You see, the real blessing that God wanted to give us was not property rights in the Middle East. or the head clansmanship position of a nomadic Mediterranean tribe. The real blessing was God's favor, God's forgiveness, a place in His family, a role in His kingdom. And that blessing is not given to those who earn it or make themselves worthy of it. Welcome back to the Summit Life podcast with Jiddy Greer.
As we celebrate launch week for Pastor JD's latest book, we have some fun extra resources to go with it that we wanted to tell you about. First up, we have an everyday revolutionary seven-day challenge. It equips you with simple daily practices. Rooted in scripture, reflection, and action that turn ordinary moments into opportunities to live boldly for Christ. You can access that for free on the homepage of jdgreer.com today and all this month.
Now, let's get to today's teaching. In another message from Hebrews 11, Pastor JD shows us how God's acceptance is a gift of grace that we could never earn and is freely available. We'll see how that truth was lived out in the stories of Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph. This teaching is part of our brand new series titled Broken People and Famous Faith.
So let's get started. All right, if you've got your Bibles this weekend, and I hope that you do as always, open them to Hebrews 11, verse 21. Hebrews 11, verse 21, we are looking at a story today that is all about passing the torch from one generation to the next.
Now, let me warn you, the level of formality And all the pomp and circumstance that goes into recognizing the official family heir is kind of foreign to us today as Americans, unless. unless you are really into the British royal family, which I know a bunch of you are. Honestly, I'm not entirely sure why so many of us are obsessed with William and Kate and Harry and Megan, especially since our national ancestors left England to escape the royal family. But still, raise your hand if you have watched every season of The Crown. Raise your hand.
Right? You've read the articles, you've watched the documentaries, you read Harry's memoir, Spare. You're tracking with the news right now of Princess Kate's illness and all the conspiracy theories around it. If one of the members of the royal family has a kid or visits Wimbledon or hiccups in a weird way, then we all know about it. Even if you were not that into the royal family, you probably still know who is in line to be the next king of England, right?
Right now, Charles is the king who took over for his mother Elizabeth when he was a spry 73 years old. And next in line, after him, is Prince. William. the eldest son. For his whole life, William has been training for this role.
He has been a model citizen. Everybody says that. He has been dutiful. He has been put together. Why?
Because he's not just William. He's always known that. He is William the next King of England. Harry, on the other hand, Well, he's always known that he will not be king, so he's been the sometimes lovable wild child. The royal family wishes he would get in line more, but I mean, honestly, what can you expect?
He's not training to be king. He's just. Harry. When you hear today's stories, I want you to imagine what it would be like. What's CNN?
And what Fox News would do if Charles preparing to step down from the throne. Maybe on his deathbed with a voice that sounds like mine. invited in William and Harry. Only to announce to the world Harry is going to be the next king. That is the kind of drama that we are dealing with in today's reference in Hebrews 11, 21.
And it has, get this. profound gospel implications. Remember, the author of Hebrews laid out his thesis statement for the whole chapter of Hebrews 11 and Hebrews 11:6. Where he said without faith, It is impossible to please God. And then the author defines faith as a threefold conviction.
He says: number one, faith believes that God is real. Number two, that God keeps his promises. And number three, that seeking him is worth the effort. And then the author introduces 16 different Old Testament characters. to illustrate this.
Think of faith like a many-sided diamond. And each of these characters reveals to us one beautiful side of that faith diamond. Today we come to verse 21, which says this: Isaac, excuse me, just verse 21. By faith, Jacob, when he was dying, Blessed each of the sons of Joseph. bowing in worship over the head of his Staff.
Now If you know anything at all about the Bible. You know that Jacob's life is one of the most amazing colorful Faith-filled lives in the Bible, and the writer of Hebrews could have picked any one of literally a hundred moments. from Jacob's life to demonstrate faith. But instead, he He chooses something rather mundane. The blessing of Joseph's sons that occurs at the end of Jacob's life.
Honestly, it's a pretty obscure moment that most people have never even heard of. If I asked you to tell Jacob's story, and you could recall it from Sunday school, the flannel graph story of Jacob that you heard, you would not include this moment because you probably don't even know about it. Genesis 48, here's how it goes. We're at the end of Jacob's life. And Joseph, who was one of Jacob's sons, who is now second in command of Egypt.
Ask Jacob, his dad, to bless his two sons before Jacob dies.
Now blessing in those days meant more than some kind of general well-wishing. Blessing was the formal bestowal of the family inheritance. You became the head of the family clan. You became the executor of the estate. By tradition, this blessing always went to the oldest son.
Jacob agrees to give this blessing to Joseph's sons. But as Jacob reaches out his hands to bless these two boys, He does something totally unexpected. He crosses them. Putting his right hand, the hand of blessing, on the head of the younger son, Ephraim. and his left hand on the head of the older son Manasseh.
In those days, the right hand, apologies to all you South Pauls. But in those days the right hand was the hand of blessing. And the left hand was just the other hand. Jacob crosses them and puts his hand of blessing. on the spare.
Joseph objects. Joseph is like, no, dad, you're blessing the wrong one. He thinks his dad is senile and having some kind of like senior moment. Manasseh is the older son, Dad. He's the one who gets the blessing to which Jacob says, no, son.
This is how God has appointed it to be. Here is the question. Why does the author of Hebrews point to that one moment? as the moment where Jacob demonstrated That faith. that pleases God.
Well, to understand that. You got to understand the story of Jacob. That story is told in Genesis 27. You ready? Jacob and his brother Esau were fraternal twins.
But they were about as opposite as two biological brothers could be. The author of Genesis presents Esau as an outdoorsy kind of guy. A man's man, so to speak. He was athletic. He liked to hunt.
He ate lots of red meat. His name, Esau, means literally red and hairy. Which is kind of funny when you consider that he was given that name. At birth. Evidently, he came out of the womb looking like a chia pet.
Jacob, on the other hand, was more of an indoor cat. We know that he had soft skin. He liked to cook. He probably used a loofah and he knew not to wear white after Labor Day, okay? He had great hair and he was a fabulous dresser.
Esau was the oldest. by just a couple of seconds. But that meant that Esau got the blessing, and in the case of Esau and Jacob, That actually worked out quite well because Esau. Fully embodied the stereotype of what fathers in those days wanted their sons to be. This was, keep in mind, an agrarian nomadic society.
So men wanted their sons to be big and manly and good with weapons. The author makes clear that Esau was his daddy's favorite. John Calvin, in his commentary, notes that the narrator of Genesis himself prefers Esau. It's clear. Esau is the better choice.
He's the oldest. He better fit the stereotype of what a leader should be. Esau is the preferred heir. Jacob is the less qualified. Spare.
But just before their birth, something strange had happened. Rebecca, who was Jacob and Esau's mom, so Isaac's wife. Went to see a prophet because she was having a really rough pregnancy. Because that's just what you did in those days if you were having a rough pregnancy. You didn't go to the OBGYN, you went to see a prophet.
For what it's worth, I'm very grateful we are not in those days anymore. But at any rate, she says to this prophet, she says, Listen, I don't know what's going on in here, but I feel like there's a couple of ultimate fighters in there. It's like I'm about to give birth to, you know, Connor McGregor and John Jones or something. And the prophet of God said in response, well, that's because two warring nations are in your womb. Which is of course what every mother of twins wants to hear.
And then the prophet of God went on to say this: This is Genesis 25:23, if you want to look at it later. He says that in this case, the two warring brothers, the younger Jacob, that's the one who's going to prevail, and he's the one to whom God is going to give this blessing.
So the boys are born, and Jacob the younger. turns out not only to be less manly than Esau, He also turns out to be somewhat of a dirtback. The author presents this first to us and the circumstances surrounding their birth. After Esau comes out of the womb first. He was followed, chased by this little hand, little infant hand, Jacob's hand, which grabs a hold of Esau's heel as if to say, oh no, you don't.
Get back in here. I'm pulling you back into the ring. I wanted to be first. And so, for that reason, Isaac and Rebekah named their second son Ha-Yaakob. which literally meant in those days, the heel grabber.
The first son they named Red and Harry. The second they named Heel Grabber. They have a lot of work to do when it comes to naming their babies. But Ha-Yekob had a second, a meaning, a double entendre. And that second meaning was schemer.
One commentator says the trickster, Mr. Sneaky. When I played soccer in high school, we used to have to run this three-mile course as part of our warm-up. The last two miles of that course made this big loop through the woods. And one of the guys on the team would usually, more often than not, duck into the trees right after we got into the woods.
And then he would just pop back out and join us whenever we came back out and done with that loop. That would have been Jacob, Mr. Sneaky. That name turns out to capture Jacob's entire approach to life. This all comes to a head when it was time for Isaac, their elderly father, to officially bestow the blessing on Esau.
Genesis 27:1, if you are quick with your Bible and you want to turn there and follow along, here's what it says: When Isaac was old and almost blind. He called for Esau, his older son. His favorite son. And said, My son, yes, father. Esau replied.
Verse 2, I am an old man now, Isaac said.
Now I expect every single day to be my last one. My last one. And so, what he does is he tells Esau to go out and hunt him up some wild game and to make a feast out of that game. And Isaac will then formally bestow the blessing on Esau.
So Esau grabs his crossbow and his hunting knife and he heads out into the woods. Verse 5, Rebekah overhears this conversation.
Now, just like Esau had been his daddy's favorite, Jacob had been Rebecca's favorite, the mama's boy. As you can see, this is a super healthy family dynamic.
So she says, Jacob, verse 9. Go out into the flocks right now, quickly. and bring me two fine young goats. I will prepare your father's favorite dish from them. Verse 10, take the food then to your father.
Then he can eat it. And he can bless you. He said of Esau before he dies. But mom, Jacob replies. He wants to bless Esau.
He's always wanted to bless Esau, not me. Everybody knows that. And I know he's almost blind, but mom, he's not an idiot. He's going to know for sure it's me. I mean, Esau's voice is deeper, he looks different.
Verse 12, what if my father touches me? Mom, think about how rough Esau's skin is compared to how smooth mine is. Plus, I smell like lavender, and he smells like some weird mixture of armpits and onions. He's going to see that I'm trying to trick him. And then he'll curse me instead of blessing me.
Verse 13, Rebecca convinces him that he can pull it off. She says, trust me.
So verse 14, Jacob follows his mother's instructions. Bringing her the two goats. She took them and cooked a delicious meat dish. just the way Isaac likes it. Verse 15, then she took Esau's best clothes, which were there in the house, and dressed Jacob in those clothes.
Verse 16, but she made him a pair of gloves from the hairy skin of the young goats. and then fastened a strip of the Goat's skin around his neck. And we'll be honest, I'm into the man's man bit as much as the next guy. But if, in order to impersonate me, somebody feels the need to cover themselves with a dead goat. That's a bit much even for me, okay?
But Jacob does it in verse 18. Jacob carried the platter of food to his father. And he said, my father. Yes, my son, said Isaac. Who is it?
Is that Esau or Jacob? Jacob replied, It's Esau. Um it's Esau. You're dead, your older son. I have done as you told me.
Here is the wild game cooked just the way you like it. Sit up, Dad, and eat so you can give me your blessing.
So Isaac asked. You literally just left. How were you able to find it so quickly, my son? I mean literally you just went out. Out of Turns out the old man is not as senile as everybody thinks he is.
Well, Jacob's also pretty quick on his feet. And he says, it's because the Lord your God put it in my path. Jacob replied, like, first shot, Dad. It was amazing. Verse 21, then Isaac said to Jacob, Well, then come over here.
I want to touch you and make sure you're really Esau. Verse 22, so Jacob went over and Isaac touched him. He said, the voice is Jacob's, but the hands are Esau's. Verse 23. But he did not recognize Jacob because Jacob's hands felt hairy just like Esau's.
Isaac pronounces his blessing. On Jacob. thinking it's Esau.
Now watch this, verse 30. As soon as Isaac had blessed Jacob. And almost before Jacob had left his father, Esau returned from his hunting trip. Esau prepared his father's favorite meat dish and brought it to him. Then he said, I'm back, father, and I have the wild game.
Sit up and eat it so that you can. Give me your blessing. Verse 32, but Isaac asked him, who are you? Why, it's me, of course, Esau replied. It's Esau, your oldest son.
Isaac began to tremble uncontrollably. With anger, fear, sadness, something. He said, Then who was it that just served me wild game? I've already eaten it. And I've blessed him with an irrevocable blessing before.
You came. When Esau understood, he let out a loud and bitter cry. Oh my Father, bless me too, he begged, bless me too. But Isaac said, your brother was here and he tricked me. He has carried away your blessing.
Esau said bitterly, No wonder his name has always been Ha Yekob. Sneaky. for he has deceived me, Then Esau broke down and he went. Wept. Then he vows to kill Jacob the next time he sees him.
which leads to Jacob fleeing for his life. Jacob would never see his mother again. and he would return to his homeland only for the final few months of his father's life. Here's the thing, y'all. Jacob didn't need to do all that.
You see, what is ironic about this whole story is that Jacob had already been given the blessing by a word of prophecy from God. Had Jacob just believed what God said and trusted him with it? And let God do it his way?
Well, Jacob could have saved himself so much heartache. But see, here's the question. What has all that got to do with faith in Hebrews 11? I mean, if anything, Jacob's search for blessing sounds like the opposite of faith, right? Exactly.
Which is what makes what Jacob does as he is dying so significant. Hebrews 11:21 again. By faith, Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph. Bowing in worship over the head of his staff. Let's go back to this scene at the end of Joseph's life, end of Jacob's life, excuse me.
As Jacob reaches out his hands to bless. To bless Joseph's sons, Manasseh and Ephraim. And just at the last moment, when he crosses him and he puts the hand. of blessing on the head of the younger. Joseph objects.
Dad, what are you doing? You're blessing the wrong one. And Jacob responds, I know what I'm doing, son. But God wants to bless Ephraim. The younger one.
And who is older? And more worthy in your eyes of blessing is not the basis of God's choice. The basis of God's choice is grace, always grace. Never merit. Jacob, who had spent his whole life trying to become worthy.
of blessing Now acknowledges that God's favor, God's blessing is a gift of grace and not the result of our earning. And the author of Hebrews says that. That. That is the faith that pleases God. You see, the real blessing that God wanted to give us was not property rights in the Middle East.
or the head clansmanship position of a nomadic Mediterranean tribe. The real blessing was God's favor, God's forgiveness, a place in His family, a role in His kingdom. And that blessing is not given to those who earn it or make themselves worthy of it. God's inheritance, God's blessing, is always, only, ever given as a gift of grace. You see, one day One day God the Father would reach out.
His hands of blessing, as two of his sons, so to speak. stood before him. One of those sons was Jesus. The perfect Son of God, fully God and fully man. And the other was us.
The fallen sons and daughters of Adam. Jesus deserved. God's favor. He deserved God's blessing. He had lived every single way.
That the Heavenly Father would want a son to live. And we had been the opposite. But just as the Heavenly Father. Reached out those hands of blessing. God the Father.
Crossed his arms. And God laid his right hand of blessing on us. And God laid his hand of cursing. on Jesus. Jesus, who deserved the blessing, got the curse.
And we who deserved the curse got the blessing. Because God made him who knew no sin. To become stand for us.
So that we might become the righteousness of God in him. I got all of Jesus' righteousness. And he got all of my set. He put the blessing Jesus deserved on me. and the curse that I deserved on him.
And if you believe that. Like Jacob did. That you get the blessing only by grace and not through striving.
Well, see, then that blessing becomes yours.
So write this down. The first dimension of faith that we see in these verses. By faith, Jacob sought the blessing through grace. and not through works.
Now I know you hear all this. And you're like, well, JD, that's a great story. But inheritance laws don't work like that anymore. I would suggest, think with me for a minute. that all of us Still seek blessing in life.
Don't we? Think about it. What is blessing really? Blessing is validation. We want somebody to tell us.
that we're okay. that were valuable. That we're important, that we're significant, that our life has meaning. Blessing is the promise of security. The assurance that we're going to be taken care of.
that things are going to turn out okay for us. Children are born in a posture of crying out for blessing. The first place we seek that blessing is from. Our parents. Psychologists agree.
that the biggest shaping influence on how we see ourselves. The biggest shaping influence on how we think about life is what our parents think and say about us in those early years. Psychologist Lance Morrow, writing in Time magazine, said it this way: the damage caused. By a father's absence, whether that absence is physical or just he's checked out, may be severe and may last a lifetime. It's a shadow.
That's left in the soul of the kid. The longing of sons for their fathers is almost physical.
Something passionate, something profound. It is often mysterious to sons what it is they want from their fathers. They could not articulate it, but I've seen it in other men. And I see it in my sons. They're longing for me.
Sons yearning for blessing from their fathers. And when we don't hear it from them, it leaves us with a gaping wound. From the very beginning, the mission of J.D. Greer Ministries has been simple. Take people deeper into the gospel.
push the gospel wider into the world. That hasn't changed. But today I want to show you how that mission connects with something even bigger God is doing right now. Here's the reality: the church is God's plan A for reaching the world. There is no plan B.
But the need has never been greater. And as of this year, almost one in three people in our nation claim no faith at all.
So where's the way forward? History actually gives us the answer. When sociologist Rodney Stark studied the explosive growth of the early church, he found that the key wasn't addition. Wasn't even big events. It was multiplication.
Ordinary disciples making disciples. churches planting churches. That's exactly what we're after. Summit Life is the megaphone of that multiplying movement. Through teaching, podcasts, YouTube, books, and resources, we are broadcasting the gospel so that disciples and churches everywhere are equipped to multiply.
What started with a handful of disciples 2,000 years ago continues today and you are part of that story. Thank you for praying. Thank you for engaging. Thank you for investing in gospel multiplication. Let's keep pressing forward until the gospel has reached every corner of North America and beyond.
Don't just listen, be a part of the story. Invest in the mission at jiddygreer.com.
Now let's get back to the rest of today's teaching. Yeah. Studies show that kids without a strong father figure are 46% more likely to use drugs. They are 52% more likely to skip school, drop out of school than those who had a strong father figure. One school study noted, get this, that 98% of its discipline problems.
or emotionally damaged young boys. whose common characteristic was father loss. What you hear in that is that kids Sons are Crying out, somebody look at me.
Somebody bless me. That does not excuse what they do. but it should at least make you sympathetic about a lot of their behavior issues. come from a place of deep woundedness.
Some of you still have wounds from words of blessing that you did not hear. when you were young. Y'all remember that little jingle? Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me. You come to learn that that's completely untrue.
He really should go, Sticks and stones can break only my bones. But words can make or break my very soul.
So what do you do? What do you do? When you yearn for blessing, but you don't get it. What do you do? You do what Jacob did.
You dress up like somebody else to try and get it. Jacob tried to dress up like Esau. To get the blessing, he thought that if he could impersonate Esau, his dad would give him the blessing. We try to dress up ourselves like whomever we think we need to be. in order to obtain the blessing that we want from others.
We try to become whoever we need to be so that our friends or our teachers or our coach or our husband or the social media crowd will bless us. But it's exhausting, isn't it? And it leads to a broken heart and broken relationships just like it did with Jacob. Years ago, I saw an article about Madonna that appeared in Vanity Fair magazine. And I know you ask.
Why are you reading Banetary Fair magazine? For your sake, okay? The things I do for you people, honestly.
Now, if you're under the age of 40, Madonna just seems like a weird older lady that occasionally makes her way into the news every now and then. My Madonna was arguably the most popular female pop singer of the 80s and 90s. This interview in Vanity Fair was done in her early 30s and she was at the peak of her career. And she said this in this interview, listen to this. My drive in life.
comes from a fear of being mediocre. That's always pushing me. I push past one spell of mediocrity. discover myself as a special human being through some identity that I obtain. But then I feel I'm still mediocre and uninteresting unless I do something else.
Because even though I become somebody. I still have to prove that I am somebody. My struggle has never ended. And I guess it never will. Y'all look, I'm not exactly a Madonna fan.
But that is a very insightful statement. She yearns. For blessing. Jacob came to understand that what he'd always sought by dressing up like somebody else. that God gave him as a gift of grace in Christ.
My favorite passage on this for us is Psalm 139. Because in that psalm, David... Exults in how special he is to God. His words, listen to them. They flow with the recognition of blessing.
David says to his heavenly father, he says, You formed my inward parts. You knitted me together in my mother's womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. I mean, talk about validation. I'm fearfully and wonderfully made.
God knit me together so perfectly that it made the onlooking angels worship. That's what fearfully and wonderfully means. They worshiped how perfectly I was put together. Your eyes saw my unformed substance, and in your book were written every one of them those days that you had intended for me. I was special.
By the way, that applies to you whether you consider yourself an exceptionally talented person, whether you consider yourself normal, or whether you were born with a lot of defects. You have a specific purpose that God put together, and He wrote down these days of this purpose He had for you. Let me explain something about creation that you may not understand. God created the world, you know, incomplete, imperfectly. You remember the word that God used over and over to describe creation?
God saw it and it was. Good. Commentators point out that good is good. good is not. Perfect.
Good means the substance is good. Perfect means It's finished and cannot be improved upon. God put man into an imperfect and incomplete world.
So that we could partner with him in completing it and perfecting it. He made man a gardener. He put Adam into an unplowed field so that man could work the ground and bring forth from that ground beautiful flowers and all kinds of plants for food. In the same way, God creates each of us with certain abilities to develop the earth. Not all of us have the same talents.
Some of us take the raw materials of rock. And stand and create buildings.
Some take the raw principles of justice and create laws.
Some take the raw principles of music and create songs. Whatever it is, he's put part of his creator image into you for a purpose. You are fearfully and wonderfully made because you're made in God's image. And if you are a Christian, he has also put Christ's image into you in the form of a spiritual gift for use in his kingdom. Put all that together, what that means is you are special because you have a purpose, because you have the image of your heavenly father in you.
And that gives you value. Not only that, David says. I'm loved. I am known, I value, I'm loved. How precious also are your thoughts to me, oh God?
How vast is the sum of them? If I could count them, they would outnumber the sand. I used this illustration several weeks ago, but the number of grains of sand on the seashores and the earth is eight quintillions. Eight with 18 zeros behind it. That's the amount of times God has thought about you individually and your protection.
I told you when you were at the beach this.
Some are do this, pick up a handful of sand. And just let it run through your fingers in every single grain of sand that falls through your hand. I want you to think he thought about me with that grain of sand. He thought about I wonder what he was thinking about me when he when he said that. I wonder what he was thinking about me.
His thoughts about you outnumber the sands of the seashore. The point is. This is the blessing that you've always been looking for. Do you ache to be special with somebody? You're special to God.
Do you long to be loved? He loves you more than you could imagine. I mean, my goodness. God's thoughts about you outnumber the sands of the seashore. How do you get that blessing?
By grace. Not by earning. Earning was Jacob's way in his early life. And it ends only in disaster. God's blessing only comes by grace.
He gives it. as a gift of grace. As I mentioned, I just got back from this tour in Germany through all the key Reformation sites. The Reformation started with one insight. God's favor.
God's blessing. His salvation is given only as a gift. As a young monk, Martin Luther tried to earn God's favor through fasting and confession and good works. And it just about drove him insane, literally insane. He lived with this perpetual question of: have I done enough?
Have I done enough now? Am I accomplished enough? Have I confessed enough? Have I prayed enough? Have I fasted enough?
Are my thoughts pure enough? Am I good enough, God, for you to bless me? And he kept trying to put on whatever clothes of righteousness he thought would earn him God's favor. But at last, through his study of the book of Romans, he saw what Jacob saw. He saw that salvation is given only as a gift of grace.
To those who will receive it by faith. We were doing family devotions one night, and I was talking about this concept of grace, trying to teach it to my kids.
Well, during this season. Our family was also watching The Voice together. Remember that show?
So we got the three professional singers who listen to you sing with their chairs turned backwards so they can't see you, and if they like what they hear, Then they hit their little button. And their chair spins around. Remember what it says across the bottom? I want you. Which means they see such gifting and potential in you that they want to take you on and train you.
So during this devotion about grace, my daughter Allie, who I think was about eight at the time. She interrupts me. She says, Dad. It's like God hits the button and spins around his chair that says, I want you before we ever start singing. That's pretty good for an eight-year-old, I thought.
Blessing is given as a gift you receive, not a reward that you earn. Here's what I can tell you. You're loved right now. Fully. Even though you're Jacob.
Even though we're all second born. Even though we're not the right kind of person. Even though we lack Many of the qualities that the world values. Maybe you don't think you're pretty enough. They're thin enough, or smart enough, or successful enough.
Maybe you've made lots of mistakes in your life, like Jacob, and you've spent your life scheming instead of trusting in God's promise, even. to you. God says, I want you. And my grace is enough. By faith they sought the blessing through grace and not through works.
Hey, before we close this, I'd like to speak specifically to parents for a minute. Because there's an important practical application that we don't want to miss. Don't create Jacobs in your house. Don't show favorites based on what you think or want. Your kids to become.
Hey, if you're not happy with how your life turned out, please do not bring hardship into their lives. by trying to live vicariously through them. The home should resemble God's love. and that it comes unconditionally as a gift. I'm not great at this.
But I used to ask my girls at night when I was tucking them into bed, I would say, Does daddy love you because you're Smart. And one of them, it was usually Karis, would say, no. But we are smart. I would say that's right. I'd say, but does daddy love you because you're beautiful?
And they'd say, no, but you do think we're beautiful. And I would say, I do. And say, does daddies love you? Does daddy love you because you're strong?
Now, but You want us to be strong. And then I'd always end by saying, why does daddy love you? And they would say, because we're your daughters and we belong to you. The love of the Heavenly Father is supposed to be revealed in and pictured by. The love of our earthly fathers.
In their great little book called Literally the Blessing by Gary Smalley and John Trent. It uses examples like Jacob's to talk about the key ingredients in any blessing you bestow on the next generation. There are five of them in total, of which we see in Jacob's story here. Here they are, meaningful touch, verbal affirmation, communication of high value, a vision of a special future, and genuine undying commitment. Give those to your kids and give it to other people in your life.
Meaningful touch. Let's talk about that one first. A hug. A reassuring hand on the shoulder. My wife sometimes does this for me.
I know I'm not a kid, but when she knows that something is bad for me, When I'm getting some criticism or some bad news. We've been in audiences where somebody was literally criticizing me from the stage. And she has been with me when people have. said very unkind things, unkind things to me, and she'll just reach out her hand. And put it on me, and what that means is I'm here.
Who cares what they say? I believe in you. Verbal affirmations. We've all heard the story of the older couple where the wife complains that he never says I love you. And he responds, well, 40 years ago on the day that we got married, I told her that I loved her.
And if that ever changes, I'll tell her. Obviously, that's terrible marriage advice. That's not how people work. We need to hear those things spoken repeatedly. Child psychologists say there are three phrases, listen to this dad's.
Three phrases every kid needs to hear repeatedly. I love you. I'm proud of you. And you are good at. Fill in the blank.
One of them said the most five of the most powerful words. That you can speak to somebody, particularly when they're young, are you have what it takes. Words are incredibly powerful. Arguably the most powerful things in the world. I mean, think about it, y'all.
God created everything in the universe by what? Words. God spoke and there was light. We are born again by God speaking to us. God declares to us, you're forgiven.
You're my child. And those words create a new reality in us. Words have the power to create, they bring life back from the dead. Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words by the power of God can recreate and restore my soul. Third, communication of high value.
That means calling out their strengths. Show them, Psalm 139, that God specifically made them in his image to reflect some aspect of his nature on earth. And if they're saved, then call out that specific gifting that he's placed in them for his kingdom. Don't let them guess at it, help them see it. Listen, don't let your relationship with your kids be characterized by criticism.
Sure, we all have to protect our kids. That's our job as parents. But what I want my kids to remember most is how much I believed in them. I want them to one day stand on my grave and say what I will one day say on my dad's grave. Nobody ever believed in me like this man did.
Means you think, well, if I don't criticize them, who will? Listen, I promise you, they're going to get plenty of criticism in their life. The world will give them that in abundance. You make sure that what they hear from you are words of belief and blessing. I'm not saying don't ever correct them.
Of course, you do that, that's your job. I'm just saying that if you have to err. Err on the side of criticizing too little and blessing too much. Instead of assuming the strengths. and calling out the weaknesses.
Assume the weaknesses and call out the strengths. Vision of a special future. Help them see what God has created them to be and that He's got a specific role for them in His kingdom. Finally, genuine, undying commitment. Show them that they're more important to you than your job.
more important than your golf game. Showed them that by being at some of their ball games. Be at home for family dinner. by planning vacations and spring break trips, by being faithful to their mother or their father. You say, well, I don't have kids.
Then show these things to others that God puts into your life. We live in a world where people all around us, even Madonna, Cry out for blessing. People who are attempting to become whatever version of Esau they think they need to be to get that blessing, and they are exhausted. Show them. that what they're looking for is in God's love, given by grace and the gospel.
And maybe, as I say all this, all you can think about is how you never had a father who told you these things. Fathers were supposed to be a stand-in. They were supposed to be training wheels. To teach us about God. When they fail, It hurts us.
It does. But I need you to realize that they were only ever supposed to be a stand in. The Heavenly Father is what you need. Don't evaluate your heavenly Father through the lens of your earthly Father. Reverse that.
Come to peace with the failures of your earthly father. to the lens of your Heavenly One. I've got one more point, but you know, I honestly just fuck out of end here. How much time do I have left? I got 58 seconds left.
I'm going to end right here. There are many of you that are seeking blessing. That explains your whole life. And God wants to give it to you by grace. Why don't you bow your heads if you would?
Bow your heads. at all of our campuses. Here's what I want you to think. Where are you thirsting for blessing? And could you write now this morning?
Say, God, I'm ready to receive it by grace. I'm ready to receive it by grace. Where are you exhausted trying to put on clothes that belong to somebody else? Where do you need to hear the voice of your Heavenly Father? Whom right now might be saying something to you like.
You think I love you because you're beautiful. You think I don't love you more because you're not... Skinny enough. You think I don't love you as much because you're not successful? You think I don't love you because you struggle with alcoholism or drugs?
You think I don't love you as much because you got divorced? You think I don't love you because Your mom and dad always preferred your older sibling. He loves you because you belong to him. You were mine, old Jacob. He literally says, Hosea.
How could I give you up, O Ephraim? How could I cast you off, old Jacob? Could you just sit for a moment? and rejoice in the Father's love. Thank you for joining us for this brand new teaching from Hebrews chapter 11.
If JD's vision of gospel multiplication stirs you, he just released his new book this week titled Everyday Revolutionary. It's all about how ordinary disciples People like you and me can live on mission and change the world one step. a time. When you give to support this ministry at jdgreer.com, we'll send you a copy as our way of saying thanks.
So join the movement. fuel multiplication and get your copy today. See you next time. Today's program was produced and sponsored by Jiddy Greer Ministries. Yeah.
