This morning, we continue our series on “The Parables of Jesus.” We will seek to glean “Pearls from the Parables.”
Before we get to the parable, let’s look at a scripture we have been looking at all year. This is something I believe the Lord wants us to meditate on.
(Psalm 126:4 TPT)
Now, Lord, do it again! Restore us to our former glory! May streams of your refreshing flow over us until our dry hearts are drenched again.
This is a season of refreshing and restoring for us.
(Luke 13:6-9 NKJV)
6 He also spoke this parable: “A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it and found none.
7 Then he said to the keeper of his vineyard, ‘Look, for three years I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree and find none. Cut it down; why does it use up the ground?’
8 But he answered and said to him, ‘Sir, let it alone this year also until I dig around it and fertilize it.
9 And if it bears fruit, well. But if not, after that, you can cut it down.’ “
So, what does this mean for you today? A few things.
1. God’s knowledge of you predates your birth.
(Jer 1:5 KJV)
Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.
— Jeremiah 1:5 and many other scriptures make it clear that our existence on this planet may have started the day we were conceived, but our presence in the realm of the spirit predates our humanity.
— We may not have existed in the form we have today before we arrived on this planet, but we surely existed in God’s heart before the world began.
— God knew you before you were born, and He made plans for you before your mother met your father.
— As much as your parents love you, they cannot define you because they did not create you.
— You are a product of intelligent design because the Master designer created you for His purpose.
— When you internalize the fact that God made plans for you before the world began, and you truly believe it, it makes you feel special, and the feeling is warranted. You are special. You are unique. You were designed for God’s purpose and released into this world at just the right time!
— The point I am making here is that God could expect Jeremiah to be a prophet on the earth because He destined Jeremiah to be a prophet before he was born. God’s knowledge (or foreknowledge) of Jeremiah was the basis for his expectation. In like manner, the masters in the parable of the talents and the fig tree had expectations. Their expectations were based on their knowledge of the subjects.
— The master in the parable of the talents expected a return from the unfaithful steward because he knew he was capable of it. The master in the parable of the fig tree expected figs from the tree because he knew it was capable of producing figs. God, in Jeremiah’s life, expected him to be a prophet because that’s what He created Jeremiah to be.
— God knows what He is doing in your life, and His expectations OF you are based on His deposit IN you!
2. God knows what He is doing because He knows everything!
(2 Tim 1:9 KJV)
Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began.
Let’s break this down.
(a) God saved you when you repented of sin and made Jesus your Lord, but He called you before the world began.
— This means God thought about you well before you thought about Him.
— It means God loved you well before you loved Him.
— It means God had plans for you before your parents did. He dreamed about your life before you ever had dreams of your own.
— When you internalize that God planned for you and that you are not a mistake, it changes everything! It is then and only then that you can open your heart to the fullness of God’s amazing grace so you can become everything He planned!
(b) God did not call you according to your own works. He called you according to His own purpose and grace.
— God did not call you because you were good enough.
— It was not because you prayed long enough, went to church enough times, or gave enough of your time, talent, and treasure.
— God did not make plans for you because you were so faithful. Before you ever did anything RIGHT or WRONG, God called you to a HOLY calling!
— God’s call on your life is NOT based on your works. God’s call is based on His purpose and grace.
— God established your purpose before you were born, and He then sent you to this planet with the grace to get it done!
— God gave you His purpose and the grace for the purpose.
— Just like you would never require your children to do something you have not equipped them to do, God equipped you to do what He expects you to do.
— The expectations of the masters in the parables of the talents and fig tree were warranted. Guess what? God’s expectations of you today are also justified because He made plans for you before the world began!
3. If your situation is difficult or unpleasant, it is an indication that God is looking for you to rely on His grace.
In the parable of the barren fig tree, you can make the argument that the fig tree refused to produce figs because the master planted it in a vineyard. You can surmise that it did not like what the master assigned it to do, so it refused to be what it was created to be.
To walk with God, you just learn to embrace His grace to do what He called you to do, even when you don’t like it. I will use the lives of the Apostles Peter and Paul to make this point.
In Jesus’ day, the fishing industry produced rough and rugged men. Jesus called several of His disciples from this industry. One of them was named Simon. Simon was not polished, refined, cultured, or sophisticated. But, like all of us, his destiny was within him.
Inside of the fisherman, an Apostle was lying dormant. Jesus brought him out! Peter came into the knowledge of God, and even more importantly, he then came into God’s knowledge of him. As a result, he changed the world! This is why it is so critically important that we get to the point where we believe what God believes about us.
The Apostle Paul has a different story. He was born with dual citizenship. He was both a Roman and a Jew. He was unique in that regard, and the Jewish leadership of his day saw that as a benefit. They invested in him. He was mentored by the greatest teacher of The Law of his day, Gamaliel. Paul was known as Saul of Tarsus, and he was being groomed to become a Pharisee of the Pharisees.
Saul of Tarsus led the movement AGAINST Christianity. So when God called him to lead it, everyone, including Saul, was surprised. While Saul of Tarsus was terrorizing Jesus’ church, there was an Apostle of the church lying dormant inside of him, ready to be developed so he could come out. Thankfully for all of us, Saul heard the call, and he became the Apostle Paul.
Your name may not be Peter or Paul, but you, too, have a divine purpose. You were born with it. Your job is to find it, follow it, and finish it before you die! God knows what He is doing. He has done His part. You must now do yours.
(a) Deploying into your purpose will require you to get out of your comfort zone.
Simon had to die to his identity as a fisherman in order to become an Apostle. I am sure this was not easy for him. He was not groomed to be an Apostle. He was not refined in any way. Peter was far from perfect. He often made mistakes. He was top-tempered and quick to ‘fly off the handle,’ but he was called, and he accepted the call. Peter focused on his new assignment, his new life, and his new reality.
Paul did the same. God called Paul to reach people he normally had no dealings with. It’s hard for us to realize the significance of this, but the Jews had NO DEALINGS with the Gentiles, and Paul was called to minister to them.
You have to understand Paul’s training. Paul was an exceptionally learned man in all things pertaining to the Law of Moses and the Levitical Law. However, God called him to people who knew nothing about The Law. So, who did God call to reach the Jews? Who did God select to reach the most educated men in The Law? Well, a fisherman, of course. That was Peter’s assignment.
— God called a man with no Jewish education to reach the most educated, and He called the most educated man to reach people who knew nothing about the Hebraic Law. Why does God do this? To get you out of your comfort zone, to force you to rely on His finished work and not your ability.
— What you feel most comfortable doing may be what you WANT to do for Christ. However, God knows that if He allows you to do what you feel most comfortable doing, then you will most likely do it in your own strength. When you are doing what you already know how to do, most of the time, you don’t involve God. So God calls you to do things you are NOT comfortable with. He calls you outside of your comfort zone. He calls you to operate in realms beyond your education, to pursue deals that exceed your bank account, and to connect with people you don’t know, so are you forced to rely on Him to do what you cannot do!
— God loves it when you walk into a situation and your total reliance is on Him. Because at that moment, your focus is not on your work but rather on His finished work, on what God planned before the world began.
(b) Godly success is not a matter of more trying; it is actually a matter of more dying; it will cost you everything!
— The unfaithful steward and the barren fig tree refused to submit their will to the will of their masters.
— Once you discover God’s knowledge of you, you must be willing to die to become who God called you to be.
— Simon the Fisherman had to die to self in order to become the Apostle Peter. Saul of Tarsus had to die to self in order to become the Apostle Paul. Are you willing to die in order to live?
— I preached a message early in my ministry entitled, “When Loving You Is Killing Me!” The point of the message was that loving God was literally KILLING the person I had spent all my life becoming. For me to become the man God called me to be, I had to DIE to the person I had become without Him!
— Imagine the dying Paul had to endure. Paul had to give up everything and everyone he knew. All his mentors and friends were invested in him operating un der The Law and persecuting Christians. I can only imagine how painful it was for him to deal with the persecution of those closest to him. People criticize what they do not understand, and I am sure Paul was misunderstood. But he was willing to give up EVERYTHING for Jesus. Are you?
That’s enough for today.
Declaration of Faith:
Father, this is a season of refreshing and restoring for me! I boldly declare:
Before I was formed in my mother’s womb, You knew me. Before my first breath, You had a plan and purpose for my life.
I existed in Your heart, Father, long before I took form on this earth. My spirit recognizes its origin in You.
I am not a product of chance or coincidence. I am a product of Your divine design, crafted with intention and purpose.
My identity is not defined by the world or by my parents, but by You, the Master Designer. I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
I embrace the truth that I am special, unique, and released into this world at Your perfect timing.
Father, Your expectations of me are based on the divine deposit You’ve placed within me. I am equipped and empowered for every assignment.
I am not defined by my works but by Your purpose and grace. You have called me to a holy calling, not based on my merit but on Your divine plan.
I am saved by Your grace and called to a purpose that was established before the world began.
In every challenging situation, I will lean on Your grace, knowing that my discomfort pushes me to rely wholly on You.
I am willing to step out of my comfort zone, to be stretched beyond my natural abilities, trusting that You will guide and sustain me.
I die to my desires, my plans, and my understanding. In dying to myself, I find true life in You.
Living with this mindset, I know GREATER IS COMING FOR ME! I declare this by faith. In Jesus’ name, Amen!
This is Today’s Word. Apply it and prosper!
