Thank you for joining Alan Jackson Ministries. Man, I suggest what you want to do is be as fully obedient to the Lord as you're capable of. You want to fulfill what you were created for. In fact, if you'll focus on that, your destination is a non-issue. If you're not interested in those things and all you want is the destination, you're likely to forfeit all the above.
I would invite you to think of yourself not as totally defined by your journey through time. There's another dimension of our service. There's another dimension of our person. Time is not your enemy.
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We're so glad you're here to listen. Today's program will complete the message we began yesterday. Here's Pastor Allen with part two of Breakthrough, when God intervenes. So one of the questions I will ask you, and I'll ask you repeatedly, are you willing to be set apart for the purposes of God? Or do you just wanna blend in? If we used a little bit of a contemporary example, would you just like to say you're a college football fan? Are you a UT fan?
If you choose one, it's gonna set you apart, particularly if you go south of here. I mean, this year you go proudly. Stay humble. Are you willing to be set apart? You see, we want delivered, we want healing, we want what we want. What are kids to get what we want them to have or whatever it is we're seeking the Lord for? Are we truly willing to say, Lord, I'm gonna respond to you.
Well, the time Simeon's done with this interaction, it's not all just a group hug. Very next verse, that's verse 35 and verse 36, Luke goes on. He said, there was also a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Fanul of the tribe of Asher, she was very old. She'd lived with her husband seven years after her marriage and then was a widow until she was 84. She never left the temple.
But she worshiped night and day, fasting and praying, coming up to them at that very moment. She gave thanks to God and spoke about the child of all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem. It's a fascinating little window. It says that Anna never left the temple, that she worshiped night and day, fasting and praying. Now God gives her a revelation of the Messiah.
But it wasn't just because she was having a good hair day. Or because the weather happened to be particularly beautiful on that morning. And so she decided she would go to temple. It wasn't because she didn't have a better invitation. It says she never left the temple. That she worshiped God night and day. I'm enough of a literalist. I believe she worshiped night and day.
I believe she sought the Lord with fasting and prayer. And because of that, God gave her the insight, gave her a breakthrough. There was an intervention on her behalf. That's the child. Maybe she hurts him in. Luke doesn't tell us directly, but he puts both of the events side by side in his narrative.
She approached Mary and Jo and spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem. There were people present who weren't interested in the redemption of Jerusalem. They had other plans. The family was coming over for lunch when they got back from the temple and they were really anxious about all those things.
Or they had some new initiative, they were launching or an investment they were concerned about, or they were gonna just start a vacation, but they needed to check this box before they left. But to those who were present, who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem that day, they benefited from Anna's revelation. So my question again, and there's several that will emerge as we, I've been living with this for a while. What are we longing for? What are we looking for?
What really has the focused attention of our heart? Luke didn't say everybody in the temple that day understood. He simply says to us that those who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem did. I'm going to try to wrap this up. I played with labels for this because I'm going to put the segments in several of the lessons God willing. For the moment, I like breakthrough hacks.
Some of you prefer travel tips. I know I got a whole list of how to decide which one sticks over time. But between the narrative that we're given in Scripture and the reality of our lives, we've got to mesh this into a set of behaviors that increase our possibility of participation. We do that with let's pray. You forfeit a tremendous amount if you never pray with others.
We do that with reading our Bible. If you don't read your Bible, you forfeit a tremendous amount of spiritual stability and understanding and insight. And there's some other choices that we make that can either facilitate God's engagement in our lives or they'll diminish it. And one that I can take from the lives of these two individuals is that breakthroughs frequently involve God keeping a promise.
for both Simeon and Anna. What they were looking forward to, what they were anticipating was God keeping his word. That he will do what he said he would do. He told me he would let me see the Messiah. And I may be 84, but if I have to, I'll be 184. I'm going to see the Messiah. Now I'm going to the temple every day, and I'm gonna worship God night and day, and I'll fast and pray. I'm not just mailing this in. I'm all in, but I'm gonna see the Messiah.
and the breakthroughs in our lives most frequently will be about God keeping his promise. In the case of Simeon and Anna, there's a sense of the completion and of assignment. And this is really a pretty important biblical principle. You know, we make a journey through time. It's linear. In fact, the whole story of the Bible, the first verse of the Bible, I'll bet you know what it is. What's the first phrase in the Bible? In the beginning.
The beginning, the beginning of what? Well, it's not the beginning of the earth and everything that's in it, because when the Spirit of God hovers over the face of the deep, something's here, it's just chaotic. We're not really introduced to the very beginning, it's just in the beginning of what's going on. The opening chapters of Genesis introduce us to Adam, the pinnacle of God's creation.
It's the story of Adam and his descendants and how if they so choose how they might have a relationship with the Almighty God, the creator of the heavens and the earth. And it starts in the beginning and it takes us to the book of Revelation, which is the conclusion of this present age. It's not the end of God's people. It's not the end of God. It's not the end of God's activity on this earth. There's gonna be a new heaven and a new earth.
But it's the end of this present world order. It's a linear progression. And we get a hint of that in this story of Simeon and Anna. There's a completion of assignment. There was a beginning and ending. Now you have fulfilled your promise. I'm good. I have seen the consolation of Israel. I have seen the Redeemer of Jerusalem.
It also invites us into this awareness that there's another dimension of our life beyond time. If we're really going to get into the weeds on breakthroughs, folks, they have something to do with more than just our journey through time. It has to do with our impact, what our life does with our journey through time. We have tragically been coached towards some very mediocre ideas around our faith pastor, I just want to go to heaven.
Man, I suggest what you want to do is be as fully obedient to the Lord as you're capable of. You want to fulfill what you were created for. In fact, if you'll focus on that, your destination is an on issue. If you're not interested in those things and all you want's the destination, you're likely to forfeit all the above. I would invite you to think of yourself not as totally defined by your journey through time.
There's another dimension of our service. There's another dimension of our person. Time is not your enemy. You know, the older you get, the more you talk about it. I remember as a kid, you'd go to Thanksgiving with your family and all they talked about was people who weren't here. Their health. When you're 12 years old, you don't want to talk about your health. It's fine. Right? You jump off the roof of the house, you bounce.
Wait a few years. I'm not going to tell you what happens. It just happens. But time is not your enemy.
I give you an example in your notes because I think it highlights this for us so beautifully. I don't want to stay here long, but in Deuteronomy 34, this is Moses, the greatest leader in the Bible until we get to Jesus. He starts out with this group of people who were slaves and they're delivered and the Red Sea and the man of the whole deal. And now he's at the end of his journey through time and they didn't make it into the Promised Land.
What was discussed at that bush that was burning way back in Exodus chapter three has not become a part of his experience because of the unbelief of the people. God said, you can't go in there. You can't have a land that flows with milk and honey. You're going to wander in a circle for a long time, for decades. And Moses had to lead them. A faithless, rebellious group of people. That is not a wonderful assignment.
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 DC 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 to wrap up part two of his message, Breakthrough, when God intervenes. And now God said you're done. Let's go up the mountain. And I will show you the land. Moses got to fly over.
And then it simply says, I put it in your notes, you stood on me 34, that Moses, the servant of the Lord, died there in Moab. As the Lord had said, he buried him in Moab, the Lord buried him in the valley opposite Beth Peor. But to this day, no one knows where his grave is. But I wanted to give you another window, because Moses didn't step out of the narrative. We're not done with Moses. He's mentioned all through the New Testament.
But not just as a record of history. In Luke chapter nine, it's the transfiguration. Jesus is on the amount of transfiguration with his most trusted disciples. And it says, as he was praying, the appearance of his face changed. And his clothes became as bright as a flash of lightning and two men. Two men. Two men. Not ghosts. Not apparitions.
There are words for those things, those aren't the words that are used. Two men, Moses and Elijah, appeared in glorious splendor, talking with Jesus. Now the next sentence fascinates me, because at some point after the event, somebody had to talk about what they talked about.
Because Luke records that they spoke about Jesus' departure, which he was about to bring to fulfillment at Jerusalem. It sounds like he's going to catch a flight. Moses and Elijah showed up to talk to Jesus about his passion, about the suffering that awaited him in Jerusalem. They'd made a journey of their own.
They'd stood before Pharaoh and said, let my people go. They'd stood before rebellious mobs that said, we don't like your leadership. Elijah said, oh, Mount Carmel and said, how long will you worship the idols? And nobody would say anything. Those might be helpful phrases if you're about to stand in front of an angry mob in Jerusalem that are gonna scream at you crucify. We don't know the specifics.
All we know is that they talked to him about his departure, which he was brought to bring to fulfillment in Jerusalem. Moses had died and been buried by God hundreds of years ago, but Moses, a man, appeared and spoke to Jesus about the tribulations which were before him.
My opinion, it's a dimensional awareness that will strengthen our resolve to serve the Lord. There's something to this that's about more than just my timeline. We are a part of the unfolding purposes of Almighty God. Now that's an investment we're thinking about. That's a lifestyle worth adopting. That's more than what I'm just going to church, you know. I've said this in his prayer and I've been baptized.
Sometimes I read my Bible, you know, they just keep harping on it. And those awful commitment cards are always slipping those in, ice rink. And those tables filled with toys, trying to shame me when I come and go from church. You know, we can get some pretty rotten attitudes.
And there's enough stumbles and missteps by organized churches that we contribute. The reality is the invitation is to serve an Almighty God that will bear benefits, that will bring a reward for all eternity. Wherever you are on your timeline, don't think this is not a significant time for your relationship with the Lord if you're young. Give your youth to the Lord. If your kids are young, give that season of your life to the Lord.
If they've all left and you've got your calendar back and they're not draining your bank account, it's not just your time and your life and your money. Give that season of your life to the Lord. There's a second observation. Breakthroughs involve generational opportunity.
For those who were listening, respectful, open, and aware, the breakthroughs often involve more than just yourself. They'll impact the generations around you. There's no life season where breakthroughs are not necessary. The Exodus generation needed the power of God to get them out of the brick pits of Egypt. The wilderness generation needed the power of God to get them to be able to occupy the promised land in both circumstances, two very different generations, but they were powerless to accomplish what God had said he would do in their life.
with the breakthrough of one informed the other. Simeon and Anna, they qualified for social security. But the message that they delivered was directed towards a young family that needed the strength, that needed to be galvanized in what they had undertaken. Because they're going to have to head to Egypt very soon. And the affirmation that came to them from two people with a bit more life experience. They were in the temple on their behalf that day.
I could imagine made an enormous difference. In fact, anyone listening and open to God's purposes could have benefited from what Simeon and Anna had to say. You see, when you choose to honor the Lord, when I choose to honor the Lord, it opens doors for many, for any who are willing to learn and respond. Breakthroughs have generational impact. How about determining to be one of those people?
And thirdly, breakthroughs provided glimpse of God's plan or His purpose. Jeremiah 2911, I love the verse. He said, I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord. Plans to prosper you and not to harm you. Plans to give you hope and a future. Here's the awkward reality, folks. Our awareness of God's plans is very limited. We know what our plan is. We know what we want God to work our plan. I mean, we're usually a little more subtle than how we say it, but that's the bottom line.
And when we're asked to be faithful or to persevere or to endure or to overcome, I begin to complain. God, I don't want to do this. Well, this is my point. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But have you seen mine? Mine did not require perseverance and endurance. The best response I know on this one is to do what you know. Fully engage your current understanding.
Walk in all the lights you've got. Serve the Lord with joy and enthusiasm to the point that you understand what that means. Do what you know. It's not a new expression at all and it is very little to do with church, but I think it captures the spirit of this. Fight like you're the third monkey on the ramp to the ark and it's beginning to rain. Do not send me a note.
Stop this passive notion about your faith. It's harder than I thought. No kidding. Making an impact for eternity. Who told you that was easy? Why would you invest more effort, more discipline, more sacrifice, more dollars and more time in pursuing your hobby than you do in pursuing the Lord? What's happened to us, church?
Not opposed to hobbies and enjoying those and pursuing those, but don't relegate them. You know what the technical word for that is idolatry. We think there's fulfillment someplace other than the Lord, a greater fulfillment, a more lasting fulfillment, a greater refreshment, a more purposeful refreshment. So we relegate serving the Lord to some secondary position. Do what you know to do.
Why? Because breakthroughs provided glimpse of God's plan and purpose. Every time you have another breakthrough, you get a bit more clarity. And Simeon and Anna left the temple that day saying, the Messiah's here. He's here. He's here. We've seen the child. Now we know something of the timeline. We know what's coming. He's here.
See, a breakthrough changes your understanding of the unfolding purposes of God. That's what we don't want. I just want out of pain. I just want what I want. And God said, no, if you'll cooperate, I'm going to invite you into the narrative. Breakthroughs. Breakthroughs. I brought you a prayer. Why don't you stand with me? We'll come out of this little series of breakthrough prayers, but we can start with this one.
Heavenly Father, help us to complete the assignment which is before us. Grant us understanding hearts. May we be aware of your spirit and his direction. Illumin our path that we may walk in obedience. Give us the courage and boldness necessary to follow each day. Renew our strength. Provide daily all that is needed.
Deliver us from evil. May we be pleasing in your sight. In Jesus' name, amen. Hallelujah. God bless you. 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 ellenjaxson.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.
