Today, Allow Your Hurt to Help Someone Else Heal! Day After Day You’re With People Who, Under The Surface, Are Carrying So Much Pain & Scars. They Won’t Listen To Just Anyone. But They Will Listen To Someone Who’s Been Through A Deep Valley Too;

 2 Corinthians 1:3-4, “What a wonderful God we have—He is the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the source of every mercy, and the one who so wonderfully comforts and strengthens us in our hardships and trials. And why does He do this? So that when others are troubled, needing our sympathy and encouragement, we can pass on to them this same help and comfort God has given us.” (TLB)

Today, Allow Your Hurt to Help Someone Else Heal! Sometimes God will use our deepest pain to launch our greatest calling.” If you ever want to find out where your strengths are in ministering to others, just locate the places of pain where you can relate. Your pain can become your credentials to answer hurting lives with the love of Jesus Christ that you’ve experienced in your darkest hour. 

Which recalled for me 2 Corinthians 1:3-4. It’s about finding meaning in your pain; maybe even the pain you’re going through right now. Here’s what the text says, “What a wonderful God we have—He is the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the source of every mercy, and the one who so wonderfully comforts and strengthens us in our hardships and trials. And why does He do this? So that when others are troubled, needing our sympathy and encouragement, we can pass on to them this same help and comfort God has given us.” (TLB)

So, you go through a hurting time. You know how the pain feels. You reach out to God for whatever resources He can give you to get through it and you start to experience God’s greatness, God’s grace, God’s kindness. And now you’re qualified by those experiences to help other hurting people. You can tell them in a very personal way the difference Jesus makes in a hurting time.

It’s almost ironic. The worst things that happen to you in your life teach you the most about your God, and they give you the best chance you’ll ever have to tell people about Jesus Christ. Day after day you’re with people who, just under the surface, are carrying so much pain, a lot of scars, and unimaginable wounds. And they won’t listen to just anyone. But they will listen to someone who’s been through a deep valley too; maybe someone like you.

Truth is, no one wants to share their pain with someone who they don’t believe can relate. It’s like leaving your 3-bedroom house and going to the shelter and telling a woman with 2 kids on a cot that “you understand”. When in fact, at home, you’re 2 girls are tucked away nice, cozy, comfortable, and safe in their own separate bedrooms. It’s hard to share with someone the pain of a marriage heading for divorce, when every time you see them with their spouse, they are as happy as ever. Who wants to tell someone they don’t have enough change to get on the bus, while that person hops in a brand-new car saying, “it’ll get better”. You want to talk to someone who can understand, who can relate, someone who can personally identify, someone who gets where you’re coming from, because they just left there themselves. Which is why we must be so careful about trying to avoid every pain, ache, moment of suffering, and affliction. Because at the end of the day, someone, somewhere, needs something you have to offer, and they will more readily receive it through your pain than through your joy.

My friend called me yesterday and I was preparing my message it was late, very late. it was just before another friend had called to tell me about a tragedy that had just taken place in my hometown. So, after sharing some of the thoughts on my message she shared this with me, she said friend this is why for me I love ministering in shelters (I can relate); I love ministering to those suffering through domestic violence (I can relate); those eating dinner at the soup kitchen with their children (I can relate); those trying to heal from the scars of rape, abortion, and addiction (I can relate); those feeling abandoned, rejected, left out, overlooked, under-estimated (I can relate); those suicidal and depressed (I can relate). She is a powerful woman of God and God uses her mightily. Sometimes God will use our deepest pain to launch our greatest calling.” Her deepest pain was her greatest launching pad for her calling.

If you ever want to find out where your strengths are in ministering to others, just locate the places of pain where you can relate.

Your pain can become your credentials to answer hurting lives with the love of Jesus Christ that you’ve experienced in your darkest hour. And they’ll listen to you. Those are hard-earned credentials, ones you’d have never chosen to have. But they are credentials God can use mightily in a hurting world. He uses wounded messengers to become agents of His healing. Which is why you should stop trying to get out of every painful event. Believe it or not, but God can bless you and use you to bless others, even while you’re still in the midst of personal pain yourself!

Romans 8:37 says, “Nay, IN ALL THESE THINGS we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us.” Did you catch that? We’re not more than conquerors because we conquered our pain and now we’re out of it. But we’re more than conquerors “…IN ALL THESE THINGS…” We can help someone OUT, even while we’re still IN! That’s what I call a powerful testimony! I love the way The Living Bible states it, “BUT DESPITE ALL THIS, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ who loved us enough to die for us.” (TLB). In other words, it doesn’t even matter what I’m dealing with, because despite it all, I have overwhelming victory, even in the midst of it! And someone around you today needs you to know that, so when it’s rooted and engrained in you, you can share the same mustard seed faith with them!

Even the greatest pain, serves an even greater purpose! Genesis 50:19-21 reads, “Joseph replied, “Don’t be afraid. Do I act for God? Don’t you see, YOU PLANNED EVIL AGAINST ME BUT GOD USED THOSE SAME PLANS FOR MY GOOD, as you see all around you right now—LIFE FOR MANY PEOPLE…” (MSG) God can use the same thing that hurt you, to help someone else! I love the way the translation puts it; God used the SAME plans! The evil his brothers meant for him, turned out for his good, and life for many! Never doubt that your pain has a purpose! Our Father is a loving parent to us His children. He does not cause us pain that serves no purpose. Which is why Psalm 119:71 is one of my absolute favorite Scriptures, because those things that helped me most, hurt me most first! But I’ve learned from God’s Word, that the bad, worked for my good.

Psalm 119:71. It is good for me that I have been afflicted, that I might learn Thy statutes. KJV

“The punishment You gave me WAS THE BEST THING THAT COULD HAVE HAPPENED TO ME, for it taught me to pay attention to Your laws. They are more valuable to me than millions in silver and gold!” (TLB);

How amazing to know that my suffering was good for me; it was good that I had to suffer; my punishment was the best thing that could have happened to me; and it was good that I was afflicted. Sounds ironic, but my bad was for my good! Why? Because it was only then that I learned to pay attention to His statutes and laws. My affliction was my best teacher. After all, I didn’t learn until it began to teach. And it is likewise for someone near you today. They need you to share your mess-ups, screw-ups, missteps, mistakes, flaws, imperfections, bad decisions. They need you to share and show the vulnerability of unmasking your wounds and scars. They need someone just like you who can identify, so they can finally stop allowing their pain to keep them in hiding.

Some people will only get free when you share the blessing from your bondage! Which is why you need to be like Lazarus. When Jesus called him, he came out of the grave, still wrapped in his dead man garments. And as bad as he must have looked and smelt, when Jesus called him to come out, he came out! Jesus could have had him come out right out of the garments, but no, He then spoke to those around Lazarus to loose him. There are people around you that will watch as your dead man clothes are being unraveled, and they will be encouraged to know that it’s more important for them to be a part of the miracle, than for you to come out looking like you never needed a miracle to begin with. It’s okay for people to know that you don’t cross every ‘t’ and dot every ‘I’. It’s okay for people to know you don’t always feel strong, powerful, anointed, and gifted. It’s okay for people to know that you don’t always smile and laugh and feel upbeat. It lets them know you’re real. It lets them know you’re human. You hurt; you experience disappointment, let downs and pain…just like them. After all, it’s what Christ did.

John 1:14, “The Word became FLESH AND BLOOD, AND MOVED INTO THE NEIGHBORHOOD. We saw the glory with our own eyes…” (MSG);

Christ lived among us, made His home among us, became flesh and blood, and moved right into the neighborhood, so why are we avoiding people and their pain?! He didn’t. He spoke to hurting people, touched them, encouraged them, healed them, defended them, ate with them, and if all of that wasn’t enough, He let them touch Him in return! He loved us enough to be just as human as divine. He wasn’t so concerned with being Royal, as He was with being Relatable!

Hebrews 4:14-16 reads, “Inasmuch then as we [believers] have a great High Priest who has [already ascended and] passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession [of faith and cling tenaciously to our absolute trust in Him as Savior].  For we do not have a High Priest who is unable to sympathize and understand our weaknesses and temptations, but One who has been tempted [knowing exactly how it feels to be human] in every respect as we are, yet without [committing any] sin.  Therefore, let us [with privilege] approach the throne of grace [that is, the throne of God’s gracious favor] with confidence and without fear, so that we may receive mercy [for our failures] and find [His amazing] grace to help in time of need [an appropriate blessing, coming just at the right moment].” (MSG)

He understands, He sympathizes, He knows, He can relate. Now it’s our turn to do the same! Understand, sympathize, know, and relate. Truth is, if we are to finally be effective witnesses, we need to touch more than we talk! Stop saying what you think they need or want to hear; stop throwing clichés at them; stop drowning them in Scripture showers. Sometimes a simple hug, shoulder, or smile, can say more than any word in the dictionary. Today, determine to touch, and be touchable!

Remember, Doubting Thomas didn’t believe until he saw the wounds. You know some people are like that. The pain you’ve been through may never make much sense to you until you see Jesus and He shows you the grand design of which that pain is a part. But until then, offer that pain to Him as credentials to make a difference for Him to other wounded people. To help them change their eternity maybe, even by finding your Jesus. His wounded rescuer – that’s you! Thomas needed to put his hands in His side, and there are some people out there that need to put their hand in yours! They need to know your pain; they need to know you understand and can relate. They need to know you’re real. They need to know that as bad as it is right now, you are their living proof that it doesn’t get perfect, but it does get better.

2 Corinthians 4:16-18, “So we’re not giving up. How could we! Even though on the outside it often looks like things are falling apart on us, on the inside, where God is making new life, not a day goes by without his unfolding grace. These hard times are small potatoes compared to the coming good times; the lavish celebration prepared for us. There’s far more here than meets the eye. The things we see now are here today, gone tomorrow. But the things we can’t see now will last forever.” (MSG); The Amplified Bible says it like this, “For our momentary, light distress [this passing trouble] is producing for us an eternal weight of glory [a fullness] beyond all measure [surpassing all comparisons, a transcendent splendor and an endless blessedness]!” (AMP).

They need to know it won’t be like this always. They need to know this trouble will pass; they need to know it’s just a momentary, light distress; they need to know that this is just small potatoes! And you my friend, are the one to tell them that! Let them know, that you personally know, God can do some awesome things in the midst of pain!

Psalm 30:5, 11, “…The nights of crying your eyes out give way to days of laughter…You did it: You changed wild lament into whirling dance; You ripped off my black mourning band and decked me with wildflowers. I’m about to burst with song; I can’t keep quiet about You. God, my God, I can’t thank You enough.” (MSG)

You are the one to inform them that they will not cry always, and that their mourning clothes are not permanent. God has a time limit on all things, and therefore, their pain is not indefinite. They will laugh again, they will dance again, they will sing again. You are their proof. Remember, your wounds are your credentials that qualify you to help others heal.

Allow the proclamation of Isaiah 61:1-5 to be on your lips today, as you minister healing through your wounds to those who are hurting and need you! But you are also showing up and showing them that none of it stopped you from sharing it with them!

Isaiah 61:1-5. “The Spirit of the Lord God is on me, because the Lord has chosen me to bring good news to poor people. He has sent me to heal those with a sad heart. He has sent me to tell those who are being held and those in prison that they can go free.  He has sent me to talk about the year of the Lord’s favor, and the day our God will bring punishment. He has sent me to comfort all who are filled with sorrow.  To those who have sorrow in Zion I will give them a crown of beauty instead of ashes. I will give them the oil of joy instead of sorrow, and a spirit of praise instead of a spirit of no hope. Then they will be called oaks that are right with God, planted by the Lord, that He may be honored.” (NLV)

Today, Allow Your Hurt to Help Someone Else Heal!

“Your greatest ministry will most likely come out of your greatest hurt.” (Rick Warren)

“What if the thing that produces your pain, is the very thing that God will use to release His power?” (Steven Furtick)

“Sometimes God will use our deepest pain to launch our greatest calling.” (Author Unknown)

“You were afflicted so that you can help deliver other people from what you escaped from.” (Bishop T.D. Jakes)

Blessings

J.P. Olson

www.thewordwithjpolson.com

Maybe God Is Trying To Do A New Thing In Your Life. But Could It Be That You’re Unwilling To Go With His Flow? Maybe God Is Trying To Do Something New In Your Marriage, In Your Career, Your Health, Your Children, With Your Finances, In Your Family:

 Thought: Maybe God Is Trying To Do A New Thing In Your Life. But Could It Be That You’re Unwilling To Go With His Flow? Maybe God Is Trying To Do Something New In Your Marriage, On Your Job, In Your Career, In Your Health, In Your Children, With Your Finances, In Your Family…But He Can’t, Because You Can’t Let Go Of What It Was Before! Which Is Why I Bring The Word To You Today, And Admonish You, “FORGET ABOUT WHAT’S HAPPENED…”; “…DON’T KEEP GOING OVER OLD HISTORY…”

Let God Do Something Brand New! You’ll never taste God’s Gourmet Meals if you keep limiting God to the same old Food Choices on the same old menu. Challenge yourself to try something new. Listen: Many of us are or were creatures of habit. That term “creature of habit” is defined as “someone who always wants to do the same things in the same way”. Sounds a lot like us church folks, in our old, set ways, that we refuse to alter…even if it means something new, exciting, different, and great!

Mark 2:21-22, “No one sews a patch of unshrunk (new) cloth on an old garment; otherwise, the patch pulls away from it, the new from the old, and the tear becomes worse. No one puts new wine into old wineskins; otherwise, the [fermenting] wine will [expand and] burst the skins, and the wine is lost as well as the wineskins. But new wine must be put into new wineskins.” (AMP)

I absolutely love documentaries and history, simply because I love finding out the origin of things, where they began, why, and how. But more importantly, I love to see if there’s been any change from the start of the thing to the present. Sometimes it’s good to see that things are now, just as they were when they began. However, that’s not in all cases.

I watched a documentary on the Revolution, and I learned something I didn’t know before. Question: Why did the American colonists win the Revolution? Well, it wouldn’t surprise you if you saw how the redcoats fought. You see, they fought battles in the OLD-FASHIONED European way. They lined up in straight rows. The front row shoots. The next row rotates in while the others reload. Now, the colonists, on the other hand, didn’t believe in lining up. They just came from everywhere! So those red uniforms all lined up in a rigid row…well, that’s like target practice, don’t you think? In other words, they were easy to see, easy to aim for, and easy to hit! Their old, outdated, rigid, well-organized, structurally sound way of fighting, didn’t work…any longer! But even though the colonists looked like they were disorganized, their NEW WAY of fighting won the battle!

Let’s listen in on Matthew 5:29-30. This is where the religious leaders are criticizing how Jesus is going about reaching people. The Pharisees and the people who followed them, they’re complaining to Jesus’ disciples: “Levi gave a large dinner at his home for Jesus. Everybody was there, tax men and other disreputable characters as guests at the dinner. The Pharisees and their religion scholars came to his disciples greatly offended. “What is he doing eating and drinking with crooks and ‘sinners?” (MSG). Then the Bible goes on to say, “And Jesus replied to them, “It is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but [only] those who are sick. I did not come to call the [self-proclaimed] righteous [who see no need to repent], but sinners to repentance [to change their old way of thinking, to turn from sin and to seek God and His righteousness].” (vss. 31-32 AMP).

Then later the Bible goes on to further say, “He also told them a parable: “No one tears a piece of cloth from a new garment and puts it on an old one; otherwise, he will both tear the new, and the piece from the new will not match the old. And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; otherwise, the new [fermenting] wine will [expand and] burst the skins and it will be spilled out, and the skins will be ruined.  But new wine must be put into fresh wineskins.  And no one, after drinking old wine, wishes for new; for he says, ‘The old is fine.’” (vss. 36-39 AMP)

See, Jesus broke out of the religious mold to reach people that no one else was touching – in a nutshell, new wine skins. Now, in those days the bottles in Palestine were animal skins. And the wine would ferment, and it would give off this gas. And if the bottle was new and it had elasticity in the skin, then it gave with the pressure. If it was an old wine skin, it was dry and hard, and of course, it burst. And such is the issue with the church! We keep attempting to reach new believers with old behaviors, and it’s no wonder, it’s not working! New wine needs a new bottle to be poured into. If poured into the old, the old is no longer designed to handle the growth of expansion (that’s why it bursts!). It’s become hardened over the years, predictable, unyielding, unbending. It no longer handles the challenge of stress and pressure. So, it bursts! And the result? The old is destroyed and the new is wasted!

Sometimes you must replace an old idea with a new idea if you want God to do a new thing; if you want to reach people no one’s been reaching you have to let go of the old and get a good grip on something new. Like those Revolutionary War soldiers. The redcoats? They were rigid and they lost. The ones who were flexible won the battle. If we want new believers, we must stop trying to reach them with old, outdated, rigid ways, that clearly no longer work!

Isaiah 43:16-21, “Forget about what’s happened; don’t keep going over old history. Be alert, be present. I’m about to do something brand-new. It’s bursting out! Don’t you see it? There it is! I’m making a road through the desert, rivers in the badlands…I provided water in the desert, rivers through the sunbaked earth, drinking water for the people I chose, the people I made especially for myself, a people custom-made to praise me.” (MSG)

First things first, “FORGET ABOUT WHAT’S HAPPENED…” It doesn’t matter how your grandma did it, your mama, or your daddy, your first church or your third pastor. You will always get the same old results, doing things the same old way. Forget about it! That was then, this is now. We have an entirely different generation in 2021, and the only reason we can’t reach them is because we won’t leave the methods of 1960, in 1960! It doesn’t make the old bad, but we have an opportunity for new, and we need to embrace the necessary change to get them.

Secondly, “…DON’T KEEP GOING OVER OLD HISTORY…” It’s irrelevant how your Sunday school was taught in 1960; or how the ushers marched in 1970; or how the outreach witnessed in 1980; or how the choir sang in 1990; or how the anointing flowed in 2010! It’s even irrelevant how many souls were added to the kingdom in January 2020! It’s October 2021, and we need to constantly be evolving as a church! There’s bigger, better, and greater waiting for us, as soon as we finally make the deliberate decision to leave the same, old, comfort zones alone!

Thirdly, “…BE ALERT, BE PRESENT…” Maybe today’s relationship will work out a bit better for you if we’d finally stop treating Paul like he’s Peter. Stop reliving your past and dragging your present into old bondage. We need to be PRESENTLY ALERT! Maybe that’s why we keep missing so much because our focus is so ill-placed. All you see is the past, and God is already done there. Listen to what He says next: 

“…I’M ABOUT TO DO SOMETHING BRAND-NEW. IT’S BURSTING OUT! DON’T YOU SEE IT? THERE IT IS!” How is it even possible for you not to see something BRAND-NEW, that’s BURSTING OUT?! That’s like standing right next to an erupting volcano, but not being able to see the lava! How can you miss it?! God is screaming, “…THERE IT IS!” But if you’re still stuck on THAT, you most certainly will never see THIS when it comes! And please hear me, you can’t afford to miss THIS!

He then says, “…I’M MAKING A ROAD THROUGH THE DESERT, RIVERS IN THE BADLANDS…” God is now telling you that He’s Providing For You and Making New Ways For You!

But He even goes further, “…I PROVIDED WATER IN THE DESERT, RIVERS THROUGH THE SUN-BAKED EARTH…” That new thing He’s doing for you, is literally Brand-New! He’s doing things unseen and unheard of! 1 Corinthians 2:9 says it best, “But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.” He’s doing things that don’t even make sense! And all these things He’s doing just for you, if only you’d stop focusing on the old, you’ll finally see the new!

Isaiah goes on to say: “…DRINKING WATER FOR THE PEOPLE I CHOSE, THE PEOPLE I MADE ESPECIALLY FOR MYSELF, A PEOPLE CUSTOM-MADE TO PRAISE ME.” (MSG) The term “custom-made” is defined as “made to fit the needs or requirements of a particular person.” God has customized all of us, neither of us (even identical twins) are the same. God is constantly doing something new, and something different, and something out the box. And if we are indeed His children, why are we so opposite our Father? Why are we stuck, complacent, ordinary, the same, comfortable? If the God we serve can make a donkey talk, have a coin found in the mouth of a fish, have a man sit (alive) inside of a great fish, raise a dead man back to life (after 4 days), and birth His son through a virgin woman, why are we trying so hard to be ordinary? Why are we doing the same things, getting the same ineffective results? We are a custom-made people, and we need to start acting like the priceless, designer originals we are! 1 Peter 2:9, “But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.” Let’s define Holy. What does Holy mean:

Why do you think people go to these annual fashion week shows? They can’t wait to see what’s NEW and what’s NEXT! And I am fully persuaded that the world is looking to the church for the same things! Something different, something new, something next!

Now, as a disclaimer, there are some things that never change and must never change; the product so to speak, which is the Gospel, the Message, the Doctrine of Jesus Christ. That must never change! It must never be watered-down, altered, customized, changed, added to, or taken away from! But the packaging of it? That can change! Never the message, but often the method can and will change. After all, God went from the 12 He selected Himself to preach His Gospel, to someone like Paul! The Message Never Changes, But the Messengers Can and So Can Their Delivery!

If you think about it: The world of lost people and the world of the church have never been so far apart. I call them the new unbelievers, America’s first post-Christians. They’re biblically illiterate. They don’t ever plan to go to a religious meeting to hear a religious speaker talk on a religious subject. It takes new things to reach them. Or else we could just leave them lost like we have been.

In other words, we’ve got to leave the church building! We’ll Never Find The Lost, Hanging Around Those Who Are Already Found! Truth is, they’re probably not going to come in, so we need to take the initiative and go out! We need to have our outreaches on neutral ground. Am I telling you to go into the crack house, in the club or in the bar? Absolutely not! But we can’t keep sitting at the altar, in the pulpit, in the pews, in Sunday school, bible study, prayer and rehearsals, waiting for them to come in!

We must learn to express Christ without all our religious language, in our religious location. Remember, it’s the language of the natives we’re trying to reach. And all missionaries know that you do it in the language of the person you’re trying to reach. Can you imagine trying to reach the lost in China talking Russian? Can you imagine trying to reach the lost in Africa while speaking Chinese? Can you imagine trying to reach the lost in a homeless shelter when you arrive in a BMW and dressed in a fur and diamonds? You must meet on neutral grounds, at their level and in their language, and as hard as it will be for some to do, that must be done with new ways, not old!

Maybe we need to learn to wrap this gospel that is unfamiliar to so many people in a familiar need that they do know about. We talk about marriage, or parenting, or handling stress, or sex, or singleness. And you move from those things that they do know about into the story of Jesus to show the difference that a Savior like Jesus can make in those areas and others.

In Jesus’ day the religious people totally missed what God was doing because they could not accept a new approach. The British soldiers in Revolutionary War times lost because they were rigid. We’re in a battle for our town, our neighbors, the ever-living, never-dying souls of people. Their eternities are at stake. Therefore, if God says, “I’m doing a new thing”, let’s not lose the battle by insisting on the same old formation!

Listen: Many of us are or were creatures of habit. I am quite sure we have found ourselves saying:  I can’t believe what I missed because I was such a creature of habit. That term “creature of habit” is defined as “a person who follows an unvarying routine; someone who always wants to do the same things in the same way”. Sounds a lot like us church folks, in our old, set ways, that we refuse to alter…even if it means something new, exciting, different, and great! Let’s listen to our text:

Mark 2:21-22, “No one sews a patch of unshrunk (new) cloth on an old garment; otherwise, the patch pulls away from it, the new from the old, and the tear becomes worse. No one puts new wine into old wineskins; otherwise, the [fermenting] wine will [expand and] burst the skins, and the wine is lost as well as the wineskins. But new wine must be put into new wineskins.” (AMP)

Here, Jesus is talking to religious folks; Pharisees, scribes, people who had ways in which they thought God would always work. They couldn’t accept the fact that there might be some new things God wanted to try. Now, Jesus came along and blew the walls off the narrow box that they had God in. He wasn’t working in any of the ways that they were used to, they were in essence saying, “I don’t know about this, God never did it this way before. I’m not sure this is even God.” But Jesus had a whole new way of doing things, and like it or not, but they were about to experience it!

And that’s exactly what we need to do with our churches, ministries, families, workplaces, we need to be open for new things! Ineffectiveness becomes our casualty because we’re too comfortable to change. Methods and approaches that once were the new wine skins are now brittle, tired, and irrelevant. It’s time we uproot the old, and sow seeds in the new. However, you must be prepared, because most often the gift of new is presented in a surprisingly new package! Don’t become so focused on the formula, that you mess up the fruit! Don’t let your religious habits inhibit the exciting new thing God wants to do in every area and aspect of your life.

You’ll never taste God’s Gourmet Meals if you keep limiting God to the same old Fast-Food Choices on the same old menu.

Challenge yourself to try something new. Whether it’s a new outfit, new color, new witnessing technique, new food, new activity, new route to work etc… And please know that it doesn’t have to be big and grand. But it does have to be different if you’re tired of the same!

Matthew 9:17, “Nor is new wine put into old wineskins [that have lost their elasticity]; otherwise, the wineskins burst, and the [fermenting] wine spills and the wineskins are ruined. But new wine is put into fresh wineskins, so both are preserved.” (AMP)

Blessings

J.P. Olson

www.thewordwithjpolson.com

Tuesday Night Bible Study at 7:00 PM CST with Dr. Kenneth Adderley. The number to call is 951-799-9635.

People Have Popularity Contests, Not God! People Care About Positions, Not God! People Care About Appearance, Not God! You Can Be The Most Minor Thing In The Back Looking After The Sheep, All Will Go On Pause Until Your Presence Has Arrived UpFront

 

Proverbs 30:24-28, “Four things are among the SMALLEST on earth, BUT they are extremely wise: Ants as creatures are not strong, BUT they store away their food in the summer. Badgers as creatures are not powerful, BUT they make their homes in the rocks. Locusts do not have a king, BUT they march together in ranks. You can catch lizards in your hand, BUT they are in kings’ palaces.” (CEB)

When my children were kids, my youngest son always loved cartoons! He loved “The Transformers,” and his favorite was Bumblebee! Bumblebee (one of the Transformers' main characters) was SMALL, BUT eager and brave! You see, Bumblebee acts as a messenger and a spy. And due to his small size, he dares to go where others cannot and won’t. He idolizes the more giant Autobots, especially Optimus Prime and Prowl, and strives to be accepted. He is the most energy-efficient and has the best vision of all the Autobots. He can go underwater for reconnaissance and salvage missions. Although physically the weakest Autobot, his stealth more than compensates for this inadequacy. This battle-tested robot was the first Autobot to ally with humans. He is a close ally to Spike Witwicky, often seen as an underdog and not the most giant bot. Yet, he has more courage than any soldier from Cybertron. As the most trusted lieutenant of Optimus Prime, he will do whatever it takes to protect the earth and its’ people.

Yes, he’s SMALL, and he looks for acceptance from his bigger bots; he is often seen as the underdog and has some inadequate moments. BUT he is one of the most effective because what others deem as his disadvantage works for him. Because he’s so SMALL, he can be the messenger who is always on a mission, with the sharpest vision, to go undetected in enemy territory, places where others cannot or won’t go! He’s SMALL, yes, BUT also brave, eager, and stealthy! I love the word “stealth,” it has various definitions, but the one I like most states, “intended not to attract attention.” Some of its synonyms are “behind-the-scenes; unexposed and undercover. Can you imagine if we had believers today who could complete their mission and assignment for God, “behind-the-scenes; privately; in a confidential, unexposed, unadvertised manner that doesn’t need to attract attention to itself?” But that’s Bumblebee; completing the mission is the main thing, not becoming the main thing!

This reminds us of our tiny friends in Proverbs 30:24-28: The first thing that is addressed is their size, “SMALLEST on earth.” And the word “small” is defined as “lacking in strength; minor in influence, power or rank; operating on a limited scale; little or close to zero in an objectively measurable aspect (as quantity); made up of few or little units; of little consequence; limited in degree; and reduced to a humiliating position.” How would you like to be defined and described in such a manner? The truth is, many of us are illustrated and described just like that, by varying people, for varying reasons, and many of those have nothing to do with our height, how people in their opinions view us. Listen to some of its synonyms, “dwarfish; half-pint; little; pint-size; shrimpy; subnormal; toylike; undersized; runtish; runty; stunted; inappreciable; little bitty; microscopic; mini; minuscule; teensy-weensy; meager; poor; scant; scarce; deficient inadequate; insufficient; lacking and wanting.” Well, aren’t we off to a fine start? Doesn’t this make your confidence shoot through the roof? Okay, so maybe not! But it does bring to mind, someone…David. Samuel is sent to anoint the next king, and he comes to Jesse’s boys. Take a listen, “When they arrived, Samuel took one look at Eliab and thought, ‘Here he is! God’s anointed! But God told Samuel, “Looks aren’t everything. Do not be impressed with his looks and stature. I have already eliminated him. God judges persons differently than humans do. People look at the face; God looks into the heart…Jesse presented his seven sons to Samuel. Samuel was blunt with Jesse, ‘God hasn’t chosen any of these.” Then he asked Jesse, ‘Is this it? Are there no more sons?’ ‘Well, yes, THERE’S THE RUNT. But he’s out tending the sheep.’ Samuel ordered Jesse, ‘Get him. We’re not moving from this spot until he’s here.’ Jesse sent for him. He was brought in, the very picture of health – bright-eyed, good-looking. God said, ‘Upon your feet! Anoint him! This is the one.” Samuel took his flask of oil and anointed him, with his brothers standing around watching. The Spirit of God entered David like a rush of wind, God vitally empowering him for the rest of his life…” (1 Samuel 16:6-13 MSG)

Well, there is that beautiful description again, “RUNT,” after all, who wouldn’t want to be defined in such a way? In fact, “Runt” is defined as “an animal tiny of its kind; the smallest of a litter of pigs; small in stature.” Yep, that sounds as attractive as they come! And yet, I love this story of David because the very ones that were the first choice among people were not even considered an option with God! He did not care what any of them looked like, nor their stature. It was His heart he was looking for, and He found it in the chest of a RUNT! David was not the people’s choice, but he was indeed God’s ONLY choice. And before you start beating up on yourself, or if you have already started, you will stop today! Stop worrying about what people think, say, or feel about you! Even if you had bald patches, acne, over or underweight, missing teeth, cross-eyes, big ears, small stature with long arms, a limp, and a stutter, if you dare to have a heart that beats for God, you are His ONLY Choice no matter how many options present themselves!

You may not be in the in-crowd, the inner circle, or the clique. You may live in a one-room, take the bus, and flip burgers, and still, I tell you, if you dare to have a heart that beats for God, you are still God’s ONLY Choice! And His Choice Without Any Comparison or Competition! People have popularity contests, Not God! People care about positions, Not God! People care about appearance, Not God! You can be the most minor thing in the back looking after the sheep, and all will go on pause until your presence has arrived upfront! So do not allow people’s opinions to make you think you are not God’s Best Option! “Opinion” is defined as “a general view, an appraisal formed in the mind of another about a particular matter, a feeling, a sentiment, perception, assumption, presumption, idea, thought, observation, guess hunch, theory, suggestion, angle, outlook, perspective, a point of view that’s not necessarily based on fact or knowledge; and an estimation of quality of worth.” Now, did you find anywhere in that thesis of opinion anything that states Fact or Truth? Not! Know why? Because people’s opinions are not Proof of what is Fact or Truth! It is nothing more than their estimated guess! Only What God Says, Thinks, and Feels Concerning You Matters and Counts as Proof of What is Fact and Truth!

So, today, you will stop viewing yourself through the distorted vision of people who cannot see your true worth and value! Think about it, if David had to base his worth and weight on the opinions of Samuel, his brothers, his daddy Jesse, his wife Michal, or even Goliath, he would have become a human groundhog and dug himself in a hole never to appear without permission! You are not bound by public opinion!

Now, back to our little friends…

“Four things are among the SMALLEST on earth, BUT they are extremely wise: Ants as creatures are not strong, BUT they store away their food in the summer. Badgers as creatures are not powerful, BUT they make their homes in the rocks. Locusts do not have a king, BUT they march together in ranks. You can catch lizards in your hand, BUT they are in kings’ palaces.” (CEB)

Now, grant it, our little friends are the “…SMALLEST on earth….” However, they are also “extremely wise….” So wise that the ants are not strong, the badgers are not powerful, the locust has no king, and the lizard is small enough to hold in your hand! Nothing about our little friends makes us feel that great! I mean, would you want to be described as not strong, not powerful, having no leader, and small enough to squish in someone’s hand?! And yet, even with characteristics such as these, the Bible says the ant is still wise enough to store his food in summer, knowing that winter is coming (he is not strong, but he is smart). The badgers are not powerful (and yet they have the wisdom to build their homes in rocks, so when they are under attack, if they cannot fight, they can hide well). The locust has no leader, king, or one to give them direction and order, yet they march together in ranks (we cannot even get preachers to work together in the pulpit, nor the saints in the pews). And then there are the lizards, small enough to be found in the palm of a hand, but instead, they are wise enough to make their way into king’s palaces. They may not sound like bears, lions, and tigers, oh my, but they will not be robbed of what they do possess! SMALL, yes, BUT still they build, they have structure and strategy, they can function without having any one ruler in charge, they are not slumming it in shacks, they are in palaces, they know how to work around changing seasons, and yet, we can’t get a group of 5 believers to function to this degree!

As God is not moved by public opinion, appearance, stature, or even low self-esteem, neither should you be! Listen to Saul, “Pardon me, sir,” Saul replied. “I’m from the tribe of Benjamin, the SMALLEST in Israel, and my family is the LEAST important of all the families of the tribe! You must have the wrong man!” (1 Samuel 9:21 TLB) Have you ever felt like that? I know I have…and sometimes I still have my moments. God, you do know you are talking to me, J.P. You want me to work on what? Be a part of what? With whom? You want me stand before Your people in a pulpit and preach a gospel about You!? God, you do know you are talking to me.

Luke 19:1-10, “Then Jesus entered and walked through Jericho. There was a man there, his name Zacchaeus, the head tax man and quite rich. He wanted desperately to see Jesus, but the crowd was in his way—he was a SHORT man and could not see over the crowd. So, he ran on ahead and climbed up in a sycamore tree so he could see Jesus when he came. When Jesus got to the tree, he looked up and said, “Zacchaeus, hurry down. Today is my day to be a guest in your home.” Zacchaeus scrambled out of the tree, hardly believing his good luck, delighted to take Jesus home with him. Everyone who saw the incident was indignant and grumped, “What business does he have getting cozy with this crook?” Zacchaeus just stood there, a little stunned. He stammered apologetically, “Master, I give away half my income to the poor—and if I’m caught cheating, I pay four times the damages.” Jesus said, “Today is salvation day in this home! Here he is Zacchaeus, son of Abraham! For the Son of Man came to find and restore the lost.” (MSG)

This man wanted to see Jesus desperately; however, he was too SHORT and could not see over the crowd. So, he devises a plan to climb a tree, he is noticed by Jesus, Jesus is to be his guest in his home. And you would think all of this is phenomenal until public opinion starts talking out of turn again… “What business does He have getting cozy with this crook?” There will always be people that have distorted vision when it comes to you. They can see your past clear, your present is blurry, and when it comes to your future, they have a combination of cataracts and glaucoma in their natural and spiritual eyes! They can see nothing good, even in the fact that Jesus invited Himself to YOUR house! Now, if you think about it, Jesus had a lot of options; after all, there was a crowd present, and one so large that Zacchaeus had to climb in a tree to see Him! But Jesus CHOSE Zacchaeus over anyone else! He CHOSE a SHORT, rich, taxman, sitting in a tree, over “…EVERYONE WHO SAW THE INCIDENT….” God will Deliberately Choose Underqualified You, Over Someone Else’s Overqualified Ego! They may not like it, but Jesus deliberately chose Zacchaeus to receive salvation and restoration. And likewise, He is still picking the underdogs to overachieve! So do not assume He will pass you by because of public opinion. He may simply be waiting for you to distinguish yourself from the crowd! 

God cares about All of us, the Least, the Last, the Lonely, and the Left Out!). And He’s not in the least bit intimidated or concerned about our misfitted selves: Jacob was a cheater; Peter had a temper; David had an affair; Noah got drunk; Jonah ran from God; Paul was a murderer; Gideon was insecure; Miriam was a gossip; Martha was a worrier; Thomas was doubtful; Sarai was impatient; Elijah was moody; Moses stuttered; Zacchaeus was short; Abraham was old; Lazarus was dead; Rahab was a prostitute; Timothy had stomach troubles; Isaiah preached naked; Leah had weak eyes; Joseph was abused; Samson was a womanizer; Naomi loss two sons and a husband; Job went bankrupt; the Disciples fell asleep in prayer; Judas betrayed Jesus for some change; Saul was mentally unstable; the Samaritan woman had far too many men!

And still, God used every one of them! And with all your issues, He has yet to unsubscribe! He renews day by day! You are no exception. No matter where you come from, where you are, what you did, who you did it with, how many times you have repented, God still loves you! Even in those moments when you feel small, inadequate, insufficient, insignificant, or unimportant. God sees you when you see nothing good in yourself!

Genesis 16:13 says, “The Lord talked to Hagar. She began to use a new name for God. She said to Him, “You are ‘God Who Sees Me.’” She said this because she thought,’ “I see that even in this place, God sees me and cares for me!” (ERV)

Unbelievably, as SMALL as you think you are, God still sees you and cares about you! Hagar, now, was not in a good place, but even she was able to say, “…even in this place God sees me and cares for me”. No matter where you are in life at this moment in time, God sees you and cares for you. Others may overlook you, under-estimate you, devalue you, but to God, you mean much! And the next time you do not think so, remember the price His Son paid Just for You! Remember the Gifts in 1 Corinthians 12, where even the ones deemed the least, the lowly and the insignificant, were among the most prized and valued! And so are you! Like my son’s friend Bumblebee, you may lack in some areas. We ALL do, no matter how perfect we attempt to appear! Yet, God can still use you; God needs you; you are important and visible to God. Do not short-change yourself! You are still His disciple, His Son, His Daughter, His Temple, His Love, His Craftsmanship, His Workmanship. And above All, you were Worth Saving, Healing, Delivering, Redeeming, justified, and even Worth a Round-Trip Ticket For Jesus to Come Again, Just For You! It sounds like you are significant to me!

You have spent enough time talking down to yourself, talking yourself out of stuff, even the very things God desires you to do; you have looked in the mirror and picked yourself apart repeatedly. You may have spoken enough about not being good enough. You have taunted and provoked yourself to bitterness. Today, Enough is Enough! You are Valuable, Important, Significant, and Necessary! There is a place in the Kingdom that no one can take because it is yours! Own your worth! God still sees you. You never go unnoticed by Him! Every moment of your life, even before your life began, has been visible in the eyes of God and valuable to the heart of God.

Psalm 139, “God, investigate my life; get all the facts firsthand. I’m an open book to You; even from a distance, You know what I’m thinking. You know when I leave and when I get back; I’M NEVER OUT OF YOUR SIGHT. You know everything I am going to say before I start the first sentence. I look behind me, and YOU’RE THERE, then up ahead and YOU’RE THERE, TOO—Your reassuring presence, coming and going. This is too much, too wonderful—I cannot take it all in! Is there any place I can go to avoid Your Spirit? TO BE OUT OF YOUR SIGHT? If I climb to the sky, YOU’RE THERE! If I go underground, YOU’RE THERE! If I flew on morning’s wings to the far western horizon, YOU’D FIND ME IN A MINUTE—You are already there waiting! Then I said to myself, “OH, HE EVEN SEES ME IN THE DARK!

At night I’m immersed in the light!” It is a fact: darkness isn’t dark to You; night and day, darkness and light, they’re all the same to You. Oh yes, you shaped me first inside, then out; You formed me in my mother’s womb. I thank You, High God—You are breathtaking! Body and soul, I am marvelously made! I worship in adoration—what a creation! You know me inside and out, and You know every bone in my body; You know exactly how I was made, bit by bit, how I was sculpted from nothing into something. Like an open book, YOU WATCHED ME grow from conception to birth; ALL THE STAGES OF MY LIFE were spread out before You, the days of my life all prepared BEFORE I’D EVEN LIVED ONE DAY. Your thoughts—how rare, how beautiful! God, I will never comprehend them! I could not even begin to count them—any more than I could count the sand of the sea. Oh, let me rise in the morning and always live with You!…” (MSG)

Little itty-bitty, you are so significant to God that He Always Sees You! He raises and lowers the sun, moon, and stars, rotates the earth, sets boundaries for waters, seas, and oceans, He keeps His breath in every being and His air filling the atmosphere always…and still…it’s YOU. So, remember that the next time you feel you are too small to be significant! He Keeps a Watchful Eye On You Always! Be Encouraged Today, You May Be a No-Name To Some People or You May Be Small In The Eyes Of Others…BUT…You Are Still Significant In The Eyes Of God!

 

Blessings

J.P. Olson

www.thewordwithjpolson.com