Moving on with God- the next step in ‘stepping out’
(Read) Joshua 3:1- 4:3, (later) 2 kings 13:17-20
Felt the Lord direct me to this, this week. Was confirmed as I sat with someone in my office and they preached this!
Are you aware:
Walt Disney - was fired by a newspaper editor for lack of ideas. Walt also went bankrupt several times before he built Disneyland.
Leo Tolstoy, author of War and Peace, flunked out of college. He was described as “both unable and unwilling to learn.”
Michael Jordan, perhaps the greatest basketball player of all time, did not make his high school basketball team his sophomore year.
Beethoven’s teacher called him hopeless as a composer.
Winston Churchill failed the sixth grade. He did not become Prime Minister until he was 62. His greatest contributions came when he was a “senior citizen.”
Henry Ford failed and went broke five times before he finally succeeded. Bill Burnett on www.sermoncentral.com
FEAR OR FAITH? – the books of Numbers and Joshua
Or maybe I should call this section- ‘determination or defeat’
- but, basically, I’m looking at God’s people previously & presently in this story
Fear - Numbers
This in not the first time they were told to go into ‘the promised land’. To ‘claim their dreams’: ‘the land of milk and honey’
- that’s what this represents. (No comment on ‘the land of Israel’, now!)
o AM talking about spiritual principles, not just modern day hype
The call… challenge… promise… was made
- 500 years earlier to Abraham (took God up on it)
- 40 years earlier to Moses’ people
o “Is a land of milk and honey. Grapes like apples!”
o “But the people are giants. Land will devour us. Can’t do it. Better to go back to Egypt”
o (only Moses, Joshua and Caleb were for it)
they looked at the situation with human eyes
• obstacles may be big, but God is bigger!
As a result- they spent 40 years milling around in the desert. Grumbling. In defeat. Looking back. In unbelief, doubt, ‘analysis paralysis’
- yes, provided for by God. But- boring! Like ‘groundhog day’
- Just ‘biding time’ until someone else would take God up on His call
In fact the word that keeps cropping up in numbers is a Hebrew word meaning ‘journeying’, ‘setting out’
- that’s what they did. Their unbelief stopping them ‘crossing over’. They just set out each day (cloud & pillar) to go round in circles
Now- just take that in. This is not psycho-babble from a modern-day marketing or spin guru.
- There is a strong emphasis in scripture that ATTITUDE, faith and doubt AFFECTS what God can do through you
o He WANTS to do great things… but if you easily doubt or are easily defeated- you won’t experience all He wants
Faith- Joshua
The word that keeps cropping up for their journey in the book of Joshua is different. It’s not ‘milling around’, it’s ‘crossing over.
These folks are full of faith. Eager to obey. The previous generation had completely died out- all apart from Joshua and Caleb
- who fell a hundred times, but got back up and believed God… and His promise… 100 times
So- when the Lord says to them ‘go. Step out. Take it. Take the land’
- they are ready to obey
?[Now- question number one. If you ‘feel’ God say this kind of thing to you, how do you know if it’s God or your own desires?
a) if any of it is against ‘kingdom’ principles – it’s not Him (ie harm)
b) it was nothing new. The ‘call’ was hundreds of years old and tested. It was in line with where they were at ALREADY
c) it wasn’t a call to comfort , ease or self-promotion. “You have NOT been this way before’ (apart from this is prob where Jesus was baptised!)
d) The God’s Kingdom grew (not just their empire)
e) Their eyes were on God: consecrated. Waiting for the ark.]
So- here’s the call of God. A genuine opportunity from God. But note the first thing that stands in their way
STUMBLING BLOCKS OR STEPPING STONES – the Jordan River
There are always obstacles to what god wants you to do.
- you’d think : ‘if it’s God- it’d be smooth!’
o not so!
Life puts things in our way… and God allows things to
- test our faith. Test His provision. Get us out of our rut.
- develop our spiritual muscles… our faith
- see whether we will stumble over them or USE them as stepping-stones…
o see them as obstacles or opportunities
The thing is- this river was no joke
- in spring, this normally narrow river flooded its banks
o could be 100 feet deep and a mile wide!
What you face is no joke. The job is no joke. Leaving home/school is no joke. Getting married is no joke! Facing goliath.. the gaderene demoniac… the cross was no joke
But in God’s kingdom… and to HIS WILL… there are no obstacles, only opportunities
- “Lord, I won’t let you go until you bless me… bless this… bless them. I won’t take this lying down. YOU SAID. YOU PROMISED. You’re no liar”
STEPPING OUT AND SPIRITUAL LEADERS
But the thing is- the waters don’t part until we’re right there with our toes in them
- until WE have acted in response to God’s word
- not before. God is seldom early, never late
We say
- well- part the waters and I’ll go for it, Lord. Show me and I’ll step out
o no- step out and I’ll part them. That’s the way it works in my kingdom
- give me an experience, then I’ll believe
o n- believing is seeing
- Show me and I’ll trust you
- Change me and I’ll love you
- Bless me and I’ll serve you
- Lead me and I’ll follow
o Trust me and I’ll show you
o Love me and I’ll change you
o Serve me and I’ll bless you
o Follow me and I’ll lead you
Heal some folks, and then I’ll be encouraged to start praying for the sick
Start saving folks, and then I’ll be encouraged to evangelise. Give me something of what I’m used to/like- and then I can appreciate the new
Enrich me, and then I’ll start tithing
- guess what he says! (just guess!):
o “I’ve SHOWN you!” Step out and DO it, and then the waters will part- the healings will come, the lost will be saved… you’ll be enriched… you’ll appreciate the NEW thing I’m doing
’you cannot discover new oceans until you have the courage to lose sight of the shore’
And you’ve gotta be BOLD
- it’s no use saying to the devil “shoo fly” (whisper)
o to the waters ‘part please’
o to the obstacle ‘if you don’t mind… please move’
- say: “the LORD rebuke you! Out of my way! Give me this land! Give me souls! Renew us! YOUR Kingdom come”
Read: 2 kings 13:17-20
- strange passages. When the anointing is there, the power is there- little symbols matter!
o Bash the arrows! Shoot for Jesus!
Now- some of us respond to these TRUTHS easier than others (wired that way)… and some are also called to lead the way in stepping out for the Kingdom
- here it’s the priests V13 “as soon as the priests set foot”
o PRAY for your leaders. Pray for Robin and me. For our elders and LT
If you have a renewed pastor- you’ll get a renewed leadership. If you have a renewed leadership: STAND BACK and see the water part!
(thanks for your prayers that have made such a difference to me. Testimony: Sept tongues, Jan/feb prayer months Feb Nigeria)
SPIRITUAL MILESTONES
Step out. Risk it. See the waters part.
And place markers in the ground so you never go back. (stones)
But there’s more to these milestones than just OUR benefit.
- surprise! There’s more to Christianity, the body, than just ME
Milestones encourage those who are struggling that
- someone’s been this way before
- only 100 miles to go! You can make it!
- (that’s why I want to encourage you to give testimony. Particularly in am’s)
o Illustr: Adam and the Synagogue
And ALL that’s in here is there to encourage US
- do you think this was just about water and grapes? No! It’s about us stepping out and seeing it happen in OUR lives… church… area
o you can do it! God CAN do it through you! Get up! Get on! Fight again! Step out again! Pray again!
God did it for Joshua. Moses. Gideon. AND others! Read heb 11!
- he’s the SAME God, and his power and promises do not fail!
We limit ourselves and God with fear, unbelief, doubt and timidity
- when we hear of other’s parting of the waters it encourages us
Do you remember the four-minute mile? They’d been trying to do it since the days of the ancient Greeks. Someone found the old records of how the Greeks tried to accomplish this. They had wild animals chase the runners, hoping that would make them run faster. They tried tiger’s milk: not the stuff you get down at the supermarket, I’m talking about the real thing. Nothing worked, so they decided it was physically impossible for a human being to run a mile in four minutes. Our bone structure was all wrong, the wind resistance was too great, our lung power was inadequate. There were a million reasons. Then one day one human being proved that the doctors, the trainers, and the athletes themselves were all wrong. And, miracle of miracles, the year after Roger Bannister broke the four-minute mile. And the year after that three hundred runners broke the four-minute mile!
Harvey Mackay, U.S. Entrepreneur and author in Speechwriter’s Newsletter, quoted in Bits & Pieces, July 20, 1995, pp. 20-22.
You can do it… because God’s with you.
- It’s time to step out
MINISTRY TIME.
