“WE HAVE ONLY COME THIS FAR BY FAITH”

Dec. 3, 2013

“WE HAVE ONLY COME THIS FAR BY FAITH”

Psalm 29:10-11 At the Flood the Lord showed his control of all creation. Now he continues to unveil his power. He will give his people strength. He will bless them with peace.

Today let’s become children again, as we experience the 10 Plagues of Egypt, the miraculous parting of the red sea, the Pillars of fire guiding our every footsteps, bread from heaven falling from the sky, bitter water made sweet, and water coming from the rocks of a mountain as Moses struck it with his miracle rod.

But this only begins our journey, because we are denied entrance into the promise land because our parents did not have FAITH in the God who had guided their footsteps “THIS FAR”

“As I live,’ says The Lord…. your dead bodies shall fall in this wilderness; and of all your number, numbered from twenty years old and upward, who have murmured against Me, not one shall come into the land where I swore that I would make you dwell, except Caleb and Joshua. But your little ones, who you said would become a prey, I will bring in, and they shall know the land which you have despised” Numbers 14:28-34

So now it takes Forty years to make an eleven day trip from Egypt to the Promised Land. But once we got “THIS FAR” for the second time around, the journey was worth it as we entered the land of milk and honey. A land we all had lone for since the promise was made to Abraham years before .

My friends now I need you to look at your own journey in life and how long you have been waiting on your promise land experience, while at the same time being tested and tried each day in your own WILDERNESS, AND HIGH MOUNTAINS

But what I need you to focus on today my friends is the two words “THIS FAR.” Yes faith is the bond that holds us, but there also must be a  passion from within that only comes from dying daily in Christ as we  continue “THIS FAR which represents where we came from and where our God has brought us too.

It also tells us that “THIS FAR” is only a yardstick of how far and hard we have come and worked to get to the place we are today, And the many times we have gone around the same mountain, because we have messed up over and over again.

But in spite of our many flaws, our faith has got us “THIS FAR” But my friends their is still work to be done even though “THIS FAR” tells me I have prayed a lot, I have studied the word of God daily, I have fasted, I have visited the sick, and fed the homeless, and I have taken the good news of the gospel to everyone I know and to a world marred in sin.

But because of my passion and love for the one who brought me along this journey “THIS FAR” all the way to the thresholds of the promise land. I will continue to make the rest of this wilderness journey a joy and a pleasure as I praise God’s name with joy and holiness every day of my life, Because I know right after “THIS FAR” “The Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. 1 Thess 4:16-17 which is my eternal destination.

And I must also recognize that I can only be a vital part of this WILDERNESS EXPERIENCE for Christ  if I “walk by faith, and not by sight.” Because to walk by this unseen phenomenon is to have a passion from within that tells me my God will never leave me nor forsake me in this wilderness on my way to the promise land, and the ceaseless ages of eternity.

But my friends we have only come “THIS FAR” by faith, But we still have a few more days in the wilderness So “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because their are still more unseen wildernesses, and High Mountains that lies ahead, But the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.” BECAUSE HE HAS GUIDED YOU “THIS FAR”

So my friends today. Stay focused, remain faithful, love one another and endure till the end and never forget to STUDY&PRAY