On Your Way To Somewhere Else
Let me begin by saying that if your happiness, your blessings, your successful Christian life, and all the things you are going to do for God, are somewhere else, you’ll never be happy, blessed, successful as a Christian, and you’ll never accomplish your goals.
“Daniel 11:32 “The people that do know their God (right where they are) shall be strong and do great exploits.”
Right where you are is where you begin, and when you get to somewhere else, you’ll still be right where you are!
I remember I pastored one church back in the days when we sang from the hymnal and we had pew bibles in every pew. On the inside cover of each bible they had put a label that said.... “Not to be taken from the church”.... And I thought perhaps they had a problem with people stealing bibles, which I thought would actually be a good thing. I even thought of making an announcement during the offering... “Please feel free to steal a bible. Or take two”, because it made me think that too often, in that church, the practice of their faith went no further than the church building. As I go about my life, I get the feeling that someone, somewhere put a label on too many Christians that says, “Not to be taken from the church pew”.....
Through the Covid pandemic, the number of people working from home is huge. Companies are issuing ultimatums for folks to come back to the work place or lose their jobs. But now, so many have enjoyed working away from the company’s physical location, that they don’t want to come back, and there is a huge movement to keep working away from the company’s physical location. I believe that’s pushing it too far. But what if the body of Christ was that busy outside of the church building, with the work of the ministry.
What if we as believers were so mindful of Jesus’ words, to “Go into all the world and preach the gospel”, that there was a total turnover of who’s in church because we are out in the world, and we’re enjoying winning souls, healing the sick, delivering the oppressed, and declaring the favor of the Lord, and we’re getting a whole new group of folks into the church building to be trained and discipled, so they can do the same. We should all come to church and have to introduce ourselves to all the new folks there.... because we’re so busy winning souls, restoring the backslidden and getting them to church, there is constantly a turn over in the crowd who are attending.
I remember the G-12 movement, which was made popular by Juan Ortez who pastored in .... Buenos Aires, Argentina. The concept consisted of each leader in the church, choosing 12 people, to mentor. Then after one year, each of those would choose 12, plus the leader would choose 12 more, and repeat the concept. The church began to multiply 12 times 12 times 12, and on and on.
Jesus chose 12 men, to mentor, and those 12 reached the world. We see this In Revelation 4:4 “Around the throne were twenty-four thrones, and on the thrones I saw twenty-four elders sitting, clothed in white robes; and they had crowns of gold on their heads” 12 is the number of God’s spiritual government, and is the spiritual pattern in the old and new testament. There were 12 tribes and 12 apostles. So, we see that the G-12 movement was very scriptural, and was God’s pattern for the New Testament church.
Jesus practiced mashed potato love. The early church was with average people who came together with one purpose, and that was to love God, and one another, lift up Jesus and one another, and operate in the power of the Holy Spirit, in unity with one another. When you mash potatoes, it’s hard to tell which potato is which. They just all blend and work together. None are more important than the others, because they are all important. None are above the others because they are all together. They were all going their individual way to somewhere else, until they all came together for a common cause where they were.
Jesus prayed “ That they be one even as we are one.” As we are all on our way to somewhere else to do the work of lifting up Jesus, he told us that right where we are, whatever else we are doing, and whoever we are with, our First God given goal, is to put Him first, and then become one with one another as He and the Father are one. We can’t do that without putting Him first, then all the rest can happen.
All the apostles were on their way to somewhere else when God chose them to be leaders in the church. Some were on their way fishing, another was on his way to collect taxes, another was on his way to a career as a physician, but they were all on their way to somewhere else.
God loves to cause a disruption in our journey to somewhere else.... Paul’s journey to somewhere else, was disrupted by a meeting with the one who is the way, the truth, and the life....Andhe found his way, he found the truth and he found a new way of living.
Moses was on his way to somewhere totally different than where he ended up. He was on his way to enforcing the bondage of a nation of
people. He was raised for it, and groomed for it. Then it was all disrupted and he was exiled to somewhere else, and it was thereGod captured him. Somewhere else became where he was to be all along, and when God was finished with him where he always wassupposed to be, he ended up leading those very slaves to their national inheritance that they had received from God.
God will have the final say on our way to somewhere else. When your family, your friends and those you’ve known all your life, and grew up with, look they’re headed somewhere else, you need to shout within your spirit, “My God will meet them somewhere else”.....
God is waiting to disrupt their journey, to somewhere else....
The woman at the well was going to the well for something else. She had come to the well to draw water, and left with the living water. Everything she thought was somewhere else was right where she was.
Isaiah 43:19 “See, I am doing a new thing! Even now it is springing up. I want to show it to you. I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.” Thank God for the Divine disruption, because otherwise we would never discover God’s new and better way.
Sometimes things don’t go according to plan and we end up walking the path of disappointment, because we were on our way to somewhere else and where we are is not what we hoped for, worked for, planned for, and invested our time and energy into, We can thank God that He has intervened in our plans to get us to where He knows we should be....As rough as it may be and uncomfortable, He has been fighting for us, and working behind the scenes, to get us to that new place and new thing. The place of our disappointment is the tipping point where the correction, the connection, the correlation, the intersection between God’s ways and our ways comes together.
Would you say, “Whatever it takes, Lord”.... Genesis 50:20, “But as for you, you meant evil against me, but God intended it for good.”
I love the song....”He didn’t bring us this far to leave us, He didn’t teach us to swim to let us drown, He didn’t build His home in us to move away. He didn’t pick us up to let us down, He didn’t pick us up to let us down”...
Sometimes you might feel like the Israelites who were trapped in a mountain pass, with the Red sea in front of them and the army of the Pharaoh and his chariots thundering toward them. And just when all seems lost, God hits the switch and opens up a pathwayin a direction, you would not have chosen before, because you didn’t consider it before and wouldn’t have chosen it...
I didn’t choose ministry. I was on my way to rock and roll, with a band that represented my life’s dream. Sing and play and travel. The lights and sounds and wild side were calling my name.... Like Job, I said about the ministry, “The thing I feared most, has come upon me”.... God was a party pooper, a spoil sport, and a wet blanket to my dreams.
Like David, I was on my way to somewhere else.... When God showed up.
David was taking lunch to his brothers, who were in the army. And had the lunch sack on his shoulder, when he heard goliath roar his threats. They were facing the mighty Philistine forces, in all it’s might and power. In the midst of this atmosphere of war, God calls forth David when his mind was on something else, to change his destiny and the direction of a nation. Getting David to the giant was God’s idea not David’s. Somebody say, “God has a better idea”.
“I've seen You move, You move the mountains. And I believe, I'll see You do it again. You made a way where there was no way, and I believe, I'll see You do it again, I’ll see You do it again!”
Be sure to Give God the glory in the midst of what you’re going through. And give him the praise while you’re going through it, not just after you see the new thing. Don’t be like the guy who was running late for a very important meeting and couldn’t find a parking space. (right now everyone is looking for an empty space aren’t you) So he’s driving all around this huge parking lot that’s totally filled. “Lord,” he prays. “I can’t stand this, If I don’t make this meeting, I’ll be fired, if you open a space up for me, I swear I’ll give up drinking and cussing and go to church every Sunday.” Suddenly, the clouds part and the sun shines on an empty parking spot like a spot light from heaven. Without hesitation, the man says: “Never mind, Lord, I found one myself!”
Let me recommend some scriptures for you to read that will help you when God is interrupting your plans. My favorites are those inside the bible. That’s right take your pick... Genesis to Revelation the stories are there, and God won’t do for them what He’s not willing to do for you....
Have you ever been betrayed?
Take a read at Joseph and his brothers who were in the land of promise. They had made it to the place every Jew had ever prayed to be. But what might have been great for everyone else, was not God’s choice for Joseph. God’s choice for Joseph was the last choice Joseph would ever have made for himself. During the unspeakable act of his own brothers throwing him in a pit, selling him to a travelling caravan, being sold as a slave, and being thrown in prison, God was bringing him to his destiny in Egypt.....W...H...A...T?!!!.
JEREMIAH 29:11 “For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future"
Have you had to deal with loss.... Take a read at Moses’ mom. They were killing Hebrew babies in Egypt. Surely, Moses’ mom, could not wrap her head around the fact that putting her baby son in a reed basket and hiding it in the crocodile infested waters of the Nile river, was God’s very best solution.... how could she know that putting her baby somewhere else, so far from what she had planned and wished in her mind and dreamed for her child, was exactly what God had chosen for the future deliverer of Israel...When you trust God in the times of disruption, God will get you to places that you could not get to in an entire life time or longer, if you’ll submit to his divine disruption.
Have you wondered how things ever got so out of control. How the path your children have taken, could be so different than what you’ve prayed and called out to God that it should be.
Is what you’re seeing way different than what you planned....Theplan was that all your children would grow up loving Jesus Christ.... The plan was for them to have children and raise them that way as well....The plan was that everyone would come home on holidays and dad would cut the holiday bird and each family member would talk of their love for God and their desire to serve him. and it would be such a pleasant time as everyone loved one another and got along so well because they all loved the Lord......but that’s not the way its turned out..... Don’t be so quick to flush it all because you believe what you see, more than what God has promised you...
A man with terrible eyesight was visiting Texas. When he gets to his hotel room, he sees the bed. “Wow, this bed is big!” “Yes, Everything is bigger in Texas,” says the bellhop. The man heads downstairs to the restaurant, he settles into a huge chair and orders a root beer. A mug is placed between his hands. “Wow these drinks are big!” The waiter replies, “Yes, Everything is bigger in Texas.” After drinking two mugs of root beer, the nearly blind man asks where the bathroom is. “Take the Second door to the right,” said the waiter. The blind man heads for the bathroom but accidentally enters the third door, which leads to the swimming pool, and he falls in. Popping his head up from under the water and flailing his arms, he shouts, “Please Don’t flush, don’t flush!”
So don’t be to quick to quit believing and “Don’t flush” what you don’t see now, and don’t understand. God’s doing it a better way. "
Things can load you down and wear you out. When David faced Goliath, notice that Goliath was loaded down with armor, a heavy sword and spear, a large shield and the expectations of all the Philistines. David on the other hand was traveling light. He had just a sling. He had put aside the burdensome armor that Saul tried to put on him. Saul wanted to put his disobedience, and rebellion and his fears and doing things his own way on David. But David said “I cannot fight with this”... We need to travel light, not be burdened down about all the things we will never understand because it’s different than it appears to be. We will never see ahead as far as God sees, and we cannot understand in the natural mind what God has planned in His higher ways and thoughts. Listen to the words to one of David’s songs...(We call them Psalms)... Psalm 55:22 (Amplified bible) “CAST YOUR BURDEN ON THE LORD (releasing the weight of it) and He will sustain you. HE WILL NEVER ALLOW THE RIGHTEOUS (those who choose His ways) TO BE MOVED (made to slip, fall or fail). So travel light....
David’s reply to Goliath reveals the contrast between them. Goliath said, “I will, I will, I will” but David said “The Lord will, The Lord will, God will, God will”.....“You come to me with sword and spear and javelin; (natural weapons, natural strength and understanding) but I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This very day the Lord will deliver you into my hand… so that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel…” That is the way David lived while he was in the wilderness, facing lions and bears. He didn’t know that it was training him to defeat the giant. What you’re going through or you’ve been through, is preparing you for a life changing event that is coming. Daviddid not declare what appeared to be, He called out what did not yet appear! God is looking for a mouth piece that He can speak creative words through, and create something from nothing....
Isaiah 51:16 “I have put My words in your mouth, and covered you with the shadow of My hand, to establish, and to say”..... Jeremiah 1:8 “Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you,” declares the LORD. 9Then the LORD reached out His hand, touched my mouth, and said to me: “Behold, I have put My words in your mouth”. Exodus 4:12 “Now go! I will help you as you speak, and I will teach you what to say."
When the pain became unbearable and I made the decision to go to the hospital on Monday night. We thought it was a heart attack because the pain was in my chest, running to my left shoulder and up my neck. I began to ask God why He would have me be there. What is the bigger picture and how did this fit His plan. After spending Monday evening in the holding area adjacent to the emergency room, I was put in room 315, on Tuesday evening, when a Nurse came in named Charlotte and was logging me in. I asked her about her family, and she told me she had a son. I then noticed the picture of a baby on her phone screen. I asked the Lord to let me know what to say to her and I said “is that your grand baby?” She turned and said no and I want nothing to do with it. I asked whose it was, since it was on her phone. She said that her son’s wife had gotten pregnant by someone else, and she wanted nothing to do with this child, because of what his wife had done. Boy, I was praying under my breath. I then told her about our niece Ann. Ann was raped by a black man. Everyone told her to abort, since the child was from rape. She refused and said it is not the child’s fault it happened, so why should it be punished. She said, God loves this child and has a special plan for his life, otherwise He would never have been born. How can I destroy someone that God came and died for. I need to love what God loves. She and her husband raised the child as their own, and he has graduated and moved on as a productive member of society. Charlotte broke down in tears and thanked me, saying yes, God loves this child and so will I. It opened the door for further ministry, and Charlotte said that it had changed her life and she would never be the same again. Hallelujah.
They found that I had (pleurisy) which is an inflammation in the lining around my lungs. I totally believe I went through the pain, and discomfort, for a meeting with Charlotte, which I would never have chosen, but I asked God to let me appreciate and embrace what I could not understand at the moment. When it was over, all the pain and symptoms were gone by Wednesday. Because things are not always as they seem to be! Winnie and I were able to minister to several others as well.
Isa 55:8 “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,” says the LORD. 9 “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, Soare My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts.
God is telling us today that Things are much more than we cansee.
The doctor examined Larry and said, “Everything looks great. How are you doing mentally and emotionally? Are you at peace with God?” Larry told him, “God and I are tight. He knows I have poor eyesight, so He’s fixed it so when I get up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom, poof! The light goes on. When I’m done, poof! The light goes off.” “Wow, that’s incredible,” the doctor says. A little later in the day, the doctor calls Larry’s wife. “Bonnie,” he says, “Larry is doing fine! But I had to call you because I need to get further information on his relationship with God. Is it true that he gets up during the night, and poof, the light goes on in the bathroom, and when he’s done, poof, the light goes off?” “Oh, no,” exclaims his wife. “He’s using the refrigerator for the bathroom again!”Things are not what they seem, especially for Larry. There’s a song by Rachel McCutcheon that says....Your ways are higher than mine. I want mountains to move, You want me to climb. So I'm gonna' trust Your work, Your will, and Your time. Your ways are higher, much higher than minethan mine”..
Roman's 8:28" must travel the great journey of 12 inches if it’s ever going to do us any good.... It must go from our head to our heart..... “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose”."
Oh, when you know by faith but you cannot see. You believe because God said it, but it’s still in the spiritual realm not the physical. You know in your head that it’s true, but the 12 inch journey from your head to your heart, is still taking place.... it’s in that transition period, that many folks lose their faith, punch their hope ticket and check out. We wish we could see what He sees. There are times when God gives us a glimpse of His plan, but it’s often a little bit at a time. So we stand on the promises, we rest in blessed assurance, and we trust the one who knows the end from the beginning. And we believe that God is still speaking if we will only listen....
I believe I have a word from God for you..... Are you still trying to figure things out according to your ways, not according to My Ways. When you ponder My Ways, you will 'hear' how to 'walk' how to 'do' and how to 'speak.' Ponder My Ways. Spend more time pondering My Ways and less time thinking about your ways and you will find my favor, and the blessing of divine provision. You sometimes convince yourself that your ways are My Ways. Well this is the time for that to be corrected. The Holy Spirit in you will show you. He will reveal and adjust and apply. Let Me speak to you when you are praying and I will speak of My Ways and those mysteries of My Ways will speak to you as you are praying in the Spirit. They are aligning you and bypassing your thinking, so that your hearing and your spiritual sight are clearer. Align yourself with Me, for when you walk in My Ways, you're walking in the abundant life I have for you. All the paths of life, true life, come through Me. So look at the priorities you've set in your life and ask yourself the question, 'Do these priorities align with my priorities?' Know that I See what's in your heart. I care so much about you. All you have to do is talk to Me about how you 'really,' feel and where your thoughts really are, where your heart really is. When you turn to Me with that, then I can come in and help you change it, help you turn it around from expecting bad news to Good News. I know your sorrow, for I know you. You have hidden your sorrow over the way things turned out and how you’ve pushed it down in the recesses of your heart. Release the sorrow. You deserve to be free. It’s time to lay down your sorrow at the foot of the cross. When things are fluctuating all around you and within you, know that I Am the solid and sure place for you. If you see it and hear it, you can have it. Receive My Love. Receive My grace, receive the finished work which I have planned for you in this moment. let your worries go, and know that I Know All about you and I know everything that you need me to 'work' on, and I Am working on it even as you sleep. Know my rest for your Spirit, your mind, and your body which is always available to you. Come here by My side, My children, and walk with Me, hear the voice of your Father, know my touch, let me hold you and comfort you and see how much I love you!
