From His Heart

Dr. Jeff Schreve: Jacob, he's one of the patriarchs. He's a big dog, but he wasn't always a big dog. He became a patriarch and became this great man of faith, this great man who received such a great blessing from God because of the events in his life, because of his heart, because he had a never let go attitude, because he longed for God more than his next breath. And we see from his life what it takes to be blessed.

Guest (Male): Do you know of real life people, either past or present, who went through such trying times but managed to hold on to their faith with a strong grip? Well, if you've wanted that power in your own life too, you'll learn just how to access it today on Promise Heart with Pastor Jeff Schreve. Now, it's an encouraging lesson that is exhibited in the life of Jacob, who well, despite his past weaknesses, found strength and determination even in his brokenness. This message is called Never Let Go. It's the final one in Pastor Jeff's series Do You Want to Be Blessed?

How to experience the goodness of God. And the word goodness could be replaced by the word grace, which is the overarching theme of our programs this month. If you missed any from this month, just go to promiseheart.org, click the listen link to be filled with God's grace and goodness. Now, though, open your Bible to the 32nd chapter of the book of Genesis. Here's Pastor Jeff with a passionate plea to never let go.

Dr. Jeff Schreve: Now, we have seen that the scripture is very clear. God is a good God, and God wants to bless us. He even says in Malachi, he's talking about giving. He says, test me now in this, if I will or not open up for you the windows of heaven and pour out a blessing so big that you can't even contain it. That's the heart of God. He wants to bless you and bless me so much that it's as the scripture says, good measure, shaken together, running over, they will pour into your lap. You won't be able to carry it all.

That's the good heart of a God who longs to bless his children. But the question is, do you and do I really and truly want to be blessed? Do we want God's hand upon our lives more than anything else? Do we want God's smile upon our lives more than anything else? Do we want God's favor upon our lives? Can we say with David, Lord, your loving kindness is better to me than life. Lord, I want your favor and your blessing more than I want my next breath. Now, there was a man in the Bible who had that kind of an attitude, who had that kind of a heart.

His name was Jacob. He's a big dog. He's one of the patriarchs. The scripture talks and God himself speaks so often, I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob. He's a big dog, but he wasn't always a big dog. He became a patriarch and became this man, this great man of faith, this great man who received such a great blessing from God because of the events in his life, because of his heart, because he had a never let go attitude, because he longed for God more than his next breath.

And we want to look at his story because at his story is specific time in his life, we see how he was blessed, so tremendously blessed. And we see from his life what it takes to be blessed. Now, to understand Genesis chapter 32, a high watermark in the Old Testament where Jacob is going to wrestle with God, a strange passage, but there's so much truth in there. But to understand that wrestling match, you have to understand the life of Jacob. Now, Jacob was the son of Isaac. And Isaac and his wife Rebecca, they just had two sons and they were twins, Esau, who was the older twin, and Jacob.

And Esau, where the scripture says when the babies were born, Esau came out and he was red all over like a hairy garment. Nasty little kid, you know. Who wants him? Put him back. But no, they they took him and they named him Esau, which means red. And then the next little guy that came out of the womb there was Jacob. And they named him Jacob because he was holding on to Esau's heel. And the name Jacob means heel grabber. It means supplanter. It's one who tries to take the place of another. And that's why they named him Jacob and that's so appropriate because that's what he was like.

He was all the time conniving and scheming and trying to steal things and from his brother Esau. And if you know anything about the book of Genesis, you know that Jacob stole Esau's birthright. He stole it away from him. Stole a guy He connived. He was smart. And he connived and he got Esau to sell his birthright for a single meal. Esau was not a real smart guy. He was a hunter. He was a man's man. He was daddy's favorite. He He was a a Conan the Barbarian type of guy, just a he man, just a hairy guy and subscribed to Field and Stream, you know, and and he was just in the NRA.

He was just a a big hunter, tough looking guy. Jacob wasn't anything like that. Bible says Jacob was a smooth man. Jacob subscribed to better homes and gardens. I mean, he was just that kind of a guy. And he was a mama's boy. Esau was a daddy's boy. And when Isaac got older, he couldn't see anymore and he thought he was getting ready to die and he was going to deliver the blessing to his oldest son Esau. And he said to Esau, go out and hunt me some game, make a savory dish for me and so that I can eat and enjoy this meal and then I will bless you.

And so Esau went out to hunt game for dad and to receive the blessing. And while he was gone, Rebecca, Jacob's mama, he said, hey, come here, mama's boy. He said, listen, your dad's getting ready to give the blessing and you need to get that blessing. So go out into the goat pen out back and grab a goat and get two goats and make a savory dish and we'll fix it up for your dad and then you can present it to him like you are Esau and you can get the blessing. And so he did it and he put on Esau's clothes and he he put animal fur on his arms so that when his dad felt him, he felt all his hair and he said, well, surely this is my son Esau cuz he's a hairy guy.

And And so he stole the blessing. And when Esau found out, he came in after he went hunting and and said, hey, I made you your dish, dad. And he said, well, who's this? And he says, it's Esau, your first born. And Isaac said, well, who's the one that just fed me a little bit ago? And found out it was Jacob, the heel grabber, the supplanter, the conniver, the cheat. He stole the blessing. And Esau wasn't too happy about that. And Esau said, you know, when daddy dies, I'm going to bury daddy and then I'm going to bury you, Jacob.

You're next. I'm going to kill you. He bore a grudge against his brother Jacob. And so Jacob, his mother said, you got to get out of here or Esau is going to kill you. So they sent him far far away to a place called Padan Aram, which is up north east. And there he lived for 20 years and there he married. You remember he had two wives. He really loved Rachel, but Laban, her dad, he had two daughters. He had Rachel and he had Leah. Now, the Bible says about Rachel that she was beautiful in form and face.

And the Bible says about Leah that she had weak eyes. And you say, what does that mean? Weak eyes. It means she looked a whole lot better in the dark. And so Jacob knew that and he's like, I want Rachel to be my bride. But Laban switched it and he gave Jacob Leah and so he's married to Leah. He had to wait seven more years before he could marry Rachel and he had his kids are God blessed him financially there. He had flocks and herds. But after 20 years, he needed to go back. The Lord said, you go back to to the promised land.

You go back to the land of Canaan. And so he was on his way back and low and behold, here comes Esau. And he's got 400 men with him and he's coming to meet Jacob. Well, Jacob is scared to death. Jacob is thinking, what am I going to do? Last time I heard about this guy, he wanted to kill me. I am in a fix here. I am in a bind here. And he begins to scheme and connive and manipulate like never before. And that's where we find him the night before his meeting with his brother Esau, whom Jacob thought was going to kill him.

Verse 24 says, then Jacob was left alone and a man wrestled with him until daybreak. And when he saw that he had not prevailed against him, he touched the socket of his thigh so that the socket of his Jacob's thigh was dislocated while he wrestled with him. Then he said, let me go for the dawn is breaking. But he, Jacob, said, I will not let you go unless you bless me. So he said to him, what is your name? And he said, Jacob. And he said, your name shall no longer be Jacob but Israel, for you have striven with God and with men and have prevailed.

Then Jacob asked him and said, please tell me your name. But he said, why is it that you ask my name? And he blessed him there. So Jacob named the place Peniel for he said, I have seen God face to face, yet my life has been spared. Now, the sun rose upon him just as he was crossing over Penuel and he was limping on his thigh. Therefore, to this day, the sons of Israel do not eat the sinew of the hip, which is on the socket of the thigh because he touched the socket of Jacob's thigh in the sinew of the hip.

Now, you read that and you think, weird story. Don't understand that story. A wrestling match, who's he wrestling with? Well, he says he saw God face to face. Hosea chapter 12 tells us that he wrestled with God. Before Jacob was born, he struggled with his brother. And when he became a man, he even fought with God. Yes, he wrestled with the angel and won. He wept and pleaded for a blessing from him. That is what we want to really focus on. Jacob, he did have a wrestling match with God. And what was it all about?

It was for the blessing. He wept and he pleaded for the blessing. He wanted God's blessing on his life. He wanted it more than his next breath. Hey, do you want to be blessed? Do you really and truly want to be blessed? Three certainties for those who would say, I'm serious about this thing called a relationship with Jesus Christ. I'm serious about knowing him. I 'm serious about his favor and his hand to be upon my life. Three certainties. Number one, certainty number one, if you're serious, God will meet you. He will meet you. David said in the book of Psalms, my God and his loving kindness will meet me.

And here is an instance where Jacob, who was hungry for the blessing of God, God met him. And God met him in a difficult time in his life. God met him when he was afraid. God met him in the dark. God met him when he was trying to sleep and he was so afraid of what tomorrow was going to hold because he had to face Esau and he thought Esau was going to kill him. Jacob even divided his family into two companies and his flocks and herds into two companies thinking, well, if Esau comes and attacks me over here, at least this part can be saved.

This part of my family and this part of my wealth can be saved. He was already scheming and planning that way. He was in a tough spot. God met him at the critical point in his life. And see, that's the way the Lord does us. The Lord wants to meet those. The eyes of the Lord move to and fro throughout the earth that he may strongly support those whose heart is completely his. And God will meet those who have a heart for him, who desire him. But he does some prep work in our before our meeting.

Some prep work inside. See, the Lord, what he will do is he will work to get you needy. Jacob was needy. Now, all of us are needy, right? I mean, before God, we're all needy. But so often we don't see ourselves as very needy. We see ourselves as, hey, I'm in control. Hey, I know what's going on. Hey, I'm able to handle this. Hey, I got money in the bank. I got food in the refrigerator. I'm I got stocks in the stock market. I'm in good shape. I am sitting pretty here. And we don't see how much we need God.

It's the church at Laodicea all over again. And Jesus said about that church, the lukewarm church, the church that made him sick, the church that he said he wanted to vomit out of his mouth. He said in Revelation 3:17, because you say, I am rich and have become wealthy and have need of nothing and you do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked. Uh you're in such need but you don't see it. And all of us in this room, we're in such need before God but so often we don't see it.

So you know what the Lord will do? He'll knock out all those underpinnings. He'll knock you down to where you have to look up, to where you see your need. We don't like that but that's good work. That's God's work so that we look up to him. So he'll work to get you needy. And Jacob was at a low point. He was needy. And then God will work to get you ready. To get you ready. And you know how he does that? He gets you alone. Verse 24, then Jacob was left alone and a man wrestled with him until daybreak.

He was left alone that night out in the wilderness. Are you one of those people that doesn't like to be left alone? Are you one of those people who doesn't like to have silence? Anytime you're going anywhere, you got the radio going, you got the earbuds in, you got your iPhone or iPod going, you got music, you got talk radio, you got something, the TV is always on. In some homes, the TV never shuts off. It's on 24 hours a day so that there is noise. People don't like to be alone, in quiet with their thoughts.

And God wants to do a work in you and in me. And in order to get us ready, he gets us alone. He separates us out so that he can work with us one on one. I love what the British essayist Walter Savage Landor said, solitude is the audience chamber of God. Listen, don't don't fear having some solitude. Don't shy away from that. Don't pack your schedule so much that there's never any alone time because if there's never any alone time, you're never going to get in the audience chamber with God. And God does his best work, his deepest work when we're alone and we see our need.

And so that's the very first certainty in this story. Hey, if you're serious, God will meet you. My God in his loving kindness will meet me. God met Jacob. And then secondly, second certainty, if you are serious, really serious, you really want to be blessed, watch this. God will not only meet you, God will break you. So I don't think I like this point already. God will break you. What happened with Jacob? Then Jacob was left alone and a man, an angel of the Lord, I believe it was a pre-incarnate visitation of the Lord Jesus Christ, he wrestled with him until daybreak.

And when he, the man that wrestled with him, the Lord Jesus Christ, saw that he had not prevailed against him, he touched the socket of his thigh so that the socket of Jacob's thigh was dislocated while he wrestled with him. You say, I don't I don't understand this. I mean, is Jacob he I mean, I thought he was the better homes and gardens guy. Is he really good with wrestling? How come the Lord was having such trouble with him? Well, obviously the Lord could have just spoke him into oblivion if he wanted to. I mean, it wasn't a question of I'm going to beat you.

We're going to get in the octagon and I'm going to knock your head off, Jacob. It wasn't like that at all. He's trying to teach Jacob some things. He's trying to teach us some things through this story. And so here they are and they're wrestling. And what are they wrestling about? Jacob is not unlike so many people in church, so many people who know the know the Lord. Jacob knew the Lord and Jacob depending upon God but not completely, not fully. He trusted God but not completely, not fully. He really when he got in a jam, he would trust in himself.

Bible says he who trusts in his own heart is a fool. The Bible says trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding. Jacob is leaning big time on his own understanding. How am I going to get out of this jam I'm in with Esau? And he's got this elaborate plan, bringing all these gifts and doing all these things and there are going to be waves of gifts and I'm going to I'm going to you know, just wear Esau down and and soften his heart and he's going to do this also.

God comes to this guy who wants to be in control. And he wrestles for control. And it's illustrated and pictured through the wrestling match. What did the Lord do? He touched his hip, just touched him. Boom, and his hip goes out. Now, anybody knows if you're wrestling and you dislocate your hip, you're done. You can't wrestle anymore because you got to have a strong base to wrestle. And wrestlers have strong legs. And now all of a sudden he can't he can't stand up anymore. He's got a dislocated hip. He's lame and he can't fight and he can't run.

And he's facing Esau in just a few hours. And it would be really good if he could run or if he could fight. He can't do either. He's broken. Wow. He's in a tough spot, broken but that's where God wanted him to be. Now, listen, you get this down in your mind and in your heart. God cannot really bless you until you're broken.

Guest (Male): To the world, that must really sound strange. God can't use us unless we're broken? Why is that? Pastor Jeff returns to explain in just a moment on Promise Heart. Today's message Never Let Go is the last message and one of the eight message series Do You Want to Be Blessed? How to experience the goodness of God. There are some powerful lessons here that will free you to experience all the blessings that God wants for you, no matter the trials you're going through in life. You can find out more about this series when you visit us online at promiseheart.org.

Again, the series entitled Do You Want to Be Blessed? How to experience the goodness of God. And you can get it in multiple formats, of course. Have you dreamed of exploring the wonders of the Holy Land perhaps with its natural beauty and unique architecture while enjoying inspirational teaching, Christian fellowship, luxury accommodations, and splendid cuisine? Well, Pastor Jeff Schreve is going to Israel and he wants you to join him April the 2nd through the 11th next year. He's been many times and wants to teach and worship and share this magnificent place with you. A lifetime of memories awaits you in Tehran, Mount Carmel, Qumran, the Garden Tomb, the Mount of Olives, and oh so many more.

All the details at fromhishart.org. Click the Holy Land Trip banner when you scroll down on the homepage just a little bit. Check it out today and get ready for an unforgettable travel and spiritual experience. Now, let's conclude part one of today's lesson from Promise Heart called Never Let Go. Here again is Pastor Jeff.

Dr. Jeff Schreve: God cannot really bless you until you're broken. He can't until you're broken of self. He can't fully and truly bless you like he wants to bless you. Why? Because anything that is of the flesh, the Bible says, is sin. And self is all about flesh. Take the word self and spell it backwards and add an H and you have F L E S H, flesh. Self and flesh are the same thing. Anything that is of the flesh is sin. Anything that's done with self on the throne is sin. And so God needs to break that out.

He cannot really bless you until you're broken. And God cannot really use you until you're broken. Can't use you. Do you remember as we went through the B attitudes, Matthew 5:5 says, blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth. You remember how we said that being meek it does not mean you're weak. Meekness means power under control. It's a word that they use to describe a wild stallion that someone had caught and someone had broken. And they would say that horse has been made meek. Didn't mean that horse was weak but it meant now that horse is useful.

That horse can be ridden. Why? Cuz that horse has been broken. That horse is now power under control. And God cannot use you until you're broken. Until you can say not my will but thine be done.

Guest (Male): Well, there's more to come in part two of this message from Pastor Jeff Schreve. It's entitled Never Let Go. It's about finding blessings in our brokenness and a determination to never let go. Never let go of God. Make sure you're with us tomorrow for part two. Remember that Promise Heart is a listener supported broadcast ministry dependent upon God speaking to the hearts of our listeners who will hear him and then be blessed by the teachings. I want to support this worldwide broadcast effort to reach more people from God's heart. Pastor Jeff receives no income from this ministry.

And for your gift of any amount this month, we want to say thank you by sending you his series we've been in this month Beyond Amazing, understanding the grace of God yours in the format of your choice when you call 866-40 Bible, 866-40 Bible or make a secure gift online at promiseheart.org. Well, time is gone for today and we also hope that you'll be with us next time for part two of today's lesson Never Let Go. Here's a glimpse of what's to come.

Dr. Jeff Schreve: Here is Jacob. He can't fight anymore. He's just clinging on to this man from heaven, this angel of the Lord, the Lord Jesus Christ. Let me go. I will not let you go unless you bless me. Don't ever give up. Develop in your heart this attitude of tenacity that says, I will not let you go unless you bless me.

Guest (Male): Join us then when Pastor Jeff Schreve will open God's word and share real truth, real love, and real hope from God's heart here on from his heart.