When God becomes clearer to you

Genesis 35:10-12 God said to him,“Your name is Jacob; You shall no longer be called Jacob, But Israel shall be your name.” Thus He called him Israel. 11God also said to him,“I am God Almighty; Be fruitful and multiply; A nation and a company of nations shall come from you, And kings shall come forth from you. 12“The land which I gave to Abraham and Isaac, I will give it to you. And I will give the land to your descendants after you.”

Dying to self heightens your awareness of Christ's Ownership over your life
Yesterday we saw in the life of Israel (formerly Jacob) that in dying to or denying his selfish, sinful drives, he was able to operate through tragedy after tragedy on the power of God.  When the self-life of the Christian is regarded as unimportant, and put back mentally and spiritually on the cross, the Lordship (the authority) of Christ goes from being a fact to an experience. 

Jesus does not become your Lord when you die to self.  When you are converted by grace through faith, Jesus Christ becomes your Savior, Lord and Treasure. (compare Romans 10:8-10).  The truth of the fact is established by God's Word.  Yet in your daily experience as a believer, your awareness of Christ's control over your life can only come about when you die to self.  In other words, you come to appreciate, delight in and see Christ more clearly.

Jacob's life illustrates the positive benefit of dying to self - seeing God more clearly
In the passage quoted at the beginning of today's blog, The Lord is speaking to Jacob and re-affirming the promises he gave to his grand-father Abraham and father Isaac.  God also reminds Jacob as to why he changed his name to Israel, and that His calling and destiny could be now fully lived out as a result of him dying to self. 

This is why "dying to self" must be a daily reality in the life of the Christian.  Anytime the attitude of "when I want, how I want" rears its ugly head, unless I deal with that through regarding what God had said and rendering my former identity to be dead, in God I will never be able to move ahead.  The power to deal with tragedy comes as we die to self.  In the darkness of suffering, God's grace matches and exceeds with Him revealing Himself to us in a clearer way. 

What you truly gain in dying to self
Read the context of Genesis 32-35 and you will note two trends: Israel's trials increased and his understanding of God increased.  If God had not broken Jacob of his selfish pattern of running away from his problems in Genesis 32, then he would not had been ready for the clearer illumination of who the Lord is in Genesis 35.  Let us close today's blog with this thought from Philippians 3:8 - "than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ."

God's power to deal with tragedy

Genesis 33:20 Then he erected there an altar and called it El-Elohe-Israel

The Pattern of the Faith-walk following your conversion
A couple of days ago we began looking at Jacob's wrestling match with God in the earlier parts of Genesis 32.  We saw that God did a work in Jacob's life whereby he learned how to die to self.  If you were to survey Jacob's life for just a moment, it gives us a preset pattern for what would be the full and complete teaching about the faith-walk with Christ in the New Testament: Conversion by grace through faith in Genesis 28 and death to self and the world in Genesis 32 and 35. 

Today we want to look closer at Jacob's life following this incident where he died to self, and discover the benefits that come from submitting to this ongoing truth in the life of the believer.  Now as we look at the passage above, Jacob built an altar following his historic meeting with his estranged twin brother Esau.  Remember how we discovered Jacob running from Esau for twenty years?  God broke that tendency in Jacob's life, Jacob died to self in that area, and now was renamed Israel. 

How "dying to self" prepared Jacob to go from the mountain to the valley of faith
Jacob builds an altar, and names it "El=Elohe Israel" which translated means: "God, The God of Israel."  Undoubtedly Jacob's encounter with Christ (see previous blogs) would be termed by many a mountain top experience. He had conquered his greatest fear through the power of God.  The big meeting with his brother was over.  However for Israel (formerly Jacob), difficult times were around the corner.  In fact, when one considers what took place in Jacob's life over the course of 10 years (from Genesis 33-35), it is staggering:

1. His only daughter Dinah, a teenager, was raped by the mean of the land in Genesis 34:5
2. His sons kill those who violated Dinah, but in the process bring shame to Israel Gen 34:30
3. Deborah, Israel's mother's nurse, undoubtedly like a mother to him, dies in Genesis 35:8
4. Rachael, his beloved wife of 50 years, dies in Genesis 35:17
5. Reuben, Israel's firstborn son, committs incest, and Israel finds out about it in Genesis 35:22
6. Isaac, Israel's father, dies in Genesis 35:29

Anyone one of those events would had devestated anyone of us.  Yet Israel persevered.  God speaks to him in Genesis 35, while he is still reeling, telling him to go back to the spot where he had first met him.  Without hesitation Israel tells his family to pack-up - its time to do as God says. 

When self dies, The Lord's life can shine more clearly in and through you
I am convinced that when we are in God's will, trials and testings will actually increase. (please compare Romans 5:3-4; James 1:3-4; 1 Peter 1:6-7)  Why?  Because we have committed our hearts to intentional living for God.  Dying daily to your interests in favor of God's desires sets hell on high alert - that your faith-walk is poising itself to be empowered by God, rather than you.  Despite these trials that attended Israel's life, God's power was there every step of the way.  Jesus reminds us in Hebrews 13:5 - "Never will I leave you nor forsake you". 

Despite whatever horrendous circumstance you may be facing, the Lord is desiring to manifest Himself to you, so as to lead you through the valley of the shadow of death.  When self surrenders - it lays the believer's life into the arms of Jesus.  Paul writes as a man in prison these words in Philippians 4:13 - "I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength." 

Why self denial is at the heart of discipleship

Galatians 2:20 - “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me."

A disciple is someone who follows Christ by faith, and continues on in faith, acknowledging Him as Savior, Lord and Treasure.  Yesterday we began looking at the truth of "dying to self"  as essential to living effectively for God.  We saw this concept illustrated in the life of Jacob in Genesis 32.  Jacob would learn, like every believer, that in order to follow the Lord, you must die to that principle that daily rears its ugly head in your soul - self. 

How essential is "death to self" to the believer's faithwalk?
Without question the New Testament unfolds this truth most fully, since God typically unfolds all that He has to tell us in a progressive fashion.  We find out that "dying to self" or "self-denial" is at the heart of what takes place when one begins following Christ by faith.  Jesus states in Luke 9:23-24 - And He was saying to them all, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me. 24“For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake, he is the one who will save it. 25“For what is a man profited if he gains the whole world, and loses or forfeits himself?" 

Furthermore this teaching is affirmed most clearly by the Apostle Paul in the passage above.  The imagery of being "crucified with Christ" is a common image used to describe what it means to die to self, since the chief aim is intentionally identifying oneself with the life and work of Christ Himself. 

Self-denial is essential to the Christian's daily growth or "sanctification"
As a work of grace that accompanies the believer's saving faith at salvation, the notion of "dying to self" continues to unfold itself, like a rose, throughout the course of the believer's faith-walk or "sanctification".  The great apostle Paul states in 1 Corinthians 15:31 - "I affirm, brethren, by the boasting in you which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily."  So daily I must do what we saw in the last blog in dying to self:
1. Get in order with what God said
2. Reckon or consider my former identity (formed prior to conversion) to be dead
3. Only then in God can I move ahead

Paul writes these words in Romans 6:11 - "Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus."  Only when I choose to regard "self" (the source of "self-centeredness", "selfishness", "self-seeking) as worthy of crucifixion, death, can I live more fully for God, and Him live more fully through me. 

Dying to live for God

Genesis 32:24-28  Then Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him until daybreak. 25When he saw that he had not prevailed against him, he touched the socket of his thigh; so the socket of Jacob’s thigh was dislocated while he wrestled with him. 26Then he said, “Let me go, for the dawn is breaking.” But he said, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.” 27So he said to him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Jacob.” 28He said, “Your name shall no longer be Jacob, but Israel; for you have striven with God and with men and have prevailed.”

What is necessary to live for God?
Jacob was the grandson of the well-known patriarch Abraham and father of twelve sons who would be the heads of the twelve tribes of Israel.  In this chapter he is 96 years old and is getting ready to face a fear that he has been running from for over twenty years - his brother.  After receving word that his brother, Esau, was coming his direction with 400 men, Jacob responded and by the time we come to our text above, the Bible says: "Then Jacob was all alone".  As we will see, Jacob would learn that in order to live for God, something about himself had to die.

Self must die if we are to live effectively for God
Jacob was getting ready to experience a work of God that is daily necessary in the life of every Christian if they expect to move forward in their Christian walk - dying to self.  Self is that principle at work in our soul that fuels our sin nature to want what it wants, when it wants and how it wants.  Dying to self, or self denial, is fundamental to what it means in being a follower of the Lord.  Jesus states it plainly in Luke 9:23-24 - "And He was saying to them all, 'If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me. 24'For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake, he is the one who will save it." '

In order to over come his enemies, Jacob had to be overcome by God
This episode in Jacob's life is intriguing, for he wrestles with an individual that is identified simply as "a man".  Now scripture bears out that this was no ordinary man that met Jacob in the desert.  Hosea 12:3-4, written over a 1,000 years after our account here in Genesis 32, gives an inspired commentary on just who Jacob was wrestling:
Yes, he wrestled with the angel and prevailed;
         He wept and sought His favor.
         He found Him at Bethel
         And there He spoke with us,
5Even the LORD, the God of hosts,
         The LORD is His name.

It was none other than God Himself that wrestled with Jacob in the form of this "unamed man".  Other scriptures will further clarifiy that this mysterious "man" who is really "God" is an Old Testament appearance of Jesus Christ.  Undoubtedly the Bible's dual identification of this figure in the Old Testament was foreshadowing what would be the complete revelation of Jesus Christ as fully God and fully man in the New Testament.  As they wrestle, the Lord asks Jacob for His name.  Quite simply, he was asking for Jacob's surrender, since the giving over of one's name was tanatmount to acknowledging the superiority of your opponent.  Jacob did that, and as a result he received a new name - "Israel". Why?  Quite literally, the Lord states that he had prevailed against men, and strived with God, and by grace accomplished both.  Jacob would never be the same again.

When you die to self, expect your walk with God to be different
When this epic battle was finished, it was clear that Jacob, formerly headstrong and strongwilled was now a broken man.  However that did not mean he was weaker.  If anything, Jacob had entered into a whole new realm of relationship with God.  The Bible tells us at the end of this fight, Jacob walked with a limp.  Jacob (Israel) was now more useful to God because he had to die to who he was as Jacob in order for the power of God to manifest itself.  The Apostle Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 12:9 - "And He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me."

How do you die to self?
Let me give you three principles from this text in Genesis 32 that shows how Jacob died to his old identity:
1. Get in order with what God said.  Genesis 32:24-29
2. Reckon your old identity to be dead.  Genesis 32:30-32
3. Only then in Good can you move ahead. 

The benefits of dying to self
By dying to self, Jacob was positioned to receive further illumination from God on the nature of his calling. (Genesis 35).  Additionally, by dying to self, the power of God could flow more freely through Jacob's life, the power Jacob was going to need to face tough tragedies such as the loss of his wife in Genesis 35:17 and his father in Genesis 35:29.  May you and I understand and apply this essential truth for living for God. 

The Two Doors of Faith and Obedience

Romans 1:5 through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles for His name’s sake

What does it mean to believe the Gospel of Jesus Christ?  As the Apostle Paul begins his great letter to the church at Rome, the mark of genuine saving faith is demonstrated by the willingness to live out God's word.  When you see that phrase "obedience of faith", that little word "of" tells us that there is a relationship between "obedience" and "faith".  The relationship in this verse is that of a specific effect arising from a particular cause.  The effect in this case is obedience - willingness to follow Jesus Christ in what He says in His word.  So what is the cause?  Faith.  

Faith is the door opened by God that invites me to enter into His life
The idea of "faith" being desribed by the great Apostle Paul is that of "saving faith". Faith in the original language refers to "persuading someone of the truth of a matter".   Ephesians describes this saving faith as a gift, given by God as a result of His Grace.  We also discover from passages such as Psalm 19:7, Romans 10:17 and James 1:18 that faith is granted to us by the agency of God's word.  As God in His grace is affecting the interior of my heart- that is - my human spirit - He is setting up a door.  His work in the interior of my heart - which the Bible calls "grace", puts up a door of invitation called "faith".

Therefore faith is likened unto a door that God places before me.  The Apostle Paul writes in Galatians 3:23 "But before faith came, we were kept in custody under the law, being shut up to the faith which was later to be revealed."  Once the Holy Spirit shows me what that door is, I act in response to His working and open that door, effectively entering or participating in the very life of God. (2 Peter 1:3-4)  It has been often said that we are saved by grace through faith alone, and that following our salvation we are ebing saved by a faith that is never alone.  Thus.... 

Obedience is the door I open to invite the life of God to enter into my own
Clearly God makes the first move in salvation, since He in His grace so moves in my heart to be firmly persuaded of His identity and claims through the gospel.  Following that work of grace, what demonstrates that I am operating by faith is in the obedience that issues forth from my faith.  When I choose to obey God, it is my way of putting an open door in my life, welcoming the life and power of God to affect that area. 

For instance, saving faith itself is a work of God that takes place apart from my effort.  I can't do anything to persuade God to save my soul - salvation is a work of grace, initiated by God on His terms.  It is based upon the work and life of another - Jesus Christ. Once that work has begun, and I respond, I discover that my faithwalk is characterized by a faith that works.  James 2:17 reminds us that "faith without works is dead".  Therefore as you grow in your faithwalk with Jesus Christ, every decision and event will be marked by whether or not you will take the saving faith you received and excercise it in obedience. 

Jesus is pictured in Revelation 3:20 as "standing at the door", knocking on the door of your heart, awaiting entry.  That's not a text speaking about salvation, rather it is addressed to believers who need to open the door of obedience so that Christ can come in and shine forth His life into their own so that they can have closer followship with Him. (Galatians 4:19)  May we be ever ready to open our life of Christian faith to obedience to the Lord.     

Why Thanksgiving gives confidence to do God's will

Finding pleasure in God and being thankful go hand in hand.  1 Chronicles 29:13 tells us - "¹³Now therefore, our God, we thank thee, and praise thy glorious name." 

The word translated "praise" could also be rendered "to enjoy, have confidence, find pleasure".  If you are really enjoying something (like candied yams or honey glazed turkey), thanksgiving to the cook will come naturally.  The words that come from your lips will reveal what is in your heart. 

THANKFULNESS WILL GIVE YOU CONFIDENCE TO LIVE OUT THE WILL OF GODAs we saw in yesterday's blog, as Paul wrote those words in 1 Thessalonians 5:18, he was thinking and writing as a Jew.  In the context of his writing, Paul was encouraging His readers to focus all of their attention on living and pleasing God.  If God is the pleasure, the delight of my life, then the command to "keep on giving thanks" will not be a drudgery, but a delight.  Thanksgiving is the one activity that ensures me that I am in the center of God's will in that particular area.  Whenever my whole life is characterized by thankfulness, I am expressing my pleasure in God, and I have confidence that I am doing His will. 

A 100% guarantee for being in God's will

1Thessalonians 5:18 - ¹⁸In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.

HOW THANKFULNESS MAKES STAYING IN GOD'S WILL AS EASY AS CANDIED YAMSWith tomorrow being thanksgiving, it is inevitable that before the day ends, my wife's cooking abilities will prove pleasant to my palate.  She makes the best honey glazed turkey you would ever want to eat.  I can even now taste her candied yams with a mountain of marshmellows blanketing the dish.  Things such as these make it easy to remain in the kitchen.  Thankfulness for the temporal pleasures like food points to the thankfulness we find in the goodness of God.  Thankfulness makes it much easier to desire to remain in the revealed will of God.    

HOW TO KNOW GOD'S WILL AND STAY IN GOD'S WILLWhen we gaze upon the goodness of our God, we will discover that staying in His will is a delight, rather than a drudgery.  How often do Christians find themselves wondering what the will of God is for their lives?  Not only that, but how often do you desire to remain in the will of God for your life?  These two questions have a surprisingly easy answer.  In fact, the answer is so simple that the Apostle Paul in the passage above explicitly says: "for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you."  What is God's will for my life?  How can I ensure that I'm still in His will?  One word: Thankfulness.

THE LINK BETWEEN PLEASURE IN GOD AND THANKFULNESSThe command: "In everything give thanks" in the original language conveys the thought - "Keep on giving thanks".  Thanksgiving in the Bible was a Jewish concept that had to do with how people used their words to express pleasure with a person or object.  The Goodness of God is expressed by the concept of God's Glory.  To not glory (or deem most precious) God is to take away the root of thankfulness.  When I find pleasure in God by grace through faith in Christ, I am glorifying Him in the pleasure I find in Him.  Likewise, as I find more and more pleasure in the Lord, I discover more reasons to glory in Him.  In doing this, I find the true blessing of being guaranteed of being in God's will - by being thankful for Him, and to Him and through Him in all things.