Exodus 23:20-33 & 2nd Peter 3:18
Topic: The blessing of the little by little.
In these passage of scriptures, God was instructing the children of Israel on how they would defeat their enemies to possess and take over the promise land in Canaan. God says, He would send an Angel to go before them to fight against their enemies, and He says in Exodus 23:30 “Little by Little, I will drive them out from before thee, until thou be increased and inherit the land.” That is, the children of Israel would not defeat their enemies and take possession of the promise land all in one day, all in one week,in one month, nor all in one year. But little by little, in due time by the power of God, the children of Israel would prevail over their enemies, and posses the promise land in Canaan because He would bless them to increase in strength. And because God would bless the children of Israel to increase in strength to overcome their enemies, they would have the power to inherit the land of Canaan.
Little by Little.
Now,as we make our annual New Years resolutions, we should always remember that to reach our New Year’s goals, you must remember that you can only reach them little by little. For example, if you are planning to lose weight like losing 10, 15, or 20 pounds this year, you won’t be able to lose it all in one day, one week, or in one month. But if you work hard at losing your weight, that is, if you exercise, and eat right, little by little, those pounds will fall off and decrease little by little.
Or if you planning to becoming debt free by paying off all of your credit card debt or whatever debt you may have, you may not be able to pay off all of your debt in one day, one week, or in one month. But as you discipline yourself with your money management, and practice delayed gratification by not buying everything that you want, little by little, as you pay towards your debt, in due time, you can be debt free.
You may not have the money for that new house, new car, new dress, new suit, or the money that you need to have to pay your college tuition. But little by little, if you set some money aside in a savings account, little by little, in due time, you will have the money to but the new house, new car, new dress, new suit, or whatever that you need or desire.
You may not have that promotion or that pay raise that you want on your job. But by little by little, if you continue to pray and continue to work hard, in due time, God can and will bless you with that promotion, He can and will bless you with that pay raise on your job.
You don’t just jump into a marriage after you just met someone in one day, one week, one month, or one year. But you ought to take your time to get to know the person before you decide to marry someone little by little. And sometimes it will take you more than 2 years or more when you are trying to get to know someone little by little. In matter of fact, you will save yourself from a whole lot of trouble if you take your time to know someone little by little. Because if you jump in a marriage without getting to know the person real well, you may end up regretting it later.
If you are addicted to drugs and alcohol, you don’t overcome it all at once. But little by little by the power and the grace of God, you can overcome the addiction of alcohol and drugs through prayer and staying away form the drugs and alcohol.
Not only does the little by little principle applies in the physical, but it also applies in the spiritual. You may not know the bible real well right now. You may feel like you are spiritually weak, and you feel like you are not where you should be with your walk with Christ. But little by little, if you start praying on a daily basis, if you start reading God’s word, start attending Sunday School, and Bible Study, start taking notes when the pastor is preaching, or get involved in the ministry of the church, little by little , you will start growing in your walk with the Lord Jesus Christ. You must understand that Rome was not built in a day. It was built little by little. And likewise, you are not going to grow up spiritually all in one day. You can only grow up in the Lord spiritually, little by little.
Now in the Word of God, we see the little by little principal at work. When God created the heavens and the earth, He did not create it all in one day, but little by little, He created the Heavens and the Earth in six days, and rested on the seventh day.
When Noah built the Ark, He did not build it all in one day. But little by little, it took Noah 120 years to finish building the Ark.
When God sent the prophet Samuel to anoint David at an young age at the age of 17 to be the next king of Israel, David did not become king right away. But little by little, it wasn’t until he was 30 that David became King of Israel.
When God sent Nehemiah and his crew to rebild the walls of Jerusalem, they did not rebuild the walls of Jerusalem in one day, or in one week. But little by little, it took them 52 days to complete the task because the people had a mind to work.
When the Apostle Paul was converted, he didn’t start preaching right away. But little by little, he spent at least three years in Arabia studying the word of God so he would be able to rightly dividing the word of truth, preaching the gospel truth of Jesus Christ.
The 11 disciple of Jesus Christ weren’t powerful men of Christ all in one day. But by little by little, after spending three years following Jesus Christ, and was baptized with the Holy Ghost on the Day of Pentecost, with their powerful testimony of Jesus Christ and signs and wonders, they were able to turn the world upside down for Christ.
When Second Baptist Church first came to existence, it did not become a big church all in one day. But little by little, after 63 years of existence, it is now known all over the world as the Miracle on Madison Avenue.
Last but not least, when Jesus Christ came to the world to fulfill His Father’s will, He did not fulfill it all in one day But little by little, He left heaven’s glory and came into this world as a little baby boy, and at the age of 30, He began to fulfill his Father will by performing great miracles, teaching and preaching the Word of God. And at the age of 33, Jesus was crucified on the cross by those who hated him the most, but in a borrowed grave, but in three days, little by little Jesus Christ got up from the dead with all power in His Hands.
And because what Jesus Christ has done, and because of who he is, God keeps blessing us little by little because His mercy is new every morning.
So as we go into the year of 2007, remember it was the little by little blessings that got you through the year of 2006, and it is going to be the little by little blessings that are going carry you over into and through the year of 2007.
