BC CONFERENCE 2025

I want to talk tonight about total surrender

I’m gonna go right to Genesis 32, Genesis 32. And we’re going to look at a few verses together. I do bring greetings from Vegas. We planted a church seven years ago, City Light Church. And it has been a wild ride. It has been such a joy. And we’re so grateful for all that God is doing right now in Vegas. And so next time you come to Vegas, and I know y’all do like to come to Vegas to, you know, witness to people. Minister to the blackjack dealers. Praise God. Hallelujah. But you know, people come to Vegas. I know that because people come up to me every Sunday. Go, you told me at my church if I come to Vegas to come to your church, and I’m here. Hung over, but I’m here. No, they don’t say that part. They don’t say that part. I can just tell. Jesus. But honestly, if you’re ever, if you’re ever in our city, please come to City Light Church. We’d love to have you and would be so grateful to see you.

Genesis 32. I’m going to preach a word that’s on my heart, a word that God used to change my own life. And I think it’s going to do the same for you today. The Bible says,

So Jacob was left alone. And a man, this is this is God Almighty, wrestled with him till daybreak. 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. Then the man said, Let me go, for it is daybreak. But Jacob replied, I will not let you go unless you bless me.

Can we all say that line together, everybody out loud? I will not let you go unless you bless me.

The man asked him, What is your name? Jacob, he answered. Then the man said, Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel.

This is Prince of God or overcomer with God.

Because you have struggled, you’ve wrestled, you’ve struggled with God and with man and have overcome.

You’ve you’ve both dealt with the God issues in your life and the people issues in your life. You’ve you’ve faced vertically and you’ve faced horizontally and you’ve overcome. And I just declare over every person in the house tonight, you’re an overcomer in Jesus’ name. You’ve you faced God and you faced yourself.

But he replied, Why do you ask my name? Then he blessed him there. So Jacob called the place Penil.

This means face to face,

because I saw God face to face, yet my life was spared. The sun rose above him as he passed Penil. And he was limping because of his hip.

And I want to talk tonight about total surrender. I want to talk about living a life of surrender to Jesus. Really, our life is going to be a series of surrenders. Not just a one time surrender at youth camp or one time surrender, giving your life to Christ at a service, but it’s it’s a daily yes to Jesus. And the more God can get a yes out of you, the more he can do in you, the more he can do for you, and the more he can do through you. So I want to talk about surrender today. We’re all going to pray this prayer as we get started. Everybody say my heart’s open. Speak to me, Lord. In Jesus’ name. Come on, everybody said amen. And amen and amen.

Um we find Jacob here in the text that he’s on the run. He is running from his brother Esau. He’s running from his father-in-law Laban. He is running ultimately from his own decisions. He’s running really from himself, he’s running from his family, he’s running from God. He’s being hunted by both of these men. Both of these men want to kill him for different reasons. We find Jacob now on the run. If you kind of want Jacob what I want, if you’re like, who’s who’s Jacob in the Bible? Let me give you Jacob in a verse. It’s Genesis 31 31. I rushed away because I was afraid. Not a great life verse. Not exactly Ephesians 3 20. Amen. But um that’s Jacob. On the move, discontent, unsettled, rushing away, fearful, always, always running from conflict, never facing conflict.

And it’s here though, it’s here at Jacob’s lowest moment that God meets with him. Oh, this is good news. This is good news that God did not beat Jacob at his best day. God did not meet Jacob at his highest moment. And I and I thank God for the mountaintop, and I thank God for the good days. And I thank God, uh I thank God when the sun is shining, but I also thank God that God can find me at my lowest place. God can find me in the valley, not just on the mountain. He’s the God of light, but he can also find me in the darkness. That even if I make my bed in hell, there he is with me. He is the God of my strength, and he’s the God of my gift, and he’s the God of my anointing, but he’s also the God of my weakness and the God of my secrets and the God of my curses and the God of my issues. He’s he’s the God that yes, can find me at my highest place, but he can also find me at my lowest place. And it was here that God found Jacob. Maybe you feel like you’re at your lowest place. God can find you tonight. God has your address tonight. God is calling you tonight, not at your best, but at your worst. It’s called grace.

There was a third man chasing Jacob. Not Esau to kill him, not Laban to kill him. There was a third man chasing Jacob. God Almighty. Not to kill him, but to bless him, not to break him, but to bless him, not to curse him, but to bless him. And God has a way of chasing us down. I just I just want to remind you, in case you’re looking at me, um, my my testimony is not a testimony of my strength, my goodness, my my my my me, me, me. No, it’s actually none of that. It’s like somehow God has just run faster than me. And I’ve never been able to outrun him. And he just always has a way of finding me, even at my weakest moments. This is this is the God that we serve. Our testimony is not a testimony of all that we have accomplished. Our testimony is a testimony of all Jesus has accomplished in our life. Anybody grateful for that today? Can we can we thank God? And when God chases you down, all you have to do is say yes. So how do I surrender to God? How do I live a life of surrender?

Firstly, you have to stop running

Jacob was left alone. Now, again, if you if you read the scriptures, you’re gonna find out Jacob was never alone. Jacob is always around people. He’s he’s running after his daddy’s approval and daddy’s blessing. He’s always hanging around mama. He’s the first mama’s boy in the Bible. He’s running after Esau’s blessing, he’s chasing Laban and his daughters. Jacob’s always on the run. Jacob is never alone because if you ever get alone, if you ever slow down, you’re actually gonna have to face some issues.

By the way, that’s why uh nights like this are so important. That’s why, like conference nights like this, revival nights, whatever we want to call them. This is why it’s so important because we break out of the normal rhythm of our life. And for a couple of days, we can’t do it every night, every night of the year, we would die. But a couple of nights a year, amen. We we change the flow of our life and we change the flow of our rhythms, and we don’t just go home and turn on the TV and eat dinner and and and just kind of continue to push things off, but for a couple of days we get in the presence of the Lord and we worship God and we open up our hearts to God and we face God. And I found that most people don’t ever want to get alone with God because if they get alone with God, they’re gonna have to deal with themselves. I found that so many people replace fruitfulness for busyness. Man, if I’m tired and if I’m busy and if I’m miserable, I must be holy. But it’s only when you slow down that you can actually face God. It’s only when you get in the presence of the Lord that you can finally wrestle with some of the issues that are going on in your life.

And man, people love to keep moving so they don’t have to wrestle. Oh, you watch it all the time. Again, I’ve only been pastoring seven years. I’m a rookie. Um, but you you watch people, they just they just jump from issue to issue, job to job. I live in Vegas, spouse to spouse, amen. City to city. You know, Pastor, we just we gotta we gotta get to Nashville, Pastor. Amen. You know what I found out? Um, wherever you go, there you are. Right, right. Get married, praise God, but you still you man, go get that better job. I know your boss is evil, I know, I know, whatever. But you’re still you at the new job. Go to a new church, you still you ain’t gonna like that, Pastor Man. Have the kid. That’s really terrifying because then you have a kid and you look at him and ah, it’s you. They start. I got an eight-year-old that acts like me. I’m like, dang, you’re a brat. Oh, I’m a brat. You’re spoiled. No, I’m spoiled. So wherever I go, there I am. So maybe it’s not changing the circumstance. Maybe it’s wrestling with God.

So Jesus offers us something better. He offers us repentance. He says this. He says, Repent of your sins, Matthew 4 17. Now, now, I think a lot of people are okay with that, especially if you have any kind of religious background. You’re like, yeah, man, I’m a terrible person. And I and I got a lot of, I got a lot of junk in my life. That’s not actually the power. The power is in this second little line. Turn to God. That’s right. That’s right. Only Jesus can change us. That’s right. You don’t, you don’t turn, you don’t repent of sin or even hate sin. There’s not a lot of power in that. The only power is when you turn from something to someone. Jesus says, turn to me, turn to God, for the kingdom is there. In other words, I’m close to you. I’m here. I want to offer you something internal and eternal. That is not just ticking a box. I got I went to church. I’m a better person. I gave in the offering. I’m a better person. I’m not cussing as much. Maybe I’m becoming no, no, no, no, no. Turn to God because the power is in turning. Only Jesus can change a soul. It’s turning from something, but it’s turning to a greater someone. Repentance is not simply remorse, it’s replacement.

Paul’s gonna give us an a better, even a better explanation of what we just read in Matthew when he says this in Ephesians 5. Don’t get drunk with wine. Now here’s a here’s a funny little word that we’ll miss in the King James, but it’s actually so beautiful. Wear in excess. Here’s all Paul’s saying it’ll never be enough. That’s right. Whatever it is will never be enough. Whatever you’re getting drunk on, inebriated on, high on, wherever you’re trying to fulfill, whenever you’re trying to find fulfillment outside of the kingdom of God, it will always lead to excess. You will need more. And the sun will never be sunny enough. And I could go on and on and on because anytime you’re trying to get inebriated on a world system, it’s never gonna be enough. So, but Paul doesn’t end there. Don’t get drunk, you sinners. Praise God, hallelujah. What is he saying he’s saying he’s saying you’re missing out on real joy, but be filled with the Holy Spirit. In other words, anything the enemy is offering me is a fake cheap Timu version. Y’all got Timu here? Of the real thing that only Jesus can give you. Come on, I’m talking about a wine that is not of this world. I’m talking about a joy that the world can’t take away. I’m talking about a peace that passes understanding. Oh, can we thank God for something internal and eternal?

But I gotta stop running. What Jacob really needed is God. You know, you read about Jacob, he had money. He had he had camels and flocks and donkeys and cattle and y’all, he had wives. But he didn’t have God. That’s right. And what Jacob was missing was God. It reminds me in in the book of Genesis, uh, God is creating in Genesis. He’s He’s the creator in Genesis, and He He does something very interesting. He creates dirt. And then He tells the dirt, produce. So the dirt starts producing flowers and trees and grass and plants and all this, all these things, all these seed-bearing plants. That’s why, whenever you remove a tree from the dirt, the tree dies. Because the tree needs the dirt, because the dirt is its life source. So, gentlemen, when you buy your wife beautiful flowers this week, just out of nowhere, just to be sweet. Let me help your marriage right now. Amen. They’re gonna be beautiful for a couple of days, right? And then you go walk down into the kitchen and they’re gonna be dead. You go, oh, the flowers died. They were already dead. They were already dead because we removed them from their life source.

Okay, after he does that, he creates water, not fish, water, not fish, water. He creates water, and then he tells the water, make fish. And like straight out of Moana 2, that water goes, yes, sir. And the water starts producing fish. Sorry, I have an eight year old, okay? My bad. I know we’re supposed to be boycotting Disney, but I’m still a work in progress. Don’t judge me. So the water produces the fish. That’s why when you remove a fish from the water, it dies. Why? Because the water is its sourced. The water is its, we could almost say, is it’s God? It it the fish can’t live without water. The tree can’t live without dirt. But when God created you, when God created me, when God created Adam, He didn’t talk to the dirt. He didn’t talk to the water, he didn’t even talk to oxygen or atmosphere. When God was creating us, he had to talk to himself. I felt that in my bones. Sorry, I am a little Pentecostal. It shows I try to hide it, but sometimes I can’t. And he said, For this creation, for our chief creation, let us Father, Son, and Spirit make man in our own image. What am I saying? I’m saying a tree needs dirt and a fish needs water, and we need God. And anytime we try to live this life outside of our life source, God, we just gonna look like a flopping fish. Like a dead bouquet. We’re missing out on the real life that we can experience when we try to live this life removed from our source.

I need God, I gotta stop running. I have to remind myself every day I need God. Marriage is better than it’s ever been. I need God. Church is doing great. I need God. Love my family, but I need God. Have amazing friends, but I need God. Have a little bit of money. I still need God. I love my house, but I still need God. Like I need God more today. I’m more comfortable in some ways than I’ve ever been, but I need God more today than I’ve ever needed God. And how foolish of me if I try to do what I’m doing right now outside of my source. So I gotta stop running. And once I stop running, I now face to face with the Almighty.

I have to admit that I have issues

What is your name? Jacob, he answered. Now, names in the Bible mean a lot. They don’t mean as much today, but they mean a lot in the Bible. And names were usually given to a child based off of the pregnancy and off of the birth and off of the season of the birth of that child. And really the name was a prophecy. The name was a declaration. This is who you’re gonna be. So Rebecca is pregnant with two sons. Esau leaves the womb first, but as Esau is leaving the womb, the scripture says that Jacob reaches out and he grabs the foot of Esau. And when this happens, Rebecca says, Oh, be careful. Here’s our heel grasper or supplanter or deceiver. Here’s the one that’s gonna knock you off balance. We gotta be careful. This is our little black sheet. It’s gonna be our little problem, child. Keep an eye on Jacob. That’s what Jacob means. And she declares something over her child that he became. He became a deceiver, he became a heel grasper, he be he became a manipulator.

And so when God says, What is your name? Jacob is having to get honest. You know the last time someone asked Jacob his name? Jacob said, I’m Esau. That’s good. Because if we’re not careful, we will. Oh, oh, Jacob, Jacob put hair on his arm, but we we wear masks in church. Hallelujah, brother. Glory to God. Praise God. How are you doing? Blessed. Blessed. Add an extra B to it. So blessed. Doing good? Wonderful. Hallelujah. I asked the guy one time, how are you doing? He went, Amen. I went, that’s not an answer. I was like, bro, that’s the most word of faith thing I’ve ever seen in my life. I was like, whoa, that like. I was like, Amen. It’s not an answer. I was like, go ahead, tell me how you’re doing. He’s like, all right, okay, okay. It was so funny. And I am word of faith. Amen. So I’m just, I’m just telling you, it was just a shock. How are you doing, brother? Amen. What?

Let me tell you something about faith. Faith is not denial. Jesus didn’t say deny the mountain. Jesus didn’t say, just act like it’s not there. There’s no mountain, there’s no mountain, there’s no mountain, there’s no mountain, there’s no mountain. There’s that’s not faith. Faith is admitting there is a mountain. But I know a name that’s greater than the mountain. So I’m gonna talk to the mountain in the name of Jesus, and I’m gonna tell it to go in Jesus’ name. Amen. It’s not it’s not a denial of reality, it is knowing there is a greater reality called the kingdom of heaven.

So when God says, What’s your name? See, here’s what I want to get at. Jacob could have, he could have lied again like he did earlier, but he could he could have said, Oh, I’m I’m Abraham’s grandson, Esau’s brother. I’m Isaac’s boy. I’m one of Rebecca’s sons. I’m one of Laban’s son-in-laws. He could have said a lot of things that would have been kind of true, but wouldn’t have dealt with the root issue in his heart. And so when God says, What’s your name? He finally admits I’m Jacob. I have become what Rebecca said about me. And that has been a real part of my journey. But now I’m bringing that to Jesus. And I believe he can change my name, change my story. But he can’t change the fake me. So I actually have to get honest and real enough with God to bring it to God.

You know, it reminds me of John 8. There’s a verse in John 8 where Jesus says, Whom the Son sets free is free indeed. That’s a big one. I mean, we know that one. A lot of people know that. We sing songs about it, we put it on our screen say, but we know that. You know, when Jesus said this, the Bible said he said it to a group of believers. And he says, You can become one of my disciples, and not yet a disciple, but Jesus is calling them into discipleship. And he says, He says, I am calling you to become a disciple of me, and I can set you free. And they did not say, hallelujah. They did not say, pull out a recording device. We got to write a song about this. This is going to be a banger. This is going to be a no, they didn’t do that. They said, in John 8 33, we are Abraham’s children. And we’ve never been slaves to anyone. Anyone? Did they did they not watch the Prince of Egypt? Anyone? Assyria? Egypt, Babylon? Rome? They were currently under Roman occupation. Talk about we’re free. Is this okay, Caesar? Are you good with this?

See, you have to be able to get honest enough with God to say, there’s some Jacob in me. And I’m bringing it to you because by the way, when God says, What’s your name? It’s not like God doesn’t know. God never asks you a question because he doesn’t know the answer. He is trying to get you to a place of revelation. So he says, Can you can you get honest with me? Or are you gonna lie to me like you lied to your daddy? Watch out. And he said, I ain’t gonna lie this time, I’m Jacob. And God goes, I can do something with that.

We’ve got to hold on to God

So now that I’m here, now that I’m honest with God, now that I’ve stopped running, here’s the last thing I have to do, the last thing we have to do to surrender to God. We’ve got to hold on to God. I will not let you go unless you bless me. It is an interesting text because God it feels like to me. God shows up, picks a fight with Jacob, and then immediately tries to tap out of the fight. And he’s like, Alright, I’m done, I’m done, I’m done. No more. And Jacob’s like, we just got started. No, no, I want to. Wait a minute. And I am convinced that God was actually testing Jacob. God was actually asking Jacob, all right. Do you want to just run away like you always run away, or do you want to actually deal with what’s going on in your heart? But if you want to run, I’ll tap out. You were good. You can run. Jacob, you can run like you’ve always run. You ran from your parents’ house, you ran from your brother, you ran from your brother-in-law. You’ve currently been running from your wife and kids. Go ahead and run. Go ahead and run for me like you. You’re always on the run. Go ahead and run. Or you can wrestle.

Hear me, friends. You can run or you can wrestle, you can’t do both. And eventually something in you has to say, you know what? I want to run, but I’m not going to. I want to quit, but I’m not going to. I want to walk away, but I’m not going to. Because nothing will change if I just keep running. But something can change when I finally face God. This is the power, by the way, of the life you want. It’s going to be on the other side of a wrestling match.

Let me tell you how you lead a church for 45 years. You want to quit and you don’t. Let’s say you lead a church for 45. At least 45 times. At least once a year. At least once a year. And then if you’re dramatic like me, in seven years, it’s 70 times seven. Amen. I isn’t that a scripture? Okay, never mind. Um my point is you just stay. Even when you want to quit, you just stay. Even when you’re discouraged, you just stay. Even when, even when people walk out, you just stay. You just you just hold on to God and go, I ain’t letting go. I could, but but there’s no reward in that. I could walk away, but there’s no reward in that. I could, I could, I could just go try to repeat this cycle, so but there’s no reward in that. So God, I’m not letting go. That is the power of not just a faith-filled life, but of a faithful life. And I and I do think it would be appropriate one more time to just honor our founding pastors. This one more time for just for just staying, for just I’m just not going anywhere. Because God, you called me here, so here we are.

About 18 months ago, I tried to quit. I tried to quit. Not on my wife, not on God, but on my church. And so here we go. Let’s get real. Uh I walk downstairs, super dramatic, and I walk into our freezer. I open up the freezer and I pull out a half gallon, a half gallon. Not a pint. A half gallon of bluebell ice cream. And um, and I’m just being real dramatic. I’m trying to pick a fight with my wife. Y’all know what I’m saying. Throwing stuff. I grab the bluebell and then I go. Uh David, I don’t know if Jordan has this, but my wife has this like it’s like a vase of like a like a bouquet of uh utensils we’re not allowed to use. They’re from Williams Sonoma, you can’t touch them. It’s a cheese grater, can’t touch it. Jail if you touch it. It’s a slotted spoon, jail. You can’t touch it. Yeah. It’s a really beautiful, like, I don’t know, dough roller that you can’t touch it. They’re just there. We use the ones from Target, but those are just there for decoration. And I wanted to fight with my wife because I was in a bad mood, so I went and grabbed one of the good spoons. And I and I had my half gallon ice cream and I had my big spoon, like literally, like I’m a four-year-old. And I said, I quit. Not on you, not on God, but on this earth, I’m done. So if you want to be the pastor, you can be the pastor of women’s ministry. Amen. Praise God. Go for it. Or call a friend. I don’t know. I’m done. And I turned around. And I started walking up the stairs with my half gallon and my big old spoon. And my wife was doing the dishes. And she just screams through the house. Screams through the house. No. And I’m telling you, I got chill bumps down my spine. My hair stood up. And I turned around. And I immediately protected the ice cream. Amen. I went, it’s okay. It’s okay, baby. Mama’s mad. It’s okay. She’ll stop yelling soon. It’s okay, mama’s okay. And I went, What? And she said, You’re not quitting. And I said, Yes, I am. She said, No, you’re not. She said, So go eat your ice cream and pray. And have a pity party. Because when you wake up in the morning, you’re still gonna be the pastor of City Light Church. And I went, I’ll pray about it. And I walked upstairs. And I ate a half gallon of bluebell ice cream. I repented to God, and I’m still the pastor of City Light Church.

One of my heroes, Pastor Tommy Barnett, said Javen, be encouraged when you want to quit. I said, Why would I be encouraged when I want to quit? He said, Because then you have something to quit. He said, A lot of people don’t have anything to quit. At least you can quit if you want to quit. But then you just be encouraged that you could quit, but you’re not gonna quit because you have something too quit, and then you don’t quit, and then you just keep going. I went, I like that. So much of the life you want is just saying, nah, I’m not letting go. God, you gave me a promise, I’m not letting go. God, you put a dream in my spirit, I’m not letting go. God, you you gave me a word, I’m not letting go of the team come.

Who are you, God?

I just it it’s it’s in this moment, by the way, it’s in this moment that Jacob realizes this isn’t a man. This is amazing to me. He goes, Um, um. He goes, I think this is God, and he says, I told you my name. He goes, he goes, I I told you my name. Now would you tell me your name? Who are you? Who are you, God? Boy, it’s a it’s a question. You should be asking. Jesus, would you reveal yourself to me? Like, who are you? Moses asked it in Exodus 3. David asked it in Psalm 18. The disciples asked it in Matthew 8. Peter had to answer this in Matthew 16. Paul would ask this in Acts chapter 9, Lord, who are you? And every time God answered. But here’s the amazing thing that happens that’s so unique from the rest of Scripture. God didn’t give him a name. Right, so when he introduces himself to Abraham, he he gives him a name. I am the Lord. I am Yahweh God, the uncreated, preexistent one. When he when he meets with Moses, he says, I am that I am. When he meets with Paul, Saul, Paul, he says, I am Jesus, whom you’ve been persecuting. But when he meets with Jacob, and Jacob says, What’s your name? He doesn’t give him a name. Jacob says, Who are you? And God blessed him.

This word blessing means to be the greater of two. And to get down on your knees at the level of the lesser one, like a father and a child. And this word blessing means to get eye to eye face to face with that little kid. And put your hands on him and speak words of affirmation and blessing over them. God wasn’t breaking Jacob, he was blessing Jacob. God wasn’t hurting Jacob, he was helping Jacob. Let me tell you what God was really telling Jacob. I’m not Rebecca. I don’t curse my kids. So you never have to be jealous of another person’s blessings because God never runs out of blessing. He can bless everybody he wants to bless in this room at the level that he wants to bless them because this is the God that you serve. He is not limited like Isaac, he is not limited like Rebecca, he is, and he blesses him, and after he blesses him, Jacob’s limping. Because God has now changed his name, and God’s changed his talk, and now God’s changed his walk. I don’t I don’t trust anyone who doesn’t have a limp. I met God and I move at a different pace. I met God and He He touched my strength only to reveal His strength.

So he was running and then He was wrestling, and then He was limping, and then we get to Hebrews 11. Now He’s dying. Watch this. Everybody in this room’s gonna die. But you get to die different than you were born. You’re born looking like your parents, you die looking like your decisions. Watch what he’s doing. Now he’s he’s dying and he’s leaning. He’s leaning on his reminder that he needs God. And what’s he doing? Not only is he dying, not only is he leaning, he’s blessing and he’s worshiping. The man that was born stealing blessing dies giving away blessing. The man who was born a taker dies a giver. The man who was born fearful dies generous. The man who was born under a curse dies under a blessing. He dies so radically different than he was born, and he’s now leaning on his staff.

And Hebrew theologians tell us that the staff was important because they would carve in the family history into the staff with special memories. So I think as I think as Jacob’s leaning on his staff, his son Joseph went, Daddy, tell him about when you met God. Oh, I remember that. It’s right here. And he’s now looking at his grandsons. And he says, Well, my name, my name wasn’t always Israel, guys, it was Jacob, and all of his grandsons would have gone. I was a mess. But I met a God. I said I met a God. Oh man, has anybody met this God that I’m talking about tonight? Has anybody met this name changer? Oh, has anybody has anybody ever seen the goodness of God? And he says, He says, I met a God who changed my talk and he changed my walk and he changed my name and he changed our life. And and and boys, I thought there was only enough blessing for me or Esau. But now I’m connected to a source that can bless every one of you. And I was so scared. But I met God. I’ll tell you that’s my story.

God can change your name tonight

God can change your name tonight. God can change your life tonight. God can change your destiny tonight. It doesn’t matter what Rebecca said about you. It doesn’t matter what Isaac said about you. It doesn’t matter. You are not your past. You are not your mistakes. You are not what they told you. You are no longer your worst season. You are no longer your sin or your shame. Israel, you are who God says you are. You are loved, healed, a child of God. You are saved, redeemed from the curse, holy forgiven, free, well supplied, protected, and promised. You are no longer Jacob. You are Israel. Not because of anything you’ve done or earned or deserved, but because of this beautiful gift called grace.