Breakthroughs at Bethel

Intro:

Genesis 28:16-19

The title of my message is, [Breakthrough at Bethel]. As we’ve committed 2021 at a Year of Prayer, I want us to see how we can have supernatural breakthroughs as we pray.

One of the necessities of prayer is to help us overcome self-destructive behavior. Self-destructive behavior is something we do to ourselves that harm us physically or emotionally.

At times it is evident to others, other times it is not.

Physical self-destructive behavior can be:

eating at the expense of our health

compulsive behavior, such as gambling or overspending

impure relationships, over and over and over

consumption of drugs or alcohol

Emotional self-destructive behavior looks like:

constantly putting down ourselves

convincing ourselves we will never be good enough

Continual wallowing in self-pity

We can see it others, sometimes easier than we can see it in ourselves. Have you ever had the thought:

They just can’t keep a job

They go from relationship to relationship, always picking the worse people

They just can’t tell the truth

They spend their paycheck faster than they make it

They just can’t help themselves

Whether we only notice in others or not, EVERYONE has had some type of self-destructive behavior. We’ve looked at the symptoms, but what is the root problem?

How does self-destructive behavior begin?

John 10:10 NKJV

10 The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.

How does self-destructive behavior change?

John 10:10 NKJV

10 The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.

Through sin we all have some type of destructive behavior, but God wants to give us breakthroughs.

act or instance of removing or surpassing an obstruction or restriction.

a military advance through and beyond the enemy’s defense.

a sudden, dramatic, and important discovery or development

The enemy of our souls and lives constantly sets up roadblocks and tempts us with behaviors that are designed to cause us to self-destruct.

But through Jesus we can have breakthroughs. Notice I have made that word plural.

Salvation is a breakthrough of forgiveness

Baptism in the Holy Spirit is a breakthrough of power

Healing is a breakthrough of strength

Life of prayer is a breakthrough of conversations with God

As long as we serve Jesus, we will come to instances where we will need and can have supernatural breakthroughs over the enemy.

But notice, breakthroughs require PRAYER. We have to communicate with God and share our need for breakthroughs. They do not always come immediately, therefore, we will spend time talking to God, getting us to the position of breakthroughs.

Today, I want us to look at the story of Jacob, the grandson of Abraham. He was the heir of God’s promise to bless the entire world.

However, Jacob could not inherit his trust and closeness to God. Instead, it requires consistent encounters with the Almighty.

Therefore, God forever changed Jacob’s life through continued breakthroughs which came out of prayer, conversations with God where he spoke to God and God spoke to Him.

Though Jacob had a great future, he had to meet with God. Who in here would like to have breakthroughs?

Let’s look at three aspects of his life, [Jacob’s Background], [Jacob’s Behavior], and [Jacob’s Breakthrough].

Let’s begin

1. Jacob’s Background

Genesis 25:21-23

Jacob’s story really begins with Abraham. He learned from his mistakes and taught Isaac to trust God instead of relying on people.

Isaac had a personal encounter with God where the Lord promised to make his descendants numerous. Once again, they came up against the problem of a promise with no children.

Instead of taking matters into his own hands, Isaac prayed and pleaded with God. He explained that his wife could not have children, and the Lord granted his plea. Literally, God answered his pray.

The Lord outdid Himself and gave them twins. But Rebekah, Isaac’s wife, felt something strange. She felt the twins struggle in her womb.

She too prayed and God explained, there are:

Two nations

Two Rivals

Older will serve the younger

The answer to her prayers appears backward from the way it should have been. In ancient times, the oldest son always led the family upon the father’s death.

He would also receive a double portion in the inheritance. In this case, he would get 2/3 and the younger brother would get 1/3. He should have been the family’s leader upon Isaac’s death.

Instead, God reversed the order for Isaac and Rebekah’s sons. When they were born, the first came out. He had red hair and they named him Esau.

Imagine being the doctor or midwife. She delivered the first twin, but he couldn’t get free because the younger twin held onto Esau’s heel.

They chose to name him Jacob, which literally means:

heal grabber

cheater

supplanter

thief

Jacob was deceptive from infancy. So here is his background, he was favored by his mother, inherited God’s promises, and was a rival to his brother.

Jacob’s background showed through...

2. Jacob’s Behavior

Genesis 25:31-33

As the two boys grew, Esau loved to hunt and stay outside. Jacob preferred the comfort of indoors. One day after a hunt, Esau returned with nothing and was famished.

Starving, he saw Jacob making a pot of stew. He asked for a bowl, but Jacob was ruthless. He answered, sure, I will gladly give you a bowl of stew, IF you will trade me your rights as the first born.

Remember what this meant, inheritance and leadership positions. Esau was so hungry, he gave it to Jacob, who took it gladly.

But the ruthlessness did not stop there. Jacob couldn’t control his behavior. Toward the end of Isaac’s life, he determined he needed to impart his blessing to his oldest son.

He called in Esau and told him, go to the fields, kill an animal, cook it the way I like it, and bring it to me. When I have eaten, I will bless you.

Rebekah heard what happened and got Jacob. Together they agreed to make the food and Jacob would bring it to his dad. He knew the risk of breaking his dad’s heart and feeling his brother wrath.

But he put on Esau’s clothes, covered his arm with hair like Esau, and took the cooked food.

Genesis 27:17-19

He blatantly lied when Isaac questioned if it was Jacob or Esau. Isaac, in his old age, fell prey to the deception and blessed Jacob. The blessing included:

Blessings from heaven

Wealth and prosperity

Protection from God

No sooner than Jacob left with the blessing, Esau comes into the house ready to receive. He was broken hearted when he found out what happened.

He determined to wait until Isaac died, then he was going to kill Jacob. Rebekah told her favored son, and Jacob snuck away quickly.

Notice his self-destructive behavior: lying, cheating, and deceiving. But God was about to change everything with...

3. Jacob’s Breakthrough

Genesis 28:12-15

After running away, Jacob found a place to rest. He took a stone for a pillow and went to sleep. As he slept, he had a dream. A ladder came down from heaven.

At the top of the ladder, the Lord stood and spoke to Jacob. He promised:

I am God

Your descendants will fill the earth

I am with you

I will protect you

I will bring you home one day

I will NOT leave you

What a promise, but notice how it all started, a ladder came down from heaven. The ladder was significant. It showed God’s desire to communicate with humans.

He was willing to break through time and space to reach down and speak to Jacob.

This was his first breakthrough. One of eight recorded in scripture. The Lord broke through Satan’s advances on Jacob’s life. When Jacob awoke, he realized he had a sudden and supernatural development.

Genesis 28:16-19

Listen to his word, surely the presence of the Lord is here. Breakthroughs never come without God’s presence and His intervention into our lives.

Jacob had reverence, respect, and an overwhelming sense of God’s presence. He was so moved by his encounter, he built an altar to the Lord.

He changed the name of the place from Luz, which meant almond tree, to Bethel, meaning HOUSE OF GOD.

Because of the breakthrough, Jacob committed his life to the Lord. We will not read every verse of Jacob’s life. If we were, we would notice the change in Jacob.

God’s hand and favor was upon him. The Lord gave him wives and children. He supernaturally blessed him. Something to remember about the blessings of God, not everyone celebrates us when God blesses us.

Sometimes it stirs up jealousy. That happened to Jacob. His father-in-law, Laban, began to come against Jacob. But the Lord reminded Jacob of his previous breakthrough.

Genesis 31:13

The Lord instructed him, it is time to go. I told you I would take you back home, and its time to start the process of returning home. However, this was not without its potential problems.

He had been in hiding, fearing the wrath of Esau. But, God brought reconciliation. Jacob humbly apologized and Esau willingly forgave him.

Then God instructed Jacob, get back to Bethel. I want you to move there and live there. Jacob talked to everyone in his family and explained the plan.

He told them to get rid of their pagan idols. We are going to Bethel. He longed for communication and worship with the Lord. Jacob went to Bethel and on the journey, everywhere they went, God protected them from any enemy.

When they arrived at Bethel, notice what he did.

Genesis 35:6-7

First, he built an altar. Then he renamed the place.

Bethel— house of God

El Bethel— God of the House of God

Something changed in Jacob. He was less interested in the place and more interested in the PERSON! He wanted to know God. He wanted his family to meet the God who changed his life.

Then, he had another breakthrough.

Genesis 35:10-13

God reminded Jacob of an encounter he had with God before he reconciled with Esau. In the night, Jacob had another encounter with God.

The story takes place in Genesis 32:22-32. Jacob struggled or wrestled with God all night. As he neared sunrise, God told him to let me go, but Jacob refused until God blessed him.

God used a peculiar way of blessing him, he changed his name. Now, in Bethel, God reminded Jacob, I have changed your name to Israel.

Jacob means— cheater and deceiver

Israel means— God heals or God rules

From that point forward, Jacob, now Israel walked in the realm of breakthroughs and it occured when he MET WITH GOD.

Close:

Jacob was a deceptive cheater. He had a

Sordid background full of

Poor behavior

But everything changed when he had a breakthrough

Notice where everything changed for Jacob— at Bethel, the HOUSE OF GOD.

Our story is not that much different from Jacob.

We all have a background

We all have had poor behavior

But God has a place of breakthrough for us. Yet it requires prayer. For whenever we pray, it does not matter where we are, God will meet with us.

God is close to us through prayer. God will speak to us right where we are and help us breakthrough the sin and self-destructive patterns of sin.

And it all starts for us like it did for Jacob, meeting God. When we meet God:

We receive a new future

2 Corinthians 5:17 NKJV

17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.

With a new future comes a new heart

Ezekiel 36:26–27 NKJV

26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 27 I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them.

With a new heart, comes a new name

Revelation 2:17 NKJV

17 “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give some of the hidden manna to eat. And I will give him a white stone, and on the stone a new name written which no one knows except him who receives it.” ’

With a new future, new heart, and a new name, God now has, a new home

2 Corinthians 6:16 NKJV

16 And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God. As God has said: “I will dwell in them And walk among them. I will be their God, And they shall be My people.”

The house of God is not a building, WE are the house of God, because Jesus lives within us through the Holy Spirit.

And now, as temples of God, houses of God, we position ourselves for breakthroughs like Jacob had a Bethel.

But we must remember, Satan has one goal for us, DESTRUCTION. And just because we’ve received everlasting life, we are not exempt from Satan’s attacks.

Therefore, there are moments in our Christian experience when we need a breakthrough. But we have to come to God with the correct mindset.

For as the house of God, we are not weak, struggling, anemic, poor, pitiful Christians. Breakthrough comes when we identify who we are and whose we are.

Who are we?

We are born again, Spirit-filled, victorious people.

Becuase of WHOSE we are!

We are children of the Most High God.

Therefore, we do not need breakthroughs because we are on the DEFENSE. We are not down by sixty in the fourth quarter with little hope of winning.

No way, we are on the offense. We ARE the church of Jesus Christ and:

No weapon formed against us will prosper

The Gates of hell CANNOT prevail against

Psalm 18:29 NKJV

29 For by You I can run against a troop, By my God I can leap over a wall.

No barrier can stop us, no wall can keep us out, for God is on our side. Sure Satan will attack. He will remind us of our background and try to corrupt our behavior.

But if we will pray, stay close to God, communicate with Him everyday, nothing can stop us.

So this morning, God wants to give breakthroughs like Jacob had at Bethel.

If we need forgiveness of sin, there is a breakthrough called salvation.

If we need help in temptation, there is a breakthrough called grace.

If we need power in our lives, there is a breakthrough called the Baptism in the Holy Spirit

If we need strength in our body, there is a breakthrough called healing

If we need clarity in our minds, there is a breakthrough called wisdom

If we have a situation that needs divine intervention, there is a breakthrough called faith

If we need God’s to visit us once more before His return, there is a breakthrough called revival

Today is a day for breakthroughs. Right HERE, in the house of God. And I am not only speaking of this sanctuary, but of our lives. For through the blood of Jesus we have become the house of God for the Spirit dwells within us.

So whatever we need or want we will:

pray our way to breakthrough

praise our way to breakthrough

worship our way to breakthrough

sing our way to breakthrough

shout our way to breakthrough

clap our way to breakthrough

dance our way to breakthrough

For though Satan rages, we will NOT be defeated, we’ve got the power in the name of the Lord. And today is OUR day for BREAKTHROUGH!