WHERE DO YOU LIVE?
When I ask that question this morning, I don’t mean do you live in Potosi or Mineral Point. I don’t even mean do you live in Missouri or in Arkansas. The question "Where do you live" today refers to where are you at in your journey?
I want to take you on a mental and spiritual journey this morning. I want to take you to three lands. I pray that you will look at each one with an honest evaluation of where you live.
I. THE LAND OF NOT ENOUGH. Exodus 3:7-14
A) A land of affliction---The Egyptians were hard taskmasters. Ex 5:5-9
B) A land of spiritual bankruptcy---They lived in a pagan society, as slaves they were not given freedom, When they asked for permission to go into the wilderness to sacrifice unto God they were beaten and punished.
C) A land of bondage
D) What about us? When we are in the land of not enough is when we are lost.
1) We are in bondage --- I want to be my own person, I’m not interested in Christianity. You belong to someone. Either you belong to Satan or you belong to Jesus.
2) Satan will lie to you, destroy you, leave you bankrupt, lonely, and miserable. Sin will take you farther than you want to go, keep you longer than you want to pay, and cost you more than you want to pay.
3) Jesus as your Lord, will give you freedom. He has paid for you a high price but He will protect, keep, love, and bless you. He is the Lilly of the Valley, the Bright and Morning Star, He is the deliverer, the One and only begotten Son of God, He is the King of kings and the Lord of lords. & He wants to bring you out of the land of not enough. Just as He broke the tie of Pharaoh on the Israelites, He will break the tie of Satan from your life. Will you have the faith to step out and say, I want to leave this land of not enough.
II. THE LAND OF JUST ENOUGH. NUMBERS 13:23-33
A) Background of 12 spies, all seeing same things, 2- Joshua & Caleb came with a positive report.
B) A Land of doubt---God had already told them He was giving them the land, just go possess it.
1) They had already seen the hand of God in the ten plagues placed on Egypt, the parting of the Red Sea, and several other miracles from the hand of God. Yet they just couldn’t take their eyes off the giants and the walls.
2) You would think that when we live in the land of just enough, we would depend on God for our every breath.
C) A land of grumbling---We want better water, we want better food….So God gave them good water and sent them quail and manna. Evidently later this became just manna. Manna had all the nutrients that were needed and had a sweet taste to them.
1) The Israelites began to grumble again. Were tired of manna. In Egypt we had better food.
2) God said O.K. "I’ll give you meat. Not just one day but every day for a month. God sent quails 3 feet deep for miles on every side of camp. The person that gathered the least had 86 gallons stored for only a couple days food supply. Because of their greed and gluttony, God sent a plague in the quail and many died.
D) When we are in the land of just enough, it is because we fail to follow God into the land of more than enough.
1) Here we will be grumblers
2) Here we will be greedy
3) We are here because of a failure to follow God’s direction in what He wants for us in our life.
III. THE LAND OF MORE THAN ENOUGH.
A) Let me paraphrase the rest of the story for time’s sake.
1) Joshua became the leader of Israel.
2) God said "O.K. I gave you the land before and you didn’t take it. Now go in and take this land."
3) They crossed the Jordan
4) Sent spies to Rahab
5) Conquered Jericho.
B) Land of Obedience---We will find ourselves in the land of more than enough only when we become COMPLETELY obedient to God.
C) Land of Abundance John 10:10 (Land flowing with milk and honey ILL. Pic I used to get when I heard this. Land of great produce and fertile soil)
D) Land that God wants all of his children to dwell in. If you are in the land of not enough, or the land of just enough today, you are not there because God wants you there. He teaches us valuable lessons in the Land of Just Enough….but it is not his ultimate plan for our lives.
Concl: If you are lost, you are in the land of not enough. If you are saved but satisfied with playing church and a stale relationship with Christ, you are in the land of just enough. God wants more for you. He wants to take you to the land of more than enough.
