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WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?
Genesis 16:8a….. (The angel of the Lord is speaking to Hagar)….. Where have you been?
This question forces us to look at our past…
Our past includes three elements: Physical - Emotional – Spiritual
1. Name some past events in your life, either good or bad….
IE: Saying “good-bye” to a loved one; Salvation; Child Birth; etc.
In what ways did this event affect you physically, emotionally and spiritually?
2. Using the list below, let’s take a closer look at “Where” we have been.
Name some kinds of Crossroads where you have experienced:
Trials, Temptations, Testing, Tragedy, Triumph
Envy, Emptiness, Encouragement, Enslaved
Attitude, Anguish, Action, Assurance, Acceptance, Accountablitily
Sin, Shame, Sorrow, Success
3. How does your past define who you are today?
4. How does it enlarge your future?
*** I am who I am today, because of “who” I was yesterday…
Whether good or bad, the crossroads that we face
- Shape our character
- Help our understanding
- Complete us
- Defines who we are
What is it that keeps us at our Crossroads?
STRONGHOLDS….. A stronghold is anything in your life that has a “strong” “hold” on you.
The Bible tells us in 2 Corinthians 10:5, that we are to "take every thought captive....make it obedient to Christ"....
Some things that have a strong hold on our lives are:
Anger (Psalm 37:8); Bitterness (Ephesians 4:31-32); Criticism (Romans 14;10); Disappointment (Psalm 22:5); Emotions (Ephesians 4;23); Forgiveness (Colossians 3;13); Grief (Psalm 147:3); Habits (Romans 7:5); Insignificance (Psalm 139:16-18)
Biblical Examples of Those Who Have Faced Crossroads
From what you know about the Bible, can you think of some people who have faced a Crossroad and the result of their decision?
Here are some examples to get you started:
Genesis 12:1 - The LORD said to Abram, "Leave your country, your relatives, and your father's home, and go to a land that I am going to show you.
Here we see that Abraham was facing a crossroad…..”Do I leave the only home I have ever known, to obey God, or do I stay??
And what did he do?
Genesis 12:4…When Abram was seventy-five years old, he started out from Haran, as the LORD had told him to do; and Lot went with him.
And here are some others....some with the results, and some without....
- Eve faced a temptation….her crossroad was whether to eat or not to eat.
- Result: Genesis 3:16
- Adam faced the temptation of doing as his wife asked.
- Result: Genesis 3:17
- Noah faced a test……his crossroad was whether not he could live with the ridicule from his friends as he obeyed God, or not.
- Result: Genesis 6:22; 7:21, 23; 8:1
- Hagar…..leave, continue on the run, or go back?
- Result: Genesis 16:9-10
- Jonah…..his crossroad was choosing to disobey God and run to Nineveh?
- David with Bathsheba…. His crossroad began on the rooftop….
- Result: 2Samuel 12:18….his child dies
- Mary, the mother of Jesus; Her crossroad began with a visit from an angel.
- Luke 1:38… and Luke 2:7
- Ruth’s crossroad began when her husband died…..to follow Naomi or to return home.
- Rahab….hide the spies or not?
- Lot’s Wife? Look back or not?
- Joseph with Potipher’s Wife.
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