Move away from the Familiar

Genesis 12
¹Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will show thee:
²And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing:
³And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.
⁴So Abram departed, as the LORD had spoken unto him; and Lot went with him: and Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran.
⁵And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother’s son, and all their substance that they had gathered, and the souls that they had gotten in Haran; and they went forth to go into the land of Canaan; and into the land of Canaan they came.
⁶And Abram passed through the land unto the place of Sichem, unto the plain of Moreh. And the Canaanite was then in the land.
⁷And the LORD appeared unto Abram, and said, Unto thy seed will I give this land: and there builded he an altar unto the LORD, who appeared unto him.
⁸And he removed from thence unto a mountain on the east of Bethel, and pitched his tent, having Bethel on the west, and Hai on the east: and there he builded an altar unto the LORD, and called upon the name of the LORD.
⁹And Abram journeyed, going on still toward the south.

The real Blessing is beyond the familiar and comfortable.

Real growth is beyond the Familiar and comfortable.

The familiar is where you are the unfamiliar is where God wants to take you.

Where God wants to take you require trusting Him.

As the Egyptian army approached, the people of Israel saw them far in the distance, speeding after them, and they were terribly frightened and cried out to the Lord to help them. And they turned against Moses, whining, “Have you brought us out here to die in the desert because there were not enough graves for us in Egypt? Why did you make us leave Egypt?”

(Exodus 14:10-11, tlb)

Trust often requires courage. Trapped against the sea, the Israelites faced the Egyptian army sweeping in for the kill. The Israelites thought they were doomed. After watching God’s powerful hand deliver them from Egypt, their only response was fear, whining, and despair. Where was their trust in God? Israel had to learn from repeated experience that God was able to provide for them. God has preserved these examples in the Bible so that we can learn to trust him the first time. By focusing on God’s faithfulness in the past, we can face crises with confidence rather than with fear and complaining.

The blessing is your destiny but the journey is what will make you.

When Israel saw the Egyptians approaching it was not their destiny coming but the journey which was coming to make them.

God needed to see how well their faith would hold up.

What you are going through now is not your destiny but a part of your journey which is here to make your faith in God stronger.

Verse 3 speaks of blessing and cursing that you will experience but neither will defined you but the journey will.

Verse 4 says, Abram departed. He began a journey to a New Place.

The American Indians once said, May you stay in the same Place. They were not just talking about geography. They used these words to curse their enemies.

They meant stagnant personal journey, family would not grow, your future would be less than prosperous. They wish you to stay in the same place, same condition, without moving, without growing and without changing.

The enemy to the church is stagnation. Doing the same thing and getting the same results.

The old farmers knew that planting the same crop in the same place year after year affected the soil by robbing something from it that would affect the crop so they would rotate the crop or allow the soil to rest in order to restore that which was taken from the soil.

This is called change. Look at your neighbor and say change is good! Change is necessary!

A leader needs a clear vision to bring true change. The word said the Lord said to Abram. A true anointing will move the Leader who will then move the people.

It is so easy to get in a better place and get stuck. Abram had moved from Ur with his father, Lot and wife Sara. They were in Haran Genesis 11:31 say that Abram’s father Terah, Lot and Sara moved from Ur going to Canaan. They stopped in Haran and at 205 years of age Terah died.

His death was a sign that it was time to get moving again. When we see things dying it is a sign to move.

Dead relations, Dead end jobs, you know death don’t you. There is a time to resurrect and their time to just have a Christian burial and move on. Death has an odor. Joshua 1 the Lord said Moses is death!

Moses being dead was a reality.

Verse 4 says Abram was 75 when they left Haran. I see in this text it is never too late for God. Your life just begins when you obey God.

Verse 5 Tells that Abram takes his wife, his nephew and the souls he had gather with his substance and moved.

You can’t take everybody with you. When Terah left Ur he only took those he knew he could count on. Now as Abram leaves Haran he is only taking those he can count on. He neither his father tried to take the crowd.

To be honest God told him to move away from the familiar.

You must always keep your jour journey separated from your destiny. If Abram didn’t have a clear voice from God Abram would have settle in Haran. Too many of us have settled in a place that God never intended. Your Best is Still ahead of you. There is no excuse for not moving ahead. Age does not matter. Length of stay doesn’t matter just what did God say.

Verse 6 Abram passed through Sichem. There will be some places along life’s journey you will be tempted to settle but keep it moving for it is not your destiny.

Verse 7 This is the right verse because 7 means complete. When Abram got to Canaan the Lord appeared again. This is what I call confirmation. God will confirm Himself.

When God confirmed that this was the place for Abram it was Abram who built an Altar. God didn’t instruct him to build but Abram understood the will.

David understood the will: David said I will bless the Lord at all time for His praise shall continually be in my mouth.

If the Lord is going to bless you with a home, a car, a house, food, clothes, money, job, health, a spouse, shouldn’t it just be your second nature to bless the Lord with the fruit of your lips.

Verse 8 tells that Abram didn’t just settle for entering the Land but he keep moving through out the land because Abram wanted ALL that God had for him. How many you want all that God has for you in this life. You cannot have all as long as you keep settling for good when God wants you to have Great! Moving from Good to Great is where my life is heading.

When Abram got to the other side he again built an Altar and worship God. Our problem is not that we don’t have but we don’t worship. The power of release is in our worship. When your worship gets real and sincere then God will get real and sincere with you.

But if you act complaced with God you will get little for the size of your faith will determine the size of your miracle.

Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord, O my soul. I will praise the Lord all my life; I will sing praise to my God as long as I live. (Psalm 146:1-2, niv)

Praise is focusing our heart on God. The last five psalms (146-150) are filled with praise. Each begins and ends with “Praise the Lord!” They show us where, why, and how to praise God. What does praise do?

(1) Praise takes our minds off our problems and shortcomings and focuses them on God.

(2) Praise leads us from individual meditation to corporate worship.

(3) Praise causes us to consider and appreciate God’s character.

(4) Praise lifts our perspective from the earthly to the heavenly.

Verse 9 teaches that Abram journey goes farther.

No amount of wishing, dreaming and or visioning is ever going to get where we want to go. Reaching our destination requires us to disengage from places and people who are familiar to engage with new people and new places. 

Abram disengaged from Ur

David had to disengage from the sheep to engage to the kingship.

Daniel had to disengage from the high level of government to engage to stand for righteousness.

Peter had to disengage from fishing for fish to engage for fishing for men.

Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior had to disengage from heaven with the Father and the angels to engage with his earthly mother Mary and the 12 disciples. He had to engage the cross. He had to engage death and the grave. Because His destiny was to died for the sins of the world and redeem mankind back to the Father.

I am glad he didn’t allow the journey of rejection to define him but he finished his assignment.

Are you glad if so let us worship him in spirit and truth.

Jesus left the familiar and the comfortable and went to his destiny and so can you.

I have been blessed by God to serve as a senior pastor of three churches for 47 years. I approached my calling with every part of my earthly being. Yet, 47 years later I discovered that I had taken the hard road. With much of my honest effort to change the lives and could have been more effective and I had approached ministry with balance and support.

I did not understand the role of family and personal health.

I worked diligently to build the church body with the tools at my disposal. I went to conferences, workshops, conventions, and seminary for equipping to do the work. I read books by many different authors on Kingdom work. There was something missing and I had to discover it late in my ministry. That which was missing was a mentor.

Mentoring is important, not only because of the knowledge and skills students can learn from mentors, but also because mentoring provides professional socialization and personal support to facilitate success in graduate school and beyond. Quality mentoring greatly enhances students’ chances for success.

Elijah’s burnout: What can you learn from Elijah?

Let’s look at the life of one of the most beloved and frequently cited figures from the Old Testament:  The prophet Elijah. If we follow the events that occurred in his life, 1 Kings, 18:4 to 19:18, we could summarize the highlights as follows:

• First, he faced the wrath and threats of death by Ahab, king of Israel.
• Elijah challenges Ahab face-to-face and accuses him of being responsible for the loss of the spiritual people of God.
• Then, he asks for 850 priests of Baal and Astarte to gather against him.  He mocks their failure to obtain a response from their gods.
• He built an altar to see the fire of the Lord descend from heaven to consume his offering in answer to his prayer.
• This leads immediately after to a spiritual awakening of all the people of Israel who returned to their Creator.
• He then destroyed the 850 idolatrous priests.
• He is reconciled with the king and prophesied that the rain missing for three years will come very soon.
• He began a marathon of prayer before God at the top of a mountain to advocate for the rain, and once again his prayer is fulfilled.
• He runs down the mountain supernaturally carried by the power of the Holy Spirit, faster than the king and his chariot at full gallop.

All this happens, in a time period that seems to go from just a day, or at most a few days.  What a report! Who is the servant of God who is not interested in such an account of mission?  What service, what effectiveness for the kingdom of God.  Who would question the fact that Elijah was really, at that time, sent by God?

Yet, our Lord does not just show us the glorious life of his servant’s face, He also introduces us to the other side of the mask and reveals the drama that played at the same time in the heart of the prophet.

Some time later, when Elijah learns of death threats from the queen, his reaction is somewhat surprising.  While he seemed to be at the height of his ministry, confirmed by many miracles, he collapses psychologically and flees at the words of Jezebel.

He becomes unable to control his emotions, becomes depressed, feels sorry for himself, rejects his friends, and is isolated.  He sinks into despair, fear, and eventually wishes for death as a solution to his problems.

What has happened?  Is this the same man?  Elijah acts as if he had lost confidence in his God and the miracles he had seen accomplished had no value.

In my own life I too hit the wall and at that time a mentor could have made a difference in the work. I ask you to search this website for ways that I might come along side your work and help you not hit the wall. God does not require you to do the work alone.

The one object in our lives that should never change is God. God should be the vision of our worship. God created man for his pleasure and purpose. Man’s purpose is to please God.

The lost of happiness can happen, when we struggle with wanting more control over our journey on this earth. Lord not my will but your will be done!

God will from time to time place people into our lives for a reason and even a season to complete his purpose. We must never become so preoccupied with other people that we fail the purpose we were created to

Genesis 2:8-9 (NLT2)
⁸  Then the LORD God planted a garden in Eden in the east, and there he placed the man he had made.
 Genesis 3:8-9 (NIV)
⁸  Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the LORD God among the trees of the garden.
⁹  But the LORD God called to the man, “Where are you?”

Here in lies the truth to why we exist.

God is looking for his created to worship him today. Will you find a place to worship the Lord today? Are will you be missing?

Man was not seeking God but God was seeking man to fellowship with him. Man had failed so he was hiding. God was not looking for man to be perfect but he did expect him to be faithful

Ehesians 2:10 – For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

1 Corinthians 9:19-20 (ESV)
¹⁹  For though I am free from all, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win more of them.
²⁰  To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though not being myself under the law) that I might win those under the law.

Suggested Vision:

Our church is intentionally engage in changing our community by reaching one soul at a time for Christ.

John 15:16 (ESV)
¹⁶  You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you.

I don’t know your pain today but I have a prophetic word for you. Play on!!!!

You must accept your pains and play through them.

Isaiah 53:2-5 (NLT2)
²  My servant grew up in the LORD’s presence like a tender green shoot, like a root in dry ground. There was nothing beautiful or majestic about his appearance, nothing to attract us to him.
³  He was despised and rejected— a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief. We turned our backs on him and looked the other way. He was despised, and we did not care.
⁴  Yet it was our weaknesses he carried; it was our sorrows that weighed him down. And we thought his troubles were a punishment from God, a punishment for his own sins!
⁵  But he was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins. He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed.

Every good athlete will get hurt from time to time and what separate the great ones is they can play through the pain.

Jesus the author and finisher of our faith played through the pains of life to show us that we don’t have to have to be dealt a good hand to have a good life.

If your church is to lead in the vineyard where God has planted it, then you are EXPECTED to lead.

The problem is that we seek comfort rather than obedience to the calling of God to witness to a lost generation. Since, we do not like change we ignore that change is happening.

Solution:

Recertify yourself each year. Change is always necessary. We cannot assume that just because something works today it will continue to work tomorrow.   You must either evolve or stagnate. We must strive to stay ahead of the game. It is too late to recognize the need for a change afterward. After things are broken!

Contact me and we can talk about how your organization can change so as to better minister to the present age.

Luke 10:27 (KJV)
And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself.

Not having Core Values attached to our lives and ministries hinders progress because they serve as a control and a direction for our behavior.

The values system we keep will determines our direction – The importance that we attach to something that serves as a control and a direction in our lives and the life of our ministry will guide our Behavior.

The Soul of our lives/ministry is our VALUES.

The Head of our lives/ministry is our VISION.

The Heart of our lives/ministry is our MISSION.

Contact me for a time of discussion about these three.

A Church can find itself faced with Revitalizing means an existing congregation experiences health and turnaround. Replanting typically means another church acquires a declining or dying church and starts it anew. Relaunching could be considered a mixture approach.

The lost of a pastor, an aging congregation or a church split could call for a Relaunch. Please understand that it might be a little discomfort but it is truly necessary. You may like the way you are but the question has to be answered are we dying or we growing? Relaunch is not a bad word but a necessary word.

1. Relaunching must address the issues and people that are barriers to church health.Church health is a DNA issue. Without changes in the essential hearts and attitudes of the people, healthy change will not take place.
2. Relaunching if not done correctly can divide a church more.This divide can occur along many fault lines, especially worship styles and leadership role.
3. Relaunching will struggle if expectations and sacrifices are not explicit and clear.Otherwise, members will have varying expectations about the changes and results of a new launch. Clarity and transparency are essential.
4. Relaunching is often a compromise.It’s the “in-between” decision between revitalization and replan. There must be to total commitment to the process.
5. Relaunching is often decided without really knowing the change readiness of the church.This factor is essential. This a question that each of you must answer in your hear. Am I ready for a Relaunch?

Many of you who have followed me for years know how much I enjoy preaching but my real passion is helping churches and pastors become fruitful for the kingdom. I have a passion to serve and help.

In order to be successful leaders buy in to a new process is important. This is a hard assignment but not an impossible assignment with us working together as Nehemiah did when he lead the people to rebuild the wall.

Change is never easy. We must think WIN WIN.

When we have winners and losers as a means of doing business the church will suffer. When all win God will be glorified.

1. Ask yourself the Peter Drucker questions:
2. What is our mission?
3. Who is our customer?
4. What does our customer value?
5. What is our plan?
6. What are our results?
7. Examine and clarify what you offer. Your product is whatever you offer people, Thinking about this can change your perspective because what you offer changes over time. What I offered a few years ago – running a college – is different from what I offer today, which is life coaching and consultation.
8. Offer who you are. What’s better: A pastor who gives inspiring sermons or one who gives himself? Certainly, the greatest gift that one human being can give another is to offer themselves. It comes from focusing on who you are, not on what you do. Giving myself to my wife is very different from working harder at being a better husband. It’s all about emphasizing the inner realities over the external realities. In the end, who we are are spills over into what we do.
9. Recertify yourself each year. Change is always necessary. We cannot assume that just because something works today it will continue to work tomorrow. You must either evolve or stagnate. We must strive to stay ahead of the game. It is too late to recognize the need for a change afterward. After things are broken!
10. Commit to a personal development plan. We need to write down the future direction of the group or church.