Whatever the promise is from God that's in your
life, there's a promise that God is going to
bring to pass. But do your contending and do
your equipping so that when the fullness of time
comes, then you'll be ready. God promises in
Joel 2 .28 to pour out His Spirit. on all humanity.
Welcome to Global Outpouring, where we contend
for that promise outpouring, we equip for that
outpouring, so that we may engage in that very
outpouring. I'm Philip Buss. And I'm Sharon Buss.
Welcome to the podcast today. We're going to
have a wonderful time talking about things that
God has done in our lives that have to do with
God keeping His promises, like we've just come
back from Israel. And I tell you, we were like
them, the dream. Thanks so much for joining us
today. We're just delighted that we can be together
again. And we want to encourage you, if you haven't
already done so, to go to our website, globaloutpouring
.net. Make sure that you're on our mailing list
or lists. We have several to choose from so that
we can stay in touch with you and you can continue
to. get a hold of things that are available,
good content that we have on our website, content
that we have on our Facebook page and our YouTube
channel, and also our app. We have a global outpouring
app that you can download from your favorite
app store, Google Play or Apple App Store. We
want to just let you know that that's available
and also that you should be putting it on your
calendar, if you haven't already done so, to
plan to be with us for our convention, 2026,
May 21st through 24th. in St. Louis at the Hilton
Hotel by the airport. So get it on your calendar
so that you will be ready to sign up for it as
soon as we get the registration page up there
and get the details on our website soon. That
will be coming soon. So we just came back from
Israel. And I tell you what, this has been an
experience like we've never had before. I started
going to Israel as the tour coordinator in training
the first time in 1978, kind of a long time ago.
Yeah, that is a long time ago. And so, you know,
we were going every year for many years. We missed
a few years, but not very many, and sometimes
more than one time a year. And in recent years,
we were going twice a year. And then we were
planning a trip For March of 2020. And seven
people signed up. And when it was time to give
$300 per seat that we were holding to the airlines,
it was like, you know, I don't think this is
going to work. And that was an indication that
something may happen. Well, but we weren't thinking
that. Yeah. But we've never canceled a tour before.
We've never canceled a tour. It was just unheard
of. And I was just so taken aback. I'd never
seen such a thing. And then when March 2020 rolled
around, we understood. God was kind to us. But
we thought there was something terribly wrong
that we should have to cancel. Well, it was terribly
wrong. We didn't have the foresight to know what
it was. So then we tried to reschedule for that
fall. And of course, that didn't work either.
And then the next November, we thought, well,
surely we can do it. Surely this will be over
by then? Yeah, and it wasn't. No. And then, well,
let's skip a year. And then we're looking at
2023. And it was our 25th anniversary of our
House of Peace in Jerusalem. And we were going
to have a wonderful tour to celebrate that. And
two people signed up for that one. So we knew
something was going to happen. Well, I still
wasn't that smart. Maybe you knew, but I hadn't
put it together. The word bumfuzzled comes to
me. I'm not sure exactly if that's the right
word, but I was just, what is this that we have
to cancel again? We've never canceled tours before.
And so we decided. Well, just you and I will
go. And our friends Don and Catherine and James
and just the four of us will go to celebrate
this wonderful 25th anniversary. And we bought
our tickets on October 4th, 2023. Yeah. And,
you know, three days later, we know what happened
October 7th. And I thought, oh, Israel deals
with things really fast. Their wars are usually
over in a week or two, and I thought, surely
we'll still get to go. No. No. So we were planning,
and I finally said, I'm just not going to do
anything. And by that time, we had gotten to
know Dean Braxton. And Dean was with us on our
last episode talking about his experience with
us in Jerusalem. And we recorded that in Jerusalem.
Yes, we did. In the House of Peace. It was wonderful.
If you've listened to last week's podcast, then
you know what was going on with Dean. But even
leading up to this time, it was like, are we
really going to get to go? Yeah. Are we really
getting to go? Is this really for real this time?
And when we took off. I kept having that scripture
from the Psalms. We were like them that dream.
And that's the remembrance of when the children
of Israel began coming back after 70 years in
captivity. That's Psalms 126. It's one of the
songs of degrees. Oh, yeah. They would speak
when they're going up the temple steps. Yes.
Yeah, when the Lord turned again the captivity
of Zion, we were like them that dream. Then was
our mouth filled with laughter, and our tongue
was singing. Then said they among the heathen,
The Lord hath done great things for them. The
Lord hath done great things for us, wherein we
are glad. And we were glad. That's not the end
of the psalm, but that's as far. But we were
glad. It was just amazing to land on the ground.
Now, when you've been going to someplace year
after year, and then there's, you know, it's
kind of like God kind of took our passport for
six years. Yeah, six and a half. Like took our
flying passport. We never flew in the States
until, you know, just not long ago. So, you know,
so some things, you know, when God does things,
there's a reason behind it. Yeah. It was like
he pushed the pause button. Yeah. Like sometimes,
and you have to wait things out. Yeah. Some things
don't, you know, you get a prophetic word and
you want it to happen right away. Yes. Don't
we all? You remember the... A day is with the
Lord a thousand years. Yes, exactly. So, you
know, so he takes a few minutes to answer you,
you know, on his time clock. Yes. See, God runs
on Kairos time, the opportune, you know, that's
a set time. But we run on Kronos time, by the
clock, by the calendar. Work starts at 8, get
off at 5, and you get into this thing. And so
we run, most of the clock runs on Kronos, but
God runs on Kairos time. And we have to learn
to get into Kairos time so we can function in
Kronos time. Yeah, it's true. It's the difference
between walking in the spirit and walking in
the flesh. Very well put. And that's the continual
challenge in the Scripture, is that we learn
to walk in the Spirit and not in the flesh. Because
the world will teach us to walk in the flesh.
That's just the way it is. The world's doing
a good job of it, too. Oh, my, my, my, my. Yeah.
And you see the whole list of the works of the
flesh in Galatians 5. We won't go there this
time, but Galatians 5 is one of the places where
it really challenges us. Are you going to walk
in the flesh? Are you going to walk in the spirit?
So we have to stop looking so much at our circumstances
and look at the promises of God, because God
keeps his promises. earlier about what's a story
that you can remember of our experiences that
has to do with promises coming and sometimes
taking a while. Yeah, and we needed to get another
car. Our road is kind of, we live on a kind of
a rough road. It's a steep road and it needs
a good four -wheel drive. And we have some very
good friends, you know, Rod and Ellie Hine down
in Africa. They're in Zimbabwe. They were raising
funds for a new car. It was a mid -1980s Land
Cruiser. So we sowed some seed into getting that.
And we still didn't get our new car, didn't get
our new car, didn't get a new car or a newer
car even. Any kind of car. And so that was in
the late 80s, probably like 1987, something like
that. So that car they're getting is only like
three years old. Right. So it was in 1997. We
got a car. We got a four -wheel drive. I just
picked Sharon up from, no, you flew in from China.
I think so, yeah. Yeah, you were in China, and
we're coming back, and I saw this four -wheel
drive sitting up there, and I thought, I'm going
to go look at that tomorrow. It's just about
five miles down our road. I came back, and it's
this beautiful 1984 Toyota Land Cruiser, and
my jaw just kind of dropped. I thought, a Land
Cruiser, wow. You know, that's one of the ultimate.
off -road cars they use in Africa and everywhere
else in the world. Yeah. You know, and we were
able to purchase this. And then some years later,
and we've had it, it'll be going on 29 years
now. We've had the same car, you know, and it
still runs great. And I found pictures of the
car that the folks in Africa that we helped to
buy, and it was the same exact one as ours, the
same color. And everything. Everything. You know,
and this is like 20 years later, 25. So I took
pictures of our car and I sent it to him, you
know, and I said, you know, though the vision,
Terry, you know, wait a long time for that seed
to come to fruit, you know. We weren't really
even, I mean, maybe you were, maybe you were
thinking that you were sowing seed that eventually
was going to give us a car. I was just. sowing
seed. It didn't dawn on me to name the seed.
Maybe we did. We probably did at the time, I'm
guessing, because we knew to. But it wasn't until
later that we realized, oh, looky here. There's
a promise. There's a promise fulfilled. It's
so good. It's so good. Yeah. So, you know, we've
been so blessed through these years, you know,
being down here. And I remember the first time
I went to Israel was 1981. Yeah. We were married
in July, and so this is October. And we got to
go. The money was there, worked out to get the
trip. And so next year rolls around. I thought,
you know, I really want to go again, you know.
Plus, Sharon was going, you know. You know, when
your spouse goes away, you like to be together,
you know. But it didn't work out for me to go.
So the next year, so the tour was like 10, 11
days. So I fasted 10 days, you know, kind of
twist God's arm to go on this tour. And that
was in 1983. Didn't go. Didn't go in 84. Didn't
go in 85, I don't think. But then I thought,
okay, I'm not going to fast. Because I did this
every year. I fasted to go to Israel. And it
didn't happen. But you were sowing seeds. But
I was sowing seeds. So then after we started
going like in 85 or 86 it was, and we'd been
going almost every year after that. So I've been
to Israel probably over 30 times myself. So I
just had to keep sowing some more seed. It just
took it a while to germinate. There you go. There
you go. So, you know, sometimes you have a promise
from God. that you wonder when it's going to
happen. You know, the one thing that I'm reminded
of the most in that kind of a story is in 1976,
I came for the first world convention of the
end time handmaidens. That was the name of this
ministry early on. And I was listening to our
founder, Gwen Shaw, speaking. And I was so hungry
for God. I was just front and center. I was on
the front row right in the center like a little
bird with its mouth open, feed me, feed me. And
I heard the Holy Spirit say, you will take her
place when she's gone. And I dropped to my knees
and I wept and I thought I understood what that
meant. So I volunteered to come and Sister Gwen
said, I don't think this is your time. And then
it wasn't quite a year. later, maybe nine months
later or so, I volunteered again. And I wanted
to come after convention and serve for the summer.
And I was told, no, I think we're going to have
so many people here after convention that I don't
think it'll be possible for you to come. And
so I thought, oh, well, I thought I was hearing
from God. Well, I got there to the convention,
the second convention. I was immediately put
to work, which was okay with me. You know, it's
all about serving. And I was told by the same
person, I guess it was Sister Gwen said to me
in between meetings, she said, the girls are
expecting you to come after convention. Are you
coming? I said, well, I wasn't planning to because,
you know, I'd been told that I couldn't months
earlier. And then the same person who told me
I couldn't come said to me, I really think you
should come. Out of the mouth of two or three
witnesses, let it be established. So I came.
Anyway, long story short, I came for the summer
and I've been here ever since. And that was 1977.
That's a long time. And the word, you will take
her place when she's gone, came to pass 37 years
later. How many people would wait that long?
Well, you know, eventually I put it on the shelf
because. Yeah. I didn't want Sister Gwen to leave
us anytime soon. And if it wasn't God, I wasn't
interested in having it happen anyway. You only
want God's will. Yeah. So when you get a prophetic
word that just seems way out of your box, that
the circumstances don't look right, it's just
you don't reject the word. You put it on the
shelf and you wait for confirmation. Right, right.
And then when it comes, you'll have that knowing.
You really have that knowing. It'll like lighten
up in you. Yeah, it's true. And it could be at
a time that would just totally upset your apple
cart. Yeah. So there's lots of promises that
we tend to look at circumstances and say it's
impossible. Like look at Abram and Sarai, okay?
Abraham and Sarah before their names were changed.
He was 75 years old and Sarah was barren. When
God told them to get up and go and do what I
told you to do in the first place, you know,
he went with his father for a while and they
went a little ways and then they stopped. And
when his father died, then God told him to go
on and do what I told you to do. So go from your
country and your kindred and your father's house
to the land that I will show you. And I will
make of you a great nation. There's the promise.
I will make of you a great nation. And I will
bless you and make your name great so that you
will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless
you. And him who dishonors you, I will curse.
Notice that the first part is plural and the
second one is singular. Okay. Okay. Him who dishonors
you will I curse. Not them. Him. Okay. It's singular.
and in you all the families of the earth shall
be blessed. So Abram went. God told him to go,
and he went. As the Lord had told him, and Lot
went with him, Abram was 75 years old when he
departed from Haran. That's Genesis 12, 1 through
4 from the ESV. Then eight years later, eight
years later, Genesis 15, Abram says, what about
this son? You know, you promised me that... It's
been eight years. Yeah. So why don't you read
Genesis 15, 1 through 6. After these things,
the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision.
Fear not, Abram. I am your shield. Your reward
shall be very great. But Abram said, O Lord God,
what will you give me? For I continue childless,
and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus.
And Abram said, behold, you have given me no
offspring and a member of my household will be
my heir. And behold, the word of the Lord came
to him. This man shall not be your heir. Your
very own son shall be your heir. And he brought
him outside and said, look toward heaven and
number the stars. If you are able to number them,
then he said to him, so shall your offspring
be. And he believed the Lord and he counted it
to him as righteousness. Key, right there. Believe
the Lord and accounted it to him as righteousness.
Exactly. It's the believing the promise. Even
if it's going to take a while, it's the believing
that helps you get there. It's the believing
that gives you the faith. It's the believing
that gives you the patience. And just put it
on the shelf. and let God do it. You might say
put it on the back burner and let it simmer.
Let it simmer, yeah. That's better. And then
in verse 13 it says, And he said unto Abram,
Know of a surety that your seed shall be a stranger
in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve
them, and they shall afflict them four hundred
years. But in the fourth generation, they shall
come out here again. For the iniquity of the
Amorites is not yet full. So the Amorites were
a people group that were in Canaan. They were
one of the descendants of some of the descendants
of Canaan. And their iniquity was iniquity, but
it wasn't complete. It hadn't gotten to that
point where it's kind of like filling up the
cup. You know, God gives, and I've seen this
over and over in the scripture, God gives about
400 years for people to either get it together
or they don't get it together and they don't.
So God doesn't take a deep breath and count to
10. Right. He counts to 400 years. And people
who read the Old Testament don't tend to think
in terms of how many years have gone by before
God brings judgment. They just see him bringing
judgment over and over again. But there's these
400 -year spans, 400 and something, 430, 416,
whatever, 400 and something that that kind of
a span happens. So here's a promise that God
gives. to Abram, that his seed is going to inherit
this land, right? And it's over 400 years. Now,
Isaac hadn't even been born yet, okay? So there's
Isaac, and then there's Jacob, and Joseph goes
into Egypt. So I'm not sure how many years that
is, but Isaac was 40 years old when he even married
Rebecca, and she was barren for a while. I think
he was 60 when Jacob and Esau were born, the
twins. So there's another 60 years plus. Yeah.
Okay. And then Joseph has to grow up somewhat.
You know, it's probably another, at least another
20 something years. So, you know, we're looking
at 80 years before they even go into Egypt. And
they're there for 400, 430 years, something like
that. And then there are another 40 years in
the wilderness. That's a lot of years. But the
promise of God is still sure. It doesn't matter
how long it takes, but there's a certain time.
There's a certain time when it comes to that
moment. It is the time for it to happen, and
boom, it happens. Right? So, you know, you've
got this. We kind of skipped over it. Sarah was
90 years old. Abraham was 100 years old. When
they finally had Isaac. Yeah. So, you know, that's
already 25 years from the time Abram gets told
you're going to be a great nation before he has
his first child. Well, actually, he had Hagar
as a temporary wife. Concubine. A concubine.
And Ishmael came out of that, you know, when
they tried to help God out. Yeah. Let's help
God keep his promise. Oops. Yeah, because that
has bitter consequences to this day. Yeah, to
this day. Absolutely. You know, it's interesting
to me, looking at the women in the Bible that
were barren and the sons that came out of those
barren women, because God gave them the promised
child, but they were special children. Like,
so you got Isaac. And I love that the name Isaac
came because his name means laughter. Laughter,
yeah. Okay? Sarah laughed when she heard God
say that she's going to have a baby. And she's
like, you've got to be kidding. But then when
it takes place, you know, I kind of feel like
that was sort of how we were when we got to Israel.
It was like I couldn't keep from laughing because
it's like, oh, we're here. We're here. We're
really here. It really hit. It finally happened.
And there's a laughter. There's a joy. There's
a happiness that comes when the promise comes.
And it does come. So, listener, if you have a
promise from God and you're wondering, is it
ever going to get here? Yes, it is going to get
there. But you've got to wait for it. And in
the meantime, be doing something to get yourself
ready for it. Yeah, it's like you get a prophetic
word, you pray into it. Yeah, you pray into it.
Sit around and wait for it to happen. And maybe
if you've gotten a promise that you're going
to preach. Maybe during that time you should
be studying the Bible. Yeah. Yeah. Like, you
might go to Bible school, you might do a course
online, or just get in your Bible and read and
read and read, and read and read and read and
read and study and compare Scripture with Scripture.
So you'll be ready. So you'll be ready. You'll
be equipped. Equipped. And you also contend for
it. Like you said, you pray. You pray into your
promise. Pray into your promise. Okay, so the
next one after Sarah was Rebecca. Rebecca was
also barren. And what was the difference for
her? What made the difference in her situation
that changed her barrenness? Genesis 25, 20 to
24. Isaac was 40 years old when he married Rebecca.
the daughter of Bethuel the Aramean, or the Syrian,
of Paddan Aran, the sister of Laban the Aramean.
Isaac prayed to the Lord for his wife because
she was unable to conceive children. There you
go. Isaac prayed to the Lord for his wife. She
was unable to conceive children. And the Lord
granted his prayer, and Rebekah, his wife, conceived.
But the children struggled together with her,
kicking and shoving one another. And she said,
If it is so that the Lord has heard our prayer,
then why am I this way? So she went to inquire
of the Lord. The Lord said to her, The founders
of two nations are in your womb, and the separation
of two nations has begun in your body. The one
people shall be stronger than the other, and
the older shall serve the younger. When her days
to be delivered were fulfilled, behold, there
were twins in her womb. Okay, so... Double portion.
Double portion. Isaac prayed and God gave twins.
And did you notice there was a moment in time
that the days were fulfilled and she gave birth?
Days fulfilled. Yeah. So every pregnancy lasts
approximately nine months. Sometimes it goes
longer, sometimes it goes shorter, but there's
a length of time. And that baby is going to be
born in the right time. You know, I'm reminded
of when our daughter was on the way. And, you
know, we knew that the signs were there, that
it's time to go to the hospital, right? And we
got there, and the doctor checked me and said,
I'll come back at lunchtime and break your water
and you can have this baby today. And he left.
No, I guess he did that by phone call. And the
contractions had stopped by that point. And I
said to the nurse, I don't want him to break
my water. And she said, well, why not? I said,
because I know that if he breaks my water and
I don't go into labor, then he's going to give
me Pitocin. And if that doesn't work, then...
He's got me set up for a C -section, and I don't
want that. She says, well, I guess you know the
ropes. And so he came back at his lunch. So any
of you people listening, if you're pregnant,
your wife is pregnant. Yeah, pay attention to
that. So he came back at his lunchtime, and he
said. Not happy. No, he was not happy. He said,
I thought you wanted to have this baby today.
I said, I want to have this baby when it's time
for the baby to come. And he said, well, you
might as well go home now because you're not
in labor. I said, I'm not? I mean, I was having
a few contractions, but what had been pretty
regular when we came had dropped off because
they put me to bed with a monitor instead of
letting me move around. So I didn't think that
was, well, I mean, who am I? What am I? Anyway,
so he wasn't happy. He sent me home. I think
we were only about not even halfway home and
the contractions started again. And I was tired
and I was hungry. So I just had lunch and I went
to bed and I slept until the contractions woke
me up. And meanwhile, you went to... I went to
the print shop. Yeah, you were printing a book
cover or something. And so my sister was with
me, thankfully. I guess it was about 11 o 'clock
you came home, and I'm thinking, okay. And Sister
Gwen had said, why did you bring her home? You
should have stayed in Harrison and gotten a hotel
room. I was just too tired to go there immediately.
So by the time you came in, I was having very
regular contractions. Yeah, I took one look at
you, and I thought, oh. Boy, I think we need
to get you in quick. So I said, well, let's just
go to the hospital and check and see how far
along I am, and then we'll check into a hotel.
Yeah, I had to stop three times going up the
hill while you're having your contraction on
this rough road until I got to the highway. And
then we got to Dogpatch. which is... Still about
10... It's about 15 minutes from town, from the
hospital. And I said, I can't keep from pushing.
And, you know, it was my first baby, so I didn't
know what... They always said... It'll feel good
to push. But I didn't know that my body was going
to start pushing without me. So anyway, we got...
So we flew there, ran some lights and... Well,
don't confess that. Okay. But it was after midnight
by this time. And we got to the hospital and
the nurse checked me and said, you're 10 centimeters
and bulging. So, you know, it was time. But the
point is that we waited for the time. Instead
of pushing the time like the doctor wanted to,
she would have been born on a different day.
Because it was after midnight when she was born.
So there's something about the timing of the
Lord, that he knows what he's doing in setting
our time clock. So it's worth waiting to get
the right result. Because I didn't want to have
a C -section. That wasn't a good way to start,
in my opinion. So here we have Isaac, whose wife,
in the fullness of times, when her days to be
delivered were fulfilled, she had twins in her
womb. And so she had this promise from God that
the elder is going to serve the younger. So when
it came time for Isaac to say, Esau, go get me
some venison and fix it the way I like it, and
I'm going to bless you. Because I don't know
how long I'm going to live. And by this time
he was blind, so he's thinking he's going to
go pretty soon. And he lived a lot of years after
that. But, you know, sometimes you push the time,
right? So she's thinking, okay, the elder is
supposed to serve the younger, so I'm going to
help God. And I'm going to help Jacob deceive
his dad so that he can get the double portion.
Because the firstborn gets a double portion.
Right? That's the way that it works. So that
the firstborn takes care of mom and dad because
he's got the double portion. He's going to take
care of mom and dad until their end and inherit
twice as much. So he becomes the patriarch of
the family. You know, she helped him out. She
helped God out. And well, you know, ultimately,
I don't know that the Bible doesn't say, but
it looks like maybe Jacob never got to see his
mom again. Okay. Because don't help God out.
God probably had another plan to make that come
to pass. But, you know, Rebecca had the promise,
so she's going to push through. She's going to
help God out. Well, we don't have to help God
out. Let's just let God be God, and he will do
the thing that he promises. Like, you know, you
get Hagar, and you get Ishmael, and then you
get... let's help God. No, we don't have to help
God. Let God be God, right? So then Jacob goes
off and he finds his uncle and he falls in love
with the younger daughter, Rachel, and gets deceived.
So, you know, there's this deception in the family,
right? It's just the way it is in the family.
There's family traditions you didn't know. Yeah,
that wasn't a good one. So then, you know, Jacob
falls in love with Rachel, but the dad is saying,
you know, you can't marry off the younger one
without marrying the older one first. And the
older one was, the King James calls it tender
-eyed. She was probably, Leah was probably nearsighted.
And, you know, so she was kind of like not the
most, I don't know, attractive or... you know,
Jacob fell for Rachel, but he got Leah. And so
God saw that Leah was hated and he opened her
womb and he gave her children. And she keeps
thinking the more children she's going to have,
she's going to earn Jacob's love, but he still
just loves Rachel. He loved Rachel even though
she never had the children. Yeah. And then there
comes this point where Rachel says, give me children
or I... die because she's desperate to have children.
Well, Jacob didn't do what his dad did. His dad
had prayed for Rebecca and she conceived. But
Jacob got angry and said, am I in God's place?
I'm not, you know, I can't make this happen.
Let me just read it from the Amplified. It says,
Give me children or I'll die. Jacob became furious
with Rachel and he said, Am I in the place of
God who's denied you children? She said, Here,
take my maid Bilhah and go into her. And when
the baby comes, she shall deliver it while sitting
on my knees, so that by her I may also have children
to count as my own. So she gave him Bilhah, her
maid, as a secondary wife. And Jacob went into
her. Bilhah conceived and gave birth to a son
for Jacob. Bilhah, Rachel's maid, conceived again,
gave birth to a second son for Jacob. And when
Leah saw that she had stopped bearing children,
she took Zilpah, her maid, and gave her to Jacob
as a secondary wife. Zilpah, Leah's maid, gave
birth to a son for Jacob and then gave a second
son. And God listened and answered the prayer
of Leah, and she conceived. I'm leaving out some
verses in between just to make the point. Leah
conceived and gave birth to a fifth son for Jacob,
and then a sixth son, and then a daughter named
Dinah. And God remembered the prayers of Rachel,
and God thought of her and opened her womb so
that she would conceive. So after all this time.
This is some years here now. Years. Rachel finally
conceives. and God gave her a child. She conceived
and gave birth to a son, and she said, God has
taken away my disgrace and humiliation. So she
named him Joseph, which means may he add, and
said, may the Lord add to me another son. So
she was speaking faith that she wasn't only just
going to have one child, she was going to have
two. And she did. And of course, she died in
childbirth in the second. with the second son.
But, you know, the point is here that God grew
a family for Jacob so that these were the patriarchs
of the 12 tribes. And so here's this promise
of, I will make you a great nation, God said
to Abraham. And then all he gets is one son that
has the promise, Isaac. Isaac has two sons. Jacob
has 12 sons. Boom! Yeah. A population explosion,
so to speak. You see, you have these special
children. So what was special about Joseph? Well,
he was the one that had the dreams. Right. He
would have the dreams, which was the future for
the, which would be the nation of Israel. Right.
And he was the one that, you know, the jealous
brothers sold him into Egypt because, you know,
here is this special son. The special son of
Jacob. Has that coat, the youngest. Right. Not
the youngest yet, because you still had, Benjamin
was the youngest, but Joseph, well, he just had
something that the others didn't. And I think
his dad realized that. Well, yeah, but he didn't
realize the jealousy that would, what the outcome
would be because of what he did. That's true.
That's true. But he was the son of his beloved
wife. Yeah. And the fact that he was born of
a woman that was barren. So he's got this something
special about him. And he wound up becoming a
savior. He saved not only all of Jacob's sons,
but he saved all of Egypt and the whole region
because God gave him the wisdom to do that. And
then when the next son came along and Rachel
died in childbirth, Jacob named him. the son
of my right hand. In other words, he saw Rachel
as his right hand. Rachel was his beloved. And
so this is a special child too, right? He was
the spoiled boy of the family, right? So there's
something special about these children that come
from a barren mother. Okay, so here's another
one. In the book of Judges, there's a man named
Manoah. And his wife, we don't learn his wife's
name, but she has a visit from an angel. And
this angel says, you're going to have a child.
And you need to not have anything from the vine.
This child is going to be a Nazarite. This child
is going to be dedicated to God. She was a barren
mother, a barren woman. She had no children.
So she's, you know. Especially in that culture.
Yeah, it was important to have a son. Yeah, it's
important to have children. It's important. And
so the child that was born was Samson. And God
used him. And he was a judge over Israel. Right.
And it wasn't the kind of judge you think. God
used him to kind of mess their minds up and other
things too. Yes. And people who have had a visit
to heaven, and have seen Samson have said that
he wasn't this big muscle builder looking guy.
Yeah, we think of Samson as this seven foot tall
with these rippling muscles. Right, but he wasn't.
He was just an ordinary guy. Probably kind of
like me, you know. 135 pounds or something. Right,
right. Just not your big he -man kind of a guy.
But when the Spirit of God came on him, he would
have supernatural strength and be able to do
things. Boy, that'll preach, won't it? Yeah,
it will. And that happens in the anointing. Yes.
Things happen. Exactly, exactly. And so another
one that you have that was a barren woman, remember
the story of Hannah and Elkanah? Hannah was another
barren woman, and Elkanah took a second wife
because he needed to have children. Yeah, and
that was up on Shiloh, which we got to go on
this last trip. Yes, we did. Yeah. We sure did.
And out of her womb came Samuel, the seer and
the prophet. Exactly. So if you're out there,
somebody listening out there, you want to have
a baby, and you haven't been able to have a baby.
Look for God's purposes and God's time. Okay?
The same thing happened with Elizabeth and Zacharias
in the beginning of... of Luke, the book of Luke.
You know, Zacharias was this godly man. He's
in the high priest's line and he's doing the
incense before the Lord. And Gabriel appears
to him and tells him, you know, your prayers
have been heard. You're going to have a son.
And he says, come on, you got to be kidding.
And so, you know, he gets struck dumb because
life and death are in the power of the tongue.
So, you know, you're going to be silent because
you weren't, paying attention. You weren't listening.
You just need to be quiet on this. And so John
the Baptist came from that barren woman. Okay.
So if you are looking for a promise from God
to come to pass, trust that it's going to come
to pass, but do your part in the meantime. You
know, Elizabeth and Zacharias were godly people
and they were doing the godly thing. They were
doing what they were supposed to do. But sometimes
God puts these things off so that something can
be accomplished in your life that wouldn't have
been accomplished if you didn't get to that place
of desperation. And you need to get to that place
of contending. Contending. We're contending for
the outpouring. We're contending. We're equipping
so that we can engage in the outpouring, right?
So whatever the promise is from God that's in
your life, there's a promise that God is going
to bring to pass. But do your contending and
do your equipping so that when the fullness of
time comes, then you'll be ready. And that baby
or whatever it is that you're expecting is going
to come. I'm thinking of a brother that we know
in Nigeria. After 27 years of marriage, 27 years,
they did use in vitro fertilization, but they
were able to have a child. And they wound up
having three by the time they'd been married
for 30 years. Isn't that remarkable? It's remarkable.
And so whatever it is that you're holding out
for, whether it's a baby or whether it's a car
or whether it's a spouse, maybe you've been waiting
and waiting and waiting. Where is that spouse?
Where is that spouse? Where is that one? God
has, don't help him. Don't help God by making
your own choices to help him out. Help God out
by equipping. Help God out by preparing. Help
God out by contending in the Spirit, by praying,
by helping your own faith in God, by looking
to Him, by building your relationship with Him.
Because He keeps His promises at the proper time.
Like where it says in Galatians 4, 4 and 5, when
the fullness of the time was come. God sent forth
his Son, made of a woman, made under the law,
to redeem them that were under the law, that
we might receive the adoption of sons. And I
like what the NIV says, but when the set time
had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman,
born under the law. God keeps his promises. But
there's a time for it. There's a time for it.
And, you know, the same thing for Israel. Okay?
We've just come back from Israel, so Israel is
on our mind. And if we had lived 200 years ago,
we wouldn't have the perspective that we have
now, where we're seeing now the things that God
promised come to pass in Israel. God has brought
his people back to their land. And he promised,
saying, Amos 9, 14, and 15, says, also, I shall
bring back the exiles of my people Israel, and
they will rebuild the deserted and ruined cities
and inhabit them. They've done that. They've
done that. Yeah. All of these many cities around
the land are built in the places where the ancient
cities were, many of them. And they're called
by that name. They will also plant vineyards
and drink their wine and make gardens and eat
their fruit. I will also. Plant them on their
land, and they shall never again be uprooted
from their land which I have given them, says
the Lord your God. Yeah, and we've seen that
firsthand. Yeah. Wow. Firsthand. And then Isaiah
11 and 12. What does that say? Then it will happen
on that day that the Lord will again acquire
with his hand a second time the remnant of his
people, who will remain from Assyria. from Egypt,
from Patros, from Cush, or Ethiopia, from Elam,
from Shinar, Babylon, and Hamath, and from the
coastlands bordering the Mediterranean Sea. And
he will lift up a signal for the nations and
assemble the outcasts of Israel. And he will
gather the dispersed of Judah from the four corners
of the earth. That's exactly what he's done.
And that's just what he did. Yeah. And they're
still coming in. They're still coming. And more
will come in as politics change. Oh, yeah. Oh,
yeah. It's time for a massive. Mass is Aliyah.
Aliyah. Aliyah. They call it Aliyah, which means
going up. Going up. You're ascending to go to
the land that God promised. He promised it to
Abram something like 4 ,000 years ago. Or maybe
it's 3 ,500 years ago. 3 ,500 years ago, 3 ,600
years ago, something like that. You know, the
point is God keeps his promises. And I love what
Hosea 6, 1 through 3 says in the Amplified, Come
and let us return in repentance to the Lord,
for he has torn us, but he will heal us. He's
wounded us, but he will bandage us. After two
days, he will revive us. On the third day, he
will raise us up that we may live before him.
So let us know and become personally acquainted
with him. Let us press on to know and to understand
fully the greatness of the Lord, to honor, heed,
and deeply cherish him. His appearing is prepared
and is as certain as the dawn. Happens every
day. It's certain. And he will come to us in
salvation like the heavy rain, like the spring
rain watering the earth. And I love the fact
that it says, after two days he will revive us.
On the third day he will raise us up that we
may live before him. Because Psalm 90 verse 4
says, for a thousand years in your sight are
like yesterday when it has passed, or as a watch
in the night. And Peter gives us a better clue
as to what that means. In 2 Peter 3 .8, what
does that say? Nevertheless, do not let this
one fact escape your notice, beloved, that with
the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and
a thousand years is like one day. So Hosea prophesied
that after 2 ,000 years, God would raise up Israel
again. And it has happened. It has happened.
It is happening. It is amazing. And no matter
what the angry neighbors round about try to do,
They won't succeed. That's right. Because the
scripture says, and that's as good as done. Yep.
Because God keeps his promises. Yeah. Even if
it takes two millennia. Hallelujah. Hallelujah.
So let's pray for our listeners, shall we? Father,
we thank you that you are good for your promises.
You will keep your promises. You're a promise
-keeping God. Help us to have the patience and
the endurance to persevere. and believe you and
let it be counted to us for righteousness that
we believe you, that we believe what you said
in your word. We believe that these things that
you've promised us are coming to pass. We believe
that Jesus is returning. We believe that you
are sending your outpouring on all flesh, that
you're going to pour out your spirit in a way
like we have never seen before. And we're expecting
that every person If you enjoyed today's podcast,
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Until next time, this is Sharon Buss. And I'm
Philip Buss. God bless you with His overwhelming,
loving presence.