May 7, 2024 • 16 mins
Embark on an enlightening quest with us as we probe the profound impact of faith on the spiritual voyage. Inspired by Abraham's remarkable trust in the divine, we examine the pivotal steps of vision, acceptance, and proclamation in embracing God's promises. Our discussion reveals the indispensable role of faith, not merely in the moment of salvation but as the cornerstone of ongoing spiritual development. We find profound wisdom in the triad of seeing God's design for our lives, embracing His will with open arms, and voicing our devotion to act on it. This episode is a sage guide for anyone yearning to transition from the superficiality of worldly living to the depths of a faith-filled existence.
As we traverse the landscape of spiritual growth, we consider the radical difference between stagnation in the comfort zone and the courageous pursuit of God's calling. Reflect on Abraham's legacy—had he chosen safety over faith, what richness would have been lost! Exploring our identity as pilgrims on Earth, we highlight how divine encounters can shift our aspirations and self-conception, steering us from the familiar into the embrace of God's kingdom. The episode illustrates life's faith journey akin to an academic ascent from elementary to university level, each step marking a bold venture into the unknown, guided by an inner peace that signals our alignment with the divine will. Join us on this exploratory adventure into the heart of faith and spiritual maturation.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:08):
When you and I come into the things of the Spirit
and we allow the Spirit of Godto move through us every day,
our faith can operate in so manywonderful areas.
What does God want from us morethan anything?
Faith.
He wants that from us.
(00:29):
That's how we receive what hewants us to receive.
Number one having seen, you donot buy a new dress, buy a new
dress, you do not buy a newhouse.
You do not choose a mate inlife, as a rule, unless first
(00:59):
you see it.
And when you see it, you mightbe just driving down the road
and suddenly something is therefor sale and wow, you've seen
the sign, you've seen it.
And what happens is all kindsof things happen so quickly.
You cannot stop it.
Desire.
You see yourself buying that,you see yourself enjoying that.
(01:23):
You see, in the action ofseeing so many complex Processes
Are taking place in your mind,seeing Just suddenly causes an
explosion.
And Abraham, when God came tohim and said I want you to go To
(01:46):
another land, I want you to goto another land, I want you to
go to another place to dwell.
And God is saying to us that,to us in our spirit walk, we're
going through life and maybeyou're having issues, maybe
you're feeling lonely, maybeyou're feeling like I don't know
(02:12):
what the answer is, orsomething missing.
And somebody God uses, somebodywho speak to you and said you
need Jesus, what?
But suddenly they were there atthe right time to give that
word to you.
And you see that, and you toyou, and you see that and you
say, yes, I see that, but that'snot good enough.
But the second thing he had towelcome it In Hebrews, chapter
(02:40):
11 and verse 13.
Seen it, number one.
Number two he had to welcomethat, he had to embrace that.
He had to see that this wasgoing to be so, that this would
work, that he could do it, thathe was willing, that he had the
(03:05):
ability.
There was no doubt in his mindthat he'd heard from God and
there was no doubt to him thatGod would make the way for him.
See, faith always makes the way.
So Abraham welcomed that.
Or abraham said yes, I will dothat.
(03:30):
It's just like when the lordspeaks to you and you're not
saved.
You don't have, you don't haveyour sins forgiven, you've never
made it right with god, and godcomes to you and says I want
you to make, I want you to makeit right.
You need to make it right andwe say I see that.
So now you're going to have toembrace that, you're going to
(03:51):
have to say yes to that and thatnot only works for salvation or
buying a new house, that worksin our spiritual development and
in our spiritual growth.
God could have picked upAbraham, took him in the middle
(04:13):
of the night, even while he wasasleep, and just floated him and
lighted him amongst the midstof the Canaanites.
He could have done that, but hedidn't.
He wanted Abraham to walk itand God wants you and I to walk
it.
Anything we don't understand,see, anything that we don't
(04:34):
embrace there are so many thingsthat are going to be missed.
Then the third stage that I seehere is having confessed, I
will do it, I'm going to do this, I'm moving, I'm receiving that
(04:54):
, I'm going there.
We have to go through.
We have to see the world isvery comfortable with the world
and the world understandsstealing and robbing and lying.
The world understands makingyourself number one.
(05:14):
The world understands all ofthis and they do it and they are
unhappy.
See, the world can give younothing that's lasting and
peaceful.
If Abraham had said no to God?
And if Abraham had said no?
I like it here Because remember, let's think about this Abraham
(05:39):
is comfortable where he is.
He knows every street in thatcity, he knows who lives where,
he knows where his meals arecoming from.
He is very comfortable where heis, thank you.
But he is going to embrace thispromise and he's going to come
(06:07):
out of that which God found himin.
God said you want more?
I've got a lot more for you.
Matter of fact, your life isabout to explode in experience,
like you never thought was goingto happen.
And that's the way it is withevery believer who grows and
moves in God.
Was it easy?
(06:28):
No, there would have been manytears.
There would have beenrelationships severed, things
that they've worked hard for inthat city, and now God is about
to uproot them and is going tomove him.
Abraham was just a common,ordinary, hard-working citizen,
(06:55):
but I'm going to tell you,before he settled where he was
to settle, he was a very wealthyman.
Cattle and servants.
That's what it's like when wegrow in god.
We come to the lord and we getsaved and we're going to say you
know what?
I go to sleep at night and I'venever known such peace, or
(07:18):
they'll say I was filled withthe spirit.
I never realized that not onlyam I seeing new things, but god
is using and working through meand I am blessing and I want to
bless.
When you first start off, youthink things is what you really
need, but quite quickly, as yougrow and as you mature in the
(07:42):
lord, things lose their value.
Things are just simply vehiclesto get what has to be
accomplished for the mission Inverse 13 that I've read to you
and I'm talking to you abouttoday Hebrews, chapter 11, verse
(08:05):
13,.
They were strangers and exileson the earth.
He saw that he was a strangerto what was happening around
about him.
When you have a God encounterand you meet with God and God
shows you something, one of thealmost immediate things that you
(08:28):
see, this is not for me, thisis what I used to desire and I
no longer desire it.
He recognized, and we are torecognize, that we are strangers
.
When we are strangers to anissue that we're fighting or
(08:48):
struggling with or just has tobe, when that desire we no
longer want that we realize it'snot for us.
Great peace comes when you're astranger, you're somebody who
has come from another place.
They're going to say, oh,they're strangers.
(09:11):
If you're in a place where youare a stranger, you cannot
embrace or they will not embraceyou, you're with the wrong
people.
And we're going to find that aswe.
The more that we know the Lord,the greater is going to be our
desire to be with the Lord'speople.
(09:33):
I often say that if you'recomfortable with the world and
the world is comfortable withyou and you can go along with
all of their situations, there'sa problem existing here.
No, we're a stranger to that.
And then I see this other wordthere exile this word.
(09:54):
When you are in exile, youreside there as an alien.
But I'm going to explain that.
You're someone who lives in acountry of which you're not a
legal citizen.
We cannot enter.
We cannot enter the kingdom ofGod and be an alien.
If we did, we would walk amongthem as a stranger.
(10:17):
But when we come to Jesus, whenwe give our hearts to the Lord,
we're no longer a stranger, norare we any longer would be
referred to as exiles.
We're not strangers.
He sees us as somebody who hasrights, in the next verse, 14 of
(10:37):
Hebrews, chapter 11.
For those who say such thingsmake it clear that they are
seeking a country of their own.
They see, they welcome, they'veconfessed, and that is the
kingdom of god.
And look at, rather thanlooking at using this word
(10:59):
country seeking a country.
We're seeking the place wherewe belong and you belong with
jesus, you belong in the kingdomof god.
But what takes place?
This doesn't usually it's notusually a surprise.
(11:19):
When something like thishappens to us, god's been
preparing us.
We can look back and we'regoing to say you know what?
I've been there's, I've beensensing more and more lately
that there's more for me.
Sometimes you'll hear peoplesay how's life?
Well, I'm doing okay.
Yeah, I would expect so You'requite comfortable, aren't you?
(11:42):
No, no, you don't understand.
There's more to life than whatI'm experiencing.
What's taking place is thatisn't some momentary statement
that happens right while you'restanding in front of them.
God has been preparing them, hehas been speaking to them, he
(12:02):
has been causing or allowingevents to take place that's
making them uncomfortable forwhere they're at, and that's how
we grow spiritually.
It's not that we don'tappreciate everything that we've
got in God.
We realize that the Lord issaying when you were a baby,
(12:24):
when you were a child.
You thought as a child all yourplans were childlike, that's
all you could understand.
But when you became mature,became a man, growing up, became
a woman, when you mature allthose things that you so enjoyed
(12:44):
when you were a child there'snothing there anymore for you.
And that can only happen if wemove what God calls us to move.
We're moving from the known tothe unknown.
I believe that God is alwaysmoving us into the unknown.
(13:08):
You look back over your life.
When I went to elementaryschool education, I was in grade
one first year.
I had no idea what it was liketo be in grade six.
That was unknown to me.
(13:29):
And I believe that God has givenhumans definitely believers
believe that God has givenhumans, definitely believers.
He's given us this ability toalways be looking for more, to
be hungry for more.
Does God satisfy?
God always satisfies to thefullest.
Where you are, what you'rewilling to eat, he will give you
(13:51):
, and it's always full.
But isn't it interesting thatthe Bible said Blessed are they
who hunger and thirst afterrighteousness?
It seems to me that there'ssomething more.
So what does he do?
He unveils.
He lets us see what's waiting.
Just the next step.
And here's what I've alwaysappreciated For me.
(14:16):
He even shows me how to get it.
He'll show me how to get it.
He'll show me how to walk to it.
What is?
I'm talking about?
The next step?
Yes, we know what the grandpicture is, but the next step?
He'll show me how to take thenext step.
God will come on the scene andhe'll bring you out of that
(14:41):
little secure place where youare called the known, and he'll
take you and he'll say come on,we're going.
You're going to go where you'venever been before.
Yes, but I know what it's likehere.
I know how to not.
I know how to be comfortablewhere I am.
If I go there, I'm going to beuncomfortable.
(15:02):
Well, this may come as a shockto you, but where you are right
now, you are uncomfortable aboutgoing to one time in your life,
one time in your life, godwants to bring you out so that
you will walk and live by faith,and you will walk in the realm
of the spirit.
As you begin to take the leap,as you begin to take the step in
(15:28):
the spirit, god will suddenlyspeak to you and he will tell
you this is the way for you.
Walk in this.
This is right.
This is what you're to do.
The spirit of God.
Does it feel right?
Yes, it feels right.
That's the spirit.
That's how you know it's God'swill.
(15:49):
It feels peaceful, it feelsright.
You've never been there before.
You left that comfortable,secure level of life that you
had and you're now movingforward.
When you move in the spirit,the flesh doesn't know what to
do, and that's wonderful,because the flesh has nothing to
(16:11):
do with the spirit, because theflesh has nothing to do with
the spirit and the flesh cannever move in the spirit.
You.
When you and I come into the things of the Spirit
and we allow the Spirit of Godto move through us every day,
our faith can operate in so manywonderful areas.
What does God want from us morethan anything?
Faith.
He wants that from us.
(00:29):
That's how we receive what hewants us to receive.
Number one having seen, you donot buy a new dress, buy a new
dress, you do not buy a newhouse.
You do not choose a mate inlife, as a rule, unless first
(00:59):
you see it.
And when you see it, you mightbe just driving down the road
and suddenly something is therefor sale and wow, you've seen
the sign, you've seen it.
And what happens is all kindsof things happen so quickly.
You cannot stop it.
Desire.
You see yourself buying that,you see yourself enjoying that.
(01:23):
You see, in the action ofseeing so many complex Processes
Are taking place in your mind,seeing Just suddenly causes an
explosion.
And Abraham, when God came tohim and said I want you to go To
(01:46):
another land, I want you to goto another land, I want you to
go to another place to dwell.
And God is saying to us that,to us in our spirit walk, we're
going through life and maybeyou're having issues, maybe
you're feeling lonely, maybeyou're feeling like I don't know
(02:12):
what the answer is, orsomething missing.
And somebody God uses, somebodywho speak to you and said you
need Jesus, what?
But suddenly they were there atthe right time to give that
word to you.
And you see that, and you toyou, and you see that and you
say, yes, I see that, but that'snot good enough.
But the second thing he had towelcome it In Hebrews, chapter
(02:40):
11 and verse 13.
Seen it, number one.
Number two he had to welcomethat, he had to embrace that.
He had to see that this wasgoing to be so, that this would
work, that he could do it, thathe was willing, that he had the
(03:05):
ability.
There was no doubt in his mindthat he'd heard from God and
there was no doubt to him thatGod would make the way for him.
See, faith always makes the way.
So Abraham welcomed that.
Or abraham said yes, I will dothat.
(03:30):
It's just like when the lordspeaks to you and you're not
saved.
You don't have, you don't haveyour sins forgiven, you've never
made it right with god, and godcomes to you and says I want
you to make, I want you to makeit right.
You need to make it right andwe say I see that.
So now you're going to have toembrace that, you're going to
(03:51):
have to say yes to that and thatnot only works for salvation or
buying a new house, that worksin our spiritual development and
in our spiritual growth.
God could have picked upAbraham, took him in the middle
(04:13):
of the night, even while he wasasleep, and just floated him and
lighted him amongst the midstof the Canaanites.
He could have done that, but hedidn't.
He wanted Abraham to walk itand God wants you and I to walk
it.
Anything we don't understand,see, anything that we don't
(04:34):
embrace there are so many thingsthat are going to be missed.
Then the third stage that I seehere is having confessed, I
will do it, I'm going to do this, I'm moving, I'm receiving that
(04:54):
, I'm going there.
We have to go through.
We have to see the world isvery comfortable with the world
and the world understandsstealing and robbing and lying.
The world understands makingyourself number one.
(05:14):
The world understands all ofthis and they do it and they are
unhappy.
See, the world can give younothing that's lasting and
peaceful.
If Abraham had said no to God?
And if Abraham had said no?
I like it here Because remember, let's think about this Abraham
(05:39):
is comfortable where he is.
He knows every street in thatcity, he knows who lives where,
he knows where his meals arecoming from.
He is very comfortable where heis, thank you.
But he is going to embrace thispromise and he's going to come
(06:07):
out of that which God found himin.
God said you want more?
I've got a lot more for you.
Matter of fact, your life isabout to explode in experience,
like you never thought was goingto happen.
And that's the way it is withevery believer who grows and
moves in God.
Was it easy?
(06:28):
No, there would have been manytears.
There would have beenrelationships severed, things
that they've worked hard for inthat city, and now God is about
to uproot them and is going tomove him.
Abraham was just a common,ordinary, hard-working citizen,
(06:55):
but I'm going to tell you,before he settled where he was
to settle, he was a very wealthyman.
Cattle and servants.
That's what it's like when wegrow in god.
We come to the lord and we getsaved and we're going to say you
know what?
I go to sleep at night and I'venever known such peace, or
(07:18):
they'll say I was filled withthe spirit.
I never realized that not onlyam I seeing new things, but god
is using and working through meand I am blessing and I want to
bless.
When you first start off, youthink things is what you really
need, but quite quickly, as yougrow and as you mature in the
(07:42):
lord, things lose their value.
Things are just simply vehiclesto get what has to be
accomplished for the mission Inverse 13 that I've read to you
and I'm talking to you abouttoday Hebrews, chapter 11, verse
(08:05):
13,.
They were strangers and exileson the earth.
He saw that he was a strangerto what was happening around
about him.
When you have a God encounterand you meet with God and God
shows you something, one of thealmost immediate things that you
(08:28):
see, this is not for me, thisis what I used to desire and I
no longer desire it.
He recognized, and we are torecognize, that we are strangers
.
When we are strangers to anissue that we're fighting or
(08:48):
struggling with or just has tobe, when that desire we no
longer want that we realize it'snot for us.
Great peace comes when you're astranger, you're somebody who
has come from another place.
They're going to say, oh,they're strangers.
(09:11):
If you're in a place where youare a stranger, you cannot
embrace or they will not embraceyou, you're with the wrong
people.
And we're going to find that aswe.
The more that we know the Lord,the greater is going to be our
desire to be with the Lord'speople.
(09:33):
I often say that if you'recomfortable with the world and
the world is comfortable withyou and you can go along with
all of their situations, there'sa problem existing here.
No, we're a stranger to that.
And then I see this other wordthere exile this word.
(09:54):
When you are in exile, youreside there as an alien.
But I'm going to explain that.
You're someone who lives in acountry of which you're not a
legal citizen.
We cannot enter.
We cannot enter the kingdom ofGod and be an alien.
If we did, we would walk amongthem as a stranger.
(10:17):
But when we come to Jesus, whenwe give our hearts to the Lord,
we're no longer a stranger, norare we any longer would be
referred to as exiles.
We're not strangers.
He sees us as somebody who hasrights, in the next verse, 14 of
(10:37):
Hebrews, chapter 11.
For those who say such thingsmake it clear that they are
seeking a country of their own.
They see, they welcome, they'veconfessed, and that is the
kingdom of god.
And look at, rather thanlooking at using this word
(10:59):
country seeking a country.
We're seeking the place wherewe belong and you belong with
jesus, you belong in the kingdomof god.
But what takes place?
This doesn't usually it's notusually a surprise.
(11:19):
When something like thishappens to us, god's been
preparing us.
We can look back and we'regoing to say you know what?
I've been there's, I've beensensing more and more lately
that there's more for me.
Sometimes you'll hear peoplesay how's life?
Well, I'm doing okay.
Yeah, I would expect so You'requite comfortable, aren't you?
(11:42):
No, no, you don't understand.
There's more to life than whatI'm experiencing.
What's taking place is thatisn't some momentary statement
that happens right while you'restanding in front of them.
God has been preparing them, hehas been speaking to them, he
(12:02):
has been causing or allowingevents to take place that's
making them uncomfortable forwhere they're at, and that's how
we grow spiritually.
It's not that we don'tappreciate everything that we've
got in God.
We realize that the Lord issaying when you were a baby,
(12:24):
when you were a child.
You thought as a child all yourplans were childlike, that's
all you could understand.
But when you became mature,became a man, growing up, became
a woman, when you mature allthose things that you so enjoyed
(12:44):
when you were a child there'snothing there anymore for you.
And that can only happen if wemove what God calls us to move.
We're moving from the known tothe unknown.
I believe that God is alwaysmoving us into the unknown.
(13:08):
You look back over your life.
When I went to elementaryschool education, I was in grade
one first year.
I had no idea what it was liketo be in grade six.
That was unknown to me.
(13:29):
And I believe that God has givenhumans definitely believers
believe that God has givenhumans, definitely believers.
He's given us this ability toalways be looking for more, to
be hungry for more.
Does God satisfy?
God always satisfies to thefullest.
Where you are, what you'rewilling to eat, he will give you
(13:51):
, and it's always full.
But isn't it interesting thatthe Bible said Blessed are they
who hunger and thirst afterrighteousness?
It seems to me that there'ssomething more.
So what does he do?
He unveils.
He lets us see what's waiting.
Just the next step.
And here's what I've alwaysappreciated For me.
(14:16):
He even shows me how to get it.
He'll show me how to get it.
He'll show me how to walk to it.
What is?
I'm talking about?
The next step?
Yes, we know what the grandpicture is, but the next step?
He'll show me how to take thenext step.
God will come on the scene andhe'll bring you out of that
(14:41):
little secure place where youare called the known, and he'll
take you and he'll say come on,we're going.
You're going to go where you'venever been before.
Yes, but I know what it's likehere.
I know how to not.
I know how to be comfortablewhere I am.
If I go there, I'm going to beuncomfortable.
(15:02):
Well, this may come as a shockto you, but where you are right
now, you are uncomfortable aboutgoing to one time in your life,
one time in your life, godwants to bring you out so that
you will walk and live by faith,and you will walk in the realm
of the spirit.
As you begin to take the leap,as you begin to take the step in
(15:28):
the spirit, god will suddenlyspeak to you and he will tell
you this is the way for you.
Walk in this.
This is right.
This is what you're to do.
The spirit of God.
Does it feel right?
Yes, it feels right.
That's the spirit.
That's how you know it's God'swill.
(15:49):
It feels peaceful, it feelsright.
You've never been there before.
You left that comfortable,secure level of life that you
had and you're now movingforward.
When you move in the spirit,the flesh doesn't know what to
do, and that's wonderful,because the flesh has nothing to
(16:11):
do with the spirit, because theflesh has nothing to do with
the spirit and the flesh cannever move in the spirit.
You.
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