Category Archives: Our Journey Into The Promised Land

The Sounds of Silence!

26 Thursday Jan 2012

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What is the final test of greatness as judged by the world? 

  •  It is not how we lived in ease or comfort.
  • It is what is done in the hour of adversity, in the hour of suffering, in the moment of persecution, in the instance of difficulty.

 

Someone once said, “Common circumstances create common men. Extraordinary circumstances create men who have iron in their soul.”

 

Little souls are dismayed by difficulties, great souls are awakened by them. Difficulties awaken their courage, stimulate their activities, and marshal their faculties for battle.

God’s greatest men did not just happen. It came in the long, tearful nights, it came beneath the weight of some burden, and it came at the height of the great resistance to their soul. Character was forged in the heat of the furnace.

 

Application For Our Own Journey into the Promised Land

 

I think that sometime or another we all get in a hurry to reach the Promised Land, because we become greatly excited about the prospect of being in God’s perfect will and inheriting the Lord’s blessings.

The real problem for most is we usually don’t arrive at the place of our vision or dream immediately. We have to (endure) wait on God’s timing.

In these times of relative calm, God  is sometimes quiet.  It is not because he has abandoned us, but because He is in the process of preparing us and preparing our pathway for what lies ahead.

 

When Moses was on the mountain it was because God was providing his people with the law, and the law was given in order that the people could prosper.  In Deuteronomy 30:16 God tells us,

“I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in His ways, and to keep His commandments, His statutes, and His judgements, that you may live and multiply; and the Lord your God will bless you in the land which you go to possess.”

 

HERE IS THE POINT:

The thing is, we usually don’t realize that those times of silence are the times when God is either preparing us or opening some doors for us.  We tend to get frustrated because we are not hearing from God.

When we don’t hear from the Lord, what do we usually wind up doing? We start taking matters into our own hands.  When we take our eyes off of God, we then begin to devote our attention and our effort to something else – something which we have created – and that is considered to be idolatry.

Even if it is something that is done in the name of the Lord, if God has not sanctioned it, then it can become an idol.

 

 One of the greatest errors that we make is to allow the dream to become bigger than the Dream Giver (the title of Bruce Wilkinson’s book). When God says, “Wait,” we tend to say, “Let’s go!”

 

And when our dream becomes our idol we attempt to open doors that God has sealed shut, and it will be like we are beating our head against a wall.

One of the greatest tests of our faith, in which God will test us to see if we fully trust him is during those times of silence.  We know that God uses silence in order to test us, for in reference to King Hezekiah, we read in 2 Chronicles 32:31,

 

“God withdrew from him in order to test him, that He might know all that was in his heart.”

 

In Jeremiah 17:10 we read this:

“I, the Lord, search the heart, I test the mind, even to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doings.”

 

Those times of silence very well might be the time that God is using to prepare the way for us, but they can also be tests of our faithfulness to worship God alone, and for us to prove that God is the only thing of which we have need.

 

When God is silent we might feel that He is trying to take away our dream, but as George Mueller said,

“Our heavenly Father never takes anything from his children unless he means to give them something better.”

If, when we do not hear from the Lord, we focus only on God and refuse to strive after the dream, then the Lord will bring our big dream to pass.

 

IRONIC –

At that moment, the very Godhead was focused on Israel’s present needs and their future blessings. Yet, while the Lord was arranging everything for their benefit and inheritance, the people were crying,

“Where is God? Where is His direction? We see no evidence of His faithfulness. There is only silence. What kind of God would leave us alone and afraid, without a word? Enough of this waiting — enough of silence and delays. Let’s take action. Let’s do something!“

 

So Israel deliberately put out of their minds all the miraculous things God had done for them. They forgot the supernatural plagues He had sent on Egypt. They forgot the Red Sea miracle. They forgot the sweetened waters of Marah and the angel’s food He had given them each morning. Not even the thundering voice at Sinai mattered to them anymore. All that mattered was they were in need and heard only silence.

 

 

They were under the spell of unbelief! Nothing could shake these people from their conviction that God was no longer with them. The only thing they cared about was satisfying their inner craving for action!

 

The Bible says these people literally ripped off their earrings, so Aaron could begin shaping the idol:

“And all the people brake off the golden earrings which were in their ears, and brought them unto Aaron” (Exodus 32:2).

 

I can almost hear their excited cry as the calf took shape: “Now we’re getting someplace!”

 “And when Moses saw that the people were naked; (for Aaron had made them naked unto their shame among their enemies:)…” (Exodus 32:25).

 

The Hebrew word used here for naked is “para,” meaning, “to loosen up, expose, dismiss all restraint.” It also infers “a new beginning.” The Israelites were saying,

“Things are not happening as they should. We’re tired of this battle, tired of waiting on God. And now we’re going to enjoy ourselves. Out with the old! We want new freedom, a new start – and we want it now!”

 

Nakedness in the Bible also has to do with not having one’s shield. Every man who didn’t have his shield was considered naked. These Israelites were literally naked — stripped down and dancing before the golden calf.  They also had layed down their armor.

 

Can you imagine their enemies, the Amalekites, looking down on this wild scene from the surrounding mountains? These Amalekites once trembled at the very sight of Israel. God had put a dread in their hearts toward His people, so that they could never let down their guard.

But now they saw Israel taking off their armor and stripping off their garments. And the Amalekites were mocking and laughing at them!

“Look at them — they’re just like us! Their God has no power. They don’t trust Him. See? They’re throwing off all their strict ways! They want to lust and party and play just like the rest of us. Some holiness! What hypocrisy!”

 

In that one act of nakedness, Israel belittled their God in the eyes of the ungodly! They made the Lord seem heartless, cruel, uncaring, helpless. They besmirched His honor, His majesty, His omnipotence. They were no longer an example to the world.

 

 

And that is exactly what we do when we strip off our robes of faith and let go of our confidence in God!  Without childlike trust in God, a Christian stands naked before the world — exposed to all doubts, fears, and unbelief!

God Has a Special Plan for You, and He Is Working Out Every Detail — But You Can Jeopardize it!  People do determine greatness by noting what we do in distressing circumstances.  They also note how great our God is by how we respond to difficult times.

How are you responding to life’s circumstances?

 

Blessings,

Pastor

 

 

Lessons From The Golden Calf

25 Wednesday Jan 2012

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After Aaron bowed to peer pressure, he called for all the gold within the camp. The blessing of gold God gave the Israelites as they left Egypt had now become a curse.  A raging fire was built and Aaron began to craft the gold to form a calf. He shaped it quickly without much difficulty.

There are many lessons that we can learn from the making of this golden calf.  I just want to mention two.

 

 

 

– The Easiness of Sin –

 

The material was poured into a mold and shaped without any trouble. It required no originality or effort of thought.   All that was needed was a faded memory of how the calf looked in Egypt. It came so natural, so easy.

This is the way sin operates in the lives of men. It’s modus operandi is so subtle in its approach and how it just fits men’s appetites.

 

 Do you remember Samson?  He was a he-man with a she-problem.  Samson convinced himself that it was not really a sin to go down and date the Philistines girls. You know how attractive the girls can be across the border.  Maybe he thought he could do some “missionary dating.”   Because he failed to deal with his sin issues, it eventually cost him his ministry to his own people.  Sin easily led him to Delilah.  She led him to confessing his secrets.  Once his secrets were known, he lost his sight and was imprisoned in a heathen temple.

 

Samson didn’t wake up one day thinking, “I want to be a bald, blind slave serving the Philistine gods.”  No, it took some time.  Eventually sin caused Samson to conform as it does everyone who fails to go to battle against it.  This is why Romans 12:2 reminds us:

“And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”

 

Sin is easy.  You don’t even have to work at becoming a better sinner.  All of us are on course for sin to run rampant in our lives unless we make other plans.

No one has ever been to a seminar on:

  • How to Be a Better Liar
  • How to Cheat Your Boss or Customers
  • How to Hold a Grudge
  • How to Destroy Things with Anger
  • How to Sin More Effectively
  • The Benefits of Corruption
  • The Essence of Immorality

 

Without attending any of these seminars, most of us know something about how they work.  Why?  Sin is easy and unless we allow the Lord to conform us into something different, we will be molded into the world’s sinful form.

 

 

– Idols Require Little Imagination –

 

The idol maker infuses as little of himself as possible into the making of the idol. He is not an artist.  He is just a mechanic or tool.  The goal is to creat something divine, something beyond ourselves.  Somewhere the idol maker believes a god is just waiting to be born.

 

 

 Hideyoshi, a Japanese warlord who ruled over Japan in the late 1500’s, commissioned a colossal statue of Buddha for a shrine in Kyoto. It took 50,000 men five years to build, but the work had scarcely been completed when the earthquake of 1596 brought the roof of the shrine crashing down and wrecked the statue. In a fit of rage Hideyoshi shot an arrow at the fallen statue, and then he shouted, “I put you here at great expense, and you can’t even look after your own temple.”

The idol in our story was made in a day.  It required little thought or imagination.  The gold was mixed with other alloys, put in a mold and cast.  Shazzam!  The refugees from Egypt had a new god to serve…one they could now see, believe, approach, and worship.

Their idol became everything they thought God wasn’t.  Wow!  Most of our idols work this way.  Sin causes us to create idols after our own fleshly desires.

Hey, have you failed to place your sin and idols upon the altar of the Lord?  Have your unbridled sins become an idol of your own desires?  It is time we become honest with ourselves and allow the Lord to identify and cleanse every area of our lives.  Are you ready?

 

Blessings,

Pastor

 

Give Us God… Now!

24 Tuesday Jan 2012

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Part of our spiritual process requires we maintain our spiritual composure in the transitional times of our walk with the Lord.  These moments usually occur after significant spiritual battles.  It is then that the Lord pulls us aside for rest and refocusing.  The Children of Israel had seen God in action via the Ten Plagues and at the Red Sea.  Who really could ask for more of God’s activity?

 

 It is here at Mt. Sinai that God calls Moses to the mountain top for a transitional meeting on how He wants Israel to follow Him. (Exodus 19-31)

There will always be “transitioning times” in our lives where God speaks and God’s will becomes more clear.  We can call them Mountain Top Experiences.  We walk into the meeting believing God one way and exit believing God on a new level.  It is God’s revelation of Himself that changes what we believe.

 

Moses Goes to the Mountain – Exodus 19

 

From Exodus 19 we find that Moses goes up into the mountain for a meeting with God. Thunder and lightning, thick clouds, and a voice that was as loud as a great trumpet.  The ground trembled and shook. It was at this time God gave Moses the intricate details of the Law.

 

 

But Moses Doesn’t Come Down

 

   “And when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down out of the mount,… we don’t know what is become of him.” (Exodus 32:1)

 

 

Idolatry is not spiritual ignorance but a willful turning away from spiritual knowledge and worship of God. The people began to question all sorts of things about Moses, their spiritual leader.

  • Moses is dead.
  • Moses has left us all alone out here.  
  • Moses has conspired with the Egyptians.
  • Moses has left us here to die. 
  • Moses’ God has left us and is not speaking!

 

These types of questions led to the people clamoring and that clamoring led to active idolatry.  Men are often so impatient with the movement or lack of movement of God in their lives.  This cry quickly rose to Aaron’s ears.  The people demanded…Give us a god, now!

 

 

Aaron, that fearless man, who had…

  • walked in the courts of Pharaoh;
  • warned Pharaoh of the plagues to come;
  • had been the voice for Moses;
  • been called a saint of God; and 
  • once obeyed the will of God without argument, now listened to the people.

The troubling issue here was that he led them in the way of destruction.  Aaron could not stand up to this type of peer pressure and began to buckle under the demands of the people.

 

None of us can be just half-way committed to our purpose. We must be wholly committed to God. When we step out of our boundaries and ask our spiritual leaders to step out of their boundaries, we create nothing but golden calves. The golden calves produced will not only damage our generation but the subsequent one as well. 

 

 

“A speedboat driver recently survived a racing accident. According to the driver, he had been at near top speeds when his boat veered slightly and hit a wave at a dangerous angle. The combined force of his speed and the size and angle of the wave sent the boat spinning rapidly into the air.  

He was thrown from his seat and propelled deeply into the water—so deep, he had no idea which direction led to the surface.  In order to survive he had to remain calm and wait for his life vest to begin pulling him up. Once he discovered which way was up, he could swim for the surface.”

 

Sometimes we find ourselves not knowing “which way is up.” When this happens, we are to remain calm, wait for God’s gentle tug to pull us in the proper direction.

Unfortunately, when the Israelites became confused about Moses they took actions into their own hands. They were unwilling to wait and allow God to gently nudge them in the right direction.

Yes, God was quiet longer than usual because He was giving Moses a big WORD.  The word took over 12-13 chapters in the Bible.  WOW!  Waiting over 40 days is actually a short time.

 

Instead of turning to God for a life vest, they turned to Aaron, Moses’ brother and said, “Look, make us some gods who can lead us. This man Moses, who brought us here from Egypt, has disappeared. We don’t know what has happened to him” (Exodus 32:1b – New Living Translation).

 

  • How do you respond in a crisis? 
  • Do you demand for God to show Himself immediately? 
  • Remember this crisis was self-created.  No enemy was threatening the people. 
  • What happens in your life when God delays?
  • Have you learned to wait for God’s gentle tug to reveal to you which direction to swim? 

If you have a tendency to fall apart when God delays…. You are going to be spiritually falling apart on most occasions.  There may be known occasions when God seemingly delays and there may be unknown reasons for God’s absence.  The point is many times God is quiet.  He still is Lord!

Someone once said, “It is better to die believing God than to go on living in unbelief!”  When we fall apart at the silence of God, it reveals our unbelief or lack of faith and belief in His plans.  Our reactions always reveal our real beliefs about the Lord!

 

Blessings,

 

Pastor

The Wilderness Experience (Part 4) – Habitating With God

23 Monday Jan 2012

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I blogged last Friday the Wilderness Experience is about preparing us to walk in maturity.  In order to facilitate real growth in our life, the Lord also focuses upon improving our environment.

 

 

– The Wilderness Is About Habitation –

 

If you have ever looked through a college brochure you know that most colleges offer a long list of possible majors.   God’s Wilderness University offers them as well.  They are not very popular.  In fact, most try to avoid these majors altogether. But, if you really want to grow and are submitted to God’s process, then you will sign-up and be in attendance.

Moses is our example in this area because he had to major in the following four. If we follow in his footsteps, we will be required to do the same.

 

-Obscurity –

 

“When he was placed outside, Pharaoh’s daughter took him and brought him up as her own son. Moses was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was powerful in speech and action.”  (Acts 7:21-22)

 

Moses was adopted and wouldn’t be raised in anonymity.   Pharaoh’s palace became his playground and the best educational system was at his disposal. He was trained in all the wisdom of Egypt, the greatest nation of the day.

Yet, through the providence of God, he spends forty of the best years of his life living in relative obscurity.  In obscurity the Lord “uncorked” what Moses had learned and he began to learn of the ways of the Lord.

Here is a man who by all rights should be leading the nation of Egypt.   Yet God couldn’t use Moses when he first came out of Egypt.  God could only use Moses after he spent years on the backside of the desert.  “Moses didn’t live at the end of the world but you could see it from there.”

 

    •  Have you ever felt like you were living in obscurity? 
    • Have you ever felt that no one would ever know about your talents or abilities? 
    • Moses’ talents and abilities were known and then promptly disposed. 

 

The truth is God can’t use anything we bring into His educational process.  He tells us time and time again to repent and rid our hearts and minds of the things of the world.  What we will not do by our own hand, the Lord can do through leading us to live in obscurity.

 

– Time –

 

Maybe a better word for this major is patience. God uses the element of time to speak to the issues of patience in our lives.

Moses spent forty years in the wilderness before he was even approached by God to be used. The bell never rang to end this class.  The Bible records that Moses was the “meekest” man on the planet.

I have never attended a “patience class” I thought was too short!  I have never begged for a little more.  I have screamed, “Lord, will this ever end?”

As you know, we live in a microwave society. We are used to getting what we want right away. There is very little in our world that trains us to wait and be patient. This is especially true when it comes to helping and serving others.

We both know that God’s lesson plans do not include one-hour cram sessions.  There are no “Klep” classes or short cuts.

A young man once approached Socrates to ask if the philosopher would teach him the gift of oratory. His request was then followed by an incessant stream of words until finally, Socrates placed his hand over the inquirer’s mouth and said, “Young man, I will have to charge you a double fee.”

 When the fellow asked why, Socrates replied, “I will have to teach you two sciences. First, how to hold your tongue, and then, how to use it.”  You cannot speak and learn at the same time.

 

 

  -Solitude –

 

Moses learned the importance of solitude during those forty years in the desert.  This is a major many others could use as well.

 

Many believers are actually afraid of being alone with God.  This type of solitude will induce God’s voice to come alive in our hearts.  Like the story above, solitude teaches us first to be quiet.   As someone once said, “Solitude is the beginning of all freedom.”

 

I have had many people speak to me about hearing too many voices.  This is an ever-increasing problem.  No one ever said to me “My mind is just too peaceful and quiet.”  The competing voices will only increase as time moves forward.  The desert quiet calls us to settle the competing voices and focus totally on the One voice.  Jesus said, “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them and they know Me.”  ( John 10:27)

 

 

– Discomfort –

 

Here is a major you will certainly not find in any college catalog. Can you imagine a major in discomfort? I wonder what the classes would be like if you had to enroll in discomfort. Maybe there would be activities like sleeping on the floor for a semester or being yelled at by your boss or professor.  How about living with no heat/air, water, or living with rodents.

I think Moses experienced most of these on a regular basis.  What could have been more uncomfortable than spending forty nomadic years in the desert without running water, air conditioning, or permanent shelter?

The fact is God has to often make us uncomfortable where we are so that we will move on to where He wants us to be.

 

During Superbowl XXXVII, FedEx ran a commercial that spoofed the movie Castaway. In the movie Tom Hanks played a FedEx worker whose company plane went down, stranding him on a desert island for years.  Looking like the haggard Hanks in the movie, the FedEx employee in the commercial goes up to the door of a suburban home, package in hand.

When the lady comes to the door he explains that he survived 5 years on a deserted island, and during that whole time he kept this package in order to deliver it to her. She gives a simple, “Thank you.”

But he is curious about what is in the package because he has been protecting it for years. He says, “If I may ask, what was in that package after all?”  She opens it and shows him the contents, saying, “Oh, nothing really. Just a satellite telephone, a global positioning device, a compass, a water purifier, and some seeds.”

The point is… God doesn’t want us to feel like a “castaway or cast off.”  God didn’t bring us to and through The Wilderness Experience to crush us into oblivion.  The time, obscurity, solitude, and discomfort are merely means by which God uses to mature us.

 

God is seeking to make us into Gold and Diamonds.  More specifically, The Father is conforming us to the image of His Son.  The heart of God wants us all to quickly graduate with HONORS. Like Jesus, God wants us to exit the Wilderness Experience having defeated Satan and full of the Holy Spirit! 

Blessings,

Pastor

 

The Wilderness Experience (Part 3) – God’s Prep Work!

20 Friday Jan 2012

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The Wilderness Experience Is All About Preparation. 

 

 

Most think they are ready to receive all the promises of God.  In fact, most will absolutely guarantee they are ready for God’s Call, God’s Anointing, God’s Promise, God’s Word, God’s Gifts, God’s Deliverance, God’s Salvation, and God’s Promised Land.     This is true until the first testing of the Wilderness Experience brings out the bitterness of soul.  This is exactly what Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy reveals.  God’s people are bitter, angry, anxious, complainers, hate authority, selfish, mean-spirited and want nothing to do with God or His Lordship.  They want all God’s Promises, Favor, and Love, but want nothing to do with having a meaningful relationship with Him.

 

– The Wilderness Teaches Lessons In Maturity –

 

Did you know that God also has a school? God’s college does not have dormitories or computer labs. It doesn’t have a choir or a baseball team. There are no fancy four-color brochures that advertise God’s college. You cannot expect His campus recruiters to come to you and try and persuade you to attend his school. (Unless it’s me!) You are not going to see professional videos introducing you to campus life.

 

God’s college is in the desert, and I don’t mean Palm Springs or UNLV. God’s college is a desolate place. It is a place where the temperature soars and shade is hard to come by. It is a place where the ground is parched and water is a rare commodity. In fact, many times you have to search and scrounge for many of the comforts of life.

 

 

God’s school can be called “Wilderness University”.  Wilderness University is not a school that you can opt out. When it comes to colleges around the country you pick and chose where you might like to go, but you cannot do that with Wilderness University. If you are going to be a follower of Jesus Christ, if you are going to be a true “Disciple”, then the Wilderness University is mandatory.

 

There is another strange fact about this School of Higher Spiritual Learning.  You never finish all the courses, at least not in this life. There are no semesters or quarters. Your time at Wilderness University may last from a few days to a few years.  Moses spent 40 years in the Wilderness University the first time and then spent 40 more years in the desert, disciplining the Children of Israel.

 

The Primary Lesson: Word of God Speak!

 

Did you know that the word “desert” in the original Hebrew language means, “to speak”?

I find this very enlightening. When we normally think of the desert, we do not think of it as a place that has much to say. We normally think of the desert as something that is barren and desolate without anything to give back to our lives.

 

When we go through those times in the wilderness everything seems deathly quiet. Rather than God speaking it seems as though God has abandoned us.  After all, why would He want to be in a place like this?

Could it be possible that at times the seeming silence of God is of our own making?  We are so busy complaining and we are so busy trying to get a “pass” on this class that we can’t hear what God is trying to communicate.

When we learn to hear God speak in the most difficult of circumstances, we will easily hear Him in normal times. The desert teaches us the truth of Jesus’ words. “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.”  (Matthew 4:4)

 

– The Hard, Hard Lessons of Humility –

 

Isn’t  Humility 101 one of your favorite classes? I know I have enjoyed all my lessons in humility. You would think my favorite dessert desert is humble pie.

Why does God need to humble us?  In truth – we always think we know what is best for us.  The reality is only the Father knows best. Our spiritual sight is only 10% at best unless we own and wear the “cloak of humility.”  God reveals our weaknesses in order that we might trust in Him.

 

– Tests, Tests, and More Tests –

 

What would college or any school in life be like without tests?  Don’t we all just love a test?

 

I found out the hard way most of God’s wilderness tests are pop quizzes. You don’t know when they are coming or what material will be covered. This is why we have to be ready at all times.  How many times have we all said, “I don’t why I am having to endure this?  Where are you Lord?  What is God’s will in this situation?”

 

– Understanding Your own Heart –

 

The desert experience has a wonderful way of revealing who we really are and what possesses our heart.  We may wear a nice suit or dress to church. We might put a lot of money in the offering plate when it is passed. We may even seem to have all the answers to the Bible study questions. But the larger question is what does our heart look like?

 

Who are we IN THE REAL? When we are in the wilderness we will experience trials and struggles. (another blog) When they come, will we still be singing God’s praises or will we be loathing His treatment of us?  Only our heart knows for sure.  How you respond to God in the wilderness will be how you respond to God in other stations and places of life.

 

The desert is all about preparation.  The Lord grooms us here in the outback for real growth and maturity.

The question is not are you going through the wilderness experience.  You will!  The better question is what is the condition of your heart now that it has been tested, tried, and put in a crucible?  Can you still hear the still small voice of God?  Are you humbly waiting for the next move of God? 

Blessings,

Pastor

The Wilderness Experience (Part 2) – The “Wild” Experience

19 Thursday Jan 2012

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You can’t spell “wilderness” without using the word “wild“.   All God’s children tarry in the wilderness for some period of time after salvation or deliverance from Egypt.  But if your wilderness journey tarries longer than you expected, it is because you need it!  Your journey might take some wild, unexpected turns.

 

As tough as Egypt is to escape, the wilderness experience is tougher still.  In fact, it is the most difficult of all experiences in the believer’s life.  The reason is because the wilderness experience is God’s process.  I know many, including myself, who have spent most of the journey fighting the process.  I have done my share of blaming the devil when I should have been discerning God’s handiwork and humbly submitting to the process. 

 

As I said yesterday, in the wilderness either one of two events happen… 1) We come to the end of ourselves and enter into rest, or 2) We  physically die in the process without inheriting the promises!

 

If you want your wilderness experience to end, then die to the fleshly desires and submit to God’s process.  Remember, God is seeking to conform you to the image of His Son, Jesus.  You are not enduring or experiencing anything that Jesus Himself didn’t endure.  I am always encouraged by the words from  Hebrews 5:8 , ” Although He was  a Son, He learned obedience from the things which He suffered.”   If Jesus learned obedience, then we all will have to learn obedience through suffering in the wilderness.  There are no short cuts! 

 

 – Understanding Polar Opposite Promises –

 

 

      The children of Israel entered the Wilderness Experience because they chose the Lord’s Promise and Exit. If you have chosen the promises of Scripture and the path of the Lord, then you too are on the same road through the wilderness to receive the fullness of God’s promises.

After God’s children passed through the Red Sea (which was a type of baptism in Christ) and renewed their intention to believe God’s Promise to receive a “land flowing with milk and honey”,  they entered into the Wilderness Experience.

Remember, this was supposed to be a “land of milk and honey”.   Yet just three days into following God and God’s man Moses, what they actually received were the “Bitter Waters of Mirah.” (Exodus 15:23)   Why did this happen?  Why were there so many problems on the road to “milk and honey“? 

 

– Wilderness Experience Principle –

 

Between the place where we actually receive the promise of God and the Promised Land (the fulfillment of the promise), there is usually going to be a “Bewildering Experience” that is the exact opposite of what we have been promised.  This is usually when our “rose-colored glasses” get smacked off our face.  Many have dropped the promises of God because they couldn’t continue believing God beyond a few difficulties and hardships.  They became bitter like Mirah because God did not move in their life as they expected.  The question is:  Will you experience bitter situations along the road to the Promised Land?  Yes you will! 

 

You can apply this principle to every promise of God you have received, regardless of what it relates to in your life.  The promise may involve gifts, ministries, personal promises for yourself, promises for others, spiritual issues, and even physical issues.  No matter how grand, how spiritual or important your promise may be, expect more than one dead-end that appears to be the death of that very promise. 

 

This barren place requires you to develop new faith and trust to move forward.  You do not have to stay in these barren places a long time.  But the place of barrenness will require some time in order that we might discover what is in your heart.  It is at these places the Lord circumcises our hearts from all fleshly desires.  (Deuteronomy 10:16, 30:6)

 

     There is always a difference between the time when God’s “anoints” us; until the time when he “appoints” us.  God anoints, speaks, and promises first.  There is often a space of time before He appoints, answers or fulfills that very word/promise.  It is between the “anointing and appointing” that God works in us to conform us to the image of His Son, Jesus.

 

Abraham endured years of “conforming” before he actually received the promise of a son.  It was during this time he received bad advice and produced an Ishmael.  It was also during this time he conquered kings in order to rescue Lot and tithed to the order of Melchizedek.

 

Joseph received a dream at a young age that one day even his father, mother, and brothers would bow and pay homage to him.  It was during this time he was rejected, enslaved, imprisoned, and forgotten.  Landing in jail would definitely suck the wind out of your promises!  But he soon learned what men meant for evil, God meant for good.  He ultimately saved his family, thus preserving Israel as a nation.

This Bible is full of examples of ordinary people receiving promises from God and then being plunged into dry, wilderness experiences where those same promises appear far away.

How about you?  Are you holding on to a promise of God today?  Have you been befuddled by circumstances that declare your promises are dead?  Don’t believe circumstances, believe the living, breathing word of God to you.

I will be sharing some of the deeper purposes of the wilderness wandering tomorrow.

 

Blessings,

Pastor

The Wilderness Experience (Part 1)

18 Wednesday Jan 2012

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How To Turn An Eleven Day Journey Into A Forty Year Pilgrimage.

 

Can you imagine going on a trip you know takes less than two weeks and it consumes the rest of your life!  This is what we are talking about here in this story of the Wilderness Wanderings.  This generation that came up out of Egypt was as stubborn as it gets.

 

 

REMEMBER:  

  • Those over the age of 20 died in the wanderings and were not permitted to enter into the Promised Land.
  • According to Judges 2:10, the generation that did enter didn’t pass along their faith to the next generation.
  • Judges 2:10  “And also all that generation were gathered unto their fathers: and there arose another generation after them, which knew not the Lord, nor yet the works which he had done…”

 The question is why?  Just how and why does this happen?  After all these people endured, how could the next generation completely forget everything God did?

 

   Psalm 78 is a reminder of how stubborn and rebellious this generation was concerning the Lord’s deliverance. We don’t have time to cover this entire Psalm but focus on a few select verses.   The summary of the story is found in verses 32-33.  This verse speaks of the rejection of God, vanity, and years consumed.  Listen to the words.

 

 

32 In spite of all this (God’s mighty works and kindness) they still sinned and did not believe in His wonderful works. 33 So He brought their days to an end in futility (vanity) And their years in sudden terror.

QUESTION:  

  • Have you ever felt like you have wasted years?  
  • Have you ever looked back over a period of time and wondered why you squandered it so, and what you really accomplished of real value?     
  • How many times have you marched around the same spiritual mountain failing to climb and conquer the commands of the Lord? 

 

What matters most…. the distance you cover or miles you travel getting there?  It took 40 years to travel this short distance, as they went in circles, going nowhere, meandering their lives away!

Egypt is a picture of bondage and sin, but God delivered them. The Promised Land wasn’t far away.  The Promised Land is a picture of the victorious life and rest. We can easily see how Israel turned a few days journey into 40 years.  We could get frustrated with them and want something better for them…….until we realize that they are a picture of us personally, the church!

 

 But with many of them God was not well pleased: for they were overthrown in the wilderness. [11] Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come. [12] Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.  1 Corinthians 10:5, 11-12

– Limiting God –

Can the creation actually limit the Creator? How can this be? He’s all powerful and can do anything!

   God in His essence cannot be limited. But we all know God will not put His hand into a dirty glove to do His work.  The scriptures remind us that many times God looks and looks for a person He can use for His glory, but cannot find anyone.

In spite of everything… God does work through us in spite of who we are…but He could do so much more if we would allow Him.  We limit Him by not selling out and becoming 100% dedicated to Him. 

 

– The Wilderness Experience –

The wilderness experience solves all this and it is God chosen process.  As tough as Egypt was to escape, the wilderness experience is tougher still.  In fact, it is the most difficult of all experiences in the believer’s life.

 

In the wilderness either one of two events happen…

  1. We come to the end of ourselves and enter into rest, or
  2. we die in the process! 

 

The Lord doesn’t provide another alternative process.  The process of navigating the dry, dry dessert is from Heaven.  It is God’s best!  All of God’s legitimate children are in this process.  You will come to the end of yourself and enter into His rest or die in the process. 

If you struggle with a stubborn heart, refusing to let go of the issues that bind you… choose a different path today, the path that releases your heart fully to the Lord.  Enter into His rest and walk in the blessings of the Lord.

 

Blessings,

Pastor

How Did We Get Into Egypt?

17 Tuesday Jan 2012

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– Most Are Born In Egypt –

Exodus 1:1 Now these are the names of the sons of Israel who came to Egypt with Jacob; they came each one with his household:

These seventy plus people after 400 years exploded into a mighty nation of people, each BORN and remaining there.  They did not do anything to get into Egypt; they were born in Egypt.  Since Adam and Eve, everyone born into this world is born into sin.  There no exemptions.  The Book of Romans reminds us “for all have sinned.”

 

– Egypt Is Also Born In Us –

 

Unfortunately, no one is born with the capacity to do good in and of himself.  “The heart is deceitfully wicked and there is no good in it.”  You do not have to worry about finding Egypt, it is born in your heart. From the earliest of ages of development Sin/Egypt longs to express itself in us.

The world would have us to believe that man’s nature is basically “good” and will evolve into something better.  Christianity teaches that man is evil and will progressively express more of his evil nature.

We all start in Egypt with Egypt in our hearts.  As life moves on, we can move further into her midst and live in bondage or be delivered.  No one is born out of the influences of Egypt.  Some are just a little less closer to the border than others.

PRAISE THE LORD!  This is exactly why Jesus came.  He came to set us free from the bondage of sin and deliver us into the realm of God His Father.

 

– Unfortunately, Some Keep Egypt As A Source –

 

A familiar occurrence happens in the lives of all three patriarchs in Genesis. (Abraham, Issac and Jacob)  FAMINE! 

 

Abraham, while living in the Promised Land, turned to Egypt as his source during famine.  (Genesis 12:10)  OK, lets give Abraham the benefit… he overshot the goal of the Promised Land and wound up in Egypt.  Maybe he just wasn’t sure about the boundaries.

But what Abraham didn’t understand before, he clearly understood afterward.  God’s provisions couldn’t be found wandering in Egypt.  The whole ordeal nearly cost him his life, wife, and future family.

Isaac too, while living in the Promised Land, turned to Egypt as his source during a time of famine.  (Genesis 26:1-2)   Now Isaac didn’t quite make it into Egypt.  If the Lord had not told him to stop, he would have gone into Egypt like his father, Abraham.

Isaac stopped in the future land of the Philistines, Gerar.  It is worth noting that the same problem that plagued his father, plagued him.  The king wanted to take Isaac’s wife for himself.  Isaac offered up the same fleshly response…he tried lying his way out of the situation.

Ultimately, because he stayed in Gerar, God blessed Isaac.  During famine Isaac sowed and reaped 100 fold.  That’s almost impossible during the best of times.

Jacob – Is an interesting story.  Here is a family man during a time of famine who desperately did not want to go down to Egypt.  But ultimately, he did turn to Egypt for provisions.  It took over 400 years before the Lord moved them out.

For each generation Egypt (worldliness) remained a temptation and source as it does for us today.  When we finally cleanse our system of Egypt, we are able to enter into the Promised Land of God.   But when we turn to the world as a source, we will experience times of dryness and periods of circumstantial lack.  Just because everyone else is turning to Egypt for their supplies doesn’t mean the believer has to go there!

 

     A man was watching the news one night when it was reported that a car was going the wrong direction on the freeway. The man knew his wife was on that freeway and became very concerned so he called her on her cell phone. She answered and he said, “Dear, there’s one car going in the wrong direction on the freeway.”

     She exclaimed, “One car! There’s hundreds of them!”

 

You would think as many people as we have seen trapped by Egypt’s snare…we all would know better.  But the pressures, both within us and without, cause us to look longingly upon the resources of Egypt.  Remember Egypt is nothing more than human/worldly solutions to a spiritual problem.

 

      Your problems and my problems are ultimately spiritual and can only be solved by God.  We have to approach Him and trust in His resources.

 

 There was a man who was standing in front of a church and someone walked by and said, “What are you doing.” The man said he was thinking about asking God why his life was such a mess.

     The passerby said, “Well why don’t you ask?” and the man shook his head and answered with a sigh, “I’m afraid he’ll ask me the same question.”  

 

The opportunity to turn back to Egypt will always be present in our lives.  We must understand that bondage always accompanies going back to those old places.  Like the patriarchs, who sojourned in those places, we can be restored…but the journey will be costly.

 

 

    There was a family that lived in the Northeast part of the country. In the bitterly cold part of winter their car had become especially dirty, what with road salts, frozen slush, and other wintry deposits. Conscious of the condition of their car, this family was driving down the road and came across an unusual sight. Water was gushing into the air from a broken pipe, beneath the surface of the road.  A work crew had arrived and was just getting set up. Simultaneously, the family concluded that this was the perfect occasion for a car wash. They pulled the car far enough forward to park under the shower of water. The road crew watched, somewhat puzzled, and a little amused.

 Since it was still bitterly cold, they left the engine running, and kept the heater going as well. In a short time, a rather unpleasant odor began to dominate. It was about this same time that the family noticed that the water which was running down the windshield was not clear, not clear at all.  Finally they understood the problem—they were not parked under the shower of a broken water main, they were under the shower of a broken sewer main. Quickly. they departed, watching the filthy matter freeze to their car in the bitter cold of that day.

 

Do you really want to go back to Egypt?  Do you really want to take the easy road instead of trusting in God’s provisions?  When you go back Egypt gets on you and in you, just like sewer water. 

Stay free!

 

Blessings,

Pastor

The End of Egypt – The End of Ourselves

13 Friday Jan 2012

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I think most Christians understand that Egypt is more than just a nation.  God uses “Egypt” to represent the flesh, the world, worldliness, bondage, slavery, evil, idol worship, compromise, and sinfulness.  In the Bible “boat loads” of people went down to Egypt often times with disastrous results.

It is not so much with how people went into Egypt.  The bigger story is how they came out of Egypt and the price they had to pay to get Egypt out of them.   Egypt is always seen as a place of wanderings and warnings.  Red flags should go up in every believer’s mind when God speaks of Egypt.

The Spirit of Egypt

Not only is Egypt more than a nation and symbolism, it is a spirit.  It should be more importantly viewed as a “type of spirit that gets on us when we go down to Egypt.”

Listen to Isaiah describe Egypt and prophecy against it.

 Isaiah 19:3-4,14: And the spirit of Egypt shall fail in the midst thereof; and I will destroy the counsel thereof: and they shall seek to the idols, and to the charmers, and to them that have familiar spirits, and to the wizards. And the Egyptians will I give over into the hand of a cruel lord; and a fierce king shall rule over them, saith the Lord, the Lord of hosts. The Lord hath mingled a perverse spirit in the midst thereof: and they have caused Egypt to err in every work thereof, as a drunken man staggereth in his vomit.

Isaiah 31:1: Woe to them that go down to Egypt for help; and stay on horses, and trust in chariots, because they are many; and in horsemen, because they are very strong; but they look not unto the Holy One of Israel, neither seek the Lord!

The Bible shows us that help can be found in Egypt but it rivals the help obtained from the Almighty God.  Nothing good can come from Egypt, unless God ordains it. 

God Can Use Egypt – Once It Is Out Of You!

While the Israelites were in Egypt, they were slaves!   Even though they had food to eat and they had shelter… they worked hard to earn their living and survive.  A Slave is still a slave!

Egypt is one of the obstacles and strongmen we have to overcome as believers.  The trouble is this: many people like to be pampered.  We pamper ourselves with Egypt rather than get it out of us.

Just like many parents pamper their children into failure, many believers pamper themselves into believing that Egypt is not an issue in their lives.  The truth is God allows Egypt to exist so that believers struggle and fight to free themselves from its bondage. What makes a person grow spiritually is sometimes the very thing that hinders their growth.  When there is an obstacle to face, they wake-up and start to fight for freedom and that results in spiritual growth.

If a person goes to a school where there are no examinations and no tests, the pupil just moves from one class to the other, year after year.  This is called Social Promotion.  Nothing jostles that student into action or hard work.

Many people would not have become anything in life, if they had not been kicked, battered, opposed, discouraged, etc. There are some people who would not have become prayer warriors today if they had not been put in a pot on a furnace by the enemy.  How about you?  What has caused the most growth in your life…good times or bad?

       Research was carried out on the Cod fish some years ago. The scientists wanted to know how best to export the Cod fish without losing its flavour. They tried refrigeration, salting, drying, etc. It still lost its taste.

 One day an old fisherman, advised that they should catch the fish live and put them in a tank with sea water and then introduce the catfish, which is their enemy and allow them to chase them.  The old fisherman suggested the cod’s taste would be preserved.   It worked because the enzymes, hormones and adrenaline kept pumping in the cod-fish. 

Everybody who truly seeks the Lord will be called out of Egypt.  God uses the Slavery of Egypt to drive us to Him. Remember The Father called His own Son out of Egypt.  In order to get us moving toward our destiny and future, God allows Egypt to exist as a motivating factor.

The problem is not that Egypt exists.  The real problem is  that we just love the things of Egypt.  When we fail to get Egypt out of us, she never leaves.  We think, dream and worship her.

If Egypt is not a spirit upon us, then why do we dream about her when we know she is gone or supposed to be gone?  God knows exactly how much Egypt means to us!  He knows how much Egypt has possessed us!

The children of Israel finally left Egypt and watched Pharoah’s army drowned before their eyes.  Surely Egypt was gone now!  They even wrote a number one hit to commemorate the event.  They soon discovered that even though Egypt was gone, the spirit of Egypt lived on within them.

QUESTION:  Is God all about changing Egypt, or Hollywood, or Las Vegas? (or) Is God about calling people out of Egypt, Hollywood and Las Vegas and changing them first? 

At some point after we have physically left Egypt we must come to the END of ourselves and our relationship with Egypt.  It is only then  that we can truly impact Egypt for good. 

Unfortunately, this is usually an ugly place.  It is a place where our flesh cries out with griping and grumbling and we see the ugliness of Egypt in us.

Everything about Egypt in us is an offense to the Lord.  This is why we have to exit Egypt and Egypt has to exit us.  This is what “the wilderness experience” does for us.  (We will talk about this in a later blog.)

Have you allowed the Lord to get all of Egypt of you? The Lord calls His children to freedom.

A man once went to see a prophet and said, “Prophet, why do you bother? You have been prophesying for over fifteen years, and still things are the same. Why do you keep going?” The prophet replied, “Don’t you know? I’m not prophesying to change the world, but to prevent the world from changing me“

Blessings,

Pastor

Our Journey Into The Promised Land: Leaving Egypt

12 Thursday Jan 2012

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Most of us can identify with the Children of Israel as they came out of the bondage of Egypt to inherit the Promised Land of God.  We identify with their struggles, failures, attempts, and successes.  In fact, we may identify with them too much.  If we identify with them too much, it may well mean we are somewhere lost between bondage and deliverance!  Just because we make the decision to leave Egypt, doesn’t mean Egypt is gone from within us.   The Bible is forever talking about “coming out of Egypt.”  The point is that once you finally are delivered (come out) from Egypt… you cannot easily forget it.  It becomes your testimony of God’s miraculous deliverance.  We will talk about the various meanings and holds Egypt can have on each of us in the next few days.  But for now can you recount the providential ways God moved to secure your deliverance from Egypt?

 

Paul Harvey once shared the story of an old man who fed the sea gulls every Friday evening.

        “It is gratitude that prompted an old man to visit an old broken pier on the eastern seacoast of Florida. Every Friday night, until his death in 1973, he would return, walking slowly and slightly stooped with a large bucket of shrimp. The sea gulls would flock to this old man, and he would feed them from his bucket. Many years before, in October, 1942, Captain Eddie Rickenbacker was on a mission in a B-17 to deliver an important message to General Douglas MacArthur in New Guinea. But there was an unexpected detour which would hurl Captain Eddie into the most harrowing adventure of his life.

        Somewhere over the South Pacific the Flying Fortress became lost beyond the reach of radio. Fuel ran dangerously low, so the men ditched their plane in the ocean. For nearly a month Captain Eddie and his companions would fight the water, and the weather, and the scorching sun. They spent many sleepless nights recoiling as giant sharks rammed their rafts. The largest raft was nine by five. The biggest shark…ten feet long!

        But of all their enemies at sea, one proved most formidable: starvation. Eight days out, their rations were long gone or destroyed by the salt water. It would take a miracle to sustain them. And a miracle occurred. In Captain Eddie’s own words, “Cherry,” that was the B- 17 pilot, Captain William Cherry, “read the service that afternoon, and we finished with a prayer for deliverance and a hymn of praise. There was some talk, but it tapered off in the oppressive heat. With my hat pulled down over my eyes to keep out some of the glare, I dozed off.”

         Something landed on my head. I knew that it was a sea-gull. I don’t know how I knew, I just knew. Everyone else knew too. No one said a word, but peering out from under my hat brim without moving my head, I could see the expression on their faces. They were staring at that gull. The gull meant food…if I could catch it.”

Paul Harvey concludes:

        “And the rest, as they say, is history. Captain Eddie caught the gull. Its flesh was eaten. Its intestines were used for bait to catch fish. The survivors were sustained and their hopes renewed because a lone sea-gull, uncharacteristically hundreds of miles from land, offered itself as a sacrifice. You know that Captain Eddie made it.  And now you also know…that he never forgot. Because every Friday evening, about sunset…on a lonely stretch along the eastern Florida seacoast…you could see an old man walking…white-haired, bushy-eyebrowed, slightly bent. His bucket filled with shrimp was to feed the gulls…to remember that one which, on a day long past, gave itself without a struggle…like manna in the wilderness.

This is story is not so much about leaving Egypt, but it is about not forgetting about God’s miraculous deliverance.  Take a few moments today and thank the Lord for your deliverance.

 

Blessings,

Pastor