April 21, 2025 • 25 mins
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
The quickest way to run out of gas is be
in a situation where there is no gratitude.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
Jonathan Evans says, when discouragement strikes, we need to ask
ourselves this key question.
Speaker 1 (00:10):
Am I gonna labor continuously to get acceptance from Man?
Or am I gonna labor because I'm already accepted by God?
Speaker 2 (00:19):
This is the alternative broadcast featuring the timeless Biblical teachings
from the archives of doctor Tony Evans. Many of us
search for validation in places where it simply can't be found. Today,
Pastor Jonathan Evans asks a critical question, are we laboring
for the approval of others? Or are we living out
(00:39):
of the love and acceptance God has already given us.
Let's join him in the scriptures as he helps us
navigate this important decision.
Speaker 1 (00:48):
Genesis twenty nine, verse thirty one through thirty five. God
gave me this passage of scripture that really preaches itself.
Verse thirty one says, now the Lord saw that Leah
was unloved, and he opened her womb, but Rachel was barren.
(01:11):
Leah conceived in Boora's son and named him Reuben, for
she said, because the Lord has seen my affliction.
Speaker 3 (01:18):
Surely, now my husband will love me.
Speaker 1 (01:22):
Then she conceived again and Borea's son, and said, because
the Lord has heard that I am unloved, he has
therefore given me this son also, so.
Speaker 3 (01:31):
She named him Simeon.
Speaker 1 (01:35):
She conceived again and BoA's son, and said, now this
time my husband will become attached to me, because I
have borne him three sons.
Speaker 3 (01:46):
Therefore his name was Levi.
Speaker 1 (01:50):
Then she conceived again and Borea's son, and said, this
time I will praise the Lord.
Speaker 3 (01:58):
Therefore she Judah.
Speaker 1 (02:02):
Then she stopped burying. Today we have a crossroad, and
many of us have experienced it. You're experiencing it now
or you will. You have to decide is it gonna
be Jacob that I deliver for? Or am I gonna
deliver a Judah? Is it Jacob or Judah? In other words,
(02:25):
am I gonna deliver and continue to be tricked, unloved,
not accepted, not noticed? Or am I gonna deliver because
I already recognize I have triumphs am love? Am I
gonna labor continuously to get acceptance from man?
Speaker 3 (02:47):
Or Am I gonna labor because I'm.
Speaker 1 (02:49):
Already accepted by God? Am I gonna deliver? And labor
because I want human response, or am I going to
deliver and labor because I already have spiritual results. You're
gonna have to make a decision, because how are you
(03:13):
going to keep doing what God has called you to do?
How are you going to keep being who God has
called you to be? When you do it and you're
trying to give everything you got in the place that
you're doing it, the people that you're doing it for.
Speaker 3 (03:28):
Are totally ungrateful.
Speaker 1 (03:32):
The quickest way to rent out of gas is to
continue to pull into a filling station that leaves you
more empty than when you in in there. And most
people are using and delivering and giving effort and doing
the best they can to try to get a response,
to try to get noticed, to try to get love
in a place that.
Speaker 3 (03:52):
Is simply not responding.
Speaker 1 (03:56):
You're doing it at your job, and you're working as
hard as you can to try to get as far
as you can go, and nobody even knows your name.
You're coming home in your marriage and you're trying to
be different, go different, work harder, and your spouse is
not responding. Totally ungrateful, as if to say, that's what
(04:16):
you're supposed to do, and.
Speaker 3 (04:20):
You're beginning to lose your mind.
Speaker 1 (04:22):
Because you're so focused on Jacob and trying to get
him to no longer turn his back on you. And
you keep putting yourself in these scenarios where you figure
that you can give just enough to change the circumstance.
Speaker 3 (04:39):
Leah is in this position, she's.
Speaker 1 (04:41):
Laboring and delivering, laboring and delivering, and.
Speaker 3 (04:44):
Jacob could care less.
Speaker 1 (04:48):
And many of you are in the position where you're
having to grapple. You're tired, Lord, help me, how am
I going to continue to do this? There's nothing filling
me up, and trust me. Back then, when she was
laboring and delivering, they didn't have no anesthesia options.
Speaker 3 (05:07):
It hurt.
Speaker 1 (05:09):
At sacrifice to herself, the pain that she went through
in order to labor and deliver and not.
Speaker 3 (05:17):
Get any gratitude.
Speaker 1 (05:20):
And many of us are struggling in this place where
we're almost at a gas in our marriage or as parents,
or at our job, or trying to kindle a relationship
with a father or a mother, and we're trying to
fix this situation giving everything we have and no one cares.
(05:42):
Just because they don't see you don't mean God doesn't
see you. Just because your dad's not there doesn't mean
your father's not there. Just because your mom mishandled you
doesn't mean you're not in God's hands. What we typically
(06:04):
do is we make our physical and natural reality become
our spiritual truth.
Speaker 3 (06:11):
And they are not twins.
Speaker 1 (06:14):
And Leah starts going down this rabbit hole of trying
to produce to get Jacob to do something he never
intended to do, to try to get a response that
she felt like her productivity would give.
Speaker 3 (06:29):
Her power over.
Speaker 1 (06:31):
And what happens is watch this God produce for Leah.
Leah turns this way to try to produce for Jacob.
Leah's mad that Jacob will not respond to her productivity,
but Jacob's not responding to her productivity. And while she's
(06:54):
looking at Jacob, she's not responding to God's productivity. So
you just created an assembly line of non responders that
when we're totally focusing on using what God gave us
to try to manipulate circumstances in our environment, we're actually
ignoring God. While we're mad that we're being ignored, Leah
(07:17):
is saying what about me? And God is saying, what
about me? You producing? That's because I produced. You turned
the wrong way, and now you're mad and frustrated that
you're not getting the response. But I'm mad and frustrated
that I'm not getting the response. And many of us
create this expectation in ourselves and understand, Jacob is no
(07:42):
longer scarring Leah. Now Leah is scarring herself, and many
of us take this approach. Or certainly, now that I've
accomplished this, Dad will call. Only now that I've did this,
she will respond, she or he will love me. I
(08:05):
will find fulfillment and value that what I produce got
to just do response.
Speaker 3 (08:13):
She was just expecting.
Speaker 2 (08:18):
Something.
Speaker 3 (08:19):
Really, she should expect.
Speaker 1 (08:21):
It's a reasonable expectation based on what she produced. The
problem is not that the expectation is not reasonable. It
was a reasonable expectation based.
Speaker 3 (08:30):
On what she produced.
Speaker 1 (08:32):
It was an unreasonable expectation based on who she produced
it for. The problem is not the productivity. God did
not open your wound for you not to bear.
Speaker 3 (08:45):
So what do we do?
Speaker 1 (08:47):
If Jacob's not going to respond, then why am I
doing this? Our whole mentality is based on the virtue
and value that we get from the world, from the likes,
from the follow from the responses from the notoriety, from
the love, from the connectivity.
Speaker 3 (09:04):
That's where we find all of our virtue.
Speaker 1 (09:06):
And if we don't get the value in the response,
then we shut down on the fact that God.
Speaker 3 (09:12):
Was the one who gave us the ability to produce.
Speaker 1 (09:15):
So thanks God, but no thanks because it's not working.
Speaker 3 (09:22):
So why would I keep doing this?
Speaker 1 (09:23):
Why would I keep going in daying after day being
the husband that you called me to be If she's
not going to respond and God is saying because I
called you to be it, why would I keep being
the wife you called me to be if he's not
going to respond I opened your room? Why would I
be the student or the worker? Why would I come
(09:45):
in here with a good attitude? Oh you basing your
whole life on Jacob nothing because we continue to go
to the same place for payment, and we go there
(10:07):
for payment because of what we produced. But the place
where we go to be paid we already know has
insufficient funds, and then.
Speaker 3 (10:19):
We mad that we walk away feeling robbed.
Speaker 1 (10:23):
Well, you ought to notice by now. But you think
that your value is not found in what God gave
you for what you can produce for him. You think
your value is founding what God gave you to produce
for them.
Speaker 2 (10:37):
That's a tough reality to face, and it raises an
important question what happens when we're not recognized for what
we do. Jonathan will dive deeper into this when he
continues our message in just a moment. First, though, if
you've ever felt overwhelmed by life struggles, I want to
introduce you to a powerful collection of ten talks from
(10:58):
Pastor Jonathan Evans called Survivor. These lessons will help you
break free from self reliance to find the confidence that
comes with knowing God as fighting your battles alongside you.
As a thank you for your support and keeping the
Alternative available to listeners each day, we'd love to send
you all ten full length messages from the Survivor series,
(11:19):
and as a special bonus, will also include doctor Tony
Evans Daily Devotional Life under God. This popular resource provides
daily encouragement and biblical wisdom to help you walk in
step with God's will. This limited time offer ends tomorrow,
so don't wait. Visit Tonyevans dot org or call one
(11:40):
eight hundred eight hundred thirty two twenty two where a
friendly team member is ready to assist you. That's one
eight hundred eight hundred three two two two. I'll share
that information again after part two of today's message. Here's
Jonathan once again.
Speaker 1 (11:56):
I don't know if you've ever been in an atmosphere
where you produce it in somebody like that's what supposed
to do. The quickest way to run out of gas
is being a situation where there is no gratitude. She
gave birth to Reuben and said, behold, look at me. Certainly,
now it'll change. She gave birth to Simi, and you
see the change in me. I heard it, didn't you
(12:17):
hear it? Won't you change too?
Speaker 3 (12:22):
Mm hmm.
Speaker 1 (12:24):
And then she gets to verse thirty four and said,
let me try this again. So she conceived again in
Boria's son. Now I got five kids. So I noticed tiring.
I'm reading this. Pastors like, oh my goodness, this is
back to back. Their ages were very close. We at
least put a little space in there. She's trying to
(12:46):
get a change now, so she conceives again, and now
you're talking about years of being wasted, not in what
she's producing, but who she's producing it for.
Speaker 3 (13:00):
Small.
Speaker 1 (13:00):
You need to notice that's big is in verse thirty two,
she says, because the Lord has seen my affliction. In
Verse thirty three, she says, because the Lord has heard
that I am unloved. In verse thirty four, she don't
mention the.
Speaker 3 (13:14):
Lord at all. I'm gonna do this myself.
Speaker 1 (13:19):
God's way isn't working in their change, and maybe God's
intent is that it won't work in their change.
Speaker 3 (13:26):
When he's trying to get you first.
Speaker 1 (13:30):
And here she is leaving God out and saying to herself, certainly,
I will produce this son, and now he will become
attached to me, which is the meaning of the name Levi,
to be jointed to or to cling to.
Speaker 3 (13:46):
And here she is she.
Speaker 1 (13:47):
Gives birth to Levi with the expectation that all the
things that she has produced, now she has a list.
And you know you're coming to the end of your
rope where you're no longer communicating with God, and you
present that person, place, or thing with a list of
what you've accomplished. I gave you Rubin, the patriarch, I
(14:07):
gave you Simeon.
Speaker 3 (14:09):
Now I'm giving you Levi.
Speaker 1 (14:11):
If I've done this, that, and this, certainly now you
need to be attached to me.
Speaker 3 (14:17):
She's tired. Now she's coming to the end of a rope.
Speaker 1 (14:22):
I've tried this from my father, that from my father,
This from my father. Certainly, by now he ought to
be here. I've tried this from my wife, that from
my wife. Certainly now she ought to be grateful. I've
tried this from my husband, that from my husband. Certainly,
now things are to be changed. I've tried this at
the job, this at the job, this at the job. Certainly,
(14:43):
now things are to come on. Man, and she built
another expectation of attachment based on what she's produced and
based on what she had done her resume, her resume
should produce something. That's what our culture is based on.
It's based on performance. And if my resume fix the bill,
(15:04):
certainly I'm the one you choose. No, Jacob didn't choose you,
and you keep ignoring the fact that God did. So
you're wasting a lot of time, scarring yourself, thinking that
what God gave you is supposed to be produced for
(15:27):
the world pe person, places, or things whatever.
Speaker 3 (15:30):
Now and you have in your life. It's like social media.
Speaker 1 (15:34):
You'll spend a whole lot of time making a video
and everybody who's watching it ain't got no other intent
but to give you a quick like and swipe up.
They don't care. They don't when we watching it, we
do the same things. And we spent all that time
putting that video together, editing that video, chopping that video up.
Speaker 3 (15:56):
And you know what you do after that?
Speaker 1 (15:57):
You start checking to try to see how many likes
you got, how many people viewed it, how many people
view how many people like it?
Speaker 3 (16:04):
Man, I only got three likes.
Speaker 1 (16:05):
It's been a month.
Speaker 3 (16:11):
Why because you've figured surely.
Speaker 1 (16:14):
Now that I've produced something like this, people will pay attention.
Speaker 3 (16:17):
They don't care.
Speaker 1 (16:20):
Oh, she's trying to please Jacob and God is displeased.
An assembly line of non responders. And we don't realize
that what we're going after, the problem that we're experiencing,
we're giving to God and telling him deal with it.
(16:42):
That's what you're supposed to do. You're supposed to bless me.
You're supposed to give to me. You're supposed to wake
me up this morning. You're supposed to send me on
my way. You're supposed to part their red seat. You're
supposed to make that man a fall down. That's what
you're supposed to do. Now, keep giving to me, so
I can try to find.
Speaker 3 (16:58):
My value somewhere else.
Speaker 1 (17:03):
So now she's tired, She's she gotten to the end,
and she said, oh, you know what, let me do
something different.
Speaker 3 (17:16):
And verse thirty five.
Speaker 1 (17:17):
She says, and she conceived again and bore a son,
and said, this time.
Speaker 3 (17:28):
I will praise the Lord. Then she named him Judah.
Speaker 1 (17:35):
Then she stopped bearing, which is really not a picture
of her no longer bearing, because she gave birth to
Issacar and Zebulin later. This is a picture of her
rest because now she understands what am I doing this for?
(17:56):
So she gives birth to a praise. I'm no longer
gonna turn my attention towards man, I'm gonna turn my
attention towards God. How in the world am I supposed
to keep going and going? You're supposed to keep going
because you're pulling into a station that.
Speaker 3 (18:13):
Can actually fill you up.
Speaker 1 (18:15):
That you were born and created to the praise of
His glory. Why would I continue to be the man
God has called me to be?
Speaker 3 (18:22):
Because God asked you to.
Speaker 1 (18:23):
Do it, and whether you eat or you drink, you
do it to the glory of God. Why would I
continue to be the woman that God has done because
God called.
Speaker 3 (18:31):
You to be it.
Speaker 1 (18:32):
He opened your wound, and you're gonna turn towards God
instead of turning your back on God.
Speaker 3 (18:37):
It's time for us to learn how.
Speaker 1 (18:39):
To praise even when we're in a prison, how to
give him praise even when things do not go our way.
Bless the Lord at all time. Let us praise continuously be.
Speaker 3 (18:50):
In my mouth hebeck at three.
Speaker 1 (18:52):
Let you know that even if there's no grapes in
the vineyard, even if there's no sheep, no cattle, no
produce on the field, I will pray his name anyway,
because he gives me hind his feet like a deer
to climb these highest heights.
Speaker 3 (19:06):
We've got to learn to praise him anyway.
Speaker 1 (19:09):
And when you learn to praise him, even though that
may not change your situation, you can be like Act sixteen,
Paul and Silas sitting in the prison. They're surrounded by
four walls, but they let out a praise anyway. And
when they let out that praise, the shackles came off,
the doors swung open. Everybody into jail heard the praise
and walked out towards victory. Not because they weren't in jail,
(19:32):
but because they praised while they were in the prison.
Speaker 3 (19:35):
If we learn to direct it towards.
Speaker 1 (19:37):
God, when we learn that, we learn how to make
a decision to destiny.
Speaker 3 (19:41):
Why would I continue to be tricked by Jacob when.
Speaker 1 (19:44):
I can deliver a Judah, when I can deliver a
praise to the glory of his girl. Now, now, hold
on a second, y'all don't know who Judah is. When
Jacob was blessing his sons, he said, of Judah, you.
Speaker 3 (19:58):
Are like a lion. You're like a lion who dares rouse.
Speaker 1 (20:03):
You up the scepter and the rod will be between
your feet forever until Shiloh comes. Who's Shiloh, the one
who comes to bring peace to the whole world?
Speaker 3 (20:13):
Y'all don't know who I'm talking about yet.
Speaker 1 (20:15):
Judah had a son named Pez Perez had a son
named Hezren. Hesren had a son named Ram. Ram had
a son name of Benadev a. Benadav had a son
named Nashan. Nashan had a son named Salmon. Salmon had
a son named Boaz. Boas had a son named Obed.
Obed had a son named Jesse, and Jesse had a
son named David. And through the lion of Jesse and
(20:36):
David came Jesus Christ.
Speaker 3 (20:39):
That's why Revelations five five.
Speaker 1 (20:41):
Says Jesus is the lion of Judah, the root of David.
Speaker 3 (20:46):
He put her in the lineage of Jesus Christ.
Speaker 1 (20:49):
Listen, Jacob saw Rachel, but God saw Leah. And when
she made the decision to praise, she entered a destiny
she never knew she could have. When you learn to
praise him, he'll give you a destiny you never thought
you could have. When you learn the prais him, he'll
give you a heritage that you never thought you could have.
(21:10):
When you learn the praise him, he'll give you a
legacy that you.
Speaker 3 (21:13):
Never thought you would have.
Speaker 1 (21:15):
He's just waiting on you to go from Jacob and
deliver a Judah. I opened your wound, I started you
on your way. I gave you bread, I fed you,
I put you where you are. I kept you alive.
You should have been dead. But if it wasn't for me,
you wouldn't know where you would be.
Speaker 3 (21:33):
Praise me. It's all about me. Give it to me.
Stop wasting your time with Jacob.
Speaker 1 (21:40):
Jacob ain't got nothing for you. You praise him anyway,
and watch what he will do. The same one who
opened your wound will send you to your destiny. Now
I need you to understand one more thing. I just
thought about it.
Speaker 3 (21:59):
Something I noticed.
Speaker 1 (22:01):
And Genesis forty nine, Jacob was dying, and he looked
at his sons and he said, you know that burial
ground where Abraham is buried next to Sarah, that's the
same burial ground where Isaac is buried next to Rebecca.
Speaker 3 (22:18):
That's also the same burial ground where they laid Leah
to rest. That's where I want you to bury me.
Speaker 1 (22:24):
Jacob requested to be buried with Leah, he did not
request to be buried and with Rachel. He understood through
her praise. That's where the promise is. That's where I
want to rest. That's where I want to be.
Speaker 2 (22:40):
Jonathan Evans will return in a moment to wrap up
today's message about the struggle of trying to earn love, recognition,
and value from people who might never respond as we hope. Now.
The title of today's talk was Jacob or Judah, and
you can find out how to hear the full length
version of this message when you visit our website Tonyevans
(23:01):
dot org, and as I mentioned earlier, that's the same
place where you can take advantage of our current featured
resource offer, pastor Jonathan Evans ten part Survivor audio series
along with doctor Tony Evans daily devotional book Life under God.
This unique resource bundle is yours with our thanks in
return for your donation to help continue making this listener
(23:23):
supported program possible. You can make the arrangements at one
eight hundred, eight hundred thirty two twenty two, but do
it today before time runs out. That's one eight hundred
eight hundred three two two two, or visit Tonyevans dot
org success Power Prestige. Nayman was an army commander and
(23:45):
he had it all except the one thing he wanted most. Tomorrow,
Jonathan will present his story to us, showing us how
true healing only comes when we surrender to God's way.
Right now, though, let's listen as he wraps up today's message.
Speaker 1 (24:02):
I cannot tell you when your change is gonna come
and not I can't even worry about that because nobody
can tell you that. But I can tell you right
now you can change in praise God, and you climb
to the top of that ladder and you let him
take care of everything else. You ain't got time for
no foolishness, or you do have time for a praise.
Speaker 3 (24:22):
We've got to learn who we do this for.
Speaker 1 (24:25):
You got Jacob or Judah, You can't have them both.
Speaker 3 (24:31):
Pick one. You can continue to lose your mind, or
you can give him praise
The quickest way to run out of gas is be
in a situation where there is no gratitude.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
Jonathan Evans says, when discouragement strikes, we need to ask
ourselves this key question.
Speaker 1 (00:10):
Am I gonna labor continuously to get acceptance from Man?
Or am I gonna labor because I'm already accepted by God?
Speaker 2 (00:19):
This is the alternative broadcast featuring the timeless Biblical teachings
from the archives of doctor Tony Evans. Many of us
search for validation in places where it simply can't be found. Today,
Pastor Jonathan Evans asks a critical question, are we laboring
for the approval of others? Or are we living out
(00:39):
of the love and acceptance God has already given us.
Let's join him in the scriptures as he helps us
navigate this important decision.
Speaker 1 (00:48):
Genesis twenty nine, verse thirty one through thirty five. God
gave me this passage of scripture that really preaches itself.
Verse thirty one says, now the Lord saw that Leah
was unloved, and he opened her womb, but Rachel was barren.
(01:11):
Leah conceived in Boora's son and named him Reuben, for
she said, because the Lord has seen my affliction.
Speaker 3 (01:18):
Surely, now my husband will love me.
Speaker 1 (01:22):
Then she conceived again and Borea's son, and said, because
the Lord has heard that I am unloved, he has
therefore given me this son also, so.
Speaker 3 (01:31):
She named him Simeon.
Speaker 1 (01:35):
She conceived again and BoA's son, and said, now this
time my husband will become attached to me, because I
have borne him three sons.
Speaker 3 (01:46):
Therefore his name was Levi.
Speaker 1 (01:50):
Then she conceived again and Borea's son, and said, this
time I will praise the Lord.
Speaker 3 (01:58):
Therefore she Judah.
Speaker 1 (02:02):
Then she stopped burying. Today we have a crossroad, and
many of us have experienced it. You're experiencing it now
or you will. You have to decide is it gonna
be Jacob that I deliver for? Or am I gonna
deliver a Judah? Is it Jacob or Judah? In other words,
(02:25):
am I gonna deliver and continue to be tricked, unloved,
not accepted, not noticed? Or am I gonna deliver because
I already recognize I have triumphs am love? Am I
gonna labor continuously to get acceptance from man?
Speaker 3 (02:47):
Or Am I gonna labor because I'm.
Speaker 1 (02:49):
Already accepted by God? Am I gonna deliver? And labor
because I want human response, or am I going to
deliver and labor because I already have spiritual results. You're
gonna have to make a decision, because how are you
(03:13):
going to keep doing what God has called you to do?
How are you going to keep being who God has
called you to be? When you do it and you're
trying to give everything you got in the place that
you're doing it, the people that you're doing it for.
Speaker 3 (03:28):
Are totally ungrateful.
Speaker 1 (03:32):
The quickest way to rent out of gas is to
continue to pull into a filling station that leaves you
more empty than when you in in there. And most
people are using and delivering and giving effort and doing
the best they can to try to get a response,
to try to get noticed, to try to get love
in a place that.
Speaker 3 (03:52):
Is simply not responding.
Speaker 1 (03:56):
You're doing it at your job, and you're working as
hard as you can to try to get as far
as you can go, and nobody even knows your name.
You're coming home in your marriage and you're trying to
be different, go different, work harder, and your spouse is
not responding. Totally ungrateful, as if to say, that's what
(04:16):
you're supposed to do, and.
Speaker 3 (04:20):
You're beginning to lose your mind.
Speaker 1 (04:22):
Because you're so focused on Jacob and trying to get
him to no longer turn his back on you. And
you keep putting yourself in these scenarios where you figure
that you can give just enough to change the circumstance.
Speaker 3 (04:39):
Leah is in this position, she's.
Speaker 1 (04:41):
Laboring and delivering, laboring and delivering, and.
Speaker 3 (04:44):
Jacob could care less.
Speaker 1 (04:48):
And many of you are in the position where you're
having to grapple. You're tired, Lord, help me, how am
I going to continue to do this? There's nothing filling
me up, and trust me. Back then, when she was
laboring and delivering, they didn't have no anesthesia options.
Speaker 3 (05:07):
It hurt.
Speaker 1 (05:09):
At sacrifice to herself, the pain that she went through
in order to labor and deliver and not.
Speaker 3 (05:17):
Get any gratitude.
Speaker 1 (05:20):
And many of us are struggling in this place where
we're almost at a gas in our marriage or as parents,
or at our job, or trying to kindle a relationship
with a father or a mother, and we're trying to
fix this situation giving everything we have and no one cares.
(05:42):
Just because they don't see you don't mean God doesn't
see you. Just because your dad's not there doesn't mean
your father's not there. Just because your mom mishandled you
doesn't mean you're not in God's hands. What we typically
(06:04):
do is we make our physical and natural reality become
our spiritual truth.
Speaker 3 (06:11):
And they are not twins.
Speaker 1 (06:14):
And Leah starts going down this rabbit hole of trying
to produce to get Jacob to do something he never
intended to do, to try to get a response that
she felt like her productivity would give.
Speaker 3 (06:29):
Her power over.
Speaker 1 (06:31):
And what happens is watch this God produce for Leah.
Leah turns this way to try to produce for Jacob.
Leah's mad that Jacob will not respond to her productivity,
but Jacob's not responding to her productivity. And while she's
(06:54):
looking at Jacob, she's not responding to God's productivity. So
you just created an assembly line of non responders that
when we're totally focusing on using what God gave us
to try to manipulate circumstances in our environment, we're actually
ignoring God. While we're mad that we're being ignored, Leah
(07:17):
is saying what about me? And God is saying, what
about me? You producing? That's because I produced. You turned
the wrong way, and now you're mad and frustrated that
you're not getting the response. But I'm mad and frustrated
that I'm not getting the response. And many of us
create this expectation in ourselves and understand, Jacob is no
(07:42):
longer scarring Leah. Now Leah is scarring herself, and many
of us take this approach. Or certainly, now that I've
accomplished this, Dad will call. Only now that I've did this,
she will respond, she or he will love me. I
(08:05):
will find fulfillment and value that what I produce got
to just do response.
Speaker 3 (08:13):
She was just expecting.
Speaker 2 (08:18):
Something.
Speaker 3 (08:19):
Really, she should expect.
Speaker 1 (08:21):
It's a reasonable expectation based on what she produced. The
problem is not that the expectation is not reasonable. It
was a reasonable expectation based.
Speaker 3 (08:30):
On what she produced.
Speaker 1 (08:32):
It was an unreasonable expectation based on who she produced
it for. The problem is not the productivity. God did
not open your wound for you not to bear.
Speaker 3 (08:45):
So what do we do?
Speaker 1 (08:47):
If Jacob's not going to respond, then why am I
doing this? Our whole mentality is based on the virtue
and value that we get from the world, from the likes,
from the follow from the responses from the notoriety, from
the love, from the connectivity.
Speaker 3 (09:04):
That's where we find all of our virtue.
Speaker 1 (09:06):
And if we don't get the value in the response,
then we shut down on the fact that God.
Speaker 3 (09:12):
Was the one who gave us the ability to produce.
Speaker 1 (09:15):
So thanks God, but no thanks because it's not working.
Speaker 3 (09:22):
So why would I keep doing this?
Speaker 1 (09:23):
Why would I keep going in daying after day being
the husband that you called me to be If she's
not going to respond and God is saying because I
called you to be it, why would I keep being
the wife you called me to be if he's not
going to respond I opened your room? Why would I
be the student or the worker? Why would I come
(09:45):
in here with a good attitude? Oh you basing your
whole life on Jacob nothing because we continue to go
to the same place for payment, and we go there
(10:07):
for payment because of what we produced. But the place
where we go to be paid we already know has
insufficient funds, and then.
Speaker 3 (10:19):
We mad that we walk away feeling robbed.
Speaker 1 (10:23):
Well, you ought to notice by now. But you think
that your value is not found in what God gave
you for what you can produce for him. You think
your value is founding what God gave you to produce
for them.
Speaker 2 (10:37):
That's a tough reality to face, and it raises an
important question what happens when we're not recognized for what
we do. Jonathan will dive deeper into this when he
continues our message in just a moment. First, though, if
you've ever felt overwhelmed by life struggles, I want to
introduce you to a powerful collection of ten talks from
(10:58):
Pastor Jonathan Evans called Survivor. These lessons will help you
break free from self reliance to find the confidence that
comes with knowing God as fighting your battles alongside you.
As a thank you for your support and keeping the
Alternative available to listeners each day, we'd love to send
you all ten full length messages from the Survivor series,
(11:19):
and as a special bonus, will also include doctor Tony
Evans Daily Devotional Life under God. This popular resource provides
daily encouragement and biblical wisdom to help you walk in
step with God's will. This limited time offer ends tomorrow,
so don't wait. Visit Tonyevans dot org or call one
(11:40):
eight hundred eight hundred thirty two twenty two where a
friendly team member is ready to assist you. That's one
eight hundred eight hundred three two two two. I'll share
that information again after part two of today's message. Here's
Jonathan once again.
Speaker 1 (11:56):
I don't know if you've ever been in an atmosphere
where you produce it in somebody like that's what supposed
to do. The quickest way to run out of gas
is being a situation where there is no gratitude. She
gave birth to Reuben and said, behold, look at me. Certainly,
now it'll change. She gave birth to Simi, and you
see the change in me. I heard it, didn't you
(12:17):
hear it? Won't you change too?
Speaker 3 (12:22):
Mm hmm.
Speaker 1 (12:24):
And then she gets to verse thirty four and said,
let me try this again. So she conceived again in
Boria's son. Now I got five kids. So I noticed tiring.
I'm reading this. Pastors like, oh my goodness, this is
back to back. Their ages were very close. We at
least put a little space in there. She's trying to
(12:46):
get a change now, so she conceives again, and now
you're talking about years of being wasted, not in what
she's producing, but who she's producing it for.
Speaker 3 (13:00):
Small.
Speaker 1 (13:00):
You need to notice that's big is in verse thirty two,
she says, because the Lord has seen my affliction. In
Verse thirty three, she says, because the Lord has heard
that I am unloved. In verse thirty four, she don't
mention the.
Speaker 3 (13:14):
Lord at all. I'm gonna do this myself.
Speaker 1 (13:19):
God's way isn't working in their change, and maybe God's
intent is that it won't work in their change.
Speaker 3 (13:26):
When he's trying to get you first.
Speaker 1 (13:30):
And here she is leaving God out and saying to herself, certainly,
I will produce this son, and now he will become
attached to me, which is the meaning of the name Levi,
to be jointed to or to cling to.
Speaker 3 (13:46):
And here she is she.
Speaker 1 (13:47):
Gives birth to Levi with the expectation that all the
things that she has produced, now she has a list.
And you know you're coming to the end of your
rope where you're no longer communicating with God, and you
present that person, place, or thing with a list of
what you've accomplished. I gave you Rubin, the patriarch, I
(14:07):
gave you Simeon.
Speaker 3 (14:09):
Now I'm giving you Levi.
Speaker 1 (14:11):
If I've done this, that, and this, certainly now you
need to be attached to me.
Speaker 3 (14:17):
She's tired. Now she's coming to the end of a rope.
Speaker 1 (14:22):
I've tried this from my father, that from my father,
This from my father. Certainly, by now he ought to
be here. I've tried this from my wife, that from
my wife. Certainly now she ought to be grateful. I've
tried this from my husband, that from my husband. Certainly,
now things are to be changed. I've tried this at
the job, this at the job, this at the job. Certainly,
(14:43):
now things are to come on. Man, and she built
another expectation of attachment based on what she's produced and
based on what she had done her resume, her resume
should produce something. That's what our culture is based on.
It's based on performance. And if my resume fix the bill,
(15:04):
certainly I'm the one you choose. No, Jacob didn't choose you,
and you keep ignoring the fact that God did. So
you're wasting a lot of time, scarring yourself, thinking that
what God gave you is supposed to be produced for
(15:27):
the world pe person, places, or things whatever.
Speaker 3 (15:30):
Now and you have in your life. It's like social media.
Speaker 1 (15:34):
You'll spend a whole lot of time making a video
and everybody who's watching it ain't got no other intent
but to give you a quick like and swipe up.
They don't care. They don't when we watching it, we
do the same things. And we spent all that time
putting that video together, editing that video, chopping that video up.
Speaker 3 (15:56):
And you know what you do after that?
Speaker 1 (15:57):
You start checking to try to see how many likes
you got, how many people viewed it, how many people
view how many people like it?
Speaker 3 (16:04):
Man, I only got three likes.
Speaker 1 (16:05):
It's been a month.
Speaker 3 (16:11):
Why because you've figured surely.
Speaker 1 (16:14):
Now that I've produced something like this, people will pay attention.
Speaker 3 (16:17):
They don't care.
Speaker 1 (16:20):
Oh, she's trying to please Jacob and God is displeased.
An assembly line of non responders. And we don't realize
that what we're going after, the problem that we're experiencing,
we're giving to God and telling him deal with it.
(16:42):
That's what you're supposed to do. You're supposed to bless me.
You're supposed to give to me. You're supposed to wake
me up this morning. You're supposed to send me on
my way. You're supposed to part their red seat. You're
supposed to make that man a fall down. That's what
you're supposed to do. Now, keep giving to me, so
I can try to find.
Speaker 3 (16:58):
My value somewhere else.
Speaker 1 (17:03):
So now she's tired, She's she gotten to the end,
and she said, oh, you know what, let me do
something different.
Speaker 3 (17:16):
And verse thirty five.
Speaker 1 (17:17):
She says, and she conceived again and bore a son,
and said, this time.
Speaker 3 (17:28):
I will praise the Lord. Then she named him Judah.
Speaker 1 (17:35):
Then she stopped bearing, which is really not a picture
of her no longer bearing, because she gave birth to
Issacar and Zebulin later. This is a picture of her
rest because now she understands what am I doing this for?
(17:56):
So she gives birth to a praise. I'm no longer
gonna turn my attention towards man, I'm gonna turn my
attention towards God. How in the world am I supposed
to keep going and going? You're supposed to keep going
because you're pulling into a station that.
Speaker 3 (18:13):
Can actually fill you up.
Speaker 1 (18:15):
That you were born and created to the praise of
His glory. Why would I continue to be the man
God has called me to be?
Speaker 3 (18:22):
Because God asked you to.
Speaker 1 (18:23):
Do it, and whether you eat or you drink, you
do it to the glory of God. Why would I
continue to be the woman that God has done because
God called.
Speaker 3 (18:31):
You to be it.
Speaker 1 (18:32):
He opened your wound, and you're gonna turn towards God
instead of turning your back on God.
Speaker 3 (18:37):
It's time for us to learn how.
Speaker 1 (18:39):
To praise even when we're in a prison, how to
give him praise even when things do not go our way.
Bless the Lord at all time. Let us praise continuously be.
Speaker 3 (18:50):
In my mouth hebeck at three.
Speaker 1 (18:52):
Let you know that even if there's no grapes in
the vineyard, even if there's no sheep, no cattle, no
produce on the field, I will pray his name anyway,
because he gives me hind his feet like a deer
to climb these highest heights.
Speaker 3 (19:06):
We've got to learn to praise him anyway.
Speaker 1 (19:09):
And when you learn to praise him, even though that
may not change your situation, you can be like Act sixteen,
Paul and Silas sitting in the prison. They're surrounded by
four walls, but they let out a praise anyway. And
when they let out that praise, the shackles came off,
the doors swung open. Everybody into jail heard the praise
and walked out towards victory. Not because they weren't in jail,
(19:32):
but because they praised while they were in the prison.
Speaker 3 (19:35):
If we learn to direct it towards.
Speaker 1 (19:37):
God, when we learn that, we learn how to make
a decision to destiny.
Speaker 3 (19:41):
Why would I continue to be tricked by Jacob when.
Speaker 1 (19:44):
I can deliver a Judah, when I can deliver a
praise to the glory of his girl. Now, now, hold
on a second, y'all don't know who Judah is. When
Jacob was blessing his sons, he said, of Judah, you.
Speaker 3 (19:58):
Are like a lion. You're like a lion who dares rouse.
Speaker 1 (20:03):
You up the scepter and the rod will be between
your feet forever until Shiloh comes. Who's Shiloh, the one
who comes to bring peace to the whole world?
Speaker 3 (20:13):
Y'all don't know who I'm talking about yet.
Speaker 1 (20:15):
Judah had a son named Pez Perez had a son
named Hezren. Hesren had a son named Ram. Ram had
a son name of Benadev a. Benadav had a son
named Nashan. Nashan had a son named Salmon. Salmon had
a son named Boaz. Boas had a son named Obed.
Obed had a son named Jesse, and Jesse had a
son named David. And through the lion of Jesse and
(20:36):
David came Jesus Christ.
Speaker 3 (20:39):
That's why Revelations five five.
Speaker 1 (20:41):
Says Jesus is the lion of Judah, the root of David.
Speaker 3 (20:46):
He put her in the lineage of Jesus Christ.
Speaker 1 (20:49):
Listen, Jacob saw Rachel, but God saw Leah. And when
she made the decision to praise, she entered a destiny
she never knew she could have. When you learn to
praise him, he'll give you a destiny you never thought
you could have. When you learn the prais him, he'll
give you a heritage that you never thought you could have.
(21:10):
When you learn the praise him, he'll give you a
legacy that you.
Speaker 3 (21:13):
Never thought you would have.
Speaker 1 (21:15):
He's just waiting on you to go from Jacob and
deliver a Judah. I opened your wound, I started you
on your way. I gave you bread, I fed you,
I put you where you are. I kept you alive.
You should have been dead. But if it wasn't for me,
you wouldn't know where you would be.
Speaker 3 (21:33):
Praise me. It's all about me. Give it to me.
Stop wasting your time with Jacob.
Speaker 1 (21:40):
Jacob ain't got nothing for you. You praise him anyway,
and watch what he will do. The same one who
opened your wound will send you to your destiny. Now
I need you to understand one more thing. I just
thought about it.
Speaker 3 (21:59):
Something I noticed.
Speaker 1 (22:01):
And Genesis forty nine, Jacob was dying, and he looked
at his sons and he said, you know that burial
ground where Abraham is buried next to Sarah, that's the
same burial ground where Isaac is buried next to Rebecca.
Speaker 3 (22:18):
That's also the same burial ground where they laid Leah
to rest. That's where I want you to bury me.
Speaker 1 (22:24):
Jacob requested to be buried with Leah, he did not
request to be buried and with Rachel. He understood through
her praise. That's where the promise is. That's where I
want to rest. That's where I want to be.
Speaker 2 (22:40):
Jonathan Evans will return in a moment to wrap up
today's message about the struggle of trying to earn love, recognition,
and value from people who might never respond as we hope. Now.
The title of today's talk was Jacob or Judah, and
you can find out how to hear the full length
version of this message when you visit our website Tonyevans
(23:01):
dot org, and as I mentioned earlier, that's the same
place where you can take advantage of our current featured
resource offer, pastor Jonathan Evans ten part Survivor audio series
along with doctor Tony Evans daily devotional book Life under God.
This unique resource bundle is yours with our thanks in
return for your donation to help continue making this listener
(23:23):
supported program possible. You can make the arrangements at one
eight hundred, eight hundred thirty two twenty two, but do
it today before time runs out. That's one eight hundred
eight hundred three two two two, or visit Tonyevans dot
org success Power Prestige. Nayman was an army commander and
(23:45):
he had it all except the one thing he wanted most. Tomorrow,
Jonathan will present his story to us, showing us how
true healing only comes when we surrender to God's way.
Right now, though, let's listen as he wraps up today's message.
Speaker 1 (24:02):
I cannot tell you when your change is gonna come
and not I can't even worry about that because nobody
can tell you that. But I can tell you right
now you can change in praise God, and you climb
to the top of that ladder and you let him
take care of everything else. You ain't got time for
no foolishness, or you do have time for a praise.
Speaker 3 (24:22):
We've got to learn who we do this for.
Speaker 1 (24:25):
You got Jacob or Judah, You can't have them both.
Speaker 3 (24:31):
Pick one. You can continue to lose your mind, or
you can give him praise
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