FROM HERE TO THERE: Wavem' Like You Just Don't Care

Welcome to the Celebration Church Orlando podcast.

We are so glad you joined us, and we hope you are encouraged by today's message.

All right, celebration church.

How you guys doing this morning?

You guys doing good?

We gotta be doing better than that.

You guys doing good?

I love it.

I love it.

I love it, man.

I'm so excited to be with you guys uh today.

Every Sunday I'm always anticipating what God's gonna do, but but if I could be honest with you, I I couldn't sleep at all last night.

Like I was just so stirred because of the series we're about to go into, and truly what I believe um God is gonna be speaking to us um this Sunday, but also over the next uh couple of Sundays is something I'm I'm really, really excited about.

Um if you're new here, I want to welcome you and thank you so much for coming to worship with us today.

We're so so glad that that you're here.

Um, but we're gonna jump right into this series.

We're gonna jump right into this message because I really feel like God wants to encourage some people today.

As I mentioned, we're gonna we're gonna jump into this series that really is largely around the life of of Abraham.

Abraham, Abram, um he he's he's a he's a mountainous figure in in scripture and is someone that that we see that there's only 13 chapters dedicated to his life, but yet his life is found throughout the entirety of the Bible.

So, what is it that I often wonder, what is it about Abraham that made him such a significant man of God?

Like what was it that he did?

Did he did he do a lot of miracles?

Honestly, he didn't.

What Abraham is known for is his being a man of faith.

That was it.

That he he didn't perform a whole bunch of miracles, he just simply trusted God.

Now, in order for us to understand what that means, I think we have to pause for a second to really get a a clear understanding of what does it mean to be a person of faith.

I love the way that Hebrews chapter 11, verse 1 puts it.

Hebrews 11:1

It says, Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, but the evidence of things not seen.

Faith, it has substance.

It's not this blind thing that we just we just we just randomly shoot out to try to do, but it does have some substance to it, but but we may not always see the manifestation of it.

This is my own personal interpretation of faith.

I I call it this way I am trusting even when I can't see it, but you can see it when I am trusting.

You you can't you can't you can't always see it when I'm in the pri what I'm trusting for, but there should always be something that in me that you can see that I'm trusting God, even though I don't see it.

And this is what this is what Abram's life was marked with.

I I love in Genesis chapter 12, and this is gonna kind of be like our foundational text that we're gonna look at over the next couple of weeks.

Genesis 12 · chapter mention

In Genesis chapter 12, it's what we refer to as the call of Abraham.

Genesis 12 · chapter mention

It's when Abraham was was was called out from where he was, the life that he was living, and to being this man that will have such significant impact in the scriptures and even in our own lives.

And this is what the Bible says it beginning at verse 1, it says, Now the Lord said to Abram, Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show.

Go and I will show.

He he didn't tell him where he was going, he didn't tell him what to expect when he went.

He just said, If you go, then I will show.

And this is what the promise was and I will make you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.

He said, Everything I'm gonna do in you and through you is so that you can do it for other people.

And he says, I will bless those that bless you, and him who dishonors you, I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.

So no verse number four.

So Abram went as the Lord had told him, and Lot went with him, and Abram was 75 years old when he departed from Haran.

We're we're seeing this text that we're gonna be looking at over the next couple of weeks is that Abram was living in a in a paganistic environment.

He he had dealt with some hardships, but now God is calling him out to do something unique, and it required him to trust God, even when he didn't see the evidence of it.

As we skip over a couple of a couple of chapters, looking at Genesis chapter 15, which is the area of text that we're gonna spend some time with today, we have this moment where where God is in essence beginning to establish this covenant, and I'll explain what that is in just a few moments.

Genesis 15 · chapter mention

But here's what it says in Genesis chapter 15, looking at verses 1 through 11.

Genesis 15 · chapter mention

It says this after these things, the word of the Lord came to Abram in the vision.

Fear not, Abram, I am your shield, and your reward shall be very great.

But Abram said, Oh Lord God, what what will you give me?

For I continue childless in the heir of my house, Eliezer of Damascus.

And Abram said, Behold, you have given me no offspring, and the member of my household will be my heir.

And behold, the word of the Lord came to him, This man shall not be your heir.

Your very own son shall be your heir.

And he brought him outside and he said, Look toward heaven and number the stars.

And if you are able to number them, then he said to him, So shall your offspring be.

Here's verse number six is probably one of the most powerful passages scriptures in the Old Testament.

It's almost like the John 3:16 of the Old Testament.

John 3:16

And he believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness.

Just because he believed him, God said that was good enough.

Let's look at verse number seven.

He says this, and he said to him, I am the Lord who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land that you will possess.

And he said to him, Oh Lord, how am I to know that I am to possess it?

And he said to him, Bring me a heifer, three years old, a female goat, three years old, a ram three years old, a turtle dove, and young pigeon.

And he brought all these things to him, and he cut them in half, and he laid each half against the other.

But he did not cut the birds in half.

And then the birds of prey came down on the carcasses, and Abram drove them away.

Today I I want to pause there as we explore this journey with Abraham.

I want I want to pause here for just a moment because I think that what God is setting us up to see, He's allowing us to see the journey of faith.

What we want to do in this series over the next couple of weeks is show you that that there's always a I'm here, but God is leading me there.

And what are the things that I need to take with me in order for me to go from here to there?

This is just an opening passage, and this is just the opening of this series.

But as we're on this journey, I believe we're gonna identify three critical things that we need to go from here to there.

Today we're gonna look at one of those.

You gotta come back all three weeks to get the other two.

That's what we call it.

I'm I'm leaving it out there for you, but but I believe that these are things that are gonna be super encouraged.

And I want you to write this message title down and and and come back and look at these notes later on, but but this message title is simply this wave them like you just don't care.

And wave them like a you and when you tell your friends what the message title is, you gotta say it with a little attitude and wave them like you just don't care.

Let's pray.

Lord, we thank you so much for your word.

We thank you for what you're doing in this place today.

Father, it's our prayer, God, that we that we hear from you, God, that we have an encounter with you.

So over the next few moments, Lord, we pray for open ears that we can hear your truth.

We pray for open eyes that we can see you, God, and we pray for open hearts that we can receive what it is that you want to speak to us.

Father, we pray and declare all of this in Jesus' name.

Amen.

Amen.

You know, when I when I look at the life of Abraham, there's a couple of things that that stand out to me.

And in the beginning process of knowing his background, knowing that he came from a paganistic environment, knowing that his father and the life that he lived, I realize that Abram didn't all necessarily have all the best ingredients, but but there's this moment where Abram begins to trust God and he begins to experience a little bit of opposition.

I'm sure some of us in here can relate to the idea of that that that moment of when you set out to do something, it seems like everything to stop you from doing it automatically emerges out of nowhere.

It could be the day like, hey, I want to I want to get to work a little bit earlier just so I can get there before my coworkers there, but then that time you decide to do it, you hit every red light known to man.

It seems like every decision you make, you meet opposition to counteract the decision that you just make.

And and sometimes it could be something as small as trying to get to work.

Sometimes it could be something like, hey, I'm gonna be the bigger person and not argue only for that person to act even smaller, to tempt you even more.

Or we all know those moments when we're just trying to make a good impression, but it seems like every obstacle presents itself to you.

Let me let me let me walk you into uh a mile in my shoes.

Just a couple of months ago, I was uh given an opportunity to take our senior pastor, Pastor Stovall and Pastor Kerry, out to dinner.

My wife and I were so excited about this opportunity to take them out to dinner.

We're up in DC.

And so if you know anything about me, I wanted to make a good impression.

I went out and I got my car nice and clean, so fresh and so clean, because that's just the way, that's just the way that I roll.

Got the car nice and detailed, and I pull up, I pick them up, and and the car smelling all nice and fresh, got the appropriate um playlist plan, everything is good, it's a vibe.

And we're all riding through the streets of DC.

I got my lean on a little bit, you know what I mean, and everything is good.

We're talking, everything is good.

We pull up at the restaurant, I drop them off at the front door, I'm like, hey, you guys go ahead in, I'm gonna go find a parking spot, I'll be right back, man.

It's gonna be great.

We go in into the restaurant, everything is really, really good.

I come outside and I'm like, hey, you guys stay right here, I'm gonna go get the car, pull it up, you guys don't gotta worry about nothing.

You know what I mean?

I I I give you, I'll give you full service.

I walk around the corner to go and retrieve my car, and when I walk up, when I when I walk up to my car, I almost don't even recognize it.

My my car, which is black, was so white, I thought it got vandalized with paint.

I get a little bit closer only to discover that it was bird poop.

Now, when I say bird poop, I know what you guys are thinking, like, okay, yeah, you got bird poop on your windshield, get over it.

No.

Let me explain.

It's almost as if every single bird in Washington, DC ate something that didn't agree with their stomach, and my car was the porta potty.

It it it was it was so, it was so much, the cup runneth over, if you know what I'm saying.

Like it was, it was it was a lot.

And I remember walking up to my car and thinking that either my car got vandalized with paint or someone just had a bunch of milkshakes and didn't want them anymore and dumped them out of my car.

Like, that's how extreme it was.

And as I'm walking up to the car, there's not even a clear spot for me to open a handle up for the door.

So I'm looking around, like, what am I, what am I gonna use my shirt?

Like, it was it was dripping.

And it was, it was so it was so uncomfortable.

And so if you know anything about like, and there's there's nothing I could do, I I pull up, I've I managed to find like a little piece of paper to open the car up, close the door.

Now I'm like, okay, well, let me at least try to like get the windshield clear.

Didn't have enough windshield wiper fluid, so now it's like that weird space in between where there's like the white smears all over there, you can't see it.

There's nothing I could do about it.

And so I pull around.

My vibe was killed, y'all.

I pull around up to our senior pastors, and if you know anything about Pastor Stovol, like he his filter is like, he's like, oh my gosh, what like what is that?

I mean, and he's just like making it worse and worse and worse, and and and the whole time I just feel like shrinking back.

I mean, the the very impression that I was looking to make, it was as if I parked at the exact spot that everybody in DC knows that's the one parking spot you don't park in.

And I thought it was too good to be true, but I parked there and my car got flooded as a result of it.

I was I was so embarrassed.

I was literally, it was about midnight, I was trying to find car washers that were still open.

When I went to car wash the next day, I was so embarrassed.

Like the car wash guys like Paul, they had to like, it was like a case study on how they could get all the all the mess out of the grill and stuff.

They're like, man, like what happened?

I'm like, like, don't judge me, bro.

Like, I'm just I'm just doing my best to walk with God.

Here, here's my point.

Here, here, here's my point.

That is as as extreme as that is, how often does it feel that when we set out to do something for God, that that same mess seems to find us?

And we and we and we can't understand where it's coming from.

Like, everything that I decided I wanted to do, I'm I'm I'm somehow meeting the opposite.

I love I love how Paul says it in Romans chapter 7.

Romans 7 · chapter mention

He says it this way, he says, When I when I want to do good, evil's yet with me.

He's like, When I when I want to try to do the right thing, it seems as if there's this other thing that seems to be pulling away at me.

And unfortunately, this is the reality that we find ourselves in.

And here's the thing the argument could be made that this is the exact same thing that happens to Abram.

You see, for for all we know, Abram was just living a fairly regular life.

But unfortunately, the moment that the call of God came into his life, we begin to see this opposition that comes out of nowhere.

Here's here's how how here's how chapter 15 starts off.

It says, After these things.

Let me give you a little bit of background on what these things are that took place between chapter 12 and chapter 15 in the life of Abraham.

Here's here's a summary of Abraham's life.

He his his brothers died, his father has died, his nephew that he then took under his wing to raise up Lot, they start having beef, and then his his nephew goes away and now they're separated.

Remember, the word of God that came to Abram was, I'm gonna make your family great.

I'm gonna bless you and your family.

And now it seems as if every single person in his family is either dying or beginning to separate themselves from him.

This is the tension that I'm sure that he's aware of.

Not only that, when him and his nephew get separated, his nephew then gets kidnapped.

So now Abram has to like go to war, something that we don't ever see in scripture, but now he has to engage in battle, having to fight for the next generation, something that he's never had to do, but now he's just had to go and fight.

In the midst of all that stuff, he's traveling, and now he rose into a territory where he's afraid that he's going to be killed, so he literally denies that his wife is his wife.

Listen to me, husband.

There's a lot of things that you can come back from.

There's a lot you can come back from.

When you say, like, nah, that's not mine, like that that's just something I don't, I mean, I don't even know if grace can fix that.

But nonetheless, this is this is this is where this is where Abram, he said, I I don't even, this isn't even my wife.

It's almost the same language that Peter uses when he denies Christ.

I don't, I don't know him.

So the legacy, the idea of Abram having a significant impact, the minute that that word came into his life, it seemed as if only the opposites began to manufacture itself in his life.

So you can only imagine that as he's as he's doing his best to trust God, as he's doing his best to walk in faith, understanding there was no scriptures to read from, there was no other parameters of of hope for him to pull from.

It was just this presence that spoke to him, encouraging him to step out, but he didn't have any frame of reference, and yet he's he's doing it anyway.

But you can imagine at this point, three chapters in, that he's probably struggling with a little bit of doubt.

He he's struggling with a little bit of disappointment.

So what the Bible says at verse at chapter 15, it says that God shows up and he kind of like checks in on Abram.

Hey man, just want to check in on you, make sure everything's going good.

You we good?

I I still got a call on your life, everything's gonna still go really well.

But there's the shift that that Abram had.

I'm trusting that you are God.

I've I've I feel this, I feel this impression on my heart, but I got I'm struggling with some stuff right now.

He says, I'm I'm I'm really struggling with, like, I get it.

Like I'm you're you're saying that you're gonna do some incredible things through my life, but man, I'm like I'm getting old.

And and how am I supposed to know that I'm actually gonna be able to be able to be the person to pull this off?

Like, are you sure it's me?

Like, because I don't I don't have any kids right now.

The thing that you spoke over my life, I just don't have it.

So now be I'm he begins to look around at what some of his other options are.

Some of us could probably imagine what it feels like to be in that space where you feel this burden and this responsibility to to produce something or this calling on your life, but yet you don't feel like you have not only the things necessary to do it, but you just don't even know if you have the strength to perform it.

The Bible says that he wanted a clarity on the promise.

But a clarity on the promise is a lot different than a guarantee.

See, he he wasn't at a place where he was looking for a guarantee.

He just he just wanted he just wanted clarity on the promise.

Let me let me give you the the distinction between a guarantee and a promise.

A guarantee is anything that assures a certain outcome with the details, while a promise is an oath or an affirmation or a vow or a commitment.

See, he wasn't he wasn't looking for a guarantee, he wasn't looking for specifics.

It's it's similar to this.

My my son had come and visit me uh about a month ago, and when he was on his way to travel to come see me, he's aware of all the traffic here in Orlando, so he's like, okay, what is the best way for me to get to your house?

I said, Okay, man, like so here's some things you can do to avoid some of the some of the traffic spots.

And so what he said to me, okay, so can you can you guarantee I won't hit any traffic?

I said, I can't I can't guarantee that you'll miss traffic, but I can promise you if you follow my instructions, you'll make it to the destination.

How how often are we still sitting in the driveway of our calling because we're waiting for God to give us all of the guarantees to avoid the traffic when He's saying, I can't guarantee that you won't have some things in your life that might slow you down.

I can't guarantee that you may not have some areas that might not serve as opposition, but here's what I can promise you.

I can promise you that if you follow my instructions, that you will make it to the destination.

God doesn't speak the language of guarantees, but he does speak the language of promises.

See, often we're we're looking for guarantees, not realizing that we're nullifying the very fabric of our faith.

Here's a couple of things that I want you to look at when it comes to guarantees versus promises.

Guarantees nullify faith, promises build faith.

Hebrews chapter 11, verse 6 says it this way without faith, it is impossible to please God.

Hebrews 11:6

So when I'm sitting in a posture and I want God to give me the breakdown of every single thing that's going to happen when I make my decision, that no longer requires faith, which now means I don't even have what it takes to please God anymore.

But when I can but when I can trust God and not know the results, that's the thing that builds my faith.

We we have out in the lobby some some cards that you can take with you to invite people to church.

And all of us, if we're if we're honest with ourselves, we would love to know that when I invite that person to church, I'm I'm guaranteed they're gonna respond.

When I when I when I when I start serving, I'm guaranteed that everything is gonna work itself out.

The moment that I start giving, I'm I'm guaranteed that the next week I'm gonna start seeing the overflow.

And the truth of the matter is that's just not biblical and that's just not a fact.

However, the promise says that if you do invite people to church, that the seed is being planted.

However, the word of God does say that if you do start to serve, you are making a difference in the kingdom of God and impacting eternity, even if you don't see it on this side of heaven.

What the Bible says that even if I do decide to give and honor God with my resources, that there will be windows that have opened up to me.

What I'm saying is we may not see it overnight, but we have to get out of this posture of waiting for God to give us guarantees when he's speaking to us the word of promise.

See, guarantees can create unhealthy expectations, but promises keeps us expectant.

Guarantees obsess over the details, whereas promises focuses on the big picture.

Like I'm not I'm not going to get lost in every little detail.

Do you do you know how many times my wife and I have like endeavored to go out and and and learn more about the city of Orlando?

And as we're sitting in our driveway, 10 minutes later, we haven't left yet because we're we're comparing GPSs to see which one is the best route to go.

We could have been there already, but because we're waiting to try to find a one that can help us to avoid, and if my daughter's in the car, she's gonna pull out her app, and then we're like, okay, well, I'll take this app, but then I'd like the way that this app explains this turn, and now we're making all these turns, and and and all of that energy is wasted because we're too lost in the details instead of just looking at the big picture, is that we're going to make it to our destination in a safe time.

Like, unfortunately, our walk with God becomes very guarantee-driven.

I'll come to church every week if you can guarantee me that I'm gonna hear a message.

And Pastor Keith better be funny, he better be, he better, he better slow down, first of all, but then he better be funny, the message better not be long, worship better be good, and if you can guarantee me that I can have that experience, and then I'll I'll show up every week.

But but God is simply saying if you can consistently put yourself in a place where you can experience his word, that is an area where you can be strengthened.

See, uh the promise of God, it packs a provision.

So that means that the moment that God speaks a word over your life, that means that the provision is already there for it.

Let me let me take you to the gospels for a moment.

The Bible tells us in in Matthew chapter 14 that Jesus makes this statement to his disciples.

Matthew 14 · chapter mention

He says, I'm gonna go up here and pray for a minute, I'll meet you on the other side.

That could be defined as a promise.

I promise I'm gonna meet you on the other side.

But here's what happens a storm begins to arise.

Now the disciples are a little bit nervous because in their mind they're saying, I've lost sight of what God's word says, I've lost sight of what Jesus has said to me.

I'm more concerned about the storm that's in front of me, and they're filled with doubt and fear.

When Jesus steps on the scene and says, Peace be still, when he begins to walk up and he's walking on the water, all of a sudden they have this perspective that even in the midst of the storm, Jesus is there.

What the Bible says is that while Jesus was praying on the mountain, he could see that they were rowing and struggling in the storm.

So I want you to hear me for a moment that God is watching over his word to make sure that it performs exactly what he set it out to do for you in your life.

You may go into a storm, you may go into a season of setback, but here's the promise of God's word.

You will make it on the other side.

I can't guarantee that a storm won't show up.

I can't guarantee that you won't have some opposition, I can't guarantee there won't be any struggles, but I can promise you that I'm with you every step of the way.

This is why when Isaiah said it this way in Isaiah 54, he says, No weapon that is stormed against you shall prosper.

I can't guarantee that there won't be weapons, but I can promise you that they won't prosper.

I can promise you that it won't take you down.

I can promise you that if you can continue to position yourself under my word, that the provision is packed in the promise.

God is simply saying, Are you willing to position yourself at a place?

Or we can stay in alignment.

So as he has this conversation, as he's having this conversation with Abram, Abram is like, Lord, I'm just I'm struggling with my ability to perform it.

He says, Man, let me let me take you outside for a minute.

Because he it's it's almost as if God was showing us that in order for us to have the proper perspective, we got to move out of our comfort zone and the things that can cover our view sometimes.

What are the areas that God is escorting you outside of your comfort zone to give you a bigger picture of what it is that he wants to do in your life?

He takes him outside.

And as he begins to talk with him and says, Man, like these stars are simply a reflection of what I'm going to do in your life.

Like, can you see it?

Do you believe it?

Abram's like, yeah.

So then God then goes on and says, and even a land, man, I'm gonna I'm gonna bless you with this land.

So in Abram's mind, here's what we have to understand.

There are a lot of people occupying the land that God had mentioned to him.

So now he's thinking through the filter of, man, I'm I'm already getting old.

I don't know if I have it in me to keep fighting any wars.

Like, Lord, how how am I supposed to know like this is really that I'm really the right guy for this?

And he says these words.

He says, I need you to bring me these animals.

Now, I want to pause here for a moment because this has such significance.

He said, I need you to bring me.

He didn't say, I want you to go get, I want you to bring them to me.

See, there's a there's a difference between bringing something and going to get something, because when you bring something, it insinuates that you already have it.

You just need to arrange it in a proper place.

See, as a father, there's a lot of milestones that that I love to celebrate.

You know, some as you can imagine, yes, of course you want to celebrate when your child smiles and and when their first tooth comes and when they start walking.

These are all great things that we love to celebrate.

But I will tell you that the biggest milestone that I celebrated with my children is when they are able to drive.

Because to me, that is when they're able to contribute back to the relationship.

Because at this point, it's been nothing but nonstop output.

I've been doing everything, everything you need, I'm just doing it.

So when they're able to drive, like it's a it's a it's a deal for me.

Like it's like a big deal.

Like I'm more excited about their license than they are.

There have been times that I'll drive by the grocery store just to go home, only to send my daughter back to the grocery store.

Because I'm feeling, as far as I'm concerned, I've already paid my dues.

Now, some of y'all are are looking out here judging me, but I think of all the stories and all the sacrifices I made.

I remember this one time when my daughter was getting dressed in the dark.

Who does that?

But then she was getting dressed in the dark, didn't know what shoe she had on, went to school, had two of the wrong shoes on, and then she called me up in a panic for me to drive out to go give her the appropriate shoe.

So when I think about stories like that, when I say, hey, go to the store and get me something to drink, I don't have any guilt, no condemnation.

I'm fully free because I remember stories just like that.

So here's the thing.

So there's been many instances where I'm asking my daughter to go to the store and to go bring me something and go get me something.

That's that's that's our normal rhythm.

So as I'm sitting in the houses one day, I'm sitting there and I say to her, I was like, hey, um, when you come upstairs, can you can you bring me something to drink?

Seems like a fairly simple request.

About 15 minutes later, I notice that I still didn't get my beverage yet.

I'm a man of patience, at least, and faith I am.

I'm working on it.

So as I she shows up about 20 minutes later and she comes and brings me the drink, and I said, like, why?

What took you so long?

Like, listen, girl, I got a list of all the things I've done for you.

The Bible says don't keep any records of wrong, but I got really good records of right.

What took you so long to bring me my beverage?

And she said, Well, Dad, I had to I had to go to the store and go get it.

And I said, What do you mean you had to go get it?

She said, I uh you told me to go to the store and get it.

I said, No, I didn't tell you to go get it.

We already have it.

I just needed you to go downstairs and open up the pantry and pull it out and put it in the cup for me.

I didn't need you to go get it, that's why I said bring it.

She didn't understand the semantics of it because when she looked in the when she looked in the pantry, she couldn't see it because of some other things were in front of it.

And unfortunately, what I think happens with us as Christians a lot of times is we open up the pantry of purpose, and there's a whole lot of things that are blocking out things that are already in our possession.

So we unfortunately are not recognizing that I already have freedom because there's some some expired items that are blocking my view.

But if we can only understand that those things that are blocking your view, they have been expired 2,000 years ago when Jesus died on the cross, so you don't have to go and get anything.

The cross is not that complicated.

You simply gotta bring it into its proper place.

So I don't have to go and get freedom.

Jesus already gave me freedom.

So even though fear is blocking my view, fear has expired 2,000 years ago, so I need to put that in its proper place.

Jesus is already telling me you have everything you need in your inventory for your next miracle.

You don't gotta make it complicated, you don't gotta make it difficult, you have just got to put the things that are expired in your life in their proper place.

See, see, when God is speaking with Abram, he's saying, Man, you already have everything you need to take your next step.

And I'm I'm I'm trying to encourage somebody in here today because I used to live under this weight of I needed something else.

I if I could just get this one more thing, then I can be more obedient to God.

If I could just, if I could just get this amount of money, then I could start.

Here's the truth.

You already have everything you need right now in order for you to take your next step as it relates to your walk with God.

The Bible, the Bible says it this way in 2 Peter, it says that He has given us everything that we need for life and godliness.

Here's why this is so important for us as believers.

Because if we don't understand this, we will we will live our lives under the assumption that God is holding out on us.

That that God is somehow holding back.

And that is literally the the lie that the enemy told Adam and Eve to convince them to go against the word and will of God.

Convincing them that God's holding out on you, so you need to go and do these things on your own.

But what if we really believe that I have everything that I need to take my next step?

I I don't I don't need I don't need to make any more money to start being faithful to giving.

I have exactly what I need to take my next step.

I don't I don't need any more time in order for me to start serving.

I I have everything that I need to take my next step.

I don't I don't need anything else in order for me to start being more connected to my family.

I have everything that I need to take my next step.

But the ingredients for your next miracle is already in your is already in your inventory.

Abram, he takes what he already has and he brings it into the presence of God and he's given these instructions.

He said, Man, I need you to, I need you to, I need you to perform some surgery.

I need you to, I need you to cut it up.

Now that's that's obviously very that's very messy when you when you think about it, because like we we we have lost the context of the Old Testament sacrificial system and and and what all that meant.

But in essence, what was being defined was a covenant was being established.

And this was not something that was simply exclusive to to Judaism or followers of Christ.

Covenants were a normal thing.

And according to the Bible Project, here's how they define a covenant: a covenant is defined as a relationship that has promises and obligations.

That means that I'm entering into this relationship and I'm promising to do this as long as you do this.

It's almost like this symbiotic connection, this covenant relationship.

Marriage is an expression of that.

Which is why, whenever there's there's divorce, when the Bible says the two shall become one, it's the idea of a covenant.

So when there's a divorce, it's this tearing, this breaking apart that takes place.

No, God's grace covers all of that, but I want us to understand that these covenants, they have such significant weight in the eyes of God.

So God is entering into a covenant, establishing a relationship where he's simply saying to Abram, I will cover you, I will protect you as long as you trust me.

I'm not asking you to do anything else except for trust me, but I will cover you as your strength.

I will be, this is why it says, I am your shield and your reward will be great.

I'm going to cover you and I'm going to protect you.

It's such a powerful thought.

But here's the thing a lot of times, especially when you look at the sacrificial system and in the Old Testament, a lot of times they would say, I want you to bring me a young animal without spot or blemish.

And typically that animal could not be more than a year old.

Or that was kind of like the breaking point of it.

They wanted it to be young.

But in this instance, it says, I want you to bring me these animals, and I want them to be three years old.

I I wish I had more time to expand and explain the value of that, but let me give you the bullet point version.

But the reason was is because they represented something that had grown into maturity.

At that point, you can begin to see the potential in that animal.

So when God was saying, I need you to bring this to me in order to establish a covenant, what he was saying is, in order for you to take your next step in your walk with me, it's going to require you to sacrifice something that you care about.

Sacrifice can be messy.

Sacrifice can sometimes be a little uncomfortable.

Sacrifice can be a thing that challenges us, but here's the thing: growth in the kingdom of God always comes with sacrifice.

It's impossible for me to be 100% living in my preference and still believe that I can grow in the kingdom of God.

It's going to require you to cut some things out.

It's going to require you to say that if I'm going to grow, I'm going to have to I'm going to have to cut some things.

So here's the question.

What are the things that God is saying to you?

I'm going to need you to cut this out in order for you to go to the next level.

Sometimes it could be something as simple as, man, I'm going to I'm going to cut out complaining.

You know, that's that's what I'm gonna I'm gonna I'm gonna cut out.

I'm gonna cut out the the the negative talk.

I'm gonna cut out some of these toxic relationships that really are not leading me to a place of wholeness.

It's it's messy, it's it's not comfortable.

It it even has the potential of offending people, but but but these are the things that's necessary in order for us to grow.

I'm gonna I'm gonna cut out the drama.

I'm gonna I'm gonna cut out the gossip.

It just may not be good for me.

Here's what the Bible says that we are to lay aside every sin and weight that easily besets us.

Here's what that means ultimately.

It means this it means that every every sin is a weight, but every weight isn't a sin.

Let me let me explain what I mean.

For some people, watching certain things on TV, I'll I'll give you the news, for instance.

For some people, watching the news has no effect on them whatsoever.

But for other people, watching the news gets their emotions all turned up, gets them frustrated, gets them in a place where they know it's not healthy.

So maybe for that person, I have to lay that down.

I have to cut that back because that's not helping me to move forward.

We have to begin to discern what is it that God is asking us to cut out.

God instructs Abram to cut these things in half and and to lay them out.

And as he does this, something interesting happens.

The Bible says that the birds, the birds of prey came down on the carcasses.

We've we've already established that that death had to take place, that these animals died, that the that they had to surrender something.

So death took place, and and now that these animals are laid out, it says that the birds of prey were drawn to the sacrifice.

See, birds of prey are are vultures, these are things that are nourished on death.

So watch this.

The very thing that God had told Abram to give to him, the enemy was drawn to it.

Don't you think for a moment that when you come to church, you're not sacrificing something in your life, which is why the enemy is now drawn to keep you from continuing in that sacrifice.

Don't don't don't think for a minute that when you that when you make up your mind to say, I'm gonna, I wanna take my next step, I'm gonna, I'm gonna get more involved, that the vultures or the birds of prey begin to swoop in because the enemy loves to consume what's supposed to be God's.

But what I love is the Bible says that Abram, he he drove him away.

He he didn't allow the he didn't allow the vultures to get comfortable on something that belongs to God.

It says that he he drove them away.

And and if I'm not, if I'm if I could just play this out, I'm confident that he wasn't polite about it.

I'm I'm confident that he wasn't super, you know, hey man, would you would you mind moving?

This is actually belongs to God.

Can you can you back away?

I I like to put it this way.

Just last week, it was it was my wife's uh it was my wife's birthday.

Happy birthday, babe.

Um it was my wife's birthday, and so we we decided to grill out, had some people come over.

And so I'm out on the back patio, and while I'm grilling, um, it just so seems that it could be my my my marvelous aroma, but it seems like these bugs they were just drawn to me.

They were drawn to me.

So I as I'm out there trying to cook, like I'm I'm swatting away at the bugs.

And and so my my son comes out, he looks out and he's like, Dad, are you are you okay?

I'm like, Yeah, man, like what why are you asking me?

He's like, because from inside the house it looks like you're losing your mind.

Because from where he was standing, me me waving and swinging and shooing away these pests, it looked quite ridiculous.

I was like, Man, I I don't care how I look, I'm trying to keep myself from getting stung by this wasp.

Because my focus was on the pest that was trying to consume what was mine.

I didn't care what it looked like from an outsider's point of view.

So when I think about Abram, what I can what I can imagine is that he's as he's driving the vultures away, he's not saying, vultures, would you please leave?

That belongs to God.

But I would like to put it this way I'm confident that he began to wave his hands in the air like he just like he just didn't care.

I I don't care what your opinion is, but this sacrifice it belongs to God, and I refuse to allow the enemy to get comfortable on something that belongs to God.

So I will shoo it away.

I'm gonna drive it away, I'm gonna make sure that it doesn't get comfortable.

So, what I believe is your worship is the vehicle that drives the enemy away from your life.

What would it look like if we begin to look at the areas where the adversary begins to swoop in that we can begin to study?

I'm gonna drive him away with my worship, and I'm gonna wave my hands in the air like I just don't care and tell the adversary, get off of my marriage.

You cannot have it.

Get out of here, it belongs to God.

What would it look like if when I see the adversary swooping in on my family, that I begin to lift up my voice and wave my hands in the air like I just don't care?

I'm not consumed about what your opinion is, I'm not consumed about what your impressions are.

What I'm telling you is when the enemy swoops in, we have a response, and that is to simply stand on our feet and to give God praise and say, I'm gonna wave my hands in the air, and I just don't care.

Devil, you cannot have my family, you cannot have my resources, you cannot have my mind.

So, in the name of Jesus, this belongs to God.

You don't have no place here.

Let's work with God.

Thank you for tuning in to today's podcast.

For more information about Celebration Orlando or to get in touch with us, please visit celebrationorlando.org.