Monday, March 31, 2025

Most Of Jesus’ Followers Were Folks Who Had Lived Some Wild Lifestyles—The Prostitutes, The Drunkards, The Outcasts, And Yes, They Hated Tax Collectors. They Continually Flocked To Him. And This Really Made Religious People Scratch Their Heads.

Most Of Jesus’ Followers Were Folks Who Had Lived Some Pretty Wild Lifestyles—The Prostitutes, The Drunkards, The Outcasts, The Marginalized And Yes, They Hated Tax Collectors. They Continually Flocked To Him. And This Really Made Religious People Scratch Their Heads. It also made them very angry, and perhaps, a bit jealous. And so, Luke summarizes the complaint of the moral and religious leaders as this: “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.”

Two Lost Sons”. Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32 This is probably one of the best-known parables of Jesus in the Bible. I’d say it is right up there with “The Parable of the Good Samaritan.” It is usually referred to as “The Parable of the Prodigal Son.”

According to the Merriam Webster Dictionary, the word “prodigal” means: “One who spends lavishly or foolishly or one who has returned after an absence.”

So…that being said…Is it the younger or the older son in the parable who usually gets most of the attention? Is it the guy who runs away from home, spending all his inheritance on wild living or the older son who stays at home and does what is often interpreted as being the “right thing?”

There can be no doubt that most sermons on this parable have concentrated most heavily on the younger brother—the “Prodigal Son.” I have always concentrated on the younger son. But when we do this, I think we miss the real message of the story because there are, indeed, two brothers, and both of them represent a different way of being alienated from God, and a different way to seek acceptance into the Kingdom of God.

Also, notice, if you will that at the beginning of Luke Chapter 15, we see that there are really two groupings of people who are “gathering around to hear” Jesus. The first group are the “tax collectors and sinners.” They are the people who are represented by the younger brother in the parable. They didn’t follow the moral laws of the Bible nor the ceremonial purity laws. They engaged in what would have been considered “wild living.” Like the younger brother, they “left home.” And they did this by leaving the traditional morality of their families and the so-called “respectable” people of society.

The second group of folks listening to Jesus were the “Pharisees and the teachers of the law.” They are represented by the older brother in the story. They held on to the traditional morality of their upbringing. They studied and obeyed the Scriptures. They worshipped and prayed constantly. And Luke takes special pains to show us how different each group of folks respond to Jesus.

The “so-called” younger brothers of the story continually flocked to Jesus. And this was the pattern of Jesus’ ministry.

To sit down and eat with someone in the ancient Near East was a sign of acceptance. “How dare Jesus reach out to sinners like that!” they were saying. “These people never come to our services! Why do they want to go listening to Jesus all the time?”

So, who is Jesus’ teaching in this parable really directed to? It’s for the second group, isn’t it? It’s to the Pharisees and the Teachers of the Law who are grumbling about Him and judging the folks who are coming to Him.

Yeah, this parable talks about two sons, along with a Father Who represents God, and it reaches its climax with a powerful plea for the older brother to change his heart! The targets of this parable aren’t wayward sinners, but religious people—the spiritually blind, narrow-minded, self-righteous and how these things are destroying both their own souls and the lives of the people around them!

And while Jesus isn’t celebrating those of us who are taking “a walk on the wild side,” He is singling out religious moralism as a particularly deadly spiritual condition! It may be hard for some to realize today, but when Christianity started it wasn’t called a religion. It was a non-religion, really.

I mean, imagine what non-Christians thought of Christianity when it first came about. “Where’s your Temple?” they’d ask. “Where are the sacrifices made to please your gods?” The first Christians would have responded that they didn’t make sacrifices anymore.

Jesus Himself was the Temple to end all Temples, the Sacrifice to end all sacrifices. No one had ever heard of anything like this. So, the Romans called them atheists because what they were saying was totally new and unique; it couldn’t be classified with the other religions of the world—it was something else entirely!

The irony of this is that for many folks standing in the midst of our modern culture wars, 21st Century Christianity is religion and moralism. But from the beginning, this isn’t what it was about.

The moralizers and religiously observant folks were offended by Jesus, but those who had been estranged from religion and moral absolutes were intrigued and attracted to Jesus. And we see this throughout the New Testament.

When Jesus meets a religious person in the same story as a sexual, racial, or political outcast—the outcast is the one who connects with Jesus—and the older-brother-type does not. In Matthew 21:31, Jesus says to the religious leaders: “the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you.”

And so, this parable we are looking at this morning, may very well be best called “The Parable of the Two Lost Sons.” The younger son goes off to a “distant country” and squanders everything he has through his out-of-control lifestyle. When he is literally down in the mud with the pigs, he “comes to his senses” and makes a plan. He’s going to “head home” and beg his father to make him one of his hired men.

His strategy probably went something like this: since he had disgraced his family and the entire community he was “dead” to them, as the father describes it.

Love Reigns There's no greater love storyIt was the love of God that brought Jesus to offer himself as a sacrifice. It is the love of God that continually offers us new life through this risen Savior.

The rabbis taught that if you had violated the community’s standards, as the younger son had, an apology wasn’t enough—you also had to make restitution. So, the younger son plans to say: “Father, I know I don’t have a right to come back into the family. But if you apprentice me to be one of your hired men, so I can learn a trade and a wage, then I can at least start to pay off the debt I owe you.”

But when the younger son comes within sight of the house, his father sees him and runs—runs to him!!! As a general rule, distinguished Middle Eastern patriarchs did not run. Children might run. Women might run. Younger men might run. But not the dignified pillar of the community.

But this father does. He runs to his son and, showing his emotions openly, he throws his arms around him and kisses him. “Quick!” he says, “Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet.” In other words, “I’m not going to wait until you’ve paid off your debt; I’m not going to wait until you’ve groveled in the dust.

You don’t have to earn your way back into the family!!! Instead, we are going to celebrate. “Kill the fattened calf!

Let’s party!!!” He invites the entire village to the feast, word spreads quickly, and soon there is a full-fledged feast going on, with music and dancing.

What a scene. And what is Jesus saying? “God’s love and forgiveness can handle any and every kind of sin or wrongdoing. It doesn’t matter who you are or what you have done. God loves you—and God will always love you!!! There’s no evil that God’s love cannot cover, there is no sin that is a match for God’s grace!!!”

If the parable stopped right here, it would only be about the younger brother. But it doesn’t stop there. There are two sons. The “bad” one by all conventional standards, and the “good” one. And yet, both sons are alienated from their father. The father must go out and invite both of them to come into the feast of his love.

And so, both sons are lost. But the older brother is left in his lost state. The bad son enters the father’s feast, but the good son will not. The “lover of prostitutes” is saved, but the man who is morally righteous is still lost.

We can almost hear the gasps of the Pharisees and teachers of the law when Jesus finishes telling the parable. It is the complete reversal of everything they had ever been taught. But Jesus isn’t simply leaving it at that. It gets even more shocking.

Why doesn’t the older brother enter God’s party? He, himself gives the reason: “I have never disobeyed you”! It’s not the older brother’s so-called “sins” that create a barrier between him and the father, it’s his pride; it’s his self-righteousness. And that is because sin is not just breaking the rules, it is putting ourselves in the place of God as Savior, Lord, and Judge.

Now, there are two ways of being your own Savior and Lord. One is to break all the rules and go your own way. The other is to keep all the moral rules and rely on your own “supposed goodness” to save you. You see, Jesus doesn’t divide the world into the moral “good people” and the immoral “bad people.” We are all prone to the goal of “self-salvation.”

We just go about it in different ways. A wise theologian has said, “The gospel of Jesus is not religion or irreligion, morality or immorality, moralism or relativism, conservatism or liberalism—it is something else altogether.” It’s that we are all sinners.

We all fall short! We are all equally loved and equally sinful. We all need Jesus! And so, it may be that what Jesus is trying to say to us is that both the younger brothers and the older brothers represented in this parable are equally wrong, but it is the older brothers who are in the more dangerous position.

And the reason? They are blind to their sinfulness. “How dare you say that!” is how many religious folks might respond if it’s suggested that their relationship with God isn’t right……that they are just as lost, if not more so, than those who are “obviously lost.”

No one had ever taught anything like this before. And it got Jesus killed!

Could Jesus be saying that “the people who confess that they aren’t particularly good or openminded are moving toward God, because the prerequisite for accepting the grace of God is to know you need it? And the people who think they are “just fine, thank you” are moving away from God?

When a newspaper asked the question: “What’s wrong with the world?” the Christian theologian G.K. Chesterton wrote a brief letter in response: “Dear Sirs: I am what is wrong with the world. Sincerely Yours, G.K. Chesterton.”

That is the attitude of someone who has grasped, at least part, of Jesus’ message. Why do I say “part?” Because I don’t think Jesus considers any human being to be “what is wrong with the world.” We are all equally loved. We are all of sacred worth.

Jesus’ aim of this parable, which was primarily to the Pharisees and teachers of the law, was to show them this great and wonderful truth that we call THE GOSPEL—the GOOD NEWS!!! YOU are ALL LOVED BY GOD!!! ACCEPT IT. REJOICE IN IT!!!

Now, come into God’s great party!!! All of you!!! We celebrate together. No one is to be left out! May it be so with us. Let all of us Rejoice this morning.

Blessings
J.P. Olson
www.journeyintotheword.com

Monday, March 24, 2025

Life Crashes: No Matter How Many Or How Bad Your “Life Crashes” Have Been, God Can Fix Them All! What Looks Bad To You, Is An Opportunity For God To Show His Goodness! The Cross Of Jesus Was Not Good. It Was Awful. But Look How It Worked For Our Good....

Life Crashes: No Matter How Many Or How Bad Your “Life Crashes” Have Been, God Can Fix And Mend Them All! What Looks Bad To You, Is Just An Opportunity For God To Show His Goodness! Think About It: The Cross Of Jesus Was Not Good. It Was Awful. But What Looked At That Time Like The Greatest Tragedy In Human History Turned Out To Bring About The Greatest Good Of All; the payment for our sin that makes life with God is forever possible! And maybe that is where you are today. At the crash site of your life’s encounters! You are hurt and devastated and certainly, you were unprepared for this to happen, but it did.

The marriage crashed into divorce, the children crashed into an unexpected teenage pregnancy, your sibling crashed into drug and alcohol addiction, your best friend crashed into foreclosure, your finances crashed into bills, debts, and liens, your friendship crashed into betrayal, your job crashed into unemployment, your health crashed into a disease no one in your family even has, your business crashed into more loss than gain, your church/ministry crashed into empty pews. We have all experienced some form of an unexpected “life crash”. But then, isn’t that how most crashes happen? Suddenly! Unexpectedly! Inconveniently!

Well, believe it or not, but sometimes crashes work for your good! Sometimes, they end up revealing what you would never have found out any other way, until it was too late, and devastation destroyed it all!

Some familiar words in the Bible fit perfectly right here. And they are found in Romans 8:28 And we know that ALL THINGS WORK TOGETHER FOR GOOD to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose.” Now, take note that He did not say all things ARE good…but He did say, “All things WORK TOGETHER for good. “

You know, I found out something quite interesting. Now, I believe at some point in time we have all heard the term/motto/phrase “Gung Ho!” But do you know what it means? Well, it means, “extremely excited and enthusiastic about doing something; overly zealous”. However, its Chinese Origin is a word taken to mean, “WORK TOGETHER”, and it has been adopted as an unofficial slogan by the US Marines. “Gung Ho!” thereby comes to mean being, “extremely excited and enthusiastic about doing something; overly zealous”. And do you know why you should be ‘Gung Ho’ over your ‘life crashes’? BECAUSE IT’S ALL WORKING TOGETHER FOR YOUR GOOD! Yes, you can be excited even about your trials, struggles, and hardships, yes, you can even feel “Gung Ho!” because at the end of the day, they are ALL WORKING TOGETHER FOR YOUR GOOD!

Will they all be good? NOPE! Will they all feel good? NOPE! Will they all look good? NOPE! But will they all work for your good? YEP!

Everything that you’ve “crashed into” is going to work together for your good, someday, some way, somehow! And how can I be sure of it? Because the Word of God does not lie! Therefore, if God SAID it will, you would SEE that it will!

Listen: When God Has It “…ALL PLANNED OUT TO TAKE CARE OF YOU…” WHAT DO YOU NEED A BACKUP PLAN FOR?!

“We know that GOD WORKS all things together for good for the ones who love God, for those who are called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:28 CEB) – My favorite part of this translation is, “…GOD WORKS…” How awesome to know that no matter what or who is working against me, when God is working for me, neither they nor it can do me any harm! Romans 8:31-39, “So, what do you think? With God on our side like this, how can we lose? If God did not hesitate to put everything on the line for us, embracing our condition and exposing himself to the worst by sending his own Son, is there anything else he wouldn’t gladly and freely do for us? And who would dare tangle with God by messing with one of God’s chosen? Who would dare even to point a finger? The One who died for us—who was raised to live for us! —is in the presence of God at this very moment sticking up for us. Do you think anyone is going to be able to drive a wedge between us and Christ’s love for us? There is no way! Not trouble, not hard times, not hatred, not hunger, not homelessness, not bullying threats, not backstabbing, not even the worst sins listed in Scripture: They kill us in cold blood because they hate you. We are sitting ducks; they pick us off one by one. None of this fazes us because Jesus loves us. I’m convinced that nothing—nothing living or dead, angelic or demonic, today or tomorrow, high or low, thinkable or unthinkable—absolutely nothing can get between us and God’s love because of the way that Jesus our Master has embraced us.” MSG) Therefore, with God at Work…Why Do You Dare Worry?

 “We know that GOD IS ALWAYS AT WORK for the good of everyone who loves him. They are the ones God has chosen for his purpose,” (Romans 8:28 CEV) – My favorite part of this version? “…GOD IS ALWAYS AT WORK…” Family and friends may have your back sometimes, even most of the time, but God, has your back, ALWAYS! “Always” is defined as, “on all occasions; at all times; forever; repeatedly”. So, no matter what “life crash” you encounter, you can rest assured that God has your back “on all occasions; at all times; forever and repeatedly.” Thoughts like that make you better understand Solomon when he said, “You’ll take afternoon naps without a worry, you’ll enjoy a good night’s sleep. No need to panic over alarms or surprises, or predictions that doomsday’s just around the corner Because God will be right there with you; he’ll keep you safe and sound.” (Proverbs 3:21-26 MSG).

“And we know that ALL THAT HAPPENS TO US is working for our good if we love God and are fitting into his plans.” (TLB) – My favorite part here? “…ALL THAT HAPPENS TO US…”. It does not matter whether your “life crash” is physical, spiritual, mental, emotional, psychological, or financial, God is there to make it all work together for your good, no matter what has happened! Nothing is too big, too small, or too insignificant to God. Everything about you means everything to Him!

“We know that GOD MAKES ALL THINGS WORK TOGETHER for the good of those who love Him and are chosen to be a part of His plan.” (Romans 8:28 NLV) – My favorite part here? “…GOD MAKES ALL THINGS WORK TOGETHER…” You are not subject to hoping that all the Things will work Themselves out. Nope, God says, HE, HIMSELF WILL ‘MAKE ALL THINGS WORK TOGETHER’! One of the definitions that I love of the word “Make” is “to force something to work”. And “Force” is defined as “to push into a specified position”. And what position is God going to Make and Force your “life crashes” into? You guessed it…A GOOD POSITION! So, no more worries, God Will Make It Work in Your Favor and For Your Good!

“Meanwhile, the moment we get tired in the waiting, God’s Spirit is right alongside helping us along. If we do not know how or what to pray, it does not matter. He does our praying in and for us, making prayer out of our wordless sighs, and our aching groans. He knows us far better than we know ourselves, knows our pregnant condition, and keeps us present before God. That’s why we can be so sure that EVERY DETAIL in our lives of love for God is worked into something good.” (MSG) – My favorite part? “…EVERY DETAIL…”. “Detail” is defined as “every small, individual item”. Meaning, God will not miss a thing that needs repairing in our “life’s crashes”!

No matter how many or bad your “life crashes” have been, God can fix and mend them all! What looks bad to you, is just an opportunity for God to show His goodness! Think about it: The Cross of Jesus was not good. It was awful. But what looked at that time like the greatest tragedy in human history turned out to bring about the greatest good of all; the payment for our sin that makes life with God forever possible!

Blessings
J.P. Olson
www.journeyintotheword.com

Monday, March 17, 2025

You May Be Going Through, But You Can Be A Glimpse Of God In Someone Else’s Gloom. You Can Encourage Someone Else In Knowing That Despite All These Things, God Is Still Able!

Throughout this day, may we be keenly aware of your presence in everything we do –May my life be a living example, and may others see Christ in each of us. Many are hurting in this world – may we be a salve to someone today, Lord, in a way that we can’t even imagine. May our words be seasoned with salt and minister grace to all that hear. May our actions be aligned with your Word.

Never let a Moment of Misery cause you to lose sight of your Monumental Ministry given to you by God! Always Remember: You Were Rescued to Reconcile!  You may be going through, but you can be a glimpse of God in someone else’s gloom. You can encourage someone else in knowing that despite all these things, God is still able!

Never Judge Prematurely How Your Story Will End! Eve Began Chapter 4 With LIFE…Then Stepped in DEATH…HOWEVER, Before the Closing of the SAME Chapter, She Birthed LIFE AGAIN, Plus the Added Blessing of a Grandson Who Invoked the People to Pray and Worship in the Name of GOD! “…And then Seth had a son whom he named Enosh. THAT’S WHEN MEN AND WOMEN BEGAN PRAYING AND WORSHIPING IN THE NAME OF GOD.” (Genesis 4:25-26 MSG).

In a Nutshell: Don’t Get Discouraged By a Few Verses, God Can Turn Everything Around in Your Favor Before the Closing of the SAME Chapter! Family, Be Encouraged: Go through until you get through, for when you get through your greatest blessing will be granted!

Have you ever been there when your CALLING and your CIRCUMSTANCES are opposites that DON’T attract? YOU Said You Have a Plan, a Purpose, and a Promise Just For Me, and Yet All I’ve Seen Thus Far are Problems, Pain, and Persecution! Lord, What Happened? Go through until you get through.

“Later on, Eve gave birth to another son and named him SETH (meaning “GRANTED”); for, as Eve put it, “God has GRANTED me another son for the one Cain killed.” (Genesis 4:25 TLB)

In one sweep of jealousy Eve’s dreams lay bleeding on the ground; her older son a criminal on the run, her younger son murdered in the prime of his life. And yet she is supposed to be the mother of all living! This is what the Scripture says: “The man named his wife Eve (meaning “The Life-Giving One”), for he said, “She shall become the mother of all mankind.” (Genesis 3:20 TLB). Well, how do you maintain a title like that, when you are now the mother of a corpse and a killer? Her husband spoke “Life” in naming her, and yet the one he called “Life” would have birthed from her womb, one that would be killed and one that would be his killer! How bad it must have felt to be called “Life”, and yet deal with “Death”?

Can you identify just a little bit with Eve? Or should I say it like this, have you ever found yourself asking, “Lord, this is NOT what YOU promised me!”; “Lord, this is NOT the way this was supposed to go!”; “Lord, I saw this work out a little different in my mind than what has manifested in my life!”; “Lord, after all this time, shouldn’t this and they be better?”; “Lord, I give my tithes, but the windows of heaven must be open on the wrong side of the house!”; “Lord, am I really supposed to STILL live here, STILL drive that, STILL walk there, STILL face this, STILL deal with them?” In Essence: Lord, This Is NOT How This Was Supposed to Go!

Well, if that is where you are today, here is my advice to you and it’s free: GO THROUGH UNTIL YOU GET THROUGH! Or in the words of our title: GO THROUGH UNTIL IT’S GRANTED!

Now, many of you will say, “Thanks for the encouragement, but I am still stuck in the middle of the tunnel, and I hear a train coming but don’t see a light at the end of the tunnel! You say Go Through, but I am still stuck and can’t Get Through, so, now what?” I reiterate, GO THROUGH UNTIL YOU GET THROUGH…GO THROUGH UNTIL IT’S GRANTED! How is that possible? Simple, just remember this: Matthew 5:18, “For verily I say unto you, till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.” (KJV). However, there is another translation of this Scripture that I love, and it reads like this: “I can GUARANTEE this truth: Until the earth and the heavens disappear, neither a PERIOD nor A COMMA will disappear from the Scriptures before EVERYTHING HAS COME TRUE.” (GWT). Do you know how determined God must be to “Guarantee” that not even a “Period or a Comma” will come up missing “Before Every Word He’s Declared Comes True”? In other words, be encouraged, because regardless of how bleak the situation looks, whatever God has declared concerning you in His Word HAS to come to pass.

Hear me clearly: You will go through and get through because God has granted you a guarantee that everything, He said WILL come true! His guarantee comes with an assurance that every condition will be favorable in the end. Your outcome of victory is sealed and certain. Your promise of goods, money, and services is safeguarded and protected. And if you have this promise from God, you will forever be protected from dangers that attempt to sift your life!

Remember This: Satan can touch your POSSESSIONS, but he cannot take your PROMISE! Listen to Job 1:12 in a few translations:

“Then the Lord said to Satan, “Behold, all that Job has is in your power, ONLY DO NOT PUT YOUR HAND ON THE MAN HIMSELF.” So, Satan departed from the presence of the Lord.” (AMP)

I REITERATE: Satan can touch your POSSESSIONS, but he cannot take your PROMISE!

You will maintain the testimony that “…MY LIFE IS SAFE, AND I WILL LIVE TO TELL WHAT THE LORD HAS DONE.” (Psalm 118:17 CEV) Or in the words of the Good News Translation, “I WILL NOT DIE; INSTEAD, I WILL LIVE AND PROCLAIM WHAT THE LORD HAS DONE.” (GNT). I love the word “Instead”, it means “In Place Of”. In other words, devil, no matter what you do or bring my way, IN PLACE OF DYING, I will Survive and LIVE to tell the story! Will this always be easy? Of course not, if it were, none of us would need any encouragement at all! But is it doable, is it possible? YES! Just Let His Guaranteed Promises Keep You Anchored in His Word Which Cannot Even Allow a Period or Comma to Move Out of Place Before ALL He Has Said (Promised) Comes True!

Numbers 23:19, “God is not a man, that He should lie. He is not a son of man, that He should be sorry for what He has said. Has He said, and will He not do it? Has He spoken, and will He not keep His Word?” (NLV)

Isaiah 55:11, “So shall My Word be that goes forth out of My mouth: it shall not return to Me void [without producing any effect, useless], but it shall accomplish that which I please and purpose, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it” (AMP)

Jeremiah 1:12, “The Lord then said, “You are right, for I’m watching over My Word until it is fulfilled.” (CEB)

I know it is tough, tight, stressful, frustrating, and confusing right now. And yet I still assure you that with all that is against you, you will still say like Joseph, “…Don’t you see, you planned evil against me, but God used those same plans for my good…” (Genesis 50:20 MSG). You see, even when things do not work out as we think they should, God’s plans are never put on pause because of our problems. He’s so awesome as God that He won’t even change the plans of the enemy but will even make the enemy's plans work for your good! How powerful is that?

This is why you must always remember: Romans 8:28, “We know that God makes ALL things work together for the GOOD of those who love Him and are chosen to be a part of His PLAN.” (NLV); Jeremiah 29:11, “…I will show up and take care of you as I PROMISED and bring you back home. I know what I am doing. I have it all PLANNED out – PLANS to take care of you, not abandon you, PLANS to give you the future you hope for.” (MSG)

I reiterate, are you getting this? Not even the plans of the enemy, nor your own failed plans can hinder the Guaranteed Plans God has in Place for Your Future! That is a good place to give God praise!

Look at another example of what God did for His people in the wilderness: “He led them forth by the straight and right way, that they might go to a city where they could establish their homes.” (Psalm 107:7 AMP). Your job is to Go Through, no matter how painful, just Go Through! Why? Because even in the struggles of the wilderness, God can still lead you in a straight and right way, and as a bonus, when you come out, you’re coming out Established! You know what I love about the word “Establish”? It’s meaning of course! “To Set Up On a Firm and Permanent Basis”! His people Went Through, and When They Came Out, They Were “Set Up On a Firm and Permanent Basis”! Be Encouraged, Your Next Blessing Won’t Be Seasonal, It Will Be Permanent!

I reiterate yet again, GO THROUGH UNTIL YOU GET THROUGH! Because on the other side of your BIG Burden is an even BIGGER Blessing.

Blessings
J.P. Olson
www.journeyintotheword.com

Monday, March 10, 2025

Get Into The Word of God; Get Into Worship; Get The Wisdom Of God; Get Into The Will Of God; And Get Into The Right Wardrobe! Then Work Your Season!

The More Troubled Things Are, The More Present God Makes Himself! It Doesn’t Matter What Rages Around You. It Only Matters Who Reigns Within You. Get into the Word of God; Get into Worship; Get the Wisdom of God; Get into the Will of God; and Get into the right Wardrobe! Then Work Your Season!  

This is the year you are going to experience, not a drizzle, not just mercy drops, but showers of His blessings. It is the year you will see your harvest—tangible manifestations of the breakthroughs you have been believing in God for! If what is broken is a relationship you really care about, or your family is broken, or your heart is broken, your joy is broken, your peace is broken, your trust has been broken. In your brokenness is where you will find God right there! 

Zechariah 10:1 says that in the time of the latter rain, “the Lord will make flashing clouds; He will give them showers of rain, grass in the field for everyone.” This is the year you are going to experience, not a drizzle, not just mercy drops, but showers of His blessings. It is the year you will see your harvest—tangible manifestations of the breakthroughs you have been believing in God for!

And it is far worse, if what is broken is a relationship you really care about, or your family is broken, or your heart is broken, your joy is broken, your peace is broken, your trust has been broken, your loyalty has been broken. A mother who walked away and never came back; a father who died; a marriage that ended; a child that left home; a doctor’s sad report; the loss of a job after 20 years; the senseless loss of a friend’s life; a relationship that is beyond repair…and the list could go on forever. 

In your brokenness is where you will find God right there! Now that's encouragement! Because most people do not want to be around someone who is broken. Why? Because they know it will only be a time of tears, complaining, sob stories, self-pity parties, retelling of the same hurtful scripts repeatedly. They know it will be a time spent in sorrow, pain, regret, hurt, rejection, and 'why me'? chants. Who wants to hang around with that, especially during the holidays? But Jesus is a friend that sticks closer than a brother! He could care less about any of that, He's not leaving your side, nor is He turning a deaf ear to you, nor will He leave you there broken. After all, He is the mender of broken hearts! So, wherever you find yourself broken today, know that Jesus is Right There, even if no one else is! You, my friend, are on the verge of being mended!

It is not that God has not offered His help, the problem is we have not accepted it! Which makes absolutely no sense since the word itself means 'to take'! Therefore, today, Take the help God is offering to heal you and help you mend every broken area of your life. Do not Focus so much on your Hurt that you lose Sight of His Help!

So, if You are Battling with Brokenness, Simply Lean on the One Who Has Been Charged to Bind Up the Brokenhearted…His Names Is JESUS! Let Him Mend You and Make You Whole Again! The Son of God Came to Seek and Save; Heal and Deliver? it is a time to remember the Christ Who was Broken to Mend the Broken. It takes time. Remember: No Matter What Is Broken, Where It Broke, How Long and How Bad It Has Been Broken, Why It Broke, When It Broke or Who Broke It…He Can…and He Will Bind the Broken…Just Trust Him and Accept His Help to Heal! He Came to Save, and that Includes Saving You from Suffering the Pain of Remaining Broken! Be Healed Today, Be Well Today, Be Happy Today, Be Made Whole Today! God can heal a broken heart. But you need to give Him all the pieces. Note To Self: Healing Is NOT an overnight process.

“God uses broken things. It takes broken soil to produce a crop, broken clouds to give rain, broken grain to give bread, broken bread to give strength. It is the broken alabaster box that gives forth perfume. It is Peter, weeping bitterly, who returns to greater power than ever.” (Vance Havner)

JESUS was misunderstood, despised, rejected, forsaken, hated, filled with sorrows, pain, grief, sickness, and terrible suffering, abandoned, betrayed, falsely accused, and even mocked, spat upon, pierced, and put to death! So, in case you feel as if no one knows how you feel; no one can identify with your brokenness, rest assured, JESUS KNOWS, JESUS CARES AND JESUS UNDERSTANDS!

We are stepping into this thing called the latter rain.  The latter rain is always going to be greater than the former.  You’re talking about the flood gates, some of you have had the floodgates of problems in one thing after another and when you recuperate from one thing, it hits you with another, but in this season, God is getting ready to overwhelm you with His goodness. Can you imagine the blessings of God coming on the left hand and the right hand, when they are pushing you in your back, just pushing you into your destiny. I’m telling you God has great things in store for His children, He’s a great Father. He just wants to overwhelm you from the left to the right. He’s got Angels just holding sickles on your behalf in the north, south, east, and west. He is getting ready to release things on the earth that will overwhelm you from the east to the west with blessings that will come in signs of deliverance, miracles and blessings, miracles and blessings, a season of them in signs of wonders, a season of them, suddenly God will shift your season suddenly, where you have had a hard time, but suddenly things will shift in your favor. If you believe it, you will receive it. You will see God move, the naysayers will sit back and see God’s children being blessed, people getting healed, people getting delivered, people getting encouraged, people getting goodness and mercy extended to them, property liens given into your hands, degrees are being given in finishing school and universities. This is a new season; He is expanding your territory on the left and right. God is giving you wisdom; you’ll be able to hold on to it this time. Justice will roll in like mighty waters and righteousness come down like mighty streams.

May God turn your affliction; may your affliction never rise again. Have your way this morning Lord, let it rain, let it rain. He’s cutting off things that need to be cut off but adding blessings in your life that you have been desperate for, a season now, cause God’s getting ready to feed you on a new level of where you are going but not where you are coming from, and this is the Lord’s doing. God is going to give some of you your divine testimonies of what He is doing in this season.  God said your suddenly is breaking through now.  You didn’t know what God was doing but He was working on you. Suddenly the check comes, it is shifting in your favor. Hallelujah to the Lamb of God. The miracle is in process right now.

This is your season of blessings; you are being made in the likeness of Elohim. I pray that God will anoint you and give you new ideas. Have expectations like never before. Tell God to use everything in you for His purpose. We shouldn’t have to be pumped to praise God. Praise Him anyhow this morning,

Keep in mind, When You Can’t Alter Your Circumstances, That Means They Are a Perfect Fit For Where You Are and Where You’re Going. They are only for a Season, and when it’s time to Change, the One who birthed all the Seasons will change it!  The stone in your hand might be small, but the God who is with you is bigger than the giant in front of you. It is not about your stone, but about your God.

Far too often we quickly get upset over the Bad, not realizing that it usually leads to something Good! Most of us have lived long enough to see it happen – something Good coming out of something that’s Bad, or even difficult and unpleasant. Therefore, if you’re in a season in your life that’s cold right now, and you’re feeling the chill of crisis; the breeze of bitterness; the winds of worry; the damp of depression; the ice of irritation; the blizzard of backbiters; the storms of struggle; and the rains of restlessness,

KNOW THAT EVEN WHEN THE CONDITIONS OF THE SEASON RESTRICT YOU, THEY CAN NEVER CONSTRICT YOUR GOD! EVEN WHEN IT DON’T FEEL LIKE IT’S IN YOUR FAVOR, BECAUSE HE’S YOUR GOD…IT IS!

When you honor God’s timing, you always land on solid ground and end up with a fresh reason to praise Him! In other words, it’s not enough to wait, but you must wait the right way…Patiently and In Praise! Just ask JOSEPH!

The Book of Genesis tells us about a very long winter season in the life of this Old Testament hero. In a nutshell, his brothers hated him because he was his father’s favorite. They threw him in a pit and nearly let him die there. At the last minute, they changed their minds and lightened up a little – they settled for selling him into Egyptian slavery instead. Joseph got a great job in the house of a powerful man and then lost it when he refused the advances of the boss’s wife, and she falsely accused him of assaulting her. Then, two long years in the king’s prison as a result. Ultimately, Joseph came to the attention of Pharaoh who eventually promoted him to second in command in the mighty Egyptian empire. That’s when a famine drove Joseph’s brothers to Egypt in search of food – FOOD ONLY THE BROTHER THEY HAD BETRAYED COULD GIVE THEM BY THE WAY! (SIDEBAR: NEVER HATE YOUR HATERS!)  And when they finally realize who he is and experience the forgiveness and mercy that they DON’T DESERVE, Joseph speaks these words: “You Planned Evil Against Me; God Planned It For Good To Bring About The Present Result—The Survival Of Many People.” (Genesis 50:20).

WHAT THE WEATHER (AND YOUR HATERS) HAVE PLANNED FOR YOU CAN’T COMPARE TO WHAT THE WILL OF GOD HAS PLANNED FOR YOU! FROM THE PIT TO THE PRISON To The Palace, JOSEPH Prospered, HE WAS SUSTAINED BY ONE THING HE KNEW HAD NOT CHANGED—GOD WAS WORKING ON A BIGGER PLAN! If you belong to Jesus, then Joseph’s God is your God, too. And He’s a God who uses even the wickedness of man to do great things. For Joseph, vengeful brothers, false accusations, and terrible injustices BECAME TOOLS THAT GOD USED TO TAKE HIM TO PLACES AND POSITIONS HE COULD NEVER HAVE GONE OTHERWISE!

If it’s dark right now, don’t let discouragement win. Don’t let bitterness or resentment or resignation ruin the greater plan God is working on. Romans 8:28, We are assured and know that [God being a partner in their labor] all things work together and are [fitting into a PLAN] for good to and for those who love God and are called according to [His] design and purpose.” (AMP). 

In some ways, Jesus’ disciples expected their Winter to begin with His announced departure to heaven. The One who had called them to be with Him was now leaving them and entrusting to them the work He had started. In Luke 24, Jesus tells them to tell the world about Him and then, “…while He was blessing them, He left them and was taken up into heaven.” In a way, their Winter had begun, as it often does when you lose someone you love. But they knew what to do with their Winter! In the book of Acts chapters 1 and 2 teach us what they did to Work Their Winter Season, “they all joined together constantly in prayer.” Then they got their team of 12 back to full strength by replacing Judas with another disciple. And “When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place…and all of them were filled with the Holy Spirit.” At that point, they exploded on the city of Jerusalem with the Gospel that would, that day, start spreading around the world! But they had to use their Winter to get together, to regroup, to get stronger, and to get closer to God. You need to handle your Winter the same way. Don’t just sit there worrying or feeling sorry for yourself or wallowing in your emotions. Take action to get strong. Spend extra time with God right now. Strengthen your relationship with your family, friends, coworkers, and church family. Think through what you need to stop doing and what you need to start doing to focus on what really matters. And prayerfully plan for a future, right there in the middle of your valley, even when the future looks very uncertain.               

In other words, don’t get caught up in your Winter woes, instead use this season that will be ending soon as a time to sharpen your weaponry for the spiritual warfare ahead! And how do you do that?

1...Get Into the WORD of God: (even as everything in heaven and earth shall pass away, His Word Never Will)! (Mark 13:31, “Heaven and earth will perish and pass away, But My Words Will Not Perish Or Pass Away.” Ampc); (Isaiah 55:11, “So Shall My Word Be That Goes Forth Out Of My Mouth: It Shall Not Return To Me Void [Without Producing Any Effect, Useless], But It Shall Accomplish That Which I Please And Purpose, And It Shall Prosper In The Thing For Which I Sent It.” Ampc).

2...Get Into WORSHIP: (the posture where you don’t go seeking God, but He comes seeking you)! (John 4:23, “A time will come, however, indeed it is already here, when the true (genuine) worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth (reality); FOR THE FATHER IS SEEKING JUST SUCH PEOPLE AS THESE AS HIS WORSHIPERS.” (AMPC).

3...Get the WISDOM of God: (it is essential to making wise decisions)! (James 1:5, “If any of you is deficient in wisdom, LET HIM ASK THE GIVING GOD [WHO GIVES] TO EVERYONE LIBERALLY AND UNGRUDGINGLY, WITHOUT REPROACHING OR FAULTFINDING, AND IT WILL BE GIVEN HIM.” AMPC).

4...Get Into the WILL of God: (this is the place that is attached to your promise)! (Hebrews 10:36, “For you have need of steadfast patience and endurance, so that you may perform and fully accomplish THE WILL OF GOD, AND THUS RECEIVE AND CARRY AWAY [AND ENJOY TO THE FULL] WHAT IS PROMISED.” AMPC).

5...Get Into the Right WARDROBE: (no soldier fights without his fatigues)! And what are fatigues? (The phrase “military fatigues” was coined by the United States Armed Forces in the mid 1800’s and was used in reference to the clothes worn by soldiers detailed to menial or hard labor. Over time, the definition of military fatigues has changed to essentially mean any uniform worn by a solider on work detail, on duty, or while on the field of battle!) And what are your “fatigues”? (READ: Ephesians 6:11-18).

Discouragement and fear and drifting from God – those are your greatest enemies, not what faces you on your battlefields! This season is not dead time or despair time. It’s get ready time! Therefore, get into the Word of God; Get into Worship; Get the Wisdom of God; Get into the Will of God; and Get into the right Wardrobe! Then Work Your Season!    

Romans 4:19-25, “Abraham didn’t focus on his own impotence and say, “It’s hopeless. This hundred-year-old body could never father a child.” Nor did he survey Sarah’s decades of infertility and give up. He didn’t tiptoe around God’s promise asking cautiously skeptical questions. He plunged into the promise and came up strong, ready for God, sure that God would make good on what He had said. That’s why it is said, “Abraham was declared fit before God by trusting God to set him right.” But it’s not just Abraham; it’s also us! The same thing gets said about us when we embrace and believe the One who brought Jesus to life when the conditions were equally hopeless. The sacrificed Jesus made us fit for God, set us right with God.” (MSG)

Blessings
J.P. Olson
www.journeyintotheword.com