Focus on The Assignment - Message 2 - Assignments Come With Training—and Testing
Assignments come with training and testing, a truth that often goes unrecognized in the journey of faith. In this message, we explore the uncomfortable yet essential aspects of preparation that accompany divine assignments. It is imperative to understand that what may appear as delay or punishment is, in fact, a process of preparation for our growth and maturity. The episode delves into the significance of character development alongside our gifts, emphasizing that while our talents may gain us attention, it is our character that sustains us in positions of influence. We are reminded that true prosperity is contingent upon purpose, and that our journey through testing ultimately reveals the depths of our hearts and readiness for greater responsibilities. The second message in the "Focus on the Assignment" series addresses the often hidden struggles of spiritual assignments—training and testing. The host begins by welcoming listeners and asserting that these challenges are not punishment, but preparation for greater purposes. The key verse from 1 Peter 5:10 underscores the promise that after seasons of suffering, God will restore and strengthen His followers. This foundational truth sets the stage for a discussion on the importance of enduring trials to develop the character necessary for leadership and influence. Utilizing an analogy from physical fitness, the host highlights that many celebrate achievements while neglecting to acknowledge the arduous training that accompanies them. This theme is further illustrated through the story of Joseph, who experienced profound trials that ultimately shaped his character and leadership abilities. The host articulates that while gifts may initially attract attention, it is one's character that sustains success in the long run, cautioning that without character, individuals risk losing what they have gained. As the podcast progresses, the emphasis shifts to the necessity of testing as a means of divine wisdom. The host provocatively states that some individuals may not require additional wealth but rather more maturity to manage it. The message culminates in practical applications, encouraging listeners to steward their current resources faithfully and to embrace correction as a pathway to growth. The closing prayer reiterates a commitment to embrace God's training process, reinforcing the message that difficulties are a vital part of divine preparation for future blessings.
Takeaways:
- Assignments inherently involve both training and testing, which are essential for preparation rather than punishment.
- The depth of your training correlates directly with the magnitude of your assignment and potential impact.
- Character is paramount; while gifts may open doors, it is character that sustains one's position and influence.
- God's testing is a means to reveal what resides within your heart, ensuring you are ready for greater responsibilities.
Transcript
Foreign.
Speaker A:Welcome back.
Speaker A:This is Message two in our series Focus on the Assignment.
Speaker A:And today we're going to talk about the part.
Speaker A:Nobody posts the part, nobody celebrates the part that feels like delay, pressure and pain.
Speaker A:Because here's the truth.
Speaker A:Assignments come with training and testing.
Speaker A:And if you don't understand this, you'll interpret God's process as punishment.
Speaker A:But you're not being punished.
Speaker A:You're being prepared.
Speaker A:Let us pray.
Speaker A:Father, in the name of Jesus, give us understanding, give us endurance, give us humility to embrace process.
Speaker A:Deliver us from impatience, entitlement and spiritual shortcuts.
Speaker A:Shape our character, sharpen our discipline and increase our capacity.
Speaker A:Let this word produce fruit, real fruit, lasting fruit, in Jesus name.
Speaker A:Amen.
Speaker A:Our scripture for today is 1 Peter 5:10.
Speaker A:And the God of all grace, after you have suffered a while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.
Speaker A:After, not before.
Speaker A:After.
Speaker A:There is a strengthening that only comes after you survive something.
Speaker A:There's a firmness that only comes after you're shaken.
Speaker A:Let me start with something simple.
Speaker A:People love posting the results.
Speaker A:Nobody posts the reps.
Speaker A:They'll post the after picture, but not the sweating, trembling, painful before.
Speaker A:Because training brothers and sisters is not glamorous.
Speaker A:Training is repetitive.
Speaker A:Training is humbling.
Speaker A:Training is uncomfortable.
Speaker A:And the kingdom works the same way.
Speaker A:Many people want platform without process.
Speaker A:They want increase without integrity.
Speaker A:They want harvest without habit.
Speaker A:But God is not running a lottery.
Speaker A:God is building a leader.
Speaker A:Now, if your assignment is big, your training will be deep.
Speaker A:If your impact is public, your testing will be private first.
Speaker A:And if God is planning to prosper you, he will first mature you.
Speaker A:Because prosperity without maturity doesn't bless you, it exposes you.
Speaker A:Let's talk about gifts and our main point.
Speaker A:Your gift gets you noticed.
Speaker A:Your character keeps you there.
Speaker A:Gifts are real, brothers and sisters.
Speaker A:Anointing is real.
Speaker A:Calling is real.
Speaker A: Proverbs: Speaker A:Yes, your gift can open doors.
Speaker A:But your gift is not your biggest problem.
Speaker A:Your character is your biggest responsibility.
Speaker A:Because many people got a rune and then their character evicted them.
Speaker A:They got the opportunity and then their ego ruined it.
Speaker A:They got the promotion and then their appetite destroyed it.
Speaker A:They got the platform and then their mouth cancelled it.
Speaker A:Let me say clean.
Speaker A:Your gifting can take you to heights your character cannot sustain.
Speaker A:And God loves you too much to prosper.
Speaker A:What will destroy you?
Speaker A:That's why the Bible emphasizes leaders being tested and mature.
Speaker A:Even In Church Leadership, 1 Timothy 3 lays out character qualifications.
Speaker A:God is not just asking, can you preach he's asking can you endure?
Speaker A:Can you steward?
Speaker A:Can you stay clean?
Speaker A:Can you stay humble?
Speaker A:Lets talk about Joseph, who was gifted or trained.
Speaker A:Joseph had a dream and the dream was real.
Speaker A:But Joseph also had immaturity.
Speaker A:He had a little swagger, he had a little.
Speaker A:Let me tell you what God showed me.
Speaker A:So God didn't cancel him, God trained him.
Speaker A:Pit Potiphar's house, prison, then palace and notice something, the dream wasn't about leadership.
Speaker A:The dream was about leadership.
Speaker A:But the carrot training was about character.
Speaker A:Let's talk about main point number two.
Speaker A:That testing reveals whether you're safe with increase.
Speaker A:Now I'm going to say something that can offend the flesh, but it will save your life.
Speaker A:Some of you don't need more money, you need more maturity.
Speaker A:Because if God gave you the level of wealth you're asking for right now, it wouldn't bless you, it would amplify your issues.
Speaker A:And God is not about to fund your dysfunction.
Speaker A:Listen, if you're reckless with small money, big money will make you legendary in the wrong way.
Speaker A:If you're undisciplined with time, more opportunities will overwhelm you.
Speaker A:If you are thirsty for attention, bigger influence will intoxicate you.
Speaker A:That's why God tests.
Speaker A:Not because he's cruel, because he's wise.
Speaker A:That's why God tests.
Speaker A:Deuteronomy 8:2 tells us, Remember how the Lord your God led you to humble and test you in order to know what was in your heart.
Speaker A:Testing reveals what's in your heart.
Speaker A:It reveals do you obey when it's hard?
Speaker A:Do you serve when it's hidden?
Speaker A:Do you stay pure when tempted?
Speaker A:Do you remain grateful when it's slow?
Speaker A:God won't promote your tantrum.
Speaker A:Some people want God to promote them while they still throw tantrums.
Speaker A:God is like, no, no.
Speaker A:And not with that attitude.
Speaker A:You can't be praying for elevation while you're still offended by correction.
Speaker A:You can't be asking for increase while you refuse to be accountable.
Speaker A:You can't call it spiritual warfare when it's actually spiritual immaturity.
Speaker A:Let's be honest, sometimes it's not an attack, it's a lesson.
Speaker A:Let's look at point number three.
Speaker A:Prosperity without purpose produces pride.
Speaker A:But purpose driven prosperity produces impact.
Speaker A:Now let's define biblical prosperity properly.
Speaker A:Biblical prosperity is not God making you a trophy, it is God making you a channel.
Speaker A:If the blessing ends with you, it was never the goal.
Speaker A:That's why some prayers don't get answered, because the motive is off.
Speaker A:James 4:3 tells us when you Ask.
Speaker A:You do not receive because you ask with wrong motives.
Speaker A:Wrong motives can block right requests.
Speaker A:You can want the right thing for the wrong reason.
Speaker A:But when prosperity is tied to purpose, God has no problem releasing it because it will feed the hungry, it will build the ministry, it will educate the child, it will support the family, it will fund the Gospel, it will create jobs and it will advance the kingdom.
Speaker A:Deuteronomy 8:18 tells us, it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth.
Speaker A:The ability is a stewardship, not a flex.
Speaker A:Let's take time to reframe your season.
Speaker A:Let me talk to the person who feels stuck.
Speaker A:You've been praying and it feels like nothing is moving.
Speaker A:You've been serving and it feels like nobody sees you.
Speaker A:You've been doing right and it feels like you're being punished.
Speaker A:Listen to me carefully.
Speaker A:Don't.
Speaker A:Don't misread the season.
Speaker A:God may be building depth in you so he can trust height with you.
Speaker A:He may be strengthening your roots because he knows the winds that are coming with your blessing.
Speaker A:If God is silent, it doesn't mean he's absent.
Speaker A:Sometimes he's quiet because the training is smooth.
Speaker A:There are three training checkpoints.
Speaker A:Alright, so how do you respond to training and testing?
Speaker A:Let me give you three checkpoints.
Speaker A:One Steward.
Speaker A:What's in your hand?
Speaker A:Stop waiting for more to become faithful.
Speaker A:If you can't manage 100 rand, you are not ready for 1 million rand.
Speaker A:If you can't keep one commitment, you're not ready for 10 doors.
Speaker A:Luke 16, verse 11.
Speaker A:If you have not been trusted trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches?
Speaker A:2.
Speaker A:Let correction refine you.
Speaker A:Don't resist it.
Speaker A:Pride says, how dare you?
Speaker A:Wisdom says, teach me.
Speaker A:3.
Speaker A:Pass the purity test now.
Speaker A:Joseph's big test wasn't the prison, it was Potiphar's wife.
Speaker A:Some of you are asking for bigger doors.
Speaker A:While you keep failing private temptations.
Speaker A:God won't increase what you want to control.
Speaker A:Now let me say this with love.
Speaker A:Stop blaming witches, demons and haters.
Speaker A:For what discipline would fix some of your delay is not spiritual opposition, it's spiritual laziness.
Speaker A:And the Bible is clear in Galatians 6.
Speaker A:7.
Speaker A:Do not be deceived.
Speaker A:God cannot be mocked.
Speaker A:A man reaps what he sows.
Speaker A:If you sow chaos, you will reap confusion.
Speaker A:If you sow compromise, you will reap consequences.
Speaker A:If you sow faithfulness, you will reap favor.
Speaker A:If you sow discipline, you will reap dominion.
Speaker A:Now here are some questions for reflection.
Speaker A:Take a moment.
Speaker A:Breathe.
Speaker A:Ask yourself what test keeps showing up in my life and what is God trying to teach me through it?
Speaker A:2.
Speaker A:Where do I keep feigning stewardship and then calling it spiritual warfare?
Speaker A:3.
Speaker A:If God doubled my income in influence today, would it magnify Jesus or magnify my ego?
Speaker A:Don't run from these questions.
Speaker A:They are a mirror.
Speaker A:The process is the proof.
Speaker A:Brothers and sisters, I want you to be encouraged today.
Speaker A:Training is not rejection.
Speaker A:Testing is not abandonment.
Speaker A:Process is proof that God is serious about you.
Speaker A:If God didn't plan to use you, he would leave you undisciplined.
Speaker A:If God didn't plan to prosper you, he would let you stay immature.
Speaker A:But because he loves you, he's shaping you.
Speaker A:Because he's planning increase, he's building capacity.
Speaker A:Let us pray.
Speaker A:Father, in Jesus name we submit to your process.
Speaker A:We surrender your impatience.
Speaker A:We surrender entitlement.
Speaker A:We surrender the desire for shortcuts.
Speaker A:Train your hands and strengthen our hearts.
Speaker A:Make us faithful with what we have now.
Speaker A:Give us wisdom for stewardship, time, money, relationships and calling.
Speaker A:Help us pass purity tests.
Speaker A:Help us love correction.
Speaker A:Help us grow up and as we mature, release purpose driven.
Speaker A:Increase so we can bless families, fund the gospel, build businesses, serve communities and glorify your name.
Speaker A:Make us strong, firm and steadfast in Jesus mighty name.
Speaker A:Amen.
Speaker A:Now brothers and sisters, Message three is coming and it's called finish the assignment.
Speaker A:Prosperity follows completion.
Speaker A:Because some of us don't need a new idea, we need to finish the last instruction.
Speaker A:Share this with somebody who's an a tough season and needs perspective.
Speaker A:Remember, process isn't punishment, it's preparation.
Speaker A:Love you very much.
Speaker A:Brothers and sisters, stay focused.
