Reconciliation

Genesis 32:24 NKJV

24 Then Jacob was left alone; and a Man wrestled with him until the breaking of day.

pray

Confession of Faith

I am not moved by what I see or by what I feel. I am moved by what I believe. I believe the WORD of God! The victory is mine! I have it now! I can see it through the eyes of my faith! In Jesus Name

Introduction:

What do you do when you have been offended and hurt by someone you love and or trust!

What do you do when you realize you are the offender or the one who has hurt!

In this process of transformation and especially during the time of fasting and prayer

The Holy Spirit revealed to me = somethings that I have been wrestling with! That need Reconciliation

My prayer is that you have received some revelation from the Holy Spirit in the area or areas you were seeking! during your time of fasting and prayer

Now the word that God has given me and I pray is applicable to you is Reconciliation!

Reconciliation involves a change in the relationship between God and man or

a change in the relationship between man and man

It assumes there has been a breakdown in the relationship, but now there has been a change from a state of anger and fragmentation to one of harmony and fellowship. I

Reconciliation is needed in our society!

Reconciliation is needed in our families

Reconciliation is needed in our relationships with each other

Reconciliation is needed with our Great God!

To move into Reconciliation we must defeat Selfishness!

The Spirit of selfishness wants people to come to us and not that we go to the other person!

Now here’s what you must know - offending people is pretty common!

A lot of times we offend people without even knowing!

How Pastor?

You can offend people by the way you look at them

You can offend people by the way you speak to them

You can offend people by the way you act towards them

Sometimes offense comes because our minds are a thousand miles away

Sometimes offense comes because we are thinking about something else

Sometimes offense occurs because we are not aware of a person nearby

Sometimes we are not even aware that we are acting negatively toward someone!

But then there are those times when we purposely unleash selfish behaviors towards others

Some folks even get pleasure from offending others!

Say Transformation!

Here is an example of what I’m talking about

Now I’m going to pick on my married folks in here today

If you are seeking sex outside your marriage it will hurt people!

Doing that will cause

Division in the marriage

Doing that will cause separation

Doing that will cause anger

Doing that will cause dissension

Doing that will cause a terrible hurt!

So when you deliberately offend and harm others

by

- stealing

- lying

- physical harming

emotional harming

mistreating

getting even

punishing

That spirit of selfishness will alway hurt or harm!

Deliberately offending and harming will cause a reaction

The spirit of Hostility

The Spirit Of Distrust

The Divorce Spirit

The Reactionary Spirit

The Waring Spirit

The Fighting Spirit

So Whenever we offend or hurt someone - you have an obligation by The WORD of GOD to go to the person and seek reconciliation!

So we are going to look at an example in the text!

So if you know that you have hurt or offended someone it’s time to reconcile!

Here’s the back drop

Jacob had done his brother Esau Wrong

He had stolen Esau’s family birthright

He had stolen Esau’s family inheritance

He had stolen Esau’s blessings

He had deceived his father - who wanted the inheritance to go to Esau!

As a result Esau became a bitter angry man

This is why Esau was on a mission to kill his Brother Jacob

So Jacob had to run for his life - to get away from Esau

So he ran to a place called Haran and spent 20 years hiding working for a relative named Laban!

20 years these two brothers were separated

So for 20 years Jacob was wrestling with the fact in his mind that his brother was out to kill him!

What are you wrestling with?

So to make matters worse - Jacob made a promise to Laban that he would never return to Haran - but that’s another sermon at another time

But wait there’s more

God spoke to Jacob and told him to go to the promise land!

So Jacob could not hide any more - he had to move forward and face Esau and Esau’s vengeance to kill him

So The Spirit of Fear shows up!

Jacob had heard through the grapevine that his brother Esau had become very wealthy and powerful! Esau was so powerful that he ruled over and entire country!

So here is Jacob - he can’t run and hide anymore!

Here is Jacob - who is now desperate

How was he going to reconcile with Esau after everything that happened and knowing that Esau vowed to kill him!

Now here is the interesting thing about God!

God see’s past all our selfishness!

God knew exactly what Jacob had done and where he was for the last 20 years

God knows that about you and me and guess what

He still Loves us and God is with us

God was with Jacob in his time of desperation and Fear

Just like he is with you and me during our time of desperation and fear

God knows the strain and the stress we are under - Just like he knew what Jacob was going through

The Blessing is God met Jacob’s need

So Jacob got by himself -

He was alone and he began to seek God

Jacob started asking God to help him through his fear

Jacob started asking God to show him how to approach Esau!

If there is something you are wrestling with

Something that has you fearful

Something that has you in despair

Something or someone who has hurt you or you have hurt

Seek reconciliation

and

Seek God’s direction

2 Chronicles 16:9 NLT

9 The eyes of the Lord search the whole earth in order to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him. What a fool you have been! From now on you will be at war.”

Psalm 34:7 (NIV)

7 The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him, and he delivers them.

Genesis 32:3–5 NLT

3 Then Jacob sent messengers ahead to his brother, Esau, who was living in the region of Seir in the land of Edom. 4 He told them, “Give this message to my master Esau: ‘Humble greetings from your servant Jacob. Until now I have been living with Uncle Laban, 5 and now I own cattle, donkeys, flocks of sheep and goats, and many servants, both men and women. I have sent these messengers to inform my lord of my coming, hoping that you will be friendly to me.’ ”

Tell You Neighbor you must Humble Yourself

Now we see Jacob ready and he going to deal with issue!

Jacob want his brother Esau to know that all he wanted was peace between them

He wanted the family to reconcile

So he sent a message to Esau seeking reconciliation!

You must become humble

Proverbs 29:23 NLT

23 Pride ends in humiliation, while humility brings honor.

Ephesians 4:2 NCV

2 Always be humble, gentle, and patient, accepting each other in love.

Romans 12:3 NLT

3 Because of the privilege and authority God has given me, I give each of you this warning: Don’t think you are better than you really are. Be honest in your evaluation of yourselves, measuring yourselves by the faith God has given us.

Stop Wrestling with Fear

Genesis 32:6–8 NLT

6 After delivering the message, the messengers returned to Jacob and reported, “We met your brother, Esau, and he is already on his way to meet you—with an army of 400 men!” 7 Jacob was terrified at the news. He divided his household, along with the flocks and herds and camels, into two groups. 8 He thought, “If Esau meets one group and attacks it, perhaps the other group can escape.”

Ok so now we see Esau on the defense

This happens when you are the offender

trying to reconcile with someone you have hurt or offended

The don’t know where you are coming from and go in protective mode

When you trying to reconcile with people sometimes the worst happens - They may not want to reconcile:

They may not anything more to do with you

they maybe too hurt - or too far beyond forgiveness

they maybe to angry or too bitter to make peace

Still you must remember that God is with you and he always promises to help

Psalm 40:17 NCV

17 Lord, because I am poor and helpless, please remember me. You are my helper and savior. My God, do not wait.

Hebrews 13:6 (NKJV)

6 So we may boldly say: “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?”

Next week - we will see how Jacob handled this news that Esau was coming to him and what we might do if people don’t want to reconcile!

God Bless you until we meet again