08/09/2026
Jacob Finally Looked in the Right Mirror
BE DOERS OF THE WORD, and not hearers only. Otherwise, you are deceiving yourselves. For anyone who hears the word but does not carry it out is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror, and after observing himself goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But the one who looks intently into the perfect law of freedom, and continues to do so—not being a forgetful hearer, but an effective doer—he will be blessed in what he does” (James 1:22–25).
Two people dwell in every home: The fleshly man and the spiritual man. The man of sin and the man of righteousness.
For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. (Romans 7:18).
The word dwelleth refers to a husband dwelling in a house with his wife, and to a wife dwelling in a house with a husband. THIS CAN DEFINITELY PICTURE TWO DIFFERENT MINDSETS!!!!!!!!! Of course I'm referencing where the man is always right….
The number one enemy we all face stares at us each day with blinded eyes. Elvis should have never sung I Did It My Way. How did that work out for you? He should have been singing to himself, You’re no good, You’re no good, You’re no good, Elvis, You’re no good!!!!!
We should all get up every morning and sing to the man in the mirror, He's no good, He's no good, He's no good, He's the Can-Do Man.
Mirror, mirror, on the wall
I finally saw my stinking self
And now I'm so appalled
Here are the key words to James, and understand that the context is what to say and do in a storm.
1. Count it all joy when your faith is being tested––Peter said this is a fiery trial of faith
2. The double-minded man will receive nothing––He's back and forth like Israel in Exodus
3. This is in a storm––tossed to and fro by the doctrine you are hearing––I can and then I can't
4. Be swift to hear what the Lord is speaking in the storm
5. Don’t listen to the flesh which says, “Jesus, you don't care that we are perishing, do you?”
6. This will lead to anger: I'm thinking the disciples were upset that Jesus didn't care!
Here is the way to hear and do in the New Covenant: Jesus, I'm hearing what you are saying to me through the scriptures and by your Spirit in me and with me in this storm: “It is I, be not afraid, We’re going to the other side!”
The new commandment is this: Believe on the Name of Jesus and put no confidence in your natural ability to work it all out! Trusting in your carnal flesh ain’t-a-gonna work, and when it doesn't work, you’ll become a summer thunderstorm in Muggy, Alabama––You’ll flash lightning bolts and make a lot of noise! The zip code to Muggyville is 66666.
Otherwise, you are deceiving yourselves. For anyone who hears the WORD but does not carry it out is like a man who looks at HIS FACE in a mirror, and after OBSERVING HIMSELF goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like.
James is talking to Christians who have begun in the Spirit, but then revert back to the flesh.
The flesh is that perverted principle in human beings which perpetuates Satan’s proud hostility and enmity against God.
— Major Ian Thomas
What does a Christian see when he looks into the scriptures? He sees the Truth: I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ lives in me. The Lord's plan for us in the storm is to always get us out of the way: Take up your cross daily, or else the Can-Do man will foul things up!
Remember, the essence of reverting back to the law is this false belief system: Yes Lord! I hear all that you command, and the Can-Do man will observe and keep all that you ask of me. After all, if you didn't think I could obey the Law, You would have never given me the Law!
The double-minded man forgets that he is crucified with Christ, and immediately starts walking in natural eyesight. Jacob began in the Spirit by God's sovereign choice: The oldest Esau will serve the younger Jacob.
So then [God's gift] is not a question of human will and human effort, but of God's mercy. [It depends not on one's own willingness nor on his strenuous exertion as in running a race, but on God's having mercy on him.] (Romans 9:16 AMPC)
Here’s what the flesh looks like when it attempts to accomplish by the flesh what has already been accomplished by God's Decree. Issac, Rebekah, and Jacob were all in the flesh. I believe Jacob heard that he was the one called, but as soon as he left that mirror, he forgot about the calling and went about to perform God's work in “the creature energy of the flesh.”
1. Isaac thinks he’s dying but will live many more years, so he moves in fear and attempts to bless Esau, who is a type of the flesh
2. Rebekah schemes to stop this by pure deception
3. Jacob dresses up like Esau and lies invoking the Lord's Name: “The Lord blessed me by enabling me to have a quick and successful church, I mean deer hunt.”
4. Jacob plainly said, “I am Esau” when Isaac asked his name.
The Can-Do Man reaps what he sows.
On his wedding night, Jacob enters the honeymoon suite, which is dark, to lie with his wife for the first time. In the morning, he awakens with a lightmare.
“Can you believe this, Rachel? We have the rest of our lives together.”
“It is kind of hard to believe when you think about it,” said Leah.
Jacob was suddenly spinning, and he had been spinning out of control for years. He wrote this song recorded by the Spinners.
Hand me down my white cane
Hand me down my hat…
Hey, y'all, prepare yourself for the Can-Do Man
You've never heard a sound
Like the Can-Do Man
He's bound to lose control
When the Can-Do Man starts to jam
The goal of faith ––teamed with patience––is to reveal the end of faith. The end of faith is a Revelation of Christ in you. For years Jacob lived by walking in the flesh. “I'm so tired of living in my own strength, lifting up your name in my own power, Lord I am weary, I am wounded, I am worn; be my victory this hour.”
Jacob had been looking in the mirror and seeing himself. And then he looked into THE MIRROR and saw Christ! He refused to quit wrestling with the Lord, even though all he could do was wave his little finger in the Lord’s Face, but this was Jacob waving the white flag of surrender.
“What do you see, Jacob, when you look in the wrong mirror?”
“I see only my sorry old self!”
[The Man] asked him, What is your name? And [in shock of realization, whispering] he said, Jacob [supplanter, schemer, trickster, swindler]! (Genesis 32:27 AMPC)
Jacob finally looked in the right mirror: “And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: for I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved” (Genesis 32:20).
God tests our faith to prove that Jesus is our life, our truth, and the way we walk in our commission from Him.
In every test Abraham faced, the answer was never found in his natural self but in the Word of God. As his self-confidence faded, his faith continued to grow. The answer came when the Spirit of Christ in him became the sole basis for his faith.
1. The end of faith in Sarah was no confidence in flesh
2. The end of faith in Jacob was no confidence in flesh
3. The end of faith in Joseph was no confidence in flesh
4. The end of faith in Moses was no confidence in flesh
5. The end of faith in Peter was no confidence in flesh
We must look in the same glass that our Heavenly Father looks through––He sees us as we really are; He sees Christ in us. And on the throne in heaven, he looks at Jesus and sees us seated in Him and with Him!
Jas 1:5 Now if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.
Jas 1:6 But he must ask in faith, without doubting, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.
1. The Lord did not behold iniquity in Israel, even though they were still on the Potter’s Wheel, and the Potter was working out their flaws.
2. The Lord saw the church as pure golden lampstands, even though there were sins to be repented of.
The Lord has given us the wedding gift of a lighted mirror.
2Co 3:17 Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.
2Co 3:18 But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.
We are to renew our minds by looking through the “looking glass” and seeing Christ in us. We are to walk in the mindset of Christ.
Rom 12:2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
1Co 2:16 For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.
1. Jesus could look within Himself and see the Father working in Him
2. We can look within our spirit and see Jesus, our everlasting Father working in us
But the one who looks intently into the perfect law of freedom, and continues to do so—not being a forgetful hearer, but an effective doer—he will be blessed in what he does”
Jesus in us is the ONLY effective doer of the work God has called us to. Look at His mindset in a storm on the Sea of Galilee compared to the disciples’ mindset: “Lord, don't you care that we perish?” I believe they were angry when they said this.
Jesus looked to the ever-present, ever-speaking, living Word of God. In other words, Jesus looked into the right mirror and saw the Son of Man who is the only Can-Do Man.
Psa 107:25 For he commandeth, and raiseth the stormy wind, which lifteth up the waves thereof.
Psa 107:26 They mount up to the heaven, they go down again to the depths: their soul is melted because of trouble.
Psa 107:27 They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wits' end.
Psa 107:28 Then they cry unto the LORD in their trouble, and he bringeth them out of their distresses.
Psa 107:29 He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still.
We are to look into the Word of God and see this same Jesus in our ship––He is with us in the storm. We are not to look at the cold stone tablets of the Law.
Now it is clear that no one is justified before God by the law, because, “The righteous will live by faith. The law, however, is not based on faith; on the contrary, “THE MAN WHO DOES THESE THINGS will live by them.”
To be justified by the law would mean that you kept all the commandments flawlessly, including your thought life. This means that God could look at your life from beginning to end, and see that you were exactly what He wanted you to be: Another Jesus. This equals impossibility times infinity!
Lord, open the eyes of our understanding!