You may feel that you have been in a rut, perhaps for years. But the hope offered to you in this message is that this is your year. Stay planted in the soil you are planted in now because this year is going to be different. You may feel fruitless, but your greatest season of producing fruit is here—if you will do two things: 1. Dig deeper than you have ever dug before 2. Allow God to use the dung in your life for greater purposes. THIS IS YOUR YEAR.
♪ ♪
>> Welcome
to Kingdom Connection.
Thank you for joining us today.
I have an encouraging word
that I wanna share with you,
and I believe
it’s from the Lord
to your heart.
“This is Your Year.”
That’s what I’m preaching today.
We will be starting
from Luke 13,
so open up your Bibles.
Let’s go right into the service.
I believe if you’re watching
this program and you are,
that means that this message
can be activated in your life.
Listen to it,
and I believe God
will spark faith to believe
that this is my year.
Listen and be blessed.
♪ ♪
>> If you have your Bibles
I’d like for you
to open them with me, please,
to the Book of Luke chapter 13,
and I have a word
from the Lord today.
Is that all right?
Luke chapter 13.
I’ll begin reading
with verse six.
“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.
Then he said to the keeper
of his vineyard, ‘Look,
for three years
I have come seeking fruit
on this fig tree
and found none.
Cut it down.
Why does it use up the ground?’
But he answered
and said to him,”
Listen to these words, “Sir,
let it alone this year also.”
In other words,
give me one more year.
Give me one more year.
“Let it alone
this year also until,”
notice the two things,
“I dig about it and dung it.”
How many of you know
what dung is?
And for the young people
that are here it goes
with the word bull dung,
chicken dung.
This is in the Bible.
I’m preaching the Bible.
He said, “I’m going
to do two things.
I’m going to dig it,
and I’m going to dung it.”
For three years
this tree has not produced.
It’s been in the same rut
for three years.
Now, listen to me carefully.
The owner planted the tree
in the soil that he knew
that it need
to produce greatness,
to produce fruit,
to produce what he wanted
to get out of it.
You don’t choose the soil,
the pain, the problems,
the difficulties,
the challenges
that God plants you in,
but if He planted you
in that particular soil
it is only
because He knows
that’s what it’s going
to require.
Not an easy life.
Not luxurious sand.
It may require a pain
and a problem in your life
to produce greatness
that God wants to come
up out of that,
and the soil
is not the problem
because all the other trees
were fruitful
except that one.
It was the response
of the tree to the soil
that it was planted in.
The pain and the problems
in our life
cannot stop us
unless we get in a rut
and we just keep —
and the thing
that got me about
this story
is God kept coming.
The owner is God in this story.
The tree is you and me,
and the tree,
instead of producing
in the soil
that God planted it in,
because He comes back
and check on it.
When He plants you
and allows to go through pian,
through problems,
circumstances,
adversity He backs of
and He comes back.
And in this story,
He came back annually.
He came back
at the first of the year,
and He comes back,
and He’s not expecting whining.
He’s not expecting complaining.
He’s not expecting
a dried up tree
that has become puny
and weaker and barely hanging
on to faith,
just the roots are alive,
there’s no fruit of the Spirit.
He’s not expecting that.
He’s expecting you to blossom
where He has planted you,
to prosper where
He has planted you.
And the thing about this story
that got me
is it’s been three years
and God keeps coming back
at the beginning of the year,
and you still have
an unfruitful marriage,
and last year and the year
before it’s not any better,
it’s not any better?
That could be your family tree.
It could be your family,
and the family
has difficult soil
that it’s in.
And so, the enemy
wants you to accept that,
but God comes back
and He says,
“This isn’t meant
to destroy you.
The place that I allowed you
to go through
is not meant to wipe you out.”
Others are going through
the same thing,
and it forced them
to a fruitful relationship
with me going through
the same rejection,
the same divorce,
the same pain,
the same tragedy
of losing a loved one
and it didn’t wither up
their tree.
It actually made them blossom
and become more fruitful
in long suffering.
The Fruits of the Spirit:
peace, joy, love,
longsuffering, patience,
kindness, goodness.
It had to cover up
in the kind of soil
that was difficult,
not easy.
God doesn’t need you
to be with a lot
of friends right now.
He knows what it’s gonna take
for greatness
to come out of you.
We always want a happy,
blessed, wonderful,
wonderful, wonderful life,
and we don’t understand.
It’s usually more to the story
than a beautiful tree
that’s blossoming.
Somewhere that tree —
if it’s gonna go high,
it’s gonna start low.
And listen to this,
it’s been three years
and the owner said,
“We might as well cut it down
and throw it into the fire.”
And this is what I came
to preach today,
“This Is Your Year,”
“This Is Our Year,”
and the Lord told me
to tell you,
it might have been three years,
and some of you
have been saying,
“I might as well quit.
I might as well give up.
I might as well try
something else
because I’m caught
in this cycle at maintaining
a deferred dream.
I tried and here I am
in the same place
that I was last year,
and I tried and last year
and the year before
and the year before.”
And the enemy wants you
to settle, but God —
just when he said it
might be time to cut it down
and throw it in the fire
up steps somebody called
the Dresser of the Field.
And let me give you
a hint His name is Jesus.
Because I know He’s Jesus
because He put Himself
between an angry God
and a fruitless,
puny tree, and He said,
“Leave it alone.”
Did you catch those words?
“Leave it alone.”
In other words,
He’s saying,
“If you’ve got vindication,
if you’ve got anger,
if you’ve got some problem
with the tree,
you don’t have to talk
to the tree anymore.
Put it on me.
I’ll take the tree’s place.
I’ll hang on a tree.
I’ll take his curse.
I’ll take what he deserves.
I’ll take his wasted life.
I’ll take
the ramifications of that.”
And Jesus in that moment
became the middle man
between the tree,
and notice what Jesus
begged for —
and I believe
that you’re listening to me
at all of our campuses
and all over the nation
and by television
and those of you here
in this room this morning live,
you’re not is this service
by accident.
This year, 2022,
is the year.
I ask God to bring
only the people
who would believe
what I’m saying today.
This is your year
of fruitfulness!
This is your year!
It’s gonna require
some things of you.
You can’t just go through
this year like every other year.
This is the year!
Shout this is my year!
>> This is my year.
>> Turn to somebody
on your other side
and say give it
one more year.
>> Give it one more year.
>> I know you feel
like quitting.
I know you feel like
it’s never gonna change.
I know you feel like
you’re never gonna get free
for that addiction.
I know you feel
like you never gonna
get in shape.
I know you feel like
your marriage
is never gon’ get better,
but I heard the Lord this week
in my spirit say,
“The enemy is lying
to people.
This is the year
of breakthrough.
This is the year
of fruitfulness.
This is the year of winning,
being the head
and not the tail,
above only and not beneath.”
Take a praise break
and give God glory.
Hallelujah!
We praise you, Lord!
C’mon.
Give Him a great praise
if you still believe in times
in soil like this.
Even in soil like this,
pandemic and trouble
everywhere, division,
and crime everywhere,
but even in soil
like this God says,
“That can be your year
’cause, my people,
I know what I’m doing
in the vineyard.”
And He said,
“Don’t quit this year.”
He didn’t say give it
one more year
so we can keep doing
what we’ve always done, though.
We’re not talking about
give it one more year
and cross your fingers
and wish for the best.
No, no, no, no, no, no.
He said you’re gonna have
to have two things happen
to you if you’ll give me
a year.
Notice what He said.
He said, “You gon’ have
to let me dig you
and you gon’ have
you let me dung you.”
[luaghter]
I’m gon’ dig you.
What does that mean?
I’m gon’ tear up the environment
all around you.
You’ve become hardened.
You’ve become conceited.
You’ve become —
you’re not soft anymore
to my Spirit.
I can’t get
the Spiritual nutrients
through to your soul,
and you’ve become hardened
in your soul.
And so what I wanna do
is I want to tear up things.
And a lot of us
know what it is
to have God dig deep
and tear up the environment
all around us.
What in the world
is going on?
But one thing
it does is it softens you.
It softens to you
where you begin to dig.
God knows and what He intends
for you to be
and that’s an overcomer,
but in order for that to happen
you’ve got to dig deep.
God put everything
that He needed in this earth.
He put oil in the ground,
He put gold in the mountains,
coal to keep us warm,
but He put it out
of the reach
of lazy people.
And this year
will have no change
for you unless
you’re willing to dig deep
this year and say,
“I’m gonna do what I can do
and God will do what I can’t do,
but here we go.
I’m not going
into another year of defeat.
I’m not going into another year
of being sick and tired
of being sick and tired.”
I’m trying to calm down
’cause we have guests
here today,
but I feel like screaming
and preaching this morning
because I know
that this is our year,
and we can’t play games.
We’ve gotta dig deep this year!
Dig deep into this Book!
Dig deep into prayer.
Dig deep into your church.
Get in it!
Give Him one year!
You gave hell
when you were in it.
You were tore up every night.
Now God wants to tear you up
another way.
He’s gon’ tear up everything
that is hardened against
what He wants out
of your life: fruitfulness.
I found this,
and I wanna give it to you.
“What does that digging
thing mean?
What are you talking about?
Make room for growth.”
George “Shotgun” Shuba
played seven seasons
with the Dodgers.
He was the first pinch hitter
to hit a homerun
in the World Series,
and he knocked the homerun
in the World Series
and one of the announcers
calling the game
said these words,
“His swing is as natural
as a smile.”
And after the program
or after the game everybody
was using that quote,
and they asked him about it.
He said, “Is that what
he called it?
Is that what he called
that just as natural
as a smile?”
He said, “No.”
He said, “Every day
I swing a weighted bat,
44 ounces,
600 times a day,
and that’s 4,200 times a week,
and what you think
was just natural,”
and that’s how we feel
about people who are Spiritual
and who are fruitful
in their walk with God,
“Well you’re just naturally.”
No, no.
There’s nothing
natural about it.
You pick this Book up,
and you read it.
You get on your knees,
and you pray.
You get you outta the bed,
and you get in church
and you’ll be amazed
at how natural it is
to be blessed
and how natural it is
to have a faith
that believes no matter what
the environment
around is doing!
And then lastly, he said,
“Not only am I gonna dig,
but I’m gonna dung you.”
If you still haven’t figured out
what that is,
it’s manure.
It’s bad.
God can use horrible things
to bring miracle growth.
The one thing
that is so obnoxious
in your life
that you can’t hardly stand it
is the very thing
God takes and throws
on a fruitless tree
to make it come alive.
Without fertilizer
the tree dies,
and fertilizer
is not pleasant.
You go through things
that stink.
There will always
be in every relationship —
sooner or later
your marriage will stink,
your family will stink,
your job will stink,
your finances may stink,
you will go through —
maybe your health stinks,
but God says,
“I don’t waste that,
I take it and use it
as fertilizer.”
People give up.
They give up instead
of growing.
The time that God’s
gonna do the greatest things
in your life,
they give up
because when God starts
tearing up everything
around you,
and then He starts
throwing the mess on you.
It’s just —
here’s why that’s good news.
“Well, this is not
an encouraging,
positive word today.”
[laughter]
Yeah, I’m telling you,
God’s gon’ dig you
and God’s gon’ dung you,
and you can’t do nothing
about it.
But here’s your last option.
There’s only one
other option left.
Remember, He said,
“I’m coming back
at the end of the year
and if you hadn’t let me
dig you and you haven’t
let me dung you,
throw mess on you
and it not turn sour
it actually makes you grow.
I believe in now
more than I ever believe it.
Now that they’re coming
against me I know
that all things
are working together
for the good.
I know that I am more
than a conquer,
and I’m not discouraged.
That’s when your tree
begins to blossom!
But here’s the thing
that we ought to be shouting at.
How many of you feel like
God’s just digging
all around your little tree?
Let me see your hand.
How many of you feel
like God’s even thrown
some dung on you?
Just be honest.
Just be honest.
Well here’s the good news.
This why you ought to shout.
‘Cause the only thing left
is to cut you down
and burn you.
And since —
If —
aren’t you glad
that you’re getting dug
and dunged instead
of cut down and thrown away?
God’s not through with you!
God hasn’t given up on you,
and He’s giving you
one more year.
What if this was the last,
what if you knew,
what if God told you,
“This is your last year
to fix this,
to get real with me.
I’m giving you one more year
to change things
and enjoy your life
like it is in the soil
that I planted you in,
and if I come back
and you’re still discouraged
and defeated
I’mma let you have
what you complain about.”
Now I know this isn’t popular
preaching right now,
and I understand
that you came for,
but sometimes
you don’t just need blessing,
you need blistering.
And I’m a preacher.
This is what I do
for a living.
I have a license,
and I’m up here telling you
and I’m preaching to myself.
My cry is this is my year.
Dig me.
Dung me.
Whatever you wanna do.
Now watch this.
Let me close with this.
The apostle Paul said
in Philippians 3:8,
“Yea doubtless,
and I count all things,”
all things, all things,
all things,
“loss for the excellency
of the knowledge of Jesus Christ
for whom I have suffered
the loss of all things,”
listen, “and do count them
but dung.”
He said, “You know what?”
He said, “Everything
I’ve been through,
I have lost,
I have been beaten with rods,
I have been snake bit,
I have been left for dead,
I have been stoned,
I have been falsely imprisoned,
I have been lied on,
I have been run out of town,
I have been tortured,
but can I just tell you?”
He said, “I counted
all as dung.”
He said, “All it is,
is fertilizer.
God took everything
I’ve been through
and put it on me,
and I wrote half
the New Testament
and I couldn’t have done it
in any other soil.
I had to have the mess
to bring the message!”
[applauase]
The very things
that we wanna hide
when Jesus walked
into the temple and He said,
“Stretch forth your hand,”
the man with the withered hand
could have stretch forth
his good hand
that was all manicured
and he perfect,
but he had to reveal
his weakness
and the ugly part
of his life.
I close with this,
but hear me.
David said in Psalms 83 that,
“My enemies,” he said,
“they because as dung.”
One translation said,
“The very thing trying
to destroy you
God will use as fertilizer.”
I close with this.
In Luke chapter 11
Jesus arrives
at the tomb of Lazarus
and his sister comes out
and says, “Lord,
you’re too late.
You should have come
three years ago.”
But in this case three days ago;
he’s four days dead.
And then she make the statement,
“By now he stinks.”
This is bad.
This is dung.
And Jesus smiles.
In my mind, I could see Him
smile and say,
“You don’t understand, girl.
This is just fertilizer
for the supernatural.
This kind of environment
is just fertilizer for miracles.
I’m gonna dig it,
and I’m gonna take
the most obnoxious things
that life throws at my people,
and if they will stay rooted
and they will submit
to the digging
and the dunging process
and give me one more year.
Don’t quit, don’t give up,
don’t throw in the towel.
Give me one more year.
I will bring fruit
where the tree
is withered and dead.
I’ll turn the puny
into the mighty.”
And you know who said
He would do it?
The Dresser of the Field, Jesus.
He said, “I’m the one.
I’ll take their shame.
I’ll take their curse.
I’ll take their failures.”
And God says, “I’m gonna take
the mess of your life,
the wasted years,
the wasted relationships,
the terrible decisions.
I’ll turn it into fertilizer,
and I’ll put it on
that fruitless tree,
and in one year’s time —
I’m telling you,
if you’ll give God one year.
See, we want the quick-fix,
bam, you got it,
now go do your thing.
That’s not how it works
in the Kingdom.
Give Him some time.
Let Him give you
some miracle growth
in your life,
and He’ll take everything
you’ve been through:
the tears, the brokenness,
the abuse, the hurt,
the horrible decisions,
the failure, the addiction,
the pain, and He’ll use it
as fertilizer.
If you’d let Him
just break you up
a little bit,
you would leave this place
with a faith that is beginning
to grow again
and come alive again,
and before this year is over
you’re gonna have a one year
turnaround in Jesus name.
♪ ♪
>> If you feel like
you’re in the same cycle
and you feel like year
after year nothing’s happening
and you just can’t seem
to get a breakthrough
on your job
or in your marriage,
your family,
you haven’t received that thing
that you’re believing God for,
you’re not watching
this program by accident.
You just heard, I believe,
a message that God
wanted you to hear today,
“This is Your Year.”
Don’t give up now.
Don’t give up
and throw in the towel now.
God can give you
a one-year turnaround,
and it starts
with your relationship
with Jesus Christ.
You see, God sent His Son,
Jesus Christ, to die for you,
not just to save you
from your sins,
but He wants to have
a relationship
and be your friend, and Lord,
today we pray and proclaim
this the year of freedom
and the year of turnaround
and the year of fruitfulness.
So, break up the ground,
Lord, and do the groundwork
in our lives and take
what the enemy meant
to destroy us,
the messes of life,
the fertilizer of life,
and turn it around,
and we’ll give you the praise.
Now pray this prayer.
Say, Jesus,
I don’t want another year
like last year.
Save me.
Cleanse me
by your Blood.
Forgive me.
I have redemption
through your Blood
by faith in your name,
and I believe
in the name of Jesus,
and I receive what you did
on the cross.
Say that, and then say,
Jesus, be Lord of my family
and my life.
I give you this family tree,
and it looks like
it’s withered up and dying,
but would you let my family tree
come alive again this year,
in Jesus’s name.
If you just prayed that prayer,
we would love to hear from you.
Such a blessing when people
reach out and take time
either to call us
by the number on the screen
or visit our website.
We have all kinds
of free resources,
and we wanna give them
free to you,
and you can know every step
that you need to take,
the next step,
in your life.
We even have online programs
that will be
a tremendous discipleship,
blessing, and devotionals
free of charge
that we would love to just sow
into you because
you’re that valuable
to God and to us.
Before we go I wanna say
thank you for supporting
this ministry
and our latest project
I am so excited about.
You can be a part
of this miracle in Israel.
We’re building a fire station,
and we’re gonna get fire trucks,
and we’re gonna have everything,
all the equipment
that they need with your help.
We’re building it in Israel
even as I speak.
Listen to this.
Here’s how you can make
a difference.
[Fire Truck Sirens]
>> ANNOUNCER: Fires caused
by rockets
and incendiary balloons
from the Hamas terrorist
group are a constant threat
to the nation of Israel.
In 2021 alone,
over 4,425 rockets have
been fired into Israel.
When these attacks are launched,
they cause massive fires
that threaten lives,
damage homes and businesses,
and also burn through large
areas of crops and farmland.
Remote places, like Eshkol,
the region in Israel closest
to the Gaza Strip,
are often left fighting
these fires on their own.
That is why Jentezen Franklin
Media Ministries has remained
committed to provided comfort
with grace to these
Jewish people in need.
Our latest initiative
is to provide fire stations,
fire trucks, and equipment
for the volunteer fire fighters
to protect their towns
and families.
By building a local fire
station and providing
the proper equipment,
we are easing the fear
and threat of the damage
that these fires cause.
When you give your
best gift today,
there is a blessing
waiting on you found
in Genesis 12:3,
“I will bless those
who bless you,
and I will curse him
who curses you.”
You can be a part
of the blessing today.
Israel is under constant attack
and your support today
matters more than ever.
These desperate Jewish families
urgently need your help.
Call now or go online today.
♪ ♪
>> We hope you’ve enjoyed
this teaching
by Jentezen Franklin
and thank you
for your continued support
of this ministry.
Your prayers
and financial support
make these programs possible.
For more information
about this message
and other ministry resources,
visit us online
at JentezenFranklin.tv.
♪ ♪