You know what? I come to you with the realization that there are millions of people, all over the world, who are waiting:
- They are waiting to see if you and I understand that their souls are just as precious to God as ours;
- They are waiting on us to obey a command;
- They are waiting for us to tell them how they can know Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior;
And believe it or not, there are people, right here in our great nation, who are waiting – they are waiting on God – and they are waiting for us.
I think we have come to a sad place in our churches where we so frequently have to be reminded of what we are here for.
Our mission is to be a witness – to take the Gospel Message (The Good News) to the ends of the earth.
Hebrews 11 and verse 8, “8 By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went. 9 By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise: 10 For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.”
Now Genesis 12, beginning in verse 1 (and reading through 4a), “Now he 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: 2 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: 3 And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed. 4 So Abram departed . . .”
My pastor, many years ago while I was stationed at Ft. Bragg, NC was one of the godliest men I have ever known. He invested a lot of time in me – and kinda reminds me of how Paul invested in young Timothy. And thinking about how much my pastor had invested in me, it brought to light one of the concepts our Pastor, Clayton Houchins, has introduced to our church, and that is that each person should invest their time on one person inside the church and one person outside the church. Now why in the world would he want us to invest in someone? Well, because we have an expiration date. What happens to the ministry when we are gone? How do we plant ministries if we have not trained people to lead those ministries?
But back to my pastor. Randy loved singing choruses. I asked him one day how many he knew, and he stated that he probably knew hundreds of them. And then he said, but one of my favorites is LET US GO ON!
Let us go on, and on and on, let us go on!
Let us go on and on and on – Let us go on!
Soon every conflict will be past, Jesus will come again at last!
Look for the dawn, Victory is won – Let us go on!
As I thought about what my role is as a Christian, and in preparing this blog around that thought, I couldn’t think of a better title than this:
JUST KEEP GOING
The Bible tells us that Abraham was one of those men who just kept going, and going and going! Now, I don’t know if Abraham enjoyed singing choruses, but I do know he is part of that Heavenly Host – and I believe he would say to us “Just Keep Going!”
And by the way, I’m just old fashioned enough to believe that you and I ought to keep going, and going, and going until the Trumpet sounds!
So what was it that made him tick? What was it that kept him going for God? What was his driving force?
WELL, FIRST OF ALL, HE KNEW GOD
In Galatians 3:6, the Bible says, “Even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness. 7 Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham. 8 And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed.”
God wants us to know that Abraham heard and believed the Gospel.
Now there are many things I do not know, but you can write this one down: NOBODY CAN KEEP GOING FOR GOD IF THEY DO NOT KNOW GOD!
The greatest day in anybody’s life is the day they hear and believe the Gospel!
I don’t know what language was used to reach Abraham, nor do I know who it was that reached him, but what I do know is he HEARD THE GOSPEL.
And God has given you and I a great charge to preach the Gospel to every creature!
The Bible tells us in Mark 13:10, “And the gospel must first be published among all nations.”
I believe what God wants of us is for us to KNOW HIM AND TO GET THE GOSPEL TO THE ENDS OF THE EARTH.
Now, we don’t ever know what it is going to take to move someone, but, what we know of Abraham is that there was a day that he HEARD the Gospel, and accepted Christ as his personal Savior. We don’t know all the details of how that happened, but we know it happened. Somebody shared it with him!
And that’s what God wants. He wants us to KNOW HIM! So, as the old preachers would say, what you and I need to know is TO KNOW, THAT WE KNOW THAT WE KNOW!
But, not only did he KNOW GOD, HE BEGAN HIS JOURNEY WITH GOD
The Bible tells us that God called Abraham and told him to “Get thee out of thy country” and “So Abraham departed.”
DO you realize that Abraham was 75 years old when he began his journey? Can you imagine God calling someone at 75 and asking them to do something for Him?
Let me share a truth that someone once shared with me: Christians are ageless when it comes to the work of the Lord!
Can you imagine God calling a 75 year old man? We think somebody has to be in their 20’s or 30’s to do something for God. You don’t believe me – read what 80 percent of our churches are looking for in a pastor:
- Young, so he can reach our kids,
- Has a young wife and children of his own;
- 4 years of college from and accredited institution;
- 3 more years of work in a Master of Divinity Program;
- 5-10 years of pastoral experience at a Senior Pastor level,
- And must be in his 20’s or 30’s!
And all the while, God is saying, “I Just want you to GO.” And you know what, It’s never too late to start the Journey with God!
When I was pastoring in Lancaster many years ago, we had this older lady named Mrs. Horton. One Sunday Morning I was preaching about surrendering your all to Christ, and she made her way to the altar, with her walker. With tears in her eyes she said to me, “I came to the altar this morning to surrender my life to full time service!” Though I was very excited to hear someone surrendering their all, my initial thought was, “LORD, I haven’t heard you call me to take on another person on the ministry team yet?” Then she said, “Pastor, since I am retired, I feel that God wants me to devote my time calling the people in our church and encourage them.’
Folks, it’s NEVER too late to get started for God AMEN! It’s never too late to do something for God!
I’ll tell you folks, we’re never going to reach the world with the Gospel unless God’s people get involved in it.
An old missionary by the name of Bob Hughes had a sermon titled “I’ve Sat Where They Sat.” And one of the things he says in that sermon , and whether someone said it before him, I don’t know, but he said in this sermon “Who needs a calling when you have a command?”
All of us are under the command of God, “GO YE THEREFORE . . .”
Can you imagine what would happen in our churches if the people in our churches who are commanded to go would obey the command? We have convinced the people in the Pew, that the work of the Lord is for a chosen few!
But that’s not true. The Work of the Lord is for all God’s children – we are all commanded!
Abraham believed that God had more for him in his life. Abraham was not willing to die before he was dead. Abraham believed that God had something for him in his life!
In Genesis 12 :2 the Bible says, “And I will make of thee a great nation.” Abraham not only understood that God had more for him in his life, but he also understood that God needed him.
Now, it is hard for me to grasp that God would need anything. But Luke’s Gospel chapter 19:31, as Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, he sent the disciples to get a colt. And He told his disciples, “Now somebody is going to come and ask you what you are doing – and I want you to tell them this” THE LORD HATH NEED OF HIM.”
Can you imagine:
- The God who owns a 1000 cattle on a 1000 hills and the hills the cattle are standing on;
- The God who owns all the silver and all the gold and all the wealth of the world;
- The God who owns the earth, and the fullness thereof and they that dwell upon it;
- The God who can meet all of our needs according to HIS riches in glory;
To think that same God needs US is hard to imagine!
Many, many years ago I read a story in a Daily Bread devotion that talked about a farmer working in a field. When I first read it – I didn’t get it. In fact, it didn’t even set well with me – that’s probably why I remember it all these many years later. But this farmer is standing looking over his crop with a friend and he says to the friend, “Man, I sure did a good job with this field.” The friend replied, “You mean GOD did a good job with this field.” The farmer said, “NO, I meant I did a good job with this field, cause you should have seen the shape it was in when God gave it to me.”
Folks, listen to me, the only way God’s plan is going to be accomplished is through YOU AND I. GOD NEEDS YOU!
WHO NEEDS A CALL WHEN YOU HAVE A COMMAND. The world is waiting to see how much of a difference you and I can make for God!
Abraham travelled with God – he had a starting point – a point where he BEGAN. And you know the Bible says in Philippians 1:6, “. . . He which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:”
What God has begun in your life and in my life keeps going, and going and going – So Just Keep Going!
What kept Abraham Going? Well, He Knew God and He Travelled with God:
BUT ABRAHAM DIDN’T LET FAILURE AND DISAPPOINTMENT DETER HIM.
You know as Abraham was on this journey following God, the Bible records for us that there was a famine in the land.
- Abraham could have gotten angry at God and decided not to follow any further.
- He could have said, “Well Lord, why did you bring me here.”
And when Abraham got to the place God wanted him, he had to do a lot of work. Listen folks, we have this false impression that we want to go to a prepared place – when in fact, we should be preparing places.
Jesus went to heaven to prepare you and I a place, but He left us here so we could prepared places for others to come to Know Him!
But I’m telling you, there’s a lot of places across America where there is a famine in the land!
- Where God’s word is not being preached;
- Where God’s people are not sharing the Gospel.
- Where people want to hear about God and need to hear about God – but He is no- where to be found.
One of the greatest mission fields in the world is right here in America. People have come here from all over the world, and they have come with their gods, with their religion, with their own beliefs – and they are now in a place, that for the first time – they can hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
So Abraham got to where God had taken him, and there was a famine in the land – “and he went down to Egypt.” I don’t know why Abraham did all that he did, but I have to think that some of the decisions he made was because of discouragement and disappointment.
Abraham could have quit there, but the Bible says, “He kept going – looking for a city.” He didn’t let discouragement and disappointment deter him from getting to the place God wanted him to be!
Folks, God wants us to GO. He said, “Go, and lo, I am with you, even until the ends of the earth.”
And it’s a good thing God goes with us and not for us. Let me show you how this works:
“God, I’d sure like to see a planted in my neighborhood.”
God says, “OK, I’ll go with you.”
“Well God, I sure would like to see a church planted in the Middle East,”
“OK, I’ll go with you.”
“Lord, I wish somebody would tell my kids God loves them.”
“OK, I’ll go with you.”
We spend so much time waiting on God, when the truth is God has been waiting for us. And while we’ve been waiting – the world is dying without God!
We sit at church fellowshiping with one another, and talking about all the good things God has done for us. We get burdened for the lost, and we say, “They need the Lord.” We see how America is falling apart without God and we pray that God will do something about it. “Lord, want you do something in America?”
And God says, “I’ll Go with You.”
- “YOU GO – I GO”
- “Who You Speak with, I’ll speak with”
- “Who you work with, I’m gonna work with.”
When you are in a restaurant, and you say to the waitress, “God loves you.” You know what God does? HE BEGINS A WORK.
You see, there was a time in Abraham’s life where he came to know God. Then he realized that God had more for him in his life.
Let me ask you a question? Do you believe God has more for you in your life?
Abraham had some disappointments and some discouragements, but he got back on tract and Just Kept Going!
Do you know the greatest lesson that Abraham taught to his family? It wasn’t that God had blessed him so much, but that God wanted to use Abraham and he would walk with him every step of the way. So, many generations later – I have come to know Christ as my Lord and Savior because someone determined in their life that They were Just Going to Go On and On and On for God!
Hear the Lord of Harvest sweetly calling
Who will go and work for me today?
Who will bring to me the lost and dying?
Who will point them in the narrow way?
Millions now in sin and shame are dying,
Listen to their sad and bitter cries.
Hasten brother, hasten to the rescue,
And quickly answer, ‘Master, Here and I!’
Father, help us to JUST KEEP GOING! In Jesus’ Name. Amen
Fighting for My Pea Patch 