Genesis 35:10 God said to him, “Your name is Jacob, but you will no longer be called Jacob; your name will be Israel.” So he named him Israel.

Back in Genesis 32:29, the angel who wrestled with Jacob assigned the name Israel to him, but he doesn’t seem to have appropriated it for his own use before now. Sometimes what God says to us doesn’t really sink in at first, but God doesn’t seem to mind repeating Himself. That said, the sooner we allow His words to sink into us and transform us, the better it is for us and for those around us. Sometimes we run into people who can’t seem to accept what God has said to or about them – and sometimes we are that person! Sometimes what God says to us is easier to accept than at other times, but we need to listen to Him on the foundation of familiarity with Scripture. If we don’t know the Bible, lying spirits can slip in and lead us astray. An extreme example would be Jim Jones, whose acceptance of lying spirits led to the Jonestown massacre. How we listen to God doesn’t just affect us! Jacob didn’t instantly become a perfect child of God and father to his own children in this moment, but it was a milestone on his path. Sometimes God does work remarkable transformations in people in a very short time, but even such people need to keep growing. How well we hear and listen to God is a major indicator of our own growth. There is a Japanese expression that is literally, “hear and obey.” That needs to be our goal throughout life.

Looking back over my own life, I can see that God has used all sorts of things to guide and bless me – even my own mistakes. I wish I had listened to Him more carefully and more consistently, but He has been remarkably gracious and faithful. Some of my mistakes have been in timing, and some have been in substituting my own imagination for what He was actually saying. Like Paul, I don’t expect to be perfect in this life, (Philippians 3:12-14) but my hope is in Christ, not in my own wisdom or ability, much less perfection. I am to seek to listen to my Lord, to hear Him accurately the first time, and follow Him with total obedience, as He gives me strength.

Father, thank You for this reminder. Thank You for speaking through me in the three messages for CGNTV yesterday, and for the fellowship with the cameraman and director who came. I ask Your guidance and anointing today as I finish the sermon notes for Sunday and as I draw up the July Scripture list. Thank You that we were able to get an appointment for this afternoon to see Cathy’s immune system specialist. She continues to have quite a list of medical issues. I ask for Your full healing for her, and I pray that all of Your purposes for allowing these things may be fulfilled, on Your schedule and for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!