TURNING OUR PAIN INTO GAIN!
Jeremiah 29:8-14
8. For thus says the Lord of host, the God of Israel: Do not let your Prophets and your diviners who are in your midst deceive you, nor listen to your dreams which you cause to be dreamed.
9. For they Prophesy falsely to you in my name; I have not sent them says the Lord.
10. For thus saith the Lord: after 70 years are completed at Babylon, I will visit you and perform My good word toward you, and cause you to return to this place.
11. For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.
12. Then you will call upon me and go and pray to me, and I will listen to you.
13. And you will seek Me and find me, when you search for me with all your heart.
14. I will be found by you says the Lord, and I will bring you back from your captivity; I will gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you, says the Lord, and I will bring you to the place from which I cause you to be carried away captive.
Israel, at this time, is in a time of captivity by deportations out of their homeland; they are being held in captivity by the city of Babylon.
They are in exile because of their disobedience to God, but even while they were there; there was a hope of restoration.
There was that hope of God fixing that which was broken.
Jeremiah wasn’t in captivity yet; He had a letter sent to the people in exile.
He told them not to let the Prophets in your midst or the diviner’s deceive you.
Do not listen to your dreams, They’re telling their own dreams. I never sent them!
I’m going to do what I said I was going to do, I will deliver you in 70 years, my time, not theirs.
God knew He had a plan for Israel, He had plans for their well being, and He had a future and a hope for them.
The exiles were in a lot of pain, how would you like to be ripped out of your homeland?
God was going to turn their pain into gain!
Have we ever felt like we were in exile? Have we ever felt that we have been taken away from what we love?
God wants to fix the situation you’re in.
We know God is a builder, but He is also a fixer.
Even though Israel is in exile, there’s still hope.
Even though there in pain, gain is on the way.
We go through the bad to bring us to the good; it’s a work in progress.
God will always take the hurt we feel and fix it; He doesn’t want us to be hurt.
He doesn’t want us to be discouraged.
He doesn’t want us to be in exile, alone in a situation by ourselves
God never leaves us alone if we’re in Christ, The Word says He will never leave us nor forsake us.
If we’re born again, we’ve always got help to turn to. (JESUS)
When it seems we’re alone, call out to Jesus.
God told the exiles in Jeremiah 29:12-14
12. Then you will call upon me and go and pray to me, and I will listen to you.
13. And you will seek Me and find me, when you search for me with all your heart.
14. I will be found by you says the Lord, and I will bring you back from your captivity; I will gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you, says the Lord, and I will bring you to the place from which I cause you to be carried away captive.
We need to pray! God will listen to you!
We need to have a heart relationship; the heart is the very core of the man or woman.
Call out with everything in you, God will restore you to the place He had originally planned for you before your disobedience.
Restoration in your life!
In 2001, God spoke a word to me; restoration.
God wants to restore the broken down lives, He wants to fix the way the Gifts of the Spirit have been misused in our services.
Have you been hurt by someone who has misused God’s Gifts?
Maybe you feel hurt from the past, don’t let the hurt get in the way of Gods blessings.
1 PETER 1:3-10
3. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to his abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
4. to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you,
5. who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in this last time.
6. In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, If need be, you have been grieved by various trials.
7. That the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the Revelation of Jesus Christ.
8. whom having not seen you love. Though you do not see him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory.
9. receiving the end of your faith-the salvation of your souls.
10.Of this salvation the Prophets have inquired and searched diligently, who Prophesied of the grace that would come to you.
As a Christian, I’m protected by the power of God, Salvation has been revealed right now.
Faith in Jesus is what you need!
DREAM 4-8-2005
I dreamed my sister and I went back to where we lived as kids. When we lived at this house, our mom died; then about a month later our house burnt down. We were looking at where the house used to sit. There was some kind of covering over it. We started talking about our mom. I then went on and told her of the visions I had of mom as a young boy. (7 years old) I told her God showed me she went to Heaven, and I knew someday I would see her again. We both started to cry uncontrollably.
INTERPRETATION
God took me back where I used to live.
As kids our mom died and our house burned down.
God let me see a bad time in order to appreciate the good.
We saw where the house used to sit, there was a covering over the top of it.
As we talked about God, I shared with her the visions God showed me as a 7 year old boy.
In the dream, I shared it with her what happened; now I’m going to share them with you.
First of all, when I was a kid, we seldom went to church because my mom was sick; she had heart problems.
Before she went to the hospital, she made me promise that when I was old enough, I would go to church.
Promise me that you will remember, I said I would and I did.
After she died, I saw who I thought was my mom walk through the door of our house as my Dad came home from the hospital.
She had on the dress that she was buried in.
I didn’t realized it was a vision from God.
About a month later our house burnt down, we lost everything.
We now move in with my aunt.
One morning I was awakened to get ready for school, I look at the ceiling and I saw these like power boxes, all different colors coming from the ceiling. I didn’t realize the boxes represented gifts from God.
I didn’t understood God was again giving me a vision.
The very next day, the same thing happened, except this time I saw a vision of my mother swooping from the 4 corners of the ceiling, with the power boxes at the same time.
She was like an angel.
My Pastor told me when I was a teen that this was from the devil, but he was wrong.
God was letting me know my mom accepted Christ as her personal Savior.
Dreams and Visions are part of the last day church!
Now back to the meaning of the dream!
The house is no longer there, the body is dead.
To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.
There was a covering where the house was, my mom accepted Christ before she died.
The covering is the blood of Christ!
God showed me I would see her again!
My sister and I cried hysterically.
We felt the pain as if it was happening again.
The pain was turned to joy!
God took the bad and worked it for His glory!
ROMANS 8:28
28.And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to his purpose.
Israel’s pain was turned to joy!
God was going to raise up true Prophets while they were in Babylon.
He would give their homeland back.
Restoration, hope was coming their way.
Do we have pain that we can’t deal with?
Your pain will be turned to gain!
God will take the bad and make something good out of it.
There will be joy in the morning.
With Jesus in your life, it will get easier and easier to deal with.
You have to want to do it!
You have to want restoration in your life.
God began a good work in your life; He wants to perfect it according to Philippians 1:6.
Closing
Turning pain into gain!
ROMANS 8:31
31.What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us.
