Prepare for the Promotion
Moving Forward (Day 1) // Prayer365
"The Lord replied, “I have forgiven them, as you asked. Nevertheless, as surely as I live and as surely as the glory of the Lord fills the whole earth, not one of those who saw my glory and the signs I performed in Egypt and in the wilderness but who disobeyed me and tested me ten times— not one of them will ever see the land I promised on oath to their ancestors. No one who has treated me with contempt will ever see it. But because my servant Caleb has a different spirit and follows me wholeheartedly, I will bring him into the land he went to, and his descendants will inherit it. Since the Amalekites and the Canaanites are living in the valleys, turn back tomorrow and set out toward the desert along the route to the Red Sea.” - Numbers 14:20-25 NIV
Our theme for this week is a continuation of Sunday’s message titled "Moving Forward", which is part two of the series called “The Rhythms of Grace.” Throughout this week we are going to take elements of that message and make it applicable for our daily lives. This is what makes the difference between simply hearing and doing. Yes, the difference between existing and thryving.
My encouragement for you today is to “Prepare for the Promotion.”
There’s a friend of mine that works with me for the State of Florida. We’ll call him Sherman. Sherman was a senior for several years and one day we were talking about the possibility of him promoting to a supervisor. He agreed the pay increase would help and the discount in health insurance would be a big plus, but for some reason he didn’t have the courage to apply. There was something about the process of the promotion and the challenges that would follow that intimidated Sherman and kept him from it. He could see the benefits, but couldn’t see through the process. No matter how many times people from upper management encouraged him to apply, he felt more comfortable with what he already knew.
In Numbers 14:20-25 we listened in on a conversation God has with Moses concerning the people of Israel. Prior to this conversation, God instructed men to be sent into the promised land to scout it out, and they brought back testimonies of how amazing things were. How it flowed with milk and honey and even bought back a single cluster of grapes so massive that it took two men to carry. But when asked about whether they could defeat the enemies, the majority said, “NO!” They began to describe the giants in the land and how they were like grasshoppers compared to the people. They were terrified to say the least. Only two men strongly believed that God would grant them victory and they would overtake what God had promised them. But the majority outweighed the minority and began to spread rumors throughout the camp inciting fear and wailing. It became so bad to the point that people were speaking about how they rather that they stayed in Egypt and how God has brought them out here to die.
This is the moment that set Israel on a 40 year course of walking in circles because God was not willing to promote them into what they were not prepared for. Although God had declared the land as theirs, He knew that if they went in with this mindset they would be destroyed because a kingdom divided against itself cannot stand. This is a truth that I want you to understand in your own life today: that God will not promote you into what you’re not prepared for.
Like my friend Sherman, the Israelites were able to see the benefits but they couldn’t see though the process. They were in position but their hearts were not ready for the promotion. What we discovered through their own words was that although they had seen God’s goodness, experienced his blessings, still something remained inside of them them from their past. They had been delivered out of slavery from Egypt, yet Egypt was still inside of them although they were miles and miles away.
I want you to understand that preparation begins in the heart. This is why Proverbs 4:23 says to keep your heart with all diligence because out of it flows the very issues of life. Over the next couple of days we are going to talk about areas in the heart that we must give attention to in order to move forward. But today, I encourage you to pray the same way David would, saying “Create in me a clean heart and renew a right spirit within me” (Psalm 51:10), this way we can flow in the Rhythms of God’s Grace and we can move forward. Say aloud right there where you are, "I’m moving forward. God change my heart, so that I can move forward."
Our theme for this week is a continuation of Sunday’s message titled "Moving Forward", which is part two of the series called “The Rhythms of Grace.” Throughout this week we are going to take elements of that message and make it applicable for our daily lives. This is what makes the difference between simply hearing and doing. Yes, the difference between existing and thryving.
My encouragement for you today is to “Prepare for the Promotion.”
There’s a friend of mine that works with me for the State of Florida. We’ll call him Sherman. Sherman was a senior for several years and one day we were talking about the possibility of him promoting to a supervisor. He agreed the pay increase would help and the discount in health insurance would be a big plus, but for some reason he didn’t have the courage to apply. There was something about the process of the promotion and the challenges that would follow that intimidated Sherman and kept him from it. He could see the benefits, but couldn’t see through the process. No matter how many times people from upper management encouraged him to apply, he felt more comfortable with what he already knew.
In Numbers 14:20-25 we listened in on a conversation God has with Moses concerning the people of Israel. Prior to this conversation, God instructed men to be sent into the promised land to scout it out, and they brought back testimonies of how amazing things were. How it flowed with milk and honey and even bought back a single cluster of grapes so massive that it took two men to carry. But when asked about whether they could defeat the enemies, the majority said, “NO!” They began to describe the giants in the land and how they were like grasshoppers compared to the people. They were terrified to say the least. Only two men strongly believed that God would grant them victory and they would overtake what God had promised them. But the majority outweighed the minority and began to spread rumors throughout the camp inciting fear and wailing. It became so bad to the point that people were speaking about how they rather that they stayed in Egypt and how God has brought them out here to die.
This is the moment that set Israel on a 40 year course of walking in circles because God was not willing to promote them into what they were not prepared for. Although God had declared the land as theirs, He knew that if they went in with this mindset they would be destroyed because a kingdom divided against itself cannot stand. This is a truth that I want you to understand in your own life today: that God will not promote you into what you’re not prepared for.
Like my friend Sherman, the Israelites were able to see the benefits but they couldn’t see though the process. They were in position but their hearts were not ready for the promotion. What we discovered through their own words was that although they had seen God’s goodness, experienced his blessings, still something remained inside of them them from their past. They had been delivered out of slavery from Egypt, yet Egypt was still inside of them although they were miles and miles away.
I want you to understand that preparation begins in the heart. This is why Proverbs 4:23 says to keep your heart with all diligence because out of it flows the very issues of life. Over the next couple of days we are going to talk about areas in the heart that we must give attention to in order to move forward. But today, I encourage you to pray the same way David would, saying “Create in me a clean heart and renew a right spirit within me” (Psalm 51:10), this way we can flow in the Rhythms of God’s Grace and we can move forward. Say aloud right there where you are, "I’m moving forward. God change my heart, so that I can move forward."
Listen to this morning's prayer:
More from this week:
Did you know that Thryve Church prays together 365 days a year? Join us Monday-Friday at 6:30am & Saturdays at 8am for "Prayer at the Altar" by dialing 339-207-7471 and then join us Sundays at 11am for Worship Service! Learn more