Last Thursday night, we learned how man fell away from God when we chose to partake of the forbidden fruit, and how that has caused mankind to be in sin ever since.
God gave Adam and Eve a set of rules to live by, but they decided to do what they wanted to do instead of what God wanted them to do. Doesn’t that sound a lot like the ancient Israelites? Come to think of it, that sounds a lot like our society today, doesn’t it?
Our entire walk with the Lord is based upon one thing: Taking our focus off what we desire and keeping it on Him to see what He desires for us. The more we focus on Him, the more we will desire to walk in His ways. But as much as we want to do that, we seem to get distracted by those things of the world that we find pleasurable.
What we fix our focus on determines what our life will be like. The Apostle Paul tells us to rejoice in the Lord. Jesus taught us that where our hearts are, our treasures will also be. If we keep hanging on to the things of this world, our main focus in life will be worldly, but if we start trying to turn our eyes from the world to God, we will be righteous and holy.
In our last message, we followed society from Adam down to Noah, and saw that every generation had become more evil than the one before it. Even after the flood, we saw where the sinful nature of man caused him to build the Tower of Babel, not because he loved God enough to try and reach up to Him, but because he thought he could get to heaven by his own works, ignoring God every step of the way.
And as much as we might not like to admit it, we are much like that today. We are determined to rely on our own abilities without relying on God.
Scripture tells us that every inclination of their hearts were evil all the time. Scripture could have been talking about us just as easily as it was talking about the people of Noah’s day. But as much as we turn our backs on God; He continues to love us enough to protect us and offer us a way back to Him.
We continue in tonight by talking about a man named Abram. He lived in a place called Ur, which is in the southern part of what we call Iraq. He lived there with his father, Terah, and all of his relatives. Terah decided to take his grandson named Lot, and his son Abram along with Abrams’ wife and travel to the land of Canaan. They ended up stopping in a place called Haran, which was about 600 miles to the north. They ended up staying there, and that is where Abram’s father, Terah, died many years later.
Let’s talk about;
1. FINISHING WHAT WE START
Have you ever started something you didn’t finish? Terah set out to go to the land of Canaan, but stopped in Haran and ended up staying there until he died.
Sometime after his death, God spoke to his son Abram.
Let’s turn to;
GENESIS 12:1-5
‘The Lord had said to Abram, “Leave your country, and your father’s household and go to the land I will show you. I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you. I will make your name great and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and curse those who curse you, and all the peoples on earth will be blessed through you.’
‘So, Abram left as the Lord had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was 75 years old when he set out from Haran. He took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, all the possessions they had accumulated and the people they had acquired in Haran, and they set out for the land of Canaan, and they arrived there.’
As a Christian, our goal is always supposed to be on the Promised Land, following Jesus towards Heaven, but all too often, we let the things of this world capture our focus and our desires, and we stop in Haran. In short, we make a choice to settle for less.
Abram’s father did the same thing that we do today; the one thing that causes us not to pursue what God wants from us. We let the world steal our focus. We get sidetracked and the vision we had from God just doesn’t seem so clear anymore.
Tonight, we are going to see how God worked in Abram’s life, and how He still wants to work in your life. Abram let God call the shots in his life and was rewarded greatly for doing so. Are you letting God call the shots in your life today?
Before we came to Oklahoma, I was very content to live in Arizona. But God was working in my heart. He was stirring things up.
During my Bible readings, I kept going back to MATTHEW 28:19-20;
‘Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.’
To make a long story short, God was preparing us to move from there to here. He orchestrated everything, as Diana and I just sat back and watched in amazement. He handled everything, and everything He handled was handled perfectly.
Generally, when God calls us into action, first thing we focus on is the why we “can’t” do as God has commanded. But that limits what God will do in our life.
Instead of looking for reasons we cannot do what God wants, we need to learn how to;
2. SEE WHY WE ‘CAN’ DO IT
God parted the sea for the Israelites, and He created that the perfect move from Arizona to Oklahoma for us. God is still a God of miracles. However, when He first called, I contemplated all the things we would need to have happen to allow us to come here, and I nearly gave up and stayed there. I focused more on the "possible problems" than I did on the "Problem Solver."
I am not telling you a story about Bruce and Diana. All we did was become willing to do His work, with no strings attached by us. If He hasn’t already done so, God will someday call you to do a specific work, and when He does, the first thing you will see are the problems you “think” will keep you from doing what He has called you to do.
When God calls, you might start, but if you aren’t careful, the devil will replace your vision with worries, and then you might find yourself settling in Haran and forgetting about Canaan.
But, if you remain focused, you will see God do things in your life that you never thought possible. I urge you to remember what God did for Diana and I once we stepped out in faith and became willing. I promise you that He will do the same thing for you. All you have to do is put the excuses aside long enough to be obedient.
One day about 3 years ago, just before the church service, I took a five-dollar bill and put it in a lady’s Bible when she was not looking. During the sermon, I called her to come up where I was and to bring her Bible. When she got there, I asked her if she trusted me. She said she did. I told her that I would never ask her to do anything unless I already knew she could do. I asked her again if she trusted me, and she said she did.
Then, I asked her to give me five dollars. She said her money was in her purse, and started to go get it. I told her to stay where she was. I reminded her that he would never ask her to do anything unless I already knew she could do it. So I asked her again for five dollars and she said she didn’t have it.
I asked her to give me her Bible for a moment. When she did, I opened it and took the five dollars out. Once again I told her that I knew she could give it to me even though she didn’t know it. I told her that all she had to do was agree to what I wanted her to do, and then ask me for help doing it.
When God asks you to do something for Him, He has already given you everything you need to do it, even if you don’t realize it. All you need to do is be willing to do as He tells you, and then rely on Him for the help to do it. He will never let you down, and He will always protect you as you do it.
The next time He calls you, don’t say you can’t do it. That denies Him a place in your life for that moment, and it denies the gift He so desperately wants to give you.
The next time God calls you, do what Abram did.
3. STEP OUT IN BLIND FAITH
God told Abram to gather up all he owned and leave that area. And notice that God didn’t tell Abram where he was going, either. He just told Abram to go. What did Abram do? He didn’t make excuses so he could stay where he was. Abram obeyed God and left. It wasn’t until he was well on his way before God told him where he was going.
I would like to think that I am an obedient Christian, as I am sure each of you thinks you are obedient. But in reality, just how obedient would we have been if we had been in Abram’s shoes?
When I was in Arizona, if God had told me to sell everything I had, pack up and leave, I would probably have told God that unless I knew where I was going, I couldn’t go. I would have said something nonsensical like, ’I am called to be a good steward of what You have given me, God, and if I just up and leave without knowing the details involved, I wouldn’t be a good steward – so I can’t go.’
Can you see that is what most of us do most of the time? We have a full book of excuses we carry around with us, telling God how we cannot do what He told us to do. And in so doing, we miss out on many blessings we could have received, had we just did what God told us to do.
God told Abram that He would bless Abram and, in turn, Abram would become a blessing to others. If Abram had not stepped out in faith, he would never have been blessed and he would never have been able to bless anyone else.
But Abram obeyed, and God made him the father of the Hebrew nation, and through his descendant, Jesus Christ, God has offered everyone on earth the blessing of salvation.
We tend to think that we are not good enough to do God’s work. I agree – we aren’t. But that is not what God uses as a standard. God does not call the qualified; He qualifies the called. God doesn’t care about your ability; He cares about your availability. He cannot use the proud; all He can use is the willing.
Abram was not good enough to do God’s work. Abram was a liar. His wife was a very beautiful lady, and there were a couple of times when Abraham felt that he might be killed so other men might have her. So, what did he do? He told his wife to tell everyone that she was only his sister.
In GENESIS 12:10-16, we read about the first time he lied.
‘Now there was a famine in the land and Abram went down to Egypt to live there for a while because the famine was severe. As he was about to enter Egypt, he said to his wife Sarai, ‘I know what a beautiful woman you are.
‘When the Egyptians see you, they will say, ‘This is his wife.’ Then they will kill me, but will let you live. Say you are my sister so that I will be treated well for your sake and my life will be spared because of you.
‘When Abram came to Egypt, the Egyptians saw that she was a very beautiful woman. And when Pharaoh’s officials saw her, they praised her to Pharaoh, and she was taken into his palace. He treated Abram well for her sake.’
Even though Abram was a liar, he still made himself available to God. How available have you been to God? Most Christians have made a choice long ago to follow Jesus as long as they can remain where they are and be comfortable. And one of the most uncomfortable thoughts we have is that somebody might get angry with us if we tell them about Jesus.
If you saw someone standing out in the highway, knowing there was traffic coming, would you go and try to save them? Would you care if they got angry? Of course not! So why do we get all nervous about doing what we can so somebody will find spiritual safety? Satan uses everything to stifle us, doesn’t he?
When you became a Christian, you accepted some duties. Every member of God’s household has those same duties. Those duties include living your daily life in a Christ-like fashion; studying the word of God to know what He wants of you; and to go and tell others.
Many of us have started that journey, but have long since stopped going and telling. We have settled in our own Haran and have forgotten all about our goal of Canaan.
The only way to accomplish that work is to stop looking at those things around you as if they will defeat you, and start looking at the One in heaven who has already given you everything you need to do what you need to do.
And, finally, to be successful, you must be willing to step out in faith. You must be willing to do what God has told you to do, even though you see no possible way to do it. For us to move up here, we needed to sell our home at above market price. God made the first people who looked at it offer us more money than we were asking for.
For us to move up here, Diana would have had to receive a transfer immediately, even though the Post Office said it would be at least one year before she would get an answer. God had them answer her in 7 calendar days.
For us to move up here, God would have had to make sure I could retire early and put my retirement on hold – for nearly 4 years. I called and talked to personnel and the manager said it would be no problem.
God is our source. He is the God of provision and He has already provided you with everything you need to do what He has called you to do. All you have to do is believe it and He will show you when the time is right.
Abram was not perfect. But he did make himself available to God. And because of his availability, God blessed him abundantly. You are not perfect, but if you make will just make yourself available to God, and stop concentrating on all the worldly things you need or want to do, He will bless you also in ways that will truly astound you.
Remember, there is only one person who can keep God from working in your life, and that would be you. I encourage you to be just like Abram was. He put more stock in what God wanted than he did staying where he was. And if you will put more importance on what God wants you to do than what you are already involved in, God will literally change your life!
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