I remember one New Year’s early on in my relationship with Papa Jack, he taught me the lesson of the rod of God. Papa Jack said, “Son, I want to teach you about the rod. In this season, you will learn how to pick it up and lay it down.” This lesson has transformed and saved my life and family in more ways than I can express. 

I was sharing this message of the rod in Colorado a few years back and was activating the congregation to identify whatever situation they are facing and prophetically lay it down to the Lord. There was this lady in the meeting who had a prodigal son whom she had not seen in 6 years and had been crying out to the Lord for his return and salvation. I will never forget this. The moment she laid her son down to the Lord, that young man rushed in through the back doors of that meeting, surrendered his life to Jesus, and reconciled with his mother. It was a powerful moment of surrender. 

Most of you know by now that Papa Jack went home to be with Jesus in 2021. I had just come back home from the Middle East when I got the call that he only had a few moments left. I jumped back on another plane and flew to be by his side in his final moments. And just before he left, the final words he whispered on earth echoed that lesson he had taught me so many years before, “Son, lay it down.”

This is the lesson my papa taught me, and I want to teach it to you. We can only be entrusted with the things we are free from. Whether that may be a family member like in the Colorado story or a business, this is a season to learn to lay down our rods in surrender and to pick them up in His strength. 

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