“Prepare For And Expect The Blessing!”

Pastor Jim Lowe III

Sunday Morning, 9:30am Stream 01/07/24 (1st Sunday Message) (Final Version)

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{All scriptures are “NIV84” unless stated}

Message Title:

“Prepare For And Expect The Blessing!”

Back in October God began speaking on a message that would need to be taught in 2024.

2024: A Year of Favor For The Faithful!

There is a lot here and God has been speaking. But basically:

God is telling us that he will be rewarding faithfulness in a greater way THIS YEAR.

For those who have been committed when all they see is catastrophe’.
For those who have been sowing while surrounded with sadness.
For those who have trusted even when it seems everything is being taken.

God is saying:

If you’ve been faithful:

Prepare For And Expect The Blessing!

God is about to reward you for your faithfulness. If this has been you…get ready!

God Is Going To Start Rewarding Those Who Have Been Faithful!

God has been watching you.

God has seen how you have been faithful… This isn’t a random word:

And it’s consistent with words others are giving also! “More in 2024”

“Soar in 2024”

“The answer is yes in 2024!”

It all lines up with God’s Favor lined up for you!

Amos 9:13 (NCV)

13 The Lord says, “The time is coming when there will be all kinds of food. People will still be harvesting crops when it’s time to plow again. People will still be taking the juice from grapes when it’s time to plant again. Wine will drip from the mountains and pour from the hills.

There is a time coming…

Where there will all kinds of food.

People will be harvesting crops when it’s time to plow again. This means the reward that’s coming will be so big:

When it’s time to plant again…

you’ll still be living oﬀ of what you gathered!

God Is Going To Start Overflowing The Blessings In The Lives Of Those Who Have Been Faithful To Him!

This may not be able to apply to everyone… but for the faithful…

God is going to do something!

Amos 9:13 (MSG)

“Yes indeed, it won’t be long now.” GOD’s Decree. “Things are going to happen so fast your head will swim, one thing fast on the heels of the other. You won’t be able to keep up. Everything will be happening at once—and everywhere you look, blessings! Blessings like wine pouring oﬀ the mountains and hills. I’ll make everything right again for my people Israel:

Many of us can already see things shaping up for 2024.

Many of us can already see where God is moving for this year! We can see where growth is happening.

We invested in things last year that are doing well.

We are dreaming of the things God is telling us to do now. God is getting ready to reward those who are listening to him! God is going to separate:

the faithful from the fakes.

So how do WE make sure we get God’s favor?

How Do We Receive God’s Blessing This Year?

Make Sure You Have The Right Relationship With God

God does these things with HIS people.

Psalm 84:11

11 For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord bestows favor and honor; no good thing does he withhold from those whose walk is blameless.

God is a covering for those who have the right relationship with him. No good thing does he withhold!

When it’s time for you to be blessed… God opens the floodgates!

Hebrews 11:6

6 And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.

God rewards those who seek him! SEEKING God brings a reward!

Your Relationship With God Is Setting You Up For Favor This Year!

Let’s look back at psalm 23.

Psalm 23:1-4

1 The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not be in want. 2 He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, 3 he restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. 4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staﬀ, they comfort me.

This tells us all the things we get.

If The Lord Is Our Shepherd:

We Have All We Need
We Have Access To Peace
He Restores Us When We Are Weak
We Never Have To Fear

These are ALL IF…

The Lord is our Shepherd.

If we are in the right position with God… But something more specific:

Psalm 23:5

5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.

God had been showing me this over and over: This was something I kept hearing for this year.

He prepares a table for us in the presence of our enemies.

Many of us have watched others get blessed for years now.

We have seen those who seem to make a mockery of God “win.” But God said that the time is coming…

Where YOU are going to be exalted above them.

Where those who won in front of you are now going to have to acknowledge you!

YOUR time for blessing is coming!

Keep Trusting! God Is About To Reward You!

{How Do We Receive God’s Blessing This Year?

1. Make Sure You Have The Right Relationship With God}

For #2:

How Do We Receive God’s Blessing This Year?

Make Sure You Are Moving When God Says Move!

Make sure you go where God says go! What is the plan for the year?

What is God directing you to? What is God saying to you?

Has God been waiting on your for years? Once you know it is God, it’s time to go!

What Is It God Is Telling You To Do? There Is A Reward There For Those Who Do It!

What is God telling you to do? We are part of the Body of Christ. EVERY part has it’s function.

Each function should be FUNCTIONING!

If God Is Talking To You, He’s NOT Telling You To Sit!

Look at what God said to Abram:

Genesis 12:1-2

The Lord had said to Abram, “Leave your country, your people and your father’s household and go to the land I will show you. 2 “I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing.

Leave where you are and “go.”

Why is God asking him to go?

“I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you.” God is saying there is a reason to go.

But the end results in your blessing! What did he say to Moses?

Exodus 3:10

10 So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt.”

He told Moses in Exodus to go and get his people out of Egypt. Why?

Because he had something better for them. He had a promised land to send them to.

A land flowing with milk and honey. But to GET to that promised land… they had to “go.”

They had to do something.

Trust God To Lead You!

Isaiah 58:11 (MSG)

I will always show you where to go. I’ll give you a full life in the emptiest of places

—firm muscles, strong bones. You’ll be like a well-watered garden, a gurgling spring that never runs dry.

If God is saying move…the blessing is NOT where you currently are!

Many times we are scared to move because we are finding reasons to wait.

If God Is Telling You To Go, The Time Is Right!

Don’t wait for it!

It’s already available!

John 4:35

35 Do you not say, ‘Four months more and then the harvest’? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest.

Too many times we are waiting on the right moment to listen to God. If God tells you to go…NOW is the time!

We are missing out on our own blessing because we aren’t moving when God says go!

Many Times We Have Missed Out On Our Own Blessings Because We Didn’t Move When God Said So!

There is a harvest ready!!

We have to listen to the Lord.

Deuteronomy 28:8

8 The Lord will send a blessing on your barns and on everything you put your hand to. The Lord your God will bless you in the land he is giving you.

Everything you PUT YOUR HAND To. The Lord will bless what you touch!

If you don’t touch it…it doesn’t get the blessing!

God Can’t Bless The Work If You Won’t Do It!

What should we be doing?

Make Sure You Are Committed

Make sure you are showing God you are beyond committed. you are serving by being here

you are supporting the work of the Lord

God is rewarding the faithful…MAKE SURE YOU ARE BEING FAITHFUL!

Pray And Write Down What God Has Been Telling You

God what should I be doing?

job related, ministry related, life related Write the vision down and make it plain

Pray Over It While Asking God To Open The Necessary Doors

Make sure this is really what God told you And if you know without a doubt it was God…

Get Going!

Look for the blessing!

These are some of the ways God will be rewarding this year. We’ll talk about more next week.