God’s Positioning System – How God Leads His Children Along
GOD’S POSITIONING SYSTEM: HOW GOD LEADS HIS CHILDREN ALONG
(Gen. 26:1-35)
A Message by Rev Dr Vincent Leoh on 22 November 2009
POSITIONED FOR BLESSINGS: THE PLACE WHERE GOD WANTS US TO BE
COMMANDED BLESSINGS! (26:12-14)
There are BLESSINGS that are yours by design. God has divinely ordered them for you, but you are not going to get them till you are in position.
I. GOD USES PROBLEMS (ADVERSITY AND HARDSHIPS) TO GUIDE US
(26:1-14)
“Now there was a famine in the land … ” (26:1) Trials occur even in the Promised Land
“And the Lord appeared unto him, and said, ‘GO NOT DOWN into Egypt; DWELL IN THE LAND which I shall tell thee of. Sojourn in this land, and I will be with thee, and will bless thee.’” (: 2,3)
God doesn’t want us to RUN and escape. As long as God is with us, it does not matter what the situation is. Keep being led by God and not your fear. God is not limited or governed by the economy; God can bless you anywhere
“And Isaac dwelt in Gerar…” (: 6)
We can choose to live in the center of God’s will. God calls for radical obedience.
“Then Isaac sowed in that land and received in the same year a hundredfold and the Lord blessed him” (: 12) God’s people can flourish in times of famine. God can bless us no matter where we are.
A Christian is blessed (Col. 1:1-8; Eph. 1:3-6).
The hundredfold of God’s blessings (Mark 4:13-14)
II. GOD USES PROVOCATIONS (OPPOSITION AND HOSTILITY) TO GUIDE US (26:15-17)
Isaac wasn’t exactly where God wanted him, so God used the envious Philistines to move him. If not for the blessings there would have been no envy, and Isaac may have stayed put.
Who stopped his wells? (: 14-16) To fill or cover wells was a declaration of war. Enemies love filling in wells. When the devil sees God blessing you, he will do all he can to steal it from you.
Isaac’s strategy to determine where to stay. Essentially Isaac refused to stay where there was conflict and hostility. It was the dispute over the ownership of the wells he dug or reopened that served to guide him in the direction of the land of promise. Isaac chose to not quarrel with people, but moved on to places of peace and quiet.
III. GOD GUIDES BY HIS PROVIDENCE (26:18-25)
“And Isaac digged again” (: 18) Digging a well was considered tantamount to a claim of ownership. Satan always opposes the desire and the effort to move forward. You have to be more determined to open the wells than the devil is to fill them in. There are wells of revelation, joy, healing and deliverance that are waiting for us to dig (Psa. 84:5-6)
THE FOUR WELLS OF ISAAC
1. ESEK – Contention
2. SITNAH – Separation
3. REHOBOTH – Room
4. SHEBAH- Completion
Isaac’s decision as to where he should stay was based upon the finding of abundant water and the absence of hostilities. Circumstances had shaped most of his decisions.
IV. GOD LEADS BY HIS DIVINE PRESENCE (26:23-25)
“He went up to Beersheba…” (: 23) All the afflictions and opposition of Isaac had actually been leading him deeper into the Promised Land, figuratively closer to God. He went up to Beersheba because he sensed on a spiritual level that this was where God wanted him to be. If God had previously been “driving” Isaac along, now he was willing to be led.
Isaac first “built an altar there and called on the name of the Lord” (: 25). Previously the touchstone for knowing the will of God had been circumstances; now he discovered the place for God’s people is the place of His presence! The place of intimacy, worship and communion with God is the place to abide. There we should dwell, and there we are assured of God’s provision for our needs (: 32).
GOD’S POSITIONING SYSTEM
The two most common systems of guidance for Christians of every age are: Living by PRESENCE or by PROVIDENCE.
When we walk in accordance with the principles given in the Word of God, we walk closest to Him. When we walk by providence we shall still arrive where God wants us to be, but without the joy of being an active participant in the process. Instead, we are the passive objects, which God moves from point to point by circumstances. There is little joy or intimacy with God in this system.
POSITIONED FOR BLESSINGS – MOVING IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION …
From Problems
to Provocations
to Providence
to Presence
God leads His children along.
December 7th, 2009 at 9:26 am
I received this message which was from Bill Burns Website. The dates are one day apart and the message is also about digging wells.
http://ft111.com/thetrumpet.htm
November 23, 2009: The Lord says to you today, have you heard My Word? Have you heard My exhortation? Rise up My people. Gather yourselves up and dig for the waters of this season. Dig for the anointing that you have lost. Dig new wells of great and strong anointing, for indeed the anointing will bring the glory and the presence of My kingdom upon your life. Dig and drink. Sing to the well. Dig and drink. Dig and do not stop. Are you thirsty? Then dig. Are you thirsty? Then take a drink. For you will find that there is a river of life that flows through My kingdom where trees are planted. Therein lies the mystery and the secret of the promise of My living water. So I say today let all dryness be gone. You have walked through the valley of the shadow of death; you have walked through the wilderness; you have walked through the dry places, but now you are coming to the place of living water where springs bubble up out of the depth of My kingdom. Therefore, I say unto you, dig and drink. As you drink, life will again enter in to your temple. As you drink, wellness will again come. As you drink the powers of darkness will leave. As you drink the glory of the kingdom will manifest in you, and you will become strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. So, I say, drink. It is the season for the digging of the wells in the pattern and the type of those that Abraham, Isaac and Jacob dug. Use your faith as a shovel and dig and drink, says the Lord.