Being born in a non-Christian home, then seeing my parents accept Christ when I was ten years old gives me a certain perspective I’ve always been grateful for. I know the difference between life without Christ and life with Him. I saw the change in our home. It was a drastic change and impacted me deeply. After a few months of watching how God could change mom and dad, I was convicted and I was convinced He could do the same for me and I accepted Christ into my life at age eleven. It has been an amazing journey to follow God and see His plans unfold in my life but there have been a few times when His plan freaked me out and fear caused me to stop dead in my tracks.

The most important decision you will ever make in this life is the decision to accept (or not accept, which is actually to reject) Christ as your personal Savior. But becoming a Christian is the starting line and there are many steps ahead that lead to the “abundant life” Jesus talks about.

Recently, I have been reading and studying the book of Hebrews. There is a passage that addresses a significant glitch in our progress of growing with God. The glitch is explained in Hebrews 3:15-19. Here is the picture. The children of Israel had been wandering in the wilderness for decades and seeking the land of Canaan… the promised land. Once they found it, there were some within the group that were overcome with a lack of trust in God. They were afraid to enter in and they literally were standing at the threshold but were so overcome with the fear of unbelief that the passage in Hebrews says they died in the wilderness. The gruesome description states it this way, “But with whom was he grieved forty years? Was it not with them that had sinned, whose carcasses fell in the wilderness? So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief.”

Can you imagine following God for 40 years, eating manna and walking miles and miles and miles, sleeping in the wilderness, sacrificing and paying the price for the long awaited prize of living in the “promised land” and knowing you are standing in the doorway having completed 99.9% of the spiritual journey and… you stopped. Not only did you stop, you died in the wilderness and you never ever experienced the joy that was waiting for you. The joy that would have been all yours if you had taken just one more step of faith… one more step of obedience… one more movement that required you to fully trust God. That decision on that day made by so many of the children of Israel illustrates something significant about the spiritual journey you and I are on right now. And this is it. It is possible that the one thing that is keeping you from spiritual victory, living the abundant life Jesus talks about, experiencing fullness of joy and a peace that passes all understanding is simply your spirit of unbelief at the one critical moment God is ready to do something in your life that is life changing. It is that heart of hesitation you have caved in to so often when God was ready to show you a new piece of His divine plan and it freaked you out! You were scared and you stopped… dead in your tracks and you never moved another step toward it. It is what Hebrews calls the sin of unbelief. As much as we say that we are fully trusting God, fully relying on Him and fully obeying Him, the fact is that we have most likely missed some incredible God ordained opportunities by allowing fear and unbelief to cause us to hesitate. Today is a new day. Why not take some time today to be still and ask God for clear understanding about the next step He has for your life? And move toward it with the faith and courage that He will provide. And don’t ask Him for His plan, walk up to it and look at it and freeze. Go. Move. Take that one more step and be amazed at the victory God will pour into your spiritual life because you trusted Him. You believed. You obeyed. You found “rest” for your soul.

“While it is said, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation. For some, when they had heard, did provoke: howbeit not all that came out of Egypt by Moses. But with whom was he grieved forty years? was it not with them that had sinned, whose carcasses fell in the wilderness? And to whom sware he that they should not enter into his rest, but to them that believed not? So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief.” Hebrews 3:15-19

In Christ,

Ken Turner

[fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”yes” overflow=”visible”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”][fusion_content_boxes layout=”icon-with-title” columns=”1″ class=”” id=””][fusion_content_box title=”Give a Gift and Help Change The Life of a Teen” backgroundcolor=”#d8d8d8″ icon=”fa-comment” iconcolor=”” circlecolor=”” circlebordercolor=”” iconflip=”” iconrotate=”” iconspin=”no” image=”” image_width=”35″ image_height=”35″ link=”” linktarget=”_self” linktext=”” animation_type=”0″ animation_direction=”down” animation_speed=”0.1″]PS. Eighty-five to ninety percent of the youth we minister to are fatherless. This year we have been able to reach more youth than ever before and new ministry doors continue to open in youth facilities to provide Bible studies and discipleship. Approximately 60 donors make up our “ministry team” of partners that makes it all possible. Their gifts range from $25 up to several hundred dollars per month. Most of our supporters give monthly but some choose to give annually or quarterly. We’ve been blessed this year and with the expanded growth in to several states and every financial gift has made a big difference! Words can’t describe the gratitude we have for donors like you that stand in the gap to bring the hope of the gospel of Christ to the youth we serve. Please consider a year end gift to help reach high-risk and fatherless youth into the coming year! You can mail your gift to Ken Turner Ministries, PO Box 1325, Dayton, TN 37321 or give online at www.kenturnerministries.org/give 

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