The Journey

 The Journey

Hebrews 11:8-10: By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. 9 By faith he dwelt in the land of promise as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise; 10 for he waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God.

·        Abraham left the home where he was raised as a child when God called him to go to a place he didn’t know. He didn’t know where he was going, he just got up and went when he heard his came called.

·        How can we find a place we’ve never heard of? How can we know the way?

·        The Bible says that Abraham was waiting for something more.

·        He had high expectations. He knew there was a God, and he knew that nothing could really satisfy him in this world. He knew that only God could satisfy him.

·        Have you figured out that out? Paul said it was all “dung.”

·        The Bible says that Abraham was a friend of God. Are you a friend of God? Does God know you want to be his friend? You can tell him so today.

·        The Bible tells us that Abraham waited for a city that had God made. He was willing to wait for it… this city would be his destination or his destiny.

·        For Abraham, this world was not his home.

·        His home was with God, and until he would live forever with his God, Abraham would live in tents. He didn’t build a house, he didn’t have a mortgage, he didn’t do the things that many do while they are here trying to make this world their home.

·        Abraham was just passing through here, on his way somewhere else, so he didn’t get stuck here. He didn’t get stuck in material things, he didn’t get stuck in politics, he didn’t get stuck in the culture… he knew where he was going.

·        Do you know where you are going?

Philippians 3:18-20: For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ: 19 whose end is destruction, whose god is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame—who set their mind on earthly things. 20 For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.

·        The Bible says we walk through life. Life is the journey that each of us have. Our walk begins before we can walk, and it ends when we can walk no more. We walk towards the end, even though most of us cannot see the end, the end is there for each of us.

·        It reminds me of a road trip. We all get in the car and start heading towards our destiny. There are usually signs along the road to tell us important info about things near us like gas, food, and lodging where we can make a pit stop. I am grateful for the signs along the way, they keep me informed.

·        There are also people, distractions, detours, and road construction that will keep us from arriving at our destiny.

·        There are many who don’t want us to make it to where we are supposed to be.

·        There will always be people who want me to go their way, instead of the way of my destiny. There are people who will point me in any direction, except the way I am supposed to go.

·        There’s always someone in the car that says, “Are we there yet?” “How much longer?” The signs are there to help us to keep our fellow travelers informed.

·        There are even those that are trying to point the right way for me.

·        There are also signs along the road that tell me, “Jesus Saves.” I see crosses on churches, there’s worship music on my radio, there’s someone wearing a Jesus t-shirt. These are all signs for me to tell me about my destination before I get there.

·        The Lord is telling us that our citizenship is not of this world, but it is in the next one. Therefore, we are not citizens here… we are aliens on earth.

·        We do not belong here, we belong elsewhere. He tells us that in the Promised Land of our citizenship, Jesus will transform our lowly bodies into bodies like his.

·        It’s a place called heaven.

Revelation 22:13: I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last.”

·        Jesus says He is the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. God is always first, and God will surely be the last.

·        Man has no say in his birth, nor in his death. One day the little man finds that he is alive and accepts that he is. Before that he had no say in anything.

·        After that he may strut and boast that he is independent of God and say he doesn’t believe in God, it’s nothing but a big hoax to keep the masses in line.

·        Have your fun little man, you are just babbling between your first and your last, and you are in His hands whether you like it or not. God will have the last word in your life, just as He had the first.

Ecclesiastes 3:19-20: For what happens to the sons of men also happens to animals; one thing befalls them: as one dies, so dies the other. Surely, they all have one breath; man has no advantage over animals, for all is vanity. 20 All go to one place: all are from the dust, and all return to dust.

·        King Solomon, the wisest man to have ever lived, determined that everything under the sun was meaningless. In many ways, we are just like the animals, back to the dust we go.

·        All we are is dust in the wind!

·        In the meantime, we busy ourselves with the meaningless things of this world.

·        Our minds are usually set on getting more stuff; our minds are set on the things that really matter

Ezekiel 47:3-5:

And when the man went out to the east with the line in his hand, he measured one thousand cubits, and he brought me through the waters; the water came up to my ankles. 4 Again he measured one thousand and brought me through the waters; the water came up to my knees. Again he measured one thousand and brought me through; the water came up to my waist. 5 Again he measured one thousand, and it was a river that I could not cross; for the water was too deep, water in which one must swim, a river that could not be crossed.

·        This river of Living Water is our eternal life in the Holy Spirit. We all come to the river, we all make choices about the river. Even if we don’t choose we choose.

·        Some choose to stay on the bank of the river, and never partake. The river of life just passes them by.

·        There are others that choose to stick their toe in or enter the river only to their ankles. They’re willing to try it sparingly, but never really enter in. It’s like they want a taste without commitment.

·        There are others that wade into the water waste deep. They are in the water, but not all the way in. They’re really trying to keep control and are unwilling to totally trust God. They’re in the water but they still trust in their job, their bank account, the government, or some other thing besides God.

·        Then we find the ones who are willing to really go for it.

·        Maybe they think they have nothing to lose.

·        Maybe they know this world has nothing for them.

·        They know they’re just passing through, their destiny is somewhere beyond this world.

·        These ones are willing to dive into the river of life, to get in over their head where they lose control. They choose to let the Lord their God carry them to their destiny, because they trust him.

John 14:1-6: “Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. 2 In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. 4 And where I go you know, and the way you know.” 5 Thomas said to Him, “Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way?” 6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.

·        There’s only one way to get there, His name is Jesus.