How To Surrender To God

TL;DR Summary

Pastor Jabin Chavez delivers a compelling message on the essence of surrendering to God, using the story of Jacob wrestling with God in Genesis 32 as a backdrop. He emphasizes the importance of facing both God and our own humanity to truly overcome life’s challenges. The sermon encourages believers to stop running from their problems and instead, engage in a transformative wrestling match with God, leading to a life of purpose and fulfillment.

The core message revolves around the biblical account of Jacob, who, after a life of deceit and running, encounters God in a profound way. Genesis 32:24-30 is highlighted, where Jacob wrestles with God and is ultimately blessed with a new name, Israel. This signifies a transformation from his past identity, marked by fear and deceit, to one of blessing and purpose. Pastor Chavez underscores that God meets us at our lowest points, offering grace and a new identity, much like He did with Jacob.

Listeners are encouraged to embrace their struggles and surrender to God, trusting Him to transform their lives. Pastor Chavez challenges individuals to stop running from their issues and instead hold onto God, allowing Him to redefine their identity and future. The message is a call to action, urging believers to wrestle with God and their humanity, leading to a life marked by divine blessing and a renewed sense of purpose.

Full Sermon Transcript

While you’re standing, while you’re standing, I just wanna thank God for our amazing pastors. Um, they’re the best. Uh, God is a God of people and places. And man, when you find your people and you find your place, never leave. And, uh, Pastor Steven and Pastor Holly are my peoples. And, uh, Elevation is my place, and God has used this house to change our lives and impact our lives and used this ministry to change us and shape us. And I just wanna take a moment to thank God, um, for the amazing leaders that He’s put in our life. Amen. Can you clap your hands? And, um, God must really love you. And God must really love this region because he put such amazing gifts in this place and Pastor Steven and Pastor Holly, and I just honor you guys. I know they’re probably watching from a, I don’t know, a tour bus or whatever they’re doing right now. Uh, but we love you, we celebrate you, we pray for you. We pray for your kids. We bless Abbey and Elijah and Graham and… Just thank God for them. And I thank God for this whole team, this whole staff that loves you and cares for you and Pastors here. Are you grateful for the team here at the church that just… Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. So, I’m honored to be here. We’re gonna go to God’s Word, so I will let you, uh, grab a seat. Just look at three or four people as you’re sitting down, say, “It looks like you’ve been losing weight.” Come on, tell ’em. It looks like you’ve been… What are you doing? Look at your neighbor, say, “Is that Ozempic? What are you doing?” No, don’t say that. Don’t say that.

Well, I bring greetings from Las Vegas and, uh, we just celebrated our seventh year of ministry. And to God be the glory. And, um, hey, if you’re ever in Vegas, to everyone here, everyone at every location, uh, eFam around the world, when you’re in Las Vegas doing ministry… Amen. Witnessing to the blackjack dealers and blessing the bartenders. Amen. I’m not here to judge. Um, but hey, when you do come to Vegas, and I know many of you do, please come say hi to us. We’d love to see you. We are a portable church. As of right now, we meet in a high school every Sunday. Uh, but our church, Citylight Church, uh, next month we’ll actually be moving into our first building. And man, so grateful for that. And, uh, to God be the glory.

Genesis chapter 32, for some of you a very familiar passage of scripture, for others of you, uh, maybe this will be new, but there is a story actually in your Bible about a man named Jacob who wrestles with God. And we’re gonna talk about it today. Genesis chapter 32. I am a preacher. Uh, teachers tell it, preachers yell it. And so if, if I start yelling, just yell back, it’ll be less awkward. Amen, everybody. Just give me an amen every once in a while. Give me an uh-huh. Give me a preach it. Whatever, whatever, whatever you feel. And, uh, we’re gonna have a little, we’re gonna have a little conversation today, okay? Genesis chapter 32. “So, Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him ’til daybreak. And 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.'” Let’s say that phrase together, everybody. “I will not let you go unless you bless me.” “Then the man asked him, ‘Who, who are you? What is your name?’ ‘Jacob,’ he answered. Then the man said, ‘Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled, you’ve wrestled, you’ve, you’ve faced God and humans and have overcome.”

See, our life is like a cross, vertical and horizontal. And we have to fight and deal with the God issue in life, but we also have to deal with the humanity issue of life. We have to face God and ourselves. And I find that most people are running from God and themselves. But if you would ever face God and face your own humanity, you can overcome and live such an amazing life. Now, now, now Jacob says, “Wh- well, I, I told you my name, please tell me your name.” But he replied, “Why do you ask my name?” Then he blessed him there. So Jacob called the place Face-to-Face, or Peniel, saying, “It’s because I saw God face to face, yet my life was spared.” The sun rose above him as he passed Peniel, and he was limping because of his hip.

And I wanna talk, just for a few moment- moments, I really kinda wanna just give you maybe a life verse and a life thought, and maybe less of a sermon and more of just how I attempt to live my life. And I wanna talk about how to surrender to God. How to surrender to God. Your life is gonna be a series of surrenders. And the more God can get a yes from you… the more He can do in your life. So let’s just practice right off the bat. We’re all gonna pray this prayer together. Everybody say, “Yes, Lord.” In Jesus’ name… Amen. And amen, and amen.

So we find Jacob now in Chapter 32, and Jacob is on the run. Um, he has stolen his brother Esau’s birthright. He has lied to his father-in-law, Laban, and now both men are chasing him down and they both wanna kill him. Uh, they don’t know this, but they’re both in hot pursuit of Jacob, and Jacob is on the run. He’s running from his brother. He’s running from his father-in-law. He’s running from his decisions. He’s running from his consequences. He’s really running from himself. And ultimately, I would say that he’s running from God. He’s on the run. Um, if, if you wanna know who Jacob is, let me give you kind of Jacob 101. If you’re trying to figure out who is this Jacob guy in the Bible, it can be defined in one verse. Jer- uh, excuse me. Genesis 31:31 says, “I rushed away because I was afraid.” That’s just, that’s just Jacob. Discontent, unsettled, rushing away, on the move, scared, insecure, always trying to cover up for his last lie, never settled where he’s at, always going somewhere. This is Jacob.

And here’s really the good news of the text. We find Jacob in Chapter 32 really at his lowest point and his lowest moment. And the good news of the text is it is here that God finds him. Oh, I love this. That God doesn’t meet him at his best place. Mm. All right. Oh, I, I thank God that He’s the God of the mountain but I’m, I’m really grateful that He’s the God of the valley. He is the God of my strength and He’s the God of my anointing, and He’s the God of my calling, but He’s also the God of my secrets and the God of my weakness. And, and He’s the God of my issues. Yes, He’s the God of my future, but He’s still the God of my past. He’s, He’s the God of light, but He knows how to find me in the darkness. I’m, I’m so grateful for a God that can find me at my lowest place. If, if you feel low today, I’ve got good news for you. God knows how to go low. David said, “Even if I make my bed in hell, You’ll be there. Even if I try to go hide in the dark, darkness is like light to You.” God has a way of finding and pursuing and chasing down His people.

My testimony after serving God now for 26 years is not how good I am, how faithful I’ve been, how anointed I am, how gifted I am, how holy I am. No, my testimony is God keeps chasing me down. Anybody grateful for the mercy of God? Oh, I know I just started preaching, like, three minutes ago, but can we take our first praise break? And just thank God that we’re all here by the grace of God. There’s not a perfect person on your row. There’s not anybody who has it all together. We’re all trophies of God’s mercy and God’s grace. Oh, I told you, two men were chasing Jacob. There was a third man chasing Jacob. And His name was God Almighty, and He has a way of chasing us down. He has a way of pursuing us. He, He has a way of running after us. And, and, and that, that’s the beauty of what God can do. And, and here’s our response: Yes, Lord. Our response to God’s hot pursuit, our response to God’s love, our response to God’s grace is yes. And that’s what I wanna t- I wanna talk about your surrender. Because the more God can get of you the more God can do through you.

So let’s, let’s talk about it a little bit. If I’m gonna surrender to God, firstly, uh, you have to stop running. All right. It’s gonna get better. I promise it’s gonna get better. You gotta stop, you gotta stop running. Verse 24, the, the text begins with, “Jacob was left alone.” Here’s what you find when you study Jacob. He’s never alone. He’s chasing daddy’s blessing. He’s hanging out with mama. He’s the first mama’s boy in the Bible. He’s in pursuit of his brother’s blessing. He’s running after Laban’s daughters. He’s, he’s always busy, always moving, always running, and always active and always around people. He’s never alone. And he finally gets alone. And I find that so many people have traded in fruitfulness for busyness. They, they think to themselves, “As long as I’m busy and tired and depressed and, and worn out, I must be holy.” Uh-huh. Was that for somebody in this section? Amen? And so, so they’re always active but never growing. Always busy but rarely fruitful. Uh, always running so they never have to face God or themselves. They never have to deal with the God issue in their life. And so, uh, w- what, what Jacob finally has to do is he ha- finally has to get alone long enough for God to do something in his life. And it’s, and it’s here that he finally gets alone.

See, friend, I, I’ve seen this now. I’m a rookie pastor. I’ve only been pastoring for seven years, but I have seen that, that, man, people just love to be moving. And they go from job to job, career to career, guy to guy, girl to girl, marriage to marriage sometimes. Um, church to church. Come on. Yeah. Yes. City to city. They’re always moving. Y- you know what I’ve learned? I’ve learned that wherever we go, there, there we are. You discovered that yet? You moved to Charlotte. You still you. You married the man of your dreams and you still you. Sir, you were mean single, and you’re mean married. You… You… We just need to have a baby, and then you have a baby and, ah, they’re you. Did that scare anybody else when you had a child? You went, “Jesus, it’s me.” And then as they get older they start acting like you. You go, “Who raised you?” “Oh, my bad. My bad. My bad. I, I thought…” See, a lot of times we’re, we’re, we’re running from things, but we’re not facing things. We’re, we’re running from things, but we’re not wrestling with things. We’re, we’re running from ourselves, but it’s not until we wrestle with God and with humanity that we can finally overcome.

Jesus has a better way and it’s, it’s actually called repentance. He, he says in Matthew 4, he says, “Re- repent of your sin. Tu- turn from your sins. Repent of your sins.” But then he says this, “And turn to God.” See, a lot of people don’t like their sin. They don’t like their issues. They don’t like their secrets. They don’t like their… Whatever they’re going through, but they don’t have any power over it. Here’s why, ’cause you haven’t turned to God. See, the, the issue is not disliking a part of your life. The issue is loving God. See, God is the power of repentance, not remorse. God is the power of repentance, not guilt. There are so many Christians that hate themselves, but don’t have freedom. Why? Because they have not learned how to love God yet. The power’s in loving God. Here’s what Jesus is really saying. It’s not as much of a sin issue as a God issue. That what you really need is God.

Well, now, now, now Paul goes further in Ephesians, and here’s how he would say to me that same Scripture. He says, “Don’t get drunk with wine.” Now, this is old King James. “Wherein excess,” that’s just a fancy way of saying it’s never gonna be enough, whatever it is. The wine will never get you drunk enough. The drugs will never get you high enough. The sex will never be good enough. Your husband will never be nice enough. The kids will never act good enough. The house will never be big enough. The car will never be fast enough. The bank account will never be full enough. Oh, what am I saying? I’m saying anytime you get inebriated on a world’s system. Can I talk to anybody? Maybe you’ve been drinking from the wrong well. Jesus looked at a woman in John 4 and He said, “You keep drinking from the wrong well, and that’s why you’re always thirsty. But if you would ever drink of the living water, you would never thirst again.” See, maybe the issue, maybe it’s not what you think it is. See, I’m trying to, I’m trying to fix my life with all these temporal things, but maybe the craving is eternal. Because Paul would go on to say, “Don’t get drunk with wine wherein excess.” In other words, it’s never gonna be enough. Instead, be filled with the Holy Spirit. So what, what Paul is saying is he’s saying there’s a God issue. See, Jacob had, had money. Jacob had family. Jacob had camels and donkeys and horses and cows. And that’s like saying Mercedes and BMWs and a Corvette and a Ford F-150 Raptor and a private jet. I mean, he had everything. He had, y’all, he had wives. I didn’t say a wife. He had wives. He had kids. He had, he had stuff, but he was missing God. And, and, and C. S. Lewis says that if, if you have everything the world has to offer and, and you still feel empty, maybe it’s because you were made for another world. Maybe it’s Ecclesiastes 3 that says, “Eternity is in our hearts.” And so we’re trying to fill it with the temporal things of this life, but in reality, we need God. See, Jacob had a God issue. Friend, I got a God issue. We, we have a… We need God. And Paul says, “You’re, you’re trying to get drunk. You’re trying to find peace. You’re trying to get inebriated on a world’s system that is never gonna be enough.” You’re always gonna need excess. But instead, you can be filled with the Spirit. In other words, it’s, it’s God that you’re looking for. Whoo, anybody know they need God today? I, I, man, I know I need Go- I need, I need more of God.

So, so God is creating in the Book of Genesis. He’s, He’s the creator in Genesis. He’s, He’s the artist in Genesis. And something very interesting happens in the Book of Genesis. The Bible says that God makes dirt. Okay. He doesn’t make trees. He makes dirt. He doesn’t make flowers. He makes dirt. He doesn’t make grass. He makes dirt. The Bible said that He creates dirt, He creates land, and then He talks to the dirt. And He says, “Dirt, get to work.” And the dirt says, “Yes, sir.” And the dirt starts producing trees and flowers and grass and bushes. The dirt, the dirt begins to produce. This is, this is amazing. That’s why whenever you remove a tree from the dirt, the tree dies, because you’ve removed the tree from its source. Uh, gentlemen, maybe you’ve bought your wife flowers, maybe it’s been a while. M- maybe do that tonight. You buy your wife flowers, and, and, and you give her the flowers and they’re so beautiful, right? And they, they sit in the kitchen, and they’re so beautiful. And then after like three days, you walk downstairs one day and go, “Oh my God, what happened to the flowers? They died.” No, they were already dead. They were already dead because you removed them from their source. Okay. Then he makes water. He doesn’t make fish, he makes water. And he tells the water, “Water, get to work.” And straight out of Moana 2, that water says, “Yes sir.” Sorry, I got an eight-year-old. My bad. That water says, “Yes sir.” And the water… This is in your Bible. Starts producing fish. That’s why when you remove a fish from the water, the fish starts flopping and hopping, and it’s gonna die. It’s gonna die because water is its source. Water made the fish, and the fish needs its creator. I’m going somewhere. I’m not lost. But when God made Adam… When God made you, when God made me, He didn’t talk to the dirt. He didn’t talk to the water. He did not even talk to oxygen. When God created humanity, God had to talk to Himself. And He said, “Let us make man in our image and in our likeness.” What am I saying? I’m saying that a tree needs dirt, and a fish needs water, and Jabin needs Jesus. And we need God. And any time we try to live our life separate from God, we gon’ be like a fish flopping on the ground. We gon’ be like flowers dying in the vase. Friend, we need God, not just money. We need God, not just food. We need God, not just shelter. We need God… Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of our creator, out of our source. He is God, and I need God today. Oh, if you know you need Him, come on, just give Him praise for a moment. I… In Him I live, and in Him I move, and in Him I breathe, and in Him I have my being. And just because life might be comfortable right now, Jacob, does not mean that you don’t need God. Ooh! Oh, it’s easy to be reminded in the valley that I need Him, but sometimes when things start working out, we start telling ourselves, “We’ve done this,” and “We got this,” and “We good.” And… But I, but I have to be reminded that every time I, I get a little bit prideful, I just look like that fish flopping on the side of the river. I need God.

So I gotta, I gotta stop running. Secondly, I have to admit that I have issues. Yeah, yeah. Elbow your neighbor. Can you tell him, “Don’t judge me.” Tell him, “Don’t judge me.” Look at one more person and say, “I can tell you’re judging me. Stop it. Just stop. Just stop judging me.” See, now that Jacob is finally wrestling with God, God goes, “Who are you? Who are you?” This is an interesting question because God does not ask questions ’cause He doesn’t know the answer. Nothing’s ever occurred to God. God knows who He’s wrestling with. It, it’s not that God doesn’t know, it’s that Jacob has to get honest. It’s not that God’s gonna learn something new, it’s that Jacob’s about to learn something new. Any time God asks you a question, it’s not ’cause, it’s, He doesn’t know the answer, it’s because He’s trying to reveal a truth to you. He says, “Who are you?” And Jacob is finally going to admit, “I am Jacob.” Uh, one theologian in one commentary said that Jacob probably had not used his name in 10 to 15 years. Well, why is that important? Because in today’s world, names don’t mean a lot. We just kind of name our kids what we want to name our kids. We might have a family name, but nothing’s that significant. But in Bible days, you were given a name based off of the pregnancy or based off of the s- season of the pregnancy or based off of the birth. And so, names were significant because the parents believed that these were prophetic declarations over the child. That the name was gonna represent the character and the future of the child. So the Bible says that Jacob is a twin. There was a war that happened in the womb of Rebecca, and the Scripture says that as, uh, Rebecca is giving birth to Jacob and Esau, Esau leaves the womb first. And as Esau is leaving the womb, the Scripture says that Jacob reached out and grabbed the heel of Esau. This is graphic. This is Genesis, amen. This is rated R. He grabs the, the, the heel of Esau and Rebecca blurts out, “Oh, this is, this is my Jacob. This is my heel grasper, or supplanter, the one that knocks you off balance. This is my deceiver.” She was basically saying, “Keep an eye out on the second boy, he’s gonna be my troublemaker. He’s gonna be our black sheep. He… Whoo, he’s gonna be our problem child. He’s, he’s, he’s a trickster. We, we gon’ have issues with him.” And guess what? Everything Rebecca declared, Jacob became.

Side note, parents, this is why it’s so important to protect the language of your house. Let me just talk about it for three seconds, just really quick. Watch what you say around your child and to your child because they are like spiritual sponges that are picking things up. And I’ll, I’ll move on from that, but it’s important. And so she, she declares this over her son, and that’s what Jacob became. He became a liar. He became a deceiver. He became a trickster. He became everything that she said he would become. So when God says, “Who are you?” God is trying to get Jacob to the place where he can reveal who he is so that God can transform him, because God won’t heal or change what you won’t reveal. You’ve got to bring it into the light as he’s in the light. And so now, Jacob is finally going to admit, “I’m, I’m Ja- I am who Rebecca told me I am.” Oh, man. This is huge. And see, Jacob could have told God the truth, kinda. God could have said, “JJ.” God could have said, “Who are you?” And he could have said, “I’m Abraham’s grandson.” “I’m one of Isaac’s kids. I’m one of Rebecca’s boys. I’m, I’m one of Esau’s brothers. I’m… I’m one of Laban’s son-in-laws.” I… See, he could have, he could have told the truth-ish, but it would not have dealt with the real issue. Oh, man. I see people every week. They come into church, “Oh, praise God. Hallelujah. Glory to God.” “Everything good?” “Blessed. So blessed. We’re so good.” “We’re just so good right now. Aren’t we, babe? Babe? Babe? Babe?” It’s like blink twice if you’re in trouble. You know what I mean? It’s like, “Kids are so good. We’re just so blessed. We’re just so happy. Ah, we’re just… Oh, I love God. I love church. I love waiting in that line out there. Man, what a blessing. Woo! Love it.” L- l- let me say something. I’m not… You don’t need to be real with everybody, and I definitely don’t want you to walk around with a dark cloud of negativity, but, but somebody has to know the real you. Can we talk about it? And God ought to know the real you. Like if, if you’re gonna get honest and open with anybody, you ought to get honest and open with God. That, that’s why we play the music so loud here at Elevation, so that while the worship’s going on, you can just utter a quick prayer to the Lord like, “Lord, I, I still got some Jacob in me. I still got some mess in me. I still got some issues. I still got some trauma and some drama. I’m still carrying some baggage, but God I’m inviting you into this space. I’m not gonna fake it around God. I’m not gonna… I’m not, I’m not just gonna smile around God.” See, denial is not faith. Jesus did not say, “Deny the mountain and it’ll eventually go away.” No. He said, “You gotta talk to it.” And if you’re gonna talk to the mountain, that means you have to admit that it’s actually there. This is, this is not just, you know, smile and be positive till everything turns around. No. It’s inviting God into your issues, inviting God into your brokenness. It’s inviting God into your pain and saying, “God, I’m inviting you into this space. Do something with my life.” And God loves that. If, if you think you have to be perfect to be a Christian, you have heard the wrong Gospel, friend. This is, this is not a message for perfect people, and this is not a church for perfect people. This is a church for people who know they need God. Oh, are you grateful for that today, that we don’t have to fake it with the Lord? We’re not faking it till we make it. So he says, “I’m, I’m Jacob,” and now God can finally do something. Oh, but so many times we wanna live in denial about where we are and who we are and… But now God, God knows, “Okay, I can, I can get involved in this moment. I can begin to move in this moment. I can begin to do something in this moment because I have, I have revealed it.”

And so the third thing that you have to do, now that you’ve stopped running and you’ve admitted that you have issues, well, now you gotta hold onto God. Somebody say, “Hold on. Hold on. Hold on.” Hold on. Hold on. Jacob said, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.” Ooh. This is an amazing text. It’s an amazing text because God picks the fight with Jacob. God begins the fight with Jacob, and then it, it feels pretty short. They’re, they’re wrestling, and all of a sudden God taps out and goes, “All right. I’m done. Wrap it up. You’re done.” And it’s kind of like, “God, why, why you, why you pick a fight with me and then leave me?” Y’all ever felt that way? Come on, it’s March right now, but in January God picked a fight with you and, “God, it’s gonna be my year. Oh, God’s gonna do something awesome in 2025. I’m coming alive. I’m gonna thrive in 2025.” And now it’s March and you’re going, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Where, where are… What… Where are, where are you, Jesus?” Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. That’s what God’s, that’s what God’s do… You’re not the first one to experience it. That’s what God’s doing with Jacob. God, God pursues Jacob and then He lets Jacob go and He goes, “All right. We’re done.” And see, I believe that God was testing Jacob. I believe God was testing Jacob because Jacob always ran in moments of discomfort. He ran from his home. He ran from his brother. He ran from his father-in-law. He’s always on the run. And here’s what God’s saying, “Jacob, go ahead and run. Do what you’ve always done and get what you’ve always got. Jacob, go ahead. I give you permission to continue the cycle. I give you permission to continue to do what you’ve… Go ahead, go ahead and run, man. Go, go ahead and… If you wanna run, run.” And, and, and hear me, friend. You can run or you can wrestle, but you can’t do both. You can’t run and wrestle. You’re gonna have to make a decision. And by the way, the life you want you will not get by running every time things get uncomfortable. The life you want is gonna take a wrestling match with God. See, you thought you came to church today, but this is a giant octagon in the Holy Ghost. This is a heavenly octagon. And God is inviting you into a wrestling match with Heaven today where you can finally face God and face yourself and say, “I’m done running. I’m, I’m done being flaky. I’m done going from thing to thing and from, from life to life. I’m ready to finally embrace what God wants to do in my life.” Let me just remind you, a church like this is not built by pastors who run every time it gets challenging. A church like this is not built by pastors who run every time there’s tension or, or there’s an attack from the enemy or there’s, or there’s different crisises going on. No, no, no. A church like this is built by a man and a woman of God who say, “God has called us here and we ain’t going nowhere.” We are wrestling with God. We’re wrestling with each other. We’re wrestling with our own humanity. Anybody grateful for that today? That, that God has given you a fighter in this pulpit? And can I tell you, the life you want, you’re gonna have to fight for it. Oh, come on. Somebody shout, “Fight for it.” “Fight for it.” The marriage you want, you’re gonna have to fight for it. The purity you want, you’re gonna have to fight for it. The season you’re in, you’re gonna have to fight for it. The business you’re believing God for, you’re gonna have to fight for it. The faith that you wanna step into, you’re gonna have to fight for it. And God goes, “Jacob, if you wanna run, go ahead and run. But if you’re ready to wrestle, I am ready to transform your life, change your name, and do something amazing in your life.” Oh, come on. Can I get a, “Yes, Lord,” from somebody today that says, “I’m going all in this year”? And it’s here that… You don’t quit when you wanna quit. You don’t leave when you wanna leave. You don’t run when you run- wanna run. And sometimes you do. Sometimes your humanity is strong and sometimes you’re saved, but your flesh forgets it. Amen. Has anyone forgot they’re saved before? Anybody in traffic? Anybody ever… Okay, okay, okay. Just making sure I’m still talking to real people.

A couple of months ago, I, I tried to quit. I, I’ll just be honest with you. I, I walked downstairs and I looked at my wife and we kinda just stared at each other awkwardly in the kitchen for a second. And then I turned around, I went to the freezer, and I got a half-gallon, a half-gallon… Not a, not a pint. A half-gallon of Blue Bell ice cream. A half-gallon. People always ask me, “What flavor?” I don’t know why they wanna know that, but vanilla. You’re like, “Thank you for telling me.” I was a little OCD about that and needed to know. So I got my, I got my half-gallon of Blue Bell. And then I walked over to the, um, to the countertop. And my wife… I don’t know, ladies, why you do this, but she has a, she has, like, a vase of, like, fancy spoons that we’re not allowed to use. There’s a spatula I’m not allowed to use, a pair of tongs I’m not allowed to use. And there’s this, like, big slotted spoon. And I walked up to her and I grabbed it. Like I’m four years old. I mean, it’s a giant spoon. Come on, somebody. I grabbed this big old spoon and this ice cream and I looked at her. And I said, “I’m not leaving you and I’m not leaving God, but I’m done with this church. I’m quitting. I’m gonna quit tomorrow.” So if you wanna be the pastor, go ahead. Women empowerment. Amen. You can be the pastor. If you wanna call Pastor Steven and Pastor Holly and make it Elevation Vegas, go ahead. But I am quitting tomorrow and I’m gonna go eat my ice cream. And I turn around real dramatic ’cause I’m a preacher. And I started walking up my stairs with my Blue Bell ice cream. And my wife from the sink doing the dishes… Now, she says she’s five foot, but we all know she’s 4’11”. Amen. She’s 4’11”. 4’11”, Latina, Pentecostal, Holy Ghost-filled wild woman. By the way, I quit when I was at least 30 feet away from her. Amen. ‘Cause if she threw anything at me, I knew I could… So you know, I’m smart. Pentecostal and passionate. Amen. So, so she’s at the, she’s at the dishes and I’m walking up the stairs and I think she’s gonna let me get away with it. And all of a sudden, halfway up the stairs this is all I hear, “No!” I turned around. Y’all, God as my witness, I protected the ice cream like it was my child. I went, “It’s okay, baby. It’s okay. Mom’s mad right now, but we’re gonna be o-… It’s okay.” “It’s okay. It’s okay. Just, it’s okay.” And I said, “What do you mean?” She said, “You’re not quitting.” She said, “So go eat your ice cream, and have a pity party, and then pray. And when you wake up tomorrow you’re still gonna be the pastor.” And I said, “I’ll pray about it.” And I walked up the stairs. And I ate a half-gallon of-… of, uh… Amen. You don’t get like this without discipline. Amen, somebody. What you talking about? This is a fight right here, amen, to keep this weight up. In case you missed it online, I said I ate that half gallon, so it went wow. And I ate that half gallon of ice cream, and I had a pity party. And then I prayed, and I woke up the next morning with a stomach ache, and I’m still in the ministry. Can I get a good amen, everybody? Sometimes you just gotta wrestle.

My mentor, Pastor Tommy Barnett, said, “Jabin, be encouraged every time you wanna quit.” I said, “Why would I be encouraged every time I wanna quit?” He said, “‘Cause that means you have something to quit.” And then you get happy that you could quit, but you’re not gonna quit. You- you- you get encouraged that you could quit, but you don’t quit. And then you keep moving forward.” I said, “Amen, I like that.” So I thought about quitting, and then I didn’t quit. And this is what God is saying, “Jacob, if you wanna, if you wanna quit, go ahead. But if you’re ready to wrestle, I want you to wrestle. I’ll have the team come.” And it’s here that Jacob realizes, ah, I’m not wrestling with a man. This is God. And the Bible says that Jacob realizes, “I’m- I’m wrestling God right now.” See, when you choose not to run and you wrestle, you get to see a side of God you’ve never seen before. It’s one thing to know there’s a God, and there’s one thing to sense God. But it’s another thing when you can say, “I’ve seen God face-to-face.” That’s the invitation of heaven, and that’s what happens when you wrestle. And as they’re wrestling, Jacob says this, “Okay, I- I told you my name. What’s your name? I told you who I am, but who are you?” Oh, this is the question every believer must ask. And if you’ll ask it, God will answer you. It’s the question Moses asked in Exodus 3, “Who are you?” It’s the question David asked in Psalm 18, “Who are you?” It’s the question that the disciples asked in Matthew 8, “Who are you?” It’s the question Peter needed to answer in Matthew 16, “Who is Jesus?” It’s the question Paul would ask on the road to Damascus in Acts chapter 9, “Lord, who are you? I’ve heard about you from my parents. I’ve heard about you from my pastor. I’ve heard about you from the preacher. I’ve heard about you from my praying grandmother, but God who are you?” “Oh, you’re the God of Abraham and you’re the God of Isaac, but I want you to be the God of Jacob.” “Who are you?” And if you will ask, God will answer. And God answered, but- but I want you to watch this. He does not answer the way He normally answers. Moses asked, “Who are you?” And he said, “I Am that I am.” Paul asked, “Who are you?” And he said, “I am Jesus, the one you persecute.” Abraham asked, “Are… Who are you?” And God said, “I am Jehovah.” But when Jacob asks, “Who are you?” God doesn’t answer him with a word. He doesn’t answer him with a name. He answers him with an action. He blesses him. Please watch this. Please watch this. This word blessing is what a parent does. The- the Hebrew thought behind this is like a parent, and the child is running towards the parent. And the parent gets on his hands and knees, and opens his hands real wide. And the parent gets on eye to eye with the baby. And this word blessing means to get on your knees, come face to face with a child, put your hands on the child, and speak affirmation and blessing over them. And when Jacob wrestles with God, God stops the wrestling match and he blesses him. It’s like God was saying, “I’m not Rebecca. I don’t curse my kids. I’m not Isaac. I don’t have just enough for you or Esau. I’m the God of more than enough.” “My name is El Shaddai, I’m the everlasting God. And Jacob, I’ve got enough for you and Esau, and you, and you, and you, and you, and you. And I don’t speak curses over my kids, I speak blessings over my children.” And he blessed him there, and he blessed him there with a new name. He said, “You are no longer your past. You are no longer what Rebecca said about you. You are no longer what Isaac allowed to be said over you. You are no longer your worst season. You’re no longer your past. You’re no longer your famine. You’re no longer your mistakes. You’re no longer the pain you’ve been.”… the death. You’re no longer the divorce. You’re no longer the addiction. You are no longer Jacob, you are Israel. Somebody, give God a massive shout of praise in this place. You are loved, you are healed, you are a child of God, saved, redeemed from the curse. You are holy. You are forgiven. You are free. You are well-supplied, protected, promised. You are no longer Jacob. Oh, you can have what God said you could have. You can be who God said you could be. You can do what God said you can do. You’re Israel. You’re Israel. You can let go of the names- … and take on His name for you. It is amazing. If you just said your name right now, every location, online and around the world. Just, you don’t have to shout it loud, but just, just say, on the count of three, just say your name. One, two, three. Jabin. Ooh, that name comes with drama. Package. History. Issues. Family tree stuff. And you know what, one of my favorite scriptures is? In the Book of Revelation, God, God says, “When you get to heaven, I’m giving you a new name.” He gives Jacob a new name, and now, and now Jacob is under this blessing. And watch what happens. He’s… Whoo, he’s limping. He went from running to wrestling to limping. I don’t trust anyone who doesn’t have a limp. I’m not talking about swag or drip or rizz, or whatever the kids say. I’m talking about ow. I’m talking about God changed my walk and God changed my talk and God changed my life and God changed my name and- … I’m talking about I died with Christ in the water and I came out a new person. I’m talking about I’ve been born again. I’m talking about goodbye yesterday, God has done a work in… Oh, anybody grateful for a new name? He’s limping and then… It doesn’t stop there, it doesn’t stop there, it doesn’t stop there. I promise I’m almost done. He- He’s now limping, and then here’s the next thing he’s doing. This is now Hebrews, Hebrews chapter 11. He’s… Watch this, put it up on the screen. He’s leaning. Watch this. By faith, Jacob was dying. That’s number four, ’cause, ’cause we, we’re all gonna die. I hate to say it. I don’t want it to happen, but it’s gonna happen. But as he’s… I want you to watch how he dies. Because, because he died so different than how he was born. Sorry about that. That’s called a Pentecostal shake, but I had to speak in tongues. I had to get it out of my arm, amen, ’cause I’m at L… I had to behave ’cause I’m at Elevation, so I had to… So watch this, watch this. Sorry, sorry, sorry. This is how I was raised, sorry. He’s dying, but he’s gonna die so different than he was born. He’s dying blessing. He’s now doing the thing that God did for him. He’s now on his hands and knees, blessing his son and his grandsons. Watch this. Blessing, worshiping. Leaning on his, leaning on his reminder- … of his God encounter. The Hebrew scholars tell us that the staff was a generational gift that you would give to your children. And it was a history lesson. You would actually carve into the staff different big God moments in the life of the family. So no doubt, as he’s blessing his grandsons, I could almost imagine him looking at his grandsons, going, “Loo, if you knew me then.” And I could almost imagine one of his grandsons going, “Papa Israel, Papa Israel, what, what do you mean?” And he looks at that staff and he goes, “Let me, let me take you here. I used to be Jacob. I used to be a liar, a deceiver, a taker. I was so full of fear, I was so full of insecurity, I was so full of… But God.” And he starts telling the story. The man who was born taking blessing, dies giving blessing. The man who was born under Rebekah’s curse dies under God’s blessing. Oh, can I tell you? You can die different. You can live a radically different life than what was predicted, than what they said, than what you thought. That you can live under the blessing of God. That you don’t have to just repeat the cycles of Rebekah. That you don’t have to repeat the cycles of family history. That you don’t just have to repeat the cycles, but you can actually step into a new thing that God has for you. That when you tell the story to your family, they will look at you and go, “You could’ve never been that way. Our family could’ve never been that way.” And you say, “Oh, that’s who we were, but we met a man named Jesus.” “And he changed our life and he changed our name and he changed our walk.” Oh, this is the story of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. That he can turn it around, that he can turn it around. That I sought the Lord and he heard me, and he answered me, and he delivered me from all of my fears. If you’re grateful for that, can we just stand and give God a massive shout of praise?

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