SUPERNATURAL INCREASE BEYOND THE ORDINARY
We’ll begin from where we left off two Sundays ago and
go back to the same Scripture we studied.
Gen. 26:1-5 There was a famine in the land, besides the
first famine that was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac
went to Abimelech king of the Philistines, in Gerar.
2Then the LORD appeared to him and said:”Do not go down to Egypt; live in the land of which I shall tell you.
Egypt represented “looking for another source. God wanted to be Isaac’s Source.” So God told him, “don’t go down to Egypt, don’t lean on the arm of the flesh, I will be your Source.”
Then God went on to say:
3 Dwell in this land, and I will be with you and bless
you; for to you and your descendants I give all these
lands, and I will perform the oath which I swore to
Abraham your father.
So God was saying to Isaac, if you obey my voice and stay right here, in this land that I tell you to stay in, I will bless you, I will be with you.
Today, God is not only with us but in us. Because of Him in us, our nature is that of obedience and the Blessing belongs to us.
What have we learned the blessing over the years? That blessed means empowered to prosper. Empowered to increase. Empowered to multiply. Empowered to excel.
Empowered to rise above what holds everybody else back.
Notice God said: “I will bless you. I will empower you to increase even in a famine.”
OBEDIENCE:
Gen 26:12 Then Isaac sowed in that land, and
reaped in the same year a hundredfold; and the
LORD blessed him. 13 The man began to prosper,
and continued prospering until he became very
prosperous; 14 for he had possessions of flocks and
possessions of herds and a great number of
servants. So the Philistines envied him. NKJV
When Isaac obeyed, he grew richer by the day. He had possessions… of flocks, of herds, and a great number of servants.And the Philistines envied him.
In other words, God made a difference between the Philistines and Isaac.
Isaac was the newcomer in the land, yet he by far surpassed the traditional landowners and made them envious of him.
Sowing in a famine and reaping that kind of a harvest is unheard of. The traditional owners of the land were alarmed. They know the seasons of their land, they know what grows well there, they know what succeeds there and what does not succeed. And here is this newcomer. He didn’t arrive with a new brand of fertilizer than they used. He didn’t have his own rainy season, he dug wells just like they did.
Yet it was such a great harvest, the Philistines stood on one side of his farm and envied him. Because they had no crops. Zero. And they could see that Isaac’s plants were thriving and fruitful. And they envied him.
What was the difference?
God was with him. God was not with the Philistines.
Even if they sowed in that land without God being with them and without the blessing of God on them, they would not have received any harvest.
God will in this time show the difference between
those who remain IN CHRIST, walk in the light of the
Word, their awareness of the indwelling of Christ in
them and follow the direction of the Holy Spirit.
What was the secret?
Isaac took God at His Word and he sowed in spite of the famine.
As a result he REAPED AHUNDRED FOLD IN THE SAME YEAR.
Rom 15:4 For whatever things were written before
were written for our learning, that we through the
patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have
hope. NKJV
The story we just read about Isaac sowing during famine, the purpose for God putting that story in the Bible was because He knew that you and I were coming. And that we would need that story.
He knew that challenging times would come as long as we are in this world.
In fact, the Bible tells us that:
2 Tim 3:1 But know this, that in the last days
perilous times will come: NKJV
Many people in our nation are experiencing financialfamine. Many of you have experienced financial famine if not now during other seasons. Our nation has been a target of the enemy. He’s targeted nations that support the gospel.
If you read the story in Genesis 26 without learning anything from it, then did you really know the purpose of its being in the Bible?
I learned something from it and decided to keep sowing no matter the financial condition I may be facing, no matter the perilous times we may be living in, I will never stop being a doer of the Word. Such stories give me hope that my expectation will not be disappointed.
Rom. 15:4-5 THE MESSAGE:
4 Even if it was written in Scripture long ago, you can be
sure it’s written for us. God wants the combination of
his steady, constant calling and warm, personal counsel
in Scripture to come to characterize us, keeping us
alert for whatever he will do next.
Those stories keep us alert for what He will do next.
How many believe God will do some things next!
One commentator on Romans 15:4 said:
“Taken seriously, the stories written in the Old
Testament can have bearing on what God wants to do
for us. They’re written to give us hope for the future.
And fortitude to overcome whatever attempts to
prevent us from having God’s best.”
Rom. 15:4 NLT Such things were written in the
Scriptures long ago to teach us. They give us hope and
encouragement as we wait patiently for God’s promises
(to be fulfilled.)
This means I can use what was written in Genesis 26 and use it for hope and encouragement while I’m waiting for fulfillment of supernatural increase beyond anything I’ve ever experienced before.
I challenge you to read Gen. 26 often for encouragement. To build and inspire hope.
“Don’t let anyone convince you that the stories in the
O.T. are no longer valuable and of no importance to us
just because we’re N.T. believers.
If they weren’t important, then we’d only have a New Testament in the Bible.
Jesus would never have quoted them. Paul would never have quoted them.
Peter on the day of Pentecost would never have quoted them.
Paul would never have said this:
1 Cor. 10:6-7 Now these things became our
examples, to the intent that we should not lust after
evil things as they also lusted. NKJV
V.10-11 Now all these things happened to them as
examples, and they were written for our
admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have
come. NKJV
They were written for the admonition of those of us who live in the end of the age.
Paul is telling us we should still place value in these stories and allow them to create hope in us.
(Now, we’re to interpret the Old Testament in light of the New, but we are not to discard it.)
I have a lot of hope today that I will experience (in 2020) supernatural increase in this New and better covenant meaning it has BETTER THINGS than even the days of the fathers of the faith.(Heb. 8:6)
Vines dictionary of the Bible defines HOPE as favorable and confident expectation. It describes the happy anticipation of the good…which is coming.
Brethren, do you have a happy anticipation?
Job 8:7 Though thy beginning was small, yet thy
latter end should greatly increase. KJV
GREATLY here stands for: “Extraordinarily or supernaturally” increase
Job 8:7 Though your beginning was small, Yet your
latter end would increase abundantly. NKJV
God is a God of good news in the midst of catastrophe.
Think about what Job went through. The loss of family. The loss of property. The loss of business.
Yet God was telling Job, you’re about to experience the supernatural.
God has supernatural increase on His mind for His children and that is UNAFFECTED BY ANY CIRCUMSTANCE.
The words GREATLY INCREASE also mean increase BEYOND THE NATURAL, BEYOND THE USUAL or BEYOND THE ORDINARY.
This is how much God is able to do for you in this same 2020. Though your beginning was small, yet your latter end SHOULD greatly increase.
Not it might, should is a word that is used to indicate: Obligation, duty or correctness…indicating a desirable or expected state, to indicate what is probable. I SHOULD GREATLY INCREASE.
In other words, Job, though you were severely tested
beyond your highest imagination, you have a right to
supernaturally increase, the land is obligated now to
produce for you.
One translation says:
You’ll end up better than ever. The complete Jewish
Bible says: Your future will be very great indeed.
We can believe and say: I have the right to a bright
future. THOUGH THE FIRST PART OF THIS YEAR WAS VICIOUS, TOUGH, AND CHALLENGING, I’M STEPPING INTO THE EXTRAORDINARY PROVISION OF MY FATHER AND I SHOULD AND WILL GREATLY INCREASE.
Let’s see what happened to Job in the end:
Job 42:10-17 And the LORD restored Job’s losses
when he prayed for his friends. Indeed the LORD
gave Job twice as much as he had before. 11 Then all
his brothers, all his sisters, and all those who had
been his acquaintances before, came to him and ate
food with him in his house; and they consoled him
and comforted him for all the adversity that the
LORD had brought upon him. Each one gave him a
piece of silver and each a ring of gold.
The picture changed from mourning to a celebration.
The Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before.
In Genesis one, the Bible tells us Job:
had seven sons and three daughters, 3 and owned seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, one thousand head of cattle, and five hundred donkeys. He also had a large number of servants and was the richest man in the East. (Job1:2-3 TEV)
The wealthiest man in all the East. And now God has supernaturally restored and increased him and his assets now are twice as much as they were before the attacks.
If you study restorations all over the Bible, two fold is just a minimum. For God to double your assets is the lowest level of increase.
In Job 42:12 Now the LORD blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning; for he had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, one thousand yoke of oxen, and one thousand female donkeys. 13 He also had seven sons and three daughters. 14 And he called the name of the first Jemimah, the name of the second Keziah, and the name of the third KerenHappuch. 15 In all the land were found no women so beautiful as the daughters of Job; and their father gave them an inheritance among their brothers. 16 After this Job lived one hundred and forty years, and saw his children and grandchildren for four generations. 17 So Job died, old and full of days. NKJV
Check it out: it is exactly twice as much or double what he started with. Plus Job lived a long life 140 years after that nine months season of trials.
So can we depend on God’s Word? Can we expectthings to turn out better after a season of trials?
And since God tells us He wants us to increase in 2020 more than ever before and we have stories from the Old Testament that prove that God is dependable and that there is hope for us, meaning that we should confidently expect to increase more and more, can we expect this to
come to pass in our lives? Can you expect supernatural increase in this 2020 year? I don’t know about you but I do expect this year to end gloriously.
SOWING:
What if Isaac had not sowed? Could he have expected
the land to produce a harvest, of course not.
2 Cor. 9:6-11 shows us that the action of sowing, in the
spiritual realm, is done by giving natural substance. It’s
an action of faith for those who expect to reap.
When you give, reaping manifests in the natural as the
increase of that natural substance.
As you give, expect God to supernaturally bring your increase BEYOND THE ORDINARY, BEYOND THE NATURAL AND BEYOND THE USUAL.
Expect to increase in spite of all adversity.
As we give, we expect to increase supernaturally, extraordinarily and we expect our income to more than double as we receive our harvest in this same year.
In Jesus’ name, Amen.