In this session of Crushing by TD Jakes, we review chapter 7 and learn about the concept of making wine. Not the kind we drink, but what God is producing in our lives.

We tend to strive to be a healthy vine and produce good grapes, and yet our God has much bigger plans. It is in the process of God creating his masterpiece where the enemy of our soul will send obstacles our way in order to derail, distract, and disrupt what God is doing in our lives. Roadblocks we could not imagine will spring up out of nowhere. Family, friends and coworkers will inevitably surprise you, fail you, betray you. Problems and pressures you didn’t know existed will come to life and consume your attention, time and energy.

We can toss and turn every night, we can fall to the ground as our knees buckle, and we can cry out to God again and again. but these temptations, trials, and tragedies cannot deter the process of crushing God wants to use in your life – unless we let them.

What obstacles have you faced in pursuit of the dream(s) you knew God had called you to fulfill? How did you respond to them?

What temptations, setbacks, and speed bumps have you encountered most recently as you try to follow God and grow closer to Him (perhaps even after beginning this study)?

It is common for us to want success and victory at the least amount of cost. Pastor Jakes shared how he would repeatedly have to answer the question of how much it would cost to progress in ministry and business.  The difficult question of “Is the painful price of launching my dream worth it?” seems to come up often. But the truth of the matter in all of our lives is a difficult statement, until we fully understand it.

What God wants to do in your life will cost you everything.

The crushing process in our lives will cost us everything we know about ourselves, everything we think we want, and everything we understand about those around us. But through the process, we will go from the breast milk beliefs required by newborns to the meat-and-potatoes faith that will sustain us in our maturation. God will take the food of our failures and transform it into a banquet of blessings. He wants to shift our seedpod mindset into the ripening attitude of fruit willing to be crushed in order to make wine. This decision on our part is not a one time event – it’s a daily choice that affects how we see everything that happens in and around us.

How do you feel as you consider that the cost of your crushing is everything you have? Do you agree that this is the price for your transformation into God’s wine? Why or why not?

What single event, good or bad, has had the greatest impact on your faith? Why?

Our Heavenly Father knows all about the price of sacrificial love because He was willing to give up His only Son so that we could all be reunited in relationship with Him. We might have a tiny grasp on understanding the price of pain in the midst of our crushing, but God has already made the ultimate sacrifice. In addition, He continues to provide protection and provision like any loving parent wants to give to their children.

What are some of your insights and thoughts about the Last Supper and our continued participation in communion?

Every successful person carries the scars and bruises of their crushing. So many people try to change the world, launch businesses, or start a new church or ministry, but refuse to let anyone glimpse the price of pain they have paid for their endeavor. Pastor Jakes indicated that he did not consider anyone credible if they aren’t willing to celebrate the battle scars that led to their ongoing victory. Then relating it to the concept that Jesus had to be the first spiritual fruit crushed into eternal wine.

All the suffering, anguish, humiliation, shame and pain were required in order for His beloved bride to be set free. He took all the crushing upon Him so that it could become something forever potent and powerful.

Through His loving example, we can take the juice of our journey and make wine. No matter what we’ve lost, how much money we’ve wasted, how many relationships have fallen apart, or how many tears we have shed – let’s make wine!

What scars, wounds, or bruises do you have on your soul from your life’s crushing moments? What baggage do you carry with you from all the pain you’ve endured?

This week embrace the love that God has for you. Like the loving parent that has been heartbroken by adolescent decisions, and painful endurance of raising children. Embrace all the valleys you have journeyed through and how you have endured, and been squeezed into His goals. Think of where you thought you were going and where you are. No wine has ever been tasted of the grape uncrushed.

Pray and encourage those in and around your life. You just might be the best Gospel someone experiences in this season of their life.  Continue into chapter 8, The Power in the Blood this week and we will meet again next week Lord willing to discuss life together. Let’s make wine!

Jakes, T. D. Crushing: God Turns Pressure into Power. FaithWords, 2019.