How To Hear From God – Part 3

Story Time

Genesis 48:1–2 

“Then Israel summoned his strength and sat up in bed.”

Strength is not static, but dynamic.

• Static = fixed or stationary.
• Dynamic = subject to constant change.

If strength can be summoned, then you have more capacity than you are displaying.

Biblical Commands to Be Strong

• Joshua 1:6
• 1 Kings 2:1–2
• Haggai 2:4
• Psalm 31:24
• Ephesians 6:10

To be strong is to collect your strength and recommission it for a new purpose.

“After this, Joseph was told, ‘Behold, your father is ill.”

Your strength is at work, even when you are at rest. 

Your strength is at work, even when you are sick.

You must redirect your strength from lower priority matters to higher priority matters.

“Your son Joseph has come to you.”

The motivation to sit up in bed had to do with a high priority matter.

Jacob could not die without transmitting the spiritual lineage to his children.

The next generation doesn’t just need your bounty. It also needs your blessing.

“So he took with him his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim.”

Jacob was told about his son but was greeted by his grandsons.

The grandchildren raised the stakes.

Strength was summoned to transmit the blessing from the patriarchal generation to the tribal generation.

This was a transition from a way of living governed by exceptional individuals to a way of living governed by a system of laws and cultural practices.

Joseph was 4G, the generation of multiplication.

Manessah and Ephraim were the physical signs of that multiplication.

“And it was told to Jacob. . . .Then Israel summoned his strength”

Jacob was called, but Israel responded.

• Jacob = supplanter
• Israel = contends with God

Jacob was a trickster and manipulator. He wrestled with human power.

Israel was someone in pursuit of God’s favor. He wrestled with divine power.

You will wrestle either way.

Choose to wrestle with God (2 Samuel 24:14)

Wrestling with God will be a transition from an external fight to an internal fight.

The giants we will face will not be physical, but psychological.

To enter into this season of promise, we will have to face our greatest fears:

• From Facades to Feelings
• Institutional Disloyalty
• The Passing of Faith Heroes
• Matters of the Heart
  • You claim God’s promises with your walk and not just with your words. 
  • Some people exercise the gift of gab, but not the gift of growth. 

A Decision to Make

When the next generation comes to be resourced by you (naturally and spiritually), who will greet them, Jacob or Israel?

Job 42:12–17

Deuteronomy 34:7–8

You don’t have to die from disease or disaster. You can die because you’re done.

Genesis 49:33

God’s Strength is Your Strength

Judges 16:28

Ephesians 6:10 

Others Who Summoned God’s Strength for the Next Generation

• Abraham And Sarah [Isaac] (Romans 4:19–21)
• Mordecai [Esther]
• Naomi [Ruth]
• Jethro [Moses]
• Elijah [Elisha]

Renewed Call to Draw Near to Hear

We are going back to basics with an emphasis on discipleship.

© Joshua D. Smith, Ph.D., 2022