Thank you for joining Alan Jackson Ministries. We all got a gift in that state. I walked to Bethlehem on Christmas Eve because the gift God gave us in Bethlehem was significant enough. I was 2,000 years late, but I thought it was worth the walk.
And in the midst of what God was doing, He invited the shepherds. You see, God's breakthroughs in your life, in my life, may simply be a component of a much larger story, but it is nonetheless a breakthrough for us. God Himself brought us a message, extended to us an invitation.
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We're so glad you're here to listen. Today's message from Pastor Allen is called Breakthrough when God chooses you. Back during COVID, when we were walking through all of that and all that it brought with it, we introduced a little paradigm that was very helpful and I want to bring it back to you. We're going to talk about it some for these next few weeks.
in various settings because I think it's a very helpful tool. I encourage you to develop the practice of watching, listening, thinking, and then acting. Not simply accepting everything that was fed to us, not simply believing that everything that was communicated because it came from an official agency or from a legacy news outlet should be treated as if it were the complete truth.
The greatest, most consistent warning that Jesus gave us about the end of the age was a warning about deception. More than he warned us about evil or immorality or violence, he warned us about deception. And those four words, if you'll cultivate the habit of watching, listening, thinking, and then acting, you've got to act.
If you just sit in the bleachers and think you can keep up and navigate by watching and listening and being inert, you're deceived. But if you'll take those four things, I believe it'll help us avoid deception and fulfill God's purposes with the season in front of us. I think most of us, on some level, feel like there's a need for change, and we hope somebody else will do it.
And the reality is we have to be a part of the change. And to do that, we'll have to avoid deception. I give you an example, and I'll try to bring you some from time to time. I had the radio on, I was in the car this week, and I had the radio on, and I'm listening to, I didn't hear the individual introduced, but they were being treated with a great deference, a very well-educated, very articulate, some sort of an economic expert, talking about markets,
and what was happening in the world, and the idea that they kept repeating. I mean, I suppose in the few minutes I was listening, he must have said it more than a dozen times. He said from an economic standpoint, there's absolutely no difference between legal immigration and an illegal immigrant. Don't heckle. And if he said it once, I'd have probably missed it. But by about the 10th time, I'd actually listen.
From an economic standpoint, there's no difference. And as I listen, I begin talking back to my radio, which is not a really clever response. And I'm pretty sure Google's listening and we all know Siri's listening and I'm quite sure there's a lot of other people listening in through our devices. But I don't think my radio can hear me, but it didn't stop me from talking back. I said, well, if I accepted your premise,
I could say from a purchasing opportunity, there's really no difference in the money I earn and the money I steal from the bank. The end user would just see me as a qualified purchaser, but legal and illegal really make a difference.
And if we're going to look at compassion with people who want to come to our country, we need to help them do it in a legal way. My point isn't really the immigration challenge, and there's a challenge there. It's to recognize the degree to which deceptive, dishonest, manipulative messaging cascades over us day after day after day.
And you cannot afford to be unaware. You've got to watch and listen, think, and then be prepared to act. It'll change everything. Now, I began a new series in a previous session. I want to continue it. The general theme is breakthroughs. I'm of the opinion that in the November election, God showed us mercy.
It inflicts our problems, but across the nation, I saw multiple millions of people raise their hand and say, we need a new direction. I don't imagine that the people that we're sending to office can do that. I don't believe they can do that unless there is a heart change in the people of this nation.
I don't think they will succeed. I think no matter how zealous or talented or determined or focused, I think without an ongoing heart change in the people in this nation, we will revert back to our old habits. That's not just an opinion, it's informed by a bit of experience. The current administration was elected previously and it only took six weeks after they left office for what they had put in place to be undone.
And what they will go do is not sustainable unless there's a corresponding or even greater heart change by the people in our nation. So that means we have an assignment in this season to be instigators of change, just as certainly as we would like them to be. If the election was disappointing to you, I would encourage you, we still need an opportunity for a nation that will choose godliness and righteousness and holiness.
And whether you view the election as a victory or a great defeat, as Christ follows, we should share that objective and find a way forward in that. So it brought me to this idea of a breakthrough. I have a friend in another state that I interact with from time to time. And we've been processing this notion because there was a need for some significant breakthroughs.
So I've been living with it for a while and I wanna take a few sessions and pull some characters that we know from scripture and highlight the breakthrough that their life represents to see if there's some lessons that you and I can learn from those places where we need a breakthrough in our lives and intervention from God. That's the target, okay? I brought you a scripture, it's Luke chapter one and verse 30, this is the angels visiting Mary, you know this story, the angels said to her, don't be afraid.
Mary, who found favor with God, and you'll be with child and give birth to his son, and you're to give him the name Jesus. And have a nice day. Now, we read that from the distance of history, and we think, oh, isn't that sweet? If you were the recipient of the message, sweet's probably not the word you would have used as the descriptor.
It's a breakthrough point. It's an intervention. It's initiated by God. It wasn't initiated by Mary. She didn't raise her hand and say, I have an idea. An angel arrived with a message. So when I talk about breakthroughs, I want to talk about something in that pattern. I don't imagine it's something that we've initiated. We're not the causative agent in this. We didn't like the fuse. It's God's intervention. Now our responses make all the difference.
And I believe there's a great deal we can learn that will either catalyze those responses or we will forfeit the opportunities. Because they typically require a response from us. Mary had to say at the end of that announcement, I'm in. May it be to me as you have said was her answer. And you and I'll have to be aware enough to do that. So breakthroughs can wear many labels. It can be a point of deliverance, a revelation, an insight, perhaps it's understanding that you've needed a redirection of a behavior or a trajectory of your life.
It's when God's purposes and plans are initiated on our behalf. Maybe it's when something's brought to completion that we couldn't seem to get finished. Maybe a revelation, an advancement. It may be an understanding that God gives to you. We all have places in our lives where an intervention from God would be very, very beneficial. Now the ideal breakthrough
The one that I think we fantasize about is that we acknowledge we have a problem, a need. Maybe it's physical or financial or relational, whatever it is. There's something that is significant enough that we've decided that we're going to present it to the Lord. We're going to go outside of ourselves. We don't think we can fix this. And the ideal breakthrough is when God responds with a complete solution immediately.
And our imagined future is delivered to us. One fell swoop, boom. That's the kind of breakthroughs we want. I've been feeling well, I'm talk to the doctor, pray for me. I don't want to talk to the doctor, I want to feel better. In fact, I'd like to feel 20 years younger, right? That's a breakthrough. Well, life is seldom ideal.
And my experience in my own journey and with others is that frequently when there's a breakthrough, we are delivered out of something, but we're not immediately delivered into what the solution is. When the Hebrew slaves were delivered from the power of Egypt, they didn't find themselves the next morning in the promised land, with the occupants of the land having vacated, but they were very much involved in a breakthrough.
Oftentimes we're delivered from something, but our adversary, whatever that adversarial relationship was, whoever the opponent was, they've not been completely removed or annihilated. And if we're really honest, if God delivers us from some destructive something or other, we want whatever that was to be completely obliterated. We'd like to watch it melt. And videotape it and watch it again and again and again.
Or maybe you have a physical need and you're praying for healing. And I think typically the preferences we'd be healed without any medical intervention whatsoever. God, you just do that. But frequently, I believe God's just as involved with the breakthrough and brings healing to our lives in the midst of the medical community. I don't believe that's less faith.
Amen. I've seen God do remarkable things with people that are in the midst of some very outstanding care from well-trained professionals. Again, the breakthrough, if we come with the imagination that it has to be delivered in the way we want, in the form we want, we will forfeit much of what God will do.
Thank you for listening to Alan Jackson Ministries. We'll be back to the message in just a moment. But first, Pastor Allen wants to tell you about his new devotional, set apart for his purposes.
2024 has almost slipped past us. Thank you for your partnership this year. It's been the most remarkable season we've ever known together. And I thank you for your faithful investment of time, energy, and prayers in our ministry. Change is taking place in the earth. We're seeing in our own nation, God responded to us with tremendous mercy and grace.
We have leaders that are headed to Washington, D.C. to enact changes to restore a set of values that have brought strength to our nation. It's a time of great optimism and hope and anticipation, and I believe that's true in the church as well. Folks, we can't stand on the sidelines and expect somebody else to be the change.
We need the presence of God to emerge in our schools, on our college campuses, back in our churches. And so I think it's a critical time that we bring the message of the truth of Jesus Christ. It's a hopeful message. It's a message of wholeness and healing and deliverance and freedom that we desperately need in our cities, in our communities, wherever God's people gather. Let's be a part of what God is doing in the earth, and we will celebrate His faithfulness to the people of our generation. Thank you for being a part.
God is moving and our ministry's reach has expanded far beyond where it was just a year ago. In 2024, we launched the Culture and Christianity podcast and the Culture and Christianity conference and our new weeknight television show, Alan Jackson Now. This is in addition to Pastor Alan's trustworthy biblical messages which we broadcast to millions of people each week.
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Each day includes scripture, teaching, a prayer, a journaling prompt, and a place to write. We'll also send a set of custom page markers so you can flag the prayers and devotionals you want to revisit. December is a powerful time to invest in the ministry. Your donation will be tax deductible and it will be matched by up to $1 million doubling its impact.
Donate today at alanjaxon.com or by calling 855-5772255. That's 855-5772255. Now, let's get back to Pastor Allen with his message called Breakthrough when God chooses you. Well, one of the things I want to do is we walk through some of these breakthrough scenarios is try to glean a little insight from each one. So for the moment, I'm labeling my breakthrough hacks.
Because I want to lead a life that's filled with those kind of breakthroughs. I want my life and my journey to reflect the intervention of God. I don't want to do this with just my IQ or my physical strength or my effort. And honestly, I want to do it in the midst of other people who are experiencing those breakthroughs. Because that's the real multiplier.
Mary saying yes, gave Joseph an opportunity, and Joseph saying yes, gave an opportunity to untold others in the shepherds' revelation, and so the story unfolds. The first observation I would make regarding the breakthrough they had was the breakthrough for them was in the midst of God's purposes emerging. There was something larger than their component that was happening, but their breakthrough gave them a place and a point of engagement.
Here's the suggestion. Don't reject the breakthrough moment because you're not the center of it. It's a temptation. But wait a minute, I wanted a break. I knew how I wanted this to happen. But I didn't want somebody else to get blessed. I wanted to be blessed. I know we'd never say that in church, but we would think it in church.
Don't reject the breakthrough moment because you're not the center. God and His infinite wisdom and ability gave the gift, the shepherds, while He was giving a gift to all humanity. We all got a gift in that stable. I walked to Bethlehem on Christmas Eve because the gift God gave us in Bethlehem was significant enough. I was 2000 years late, but I thought it was worth the walk.
And in the midst of what God was doing, He invited the shepherds. You see, God's breakthroughs in your life, in my life, may simply be a component of a much larger story, but it is nonetheless a breakthrough for us. God Himself brought us a message, extended to us an invitation. The second observation I would give you is God didn't really change the system. There was not a declaration the next morning that shepherds will be treated differently.
He changed them. He changed them. They were still shepherds the next morning. They still had a herd of sheep to take care of, a flock of sheep. Many considered them peripheral. While they had their morning coffee, they knew God had sent them a savior. The only people who thought of them peripherally the next morning were the uninformed and the ignorant.
They'd had a breakthrough. They had had a breakthrough. You see, I think one of the points of frustration, one of the points that has caused us to be less active than we might have been is we want God to give somebody else a breakthrough. Change them, make them different. Change the system. Now there are times God will do that. In fact, I brought you a proclamation and I'm not done yet.
I don't know what I'm going to do with the rest of that outline. We may start it and we may not finish it. It wouldn't be a surprise, wouldn't it? But I brought you a proclamation because I want to be certain that as we walk through this study together, that we give to God these repeated invitations for His breakthroughs in our lives.
They're those that we're aware of that we know we need or we think we need and that we're asking for, and I don't believe that's wrong. I think in most cases it's appropriate, but I'm even more convinced that God has breakthroughs for us that we don't even know we need. We lack the wisdom or the experience to truly ask for.
If you've had enough birthdays that you've gathered a bit of life experience and you have the marks to show for it, sometimes when you interact with younger people and you hear the things that they're dreaming about and chasing, you're grateful for the enthusiasm they have. But you also recognize that experience is going to temper a lot of those dreams, not diminish them, not make them less enthusiastic.
So I brought you a passage. It's actually taken from Ephesians 1, but I put the reference at the end of the passage because I didn't want you to be confused by that. I think it's a wonderful proclamation over our lives together. Then we'll give you a little clue right at the end of that in verse six, the last phrase where it says, he has freely given us in the one he loves. He's given us something.
That word is used someplace else in the New Testament. That's the same word that's used by the angel when Gabriel spoke to Mary and said, greetings, you who are highly favored. That last statement that we're gonna read together is God saying you're highly favored. This is He's freely given as some translation says He's highly favored you. Same word. Did you know that you live in God's favor? Well, I don't feel like it. I smell like sheep.
I don't get invited. I'm only outside. Well, from God's perspective, you were highly favored. Well, could he tell everybody else? You know, the only validation the shepherds had was their own testimony. Some highly excited fellows showed up in that staple.
Don't you believe it? Wide-eyed when they got there and they found what they'd been told about. Do you think there was a little enthusiasm? But they didn't have a video loop to show of the angelic announcement. It wasn't been corroborated by the mayor of Bethlehem. It was self-affirming. Yeah, we saw that. We know we saw that.
And I can tell you one thing that's essential for these breakthroughs is you and I will have to be willing to believe God. He won't do something to us unless we respond to him by saying, we will follow you. We believe you. The shepherd's gonna stay in that shepherd's field and go, wow, that was some light show. I don't know what was happening. We can't keep drinking.
You know, we've known we were right on the edge and we need to change our behavior because we're losing perspective. Did anybody else see and hear anything? But they didn't stay there. They went to find the stable and they went to find the king. I brought you a proclamation. You don't have to stand for it, but let's read it together.
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who's blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.
For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his son. In love, he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will. To the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the one he loves. Did you hear it? It's an invitation almost as unique as the one given to the shepherds,
He's blessed us and you can make it singular. He's blessed me or he's blessed you in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For he chose you or me. He chose us in him before the creation of the world. And he chose you to be holy and blameless. Well, I'm not either of those.
But in Christ, I can be. In His love, He predestined us. He looked across the span of time and said, I choose you to be adopted as His sons through Jesus Christ. We had no way into the kingdom. Other than through Jesus, He said, I'm the door. No man comes to the Father except by me and God predestined you to walk through that door.
It brought him pleasure. It was an expression of his will. And when Paul wraps all that up, he said, you are highly favored. When the angel said that to Mary, her life plan got put in the shredder, her wedding announcements mocked her. Her imagination of her new life went away. It's not gonna be that anymore.
Are you ready for the favor of God to bring some disruption to you? Or do you want other people that have disrupted lives and you just get the benefit?
We're ready to take God's word and our biblical worldview every place the Lord opens a door. Will you stand with us as He continues to grow this ministry? When you donate $50 or more today, you can request a copy of Pastor Allen's new 90-day devotional called, set apart for His purposes. Plus, your investment will be matched, doubling its impact.
Donate today at AlanJackson.com or by calling 855-5772255. That's 855-5772255. That's all for today on Alan Jackson Ministries. Thanks for listening. Tune in next time for another encouraging message. This program is sponsored by Alan Jackson Ministries.
