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Not Enough Miracles
How long will you sit under the power of God and still not trust Him?
How many times do you have to see Him move until you will believe His Word and obey?
How many miracles does He have to do until you will fully surrender to His will?
See, there weren’t enough miracles to get the doubt and disbelief out of the Exodus generation.
1 Corinthians 10:1-5 Moreover, brethren, I do not want you to be unaware that all our fathers were under the cloud, all passed through the sea, 2 all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, 3 all ate the same spiritual food, 4 and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ. 5 But with most of them God was not well pleased, for their bodies were scattered in the wilderness.
Hebrews 4:1-2 Therefore, since a promise remains of entering His rest, let us fear lest any of you seem to have come short of it. 2 For indeed the gospel was preached to us as well as to them; but the word which they heard did not profit them,[a] not being mixed with faith in those who heard it.
This scripture goes on to talk of their lust, idolatry, fornication, they tempted Christ, murmured and complained- but ALL of these things stemmed from their lack of faith in God and His Word.
In short, they did not TRUST God. They didn’t take Him at His Word. They believed IN GOD, they just didn’t BELIEVE GOD.
THIS is that generation that saw the plagues be poured out upon Egypt.
This people saw the angel of death PASSOVER them.
God delivered them out of Egypt and NOT one among them was sick.
He opened the Red Sea in front of them and they passed through on dry ground.
They saw bitter waters made sweet.
They were fed with quails and manna.
They got water from a rock.
They were led by fire and a cloud.
They heard the audible voice of the Lord on the Mount, but requested only Moses to intercede for them
This is the same generation that saw the ground open up and Dathan, Korah and all those opposed to Moses were swallowed up by the earth
This is the generation who received the 10 commandments, printed on stone by the finger of God
They lived 40 years in the desert and their clothes and shoes never got old
AND YET STILL this was not enough for them to trust in and rely on the LORD.
How many times does God have to move in your life in order for you to believe Him?
HOW LONG will you continue to not trust the Lord?
Here are a few of the miracles HE has done in your life so far:
While you were in your sin, He died for you
He has forgiven you of all your sins and cast them as far as the east is from the west
He made you a new creation and washed you whiter than snow
He has given you the Holy Spirit in order to lead you and guide you into all truth and every good path
He has given you all power and authority over sin, sickness and the enemy
He has given you the power to overcome and be victorious over every single situation
He has given you beauty for ashes, a garment of praise for your heaviness
He’s given you a new heart, where He’s written His laws and commandments
How long until you will fully trust Him that His ways are right and good?
How many times does He have to deliver you in order to prove that He will deliver again?
How many miracles does He have to perform in your life until you will take Him at His Word?
We are exhorted to not have that same unbelief of the Exodus generation.
How many miracles do you have to see before you will finally trust Him?
1. You have to trust God’s plan.
AT NO TIME are your circumstances out of His control.
In Exodus 5,6 Moses is told by God to go before Pharaoh and tell him to let the Israelites go.
He is also told that Pharaoh will harden his heart and not let them go but rather he makes life more difficult for the Israelites.
Exodus 5:4-12 Then the king of Egypt said to them, “Moses and Aaron, why do you take the people from their work? Get back to your labor.” 5 And Pharaoh said, “Look, the people of the land are many now, and you make them rest from their labor!” 6 So the same day Pharaoh commanded the taskmasters of the people and their officers, saying, 7 “You shall no longer give the people straw to make brick as before. Let them go and gather straw for themselves. 8 And you shall lay on them the quota of bricks which they made before. You shall not reduce it. For they are idle; therefore they cry out, saying, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to our God.’ 9 Let more work be laid on the men, that they may labor in it, and let them not regard false words.”
No matter how much things seem to get worse- TRUST God’s plan.
At no time was the Israelites position out of God’s hands, even though it got worse and was fixin’ to get even worser.
At no time did God not know what He was doing.
At no time did He wring His hands in worry, “What am I going to do now? Pharaoh won’t let them go.”
HE KNEW THE WHOLE TIME WHAT HE WAS DOING.
HIS PLAN REMAINED IN TACT, regardless of the people’s circumstances.
Exodus 9:13-16
Are you looking at your circumstances, or are you looking to the Lord?
Sometimes things get worse before they get better, will you trust God’s plan?
2. Take God at His Word.
Exodus 9:18-21
Do you need to build your trust in God? Then take Him at His Word and obey.
James 1:23-25 AMP For if anyone only listens to the word [a]without obeying it, he is like a man who looks very carefully at his natural face in a mirror; 24 for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he immediately forgets [b]what he looked like. 25 But he who looks carefully into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and faithfully abides by it, not having become a [careless] listener who forgets but [c]an active doer [who obeys], he will be blessed and favored by God in what he does [in his life of obedience].
Faith without works is dead faith. FAITH requires OBEDIENCE.
Listen to the warning from the Exodus generation:
For indeed the gospel was preached to us as well as to them; but the word which they heard did not profit them,[a] not being mixed with faith in those who heard it.
Don’t get this confused, your WORK is do what God asks you to do and obey His Word.
You are called to do your work- do your work and don’t get upset with others who aren’t doing your work. We all have our own Isaac to lay on the altar.
BUT, we are called to obey God’s Word.
There is not a separate standard for each person- there is ONE STANDARD- THE WORD OF GOD
This is the standard that we are ALL held accountable to.
Ex: He doesn’t tell one person, “You can get a divorce because you are unhappy.”
and another, “You have to stay married, even though you are unhappy.”
THERE IS ONE STANDARD. The Word says you can only get a divorce in the case of infidelity or if a non-believing spouse wants to leave the marriage- otherwise WE ARE ALL CALLED TO STAY IN OUR MARRIAGE AND WORK IT OUT- ONE STANDARD. The Word of God.
He doesn’t say “You can get drunk” and to another, “you cannot get drunk”
THERE IS ONE STANDARD, “DO NOT GET DRUNK.”
He doesn’t say, “you can have sex with your girlfriend because you live together” and to another “you aren’t allowed to sleep with that person”
THERE IS ONE STANDARD, “DO NOT HAVE SEX OUTSIDE OF MARRIAGE”
Now, there are things that He will ask you to do that He may not ask of others- these are personal convictions. Meaning, God has asked you to do/ or not do something. They are for you and you alone- but you still must obey.
Take God at His Word!
Otherwise—-
The more you disobey the Word, the more your trust will be eroded
The more you listen to the lies of the enemy that contradict God’s Word, the more it will erode your trust.
And the more your trust in God is eroded, the further away from Him you will fall, or else you will begin to make up your own god, relying on your own ways and feelings.
3. Humble yourself before the Lord.
Exodus 10:1-3
How many miracles does it take? When will you stop trusting in your own ability?
Do you rely on yourself as your own provider?
Yes of course, “if a man doesn’t work, a man doesn’t eat”; However, you know if you are relying on yourself to provide OR if you are relying on God to provide.
This is HONEST mirror time folks.
Let me give you an example: my path for my career
Psalm 52:1-8
The Psalmist is contrasting those who trust in their strengths and put their trust and faith into their own ability to get wealth v. the man who remains in God’s presence and trusts the LORD to take care of him.
The key to trusting the Lord is to remain in His presence.
The very minute we get out of His presence, we will begin to rely on our own strength and want to take our own path.
When you fight with the Lord, you will feel convicted and this is a GOOD THING-
BUT, the longer you fight Him, the more you will separate yourself from His presence.
I HAVE SEEN MANY PEOPLE DO THIS
God will tell them- don’t go down that path
don’t take that job
don’t date that person
don’t move to that town
BUT, they do what they want to do, stop going to church, stop seeking the Lord, fall away from God,
end up in a pit, cry out to God, God lifts them up and restores them- BUT their life is in shambles
Pastor Kirby always says, “there are only 2 things can happen when you come under the power of God, you either change or leave.”
This is a daily battle- Mugi preached this a couple of weeks ago. FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT
4. Know who YOU are in Christ and KNOW His character.
Exodus 15:2
David said: “But as for me, I am like a green olive tree in the house of God;
I trust [confidently] in the lovingkindness of God forever and ever.”
KJV says, “mercy’ which translates Hebrew “hesed”, God’s loving kindness that keeps covenant
You have to find your identity in Christ alone as a child of God and that ALL His decisions for you are motivated by His loving kindness.
HE cares for you. EVEN when it hurts, and you are going through it, HE cares. It is in HIS hands.
He is a GOOD GOOD Father.
We have to be mature enough in our faith to realize that when we go through suffering and hardship, that HE STILL LOVES YOU. He loves you when you are obedient and HE loves you when you fall into sin.
He also disciplines those He loves.
Psalm 38:1-8, 15
Maturity in the faith comes through spending time in His presence and in His Word.
A mature Christian can withstand suffering and adversity and will endure through discipline and every storm because they KNOW the Father’s heart and so THEY TRUST what He is doing.
Can we please get past the childish fits of “You hate me!” and storm off.
My kids never said that to me, But I have heard and seen other kids do and say that.
They would be mad at me for disciplining them, but I always sat down and explained to them that I loved them and I was spanking, grounding, etc. because I love them and wanted what was best.