Introduction. A few seconds went by and then the walls opened up again Out walked this BEAUTIFUL, GORGEOUS BLONDE.

Transcription

1 Message for Sunday Night, February 28, 2010 Christian Hope Church of Christ, Plymouth, North Carolina by Reggie A. Braziel, Minister WHEN GOD WANTS TO CHANGE A MAN Genesis 32:22-32 READ SCRIPTURE TEXT PRAYER Introduction ILLUSTRATION: A country farmer and his family ventured into the BIG CITY for the very first time. They were amazed by everything they Saw. But especially interesting to them were these TWO SHINEY, SILVER WALLS that could move apart and back together again. The boy asked, What is this father? The father (having never Seen an ELEVATOR before) said, Son, I don t know what it is, I ve Never seen anything like it before in my whole life. Well as the boy and his father continued to watch..an OLD LADY LIMPING WITH A CANE walked up to the moving walls.punched a button the walls opened.she Got inside and the walls closed. A few seconds went by and then the walls opened up again Out walked this BEAUTIFUL, GORGEOUS BLONDE. The father said, Son I still don t know what this thing is But I want you to go out to the PICK UP and get your mother RIGHT NOW!

2 If you could change one thing about yourself what would it Be? -Most of us would probably say we would change something about our physical appearance. -Others might say you would change something about your personality or your attitude. One of the greatest tragedies in life is when OUR PRIDE blinds Us to AREAS of our life that NEED CHANGING! CHANGE is a necessary part of the Growing Process in the Christian life. If you aren t CHANGING you re likely NOT GROWING spiritually. GOD has made it very clear in His Word that He does not want any of us to remain spiritual infants, but that HE desires that ALL OF US GROW AND MATURE INTO CHRIST-LIKENESS. One mark of SPIRITUAL MATURITY is when we recognize areas Of our life that NEED CHANGING and WITH GOD S HELP we Determine to make those changes. By the same token.one MARK of SPIRITUAL IMMATURITY is when OUR PRIDE or SELF-RIGHTEOUSNESS blinds us to NEEDED CHANGES in our LIFE. What happens when we have spiritual blindspots in our life? How does GOD go about getting the attention of those of us who are SLOW LEARNERS when it comes to growing up spiritually?

3 Well.in our text from GENESIS 32, we see what GOD does WHEN HE WANTS TO CHANGE A MAN. In our TEXT we are going to see a FOUR-STEP PROCESS God uses When He desires to CHANGE US into the man or woman he wants us to be. This incident in our TEXT was a TURNING POINT in Jacob s life. Up to this point..jacob had been a rather shifty and shady individual. Even the name JACOB, revealed something of his character.jacob in the Hebrew, means cheater or schemer. Remember EARLIER in his life he had CHEATED his Brother ESAU out of his BIRTHRIGHT for a bowl of Soup. But in spite of his SHADEY PAST GOD had great plans for this man..but first he would have to take JACOB through A PAINFUL GROWING PROCESS. Let s look now at this FOUR-STEP PROCESS God took Jacob Through

4 PHASE ONE: The Crisis Phase vs Before GOD can bring about a necessary change in in our lives HE must first get our attention. And what better way to get our attention than to allow us to go through a CRISIS SITUATION that is completely out of our control. 2. You notice in verse 24, this man.. this ANGEL seemingly appeared out of nowhere and wrestled with JACOB all night long. Isn t that how CRISES often appear in our lives they just seem to come out of nowhere. NO one schedules a crisis on their calendar. TRIALS and TROUBLES and CRISES come when we least expect them. 3. But while Jacob is wrestling with A MAN, what he didn t realize was in reality HE WAS REALLY WRESTLING WITH GOD! 4. As the night wore on, JACOB found himself in a no win Situation. He kept WRESTLING..He kept STRUGGLING He kept RESISTING.He kept FIGHTING..and All he was doing was wearing himself out. Isn t that exactly what you and I do when GOD is trying to change something in our lives? We keep fighting.we keep wrestling..we keep on resisting..and we grow more and more frustrated and angry. And our PRIDE won t let us surrender! Our PRIDE won t allow us to humble ourselves and submit to GOD S WILL.

5 5. WELL after Jacob wrestled all night long and still refused to GIVE UP..GOD DISABLED HIM AT ONE OF HIS STRONGEST POINTS HIS HIP. VERSE 25 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. 6. If you have ever had a dislocated hip or a dislocated Shoulder, you know how excruciatingly painful they can Be. Evidently Jacob continued to wrestle with a dislocated HIP..but EVERY MOVE..EVERY TWIST AND TURN.EVERY ATTEMPT TO RESIST..brought him excruciating pain. 7. When GOD is trying to bring about a NEEDED CHANGE in your life or mine and we continue to RESIST HIM..we should not be surprised when GOD DISABLES us at the very SOURCE of our PRIDE. 8. It isn t because GOD is cruel or that He delights in seeing us suffer..it s because GOD knows that OUR HUMAN PRIDE is very POWERFUL and DESTRUCTIVE and sometimes the ONLY thing that will break it is for our LIVES to become DISLOCATED at the very source Of our pride. HEBREWS 12: 5, 6 My son, do not make light of the Lord s Discipline and do not lose heart when he rebukes You, because the Lord disciplines those he loves And He punishes everyone He accepts as a son.

6 9. Any time GOD allows a CRISIS or TRIAL to come into our lives, He does so because HE LOVES US, not because He hates us. 10. So the FIRST PHASE in God s Changing Process is THE CRISIS PHASE. PHASE TWO: The Commitment Phase vs Then the man said, Let me go, for it is daybreak. But Jacob replied, I will not Let you go unless you bless me. 1. The second phase in GOD S CHANGE PROCESS is he brings Us to a point of COMMITMENT. Jacob was willing to GIVE UP the struggle if the Man would bless him. 2. Jacob had been in an unpleasant situation he didn t like...he was frustrated and he still did not understand what This struggle had been all about.but he is COMMITTED To staying with the STRUGGLE until GOD turns it around for His good. 3. The lesson we learn from this is this: After GOD gets our attention with a painful crisis doesn t necessarily mean GOD is going to bring an INSTANTANTEOUS end to our pain. 4. GOD is not interested in quick fixes.he is only interested in LONG-TERM CURES.

7 5. OFTEN the area of our life GOD is trying to change is something that has been deeply imbedded in our lives for many, many years, perhaps even our whole life. -It may be a SINFUL, DESTRUCTIVE HABIT that will eventually KILL you unless you CHANGE. Maybe it s a SECRET SIN. -It may be an ATTITUDE of PRIDE and SELF-RIGHTEOUSNESS or a root of bitterness or hatred toward someone. -Perhaps it s a GOSSIPING TONGUE or a LYING TONGUE or a CRITICAL JUDGMENTAL SPIRIT toward others. 6. The more DEEPLY IMBEDDED that SIN that ATTITUDE. That BEHAVIOR is in OUR LIFE the LONGER the PAINFUL CHANGING PROCESS may take. 7. GOD wants to see if we are REALLY SERIOUS and MEAN BUSINESS about changing.and that means we must MAKE A COMMITMENT to ride out the crisis until the very end, until GOD BRINGS ABOUT THE CHANGE HE DESIRES IN US PHASE ONE is the crisis phase. PHASE TWO is the commitment phase.

8 PHASE THREE: The Confession Phase vs. 27, The man asked him, What is your name? Jacob he answered. 28 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. 1. Why did the angel ask Jacob his name? It was to get JACOB to CONFESS his true character. -My name is JACOB! -My name is CHEATER SCHEMER 2. CHRISTIAN one of the greatest turning points in your life and mine is when we come to that point where we can HUMBLY and TRUTHFULLY CONFESS who and what we really are! WHAT IS MY NAME?..My name is GOSSIP! My name is LIAR! My name is SELF-RIGHTEOUS..My name is SELF-SUFFICIENT..My name is ADULTERER..My name is MATERIALISTIC.My name is HYPOCRITE My name is ALCOHOLIC My name is PRIDE My name is CRITICAL and JUDGEMENTAL My name is SELF-CENTERED 3. OH how it pains us to be HONEST and TRUTHFUL About OURSELVES..but is is a NECESSARY STEP In our TRANSFORMATION.

9 4. As long as we REFUSE to CONFESS our TRUE NATURE..the PAIN, the MISERY, the STRUGGLE, and THE FRUSTRATION will continue When God wants to change a man He first takes him through THE CRISIS PHASE then the COMMITMENT PHASE. then the CONFESSION PHASE and finally.. PHASE FOUR: The Co-operation Phase vs. 29, Jacob said, Please tell me your name. But he replied, Why do you ask my Name? Then he blessed him there. 30 So Jacob called the place Peniel, saying It is because I saw God face to face, And yet my life was spared. 1. Jacob had endured the struggle. His name has been changed to ISRAEL. And now.we see his willingness to co-operate with GOD S PLAN. 2. Everyone of us must reach that point in our lives where we are completely transparent before OUR GOD. It is so easy to just put up this spiritual façade.and try to impress people with our external acts of righteousness. BUT eventually there comes a time in all our lives When ALL THE HYPOCRISY.all the GAME PLAYING.. And ALL THE FACADES must come down and we get down to the business of living surrendered lives to the Lord.

10 3. The changes GOD desires to bring about in you and me are LASTING CHANGES that can only happen when we are willing to FULLY CO-OPERATE WITH GOD S PLAN FOR OUR LIVES C O N C L U S I O N ILLUSTRATION: During my FRESHMAN YEAR in HIGH SCHOOL, I had to Take FRESHMAN PHYS. ED. Now we did a lot of things in FRESHMAN P.E. that I loved like BASKETBALL, FLAG FOOTBALL And SOFTBALL. BUT..there was one thing in FRESHMAN P.E. I absolutely Hated and that was WRESTLING. During those COLD, WINTER MONTHS when we couldn t go outside we had WRESTLING For ONE WHOLE SIX WEEKS. NOW when I was a FRESHMAN In H.S. I wasn t the LEAN, MEAN FIGHTING MACHINE I am now. I was a scrawny..110 pound kid who looked like a fence post in gym Shorts. In spite of the fact I was pretty SCRAPPY on the wrestling mat. Most of my opponents were much bigger and stronger than Me..and they would literally mop up the floor with My little body. I learned real quick that THE LONGER I FOUGHT THE MORE I RESISTED.the MORE I PROLONGED MY PAIN and AGONY. Christians, when it comes to wrestling with GOD.GOD is a formidable opponent. As long as we WRESTLE with GOD and refuse to HUMBLE ourselves and SURRENDER to GOD S WILL the longer we prolong our AGONY and MISERY.

11 Its only when we can truly say, Not my will, but YOURS BE DONE that God brings total peace, joy and contentment into our hearts.