If you want to put a title to my message today, it would be how far do you see? How far

do you see? It's a It's a question. And you're supposed to answer it inside your head somewhere. How far do you see?

How well do you see? Uh what is the reach of your vision? And that's what we're going to discuss today

because the way we see things affects our choices

and our actions. So, how far do you see? And I'm I'm sure some of you would say, "I see far."

I don't know how far that is. So, we're going to look into the scriptures and we're going to look at

two characters. Both of them did about the same thing in terms of seeing, but what they saw was very different and the

implications for them and their descendants was very very critical. And there are lessons we can

draw from that. So, we're going to look at Lot and we're going to look at Abraham. Their story is in Genesis

chapter 13. And we will read from verse 10 to verse 11

that talks about the story of Lot. But before I I I read the text, I just want to give you the narration.

The background. So, Abraham was asked by God to leave his country. He came from the air of the Chaldees or

the Chaldeans somewhere around present-day Iraq. And and God says to Abraham,

"Move away from your native land, your father's house to a new place I'm going to show you." So, Abraham sets off on

this journey and he goes along with his father Terah and he goes on along with his brother's son called Lot and then

with his wife Sarah. Somewhere on the journey, his father dies, but they continue going.

And so the the the the two main characters in the in Abraham's family, the males, is Abraham and his nephew

Lot. And so they move on and and went to settle somewhere. And as normally

happens, you know, they work hard, they they and they prosper. So, Abraham is doing well and Lot is doing well.

Uh they are uh dealing in livestock. They rare animals. So, the animals are growing, they employ

people, but the people are not related like Abraham and Lot are related. So, their workers see think that they are

enemies, although the Abraham and Lot know they are friends. It happens in life, you know. You are friends, but

your friends are not friends. So, So, Abraham's workers and Lot's workers start fighting. And it's a big fight and

they're always fighting because the land is big and and oh the the the the business is big and there's not enough

land. So, Abraham, Uncle Abraham, calls uh nephew Lot and says, "Listen, nephew, uh I think we need to solve this

problem. So, we we need to go different directions. So, I am the uncle, but I'm going to

give you first choice, first uh call." Uh

you can tell Abraham is not a Ghanaian because if he was a Ghanaian, he wouldn't say

that because the uncle will pick first before nephew. But Abraham says, "Oh, okay, nephew, you select which every

land you take, whichever area you want to go, take it and I'll take what is left

over." Now, you would think that he'll be a nice uh nephew and say, on. Uncle, no. Uncle, no. Uncle, you choose first.

No, but Lot jumps to the opportunity. So, he makes a choice and we're going to

read the basis of his choice from this passage. So, Exodus chapter 13 from verse number 10.

And Lot lifted up his eyes and saw all the plain of Jordan. That it was well watered

everywhere. Before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, like the garden of the Lord,

like the land of Egypt as you go towards Zoar. Then Lot chose for himself all the plain of Jordan

and Lot journeyed east and they separated from each other. I want you to note the phrase in verse 10,

Lot lifted up his eyes. Lot lifted up his eyes and saw. So, he lifted up his eyes and saw. He

paid attention to what his eyes were seeing and uh and then he made a choice out of

that. Now, the second text is just a couple of verses down the line,

verse 14 and verse [clears throat] 15. And it says, "And the Lord said to Abram, 'After Lot had separated from

him, lift up your eyes now and look from the place where you are,

northward, southward, eastward, and westward. For all the land which you see, I give to you and your

descendants forever.' Note the phrase lift up your eyes now. So, two people

doing the same thing, both lift up their eyes, both see, but they don't see the same thing.

So, if you see like Lot, you're going to choose like Lot. If you see like Abraham, you're going to choose like

Abraham. So, let's look at how they saw uh from the text.

It says that Lot lifted up his eyes. And he chose for himself. It It just speaks of somebody who is um

a bit selfish. Self-centered, narrow-minded. He doesn't care about what is left over.

It's like people who go to the buffet to eat. And after they've passed by,

there's nothing left over. Have you ever gone to a buffet party and people are heaping their plate and

you're asking, "Don't Don't you think of those who are coming after you?" They just heap and heap and heap and heap and

heap. That's a Lot spirit. Anyway, so So, Lot took what he saw and he took it for himself,

the passage says. He chose for himself. And he didn't care really whether Uncle Abraham would get something out or not.

So, let's look at how Abraham did it. Now, in Abraham's case, and the Lord said to Abram,

I use Abraham for easy reference. But it's Abram. The Lord said to Abram, "After Lot had separated from him, lift

your eyes now." Everybody say, "Lift your eyes." >> Lift your eyes. When?

Lift your eyes. Now, you may think that is a very insignificant word, the now, but it's a

very very significant word. It's it's it's a very agent word. It's it's a word that is almost like a command. Lift your

eyes now. In the Old Testament, God uses that word now in the Hebrew, na,

four times speaking to people. Four times he uses it. Lift your eyes now.

Three times he uses it for Abraham and once for the children of Israel. He uses it for Abraham when he brought Abraham

out from the cave and says, "Look now to the skies and and count." And then when he told Abraham to go and sacrifice

Isaac, he says, "Now do it." And then when the children of Israel were leaving captivity in Egypt, he told the children

OF ISRAEL, "SPEAK NOW to the Egyptians to give you their wealth." So, anytime God speaks to a person and says, "Now,"

he's demanding from the person something that is unusual. Something that is not normal. He's He's

about to shock you with something. He's about to make you do something that is not in the natural practice. So, that's

why that word now is is very important to the text. Lift your eyes when? Not tomorrow, not next week, not when

you feel like it, not when it is easy to lift your eyes, but you do it now. Because there are too many people who

lift their eyes later. But God says, "Lift your eyes And then the second thing he says,

"And look Look is okay. Look means look.

Open your eyes, watch, examine, pay attention. But the keyword I want you to note is

the word from. Look now from not look now to.

Lot looked to. Abraham looked from. That word from in the Hebrew means away.

In other words, God is saying, "Abraham, you're standing here, but don't look here.

Look away from here. Don't look at, don't look to, don't look in, look away from."

Sometimes in order to catch a glimpse of the future, you have to look away from the present.

In order to see the big picture, you have to look away from the small picture.

In order to do great things from God, you have to learn to look away from sin some things.

And he says, "Look from the place." In other words, you're standing here, but don't look here.

Easy to look at where you are, to look at your condition now, to look at the problems you're faced with, to look at

the difficulty you're looking you're faced with, and just LOOK AT LIFE WHERE you are. But God says, "Abraham, that's

not how we do it. You're going to be here, but don't look here. You're going to look from here. Here is a stepping

stone to there. So, LOOK FROM HERE. LOOK AWAY FROM this place and not to this

place." So, how differently did they see? How differently did Lot see from

Abraham? How far did Lot see? Well, we go back to the text verse 10 and 11, Genesis chapter 13, and

Lot lifted his eyes and saw. What did he see? Hey.

Am I working in vain or what? What did he see? Why did he see it?

It was well watered everywhere. So, Lot looks and he sees all the plain of Jordan.

It is well watered everywhere. In other words, the it's a watered garden. It's a land with rivers and it's flowing and

it's lush and it's green and it's doing well. That's what Lot saw. He saw a prosperous

land, watered garden. But, there is a parenthesis there that says this is before God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.

In other words, what he saw as beautiful didn't have a future. It's just about to be destroyed, but he

doesn't see it because all he sees is how good it looks now. So, he looks at the land and the passage

actually says it is so beautiful, it is like the garden of the Lord. Do you know what

that is? It's like Eden. It's like Eden. I don't know about you. I can't blame Lot too much.

Because if I see a land that is well watered and is like Eden, I think I'll choose it, too.

And because everybody likes where it's cool. Everybody likes where life seems to be

doing well. We don't want to do the heavy lifting. We want to be in a place where the heavy lifting has already been

done. So, Lot looks at it and it is a solved problem. It's a cool place. Everything

is rising riding very well. It's like the Garden of Eden.

And he says, "I like it." "I choose it." I I sometime I look at this guy is and I

say, "Ah, your uncle is standing there." He says, "Choose. You saw the nice land. Your uncle too saw it."

And he said, "Uncle, I choose that one." So, he's chosen the best land. Chosen the best. But what you have to

note is that what he's chosen the plain of Jordan is only one location.

Just one spot. The plain of Jordan. Just one location. It's limited. It's

prospering. But it's one location. It's just a spot.

It's just a place. So, if that plain of Jordan is destroyed, he has nowhere else to go

because that's all he saw. He saw only one place, one dimension, one aspect of it. It looks good, but it's ONLY ONE.

IT'S WELL WATERED, BUT IT'S only one. So, he makes a choice. It seems like a good choice, but within it is also

limitation. It's a limited choice. It's a choice that doesn't give him options. It's a

choice that doesn't challenge him. Sometimes I feel that a lot of young people make the same choices their

colleague made. Lot nephews who are choosing the watered

garden. They want life easy. Especially these days, you know, with

all the young generation, you go on Instagram and you seeing all kinds of things happening you want life to

happen. And as you know, these days people use AI to design their lives. They even

improve their look. Look at me. You know it's not you. This is machine produced. You know it's

not you. You've removed all the stumbling block. You shrunk your body.

Sometimes people take these pictures and they shrunk their body and they're standing BY A NICE CAR AND SMILING.

It's just a Lot's spirit. You see the watered garden, you want the

watered garden. You don't want anything else except the watered garden. If you will deceive yourself, you will do that

because it seems good. So, that's Mr. Lot. So, that's how he saw. How far did he

see? He saw one spot. It looked like a good spot. And he saw it. It's watered.

He can't tell the future. And he says, "I like it." And Abraham says, "Take it."

So, he takes it. So, now the passage says, "After Lot is gone."

Sometimes some people need to go before you can see well. So, Lot is gone. He's taken his portion.

Don't fight him. Don't go and and try to curse him. He's taking his portion. Look for your portion.

So, now Abraham has to now figure out what to do. And look at Abraham's choice.

How far did Abraham see? Look at the text again. And the Lord said to Abraham after Lot

has separated from him, "Lift your eyes now. Now. And look from the place where you are."

In other words, you're not going to where you are, you're going to go beyond where you are.

Northward, southward, eastward,

and was westward. He doesn't tell Abraham to look at any location.

He tells Abraham to look in a direction. It's a very different thing. Looking in a direction gives you more scope than a

location that is limited. He says, "Abraham, I don't want you to fix only on one spot that seems to be

doing well. I want you to I want to give you a directional vision. I want to give you a vision that is way

bigger." So, he says you're going to look northward.

Everybody say northward. Now, it's not just look north as a cardinal point, but northward.

The Hebrew word for north is tsaphon, which is mountain. So, he says, "LOOK

BEYOND THE MOUNTAIN." SO, at this point where Abraham is, there are probably some mountains way in front of him, and

God says to Abraham, "Lot looked at what is near, you are looking at what is far, but even the mountain, don't look at the

mountain, look beyond the mountain, because I'm about to give you something that is not limited by where the

mountains are. It goes way beyond where the mountains are. That's the first direction. You're

looking northward. So, if I'm Abraham, I'm turned this way. I suppose this is

north. Northward. AND I SEE ALL [screaming] THE VAST expanse of the north, and God says

that's how I want you to see. Not just that tiny SODOM AND GOMORRAH, VASTNESS.

NORTHWARD. Then he says you're going to look southward.

Southward is not just a cardinal point. In the Hebrew, it is the Negev. The Negev is the desert.

So, the desert is vast desert. Nothing on it.

Look in that direction. In other words, you're going to look at the mountains. They look like

obstructions, but for you it is vision. You're going TO LOOK AT THE DESERT AREA. NOBODY LIKES IT, BUT FOR you it's your

vision, because you're going to look beyond the dryness of the desert. And then he says you're going to look

westward. The Hebrew word is yam. Yam means waters, the sea.

There's no building on it, but you're going to look to the sea area and beyond [clears throat] the sea area. In other

words, you're going to have overseas. Then he says you're going to look eastward. Interesting. The eastward, the

language there is the place of ruins. In other words, in Abraham's town time, these are towns that have been ruined,

deserted. Nobody likes living there. He says you're going to look in that direction and beyond that. Now, if you

look at what God is showing Abraham, nothing is green. Nothing is flourishing.

The mountains are way out there, they are dry. The desert is dry. The sea has nothing on it. The ruins, nothing is

growing, but he says that's what I want you to see. Because sometimes we are so limited by

what has been, we cannot see what will be. God is not taking you to what has been,

he's taking you to what will be. Listen to me, young people. I'm preaching this for you.

God is not taking you to what has been, he's taking you to what will be. And for you to have what you will be, you don't

have to fixate on what is, you have to fixate on what can be. The mountain area,

dry, distant. The desert area, nothing seems to grow there, but you're

going to make it grow. It's no watered garden, but you water it. You're going to create irrigation

systems for that mouth for that desert, and you're going to make it flourish. To the ruins,

you raise them up. To the sea, you possess it and the lands beyond it.

And he says to Abraham, "If you see that, I will give it to you

and to your descendants after you." In other words, Abraham, you're going to have a vision so big

that you cannot even see the end of it. Your children, your children's children, Isaac will come and Jacob will come, and

later on Moses will come and Joshua will come and David will come and Solomon WILL COME, AND ALL OF THEM ARE eating

from your vision because you saw from the beginning something of vast expanse. Listen to me, young man.

You live in a world of instant gratification. You know, these days I see young men and

women, they don't they can't marry. They can't marry. They and their attache they won't marry. You ask the man, "Why

won't you to marry?" Ah, the women. They don't They don't know how to

Then you ask the ladies. The raw material is here. Man woman who is not married. Why don't you marry the

brother? Ah, they don't have they have a G wagon. They don't have He's living in just a one room house. He doesn't have a

This So, what do you want? Ah, I don't know. I'm believing God for something big.

You want your watered garden, isn't it? But sometimes you have to marry the problem and turn it to solution.

The young people are not clapping. Their parents are clapping. They themselves they say, "Ah, pastor, I

I I no no no no no. I don't want that. I want my G wagon." You get a G wagon, but you get it from

the mountain. You get it from the desert. You get it from the ruins. You get it from working on the left and on

the right. You get it because you're going to produce it yourself. You're not going to rely on what

somebody has produced to be your heritage. You're going to take up the challenge of life, and you're going to

confront and the challenge of life. Because sometimes your greatest success

will be given to you in a desert. Now, if you know the story of Mr. Lot,

he saw the green land. And the next chapter after this, he was captured

in battle. Because where he went to dwell, in this land he thought was great,

some people also thought it was great. >> [laughter] >> So, they came to fight over the land,

captured him, took him into captivity, and it took Uncle Abraham, whom you left to live in the desert, to come and

deliver him. Then afterwards, you think Mr. Lot will say, "Oh, I've learned my lesson."

I have to move from this. You know, he stayed there until Sodom and Gomorrah was about to be

destroyed. And even when God told him to leave that place, he he didn't want to leave.

He had to be whipped to leave. Because he's so fixated on what he sees

that he cannot believe there's nothing or something beyond what he sees. God is going to show you the mountain,

but he'll show you beyond the mountain. For the young people, you're going to move mountains.

I said you're going to move mountains. For you to be to move mountains, there have to be mountains.

You cannot move mountains when there are no mountains. So, may God give you many mountains.

>> [applause] >> I'm looking at your face as if you are vexed with me.

I said may God give you many mountains. >> [cheering] >> You're going to make the desert

FLOURISH. MAY GOD GIVE YOU A DESERT. >> [cheering] >> You're going to make the sea abound with

plenty. May God give you seas. And you're going to build the ruined cities. May God give you ruins to build.

That's how you build. That's how you build. You're going to

marry somebody who doesn't look like something. The good thing is both of you don't look

like something. Because sometimes the man thinks I'm something, but he looks like nothing.

And the girl thinks I'm something, but you are nothing. Because we who are observing know that

you are two nothings. >> [laughter] >> You think YOU ARE SOMETHING. WE KNOW YOU

are two nothings, BUT WHEN YOU COME TOGETHER in agreement, YOU CREATE SOMETHING.

>> [cheering] >> YOU CREATE SOMETHING. AND you can look back at what you have

done and you say, "I came to the desert. I transformed it. I came to the mountain. I moved it. I came to the sea.

It abounded. I came to the ruins and I rebuilt them." And when God showed Abraham that land,

Abraham walked in the land. He's just going started going up and

down. And I can imagine for years he's going up and down. This

desert, this mountain area, is going through the land. And there's nothing there.

But he's praying. Because it's too big for him at this time.

Lot becomes a tenant in Sodom. Abraham is going to be the owner of the

whole thing. And it's too big. So God says the only way this vision

becomes reality is that your descendants will be as big as your vision. They shall be like the sand.

And they are on the shore and like the stars in the sky. In other words, I will give you not only immediate capacity,

but future capacity so that what you see now, you'll be able

to possess it. Today, although I'm speaking generally, I'm

speaking particularly to young men and women. Those of you who are below 40 years.

How many of you are below 40? Below 40, let me see you. Don't hide your hand.

Okay. Now, some of you have done well. Some of you are doing well. Some of you have not

started doing. But if you're below 40, at least even if you are 40,

you have about 30 solid years ahead of you. 30 years is a lot of time.

You know, if you want to see how powerful 30 years is, look at how the world was 30 years ago,

1996. And look at the technologies that have occurred from 1996 to now.

All in 30 years. In my lifetime, I have moved from when we used to make a phone call

dialing with a ring dialing tone, when you have to make trunk calls, and you when you you say something you have

to wait for the call to literally travel. And then you call back. I've seen that

to phones that can only make calls to phones that do literally everything.

In 30 years. Can you imagine what the next 30 years will be for you?

So, if you are even 40, you may say, "Oh, I'm 40. I haven't done anything." Oh, yeah, you have 30 solid years ahead

of you. Stop looking to the grass that is green, the watered garden. Start looking to the mountain, and look into

the desert, and look into the sea, and look into the ruins, because God is giving you problems YOU CAN SOLVE.

THAT'S WHY GHANA HAS PROBLEMS. SO, YOU CAN SOLVE THEM. You don't run away from it.

YOU STAY AND SOLVE IT. IF you are 35, you have another 35 years, all things

being equal, ahead of you. Minimum. If you are 30, you have about 40 solid

years ahead of you. You can get your G Wagon and Y Wagon and and Z Wagon. But, it's not going to be given to you

free of charge. You're going to work for it. You're going to build the mansions. You're going to build the families.

You're going to build a life. You're going to build it, but you're going to build it from the mountains and from the

desert, and you're going to plow and chain the ruins and and and plow the seas, because you're going to tackle

impossible situations. That's why God said to Abraham from the beginning, "Open

lift up your eyes now." >> [clears throat]

>> And every time he says that, it means I'm going to task you to do something extraordinary. It's beyond you, but you

can do it. So, today for all of you who are 40 and below, I want to pray with you.

I want to pray for you because my desire is that you do extraordinarily well with your life

as a human being, with your family, with your husband, your wife, your

children. I want to pray for you that wherever you find yourself, whether you are employed

or you are employee, you are a business owner, you're starting a business, wherever you are, I want to pray that

the mountains will not scare you, that the deserts will not scare you, that the ruins will not scare you, that the sea

will not scare you, but like Abraham, you can look beyond all of these and see the promise of God become real in your

life. So, if you are 40 and below, just stand up. I'm going to pray with you. 40 and below, get up. Get up. Get up.

Get up. Get up. You look very wonderful. Very wonderful people,

men and women. You've done well so far to be alive

and to be where you are. But God has far more for you. There are mountains you must take.

There are deserts you must change. There are old ruins you must rebuild. There is a sea.

The sea normally in the bi- Bible talks about chaos that you must tame.

There are things you must bring under your control.

And maybe you look at it and you say, "This is too much." But God says, "Lift up your eyes now."

I'm showing you something that looks threatening and impossible, but you will do it.

Somebody say, "I'm going to do it." Oh, please. What is I'm preaching for you now.

Say, "I'm going to do it." Say, "I'm going to do it." "By the grace of God." "By the help of

God." "I will not fail myself." "I will not fail my children." "I will not fail my generation."

You're going to be awesome. Awesome people. Awesome people. Awesome people. I want

you to put your hand upon your head as I pray for you. Father, I lift these men and women to

you. Life may seem like a mountain, like a desert, like a chaotic sea, like ruins

for them. But Lord, you are speaking to them like Abraham.

Lift up your eyes now and see. May you, oh Lord, help them to see beyond the mountains,

beyond the chaos, beyond the desert, beyond the ruins.

May they see beyond that and see your promises, your faithfulness, your goodness, your strength, your ability.

May you empower them, oh God, by your Holy Spirit to do great things

in their lives and in their generation. I pray for you that nothing will knock you down.

That nothing will make you quit. That nothing will make you despair of life.

That nothing will make you turn away. That as you confront the challenges of life,

you will also experience the victories of life. May the Lord God who called Abraham,

who also called you in Christ Jesus, empower you by his spirit to do great things for him and for his

kingdom in this your time, in this your era. May the next 30, 40, 50 years of your life be the greatest years of your

life. In Jesus' name we pray and everybody shout an amen. Oh, shout a big amen.

Shout a very powerful amen. I didn't hear the voice of the men. I think the women are shouting. So, all

the men shout amen. Now we are talking. And all the ladies shout amen.

That's why you always cover the men. May the Lord bless you. May the Lord help you. May you never despair. May you

see greatness in your life. May you take the mountains. May you take the deserts. May you take the chaos of the sea. May

May you possess the ruins and may you transform your world because you are the seed of Abraham,

not the seed of Lot. Amen. And amen. God bless you.