Isaiah 54: 2“Enlarge the place of your tent, stretch your tent curtains wide, do not hold back; lengthen your cords, strengthen your stakes. 3 For you will spread out to the right and to the left; your descendants will dispossess nations and settle in their desolate cities.
When you and I study the scripture we can see time and time again that when God would call a man or call people He always has promises connected to that calling.
Abraham:
Gen 12 The Lord had said to Abram, “Leave your country, your people and your father’s household and go to the land I will show you. 2 “I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”
Moses and the people of Israel
Exodus 3: 7 The Lord said, “I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. 8 So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey
And the same way God gave promises to Abraham, Moses and the people of Israel, God has also given promises to Pastor Sonny, Sis Julie and the ministry of Victory Outreach International.
When Pastor Sonny & Sis Julie first started the ministry of Victory Outreach times were extremely difficult to the point where Pastor Sonny and Sis Julie thought about giving up on the ministry and becoming full time evangelist.
In the middle of the trial Pastor Sonny went to a service with the question in his heart, “God is you don’t speak to me I’m going to give up on the ministry”.
In that service Evangelist/Prophet Dick Mills called out Pastor Sonny and gave him 2 promises from God. Isaiah 45:2&3 & Isaiah 54:2&3
Pastor Sonny & Sis Julie got ahold of those promises and by faith began to give themselves whole heartedly to the promises of God and here we are today 57 years later standing in amazement at the faithfulness of God to the promises He has given us as the ministry of Victory Outreach International.
So as we have come into the country of South Africa we have come with promises connected to our lives.
We have seen the results of Isaiah 45:2&3 continually come to pass. 1000’s of men and women that at one time were addicted to drugs, involved in gangsterism be set free by the power of God!
We have seen 1000’s of highschoolers and university students bound by depression, fear and anxiety experiencing the presence of God and being totally liberated.
We have seen Isaiah 45:2&3 continually come to pass, but we are still believing God for the fulfilment of Isaiah 54:2&3
“Clear lots of ground for your tents! Make your tents large. Spread out! Think big! Use plenty of rope, drive the tent pegs deep. You’re going to need lots of elbow room for your growing family. You’re going to take over whole nations; you’re going to resettle abandoned cities. Don’t be afraid—you’re not going to be embarrassed. Don’t hold back—you’re not going to come up short.
What are some of the hinderances that have taken place to those in the bible so that you and I can learn from them.
I. Lean on their own understanding
Prov 3:5 5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding.
Abraham on different occasions leaned on his own understanding while waiting on the promise of God to come to pass.
- The first time they tried to make the promise baby through their servant Hagar
Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had not been able to bear children for him. But she had an Egyptian servant named Hagar. 2 So Sarai said to Abram, “The Lord has prevented me from having children. Go and sleep with my servant. Perhaps I can have children through her.” And Abram agreed with Sarai’s proposal.
Many times in the waiting seasons of life we can be tempted to try and help God bring the promises to pass with in our lives.
We are still working toward the promise, but trying to accomplish it with our own strength and own strategies.
This many times leads to frustration and fatigue.
In this season of waiting, we must remind ourselves that the God we serve is a promise keeper.
Num 23:19 God is not a man, so he does not lie. He is not human, so he does not change his mind. Has he ever spoken and failed to act? Has he ever promised and not carried it through?
II. Start murmuring and complaining
Another hinderance that can work against the promises of God being fulfilled within our lives is the spirit that we serve in.
God had given the children of Israel a promise that they would enter into a place that was flowing with milk and honey, but instead of entering that place of promise they wandered in the dessert for 40 years.
Much of their prolonged journey was a result of their murmuring and complaining.
Ex 16:3 “If only the Lord had killed us back in Egypt,” they moaned. “There we sat around pots filled with meat and ate all the bread we wanted. But now you have brought us into this wilderness to starve us all to death.”
Then when they were on the very brink of the breakthrough, they allowed the complaints and perspective of a few hinder the breakthrough of the future.
Numbers 13:30 But Caleb tried to quiet the people as they stood before Moses. “Let’s go at once to take the land,” he said. “We can certainly conquer it!” 31 But the other men who had explored the land with him disagreed. “We can’t go up against them! They are stronger than we are!” 32 So they spread this bad report about the land among the Israelites:
As we journey into the promises of God we must be careful what voices we allow to influence us.
The same way there are lessons we can learn from bible references that will protect us from leaning on our own understanding or developing a bitter spirit, there are also truths that we can see that will help us to take the steps of faith necessary to experience the promises of God.
I. Promise of provision
One truth that you and I can stand on as we journey into the promise of God is that, “where God guides God provides”!
God’s will God’s Bill!
All throughout scripture we have seen God provide for His people everything needed for them to step into the promises He has for them.
- As Israel left Egypt God gave them abundance for the journey
Ex 12:35 And the people of Israel did as Moses had instructed; they asked the Egyptians for clothing and articles of silver and gold. 36 The Lord caused the Egyptians to look favorably on the Israelites, and they gave the Israelites whatever they asked for. So they stripped the Egyptians of their wealth!
- As they Journeyed through the wilderness
- God made bitter water sweet
- God provided manna from heaven
- God brought water from a rock
- As they crossed into the promise land
- God gave them victory over the enemy
Josh 24:13 I gave you land you had not worked on, and I gave you towns you did not build—the towns where you are now living. I gave you vineyards and olive groves for food, though you did not plant them.
God took from the enemy and gave it to His people.
God provided for them every step of the way, and If God provided for them He is providing for us!
II. Promise of Power
And the last thing we need to be remined of, is that God will give us the power that we need to get into the promises He has for our lives.
1 After the death of Moses the servant of the Lord, the Lord said to Joshua son of Nun, Moses’ aide: 2 “Moses my servant is dead. Now then, you and all these people, get ready to cross the Jordan River into the land I am about to give to them—to the Israelites. 3 I will give you every place where you set your foot, as I promised Moses. 4 Your territory will extend from the desert to Lebanon, and from the great river, the Euphrates—all the Hittite country—to the Great Sea on the west. 5 No one will be able to stand up against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you. 6 “Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their forefathers to give them. 7 Be strong and very courageous.
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