The first thing that God wants to do for us is to change our identity.
Many of us are
wrestling between who we've become, and who we're suppose to be.
This
happened to Jacob who was Abraham's grandson.
Genesis 32:22-30 (NLT)
22 During the night Jacob got up and took his two wives, his
two servant wives, and his eleven sons and crossed the Jabbok River with them.
23 After
taking them to the other side, he sent over all his possessions.
24 This left Jacob all alone in the camp, and a man came and
wrestled with him until the dawn began to break.
25 When the
man saw that he would not win the match, he touched Jacob’s hip and wrenched it
out of its socket.
26 Then the man said, “Let me go, for the
dawn is breaking!”
But Jacob said, “I will not let you go
unless you bless me.”
27 “What is your name?” the man asked.
He replied, “Jacob.”
28 “Your name will no longer be Jacob,” the man told him.
“From now on you will be called Israel,[a] because
you have fought with God and with men and have won.”
29 “Please tell me your name,” Jacob said.
“Why do you want to know my name?” the man
replied. Then he blessed Jacob there.
30 Jacob named the place Peniel (which means “face of God”),
for he said, “I have seen God face to face, yet my life has been spared.”
1. We wrestle with our past.
God won't change your past, but He'll make a
difference in your life going forward.
We can't go back and change the beginning, but
we can start where we are and change the ending.
Deuteronomy 4:29 (NIV)
29 But if from there you seek the Lord your
God, you will find him if you seek him with all your heart and with all
your soul.
We must start from where we are.
Isaiah 43:18-19 (NIV)
18 “Forget the former things;
do not dwell on the past.
19 See, I am doing a new thing!
Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?
I am making a way in the wilderness
and streams in the wasteland.
do not dwell on the past.
19 See, I am doing a new thing!
Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?
I am making a way in the wilderness
and streams in the wasteland.
2. We wrestle with our
secrets.
God cannot bless who we
pretend to be.
Proverbs 28:13 n (NIV)
13 Whoever conceals their sins does not
prosper,
but the one who confesses and renounces them finds mercy.
but the one who confesses and renounces them finds mercy.
Psalm 32:3-5 (NLT)
3 When I refused to confess my sin,
my body wasted away,
and I groaned all day long.
4 Day and night your hand of discipline was heavy on me.
My strength evaporated like water in the summer heat. Interlude
my body wasted away,
and I groaned all day long.
4 Day and night your hand of discipline was heavy on me.
My strength evaporated like water in the summer heat. Interlude
5 Finally, I confessed all my sins to you
and stopped trying to hide my guilt.
I said to myself, “I will confess my rebellion to the Lord.”
And you forgave me! All my guilt is gone.
and stopped trying to hide my guilt.
I said to myself, “I will confess my rebellion to the Lord.”
And you forgave me! All my guilt is gone.
3. We wrestle with God.
As long as we wrestle, we can't find rest.
Hebrews 3:7-11 (NLT)
7 That is why the Holy Spirit says,
“Today when you hear his
voice,
8 don’t harden your hearts
as Israel did when they rebelled,
when they tested me in the wilderness.
9 There your ancestors tested and tried my patience,
even though they saw my miracles for forty years.
10 So I was angry with them, and I said,
‘Their hearts always turn away from me.
They refuse to do what I tell them.’
11 So in my anger I took an oath:
8 don’t harden your hearts
as Israel did when they rebelled,
when they tested me in the wilderness.
9 There your ancestors tested and tried my patience,
even though they saw my miracles for forty years.
10 So I was angry with them, and I said,
‘Their hearts always turn away from me.
They refuse to do what I tell them.’
11 So in my anger I took an oath:
‘They will never enter my
place of rest.’”
What to do?
1. We must give up being in control.
The 911 call to God is through brokenness and
humility.
Psalm 51:17 (NLT)
17 The sacrifice you desire is a broken spirit.
You will not reject a broken and repentant heart, O God.
You will not reject a broken and repentant heart, O God.
1 Peter 5:5-6 (NLT)
5 In the same way, you who are younger must accept the
authority of the elders. And all of you, dress yourselves in humility as you
relate to one another, for
“God opposes the proud
but gives grace to the humble.”[a]
but gives grace to the humble.”[a]
6 So humble yourselves under the mighty power of God, and at
the right time he will lift you up in honor.
2. Don't give up on the process of
God.
God responds to someone who is tenacious. Potential
is realized one step at a time.
2 Corinthians 3:18 (MSG)
16-18 Whenever, though, they turn to face God as
Moses did, God removes the veil and there they are—face-to-face! They suddenly
recognize that God is a living, personal presence, not a piece of chiseled
stone. And when God is personally present, a living Spirit, that old,
constricting legislation is recognized as obsolete. We’re free of it! All of
us! Nothing between us and God, our faces shining with the brightness of his
face. And so we are transfigured much like the Messiah, our lives gradually
becoming brighter and more beautiful as God enters our lives and we become like
him.
3. We must step into the life that God has for
us.
Lord Jesus, I can't live a life that's pleasing
to you. Come in and do only what you can do.! Amen!
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