Inside The Cage: me vs. God
TapOut Part 1
May 16, 2010
Genesis 32-33

Genesis 25:21-22, 24-26 (MSG) up here on the screenIsaac prayed hard to GOD for his wife because she was barren. GOD answered his prayer and Rebekah became pregnant. But the children tumbled and kicked inside her so much that she said, If this is the way its going to be, why go on living?When her time to give birth came, sure enough, there were twins in her womb. The first came out reddish, as if snugly wrapped in a hairy blanket; they named him Esau (Hairy). His brother followed, his fist clutched tight to Esaus heel; they named him Jacob (Heel).

When God Picks A Fight With Me.

1. Its Because I Need It!
Then Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him until daybreak. Genesis 32:24 (NIV)

•God wants me to
Jacob said, O God of my father Abraham and God of my father Isaac, O LORD, who said to me, Return to your country and to your relatives, and I will prosper you, I am unworthy of all the lovingkindness and of all the faithfulness which You have shown to Your servant; for with my staff only I crossed this Jordan, and now I have become two companies. Deliver me, I pray, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau; for I fear him, that he will come and attack me and the mothers with the children. For You said, I will surely prosper you and make your descendants as the sand of the sea, which is too great to be numbered. Genesis 32:9-12 (NIV)

•God doesnt want me to
Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened. Matthew 7:7-8 (NIV)

2. It Could Result In Personal Injury.
When he saw that he had not prevailed against him, he touched the socket of his thigh; so the socket of Jacobs thigh was dislocated while he wrestled with him. Genesis 32:25 (NIV)



Examples
•Jonah
And the LORD appointed a great fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in the stomach of the fish three days and three nights. Then Jonah prayed to the LORD his God from the stomach of the fishand He answered me.

•Pharaoh
Moses and Aaron performed all these wonders before Pharaoh; yet the LORD hardened Pharaohs heart, and he did not let the sons of Israel go out of his land.

•Balaam
Now, therefore, please come, curse this people for me since they are too mighty for me; perhaps I may be able to defeat them and drive them out of the land. For I know that he whom you bless is blessed, and he whom you curse is cursed.But God was angry because he was going, and the angel of the LORD took his stand in the way as an adversary against him.

•David
Now, therefore, the sword will never depart from your house, because you despised me and took the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your own. This is what the LORD says: Out of your own household I am going to bring calamity upon you.

3. It Will Be A Life Altering Experience.
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. 2 Corinthians 5:17 (NKJV)

•I gain a new
Then he said, Let me go, for the dawn is breaking. But he said, I will not let you go unless you bless me. So he said to him, What is your name? And he said, Jacob. He said, Your name shall no longer be Jacob, but Israel; for you have striven with God and with men and have prevailed. Genesis 32:26-28 (NIV)

•I gain a new
Then Jacob asked him and said, Please tell me your name. But he said, Why is it that you ask my name? And he blessed him there. So Jacob named the place Peniel, for he said, I have seen God face to face, yet my life has been preserved. Genesis 32:29-30 (NIV)

•I gain a new
Now the sun rose upon him just as he crossed over Penuel, and he was limping on his thigh. Therefore, to this day the sons of Israel do not eat the sinew of the hip which is on the socket of the thigh, because he touched the socket of Jacobs thigh in the sinew of the hip.

part 3 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ksjSpUaeKM8
05/16/10 2-4 Inside the Gage: Me vs God, Tap Out week 1 , Geneis 32-33 Church Orange Ca 92865