Heart Issues – Part 8 ~ How I See Me

Heart Issues – Part 8
How I See Me

How you see yourself has a MAJOR impact on your life in Christ.
The more you understand who God is, and the more time you spend in His presence, the more you realize who you really are.
He created us, He knows who we really are, our true identity.

How many here like to play “hide and seek?
The problem is when we play hide and seek with God, but we don’t realize we are hiding.

Text: Genesis 32:24-31, Genesis 3:8-10

Here in this scripture, we find God asking a question in ver.9 “Where are you?”
I want to ask you the same question, because I believe God is still presenting Himself to be found, but too many times we end up hiding.

Why did God ask this question? Was this question for God because He didn’t know where Adam was? This question is for us, to recognize where we are.

Where are you with God?
Most people get into trouble when they don’t know where they are, and or who they are.
Adam had just fallen into sin, and the first thing sin does is to make us hide.
Because sin makes us uncomfortable in the presence of God.

Genesis 32:24-31
How long did the wrestling match go on with Jacob. All night long.
Often people miss-quote this saying that Jacob wrestled with the angel.
But in v.24 who wrestled with whom? The Angle was the aggressor.

Ver.25 When “He” did not prevail against Jacob, He touched him in his hip and the socket of his hip went out of joint.

In ver.27 God asked, “What is your name.” Was this question for God or Jacob?
What does the name Jacob mean? Jacob = heel-catcher, supplanter, schemer, plotter, someone who gets ahead by deceiving others.
Had Jacob lived up to the meaning of his name? Yes.

God was saying, “Jacob, I want you do deal with who you are.”
More specifically, who you think you are!
And when He didn’t prevail, God caused a condition to take place to where Jacob was no longer wrestling but clinging.
Now for the rest of his life, he couldn’t run from his problems.

No longer could he rely on his scheming to get what he wanted – but now he had to rely on God to fulfill the promise God had placed in him.
No longer could Jacob rely on Jacob to succeed.
God touched him in his strength so no longer could Jacob stand in his strength.
He had to rely on God in his weakness.

Do I think I can manipulate God to fulfill His will in me?
Do I think I can be smart enough? Disciplined enough? Good enough?

Jacob said, “I’m not letting you go until you bless me.”
He said OK and touched him in his hip and the socket of his hip went out of joint – for the rest of his life. What did you do – God said I blessed you.
What does that mean?
Now I’m crippled how am I to fulfill my destiny being a cripple?

When do we have the most closeness of God in our lives?
When we cling.
Breakthrough comes through brokenness.

But an exciting, powerful, major point is, it doesn’t have to take major trauma to have breakthrough.
“Humble yourself before the Lord and He will lift you up.” James 4:10
We don’t have to be driven into God’s presence by trauma.
“And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.” Jer 29:13

How did Jacob see Jacob? Heel-catcher, that is who they say I am.
How did God see Jacob? Israel = “Prince with God!”

In God’s original plan, where should we get our personal identity? From our Godly parents who having heard from God, tell us who we are as we grow up.
But when sin entered into the picture, it had major effects in many areas – God’s plan for the family was damaged.

Our earthly father should be the one to instill Godly identity. If that is missing, we will desperately seek someone to tell us who we are.
We grow up seeking identity. If we are good at sports, if we are good at art, music, education, if we get involved with the wrong crowd, they will label us, give us identity, party animal, a drunk, an addict.

You might have done the things they say you did, but that isn’t who you are.
Only God can give you true identity and we learn that only from being in His presence, having Him speak into our lives.