Part II: Unexpected Blessings series

“Head Swimming Blessings”

Sermon Synopsis December 8, 2019

Delivered by Bishop Joseph W. Walker, III, D.Min.

Amos 9:13-15, “Behold, the days are coming,” says the Lord, “When the plowman shall overtake the reaper, and the treader of grapes him who sows seed; The mountains shall drip with sweet wine, and all the hills shall flow with it. I will bring back the captives of My people Israel; they shall build the waste cities and inhabit them; They shall plant vineyards and drink wine from them; they shall also make gardens and eat fruit from them. I will plant them in their land, and no longer shall they be pulled up from the land I have given them,” Says the Lord your God.”

I.          Introduction

• Blessings are something that many of us take for granted. The idea of being blessed or at least the word “blessed” is often thrown around without regard for what it really means. For example, when someone sneezes, we say “Bless-you”
• The truth is God intends blessings with intentionality. God puts something on your life that transcends your zip code and exceeds your financial abilities. It is not dependent upon anything, but God’s sovereign will. God places it on a person even though it is something they do not deserve.

• Proverbs 10:22 (NKJV) ²² The blessing of the Lord makes onerich, And He adds no sorrow with it.– When the blessing of the Lord is upon our life, we are whole, not fractured. There is

• In the story today, God brought His people from ruin to a place of being run over with blessings. God is about to allow blessings to take over your life.
• This is a restoration oracle written by Amos the prophet. In it, God is about to bring judgement on the Israelite people. Although some people will be destroyed, there is a remnant of people at that same time that God will save. These are those that will be saved and restored. They will see blessings like they’ve never seen before.
• God is about to do in your life as he did the people of God. He is going to bring an overwhelming blessing into your life.

II.          The Time of Reaping

A.    Get ready for what’s about to come

1. Amos was not a fluff prophet. He was different. What made him different is he spoke to power. He was always about justice. He was always speaking out against those who rendered injustice to people.
2. Amos cared for the disadvantaged. In fact, his words were so encouraging, many Civil Rights Leaders quoted him.
   1. Amos 5:24 (NKJV) ²⁴ But let justice run down like water, And righteousness like a mighty stream.
3. God chose to use Amos to tell the people what was coming forth and just like the people in the story today, Get ready for your increase!

B.     What you went through prepared you for the increase

1. Scripture Reference: Psalm 126:5-6, “Those who sow in tears shall reap in joy. He who continually goes forth weeping, bearing seed for sowing, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him.”- You can’t live the rest of your life living in what you’ve gone through. Know that God must be preparing something in you.
2. Genesis 50:20 (NKJV) ²⁰ But as for you, you meant evil against me; butGod meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive.  – Some of you will be thanking God for what you were crying over initially.
3. Story – There was a Dr that was doing a study. He showed all the participants a picture of a big black dot on a piece of paper. He asked each person what they saw in the picture. He received many different responses, but he never got what he was looking for out of the responses. What the Dr noticed was that everyone had a comment for the dot, but no one noticed the empty white space on the page. The white space was equally as important as the dot, because the white space represented potential, because it was area that had not been used for anything.  It was undeveloped potential.

III.          The Time of Restoration

A.    What was lost will be replaced

1. God is about to replace what you lost.
2. Scripture Reference: Deuteronomy 30:3 (The Message), “God, your God, will restore everything you lost; He’ll have compassion on you; He’ll come back and pick up the pieces from all the places where you were scattered.”- God is about to restore what the locust have eaten.
3. God is waiting to put you back in this place. We must refuse to let haters cause us not to enjoy it.
4. The season between seed and harvest is about to be over!

1. In this season, what you worked for will be enjoyed
2. The days of laboring and not reaping from it is over. You’re about to reap off your labor!
   1. Amos 9:13-15  (NKJV) ¹³ “Behold, the days are coming,” says the Lord, “When the plowman shall overtake the reaper, And the treader of grapes him who sows seed; The mountains shall drip with sweet wine, And all the hills shall flow with it. ¹⁴ I will bring back the captives of My people Israel; They shall build the waste cities and inhabit them; They shall plant vineyards and drink wine from them; They shall also make gardens and eat fruit from them. ¹⁵ I will plant them in their land, And no longer shall they be pulled up From the land I have given them,” Says the Lord your God.

IV.          The Time of Replanting

A.    God is preparing the ground to give you a strong foundation

1. There is a difference between enjoying what you planted and God planting you. When God plants you, everything around you gets blessed.
2. What you plant is governed by seasons. God plants without seasonal restrictions.

B.     This time, I’m here to stay

1. We are speaking consistent wins.
2. When you have a covering and you remain where God tells you, know that the devil is aware of what God promised you. This will cause him to try to attack you.

C.     Closing Story:

1. Bishop shares that after he had been studying for his sermons, he left singing the song, “There is no failure in God”. When he got to the truck, it wouldn’t start. Bishop was concerned, because he was on his way to do Bible Study. God said to him, “Now you know what this is don’t you?”

Satan was trying to destroy Bishop’s faith as soon as he had finished studying God’s word.

2. Scripture References:

Psalm 1: 1-3, “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful; But his delight is in the law of the Lord, And in His law he meditates day and night. He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither; and whatever he does shall prosper.”-

1. Remain planted. If you trust God, you will recover from your pain. Everything the enemy stole. God is about to give back to you.
2. Rejoice on his promise. God is going to bring ruins to the wicked, but he is going to restore the remnant.

1. Amos 9:13 (NKJV) ¹³ “Behold, the days are coming,” says the Lord, “When the plowman shall overtake the reaper, And the treader of grapes him who sows seed; The mountains shall drip with sweet wine,
   And all the hills shall flow with it.
2. Jeremiah 17:7-8, “Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, and whose hope is the Lord. For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters, which spreads out its roots by the river, And will not fear when heat comes; but its leaf will be green, and will not be anxious in the year of drought, nor will cease from yielding fruit.”