What is Your Promised Land?

Transcription

1 What is Your Promised Land? When I was young in ministry, I jumped into a pickup truck to travel with an older minister and help him do carpentry work. Most of his adult life, the pastor did remodeling on the side for extra income or to help members of his congregation with home repairs. I will never forget his love for the Word of God. That love inspired me, especially as someone God called to teach. During the ride, he encouraged me to spend time studying Genesis. He remarked that I would find Jesus everywhere in Genesis if I kept my eyes open. I followed his counsel and discovered he was right. Jesus is everywhere. Also, the first five books of the bible are filled with essential truths that unlock many secrets of pastoral ministry. The Promised land for Jews holds significant promises for you as well. In the last century, Canaan land or the Promised Land was often the subject of many hymns. Particularly after the Great Depression, lyrics focused almost exclusively on reaching the Promised Land. Christians associated the journey of the Jews to Canaan as symbolic. They believed it represented our trip through the wilderness of life to reach the shores of heaven when we die. As we started reading the scriptures more intently, most of us realized that the Promised Land has little or nothing to do with heaven after we die. It is not a picture or symbol of heaven at all. The original promised land had giants in it. The people of God fought wars to conquer territory. Unless they claimed that territory, the nation of Israel did not inherit the promised land. In point of fact, several acres of land remained unclaimed for one reason or another. This hardly sounds like heaven. There are no giants or wars in heaven. We don t have to fight battles to crash through the pearly gates to get in. Egypt is a symbol or picture of a world dominated by Satan who holds us as slaves to sin. Like the Jews, God delivered us from Satan s power

2 through the shed blood of the lamb who is Jesus. By applying his blood to our households or hearts, Satan was forced to release us and set us free. We all know this. Paul references the Red Sea in I Corinthians 10 as a type of water baptism, separating us forever from our past life. The wilderness illustrates the journey between water baptism and the Promised Land. So what is the Promised land? The answer is not that complicated. The promised land is our collective inheritance as God s people but is also your inheritance as his child. The nation conquered the Promised land as a group, but each Israeli citizen owned their piece of property when the battle was over. The church is called into an inheritance collectively. At the same time, every believer has an inheritance given to them by God. Now, little of this is probably a great revelation to most of you. But hang in there. Something significant is about to hit you. God said something to these former slaves that applies to us today. He said: Wherever you set foot, that land will be yours. Your frontiers will stretch from the wilderness in the south to Lebanon in the north, and from the Euphrates River in the east to the Mediterranean Sea in the west. (Deuteronomy 11:24) So, God told them: you walk on the land I have given you, and then you own it. Does that sound about right? Set your feet on it, and that land will be yours. Of course, there is a little more to it. Putting your foot on the ground you intend to own is the first step, pun intended btw. Just because you plant your foot there, doesn t mean the property falls into your lap. Just because you proclaim with your mouth This land is mine, (which incidentally is also a critical step) doesn t mean you can schedule a housewarming. The property does not become yours until you stand on that ground, proclaim it is yours and confront the enemy who believes he has a legal right and that you do not.

3 The Israeli s had to fight against the occupiers of that ground until it became theirs. So what does this have to do with your ministry? When you became born again, what happened among other things? I am not talking about the experience or the easy bible answer. What happened in the realm of the Spirit? You took God at his word and planted your foot on the promise of salvation, didn t you? Then you confessed with your mouth that salvation was indeed yours. Romans 10:9 is a verse you know well: that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. Was that all there was to it? I am going to bet that in the days and weeks following, you entered some real battles when Satan came at you, and you doubted your salvation. You came to understand that your mind was a battleground and that your flesh still favored sin and unbelief. These principles of salvation apply to every promise God intends to give you. He has collectively given the church an inheritance. He also has an individually promised destiny for every person, pastor or leader. Nothing of what God has ordained for you drops in your lap. It follows this same pattern and frankly, like the Jews many do not get their inheritance because they give up the fight. When I was a young Christian, a trendy phrase repeated from many pulpits was, God said it. I believe it. That settles it. There is a lot of truth to that proclamation, but the reality is: God said it. I believe it, proclaim it and fight for it. That settles it. Whatever God called you to accomplish pastor will involve a struggle. If you see the battle and conclude that maybe God doesn t want you to have it, you have accepted one of the devil s greatest deceptions. Your land of Promise materializes as you take possession of every promise God has given you. How? You start by putting your foot down and believing that promise belongs to you.

4 Next, you get your mouth in gear. The words you speak affect the direction of your life. James 3:4 tells us that our tongue acts as a rudder. Rudder turn ships towards the intended destination. Because of all the name it and claim it excesses of the past, many pastors are reluctant to speak out words of faith. They fear disappointment or the perception of other people. Put that aside. To apprehend God s promises for you, your mouth will need to line up and set your course in the right direction. You may need to begin by ceasing to speak negative words over your current circumstances. Make up your mind not to allow things out of your mouth that you don t want to occur. For example, have you ever said something like, I never seem to catch a break. That statement seems innocent enough, but are those words expressing where you want to go in your life and ministry? Do you want to proclaim to both yourself and the spiritual forces that oppose you that you never catch a break? Do you want to validate that you are unlucky and that good things don t happen to you? Do those words reflect your desire for the future? Of course not. So, getting your mouth moving toward where you want to go is critical. You may need to start by eradicating those oft-repeated phrases and words you use that torpedo your dreams. If we re not careful, the enemy doesn t need to stop us because we stop ourselves with our own declarations. What has God promised you? Peter said in II Peter 1:4 that we are given exceeding great and precious promises and that by these promises, we partake of the divine nature. Something happens to our character when we believe the promises, proclaim them with our mouths and then stand against the enemy s doubts and fears. We partake of or experience God. When we were spiritual babies, God blessed us with so many victories by his grace through faith. Part of growing up is becoming a co-laborer with

5 him. This process of believing, confessing and battling enables us to partake of his nature; his character. We become more like Christ. Your promised land are the things God said in his word or through legitimate prophetic ministry are yours. The scriptures are frankly loaded with promises, but many believers only seem to inhabit the promised land of salvation. That is wonderful and never to be minimized, but also just the beginning of claiming so much more of what God has given us. In the case of the Jews, their enemies were always better equipped and more numerous. When the people of God trusted what He said, no enemy could stand against them. By contrast, when they cowered in fear, the enemies of God decimated them. It is no secret to anyone in ministry that we are in a daily battle. Satan wants us extinguished because we pose his most significant threat. He is not worried about politics or business or the perversion of the various media. The church is what he worries about. If anyone wakes up, claims what God has promised and stands their ground, his kingdom diminishes. That is why he fights you every step of the way. What has God promised you? What vision has he given you for the future? What has He whispered in your ear? Does it all seem impossible? It is probably God. Have you given up those dreams? Have you believed the enemy s lies and unbelief? Have you settled for mediocrity? Mediocrity is nice and safe but produces no advancement for the Kingdom of God. It s time to reenlist in the battle and start believing again. You cannot be defeated unless you choose to be. One key reason we read scripture each day is that faith comes by interacting with His word. We see what God has promised our church or our family and start to proclaim it as ours. On a missions trip to London some years ago, we were staying in a flat and preparing for the church service at night. While I read the word, God spoke with that still small voice. You will build your own house.

6 At the time, we had four small children and lived week to week without a dime of savings. When that voice hit my consciousness, I immediately said, I believe that. The house is mine. Too long to relate all the miracles which took place, but one year later we moved into our brand new house. A month before it was built, we still had no money, but then God moved. What if I had ignored that voice. What if I had said, Well, maybe one day. When God spoke with that still small voice, what if I responded: God, I have no money. That is impossible. I dare say that our house would never have become ours. I want to encourage you as a leader: It is time to start believing and acting by faith once again. It doesn t matter what your circumstances say. What has God promised you? Do you believe it came from God. Are you speaking words that agree with that promise. Are you standing by faith that God will do what He said He would do? I know it is a battle, but a battle worth fighting. There is more to our walking by faith than salvation. Peter said, we have exceedingly great and precious promises. What has God promised you? When I first arrived in the city where I now live, God gave me a picture or vision if you will of many thousands of people worshipping and praising God in an industrial setting. Shortly after that, two pastors from other continents visited and proclaimed the same thing without first talking to me. Have I seen it yet? No. But I believe it. I proclaim it and stand fast that God will do it. I have put my foot down and that vision belongs to me. His word is dependable. You can anchor your life to it. Well, we are out of time. I hope this brief exhortation helps you do what God has asked you to accomplish. Before we go, I am a little over a month away from a return trip to Zimbabwe where I will be preaching at a convention. Many of you are aware that we started a project called, Wells for Zimbabwe with a hope to build at least two wells for the people there who are in desperate need. We raised a few dollars at GoFundme.com and then someone sent a check for

7 $5K to build one well. That well is completed now, but we are planning five others. Would you help us build another well? As always, I end with a quote especially for you. This one is from Margaret Thatcher who said quite simply: You may have to fight a battle more than once to win it. Time to get up and get back in the fight.