Don't Stop Preparing
Ecclesiastes 11:4-6 (NLT)
4 Farmers who wait for perfect weather never plant. If they watch every cloud, they never harvest.
5 Just as you cannot understand the path of the wind or the mystery of a tiny baby growing in its mother’s womb,[a] so you cannot understand the activity of God, who does all things.
6 Plant your seed in the morning and keep busy all afternoon, for you don’t know if profit will come from one activity or another—or maybe both.
IF YOU REALLY BELIEVE THE PROMISES THAT GOD HAS MADE YOU…
DON’T STOP PREPARING!!!
IF IT HAS NOT HAPPENED YET…
DON’T STOP PREPARING!!!
IF IT LOOKS LIKE THINGS ARE GOING IN THE OPPOSITE DIRECTION THAN WHAT YOU EXPECTED...
DON’T STOP PREPARING!!!
IF THE PROCESS IN NO WAY RESEMBLES THE PROMISE...
DON’T STOP PREPARING!!!!
TAKE THE GEAR SHIFT OUT OF NEUTRAL AND PUT IT BACK IN DRIVE,
PUT YOUR HANDS ON THE WHEEL.
YOUR FEET ON THE PEDAL.
AND KEEP MOVING FORWARD!
Philippians 3:13-14 (NKJV)
13 Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead,
14 I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
TAKE YOUR EYES OFF OF THE CALENDAR AND PUT THEM BACK ON THE PROMISE
AND KEEP PREPARING!!!!!
THIS IS A CRITICAL TIME IN THE KINGDOM AND THERE IS NO TIME TO GET SLACK IN ANYTHING THAT PERTAINS TO THE KINGDOM.
THIS IS THE TIME TO SIEZE THE MOMENT!
IT IS THE TIME TO APPREHEND!
IT IS THE TIME TO RUN THROUGH TROOPS AND LEAP OVER WALLS.
IT IS NOT TIME TO SLOW DOWN OR TO GIVE UP!!!
AND IT IS CERTAINLY NOT TIME TO PROCRASTINATE!
WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR???
HOLY SPIRIT SAID TO TELL YOU THAT YOU’VE GOT TO DO SOMETHING TO GET SOMETHING!!!
WHAT EVER GOD HAS PROMISED YOU OR ME REQUIRES OUR PARTICIPATION.
THAT’S WHAT OUR TEXT IS TELLING US!
4 Farmers who wait for perfect weather never plant. If they watch every cloud, they never harvest.
LET ME ADD THAT IT REQUIRES MORE THAN JUST FASTING AND PRAYING,
WISHING AND HOPING,
DECREEING AND DECLARING!!!!
THERE ARE NO AUTOMATIC DOORS TO OBTAINING THE PROMISE.
YOU CAN’T JUST STAND IN FRONT OF THEM AND EXPECT THEM TO OPEN.
NO, YOU HAVE GOT TO USE THE KEY TO OPEN THEM.
“FAITH WITHOUT WORKS IS DEAD!”
I PRAY THIS WORD IS DOING FOR YOU WHAT HOLY SPIRIT INTENDS FOR IT TO DO.
IT IS NOT TO BELITTLE ANYONE.
IT IS NOT TO DISCOURAGE ANYONE.
IT IS NOT TO OVERWHELM ANYONE.
THE WORD COMES TO BRING LIFE!!!
IT COMES TO REVIVE YOU AND TO STIR YOU UP TO NOT GIVE UP AT THIS CRITICAL MOMENT IN THE KINGDOM!!!!
DON'T GIVE UP AND DON'T FAINT IN THE DAY OF ADVERSITY.
ADVERSITY DOES NOT MEAN YOU ARE DEFEATED!!!!
IT ONLY MEANS THAT YOU ARE BEING CHALLENGED BY CONDITIONS THAT DON’T LOOK LIKE WHAT YOU HAD EXPECTED!!!
KEEP PREPARING!!!
ADVERSITY DOES NOT MEAN THAT IT IS TIME TO STOP. THAT'S THE DEVIL PLAN FOR YOU!!!
THE DEVIL WANTS TO STEAL THE WORD THAT PROTECTS THE PROMISE BY GETTING YOU TO QUIT THE WORK THAT PRODUCES THE PROMISE!!!
HERE IS ONE MORE INSIGHT. DON'T WORRY IF YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND EVERYTHING THAT HAPPENS.
5 Just as you cannot understand the path of the wind or the mystery of a tiny baby growing in its mother’s womb,[a] so you cannot understand the activity of God, who does all things.
YOU TRUST IN THE GOD WHO DOES ALL THINGS!!!
YOU DON’T NEED TO UNDERSTAND IT.
YOU DON’T NEED TO WASTE TIME ON HOW DID THIS HAPPEN OR WHY DID THIS HAPPEN?
A GOOD FARMER KNOWS THAT SOMETIMES YOU HAVE TO ADD A LITTLE "MESS" TO THE SOIL TO PRODUCE A BETTER HARVEST.
SO KEEP PREPARING!!!!
KEEP PLANTING SEED!
KEEP SOWING GOOD WORKS!
KEEP DOING WHATEVER IT IS THAT HOLY SPIRIT IS TELLING YOU TO DO!
AS I CLOSE, IF YOU WANT TO EXPERIENCE SOME OF THE GREATEST VICTORIES THAT YOU HAVE EVER KNOWN, THEN DON'T GROW WEARY IN WELL DOING FOR YOU WILL REAP IF YOU DON'T QUIT!!!
JUST KEEP PREPARING!!!!
GRACE & PEACE,
PASTOR KAREN
