Grip Harder

24 And Jacob was left alone. And a man wrestled with him until the breaking of the day. 25 When the man saw that He did not prevail against Jacob, He touched his hip socket, and Jacob’s hip was put out of joint as he wrestled with Him. 26 Then He said, “Let me go, for the day has broken.” But Jacob said, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.” 27 And He said to him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Jacob.”

28 Then He said, “Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with men, and have prevailed.” 29 Then Jacob asked Him, “Please tell me your name.” But he said, “Why is it that you ask my name?” And there He blessed him. 30 So Jacob called the name of the place Peniel, saying, “For I have seen God face to face, and yet my life has been delivered.” 31 The sun rose upon him as he passed Penuel, limping because of his hip. ~ Genesis 32:24-31

How many of us can God say, “you have striven with God and with men and have prevailed?” Very few, right? We don’t wrestle with men to the end and we don’t wrestle with God to the end. We don’t hold on to God and refuse to let go until He blesses us. Until He heals us. Until He answers us.

We usually let go right before because we start to doubt. We start to get tired of praying the same old prayer. The prayer gets weaker and weaker each time we pray it. We don’t realize that if we just hold on a little longer our blessing is right around the corner, our healing is right around the corner, our unsaved loved one’s salvation is right around the corner. But we have to hold on.

God doesn’t just bless us in that moment and all we have to do is ask once, but instead, we have to hold on, we have to grip onto Him with all of our heart, mind, and soul. To the point that no matter what storm we have to go through we still can hold on to God. Jacob didn’t just hold on when he was strong, he held on when he was weak when his socket went out, he still held on. He didn’t let go because of pain. He didn’t let go because he couldn’t hold on any longer. He probably gripped tighter, saying I will not let go until you bless me.

Imagine if we lived our lives like that. Our prayer lives would be so much more powerful. I mean imagine if we didn’t just pray for a specific amount of time and then call it a day. Imagine if we prayed and worshiped until what we prayed for was answered. Imagine how many healings we would get, the countless blessings, the salvation prayers that would be answered.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Grip Harder.

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New Wineskins

Jesus said you can’t put new wine in old wineskins. But what was He talking about? What was Jesus trying to tell John’s Disciples? Join Reverend Kenny Yates as he explains the message behind New Wineskins.

Hebrews 8:6-13
Matthew 11:10
2 Corinthians 3:14
Exodus 13:17
Matthew 19:3-5

Verses on New Wineskins

17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.

2 Corinthians 5:17

15 For neither circumcision counts for anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation. 16 And as for all who walk by this rule, peace and mercy be upon them, and upon the Israel of God.

Galatians 6:15-16

14 For He Himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility 15 by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that He might create in Himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, 16 and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility.

Ephesians 2:14-16

22 to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, 23 and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, 24 and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.

Ephesians 4:22-24

Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices 10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. 11 Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all.

Colossians 3:9-11

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Identity Thief

Do you know who you are in Christ? That’s a question I feel we no longer know the answer to in today’s society. We are too busy classifying ourselves according to what the world says instead of what the Word of God says. The case of missing identity has become very prevalent in our society. There is definitely an Identity Thief on the loose out there. So once again I ask, do you know who you are in Christ?

1 Corinthians 6:9-11
Colossians 3:5-10
John 15:19
Romans 12:1-2
1 John 2:4-6
Ephesians 5:1
Galatians 3:26-29
Psalms 103:8-13
Isaiah 43:25
Matthew 11:28-30
2 Corinthians 5:17
John 3:3
Ephesians 4:21-24

Identity Thief in Our World Today

In our culture today, we have no idea who we are anymore. Every day we push more and more to take away our identities. We pushed to remove God from our schools. We’re currently pushing to remove gender altogether. But why? The enemy knows that if we don’t have an identity, we are lost. He also knows that if we will believe that we are our sin, then we will reject the Truth.

See, the Truth sets us free, but if we believe that the Truth is trying to destroy our identity then we will never accept it. The enemy didn’t sneak and take our identity and our children’s identities one night while we were sleeping. No, in fact, he walked in through the front door and slowly began to change the way we think through movements of ’empowerment’. From the very beginning the Devil has been good at getting us to willingly accept poison as he convinces us that we like it.

The Devil, in the Garden of Eden, convinced Eve that the forbidden fruit wouldn’t cause death, but instead, it would make you wise like God. He convinced the people of Israel that God was their Baal. The Devil attacks the mind before anything else. Why? Because you are what you think. If you want your identity back, change the way you think. Be transformed by the renewal of your mind. Study your Bible so you know who you are in Christ Jesus, then put it into action by casting down any thought contrary to your identity in Christ Jesus.

Always remember, you are not your sin. You are not your past. You are a new creation in Christ Jesus.

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