Securely Walking Forward

 
Securely Walking Forward Into a Vast & Hazardous Unknown A New Year - 2013 By Pastor Dan Kennedy © December 30, 2012 www.pastorkennedy.com What is going to happen to you this coming year? We do not know the good and blessing, and we do not know the hazardous and bad! What is going to happen to the looming potential “fiscal cliff” in our nation? What is going to happen to the crisis in the world: to Syria, to Egypt, to Iran, to North Korea, Libya, Venezuela, the Central Africa Republic (the US just evacuated our embassy in the CAR), and to Israel, etc., etc.? What is going to happen to the adverse weather and geological conditions in our country and the world: to the earthquakes, the storms, the hurricanes, the tornadoes, the floods, and to the fires, etc., etc. The national drought U.S. Drought: Third Highest Severe to Extreme Percentage on Record http://www.weather.com/news/drought/drought-coverage-rising-20121227 We have no certain knowledge what may happen to our spouses, our families…to our children and their families. You and I could lose any or all of our most valued assets this coming year. You and I could lose our life this coming year! How do we securely walk forward into the uncertainty of an unknown and potentially hazardous future? 1. We cannot give in to immobilizing fear, which freezes our motivation and erodes our hope. “The lion in the street” mentality. Proverbs 22:13 13  The sluggard says, “There is a lion outside! I shall be killed in the streets!” 2. If we want to walk forward in an uncertain world, we must be those who cast our hope on God alone: for Refuge, for Blessing, for Protection and for Peace. By faith we walk into the unknowns of this New Year…with confidence in God alone. By faith we worship God and submit to the work of Christ in our daily life. By faith we want (we choose) to honor God rather than merely living for ourselves. By faith we watch longingly for Christ’s Coming and for a city which has foundations, whose Architect and Builder is God By faith we walk into the unknowns of this New Year…with confidence in God alone. o Abraham Believed God in the face of an Impossible and Hazardous walk of faith God’s Covenant With Abram Genesis 15:1–7 15 After this, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward.” 2 But Abram said, “O Sovereign Lord, what can you give me since I remain childless and the one who will inherit my estate is Eliezer of Damascus?” 3 And Abram said, “You have given me no children; so a servant in my household will be my heir.” 4 Then the word of the Lord came to him: “This man will not be your heir, but a son coming from your own body will be your heir.” 5 He took him outside and said, “Look up at the heavens and count the stars—if indeed you can count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” 6 Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness. 7 He also said to him, “I am the Lord, who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to take possession of it.” Galatians 3:6–7 6 just as Abraham “believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”? 7 Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham. o Ruth came to Believe in God’s Refuge through the faith of her mother-in-law Boaz Identifies the Foundation of Ruth’s Hope and Refuge in her hazardous walk of faith Ruth 2:1–12, see vs. 12 2 Now Naomi had a relative on her husband’s side, from the clan of Elimelech, a man of standing, whose name was Boaz. 2 And Ruth the Moabitess said to Naomi, “Let me go to the fields and pick up the leftover grain behind anyone in whose eyes I find favor.” Naomi said to her, “Go ahead, my daughter.” 3 So she went out and began to glean in the fields behind the harvesters. As it turned out, she found herself working in a field belonging to Boaz, who was from the clan of Elimelech. 4 Just then Boaz arrived from Bethlehem and greeted the harvesters, “The Lord be with you!” “The Lord bless you!” they called back. 5 Boaz asked the foreman of his harvesters, “Whose young woman is that?” 6 The foreman replied, “She is the Moabitess who came back from Moab with Naomi. 7 She said, ‘Please let me glean and gather among the sheaves behind the harvesters.’ She went into the field and has worked steadily from morning till now, except for a short rest in the shelter.” 8 So Boaz said to Ruth, “My daughter, listen to me. Don’t go and glean in another field and don’t go away from here. Stay here with my servant girls. 9 Watch the field where the men are harvesting, and follow along after the girls. I have told the men not to touch you. And whenever you are thirsty, go and get a drink from the water jars the men have filled.” 10 At this, she bowed down with her face to the ground. She exclaimed, “Why have I found such favor in your eyes that you notice me—a foreigner?” 11 Boaz replied, “I’ve been told all about what you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband—how you left your father and mother and your homeland and came to live with a people you did not know before. 12 May the Lord repay you for what you have done. May you be richly rewarded by the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge.” o David believed God in the Face of Extreme Adversity • Time and again David reveals that his trust is in the Lord…that he has made God, his Refuge: o 2 Samuel 22:3 3…my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation. He is my stronghold, my refuge and my savior— from violent men you save me. o Psalm 18:2 2 The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge. He is my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. o Psalm 62:8 8 Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your hearts to him, for God is our refuge. Selah • Dealing with The unknown and random Slaughter of the Innocents We have just experienced a horrible slaughter of the innocents in Newtown, CT. A slaughter like this is not isolated to any one nation, people or community – we have seen this violence enacted randomly over the years in our country and over the centuries around the world. It comes from a heart that is corrupted and given over to evil, perversion and spiritual darkness. The corruption of our deceptive heart is multiplied to do horrific acts when we do not make God our stronghold, but trust in our own intellect, our own wealth, and our own manipulation of power. Psalm 52:7. In the following Scripture (1 Sam. 22) we see a terrible slaughter from the corrupted jealousy of Saul, and his manipulation of Doeg the Edomite, who slaughtered the innocents under Saul’s command. (note: Gen. 36:9, reveals to us that Esau was the father of the Edomites.) The Slaughter of the Innocents 1 Samuel 22:6–23 6 Now Saul heard that David and his men had been discovered. And Saul, spear in hand, was seated under the tamarisk tree on the hill at Gibeah, with all his officials standing around him. 7 Saul said to them, “Listen, men of Benjamin! Will the son of Jesse give all of you fields and vineyards? Will he make all of you commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds? 8 Is that why you have all conspired against me? No one tells me when my son makes a covenant with the son of Jesse. None of you is concerned about me or tells me that my son has incited my servant to lie in wait for me, as he does today.” 9 But Doeg the Edomite, who was standing with Saul’s officials, said, “I saw the son of Jesse come to Ahimelech son of Ahitub at Nob. 10 Ahimelech inquired of the Lord for him; he also gave him provisions and the sword of Goliath the Philistine.” 11 Then the king sent for the priest Ahimelech son of Ahitub and his father’s whole family, who were the priests at Nob, and they all came to the king. 12 Saul said, “Listen now, son of Ahitub.” “Yes, my lord,” he answered. 13 Saul said to him, “Why have you conspired against me, you and the son of Jesse, giving him bread and a sword and inquiring of God for him, so that he has rebelled against me and lies in wait for me, as he does today?” 14 Ahimelech answered the king, “Who of all your servants is as loyal as David, the king’s son-in-law, captain of your bodyguard and highly respected in your household? 15 Was that day the first time I inquired of God for him? Of course not! Let not the king accuse your servant or any of his father’s family, for your servant knows nothing at all about this whole affair.” 16 But the king said, “You will surely die, Ahimelech, you and your father’s whole family.” 17 Then the king ordered the guards at his side: “Turn and kill the priests of the Lord, because they too have sided with David. They knew he was fleeing, yet they did not tell me.” But the king’s officials were not willing to raise a hand to strike the priests of the Lord. 18 The king then ordered Doeg, “You turn and strike down the priests.” So Doeg the Edomite turned and struck them down. That day he killed eighty-five men who wore the linen ephod. 19 He also put to the sword Nob, the town of the priests, with its men and women, its children and infants, and its cattle, donkeys and sheep. 20 But Abiathar, a son of Ahimelech son of Ahitub, escaped and fled to join David. 21 He told David that Saul had killed the priests of the Lord. 22 Then David said to Abiathar: “That day, when Doeg the Edomite was there, I knew he would be sure to tell Saul. I am responsible for the death of your father’s whole family. 23 Stay with me; don’t be afraid; the man who is seeking your life is seeking mine also. You will be safe with me.” David wrote psalm 52 in great sorrow over this slaughter of the innocents, both adults, children – and even livestock – a whole town of the priests and their families, and animals, rising from Saul’s jealous hatred of him. Psalm 52 For the director of music. A maskil of David. When Doeg the Edomite had gone to Saul and told him: “David has gone to the house of Ahimelech.” 1 Why do you boast of evil, you mighty man? Why do you boast all day long, you who are a disgrace in the eyes of God? 2 Your tongue plots destruction; it is like a sharpened razor, you who practice deceit. 3 You love evil rather than good, falsehood rather than speaking the truth. Selah 4 You love every harmful word, O you deceitful tongue! 5 Surely God will bring you down to everlasting ruin: He will snatch you up and tear you from your tent; he will uproot you from the land of the living. Selah 6 The righteous will see and fear; they will laugh at him, saying, 7 “Here now is the man who did not make God his stronghold but trusted in his great wealth and grew strong by destroying others!” 8 But I am like an olive tree flourishing in the house of God; I trust in God’s unfailing love for ever and ever. 9 I will praise you forever for what you have done; in your name I will hope, for your name is good. I will praise you in the presence of your saints. The hazardous unknown can always be a dimension, even when we are doing what is right, and it always carries with it the possible confrontation with the horrible corruption of the wicked heart. We not only walk by faith into the unknown… we must continue to be those who cast their hope on God alone: for Refuge, for Blessing, for Protection and for Peace. By Faith we worship God and submit to the work of Christ in our daily life. James 4:6–10 6 … “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” 7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded…. 10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you. By Faith we want (we choose) to honor God rather than merely living for ourselves. • Daily dying to ourselves o The world o The flesh o The devil • Daily dying to that which may painfully attack our life: o Memories, o Flashbacks, o Pain and Sorrow • Daily living unto God By Faith we watch longingly for Christ’s Coming and for a city which has foundations, whose Architect and Builder is God Luke 12:34–40 34 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. You Must Be Ready 35 “Stay dressed for action and keep your lamps burning, 36 and be like men who are waiting for their master to come home from the wedding feast, so that they may open the door to him at once when he comes and knocks. 37 Blessed are those servants whom the master finds awake when he comes. Truly, I say to you, he will dress himself for service and have them recline at table, and he will come and serve them. 38 If he comes in the second watch, or in the third, and finds them awake, blessed are those servants! 39 But know this, that if the master of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have left his house to be broken into. 40 You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.” The Coming of the Son of Man Luke 21:25–28 25 “And there will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and on the earth distress of nations in perplexity because of the roaring of the sea and the waves, 26 people fainting with fear and with foreboding of what is coming on the world. For the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 27 And then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. 28 Now when these things begin to take place, straighten up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.” Hebrews 11:8–10 8 By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. 9 By faith he went to live in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise. 10 For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God. Conclusion If we want to walk forward in an uncertain world, we must be those who cast our hope on God alone: for Refuge, for Blessing, for Protection and for Peace. By faith we walk into the unknowns of this New Year…with confidence in God alone. By faith we worship God and submit to the work of Christ in our daily life. By faith we want (we choose) to honor God rather than merely living for ourselves. By faith we watch longingly for Christ’s Coming and for a city which has foundations, whose Architect and Builder is God http://www.pastorkennedy.comhttp://www.weather.com/news/droughthttp://www.weather.com/news/drought/drought-coverage-rising-20121227shapeimage_1_link_0shapeimage_1_link_1shapeimage_1_link_2