Who Orders Your Steps?
You or God?
September 22, 2013
Genesis
11:2-4 And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that
they found a plain in the
land of Shinar; and they dwelt there. And they said one to another,
Go to, let us make brick, and burn them throughly. And they had brick
for stone, and slime had they for morter. And they said, Go to, let
us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and
let us make us a
name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.
Genesis 12:1-2 Now the
LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy
country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land
that I will
shew thee: And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless
thee,
and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing:
Hebrews 11:10 For he
looked for a city which hath foundations, whose
builder and maker is God.
Romans 4:12 And the father
of circumcision to them who are not of the circumcision only, but who
also walk in the steps of that faith of our
father Abraham, which he had being yet uncircumcised.
Abraham is the father of the faithful.
- Not
just to the Jews or Israel.
- He
is father to all those who walk in the same steps that he walked
when he walked by faith.
Rom
4:18 Who against hope believed in hope, that he might become the
father of many nations,
according to that which was spoken, So shall thy seed
be. 19 And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body
now dead,
when he was
about an hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sara's
womb: 20 He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief;
but was strong
in faith, giving glory to God; 21 And being fully persuaded that,
what
he had promised, he was able also to perform. 22 And therefore it
was
imputed to him for righteousness.
God empowers people who trust
Him with their LIVES.
This is part of how we get victory in everyday lives.
- We
take everyday circumstances where major decisions are involved and
hand them over to God in faith while praying and then watch for Him to
answer
those prayers.
- For
God to uphold us with His hand when troubles come is for
supernatural protection to be upon our lives.
- When
people's lives fall apart, God upholds us in His hands!
New Jerusalem is the city Abraham looked for.
THE CHURCH according to Heb 12:22.
God built it, not man.
One chapter In Genesis before the other shows MAN choosing where he
should dwell, and making his own city and his own name great,
as opposed to
God leading Abraham.
- A
tower is mentioned.
- It
would reach to heaven in more ways than one.
- It's
like trying to SAVE YOURSELF.
- You
make your own name great and get yourself to heaven.
Walking after the Spirit is FOLLOWING GOD'S LEADING!
- A
life of leading one's own life is called walking after the flesh.
Rom
8:5 For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the
flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. 6
For
to be
carnally minded is death; but
to be spiritually minded is life and
peace.
Rom 8:13 For if ye
live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye
through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye
shall live. 14 For as
many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.
The tower is associated with the name.
- The tower reaches to heaven and you make your own name
great.
- But the NAME OF THE LORD IS A STRONG TOWER.
- The righteous run into it and are safe.
Proverbs 18:10 The name of
the LORD is a strong tower: the righteous
runneth into it, and is safe.
Man chose the place to live, would build the city and tower himself,
and make his own name great.
- The tower and city were left off and unfinished.
- God sent confusion and they stopped.
- But MAN IS SAFE in the tower of the name of the Lord.
God would lead Abraham to the land God chose for the man to live.
- God would make Abraham's name great.
- God would build the city Abraham would live in.
What a difference between Genesis 11 and 12!
Many believers actually are more like the Babylonians than Abraham.
- They decide where they should go, and make their own
names great.
- God is not the one who does these things in their lives.
Shinar is IN THE DESERT AND ON SAND.
The foolish man builds his house on the sand and winds, rain and floods
break that house down.
The wise man builds on the rock.
- And the rock is the words of Jesus Christ.
Abraham WALKED by faith.
Psalm 37:23 The steps of a
good man are ordered by the LORD: and he delighteth in his way.
Psalm 37:24 Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast
down: for
the LORD upholdeth him with his hand.
Notice that a man that is good has his steps ordered by God and not his
own mind.
- He depends upon God for these decisions.
- And when he falls, he is not utterly cast down or
destroyed.
- The LORD upholds him and protects him!
- God protects those who depend upon Him for direction.
- You cannot expect God to bless and protect you if you
do not let him
order your steps.
Jeremiah 2:11-13 Hath a
nation changed their gods, which are yet no
gods? but my people have changed their glory for that which doth not
profit. Be
astonished, O ye heavens, at this, and be horribly afraid, be ye very
desolate, saith
the LORD. For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me
the
fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken
cisterns, that
can hold no water.
Israel forsook God, THE RIVER, just as Adam and Eve forsook God for
self-advancement in the self-production of good as inspired by the
fruit of the
knowledge of good and evil.
- Those who dwell on God in love are filled with a SOURCE
of LIFE.
- A RIVER flows from them - LOVE.
- Man became independent in his actions and lost the
river.
- Lost the presence of God.
- Eve sought to make herself wise.
Gen 3:6 And when the woman
saw that the tree was good for food, and
that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one
wise,
she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her
husband with
her; and he did eat.
James 1:5 If any of you
lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth
to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. 6
But let
him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like
a wave of the
sea driven with the wind and tossed.
Rev 17:3 So he carried me
away in the spirit into the wilderness:
and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of
blasphemy,
having seven heads and ten horns.
Contrast dry Babylon in the wilderness with the following:
Revelation 21:2 And I John
saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming
down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her
husband.
Rev 21:10 And he carried
me away in the spirit to a great and high
mountain, and shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending
out of heaven from God,
Revelation 22:1-3 And he
shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear
as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. In the
midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there
the tree
of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit
every month:
and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. And
there shall
be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it;
and
his servants shall serve him:
What a difference.
- An old dry wilderness where cisterns have to have water
carried to
them, versus a fountain of water inside us called GOD!