Note: Today is my spiritual birthday. I gave my life to Christ and was Born-Again on August 27, 1995. 23 years later, I am as excited about Jesus as I ever have been.
Today I feel led to start a new series. I trust the “Expecting the Word to Work” series blessed you. The new series is entitled, “Standing on a Word from God” and it will flow in the same vein as the last. The overall theme for the year is EXPECTATION. God told me in January that this would be a year of EXPECTATION for us. So I have been teaching messages all year within the context of this theme.
In this series we will look at people who received a Word from God and who had to believe God long enough to see it come to pass. We will start the series with the father of faith himself, Abram (later known as Abraham). The Bible says:
(Gen 12:1-3 ERV)
The Lord said to Abram, “Leave your country and your people. Leave your father’s family and go to the country that I will show you. I will build a great nation from you. I will bless you and make your name famous. People will use your name to bless other people. I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse those who curse you. I will use you to bless all the people on earth.”
All we know about Abram at this point is that he was a 75yr. old man living in Haran without any children. The people of Haran were known for being idol worshippers and praying to many gods. God selected a 75yr. old barren man in a spiritually and morally corrupt environment to start a legacy that still lives on today. God is in the business of making holy garments out of flawed material. Abram did nothing to earn the call of God on his life. Like us, he was destined. Let’s take a closer look at Abram’s call:
God said, “Leave your country and your people. Leave your father’s family and go to the country that I will show you. I will build a great nation from you.”
— God needed to get Abram out of his environment if he was to become the man He needed him to be.
— It’s hard to fully embrace what God wants to do NEXT in your life when you are holding on to the past. You have to LET GO in order to LAY HOLD!
— Abram had to sow his nation (leave his family) as a seed in order to become a great nation in his own right. You have to be willing to sow where you are in order to reap the harvest of where God wants you to be.
God said, “I will bless you and make your name famous. People will use your name to bless other people.”
— God promised to make Abram’s name famous. We don’t know if Abram needed to hear this for his own self-esteem. But it is probable because he and his wife were childless. In Biblical times your children were your legacy and his chances to leave a legacy were getting slimmer and slimmer every day as he and his wife progressed in age.
— If you are faithful to God when NO ONE knows your name, He is able to make your name great. God can see to it that your name outlives you.
— God can make your name great to the point where He attaches His blessing to it. Like Abraham, God can make your name so great that people will use your name to bless others!
God said, “I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse those who curse you.”
— Asking a 75yr. old man to leave everything he knows for an unknown place can be unnerving. But God calls us to leave the known for the unknown, trusting Him every step of the way. This is the life of faith.
— The desert is an unforgiving place. The dangers of the desert are numerous. But God promised Abram protection and favor. When we walk with God He promises us both as well!
God said, “I will use you to bless all the people on earth.”
— God promised and unknown and untested man that every single human being on the planet would be blessed because of him. This is how God operates. His blessing comes by His unearned and amazing grace.
— To tell a man without any children that he will be used to bless every person on the planet is no small promise. Abram had done nothing to earn it or deserve it. He really did not know God. An unknown God was calling him into an unknown journey with an immeasurable promise attached to it. This is how God does us. He calls us into the impossible, but we must have the faith to leave the comfortable.
So what does this mean to you today? I have already covered a great deal. I just wanted to introduce the new series to you. But I will give you a few quick nuggets as I close.
- Never judge your future by your past. There is nothing God cannot do through you.
- It’s never too late for God. Abram started his journey with God when he was 75 years old. If you are still breathing, God can still do it!
- You will never experience the seemingly impossible if you don’t have the courage to leave the comfortable.
- God made plans for you before the world began. When you finally get in position to hear what those plans are, they are going to be SO BIG that your head with be full of questions. Why me? How in the world? Can this really be true? What have I done to deserve it? You will have to get past all those questions and simply LAUNCH OUT in faith. Faith says, “YES” to God’s dream for your life. No matter how big it is. And no matter how impossible it seems. Nothing is impossible with God.
Closing Confession:
Father, this is a season of expectation for me. You made plans for me before the world began. Your plans for me are much greater than anything I could ever come up with on my own. So I open my heart to Your plans. I expand my belief system to be able to receive what You planned for me. I don’t know how You will do it. I really don’t know why You picked me. But my heart says, “YES!” I am ready to become the man/woman You called me to do. I will the mark in this world I was born to leave. I declare this by faith! In Jesus’ name, Amen!
This is Today’s Word. Apply it and prosper!
