Author: missionspaul

What is out to bring you down today? Is it a diagnosis? Some discouragement? A threat of some kind.

The last verse of Exodus 1 heralds a dangerous threat if you were parents of a 3 month old boy. “Then Pharaoh gave this order to all his people: “Every Hebrew boy that is born you must throw into the Nile, but let every girl live.”

Here is our verse, “By faith Moses’ parents hid him for three months after he was born, because they saw he was no ordinary child, and they were not afraid of the king’s edict.” (Hebrews 11 v 23)

The Exodus 2 account shows us that the parents were naturally proud of their child, he was good looking. There isn’t any prophetic sign that they knew he would be the redeemer but the author in using ‘no ordinary child’ could be using a Jewish thought that they did.

They hid Moses for 3 months in defiance against this evil ethnic cleansing.

Pharaoh can never cull everything. There is always a broken reed that is not removed. There is always a smouldering wick not snuffed out. There is always a Moses. A survivor will always be found. You may be beaten up on the side of the road of life half-dead but definitely half alive too. You may think this is the worst time of your life but you do not realise that at this same time something new is emerging. In the death there is life. It looks perhaps like an end but there is a beginning.
And this is something very different to what was previously known. This is no ordinary moment. This has the potential to be one of the most inspirational moments of your life. This could even be the redeeming of what has been lost before. This will bring a time of knowing the voice of God more, perhaps of experiencing His presence in an unquestionable way and maybe this will take you on a whole new journey, a new chapter has begun.
Moses is hidden.
What you can do now is to take care of this moment. Don’t throw this moment away. Don’t ignore it and don’t boast of it either. Let it be hidden for a while for the moment will come and the world will see.
Moses is hidden.
For to us a child was born, Jesus. He was hidden. Not for 3 months but for many years. And He is here with you. Hidden in your life. It is never over. It may be hell and death may be all around but He is the resurrection. He is crafting a new chapter. Take care of your faith. Look after it. For from this faith impossibilities can come.

It is not only how you live your life but how you approach your death that marks you as a man or woman of faith.

“By faith Joseph, when his end was near, spoke about the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt and gave instructions concerning the burial of his bones.” (Hebrews 11 v 22)

Your greatest possession is God’s promise that He will do what He said He will do. This promise may have been given to your previous generation or it may have been given to you. But the promise of God doesn’t die when we die. It continues to its fulfilment.

Genesis 50:24 and 26 “Then Joseph said to his brothers, “I am about to die. But God will surely come to your aid and take you up out of this land to the land he promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.”  ²⁶ So Joseph died at the age of a hundred and ten. And after they embalmed him, he was placed in a coffin in Egypt.”

His dying words were: God will come to you and God will bring you to the land He has promised our forefathers.

This in 2024 is still our promise. God will visit you and God will bring you home.

He has done that. You have known His ‘aid’ throughout your life. He has been faithful to you. He has visited you by His Spirit and He will lead you home to heaven,

These are words of faith. Not only by Joseph but they are yours too.

This is what you pass to the next generation.

Joseph went further and made sure that when he died he would be a constant reminder that the following generations must also carry this covenantal promise. “…and gave instructions concerning the burial of his bones”.

They embalmed Joseph and placed him in an Egyptian coffin which they carried as they journeyed towards the Promised Land. He was a constant reminder that they could never settle until they arrived there. They had to get to the Land that was promised them for one thing they had to bury Joseph! It wasn’t until Joshua’s generation that he would be buried in Shechem.

Joseph’s faith spoke to the next generation. It was not only about his story but a continual one of which he was simply a custodian. It is true of us today.

You know you. If you were being perfectly honest then you wouldn’t have picked you. But He did. When it didn’t make sense and when the odds were stacked against you, He chose you!

And He did it right on time!

“By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of Joseph’s sons, and worshiped as he leaned on the top of his staff.” (Hebrews 11 v 21)

This is not the day to waste time wondering if, when, where or how God will, may or perhaps use us! Why?

1. God never fails to raise the next generation. After Abraham came Isaac. After Isaac comes Jacob. After Jacob comes Joseph. After Joseph comes Ephraim and Manasseh. He has raised you too. He called you even when you were young and you didn’t appreciate fully His calling. Why do you think He has walked with you, guided you and protected you? The answer is because you are next. You’re it. Live your life for God. Ask for much. Expect much. Do much.
2. God chooses from His criteria and not man’s. Incredibly Jacob takes his grandsons and treats them as his sons and firstborn sons at that, bypassing Reuben and Simeon. Joseph expected Manasseh to be blessed first ahead of Ephraim but Jacob chose Ephraim to be pre-eminent, special, the chosen one. And … God has chosen you also! It might not seem fair and it might not seem wise (as you look in the mirror of self-awareness). But it is His grace. So be thankful!
3. Whosever God raise and chooses He blesses. This is the point the author is making. Don’t give up. You belong to a historical line of people who didn’t deserve to be called but they were.

Do you know the experience of being part of a story that looks like human manipulation and deceitfulness have been more at play than the hand of God?

It seems so unfair doesn’t it? They have got away with it and no one is listening or seeing what is blatantly clear to you.

And so you trust God because there is nothing else you can do.

Many know Jacob’s name as ‘supplanter’, ‘deceiver’ or ‘holder of the heel’ because he twice deprived his brother, Esau, out of his rights as the firstborn son.

Such is the story that comes to our minds as we read the next verse in this great hall of faith.

“By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau in regard to their future.” (Hebrews 11 v 20)

In the ancient world there was nothing more powerful within a family than the parental blessing. They looked into the future and spoke words over their child. This brief sentence is in line with what the author is writing to the community of believers instructing them to look to what is ahead and not to jeopardise that by looking behind and returning to Judaism.

We all know with hindsight that the Messianic promised line had to continue through Jacob and not Esau. Despite Esau being stronger and had the right to claim the firstborn inheritance he was not God’s sovereign choice.

If our filter of life is what is fair then we are going to miss the story of God. But if our filter in life is on the roles we play in the ever-revealing plan of God then our focus is on His glory and pleasure not ours.

So if I am chosen to be blessed above the rest then realise it is not because I am better than the rest and if I am not then I don’t walk away or abandon the faith, I accept the glory of God and His purpose which is higher than anything or anyone. For God’s glory is higher than man’s deception.

Well … I have tried to do so throughout my life and it still is the constant prayer.

Abraham is known as the father of faith. He passed the test and God knew He feared Him.

How? It was this event, though very difficult for us to comprehend. At a time when many nations were involved in child sacrifice comes an unpalatable story of our own.

“By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had embraced the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son, ¹⁸ even though God had said to him, “It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.” ¹⁹ Abraham reasoned that God could even raise the dead, and so in a manner of speaking he did receive Isaac back from death.” (Hebrews 11 v 17-19)

Up to this point Abraham’s credentials to be the father of all nations was suspect.

A man more afraid than full of faith.

A man used to lying if needed rather than speaking the truth despite the consequences.

A man who couldn’t lead his own family very well.

A man who ‘Ishmaeled’ his Isaac taking things into his own hands instead of asking God.

Abraham had surely been tested and encouraging for us he failed quite a lot of the tests. Without the testing of faith what is left is only a feeling of faith, a wish, a desire to have. There is much of this faith around. But without testing there is a danger that this faith is little more than desire. How will the testing happen and what does it look like?

It is in what we will give up.

Will we let go of something precious to us?

Why is that important?

It is because it mirrors Him. God gave up His only Son for us.

Can we get to the place of saying, ‘not my will but yours be done’?

Sacrifice reveals the element of fantasy held within any faith story. Sacrifice keeps us selfless and makes sure that benefits from faith is not the motivation for faith. Sacrifice involves the now and what is precious to us now.

How could Abraham do what he did on Mount Moriah?

It was simply because there was no Abraham left. Who’s life was more important? Abraham’s, Isaac’s or God’s?

It is possible to build an image of God from within our own need and desires and not from the fact that He is far above; all omnipotent; an all powerful God tho desires that we totally surrender our lives to Him in love and worship.

Every one of us can pass the test if today we surrender once again and we give to God our all. It is sacrificial faith.

“All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth. ¹⁴ People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. ¹⁵ If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. ¹⁶ Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.” (Hebrews 11 v 13-16)

All these people includes Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Sarah, Isaac and Jacob and so many more. The author is calling this community of believers to look back on those who have gone before them who persevered, who had faith, who trusted in God and who are now in a better place. So how can you turn back? That is the message. “If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return.” So how can you now think about returning to Judaism?

This morning I am thinking of my friends and family members that have died. They were my heroes of the faith. The anniversary of the call ‘home’ is today for one of them.

When they died:

• v13- They were carrying the promises of God in their hearts. They had vision. So how much more should I also carry those promises and believe God for what is ahead? They trusted till death so I must also.
• v13-They were honest about their reality. They understood their present. This was not pie in the sky when they die. This was a conviction of their reality. They were agitators of their world. Provokers of people. They would not be moulded into something that wasn’t of God. They would not waste time on time-wasters. They did not fit in certain circles. So how much more should I simply trust God and not man?
• v14-They carried eternity in their hearts. They preached it. Their worldview was from an eternal lasting perspective. So how much more should I turn my eyes on Jesus and not on the things of this world?
• v15-They did not turn back because ahead was always better. So how much more should I stop thinking about what is behind me?

And finally and most importantly ….

• V16-That’s what happened when they died and they then met God who was not ashamed of them and led them into all that He had prepared for them in heaven, the eternal city of God. So how much more should I live my life knowing this will be my experience also?

When they died they began to live.

There’s an incredible poster of Taylor Knox, a surfer, in front of a huge wave (over fifty feet high!) at Todos Santos, Mexico. Underneath are the words, “What if your fears and dreams existed in the same place?”

“And by faith even Sarah, who was past childbearing age, was enabled to bear children because she considered him faithful who had made the promise. ¹² And so from this one man, and he as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore.” (Hebrews 11 v 11-12)

Abraham and Sarah lived in a tent. God’s promise was that she would have more children than anyone else, she would in fact birth a nation.

The little place in the corner of their tent was not going to be big enough. She would need to enlarge it greatly if it is to have room for all their descendants.

Pain is not bigger than purpose.

The enemy’s best plot against you is not bigger than God’s purpose for you.

Whatever you may be going through today could be described as a desert, a trial and it can even be past being possible.

But the truth is the truth even when you have reached your very end.

God has purposed for your life even when the circumstance doesn’t get better it gets worse.

God is near you even when the enemy seems large around you.

There is more!

Abraham had to convince Sarah that there was more but they had to move on this more.

There is more. Your experience of Jesus in the past, no matter how amazing, is just a part of what can be fully experienced. There is more. God hasn’t finished with you yet. 

Remember Exodus 15: 27 “Then they came to Elim, where there were twelve springs and seventy palm trees, and they camped there near the water.” We have a tendency to camp, to settle but there is more if we move! The numbers 12 and 70 indicate that this is indeed the perfect place but it was not their final destination. The supernatural provision of food happened only after Elim. So at Elim they were eating what they had brought out of Egypt. There was a diminishing supply of food. Yesterday’s provision was becoming mouldy. But as they moved the miracle came. Will you do it again Lord? There is more when you move.

Rob Parsons in his book “Let me tell you story” tells of a trip to the Middle East. “I spent a few minutes watching a camel owner offering rides to tourists. Giggling teenagers bounced along; ageing bodies held grimly on to the reins and to the delight of the watching crowd, one super cool thirty-something went flying over the beast’s head. But my main memory is that of a small boy. He could have been no more than 5 years old. A little earlier, his father had led him and his older sister over to see the camel at close quarters. The animal towered above them, occasionally showing teeth that made the wolf in Red Roding Hood look positively grumpy. The worldly-wise sibling, who was all of ten, had confidently stroked the camel, while her brother poked a hand out nervously towards it from his father’s back.

Now it was the big moment and he and his sister had the chance to ride the camel. The boy watched wide-eyed as his sister was lifted onto its back. As she began her short journey, he ran out from behind his father and waved at his sister laughing loudly. He was totally captivated, enjoying every moment, but then, as the camel turned to come back, I could see his small face change as an awful reality dawned on him; it was his turn next.

He ran straight back behind his father and no amount of cajoling from either the father or camel owner could get him anywhere near the animal. Finally, the dad gave up, paid for his daughter’s ride, took both children’s hands and started off down the street. And it was when they had gone ten metres that I saw something that moved me greatly; the small boy stopped, turned, looked wistfully back at the camel and then continued down the road. That look conveyed what he couldn’t say: “I desperately want to try … but I just can’t.”

I have seen that look so often in the eyes of not children, but adults. I have sometimes felt it in my own spirit. It is a look that glazes at an opportunity, that caresses a dream, that imagines a relationship, but is paralysed by fear.

One final thought, see the words, ‘And by faith even Sarah…’?

You may have failed, Sarah did. You may have laughed with cynicism, Sarah did. The point is you might not have trusted from the start but you can begin today! Fears and dreams sometimes exist in the same place.

It’s not that he was bored, impatient or dissatisfied and wanting to do something else. It is that he knew there was more. It had started with a vision and then a dream (Genesis 15). He encountered God and experienced something others hadn’t. He had a restless soul that had seen beyond the reality of the world around him. He did what we are called to do. To trust beyond the pain. When the reality doesn’t change still hold to the promise.

^“By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. ¹⁰ For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God.” (Hebrews 11v 9-10)

Abraham lived in tents, he didn’t settle down.

We can become content with what we have and how far we have come.

The call of the Spirit is to move.

Abraham lived 2,000 years before Christ and we live 2,000 years after Christ. Yet Abraham saw past us to see the same thing that John saw in Revelation 21 – a city coming down from heaven to earth – a God ordained world.

He was content to live in tents, a sign that he was looking for God’s fulfilment. He was believing for it to happen in his lifetime.

Faith seizes on a revealed event in the future and lives in anticipation of it.

There is always more of God. The Holy Spirit pioneers with us to receive more of God on our way towards the heavenly home.

Only in heaven will we be able to say we’ve arrived. Until then keep pioneering and we keep trusting.

Trusting in God doesn’t mean you know all the details. It is this:

“What are you going to do?”

            “I don’t know, but God has me.”

You may not know what tomorrow will bring but you are content to move forward into it knowing He who has the details will show you when it is needed.

“By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going.” (Hebrews 11 v 8)

A simple verse but behind it (Genesis 11-12) is a man who had been experiencing grief. His brother, Haran had died in the family homeland of Ur. Sarai his wife was unable to conceive. The whole family had begun a journey to a better place to live but having arrived in Harran they settle there and do not move on and here his father, Terah, dies.

Grief and disappointment can be the catalysts to move but also to be not capable of moving anymore. How many times do we sadly hear a family say after an inquest to some reporter, ‘we request you leave us alone so we can move on’ or who are battling for justice after decades saying, ‘we haven’t been able to move on’.

Terah died neither in the place of his origin nor in the place of his dreams. He had let go but had not took hold. Many leave but some never arrive.

Strangely and sadly for him Terah passes through the place of his son’s name, Haran, the son who died. He cannot get past that place. He cannot move on. He had said goodbye to his son before and now he is stuck and cannot move away again. His grief and loss capture him and he dies there in Harran.

It is an incredible sad story all too prevalent today.

We must continue to do all we can to move on from hurt and loss.

It’s not how you start that is important as much as did you get to where you started out for? Was Harran worth it?
Harran proves you did move, you did set out.
Harran is along the way to where you are meant to be.
Harran has many qualities.
Haran satisfies enough to tempt you to remain in it.
But on your deathbed you will look into the eyes of your children and they will know whether you made it or whether you settled.
God still sends. So wherever you are today are you feeling the sending God behind you? Are you moving purposefully? Are you heading in the right direction? Are you still on mission?

Maybe you have failed to truly set out. Like Abraham for all kinds of reasons, family or otherwise, you settled. You obeyed but it was a halfway obedience. Looking back you see you didn’t obey fully. However, today, many things may have changed but you can still do what Abraham did, you can obey now, you can say YES to God now and give Him all of your life. You can trust in God. Even if you don’t know all the details you will not let your grief and loss hold you back any longer. This can be a new day of faith.

He did it not because he saw the need to do it.

He did it despite the ridicule of man.

He did it because God said to do it.

The ark.

“By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family. By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that is in keeping with faith.” (Hebrews 11 v 7)

Noah built what he had never seen and waited for something to happen that had never happened before.

– Sometimes the new has to be uncharted territory.
– Waiting is part of the journey.
– Just because it hasn’t doesn’t mean it won’t.

The name means ‘rest’ and his father named him so in Genesis 5: 27 prophesying that, “He will comfort us in the labour and painful toil of our hands caused by the ground the Lord has cursed.”

This is what the world was like: Genesis 6: 3, 5 “I can’t do this anymore, this has become too much.” What He actually said was, “My Spirit will not contend with humans forever, for they are mortal; their days will be a hundred and twenty years.” ⁵ The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time.”

This was a reset moment through Noah.

His trust in God ‘condemned the world’ no doubt referring to the direct opposite response to his faith, the scepticism and mockery of the world around him.

The ark was the symbol of the Saviour. Today we can hear the same words God said to Noah in Genesis 7:1 “Go into the ark”

Today GO into the safety of the relationship with the Saviour.

Let God shut you into His presence and the experience of Jesus.

When the floods come you will rise above the storm.

Everything around you may die, but you will live.

Everything may pass away but you will remain.

The landscape may change forever, but you will be constant.

And what will happen?

“But God remembered Noah” Genesis 8:1

After 150 days of the waters flooding the whole earth.

After 150 days of no change to outside circumstances.

150 days of trust.

150 days of silence from God.

150 days of not being in control.

We all go through such seasons of the soul.

BUT GOD will remember you and act for you. He will send a wind to push back that which is trying to take over your life. And the 2 words that will become all important you will carry for the rest of your life ….

BUT GOD! And these 2 words form the reason why we trust in God!