The dictionary defines a wilderness as “an inhospitable region…
an uncultivated region… a neglected or abandoned area… an undeveloped area… a no-man's-land…. We might say this would be an undesirable place….
When God really wants to bless us, with miracles, signs and wonders, He will give us a wilderness… an unfamiliar, out of the ordinary, undesirable, place less trod…(Your blessing is waiting there)
Matthew 3:1 “In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea, v2 And saying, Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. v3 For this is the One that was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make His paths straight. v4 And the same John had his raiment of camel's hair, and a leathern girdle about his waist and his meat was locusts and wild honey”.
I don’t care how much honey you put on them, grasshoppers are not going to appeal to me! Here comes John with a grasshopper leg stuck in his teeth and honey in his beard, dressed in camel skins, marching out of the wilderness! John was shaped by God in the wilderness!!!
(Sometimes we come to that place...when we just need a fresh vision, or it's time to expand, take on a new task, or get a now word from God, Yesterday's inspiration can become today's frustrating exasperation!
Something new becomes something old…and you know it’s time to launch out further… But you're still not there yet! So God in his wisdom, breaks you out of your patterns and your old norms, so you’re open to what you weren’t open to before. You’re ready to accept what you couldn’t before!
Every TV show solves the case, catches the bad guy, comes to a final conclusion, and figures out the mystery in an hour... and that's how we sometimes feel life aught to be!
We're hooked on sound bites and Sports high lights... We know the jingles and we bought the clep notes, instead of reading the book..
HEY, we’re on a fast track here!!
But, it's the in-between times, those times of transition, that mess us up. wear us out and cause so much frustration in our lives….. What am I doing here, why isn’t this over by now, I want it and I want it now!!!?
Could it be that we were so focused on where we wanted to go that we failed to even prepare for, when we get there!?
Is there a clear vision of where you’re going....have you seen it by faith ... have you touched it and handled it... walked in it.... experienced it.... prepared for it!?
The bible says, “whatsoever our hands find to do, do it with all our might” but it also says “Without a vision, the people perish”… It is the vision that gives value to your journey….
If people never applaud, it is God’s applause and heaven’s stamp of approval, that we value most…and should be seeking….
Romans 4:20 “And Abraham staggered not at the promise of God thru unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God; 21 And was fully persuaded that, what He had promised, He was able also to perform. 22 And therefore it was imputed to him
(deposited in his account) for righteousness”.
God wants to make some big deposits in your faith account! So, Getready to do some expanding!
Your alignment is as important as your assignment….. Your gifts, your actions and your character must line up with your vision for your future... or you may get there and then lose it because of a lack of alignment. Your gifts can take you where your character can’t keep you….
James 2:20 Do you not know, O you dreamer, that faith without works is dead (or is not effective)?
Winter passed, you knew summer was coming... you didn't work out,you didn't watch your diet... now it's time for the pool and the beach, you were going to show them all your great body….
now you’re hiding in your two piece….and refusing to come out of the dressing room… and all you can do at this point, is the old "suck it up"… One hour at the beach and you're starting to turn bluefrom holding your stomach in!
How often have we had a "suck it in" Christianity, that only appears good on the surface... but nothing has changed.... It's the whitewash that hides the rotten wood but never gets rid of it... it's the sweep it under the carpet maneuver, that gets it out of sight and only delays the inevitable cleaning which must come eventually!....It’s the denial which ignores good hygiene until you’re now facing the dentist’s drill!!!!…. (OUCH) Ready or not, someday all of this, will come to an end. The clock will stop, it’s hands…frozen in time. There will be no more sunrises, no minutes, hours or days…no more second chances… All the things you and I have collected, will pass on to someone else…..Your wealth, fame and temporal power will all beirrelevant….It will not matter what you owned or what you were owed by….Our grudges, resentments, frustrations and jealousies will finally lose all their importance and your unfilled hopes, failed ambitions, uncompleted plans and the things I still need to-do will expire.
The wins and losses that once were so important will fadeaway.
It won't matter whether you were beautiful or brilliant.Short, tall, young or old, your gender and skin color will be irrelevant.
How will the value of your days be measured, when the clock stops? What will matter is not what you bought, but what you built, not what you got but what you gave.What will matter is not your success, but your significance…..What will matter is not what you learned, but what you taught…..What will matter is every act of integrity, compassion, courage, or sacrifice that enriched, empowered or encouraged others.
What will matter is not your competence, but your character.
What will matter is not how many people you knew, but how many felt they were better people because they knew you…..What will matter is not your memories, but the memories that live in those who love you….
Living a life that matters doesn't happen by accident.
It's not about circumstances but the choices and the priorities we make as we’re going through it all .
So let us make that commitment now, to live a life that truly matters.
I have to hand it to the disciples, when they were in the midst of the storm, they stayed in the boat, going across, where Jesus told them! In spite of all that they experienced, on that early morning trip of terror! They didn’t turn back, but they may have been thinking....Here I am battling for life in this storm, God....
and there are folks somewhere on the shore having beach parties and picnics...and playing games…. GOD, WHAT'S WITH THAT!
(Sometimes that's what it feels like. I'm here dying and they're living the life of Riley!) Why do I have it so hard and they seem to have it so easy….?
But I'm going to stay where you put me, Lord, regardless, because You don’t just count the number of apples on the tree, you count the number of apple trees in the apples that are on the apple tree!
We're not where we used to be, but we're not where we're supposed to be either! Most of us won’t leave the dance with the folks who brought us, because folks make connections for a reason, some for a season and some may be for a lifetime….(God is saying “honey, you’re a keeper)!!!
Your alignment is as important as your assignment,
(would you tell someone that please…)
It would be great if you could just go into the phone booth as Clark Kent, and come out as Superman... and just muscle your way through, and get there, (where ever there is) in your pretty blue tights and red cape!
Ooooh, We'd like that...
but God wants to reveal His strength and power in you as Clark Kent, not as Super Man!...(He said, “His strength is made perfect in our weakness”) That way He gets all the glory!!!
HOW DESPERATE ARE YOU FOR IT!
HOW DESPERATE ARE YOU FOR THE ANOINTING?
HOW DESPERATE ARE YOU TO SEE YOUR FRIENDSTRANSFORMED?
HOW DESPERATE ARE YOU FOR YOUR HOME TO BE TRANSFORMED
HOW DESPERATE ARE YOU FOR THE FAMILY HE SAID YOU COULD HAVE? What are you willing to do to have it?
Hebrews 12:1-3 (The Message Bible)… “Do you understand what this (alignment) means, all those pioneers who blazed the way, all those veterans who are cheering us on? It means we’d better get on with it. Strip down for the race, start running, and never quit! No extra fat, no parasitic sins. Keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we’re in. So, study how He did it”.
So often Satan succeeds because he distracts and confuses us from our God given purpose….white becomes black, yellow is brown, green is blue and purple is pink….
The point is that we must keep coming back to our point of clarification if our alignment is to bring us success in our assignment…. That point of clarification must be God’s inspired word of truth, not our feelings, what other’s think, or even the company policy….
The challenge is to become the change we want to see around us
The wilderness is about moving through hurt, fully believing that the power of God's love is greater…. It's about moving through sorrow, fully believing in the joy of the Lord… It's about moving through lack, fully believing in the reality of God's abundance… It's about moving through sickness, fully believing in the reality of Divine health… It's about moving through failure, convinced that we truly can prosper and succeed even as our soul prospers....Those mean fellows want to stop you cold….
The person you will be, when you get to where you're going, will not be the same person who began the journey….When we choose who we should be now, we are setting the vision for where we will be, later on, and further down the road in life's journey of twists and turns......
Moses had to deal with some folks that were grumbling, complaining, whining.... For 40 years.... he heard the same thing…"ARE WE THERE YET" (are you sure we're goin the right way.... I don't like this manna stuff.. We're all gonna die!)…….They finally get to the promised land and ....
Numbers 13:2 God told Moses..."Send some men to check out the land ofCanaan. I am giving it to the people of Israel. Send one leader from each of Israel's tribes." v3 So Moses sent them out from the wilderness of Paran. He sent them as the LORD had commanded. For, all of them were leaders of the people of Israel. (skipping to Numbers 13:8 there is a list of all the men who went in to spy out the land)
(I want to focus on this name)....
Numbers 13:8 There was one named Oshea, or (one who saves) from the tribe of Ephraim. ...(Skipping now to Numbers 13:16)
" Numbers 13:16 These are the names of the men Moses sent to explore the land. And Moses changed the name of Oshea son of Nun to the name Joshua. ("Yahweh saves.") This man Oshea, could no longer be called that... because the wilderness would so alter and change him, that he would now be called a name fitting for his new transformed identity, JOSHUA!.
We can't get there and we can’t do it in our own strength or skill set…. because our destiny is a lifelong process, and not a point in time…To look at any single position, location, or event, and make it all about that, is to miss it entirely….(we refer to it as putting all your eggs in one basket)
Susie rushed home from school and told her mother that little Johnny had kissed her after class. "My goodness," exclaimed her mother. "How did that happen?"…"Well, It wasn't easy, Mom," Susie explained. "It took three of my friends to help me catch him and hold him down!"
(Susie was determined to get what she wanted, regardless of what anyone else thought about it)! She wanted what she wanted and she wanted it now!
It has been well said, that we should thank God, that He doesn’t give us everything we asked Him for!!!!
The process that God is working in us is bigger and more far reaching than any one of us could ever comprehend! It's more than any one of us deserves, so He does it by His GRACE, JUST BECAUSE WE DON'T DESERVE IT!....He wants it for us, far more than we deserve to have it!
Grace took 5 loaves +2 fish and made it enough to feed 5000 plus!
That Grace chose a demoniac who had a legion of demons, set himfree and then sent him to evangelize his own city!
It's the Grace that allowed a prostitute named Mary to be the first to tell the message of the resurrection!
It's Grace enough to transition you and me from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of God's Son, from judgment to blessing, from Hell's torment to Heaven's glory!
Certainly it is true today, as it has always been, that this world has yet to see what God can do with a person completely sold out to Him"!
(Would you TELL SOMEONE) “The world has yet to see”….
“The person you will be, when you get to where you're going, will not be the same person who began the journey, you might not even recognize yourself”.
The bible calls those who are on this journey, the advance team, the forerunners, and way markers, they are helpers, and givers, and resource personnel, singers and musicians, teachers, skilled laborers, intercessors, evangelists, pastors, prophets and apostles….for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, that we might all come more and more into the image of Christ….
Our wilderness is like a revolving door, we will keep going through it until we learn the lessons it has for us….
Job 23:10 "It's enough that He knows the way that I take and when I am tried, I shall come forth as gold" (that's His guarantee)
I know I’ve shared it before, but, I'm reminded of the story of the little sparrow who decided to not fly south for the winter. However, the weather suddenly turned so cold that it changed it's mind and reluctantly started back north.
In a short time, ice began to form on it's wings and it began to freeze in mid-air. It's wings got heavier and heavier and
soon it fell to Earth, landing on a dairy farm, in a field of cows that were grazing nearby, and the little bird was nearly frozen solid. A cow was passing near where it had fallen
and laid a cow pie on the little frozen bird. The little sparrow thought it was surely the end. It would die, buried under a cow pie, in darkness, with no one to ever know of it’s demise... but instead, the manure warmed the bird and thawed him out!. Warm, happy, and knowing it would live and not die, the little sparrow began to sing at the top of it's voice while still underneath the cow pie.
Just then, a large cat that was walking by, heard the chirping, and it came over to investigate...
Realizing that dinner was now being served, The cat quickly dug the bird out, and ate it! …..And the moral of this story actually is...
That everyone who poops on you is not necessarily your enemy.
That everyone who gets you out, is not necessarily your friend.
And last, when you're up to your eyebrows in cow pie, you may just want to keep your mouth shut.
When the three Hebrews went through the fiery furnace, they were careful about what their mouth did! They praised God in the midst of the flames and came out without the smell of smoke on them!
- Paul watched his mouth when he was chained in the dungeon....
- Job, refused to sin with his mouth, no matter how bad it got in the ashes!
Psalms 84:4 Blessed are those who dwell in your house; they are everpraising you. Selah v5 Blessed are those whose strength is in You, who have set their hearts on the journey. v6 As they pass through the Wilderness of Baca, they make it a place of wells and springs; the autumn rains also fill up it's pools. v7 And even in the wilderness place, they go from strength to strength, understanding, that each of us must appear before the Lord”.
The wilderness will force you to answer certain questions......
How much progress am I making in my Christian life?
Am I still in the same place I was a year ago?
What are the things that hinder my progress?
Am I still fighting the same battles that I fought a year ago or two?
How much do I obey God’s Word in my daily life?
Do I take God at his word even when it would seem foolish to do so?
At what points am I tempted to compromise in my Christian faith?
Our answers to these questions will show us where we stand and will pretty much determine what we're about to encounter in ourwilderness. Because God will arrange the wilderness experience, to get us up to par on every one of those issues, that we just didn’t get to yet!
Some great men in the bible are known for the fact that they spent some very significant years of their lives “being prepared and purified in the wilderness experience.” (so you’re among good company, friend!!!!)
For Abraham -- The wilderness path would lead to a city whose builder and maker was God and a people that would fill the whole earth.
For Moses -- The wilderness experience would reveal to him new principles for life, a pattern of worship, and God’s shekinah glory.
For John the Baptist -The wilderness would be the birth place of spiritual revival, located strategically between old and new testaments
For David – The wilderness is where he would learn to be the worship leader of Israel, the slayer of giants and the friend of God.
For Jesus -- The wilderness test would affirm His power over His flesh, the world, and the devil, thrusting Him into a place of exaltation and honor.
Several years ago, I wrote this poem, entitled “The conductor” as I was reflecting upon God as the conductor of the sound track to our life, which we are all a part of…
“Father God is conducting the orchestra,
His priceless Instruments, are we.
He brings forth our worth and value, For, He knows us perfectly
He tunes and repairs each instrument, and Breathes Life intoeach one
His baton is raised to guide us, Till we have finished playing, His song.
We are blessed to be His instruments, Chosen Of Father God!
We present the score of His perfect plan,
As the angels approve with a nod
Every note inspires the Spirit, Oh, how the movement stirs the heart
The sound sweeps through out all creation,
As each member plays their part
The lyrics flow from eternal truth, Through God in flesh who came
With a rhythm drawn from the ages,
Which gives glory and honors His name
Lord, you'll weave this glorious melody,
Till the setting of the final sun
Father God is conducting His orchestra,
And He'll finish when the music is done”.
In the wilderness, Israel had to deal with nations greater and mightier than themselves. It was necessary so God could train and prepare a nation to trust Him and know that what He was doing was best for them. How very important it was for them to get it right! …Or they would certainly have been eaten up by the wilderness.
The wilderness is where we train to reign! That difficult, hard, unmovable thing you're dealing with, is where you start your reign!
How important it is, not to waste the wilderness experiences with regrets and "what ifs" and "if only's", Or "why me's"…. Focusing only on the discomfort or disappointment, or hurts. But it is so important to benefit from and to maximize those times and convert them into profitable wisdom and strategy for the future.
The reason Oshea was renamed Joshua, was because he didn't let the pain of the wilderness Identify him, for he chose instead to allow the wilderness process to be the potter that shaped his clay!
Benoni became Benjamin, Jacob's son from Rachael...would no longer be “son of my sorrow”, but now means “the strength of my right arm”
“Foot in your mouth” Simon, became Peter, the rock
Saul the persecutor, became Paul the great apostle of the New Testament
1. So, Embrace your possibilities! Almost anything is possible if we're willing to exchange our limitations for His omnipotence.
2. Pay attention to your difference! What is it that makes you stand out from all the rest. Develop it and expand it...That's the funnel your success and abundance will flow through.
3. Explore your passion! What makes you excited about life, what fulfills you, THAT is what will lead you to your purpose.
4. Practice makes perfect! The more you do it the more you'll excelat doing it, and the more proficient you'll become.
5. Persevere until the break through! Don't quit just before the answer comes and the blessing is released.
Psalms 30:5 Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning.
Know today, that your greatest days are just around the corner,
John the Baptist, was shaped and prepared in the wilderness, and as he stepped forth, because of that wilderness preparation, he was able to reveal Christ to others, and to announce “Behold the lamb of God, that takes away the sins of the world”
You step forth from the wilderness understanding the joy of the Lord.
You step forth from the wilderness and revival is released…..
You step forth from the wilderness, realizing you're not the same person that went into the wilderness ...
We're not there yet, but we're not where we once were either....
So be encouraged, and be strengthened in the journey....
He who has begun a good work will be faithful to complete it....
Tell someone, “You’re coming out strong, capable, prepared and anointed”
Let us join in a Prayer, as we close…
“Father, we realize our need for Your direction and guidance,for, we are prone to second guess ourselves. You said that we could boldly come to Your throne of grace and let our petitions be known. I know that You have a divinely chosen path for each of us and in Your will, we are each predestined before the worlds were formed. I ask you to lead me because You have brought me to this place and prepared me to receive, what I could not receive before.
I know that the path may not be clear and straight, and that there are many detours and delays along the way. But no matter what, MY TRUST REMAINS IN YOU! I am determined to press in and never give up until Your perfect will is accomplished in and through me. Send me where I can be used, Lord, choose the path that I am to walk, and guide my footsteps. Show me where I am needed not just where I want to be. Though I may make mistakes, help me to accept criticism and correction.
May I be Your willing servant even when my friends and family try to influence me otherwise. Give me insight to discern who is trying to help from those that would hinder me in my service to You. Let me be content wherever You plant me so that I may bloom and flourish there, for Your glory, not mine. I pray for a right-mind, where I can hear Your Voice of wisdom and truth and know what to do. May the witness of Your Spirit saturate my heart and mind in all that I do and say.
Father, thank you that your constant presence in my life, is a faithful witness, giving me insight, and guiding me in making wise and compassionate decisions. Thank You that You promised never to leave me or forsake me and to be with me always, even till the end of the age. I know that nothing can touch my life without Your permission. I choose to resist the enemy of my soul and submit myself to You. I know that You only desire what's best for me in everything, at all times, and that it is planned by the Father, purchased by the Son, and sealed by the Holy Spirit….In Jesus' name I give praise, Amen”
