Breaking Camp (2)
Notes
Transcript
Breaking camp is about being action oriented.
Its about remembering to always be striving to grow and mature in Christ.
It is about having our goals and desires in the will of God and not becoming comfortable with yesterdays experiences and not moving forward.
There is nothing wrong with yesterdays experiences
As long as they don’t hold us back.
We can become comfortable in yesterday and ignore tomorrow.
Its about realizing that this world is not our home....
that we have a hope beyond this vail of tears.
It is not about great talks, but about making a definite decision to break camp.
The reason we must make a decision to break camp is because the church is under severe attack, and it is important that the children of God rise up to the challenges of our time.
Our generation is in need of men that are ready to break camp and advance. Men that are not interested in what God will give to them, but what they can give to God.
The Lord our God spake unto us in Horeb, saying, Ye have dwelt long enough in this mount:
Turn you, and take your journey, and go to the mount of the Amorites, and unto all the places nigh thereunto, in the plain, in the hills, and in the vale, and in the south, and by the sea side, to the land of the Canaanites, and unto Lebanon, unto the great river, the river Euphrates.
Behold, I have set the land before you: go in and possess the land which the Lord sware unto your fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give unto them and to their seed after them.
We can become comfortable in the known…things that are in our sphere of comfort or in our “comfort zone”
One reason that the children of Israel where hesitant to go into the land of promise was because of the mighty walled cities and the mighty men.
They had their eyes on man and not on God…On the obstacles in the way and not in the power of their God.
But God has given us a promise.
I will send my fear before thee, and will destroy all the people to whom thou shalt come, and I will make all thine enemies turn their backs unto thee.
And I will send hornets before thee, which shall drive out the Hivite, the Canaanite, and the Hittite, from before thee.
I will not drive them out from before thee in one year; lest the land become desolate, and the beast of the field multiply against thee.
By little and little I will drive them out from before thee, until thou be increased, and inherit the land.
In life, God gives us little by little....not all at once but through a process of ups and downs....a growth process that we can handle but progress and victory is to those who keep going.
The land has been granted, and God wants to give it to us, but we must break camp in order to possess it.
No progress has ever been realized without action or without moving forward.
It has been said that if we are not moving forward, we are moving backwards.....the lack of forward motion is no progress at all and is rather creating negative motion rather than positive progress.
there is one problem....to many people are camped in the desert of Sin.
Camped In The Desert of Sin
And they removed from the Red sea, and encamped in the wilderness of Sin.
The Same Old Sin
We preach deliverance, and I believe in deliverance
I believe an alcoholic can be delivered from alcohol.
I believe a drug addict can be delivered from drugs
I believe a homosexual can be delivered from that lifestyle
However, we cannot pitch our tent toward Sodom and not expect to end up in Sodom
If a person keeps talking about going back to Egypt, he will eventually end up back in Egypt.
Our focus must be on the grapes of Canaan instead of longing for the onions, garlic's, and melons of Egypt.
The Lord had told them that the land was theirs for the taking....that he had prepared the way for them.
Behold, I have set the land before you: go in and possess the land which the Lord sware unto your fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give unto them and to their seed after them.
So the question arises.... what land are we talking about?
We are talking about a land free from addiction.
We are talking about a land of victory where you don’t have to be in bondage to the things of this world.
bondage to tobacco
bondage to cigarettes
bondage to alcohol
and bondage from drugs
We are talking about moving beyond our stuck-point.
Beyond our place of same old same old
We are talking about removing the weights that have been keeping us down......Astronauts/Italian gangs (cement shoes).
Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,
letting go of the rail and taking a step (taking the next step).
We are talking about taking off the training wheels and riding free.
Access has been granted to the land of Liberty. but we must break camp where we have been in our land of pseudo-victory and comfort.
We must become so on fire for God, that what happened yesterday is no longer able to carry us through.....that we are no longer held back by yesterday.
Sometimes we become comfortable with the uncomfortable…we just accept it.
A traveler stopped by an old country store in the hills of Appalachia. As he talked with the clerk, an old dog lay on the floor just beyond an old wood stove making the most hideous sounds the visitor had ever heard.
Concerned about the dog, the traveler finally asked the store owner about the dog’s condition. The old store owner responded, “Aw, he’s just lying on a nail. When he gets tired of it, he’ll get off it.”
It is the same way with many people; they are stuck on a nail, but they just lie there and whine.
It is time to get free from that old nail—and our old habits—from our old addiction and comfortable places and allow the power of God to once again rule and rain in our lives.
We must get out of where we where yesterday and get where God wants us to be today.
Not taking away from the awesome things God has done in our past, but embracing where God is leading
It is time to get up and do something about it and to break free from our sleep and slumber.
It is time to move on from the Desert of Sin.
In order to do this we must separate ourselves from our comfort zone and the things that hold us back.
We must put aside all fears and expectations of failure…and let God be God.
Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.
We must shake ourselves and realize, it is time to get off our nail and stop complaining about not being able to overcome our sin or our complacency or our comfort zone...
We must Get out of the Wilderness of Sin and come over to the Land of Canaan......the land of promise.
God cannot lead us where he wants us to be if we are content with staying in Egypt.
I went by the field of the slothful, And by the vineyard of the man void of understanding;
And, lo, it was all grown over with thorns, And nettles had covered the face thereof, And the stone wall thereof was broken down.
Then I saw, and considered it well: I looked upon it, and received instruction.
Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, A little folding of the hands to sleep:
It is possible to fall asleep in Zion.
It is high time that we get out of the land of Nod as was the story of Cain when he left the presence of the Lord.....and he went and camped in the land of Nod
And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed.
Jesus declared, “For many are called, but few are chosen” (Matthew 22:14, KJV).
Why are they not chosen?
Because they are slumbering and sleeping (as in the story of the ten virgins)…they have fallen asleep spiritually and have become comfortable in their ways.
They have, in some cases, become comfortable with sin or accept-ant of it.
Remember the scripture that said: “See, I am sending an angel ahead of you to guard you along the way and to bring you to the place I have prepared. Pay attention to him and listen to what he says” (Exodus 23:20–21).
We have the biggest potential for revival before us today, yet we are wandering in the Land of Nod.
God Is Calling
Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.
We realize in this crucial time, that it is time to set aside our worldly callings for the greatest calling in the world—the call to serve God with all our hearts, soul, mind and strength as was said by Jesus about the greatest commandment in the law (Matthew 22.37)
The question is.....what can I do?
Many years ago, when Moses wondered what he could do, the Lord asked him a simple question:
And Moses answered and said, But, behold, they will not believe me, nor hearken unto my voice: for they will say, The Lord hath not appeared unto thee.
And the Lord said unto him, What is that in thine hand? And he said, A rod.
If God can use a simple Rod....He can use any thing or any one.
God is saying just step out in faith....whatsoever your hands find to do, do it with all your might.
Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest.
The question we must ask ourselves is “is there not a need”,
In there not a cause.
The Lord is looking for those who are willing to get on the team and out of their comfort zone.
If you are lying on a nail, wandering in the Desert of Sin, or have drifted into the Land of Nod, we are being compelled to take the next step forward.
God doesn’t need those that are talented but rather, those that are willing
So humble yourselves before God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
Come close to God, and God will come close to you. Wash your hands, you sinners; purify your hearts, for your loyalty is divided between God and the world.
Elijah said to the people....”Why halt ye between two opinions”
If the Lord be God follow him
Just as the Lord promised the people of Israel that He will take them to a land flowing with milk and honey (Exod 33:1-3), He has also promised us that He would carry us through the troubles and tribulations we are going through.
Conclusion
We cannot afford to be caught between two opinions.....
It is time to pick a side
it is time to step up and be counted
It is time to be about our Fathers business.
It is time to Break Camp....To finally get the victory that God is trying to give us..
Some have been living in the Wilderness of Sin, and others in the Land of Nod.....It is time to move on.
You have been believers so long now that you ought to be teaching others. Instead, you need someone to teach you again the basic things about God’s word. You are like babies who need milk and cannot eat solid food.
So many times people have become comfortable with where they are to the point that they have stopped growing spiritually. Yet God is looking at how far we are from where we should be and is saying to us we must, “Break camp and advance”.
God is telling us....It is high time to break camp and head for the Land of Promise!
To get smack dab in the middle of the will of God...
The bible says “Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields ; for they are white already to harvest” ................but the laborers are few.
Many times the Israelites had to break camp and continue moving......why?? Because God was leading them to the promised land.
God has great plans and expectations for our lives.
His most passionate desire is that he wants to take us far beyond where we are today
But we seem to be comfortable with this little height we have attained. As He looks upon us in our plight, He is calling us to break the camps in our lives and advance.
Let our hearts’ desire today be that God will stir in us that hunger and passion for Him, so that we will make a decision,
not merely a decision but one backed by action, to break every camp in our lives that has stagnated our spiritual growth.
For the children of Israel....the desert was not their destiny
The land of Canaan was their destiny.
This world we live in is like the desert.....but we must remember that this world is not our destiny (this world is not our home)......Heaven is our destiny and heaven is our home.
We must keep our eye on the goal....
King James Version Chapter 3
but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, 14 I npress toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
The word “press” denotes a struggle, an intense effort required.
to act upon through steady pushing or thrusting force exerted in contact
some related words to press are:
propel
shove
thrust
drive
impel
move
We’ve heard the saying “You have to break some eggs to make an omelet”
To make wine the grape must be pressed or squeezed to remove the juice.
both Matthew and Luke tell us that whosoever shall fall on this tone shall be broken
Paul was saying that the things that are behind him are just that…behind him. Not allowing those things to dictate his future…he leaves those things behind and moves forward.
And though the way may be difficult at times, that he may have to endure the pressures and struggles that come his way…that he may have to press his way forward through difficult situations.
Through it all…he keeps his eye on the goal....he reminds himself of his destiny and purpose
God never promised that it would be easy all the time…but promised us he would be with us through it all.
He has promised us that he has gone on to prepare a place for us....that where he is, we may be there also.
God’s intention for us was never to camp out and stay where we are…but rather to keep moving forward...
To break camp and to move into the land of promise....A place that he has prepared for us.