A Day Like any Other Day Can Change the Rest of Your Life
It was on a day like any other day that God said to Abram,
“Leave your country, your people and your father’s household and go to the land I will show you.”
Genesis 12:1
It was on a day like any other day that God prophesied over Abram,
“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. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”
Genesis 12:2 & 3
- A day like any other day became a day unlike any other day because Abram had an encounter with the living God!
- It was on a day like any other day that God spoke and Abram obeyed!
A day like any other day for Abram became a day unlike any other day and changed the course of history – because he heard the voice of the Lord, he trusted Him and he obeyed. A day like any other day can change the rest of your life!
Learning to Know God’s Voice
Abram knew the voice of the Lord. He knew it well enough to step out and boldly obey! Do you recognize God’s voice when He speaks to you? Do you know it well enough to be confident to step out and obey? Jesus said,
“But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice; and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. And when he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them; and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. Yet they will by no means follow a stranger, but will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.”
John 10:2 – 5
“My sheep listen to My voice; I know them, and they follow Me.”
John 10:27
- In this world there are many voices.
- It is vital we learn to discern the voice of the Lord.
- The voice we listen to determines who we will follow.
- The voice we listen to determines our future.
Again, Jesus warned His disciples concerning the anti-Christ spirit, saying,
“Watch out that no one deceives you. For many will come in My name, claiming, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many.”
Matthew 24: 4 & 5
“Watch out that you are not deceived. For many will come in My name, claiming, ‘I am he,’ and, ‘The time is near.’ do not follow them.”
Luke 21: 8
God’s voice will always agree with what is written in His word in the Bible. Knowing God’s voice, and knowing what is written in the word of God for ourselves, gives us the confidence to step out and obey Him.
- Know for yourself what is written in God’s word.
- Do not rely on others to tell you.
- Learn to discern the voice of the Lord.
- When you hear God’s voice – step out and obey Him!
Having Rest in God’s Presence
Moses was a leader chosen by God because he had found favour with Him. Though Moses knew that God was pleased with him, he also knew that he would be unable to successfully lead the Israelites alone. Therefore, he earnestly asked God to teach him His ways – so that he would know Him and so that he would continue to walk in His favour.
“Moses said to the Lord, ‘You have been telling me, ‘Lead these people,’ but You have not let me know whom You will send with me. You have said, ‘I know you by name and you have found favour with Me.’ If You are pleased with me, Teach me Your ways so I may know You and continue to find favour with You. Remember that this nation is Your people.”
Exodus 33:12 & 13
God’s reply to Moses, was that His presence would go with him, and that it would be in His presence that Moses would find rest.
“The Lord replied, ‘My presence will go with you, and I will give you Rest.’”
Exodus 33:14
It is in living and walking in God’s presence daily, that we learn to hear from Him and walk in His ways. Take time to set all other distractions aside and take time to commune with Him. When we have heard from God and are learning from Him, only then can we successfully lead others.
- When we enter God’s presence we enter God’s rest.
- In God’s presence we know what it is to be accepted.
- In God’s presence we know what it is to be loved.
- When we enter God’s presence we are taught of His ways.
- It is out of God’s presence that His abundance flows!
The Dangers of a Hardened Heart
The Israelites were God’s people. He loved them and He gave them Moses as a great leader, to lead them out of Egypt and out of captivity. Yet in times of testing in the desert, they were rebellious. Though they were God’s chosen people, they did not consistently walk in His ways. They were a people whose hearts were always going astray. Quoting from Psalm 95, the writer of Hebrews says,
‘Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion, during the time of testing in the desert, where your fathers tested and tried Me and for forty years saw what I did. That is why I was angry with that generation, and I said, ‘their hearts are always going astray, and they have not known My ways. ’So I declared on oath in My anger, “they shall never enter My rest.”
Hebrews 3:7-11
The Israelites were and still are, a people deeply loved by God. In the desert, they were gently shepherded, watered, fed, loved and cared for by Him. Yet in their hearts they often wandered and began looking to other things. They did not intimately know Him and they did not walk in His ways.
- A hardened heart toward God causes us to go astray.
- A hardened heart toward God causes us to look to other things.
- A hardened heart toward God stops us from intimately knowing Him.
- A hardened heart toward God means we will not know His ways.
“See to it, brothers and sisters, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the Living God.”
Hebrews 3:7 – 12
It is unbelief within the heart of man that causes him to harden his heart, to turn away from the living God and to look to other things. But it is in trusting God and what He says to us; and in keeping our hearts open and obedient to Him, that we are then able to enter His rest and experience intimacy with Him.
“This is what the Sovereign LORD, the Holy One of Israel, says: ‘In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength.'”
Isaiah 30:15
“Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.”
Proverbs 3:5 & 6
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