DiscipleTips – Problems Are Opportunities In Disguise

15 Tuesday Jan 2013

Tags

a crisis of belief, big assignment, changing the way disciples think, christianity, decision, experiencing God, feed the people, feeding the 5000, God sized assignment, Henry Blackaby quote, John 6:6, Luke 9, missed Gods will, new levels of spiritual growth, small character, spiritual knowledge, spiritual opportunity to grow, the Lords testing process

How is the Lord going to move you to new levels of growth and maturity? Most of the believers I know want to grow in the Lord. Is the growth going to happen by sitting in pews hearing sermon after sermon? Is growth really going to happen in Bible Study? Nothing wrong with attending church… but real growth and advancement in the Kingdom occurs due to the Lord’s testing process.

After one long day of teaching, Jesus looked upon His disciples and instructed them to “feed the people” He had been instructing. John gave us some inside information into the disciples dilemma. “Jesus made this request only to test them, for He already had in mind what he was going to do.” John 6:6

Jesus wanted to change the way His disciples thought, the way they processed information, the way they dealt with dilemmas… and most importantly what they believed concerning God’s power to minister to people. The Lord wanted his followers to understand that many of the dilemmas they faced were really opportunities for Him to reveal Himself to people.

Isn’t this the problem for most of us. When the Lord asks us to attempt something we are incapable of accomplishing, we misinterpret the situation and view it as an attack or curse. In Luke 9 there was absolutely no way the disciples could feed all the people. There was not enough money, not enough food on hand, and it was very late in the day.

Henry Blackaby, in his book “Experiencing God“, calls these situations “a crisis of belief.” Have you ever been there? If you are growing in the Lord, this should be happening numerous times a year. Now there is no question this was a God-sized assignment Jesus laid on His disciples. They had never walked this road before… and if the Lord didn’t intervene, they would fail and fall flat on their faces.

Please understand that this is the place where many (most) followers bail out. The Lord lays a God-sized assignment before them and they say, “I’m sorry, but I can’t”, which leads to “a crisis of belief”. The word “crisis” comes from a word which means “decision.” This crisis of belief becomes a turning point or fork in the road which demands a decision from us. Will we trust the Lord or shrink back? We don’t tell God… “no“. We say things like…”This can’t be God’s will. God wouldn’t be instructing me to do the impossible. I must have missed God’s will. The devil must have tricked me.”

It is in these crisis junctures where you decide what you believe about God and how you are going to respond to Him. How you respond when you reach this turning point will determine whether you go on to be involved with Him in something God-sized or whether you miss the opportunity the Lord has placed before you.

It has been these specific crisis of belief points which have defined your spiritual walk so far… not the amount of spiritual knowledge rolling around in your head. You don’t need more knowledge. You need to be responding in faith to opportunities God has already been placing before you. God’s presence and power only follows our obedience to His word and assignment.

Blessings,

Pastor

The Altar of Dedication

27 Tuesday Mar 2012

Posted by eisakouo in Abraham: Life of Faith

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

building altars, carrying burdens, Cullen Hightower, enteing the Promised Land, experiencing God, faith, Genesis 12:6-7, Genesis 35:4, God's word, Living Water, Moreh, personal altar, pray, Shechm, worship

Abram passed through the land as far as the site of Shechem, to the oak of Moreh. Now the Canaanite was then in the land. 7 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 12:6-7

Every hot-hearted seeker of God will build an altar of dedication in their lives. Early on in his walk with God, Abraham learned the benefits of building this type of altar. In order to understand the process of dedication Abraham went through, we need to understand this sacred place called Shechem.

Shechem means “the shoulder – place to carry burdens”. It sits between two mountains, Mount Ebal (Barren) and Mount Gerazim (Fruitful).

I have had the privilege of visiting Shechem. It is now in Palestinian control. It is also the place were the Children of Israel buried the bones of Joseph when they entered the Promised Land. Shechem is seen as the entrance to the Promised Land.

Both Abraham and the Children of Israel carried the burdens of their past into the Promised Land. God wants all of His children free from burdens in order to be blessed with the fruit of the land. Abraham, the Father of Faith, was first to lead us into God’s promises. Abraham came to the place in his life where he was ready to spend time with God and allow the Lord to teach Him His ways.

Every day we must set aside time to come to our personal altar where we read God’s word, worship Him, and pray. Like Abraham, we must have a dedicated place set aside to experience the Lord. Here we will encounter Him afresh and the Lord will teach us His ways.

Do you have a Shechem or Moreh in your life? Where is it? If you don’t have such a time or place, you must purpose to build it now! It must be a quiet, sacred place where you go to experience God. Building an altar of dedication will not happen by itself. The responsibility is yours. Too many people are waiting for the Lord to move, yet they never arrive at Moreh to meet with their Creator upon His altar.

In Genesis 35:4 and Joshua 24:23-26 we learn more about Moreh in Shechem. Jacob buried the family idols at the foot of this same tree by the altar of his grandfather. In addition, the Children of Israel, under the guidance of Joshua, erected a stone of covenant at this same spot and purposed wholly to follow the Lord.

As we come daily to our personal altars the Lord will reveal those “idols” in our lives which need to be buried and forsaken. These are things we have placed before God and interfere with our worship. In these quiet moments at the altar we can bury these idols and be cleansed by the blood of Jesus.

This altar at Moreh was the same place that Jacob later built a well which existed in Jesus’ time. Do you think this is all an accident? Or is God trying to speak to us? Here Jesus told the Samaritan woman “He was the Living Water.” (see John 4:12, 21-23)

All this began centuries earlier because one man, Abraham, dedicated himself to the Lord and built an altar to God. You too could change the destinies of people’s lives because you sanctified yourself on God’s altar.

Blessings,

Pastor