Good morning, God is Faithful to us, we have so much to be thankful for don’t we?
Turn and tell your neighbor, God is good “to me all the time”,
As Dave Ramsey always says, I’m doing better than I deserve!
Everyone us, can look back in our lives and we all have triumphs to be remembered, not one to be forgotten and so many yet to be experienced!
We’ve come a long ways baby, so the old saying goes, but we ain’t made it to our destination yet.
Were still on the journey to the promised land, and I think we would all say,
“we wouldn’t take nothing for our journey now” and what a journey it has been.
If we were to have imagined, all the miracles and blessings, the lives that have been touched and different things that have happened over the years, to this body of believers.
I don’t think we could have imagined big enough, deep enough or wide enough as to what God has done for us and still wants to do for us!
Many dear saints have served the Lord faithfully and have went on to receive their eternal reward,
But the dream and desire to reach the lost is still alive and well,
Even though, the past has been full of more accomplishments than we would have ever dreamed of,
And while we celebrate it today, we still look towards the future with great optimism, to the things that are still yet to come!
Let me tell you, we haven’t even scratched the surface of what God has in store, if we can believe Him for it and receive it from Him
Like the children of Israel realized when they went into their promised land, we too can say,
“we’ve only just begun” to receive what God has in store for us, do you believe it? You should, God has great plans for you, for all of us!
We should be like Caleb, for you see he knew, it wasn’t the end of the journey,
But a brand new day, with the expectation of, the “best was and is still yet to come”
And that’s the way we should feel every day, waking up with God involved in our lives. Amen?
Joshua 14:6-14 MSG.
6-12. The people of Judah came to Joshua at Gilgal. Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite spoke: “You’ll remember what God said to Moses the man of God concerning you and me back at Kadesh Barnea. I was forty years old when Moses the servant of God sent me from Kadesh Barnea to spy out the land. And I brought back an honest and accurate report. My companions who went with me discouraged the people, but I stuck to my guns, totally with God, my God. That was the day that Moses solemnly promised, ‘The land on which your feet have walked will be your inheritance, you and your children’s, forever. Yes, you have lived totally for God.’ Now look at me: God has kept me alive, as he promised. It is now forty-five years since God spoke this word to Moses, years in which Israel wandered in the wilderness. And here I am today, eighty-five years old! I’m as strong as I was the day Moses sent me out. I’m as strong as ever in battle, whether coming or going. So give me this hill country that God promised me. You yourself heard the report, that the Anakim were there with their great fortress cities. If God goes with me, I will drive them out, just as God said.”
13-14. Joshua blessed him. He gave Hebron to Caleb son of Jephunneh as an inheritance. Hebron belongs to Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite still today, because he gave himself totally to God, the God of Israel.
Caleb was a dreamer, wasn’t he?
You should be too and if your not, why not?
Did you know that the accuser won’t give you a dream, and doesn’t want you to ever dream?
his constant work, is to steal, kill and destroy every dream you have ever had, or will ever think about having,
God is the one who puts dreams, promises and hope, down deep inside of you and He never forgets them either.
For 45 years Caleb had been dreaming of the land that God promised to him.
So now, 85 years old, he steps up & says, "I want what God has promised me. See that hill country? See that Mountain? It belongs to me and I want it."
I think that he was probably the first one who had the 70, is the new 30 line of thinking.
He had dreamed about it, he had already won the battle in his mind & now it was time for his dream to come true.
I think all Christians, wether they will admit it or not, have been living the dream as well,
and God has promised us He would be faithful, and He has been!
But I feel like its time we stepped up with courage like Caleb did, and said Lord, enlarge our territory!
Lord, Bless us indeed, I want my mountain, it belongs to me.
Like Caleb said, we also need to say,
*here we are today,
*were still believing
*were as strong as we we have ever been
*strong as ever in battle, whether coming or going.
*So give us, this city, the neighborhoods, the whole country side,
that God, You have promised through prophetic word time and time again,
and let it be said of us, just as of Caleb,
That God gave him, what he asked for!
Praise God, who is Worthy of all our Praise!!
Ill. A few years ago a study was made of 200 people that we would call "very successful." It was discovered that all 200 had one common denominator: each had dared to dream big dreams & set goals, & reached out to achieve those goals.
From day one, this ministry dared to dream of a church where the word and the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ could be preached freely,
Where denominational walls, would be removed, where Christians could unite together for a common cause,
where people could hear & understand the message of the Gospel and lives would be changed forever by it,
And we need to continue to dream, too.
As a congregation we still need to see the greatness of our potential, & the possibilities that God sets before us,
because little dreams lead to little service. But big dreams lead to big service, & huge and lasting eternal results.
So let’s ask ourselves, "How big are our dreams? And what are we going to do about them?"
Are we still ready to pursue them, like Caleb was? We ought to be!
You see, in Gods Kingdom, 70 really is the new 30, with God you are never to old to dream!
A. in vs. 10 where Caleb says, "Now then, just as the Lord promised, He has kept me alive for 45 years since the time He said this to Moses, while Israel moved about in the desert. So here I am today, 85 years old."
Now usually by age 85 people have decided to rest and rest quite often,
They’re not usually thinking about starting out on some new adventure, right?
But Caleb teaches us that we are never too old to dream, & I like that.
In fact, the older I get, the more I like it!
One of the dear ladies in our church, went to be with The Lord,
she was 101 and looking forward to what God was going to do next in her life, right up until, He called her home. Praise God!
You are never to old to dream and you also, are never to young to dream either
As long as you are willing to dream and trust God to bring those dreams to pass, there’s nothing that you can’t do, with His help, no matter what your age is.
I’ll. I heard on the news the other day, a six year old boy had a dream to help raise money for someone with cancer and raised over $37,000.
This is what I thought, that little boy was passionate for his cause, you know how else has great passion?
God has a tremendous passion, to see you succeed in life.
God never drops dreams in your laps and says, here you go, see you later!
Does that mean that they will be easy to accomplish?
No not always, but that doesn’t mean He going to leave you hanging either!
He going to be right there, helping step by step all along the way,
accomplishing those dreams, until they become a real and lasting reality, in your life and in the church!
We can take hope and comfort in that, because He has been there for all of us all along, since the beginning of the world,
Working all things together for our good!
We read about it in the Bible time and time again;
*God helped a stuttering, middle aged Moses, become a deliverer of the more than 2 million people of Israel.
*God enabled Gideon, with only 300 soldiers to defeat the armies of the Midianites.
*God enabled a young, untrained David, with only a piece of rawhide & a smooth stone, to defeat Goliath on the very first attempt.
*God enabled the believers, on the day of Pentecost, with the Holy Spirit and Power that they received, to go out and change the world forever!
And the repercussions from their efforts, are still being felt today!
And God has given us the same promise of the Holy Spirit, to work in our lives as well! Hallelujah, praise be to God!
Matt 28:18 MSG.
18-20. Jesus, undeterred, went right ahead and gave his charge: “God authorized and commanded me to commission you: Go out and train everyone you meet, far and near, in this way of life, marking them by baptism in the threefold name: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Then instruct them in the practice of all I have commanded you. I’ll be with you as you do this, day after day after day, right up to the end of the age.”
What are your dreams for your lives and for your church?
Lets go beyond our limits and trust God for the impossible
because when we do, we can count on the fact, that He will be there every step of the way to help us fulfill the dreams He has put inside of us,
Knowing that its not a matter of if, but only when He brings them to pass,
Lets believe that this will be the best year ever for growth, in our lives and in our church,
and that God will continue to work in miraculous ways!
Ill. On July 20, 1969 Neil Armstrong stepped off that ladder and took our one small step for man, but one giant leap for mankind.
The impossible dream had become reality.
President John Kennedy was a big dreamer but so also was Neil Armstrong and the other 11 Americans who hold the honor of being the only 12 men who have ever set foot on the surface of the moon.
And while you wondering what this has to do with today’s word?
I share this, because man kinds greatest feats, are nothing compared to what He longs to do in your life and in His Church!
I want to close with the words of a song by the Martins
I believe that anything is possible
if we understand who Jesus is
I believe there’s nothing that can
stop us if we learn to dream like Jesus did
So don’t limit your ambition
to what’s commonly defined
God has a special heart
for those who walk outside the line
Don’t be afraid to spread your wings
and fly
It doesn’t hurt to try
If you’re gonna dream..Dream big
Lets all agree together this year, to dream bigger than we ever have,
with the boldness of Caleb and to have an earnest expectation of God to deliver the results,
To not be surprised, but to be ready to shout from the top of our mountain He has given to us, when He does!
Praise His Holy Name!
Amen? Amen!
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