Pushing-into-Favour-2

Okay guys, today we continue with pushing into FAVOUR Part 2, pushing into FAVOUR Part 2.

So if you want to hear the first series, go either to the podcast or to the livestream last week.

Pushing into FAVOUR Part 2.

So here's what we said last week. We said that FAVOUR demands engagement. FAVOUR demands engagement.

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,

which is what one would do when one first starts. It's like, I don't want to call it less FAVOUR.

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.

That's where you can settle. But God would rather have you discover Him through the FAVOUR that He's giving you.

That's the whole idea. What happens with the world is we think of grace, we think of FAVOUR and it is true.

It is for everyone. It's released to everybody. But what happens is if you settle in it,

then you never discover the ways, the presence and the plans of God. You only discover FAVOUR and grace.

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.

Otherwise you'll only know an aspect of Him. While here is an opportunity where because of the you are special to God

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.

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?

I know everyone must be hearing it right, but just for my sake.

So FAVOUR demands, which is why we said last week that FAVOUR demands engagement, meaning you have to engage God's FAVOUR.

And FAVOUR encourages contending. FAVOUR encourages contending.

So let's assume that I show FAVOUR to somebody. Let's take Tuni as an example.

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?

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.

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.

So let's assume that I show Tate. Because it has to...

Sometimes God wants to see how badly you want something before it's given to you.

Sometimes God wants to see how badly you want something before it's given to you.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

And now I wanted to see how enthusiastic he'll be. And so he said yes, yes, yes. And he sat there.

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.

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.

And so favor demands engagement and favor encourages contending. God literally says, okay, so now show me.

And so we've stopped singing. And then he plays gently in the background.

And Josh almost fell off the drum seat because he thought I was playing. And it sounded really amazing.

And then he realized it's not me. It's someone else. And so then he started drumming again.

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.

The point being, guys, this is not a silly example I'm giving.

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.

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.

It's always the case. In every gift there is a key to the next gift.

And then we said that favor grants access to God's ways. Favor grants access to God's ways, to God's plans.

And then we said that favor grants access to God's ways. And then we said that favor grants access to God's ways.

And then we said that favor grants access to God's ways. And then we said that favor grants access to God's ways.

To God's ways, to God's plans, to God's presence.

Favor grants access to God's ways, God's plans, God's presence.

And if you cling on till daybreak, if you cling on till daybreak, you will see and ask for the impossible.

If you cling on till daybreak, you will see and ask for the impossible.

The last word is impossible.

So once you start diving in into God's favor, again remember favor gives us permission, favor gives us access.

Favor is God saying you are special to me. Favor is God saying I'm pleased with you.

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.

You can discover greater and greater depths of the presence of God.

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.

I don't know what time daybreak happens because I've never seen it.

But the point is you keep pushing till you get to a point where you will see and ask for the impossible.

You will see things that God is showing because he's seen how you pressed in.

Once you pressed in, God shows you things and now you begin to ask for the impossible.

Otherwise you will not. Any questions?

Any questions?

Any questions?

Yeah, so Moses had to press in and spend 40 days up on the mountain.

But he wouldn't back off. And then he comes down, breaks the tablets, has to go up again for 40 days.

How did the guy survive there for 40 days without food and drink?

But what does he see? He begins to see Yahweh.

He begins to hear for the first time in the universe the meaning of his name.

Moses saw things nobody else saw.

Peter, James and John had the same ability to press in in intimacy with Jesus.

And then Jesus takes them up the Mount of Transfiguration.

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.

David began to press into God, writes Psalm 119.

We can't even press into reading Psalm 119.

He pressed into God and at the end of the day he finds a God that has the ability to take down anything.

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.

Sufficient is not a Christian word.

Sufficient is a human word.

How can one find God sufficient?

God is far, far more than sufficient.

To stop at sufficiency with God is almost sinful man.

I'm not quoting scripture, I'm just telling you.

It's a really bad idea to stop with God when you feel this is sufficient.

There's nothing about God that is just enough.

It's a bad idea.

Once you begin to see what is impossible, you begin to ask for what is impossible.

This is why Moses now has the audacity to ask, show me your glory.

He's seen the burning bush, he's seen the plagues and now he wants to see God's Shekinah.

It is unheard of but he dares ask it and God shows it to him.

Now the man is accustomed to the glory of God so that every time he goes into the tent of meeting,

he now sees the glory of God on a regular basis.

He comes out with his hair and face blazing.

He's been in the presence of God. It is just nuts what that man accomplished.

Never satisfied.

And then he had his assistant, Joshua, never satisfied, never satisfied.

Yep, I will.

Yep, I'll be in about 4 minutes 13 seconds.

No, actually 8 minutes 13 seconds we'll be talking about it.

So Hosea 12 verse 4, really.

Hosea 12:4

Hosea 12 verse 4, the first part says,

Hosea 12:4

He struggled with the angel and it's talking about Jacob.

He struggled with the angel and overcame him.

He wept and begged for his favor.

It's speaking of Jacob and it says in Hosea 12 verse 4, the first part,

Hosea 12:4

He struggled with the angel and overcame him.

He wept and begged for his favor.

And so this is the story of Jacob and that's what we'll be looking at today.

And you'll have to go to Genesis 32, Genesis 32 verse 22 to 31.

Genesis 32:22–31

Genesis 32 verse 22 to 31.

Genesis 32:22–31

And here's how it reads. Genesis 32, 22 to 31.

Hey guys, it's good to make notes.

If you're married then one of the spouses should make notes.

If you're not married then you have to make notes or get a spouse.

And if you, I mean it's easier making notes and it's less expensive.

But make sure you're making notes because it's so helpful when you make notes.

Okay, so here's Genesis 32 verse 22 to 31.

Genesis 32:22–31

That night Jacob got up.

Why make notes? Because there'll be things you hear right now that you will not hear later.

Not from me, but from the Holy Spirit.

Please don't think it's from me.

Me you can hear on the podcast again as many times as you want.

But right now you'll hear the Spirit of God saying things differently.

So just keep, make notes of those things.

That night Jacob got up and took his two wives, his two maidservants and his eleven sons and crossed the fort of Jabak.

After he had sent them across the stream, he sent over all his possessions.

Verse 24.

So Jacob was left alone and a man wrestled with him till daybreak.

When the man saw that he could not overpower him, he touched the socket of Jacob's hip.

So that his hip was wrenched as he wrestled with the man.

Then the man said, let me go for it is daybreak.

But Jacob replied, I will not let you go unless you bless me.

The man asked him, what is your name?

Jacob he answered.

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.

Jacob said, please tell me your name.

But he replied, why do you ask me my name?

Then he blessed him there.

So Jacob called the place Peniel saying, it is because I saw God face to face and yet my life was spared.

The sun rose above him as he passed Peniel and he was limping because of his hip.

So this scene happens in the dark night at the bottom of a gorge on the banks of Jabak.

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.

And so it's in a ravine that this is happening.

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.

There's something about meeting God alone, guys.

There is something about meeting God alone that is transformative.

There is something about meeting God alone that is transformative.

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.

You have to make this a habit.

I need an eraser.

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.

So either let him think that and someone else do it or break the good news to him.

No cake for you, Derek, at this rate.

Okay.

Very good.

Okay, at this rate.

Okay.

May you have a better year starting tomorrow?

Okay, guys, so there's something about meeting God alone and I'm not talking about your quiet time.

Please don't think of quiet time and meeting God alone.

Meeting God alone is like a rendezvous with someone that you cannot live without.

Quiet time is what we do to fulfill our basic duty.

We're not talking about that.

Meeting God alone is disappearing for long lengths of time, how much ever time it takes, whether it be five minutes or two hours.

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.

This is not some kind of undisturbed time.

It is a longing. It is not a duty.

Meeting God alone is always transformative.

Why? Because you are overwhelmed. Thanks, man.

At least one of the brothers is working.

The thing is when you meet him alone, you are overwhelmed by him and you're ruined by the weight of his glory.

You are ruined by the weight of his glory.

How often do you sit alone and you're reading and you start weeping profusely because you can't handle what you've read?

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?

How long where you begin to discover something in the world and you're stuck with it for 20, 30 minutes on end?

How long before you suddenly realize that you're praying like you haven't prayed before and you can't stop?

This is so different from quiet time.

It's not even falling in love. It is the intensity of love.

It is the intensity of love where you can repeat a line again and again and you cannot get past her nose.

Forget the eyes. I mean, song of songs, the guy is stuck on her forehead for four verses.

What hope does that guy have if he can't get past the forehead?

That's what I'm talking about.

It's an intensity that is transformative and you cannot handle it.

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.

If it is not one of our habits yet, then we must create a habit.

Habits take time.

And habits are not just a habit.

Then we must create a habit.

Habits take time.

And habits take time that is set aside.

And you cannot set time aside till there is a priority.

Whenever there is a priority, there is time.

Always remember that.

You have time for whatever you prioritize.

Always.

By prioritizing.

When you prioritize, you create time.

When you create time, you can set it aside.

When you set it aside, you now have the ability to cultivate a habit.

When you cultivate the habit, the intensity develops.

And once the intensity develops, it becomes so natural for you that to settle for anything less becomes very difficult.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

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.

I've said this. I know more about God now, 30 whatever years later since I got saved.

I know more about him now, so I love him more.

But why is it that I still need to return to my first love?

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.

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.

Now I've got other wonderful Christian things to worry about.

Love is measured in time.

Prashant, love is measured in time.

Derek, why are you laughing? Love is measured in time.

Will you, I mean, Isaiah 6, 5, isn't this what happens? Isaiah 6, 5.

Here is a man who finds time and begins to worship God, sees the heavens open, sees what's happening in the throne room.

And what is his response? I have been ruined by the weight of his glory.

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.

This is what I'm talking about, guys.

It's not some heavenly vision that you catch, but you get stuck with one verse and it breaks your heart.

And you do not understand why.

You don't understand why.

Will your life chronicle the burning bush?

Like when I read your diary, will your life chronicle, will your diary chronicle the burning bush that you encountered?

Will your life chronicle Mount Sinai, where God revealed a name of his or a character of his that really grabbed you?

Will your life chronicle Jabok, where you wrestled with God and he changed your name?

Will your life chronicle Jordan, which parted, where a mantle was given to you?

Will your life chronicle Damascus Road, where for the first time you see a personal revelation of Christ himself?

Will your life chronicle Emmaus, where your heart begins to burn as Jesus walks with you?

Will your life chronicle Patmos, where you actually see him in his present divinity, willing to speak to you?

Will your life chronicle these times where you were alone and you were transformed?

And I'm saying every one of us must have this experience.

Not for the sake of an experience, but for the sake of transformation.

Any experience that does not transform, any experience that is not followed by the voice of God is an experience that must be questioned.

Any experience that is not followed by the voice of God is an experience that must be questioned.

The next statement is something that I believe is true, but I'm open to questions about.

The kingdom of God is a kingdom of unlimited favor.

The kingdom of God is a kingdom of unlimited favor and permission.

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.

And the kingdom of God, and the violence, take it by force.

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.

This kingdom is a kingdom of unlimited favor. There's never a stop to it. It's unlimited favor.

This kingdom is a kingdom of unlimited favor and unlimited permission. Unlimited permission.

What didn't Christ achieve because of the favor and permission he had? What didn't Christ achieve?

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?

Did he ascend? Is he seated somewhere? Is he alive? Did he transfigure? Did he raise up disciples?

Were they able to change the world? Did he bring down empires? Did he cleanse lepers? Did he drive out demons? Was Satan defeated?

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.

It's like standing in front of a door and holding it in instead of pushing it out.

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.

There is a degree of violence that is required that God wants you to exert to extract this favor.

And the violent will take it by force.

Any questions?

Because, guys, kingdom destinies, kingdom destinies, kingdom-sized destinies, kingdom-sized destinies require God-shaped favor.

And if you don't extract it, you won't get it. Kingdom-sized destinies require God-shaped favor.

Look at Joseph. He knew he had favor. And he began to extract that favor.

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.

He knew that there was this thing called favor that he could capitalize on.

And kingdom-sized destinies, what was Joseph's destiny?

That he would be sent before a famine into the most powerful spiritual and physical empire on earth.

And he would become the second most powerful man on the face of the earth.

This is a former slave who was left in prison, unremembered.

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.

You can only dream if you have a father. You can only dream if you have a father.

An orphan does not dream. An orphan's dreams are only about self-protection, self-preservation.

But you can dream if you grew up in a father's house.

I'm talking about the father and a family that has the reflective nature of the father.

Joseph knew this.

Go ahead.

Read it again.

Yeah, what about areas where Christians are persecuted and are dying?

We got to go back to last week where we talked about favor.

Favor is not wealth. Favor is not living long.

Favor is not having a good home.

Favor is finding out the ways, the plans and the presence of God.

We have reduced favor to promotions, wealth, good life, prosperity.

This is not favor. These are baubles. These are fake jewelry.

Moses could have asked for anything. What does he ask for?

Show me your glory.

Solomon could have asked for anything.

What does he ask for?

What does he ask for?

Give me the wisdom to rule these people.

Jesus could have asked for anything. What does he ask for?

You want me to go down in a body. It is your will. I have come to do your will.

Favor is a great thing in times and places of persecution and toughness.

Because you get to know the ways of God, the plans of God and the presence of God.

Most martyrs knew the presence of God.

Because they had already experienced what it is to live in the favor of God.

While they are burning at stakes and being pulled apart, they knew the favor of God.

And the favor of a city that hands had not built that awaited them.

One of the disservices that the prosperity gospel has done us,

is that we have equated favor with cheap jewelry.

With cheap jewelry.

Violence as in an aggression.

You cannot, you know, if you want to extract marrow out of a bone,

you can't look at the bone and say, marrow come out.

No, you got a blooming suck on that bone and pull the marrow out.

There is a degree of aggression.

I am not angry with the question. I am just thrilled about the response.

Extraction requires a degree of aggression.

Where you put your hand in and you pull out.

There is a greed.

There is a holy greed in wanting to take.

We got to teach our children this.

If we don't teach our children this, man, I was talking to my sister and brother-in-law saying,

I pray God that your children begin to have such a lust for God.

Because otherwise all you will get is Jonah's whale and Daniel's lion.

An aggression.

What I mean by violence is that there is a degree of aggression that is required to extract it

and the aggressive take it by force.

There must be a pressing and you see with Joseph, you see with Moses, you see with Peter,

you see with Paul, these guys would seek it.

And the same is expected of me.

Guys, if you have this, you will have it in every area of life.

If you don't have it, you will only have it in certain areas of life where you get a reward.

Here there is no reward. The reward is God.

So, I am not angry with the question.

I am just thrilled about the response.

I am just thrilled about the response.

The reward is God.

The reward is God. The reward is a person.

It is not a thing.

Unfortunately, we grow up in a system which teaches us, if you work hard, you will get this.

Here there is not, if you work hard, you will get this.

If you work hard, you get to know his ways, his plans, his presence.

Until there is this great hunger for that, man, it doesn't matter.

We will be alpha males or alpha females in other things,

but when it comes to God, the aggression is missing.

And you have got to develop it.

This is why it scares me what Christian institutions can do to people.

Like with Jacob, God will wait or God will appear suddenly.

So you can extract the favor that is yours.

Like with Jacob, God will wait or God will appear suddenly.

One or the other.

Sometimes God will just wait saying,

May is going to pass this way. I am just going to wait here.

And when she passes this way, if she notices me, will she wrestle or will she just say hello and move on?

Or he will appear suddenly.

May will be biking and suddenly God will stand in the middle of the road saying,

what are you doing on a bike?

And then it's one or the other.

Either God will wait or appear suddenly.

So you can...

What's his intent?

His intent is not to block your way.

His intent is not to hold back things from you.

He's not a withholder.

He's never been a withholder.

He's withheld nothing.

He who freely gave, won't he give?

Romans 8.

He withholds nothing.

What he wants to do is, hey, I'm here.

Why don't you take your next gift?

Why don't you extract it from me?

Push hard, guys.

Guys, sometimes when a message is preached, it is for a certain time.

And if you take advantage of it now, then you are advantaged.

If you take advantage of it three months from now, then there's a lag.

See, because it is precious and free...

Derek, are you okay today?

It's like Samson lost his hair, man.

Okay.

Guys, because favor is precious and free, it must be drawn out.

You should understand why God feels like this.

It's precious.

It's precious and it's free.

Therefore, it must be drawn out.

Like Elisha.

Man, that guy was so different.

51 others had the same opportunity to run after Elijah, but they don't.

One man does.

Jericho, Jordan, Gilgal.

And then finally, he extracts God's favor.

Because when he says to Elijah, I want a double portion, Elijah's response is not that, sure, I'll give it to you.

His response is, you have asked a very hard thing.

Only God can give it to you.

And he does receive it.

Look at the Shulamite woman from the Song of Songs.

And you'll see she had the same attitude, man.

She was so gung-ho about her lover that she would do anything to find him.

There's one passage in Song of Songs 3, verse 1 to 4, where she will do anything.

Song of Solomon 3:1–4

We'll do anything.

There is this intensity, man, where she would not let him go once she found him.

And she was okay about roaming the city in the middle of the night, knowing it is dangerous, looking for the one she loves.

You see it with Mary in Luke chapter 10, where she refuses to do what Martha is doing.

Luke 10 · chapter mention

And sits at Jesus' feet and won't move.

Extraction.

I want to show you something.

This kind of answers Josh's earlier question.

Whenever it comes to extracting favor, here is a movement.

As in music, you have Allegro and Andante and Presto and all that stuff.

There is a movement to extracting favor.

One, it starts with unfavorable conditions.

Don't expect this hunt or extraction of favor to happen in favorable conditions.

The conditions are never favorable.

That's part of the mystery or adventure of it.

All these guys you see walking in favor had to start from a place where they didn't have all the conditions right.

If we are waiting for all the conditions to work out before we launch into favor, it ain't going to happen.

It is best found in unfavorable conditions.

Joseph, unfavorable.

Moses, very unfavorable.

Peter, unfavorable.

Jesus, go away from me. I'm a sinful man.

Paul, unfavorable, persecutor.

It is in unfavorable conditions that favor becomes evident.

You don't need favor when things are favorable.

The very idea of favorable conditions means favor exists.

Favor finds you in unfavorable conditions because that is where God wants to make himself known.

So the first thing that you need to understand about the movement of extracting favor is it finds you in unfavorable circumstances.

Second, you are given the option to pursue.

You are not forced into it.

Hey Tate, can you go tell Tooni that does he want to play today?

No force.

It's literally what Elijah does to Elisha.

Throws his mantle on him and keeps walking and Elisha says, can I say goodbye to my mom?

And Elijah replies, what's it to me?

So there is an option to pursue.

It's not that you have to.

You won't be forced into it.

There won't be a guilt trip.

It's an option to pursue.

I was telling to Heidi and Jillian about a situation where there was an option to pursue.

Some people don't.

Some people do.

And if you pursue, great.

If you don't pursue, after the option to pursue, there will be resistance once you start pursuing.

Sometimes the resistance will be from God.

Sometimes the resistance will be from people.

The resistance is from God because he wants to know, Jacob, how badly do you want it?

Do you really want this, Jacob?

Once there's resistance, the next thing is you will be given valid reasons to retire.

As in, ah, you've done enough.

Don't go further.

You've really done well.

You've done better than 80% of Christians.

Great job.

Well done.

Now let it go.

Then the next option is sufficiency or dogged desire for more.

This is what happened with the arrows.

Here is a guy who's given the option to completely annihilate the enemy and he's given arrows and say strike.

And he goes for sufficiency.

I beg you.

I beg you.

Because you know why I beg you?

Because I can see how some of us are okay with sufficiency.

And I hate it in you.

I hate the sufficiency that you settle for.

Just because you're ahead of 20 people doesn't mean that you are ahead.

It just means there are 20 people who are behind you.

That's not how you win a race.

I've never won a race or I've never taken part in a race, but should I run?

Should I run?

The idea is not to count the number of people behind you.

The idea is to count the number of people ahead of you.

When there's no one ahead of you, you win.

This is what I've been told about races.

I don't know if it's true.

What would I know?

Go ahead, dude.

Paul didn't say no.

Paul said yes.

But repeat the question again.

Is this coming from Sheldon or Jane?

Okay, then I'll answer it.

Go ahead.

Just read it one more time.

Yeah.

The difference is this, guys.

You've got to realize what God is willing to give.

Once you realize he's willing to give it, then you know that when he resists you,

it is just to see how much you will push.

The Bible is full of examples like this.

The Syrophoenician woman is an example.

The Syrophoenician woman knows from what she's heard that Jesus Christ heals outsiders.

Jesus knows that he heals outsiders.

He's healed others before.

He comes to the Syrophoenician woman.

She already knows the heart of Jesus.

He begins to argue with her saying, but I do not give bread to dogs.

It gets like a nasty argument.

But she keeps persisting.

You know why she keeps persisting?

One, for the sake of her daughter.

Two, because she knows in her heart that this is the way that God is going.

And if she persists, she can get it.

So that's the difference.

There's the stubbornness that comes with, no, I want my way.

And then there is this kind of dogged persistence that comes because you know the heart of God.

You know he wants to give.

And because he wants to give, you know that it is only a matter of showing him

how absolutely gung-ho you are about what needs to be gotten.

You know when I was a kid, there used to be a person who would tell stories.

And his stories were fascinating.

We kids would sit around him and he would begin to tell stories.

And then halfway through the story, he'd stop and say, all right,

we'll talk about the rest of their story next time.

And I'd always be surprised when some kids would get up and say, okay, and they'd go.

And then there would be some of us kids saying, no, no, no, it's not six o'clock yet.

We don't have to go home.

Please tell us the rest.

And then the guy would sit down and start again.

This is exactly what happens when a pianist finishes playing

and he gets up and leaves the stage and they all start clapping.

Some of them come back too soon, but others take their own sweet time.

And they keep clapping and there's a, what's that word they keep shouting?

Encore, encore.

I've never heard you guys shout that after I finished teaching.

And so, encore, encore.

And then the guy comes back.

It is this, give us more, give us more, give us more.

Become a leech when it comes to God.

It is unhealthy in all other circumstances, except when it comes to God.

That is what dogged persistence looks like.

Guys, everybody in Hebrews chapter 11 lived like this.

Hebrews 11 · chapter mention

You got to, you got to, you know, if you don't, if you don't try it, you will never taste it.

But it needs time.

And time is created by priorities.

It's a very bad truth though.

Time is created by priorities.

Bad truth as in, it's a truth that really is very inconvenient.

Priorities create time.

Whatever you prioritize, you will find time for.

In today's instant gratification, oh, the last step is rewarded with the impossible.

Rewarded with the impossible.

Rewarded with the impossible.

Rewarded with the impossible.

I had mentors like this.

In very unfavorable conditions, they opened the door, but they would not invite me in.

They opened the door and they stood with inside the door, waiting to see if Jacob will enter.

Then one day I remember going to them and saying, I want to learn.

Once I started learning, I had to pursue them.

It was not them coming and saying, we want to teach you, we want to teach you, we want to teach you.

No, it was, hey, you want to learn? Run.

There were valid reasons to retire because I knew enough.

I was better than 80% of the class, sang well, preached well, was charismatic, had a few gifts, was really past the material.

Handsome.

Excuse me, Nick. Don?

Three months, three months.

So valid reasons to retire.

But then the question was, do I want to settle for this?

I remember a guy coming to me and saying, full scholarship, Harvest Bible School, Australia, come.

I'm thinking, do I want to go to a Bible school and become a pastor?

Nothing wrong with it. It's a very noble pursuit.

Or, Father, you're offering me nations and I don't even know how to get there.

What do I do? And I remember saying no to this Bible school.

I'd have been married and an Australian by now.

Can you imagine how sad that would be?

And so I remember saying no to that.

A dogged desire for more because at some point the Lord had said, listen, I'll give you the nations.

I'll give you the nations.

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.

And then finally you're rewarded with the impossible.

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.

I could think of a whole lot of people who would want braces just to avoid that.

Anyways, that's on the side.

Any questions, guys?

Oh my God, this is the problem and people sit in the front row.

What's your question?

Okay, what's your question?

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Personally, I believe satisfaction with God is the slaking of thirst, but it is never meant to fill you.

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.

It is this constant hunger and thirst that is impossible to satiate because God is infinite.

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.

And so his intent is, can I always be a little beyond your reach so that you keep stretching?

I will always be beyond your reach.

But every time you stretch some more, you'll catch a little bit of me.

And just when you thought it's enough, I'll be a little beyond you.

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.

It slakes your dry throat, but my God, this is honey that you can keep eating and it ain't bad for you.

Yeah. A growing hunger and therefore a growing satisfaction.

Go ahead, Jeevan.

This is the beauty of it, labor to enter into rest.

There must be a dogged persistence to enter into rest.

Rest is to cease from striving.

The only thing we strive is to enter into rest.

Rest is to, this is not semantics, it's not complicated.

Rest is to seize from my own strivings.

And the only labor I engage in is to enter into rest.

All my striving is focused on one thing.

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.

I will work to not be distracted by you.

I will work not to pursue things of the world.

I will work not to be taken captive by seductions and philosophies of the world.

That I will labor and strive in. Why?

Because the one thing that I want to walk in is the rest that comes out of just dwelling with him.

The dogged persistence in entering into rest is an absolute necessity because we don't know how to enter into rest.

We know how to labor. We don't know how to enter into rest.

Therefore it says labor to enter into rest.

Favor changes you guys.

Favor changes you once you recognize and derive your worth from the value conferred by the king.

Favor changes you.

So for example, let's assume tomorrow I show tremendous favor to John.

He just came in.

Don't know him.

All I know is his name is John.

But for whatever reason, I show him tremendous favor.

When he comes, I give him the pulpit to preach.

I give him the guitar to sing.

I let him do whatever he wants to in the church.

Then John will not have to be worried about, I'm a newbie here.

I've just come in.

Don't know how to behave with people.

Don't know the culture.

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.

From the value that I place on him.

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.

You won't have to.

Guys, I know the favor that is upon me when it comes to certain things in the kingdom.

I do not have to work for them.

I do not have to suck up to anybody.

I do not need a preaching assignment.

I do not need nothing.

I know the favor that is upon me.

I know that I can go into some nations and those nations will open up like a walnut.

Walnuts don't open quickly.

It will open up like a whatever opens up fast.

And pardon?

I don't think any advice on food should come from the gallery.

So like a peanut.

Yeah.

I know the favor that is upon me.

You should know the favor that is upon you where things will open so quickly.

Favor changes you once you recognize and derive your worth from the value conferred by the king.

It changes you.

You will never work hard in that area again.

Because you know, God is God's hand is so upon me in this area.

I don't have to do anything.

If I walk in there, it will open.

Recognize that the power of God is upon you.

I don't have to do anything.

If I walk in there, it will open.

Recognize it, guys.

For each of us, it's in different areas.

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.

Because you couldn't care less about trying to make it.

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.

In the area of your favor, you will trade all the trinkets of the world because you know that you have what you need.

Favor rockets you when you stop piloting your life and ditch control.

Favor rockets you when you stop piloting your life and you ditch control.

Control and favor do not go together.

Favor is God saying, hey, you are highly favored in this area.

I'd like to do everything for you.

Don't tinker with what I'm doing.

Favor allows you to go into rest because favor allows you to go into rest in areas.

But it will require that I stop piloting my life and it will require that I ditch control.

The more controlling I am, the more I pilot my life, the less favor has the ability to find traction in my life.

It just doesn't settle.

Favor buries your yesterday.

Here is Jacob and suddenly his yesterday is buried.

Favor buries your yesterday.

Favor changes your name.

No longer will people say what they said of you.

Favor changes your name.

Favor bestows upon you new pedigree.

Favor bestows upon you new pedigree.

Favor restores your inheritance.

Favor buries your past.

What I knew about you no longer is evident because it has so changed you that you've let go of what you were.

Favor buries your past.

Favor changes your name.

Favor bestows on you pedigree, new pedigree.

Favor restores your inheritance.

All this happens to Jacob.

God buries his past.

God changes his name.

God bestows on him new pedigree and God restores his inheritance.

That was his to begin with without having to wrangle for it.

Ask for favor because in the eyes of those above you, you will find new locations.

Let's assume that there are certain things about Josh that I know that are really not fun.

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.

When he begins to change in those areas, my heart and my ways with him will change.

Man's ways with you change when the favor of God rests on you.

Man's ways with you change when the favor of God rests on you.

God asks Jacob his name.

And when Jacob acknowledges the appropriate, when Jacob says my name is Jacob, he's basically acknowledging the appropriateness of his name.

That ries a supplanter, that he's a deceiver, that he's a supplanter.

Why is he a supplanter?

When Jacob says my name is Jacob, he's basically acknowledging the appropriateness of his name.

That he's a supplanter, that he's a deceiver, that he's a supplanter.

One who supplants, as in one who tries through deceptive means to replace or to plant what should not be there.

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.

That's supplanting.

And so here, Jacob, God asks Jacob, what's your name?

God knows.

Jacob knows he's fighting a supernatural being.

He also knows that he's fighting God himself.

The passage makes it evident.

He knows he's not fighting a man.

He knows that God has often in the past with Abraham and others taken on the form of man.

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.

So Jacob is not new to this.

He knows that three angels appeared to Abraham at the oaks of Mamre.

This is not the first time Jacob is meeting angels.

He had seen angels in a dream in Bethel in Genesis 28.

He had seen angels at Mahaneim in Genesis 32, verse 1.

Genesis 32:1

This is the third time he's meeting angels.

Only this time he knows it's a supernatural being.

And so when God asks Jacob's name, Jacob is saying, my name is Jacob.

And in saying that, he's disclosing the appropriateness of his name.

And you have to at times acknowledge your condition before God will pave way for the new.

You have to acknowledge your condition.

Manoj has to say, oh, God, this is my present condition.

Until you acknowledge your present condition, there is very little space to create new pathways.

You should listen to what's her name, Emily's Instagram post from yesterday.

It's about this idea of acknowledging one's condition so that new ways can be paved.

All of us go through it, eh?

Because in every previous confrontation, Jacob had found a way to win.

With Esau, he won. With Isaac, he won. With Laban, he won.

But in verse 26, he's clinging on to God, knowing it's a fight that can alter his life.

And his statement is, I will not let you go till you bless me.

And there is this idea that I need to acknowledge my present condition,

let go of it, then not let go of what God is doing.

So I've got to acknowledge that this is my present condition.

I've got to let go of it, and then I've got to not let go of what God is doing.

This is the aggression. This is the violence that makes things happen.

I remember saying to Jeevan, not this Jan, last Jan, Jeevan,

you need to begin to walk in governmental authority and that you need to change things.

And I remember not being able to get in touch with Jeevan from December 31st to January 1st.

Why? Because he took it so seriously that he decided he was going to get back into Canada

as a brand new person with the authority that he requires.

So he drives to the border in the middle of the night and crosses the border

and does a turnaround and enters Canada as someone brand new.

He had problems at the border, which is another story.

But the point is, he was willing to get back into this country.

Some things have to be done symbolically, but if he stops at symbolism, then nothing happens.

Once it's done symbolically, you've got to press and say, oh God, you're paving a new way.

You've given me a new name. I'm letting go after acknowledging my condition.

Nick has to say it. Praful has to say it. Jacob has to say it. Manoj has to say it.

This is my condition. I've stayed here for too long. I cannot continue here.

Oh God, I let go of it. First, after acknowledging my name.

Now that I have, I get a hold of you and I will not let go till you bless me.

And that has to happen day after day after day till this changes.

Go Danny.

I want you to be giants, not so you can be applauded, but so the world can be affected.

You must understand why I want this for you and for me.

It is so that the world can be drastically affected.

You take out one Goliath. You take out an entire Philistine conquest.

You don't take out a Goliath. You can spend the next two years fighting in trenches.

That is the way to do it.

I don't think Acts 29 will ever be famous.

But a lot of things that this church will accomplish,

I think, will be accomplished.

I don't think that the church will ever be famous.

I don't think that the church will ever be famous.

I don't think that the church will ever be famous.

But a lot of things that this church will accomplish will be done quietly and generations will benefit.

And that is the way it needs to be at present.

Some churches need to be big and need to have a platform and need to have a loud voice.

That's how God makes some churches.

And that is significant. It is important.

But some churches, he does not do that.

I am comfortable with it.

I'm not settling for it.

I'm receiving it. There's a difference.

I am not settling for it. I'm receiving it.

I'm saying even if he grew to 500, it would still be the same.

I'm really fine with it because there's a thing that God is doing that...

Why go down that route?

Let me begin to finish.

I mean if Tuni hadn't taken so much time singing, we could have finished long ago.

Even though verse 28 of Genesis 32 says, God says, God is saying this.

He says to Jacob, your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel,

because you have struggled with God and with man and have overcome.

God is saying this, but Jacob hears it differently.

It's very odd. You've got to pay attention to this.

Yes, we always think of the story and we say,

God changed Jacob's name to Israel,

and Israel means he who contends with God and contends with man and prevails.

That is a usual statement.

And it's true. God does say this.

God says, I'm changing your name. Your name no longer will be Jacob,

but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with man and have overcome.

But Jacob hears it differently.

You know what the word Israel means?

The actual, if you, the literal translation of Israel is Israel, God.

Israel means rule.

El means God.

So what it means is God will rule.

Or let God rule.

That's what it actually means.

Let God rule. Or God will rule.

Up to that point in Jacob's life, you might have actually called him Israel Jacob,

because till then, it was always Jacob will rule.

The actual name change is this.

Sure, he contended with God, but the actual name change is this.

Israel means God will rule.

Till then, Jacob was a supplanter.

He decided how things would be done.

You might have actually called him Israel Jacob.

Jacob will rule.

The name change or the character changes from Jacob will rule,

it now moves to God will rule.

Israel. Israel meaning rule.

El meaning God.

And you see it in the way Jacob perceives it.

You see when Jacob names the place that it happened, he calls it Peniel.

Peniel doesn't for a moment talk about wrestling with God.

Peniel doesn't have any reference to contending with God.

You know what Peniel means?

Face to face with the living God.

Of all the things that Jacob could name the place where his greatest life altering incident happened,

he doesn't call it I wrestled with God.

He doesn't call it I contended with God.

He says I have seen God face to face.

This is the same Jacob who in Genesis 28 said God is in this place, but I do not.

I did not know it.

The same Jacob is now saying that I shall call this place Peniel.

He does not give the place any name that recalls his struggling with God.

Instead he calls it Peniel.

That is the face of God.

So my statement at the end of the day is become the one who wrestles with God

and sees him face to face

and contends and succeeds with men.

This is our takeaway.

That is our takeaway.

Become the one who wrestles with God.

Find time every week, every month to wrestle with God.

Become the one who wrestles with God.

Why wrestle with God?

Because you want to see him face to face.

And once you see him face to face, you can contend with any man on earth.

You will succeed with any man on earth.

The wrestling was sure God said hey Jacob you have wrestled with God and man and you have prevailed.

But that was in the focus that Jacob had and that wasn't the focus that God wanted him to have.

He changes his name to Israel and Israel actually means God shall rule.

It's a shift from the way Jacob used to live.

Every battle he fought, Jacob would rule.

Jacob would find some way.

He would wrangle something out.

He would try some deceit.

Now he's shifted from Israel Jacob to Israel.

God will rule.

Make this a statement in your life.

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

because you realize ah shucks.

This is such a key.

Become the one who wrestles with God Jacob as in this Jacob.

Become the one who wrestles with God and as you do, you will see him face to face.

And when you see him face to face, you will contend with man and succeed with man.

For the first time in Jacob's life, he no longer bears the stigma of being a supplanter.

For the first time in Jacob's life, he no longer bears the stigma of being a supplanter.

And he is no longer afraid.

He is no longer afraid.

He says I have seen God face to face and my life is preserved.

We think he's saying oh I fought God and my life is preserved.

That's not what Jacob is saying.

If you read before in Genesis 32, he says oh God preserve my life.

I'm going to meet Esau.

And now after fighting the God he's saying I have seen God face to face

and in faith he's saying and my life is preserved.

He loses his fear of Esau.

His prayer is answered.

Preserve me your God for my brother.

And before he meets his brother, he's no longer afraid.

For the first time in his life, this man does not own the label that his brother gave him.

It wasn't his father that called him Jacob.

It was his brother that called him Jacob.

Said you're a cheat, you're a deceiver, you're a supplanter.

He wears it no more.

And he is not afraid.

Because why?

Because he wrestled with God and he saw God face to face.

And now he can contend and succeed with man.

When Jacob leaves Peniel that morning,

he leaves with two things that he didn't bring to Jabok.

He leaves with a new name and a new limp.

He leaves with a new name and a new limp.

The new name will remind Jacob of the favor and the destiny that he has received

and this time without deceit, without wrangling, without striving.

He gets a new name and he does not have to wrangle for it.

He gets a new name and he does not have to wrangle for it.

Does not have to barter for it.

Does not have to deceive for it.

Does not have to work for it.

He's worked so hard all his life.

He spent 20 years working for Laban.

He does not have to work for it.

You cannot imagine the relief that Jacob feels.

He is free.

Hear me, hear with the ears of the spirit

because it applies to each of you differently.

A new name that reminds him forever of the favor and the destiny he has received

without deceit and wrangling and the new limp that will remind him forever

that Elohim is the only one who can overpower him here on earth.

Nobody else.

There's only one who has overpowered Jacob ever.

Elohim.

As he limps and the sun rises, he's thinking,

this limp will always remind me of the fact that there's only one who has overpowered me

and he's Elohim and no man on earth will overpower me.

Why? Because Yahweh, Elohim himself spoke and said,

you have contended with man and you have contended with God and you have prevailed.

You must experience the confidence of knowing this in certain situations

where you know that the hand of God is so powerfully on you

that you know that no obstacle on earth can undo you.

But this doesn't come through a sermon.

It comes through finding time to let this go in.

It's kind of reflected in Hosea 12.4 in the message.

When he grew up, he tried to get the best of God,

but God would not be bested, God bested him.

Love it.

When he grew up, he tried to get the best of God,

but God would not be bested, God bested him.

This whole idea of as he limps, he remembers that only Elohim could overpower him.

No one on earth will be able to touch him.

All the days of his life, no one touched him, man.

This is the kind of God we are talking about in the favor.

Let me end with verse 28.

Your name shall no longer be called Jacob.

Your name shall no longer be called Jacob.

Your name shall no longer be called Jacob.

Your name shall no longer be called Jacob.

Your name shall no longer be called Jacob.

You know, there's this biblical Hebrew idiom that's often used throughout the Old Testament

where God will say stuff like,

no longer shall your name be, or no longer will you be known as.

And whenever God uses that phrase,

it's usually indicative of a metamorphosis that is about to happen.

And that is what God is doing here, where he turns to Jacob and says,

your name shall no more be called Jacob, or they shall no more say this of you.

It's indicative of the spiritual change that is going to happen.

So here's the question I want you to end with.

Do you want to just put up the overhead?

These are questions I want you to end with.

I'm done teaching, but these are the questions you have to work on,

start working on right now.

Start working on right now.

The first question is, what is it about you that they shall say no more?

What is it about you that they shall say no more?

What is it about you that they shall say no more?

What are you letting go of?

What are you acknowledging is so much a part of your character that it is beginning to name you?

What is it about you that they shall say no more?

Now don't ask your spouse to write it.

You get your phone out or a piece of paper.

If you want paper, there's paper here.

What is it about you that they shall say no more?

Second question, what will you stop controlling?

Third question, what is your new name?

Let's just take three or four minutes to do that, and then we'll close.

What is it about you that they shall say no more?

What will you stop controlling?

What is your new name?

I've got to work on this too.