Get Outside Your Tent

God's Superabundant Power

Ephesians 3:20 (AMP) "Now to Him who is able to [carry out His purpose and] do superabundantly more than all that we dare ask or think [infinitely beyond our greatest prayers, hopes, or dreams], according to His power that is at work within us."

The Call to Spread Out and Think Big

Isaiah 54:1-6 (MSG)

"Sing, barren woman, who has never had a baby. Fill the air with song, you who've never experienced childbirth! You're ending up with far more children than all those childbearing women." God says so!

God's Commands:

• "Clear lots of ground for your tents!"
• "Make your tents large. Spread out! Think big!"
• "Use plenty of rope, drive the tent pegs deep."
• "You're going to need lots of elbow room for your growing family."

God's Promises:

• "You're going to take over whole nations"
• "You're going to resettle abandoned cities"
• "Don't be afraid—you're not going to be embarrassed"
• "Don't hold back—you're not going to come up short"
• "You'll forget all about the humiliations of your youth"
• "The indignities of being a widow will fade from memory"

The Ultimate Promise:

• "For your Maker is your bridegroom, his name, God-of-the-Angel-Armies!"
• "Your Redeemer is The Holy of Israel, known as God of the whole earth"
• "You were like an abandoned wife, devastated with grief, and God welcomed you back"
• "Like a woman married young and then left," says your God

Breaking Free from False Limitations

Key Principle: Whatever You Can Conceive and Believe, You Can Achieve!

Critical Decision: CHOOSE not to accept the false boundaries and limitations created by the past.

Breaking Cycles:

• Whatever cycles that life has you bound in, it's time to break the cycle
• The children of Israel wandered in circles for 40 years when the trip took about 14 days
• Don't wander through life when God has a plan for you NOW

Abraham's Journey: Get Outside Your Tent

Genesis 15:1-7 (AMP) – The Context Matters

Verse 1: "After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision..."

What Are "These Things"?

The Timeline of Tests:

1. Genesis 12: God called Abram to leave his home at age 75
2. By Faith: He left his homeland
3. AFTER the Famine: He endured scarcity and uncertainty
4. AFTER the Embarrassment: He lied to the King of Egypt
5. AFTER Family Conflict: He had dissension with his nephew Lot
6. AFTER the Battle: He fought and won against the Babylonian kings
7. AFTER the Possessions Test: He passed the test with his possessions
8. AFTER ALL THOSE TESTS: God appeared to him in a vision

Critical Truth:

• A lot of us would have given up AFTER having gone through just one of these tests
• That is the reason why many dreams from God never materialize—we give up too soon

The Vision: Overcoming Fear

Genesis 15:1 (AMP) "Do not be afraid, Abram, I am your shield; Your reward [for obedience] shall be very great."

Common Fears We Face:

• Some of you have a fear that your time will never come
• Some of you have fear that your time has passed you by
• Abram had been stressing about time running out on him having a son
• Many of us worry: "It's too late to start my business, it's too late to get married, it's too late to have a baby"

God's Truth: IT'S NEVER TOO LATE FOR GOD

Abraham's Honest Complaint

Genesis 15:2-3 (AMP) "Abram said, 'Lord God, what reward will You give me, since I am [leaving this world] childless, and he who will be the owner and heir of my house is this [servant] Eliezer from Damascus?' And Abram continued, 'Since You have given no child to me, one (a servant) born in my house is my heir.'"

Remember: The Bible states that He never sleeps or slumbers (Psalm 121). God was aware of Abraham's situation all along.

The Breakthrough Moment: Get Outside Your Tent

Genesis 15:4-5 (AMP) "Then behold, the word of the Lord came to him, saying, 'This man [Eliezer] will not be your heir but he who shall come from your own body shall be your heir.' And the Lord brought Abram outside [his tent into the night] and said, 'Look now toward the heavens and count the stars—if you are able to count them.' Then He said to him, 'So [numerous] shall your descendants be.'"

Three Divine Actions: Outside, Up, Count

1. God Took Him Outside

The Problem: Abraham was stuck in his tent—his limited environment

God's Solution: Get outside your familiar territory

Why God Did This:

• God wanted him to change his perspective
• God was telling Abraham that his roof is too low, his ceiling too short
• Expand your mindset
• Many of us have become hostages to our environments

Practical Applications:

• You need to get outside your familiar territory
• You need to fly in first class at least once—get an upgrade
• You need to ride in a limo at least once
• You need to stay in a penthouse hotel at least once
• "Pastor, I can't do that!" Well, switch from Brandon AMC to CineBistro, or try valet, or curbside at the airport

The Principle: Experience something bigger than your current reality to expand your thinking

2. God Told Him to Look Up

Change Your Vantage Point:

• Stop looking at your current circumstances
• Stop staring at your limitations
• Look up to see God's perspective
• Shift your focus from what you don't have to what God can do

3. God Told Him to Count

The Impossible Assignment: Count the stars

The Point:

• It's impossible to count the stars
• God's promise to Abraham was beyond human calculation
• Count it all joy—trust in what you cannot fully comprehend

Critical Truth: That's why you can't tell big dreams to small thinkers.

The Transaction: Faith Counted as Righteousness

Genesis 15:6 (AMP)

"Then Abram believed in (affirmed, trusted in, relied on, remained steadfast to) the Lord; and He counted (credited) it to him as righteousness (doing right in regard to God and man)."

Related Scripture: Proverbs 3:5 (NLT) "Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding."

Understanding the Banking Transaction

When Abraham Believed God, His Transfer Took Place:

The word "COUNTED" is a banking term:

• When Abram deposited his faith in the vaults of God by believing in Him with his whole heart
• God credited righteousness to his account
• God counted him as righteous

Personal Application: For me, this transaction took place when I believed in Christ alone for my salvation.

Life Principle: In your life, you will have defining moments. How you handle these moments determines your transfers.

Remembering God's Faithfulness

Genesis 15:7 (AMP)

"And He said to him, 'I am the [same] Lord who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans, to give you this land as an inheritance.'"

The "I Am the Same God" Declaration

God's Reminder to Abraham: "Trust me, son, because I'm that same God that brought you out of your father's land into this land"

Personal Applications—God Is Saying:

• I am the same God that got you through school
• I am the same God that got you home that night
• I am the same God that got you out of that bad relationship
• I am the same God that helped you raise that baby by yourself
• I am the same God that got you off your sick bed
• I am the same God that saved your life when you were in the hospital
• I am the same God that kept you through the storms of life
• I am the same God that got you through that foreclosure
• I am the same God that got you through when you lost your job
• I am the same God that got you through that divorce

Biblical Foundation:

Hebrews 13:8 (AMP) "Jesus Christ (the Messiah) is [always] the same, yesterday, today, [yes] and forever (to the ages)."

Summary: The Pattern for Breakthrough

1. Endure the Tests

Don't give up after the first, second, or seventh difficulty. God's vision often comes AFTER the tests.

2. Be Honest with God

Abraham complained openly. God can handle your honest frustrations.

3. Get Outside Your Tent

Break free from your limited environment and small thinking.

4. Look Up

Change your perspective from earthly limitations to heavenly possibilities.

5. Embrace the Impossible

When God gives you a vision too big to count, that's confirmation it's from Him.

6. Believe and Transfer

Your faith deposits righteousness into your account with God.

7. Remember His Faithfulness

The God who brought you through before will bring you through again.

Application Questions

1. What "tent" (limited thinking or environment) do you need to get outside of?
2. What tests have you endured that are preparing you for God's vision?
3. Are you on the verge of giving up too soon, right before your breakthrough?
4. What false boundaries from your past are you still accepting?
5. When was the last time you did something outside your comfort zone to expand your thinking?
6. What impossible dream has God given you that you've been too afraid to believe?
7. How can you change your vantage point this week to see from God's perspective?
8. What past faithfulness of God do you need to remember right now?

Final Challenge

Stop limiting God by the size of your tent.

Clear lots of ground. Make your tent large. Spread out. Think big. Use plenty of rope. Drive the tent pegs deep.

God wants to do superabundantly more than all you dare ask or think—but first, you have to get outside your tent.