Welcome to the Easter season quarantine, and the glorious announcement that the grave could not hold His body down… Let’s all declare it together…”You can’t hold us, we’re coming out”….Oh yes, Let me shout it from the roof top, (or at least from the fourth floor, here)… HE IS RISEN!!! And because He lives, we shall live also….
In a few moments, I would like to invite you to have communion together with me this morning. So if you could have your emblems in place, whatever you have available, for the juice, and bread…crackers is fine, and at the end of my message today, I invite you toshare the communion emblems together with whoever is watching us live or recorded.
The Holy Spirit, has been assuring me that this Easter season, when the pandemic seems to have the spot light on the world stage, and so much has changed in all of our lives….we will look back as we unpack this time historically, and it will be known as a time of acceleration and not of decline for the world wide Church of Jesus Christ and His kingdom on earth. A time of strength discovered, of innovation, and creativity. You see, when Jesus’ body had been quarantined in the tomb, Death forgot to read the rest of the story or death would have known that you can’t quarantine a supernatural move of God very long. Satan didn’t bother to read what the Holy Spirit revealed to Job 1800 years before Jesus. In chapter 19, verse 25 “For I know that my redeemer lives, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth.” The Devil somehow missed Isaiah 53:10-11 “…though the LORD makes his life a guilt offering, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the LORD will prosper in his hand. After the suffering of his soul, he will see the light of life and be satisfied.” Oh yeah!! And the Boogy Man must have been deaf and dumb, when in Matthew 17:22 we see that Jesus himself made it very clear, andSatan either wasn’t listening or didn’t want to hear… “Jesus said to them, ‘The Son of Man is about to be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill him, and he will be raised on the third day”.(Are you listening now Devil?) For the first time in 2000 years, Christian churches around the planet will not meet together in their sanctuaries or temples, to celebrate Easter Sunday with Holy week observances, even though 2 out of every 3 people on the planet call themselves Christians. We have never been in this place, with such global ramifications. And yet, the spirit of the Lord says, we are entering a season of acceleration. The church has always expanded during times of persecution, trials and testing. I believe we are in a season when the supernatural ability of God is being amplified and magnified inour ministries, our time and our circumstances, to bring His plans to pass at a much faster rate than would be possible in the natural cycle of things. When our Father is at work, the things that might be able to stop the flesh, and things on the natural level, cannot stop Him. There is an unstoppable momentum that is building and growing right now. We find ourselves caught up in a move of God that is shifting circumstances, repositioning people and events, removing obstacles and advancing kingdom causes in ways we could never have planned, but God did.
I heard that the president of a company, called all the employees together to make an announcement about someone within the company who was going to be replacing him as the new president. The boss called Rob Frank up to the platform as he presented him with the new position. He said, "you've been with the company for a year. You started off in the mail room, one week later you were promoted to a sales position, and one month after that you were promoted to district manager of the sales department. Just four short months later, you were promoted to vice-president. Now, it's time for me to retire, and I want you to take over the company. What would you like to say to that?" To which Rob said "Thanks, Dad".
Our Father is the owner and manager of planet earth and He’s looking for some folks to run His business here. He’s about to make an important announcement and give some promotions, and advancements. And it’s all based on the fact that His children are His favorites, the apple of His eye. Others may be more qualified, but He reserves the right to give it to whoever He wills, and He wills to give it to His kids!
That was pretty much the condition of Jacob, who labored for 20 years, for Laban and it was where God had told him to go. But he had little to show for all of his effort, because all of his time and energy had only increased Laban, his uncle, and not himself. But there was a wave of acceleration which was moving in his direction. And suddenly, God began to lift, promote, and launch him forward. In a short time, the bible says that Jacob increased exceedingly, and had much cattle, and maidservants, and menservants, and camels, and mules. The time of acceleration had come for Jacob!
We could compare it to being at the ocean and you’re caught by a wave of the sea, and you experience a sudden surge forward. It lifts you and propels you to a place different than where you were before. All, you have to do is let it carry you, yield to its strength and power, and let it take you there.
We are in a season where a perfectly timed wave of God is moving in and it’s getting ready to lift you up and move you forward….(along with anyone that is part of your vision)….
Surfers learn to wait for the right wave so they can be propelled by the force of the curl as it sweeps upward and forward.
It was the same story with Joseph, who was a slave in Egypt for 13 years because of betrayal after betrayal. It seemed that the dream of his heart was only there to make his life miserable, taunting and stalking him, as he compared his current condition with the vision within him…. But a wave of acceleration that would change everything, was moving in his direction and he would quickly become the prime minister of Egypt….Andthere’s a wave coming towards you, in this season.
The enemy will always try to hold you back from fulfilling God’s purposes, and block your resurrection, but even when it seems that the enemy has succeeded, it is never too late for our God. He can supernaturally replenish you, overturn the battle and use the situation to launch you forth, and accelerate you into His purposes. Joseph was able to say, “you meant it for evil, but the Lord meant it for good!!!! Hey, that’s your acceleration promise too!
Moses spent 40 years living as a shepherd in the desert. Once upon a time, he thought he could make a difference. Once, he dreamed of delivering Israel out of slavery. Now at 80 years old, he had ceased to believe it was possible. That is, until we read in Exodus 3, that Moses encountered God’s Presence in a burning bush. And God revealed it was his ‘now’ time to deliver Israel. In a short time— in a season of Divine acceleration—Moses was propelled into a confrontation with Pharaoh, leading Israel out of slavery and into the service and worship of God, with global implications. Something that could not have happened in 430 years, happened in a matter of 4 to 5 months….
We can make the choice to think in terms of what is humanly possible—or trust the Father that He can cause things to fall into place in a miraculous way. We need to look at every delay, as God’s method of positioning us for Divine acceleration.
I hear it in Joel 2:25 “I will repay you for the years the locusts have eaten…” And the words of the prophet Baalam, come to mind here….
Numbers 23:19 “God is not a man, that He should ever lie, neither the son of man, that He should repent: has He not said, and shall He not do it? or has He not spoken, and shall He not make it good”? v20 Behold, I have received commandment from God to bless, for He has blessed, (favored, honored, prospered, and Celebrated) and none can reverse it”.
In Joel’s time, God promised that as the nation turned to Him, He would make up for the lost years with overflow harvest— That His name might be exalted and He would be glorified
God is celebrating you, right now, because He already knows what can happen when He begins to accelerate the things He has planned for you! God is by nature a Redeemer, and Jesus has paid the price for every mistake, failure, sin and shame. Even when the wages of sin have been reaped, when we repent and turn to Him, He transforms barrenness into fruitfulness. He elevates us from poverty to plenty, and He transports us from emptiness to Divinely accelerated overflow—this is the amazing power of His grace and forgiveness.
The resurrection declares that He is the God of the second chance. And even when it feels as though you have missed the opportunity to fulfil His purpose or to step into your prophetic season, it is never too late for God’s acceleration process. All that is happening, hasn’t taken Him by surprise. Through Divine acceleration, He can bring His prophetic call to pass in our lives. As we return, to faith and trust in Him. We will see that our Heavenly Father has lined up circumstances and people like dominoes falling—What looks like it’s dead and gone, is about to get a resurrection!
Once His power is unleashed, nothing can hold back His prophetic call, and His plan and purpose. Joseph’s own family mocked his calling from God and conspired together to prevent it from ever being fulfilled. The malicious choices of others sent Joseph to slavery and later imprisonment.
However when God’s time came, Genesis 41 tells us that all the forces that had tried to prevent his promotion, were overwhelmed. Joseph’s rise to rulership was immediate. Divine acceleration caused what had been delayed for 13 years, to happen within a day, Joseph put aside his prison garments and put on the mantle of leadership and rulership.
No person, and no action by anyone else can prevent God’s purpose from being accomplished in our lives when Divine acceleration begins. Instead, our Father can use the very people who have meant it for evil and turn it into good. (Gen 50:19)
By keeping your heart clean, and free of bitterness and resentment, we can stay in position for God’s times of acceleration. Nothing and no one can hold you back when His time comes. He is faithful, He is sovereign, He is powerful and, He is positioning us, and making connections, so that we can arrive at the right time, in the right place, with the right people, for the right purpose.
It is so easy to look back in hind sight, to see that our disappointments have really been His appointments. What if we could receive the insight we need from the experiences of Elijah, Joseph and Jacob, to stand firm in our dried-up brooks, our pit or prison, through our Labans and our Esau’s and make that transformative confession of Romans 8:28 even while the heart may be breaking with sorrow.
“All things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”? Do you really believe it? Someday soon, in the future we will all experience a dried up brook. It is very likely that more Christians have lost their faith over their dried up brook than any other event. Every pastor has watched and prayed with those who are sufferingas they struggle with the “why” of their dried-up experience. There are times when no matter how much you may try, you will not be able to discern any logic or reason behind certain situations and events.
I read that years ago, the citizens of Coffee County, Alabama, just couldn’t understand why God had allowed the boll weevil todestroy their main source of income. The weevil had invaded their fields, devastating the cotton industry and shutting it down completely. In Desperation, the farmers had to turn to more diversified farming and eventually doubling their income from growing peanuts. The farmers of Coffee County erected a monument to the boll weevil so they would never forget. In the memorial inscription, credit is given to the boll weevil for forcing the change of crops, creating unprecedented prosperity and plenty in that area.
The end of one thing had become the beginning of another!
Who could have ever thought that two symbols of death, a cross and a tomb, could inspire so many people, to live a bigger fuller life! Our human reasoning cannot see that any good could ever result from some circumstances. But the real issue is that we choose to trust God, more than the circumstances.
Job said this, as he was scraping his painful boils, sitting in the ash heap, having lost all his family, (except his nagging wife).
Job 13:15 “Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him”. 23:10 “But He knows the way that I take and when He has proven me, I shall come forth as gold”. We know in retrospect, that this powerful declaration of trust, reversed everything, and ushered Job into a season of unbelievable acceleration….
The disciples chosen by Jesus, did what they had done hundreds of times, they went fishing. We are told that they had worked all night and caught absolutely nothing. There was nothing to show for their labor which meant that the bills would not get paid, the money would not be there for groceries, and they would have to go to bed tired and hungry. They were preparing to clean and mend their nets for the next day of fishing, and these guys were weary, disgusted and doubted their own ability. But Jesus shows up and in the midst of their emptiness, He releases a surge of acceleration that no one saw coming!
John 21:6 Jesus told them to go back, out a little ways and then, drop the nets on the right side of the boat for a catch of fish like nothing they had ever seen before. In a short time they went from not enough to more than enough, from empty boats to overloaded boats, from nothing is happening to Good Lord, how can we handle all that’s happening!!!! That tells me acceleration is closer to us than we think.
In the book of Amos, God describes what happens when we are caught in the flow of acceleration. Amos 9:13 “Behold, the days come, says the LORD, that the one who is plowing shall overtake the one who is reaping, and the treader of grapes shall overtake those that sow the seed…” (now that’s not natural)
It is a supernatural process that overrules the natural realm, the natural laws, and the natural processes. I believe great doors of favor are opening and God says, “I will open and none shall shut it, and I will close and none shall be able to open”.
I believe we will have the blessing of the right place, in the right time, with the right people, doing the right things, walking through the right doors, seizing the right opportunities.
I especially believe there will be momentum in the areas of finances, relationships and family reconciliation. We are also going to see a blessing in the harvest of souls. Sometimes you feel like you being stretched pretty thin, but acceleration begins to take place when we come to a thin place, where this realm mergeswith that realm and that realm is flowing into this realm, where the impossible becomes possible….We are allowed to handle the substance of eternity, not just that thing, but the one who is the source and the purpose of all things!
We will never, never, never!!! Be ashamed when we trust in the Lord! It’s important to remove negative words from our vocabulary (it’s called the “shut your mouth” anointing) and get those negative patterns from our thinking. Begin to think possibilities, think miracles, and prepare your heart and spirit to be fertile ground for acceleration.
Create an atmosphere of celebration around you wherever you go and whatever you do.
Jesus is the master of acceleration….He brings Kairos into our Cronos. Cronos is natural time, but Kairos is God’s time…I believe we are in a change of seasons, and God is ending one season and beginning another
Galatians 6:9 refers to Kairos, when it says, “let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season (Kairos season) we shall reap, if we faint not”. King David said, “My times (or my Cronos) is in Your hands”….
I believe your Kairos season is here!!!
Would you join me at this time, as we get ready to receive communion…
Jesus offered Himself as a timeless sacrifice in the great exchange, when He took our place, our sickness and disease but most of all our sin, and He overwhelmed everything that would try to overwhelm us when life overwhelmed death and flooded the tomb where they had lain his body. We read in 1 Corinthians 11:23 (Paul speaking) “For I pass on to you what I received from the Lord himself. On the night when he was betrayed, the Lord Jesus took some bread 24 and gave thanks to God for it. Then he broke it in pieces and said, “This is my body, which is given for you.[a] Do this in remembrance of me.” 25 In the same way, he took the cup of wine after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant between God and his people—an agreement confirmed with my blood. Do this in remembrance of me as often as you drink it.” 26 For every time you eat this bread and drink this cup, you are announcing the Lord’s death until he comes again”.
*We receive the bread, and the wholeness, health and healing which we have in this covenant with our Lord. Lord we thank you for your covenant with us. We receive healing, health and wholeness as we praise you for granting this amazing gift to us, in Jesus name.
*We receive the cup, and the forgiveness of sin, the breaking of every curse, and all that redemption offers to us through the sacrificial covenant which our Lord freely gives to all who believe. Lord we believe. In Jesus Name and through His resurrected body, which forever speaks that it is finished, all is now available to every believer.
Lord, give us faith, now to believe and embrace, your supernatural supply. By your resurrection, You have sealed every promise You’ve made. Help us to celebrate it before we see it…. and establish it with a heart of gratitude and thanksgiving. Help us to know that your grace really needs nothing more than a willing vessel, a trusting, receptive heart, and being available to You. Lord, may wealign ourselves in agreement with what you have to say about us, and believe that we are who You say we are, so that we can be what you say we can be, and do what You say we can do, for then,we can have what you say we can have, in new and extraordinary ways, every morning of every day. Weeping may endure for the night, but joy comes in the morning, In Jesus name, Amen!
Thank you for allowing us to be with you and to have the blessing of this fellowship we have in Christ… Till next time…
