Luke 6:20-23 “And he lifted up his eyes on his disciples, and said, Blessed be ye poor: for yours is the kingdom of God. 21 Blessed are ye that hunger now: for ye shall be filled. Blessed are ye that weep now: for ye shall laugh. 22 Blessed are ye, when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you from their company, and shall reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of man’s sake. 23 Rejoice ye in that day, and leap for joy: for, behold, your reward is great in heaven: for in the like manner did their fathers unto the prophets.”
John 12:24-25 “Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. 25 He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal.”
We need to learn how to think. There are spiritual paradoxes, difficult to understand, but important. We need to learn to think as Jesus thinks. The most important is choosing to trust Jesus, no matter what.
In the Chicago metro, 14% live below the poverty line. Their household income is about $300/wk. 9% is ‘food insecure’, not knowing where their next meal is coming from. 1 in 4 women suffer from domestic violence, not just physical, but also emotional, verbal, etc.
Rev 6:10 “And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?”
They were asking, ‘When?!’
Jesus said, ‘There would be people close to you who reject you, but in that pain, rejoice.’ How? How do we do this? When Pastor had an intestinal sickness, the doctor said, ‘Relax.’ His response was, ‘I don’t relax like this at home!’ When Jesus was saying this stuff, He was telling us to trust Him.
God operates on principles. Of course, He has anger and joy, but He always acts on principles rather than on emotions. You might FEEL like you can fly, but the law of gravity will bring you down to the ground quickly. If you want to walk on water, it has to be frozen.
On the other hand, there is Someone who can change the laws of nature, the very One who wrote them. However, we are not given that power.
Hosea 8:7 “For they have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind: it hath no stalk; the bud shall yield no meal: if so be it yield, the strangers shall swallow it up.”
Hosea 10:12 “Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground: for it is time to seek the Lord, till he come and rain righteousness upon you.”
It’s what’s in the seed, not the soil that determines what harvest you will reap. No matter what kind of soil, if you plant an apple seed, you will have an apple tree.
Job 4:8 “Even as I have seen, they that plow iniquity, and sow wickedness, reap the same.”
Prov 22:8 “He that soweth iniquity shall reap vanity: and the rod of his anger shall fail.”
Gal 6:7-8 “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. 8 For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.”
Jacob stole a blessing from his father through lies. Then, he ended up running for his life. Later, Jacob ended up being lied to by his father-in-law. The lies Jacob had sowed, he ended up reaping. In fact, Jacob ended up married to the wrong woman after working for seven years. He was tricked. The fullness of his sowing and reaping hadn’t yet happened. Later on, his own children lied to him about his favorite son, Joseph. Lies bring so much hurt.
David sowed some sin in his kingdom (adultery and murder). Because of this, he reaped endless wars; there was never a time of peace during his time as king. In fact, David’s own son, Absalom, tried to take his throne.
How can we avoid the consequences of the bad things we’ve done? Can we just say, ‘Jesus died for my sins, so can we call it even?’ Can we avoid receiving the punishment we deserve? Yes. We can avoid the full punishment for our sins. The question is, How?
What happened to stop this law from coming to pass?
Jesus is the master at reversing laws and instituting a substitute for this law.
Jesus said, ‘If we weep, we will laugh.’ How do we get there? How do we receive something we don’t deserve to receive?
A paradox is ‘a seemingly absurd or self-contradictory statement or proposition that when investigated or explained may prove to be well founded or true,’ according to Oxford Languages Dictionary (online). ‘He that finds his life will lose it.’ This doesn’t make sense. These are spiritual paradoxes. ‘He that loses his life will find it.’
It doesn’t make sense, yet it is a spiritual paradox. Jesus will change your life. He turns evil into good. It’s a lesson in trust.
In order to enter into this, you must activate the Law of Transformation. You must insert Jesus into these situations and circumstances. He is the master of reversals.
How can something grow when it is cut back? That’s how these transformation laws work. How can you be strong when you are weak? It’s the law of transformation. It can only be activated by trust in Jesus.
Understand how Jesus operates and have the faith to try this out.
If you have a spirit of heaviness, burden, put on the ‘garment of praise.’ Who starts praising God when they are depressed? It’s the person who chooses to trust Jesus in spite of how you feel. Because God said it, it is so.
How do you know something that is unknowable? How can you have chaos going on all around you and yet have peace? It’s all in trusting Jesus. It’s real. The pressure coming against you squeezes out anointing.
At the foot of the Mount of Olives there are olive trees all over the place. Gethsemane is a word that means ‘olive press.’ Jesus knew that He must go to the Garden of Gethsemane before going to the cross. Jesus was under tremendous pressure when He prayed. Of course, He didn’t want to be crucified! Yet, He chose to submit His flesh to His Spirit. There would be joy afterward. Jesus went through it because of what was on the other side, joy forever. ‘Nevertheless, not my will, but thy will be done.’
We don’t want brokenness, but it is through that we get wholeness. Jesus is the King of kings and Lord of lords. He’s a healer, so why am I sick? This is a lesson in trust. Where is the God who said, ‘You will reap these blessings after you go through’? If you choose to trust in spite of, you will reap the blessings He promised.
A pastor lost his three-year-old child. She died of a brain tumor. At the funeral, the dad lifted his hands and blessed the Lord. It wasn’t easy, but he chose to trust God anyway.
1 Pet 4:12-13 “Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: 13 But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.”
Job 23:8-10 “Behold, I go forward, but he is not there; and backward, but I cannot perceive him: 9 On the left hand, where he doth work, but I cannot behold him: he hideth himself on the right hand, that I cannot see him: 10 But he knoweth the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold.”
I don’t know where God is, but He knows where I am.
Psa 66:10-12 “For thou, O God, hast proved us: thou hast tried us, as silver is tried. 11 Thou broughtest us into the net; thou laidst affliction upon our loins. 12 Thou hast caused men to ride over our heads; we went through fire and through water: but thou broughtest us out into a wealthy place.”
Prov 17:3 “The fining pot is for silver, and the furnace for gold: but the Lord trieth the hearts.”
It’s not the devil which tries us, it’s God.
You may not like the answers God gives. Asking why may yield more answers than you really want. We want the victory, but not the battle. When I suffer and struggle and choose to rejoice anyway, I grow.
In order to make a coin shiny, it gets spit on and rubbed hard. Who wants that? We want shiny without the spit and rub.
In order for extraordinary, supernatural things to happen in your life, you’ve got to choose to trust God. God is with you. With Him, anything can happen.
Allow your hearts to be purified. This requires refining fire. It is after the fire that you have the pure silver and gold.
Mal 3:3 “And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness.”
Both the devil and God get blamed for things they didn’t do. We sometimes do stupid things and receive those consequences. Even in that, there is hope.
Peter said, ‘We’re not drunk as you suppose. This is the Spirit. Job talked about this.’ The Holy Ghost is like wine. Everything is beautiful. Pain is numbed. Everyone is happy. Love is everywhere.
Wine comes from grapes. They’re easy to squeeze. You can’t do that with an olive. An olive must be pressed. If you want the anointing, you must be pressed.
Two things that priests and kings had in common, they were appointed and anointed. The Bible says that we are now kings and priests. We are appointed and anointed. We are chosen. The apothecary makes anointing oil. Olives must be squeezed and pressed and crushed and destroyed. In order to get the blessing, there must be a breaking.
John 12:24 “Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.”
Stop saying that you’re a failure. Instead, say, ‘I’m blessed.’ Don’t say, ‘I’m stressed.’ Stressed backwards is ‘dessert.’ Yum! If you take a seed and plant it, it will decompose and mix with the soil and start to grow. In order to know your purpose, you have to die. You’ve got to go into the dirt and get stepped on. Then, more happens. One seed produces many, many apples. It’s not just one apple. It’s an entire tree full. When Jesus died for us, He came back a conqueror.
How many blessings can come from your suffering? Joseph was broken and was then blessed and saved many people. Jesus died and then rose again and many were saved.
Don’t give up hope. This is a lesson in trust. It may seem crazy. If you forget about your dreams and trust God, you’ll see all that and so much more happen. If you give up your life, you will find it. This is a lesson in trust.
It’s so simple to talk about, but not simple to live out. Paul said, ‘Nothing can separate you from the love of God.’
Rom 8:37 “Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.”
Paul was talking about us saying that ‘through Jesus, we are more than conquerors.’ Jesus cares so much that He will walk with us through the fire.
More Questions for Personal or Group Study:
- What really spoke to you in this message?
- What trouble are you dealing with now? What is your response? Are you choosing to trust Jesus in spite of what’s going on? Why or why not?
- Read Isaiah 26:3-4. What are the promises here? What is our part in order to receive those promises? Why can we trust Him?
- How can you encourage someone else with this message?
Excerpted from a sermon preached by Pastor Anthony LoCascio.
If you are looking for an Apostolic Pentecostal church and are in the Chicagoland area, come check out The Life Church of Northbrook located at 1925 Cherry Ln, Northbrook, IL 60062.
We have services on Sundays at 11 am (in person and online): The Life Church of Northbrook.
Instagram: tlcnorthbrook On Wednesday evenings at 7:00pm you are invited to join a Life Group. We would love to see you!
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