Slavery to Dominion

In 1865, The US Civil War ended, and the slaves were freed. Many of those that were freed were stuck in a “slavery mindset.”  They didn’t know what to do after their emancipation.  They missed the opportunity that their newfound freedom afforded them. 

There was one man, though, that was determined t do something with his freedom.  He made a decision to move forward.  He was going to break away from that mindset of slavery, he decided to, “buy property and a gun.” He did just that!  He was able to buy and keep enough property to set up his children and grandchildren in their own homes before he passed away.  He made the best of what he’d been given – His Freedom!

Many of those set free did not possess their freedom and remained as employees on the land where they’d been enslaved.[i]

Today, I want to post about making the most of our deliverance and salvation.

Joshua 3:14-17 (NKJV)
^3:14 So it was, when the people set out from their camp to cross over the Jordan, with the priests bearing the ark of the covenant before the people, ¹⁵ and as those who bore the ark came to the Jordan, and the feet of the priests who bore the ark dipped in the edge of the water (for the Jordan overflows all its banks during the whole time of harvest), ¹⁶ that the waters which came down from upstream stood still, and rose in a heap very far away at Adam, the city that is beside Zaretan. So the waters that went down into the Sea of the Arabah, the Salt Sea, failed, and were cut off; and the people crossed over opposite Jericho. ¹⁷ Then the priests who bore the ark of the covenant of the Lord stood firm on dry ground in the midst of the Jordan; and all Israel crossed over on dry ground, until all the people had crossed completely over the Jordan.

The Slave Mindset

In our text we see Israel crossing into the Promised Land.  This is a very happy time in Israel’s history.  They’re about to receive all that God has promised them, but remember this has taken place forty years after Israel’s first arrival there.  It has taken place after the loss of an entire generation in the wilderness. 

Israel had been slaves in Egypt.  They were suddenly emancipated; suddenly set free.  God had delivered them through the Red Sea, and destroyed the pursuing Egyptians.  Israel was free! 

That deliverance was an event…it happened and it was over.  Once they passed through the Red Sea, they were free, but they hadn’t received their destiny.  There was still a walk in their newfound freedom and a fight possess the Promised Land.  Their destiny was still at a distance. 

Their old slave mentality had to be transformed.  Their institutionalized thinking had to be overcome.  They were much like those slaves of 1865; they didn’t yet know how to process that freedom into destiny.  It has often been said, “It was easier to get the Children of Israel out of Egypt, than to get Egypt out of Them.”[ii]

Even though they were free, they lived with the cultural norms and slave mindsets of the past.  Every obstacle they faced was met with murmuring and complaining against Moses and God.  How many times did they ask, “Why did you bring us out here to die” (Exodus 14:11)?  They demanded water and provision.  “What shall we drink (Exodus 15:23)?  We had it made in Egypt and you brought us out here to kill us with hunger (Exodus 16:3)!  They wanted everything provided for them just like they had in Egypt in slaves.

It carried over into their arrival at the Promised Land when the spies looked over the land and saw obstacles.  God had promised them the land.  God had done powerful miracles to release them from bondage, but they couldn’t see the possibility of doing anything to gain their destiny.  They had been delivered, but they didn’t have dominion.

There’s a transition that’s necessary to go from slavery to destiny.  You cannot continue in the same patterns of thought and behaviors of the past and expect a different outcome.

There is the story of Mickey Mantle – He played for New York Yankees.  He was a great player!  But he had one problem – he was a very heavy drinker!  He developed cirrhosis of the liver.  His liver was destroyed, he was going to die!  Then he received a liver transplant!  He had a new lease on life; a second chance.  He’d been delivered, but he continued to drink, eventually he died of liver cancer.  In the 1990s he stopped drinking finally, but it was too late.  He was a slave to alcohol and when he was delivered (through the liver transplant) he didn’t transition from the old patterns of life until it was too late.  He stayed on the same plantation where he was enslaved.  That deliverance was wasted. 

God had a destiny for Israel.  He had done His part.  He had brought them out of slavery and bondage, but those that had been delivered couldn’t change their old patterns of thought and that entire generation died in the desert, never seeing their destiny come to pass.  It was those that were born in the wilderness; those that had no slavery experience that made it!  Only Joshua and Caleb, two out of hundreds of thousands could change their mindsets and see the Promise. 

Numbers 14:30 (NKJV)
^14:30 Except for Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun, you shall by no means enter the land which I swore I would make you dwell in.

Only those two saw the possibility of a future destiny.  Only those two transformed their thinking into possibility.

We Were Slaves

Think about this carefully, we have all been delivered.  There is a transformation that has taken place in us.  We’ve been delivered from our own sinful lifestyle:

John 8:34 (NKJV)
^8:34 Jesus answered them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin.

We were slaves to sin, but I have to ask, “What is your thinking like, now?”  Hundreds of thousands of people were delivered by a move of God, but they died in the wilderness.  They were set free but hey died in the wilderness because they still thought like slaves. 

Have you ever known backsliders?  They always go back to the sin they were involved in before they got saved, because that’s what they know.  The slaves in 1865 stayed at their old plantations because that’s what they knew.  That’s where their comfort zone was.  If you want a different destiny, you need a different pattern.

I was talking to someone recently about destiny!   There are multiple destinies for each of us.  Think about this.  If you had remained in sin, you would be on a path to one destiny, but salvation opened a different path – It took you in a different direction.  There is a different destiny awaiting you! (See Directional Decisions[iii])

It’s a different path.  There are different obstacles.  There are different pitfalls and dangers.  You have to think and react differently on this path than on the other.  If there’s no adjustment to your thinking and behaviors, then it’s very likely that you will never get where you’re going.  You’ll turn back to the “safer” path; the more “comfortable” path.

God delivers us and lays before us a potential destiny.  There’s a promised land that is for us, and there’s a path that we have to walk in order to get there.  There are battles we will have to fight and obstacles to overcome as we walk that path. They are there to help you to change your thinking from “slave” thinking to dominion thinking.  Deliverance is the event that frees you, but it is dominion that brings you to the promise. 

Think again about Israel.  They saw what God did to deliver them.  They saw the miracles and they thought God must be with us, but they broke down at every obstacle.

At every obstacle they tested to see if God was still there.  They constantly put Him to the test.  That’s why they said, “What are we going to drink?”  “Where will we get food?”  The complaining and murmuring were tests to see if God was going to deliver them again.

When they hit the Promised Land, they couldn’t see any possibility to defeat the inhabitants. They wanted to know if God would deliver them again.  “Are you still with us God?  They were still caught up in the deliverance mindset, but what they needed was a dominion mindset.  Where does that come from?  It comes from faith.  Dominion flows from faith.

Dominion Thinking

We can find “dominion thinking” in our Bibles in Hebrews Chapter 11.

Hebrews 11:4 (NKJV)
^11:4 By faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts; and through it he being dead still speaks.

Abel was called righteous by his faith.  Cain who had none became a fugitive and vagabond.  A vagabond is a wanderer.  He never found the promise, while Abel entered into his promise.

Hebrews 11:5-6 (NKJV)
^11:5 By faith Enoch was taken away so that he did not see death, "and was not found, because God had taken him"; for before he was taken he had this testimony, that he pleased God. ⁶ But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

Enoch was taken and did not taste death.  His testimony was that he pleased God.  “Without faith it is impossible to please Him.”  Enoch entered into His promise.

Hebrews 11:11 (NKJV)
^11:11 By faith Sarah herself also received strength to conceive seed, and she bore a child when she was past the age, because she judged Him faithful who had promised.

Sarah received strength to conceive at ninety years of age, after years of barrenness.  By faith she became the mother of the nation of Israel.  She entered into her promise.

Hebrews 11:24-29 (NKJV)
^11:24 By faith Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, ²⁵ choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, ²⁶ esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt; for he looked to the reward. ²⁷ By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king; for he endured as seeing Him who is invisible. ²⁸ By faith he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of blood, lest he who destroyed the firstborn should touch them. ²⁹ By faith they passed through the Red Sea as by dry land, whereas the Egyptians, attempting to do so, were drowned.

All of these are examples of “dominion thinking.”  All of these entered into the destiny that God had placed before them.  What do they all have in common?  Faith.  Dominion flows from faith.

---

[i] Star Parker, Uncle Sam’s Plantation (Paraphrased)

[ii] John Gooding, Joseph Campbell, Deliverance to Dominion, 2019

[iii] Chris Banducci, Standing Stones Sermon Blog, March 3, 2014

Join the Hall of Fame of Faith

 I recently noticed something in Hebrews Chapter 11 that I hadn’t noticed before.  Hebrews 11, called the “Hall of Fame of Faith,” demonstrates a progression of faith.  Our salvation is a process that we work through until we get to Heaven.  This time; our lives is the time that God is perfecting or completing us.  In Heaven we will be completed.

In this post, I want to look at Hebrews 11 and study the progression from sinner to saint, beginning with this passage:

Hebrews 11:1-3 (NKJV)
^11:1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. ² For by it the elders obtained a good testimony. ³ By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible.

The Steps to Pleasing God

Hebrews 11 is about the patriarchs and matriarchs of our faith, but there’s more here than meets the eye.  Because there are examples of their faith but there is also a pattern for the perfection (or completion) of our own faith.

It’s my intention with this post that we will learn how to “obtain a good testimony” like them.  These were people who pleased God.

Hebrews 11:6 (NKJV)
^11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

So, the question is this; Do you have faith that pleases God?  Let’s look at the steps to that kind of faith:

Step One – Giving

Hebrews 11:4 (NKJV)
^11:4 By faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts; and through it he being dead still speaks.

Why is giving the first step to faith?  Because our giving speaks about whether or not we have the basics of faith.  It’s about trusting God for His promises.  There are a number of promises about giving - (Malachi 3:10)   These are promises you can see - (Matthew 6:25-34)!  You can see whether God provides or not, but there are other promises that you can’t see, like salvation.  We are promised Eternal Life if we believe.  But if we don’t trust God for provision, which we can see, how can we trust Him for salvation, which we can’t see.

Giving isn’t just God’s method to provide for His church.  It’s also His method of teaching you to trust Him.

Step Two – Agreeing with God

Hebrews 11:5 (NKJV)
^11:5 By faith Enoch was taken away so that he did not see death, "and was not found, because God had taken him"; for before he was taken he had this testimony, that he pleased God.

Enoch pleased God.  What was it that pleased God?  His faith, but his faith was shown in his agreement with God – He walked with God (Genesis 5:22).  In order to walk with together in the same direction you have to be in agreement.  Enoch was in agreement with God and walked in His ways.  He applied God’s will to his life, so God took him.  This is a picture of the Rapture.  If we agree with Jesus and walk in His ways; if we live His will for our lives, we will be called up with Him (1 Thessalonica 4:16-17).  Are you ready to be called up into Heaven?

Step Three – Answering God’s Call

Hebrews 11:7 (NKJV)
^11:7 By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household, by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.

God called on Noah to build an ark to preserve mankind.  God had a plan for all of mankind, man’s redemption, so he called on Noah to preserve mankind in preparation for the redeemer to come. Noah answered that call and built an ark.  In faith!  It had never rained until then (Genesis 6:5-22)!

Step Four – Following God’s Will

Hebrews 11:8 (NKJV)
^11:8 By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going.

God had a plan for Abraham’s life (Genesis 12:1-4), and he called him to leave his father’s house and his nation and follow God to a place that God would show him.  Abraham followed because of His faith.  He believed God for the promise that God had given him and followed.  God has a promise for you.  He has a plan for your life.  

Step Five – Believing God for the Promise, No Matter What

Hebrews 11:17-19 (NKJV)
^11:17 By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, ¹⁸ of whom it was said, "In Isaac your seed shall be called," ¹⁹ concluding that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead, from which he also received him in a figurative sense.

Not only did Abraham follow God, not sure of where He was going, he was sure of the promise.  He knew that God would deliver the promise, even if God had to do a miracle to complete it.  When he was tested, he offered up Isaac, the son that was the beginning of the promise God made to Abraham, because he was sure that God would keep His word even if He had to raise Isaac from the dead (Genesis 22:3-19).  

Hebrews 11:13 (NKJV)
^11:13 These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off were assured of them, embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.

All of these people had the kind of faith that pleases God.  You can see the progression.  You start by trusting God for the things you can see and progress to the kind of faith that makes God proud.  Hebrews 11:6 say “God is not ashamed to be called their God!”

Faith in Action

 James 2:20 tells us that “Faith without works is dead.”  It’s not just about believing God, it also about taking the actions of your faith.  All of these not only believed but demonstrated their faith in their actions.  I want to look at some others who acted out their faith.

Action One – Stepping Out of the World

Hebrews 11:24-27 (NKJV)
^11:24 By faith Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, ²⁵ choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, ²⁶ esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt; for he looked to the reward. ²⁷ By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king; for he endured as seeing Him who is invisible.

Moses was raised as the grandson of Pharaoh.  He was a future King of Egypt, but he gave it all up.  He stepped out of the world and into God’s will.  Egypt is the symbol of our lives before salvation, when we were still in slavery to sin and oppression.  It’s like living in the world and outside of God’s will.  Moses left all that behind to be in the will of God.

If we want to see Christ’s reward, then we also need to leave the world behind and live the life that will bring us the reward.

Action Two – Trusting God Through Trials and Afflictions

Hebrews 11:32-34 (NKJV)
^11:32 And what more shall I say? For the time would fail me to tell of Gideon and Barak and Samson and Jephthah, also of David and Samuel and the prophets: ³³ who through faith subdued kingdoms, worked righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, ³⁴ quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, became valiant in battle, turned to flight the armies of the aliens.

The Christian life isn't all peaches and cream, as my mother would say.  There are going to be trials and afflictions; there will be attacks and assaults, but this scripture tells us that God can deliver us.  God can turn assaults and attacks into victories, but there has to be a step into action; believing God and stepping out knowing that God will bring you through.  It’s not about not being afraid, it’s about facing that fear and going forward trusting in God, anyway.  How often are we paralyzed by fear in assaults and not able to move forward because of it.

Action Three – Living Out God’s Will

Hebrews 11:38-40 (NKJV)
^11:38 of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountains, in dens and caves of the earth. ³⁹ And all these, having obtained a good testimony through faith, did not receive the promise, ⁴⁰ God having provided something better for us, that they should not be made perfect apart from us.

The problem is that we don’t always see what God is doing.  We don’t see all that God sees, or all that He’s doing in us.  That’s why we so often complain about circumstances, instead of looking for what God might be using those circumstances to bring about in us, through our response to those circumstances.  We need to learn to trust that what God is doing is to perfect or complete us.

1 Peter 5:10 (NKJV)
^5:10 But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you.

Suffering is how God works in us.  Where is character built?  In adversity or blessing?  God is preparing us for His promise.  He has to complete us according to that promise.  If people in Heaven are just the same as in the world, then what’s the difference?  Why all the suffering and struggle to remain the same.  Th fact is that life in the world is the way we are changed and made new for life in Heaven. 

A Recap

Steps to faith!

Step 1 – Giving:

Step 2 – Agreeing with God!

Step 3 – Answering God’s call!

Step 4 – Following God’s will!

Step 5 – Believing God for the Promise!

Faith in Action!

Action 1 – Stepping out of the world!

Action 2 – Trusting God through trials and afflictions –

Action 3 – Living out God’s will!

 

Don't Die in Haran

I talk a lot about finding the will of God for our lives.  I also talk about how we need to respond to God’s call.  God’s will and God’s call are intertwined.  It’s one thing to be called, but it’s another thing to complete the call.  That’s what God’s will is all about – Completing the call!  Today, I want to post on our response to that call.

Genesis 11:31-32 (NKJV)
^11:31 And Terah took his son Abram and his grandson Lot, the son of Haran, and his daughter-in-law Sarai, his son Abram's wife, and they went out with them from Ur of the Chaldeans to go to the land of Canaan; and they came to Haran and dwelt there. ³² So the days of Terah were two hundred and five years, and Terah died in Haran.

Genesis 12:1-5 (NKJV)
^12:1 Now the Lord had said to Abram: "Get out of your country, From your family And from your father's house, To a land that I will show you. ² I will make you a great nation; I will bless you And make your name great; And you shall be a blessing. ³ I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed." ⁴ So Abram departed as the Lord had spoken to him, and Lot went with him. And Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. ⁵ Then Abram took Sarai his wife and Lot his brother's son, and all their possessions that they had gathered, and the people whom they had acquired in Haran, and they departed to go to the land of Canaan. So they came to the land of Canaan.

Stopping Short on the Way to the Will of God

We all know that God made a promise to Abraham and that he was called to God’s purpose.  God’s purpose was to bring about the redeemer that was promised in Genesis 3 – The one who would “bruise [Satan’s] head.”  God told him, “in you all the families of the world would be blessed.” 

The first part of God’s call was that he was called by God out of his father’s house.  Terah was a pagan.  He wasn’t a worshipper of the God of creation.  Actually, he was a part of Sumerian moon god worship.  That was the religion of the Chaldeans.  Ur was the home of that religion. 

Joshua 24:2NKJV

And Joshua said to all the people, "Thus says the LORD God of Israel: 'Your fathers, including Terah, the father of Abraham and the father of Nahor, dwelt on the other side of the River in old times; and they served other gods.

In order for Abram to be a part of God’s purpose he would have to leave the religion of his father.  This is why God told him, “Get out of your country, and from your father’s house!”  God needed him to be separated to His purpose.

This is always the beginning of our calling.  We are always called out of false religion Mormonism, Taoism, Buddhism, even atheism. Atheism is a religion – the worship of man’s intellect.  In order to be separated to God’s use you have to leave behind the false gods.

That’s only the beginning, though, God has a purpose for you, salvation is only the beginning of purpose.  You’re not saved for your purposes; just so you can go to heaven.  You’re saved for God’s purposes – He has a plan.  What happens all too often, though, is that people get saved and then stop.  They don’t continue on to God’s purpose, they stop short – just like Terah.

It’s interesting as we read in our text in verse 31.  Terah left Ur.  He was headed toward Canaan.  Canaan was the place he was called to, but he stopped in Haran.  That word Haran means delay.  Terah delayed the call of God. 

How many of us are like Terah?  How many know that there’s a call on our lives, but have become satisfied with where we are?

“The church is big enough.”

“At least I’m on my way to Heaven.”

“Now is the time for what I want out of life.”

Maybe God has called you to preach, are you learning how to do that?  Maybe you’re called to be a pastor’s wife, but none of the guys with a calling are good-looking enough.  “I’ll delay until the handsome ones get saved.”  Maybe you’re called to the mission field but you’re not financially prepared for that.  Are you taking steps to get ready, or is that just what you say to delay the call?

It doesn’t say why Terah stopped short and didn’t go all the way to Canaan.  It only says he died in Haran.  He died delaying the call.  How would it be to stand before God, knowing that He called you Canaan and you stopped in Haran? 

God called Abram and gave him the promise.  If we’re unwilling to follow through on the call, God will find someone else that will respond.

Look at Esther’s story.  In her time there was a plot in place to murder all the Jews.  God needed someone to intervene for them and the call went to Esther through her uncle.

Esther 4:14 (NKJV)
^4:14 For if you remain completely silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father's house will perish. Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?"

What he is telling her is that there’s a calling on her life and if she falters; if she fails live that calling the God will bring relief and deliverance from somewhere else but she will die delaying.  Who knows if she has come into the kingdom for such a time as this.  Who knows if you have come into the kingdom for such a time as this.

The Faith of the Calling

Do you know that your calling requires you to have faith?  Faith has two components. 

The first is believing God; trusting God at His word; knowing that God will bring you to complete His plan, in spite of whatever circumstances you may face. Joseph was sold into slavery, falsely imprisoned for rape, yet God still brought him through to His ultimate purpose.  Joseph never lost his faith.

The second component is the action of faith, doing the things that prove that you believe, trust and know that God will deliver.  It’s one thing to believe but it’s another thing to actually step out in faith.  Our calling will aways require both components.

Abram hears from God, the God of the Bible, while he was living in Ur, no doubt, worshipping the gods of his father.  It’s amazing that he recognized God as the true God.  He had the faith that God would bring him to the promised land; that he would make his descendants number like the stars in the sky.  That’s the first component of faith.  The he followed God to a place he didn’t know; “a land that I will show you.”  That’s the second component of faith. 

1) “I hear your calling, and I believe you.  

2) “I’ll follow you even though I don’t know where we’re going.”  

God did deliver him into that promise.  Abram’s descendants did number as the stars in the sky, and they did take possession of the promised land.

What happens when we lose faith to complete the call?

Numbers 13:1-3 (NKJV)
^13:1 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ² "Send men to spy out the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the children of Israel; from each tribe of their fathers you shall send a man, every one a leader among them." ³ So Moses sent them from the Wilderness of Paran according to the command of the Lord, all of them men who were heads of the children of Israel.

This is God using Moses to call these men.  He has a plan for them to spy out the land.  God wants to use them to encourage His people.  God wants to use the spies to inspire them.  It was going to take faith to win the promise.  They were going to be used to prepare the people for what they would face, but look at what happened:

Numbers 13:32-33 (NKJV)
^13:32 And they gave the children of Israel a bad report of the land which they had spied out, saying, "The land through which we have gone as spies is a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people whom we saw in it are men of great stature. ³³ There we saw the giants (the descendants of Anak came from the giants); and we were like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight."

This isn’t a report of faith, is it? 

“This is the land that God had promised.  It’s a land of great abundance.  It’s all that God said it would be, but we couldn’t possibly beat the people that are already here.”

Numbers 14:4 (NKJV)
^14:4 So they said to one another, "Let us select a leader and return to Egypt."

God had called them to that place, but they didn’t enter in.  I’ve seen men whom I know we’re called fall apart at this same place.  They don’t have faith to move forward.  They can’t see how God can use them to complete His purpose. 

“Why will they listen to me?”

“How can I preach the Gospel there?”

“It’s a different culture…”, and they back away from the call.

In the case of our text, this lack of faith led directly to forty years in the desert.  The entire generation died delaying. Not a single one of those who lost faith set a foot into the promised land.

What happens to us if we step away from the calling on our lives?  Terah died in Haran.  Esther was told that she and her father’s house would perish, and the entire generation of Israel missed out on the promised land and perished in the wilderness.  If we back out on our calling, we may not miss out on heaven but we will miss out on the destiny that God has for us on earth.

The Blessing of Calling

 God called Abraham out of his country.  His calling was to begin the lineage of Jesus.

Luke 2:10-14 (NKJV)
^2:10 Then the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. ¹¹ For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. ¹² And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger." ¹³ And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying: ¹⁴ "Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!"

This is the outcome of Abraham’s obedience.  The birth of Jesus, the savior and redeemer of all men.  In Abraham’s obedience the entire world was blessed.  Just as God had promised it would be in Genesis 12:3. 

We don’t know what God wants to do through us.  We don’t know where God’s plan will end up, but there is a calling on our lives.  God does have a purpose for your salvation.  It is expected that you will live it out.

The final thing I want to tell you is that there’s a promise linked to your obedience to that calling.  God’s promise and God’s destiny for you are linked to how you respond to that calling.

 

 

The Forfeit of Intimacy with God

 As we come to salvation there is something that takes place in us.  We come to know God for whom He really is.  We begin to see God as a righteous God, a holy God and a loving father.  When we have an earthly father who loves us and blesses us, and there is an intimacy that springs up between us.  We can know and have an intimate relationship with God in much the same way.

God is also able to have an intimate relationship with us.  Look at the relationship he had with Adam.  They walked together in the garden in the “cool of the day.[i]” They knew each other; there’s understanding there.  God knows each one of us down to our smallest parts.

Luke 12:7 (NKJV)
^12:7 But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear; therefore, you are of more value than many sparrows.

He even knows how many hairs are on our heads.  That’s a detail we don’t even know about ourselves, but God does.

We, as Christians can often begin with a deep intimate relationship with God, but can that intimacy be lost?  Can we forfeit our intimacy with God?  People forfeit intimate relationships with other people all the time.  Marriage relationships are broken because of infidelity, the breaking of vows.  Family relationships are broken because of domestic violence or other causes.  Parental relationships can be destroyed by abuse and alcohol and drug addiction. 

In many cases those relationships cannot be restored because a refusal to forgive or because the relational trust is broken.  We can forfeit intimacy with God also.  We violate His trust.  We bring deceit and intrigue into the relationship.  Today I want to post on the forfeiture of Intimacy:

Revelation 2:1-3 (NKJV)
^2:1 "To the angel of the church of Ephesus write, 'These things says He who holds the seven stars in His right hand, who walks in the midst of the seven golden lampstands: ² I know your works, your labor, your patience, and that you cannot bear those who are evil. And you have tested those who say they are apostles and are not, and have found them liars; ³ and you have persevered and have patience, and have labored for My name's sake and have not become weary.

Forfeiting Intimacy with God

In the Book of Revelation Jesus writes a letter to the Ephesians.  He commends them for their labor and patience in persecution.  They continue to labor for God and they despise evil but He also rebukes them.

Revelation 2:4-5 (NKJV)
^2:4 Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love. ⁵ Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place--unless you repent.

Nevertheless, I have this against you; “You have left your first love.”  They’re no longer intimate with God.  They’re still laboring but, in their hearts, they’ve lost the desire for a real relationship with God.  They’re laboring for Jesus because that’s what they do, not because they have a real desire to serve Him.

This isn’t intimacy with God.  It’s a behavior similar to schoolchildren memorizing a poem or a famous speech.  They can repeat them perfectly and still have no understanding of what the poem or speech means.  It’s behavior, there’s no intimacy with the writer, that comes from understanding. 

We can continue to do the things that are called “serving God,” like praying, but without intimacy.  We are just saying words - It’s habit.  We’ve lost the intimacy with God because we have drifted from the call of God on our lives.

David is the king of Israel.  God called him to lead the nation in 1 Samuel 16.  God even called him, “a man after my own heart.”[ii] By 2 Samuel 11, David has lost his desire for what God has called him to do.  He’s become bored and complacent with his calling, and he’s backed off. 

2 Samuel 11:1 NKJV

It happened in the spring of the year, at the time when kings go out to battle, that David sent Joab and his servants with him, and all Israel; and they destroyed the people of Ammon and besieged Rabbah. But David remained at Jerusalem.

In the springtime when the kings go to war David stays back.  He’s no longer striving for the will of God…he’s arrived!  He’s laying back on his laurels and past victories.  This is a huge contrast to the David whose psalms are filled with cries of worship and devotion.  What could have caused this man to fall from that level of intimacy into what he has become, which is an adulterer and murderer.  David should have led his generals into battle as is the duty of the king. 

In verse 2, David arises from bed one evening.  Not in the middle of the night but in the evening, when the sun is still out.  He sees Bathsheba bathing; lust is kindled and in one moment of sin and self-gratification he forfeits his relationship with God.

2 Samuel 11:2-4a NKJV

Then it happened one evening that David arose from his bed and walked on the roof of the king's house. And from the roof he saw a woman bathing, and the woman was very beautiful to behold. So, David sent and inquired about the woman. And someone said, "Is this not Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?" Then David sent messengers, and took her; and she came to him, and he lay with her…

Then to cover his sin he kills Bathsheba’s husband, his friend, Uriah the Hittite.  David makes a conscious choice here; he’s not stumbling around and falling into sin.  He understands the sin of adultery.  He recognizes that the sin is against God.  He understands what he has done.  Look at how many sins David broke, this “man after God’s own heart.”

He broke the tenth commandment, in coveting another man’s wife; the seventh in committing adultery; the eighth in stealing what did not belong to him; and the sixth in committing murder.  All because he had drifted out of the will of God and become complacent in what God had done for him.

I’m positive that he was sure that he couldn’t be led into sin like this. So, where did it start? It started when he stopped responding to the call of God and refused to lead his men into battle.  We are at no less risk than David when we also keep ourselves out of God’s will.   Where is intimacy with God found these days?  In prayer, hearing from God and responding to His call.  Not just saying words but engaging with God.  In the Bible studying and feeding on the word of God. An intimate relationship begins by knowing someone.  You learn whom God is by reading the Bible. In church, hearing the word of God preached.

How well do you know God?  Are you engaged in strengthening your relationship with God?  When we lay back out of those things we are complacent in the same way David was.  When we’re complacent and we’ve seen no consequences, we think that Go will understand, but there is a consequence and it’s subtle. Our mind is no longer trained on His will, our faith is no longer strengthened and we come to a point where we no longer know and understand God like we once did.

That’s when we’re susceptible to sin like David was.  The loss of intimacy isn’t a consequence of sin.  Sin is a consequence of the loss of intimacy.

What About Failure?

What can we do when we fail?  What can we do when we break ranks with God? What we do with our failure is an indicator of the strength of our relationship with God.  At some point we’ll fail, we all do.  It’s not If we fail but when we fail.

In Davd’s case he immediately confessed his sin, not that he sinned against Uriah the Hittite but against God. 

Psalms 51:4 (NKJV)
^51:4 Against You, You only, have I sinned, And done this evil in Your sight-- That You may be found just when You speak, And blameless when You judge.

David was a man after God’s own heart because of the quality of his repentance.  He longed for a return to that level of intimacy with God.  He realized that he violated that relationship.  His repentance opened the door for restoration.

That’s the key or us as well, it’s restoration we desire.  Failure is not meant to be an end point.  Men have failed many times and returned to success.  Donald Trump failed to win reelection in 2020, but in 2024 he has become the forty-seventh president of the United States.  It’s being called the greatest comeback in American politics.  He could have allowed that failure to destroy him but instead made a decision to move forward.

We can allow our personal failures to destroy us, or we can be like David and cry out to God saying, “I have failed, restore me and draw me back into a relationship with you, the joy of my salvation."

David Had a Right Heart with God

God sent the prophet Nathan to rebuke David for his sin with Bathsheba and the murder of Uriah the Hittite.  David had a right heart with God.  He didn’t react to Nathan’s rebuke with anger and hostility.  He recognized his sin, accepted what he had done and immediately turned to God for forgiveness.  He didn’t complain about how the devil had tricked him.  He didn’t blame his sin on Bathsheba for being seen naked.  He turned to Nathan and said, "I have sinned."  Because of the way he accepted his responsibility and repented before God, God put away his sin and didn’t kill him.

God has a history of restoring us back into relationship with Him.  He restored Jonah when he sinned and ran from God’s calling.

Jonah 3:1 (NKJV)
^3:1 Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time, saying,

He had tried to hide from God’s command to go to the Ninevites, but after repenting God once more called on him and was able to use him, restoring the intimacy.  God spoke through Jonah once again.

The pot that was marred in the potter’s hand was made new once again.

Jeremiah 18:4 (NKJV)
^18:4 And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter; so he made it again into another vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to make.

Because David cried out for restoration God did restore unto him the joy of his salvation.  He did restore the intimacy between them, and David continued to be a powerful leader of the people of God well into his old age.

Where is intimacy cultivated?  Where is the desire for friendship with God built?  It’s built in prayer, in the study of His word, and in the hearing the preaching of the word of God.  You’re not going to find intimacy with God by lazing around the palace but in diligent obedience to the call of God.

I always say, “Pray, read your Bible, go to church.”  Ninety percent of what I preach is just that, because it is in these things that intimacy with God is first found.

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[i] Genesis 3:8-9 NKJV

[ii] 1 Samuel 13:14 NKJV