Off Key

“And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed” Gen. 32:38

Jacob was detuned from birth by his name. The name Jacob meant crook. Imagine giving a child such a name. Imagine at his naming ceremony when his mother was asked, “what shall this child be called?” And she answered, “Crook; he shall be called crook”. That was what Jacob’s name literally meant, supplanter. The name Jacob put him out of tune with his destiny from birth and God had to retune him. “…Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel…” Gen. 32:38. The name Israel means prince of God, meanwhile Jacob means crook. Do the names carry the same destiny? Not even close! But by no fault of his, his destiny was out of tune with what God had in mind.

Back in the day when pianos get out of tune, an instrument called the tuning fork was what was used to bring it back to tune. When the tuning fork is struck, it gives you a certain pitch. The person re-tuning the piano can then tune it until he achieves that pitch. The keyboards made these days should never really get out of tune. But other instruments like the guitar easily get out of tune. Why? It is because it is a stringed instrument, and by reason of use or someone toying with it, it can get out of tune. So it has to be re-tuned.

The same goes for our lives; sometimes we have to be re-tuned. Over the next few days we will be looking at five things that put us out of tune. This list is not exhaustive but I believe God wants us to pay attention to these five.

#1. Anger. Anger puts you out of tune with God very quickly. If you insist on being an angry person, you will discover that you are moving away from your destiny in God. Anyone that walks with the Holy Spirit and operates in the supernatural will understand what I am saying. Anger can take you out of tune with the Holy Spirit in an instant. You may have been flowing in-tune with the Holy Spirit but just one fit of anger can cut off. It is not that the Holy Spirit moves away but rather you become out of tune with Him. And usually getting back can be a struggle. God wants you to watch out for anger because it detunes you.

Prayer: Holy Spirit, grow me in self-control, patience, gentleness so that anger will have no place in my heart, in Jesus Name.