A Place Called "There"!

TEXT:  ST. JOHN 12:26:  If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be:  if any man serve me, him will my Father honor.

Jesus was and is the “Son of God”!  And as “Son of God”, He is above all relationships!

In the Man Jesus, there was a life in perfect harmony with God but because of the condition of those He came to save, He had to lay His life down.  And He has left us an example that we should follow His steps.

Faith in Jesus involves a personal commitment to follow Him and keep His teachings.  It includes self-denial and taking up one’s cross.

How many know there’s no something for nothing.  And when we have accepted Christ as Lord and Savior, there is a transition that takes place.  There is a growing process, a learning process, and there will be a metamorphosis that will occur which brings me to my “TOPIC” lifted from St. John 12:26 called, “A PLACE CALLED THERE”!

In verse 23 of St. John 12, His hour is come, but there were other scriptures where He said, “My hour is not come” (St. John 2:4; 7:30).  But Jesus knew He had to go to “a place called THERE”!  His “THERE” was the Cross!  

“THERE” as an adverb means:

(1) In or at that place (as opposed to here; example:  he or she is “there” now).  

(2) At “that point” in an action, speech, or etc.  

We all have to go to “a place called “THERE”!  Where is it?  Any place God has called you to.  It’s a place where we must be to receive all that God has for us.  We must be “there” to be in His presence and receive His provisions.  You and I have been chosen, called, and predestined to be in the “place called THERE”, to be used by the Master.

The Prophet Joel spoke of this very moment when he said in Joel 2:28-29 “And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions:  and also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my Spirit.

Was it not “THERE” the day of Pentecost in Acts 2 that Joel chapter 2 was fulfilled?  After it was poured out “there”, has it not continued even to now?  

We, the church, are in a place where no other church has ever been because God has brought us “THERE”, to a place of reigning and ruling authority!

Wherever God has directed you, He will get you “there”.  To get “there”, there must be obedience.  We must have faith, and we must use our faith.  We must not be afraid; we must be willing and ready to go and do whatever He may say and direct us to do to get “THERE”.  “THERE” just might not be the place of our choosing!  But will we trust Him?  Remember He already knows the path He has chosen for us to get us “there” - Wherever “there” is!  

• MOSES:  his “there” was going back to Egypt.  He had to go back “there” to deliver the Israelites.  Did not God use him to deliver them?  Oh yeah!!  He came up with excuses, but it did not change God’s mind because Moses was the “God” who had to go “there” and deliver them.
• JEREMIAH:  It was the potter’s house Jeremiah 18:2  Arise, and go down to the potter’s house, and “there” I will cause thee to hear my words.  Jeremiah had to go “there”!!  Where?  The potter’s house.  Why?  To hear the word of the Lord.  God always uses natural things to reveal to us the spiritual revelation of what He’s saying.  He could not have gone to any other house of business to see all that he saw to even understand the words he was about to hear.  While “there”, he watched a potter fashioning a vessel out of clay.  Because the vessel was not suitable for what the potter intended, he had to remold it into something other than what he had first designed.  [You can read in your spare time the 18th chapter and read what God said to Jeremiah.]  But he had to be “there” at the potter’s house.
• JOSEPH:  His “there” was a prison.  He was betrayed by his brothers, and Potiphar’s wife accused him of sexual misconduct, and he was put in prison and forgotten.  But God had a plan, and Joseph had to be “there” in a dark place to bring him to his next “there” which was a place of royalty Genesis 41—42.
• NAAMAN (2 KINGS 5:12):  He was captain of the host of the King of Syria.  The word of God says he was a great man with his master and honorable.  But he was a leper.  For him to be healed, his “there” was the muddy waters of the Jordan River.  Remember our “there’s” may not be what we want or what we think it should be.  He fussed and was very angry because the Prophet Elisha himself didn’t tell him to go and dip in Jordan, but had sent his messenger instead to tell him what to do.  Look at what Naaman said, 2 kings 5:12  Are not Abana and Pharpar, rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel?  may I not wash in them, and be clean?  So he turned and went away in a rage.  After all of that fussing and raging he dipped seven times in Jordan and his flesh came again like the flesh of a child.

There are many others who had to go to “a place called THERE”.  Today you and I have to go to “a place called “THERE”!  Same God then, same God now!!!

Will we be willing to go to the “there’s” God has already prepared for us?  Are we willing to do what we have to do to get “there”?

Getting “there” requires

(1) Obedience:  How many know that obedience is better than sacrifice.  

(2) Preparation:  There have to be some trials and tribulations; there have to be some testing of your faith.  

(3) Humility:  Naaman had to humble himself to obey the instructions from the Prophet.  Proverbs 15:33  The fear of the Lord is the instruction of wisdom:  and before honor is humility.  

(4) Revelation:  This is the unveiling, the revealing of the Word of God.  Ephesians 1:17  That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him.  Always remember that information without impartation closes up the revelation causing stagnation, which leads to devastation.  But information with impartation opens up the revelation, causing a transformation and brings about reformation.   

So who wants to be “there” in that place of reigning and ruling authority?  Did you ever find yourself in “a place called THERE”, and it was nothing like you expected?  Did you lose friends while you were “THERE”?  Were you ever lied to while “THERE”?  Was all your hope gone when you were “THERE”?  Did you just want to throw in the towel while you were “THERE”?  Did it seem that you would never come out of “THERE”?

Well, God had you “THERE” not to kill you but to teach you; to strengthen you; to give you wisdom and understanding; to let you know the battle is not yours while you were “THERE” but His!!  He never intended for you to stay “THERE” anyhow.  He had to take us “THERE”!  

Whatever your “THERE” is to get you where you are now, Lift up your heads O ye gates; and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in.  Psalm 24:7.

As God is taking us to “a place called THERE”, let us not be like Naaman, but let us through the preparation portray obedience and humility till we come to the revelation of what has taken place in our lives.

In 1972 the Staple Singers came out with a hit song entitled “I’ll Take You There”.  The words went something like this:  “I know a place, ain’t nobody crying, ain’t nobody worried, ain’t no smiling faces, lying to the races   -  let me take you THERE  -  Oh let me take you THERE.”  

I don’t know if they knew the actual depth of the words they were singing, but it sounds to me like they were on to something!!!  It sounds to me like Revelation 21:4  And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain:  for the former things are passed away.

They sang about it in 1972, but I declare and decree that God will get us “THERE”!  Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ  Philippians 1:6.  

~ EVANGELIST MARY PERRY