear on the podcast again as many times as you want. 00:12:33.000 --> 00:12:37.000 But right now you'll hear the Spirit of God saying things differently. 00:12:37.000 --> 00:12:40.000 So just keep, make notes of those things. 00:12:40.000 --> 00:12:47.000 That night Jacob got up and took his two wives, his two maidservants and his eleven sons and crossed the fort of Jabak. 00:12:47.000 --> 00:12:53.000 After he had sent them across the stream, he sent over all his possessions. 00:12:53.000 --> 00:12:54.000 Verse 24. 00:12:54.000 --> 00:12:59.000 So Jacob was left alone and a man wrestled with him till daybreak. 00:12:59.000 --> 00:13:05.000 When the man saw that he could not overpower him, he touched the socket of Jacob's hip. 00:13:05.000 --> 00:13:09.000 So that his hip was wrenched as he wrestled with the man. 00:13:09.000 --> 00:13:12.000 Then the man said, let me go for it is daybreak. 00:13:12.000 --> 00:13:16.000 But Jacob replied, I will not let you go unless you bless me. 00:13:16.000 --> 00:13:18.000 The man asked him, what is your name? 00:13:18.000 --> 00:13:19.000 Jacob he answered. 00:13:19.000 --> 00:13:25.000 Then the man said, your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel because you have struggled with God and with men and have overcome. 00:13:25.000 --> 00:13:27.000 Jacob said, please tell me your name. 00:13:27.000 --> 00:13:29.000 But he replied, why do you ask me my name? 00:13:29.000 --> 00:13:30.000 Then he blessed him there. 00:13:31.000 --> 00:13:37.000 So Jacob called the place Peniel saying, it is because I saw God face to face and yet my life was spared. 00:13:37.000 --> 00:13:42.000 The sun rose above him as he passed Peniel and he was limping because of his hip. 00:13:42.000 --> 00:13:51.000 So this scene happens in the dark night at the bottom of a gorge on the banks of Jabak. 00:13:51.000 --> 00:13:59.000 Because if you actually checked out the topography of this area, it's a river that flows from about 1500 feet to about 200 feet below sea level. 00:13:59.000 --> 00:14:02.000 And so it's in a ravine that this is happening. 00:14:02.000 --> 00:14:10.000 It is a dark of night and Jacob is there alone on a dark night in a ravine and a man comes and begins to wrestle with him. 00:14:11.000 --> 00:14:14.000 There's something about meeting God alone, guys. 00:14:14.000 --> 00:14:19.000 There is something about meeting God alone that is transformative. 00:14:19.000 --> 00:14:24.000 There is something about meeting God alone that is transformative. 00:14:25.000 --> 00:14:45.000 And what happens when you meet him alone is you are overwhelmed by him and you are ruined by the weight of his glory, by the weight of his glory. 00:14:45.000 --> 00:14:48.000 You have to make this a habit. 00:14:48.000 --> 00:14:51.000 I need an eraser. 00:14:51.000 --> 00:15:03.000 There's something about meeting God alone that is transformative in that I think Derek thinks that because it's his birthday he doesn't have to do any work. 00:15:03.000 --> 00:15:09.000 So either let him think that and someone else do it or break the good news to him. 00:15:09.000 --> 00:15:12.000 No cake for you, Derek, at this rate. 00:15:21.000 --> 00:15:22.000 Okay. 00:15:24.000 --> 00:15:25.000 Very good. 00:15:25.000 --> 00:15:26.000 Okay, at this rate. 00:15:35.000 --> 00:15:36.000 Okay. 00:15:38.000 --> 00:15:41.000 May you have a better year starting tomorrow? 00:15:44.000 --> 00:15:49.000 Okay, guys, so there's something about meeting God alone and I'm not talking about your quiet time. 00:15:49.000 --> 00:15:52.000 Please don't think of quiet time and meeting God alone. 00:15:52.000 --> 00:15:57.000 Meeting God alone is like a rendezvous with someone that you cannot live without. 00:15:57.000 --> 00:16:01.000 Quiet time is what we do to fulfill our basic duty. 00:16:01.000 --> 00:16:03.000 We're not talking about that. 00:16:03.000 --> 00:16:12.000 Meeting God alone is disappearing for long lengths of time, how much ever time it takes, whether it be five minutes or two hours. 00:16:12.000 --> 00:16:21.000 Every week this must be a practice in your life where you cannot get away, where you cancel meetings, where you look at your phone less. 00:16:21.000 --> 00:16:23.000 This is not some kind of undisturbed time. 00:16:23.000 --> 00:16:26.000 It is a longing. It is not a duty. 00:16:26.000 --> 00:16:29.000 Meeting God alone is always transformative. 00:16:29.000 --> 00:16:32.000 Why? Because you are overwhelmed. Thanks, man. 00:16:32.000 --> 00:16:34.000 At least one of the brothers is working. 00:16:36.000 --> 00:16:46.000 The thing is when you meet him alone, you are overwhelmed by him and you're ruined by the weight of his glory. 00:16:46.000 --> 00:16:48.000 You are ruined by the weight of his glory. 00:16:48.000 --> 00:16:54.000 How often do you sit alone and you're reading and you start weeping profusely because you can't handle what you've read? 00:16:54.000 --> 00:17:03.000 How often do you start singing a song that you've sung a hundred times but you get to a line and you just don't know how to handle it and you're on your knees? 00:17:03.000 --> 00:17:11.000 How long where you begin to discover something in the world and you're stuck with it for 20, 30 minutes on end? 00:17:11.000 --> 00:17:18.000 How long before you suddenly realize that you're praying like you haven't prayed before and you can't stop? 00:17:18.000 --> 00:17:21.000 This is so different from quiet time. 00:17:28.000 --> 00:17:32.000 It's not even falling in love. It is the intensity of love. 00:17:32.000 --> 00:17:40.000 It is the intensity of love where you can repeat a line again and again and you cannot get past her nose. 00:17:40.000 --> 00:17:46.000 Forget the eyes. I mean, song of songs, the guy is stuck on her forehead for four verses. 00:17:46.000 --> 00:17:50.000 What hope does that guy have if he can't get past the forehead? 00:17:50.000 --> 00:17:52.000 That's what I'm talking about. 00:17:52.000 --> 00:17:56.000 It's an intensity that is transformative and you cannot handle it. 00:17:56.000 --> 00:18:05.000 There are no men and women of God who have accomplished things that haven't gone through this process and don't go through this process on a regular basis. 00:18:05.000 --> 00:18:10.000 If it is not one of our habits yet, then we must create a habit. 00:18:10.000 --> 00:18:13.000 Habits take time. 00:18:16.000 --> 00:18:18.000 And habits are not just a habit. 00:18:18.000 --> 00:18:20.000 Then we must create a habit. 00:18:20.000 --> 00:18:22.000 Habits take time. 00:18:25.000 --> 00:18:29.000 And habits take time that is set aside. 00:18:29.000 --> 00:18:34.000 And you cannot set time aside till there is a priority. 00:18:34.000 --> 00:18:37.000 Whenever there is a priority, there is time. 00:18:37.000 --> 00:18:39.000 Always remember that. 00:18:39.000 --> 00:18:42.000 You have time for whatever you prioritize. 00:18:42.000 --> 00:18:44.000 Always. 00:18:48.000 --> 00:18:50.000 By prioritizing. 00:18:50.000 --> 00:18:54.000 When you prioritize, you create time. 00:18:54.000 --> 00:18:57.000 When you create time, you can set it aside. 00:18:57.000 --> 00:19:02.000 When you set it aside, you now have the ability to cultivate a habit. 00:19:02.000 --> 00:19:06.000 When you cultivate the habit, the intensity develops. 00:19:06.000 --> 00:19:13.000 And once the intensity develops, it becomes so natural for you that to settle for anything less becomes very difficult. 00:19:18.000 --> 00:19:21.000 Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. 00:19:21.000 --> 00:19:28.000 Guys, first love, and I've said this before, our lack of first love is not because we know less, but because we have less time. 00:19:28.000 --> 00:19:35.000 I've said this. I know more about God now, 30 whatever years later since I got saved. 00:19:35.000 --> 00:19:37.000 I know more about him now, so I love him more. 00:19:37.000 --> 00:19:41.000 But why is it that I still need to return to my first love? 00:19:41.000 --> 00:19:49.000 Because what I find different between when I got born again and now is that, yes, I know him better, so I'll be able to connect with him better. 00:19:49.000 --> 00:19:56.000 But I do not have the time that I used to have when I first got born again, because at that time, all my time was his. 00:19:56.000 --> 00:20:02.000 Now I've got other wonderful Christian things to worry about. 00:20:02.000 --> 00:20:05.000 Love is measured in time. 00:20:05.000 --> 00:20:10.000 Prashant, love is measured in time. 00:20:10.000 --> 00:20:26.000 Derek, why are you laughing? Love is measured in time. 00:20:26.000 --> 00:20:31.000 Will you, I mean, Isaiah 6, 5, isn't this what happens? Isaiah 6, 5. 00:20:31.000 --> 00:20:38.000 Here is a man who finds time and begins to worship God, sees the heavens open, sees what's happening in the throne room. 00:20:38.000 --> 00:20:41.000 And what is his response? I have been ruined by the weight of his glory. 00:20:41.000 --> 00:20:46.000 Woe is me, for I have seen the king with my own eyes. I have seen the glory of the king with my own eyes. 00:20:46.000 --> 00:20:48.000 This is what I'm talking about, guys. 00:20:48.000 --> 00:20:54.000 It's not some heavenly vision that you catch, but you get stuck with one verse and it breaks your heart. 00:20:54.000 --> 00:21:01.000 And you do not understand why. 00:21:01.000 --> 00:21:06.000 You don't understand why. 00:21:06.000 --> 00:21:08.000 Will your life chronicle the burning bush? 00:21:08.000 --> 00:21:16.000 Like when I read your diary, will your life chronicle, will your diary chronicle the burning bush that you encountered? 00:21:16.000 --> 00:21:25.000 Will your life chronicle Mount Sinai, where God revealed a name of his or a character of his that really grabbed you? 00:21:25.000 --> 00:21:29.000 Will your life chronicle Jabok, where you wrestled with God and he changed your name? 00:21:29.000 --> 00:21:34.000 Will your life chronicle Jordan, which parted, where a mantle was given to you? 00:21:34.000 --> 00:21:40.000 Will your life chronicle Damascus Road, where for the first time you see a personal revelation of Christ himself? 00:21:40.000 --> 00:21:45.000 Will your life chronicle Emmaus, where your heart begins to burn as Jesus walks with you? 00:21:45.000 --> 00:21:52.000 Will your life chronicle Patmos, where you actually see him in his present divinity, willing to speak to you? 00:21:52.000 --> 00:21:57.000 Will your life chronicle these times where you were alone and you were transformed? 00:21:57.000 --> 00:22:02.000 And I'm saying every one of us must have this experience. 00:22:02.000 --> 00:22:06.000 Not for the sake of an experience, but for the sake of transformation. 00:22:06.000 --> 00:22:14.000 Any experience that does not transform, any experience that is not followed by the voice of God is an experience that must be questioned. 00:22:14.000 --> 00:22:21.000 Any experience that is not followed by the voice of God is an experience that must be questioned. 00:22:32.000 --> 00:22:49.000 The next statement is something that I believe is true, but I'm open to questions about. 00:22:49.000 --> 00:23:02.000 The kingdom of God is a kingdom of unlimited favor. 00:23:02.000 --> 00:23:08.000 The kingdom of God is a kingdom of unlimited favor and permission. 00:23:08.000 --> 00:23:29.000 The kingdom of God is a kingdom of unlimited favor and permission, but there is a degree of violence that is required to extract it. 00:23:29.000 --> 00:23:51.000 And the kingdom of God, and the violence, take it by force. 00:23:59.000 --> 00:24:12.000 The kingdom of God, as in the rule and the reign of God, is a kingdom, the rule of God, is full of unlimited favor and permission. 00:24:12.000 --> 00:24:21.000 This kingdom is a kingdom of unlimited favor. There's never a stop to it. It's unlimited favor. 00:24:21.000 --> 00:24:27.000 This kingdom is a kingdom of unlimited favor and unlimited permission. Unlimited permission. 00:24:27.000 --> 00:24:33.000 What didn't Christ achieve because of the favor and permission he had? What didn't Christ achieve? 00:24:33.000 --> 00:24:43.000 Did he heal? Did he raise the dead? Did he rise from the dead? Did he change history? Was he born of a birth that is impossible? 00:24:43.000 --> 00:24:49.000 Did he ascend? Is he seated somewhere? Is he alive? Did he transfigure? Did he raise up disciples? 00:24:50.000 --> 00:25:00.000 Were they able to change the world? Did he bring down empires? Did he cleanse lepers? Did he drive out demons? Was Satan defeated? 00:25:00.000 --> 00:25:14.000 There's nothing that is impossible. You live in a kingdom that has unlimited favor and permission, which is why to not explore favor is to deny yourself the permission that has been released to you. 00:25:14.000 --> 00:25:20.000 It's like standing in front of a door and holding it in instead of pushing it out. 00:25:20.000 --> 00:25:29.000 And therefore, if this is a kingdom of unlimited favor and permission, you need to know that there is a degree of violence that is required to extract it. 00:25:29.000 --> 00:25:36.000 There is a degree of violence that is required that God wants you to exert to extract this favor. 00:25:36.000 --> 00:25:41.000 And the violent will take it by force. 00:25:41.000 --> 00:25:46.000 Any questions? 00:25:46.000 --> 00:26:09.000 Because, guys, kingdom destinies, kingdom destinies, kingdom-sized destinies, kingdom-sized destinies require God-shaped favor. 00:26:09.000 --> 00:26:20.000 And if you don't extract it, you won't get it. Kingdom-sized destinies require God-shaped favor. 00:26:20.000 --> 00:26:27.000 Look at Joseph. He knew he had favor. And he began to extract that favor. 00:26:27.000 --> 00:26:35.000 It doesn't matter whether he was in Potiphar's palace. It doesn't matter if it was in Pharaoh's palace. It doesn't matter if he was in Pharaoh's prison. 00:26:35.000 --> 00:26:40.000 He knew that there was this thing called favor that he could capitalize on. 00:26:40.000 --> 00:26:44.000 And kingdom-sized destinies, what was Joseph's destiny? 00:26:44.000 --> 00:26:52.000 That he would be sent before a famine into the most powerful spiritual and physical empire on earth. 00:26:52.000 --> 00:26:56.000 And he would become the second most powerful man on the face of the earth. 00:26:57.000 --> 00:27:04.000 This is a former slave who was left in prison, unremembered. 00:27:04.000 --> 00:27:12.000 But he knew that he could extract favor, that he could always depend on the favor of God that was released to him in his father's house. 00:27:12.000 --> 00:27:20.000 You can only dream if you have a father. You can only dream if you have a father. 00:27:20.000 --> 00:27:28.000 An orphan does not dream. An orphan's dreams are only about self-protection, self-preservation. 00:27:30.000 --> 00:27:34.000 But you can dream if you grew up in a father's house. 00:27:34.000 --> 00:27:41.000 I'm talking about the father and a family that has the reflective nature of the father. 00:27:43.000 --> 00:27:45.000 Joseph knew this. 00:27:47.000 --> 00:27:48.000 Go ahead. 00:27:50.000 --> 00:27:55.000 Read it again. 00:28:00.000 --> 00:28:03.000 Yeah, what about areas where Christians are persecuted and are dying? 00:28:03.000 --> 00:28:06.000 We got to go back to last week where we talked about favor. 00:28:06.000 --> 00:28:09.000 Favor is not wealth. Favor is not living long. 00:28:09.000 --> 00:28:11.000 Favor is not having a good home. 00:28:11.000 --> 00:28:15.000 Favor is finding out the ways, the plans and the presence of God. 00:28:15.000 --> 00:28:20.000 We have reduced favor to promotions, wealth, good life, prosperity. 00:28:20.000 --> 00:28:25.000 This is not favor. These are baubles. These are fake jewelry. 00:28:29.000 --> 00:28:34.000 Moses could have asked for anything. What does he ask for? 00:28:34.000 --> 00:28:37.000 Show me your glory. 00:28:37.000 --> 00:28:40.000 Solomon could have asked for anything. 00:28:40.000 --> 00:28:42.000 What does he ask for? 00:28:42.000 --> 00:28:44.000 What does he ask for? 00:28:44.000 --> 00:28:47.000 Give me the wisdom to rule these people. 00:28:47.000 --> 00:28:51.000 Jesus could have asked for anything. What does he ask for? 00:28:51.000 --> 00:28:58.000 You want me to go down in a body. It is your will. I have come to do your will. 00:29:01.000 --> 00:29:06.000 Favor is a great thing in times and places of persecution and toughness. 00:29:06.000 --> 00:29:11.000 Because you get to know the ways of God, the plans of God and the presence of God. 00:29:11.000 --> 00:29:15.000 Most martyrs knew the presence of God. 00:29:15.000 --> 00:29:20.000 Because they had already experienced what it is to live in the favor of God. 00:29:20.000 --> 00:29:24.000 While they are burning at stakes and being pulled apart, they knew the favor of God. 00:29:24.000 --> 00:29:28.000 And the favor of a city that hands had not built that awaited them. 00:29:28.000 --> 00:29:33.000 One of the disservices that the prosperity gospel has done us, 00:29:33.000 --> 00:29:38.000 is that we have equated favor with cheap jewelry. 00:29:38.000 --> 00:29:41.000 With cheap jewelry. 00:30:00.000 --> 00:30:04.000 Violence as in an aggression. 00:30:04.000 --> 00:30:08.000 You cannot, you know, if you want to extract marrow out of a bone, 00:30:08.000 --> 00:30:11.000 you can't look at the bone and say, marrow come out. 00:30:11.000 --> 00:30:15.000 No, you got a blooming suck on that bone and pull the marrow out. 00:30:15.000 --> 00:30:17.000 There is a degree of aggression. 00:30:17.000 --> 00:30:21.000 I am not angry with the question. I am just thrilled about the response. 00:30:21.000 --> 00:30:25.000 Extraction requires a degree of aggression. 00:30:25.000 --> 00:30:28.000 Where you put your hand in and you pull out. 00:30:28.000 --> 00:30:30.000 There is a greed. 00:30:30.000 --> 00:30:34.000 There is a holy greed in wanting to take. 00:30:34.000 --> 00:30:36.000 We got to teach our children this. 00:30:36.000 --> 00:30:42.000 If we don't teach our children this, man, I was talking to my sister and brother-in-law saying, 00:30:42.000 --> 00:30:47.000 I pray God that your children begin to have such a lust for God. 00:30:47.000 --> 00:30:53.000 Because otherwise all you will get is Jonah's whale and Daniel's lion. 00:30:53.000 --> 00:30:54.000 An aggression. 00:30:54.000 --> 00:30:59.000 What I mean by violence is that there is a degree of aggression that is required to extract it 00:30:59.000 --> 00:31:02.000 and the aggressive take it by force. 00:31:02.000 --> 00:31:07.000 There must be a pressing and you see with Joseph, you see with Moses, you see with Peter, 00:31:07.000 --> 00:31:10.000 you see with Paul, these guys would seek it. 00:31:10.000 --> 00:31:14.000 And the same is expected of me. 00:31:14.000 --> 00:31:20.000 Guys, if you have this, you will have it in every area of life. 00:31:20.000 --> 00:31:25.000 If you don't have it, you will only have it in certain areas of life where you get a reward. 00:31:25.000 --> 00:31:31.000 Here there is no reward. The reward is God. 00:31:31.000 --> 00:31:34.000 So, I am not angry with the question. 00:31:34.000 --> 00:31:37.000 I am just thrilled about the response. 00:31:37.000 --> 00:31:40.000 I am just thrilled about the response. 00:31:40.000 --> 00:31:47.000 The reward is God. 00:31:47.000 --> 00:31:49.000 The reward is God. The reward is a person. 00:31:49.000 --> 00:31:51.000 It is not a thing. 00:31:51.000 --> 00:31:55.000 Unfortunately, we grow up in a system which teaches us, if you work hard, you will get this. 00:31:55.000 --> 00:31:58.000 Here there is not, if you work hard, you will get this. 00:31:58.000 --> 00:32:01.000 If you work hard, you get to know his ways, his plans, his presence. 00:32:01.000 --> 00:32:06.000 Until there is this great hunger for that, man, it doesn't matter. 00:32:06.000 --> 00:32:09.000 We will be alpha males or alpha females in other things, 00:32:09.000 --> 00:32:12.000 but when it comes to God, the aggression is missing. 00:32:12.000 --> 00:32:15.000 And you have got to develop it. 00:32:15.000 --> 00:32:24.000 This is why it scares me what Christian institutions can do to people. 00:32:24.000 --> 00:32:29.000 Like with Jacob, God will wait or God will appear suddenly. 00:32:29.000 --> 00:32:31.000 So you can extract the favor that is yours. 00:32:31.000 --> 00:32:35.000 Like with Jacob, God will wait or God will appear suddenly. 00:32:35.000 --> 00:32:36.000 One or the other. 00:32:36.000 --> 00:32:38.000 Sometimes God will just wait saying, 00:32:38.000 --> 00:32:40.000 May is going to pass this way. I am just going to wait here. 00:32:40.000 --> 00:32:48.000 And when she passes this way, if she notices me, will she wrestle or will she just say hello and move on? 00:32:48.000 --> 00:32:50.000 Or he will appear suddenly. 00:32:50.000 --> 00:32:56.000 May will be biking and suddenly God will stand in the middle of the road saying, 00:32:56.000 --> 00:32:57.000 what are you doing on a bike? 00:32:57.000 --> 00:33:07.000 And then it's one or the other. 00:33:07.000 --> 00:33:11.000 Either God will wait or appear suddenly. 00:33:11.000 --> 00:33:12.000 So you can... 00:33:12.000 --> 00:33:13.000 What's his intent? 00:33:13.000 --> 00:33:15.000 His intent is not to block your way. 00:33:15.000 --> 00:33:17.000 His intent is not to hold back things from you. 00:33:17.000 --> 00:33:18.000 He's not a withholder. 00:33:18.000 --> 00:33:20.000 He's never been a withholder. 00:33:20.000 --> 00:33:21.000 He's withheld nothing. 00:33:21.000 --> 00:33:24.000 He who freely gave, won't he give? 00:33:24.000 --> 00:33:25.000 Romans 8. 00:33:25.000 --> 00:33:26.000 He withholds nothing. 00:33:26.000 --> 00:33:28.000 What he wants to do is, hey, I'm here. 00:33:28.000 --> 00:33:30.000 Why don't you take your next gift? 00:33:30.000 --> 00:33:34.000 Why don't you extract it from me? 00:33:34.000 --> 00:33:38.000 Push hard, guys. 00:33:38.000 --> 00:33:42.000 Guys, sometimes when a message is preached, it is for a certain time. 00:33:42.000 --> 00:33:48.000 And if you take advantage of it now, then you are advantaged. 00:33:48.000 --> 00:33:59.000 If you take advantage of it three months from now, then there's a lag. 00:33:59.000 --> 00:34:01.000 See, because it is precious and free... 00:34:01.000 --> 00:34:08.000 Derek, are you okay today? 00:34:08.000 --> 00:34:15.000 It's like Samson lost his hair, man. 00:34:15.000 --> 00:34:16.000 Okay. 00:34:16.000 --> 00:34:24.000 Guys, because favor is precious and free, it must be drawn out. 00:34:24.000 --> 00:34:27.000 You should understand why God feels like this. 00:34:27.000 --> 00:34:29.000 It's precious. 00:34:29.000 --> 00:34:32.000 It's precious and it's free. 00:34:32.000 --> 00:34:34.000 Therefore, it must be drawn out. 00:34:34.000 --> 00:34:35.000 Like Elisha. 00:34:35.000 --> 00:34:42.000 Man, that guy was so different. 00:34:42.000 --> 00:34:49.000 51 others had the same opportunity to run after Elijah, but they don't. 00:34:49.000 --> 00:34:51.000 One man does. 00:34:51.000 --> 00:34:55.000 Jericho, Jordan, Gilgal. 00:34:55.000 --> 00:35:00.000 And then finally, he extracts God's favor. 00:35:00.000 --> 00:35:05.000 Because when he says to Elijah, I want a double portion, Elijah's response is not that, sure, I'll give it to you. 00:35:05.000 --> 00:35:09.000 His response is, you have asked a very hard thing. 00:35:09.000 --> 00:35:11.000 Only God can give it to you. 00:35:11.000 --> 00:35:13.000 And he does receive it. 00:35:13.000 --> 00:35:16.000 Look at the Shulamite woman from the Song of Songs. 00:35:16.000 --> 00:35:19.000 And you'll see she had the same attitude, man. 00:35:19.000 --> 00:35:25.000 She was so gung-ho about her lover that she would do anything to find him. 00:35:25.000 --> 00:35:36.000 There's one passage in Song of Songs 3, verse 1 to 4, where she will do anything. 00:35:36.000 --> 00:36:05.000 We'll do anything. 00:36:05.000 --> 00:36:10.000 There is this intensity, man, where she would not let him go once she found him. 00:36:10.000 --> 00:36:20.000 And she was okay about roaming the city in the middle of the night, knowing it is dangerous, looking for the one she loves. 00:36:20.000 --> 00:36:30.000 You see it with Mary in Luke chapter 10, where she refuses to do what Martha is doing. 00:36:30.000 --> 00:36:36.000 And sits at Jesus' feet and won't move. 00:36:36.000 --> 00:36:43.000 Extraction. 00:36:43.000 --> 00:36:45.000 I want to show you something. 00:36:45.000 --> 00:37:01.000 This kind of answers Josh's earlier question. 00:37:01.000 --> 00:37:08.000 Whenever it comes to extracting favor, here is a movement. 00:37:08.000 --> 00:37:14.000 As in music, you have Allegro and Andante and Presto and all that stuff. 00:37:14.000 --> 00:37:19.000 There is a movement to extracting favor. 00:37:19.000 --> 00:37:28.000 One, it starts with unfavorable conditions. 00:37:28.000 --> 00:37:35.000 Don't expect this hunt or extraction of favor to happen in favorable conditions. 00:37:35.000 --> 00:37:37.000 The conditions are never favorable. 00:37:37.000 --> 00:37:43.000 That's part of the mystery or adventure of it. 00:37:43.000 --> 00:37:52.000 All these guys you see walking in favor had to start from a place where they didn't have all the conditions right. 00:37:52.000 --> 00:37:58.000 If we are waiting for all the conditions to work out before we launch into favor, it ain't going to happen. 00:37:58.000 --> 00:38:01.000 It is best found in unfavorable conditions. 00:38:01.000 --> 00:38:04.000 Joseph, unfavorable. 00:38:04.000 --> 00:38:07.000 Moses, very unfavorable. 00:38:07.000 --> 00:38:10.000 Peter, unfavorable. 00:38:10.000 --> 00:38:12.000 Jesus, go away from me. I'm a sinful man. 00:38:12.000 --> 00:38:15.000 Paul, unfavorable, persecutor. 00:38:15.000 --> 00:38:20.000 It is in unfavorable conditions that favor becomes evident. 00:38:20.000 --> 00:38:24.000 You don't need favor when things are favorable. 00:38:24.000 --> 00:38:29.000 The very idea of favorable conditions means favor exists. 00:38:29.000 --> 00:38:35.000 Favor finds you in unfavorable conditions because that is where God wants to make himself known. 00:38:35.000 --> 00:38:45.000 So the first thing that you need to understand about the movement of extracting favor is it finds you in unfavorable circumstances. 00:38:45.000 --> 00:38:55.000 Second, you are given the option to pursue. 00:38:55.000 --> 00:38:57.000 You are not forced into it. 00:38:57.000 --> 00:39:01.000 Hey Tate, can you go tell Tooni that does he want to play today? 00:39:01.000 --> 00:39:02.000 No force. 00:39:02.000 --> 00:39:04.000 It's literally what Elijah does to Elisha. 00:39:04.000 --> 00:39:09.000 Throws his mantle on him and keeps walking and Elisha says, can I say goodbye to my mom? 00:39:09.000 --> 00:39:14.000 And Elijah replies, what's it to me? 00:39:14.000 --> 00:39:16.000 So there is an option to pursue. 00:39:16.000 --> 00:39:18.000 It's not that you have to. 00:39:18.000 --> 00:39:19.000 You won't be forced into it. 00:39:19.000 --> 00:39:21.000 There won't be a guilt trip. 00:39:21.000 --> 00:39:24.000 It's an option to pursue. 00:39:24.000 --> 00:39:28.000 I was telling to Heidi and Jillian about a situation where there was an option to pursue. 00:39:28.000 --> 00:39:29.000 Some people don't. 00:39:29.000 --> 00:39:32.000 Some people do. 00:39:32.000 --> 00:39:34.000 And if you pursue, great. 00:39:34.000 --> 00:39:49.000 If you don't pursue, after the option to pursue, there will be resistance once you start pursuing. 00:39:49.000 --> 00:39:51.000 Sometimes the resistance will be from God. 00:39:51.000 --> 00:39:54.000 Sometimes the resistance will be from people. 00:39:54.000 --> 00:40:01.000 The resistance is from God because he wants to know, Jacob, how badly do you want it? 00:40:01.000 --> 00:40:14.000 Do you really want this, Jacob? 00:40:14.000 --> 00:40:21.000 Once there's resistance, the next thing is you will be given valid reasons to retire. 00:40:21.000 --> 00:40:24.000 As in, ah, you've done enough. 00:40:24.000 --> 00:40:25.000 Don't go further. 00:40:25.000 --> 00:40:26.000 You've really done well. 00:40:26.000 --> 00:40:29.000 You've done better than 80% of Christians. 00:40:29.000 --> 00:40:30.000 Great job. 00:40:30.000 --> 00:40:31.000 Well done. 00:40:31.000 --> 00:40:39.000 Now let it go. 00:40:39.000 --> 00:41:03.000 Then the next option is sufficiency or dogged desire for more. 00:41:03.000 --> 00:41:05.000 This is what happened with the arrows. 00:41:05.000 --> 00:41:16.000 Here is a guy who's given the option to completely annihilate the enemy and he's given arrows and say strike. 00:41:16.000 --> 00:41:19.000 And he goes for sufficiency. 00:41:19.000 --> 00:41:21.000 I beg you. 00:41:21.000 --> 00:41:22.000 I beg you. 00:41:22.000 --> 00:41:24.000 Because you know why I beg you? 00:41:24.000 --> 00:41:31.000 Because I can see how some of us are okay with sufficiency. 00:41:31.000 --> 00:41:34.000 And I hate it in you. 00:41:34.000 --> 00:41:38.000 I hate the sufficiency that you settle for. 00:41:38.000 --> 00:41:43.000 Just because you're ahead of 20 people doesn't mean that you are ahead. 00:41:43.000 --> 00:41:46.000 It just means there are 20 people who are behind you. 00:41:46.000 --> 00:41:51.000 That's not how you win a race. 00:41:51.000 --> 00:41:58.000 I've never won a race or I've never taken part in a race, but should I run? 00:41:58.000 --> 00:42:00.000 Should I run? 00:42:00.000 --> 00:42:03.000 The idea is not to count the number of people behind you. 00:42:03.000 --> 00:42:06.000 The idea is to count the number of people ahead of you. 00:42:06.000 --> 00:42:08.000 When there's no one ahead of you, you win. 00:42:08.000 --> 00:42:10.000 This is what I've been told about races. 00:42:10.000 --> 00:42:12.000 I don't know if it's true. 00:42:12.000 --> 00:42:13.000 What would I know? 00:42:13.000 --> 00:42:28.000 Go ahead, dude. 00:42:28.000 --> 00:42:29.000 Paul didn't say no. 00:42:29.000 --> 00:42:31.000 Paul said yes. 00:42:31.000 --> 00:42:37.000 But repeat the question again. 00:42:37.000 --> 00:42:41.000 Is this coming from Sheldon or Jane? 00:42:41.000 --> 00:42:43.000 Okay, then I'll answer it. 00:42:43.000 --> 00:42:44.000 Go ahead. 00:42:44.000 --> 00:42:49.000 Just read it one more time. 00:42:49.000 --> 00:42:54.000 Yeah. 00:42:54.000 --> 00:42:58.000 The difference is this, guys. 00:42:58.000 --> 00:43:02.000 You've got to realize what God is willing to give. 00:43:02.000 --> 00:43:07.000 Once you realize he's willing to give it, then you know that when he resists you, 00:43:07.000 --> 00:43:13.000 it is just to see how much you will push. 00:43:13.000 --> 00:43:16.000 The Bible is full of examples like this. 00:43:16.000 --> 00:43:22.000 The Syrophoenician woman is an example. 00:43:22.000 --> 00:43:29.000 The Syrophoenician woman knows from what she's heard that Jesus Christ heals outsiders. 00:43:29.000 --> 00:43:32.000 Jesus knows that he heals outsiders. 00:43:32.000 --> 00:43:33.000 He's healed others before. 00:43:33.000 --> 00:43:35.000 He comes to the Syrophoenician woman. 00:43:35.000 --> 00:43:38.000 She already knows the heart of Jesus. 00:43:38.000 --> 00:43:42.000 He begins to argue with her saying, but I do not give bread to dogs. 00:43:42.000 --> 00:43:44.000 It gets like a nasty argument. 00:43:44.000 --> 00:43:45.000 But she keeps persisting. 00:43:45.000 --> 00:43:47.000 You know why she keeps persisting? 00:43:47.000 --> 00:43:48.000 One, for the sake of her daughter. 00:43:48.000 --> 00:43:53.000 Two, because she knows in her heart that this is the way that God is going. 00:43:53.000 --> 00:43:55.000 And if she persists, she can get it. 00:43:55.000 --> 00:43:56.000 So that's the difference. 00:43:56.000 --> 00:43:59.000 There's the stubbornness that comes with, no, I want my way. 00:43:59.000 --> 00:44:04.000 And then there is this kind of dogged persistence that comes because you know the heart of God. 00:44:04.000 --> 00:44:06.000 You know he wants to give. 00:44:06.000 --> 00:44:11.000 And because he wants to give, you know that it is only a matter of showing him 00:44:11.000 --> 00:44:16.000 how absolutely gung-ho you are about what needs to be gotten. 00:44:16.000 --> 00:44:20.000 You know when I was a kid, there used to be a person who would tell stories. 00:44:20.000 --> 00:44:23.000 And his stories were fascinating. 00:44:23.000 --> 00:44:26.000 We kids would sit around him and he would begin to tell stories. 00:44:26.000 --> 00:44:29.000 And then halfway through the story, he'd stop and say, all right, 00:44:29.000 --> 00:44:32.000 we'll talk about the rest of their story next time. 00:44:32.000 --> 00:44:37.000 And I'd always be surprised when some kids would get up and say, okay, and they'd go. 00:44:37.000 --> 00:44:41.000 And then there would be some of us kids saying, no, no, no, it's not six o'clock yet. 00:44:41.000 --> 00:44:42.000 We don't have to go home. 00:44:42.000 --> 00:44:43.000 Please tell us the rest. 00:44:43.000 --> 00:44:45.000 And then the guy would sit down and start again. 00:44:45.000 --> 00:44:49.000 This is exactly what happens when a pianist finishes playing 00:44:49.000 --> 00:44:52.000 and he gets up and leaves the stage and they all start clapping. 00:44:52.000 --> 00:44:56.000 Some of them come back too soon, but others take their own sweet time. 00:44:56.000 --> 00:44:59.000 And they keep clapping and there's a, what's that word they keep shouting? 00:44:59.000 --> 00:45:01.000 Encore, encore. 00:45:01.000 --> 00:45:03.000 I've never heard you guys shout that after I finished teaching. 00:45:03.000 --> 00:45:08.000 And so, encore, encore. 00:45:08.000 --> 00:45:10.000 And then the guy comes back. 00:45:10.000 --> 00:45:13.000 It is this, give us more, give us more, give us more. 00:45:13.000 --> 00:45:17.000 Become a leech when it comes to God. 00:45:17.000 --> 00:45:25.000 It is unhealthy in all other circumstances, except when it comes to God. 00:45:25.000 --> 00:45:27.000 That is what dogged persistence looks like. 00:45:27.000 --> 00:45:31.000 Guys, everybody in Hebrews chapter 11 lived like this. 00:45:31.000 --> 00:45:38.000 You got to, you got to, you know, if you don't, if you don't try it, you will never taste it. 00:45:38.000 --> 00:45:40.000 But it needs time. 00:45:40.000 --> 00:45:43.000 And time is created by priorities. 00:45:49.000 --> 00:45:51.000 It's a very bad truth though. 00:45:51.000 --> 00:45:54.000 Time is created by priorities. 00:45:56.000 --> 00:46:00.000 Bad truth as in, it's a truth that really is very inconvenient. 00:46:00.000 --> 00:46:04.000 Priorities create time. 00:46:04.000 --> 00:46:09.000 Whatever you prioritize, you will find time for. 00:46:10.000 --> 00:46:20.000 In today's instant gratification, oh, the last step is rewarded with the impossible. 00:46:20.000 --> 00:46:25.000 Rewarded with the impossible. 00:46:31.000 --> 00:46:33.000 Rewarded with the impossible. 00:46:33.000 --> 00:46:35.000 Rewarded with the impossible. 00:46:40.000 --> 00:46:42.000 I had mentors like this. 00:46:42.000 --> 00:46:47.000 In very unfavorable conditions, they opened the door, but they would not invite me in. 00:46:47.000 --> 00:46:52.000 They opened the door and they stood with inside the door, waiting to see if Jacob will enter. 00:46:52.000 --> 00:46:56.000 Then one day I remember going to them and saying, I want to learn. 00:46:56.000 --> 00:47:02.000 Once I started learning, I had to pursue them. 00:47:02.000 --> 00:47:06.000 It was not them coming and saying, we want to teach you, we want to teach you, we want to teach you. 00:47:06.000 --> 00:47:11.000 No, it was, hey, you want to learn? Run. 00:47:11.000 --> 00:47:15.000 There were valid reasons to retire because I knew enough. 00:47:15.000 --> 00:47:25.000 I was better than 80% of the class, sang well, preached well, was charismatic, had a few gifts, was really past the material. 00:47:25.000 --> 00:47:27.000 Handsome. 00:47:29.000 --> 00:47:33.000 Excuse me, Nick. Don? 00:47:33.000 --> 00:47:35.000 Three months, three months. 00:47:35.000 --> 00:47:40.000 So valid reasons to retire. 00:47:40.000 --> 00:47:44.000 But then the question was, do I want to settle for this? 00:47:44.000 --> 00:47:52.000 I remember a guy coming to me and saying, full scholarship, Harvest Bible School, Australia, come. 00:47:52.000 --> 00:47:57.000 I'm thinking, do I want to go to a Bible school and become a pastor? 00:47:57.000 --> 00:48:00.000 Nothing wrong with it. It's a very noble pursuit. 00:48:00.000 --> 00:48:06.000 Or, Father, you're offering me nations and I don't even know how to get there. 00:48:06.000 --> 00:48:09.000 What do I do? And I remember saying no to this Bible school. 00:48:09.000 --> 00:48:13.000 I'd have been married and an Australian by now. 00:48:13.000 --> 00:48:16.000 Can you imagine how sad that would be? 00:48:16.000 --> 00:48:19.000 And so I remember saying no to that. 00:48:19.000 --> 00:48:26.000 A dogged desire for more because at some point the Lord had said, listen, I'll give you the nations. 00:48:26.000 --> 00:48:28.000 I'll give you the nations. 00:48:28.000 --> 00:48:42.000 Sometimes you don't even know how foolish a decision you're making because you've been given an apple cake with cherry on top and you're saying no to it because there's triple layered chocolate mousse waiting. 00:48:42.000 --> 00:48:45.000 And then finally you're rewarded with the impossible. 00:48:51.000 --> 00:49:02.000 This is just on the side, but I found this so odd when Rhonda was really happy that her braces were being taken off because she could now eat salads, fruits and vegetables. 00:49:02.000 --> 00:49:06.000 I could think of a whole lot of people who would want braces just to avoid that. 00:49:06.000 --> 00:49:08.000 Anyways, that's on the side. 00:49:20.000 --> 00:49:22.000 Any questions, guys? 00:49:24.000 --> 00:49:27.000 Oh my God, this is the problem and people sit in the front row. 00:49:27.000 --> 00:49:29.000 What's your question? 00:49:29.000 --> 00:49:31.000 Okay, what's your question? 00:49:36.000 --> 00:49:42.000 Yeah. 00:49:42.000 --> 00:49:44.000 Yeah. 00:49:48.000 --> 00:49:50.000 Yeah. 00:49:50.000 --> 00:49:59.000 Personally, I believe satisfaction with God is the slaking of thirst, but it is never meant to fill you. 00:49:59.000 --> 00:50:06.000 It is this constant slaking of a dry throat, but it is never to get you to a place where you say, enough is enough. 00:50:06.000 --> 00:50:17.000 It is this constant hunger and thirst that is impossible to satiate because God is infinite. 00:50:17.000 --> 00:50:28.000 And so the moment we say we are satisfied with God, it is either because we don't have a greater capacity or because we think we have understood everything about God. 00:50:28.000 --> 00:50:36.000 And so his intent is, can I always be a little beyond your reach so that you keep stretching? 00:50:36.000 --> 00:50:39.000 I will always be beyond your reach. 00:50:39.000 --> 00:50:43.000 But every time you stretch some more, you'll catch a little bit of me. 00:50:43.000 --> 00:50:46.000 And just when you thought it's enough, I'll be a little beyond you. 00:50:46.000 --> 00:50:53.000 And you keep going up on your toes and you keep being just, he just, he gives you enough, but he's beyond your reach so that you can keep running. 00:50:54.000 --> 00:51:03.000 It slakes your dry throat, but my God, this is honey that you can keep eating and it ain't bad for you. 00:51:03.000 --> 00:51:08.000 Yeah. A growing hunger and therefore a growing satisfaction. 00:51:08.000 --> 00:51:18.000 Go ahead, Jeevan. 00:51:18.000 --> 00:51:22.000 This is the beauty of it, labor to enter into rest. 00:51:22.000 --> 00:51:25.000 There must be a dogged persistence to enter into rest. 00:51:25.000 --> 00:51:29.000 Rest is to cease from striving. 00:51:29.000 --> 00:51:33.000 The only thing we strive is to enter into rest. 00:51:33.000 --> 00:51:37.000 Rest is to, this is not semantics, it's not complicated. 00:51:37.000 --> 00:51:41.000 Rest is to seize from my own strivings. 00:51:41.000 --> 00:51:46.000 And the only labor I engage in is to enter into rest. 00:51:46.000 --> 00:51:48.000 All my striving is focused on one thing. 00:51:48.000 --> 00:51:59.000 Can I come into a place where because of the tremendous favor on me, I don't have to work anymore, but I will work to always be lodged in that place of favor. 00:52:01.000 --> 00:52:04.000 I will work to not be distracted by you. 00:52:04.000 --> 00:52:07.000 I will work not to pursue things of the world. 00:52:07.000 --> 00:52:12.000 I will work not to be taken captive by seductions and philosophies of the world. 00:52:12.000 --> 00:52:15.000 That I will labor and strive in. Why? 00:52:15.000 --> 00:52:21.000 Because the one thing that I want to walk in is the rest that comes out of just dwelling with him. 00:52:21.000 --> 00:52:29.000 The dogged persistence in entering into rest is an absolute necessity because we don't know how to enter into rest. 00:52:29.000 --> 00:52:32.000 We know how to labor. We don't know how to enter into rest. 00:52:32.000 --> 00:52:35.000 Therefore it says labor to enter into rest. 00:52:35.000 --> 00:52:45.000 Favor changes you guys. 00:52:45.000 --> 00:52:52.000 Favor changes you once you recognize and derive your worth from the value conferred by the king. 00:52:52.000 --> 00:52:53.000 Favor changes you. 00:52:53.000 --> 00:53:01.000 So for example, let's assume tomorrow I show tremendous favor to John. 00:53:01.000 --> 00:53:02.000 He just came in. 00:53:02.000 --> 00:53:03.000 Don't know him. 00:53:03.000 --> 00:53:04.000 All I know is his name is John. 00:53:04.000 --> 00:53:07.000 But for whatever reason, I show him tremendous favor. 00:53:07.000 --> 00:53:10.000 When he comes, I give him the pulpit to preach. 00:53:10.000 --> 00:53:11.000 I give him the guitar to sing. 00:53:11.000 --> 00:53:14.000 I let him do whatever he wants to in the church. 00:53:14.000 --> 00:53:19.000 Then John will not have to be worried about, I'm a newbie here. 00:53:19.000 --> 00:53:20.000 I've just come in. 00:53:20.000 --> 00:53:22.000 Don't know how to behave with people. 00:53:22.000 --> 00:53:23.000 Don't know the culture. 00:53:23.000 --> 00:53:32.000 But he won't have to worry about it because suddenly the favor on him is so tremendous that he begins to derive his worth from the value that he has. 00:53:32.000 --> 00:53:35.000 From the value that I place on him. 00:53:35.000 --> 00:53:46.000 Whenever you recognize how much favor is on you, you will not have to worry about working in the eyes of men and in the eyes of the world. 00:53:46.000 --> 00:53:47.000 You won't have to. 00:53:47.000 --> 00:53:52.000 Guys, I know the favor that is upon me when it comes to certain things in the kingdom. 00:53:52.000 --> 00:53:53.000 I do not have to work for them. 00:53:53.000 --> 00:53:55.000 I do not have to suck up to anybody. 00:53:55.000 --> 00:53:56.000 I do not need a preaching assignment. 00:53:56.000 --> 00:53:58.000 I do not need nothing. 00:53:58.000 --> 00:54:00.000 I know the favor that is upon me. 00:54:00.000 --> 00:54:04.000 I know that I can go into some nations and those nations will open up like a walnut. 00:54:04.000 --> 00:54:06.000 Walnuts don't open quickly. 00:54:06.000 --> 00:54:10.000 It will open up like a whatever opens up fast. 00:54:10.000 --> 00:54:12.000 And pardon? 00:54:12.000 --> 00:54:17.000 I don't think any advice on food should come from the gallery. 00:54:17.000 --> 00:54:19.000 So like a peanut. 00:54:19.000 --> 00:54:20.000 Yeah. 00:54:20.000 --> 00:54:23.000 I know the favor that is upon me. 00:54:23.000 --> 00:54:27.000 You should know the favor that is upon you where things will open so quickly. 00:54:27.000 --> 00:54:32.000 Favor changes you once you recognize and derive your worth from the value conferred by the king. 00:54:32.000 --> 00:54:34.000 It changes you. 00:54:34.000 --> 00:54:37.000 You will never work hard in that area again. 00:54:37.000 --> 00:54:41.000 Because you know, God is God's hand is so upon me in this area. 00:54:41.000 --> 00:54:42.000 I don't have to do anything. 00:54:42.000 --> 00:54:47.000 If I walk in there, it will open. 00:54:47.000 --> 00:54:50.000 Recognize that the power of God is upon you. 00:54:50.000 --> 00:54:51.000 I don't have to do anything. 00:54:51.000 --> 00:54:57.000 If I walk in there, it will open. 00:54:57.000 --> 00:54:58.000 Recognize it, guys. 00:54:58.000 --> 00:55:04.000 For each of us, it's in different areas. 00:55:04.000 --> 00:55:14.000 Once that happens, you'll trade in your baubles and your fine wine and your applause for clothes made of camel hair and you will be happy with locusts and honey. 00:55:14.000 --> 00:55:17.000 Because you couldn't care less about trying to make it. 00:55:17.000 --> 00:55:26.000 You know that there's such favor upon you that it is impossible for that land or for that nation to prevent you from doing what you're supposed to do. 00:55:26.000 --> 00:55:35.000 In the area of your favor, you will trade all the trinkets of the world because you know that you have what you need. 00:55:35.000 --> 00:55:40.000 Favor rockets you when you stop piloting your life and ditch control. 00:55:40.000 --> 00:55:47.000 Favor rockets you when you stop piloting your life and you ditch control. 00:55:47.000 --> 00:55:52.000 Control and favor do not go together. 00:55:52.000 --> 00:55:56.000 Favor is God saying, hey, you are highly favored in this area. 00:55:56.000 --> 00:55:58.000 I'd like to do everything for you. 00:55:58.000 --> 00:56:00.000 Don't tinker with what I'm doing. 00:56:00.000 --> 00:56:06.000 Favor allows you to go into rest because favor allows you to go into rest in areas. 00:56:06.000 --> 00:56:13.000 But it will require that I stop piloting my life and it will require that I ditch control. 00:56:13.000 --> 00:56:21.000 The more controlling I am, the more I pilot my life, the less favor has the ability to find traction in my life. 00:56:21.000 --> 00:56:23.000 It just doesn't settle. 00:56:30.000 --> 00:56:33.000 Favor buries your yesterday. 00:56:33.000 --> 00:56:38.000 Here is Jacob and suddenly his yesterday is buried. 00:56:38.000 --> 00:56:40.000 Favor buries your yesterday. 00:56:40.000 --> 00:56:43.000 Favor changes your name. 00:56:43.000 --> 00:56:45.000 No longer will people say what they said of you. 00:56:45.000 --> 00:56:47.000 Favor changes your name. 00:56:47.000 --> 00:56:50.000 Favor bestows upon you new pedigree. 00:56:50.000 --> 00:56:53.000 Favor bestows upon you new pedigree. 00:56:53.000 --> 00:56:58.000 Favor restores your inheritance. 00:56:58.000 --> 00:57:00.000 Favor buries your past. 00:57:00.000 --> 00:57:08.000 What I knew about you no longer is evident because it has so changed you that you've let go of what you were. 00:57:08.000 --> 00:57:10.000 Favor buries your past. 00:57:10.000 --> 00:57:13.000 Favor changes your name. 00:57:13.000 --> 00:57:16.000 Favor bestows on you pedigree, new pedigree. 00:57:16.000 --> 00:57:18.000 Favor restores your inheritance. 00:57:18.000 --> 00:57:21.000 All this happens to Jacob. 00:57:21.000 --> 00:57:23.000 God buries his past. 00:57:23.000 --> 00:57:24.000 God changes his name. 00:57:24.000 --> 00:57:28.000 God bestows on him new pedigree and God restores his inheritance. 00:57:28.000 --> 00:57:32.000 That was his to begin with without having to wrangle for it. 00:57:32.000 --> 00:57:39.000 Ask for favor because in the eyes of those above you, you will find new locations. 00:57:39.000 --> 00:57:45.000 Let's assume that there are certain things about Josh that I know that are really not fun. 00:57:45.000 --> 00:57:52.000 When Josh begins to ask for favor, when he begins to push into God's favor, when he begins to access God's favor, he begins to change those areas. 00:57:52.000 --> 00:57:56.000 When he begins to change in those areas, my heart and my ways with him will change. 00:57:56.000 --> 00:58:01.000 Man's ways with you change when the favor of God rests on you. 00:58:01.000 --> 00:58:06.000 Man's ways with you change when the favor of God rests on you. 00:58:06.000 --> 00:58:12.000 God asks Jacob his name. 00:58:12.000 --> 00:58:20.000 And when Jacob acknowledges the appropriate, when Jacob says my name is Jacob, he's basically acknowledging the appropriateness of his name. 00:58:20.000 --> 00:58:24.000 That ries a supplanter, that he's a deceiver, that he's a supplanter. 00:58:24.000 --> 00:58:26.000 Why is he a supplanter? 00:58:26.000 --> 00:58:32.000 When Jacob says my name is Jacob, he's basically acknowledging the appropriateness of his name. 00:58:32.000 --> 00:58:36.000 That he's a supplanter, that he's a deceiver, that he's a supplanter. 00:58:36.000 --> 00:58:43.000 One who supplants, as in one who tries through deceptive means to replace or to plant what should not be there. 00:58:43.000 --> 00:58:49.000 It's like someone is going to plant something in a pot and before it can be planted, you jump into the hole that's dug and you begin to grow there. 00:58:49.000 --> 00:58:51.000 That's supplanting. 00:58:51.000 --> 00:58:54.000 And so here, Jacob, God asks Jacob, what's your name? 00:58:54.000 --> 00:58:56.000 God knows. 00:58:56.000 --> 00:58:58.000 Jacob knows he's fighting a supernatural being. 00:58:58.000 --> 00:59:00.000 He also knows that he's fighting God himself. 00:59:00.000 --> 00:59:02.000 The passage makes it evident. 00:59:02.000 --> 00:59:04.000 He knows he's not fighting a man. 00:59:04.000 --> 00:59:08.000 He knows that God has often in the past with Abraham and others taken on the form of man. 00:59:08.000 --> 00:59:18.000 By the way, most of these patriarchs lived so long that their grandsons and their great-grandchildren and their great-grandgrandchildren could hear the stories that their fathers and grandfathers had heard. 00:59:18.000 --> 00:59:20.000 So Jacob is not new to this. 00:59:20.000 --> 00:59:27.000 He knows that three angels appeared to Abraham at the oaks of Mamre. 00:59:27.000 --> 00:59:30.000 This is not the first time Jacob is meeting angels. 00:59:30.000 --> 00:59:34.000 He had seen angels in a dream in Bethel in Genesis 28. 00:59:34.000 --> 00:59:38.000 He had seen angels at Mahaneim in Genesis 32, verse 1. 00:59:38.000 --> 00:59:39.000 This is the third time he's meeting angels. 00:59:39.000 --> 00:59:47.000 Only this time he knows it's a supernatural being. 00:59:47.000 --> 00:59:53.000 And so when God asks Jacob's name, Jacob is saying, my name is Jacob. 00:59:53.000 --> 00:59:56.000 And in saying that, he's disclosing the appropriateness of his name. 00:59:56.000 --> 01:00:06.000 And you have to at times acknowledge your condition before God will pave way for the new. 01:00:06.000 --> 01:00:08.000 You have to acknowledge your condition. 01:00:08.000 --> 01:00:13.000 Manoj has to say, oh, God, this is my present condition. 01:00:13.000 --> 01:00:21.000 Until you acknowledge your present condition, there is very little space to create new pathways. 01:00:21.000 --> 01:00:29.000 You should listen to what's her name, Emily's Instagram post from yesterday. 01:00:29.000 --> 01:00:35.000 It's about this idea of acknowledging one's condition so that new ways can be paved. 01:00:35.000 --> 01:00:40.000 All of us go through it, eh? 01:00:40.000 --> 01:00:45.000 Because in every previous confrontation, Jacob had found a way to win. 01:00:45.000 --> 01:00:51.000 With Esau, he won. With Isaac, he won. With Laban, he won. 01:00:51.000 --> 01:00:57.000 But in verse 26, he's clinging on to God, knowing it's a fight that can alter his life. 01:00:57.000 --> 01:01:01.000 And his statement is, I will not let you go till you bless me. 01:01:01.000 --> 01:01:06.000 And there is this idea that I need to acknowledge my present condition, 01:01:06.000 --> 01:01:10.000 let go of it, then not let go of what God is doing. 01:01:10.000 --> 01:01:13.000 So I've got to acknowledge that this is my present condition. 01:01:13.000 --> 01:01:18.000 I've got to let go of it, and then I've got to not let go of what God is doing. 01:01:18.000 --> 01:01:24.000 This is the aggression. This is the violence that makes things happen. 01:01:24.000 --> 01:01:29.000 I remember saying to Jeevan, not this Jan, last Jan, Jeevan, 01:01:29.000 --> 01:01:35.000 you need to begin to walk in governmental authority and that you need to change things. 01:01:35.000 --> 01:01:41.000 And I remember not being able to get in touch with Jeevan from December 31st to January 1st. 01:01:41.000 --> 01:01:46.000 Why? Because he took it so seriously that he decided he was going to get back into Canada 01:01:46.000 --> 01:01:50.000 as a brand new person with the authority that he requires. 01:01:50.000 --> 01:01:54.000 So he drives to the border in the middle of the night and crosses the border 01:01:54.000 --> 01:01:58.000 and does a turnaround and enters Canada as someone brand new. 01:01:58.000 --> 01:02:01.000 He had problems at the border, which is another story. 01:02:01.000 --> 01:02:04.000 But the point is, he was willing to get back into this country. 01:02:04.000 --> 01:02:09.000 Some things have to be done symbolically, but if he stops at symbolism, then nothing happens. 01:02:09.000 --> 01:02:14.000 Once it's done symbolically, you've got to press and say, oh God, you're paving a new way. 01:02:14.000 --> 01:02:18.000 You've given me a new name. I'm letting go after acknowledging my condition. 01:02:18.000 --> 01:02:22.000 Nick has to say it. Praful has to say it. Jacob has to say it. Manoj has to say it. 01:02:22.000 --> 01:02:27.000 This is my condition. I've stayed here for too long. I cannot continue here. 01:02:27.000 --> 01:02:30.000 Oh God, I let go of it. First, after acknowledging my name. 01:02:30.000 --> 01:02:35.000 Now that I have, I get a hold of you and I will not let go till you bless me. 01:02:35.000 --> 01:02:40.000 And that has to happen day after day after day till this changes. 01:02:48.000 --> 01:02:49.000 Go Danny. 01:03:00.000 --> 01:03:13.000 I want you to be giants, not so you can be applauded, but so the world can be affected. 01:03:13.000 --> 01:03:19.000 You must understand why I want this for you and for me. 01:03:19.000 --> 01:03:24.000 It is so that the world can be drastically affected. 01:03:24.000 --> 01:03:33.000 You take out one Goliath. You take out an entire Philistine conquest. 01:03:33.000 --> 01:03:41.000 You don't take out a Goliath. You can spend the next two years fighting in trenches. 01:03:41.000 --> 01:03:44.000 That is the way to do it. 01:03:44.000 --> 01:03:51.000 I don't think Acts 29 will ever be famous. 01:03:51.000 --> 01:03:55.000 But a lot of things that this church will accomplish, 01:03:55.000 --> 01:03:58.000 I think, will be accomplished. 01:03:58.000 --> 01:04:02.000 I don't think that the church will ever be famous. 01:04:02.000 --> 01:04:06.000 I don't think that the church will ever be famous. 01:04:06.000 --> 01:04:09.000 I don't think that the church will ever be famous. 01:04:10.000 --> 01:04:18.000 But a lot of things that this church will accomplish will be done quietly and generations will benefit. 01:04:18.000 --> 01:04:22.000 And that is the way it needs to be at present. 01:04:22.000 --> 01:04:28.000 Some churches need to be big and need to have a platform and need to have a loud voice. 01:04:28.000 --> 01:04:30.000 That's how God makes some churches. 01:04:30.000 --> 01:04:32.000 And that is significant. It is important. 01:04:32.000 --> 01:04:35.000 But some churches, he does not do that. 01:04:39.000 --> 01:04:42.000 I am comfortable with it. 01:04:42.000 --> 01:04:44.000 I'm not settling for it. 01:04:44.000 --> 01:04:47.000 I'm receiving it. There's a difference. 01:04:47.000 --> 01:04:50.000 I am not settling for it. I'm receiving it. 01:04:53.000 --> 01:04:57.000 I'm saying even if he grew to 500, it would still be the same. 01:04:58.000 --> 01:05:02.000 I'm really fine with it because there's a thing that God is doing that... 01:05:02.000 --> 01:05:04.000 Why go down that route? 01:05:04.000 --> 01:05:07.000 Let me begin to finish. 01:05:09.000 --> 01:05:13.000 I mean if Tuni hadn't taken so much time singing, we could have finished long ago. 01:05:16.000 --> 01:05:21.000 Even though verse 28 of Genesis 32 says, God says, God is saying this. 01:05:21.000 --> 01:05:26.000 He says to Jacob, your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, 01:05:26.000 --> 01:05:30.000 because you have struggled with God and with man and have overcome. 01:05:30.000 --> 01:05:33.000 God is saying this, but Jacob hears it differently. 01:05:33.000 --> 01:05:35.000 It's very odd. You've got to pay attention to this. 01:05:35.000 --> 01:05:38.000 Yes, we always think of the story and we say, 01:05:38.000 --> 01:05:41.000 God changed Jacob's name to Israel, 01:05:41.000 --> 01:05:46.000 and Israel means he who contends with God and contends with man and prevails. 01:05:46.000 --> 01:05:48.000 That is a usual statement. 01:05:48.000 --> 01:05:50.000 And it's true. God does say this. 01:05:50.000 --> 01:05:53.000 God says, I'm changing your name. Your name no longer will be Jacob, 01:05:53.000 --> 01:05:57.000 but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with man and have overcome. 01:05:57.000 --> 01:05:58.000 But Jacob hears it differently. 01:05:58.000 --> 01:06:01.000 You know what the word Israel means? 01:06:01.000 --> 01:06:12.000 The actual, if you, the literal translation of Israel is Israel, God. 01:06:12.000 --> 01:06:14.000 Israel means rule. 01:06:14.000 --> 01:06:16.000 El means God. 01:06:16.000 --> 01:06:21.000 So what it means is God will rule. 01:06:21.000 --> 01:06:25.000 Or let God rule. 01:06:25.000 --> 01:06:27.000 That's what it actually means. 01:06:27.000 --> 01:06:30.000 Let God rule. Or God will rule. 01:06:30.000 --> 01:06:37.000 Up to that point in Jacob's life, you might have actually called him Israel Jacob, 01:06:37.000 --> 01:06:47.000 because till then, it was always Jacob will rule. 01:06:47.000 --> 01:06:50.000 The actual name change is this. 01:06:50.000 --> 01:06:55.000 Sure, he contended with God, but the actual name change is this. 01:06:55.000 --> 01:06:58.000 Israel means God will rule. 01:06:58.000 --> 01:07:00.000 Till then, Jacob was a supplanter. 01:07:00.000 --> 01:07:03.000 He decided how things would be done. 01:07:03.000 --> 01:07:06.000 You might have actually called him Israel Jacob. 01:07:06.000 --> 01:07:07.000 Jacob will rule. 01:07:07.000 --> 01:07:11.000 The name change or the character changes from Jacob will rule, 01:07:11.000 --> 01:07:15.000 it now moves to God will rule. 01:07:15.000 --> 01:07:18.000 Israel. Israel meaning rule. 01:07:18.000 --> 01:07:20.000 El meaning God. 01:07:20.000 --> 01:07:25.000 And you see it in the way Jacob perceives it. 01:07:26.000 --> 01:07:32.000 You see when Jacob names the place that it happened, he calls it Peniel. 01:07:32.000 --> 01:07:35.000 Peniel doesn't for a moment talk about wrestling with God. 01:07:35.000 --> 01:07:38.000 Peniel doesn't have any reference to contending with God. 01:07:38.000 --> 01:07:39.000 You know what Peniel means? 01:07:39.000 --> 01:07:42.000 Face to face with the living God. 01:07:42.000 --> 01:07:49.000 Of all the things that Jacob could name the place where his greatest life altering incident happened, 01:07:49.000 --> 01:07:52.000 he doesn't call it I wrestled with God. 01:07:52.000 --> 01:07:54.000 He doesn't call it I contended with God. 01:07:54.000 --> 01:07:57.000 He says I have seen God face to face. 01:07:57.000 --> 01:08:03.000 This is the same Jacob who in Genesis 28 said God is in this place, but I do not. 01:08:03.000 --> 01:08:05.000 I did not know it. 01:08:05.000 --> 01:08:09.000 The same Jacob is now saying that I shall call this place Peniel. 01:08:09.000 --> 01:08:12.000 He does not give the place any name that recalls his struggling with God. 01:08:12.000 --> 01:08:14.000 Instead he calls it Peniel. 01:08:14.000 --> 01:08:16.000 That is the face of God. 01:08:25.000 --> 01:08:35.000 So my statement at the end of the day is become the one who wrestles with God 01:08:40.000 --> 01:08:44.000 and sees him face to face 01:08:48.000 --> 01:08:53.000 and contends and succeeds with men. 01:08:54.000 --> 01:08:57.000 This is our takeaway. 01:09:01.000 --> 01:09:02.000 That is our takeaway. 01:09:02.000 --> 01:09:05.000 Become the one who wrestles with God. 01:09:05.000 --> 01:09:09.000 Find time every week, every month to wrestle with God. 01:09:09.000 --> 01:09:11.000 Become the one who wrestles with God. 01:09:11.000 --> 01:09:12.000 Why wrestle with God? 01:09:12.000 --> 01:09:16.000 Because you want to see him face to face. 01:09:16.000 --> 01:09:21.000 And once you see him face to face, you can contend with any man on earth. 01:09:21.000 --> 01:09:24.000 You will succeed with any man on earth. 01:09:24.000 --> 01:09:31.000 The wrestling was sure God said hey Jacob you have wrestled with God and man and you have prevailed. 01:09:31.000 --> 01:09:36.000 But that was in the focus that Jacob had and that wasn't the focus that God wanted him to have. 01:09:36.000 --> 01:09:42.000 He changes his name to Israel and Israel actually means God shall rule. 01:09:42.000 --> 01:09:44.000 It's a shift from the way Jacob used to live. 01:09:44.000 --> 01:09:47.000 Every battle he fought, Jacob would rule. 01:09:47.000 --> 01:09:48.000 Jacob would find some way. 01:09:48.000 --> 01:09:50.000 He would wrangle something out. 01:09:50.000 --> 01:09:52.000 He would try some deceit. 01:09:52.000 --> 01:09:55.000 Now he's shifted from Israel Jacob to Israel. 01:09:55.000 --> 01:09:57.000 God will rule. 01:09:57.000 --> 01:09:59.000 Make this a statement in your life. 01:09:59.000 --> 01:10:05.000 This when I was writing down the statement, it was one of those transformative moments that I was talking about where you begin to weep 01:10:05.000 --> 01:10:07.000 because you realize ah shucks. 01:10:07.000 --> 01:10:08.000 This is such a key. 01:10:08.000 --> 01:10:12.000 Become the one who wrestles with God Jacob as in this Jacob. 01:10:12.000 --> 01:10:17.000 Become the one who wrestles with God and as you do, you will see him face to face. 01:10:17.000 --> 01:10:24.000 And when you see him face to face, you will contend with man and succeed with man. 01:10:24.000 --> 01:10:31.000 For the first time in Jacob's life, he no longer bears the stigma of being a supplanter. 01:10:32.000 --> 01:10:37.000 For the first time in Jacob's life, he no longer bears the stigma of being a supplanter. 01:10:37.000 --> 01:10:39.000 And he is no longer afraid. 01:10:39.000 --> 01:10:41.000 He is no longer afraid. 01:10:41.000 --> 01:10:45.000 He says I have seen God face to face and my life is preserved. 01:10:45.000 --> 01:10:48.000 We think he's saying oh I fought God and my life is preserved. 01:10:48.000 --> 01:10:50.000 That's not what Jacob is saying. 01:10:50.000 --> 01:10:54.000 If you read before in Genesis 32, he says oh God preserve my life. 01:10:54.000 --> 01:10:55.000 I'm going to meet Esau. 01:10:55.000 --> 01:11:01.000 And now after fighting the God he's saying I have seen God face to face 01:11:01.000 --> 01:11:04.000 and in faith he's saying and my life is preserved. 01:11:04.000 --> 01:11:06.000 He loses his fear of Esau. 01:11:09.000 --> 01:11:10.000 His prayer is answered. 01:11:10.000 --> 01:11:12.000 Preserve me your God for my brother. 01:11:12.000 --> 01:11:15.000 And before he meets his brother, he's no longer afraid. 01:11:19.000 --> 01:11:24.000 For the first time in his life, this man does not own the label that his brother gave him. 01:11:24.000 --> 01:11:26.000 It wasn't his father that called him Jacob. 01:11:26.000 --> 01:11:28.000 It was his brother that called him Jacob. 01:11:28.000 --> 01:11:31.000 Said you're a cheat, you're a deceiver, you're a supplanter. 01:11:31.000 --> 01:11:33.000 He wears it no more. 01:11:34.000 --> 01:11:35.000 And he is not afraid. 01:11:38.000 --> 01:11:39.000 Because why? 01:11:39.000 --> 01:11:43.000 Because he wrestled with God and he saw God face to face. 01:11:44.000 --> 01:11:46.000 And now he can contend and succeed with man. 01:11:47.000 --> 01:11:49.000 When Jacob leaves Peniel that morning, 01:11:49.000 --> 01:11:52.000 he leaves with two things that he didn't bring to Jabok. 01:11:53.000 --> 01:11:55.000 He leaves with a new name and a new limp. 01:11:56.000 --> 01:11:58.000 He leaves with a new name and a new limp. 01:11:59.000 --> 01:12:04.000 The new name will remind Jacob of the favor and the destiny that he has received 01:12:04.000 --> 01:12:08.000 and this time without deceit, without wrangling, without striving. 01:12:13.000 --> 01:12:16.000 He gets a new name and he does not have to wrangle for it. 01:12:16.000 --> 01:12:18.000 He gets a new name and he does not have to wrangle for it. 01:12:19.000 --> 01:12:20.000 Does not have to barter for it. 01:12:21.000 --> 01:12:22.000 Does not have to deceive for it. 01:12:22.000 --> 01:12:24.000 Does not have to work for it. 01:12:25.000 --> 01:12:27.000 He's worked so hard all his life. 01:12:27.000 --> 01:12:30.000 He spent 20 years working for Laban. 01:12:30.000 --> 01:12:32.000 He does not have to work for it. 01:12:32.000 --> 01:12:36.000 You cannot imagine the relief that Jacob feels. 01:12:38.000 --> 01:12:39.000 He is free. 01:12:42.000 --> 01:12:44.000 Hear me, hear with the ears of the spirit 01:12:44.000 --> 01:12:46.000 because it applies to each of you differently. 01:12:52.000 --> 01:12:58.000 A new name that reminds him forever of the favor and the destiny he has received 01:12:58.000 --> 01:13:03.000 without deceit and wrangling and the new limp that will remind him forever 01:13:04.000 --> 01:13:09.000 that Elohim is the only one who can overpower him here on earth. 01:13:10.000 --> 01:13:11.000 Nobody else. 01:13:12.000 --> 01:13:15.000 There's only one who has overpowered Jacob ever. 01:13:18.000 --> 01:13:19.000 Elohim. 01:13:19.000 --> 01:13:23.000 As he limps and the sun rises, he's thinking, 01:13:24.000 --> 01:13:29.000 this limp will always remind me of the fact that there's only one who has overpowered me 01:13:29.000 --> 01:13:32.000 and he's Elohim and no man on earth will overpower me. 01:13:32.000 --> 01:13:36.000 Why? Because Yahweh, Elohim himself spoke and said, 01:13:36.000 --> 01:13:42.000 you have contended with man and you have contended with God and you have prevailed. 01:13:42.000 --> 01:13:49.000 You must experience the confidence of knowing this in certain situations 01:13:49.000 --> 01:13:54.000 where you know that the hand of God is so powerfully on you 01:13:54.000 --> 01:14:00.000 that you know that no obstacle on earth can undo you. 01:14:00.000 --> 01:14:02.000 But this doesn't come through a sermon. 01:14:02.000 --> 01:14:06.000 It comes through finding time to let this go in. 01:14:13.000 --> 01:14:15.000 It's kind of reflected in Hosea 12.4 in the message. 01:14:15.000 --> 01:14:18.000 When he grew up, he tried to get the best of God, 01:14:18.000 --> 01:14:21.000 but God would not be bested, God bested him. 01:14:21.000 --> 01:14:22.000 Love it. 01:14:22.000 --> 01:14:24.000 When he grew up, he tried to get the best of God, 01:14:24.000 --> 01:14:27.000 but God would not be bested, God bested him. 01:14:27.000 --> 01:14:32.000 This whole idea of as he limps, he remembers that only Elohim could overpower him. 01:14:32.000 --> 01:14:34.000 No one on earth will be able to touch him. 01:14:34.000 --> 01:14:37.000 All the days of his life, no one touched him, man. 01:14:37.000 --> 01:14:41.000 This is the kind of God we are talking about in the favor. 01:14:41.000 --> 01:14:43.000 Let me end with verse 28. 01:14:43.000 --> 01:14:45.000 Your name shall no longer be called Jacob. 01:14:45.000 --> 01:14:48.000 Your name shall no longer be called Jacob. 01:14:48.000 --> 01:14:51.000 Your name shall no longer be called Jacob. 01:14:51.000 --> 01:14:54.000 Your name shall no longer be called Jacob. 01:14:54.000 --> 01:14:57.000 Your name shall no longer be called Jacob. 01:14:57.000 --> 01:15:02.000 You know, there's this biblical Hebrew idiom that's often used throughout the Old Testament 01:15:02.000 --> 01:15:04.000 where God will say stuff like, 01:15:04.000 --> 01:15:09.000 no longer shall your name be, or no longer will you be known as. 01:15:09.000 --> 01:15:11.000 And whenever God uses that phrase, 01:15:11.000 --> 01:15:17.000 it's usually indicative of a metamorphosis that is about to happen. 01:15:17.000 --> 01:15:20.000 And that is what God is doing here, where he turns to Jacob and says, 01:15:20.000 --> 01:15:26.000 your name shall no more be called Jacob, or they shall no more say this of you. 01:15:26.000 --> 01:15:29.000 It's indicative of the spiritual change that is going to happen. 01:15:29.000 --> 01:15:32.000 So here's the question I want you to end with. 01:15:32.000 --> 01:15:34.000 Do you want to just put up the overhead? 01:15:34.000 --> 01:15:37.000 These are questions I want you to end with. 01:15:37.000 --> 01:15:41.000 I'm done teaching, but these are the questions you have to work on, 01:15:41.000 --> 01:15:44.000 start working on right now. 01:15:44.000 --> 01:15:47.000 Start working on right now. 01:15:47.000 --> 01:15:51.000 The first question is, what is it about you that they shall say no more? 01:15:51.000 --> 01:15:55.000 What is it about you that they shall say no more? 01:15:55.000 --> 01:16:01.000 What is it about you that they shall say no more? 01:16:01.000 --> 01:16:03.000 What are you letting go of? 01:16:03.000 --> 01:16:14.000 What are you acknowledging is so much a part of your character that it is beginning to name you? 01:16:14.000 --> 01:16:19.000 What is it about you that they shall say no more? 01:16:19.000 --> 01:16:21.000 Now don't ask your spouse to write it. 01:16:21.000 --> 01:16:23.000 You get your phone out or a piece of paper. 01:16:23.000 --> 01:16:33.000 If you want paper, there's paper here. 01:16:33.000 --> 01:16:38.000 What is it about you that they shall say no more? 01:16:38.000 --> 01:16:43.000 Second question, what will you stop controlling? 01:16:43.000 --> 01:16:49.000 Third question, what is your new name? 01:16:49.000 --> 01:16:59.000 Let's just take three or four minutes to do that, and then we'll close. 01:16:59.000 --> 01:17:03.000 What is it about you that they shall say no more? 01:17:03.000 --> 01:17:05.000 What will you stop controlling? 01:17:05.000 --> 01:17:06.000 What is your new name? 01:17:06.000 --> 01:17:08.000 I've got to work on this too.