42nd Generation-Part 4

Earlier this week we began a series on Andrew Shearman’s signature teaching: The 42nd Generation. It’s about a generation that comes into its greatness by leaving its wilderness-thinking behind. Here’s the continuation:

Heaven is a
blessing to all Christians, but it is not the destination we should run
after while on earth. How many of us live in those 41 wilderness
cities? You’ll bleach your bones disinherited as long as you live in
these places. We need to get to the Feast of the Tabernacles.

We need to let
our past go and decide, “I am not going to live in this nonsense any
longer. I am wasting my life. I am not going to resist getting my feet
wet to cross the river Jordan.” 1 Corinthians 9:26-27 says, “Therefore
do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man
beating the air. No I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I
have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the
prize.” We must be validated by the Christ formed in us.

Joshua
circumcised the entire nation. He gives them the mark of God. They were
miracle babies because they had enjoyed all the blessings, but they had
not been circumcised. They were happy living in the wilderness with
daily miracles. Circumcision was a sign of the covenant of God’s people
that they would get the benefits of a child of God. It was usually done
on the 8^th day after a male baby was born.

You will not
get into the Promised Land looking like an Egyptian. God wants to
circumcise our hearts so that we can get healed. Through circumcising
our heart, God wants to take us from a place where we are content with
Jesus simply as our savior to start making us become productive for the
kingdom of God.

It is
interesting to note that the day after the Israelites ate food from the
land, the manna stopped. We need to know what it means to survive in
the Promised Land, with all its demands, if nobody gives us any help.
We need to know how to get our own stuff, to know how to study the
Bible on our own, to know how to let God teach us himself. We should
not just be getting our own stuff, but have enough that we can teach
others. It’s a mature attitude to come to church with that and say,
“I’m here to give, not to take.” It is a heart that has met with God
before you come to church so that you can truly worship God whether
everyone else there is worshiping Him or not, whether you are alone or
in a crowd, the worship comes from your heart, not from your
surroundings.

God will give
us our inheritance when we can self-feed, and success will not spoil
us. It is then that God will trust us with a lot. If you are
negotiating and blame-shifting, you are not ready to repent. We must
admit and accept responsibility for our sins. We cannot blame our sins
on our friends, our parents, our race, our education or anything else.

Generally speaking, most people let life pass them by while they are waiting for life to begin. What you have now is
life. This is it! It isn’t going to suddenly get good one day. You will
never get there; this is it. Enjoying the journey is the “destination.”
If you chose not to enjoy the journey and stay focused on yourself,
then you will die in the wilderness. Self-preservation, trying to
promote ourselves and not God keeps us staggering around in the
wilderness, never getting to the river Jordan. God is humbling us and
testing us so that we are ready and can get the inheritance.

Do you believe
in an ever-increasing kingdom? Is what we are going through an end or a
beginning? Are we at hanging on and making it through another year?
That’s wilderness-thinking. It’s time for us to risk coming out of
obscurity. We need to get out of the wilderness survivalistic mindset
where there is not too much risk and not too much pain and get to
maturity and inheritance. We need to stop talking and start walking.
The 42^nd generation is the one that is prepared to leave the past behind and move into inheritance.