Shaun and The Word

The Divine Setup 3: If you don’t sow, you can’t reap

Divine Set up 3: If you don’t sow, you can’t reap

Genesis 8:22

“While the earth remains,

Seedtime and harvest,

And cold and heat,

And summer and winter,

And day and night

Shall not cease.”

• We are talking about Divine set ups and what that means is the providence of God in putting us in situations, or with people in order for us to get, grow or learn from so that we will be prepared for where He is bringing us.
• When the Lord had put me divinely back with brother Henry in 2003 until August of 2004 it was a time of preparation. A time of learning and growing and a time of getting some key principals deep down in to my spirit so that I would learn to walk by them
• One of the greatest lessons brother Henry taught me and in fact he just sent me a text yesterday about it is “Sow a seed, reap a Harvest.”
• He would always say, “You can never expect a harvest if you have not put a seed in the ground.”
• I can hear his voice right now saying, “If you get it in the ground you can expect a Harvest because God is so faithful to His word.”
• The Holy Spirit used him to teach me about tithing and the importance of tithing but also the importance of sowing. Not to just hold on to extra money but to pray about where to put that in the ground and sow it for the Kingdom of God
• The truth is this is a law, more then a principle
• For this law of sowing and reaping goes beyond ones faith in God or trust in the Lord.
• Every year all over the globe farmers go out and prepare their land for a seed they will put in the ground and then that seed will germinate and grow and then the farmer will go out and harvest their crop
• Over the years I have met so many non-believers who are strong advocates about the sowing and reaping, giving and it shall be giving back unto you law
• They have learned to conduct their business and guide their wealth through such a law that goes beyond dirt and water
• We may word it differently like investment (sowing), paying it forward (sowing), but the reality of the law is present.

 

Galatians 6:7-9

Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. Let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary.

 

• Paul makes it clear here that this sowing and reaping law/principle goes beyond the ground and the seed
• He says whatever you sow, you will reap. If you sow hate, it is hate you will reap, if you sow to the flesh you will reap corruption, but if you sow to the Spirit you will reap the fruit from the Spirit that leads to eternal life.
• This sowing mentality is one that is proven and has stood the test of time.
• Sowing into your marriage, sowing into your business, sowing into your kids, sowing into your own life is done naturally, but the one thing we have to learn to control is what are we sowing
• We must look to make heavenly investments in to the hearts and life of those around us, especially our family members who are nearest to us
• I am going to use this time to specifically focus on sowing money where the Lord would lead you.
• We live in a day where life is about dollars and cents and every penny counts. Especially after the bottom dropped out of the market, jobs were lost, hours were cut, savings were lost, 401 k’s were ruined. It has been a very uncertain time financially
• SO this principle of sowing and reaping is one that has to be a go to resource during times like this.
• Our natural instinct would be to withdraw from tithing, withdraw from giving, or sowing and start storing, or holding on to. Believe me, I get it and have been guilty of it on many occasions. I have two little kids now and a wife and even though I have founded my life and lived my life on this principle I still am tempted to scrounge up what I got and hold on to it, but to watch it rot is way worse.
• Paul says this “Yes you are going to get burned out and weary at times sowing, but don’t stop, don’t give up for your harvest is sure and it is coming.”
• Did you hear that, “YES you are going to want to stop, and hold on to what you got, but don’t you do it, for if you keep sowing, you will keep reaping and will reap a good Harvest.”
• As I said a couple of episodes ago, Brother Henry would always talk about sow, and reap, seed time and harvest, but he would always add in that Matthew 13 parable where Jesus says, “30, 60, 100 fold harvest.” What Henry would tell me was when you sow in faith, something the non-believers don’t have access to for they only depend on the natural return of the sowing and reaping, but the believer relies on the supernatural return of the sowing and reaping because we do it by faith.
• I have many stories to tell about this principle but I will share this particular one at this time. In 2005 I went on a mission trip to Mexico with Pastor Rick Hagans which I will share with you later about how amazing the Lord set that up, but I met a guy that would become one of my best friends this life has known. Joel. Now Joel loves the word of God and I remember being a young pastor in Bible college sitting next to this guy from New York City who worked as a flight attendant and who sat next to me on our bus rides in and out of Mexico every day. He held a small NT bible and just kept showing me scripture and pouring into me and showing me this and that from the word of God and I remember sitting there thinking, this dude knows more about the word of God then I did at that point. So I made it a point to get me a little NT bible and get in and become a man of the WORD. Well on that trip Joel had mentioned that Times Square Church was doing a trip to Israel and he invited me to go with him. This was December 2005. I was like, yeah man, I will go. At that time you didn’t need a passport to go across the border in Mexico and I had never flown on a airplane before but I was like, yeah I will go.
• Well, we had talked a couple of times via phone after that. I was the pastor in Two Egg and the Spring semester of 2006 had started and ended. I came back to Deland during the week to visit my mom and family and it was getting close to the end of May. It was a Wednesday night and I was in a church service at Calvary Christian Center where Pastor Jim Raley was preaching and in the middle of the sermon he said, “There is someone in here that had something that they thought was dead, but God has brought it back to life even tonight. I knew that was for me, I just knew it. I thought it was a relationship but was I wrong. I went out after the service and saw where I missed a call from Joel around that same time. I called him back and the first words out of his mouth, “You ready to go to Israel the first week of June?” This was the second to the last week of May. I said, yes, I know the Lord has put this together let me try to get my Passport. Remember I was a college student, serving as a pastor in Two Egg, which meant I had no money once so ever. I did however have enough to go to the clerk of court and pay for my passport to be expedited in 24 hours. That Sunday I told the Church in Two Egg that I felt like I had a once in a life time opportunity to go to Israel for a David Wilkerson pastors conference and a tour of the Holy Land. They were overwhelmed and said they would pay for my flight. I remember sitting there in that pew like, WOW, just WOW! I am really going to go to Israel. The next day I called Joel and told him. I ordered my passport and the Church has given me the money to pay for my flight. Hallelujah!!!!
• We were scheduled to fly out in one week. I rushed around that week as I prepared and I felt like I was on cloud 9 man. Blown away at this opportunity. As I traveled back up the Church on Friday to visit folks and preach I realized I only had $210 to my name and that should be my tithe. I knew I was flying out on Monday and I needed money to pay for rooms, food, gas, etc. but I could work that out with Joel and pay him back. I thought to myself, yeah, but you should keep that $210 so you can have money for getting something. For what felt like the entire 5 hour trip up to Two Egg I wrestled with the thought to keep the tithe or to sow it. Some people only tithe on what they earn, but over the years I made my mind up to calculate gifts toward the tithe or give an offering based on the gift. That week the Church gifted me a Flight to Israel and I was going to give an offering to the Lord on it and when it was all calculated it was about $180 and then my heart was to simply give Him all I had $210 because the $30 left over was not going to do me any good. So, I had settled it in my heart and prayed about it to the Lord. When Sunday came and the time for offering I was in tears as I said, “Lord here is my heart and my gift, thank You. I don’t care if I go two weeks in Israel without eating, I am going and I am so thankful.” Well that was a sincere prayer, and a sincere seed.
• I preached and then gave the invitation. During the invitation people started walking up to offer me a gift from the Lord. I mean, check after check. It was so overwhelming. I just was in tears. It totaled over $1500 and for a young man who grew up in Deland and who only ever could dream about maybe one day going to New York City, the Lord used His principles in which He instilled inside of me, and His Church where He placed me, to show me “30, 60, 100 fold harvest is available for those who sow in faith and leave the results to Him.”
• Israel was breath taking, the pastors conference was powerful. When we came back I stopped in New York City to stay at my Friend Joel’s house, and visit my friend Joey who was working at Times Square Church. I had always wanted to go to New York, but it was nothing compared to Israel. The Lord can do exceedingly, abundantly, more then you can think, ask or imagine. Sometimes He puts us in Divine set ups to test our faith to see if we will trust Him with all of our tomorrows. If you don’t sow, you can’t reap. Don’t stop SOWING, FOR HE IS FAITHFUL!

The Divine Set Up 2: You can run but you can’t hide

 

Divine Set up 2: You can run but you can’t hide

 

Deuteronomy 4:9

Only be careful, and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them fade from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and to their children after them.

 

• When we talk about Divine set ups we are saying that God has a way of putting people in your life, or you in a situation in order to get you or give you what you need to get you where you need to be.
• The great thing about Divine set ups as we might not recognize it during the time of it taking place but we will surely know afterward that it was totally the Lord allowing or causing it to happen
• Think about Joseph’s life, how he had the dream to where his purpose would lead him, but it appeared as though he was not taking steps toward it but away from it.
• We was beaten and thrown into slavery, he was then brought forward and made a chief ruler of the slaves and then was falsely accused and thrown into jail.
• From jail he met two workers within the King’s courts and translated a dream they had. The one got out and the King Pharoah had a dream and needed an interpreter and sure enough remembered Joseph. Joseph was brought forth and after helping the king Pharoah he was given a royal position of authority.
• Later Joseph’s family comes and Joseph tells them,

 

Genesis 50:20

You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.

• Joseph recognizes that the Lord had put him in the right situations, around the right people, at the right times to get him to the place he needed to be
• Joseph recognized the providence of God
• I have and you have experienced so many times and events in our life when we truly experienced a move of God or a divine set up and we maybe didn’t recognize it until later on
• Before I came to the Lord I had a serious anger issue. I mean I was simply mad and hateful
• My music list was the gangster rap that simply glorified killing and murder. I had this deep seated anger within me and any little thing would set it off
• When I got saved and experienced the love of God that anger seemingly was removed and replaced
• I was working at Ferran and spending some special time with brother Henry every day and seeking the face of God.
• The Lord really wanted to do some deep cleaning in me during this time and put me in some divine set ups to expose what I needed and how to handle situations.

 

James 1:19-20

My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires

 

• Testimony about sharpening my knife on the electricians cart.

 

Ephesians 4:26-32

Be angry, and yet do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and do not give the devil an opportunity. He who steals must steal no longer; but rather he must labor, performing with his own hands what is good, so that he will have something to share with one who has need. Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear. Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.

 

 

Anger in your heart exposed!

• The anger Paul is speaking about here is not a revenge type of anger or a retaliation, but a anger that is affiliated with love. One that causes a disturbance within when you love someone or something and it is far from what it is meant to be.
• The anger that is sinful is usually attached to a selfish, or prideful response. As if your pride or your self indulgencing heart is not being fulfilled and the response is a sinful anger.
• Paul says that when a person comes to Jesus and is a stealer, he must stop stealing, and start doing righteous acts by laboring.
• Then Paul speaks about our speech and our conduct and how we are to live our lives in complete mindfulness of the Holy Spirit
• The call not to grieve the Holy Spirit is one that is a warning of all warnings, for it is HE, the Holy Spirit that is the in house resident of God
• We have to live our life mindful that He is wanting to teach, show, and lead us to greener pastures but we would never get there if we don’t listen, and follow.
• ``Lord telling me to go back the next day and tell him I am sorry for getting upset and angry at him.
• Man I did not want to do this, but I knew I had to. We arrived at work and sure enough he was standing in line to get in the buck hoist and I said “Hey man, I am so sorry for getting so angry in my heart toward you yesterday. Please forgive me!”
• Man that dude looked at me and said “you want to make me happy?” I said “yes”, He said, “Then don’t look at me or talk to me.”
• DANG!! DANG!! I had to pray again and the Lord showed me what good is it to love only the people that love you back. Love them that hate you.
• For what seemed like months every morning we would arrive at the same time and be waiting for the buck hoist to go up to the floor we were working on. Every day, he and I stood next to one another and every day I said good morning. How are you? No answer then after months of almost every day, he looked at me and said, man it is a good morning. I had a awesome weekend. DUDE that was the best feeling I had ever had. FIRE WORKS was exploding in the inside because I had loved him to the point of friendship
• The Lord used that Divine set up to expose a deep rooted sin and on top of it to also reveal a long lasting principle. OBEY THE HOLY SPIRIT
• Don’t Grieve Him with my actions or life, or my desire to not obey
• In God’s providence maybe, just maybe He has brought up some situaitons or some people, or even messages like this one to expose some unforgiveness, bitterness, or anger that has not been dealt with.
• Maybe He has shown you that your actions are grieving His Spirit. This means to shame, embarrass or cause to suffer sadness
• When we live a life far from obedience, we live a life of causing the Holy Spirit to suffer sadness
• He gives us divine set ups to deal with dirt, and to offer you His life

The Divine Setup 1

The Lord provides for all of our needs:

2 Timothy 3:16-17

“All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work”

 

 

 

The testimony about being called to school and then getting laid off from my job and starting community college.

 

Well I ended up getting my old job back at a very large local A/c company and they put me at the Port Orange Halifax remodel. Now when I used to work with them before I was a wild, wild kid who ran his mouth all the time and was angry and hard to be around.

 

Now I go back almost a year later and I am completely changed. I mean completely. I was enrolled in college, I was a youth pastor, I had been delivered of so many things and the Lord was daily growing me and teaching me.

 

Could you imagine the people I had worked with for years previously when I came back and was a totally different man. Unbelievable experience.

 

The Lord began to teach me so much. I really began to get deeper and deeper in the knowledge of the word of God and it was in this time that I truly learned how to hunger for God in His word and in Prayer.

The Lord put me with the man that years earlier that would come up to me and tell me, God had a plan for me. This man Henry Rivera would begin to pour into me a passion and desire for more of God and to trust God and His word. FAITH!!

 

Matthew 13:3-9

 

“Then Jesus told them many things in parables, saying: “A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. He who has ears, let him hear.”

 

• The Sower- The Son of Man/Any one sowing the word of God
• The Seed- THE WORD OF GOD
• The Soil- The hearts of people, (PATH, ROCKY, AMONGST WEEDS AND THORNS, GOOD SOIL)
• The Supernatural- A great return on the harvest would be 10 fold, but here Jesus says that when the WORD of GOD lands on the heart prepared for it produces a supernatural crop, a supernatural return. 30 fold, 60 fold, 100 fold

 

My friend Henry would sit with me in the car at break time, at lunch time, before and after work and pour this verse in to me. He would really show me what it meant to sow the word of God in to peoples hearts for you never know what God is going to do. He would say, “BE LIKE JOHNNY APPLE SEED!

 

He kept saying this parable over and over again because the truth is God’s word does not return void. God’s word does produce supernatural results in the life of the one who have prepared their heart to receive it by faith. The problem is not in the seed, nor the sower but the ground in which it lands. This is the one and only area we can do something about.

 

The Apostle Paul says in 2 Timothy 1:12 “I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him for that day^”

 

 The Apostle Paul is saying, “To know JESUS is to TRUST HIM!” You have to know HIM! YOU HAVE TO KNOW HIM! FOR KNOWING JESUS IS TO TRUST HIM!

 

The Lord brought brother Henry into my life to sow the seed of salvation and then years later to sow the seed of faith and fire. You see after I surrendered my life I would felt called to go to new heights. Go to the Bible College, to do this and to do that, but it was all so far out of my league out of my level of comfort or normalcy. That time with brother Henry was a time of preparation. A time of getting a hunger to KNOW JESUS, and to KNOW HIM is to TRUST HIM!

 

One day during lunch we both had been fasting and praying and seeking the face of God. I mean the Lord was freshly pouring out in that car that day. All of a sudden Brother Henry looks at me and said, “God is going to enlarge your borders, He is going to bring you to places you never thought you would go, and He is going to use you to preach to the nations. A international ministry!”

 

I remember sitting there overwhelmed by the Lord’s presence but feeling as though what Henry was saying was far from what I could ever accomplish. Some 17 years later here I sit, having preached in nations around the globe, having a International ministry where we serve as missionaries to the nation of Vietnam and train national pastors and leaders. What Henry saw that day was God’s seed of purpose for me, what I had that day was a heart filled with good ground.

Everyday of our life we have to hunger for Jesus, we have to thirst for His word and we have to know Him. For knowing Him is trusting Him! Trusting Him and His word brings a supernatural return. 30, 60, 100 fold.

 

Never in a million years would Brother Henry had known that the 18 year old, drop out, hung over addict, who was so angry, doing construction A/C duct work that he kept sowing the seed of the WORD of God in would become a Dr. in ministry, serving in a closed nation where generations will be impacted with Gospel message through that ministry.

The Divine Exchange 7

The Divine Exchange 7:

Our loneliness for His family!

John 1:12-13

Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—¹³ children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God

 

• The home unit in the majority of Americans lives is broken or dysfunctional. IN a survey from 2015 it was reported that 56% of teenagers from ages 15-17 had never understood or known what a whole family unit was like. Either their parents where never married, divorced or had been separated for a period of time. That is 1 out of every 2 kids that knows some level of division or brokenness.
• Check this out in January a report came out declaring that 60% of Americans feel lonely or live a lonesome life.
• This is a real situation where it plays a huge role in the life of the believer and in their journey the Lord has had them on.
• For me, I come from a broken dysfunctional family. We had love as we knew or understood it but we were so far away from what the ideal family situation would look like and lacked a lot in a lot of areas
• It played a huge role in my behavior, my actions and how I dealt with situations
• Even though my family was dysfunctional, they are my family and we have always been committed to one another and loving toward one another.
• When I got saved I noticed that I began to take on a new family.
• I literally started to trade in my broken, dysfunctional family experience for the family of God.
• Not that I traded my family in but the impact of growing up and experiencing a broken and dysfunctional family unit.

 

Mark 3:31-35

There came then his brethren and his mother, and, standing without, sent unto him, calling him. ³² And the multitude sat about him, and they said unto him, Behold, thy mother and thy brethren without seek for thee. ³³ And he answered them, saying, Who is my mother, or my brethren? ³⁴ And he looked round about on them which sat about him, and said, Behold my mother and my brethren! ³⁵ For whosoever shall do the will of God, the same is my brother, and my sister, and mother.

• In first-century Graeco-Roman and Jewish society, it was a person’s family that primarily determined identity and social standing.
• Jesus’ teaching radically modifies this custom by prioritizing participation in the kingdom of God
• To have Jesus’ mother calling for Him and Him to openly and publicly break from her, was a serious thing.
• It was something Jesus had to publicly demonstrate that YES, family is important, but God’s will being accomplished in our life is even more important
• For it was Jesus that said,

 

Matthew 10:37

He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.

 

• With the commitment to the Lord above everything else comes an access to all the Lord would have for you
• As Jesus said in Mark’s gospel “The ones that does the will of God is my family”
• Jesus also promises at another place that

 

Matthew 19:29

And every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name’s sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life.

• This is not that you ever stop being important to the natural family unit or have obligations to the natural family unit, but if obeying the Lord causes you to have to leave, or be dismissed from a family unit because of your obedience to Jesus not to worry there is a 100 fold reward.
• Jesus is not wanting us to dismiss the natural family for that is contrary to His word
• He is wanting us to know that there should not be any allegiance on par with our allegiance to Him
• We don’t loose a family, but we gain a family.
• Look how Jesus entrusts His mother to John while He was on the cross.
• She had other sons, and other children, but here Jesus calls on His followers to embrace her and care for her as if she was part of their own family.

 

John 19:25-27

But standing by the cross of Jesus were His mother, and His mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus then saw His mother, and the disciple whom He loved standing nearby, He *said to His mother, “Woman, behold, your son!” Then He *said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!” From that hour the disciple took her into his own household.

 

• You see when we make the decision to surrender to Jesus and make Him LORD over all we enter into a family
• A family that is not broken, a family that is not and should not be dysfunctional
• A family that is committed to us, loving toward us, forgiving toward us and helps us grow into what the Lord has called us to be
• When I got saved and started going to Church those folks became my family. I loved them and they loved me
• They were so proud of me and what the Lord was doing in my life
• They were proud to watch me grow and God to use me
• When I went to College they were more excited and enthused about my decision to follow the Lord then anyone else in my life at the time
• Some of them were educated, some of them were old and well experienced and wise, some of them were good husbands and fathers and I began to learn how to glean from each of them
• I learned what it look like to be around well to do, educated people
• I learned what it was like to be a husband, and father figure
• I learned what it was like to have goals and dreams that reached past my sphere of influence growing up
• My family, the family of God helped form and shape me, and then I was leaving
• When I got to Bible College there was some lonely times
• Sure you had friends and room mates but I missed my family and my CHURCH family
• I read a verse that has set with me for over 16 years now.

 

Psalm 68:6

God sets the lonely in families,

he leads out the prisoners with singing;

 

• When I was preparing to go to Bible college I thought I could preach at a church to earn money to help me through school
• My pastor said that would probably not happen until my second or third year.
• My first two weeks in Bible College I preached at a boys home in Marrianna Florida, and then was invited to apply for a youth pastor position in Quincy, Florida
• All of this activity I was still very lonely, missing my family and my Church family
• I was set to be voted on by the Church in Quincy to be their youth pastor but had an opportunity in Two Egg Florida to preach at a little country Church
• I went to that country Church the first week and as soon as I walked in the Lord said this is where you belong.
• That Church had gone through a hard time just before I showed up with all my college friends that first Sunday
• However what happened that day is the LORD set the lonely in a family
• Every single person that was and is a member of that Church has meant the world to me these last 16 years
• They have walked with me, helped me, cried with me, loved me, encouraged me, listened to some terrible messages, laughed with me, fed me, fed me again, blessed me and watched me grow into a man, a husband and a father
• I tell people I was born in Deland, but raised in TWO EGG
• God has a way of taking the lonely and putting them in a family, HIS family

 

Ephesians 2:19

Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household,

 

• Once again I found myself in a lonely isolated place on the other side of the world
• Testimony about my wedding in Vietnam

The Divine Exchange 6

His Healing for our sickness!

1 Peter 2:24-25

He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed. For you were continually straying like sheep, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Guardian of your souls.

 

 

• I just listened to a song and in that song it has a line that says, “You (Talking to the Lord) will never run out of miracles.”
• That is the truth! We do serve a God of miracles and we do serve a God that has provided a substantial way for miracles to take place
• Within the laws that He has established He has made a way for an exchange to take place, not that the issue or problem is done away with on its on, but that it is dealt with and removed and in exchange Heaven’s reward is giving.
• NO other place in our life do we want to see more miracles then in the area of healing.
• I am a man who prays for God to heal people, but there are times when He has a bigger plan for the sickness then to offer healing.
• Ravi Zechariah just passed away. The Church has been praying for about 6 months for his healing and then again for about two weeks we have prayed for a miracle. Yet he still passed.
• IS GOD deaf? (NO WAY!)
• Does not care about Dr. RAVI? (More then we will ever know)
• Is God capable of healing? (ALWAYS AND FOREVER)
• SO, why would Dr. Ravi not be healed. Well, the Lord knows and it is between Him and His servant.
• Our days are numbered by the Lord and His plans for our days are there to bring honor and glory to Him.
• That does not mean the Lord does not care, nor does it mean the Lord cant heal or is not willing to heal.
• It simply means He knows what is best and what will bring more to know and understand Him.
• We are going to look at the provision of the Lord for the healing of the body by exchanging.

Matthew 8:14-17

When Jesus came into Peter’s home, He saw his mother-in-law lying sick in bed with a fever. He touched her hand, and the fever left her; and she got up and waited on Him. When evening came, they brought to Him many who were demon-possessed; and He cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were ill. This was to fulfill what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet: “He Himself took our infirmities and carried away our diseases.”

 

• Jesus’ compassion here is revealed
• No one asked, no one prayed, and no one brought her, JESUS KNEW, SAW, and WAS WILLING
• JESUS went to Peter’s home
• Jesus SAW his mother in law sick in bed
• Jesus touched her hand
• There are times when the Lord does what only He can do, and brings to mind what only He knows about.
• The response of the fever, infirmity or what ever it was that was gripping her left. The word used here in GREEK is APHIEMI, which means to leave or to forgive.
• The catch is the subject is not just to itself to leave or forgive but that something is allowing it, or causing it to leave or be forgiven.
• SO, lets say Peter’s mother in law is sick with a fever and she has tried so much to relieve or get rid of it but nothing is working, almost like it is latched on to her then all of a sudden Jesus comes and touches her and thus given release to the point where it has to leave.
• It was like JESUS TOOK IT OFF OF HER
• IN fact Matthew reviews to the Jewish audience just what Scripture has to say to what had just took place.
• He quotes and interprets Isaiah’s prophecy of what the MESSIAH will come to do.
• Notice, she went from lying in the bed gripped with sickness to serving Jesus. AN EXCHANGE!

 

 

Isaiah 53:4-5

However, he was the one who lifted up our sicknesses,

and he carried our pain,

yet we ourselves assumed him stricken,

struck down by God and afflicted.

“But He was pierced through for our transgressions,

He was crushed for our iniquities;

The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him,

And by His scourging we are healed.”

 

 

 

• One translation uses the word took up, another uses the word lift off. This gives a beautiful image of what exactly an exchange looks like.
• Jesus takes it from YOU, in verse 5 shows you how He deals with it by His wounds, and then offers HEALING
• Not just a scab, but a complete removal of… and a given of HEALING! HIS HEALING!

 

 

• Testimony about my mom being healed while in Bible College

 

Light in the midst of Darkness: A Message from St. Barnabas Church

The Lessons Appointed for Use on the
Sixth Sunday of Easter
Year A RCL

Acts 17:22-31

1 Peter 3:13-22

John 14:15-21

Psalm 66:7-18

The Collect

O God, you have prepared for those who love you such good things as surpass our understanding: Pour into our hearts such love towards you, that we, loving you in all things and above all things, may obtain your promises, which exceed all that we can desire; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

The First Lesson

Acts 17:22-31

Paul stood in front of the Areopagus and said, “Athenians, I see how extremely religious you are in every way. For as I went through the city and looked carefully at the objects of your worship, I found among them an altar with the inscription, ‘To an unknown god.’ What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you. The God who made the world and everything in it, he who is Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in shrines made by human hands, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mortals life and breath and all things. From one ancestor he made all nations to inhabit the whole earth, and he allotted the times of their existence and the boundaries of the places where they would live, so that they would search for God and perhaps grope for him and find him—though indeed he is not far from each one of us. For ‘In him we live and move and have our being’; as even some of your own poets have said,

‘For we too are his offspring.’

Since we are God’s offspring, we ought not to think that the deity is like gold, or silver, or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of mortals. While God has overlooked the times of human ignorance, now he commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will have the world judged in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed, and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.”

The Response

Psalm 66:7-18

Jubilate Deo

7 Bless our God, you peoples; *
make the voice of his praise to be heard;

8 Who holds our souls in life, *
and will not allow our feet to slip.

9 For you, O God, have proved us; *
you have tried us just as silver is tried.

10 You brought us into the snare; *
you laid heavy burdens upon our backs.

11 You let enemies ride over our heads;
we went through fire and water; *
but you brought us out into a place of refreshment.

12 I will enter your house with burnt-offerings
and will pay you my vows, *
which I promised with my lips
and spoke with my mouth when I was in trouble.

13 I will offer you sacrifices of fat beasts
with the smoke of rams; *
I will give you oxen and goats.

14 Come and listen, all you who fear God, *
and I will tell you what he has done for me.

15 I called out to him with my mouth, *
and his praise was on my tongue.

16 If I had found evil in my heart, *
the Lord would not have heard me;

17 But in truth God has heard me; *
he has attended to the voice of my prayer.

18 Blessed be God, who has not rejected my prayer, *
nor withheld his love from me.

The Epistle

1 Peter 3:13-22

Now who will harm you if you are eager to do what is good? But even if you do suffer for doing what is right, you are blessed. Do not fear what they fear, and do not be intimidated, but in your hearts sanctify Christ as Lord. Always be ready to make your defense to anyone who demands from you an accounting for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and reverence. Keep your conscience clear, so that, when you are maligned, those who abuse you for your good conduct in Christ may be put to shame. For it is better to suffer for doing good, if suffering should be God's will, than to suffer for doing evil. For Christ also suffered for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, in order to bring you to God. He was put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit, in which also he went and made a proclamation to the spirits in prison, who in former times did not obey, when God waited patiently in the days of Noah, during the building of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were saved through water. And baptism, which this prefigured, now saves you-- not as a removal of dirt from the body, but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers made subject to him.

The Gospel

John 14:15-21

Jesus said, ”If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever. This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, because he abides with you, and he will be in you.

”I will not leave you orphaned; I am coming to you. In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me; because I live, you also will live. On that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. They who have my commandments and keep them are those who love me; and those who love me will be loved by my Father, and I will love them and reveal myself to them.”

The Divine Exchange 5

The Divine Exchange 5:

 

When speaking about Divine exchange we are talking about the Lord taking something from us and giving us something from Him in exchange. One of the key verses that gives a great oversight of this exchange is found in

 

2 Corinthians  5:21 “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him”

 

Paul says Jesus who knew no sin, became sin for us. HE took from us sin and in return or exchange has given us His righteousness. Now the Divine exchange does not stop at that but continues on to so much more the Lord has for us.

 

Galatians 2:20 “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.”

 

Ephesians 2:4-7 “But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.”

 

 

Isaiah 53:8-9

By oppression and judgment he was taken away;

and as for his generation, who considered

       that he was cut off out of the land of the living,

stricken for the transgression of my people?

⁹    And they made his grave with the wicked

and with a rich man in his death,

 

• The call to go to Bible college but not feeling like I could do it or even felt worthy of it
• Going to casting crowns concert testimony

Having the feeling of not

The Divine Exchange 4

The Divine Exchange 4:

He was rejected so that I can be accepted

When speaking about Divine exchange we are talking about the Lord taking something from us and giving us something from Him in exchange. One of the key verses that gives a great oversight of this exchange is found in

 

2 Corinthians  5:21 “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him”

 

Paul says Jesus who knew no sin, became sin for us. HE took from us sin and in return or exchange has given us His righteousness. Now the Divine exchange does not stop at that but continues on to so much more the Lord has for us. We are so limited in our understanding of just how much the Lord wants to impart to us. As a child of God journeys with Him, through His Holy Spirit, He speaks to certain areas in order to offer an exchange. In this episode I am going to share how the Lord dealt with me about rejection, and took it away from me and gave me His acceptance.

 

When my mother was pregnant with me, my dad who was married at the time left us to return back to his wife. My mom was distraught but the Lord truly did a work in her life and in our life. I grew up without a dad in my life and to never even meet him or see him or even hear his voice brought a lot of hidden issues. One of those main issues is a since of rejection.

 

The idea of feeling rejected comes from a dad who had me but made the decision to never want to be a part of my life. What also tags along with rejection is feeling unlovable. The idea that you are not lovable and if anyone really got close to you or knew you, they would reject you and leave. When I got saved I had this love inside of me and looked to lavish it on everyone, but I noticed I was not able to receive that type of love in return from others. It was as if I had this huge wall up all around my heart and mind and would allow love to go out but would not allow any to come in. 

 

One afternoon I was praying and the Lord showed me this verse and it turned me upside down.

Matthew 13:45-46, “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking fine pearls, and upon finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it.”

 

If you look back over Matthew 13 and follow the parable of the sower, it will be easy to know that the Son of Man is the Sower mentioned in it. Thus in reference to that parable it would only be logical to assume Jesus would be the Merchant in this parable. With Jesus being the Merchant lets follow the story, A Merchant went seeking fine pearls. If Jesus is the Merchant and HE has come seeking for fine pearls, what would be the pearls? What is it that caused Jesus to come seeking? What has peeked His interest or what is valuable to Him? Yes, you guessed it. PEOPLE! Jesus came seeking to save people. To gather people. To bring people unto Himself.

 

Now, the parable does not stop there. It goes so much deeper. It says that the Merchant goes out seeking fine pearls and when He found ONE pearl of great value, He went and sold all that He had and bought it. He went looking for fine pearls, when He found 1, HE gave everything to make that 1 His. Well I read that and just started crying because I knew that I had been saved. I knew that Jesus gave everything to make me His. I knew that but the Holy Spirit made it very clear to me that if it was just me, if I was the 1 pearl He would still give everything to make me His. That is still an overwhelming thought. If you or I was the only 1 that would ever come to faith in Jesus, He would still give His life for us. That is how valuable we are to Him. That is how much He loves us.

 

This set me free. The Holy Spirit was saying Shaun I want to take your rejection, and give you my acceptance. I want you to know deep down inside of you that you are lovable and accepted.  How could this exchange even be offered. Isaiah’s prophecy speaks about how the Messiah’s ministry would provide such an exchange.

 

Isaiah 53:1-3

“Who has believed our message?

And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? For He grew up before Him like a tender shoot, And like a root out of parched ground;

He has no stately form or majesty That we should look upon Him,

Nor appearance that we should be attracted to Him. He was despised and forsaken of men, A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief;

And like one from whom men hide their face He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.

 

It says in no uncertain terms that this Messiah would simply be despised, forsaken and rejected. Jesus the Creator of the world would come unto His own and in John’s gospel it says, His own would rejected Him. In Mark’s gospel it says even His own family rejected Him and thought He was out of His mind. Later on in the Gospels some scholars believe it references His father turned from Him.

Mark 15:34 “At the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?” which is translated, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”

 

 

They believe that it was at this point that Jesus endured the entire portion of humanity’s sin and thus causing the Father to turn from Him in rejection of sin. Jesus was despised, forsaken and rejected. He endured that so those who like me feel unlovable, rejected or forsaken could receive His exchange. The Exchange is being accepted and loved by the FATHER!

 

John 15:9 “Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you; abide in My love.”

 

Jesus said, that HE LOVES US, just like the FATHER has loved Him. He commands that we live in that love. LIVE IN that LOVE! You see Jesus took our rejection, so we could have His acceptance. My dad left me, my dad didn’t love me, and it left me with a rejected spirit. Feeling unlovable, but once I realized that for the first time in my life someone truly knew me, knew everything about me, and yet wanted to be with me and would give everything to make me His, it gave me an opportunity to offer Jesus my rejection, so I could receive His acceptance. To be loved and able to receive that love is priceless.

 

The merchant went out looking for fine pearls, when He found one, He went and gave everything to make that ONE His very own. He knows you, He loves you and He wants you so bad that HE would be despised and rejected so we could be accepted.

 

The Divine Exchange 3

Divine Exchange 3:

When speaking about Divine Exchange, I am saying the Lord Jesus came to live our life and die our death so that we could have His life. Throughout Scripture there is an implementation that He takes what we have and gives us what He has, an exchange.

 

For example in 2 Corinthians  5:21 “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him”

 

Paul says Jesus who knew no sin, became sin for us. HE took from us sin and in return or exchange has given us His righteousness. Isaiah’s prophecy speaks about this particular ministry of the Messiah in Isaiah 61.

 

Isaiah 61:3 “to grant to those who mourn in Zion— to give them a beautiful head dress instead of ashes,  the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit; that they may be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he may be glorified”

 

What is implied is the people of ZION are mourning and the Lord’s Messiah is going to take some things off of them and exchange it with what He has for them.

 

• Comfort for mourning,
• beauty for ashes,
• joy instead sadness,
• garments of praise instead of spirit of despair.

 

In the New International Version it says, He will provide for and bestow on them. I love that because it clarifies the process. The Messiah will make a way for the exchange to take place and will not just give the exchange but will do so with JOY. TO bestow something on someone is like a judge at a beauty pageant awarding the winner of the pageant with a crown. It is a joyful event. The judge takes great joy in giving the prize away, bestowing on the winner. What a joy!

 

After I felt this call into ministry, and it was confirmed by my pastor I really struggled with it because I still struggled with some sinful behaviors. I was addicted to chewing Tabaco, I cussed all the time and I had lustful thoughts in my heart all the time. I truly didn’t think I was ready or even worthy of being used by God. But, the good thing was I just was summoned to pray and prepare. What was about to happen over the next couple of weeks was nothing short of a miracle. The Lord took my addiction and in exchange gave me freedom. Addiction is so different then just a sinful act. It is like being a slave to sin. Almost like you are forced to do it as though you no longer have control over it. Addiction to anything seems demonic at it’s core because it is like you are being controlled.

 

John 8:33-36 “They answered him, “We are Abraham’s descendants and have never been slaves of anyone. How can you say that we shall be set free?” Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. ³⁵ Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. ³⁶ So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.”

 

Jesus tells those who were following Him that if they held to the truth they would be set free. They said we have never been captive, bound or slaves to anyone, why do You talk about freedom. Jesus said, everyone who sins is a slave to sin and when the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. Again this is what is seen in Isaiah’s prophecy as what the ministry of the Messiah will offer.

 

Isaiah 61:1 “To proclaim liberty to captives And freedom to prisoners”

Isaiah 53:7-8  “He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, Yet he opened not his mouth: He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, And as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, So he openeth not his mouth. He was taken from prison and from judgment:

 

Did you hear it? The Messiah would bring deliverance to the prisoner, to those in bondage and chains. In Isaiah 53 it explains how. He Himself would be bound, would be in chains, would be imprisoned. He took our bondage, our chains, so that we could have His freedom. 

JOHN 18:12 “So the Roman cohort and the commander and the officers of the Jews, arrested Jesus and bound Him.”

 

JESUS paid the price for us to be free. He takes our bondage, our chains, and gives us His freedom. Who the Son sets free is FREE indeed.

The Divine Exchange 2

 Divine Exchange 2:

This episode I take a moment to explain my thought process behind the first several episodes and the track we are on. I sure pray this is a blessing and encouragement to both you now and those who will listen in the future.  

My call in to ministry. I totally felt like I was not worthy, or had anything to offer the Lord or His people. I mean I just got saved and was still on prohibition from my DUI. My life was still changing and it was changing quickly. The next morning after the Lord had spoken to me from Mark’s gospel I remember waking up and my dog had ate my entire can of Copenhagen tobacco Snuff, my mom took my last couple of dollars I had laid on the table and then getting in the work truck and telling my cousin whom I worked with that I believe the Lord might be calling me to serve Him. I will never forget what he said. He looked across the front seat of the truck as I leaned against the door craving a dip of snuff and said, “DUH, I thought you knew that.”

Apostle Paul must have felt some of the same feelings of not being worthy to serve Jesus. Grace is an amazing thing that our life and mind can’t fully comprehend. Paul had been persecuting the Church of Jesus and was doing it with zeal. He was present at the stoning of Stephen and then went on a rampage soon after chasing, capturing, and trying in his own ability to destroy the people of the WAY.

In Acts 9 it records the events, “As he was traveling, it happened that he was approaching Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him; and he fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?” And he said, “Who are You, Lord?” And He said, “I am Jesus whom you are persecuting, but get up and enter the city, and it will be told you what you must do.”

 

Paul who was named Saul would never be the same. His life was interrupted by GRACE. He was a murder of God’s people, He was working against the very plan of God and the people of God, but Jesus stops Paul in his tracks to tell Paul that He wanted him. Jesus Himself said that Paul’s attacks were attacks directly on Him, but Jesus still wanted him and had a plan for his life. Saul was blinded and led to Damascus and for 3 days stayed there until the Lord sent His servant to go and pray for Paul and tell him what lied ahead.

 

Paul would write in 1 Timothy 1:15, “It is a trustworthy statement, deserving full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, among whom I am foremost of all.^”

 

Paul had to feel just awful when he found out that he was actually working against the Lord and killing the people of God. No wonder he saw himself as the chief of sinners. I heard a testimony by a Israeli pastor talking about his time in the IDF air force and how one of his fellow soldiers was doing a fly over patrol and saw a brigade of tanks rolling across the mountains. He had to act quick and used no time to report back but acted quickly and destroyed the tanks. He returns to base expecting to be the hero only to find out that he had destroyed his own brothers. This must have been the same feeling Paul had. BUT GOD and His Holy Spirit could exchange sin, shame for righteousness.

 

That afternoon it only seemed obvious to me to go to my pastor and share with him what I felt the Lord calling me to do. I shared with him that I simply wanted to start mowing the Church’s yard for I felt like that was the only thing I could offer the Lord and if He could use a nice looking yard at the Church and someone seeing that and coming to the Church to know Him then it is all worth it. Now mind you this property at the Church would literally take me 2 ½ to 3 hours to cut it by push lawn mower. It was huge. He told me that was a great offer and I should be baptized. Going to my pastor and telling him I wanted to serve by mowing the Church’s yard

Visiting so many friends and family with my pastor to tell them about what Jesus had done.

My pastor telling me the best advice I have ever had for ministry and in serving the Lord, “PRAY”.