WEBVTT - How To Surrender To God (Jabin Chavez) 0:00:01.520 --> 0:00:02.800 Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick. 0:00:02.800 --> 0:00:05.800 I'm the pastor of Elevation Church and this is our podcast. 0:00:05.880 --> 0:00:08.320 I wanted to thank you for joining us today. Hope 0:00:08.320 --> 0:00:11.040 this inspires you. Hope it builds your faith. Hope it 0:00:11.039 --> 0:00:13.560 gives your perspective to see God is moving in your life. 0:00:13.840 --> 0:00:20.400 Enjoy the message while you're standing. While you're standing, I 0:00:20.480 --> 0:00:28.760 just want to thank God for our amazing pastors. They're 0:00:28.800 --> 0:00:33.920 the best. God is a god of people and places. 0:00:35.240 --> 0:00:37.320 And then when you find your people, and you find 0:00:37.320 --> 0:00:44.760 your place and never leave. And Pastor Stephen and Pastor 0:00:44.800 --> 0:00:50.919 Hawley are my peoples, and Elevation is my place. And 0:00:51.240 --> 0:00:53.840 God has used this house to change our lives and 0:00:53.880 --> 0:00:59.200 impact our lives, and use this ministry to change us 0:00:59.240 --> 0:01:02.160 and shape us. And I just want to take a 0:01:02.200 --> 0:01:06.600 moment to thank God for the amazing leaders that He's 0:01:06.680 --> 0:01:09.920 put in our life. Amen, can you clap your hands? 0:01:13.560 --> 0:01:19.720 And God must really love you, and God must really 0:01:19.760 --> 0:01:25.760 love this region because he put such amazing gifts in 0:01:25.920 --> 0:01:28.760 this place. And Pastor seven and Pastor Hawley, and I 0:01:28.920 --> 0:01:32.560 just honor you guys. I know they're probably watching from 0:01:33.200 --> 0:01:35.200 I don't know, a tour bus or whatever they're doing 0:01:35.280 --> 0:01:38.479 right now. But we love you, we celebrate you, we 0:01:38.520 --> 0:01:42.240 pray for you, we pray for your kids. We bless 0:01:43.680 --> 0:01:47.840 Abby and Elijah and Graham, and just thank God for them. 0:01:47.880 --> 0:01:49.720 And I thank God for this whole team, this whole 0:01:49.760 --> 0:01:52.600 staff that loves you and cares for you, and pastors 0:01:52.600 --> 0:01:54.480 you are. You're grateful for the team here at the church. 0:01:54.560 --> 0:02:00.440 That just amen. Amen, Amen, Amen, So to be here. 0:02:00.440 --> 0:02:02.280 We're gonna go to God's words. I will let you 0:02:03.080 --> 0:02:04.760 grab a seat. Just look at three or four people 0:02:04.800 --> 0:02:06.200 as you're sitting down and say, it looks like you've 0:02:06.240 --> 0:02:08.000 been losing weight. Come on, tell them, it looks like 0:02:08.080 --> 0:02:14.600 you've been What are you doing? Look at your neighbors, 0:02:14.600 --> 0:02:16.840 say is that Ozmpic? What are you doing? No, don't 0:02:16.840 --> 0:02:27.360 say that, don't say that. Well, I bring greetings from 0:02:27.720 --> 0:02:33.160 Las Vegas, and we just celebrated our seventh year of ministry. 0:02:33.560 --> 0:02:38.240 And to God be the glory. And hey, if you're 0:02:38.240 --> 0:02:41.560 ever in Vegas, to everyone here, every one at every 0:02:41.600 --> 0:02:45.400 location Epham around the world, when you're in Las Vegas 0:02:45.520 --> 0:02:57.000 doing ministry, Amen, witnessing to the blackjack dealers and blessing 0:02:57.040 --> 0:03:00.280 the bartenders. Amen. I'm not here to judge, but hey, 0:03:00.280 --> 0:03:01.880 when you do come to Vegas, and I know many 0:03:01.880 --> 0:03:04.040 of you do, please come say hi to us. We'd 0:03:04.120 --> 0:03:07.440 love to see you. We are a portable church. As 0:03:07.480 --> 0:03:10.440 of right now, we meet in a high school every Sunday, 0:03:11.240 --> 0:03:14.120 but our church city like church next month will actually 0:03:14.160 --> 0:03:17.240 be moving into our first building. And a man so 0:03:17.280 --> 0:03:23.880 grateful for that. And to God be the glory. Genesis 0:03:24.080 --> 0:03:27.600 chapter thirty two. For some of you are very familiar 0:03:27.680 --> 0:03:30.680 passage of scripture. For others of you, maybe this will 0:03:30.720 --> 0:03:32.799 be new. But there is a story actually in your 0:03:32.800 --> 0:03:37.240 Bible about a man named Jacob who wrestles with God, 0:03:38.080 --> 0:03:40.440 and we're going to talk about it today. Genesis chapter 0:03:40.480 --> 0:03:45.840 thirty two. I am a preacher. Teachers tell it, Preachers 0:03:45.920 --> 0:03:50.400 yell it, and so if I start yelling, just yell back, 0:03:50.440 --> 0:03:53.880 it'll be less awkward. Amen, everybody, just give me an 0:03:53.880 --> 0:03:56.720 amen every once in a while, give me an uh huh, 0:03:57.040 --> 0:04:01.800 give me a preacher, whatever you feel, and we're gonna 0:04:01.840 --> 0:04:04.560 have a little We're gonna have a little conversation today, okay. 0:04:04.720 --> 0:04:09.760 Genesis chapter thirty two. So Jacob was left alone and 0:04:09.840 --> 0:04:13.360 a man wrestled with him till daybreak. And when the 0:04:13.400 --> 0:04:16.160 man saw that he could not overpower him. He touched 0:04:16.200 --> 0:04:19.159 the socket of Jacob's hips so that his hip was 0:04:19.200 --> 0:04:21.600 wrenched as he wrestled with the man. Then the man said, 0:04:21.680 --> 0:04:26.760 let me go, for it is daybreak. But Jacob replied, 0:04:27.920 --> 0:04:31.359 I will not let you go unless you bless me. 0:04:31.440 --> 0:04:34.240 Let's say that phrase together everybody. I will not let 0:04:34.279 --> 0:04:38.360 you go unless you bless me. Then the man asked them, 0:04:38.760 --> 0:04:44.279 who are you? What is your name? Jacob? He answered. 0:04:44.880 --> 0:04:47.000 Then the man said, your name will no longer be Jacob, 0:04:47.000 --> 0:04:51.640 but Israel, because you have struggled, You've wrestled, You've you've 0:04:51.680 --> 0:04:56.640 faced God and humans and have overcomes here. Our life 0:04:56.760 --> 0:05:00.200 is like a cross vertical and horizontal, and we have 0:05:00.320 --> 0:05:04.520 to fight and deal with the God issue in life, 0:05:04.520 --> 0:05:06.800 but we also have to deal with the humanity issue 0:05:06.800 --> 0:05:10.839 of life. We have to face God and ourselves. And 0:05:10.880 --> 0:05:13.920 I find that most people are running from God and themselves. 0:05:15.120 --> 0:05:20.000 But if you would ever face God and face your 0:05:20.040 --> 0:05:26.479 own humanity, you can overcome and live such an amazing life. 0:05:26.680 --> 0:05:30.240 Now now, now, Jacob says, why I told you my name? 0:05:30.279 --> 0:05:32.520 Please tell me your name. But he replied, why do 0:05:32.560 --> 0:05:36.599 you ask my name? Then he blessed him. There, so 0:05:36.800 --> 0:05:41.960 Jacob called the place face to face or penile, saying 0:05:42.000 --> 0:05:44.279 it's because I saw God face to face, yet my 0:05:44.400 --> 0:05:48.320 life was spared. The sun rose above him as he 0:05:48.360 --> 0:05:52.360 passed Pnial, and he was limping because of his hip. 0:05:53.360 --> 0:05:55.960 And I want to talk just for a few moment moments. 0:05:55.960 --> 0:05:57.480 I really kind of want to just give you maybe 0:05:57.480 --> 0:06:01.359 a life verse and a life thought God, and maybe 0:06:01.440 --> 0:06:04.560 less of a sermon and more of just how I 0:06:04.600 --> 0:06:07.560 attempt to live my life. And I want to talk 0:06:07.600 --> 0:06:11.840 about how to surrender to God. How to surrender to God. 0:06:11.880 --> 0:06:14.480 Your life is going to be a series of surrenders. 0:06:15.360 --> 0:06:18.760 And the more God can get a yes from you, 0:06:20.080 --> 0:06:23.160 the more he can do in your life. So let's 0:06:23.200 --> 0:06:24.960 just practice right off the bat. We're all going to 0:06:25.040 --> 0:06:29.080 pray this prayer together. Everybody say yes Lord in Jesus' name, 0:06:30.279 --> 0:06:35.119 Amen and Amen and amen. So we find Jacob now 0:06:36.120 --> 0:06:39.680 in chapter thirty two, and Jacob is on the run. 0:06:41.360 --> 0:06:47.320 He is stolen his brother Esau's birthright. He is lied 0:06:47.440 --> 0:06:50.160 to his father in law Laban, and now both men 0:06:50.200 --> 0:06:52.760 are chasing him down and they both want to kill him. 0:06:53.320 --> 0:06:55.400 They don't know this, but they're both in hot pursuit 0:06:55.440 --> 0:06:58.200 of Jacob, and Jacob is on the run. He's running 0:06:58.240 --> 0:07:00.680 from his brother, he's running from his father in law, 0:07:00.760 --> 0:07:05.520 he's running from his decisions, he's running from his consequences. 0:07:05.560 --> 0:07:08.400 He's really running from himself. And ultimately, I would say 0:07:08.400 --> 0:07:12.160 that he's running from God. He's on the run. If 0:07:12.200 --> 0:07:14.000 you want to know who Jacob is, let me give 0:07:14.040 --> 0:07:15.880 you kind of Jacob one oh one. If you're trying 0:07:15.920 --> 0:07:18.280 to figure out who is this Jacob guy in the Bible, 0:07:18.720 --> 0:07:21.880 it can be defined in one verse. Excuse me. Genesis 0:07:21.960 --> 0:07:25.600 chapter thirty one. Thirty one says I rushed away because 0:07:25.640 --> 0:07:33.440 I was afraid. That's just that's just Jacob discontent, unsettled, 0:07:34.440 --> 0:07:41.240 rushing away, on the move, scared, insecure, always trying to 0:07:41.280 --> 0:07:46.240 cover up for his last lie, never settled where he's at, 0:07:46.320 --> 0:07:51.280 always going somewhere. This is Jacob, And here's really the 0:07:51.280 --> 0:07:54.040 good news of the text. We find Jacob in chapter 0:07:54.080 --> 0:07:57.640 thirty two, really at his lowest point, in his lowest moment, 0:07:58.640 --> 0:08:01.360 And the good news of the text is it is 0:08:01.520 --> 0:08:06.920 here that God finds him. Oh I love this that 0:08:06.960 --> 0:08:11.960 God doesn't meet him at his best place. M all right. 0:08:13.360 --> 0:08:15.120 I thank God that he's the God of the mountain. 0:08:15.160 --> 0:08:18.000 But I'm really grateful that he's the God of the valley. 0:08:19.520 --> 0:08:21.520 He is the God of my strength, and he's the 0:08:21.520 --> 0:08:23.720 God of my annoying and he's the God of my calling. 0:08:23.720 --> 0:08:25.840 But he's also the God of my secrets and the 0:08:25.840 --> 0:08:29.480 God of my weakness, and he's the God of my issues. Yes, 0:08:29.520 --> 0:08:31.480 he's the God of my future, but he's still the 0:08:31.520 --> 0:08:34.480 God of my past. He's the God of light, but 0:08:34.520 --> 0:08:37.679 he knows how to find me in the darkness. I'm 0:08:37.880 --> 0:08:41.280 so grateful for a God that can find me at 0:08:41.400 --> 0:08:45.880 my lowest place. If you feel low today, I've got 0:08:45.920 --> 0:08:48.079 good news for you. God knows how to go low. 0:08:49.640 --> 0:08:52.080 David said. Even if I make my bed in hell, 0:08:52.200 --> 0:08:54.440 You'll be there, even if I try to go hide 0:08:54.480 --> 0:08:57.880 in the dark. Darkness is like light to you. God 0:08:57.920 --> 0:09:02.920 has a way of finding and pursuing and chasing down 0:09:03.160 --> 0:09:07.120 his people. My testimony after serving God now for twenty 0:09:07.160 --> 0:09:10.040 six years is not how good I am, how faithful 0:09:10.080 --> 0:09:13.160 I've been, how annointed I am, how gifted I am, 0:09:13.240 --> 0:09:16.760 how holy I am. No, my testimony is God keeps 0:09:16.960 --> 0:09:23.640 chasing me down. Anybody grateful for the mercy of God. Oh, 0:09:23.720 --> 0:09:25.760 I know, I just started preaching like three minutes ago, 0:09:25.800 --> 0:09:28.480 But can we take our first praise break and just 0:09:28.600 --> 0:09:33.480 thank God that we're all here by the grace of God. 0:09:34.240 --> 0:09:36.680 There's not a perfect person on your road. There's not 0:09:36.760 --> 0:09:40.360 anybody who has it all together. We're all trophies of 0:09:40.760 --> 0:09:44.680 God's mercy and God's grace. Oh, I told you two 0:09:44.720 --> 0:09:47.360 men were chasing Jacob. If there was a third man 0:09:47.640 --> 0:09:52.000 chasing Jacob, his name was God Almighty. And he has 0:09:52.080 --> 0:09:56.240 a way of chasing us down. He is a way 0:09:56.280 --> 0:09:59.920 of pursuing us. See, he has a way of running 0:10:00.080 --> 0:10:03.720 after us. And that's the beauty of what God can do. 0:10:03.800 --> 0:10:09.240 And here's our response. Yes, Lord, our response to God's 0:10:09.280 --> 0:10:12.680 hot pursuit, our response to God's love, our response to 0:10:12.760 --> 0:10:17.000 God's grace is yes. And that's what I want to talk. 0:10:17.000 --> 0:10:20.320 I want to talk about your surrender, because the more 0:10:20.360 --> 0:10:23.920 God can get of you, the more God can do 0:10:24.080 --> 0:10:28.440 through you. So let's talk about it a little bit. 0:10:28.440 --> 0:10:31.200 If I'm going to surrender to God. Firstly, you have 0:10:31.280 --> 0:10:37.240 to stop running. All right, It's gonna get better. I 0:10:37.280 --> 0:10:39.599 promise gonna get better. You gotta stop. You got to 0:10:39.600 --> 0:10:42.040 stop running. Verse twenty four that the text begins with 0:10:42.240 --> 0:10:47.000 Jacob was left alone. Here's what you find when you 0:10:47.360 --> 0:10:52.080 study Jacob, he's never alone. He's chasing Daddy's blessing. He's 0:10:52.160 --> 0:10:54.240 hanging out with Mama. He's the first mama's boy in 0:10:54.280 --> 0:11:00.280 the Bible. He's in pursuit of his brother's blessing. He's 0:11:00.400 --> 0:11:05.640 running after Laban's daughters. He's he's always busy, always moving, 0:11:06.679 --> 0:11:11.920 always running, and always active and always around people. He's 0:11:12.080 --> 0:11:17.040 never alone. And he finally gets alone. And I find 0:11:17.040 --> 0:11:21.680 that so many people have traded in fruitfulness for busyness. 0:11:24.520 --> 0:11:27.200 They think to themselves, as long as I'm busy and 0:11:27.280 --> 0:11:33.120 tired and depressed and worn out, I must be holy. 0:11:35.960 --> 0:11:40.839 Uh was that for somebody in this section? Amen? And 0:11:40.920 --> 0:11:46.480 so so they're always active, but never growing, always busy 0:11:46.559 --> 0:11:51.920 but rarely fruitful, always running, so they never have to 0:11:51.960 --> 0:11:56.320 face God or themselves. They never have to deal with 0:11:56.360 --> 0:11:59.960 the God issue in their life. And so what Jay 0:12:00.040 --> 0:12:02.560 Jacob finally has to do is he finally has to 0:12:02.559 --> 0:12:05.400 get alone long enough for God to do something in 0:12:05.440 --> 0:12:09.280 his life. And and it's here that he finally gets alone. See, friend, 0:12:09.480 --> 0:12:11.679 I've seen this. Now. I'm a rookie pastor, I've only 0:12:11.679 --> 0:12:14.560 been pastoring for seven years, but I have seen that 0:12:14.559 --> 0:12:18.600 that man. People just love to be moving, and they 0:12:18.640 --> 0:12:24.200 go from job to job, career to career, guy to guy, 0:12:24.320 --> 0:12:30.839 girl to girl, marriage to marriage, sometimes church to church, 0:12:33.880 --> 0:12:39.319 city to city. They're always moving. You know what I've learned. 0:12:39.360 --> 0:12:46.520 I've learned that wherever we go, there we are. You 0:12:46.600 --> 0:12:49.400 discovered that, yet you moved to Charlotte. You still you? 0:12:49.520 --> 0:12:56.400 Ha ha. You married the man of your dreams and 0:12:56.440 --> 0:13:00.840 you still you. Sir. You were me single and you're 0:13:00.880 --> 0:13:06.840 me married. We just need to have a baby. And 0:13:06.880 --> 0:13:10.120 then you have a baby. And there you did that. 0:13:10.200 --> 0:13:12.880 Scare anybody else? When you had a child, You went, Jesus, 0:13:13.679 --> 0:13:18.200 that's me. And then as they get older, they start 0:13:18.200 --> 0:13:20.600 acting like you go, who raised you? Oh? My bad, 0:13:20.720 --> 0:13:26.400 My bad, my bad? I thought. See a lot of 0:13:26.440 --> 0:13:30.640 times we're running from things, but we're not facing things. 0:13:30.679 --> 0:13:34.360 We're running from things, but we're not wrestling with things. 0:13:34.440 --> 0:13:38.079 We're we're running from ourselves. But it's not until we 0:13:38.120 --> 0:13:43.160 wrestle with God and with humanity that we can finally overcome. 0:13:44.920 --> 0:13:47.839 Jesus has a better way, and it's it's actually called repentance, 0:13:47.880 --> 0:13:51.400 he says in Matthew chapter four. He says, repent of 0:13:51.440 --> 0:13:55.080 your sin, turn from your sins, repent of your sins. 0:13:55.120 --> 0:13:58.760 But then he says this, and turn to God. See 0:13:58.760 --> 0:14:00.680 a lot of people don't like their sin. They don't 0:14:00.720 --> 0:14:03.400 like their issues, they don't like their secrets, they don't 0:14:03.440 --> 0:14:05.960 like their whatever they're going through, but they don't have 0:14:06.000 --> 0:14:07.840 any power over it. Here's why, because you haven't turned 0:14:07.880 --> 0:14:13.880 to God. See, the issue is not disliking a part 0:14:13.920 --> 0:14:18.600 of your life. The issue is loving God. See. God 0:14:18.840 --> 0:14:23.680 is the power of repentance, not remorse. God is the 0:14:23.680 --> 0:14:27.760 power of repentance, not guilt. There are so many Christians 0:14:27.760 --> 0:14:31.440 that hate themselves but don't have freedom. Why because they 0:14:31.440 --> 0:14:34.840 have not learned how to love God. Yet the powers 0:14:34.840 --> 0:14:37.280 in loving God. Here's what Jesus is really saying. It's 0:14:37.320 --> 0:14:40.000 not as much of a sin issue as a God issue. 0:14:41.320 --> 0:14:45.520 That what you really need is God. Well. Now, now 0:14:45.520 --> 0:14:50.360 Paul goes further in Ephesians, and here's how he would 0:14:50.360 --> 0:14:52.360 say to me that same scripture. He says, don't get 0:14:52.400 --> 0:14:55.720 drunk with wine. Now, this is old King James, where 0:14:55.760 --> 0:14:59.800 in excess. That's just a fancy way of saying it's 0:14:59.800 --> 0:15:08.320 an never gonna be enough. Whatever it is. The wine 0:15:08.360 --> 0:15:10.560 will never get you drunk enough. The drugs will never 0:15:10.560 --> 0:15:13.480 get you high enough. The sex will never be good enough, 0:15:14.360 --> 0:15:16.280 your husband will never be nice enough, the kids will 0:15:16.320 --> 0:15:19.240 never act good enough. The house will never be big enough, 0:15:19.280 --> 0:15:23.840 the car will never be fast enough, the bank account 0:15:23.880 --> 0:15:28.920 will never be full enough. What am I saying? I'm 0:15:28.920 --> 0:15:35.440 saying anytime you get inebriated on a world system, can 0:15:35.480 --> 0:15:38.520 I talk to anybody? Maybe you've been drinking from the 0:15:38.560 --> 0:15:41.480 wrong well. Jesus looked at a woman in John chapter four, 0:15:41.520 --> 0:15:43.200 and he said, you keep drinking from the wrong well, 0:15:43.200 --> 0:15:44.920 and that's why you're always circey. But if you would 0:15:44.920 --> 0:15:48.600 ever drink of the living water, you would never thirst again. See, 0:15:48.640 --> 0:15:52.640 maybe the issue, maybe it's not what you think it is. 0:15:54.640 --> 0:15:57.120 See I'm trying to fix my life with all these 0:15:57.160 --> 0:16:00.440 temporal things. But maybe the craving is eternal. Because Paul 0:16:00.440 --> 0:16:01.880 would go on and say, don't get drunk with wine 0:16:01.880 --> 0:16:03.960 wearing excess. In other words, it's never gonna be enough. 0:16:04.000 --> 0:16:08.160 Instead be filled with the Holy Spirit. So what Paul 0:16:08.240 --> 0:16:10.720 is saying is he's saying there's a God issue. See, 0:16:10.800 --> 0:16:15.160 Jacob had had money, Jacob had family. Jacob had camels 0:16:15.200 --> 0:16:18.880 and donkeys and horses and cows. And that's like saying 0:16:19.040 --> 0:16:23.480 Mercedes nbmw's and a Corvette and a four f one 0:16:23.560 --> 0:16:25.880 fifty Raptor and a private I mean he had everything, 0:16:25.960 --> 0:16:34.320 yet y'all. He had wives. I didn't say a wife 0:16:35.400 --> 0:16:40.560 and wives, he had kids, he had he had stuff, 0:16:40.800 --> 0:16:45.680 but he was missing God. And C. S. Lewis says 0:16:45.680 --> 0:16:47.840 that if if you have everything the world has to 0:16:47.920 --> 0:16:51.680 offer and you still feel empty, maybe it's because you 0:16:51.760 --> 0:16:56.840 were made for another world. Maybe it's Ecclesiastes chapter three 0:16:56.880 --> 0:16:59.400 that says eternity is in our hearts and so we're 0:16:59.400 --> 0:17:01.840 trying to fill with the temporal things of this life. 0:17:01.840 --> 0:17:05.080 But in reality we need God. See Jacob had a 0:17:05.119 --> 0:17:08.320 God issue. Friend, I got a God issue. We we 0:17:08.400 --> 0:17:11.880 have a we need God. And Paul says, you're you're 0:17:11.960 --> 0:17:14.400 trying to get drunk, You're trying to find peace, You're 0:17:14.640 --> 0:17:17.280 trying to get inebriated on a world system that is 0:17:17.400 --> 0:17:23.399 never gonna be enough. You're always gonna need excess. But 0:17:23.520 --> 0:17:25.919 instead you can be filled with the spirit. In other words, 0:17:26.000 --> 0:17:31.280 it's it's God that you're looking for. Anybody know they 0:17:31.320 --> 0:17:33.760 need God today? Man, I know I need God. I 0:17:33.800 --> 0:17:39.760 need I need more of God. So so God is 0:17:39.800 --> 0:17:42.200 creating in the Book of Genesis. He's he's the creator 0:17:42.240 --> 0:17:45.960 in Genesis. He's he's the artist in Genesis. And something 0:17:46.080 --> 0:17:48.320 very interesting happens. In the Book of Genesis. The Bible 0:17:48.359 --> 0:17:54.560 says that God makes dirt. Okay, he doesn't make trees, 0:17:54.600 --> 0:17:58.359 he makes dirt, doesn't make flowers. He makes dirt. He 0:17:58.400 --> 0:18:01.080 doesn't make grass, He makes dirt. The Bible said that 0:18:01.160 --> 0:18:06.159 he creates dirt, he creates land, and then he talks 0:18:06.200 --> 0:18:10.600 to the dirt and he says, dirt, get to work, 0:18:10.640 --> 0:18:13.719 and the dirt says, yes, sir, And the dirt starts 0:18:13.800 --> 0:18:19.960 producing trees and flowers and grass and bushes, and the dirt, 0:18:20.080 --> 0:18:23.520 the dirt begins to produce. This is amazing. That's why 0:18:23.560 --> 0:18:27.000 whenever you remove a tree from the dirt, the tree dies, 0:18:27.920 --> 0:18:34.240 because you've removed the tree from its source. Gentlemen, maybe 0:18:34.280 --> 0:18:36.800 you've bought your wife flowers. Maybe it's been a while, 0:18:36.960 --> 0:18:39.359 Maybe do that tonight. You buy your wife flowers, and 0:18:40.600 --> 0:18:42.399 you give it the flowers and they're so beautiful, right, 0:18:42.440 --> 0:18:44.320 and they sit in the kitchen and they're so beautiful. 0:18:44.520 --> 0:18:46.480 And then after like three days, you walk downstairs one 0:18:46.520 --> 0:18:48.200 day you go, oh, my god, what happened to the flowers. 0:18:48.240 --> 0:18:53.360 They died. No, they were already dead. They were already 0:18:53.359 --> 0:18:58.120 dead because you remove them from their source. Okay, then 0:18:58.200 --> 0:19:03.119 he makes water. He doesn't make fish. He makes water, 0:19:04.040 --> 0:19:07.960 and he tells the water water, get to work and 0:19:08.040 --> 0:19:11.040 straight at him a wana two. That water says yes, sir. Sorry, 0:19:11.040 --> 0:19:14.760 I got an eight year old. My bad. That water 0:19:14.880 --> 0:19:17.880 says yes, sir. And the water this is in your Bible, 0:19:18.160 --> 0:19:22.360 starts producing fish. That's why when you remove a fish 0:19:22.480 --> 0:19:26.840 from the water, the fish starts flopping and hopping, and 0:19:27.000 --> 0:19:30.920 he's gonna die. It's gonna die because water is its source. 0:19:32.040 --> 0:19:36.680 Water made the fish, and the fish needs its creator. 0:19:38.960 --> 0:19:43.040 I'm going somewhere. I'm not lost. But when God made 0:19:43.119 --> 0:19:47.359 at him, when God made you, when God made me, 0:19:47.640 --> 0:19:50.320 he didn't talk to the dirt. He didn't talk to 0:19:50.359 --> 0:19:53.960 the water. He did not even talk to oxygen. When 0:19:54.040 --> 0:20:00.320 God created humanity, God had to talk to himself, and 0:20:00.359 --> 0:20:05.320 he said, let us make man in our image and 0:20:05.400 --> 0:20:07.480 in our likeness. What am I saying. I'm saying that 0:20:07.520 --> 0:20:10.480 a tree needs dirt, and a fish needs water, and 0:20:10.600 --> 0:20:15.800 Jabin needs Jesus, and we need God. And anytime we 0:20:15.880 --> 0:20:19.480 try to live our life separate from God. We gonna 0:20:19.520 --> 0:20:22.520 be like a fish flopping on the ground. We're gonna 0:20:22.520 --> 0:20:26.280 be like flowers dying in the vase. Friend, we need God, 0:20:26.400 --> 0:20:28.600 not just money. We need God, not just food. We 0:20:28.680 --> 0:20:31.480 need God not just shelter. We need God. Man does 0:20:31.640 --> 0:20:35.480 not live by bread alone, but by every word that 0:20:35.640 --> 0:20:39.520 proceedeth out of our creator, out of our souls. He 0:20:39.600 --> 0:20:43.800 is God. And I need God today. Oh, if you 0:20:43.880 --> 0:20:45.800 know you need him, come on, just give him praise 0:20:45.880 --> 0:20:50.480 for a moment. In him I live, and in him 0:20:50.520 --> 0:20:53.000 I move, and in him I breathe, and in him 0:20:53.040 --> 0:20:58.600 I have my bee. And just because life might be 0:20:58.800 --> 0:21:01.920 comfortable right now, Jacob, does not mean that you don't 0:21:01.960 --> 0:21:07.720 need God. Oh it's easy to be reminded in the 0:21:07.800 --> 0:21:11.320 valley that I need him. But sometimes when things start 0:21:11.320 --> 0:21:14.000 working out, we start telling ourselves we've done this and 0:21:14.040 --> 0:21:20.439 we got this. We good. But I have to be 0:21:20.520 --> 0:21:26.560 reminded that every time I get a little bit prideful, 0:21:26.600 --> 0:21:30.760 I just looked like that fish flopping on the side 0:21:31.520 --> 0:21:36.240 of the river. I need God. I gotta stop running. 0:21:36.359 --> 0:21:42.040 The secondly, I have to admit that I have issues. Yeah, yeah, elbow, 0:21:42.080 --> 0:21:44.320 your neighbor, can he tell him? Don't judge me. Tell him, 0:21:44.320 --> 0:21:47.760 don't judge me. Look at one more person say I 0:21:47.800 --> 0:21:50.000 could tell you're judging me. Stop it, just stop, just 0:21:50.119 --> 0:21:58.639 stop judging me. See, now that Jacob is finally wrestling 0:21:58.680 --> 0:22:04.000 with God, God goes, who are you? Who are you? 0:22:05.080 --> 0:22:08.720 This is an interesting question because God does not ask 0:22:08.800 --> 0:22:12.840 questions because he doesn't know the answer. Nothing's ever occurred 0:22:12.880 --> 0:22:20.760 to God. God knows who he's wrestling with. It's not 0:22:20.840 --> 0:22:25.760 that God doesn't know. It's that Jacob has to get honest. 0:22:25.960 --> 0:22:27.920 It's not that God's going to learn something new. It's 0:22:27.920 --> 0:22:31.240 that Jacob's about to learn something new. Anytime God asked 0:22:31.280 --> 0:22:33.400 you a question, it's not because he doesn't know the answer. 0:22:33.440 --> 0:22:35.240 It's because he's trying to reveal a truth to you. 0:22:37.240 --> 0:22:40.680 He says, who are you? And Jacob is finally going 0:22:40.720 --> 0:22:46.960 to admit I am Jacob. One theologian in one commentary 0:22:47.040 --> 0:22:49.800 said that Jacob probably had not used his name in 0:22:49.880 --> 0:22:53.720 ten to fifteen years. Well, why is that important? Because 0:22:53.760 --> 0:22:57.679 in today's world names don't mean a lot. We just 0:22:57.760 --> 0:22:59.760 kind of name our kids. We want name our kids, 0:23:00.160 --> 0:23:02.240 have a family name, but nothing is that significant. But 0:23:02.320 --> 0:23:05.040 in Bible days, you were given a name based off 0:23:05.080 --> 0:23:08.240 of the pregnancy, or based off of the season of 0:23:08.240 --> 0:23:10.159 the pregnancy, or based off of the birth, and so 0:23:11.040 --> 0:23:13.960 names were significant because the parents believe that these were 0:23:14.040 --> 0:23:18.959 prophetic declarations over the child, that the name was going 0:23:19.040 --> 0:23:22.000 to represent the character and the future of the child. 0:23:23.160 --> 0:23:27.320 So the Bible says that Jacob is a twin. There 0:23:27.359 --> 0:23:29.400 was a war that happened in the womb of Rebecca, 0:23:30.240 --> 0:23:34.359 and the scripture says that as Rebecca is giving birth 0:23:34.560 --> 0:23:39.920 to Jacob and Esau leaves the womb first, and as 0:23:40.280 --> 0:23:43.400 Esau is leaving the womb, the scripture says that Jacob 0:23:43.440 --> 0:23:47.480 reached out and grabbed the heel of Esau. This is graphic, 0:23:47.560 --> 0:23:51.640 this is Genesis, Amen, this is rated r. He grabs 0:23:51.680 --> 0:23:57.920 the heel of Esau, and Rebecca blurts out, oh, this 0:23:58.160 --> 0:24:02.520 is this is my Jacob. This is my heel grasper 0:24:02.640 --> 0:24:05.640 or subplanter, the one that knocks you off balance. This 0:24:05.680 --> 0:24:10.200 is my deceiver. She was basically saying, keep an eye 0:24:10.240 --> 0:24:12.960 out on the second boy. He's gonna be my troublemaker. 0:24:13.000 --> 0:24:16.399 He's gonna be our black sheep. He Oh, he's gonna 0:24:16.440 --> 0:24:21.640 be our problem child. He's he's a trickster. We gonna 0:24:21.640 --> 0:24:25.240 have issues with him, and guess what, everything Rebecca declared 0:24:26.520 --> 0:24:31.240 Jacob became side note, parents, this is why it's so 0:24:31.320 --> 0:24:37.280 important to protect the language of your house. Let me 0:24:37.359 --> 0:24:39.840 just talk about it for three seconds. Just really quick 0:24:40.440 --> 0:24:43.920 watch what you say around your child and to your child, 0:24:43.920 --> 0:24:48.040 because they are like spiritual sponges that are picking things up. 0:24:48.080 --> 0:24:51.159 And I'll move on from that, but it's important. And 0:24:51.200 --> 0:24:54.040 so she declares this over her son, and that's what 0:24:54.160 --> 0:24:56.919 Jacob became. He became a liar, he became a deceiver, 0:24:57.000 --> 0:25:00.840 he became a trickster, He became everything that she said 0:25:00.880 --> 0:25:02.879 he would become. So when God says who are you? 0:25:04.040 --> 0:25:06.400 God is trying to get Jacob to the place where 0:25:06.400 --> 0:25:08.640 he can reveal who he is so that God can 0:25:08.640 --> 0:25:11.560 transform him. Because God won't heal or change what you 0:25:11.600 --> 0:25:14.840 won't reveal. You've got to bring it into the light, 0:25:14.880 --> 0:25:18.639 as he's in the light. And so now Jacob is 0:25:18.680 --> 0:25:23.640 finally going to admit I'm I'm Jay, I am who 0:25:23.680 --> 0:25:28.480 Rebecca told me I am? Oh man, this is huge. 0:25:28.480 --> 0:25:33.679 And see, Jacob could have told God the truth kind 0:25:33.680 --> 0:25:37.399 of God could have said j J. God could have 0:25:37.400 --> 0:25:38.760 said who are you? And he could have said, I'm 0:25:38.800 --> 0:25:45.080 Abraham's grandson. I'm one of Isaac's kids. I'm one of 0:25:45.119 --> 0:25:51.359 Rebecca's boys. I'm one of Esau's brothers. I'm I'm one 0:25:51.400 --> 0:25:54.119 of Laban's son in laws. I see he could have 0:25:55.160 --> 0:25:59.840 he could have told the truth ish, but it would 0:25:59.840 --> 0:26:02.679 not have dealt with the real issue. Oh man, I 0:26:02.720 --> 0:26:05.840 see people every week they coming to church. Old praise God, Hallelujah, 0:26:05.840 --> 0:26:09.960 Glory to God. Everything good, blessed, so blessed. We're so good. 0:26:11.080 --> 0:26:13.960 We're just so good right now, aren't we. Babe, babe, 0:26:13.960 --> 0:26:15.800 babe baby. It's like blink twice if you're in trouble, 0:26:15.840 --> 0:26:17.800 you know what I mean. It's like, kids are so good, 0:26:17.840 --> 0:26:21.880 We're just so blessed. We're just so happy. Ah, We're 0:26:21.960 --> 0:26:24.080 just Oh. I love God, I love Church. I love 0:26:24.119 --> 0:26:26.439 waiting in that line out there. Man, what a blessing. 0:26:26.600 --> 0:26:34.919 Woo love it. Let me say something. You don't need 0:26:34.960 --> 0:26:37.040