Forward Expectations [Part 1]

Pastoral author and Bible teacher Alan Wright is much more about the announcement of what inheritance has already been secured for you than it is about what you need to do to secure but the fact of the matter is that we let you know something is yours is great energy that you expand to protect it to bless it to foster and had to let it grow faster to an excited for you to view the teaching today. In the series forward is presented in an old church in North Carolina. If you're not able to stay with us throughout our entire program today, to make sure you know how to get our special source right now. It can be yours for your donation this month to Alan Wright Ministries so as you listen to today's message go deeper as we send you today's special offer. Contact us at pastoralan.org that's Pastor Alan.Margie or call 877-544-4860 877-544-4860. More on this later in the program but right now let's get started with today's teaching here is Alan Wright knows well you are tired, even if there worn out. Even if you're uncertain even if you've had a lot of confusing things out of even great disappointments, not one thing for sure, beloved, you are not stuck in Christ there is always a way for.

In fact, talk about today in the coming weeks.

There really is no going back, or backwards and the thought of just wandering in the same place is not appetizing Eve. So where are we going going forward even when we get to our last day and breathe our last breath the whole then you're going forward again today with a quote, not from a theologian or a philosopher or an author or even celeb but a truck driver name Larry Walters who in 1982, had the bright idea that he would sit in a lawn chair and strap 35 weather balloons to it over the and got some sandwiches and a BB gun and he would have a little time floating in the middle of the air.

He thought that perhaps he would rise up about 30 feet pop a few balloons come back down.

But when he told his friends to cut me loose the sword 15,000 feet into the controlled airspace of the Los Angeles international is that like sitting in a lawn chair in 15,007 47 chomping down on the sale. He was a miracle. He started popping balloons and they started coming down he got tangled in some power lines and still survived it to be interviewed by reporters who asked him Larry, why did you do it in here is today's pearl of wisdom for us.

He said well you can't just sit there. Well that's that's a pretty deep statement and will dive into that today is there is a part of us that when we think about challenges in the future would rather just kind of stay in the same place but were not designed for that in the narrative of the Old Testament hinges on this move from a people who were slaves who were brought into freedom, but they were just brought into freedom to just be free they were to go and occupy a promised land and that became the challenge I want to talk to you about some promised land principles. Today we talk about expectations of moving forward as we started our missions emphasis.

As I asked the Lord about the theme and I sometimes get this.

It just came that one word for word move forward is tempting, especially when you've been through a lot of difficulty and you think about challenges in front of you to think well, I'd rather just either stay where I am or go back to where I was and neither neither of those places has in it the blessing of God.

So let's look at this familiar story of spying out of the land. It's told in numbers 13. The book of numbers starting at verse one to give you some excerpts from these couple chapters, the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, send men to spy out the land of Canaan, which I'm giving to the people of Israel from each tribe of their fathers you shall send a man everyone a chief among them, so 12 spies, representing the 12 tribes are to go into Canaan, the promised land, and they are told to spy it out and to bring back the fruit right get a vision of the land bring back that vision so you can put it in front of the people say look how beautiful the places where we are going right. That's what leaders do, they say, I've been over spying out the new land and let me tell you how wonderful it is going to be it will be worth all the challenges that will take to get there spy it out and tell us about the challenges that are there and bring back the fruit at the end of 40 days. Now chapter 13 verse 25 the end of 40 days. They were terms find out the land and they say they came to Moses and Aaron and all the courage of the people of Israel. They brought that word to them at all times and show them the fruit of the land, so, so far so good. But what happened, verse 27 and they told him we came to the land which you sent us a flows of milk and honey. And that's this is its fruit and fruit. However, the people who dwell in the land are strong in the cities are fortified and very large. And besides, we saw the descendents of a knock while this is a reference to a mythological breed of people that were sort half Angel half human. These giants though down the exaggerating cable. Caleb there to spies that gave a faith filled report. Caleb and Joshua and Caleb verse 30 quieted the people before Moses and said, let us build it wants and occupy where we are well able to overcome it and then the manhood gone up with him said, we are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than wait so they brought the people of Israel a bad report of the land that spot outside in the land through which we going to spy it out as a land that devours its inhabitants and all the people we saw great high. There we saw over 32 and the feel of these giants, the sons are not to come from the feeling and we seemed to ourselves like grasshoppers, and so we seem to them so they just are exaggerating all of this announcing the defeat before it's even begun.

And then that night, look at this chapter 14 verse one all the carburetion raise a loud cry and the people wept that night. They said to one another first for let us choose a leader and go back to each and verse six.

Here's Joshua, and Joshua the son of nun and Caleb the son of Jeff and who were among those who spy out the land, tore their clothes. That's the middle eastern expression of greatest emotion and remorse tore their clothes and said all the congregation of the people of Israel the land which we pass through to spy it out is an exceedingly good land. They returned to the vision of the land if the Lord delights in us. He will bring us into this land and give it to us, a land that flows with milk and honey. Only do not rebel against the Lord and do not fear the people of the land for their bread to us.

Their protection is removed from them and the Lord is with us.

Do not fear them. The story of the Old Testament in many ways hinges on the question of the land. This relatively small track of fertile land in the area that was known as Canaan and the Middle East was originally promised to Abraham. You remember Genesis 15 he said, I am the Lord who brought you out from the of the Chaldeans, to give you this land to possess and when the people had become enslaved in Egypt so many years later they called out for deliverance and God sent Moses to be a deliverer and God said to Moses in Exodus 3 I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey. So Abraham and then hundreds of years later Moses and then we come to the scene in numbers and then as we'll see in Joshua, the land is the issue, but the whole story makes it evident is reading it for the first time that there's no question in God's mind about whether his people will have the land over and over doing everything he can to save this is your inheritance, and there is therefore no dispute about whether they'll be able to take the land. The question is will they take challenge right will have more teaching moment from today's important series being filled with the Holy Spirit shutting off your mind hearing for a wonderful surprise God's word and spirit were never meant to be separated in spirit always belong together in Christ. I don't disagree with the spirit spirit subjugation of Scripture and some traditions emphasize the spirit of Christian growth both word and spirit as someone once said all spirit you drive all spirit. No word both word and spirit umbrella to support this will send you Alan Wright's newest album on CD or digital download word and spirit rights, embrace the fullness of God's word and his spirit can grow like never before with word and spirit, helping someone else grow as well. Remember when you partner with strange broadcasting the love of God to every day we are happy to send this to you as I thanks from Alan Knight ministry today is the final day were offering the special product Collison 877-544-4860 877-544-4861 come to our website pastor.org please teaching you once again is the New Testament says of the old that the old is full of shadows pointing to the reality that in Christ.

So in the Old Testament.

If you see a Passover lamb with base slaughter on the altar and the temple. You can notice the shadow especially when you hear John the baptizer point to Jesus and say behold the Lamb of God that takes away the seller world. He is the Passover lamb. So over and over those thousands of lambs that were sacrificed in Israel were just a shadow, a picture but not a full picture of the reality which is Jesus a shadow when the sun shines and you see a shadow. You see only the shadow it's enough to let you know there's a person who must be there but you can see the person's face, and so the oldest full of shadows and I'm suggesting to you that the image of Canaan and the promised land.

Vitally important piece of history. True historical drama that unfolds in the page of the Old Testament nonetheless is a shadow in the promised land is not a shadow of heaven heaven is a place where do nothing will be more conflict.

The promised land is a shadow of the kingdom of God here now. It is a shadow of all the promises of God that are your inheritance and all that is put in front of you to occupy.

What would you be thinking about this today because the shadow is to say that people of God had an inward conflict about whether they would believe God and occupy the land that was their inheritance and problem for us as Christians is not whether the promises of God are true, but whether or not we can occupy an appropriate that which he has already proclaimed us so the conflict then becomes our own minds doesn't. That's the battleground it's internal look again at these two reports verse 30 Caleb quieted the people, let us go up at once and occupy. We are well able to overcome but verse 31. The men who had gone up with them. So were not able to go up and the word here that says they brought a bad report of the word for dad in Hebrew here is actually the word that is used to be translated evil same word so it was not just a negative report. It was a wicked report. How lovely are the feet of him to bring the good news. How awful it is for someone who sows the seeds of fear. They brought a wicked report and well to set of this, they were not just pessimists.

They were false prophets. That's the issue they were wrong they were wrong and what they reported in the people just received the majority report that negative wicked report just receiving the just took it right in immediately to get in is like there the fears that they already had were just lying dormant, waiting to attach an agreement with the report that came in with a talking a lot recently about agreement and this is why just so important to live out of the spirit rather than the flash the flesh is so quick. Our sin nature so quick to agree with the bad report, but the Spirit who is always in tune with God's spirit here.

Your spiritual self is able to agree with God's word. Here is what happened. They were afraid that if they tried to take the land that they would not take it and would die in the process. How ironic that the only way that they wouldn't take the land and die in the process would be to turn back in the wilderness, which is what they did and they wandered in the wilderness for 40 years until the whole generation died off. Fear and faith are diametrically opposite and yet oh so similar because they are both forms of belief and whatever you believe tends to lead you towards the object of your belief right so if you got an important job interview you been looking for a job for a while and you get important job interview and if you're confident because you know you got the just for this job you feel secure. You feel secure the Lord because ultimately he's your source and you feel confident and going in and presenting who you are in the interview and you are therefore not nervous about it. You come across in the interview.

Very secure, very confident you come across as a very positive person and you're able to talk about your guess and how you're able to do the job well. You're much more likely to get the job. If you go into it and you're just thinking about how I just can't fail in another interview. I just can't. I can't miss another job and I'm just a bit been rejected too much and that's what's going through your mind you're just nervous about it.

You nervous about whether you get rejected get you nervous you think about all the negative outcomes you're just afraid you won't get it wasn't on duty is to make you look insecure so make you look like you.

You will have the confidence to build new job. You're far more likely to not get the job. Fear and faith are forms of belief that both lead towards what they believe it. They believe that they can go take the landing that God told him over and over and over. Start with Abraham. This is new you cut a covenant with Abraham yet affirmed and ratified it with Moses.

It spoken it to them so they turn back the deep gospel truth here because the source of their faith was not to be in their own abilities, but in God's promises and the people were not to take the land in order to make invaders they were to take the land because it was theirs. The Bible spends therefore a huge amount of attention. God focuses us in his word on who you are and what you have in Christ be one the most powerful shifts in your reading of the Bible. If instead of looking at it as an instruction book about all the things that you're supposed to do in order to be blessed you start looking at it as a good news announcement of all that God has done so that you can be sure that you are blessed and learn how to walk in it is much more about an announcement of what inheritance has already been secured for you than it is about what you need to do to secure it, but the fact of the matter is that once you know something is yours. Then there is great energy that you expand to protect it to bless it to foster it and to let it grow. That's what God wants to see what it is that he's given to you in the spirit and the promises of God that are yes and amen in Christ and for you to so thoroughly see it and believe it, then you want to do everything you can to continue it to hold onto it and to let it grow is your garden and you know the sweet fruit from the garden, then you're the one more than anybody else is energized to pull the weeds: write good news message today. Forward expectations from the series forward and I encourage you to stay with this Pascarella is back joining me in the studio shearing reporting the news. Thought for the day here in just a moment being filled with the Holy Spirit shutting off your mind hearing for a wonderful surprise God's word and spirit were never meant to be separated spirit always belong together. The key to life in Christ knowing your Bible being filled with the spirit, the answer is the spirit, the subjugation of studying Scripture, and some traditions emphasize the spirit of Christian growth. Someone once said Pollard spirit you dry all spirit. No word both word and spirit umbrella. You make a gift of support.

This will send you Alan Wright's newest album on CD or digital download word and spirit clients embrace the fullness of God's word and his spirit can grow like never before.

Spirit realm up helping someone else grow as well. And remember, when you partner with ministries that we broadcasting the love of God to every day. The gospel is shared when you get Alan Wright Ministries. This broadcast is only possible because of listener financial support.

When you get today. We will send you a special offer today is the final day were offering the special product. We are happy to send this to you as I thanks from Alan Wright Ministries, seven 877-544-4860 877-544-4861 come to our website past Rowan.org blessing your life. Grace filled vision for your free grace and encouragement. Alan writes daily blessing is free. Pastor got away Israel, as we begin this short series on forward. We are assuming taking some forward momentum as we go through with Daniel.

We've all been through an exhausting couple of years. Lots of grief, lots of pain lots of uncertainty and there is always a temptation to think that what audit do is just sorta hang on, but during the pandemic. The word I kept getting from the Lord was Ford and so were so happy to build air this series because there's always two ways to look forward or backwards and faith to thanks for today. Visit us online@pastor.org or call 877-544-4860 877-544-4860 if you only caught part of today's teaching.

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