Tag Archives: Abraham

When God Gives Us Our Defining Moment

10 Tuesday Apr 2012

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Often when we are separated from our family, mentor, leader, or close friend our true character is defined.  Just like Abraham and Lot had to eventually separate, so all God’s children must learn to stand alone. When we break away and stand alone, we stand on our own convictions, standards, and promises.  When Lot and his family moved away, it became their defining moment.

This moment also further defined Abraham.  He did something very unselfish by giving Lot the best land, which had been promised to him. Abraham should have never been in this position of having to sacrifice God’s promise, but in character, Abraham offered Lot the best of the land. The only problem was Sodom and Gomorrah were part of the land.

There are three scriptures that summarize Lot’s life defining moment.

  • 13:10 lifted up his eyes toward Sodom
  • 13:12 pitched his tent toward Sodom
  • 19:1 sitting in the gate (living there)

I can picture Lot and his family creeping closer and closer to Sodom.  At first they kept their distance.  The day came when they moved right into town!

It would be easy to say “well if Lot had never left Abraham he would not have gotten mixed up in Sodom”.  This was not necessarily true. For anyone to fall away physically they must fall away in their heart first.  Our hearts actually define us long before we are given our defining moment. Falling away from the things of God is more than an event that happens.  It is a condition of the heart before it becomes an event.

Gen. 13:10 says that Lot chose Sodom because it reminded him of the land of Egypt. 

Lot asked Abraham if it was a good place to raise cattle, but he should have asked if it was a good place to raise kids!  Unlike Abraham, Lot wasn’t concerned about the generations to follow. Lot was interested in “making money”, but not “growing spiritually”.  He chose badly because he only saw the world and flesh.

Somewhere in Lot’s journey he became worldly in his desires.  Sodom was a very worldly city full sexual promiscuity. He obviously knew of it’s reputation.  As a whole, it reminded him of what he had experienced in Egypt and he liked it.

Jesus pointedly wanted us to “remember Lot’s wife.”  She was worldly too. By looking back longingly at what God had saved her from, she revealed for all generations what was in her heart. Even if she didn’t practice a promiscuous lifestyle, she was very comfortable around it.  When it was all blown away by the hand of God, she longed for it because Sodom was still in her heart.

Up until this point, Lot had all the possessions just like his uncle Abraham.  But he had never built his own altar and discovered the relationship that comes from worshiping the Lord.  When it was all said and done, it was Abraham’s altar, worship, and intercession that kept Lot and his family alive. Even though Lot had hung around the altar of his uncle and had seen the benefits, he never followed hard after God himself.  The truth is no one can hang around someone else’s spiritual life and be fulfilled.  True fulfillment comes via “asking, seeking and knocking” yourself.

Sooner or later you have got to develop that personal, intimate, one on one, daily relationship with God. If you never learn to “feed yourself” you will eventually starve to death spiritually.  How healthy would you be if you only ate one or two meals a week and at those meals you ate only baby food someone else gave you?

Understand God always allows us to choose and then own our decisions.  God allowed Lot to choose and He will allow you to choose.  God allows us to choose our own path, but He doesn’t allow us to choose the destination. God will allow us to choose anything we want, except for the consequences.  We can’t choose those! As a matter of fact, we have to live with the consequences of our choices. Decisions may seem small at the time, but we never know where those roads will lead.  The big lie we tell ourselves in self-delusion is “oh, this will not harm me and will not matter. I will be ok.”

The day Lot chose Sodom, his life was changed forever along with his family. Ultimately Lot wrecked his family’s future. After barely escaping destruction, Lot and his two girls ended up living in a cave.  Sadly, he chose once again to get drunk with the help of his girls.  In this drunken state he committed incest with both of his daughters.  The result of those relations was his daughters gave birth to leaders of enemy nations (Ammonites/Moabites) which would plague Israel for years to come.  The power of a single decision!  I am sure Lot started out in life wanting to be a blessing to his uncle who helped him so many times after his father died. Instead, he became a curse to all God was doing in Abraham’s life.  When God gave Lot his defining moment he wasn’t able to stand alone.

I don’t want to end on a bummer. There are numerous examples of men and women of God who prospered and became blessings when God gave them their defining moment. Are you ready to have a defining moment?

 

Blessings,

Pastor

A “Lot” of Compromise

09 Monday Apr 2012

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Lot was an example of a “believer” following another believer.  For his entire life he had been following Abraham’s faith, worshiping at Abraham’s altar, and witnessing Abraham’s faith tested.  Lot had been maintaining Abraham’s convictions and following his example until he was given a choice to live differently.  It was only after he separated himself from his mentor that we really got to see what kind of faith, principles and convictions he made in his life.  Lot kept moving closer and closer to Sodom.

 

12 Abram settled in the land of Canaan, while Lot settled in the cities of the valley, and moved his tents as far as Sodom. 13 Now the men of Sodom were wicked exceedingly and sinners against the LORD.  Genesis 13:12-13

 

Every believer will eventually walk out their Christian life according to their own personal convictions. You can follow a parent, teacher, pastor, or loved one for a period of time, but eventually the day will come when you will have to follow your own personal convictions.  In these moments your real faith, principles, and convictions are revealed to yourself and everyone else around.  This is why you will be judged according to your own decisions, not according to some other spiritual leader.

Back several years ago when I was in youth work, a survey was done to determine what was happening to the youth of Christian homes.  This was done across denominational lines.  The “falling away” rate of children raised in Christian homes was extremely high.  I believe it was around 70-80%. Similar surveys have been conducted since.   The question was why were so many Christian young people deserting the faith?  It was discovered that these kids, although raised in Christian environments (they went to church regularly and participated in church youth activities, etc) were never taught to stand alone.  It was then that the youth ministry in which I worked determined to produce kids who could stand alone in college, work, and in adult type relationships.  We determined to teach them to stand alone and develop their own convictions before they faced those larger temptations.

Lot shows us the necessity of developing our own faith and belief system.  Unfortunately, Lot and his family have become examples of “what not to do.” Tomorrow we will discover some of the mistakes he made.

 

Blessings,

Pastor

When God Takes You Back to the Place…

04 Wednesday Apr 2012

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It was time for Abraham’s lesson in Egypt to end.  Fortunately, God terminated this painful lesson of Egypt in Abraham’s life. At the deepest moment of his agony, crushed with humiliation and sick at heart, Abraham exited Egypt. Yes he had more wealth than ever before, but His spiritual life was in shambles.  Now God led Abraham back to “the place” where his spiritual journey began.

 

 So Abram went up from Egypt, he and his wife, and all that he had, and Lot with him into the Negev. Now Abram was very rich in cattle, in silver, and in gold. And he journeyed on from the Negev as far as Bethel, to the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Ai, to the place where he had made an altar at the first; and there Abram called on the name of the Lord. (Genesis 13:1-4 RSV)

 

Please note – God wants us all to be corrected via kindness, gentleness, goodness, and love. God doesn’t want you to experience sickness, brokenness, danger or other physical loss. God always corrects us privately first.  God always approaches with the gentle rebuke of His word.  It is only after we have neglected responding to His gentle rebukes that God allows something more drastic to speak to us.

I am sure God never wanted Abraham to undergo being rebuked by Pharaoh.  How embarrassing it is when the world corrects God’s people. Like Abraham, we are to leave Egypt blessed, not broke, busted, and disgusted.

Like Pharaoh, we are to listen when God speaks and stand up for morality even when God’s man doesn’t.  Pharaoh was blessed too!  Why? Because those who blessed Abraham would be blessed as well.

Thankfully, Abraham did leave Egypt.  This was his obedience.  As soon as Abraham was back in the land, it didn’t take long until he discovered God’s altar once again. As long as Abraham stayed in Egypt he and his family would have been spiritually weak.  Why?  Because Egypt was not the land of God’s promise.

Any place not of God’s promise will only deplete you. There was no altar in Egypt, no place of worship, no cleansing, or fellowship. Yes, Abraham could have built an altar, but it would not have been an altar of promise. Time spent in Egypt (outside of God’s will) was wasted time!

Abraham had to come right back to where he was when he took the detour down to Egypt. He had material gain to show for the time in Egypt, but nothing but barrenness and weakness spiritually.

The same is true of you. When you forsake the pathway of faith, when you refuse to walk in fellowship with God, when you depend upon the resources of the world to satisfy the empty hunger of the heart… these are wasted years! They may be literal years. I know Christians who have lived almost all their lives in Egypt and all they have to show for it is a barren, wasted, empty, boring existence.

The moment you turn around and head back to the place of your obedience you start growing again. The place you return to is that last place you had true fellowship with God.  This place is where you built your last altar.  People ask me, “What should I do now?”  — Simply do what you were doing before you became sidetracked by choosing Egypt.

When Abraham finally returned home, what did he find? There was no mention of famine when he returned. I think the famine was still a reality. Remember, Abraham was driven out of Egypt. Since Abraham was not ready to leave Egypt by his own choice, this would indicate the famine was still raging in Canaan. Also, the quarrel which developed with Lot’s herdsmen over the pasture land suggests there was still a severe shortage of feed.

Though the famine still continued, Abraham was no longer troubled by it. Why not? Because, when he reached the land, the first thing he did was to call on the name of the Lord! This was what he should have done and could have done when the famine first struck.

When Abraham called on the name of the Lord he discovered the resources of God. He discovered that God was able to meet his needs despite the famine, the trial, or the circumstances.

Just as Paul proclaimed, “And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus,” (Philippians 4:19).

 

Blessings,

Pastor

 

Is there a Famine in Your Future?

01 Sunday Apr 2012

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The story of Abraham does not go far until Abraham’s faith is tested. This story encourages me because it seems I never go far with a “word” from God until I run into stiff resistance. We all can learn from Abraham’s failures, not just his successes.

We are not expected to do everything right!  We are expected to correct ourselves once we discover disobedience. Like Abraham, what Christian has not discovered what it is to lose his/her sense of joy and awareness of the presence of Christ?  This is the story about blowing it and then allowing God to fix it.

 

Now there was a famine in the land. So Abram went down to Egypt to sojourn there, for the famine was severe in the land. (Genesis 12:10 RSV)

 

The land of Canaan was and still is like parts of California — wonderful land with a magnificent climate, but dependent upon a limited amount of rainfall.  When it fails to rain consistently, the land experiences drought.  Abram was a man with flocks and herds, and when the rains failed, his livelihood was severely threatened. As the scarcity of food grew, he felt driven to leave, even though God had called him to be there.

Abram took counsel, not from God, but from his fears alone. To use a contemporary expression, he “pushed the panic button” or the “easy button” and down to Egypt he went. It was fear that drove him.  If we do not allow the Lord to speak, then we will be left to only one voice and on most occasions it will be our fears.

I am asked the question all the time, “Do I have to ask God’s permission for every little thing I do?  I mean, come on now, I thought I was free?  Can’t I decide a few things in my life?”   The answer is yes you can.  In fact, you can make all the choices in your life if you wish.  But if you want to discover the absolute best and avoid the pits like Egypt, then you will want to consult God as much as possible.

Abraham’s life is an example of what it means to “side step” seeking the will of God. By faith Abraham walked right into Canaan.  By fear of famine Abraham walk right out of God’s promises into Egypt.

If Canaan is a symbol for us of what it means to experience fellowship with the Lord, and Egypt symbolic for the world … then a famine is any circumstance that threatens our dependence upon God. It is any circumstance that makes faith difficult to maintain. In short, famines are any threats, real or imagined, against the known will of God in our lives.

Have you ever experienced a famine?  Have you ever been living in the full joy of fellowship with Christ and suddenly some circumstance beyond your control blew into your life?   Because of the presence of that circumstance (famine) it became difficult to maintain fellowship and hold on to God’s promises.

Understand this right now:  Famines come to everyone. With Christ or without Christ everyone has famines.  “It rains on the just and unjust.”

When famine strikes the temptation will always be to flee rather than to fight and stick it out.  No one enjoys trials.  Our internal flight mode kicks in.  We move to another neighborhood, change jobs, take a trip, or go home to mother. If we simply cannot flee, we try to run away mentally. We escape the unpleasant reality by a flight into unreality. It is easy to escape mentally to Egypt and float down the river of (De Nile) where life seems much more pleasant than it is in reality.

A few years ago people would lapse into daydreaming. (There used to be songs about daydreaming.)  Now we mentally vegetate electronically via the television, computer, or video.   Many live in the realm of fantasy all day long.

Whenever we attempt to satisfy the Spirit using the same resources of the world, we have gone down to Egypt. Compromise will never complete or satisfy the word God has for you. After God told Abraham to go into Canaan and possess the land as an inheritance, Egypt could offer nothing better.  Compromise is a poor substitute to the promises of God.

Abraham’s flight into Egypt is not a warning that we should have nothing to do with worldly people. We are expected to live our lives in the midst of the world and its ways. This story is about staying with God’s resources instead of leaning once again on Egypt.  Once you choose Egypt you will eventually adopt the attitudes, the expectations, and resources of the world. The point is to never forsake God and His resources in the first place.

The world is not the believer’s problem.  The world will always be the world.  Our problem is failure to trust the Lord amidst hard times.

Blessings,

Pastor

 

Building Altars to Worship

26 Monday Mar 2012

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I don’t know if you have picked up on this fact before from reading through Genesis, but Abraham was an altar builder.  Isaac dug wells; Jacob made monuments; but Abraham built altars to worship the Lord.

Why were altars so important? If altars were so important to God in the Old Testament, then why don’t we build and worship at altars today? I’m glad you asked that question.  Some of you are probably thinking, “We consider the altar to be the front of our church.”  Yet, this is not really the same type of altar in which Abraham worshipped. I ask those questions to draw a parallel between the altars of the Old and the altars of the New Testament.

 

~ Altars Are About Worship ~

 

True worship takes place in the context of our obedience to God (see Genesis 12:1-5). Abraham was in the process of obeying God’s prompting to go to the land of Canaan. We cannot truly worship God unless we are in the place of obedience.

How many of you have discovered it is difficult, if not impossible, to worship God on Sundays when your living in known disobedience? The only effective way to truly worship the Lord in body, soul, and spirit is to be obedient throughout the week. It is your obedience that gives you excitement, passion, and fervor to worship the Lord. Disobedience breeds apathy, coldness of heart, neglect, and boredom in worship. It was only after Abraham became truly obedient to God that his real worship of God began.

 

~ Abraham Built Altars to Worship Effectively ~

Wherever Abraham went (cities, countryside & villages) he built altars to the Lord God. There he worshipped the Lord.

 

The LORD appeared to Abram and said, “To your descendants I will give this land.” So he built an altar there to the LORD who had appeared to him. Genesis 12:7

8Then he proceeded from there to the mountain on the east of Bethel, and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east; and there he built an altar to the LORD and called upon the name of the LORD.  Genesis 12:8

Then Abram moved his tent and came and dwelt by the oaks of Mamre, which are in Hebron, and there he built an altar to the LORD.  Genesis 13:18

Abraham was a trailblazer.  We know now that God prescribed and commanded the children of Israel to build and worship Him on altars. Abraham didn’t have all this information.  He blazed a trail.  He was simply a lover of God.  He was just discovering the art of worshiping God on altars.

We live in the New Testament era of grace, so where are our worship altars?  Are all the altars gone or are they present here today?  Why ask?  In order to gain forgiveness, acceptance, and access to God, altars were needed.  Sacrifices were made on altars.  Blood was spilled on altars.  This was done that sin might be removed and the worshiper cleansed.

We have an altar from which those who serve the tabernacle have no right to eat (Hebrews 13:10) which is in Christ! Through His blood we have access any time to the throne of God. In Christ we have everything we need that “pertains to life and godliness.”  So today we no longer have need of “altars” in the Old Testament sense.  But we do need altars in our lives in another way.

 

~ The Altar Represents True Worship ~

The altar represents true worship and involves: SURRENDER, SACRIFICE, and SERVICE.  Abraham would have used raw stones (not touched by man’s strength and skill) to represent a yielding to God’s strength and not trusting in his own strength.  (Exodus 20:25).  We cannot worship or offer God anything that is not tainted in some way by the world.  Therefore we are to take things God gives us (Jesus Christ) and worship the Father.  It is important that you understand this point because most people do not.  They want to worship God in their own way or fashion.  When God rejects them by not gracing them with His presence they are offended.   It is imperative we worship God as He requires through Jesus Christ and Him alone.  He is our altar.  We are to approach God in and through Him.   In Abraham’s life we can see the need for altar worship.  It is gives a keen sense of who Jesus is and our need for Him.

Are you ready to examine the three types of altars Abraham erected and discover the deeper meaning of what it means to worship at God’s altar?  I will discuss these later this week.

Blessings,

Pastor 

Letting Go of …Your Country, Relatives, and House

22 Thursday Mar 2012

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If Abraham was ever to enjoy the blessings of God he would have to relinquish the comfortable, the worldly, and wholly follow the Lord. The difficult portion of God’s summons to a life of faith was this call to relinquish those things which ultimately hinder the journey.

“Now the LORD said to Abram, “Go forth from your country, And from your relatives And from your father’s house, To the land which I will show you;” Genesis 12:1

 

God’s summons was simple …“go forth.” It was an imperative command.  Everything hinged on Abraham obeying those first words. Abraham was commanded to disassociate himself and relinquish those things which might cause him to stumble.  All bridges to his past had to be burned by his own hand. The Lord was asking Abraham to give up his past and his present situation in order to give him hope and a future.

I have never been to Ur. Some believe it was an ancient port city.  When my wife and I moved to New Orleans we thought we were moving to another country.  Port cities are different because of the influx of people.  We saw things in New Orleans that we haven’t seen since!  This was probably the type of environment God wanted Abraham to leave behind.

Sometimes God calls us out of bad environments and sometimes He calls us into these situations.  He knows what is best.  What we do know is that Ur would become the Chaldeans.  The Chaldeans would become the Babylonians.  The Babylonians would become the Syrians. Canaan did not compare to the luxurious comforts of Ur.  Yet the Lord was asking him to relinquish his country for the sake of Canaan.

In addition, Abraham was commanded to leave his relatives.  Acceptance, affluence, and protection would now be forfeited.  This included his inheritance and rights to family property. Had Abraham and extended family been able to move as a clan, he could have kept his identity and inheritance. In addition, there would have been a small group to lend support and protection in a new country and a new culture.

 

 

This seems harsh when we look at all that God was asking Abraham to relinquish. God knows what is best when it comes to the journey of faith, and He knows what is best for our spiritual development and progress in our life of faith.

Throughout the ages God has consistently called people to leave places of safety and security in order to place our total trust in Him. Jesus echoed these same principles only in a different way.

“If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow me.”

The summons to a life of faith is a summons to total commitment to the Lord. What many people fail to understand is that though the summons to a life of faith is a summons to relinquish, it is also a summons to receive. For when we relinquish all to follow the Lord we receive in return the greatest blessings that don’t come close to comparing to those things we give up. Tomorrow I will share a few of those blessings.

 

Blessings,

Pastor

 

Have You Received Your Summons to Live a Life of Faith?

21 Wednesday Mar 2012

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“Now the LORD said to Abram, “Go forth from your country, And from your relatives And from your father’s house, To the land which I will show you; And I will make you a great nation, And I will bless you, And make your name great; And so you shall be a blessing;”     Genesis 12:1-2

 

I have been spending some time reading and praying through Abraham’s life.  Chapter 12 begins the story of Abraham’s call to leave behind his extended family and follow after God.  I was reminded that this was not the first time Abraham heard the summons of God. Chapter 12 could be a renewed summons of God’s call upon Abraham’s life. It was on this occasion when Abraham became fully obedient.  I have been at this place.  Maybe you have been at this crossroad as well, when you finally made the choice to go full throttle for the Lord.  There are several reasons to believe this was God calling Abraham to rededicate or renew his life to the journey of faith.

Chapter 11 indicates the Lord had originally called Terah, Abraham’s father, to leave Ur and go to Canaan.   “And Terah took Abram his son, and Lot the son of Haran, his grandson, and Sarai his daughter-in-law, his son Abram’s wife; and they went out together from Ur of the Chaldeans in order to enter the land of Canaan…”

Now we don’t see the Lord speaking directly to Terah or Abraham in this text, but we do see God directing them to leave Ur for the purpose of going to Canaan. This indicates that some form of God calling Terah and his family took place.

In Acts Stephen reiterates this truth.

“Hear me, brethren and fathers! The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran, and said to him, ’Depart from your country and your relatives, and come into the land that I will show you.’ “Then he departed from the land of the Chaldeans, and settled in Haran. And from there, after his father died, God removed him into this country in which you are now living.” Acts 7:2-4

 

Did you notice the tense of these verses.  It reminds us the Lord considered the call on Terah’s life to be also a call on Abraham’s life.  It was a process that took an entire lifetime to fulfill.

All this suggests this was not the first time that Abraham heard God speak to him. No, the Lord had already spoken to Abraham and now the Lord was calling Abraham to rededicate himself to a life of faith.

Knowing this truth blesses me. I have not always gotten the Lord’s call and word right the first time.  Like Abraham, if our heart wants to be obedient, the Lord will continue to speak and work with us until our obedience is sure.

 

 

We should avoid Terah’s mistake.  He stopped short of God’s call.  He settled in Haran.  Terah never made it to the Canaan. Instead, he settled for what life had to offer short of what God promised. It was possible that Terah started a life of faith, but became a castaway.  Terah wanted the blessings of God, like so many people.  I have known many who started the journey of faith in good shape and with strong convictions.  But somewhere down the road they settled for less than God ordained.

Even Abraham at first had a hard time believing God in the beginning. The truths gleaned from his life are that the life of faith is a process.  When we begin the journey of faith, our ability to trust in God is not perfect. In fact, the journey of faith is really a journey into maturity. Abram’s faith matured over the years because his life of faith was a process.

Just as Abraham had his moments of struggling to trust God, so will everyone else who receives God’s summons. Just as Abram wanted to hold on to the comfortable, the familiar, and the worldly, so will we. The main thing is to stay in our process.

If you are currently in the process of following the Lord, stay in your process.  Keep on, keeping on.  Things may not look pretty today, but if you stay with God’s word, His word will eventually have its effect in your life.

 

Blessings,

Pastor

 

 

 

What Is In a Name?

20 Tuesday Mar 2012

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“For it is through Isaac your descendants shall be named.” Genesis 21:12

Abraham had been waiting for an heir his entire life.  Specifically, God had promised this heir twenty-five years earlier.  Finally, the promise rested in his arms. His name was Isaac.  Even though the promise was fulfilled in the birth of Isaac, the naming of that promise wouldn’t take place for approximately another hundred years.

He said, Your name shall no longer be Jacob, but Israel; for you have striven with God and with men and have prevailed. Genesis 32:28

Having God name a promise is just as important as receiving that same promise.  When the Lord names a promise, He gives His certified seal of approval.  Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob went through numerous trials and tribulations individually.  All three generations held on in faith to the words God spoke to them.  In each generation there were those who sought to take their wives, cheat or steal their livelihood, and thus thwart God’s word.  In the end, God named the promise because they wrestled and struggled but prevailed.  This is what the name of Israel means.

You too will have to fight in order to inherit the promises of God.  This is only the beginning of your travails.  After receiving the promise, the world, the devil, and even some of your closest friends will fight to take that promise from you.  Yes, some of your fiercest battles will transpire on the other side of the promise being birthed.

Let this be an encouragement to you… God wants to name your promise as well.  When He does, no force in heaven or hell can change the outcome of that word.  God is good!

Blessings,

Pastor

Spiritual Fathers of Faith Needed

19 Monday Mar 2012

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Abraham has always been the “Father of Faith”.  It is true that he was the father of all Jews.  More importantly, he is our “spiritual father” because Abraham was the first in all scripture to walk in obedient faith to the revealed word of God.  So we look to him as a fatherly example of what it means to walk with God.  From Abraham’s life we learn faith doesn’t happen by accident.

One dark night outside a small town a fire started inside the local chemical plant. Before long it exploded into flames and an alarm went out to fire departments from miles around. After fighting the fire for over an hour, the chemical company president approached the fire chief and said, “All of our secret formulas are in the vault in the center of the plant. They must be saved! I will give $50,000 to the engine company that brings them out safely!” As soon as the chief heard this, he ordered the firemen to strengthen their attack on the blaze. After two more hours of attacking the fire, the president of the company offered $100,000 to the engine company that could bring out the company’s secret files.

From the distance a long siren was heard and another fire truck came into sight. It was a local volunteer fire company composed entirely of men over 65. To everyone’s amazement, the little fire engine raced through the chemical plant gates and drove straight into the middle of the inferno. In the distance, the other firemen watched as the old-timers hopped off their rig and began to fight the fire with an effort they had never seen before. After an hour of intense fighting, the volunteer company had extinguished the fire and saved the secret formulas. Joyous, the chemical company president announced that he would double the reward to $200,000 and walked over to personally thank each of the volunteers. After thanking each of the old men individually, the president asked the group what they intended to do with the reward money. The fire truck driver looked him right in the eye and said, “The first thing we’re going to do is fix the brakes on that truck!”

Like Abraham, we do not accidentally answer God’s call. It requires intentional obedience and steadfast courage.

We live today in a very privileged position. Two millenia of believers have gone before us to help point the way.

 “Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us…” (Hebrews 12:1 )

In short, we are to learn from those who went before us so that we do not become so easily entangled. When you look back at Hebrews 11, we see some of the names of those who went before us.  Each name is prefaced by the statement, “by faith”. This is why chapter 11 of Hebrews is called the “Hall of Faith.”

Do you think any of these men and women were perfect in their walk of faith?  No, in fact, some of their missteps are well documented.  The fact is they remained in faith.

The same is true of us contemporary Christians. We will never live a perfect life of faith, but we can learn from those who went before us and possibly avoid their mistakes.

Although Abraham is considered the hero of faith, he is in no way without his flaws. This struggle to trust God is not isolated to the life of Abraham. Every true believer faces conflicts and trials that test our ability to trust God.

Unless you stick your head in the ground and avoid trusting and believing God for both spiritual and physical things, you are going to have to walk in faith.  I would rather strive to believe God for things in my life and miss occasionally, rather than go through life never believing God for anything.  Without faith, life is dull, boring, and uneventful.

We need men and women of faith who have walked through fire and come through like hardened steel.  These are the ones who will help to father this generation.

Blessings,

Pastor

Moving From Bondage (Slaves) to Freedom (Sons) – Part 1

30 Monday Jan 2012

Posted by in Our Journey Into The Promised Land

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Our journey into the Promised Land continues with a discussion today regarding the dilemma most people find themselves in when they choose freedom over bondage.

         Back in 1997, USA Today reported that the Department of Transportation set aside $200 million for research and testing of an Automated Highway System. The idea was that engineers could relieve traffic congestion with a new “super cruise control” built into our highways.  In cities facing heavy traffic congestion special magnets would be embedded in the road every four feet which would transfer signals between the cars and the D.O.T.’s computer system. Everything from steering, acceleration, and braking would be controlled by sensors, computer navigation systems, and cameras along the side of the road. Control would be returned to drivers as they left at specified exits.  Researchers and government officials claimed they had the capability to address any potential technological problem. But there was one problem they could not overcome.  Mike Doble, Buick technology manager says, “The only thing we can’t do yet is get people to comfortably trust the system. It’s not a technology issue.  People feel out of control while driving closely spaced, at high speeds, through major cities. The problem is not technology, the problem is trust — very few people would be willing to give up that kind of control.”

 

The Human Dilemma –

This is the human dilemma, is it not? Giving up control. Trusting something that you are not in control of, even if that something is better at control than you are.

This was the situation the people of Israel faced. God asked them to give Him control and they weren’t sure they wanted to.

Think about what had happened to them in less than six months. One day they were slaves in Egypt. They were beaten regularly and worked unmercifully from sunup to sunset. The Egyptians were killing every male child that was born.  The Hebrews were huddled in their miserable little squalor huts.

Suddenly a man named Moses appeared and said that God was going to deliver them.  The Bible records “God heard their groaning and he remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac and with Jacob. So God looked on the Israelites and was concerned about them” (Exodus 2:24-25).

Now, almost on a daily basis, they began to see the miraculous power of God working for their deliverance. He fought for them and delivered them. The plagues which were devastating the Egyptians didn’t affect them at all.

Finally, the Lord led them to the Red Sea. But as they looked at the watery barrier before them they turned to see the Egyptian army in pursuit. They were filled with fear and began to cry out to God. Just then, then waters miraculously parted and they were again on their journey toward the promised land, while Pharaoh’s threatening army was destroyed in the retreating waters.  When they arrived on the other side, God miraculously provided them with bread and meat, as well as all their other needs.

 

What Should Have Been Enough Wasn’t Enough –

It should have been enough to convince anyone that God was with them and was able to provide. After all, his presence was going before them in a pillar of cloud by day and fire by night.  But they were only a few miles out of Egypt before they started complaining. They grumbled to Moses, “Why did you bring us up out of Egypt to make us and our children and livestock die of thirst?” (Exodus 17:3).  It was as though they had forgotten all that God had done for them and the amazing power he had displayed on their behalf. Moses cried out to God saying, “What am I to do with these people? They are almost ready to stone me” (Exodus 17:4).

 

Believe It Or Not, The Miraculous Doesn’t Improve Faith –

The Lord answered Moses saying, “Walk on ahead of the people. Take with you some of the elders of Israel and take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile and go. I will stand there before you by the rock at Horeb. Strike the rock and water will come out of it for the people to drink.”  Then the Bible says, “So Moses did this in the sight of the elders of Israel. And he called the place Massah and Meribah because the Israelites quarreled and because they tested the Lord saying, ‘Is the Lord among us or not?’” (Exodus 17:5-7).

What an incredible accusation! How much evidence did they need to realize the Lord was with them?

So the next time someone says to you, “If there really is a God, why doesn’t He show himself? If He exists, why doesn’t he do some miracle so that everyone will see it and have to believe in him?”

You could tell them that He has already done this and it didn’t work. He demonstrated His love and showed them His mighty power. He was visibly present with them and spoke to them out of heaven, and it didn’t matter.  They still did not believe and their hearts were still full of rebellion. By the way, the same thing was true in the New Testament. God came in visible form in the person of Jesus. He told them He loved them and demonstrated that love with blessings and miracles.  He also powerfully provided food and healings.  Not only did they not believe in him, they killed him.

There is a way to increase your level of faith and learn to trust the Lord more deeply.  But it is not found in seeing more evidence of God’s movements with your eyes.

 Faith increases as we purposefully enter into the desert with the Lord and learn to trust Him.  What was true for the Hebrews is true for all of us today.

God works in a predictable pattern:

  • First, He makes a promise to us.
  • Second, He tests our faith — our ability to believe the promise.
  • Third, He watches for our obedience — our ability to walk in the light of that promise. Fourth, He grants His blessing — the fulfillment of the promise.

As we walk through this process over and over, our faith grows towards the Lord and we become more and more like Him.

This is what the Lord did with Noah. He made a promise. He tested Noah to see if he would believe what He told him, even though the flood did not come for many years. Then He watched for Noah’s obedience, and when He saw Noah’s obedience He gave him the blessing of a brand new world.

God did the same with Abraham. The promise of a son was given. Then the Lord waited to see if Abraham would believe the promise in spite of a long delay. He watched for Abraham’s obedience and finally rewarded him with the son of promise.

This is how God will work with you. He reassures you with a promise of hope for the future. But the promise is sometimes delayed and it may look like it will never happen. God is testing your faith. He watches for obedience, and when you have learned to trust him, He grants the promised blessing.

We will talk more about the testing process tomorrow.

 

Blessings,

Pastor