See Beyond the Promise: Lasting in Faith, and God-Inspired Practices

In this episode, we reflect on how God-inspired practices can last beyond seasons, promotions, relocations, and fulfilled promises. Using Abraham’s journey in Hebrews 11:8–10, this message calls us to see beyond the immediate promise and keep our eyes on God’s eternal purpose. If you have started something God inspired but feel tempted to stop, this message will encourage you to recover vision and continue with faith.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:22

It's not the absence of discipline, but the limitation of vision. If all we see is the promise, we may stop when the promise comes. But if we see beyond the promise, we can last for the long haul. Good morning and welcome to this episode of Igniting Your Day. This morning, I want to ask you one important question. Can you see beyond the promise? Have you ever been passionate about a particular practice only to later discover that the passion was short-lived? Many people once had strong prayer lives, but the moment they moved to another country, that prayer life fizzled out. Many people had things God committed into their hands, but those things ended the moment they changed location. Many people were doing things they knew God delighted in, but as a result of certain changes in their lives, those practices stopped. Some started profitable and productive practices, but the moment they got promoted at work, they could no longer continue. Others came to the conclusion that they had now done well because they had crossed certain milestones. Because of that, they let down their guards. So the important question is this how do I ensure that the God-inspired practices I start last as long as they should, especially when they were received without a time limit? When God gives an instruction, he does not always say do this for five days or do this for three months. Sometimes he simply tells you to start. When I was inspired about igniting your day, he did not put a time limit on it. So I am asking you also this morning, how do we ensure that God-inspired practices last as long as they should when we did not receive them with a time limit? There are certain things God has told you to do. There are certain practices God has asked you to put into your calendar. You have started some of them, and when he inspired those things in you, he did not attach a time limit. So I ask again, how do we ensure that God-inspired practices last as long as they should? An important question is this while you are in the practice, what are you seeing? God may have asked you to start a business, fine. While you are in that business, what are you seeing? God may have asked you to pray every day, fine. While you are praying every day, what are you seeing? God may have asked you to commit to a particular spiritual discipline, fine. But while you are in that discipline, what are you looking for? Abraham saw beyond the promise. Let's look at Hebrews chapter 11, verse 8 to 10. 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. By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as seen a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise. For he looked for a city which had foundations, whose builder and maker is God. Based on this scripture, my question to you this morning is this what are you looking for? I asked earlier, while you are in the practice, what are you seeing? Now I'm asking, in that practice, God told you to continue. What are you looking for? Abraham waited for a city which had foundations, whose builder and maker is God. That means if Abraham had been looking for a city whose builder was man, he could have found one and probably ended the journey prematurely. But the Bible says he was looking for a city whose builder and maker is God. Notice this Abraham dwelt in the land of promise as in a foreign country. He was already in the land of promise, yet he lived there like a stranger. He did not treat the land of promise as the final destination of his heart. He lived in the land of promise, but his vision went beyond the promise. This is important because there are many promises you and I have received, and the reception of those promises marked the end of certain journeys in our lives. There are many things God has said to us, and upon receiving them, certain practices ended. There are many fulfillments of promises and prophecies that ended things we once engaged in passionately. But Abraham teaches us something deeper. Even though he was given a promise, his focus was beyond the promise. God called him to get out of his father's house and go to a place he would show him. Abraham got to the land of promise, but the Bible says he was still looking for a city whose builder and maker is God. It's important to note that the promises and prophecies given to us are often what we can comprehend. They are what we can understand at that time. They are what we can relate with at that level. They are what our minds can grasp in that season. But they do not mark the end of God's ability. This is where the mistake often comes from. Many of us do not remember that no matter how huge a promise or prophecy may be, it is still being communicated within the level of our understanding. It does not mean that it is the height of God's plan. It does not mean that it is the upper limit of God's ability. It does not mean that is the full extent to which God can release his grace upon your life. The fact that God promised you a car does not mean that is the end of God's ability for you. It may simply mean that at that moment the promise of a car is what your mind can grasp. The fact that God promised you a throne, a position, or a promotion does not mean that is the end of his ability for you. It means that is what you could understand at that time. God's communication to us is still received through the boundary of our understanding. What you received does not and will never mean the end of God's capacity towards you. So I ask you again this morning, can you see beyond the promise? You have been trusting God for a child for several years. Can you see beyond the promise of that child? You have been believing God for a promotion for so long. Can you see beyond that promotion? You have tried and failed several times. I empathize with you, but I ask you, can you see beyond the promise? Lasting long in the things of God is beyond being disciplined and passionate. Discipline can help you behave well on the journey. Passion can keep you heated up for the journey. But to go the long haul, it has to be by what you are seeing. Abraham was living in the land of promise, yet he was looking for a city whose builder and maker is God. Many times we let ourselves settle and be settled by the promise. We stop moving because the thing we were expecting has arrived. But we forget that the promise was only what we could grasp at that time. It is not the end of God's capacity, it is not the end of God's ability, it is not the end of God's purpose. How do we know this? The Bible says in Ephesians chapter 3, verse 20 to 21, now unto him that is able to do exceedingly, abundantly, above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us. Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen. Friends, God is able to do exceedingly, abundantly above all that we ask or think. So, what am I saying this morning? What I'm telling you is this if you put things in eternity's perspective, you will likely last for the long haul. That promise you have received, put it in eternity's perspective. Even your behavior on that journey will be modified when you do. Anything God has promised you, put it in eternity's perspective. Then you may begin to see how small that thing is compared to the fullness of what God is able to do. This is what Abraham did. He was given a promise, but within his heart he was envisioning what was eternal. Because of that, he could not settle, even though he was already in the land of promise. The Bible says that in the land of promise he lived as a foreigner. I am encouraging somebody today. You have worried yourself so much because of that thing you are believing God for. But I am asking you, can you see beyond that thing? You've had dreams, you have received prophecies, you have been told visions, but can you see beyond the promise? Stop limiting God. Abraham lived like a foreigner in the land of promise, not because the place where he lived was not promised, but because he was looking for a city whose maker and builder is God. Did Abraham find what he was looking for? I will say yes. Why? Because in scripture there is a place referred to as Abraham's bosom. That was not a mistake. Abraham looked for something beyond the earthly promise, and his name became associated with a place of comfort beyond this life. So I tell you again, God is able to do exceedingly, abundantly above all you can ever imagine. Ask yourself, brother, ask yourself, sister, what am I seeing? Can I see beyond the promise? Why don't you pray this morning? Lord, help me to see beyond what I can imagine. According to Ephesians chapter 3, verse 20, pray. Lord, help me to realize that you are much more than I can imagine. Help me to come into the reality that you are more than my mental capacity can grasp. Deliver me from limiting you to what I have received, what I have understood, or what I am currently believing you for. Lord, help me see that your ability is greater than my request in the name of Jesus. Let's also look at 2 Corinthians chapter 4, verse 18. The Bible says there, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal. My brother, my sister, do you want to last? Stop looking at the things which are temporary. Ask God to help you keep your eyes on things which are eternal. Father, help me not to fix my eyes only on what is seen. Help me not to build my devotion only around temporary things. Help me not to lose my fire because of a fulfilled promise. Help me keep my eyes on eternal things. Lord, teach me to see beyond the physical manifestation of what I am trusting you for in the name of Jesus. Help me to last by eternal vision. Yes. Maybe there are things you have prayed for and you are yet to receive them. It may be that God is trying to correct your vision before giving you what you asked for. You may have been asking God for a child. Perhaps one of the things God is working on is your ability to see beyond that child. God does not want you to reduce him to the manifestation of one request. He does not want you to be overwhelmed by the burden of what he gives you. Yes, you may be asking, God, why have you not done it? But God may be looking at you with mercy and saying, How I wish my son could see beyond this need, how I wish my daughter could see beyond this thing. God is more than able. Do not reduce him in his sovereignty to the manifestation of one promise. Maybe God is correcting your vision this morning because you have not been able to see beyond that thing you are trusting him for. What you have been asking God for may be actually smaller than the potential he wants you to realize. Why not ask him this morning? Father, help me to see correctly. Help me to see beyond what I am asking for. Help me to see beyond the promise. Help me to see beyond the prophecy. Help me to see beyond the physical manifestation. Yes. There is so much more, friends, beyond the fulfillment of that promise. There is so much more beyond the fulfillment of that prophecy. Do not reduce God to the manifestation of your prophecy. God is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask God think. Finally, this morning, maybe as this message has been going on, you have discovered that you settled prematurely. You are going to ask God to help you see new visions. Joseph dreamed again. Genesis 37 verse 9 tells us that Joseph dreamed another dream. Even Pharaoh dreamed another dream. He dreamed a second time. Genesis 41, verse 5. And he slept and dreamed the second time. And behold, seven years of corn came up, and upon one stalk, rank and good. You also can dream again. You can dream a second time. If you settle too early, God can open your eyes again. If you allowed the promise to become your stopping point, God can enlarge your vision again. If your prayer life, obedience, devotion, or spiritual practice ended because you arrived at a milestone, God can awaken you again. Why don't you say this morning, Father, help me to see new visions? Where I have settled prematurely, awaken me again. Where I stopped because a promise was fulfilled, restore my sight. Where I became comfortable too early, enlarge my vision. Where I allowed a breakthrough to end my devotion, call me forward again. Let me dream again. Let me see beyond the promise. Yes. My dear friends, do not let the promise become the place where your fire dies. Let the promise become the place where your vision grows. The God who gave the promise is greater than the promise. The God who fulfilled the prophecy is greater than the fulfillment. The God who answered the prayer is greater than the answer. So ask yourself today, what am I seeing? What am I looking for? Can I see beyond the promise? I'd like to charge you, take a moment today to pray over one area of your life where you may have stopped too early, settled too quickly, or reduce God to one promise. Ask Him to enlarge your vision and help you see beyond the promise. I believe you have been blessed by what you heard this morning. I wish you an amazing day. God bless you.