WEBVTT 00:00:18.050 --> 00:00:18.449 Amen. 00:00:18.609 --> 00:00:23.490 Turn with me if you would today to Genesis chapter 46. 00:00:24.530 --> 00:00:26.210 Genesis chapter 46. 00:00:26.370 --> 00:00:28.690 We're going to read verses 1 through 4. 00:00:28.850 --> 00:00:34.210 And then we're going to flip over to Genesis chapter 47, 1 through 14. 00:00:34.370 --> 00:00:40.850 So we're going to read a little bit of scripture today because I want I want to set something up for us in the house today. 00:00:41.969 --> 00:00:43.250 To help encourage you. 00:00:43.329 --> 00:00:45.090 How many of y'all just love to be encouraged? 00:00:45.329 --> 00:00:47.890 My hand, both my hands in the house raise. 00:00:48.289 --> 00:00:49.730 I want to not just encourage you today. 00:00:49.810 --> 00:00:50.929 I want to help build your faith today. 00:00:51.009 --> 00:00:52.609 How many of y'all want your faith to be built? 00:00:52.770 --> 00:00:53.730 Yeah, amen. 00:00:54.130 --> 00:01:12.129 I want to help you as well, not just to be encouraged, not just to have your faith built today, but I want to give you uh a recipe, if you will, to help you stand the test that you're walking through. 00:01:12.450 --> 00:01:13.090 Amen. 00:01:13.650 --> 00:01:16.530 And you might say, Well, Pastor, I'm not walking through a test right now. 00:01:16.689 --> 00:01:18.930 Well, you might walk through a test tomorrow. 00:01:20.210 --> 00:01:22.049 You understand what I'm talking about? 00:01:22.370 --> 00:01:31.329 Uh, I heard a preacher say one time, you're either uh walking into a storm, walking in a storm, or you're walking out of a storm. 00:01:31.489 --> 00:01:35.969 Uh and I, whenever he said that, I was young, and I thought to myself, the devil is a liar. 00:01:36.689 --> 00:01:38.609 I'm never gonna know another storm in my life. 00:01:38.689 --> 00:01:42.049 But then I began to read my Bible and I begin to live life. 00:01:43.250 --> 00:01:44.769 You know what I'm talking about? 00:01:45.730 --> 00:01:49.570 And I realized, my God, that man was wiser than what I realized at the time. 00:01:49.810 --> 00:01:54.849 I was either walking into a storm or walking in the middle of a storm or walking out of a storm, but there's something right there. 00:01:55.010 --> 00:02:03.409 And so this morning, I want to help you and give you a recipe and encourage you today and build your faith today for for whatever it is that you might walk through. 00:02:06.530 --> 00:02:13.250 I want to help you today with uh the the name of my message is this the connection test. 00:02:13.969 --> 00:02:24.370 Because how many of you all understand that sometimes we have a promise, but between the time the promise is spoken and the time it is fulfilled, there's a process. 00:02:25.650 --> 00:02:28.689 And so I want to help you today passing that connection test. 00:02:28.769 --> 00:02:31.009 Have you found Genesis chapter 46 yet? 00:02:31.889 --> 00:02:32.610 Awesome. 00:02:32.850 --> 00:02:34.209 I'm reading out the ESV. 00:02:34.290 --> 00:02:36.290 I I think they might have it on the screens. 00:02:36.689 --> 00:02:40.850 Why don't you go ahead and stand with me for just a moment as I read as we read this together? 00:02:41.410 --> 00:02:52.209 So Israel, speaking of Jav Jacob, took his journey with all that he had and came to Beersheba and offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac. 00:02:52.370 --> 00:02:53.569 Watch this now. 00:02:53.889 --> 00:03:04.370 And God spoke to Israel in visions of the night and said, Jacob, Jacob, and he said, Here I am. 00:03:05.009 --> 00:03:09.649 And he said, I am the God, I am God, the God of your father. 00:03:09.970 --> 00:03:16.050 Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for there I will make you into a great nation. 00:03:16.290 --> 00:03:22.129 I myself will go down with you to Egypt, and I will also bring you up again. 00:03:22.370 --> 00:03:25.730 And Joseph, your son's hand, shall close your eyes. 00:03:25.889 --> 00:03:28.290 Now jump over to Genesis chapter 47. 00:03:32.769 --> 00:03:35.889 Uh jump down to verse 7. 00:03:35.970 --> 00:03:37.730 We're gonna skip a couple verses. 00:03:37.970 --> 00:03:41.810 So basically, uh Jacob was was facing a famine. 00:03:41.970 --> 00:03:43.329 He was on his way to go to Egypt. 00:03:43.410 --> 00:03:46.610 While he was going to Egypt, the Lord met with him and said, It's gonna be all right. 00:03:46.930 --> 00:03:56.370 He he arrives in Egypt, and his youngest son Joseph, his second youngest son Joseph, he's a ruler in Egypt, and he says, Hey, listen, just take my lead. 00:03:56.449 --> 00:03:58.050 I'm gonna make sure everything's taken care of. 00:03:58.209 --> 00:04:04.769 I'm gonna bring you guys in front of Pharaoh, and you just need to talk to Pharaoh, uh, the things that I've told you to talk to Pharaoh. 00:04:04.930 --> 00:04:08.529 And after that, dad, I'm gonna have you go in and talk to Pharaoh as well. 00:04:08.689 --> 00:04:09.970 So here we go. 00:04:11.089 --> 00:04:13.569 Jose uh, Jacob and his family already in Egypt. 00:04:13.649 --> 00:04:16.370 Watch this now, Genesis chapter 47 and verse 7. 00:04:16.529 --> 00:04:21.569 Then Joseph brought in Jacob his father and stood him before Pharaoh. 00:04:21.730 --> 00:04:26.610 Watch this now, and Jacob blessed Pharaoh. 00:04:27.170 --> 00:04:29.810 Highlight that in your Bible if you can. 00:04:30.050 --> 00:04:38.370 And Jacob blessed Pharaoh, and Pharaoh said to Jacob, How many are the days of the years of your life? 00:04:38.689 --> 00:04:40.930 How old are you, Jacob? 00:04:41.409 --> 00:04:49.329 And Jacob said to Pharaoh, The days of the years of my sojourning are a hundred and thirty years. 00:04:50.129 --> 00:05:02.449 Few and evil have been the days of the years of my life, and they have not attained to the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their sojourning. 00:05:03.889 --> 00:05:05.810 Pharaoh didn't ask you all that, Jacob. 00:05:05.889 --> 00:05:08.370 Okay, he just wanted to know how how old are you? 00:05:08.610 --> 00:05:11.649 Okay, verse 10. 00:05:12.050 --> 00:05:15.089 And Jacob blessed Pharaoh. 00:05:15.409 --> 00:05:18.289 Highlight that underneath in your Bible if you're able to. 00:05:18.449 --> 00:05:22.529 And Jacob blessed Pharaoh and went out from the presence of Pharaoh. 00:05:22.610 --> 00:05:32.930 Then Joseph settled his father and his brothers and gave them a possession in the land of Egypt, in the best land, in the land of Ramses, and Pharaoh did as he had commanded. 00:05:33.089 --> 00:05:39.969 And Joseph provided for his father, his brothers, and all his father's household with food according to the number of their dependents. 00:05:40.129 --> 00:05:41.089 Verse 13. 00:05:41.490 --> 00:05:51.969 Now there was no food in the land, for the famine was very severe, so that the land of Egypt and the land of Canaan languished by reason of the famine. 00:05:52.370 --> 00:06:00.849 And Joseph gathered up all the money that was found in the land of Egypt and the land of Canaan in exchange for the grain that they brought, that they bought. 00:06:01.009 --> 00:06:03.329 And Joseph bought the money into Pharaoh's house. 00:06:03.409 --> 00:06:05.810 Now I want you to jump down to verse 27. 00:06:06.129 --> 00:06:09.009 Those verses between what we just read and to verse 27. 00:06:09.169 --> 00:06:19.490 Basically, Joseph uh took care of the people of in Egypt, and they the the Egyptians gave everything they had, and they actually became slaves to Pharaoh because of the of the famine. 00:06:19.649 --> 00:06:22.449 I'm saying I'm giving you the cliff notes to this thing. 00:06:23.490 --> 00:06:24.449 Read your Bible. 00:06:24.529 --> 00:06:27.569 I recommend that you go back this week in your devotion time and read this. 00:06:27.649 --> 00:06:28.529 It's a very powerful story. 00:06:28.689 --> 00:06:29.490 Verse 27. 00:06:29.649 --> 00:06:30.529 Watch this. 00:06:31.649 --> 00:06:35.889 Thus Israel settled in the land of Egypt, in the land of Goshen. 00:06:36.370 --> 00:06:40.689 That word thus right there, some translations say this, meanwhile. 00:06:40.930 --> 00:06:42.370 So catch this picture. 00:06:42.610 --> 00:06:45.569 Well, a famine has broken out in the land. 00:06:46.289 --> 00:06:54.610 Jacob, Israel, and his family are in a land of Goshen, and while all hell is breaking loose out there, watch what happens. 00:06:54.849 --> 00:07:05.569 Israel settled in the land of Egypt in the land of Goshen, and they gained possessions in it, and were fruitful and multiplied greatly. 00:07:06.449 --> 00:07:14.289 They gained possessions in a famine, they multiplied in a famine, and they and they gained possessions in a famine. 00:07:17.810 --> 00:07:20.209 Father, in the name of Jesus, breathe on your word today. 00:07:20.370 --> 00:07:22.449 Anoint me with a peculiar anointing. 00:07:22.689 --> 00:07:27.089 That which you have whispered to me in the secret, let it be shouted here in public. 00:07:27.649 --> 00:07:32.370 And Lord, let there be a transference of the grace of God upon our lives today. 00:07:32.689 --> 00:07:45.649 Lord, to overcome that which we have been sent to overcome, to acquire that which you have sent for us to acquire, and for us to dominate where you have called us to dominate in the mighty name of Jesus. 00:07:45.810 --> 00:07:46.610 We thank you for this. 00:07:46.689 --> 00:07:47.490 We called it done. 00:07:47.649 --> 00:07:48.050 Amen. 00:07:48.129 --> 00:07:49.490 Come on, someone say amen. 00:07:49.729 --> 00:07:50.129 Amen. 00:07:50.209 --> 00:07:51.409 You may be seated. 00:07:53.169 --> 00:07:54.370 Oh boy. 00:07:56.209 --> 00:07:59.169 Here's the question I want to propose to us as a house today. 00:07:59.250 --> 00:08:00.529 Are you ready for this? 00:08:02.370 --> 00:08:11.409 What do you do when you have a promise in your ear, but a problem in your hand? 00:08:13.329 --> 00:08:18.610 What do you do when you have a promise in your ear, but a problem? 00:08:18.769 --> 00:08:22.050 I'm sorry, a promise in your ear and a problem in your hand. 00:08:23.329 --> 00:08:25.169 Look at the life of Jacob. 00:08:25.250 --> 00:08:30.689 Here he is, he has a problem, and the problem is simply this they ain't got nothing to eat. 00:08:31.490 --> 00:08:32.289 Nothing to eat. 00:08:32.370 --> 00:08:33.169 There's a famine. 00:08:33.250 --> 00:08:39.169 There hasn't been any rain, so there has been no crops, and because there have been no crops, there hasn't been no harvest. 00:08:39.730 --> 00:08:48.610 And so the land that they have been sent to settle in, Canaan, is is experiencing this drought, and it's affected their family. 00:08:49.009 --> 00:08:57.569 But there's grain in Egypt, there's a place that they have never been to before that has everything that they need. 00:09:00.610 --> 00:09:05.490 So what do you do while you're on this journey called life? 00:09:06.049 --> 00:09:10.370 And you have a promise from the Lord, my kids will be saved. 00:09:10.449 --> 00:09:13.409 As for me and my house, we shall serve the Lord. 00:09:13.649 --> 00:09:16.929 You have a promise for the Lord, I shall go up and not down. 00:09:17.169 --> 00:09:18.689 I'm the head and not the tail. 00:09:18.769 --> 00:09:20.449 I'm above and not beneath, right? 00:09:20.769 --> 00:09:25.330 You have a promise from the Lord that by his stripes you are healed. 00:09:25.649 --> 00:09:34.850 What do you do whenever you have a promise from the Lord, but what is in your hand is not what you have expected to have in your hand. 00:09:37.409 --> 00:09:41.169 The Lord tells me I'm healed, but I'm still walking through this health journey. 00:09:41.490 --> 00:09:52.529 The Lord tells me I'm supposed to be a multi, multi, multi-millionaire and build generational wealth for the generations to come, but I I'm still struggling to get some clients for this business of mine. 00:09:54.049 --> 00:10:04.049 I want my family to serve the Lord in the fullness of their entire lives, but some of them are still running around in the streets and acting all kinds of crazy. 00:10:04.370 --> 00:10:09.169 What do you do whenever you have a promise in your ear but a problem in your hand? 00:10:09.970 --> 00:10:11.409 And then watch this. 00:10:11.809 --> 00:10:19.330 The promise and the problem lead you to a place that you have never been to before. 00:10:21.330 --> 00:10:26.689 Now you don't have to raise your hand, but you ever been to a place before that it brought tension to your life? 00:10:27.330 --> 00:10:30.850 That it brought maybe confusion to your life? 00:10:33.889 --> 00:10:45.889 Where you said, Man, I I see this, I hear this, but now I'm standing in the middle of this, and I've never stood in this before, and I don't know what to do. 00:10:47.409 --> 00:10:59.889 Because there's this tension, this thing where I know what God has spoken, but I haven't seen it yet, and therefore I'm in this reality that is unfamiliar to me. 00:11:01.730 --> 00:11:08.049 Because I trust God, but I haven't seen Him come through yet, like the way I know He can. 00:11:11.090 --> 00:11:26.049 I cannot tell you how many times personally I have been in that place where I'm standing on the Word of God, I'm believing, I'm trusting, I'm quoting scriptures, and I'm I'm there and I'm praying and I'm fasting and I'm declaring these things, but still nothing seems to change. 00:11:26.769 --> 00:11:28.370 And so here I am. 00:11:29.409 --> 00:11:41.090 I I can see the invisible, but the invisible has not yet become possible in my life, and I'm still searching for the answer that I think should happen. 00:11:42.210 --> 00:11:46.049 My God, I can't tell you how many times I've been there in my life. 00:11:47.809 --> 00:11:50.210 Many, many, many times. 00:11:51.330 --> 00:11:56.529 And if I'm honest with you, I'll probably be there many, many more times in my life as well. 00:11:56.929 --> 00:11:58.529 Because watch this now. 00:11:59.009 --> 00:12:20.929 When you live a life of faith, and God calls you to go from glory to glory, He's gonna invite you into things that you've never seen before, but you've heard it, and there's something on the inside of you that grabs a hold of it, but it hasn't yet materialized in your hands. 00:12:21.409 --> 00:12:25.409 If you're going to be a person of faith, this should be a lifestyle for you. 00:12:26.929 --> 00:12:35.970 To where you have something in your ear, but you have something completely in your hand, and whenever that happens, it brings you to a place that is completely unfamiliar to you. 00:12:36.449 --> 00:12:42.049 And my friend, let me tell you uh something that that is gonna encourage you today. 00:12:43.169 --> 00:12:49.490 How you handle the place will determine how God sends the provision. 00:12:51.250 --> 00:12:58.049 How you handle that place will determine how God sends you the provision. 00:13:03.250 --> 00:13:10.850 You see, because uh you get a promise, but you don't see it, and then now you are here in this awkward place. 00:13:12.049 --> 00:13:23.169 I'm telling everybody I'm trusting for my family, but they all drug addicts and they act in the fool, and so I have to see them week in and week out, and they're saying, Oh, hey, how's so-and-so? 00:13:23.809 --> 00:13:25.490 We're praying for them still. 00:13:25.809 --> 00:13:30.769 How do I tell my church, my my church family that they still a knucklehead? 00:13:35.330 --> 00:13:37.169 Or how about this one? 00:13:37.889 --> 00:13:45.250 I have a promise from the Lord that says, What God has put together, let no man tear apart. 00:13:45.649 --> 00:13:48.129 And so I'm believing God for my marriage. 00:13:48.370 --> 00:13:59.809 And I've told some of the people in church, hey, pray with me because I'm believing for complete reconciliation for this marriage of mine, but then you have to go back to church the next week and they ask you, Hey, how's everything going? 00:14:00.210 --> 00:14:03.169 And you have to tell them, We're still praying. 00:14:03.649 --> 00:14:07.169 You have to tell them, keep praying for me as I pray for you. 00:14:07.250 --> 00:14:08.529 Come on now, somebody. 00:14:08.850 --> 00:14:19.009 There's this awkward tension that happens when you have a promise and a problem at the same time, and you are brought into this position or this place that you've never been in before. 00:14:19.730 --> 00:14:35.169 And it, if if you're being honest, if we're being honest with ourselves, it it almost has a way of pulling you, it almost has a way of upheaving some things that are on the inside of you, it has a way of bringing you to a point of frustration. 00:14:37.090 --> 00:14:37.649 Huh? 00:14:38.610 --> 00:14:47.330 Man, I wish I could go back and tell my 18-year-old self, newly saved, some of the things I I've had to walk through in this journey. 00:14:47.649 --> 00:14:49.889 I got saved and I was so naive. 00:14:50.850 --> 00:14:55.090 I love the Lord and the Lord loves me, and every day with him gets better and better. 00:14:55.970 --> 00:14:57.970 They even wrote a song about it many years ago. 00:14:58.210 --> 00:15:05.730 Every day, every day with you, Lord just keeps getting better and better. 00:15:05.889 --> 00:15:08.689 I would sing that as 18 years old, like, yes, it does. 00:15:08.929 --> 00:15:10.129 Hallelujah. 00:15:10.610 --> 00:15:13.250 Glory be to God, this is awesome. 00:15:14.610 --> 00:15:15.809 And then guess what happened? 00:15:15.970 --> 00:15:23.889 Life happened, disappointment happened, unfulfilled expectations happen. 00:15:25.169 --> 00:15:29.569 And I realized, man, sometimes it doesn't feel like life gets better and better. 00:15:30.370 --> 00:15:39.250 If I if I'm being honest, sometimes it was easier to not serve the Lord because back then I could just self-medicate. 00:15:41.090 --> 00:15:43.809 Back then I could I could just complain. 00:15:44.289 --> 00:15:46.370 Back then I could just gossip. 00:15:46.689 --> 00:15:48.929 Back then I could just sleep around. 00:15:49.169 --> 00:15:53.490 Back then I could just do whatever I wanted to do in order to handle what I'm facing right now. 00:15:53.649 --> 00:16:02.929 But now that I'm serving the Lord, I have to I have to go to this being that is unseen, that's unvisible, and many times I don't even feel like he's near. 00:16:04.129 --> 00:16:05.730 Don't get quiet on me now, church. 00:16:08.129 --> 00:16:15.889 Right now I have to cry out to this God that sometimes I don't even feel like he's even listening to anything I have to say. 00:16:20.689 --> 00:16:21.970 But you know what? 00:16:22.449 --> 00:16:25.250 I know he loves me because he saved me before. 00:16:25.569 --> 00:16:28.370 I know he loves me because he's delivered me before. 00:16:28.689 --> 00:16:34.129 I know he's with me because his word tells me that he'll never never leave me or forsake me. 00:16:35.330 --> 00:16:39.490 So here's Jacob in this place of tension and frustration. 00:16:39.889 --> 00:16:45.490 He has a promise of the promised land, but he has a problem because there's a famine. 00:16:45.809 --> 00:16:57.730 And on his way to this unfamiliar place, the God of all gods, God Almighty, Elohim, Yahweh, visits him in a peculiar way. 00:16:58.529 --> 00:17:03.409 And God says, Hey Jacob, it's gonna be alright. 00:17:03.730 --> 00:17:08.690 It's gonna be all right that you're going to this place you've never been to before because I'm going with you. 00:17:08.930 --> 00:17:13.330 It's gonna be all right that you go down to Egypt because I'm gonna I'm gonna go there with you. 00:17:13.650 --> 00:17:19.569 And Jacob, I'm actually gonna fulfill my promise to you in a foreign place. 00:17:25.090 --> 00:17:37.410 You thought it was just about the place uh called Canaan, but I got to multiply you and work things in you and work things out of you and work things in you and work things out of you. 00:17:37.570 --> 00:17:41.330 I got to build you and I got to, and at times I got to break you. 00:17:41.570 --> 00:17:54.610 And the only way you're gonna be able to sustain the fullness of the promise is to be in an awkward place, but the awkward place is a place where I can actually develop you and make you that way you can sustain my promise. 00:17:57.650 --> 00:17:58.770 Hallelujah. 00:18:01.410 --> 00:18:16.850 Whenever I learn that the process was actually God's intent for me all along, I don't get so caught up in the destination, I don't get so caught up in the end result, right? 00:18:17.730 --> 00:18:26.050 And here's the matter of the fact I've never met a single person ever in my entire life who shouted and rejoiced for process. 00:18:29.250 --> 00:18:29.890 Right? 00:18:30.370 --> 00:18:37.330 Nobody, not a single one, and if I meet somebody who does, I'm about to call somebody called the loony bin. 00:18:37.490 --> 00:18:38.210 Come on now. 00:18:38.930 --> 00:18:40.450 Yeah, I'm in process. 00:18:40.610 --> 00:18:44.050 No, nobody likes the process, right? 00:18:46.130 --> 00:18:53.009 No, nobody likes the the the inner workings of making something, they just want the finished result, right? 00:18:55.730 --> 00:19:00.290 They like going to the grocery store and taking the better cheddars off the shelf. 00:19:00.770 --> 00:19:04.450 They don't want to go to the factory and see how all that stuff comes together, right? 00:19:05.090 --> 00:19:08.050 Because if you saw how it came together, you would never buy the product. 00:19:09.650 --> 00:19:10.930 You understand what top now? 00:19:11.650 --> 00:19:19.250 If you knew how your favorite clothing was made, or beauty product was made, or your favorite meal was made, you would probably say, I actually don't want it after all. 00:19:20.130 --> 00:19:23.810 Because the process to get what's on my plate is not very appetizing. 00:19:25.170 --> 00:19:31.570 And I know what's in it now, but I'm gonna tell you right now, without the process, you would never be able to eat from the promise. 00:19:34.370 --> 00:19:36.770 I'm telling you, there's people underneath the sound of my voice. 00:19:36.930 --> 00:19:57.170 You have the promise, but you're walking through a problem, and it's brought you to this awkward place, to where this place is actually, if you would have it, the place where God would develop you, build you, multiply you, make you into the greatness that He has always known you have meant to become. 00:19:59.650 --> 00:20:09.970 But it's awkward, it's a little painful, it's a little uncomfortable. 00:20:10.530 --> 00:20:11.090 You understand? 00:20:11.330 --> 00:20:12.610 You know what I'm talking about? 00:20:13.650 --> 00:20:16.210 So here we go back to the life of Jacob. 00:20:16.770 --> 00:20:20.050 He has this word from the Lord, hey, it's gonna be all right, just trust me. 00:20:20.130 --> 00:20:21.730 I'm gonna go with you to Egypt. 00:20:22.370 --> 00:20:29.570 So Jacob lands up in Egypt, and his son Joseph, if you know the story of Joseph, he really knew what it was like to get processed. 00:20:30.450 --> 00:20:41.890 He was in the pit in the prison for 13 years before he ever stood before Pharaoh, my God, but whenever he stood before Pharaoh, he became one of the princes of Egypt. 00:20:42.130 --> 00:20:42.850 Amazing stuff. 00:20:42.930 --> 00:20:44.610 I'm not preaching on Joseph today. 00:20:44.930 --> 00:20:58.610 So Jacob goes to Egypt, and his son Joseph tells him, Hey dad, I have an idea that's gonna work for our family, but I need you to go in there and not make a fool out of yourself. 00:20:59.330 --> 00:21:02.770 I'm gonna have you go talk to my boss, and his name's Pharaoh. 00:21:03.410 --> 00:21:15.170 I've already told the guys, my brothers, five of the of the eleven brothers, I'm gonna bring you in front of Pharaoh and tell Pharaoh that your occupation is you're a shepherd. 00:21:15.570 --> 00:21:20.370 The reason why I want you to tell Pharaoh that you're a shepherd is because Egyptians don't like shepherds. 00:21:21.570 --> 00:21:26.530 And so it might look, guys, like Pharaoh's rejecting you, but I have a plan. 00:21:27.570 --> 00:21:31.250 Pharaoh's rejection will actually be our family's protection. 00:21:31.890 --> 00:21:35.009 But I can't have you go in there and act a fool. 00:21:35.410 --> 00:21:38.450 So just go in there and handle your business properly. 00:21:38.530 --> 00:21:39.410 Can you guys do that? 00:21:39.490 --> 00:21:40.530 Yeah, we can do that. 00:21:40.770 --> 00:21:45.890 So if you read the story, Jacob's brothers go in there and they handle like chams. 00:21:47.810 --> 00:21:50.290 We're shepherds, like our fathers before us. 00:21:50.370 --> 00:21:56.450 They handle themselves so well that Pharaoh said, Well, if there's any of you that do a really good job, I need you to shepherd for me. 00:21:56.930 --> 00:21:57.810 We got it. 00:21:58.370 --> 00:22:02.450 They handled their business, and so part of the plan was at play. 00:22:02.770 --> 00:22:05.650 But then Jacob had to send his daddy in there. 00:22:06.290 --> 00:22:10.290 This man who was a hundred and thirty years old. 00:22:11.410 --> 00:22:14.210 You ever dealt with somebody well up in age? 00:22:16.850 --> 00:22:17.650 There comes a point. 00:22:18.050 --> 00:22:22.770 In time, whenever somebody reaches a certain age, I can't tell you what that age is, but they just don't care no more. 00:22:23.730 --> 00:22:24.770 You know what I'm talking about? 00:22:27.009 --> 00:22:29.330 Some of you, some of you know what I'm talking about. 00:22:29.570 --> 00:22:31.890 They get to a certain age and they say, I'm just gonna do me. 00:22:31.970 --> 00:22:33.570 I've lived this long doing me. 00:22:33.730 --> 00:22:35.009 I'm gonna keep on doing me. 00:22:35.090 --> 00:22:37.970 I don't care what anybody thinks about me, so I'm just gonna go in there and do me. 00:22:38.050 --> 00:22:39.570 You can tell me what you want, Jacob. 00:22:39.650 --> 00:22:41.330 Well, you can tell me what you want, Joseph. 00:22:41.410 --> 00:22:44.210 But I'm gonna stand before Pharaoh, I'm gonna tell him what I want to tell him. 00:22:45.810 --> 00:22:47.730 Dad, just calm down, okay? 00:22:47.890 --> 00:22:49.009 Just calm down. 00:22:49.810 --> 00:22:51.410 I'll do what I want to do. 00:22:52.690 --> 00:22:53.890 So watch this. 00:22:55.410 --> 00:22:58.610 Jacob goes in and talks to Pharaoh. 00:22:59.009 --> 00:23:01.330 And Pharaoh asks him one question. 00:23:02.690 --> 00:23:06.210 Hey Jacob, how old are you? 00:23:07.890 --> 00:23:12.690 Now I look at that and I say, Man, the man must have looked a certain kind of way, okay? 00:23:13.330 --> 00:23:16.930 Because you don't just walk up to anybody and say, How old are you? 00:23:18.690 --> 00:23:20.450 The man must have had some years on him. 00:23:20.530 --> 00:23:21.730 You know what I'm talking about? 00:23:22.210 --> 00:23:24.050 Must have had some mileage on him. 00:23:24.450 --> 00:23:27.009 For Pharaoh to say, Hey, how old are you? 00:23:27.810 --> 00:23:33.090 And I love this because even before Jacob goes in there, this is this is this is key. 00:23:33.410 --> 00:23:36.690 Jacob goes in there blessing Pharaoh. 00:23:39.170 --> 00:23:42.050 I was reading this and studying this this past week and praying into this. 00:23:42.130 --> 00:23:45.970 Whenever I read this like two weeks ago, I knew the Lord wanted me to bring this to the church. 00:23:46.210 --> 00:23:51.570 But while I was praying into this and studying this, I was like, man, this doesn't make any sense to me. 00:23:52.210 --> 00:23:56.050 Why would he bless him at top on the top and bless him on the bottom? 00:23:57.170 --> 00:24:09.330 So I went to my my concordances online, and they said, Well, you know, the blessing was like a salutation or a greeting whenever they met one another. 00:24:09.570 --> 00:24:12.210 And I said to myself, That can't be here. 00:24:14.770 --> 00:24:17.890 Because we're talking about Jacob here. 00:24:18.530 --> 00:24:20.930 Jacob knew the power of a blessing. 00:24:22.370 --> 00:24:31.330 Because whenever Jacob was younger, he saw his older brother Esau, and he said, Hey, I want your birthright. 00:24:31.490 --> 00:24:33.570 You're the firstborn, I'm the secondborn. 00:24:33.890 --> 00:24:35.490 Sell me your birthright. 00:24:35.810 --> 00:24:43.170 And Esau was hungry because he was a hunter and he came in from out of out of out in the field and he goes, Man, just whatever I gotta do to get a bowl of soup, you got it. 00:24:43.650 --> 00:24:46.850 So Jacob had the blessing of the birthright. 00:24:47.410 --> 00:24:56.130 But then a couple years go by, and their father, Isaac, I know there's a lot of name plays in here, it's all right, just read your Bible and you know exactly what I'm talking about, okay? 00:24:56.450 --> 00:25:01.090 Jacob's father was a man by by the name of Isaac, and Isaac's getting ready to die. 00:25:01.410 --> 00:25:06.530 And Isaac was getting ready to bless his older son, Esau. 00:25:07.410 --> 00:25:12.930 But Esau and Jacob's mom said, That ain't gonna happen. 00:25:13.570 --> 00:25:20.290 Because God spoke to me while you were still in my womb that Jacob, you were gonna rule over your older brother Esau. 00:25:20.610 --> 00:25:25.810 And when this blessing comes down the line, it's not supposed to be for Esau, it's supposed to be for you, Jacob. 00:25:25.970 --> 00:25:27.810 So, Jacob, this is what you're gonna do. 00:25:28.050 --> 00:25:36.210 You're gonna go and put on some of your brother's clothes, you're gonna go ahead and kill a lamb, you're gonna put the fur of the lamb on your arms because your brother's hairy. 00:25:38.130 --> 00:25:46.290 And you're gonna cook this stew for your father, and Jacob, you're gonna go in there and you're gonna get the blessing that was meant for your brother Esau. 00:25:46.930 --> 00:25:51.330 My friend, I'm trying to let you know, Jacob understood the power of a blessing. 00:25:53.090 --> 00:25:55.170 Let's take it one step further. 00:25:55.490 --> 00:25:58.210 Jacob has received the blessing of his father. 00:25:58.450 --> 00:26:04.530 His older brother Esau gets mad, and so Jacob runs away to save his life. 00:26:04.610 --> 00:26:06.050 You understand what I'm talking about? 00:26:06.930 --> 00:26:13.890 He runs away to save his life, and a couple years go by, and he hears that his brother Esau is drawing near to him. 00:26:14.130 --> 00:26:17.970 And so Jacob, being the person he is, he goes, All right, guys, this is what we're gonna do. 00:26:18.050 --> 00:26:19.970 I want all you guys to go ahead of me. 00:26:20.210 --> 00:26:23.890 I'm gonna send gifts back behind me to send to Esau. 00:26:24.050 --> 00:26:27.250 That way, if I meet him here along the road, he won't kill me. 00:26:27.490 --> 00:26:28.610 And so that's what he did. 00:26:28.690 --> 00:26:38.450 He sent gifts behind him, he sent his family ahead of him, and one night he is all by himself, knowing that that here in the next couple days he's gonna encounter his brother. 00:26:38.610 --> 00:26:39.250 Well, guess what? 00:26:39.330 --> 00:26:47.090 That night the Bible says that a man by the by uh that is called the angel of the Lord comes and begins to wrestle with Jacob. 00:26:47.650 --> 00:26:58.370 And Jacob's wrestling with this man all night long, and this man, the angel of the Lord, God himself, the Bible says that God himself couldn't get the upper hand on Jacob. 00:26:58.610 --> 00:27:03.490 So as the sun was rising, God says, What shall you have me do? 00:27:03.650 --> 00:27:07.810 And Jacob says, I will not let you go until you bless me. 00:27:09.009 --> 00:27:10.130 Now just hang on with me. 00:27:10.370 --> 00:27:12.850 I'm going somewhere with this blessing stuff, okay? 00:27:13.009 --> 00:27:16.530 Jacob said, I will not let you go until you bless me. 00:27:16.770 --> 00:27:18.610 My friend, get this in your spirit. 00:27:18.770 --> 00:27:21.650 Jacob knew the power of the blessing. 00:27:22.690 --> 00:27:28.370 Jacob knew that the blessing could make an ordinary man into an extraordinary man. 00:27:29.009 --> 00:27:39.330 Jacob understood, watch this, that the blessing could transfer the power upon somebody's life and cause them to be greater than what they could be all by themselves. 00:27:39.890 --> 00:27:44.610 So whenever Jacob goes into Pharaoh, he just doesn't say salutations. 00:27:48.770 --> 00:27:52.130 He goes into Pharaoh and he blesses Pharaoh. 00:27:53.570 --> 00:27:58.370 May your barns be overflowing, may your vats burst forward. 00:27:58.690 --> 00:28:03.890 I bless you in the name of God Almighty, the same God who blessed me with 12 sons. 00:28:04.050 --> 00:28:07.330 May He bless you and may you abound in fruitfulness, right? 00:28:07.890 --> 00:28:10.290 Jacob understood the power of the blessing. 00:28:10.610 --> 00:28:13.490 But keep in mind, Jacob's in a strange place. 00:28:14.530 --> 00:28:16.290 He's never been there before. 00:28:16.530 --> 00:28:22.050 So Jacob knew, watch this now, that the blessing releases potential. 00:28:22.770 --> 00:28:27.970 So he goes in blessing Pharaoh, and then Pharaoh asked him the question, How old are you? 00:28:28.290 --> 00:28:31.730 And something on the inside of Jacob just kind of twitched. 00:28:36.370 --> 00:28:40.850 Here I am, 130 years old. 00:28:41.250 --> 00:28:45.330 I've ran from my father, from my brother. 00:28:46.370 --> 00:28:47.890 I've ran my entire life. 00:28:47.970 --> 00:28:52.210 I went down to my father-in-law and he tried to rob me of my wife. 00:28:52.690 --> 00:28:54.850 Here I am, 130 years old. 00:28:54.930 --> 00:29:01.170 I've been promised a promise from the Lord, and I'm not in that promise because there's no food in that promise right now. 00:29:03.490 --> 00:29:07.090 And look at me, I haven't even lived as long as other people before me. 00:29:07.250 --> 00:29:11.170 I could just imagine in a split second, something just twitched on the inside of Jacob. 00:29:11.730 --> 00:29:13.570 Because he's in this weird place. 00:29:14.610 --> 00:29:18.370 And rather than just giving Pharaoh his age, watch this now. 00:29:19.090 --> 00:29:22.370 Jacob begins to complain. 00:29:27.250 --> 00:29:29.250 Jacob begins to complain. 00:29:29.330 --> 00:29:32.130 And many of us would be like, that's understandable. 00:29:32.610 --> 00:29:33.650 I mean, come on now. 00:29:33.730 --> 00:29:36.370 He's been dispossessed from his property. 00:29:36.610 --> 00:29:37.650 There's nothing to eat. 00:29:37.730 --> 00:29:38.530 He's in a weird place. 00:29:38.610 --> 00:29:40.050 I mean, Pastor, you said it yourself. 00:29:40.210 --> 00:29:42.210 He has a promise, but he also has a problem. 00:29:42.290 --> 00:29:44.770 I mean, that's what I would do in this situation. 00:29:45.410 --> 00:29:47.250 I would complain too. 00:29:47.650 --> 00:29:49.170 What does Jacob begin to do? 00:29:49.250 --> 00:29:52.130 He says, I'm 130 years old. 00:29:52.850 --> 00:29:55.730 And many are my days of evil. 00:29:56.530 --> 00:30:00.930 Not because he was a wicked man, but he was saying, My entire life has been hard. 00:30:01.810 --> 00:30:05.250 Everywhere I've gone, I never seem to get ahead. 00:30:05.730 --> 00:30:10.450 Everywhere I go, I seem to just show up a day late and a dollar short. 00:30:11.410 --> 00:30:17.009 Jacob begins to say, Not, I'm not even as I'm not even as old as the people who've gone before me. 00:30:17.090 --> 00:30:18.850 It's like, Jacob, are you for real? 00:30:19.490 --> 00:30:22.850 You really want to complain about how old you are and how people outlived you? 00:30:22.930 --> 00:30:23.970 Come on, man. 00:30:25.410 --> 00:30:29.250 But watch, Jacob gives us a picture of people. 00:30:31.410 --> 00:30:47.890 When you get into that awkward place, sometimes because you are frustrated and stretched, and you're sitting in between a promise and a problem, and the promise and the problem have brought you in a place you've never been before, you know that you should bless God. 00:30:49.170 --> 00:30:59.330 But sometimes that place has gotten so deep into your spirit that that blessing comes into the realities of what's really in your heart. 00:30:59.570 --> 00:31:05.970 And what's really in your heart is I thought God was supposed to come through, but he doesn't seem to have come through. 00:31:06.130 --> 00:31:09.810 I thought God said he was the healer, but I haven't seen him heal me yet. 00:31:09.970 --> 00:31:13.490 I thought God was a provider, but I haven't seen him provide for me yet. 00:31:13.650 --> 00:31:19.730 I thought God was a reconciler of marriages, but he my marriage still hasn't been reconciled yet. 00:31:20.370 --> 00:31:23.570 And Jacob is much like how many of us are. 00:31:23.810 --> 00:31:37.890 We know we should bless God, but if really we got into the depth of our heart, there is still something on the inside of us that is still frustrated, that is still torn, that is still broken. 00:31:38.050 --> 00:31:39.330 Come on now, man. 00:31:43.890 --> 00:31:47.490 Because you're standing between the promise and the problem. 00:31:51.570 --> 00:32:04.290 And Jacob, for a split moment, it looks like he's about to disqualify himself from entering into the fullness of the provision with his stupid mouth. 00:32:12.450 --> 00:32:14.850 But you know, she just doesn't still do this right. 00:32:16.770 --> 00:32:17.570 Dummy. 00:32:21.090 --> 00:32:25.009 Well, I'm I'm praying for my kids, but you know, they they just can't get right. 00:32:27.330 --> 00:32:28.130 Dummy. 00:32:29.970 --> 00:32:36.290 Well, I'm believing God for my business, but no one will give me the loan, and I just don't know what the God will get for my life. 00:32:40.530 --> 00:32:56.770 And because we're in this awkward place that we've never been in, we start out with the blessing, but because our heart is torn, we enter into something that might try to disqualify us from the blessing. 00:32:59.570 --> 00:33:06.130 Don't feel bad, because we read one of the patriarchs in the faith did the same thing. 00:33:06.450 --> 00:33:16.130 You ever read your Bible and just say, I thank God I'm not as bad as some of them jokers, you know what I mean? 00:33:16.770 --> 00:33:17.890 Well, that's just pride. 00:33:17.970 --> 00:33:21.009 That's not pride, that's humility, because I ain't done nothing like that. 00:33:22.050 --> 00:33:26.610 I mean, I've done some things, but I mean, some of them did the they they did some things. 00:33:29.570 --> 00:33:33.890 And God still had mercy on them, and watch this, God still has mercy on us. 00:33:34.210 --> 00:33:35.570 Thank you, Jesus. 00:33:35.810 --> 00:33:36.770 Thank you, Lord. 00:33:38.370 --> 00:33:41.730 So here's Jacob in the courts of Pharaoh. 00:33:42.450 --> 00:33:44.850 Started out blessing Pharaoh. 00:33:45.490 --> 00:33:51.650 Then Jacob got caught up in his feels and starts releasing what's in his heart. 00:33:52.690 --> 00:33:57.090 I'm an old man, and this entire life has sucked. 00:33:58.610 --> 00:34:00.610 That's not a proper way to say it. 00:34:00.850 --> 00:34:05.009 A pastor probably shouldn't say that, but I did already, so just handle it. 00:34:08.929 --> 00:34:11.489 Jacob said, This life has been horrible. 00:34:13.090 --> 00:34:14.050 Yeah, yeah, fair. 00:34:14.210 --> 00:34:18.369 I know you asked how old I am, but I gotta let you know I've been wandering my entire life. 00:34:20.289 --> 00:34:23.170 I've never been settled my entire life. 00:34:25.250 --> 00:34:29.730 And there was one point in my life where I thought it was gonna come to pass, but look how old I am now. 00:34:31.250 --> 00:34:37.650 If it hasn't happened yet, I don't know if it's ever going to happen. 00:34:38.369 --> 00:34:39.170 Oh my god. 00:34:39.650 --> 00:34:40.849 Come on now, man. 00:34:41.650 --> 00:34:44.129 There's people even over the sound of my voice right now. 00:34:44.369 --> 00:34:47.489 You think you have aged out of the promise. 00:34:52.849 --> 00:34:54.449 You hear that in the room, brother Donnie? 00:34:54.609 --> 00:34:55.889 You feel that in the room? 00:34:56.129 --> 00:34:58.210 Let me help some people here today. 00:35:00.129 --> 00:35:01.730 So here's Jacob. 00:35:02.769 --> 00:35:12.369 And then all of a sudden, while he's complaining about his life, the Bible says that he snapped two. 00:35:14.690 --> 00:35:16.129 How do we know that? 00:35:17.089 --> 00:35:20.369