1Kings 19:8-18
“So he got up and ate and drank. Strengthened by that food, he traveled forty days and forty nights until he reached Horeb, the mountain of God. 9 There he went into a cave and spent the night.
And the word of the LORD came to him: "What are you doing here, Elijah?"
10 He replied, "I have been very zealous for the LORD God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, broken down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too."
11 The LORD said, "Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the LORD, for the LORD is about to pass by."
Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. 12 After the earthquake came a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. 13 When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave.
Then a voice said to him, "What are you doing here, Elijah?"
14 He replied, "I have been very zealous for the LORD God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, broken down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too."
15 The LORD said to him, "Go back the way you came, and go to the Desert of Damascus. When you get there, anoint Hazael king over Aram. 16 Also, anoint Jehu son of Nimshi king over Israel, and anoint Elisha son of Shaphat from Abel Meholah to succeed you as prophet. 17 Jehu will put to death any who escape the sword of Hazael, and Elisha will put to death any who escape the sword of Jehu. 18 Yet I reserve seven thousand in Israel—all whose knees have not bowed down to Baal and all whose mouths have not kissed him."
Last week we saw Elijah worn out, depressed and discouraged - he ran out of fear - the threat of Jezebel to take his life.
In his discouraged, depressed state he’s also feeling extremely lonely. In this passage alone he states twice he is the only one left who loves and follows God. He’s feeling alone - lost and alone and wanting to give up. there are times we can relate.
A number of years ago the following ad was placed in a Midwestern newspaper: "I will listen to you talk for 30 minutes without a comment for $5.00." Sounds like a scam, doesn't it? It was not. Person placing ad received 10-20 calls a day.
As his UCLA football team suffered through a poor season in the early 1970s, head coach Pepper Rodgers came under intense criticism and pressure from alumni and fans. Things got so bad, he remembers with a smile, that friends became hard to find. “My dog was my only true friend,” Rodgers says of that year. “I told my wife that every man needs at least two good friends—and she bought me another dog.”
Loneliness. It's not uncommon.
There are two (2) basic types of loneliness:
a. GEOGRAPHICAL LONELINESS.
1) What special military ops people feel alone in desert.
2) This is loneliness we feel on business trips; phone call helps--not the same as being there!
b. LONELINESS OF SPIRIT.
1) Husband & wife under same roof but distant.
2) Unwed mother whose former lover deserts her.
3) Elderly person who waits for call/mail/visit.
There are times when we all feel lonely.
1) New town, new job, new school, loss of loved one.
2) That kind of loneliness is natural--won't last.
3) But for some, loneliness runs much deeper.
-Sometimes loneliness is a choice.
We turn back on folks who really care (friends, family).
we can choose against love; to squander relationships;
loneliness is a decision--yours!
with Elijah it was his decision - in vs. 3 he took off on his own, then left his servant and traveled further by himself.
-Sometimes we throw a self-pity party
we make it worse than it really is. Oh whoa is me!
I don’t know why we pout in our self-pity, no one’s around
vs. 4 “while he himself went a day's journey into the desert. He came to a broom tree, sat down under it and prayed that he might die. "I have had enough, LORD," he said. "Take my life; I am no better than my ancestors."
-Sometimes we exaggerate loneliness.
We can blow up a minor mishap into a huge ordeal.
a little argument w/ the spouse can result in sleeping in separate rooms for a few days.
in vs. 10 & 14 Elijah exaggerates his situation and speaks of how he is the only one left.
Funny thing is - he’s not the only one left and he knows it!
1st there was Ob. who he connected with who is a devout follower of God, scripture tells us, and not only just Ob, b/c Ob also told Elijah that there were 100 more hidden from Jezebel.
So now we just went from 1 left to 101 left - that’s a huge increase, especially if you break it by percentage!
You’re not the only one left Elijah.
Regardless of what the case may be, sometimes we create this loneliness ourselves, sometimes we don’t but regardless of how it’s happened the bottom line is if you FEEL lonely, then that’s all that really matters at that point. and this is how Elijah felt.
in vs. 10 & 14 he says I’m the only one left, that’s how he FEELS... it’s interesting that Elijah says he’s alone twice and twice God asks Elijah, “what are you doing here?” mmmm...
Elijah’s in a cave, fearful, alone, no one gets me, no one struggles like me - tell me if this resonates w/ you - no one has the thoughts I have... if you’re married, no1 argues w/ their spouse like me... if people knew the real me, I would die.. people might be depressed, but no1 like me... people don’t hate people like I do, people don’t have an infatuation w/ their middle finger when they’re on I-10 like I do, right?
We’re so afraid to come out of the cave, b/c we feel like no1 gets us - we feel alone and we want freedom from that.
Look here how God remedies that - you see He doesn’t do it by a great worship experience, a fire or earthquake or anything like that. He doesn’t say, “Hey, we’ll sing 8 songs and then you’ll get it” although that can & could certainly happen, but not here, and not usually - look at what God does: He tells Elijah to get back to work (last week)
18 “Yet I reserve seven thousand in Israel—all whose knees have not bowed down to Baal and all whose mouths have not kissed him."
This is what God is basically saying, “you think you’re the only left, but if you head over that mountain you’ll see 7,000 just like you
How does God remedy it? Community
Hebrews 10:24-25
You know it was George Gallop who said, “Americans are among the loneliest people in the world.”
The most advanced society, the most technologically driven people ever created, yet we feel all the time, that we’re in this thing alone, doing life by ourselves.
Although we work in offices and people are around us all the time, we drive into our neighborhoods full of houses, our head can hit the pillow at night and we feel like we’re all alone. Ever felt that way?
How many of you would agree life is confusing at times - raise hands? how about difficult at times?
Then why in the world would we want to try to figure it all alone - why try and do this journey by ourselves? So often in life we think, I’ll just go at it alone and that is not how God created it to be.
God created this network w/in the church to help us do life.
We believe here at FOCUS* that the church must grow larger and smaller at the same time. (Always reaching out to others growing the church and at the same time doing life together in a multitude of small community groups)
I’m not real sure how you walked in here felling this morning and when I mentioned Gallop said Americans are some of the loneliest people it may have resonated with you or maybe you have thought, I have a lot of friends but the relationships are about this deep.
Ladies and gentlemen God did not create you to live alone - He created you to do life with other people
What’s the big deal about community - we all have needs:
1. I NEED OTHERS TO KNOW ME.
Beyond the superficial, I need others to know me - not know who I am, I want others to know me. (it has been one of the frustrating things to deal with in moving here to Houston - left tight knit group of back in Cali.) I want that deep relationship, not just business, not just let’s go play hoops once a month, someone to know me. And there’s not 1 of us in this room that does not have this desire w/in us to be known.
Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing… Hebrews 10:25a
It’s interesting that the writer continues to make this a plural assumption, ‘Let US not’ - God created us for community - for others to know us. Doing life with others is God’s answer to loneliness
Community is God’s answer to … LONELINESS.
2. I NEED OTHERS TO WALK WITH ME.
I need to know I’m not doing this journey by myself.
What a shame, when we hit difficult spots in life and wish we had someone around to tell us what’s next - God put this process in place, this network called community w/in the church for us to do life with to know we’re not alone.
Maybe parenting issues arise, were not sure how to handle something, “I wish we had some others in our lives to help”
Maybe a job/career change, “I sure would like some input from a close friend” We feel like we’re in it all alone.
Community is God’s answer to … SPIRITUAL IMMATURITY.
Do you know what we learn from others in our lives that we cant get from a seminar or a book, real life experiences, been there done that. Some of the greatest lessons I’ve learned in life didn’t come from a book or seminar, they came from another persons life b/c they help grow you up. “As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.” Proverbs 27:17 Ever hit that phase in life where it's all about you - it’s all about me, my stuff, my life and in that there are times I need others to walk w/ me so I can grow up.
3. I NEED OTHERS TO CARE FOR ME.
Let us consider (think about)how we may spur (encourage, urge) one another on toward love…Hebrews 10:24
Let’s just talk, there’s just times when we get down, isn’t there? Isn’t there times when you just hit a wall -
you just need someone to come along a put their hand on your back and say keep your head up, keep going, you’re gonna make it - do you ever get that? Do you need that? I know I do, even recently
But you know what, we cant get it just coming here for an hour on Sunday - not even if you do lunch occasionally
We all hit a crisis, there are times where there’s just no answers and life is not easy - those days are comin’ and when they do we are going to want someone in our lives walking w/ us and caring for us.
Listen folks, no one will just walk in if we haven’t cultivated that relationship - it happens spending time together -
the best way is to get hooked up in-community, get plugged in to a community group (guys thur, girls tue.)
You see the enemy knows, if he can keep you isolated he can keep you down - look at God’s answer
Community is God’s answer to … DESPAIR.
From feeling like you’re going down and there’s nobody there to help you - there’s just something about being there with other people - Christianity, this journey is not meant to be done alone, it’s a team game.
We could have an amazing time together on Sundays, great worship, God’s Word may pulsate within you, I’m talking you walk out of here different - which is incredible and only by God’s Holy Spirit, but that alone is not enough, that is not how God created us. God created us for community.
4. I NEED OTHERS TO SERVE WITH ME.
And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward … good deeds. Hebrews 10:24
B/c we are selfish-driven people our lives tend to focus only on our needs, our wants, our desires so I need other people around me to remind me that it’s not all about MUAH!
We are to serve others
It’s one of the reasons we’re involved in the Montrose Street Church -
we just give, we just serve... together
Community is God’s answer to … SELFISH LIVING.
It’s His answer to ‘it’s all about us’
5. I NEED OTHERS TO WATCH OUT FOR ME.
…but let us encourage one another… Hebrews 10:25b
Community is God’s answer to … SPIRITUAL ATTACKS.
If you were going out to war and the battle is looming, one of the 1st things we want to know is, “who’s got my back?”
Would you agree?
The Bible tells us in Ephesians we are in a war, and the battle is not on the ground, it’s in the spiritual realm.
We need others to have our backs, to pray for us, lift us up, keep us in mind.
Here’s the deal guys, I know that you know God, I know that you have Christ, I know you have your bible... you need someone with skin on who can talk about your value & the significance of your place, your person, somebody who understands how you’d love to pinch the heads off your kids, somebody who understands what it feels like to work for that pushy boss - life can be hard, it can be a battle, we need others who will be there for us -
you’ll find them in-community... get plugged in, & stay
connected,
Make it a PRIORITY.
A sign of growth in the world of nature is change - change in the dimensions of a tree, fruit appearing on the vine, flowers blooming - in a similar way, change for us means new levels of maturity, of understanding, of the way we relate to family and friends - But what does it take for change to occur?
GET CONNECTED
Sunday, July 29, 2007
Monday, July 23, 2007
The Elijah Element - Getting Up when Life Gets You Down
1 Kings 18
40Then Elijah commanded them, "Seize the prophets of Baal. Don't let anyone get away!" They seized them, and Elijah had them brought down to the Kishon Valley and slaughtered there.
41 And Elijah said to Ahab, "Go, eat and drink, for there is the sound of a heavy rain." 42 So Ahab went off to eat and drink, but Elijah climbed to the top of Carmel, bent down to the ground and put his face between his knees.
43 "Go and look toward the sea," he told his servant. And he went up and looked. "There is nothing there," he said. Seven times Elijah said, "Go back." (persistent prayer - push)
44 The seventh time the servant reported, "A cloud as small as a man's hand is rising from the sea." So Elijah said, "Go and tell Ahab, 'Hitch up your chariot and go down before the rain stops you.' "
45 Meanwhile, the sky grew black with clouds, the wind rose, a heavy rain came on and Ahab rode off to Jezreel. 46 The power of the LORD came upon Elijah and, tucking his cloak into his belt, he ran ahead of Ahab all the way to Jezreel.
Elijah outruns Ahab back to Jezreel - Ahab is in a chariot!
Now that’s fast! I wonder what his 40 time is?
Elijah runs 6 miles back to the city - why? b/c the clouds are getting dark, the wind is blowin’ maybe thunder in the sky - the storm is here.
Remember in week 2 of our study Elijah confronted Ahab about leading the people of Israel into sin and idolatry.
He then tells Ahab, there’s not gonna be rain or even dew for the next few years expect by my word. Elijah is saying, “These are the consequences God has laid out buddy”
so now here we are a few years later and the rain is here by Elijah’s word (his prayer to God) and the reason he took off to the city was to give Ahab another chance to turn away from his sin. Our God is the God of the 2nd chance, & 3rd, 4th, 5th, 100th - His grace and love for us is enormous!
His greatest desire is to be close to you and for us to draw close to Him. We cannot even begin to fathom the love He has for us - all of our thoughts that we have of His love for us are just like a teaspoon of the ocean. It is astronomical beyond measure.
It is big enough to forgive Ahab and all that he has done.
It is big enough for you - if you ever wondered, or questioned that - let’s just lay that to be bed right now.
Nothing can separate you from God. No sin, no thoughts,
no attitudes, nothing!
“Yet the LORD longs to be gracious to you; he rises to show you compassion.” Isaiah 30:18
whatever the sin may be, if we come to Him and ask for forgiveness - it is gone!
“as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.” Psalm 103:12
His grace and love for us is enormous!
1 Kings 19
1 “Now Ahab told Jezebel everything Elijah had done and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword. 2 So Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah to say, "May the gods deal with me, be it ever so severely, if by this time tomorrow I do not make your life like that of one of them."
eewwww scary! You see Ahab went right to Jezebel - That happens to us from time to time - we know we should go to God, but instead we look to ourselves or someone else.
Ahab goes to Jez. and now she is hot! fiery mad! (I’m not sure there’s anything worse, nothing scarier than a mad woman!
Bulldog foamin at the mouth, Cobra head straight up staring at me, stuck in a cage w/ a Grizzly, I’ll take any of those!)
She’s mad, she’s mad b/c she has lost all of her ‘YES’ men.
The guys who told her everything she wanted to hear, and prophesying her future glory & power.
She’s lost her ‘YES’ men & her pride has taken a hit. Plus now her authority has been damaged - opening up questions from others.
So b/c Jezebel couldn’t control Elijah’s actions, she decides, “fine then, I’ll just take him out, kill him.”
3 "Elijah was afraid and ran for his life."
Look at this - Elijah ran on his own this time - not by God’s
direction - a few weeks ago we talked about how God told Elijah to run, to flee for safety, b/c there are times in life we just need to “get the heck outta Dodge” b/c we can’t hang -
God knows that - we’re human, prone to mess up. So there are certain things in life we just need to avoid, to run from.
we looked at a few things God tells us to run from - if God says run, you better run - but here, today, Elijah ran on his own.
Elijah ran out of fear - fear will do that to us wont it?
Fear can cause us to abandon all logic, knowledge, even
common sense of what to do.. causing us to create these “what if” scenerios in our minds - instead of looking to God.
What is FEAR?
False
Evidence
Appearing
Real
and that’s exactly how Elijah took this threat from Jezebel - appearing real.
What should we do w/ FEAR?
don’t look inward or outward - look upward.
Trust in God. Instead of listening to others or ourselves, listen to God.
“but whoever listens to me will live in safety and be at ease, without fear of harm.” Proverbs 1:33
‘is there something creating fear in your life? What are you doing w/ that? are you giving it to God?
You may say, "Yea Man, I'm prayin" - but is that truly where you're trust lies?
3 "Elijah was afraid and ran for his life. When he came to Beersheba in Judah, he left his servant there, 4 while he himself went a day's journey into the desert. He came to a broom tree, sat down under it and prayed that he might die. "I have had enough, LORD," he said. "Take my life; I am no better than my ancestors."
Elijah now is experiencing the depths of fatigue and discouragement even after his 2 great spiritual victories: the defeat of the prophets of Baal and his answered prayer for rain.
Quite often discouragement sets in after great spiritual experiences, especially those requiring physical effort or great emotion
Fatigue, discouragement, depression all can follow these great victories in our lives, b/c we feel we have completed this huge task and now no longer have this sense of purpose anymore and on top of that you better believe the enemy Satan isn’t happy about this at all - so there becomes the spiritual attacks upon us, creating these depressed and discouraged emotions.
So what should we do when we find ourselves in one of these depressed or discouraged states.
How do we battle discouragement?
Rest
We need to take the time to rest.
5 "Then he lay down under the tree and fell asleep."
Hey can I tell you this, for some of you here the most spiritual thing that you could do is take a nap. (Hey, not right now)
Get some rest.
Now there are others of you who may need to wake-up a little more often - but some of you need to take a break!
How about a little perspective - Even God took a day off, right.
On the 7th day He.... rested.
If God is resting.... then how arrogant are we if we think or say, “I don’t have the time to rest, I don;t have the time to take a break” - really?
If we don’t we’ll find ourselves right here w/ Elijah depressed and discouraged.
“Find rest, O my soul, in God alone; my hope comes from him.
He alone is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will not be shaken. My salvation and my honor depend on God; he is my mighty rock, my refuge.Trust in him at all times, O
people; pour out your hearts to him, for God is our refuge.”
Psalm 62:5-8
Renew
v.5-11 “All at once an angel touched him and said, "Get up and eat." 6 He looked around, and there by his head was a cake of bread baked over hot coals, and a jar of water. He ate and drank and then lay down again.
7 The angel of the LORD came back a second time and touched him and said, "Get up and eat, for the journey is too much for you." 8 So he got up and ate and drank. Strengthened by that food, he traveled forty days and forty nights until he reached Horeb, the mountain of God. 9 There he went into a cave and spent the night. And the word of the LORD came to him: "What are you doing here, Elijah?"
10 He replied, "I have been very zealous for the LORD God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, broken down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too."
11 The LORD said, "Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the LORD, for the LORD is about to pass by."
If we find ourselves in a depressed or discouraged place we need to find renewal in the Lord.
God says, come to me, again don’t look inward or outward but look upward so that you may be renewed to continue on.
That’s what God was doing w/ Elijah.
"Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest." Mark 6:31
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” Matthew 11:28
If we feel beaten down, we don’t think we could take another step forward - We can be renewed, have this new found strength in God alone to keep on keepin on.
“who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion,who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's. The LORD works righteousness and justice for all the oppressed. Ps. 103:4-6
It is in Him.
Refocus
v.9-15
“And the word of the LORD came to him: "What are you doing here, Elijah?".... 11 The LORD said, "Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the LORD, for the LORD is about to pass by." Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. 12 After the earthquake came a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. 13 When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave. Then a voice said to him, "What are you doing here, Elijah?"
14 He replied, "I have been very zealous for the LORD God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, broken down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too."
15 The LORD said to him, "Go back the way you came, and go to the Desert of Damascus. When you get there...
and God gives specific instructions.
In order to lead Elijah out of this depression and discouragement, 1st God says, get some rest, then come before me to be renewed, now God is getting him refocused.
Elijah I have more for you, God is getting him refocused.
It’s time to return to your mission, there’s still work for you to do.
God’s word to us all is there’s more work to do. Back to the task at hand. Now w/ this new found strength and power from God Elijah moved ahead boldly.
So can we. Regardless of what’s going on. If we force ourselves to slow down and rest - in that time come before the Lord to be renewed we too will have the power and strength to move forward to keep going.
“I've got my eye on the goal, where God is beckoning us onward—to Jesus. I'm off and running, and I'm not turning back.
So let's keep focused on that goal, those of us who want everything God has for us.” Philippians 3:13-15
God is calling us to live for Him
40Then Elijah commanded them, "Seize the prophets of Baal. Don't let anyone get away!" They seized them, and Elijah had them brought down to the Kishon Valley and slaughtered there.
41 And Elijah said to Ahab, "Go, eat and drink, for there is the sound of a heavy rain." 42 So Ahab went off to eat and drink, but Elijah climbed to the top of Carmel, bent down to the ground and put his face between his knees.
43 "Go and look toward the sea," he told his servant. And he went up and looked. "There is nothing there," he said. Seven times Elijah said, "Go back." (persistent prayer - push)
44 The seventh time the servant reported, "A cloud as small as a man's hand is rising from the sea." So Elijah said, "Go and tell Ahab, 'Hitch up your chariot and go down before the rain stops you.' "
45 Meanwhile, the sky grew black with clouds, the wind rose, a heavy rain came on and Ahab rode off to Jezreel. 46 The power of the LORD came upon Elijah and, tucking his cloak into his belt, he ran ahead of Ahab all the way to Jezreel.
Elijah outruns Ahab back to Jezreel - Ahab is in a chariot!
Now that’s fast! I wonder what his 40 time is?
Elijah runs 6 miles back to the city - why? b/c the clouds are getting dark, the wind is blowin’ maybe thunder in the sky - the storm is here.
Remember in week 2 of our study Elijah confronted Ahab about leading the people of Israel into sin and idolatry.
He then tells Ahab, there’s not gonna be rain or even dew for the next few years expect by my word. Elijah is saying, “These are the consequences God has laid out buddy”
so now here we are a few years later and the rain is here by Elijah’s word (his prayer to God) and the reason he took off to the city was to give Ahab another chance to turn away from his sin. Our God is the God of the 2nd chance, & 3rd, 4th, 5th, 100th - His grace and love for us is enormous!
His greatest desire is to be close to you and for us to draw close to Him. We cannot even begin to fathom the love He has for us - all of our thoughts that we have of His love for us are just like a teaspoon of the ocean. It is astronomical beyond measure.
It is big enough to forgive Ahab and all that he has done.
It is big enough for you - if you ever wondered, or questioned that - let’s just lay that to be bed right now.
Nothing can separate you from God. No sin, no thoughts,
no attitudes, nothing!
“Yet the LORD longs to be gracious to you; he rises to show you compassion.” Isaiah 30:18
whatever the sin may be, if we come to Him and ask for forgiveness - it is gone!
“as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.” Psalm 103:12
His grace and love for us is enormous!
1 Kings 19
1 “Now Ahab told Jezebel everything Elijah had done and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword. 2 So Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah to say, "May the gods deal with me, be it ever so severely, if by this time tomorrow I do not make your life like that of one of them."
eewwww scary! You see Ahab went right to Jezebel - That happens to us from time to time - we know we should go to God, but instead we look to ourselves or someone else.
Ahab goes to Jez. and now she is hot! fiery mad! (I’m not sure there’s anything worse, nothing scarier than a mad woman!
Bulldog foamin at the mouth, Cobra head straight up staring at me, stuck in a cage w/ a Grizzly, I’ll take any of those!)
She’s mad, she’s mad b/c she has lost all of her ‘YES’ men.
The guys who told her everything she wanted to hear, and prophesying her future glory & power.
She’s lost her ‘YES’ men & her pride has taken a hit. Plus now her authority has been damaged - opening up questions from others.
So b/c Jezebel couldn’t control Elijah’s actions, she decides, “fine then, I’ll just take him out, kill him.”
3 "Elijah was afraid and ran for his life."
Look at this - Elijah ran on his own this time - not by God’s
direction - a few weeks ago we talked about how God told Elijah to run, to flee for safety, b/c there are times in life we just need to “get the heck outta Dodge” b/c we can’t hang -
God knows that - we’re human, prone to mess up. So there are certain things in life we just need to avoid, to run from.
we looked at a few things God tells us to run from - if God says run, you better run - but here, today, Elijah ran on his own.
Elijah ran out of fear - fear will do that to us wont it?
Fear can cause us to abandon all logic, knowledge, even
common sense of what to do.. causing us to create these “what if” scenerios in our minds - instead of looking to God.
What is FEAR?
False
Evidence
Appearing
Real
and that’s exactly how Elijah took this threat from Jezebel - appearing real.
What should we do w/ FEAR?
don’t look inward or outward - look upward.
Trust in God. Instead of listening to others or ourselves, listen to God.
“but whoever listens to me will live in safety and be at ease, without fear of harm.” Proverbs 1:33
‘is there something creating fear in your life? What are you doing w/ that? are you giving it to God?
You may say, "Yea Man, I'm prayin" - but is that truly where you're trust lies?
3 "Elijah was afraid and ran for his life. When he came to Beersheba in Judah, he left his servant there, 4 while he himself went a day's journey into the desert. He came to a broom tree, sat down under it and prayed that he might die. "I have had enough, LORD," he said. "Take my life; I am no better than my ancestors."
Elijah now is experiencing the depths of fatigue and discouragement even after his 2 great spiritual victories: the defeat of the prophets of Baal and his answered prayer for rain.
Quite often discouragement sets in after great spiritual experiences, especially those requiring physical effort or great emotion
Fatigue, discouragement, depression all can follow these great victories in our lives, b/c we feel we have completed this huge task and now no longer have this sense of purpose anymore and on top of that you better believe the enemy Satan isn’t happy about this at all - so there becomes the spiritual attacks upon us, creating these depressed and discouraged emotions.
So what should we do when we find ourselves in one of these depressed or discouraged states.
How do we battle discouragement?
Rest
We need to take the time to rest.
5 "Then he lay down under the tree and fell asleep."
Hey can I tell you this, for some of you here the most spiritual thing that you could do is take a nap. (Hey, not right now)
Get some rest.
Now there are others of you who may need to wake-up a little more often - but some of you need to take a break!
How about a little perspective - Even God took a day off, right.
On the 7th day He.... rested.
If God is resting.... then how arrogant are we if we think or say, “I don’t have the time to rest, I don;t have the time to take a break” - really?
If we don’t we’ll find ourselves right here w/ Elijah depressed and discouraged.
“Find rest, O my soul, in God alone; my hope comes from him.
He alone is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will not be shaken. My salvation and my honor depend on God; he is my mighty rock, my refuge.Trust in him at all times, O
people; pour out your hearts to him, for God is our refuge.”
Psalm 62:5-8
Renew
v.5-11 “All at once an angel touched him and said, "Get up and eat." 6 He looked around, and there by his head was a cake of bread baked over hot coals, and a jar of water. He ate and drank and then lay down again.
7 The angel of the LORD came back a second time and touched him and said, "Get up and eat, for the journey is too much for you." 8 So he got up and ate and drank. Strengthened by that food, he traveled forty days and forty nights until he reached Horeb, the mountain of God. 9 There he went into a cave and spent the night. And the word of the LORD came to him: "What are you doing here, Elijah?"
10 He replied, "I have been very zealous for the LORD God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, broken down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too."
11 The LORD said, "Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the LORD, for the LORD is about to pass by."
If we find ourselves in a depressed or discouraged place we need to find renewal in the Lord.
God says, come to me, again don’t look inward or outward but look upward so that you may be renewed to continue on.
That’s what God was doing w/ Elijah.
"Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest." Mark 6:31
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” Matthew 11:28
If we feel beaten down, we don’t think we could take another step forward - We can be renewed, have this new found strength in God alone to keep on keepin on.
“who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion,who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's. The LORD works righteousness and justice for all the oppressed. Ps. 103:4-6
It is in Him.
Refocus
v.9-15
“And the word of the LORD came to him: "What are you doing here, Elijah?".... 11 The LORD said, "Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the LORD, for the LORD is about to pass by." Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. 12 After the earthquake came a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. 13 When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave. Then a voice said to him, "What are you doing here, Elijah?"
14 He replied, "I have been very zealous for the LORD God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, broken down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too."
15 The LORD said to him, "Go back the way you came, and go to the Desert of Damascus. When you get there...
and God gives specific instructions.
In order to lead Elijah out of this depression and discouragement, 1st God says, get some rest, then come before me to be renewed, now God is getting him refocused.
Elijah I have more for you, God is getting him refocused.
It’s time to return to your mission, there’s still work for you to do.
God’s word to us all is there’s more work to do. Back to the task at hand. Now w/ this new found strength and power from God Elijah moved ahead boldly.
So can we. Regardless of what’s going on. If we force ourselves to slow down and rest - in that time come before the Lord to be renewed we too will have the power and strength to move forward to keep going.
“I've got my eye on the goal, where God is beckoning us onward—to Jesus. I'm off and running, and I'm not turning back.
So let's keep focused on that goal, those of us who want everything God has for us.” Philippians 3:13-15
God is calling us to live for Him
Monday, July 16, 2007
The Elijah Element - The Showdown
1 Kings 18:16-39
“So Obadiah went to meet Ahab and told him, and Ahab went to meet Elijah. When he saw Elijah, he said to him, "Is that you, you troubler of Israel?"
"I have not made trouble for Israel," Elijah replied. "But you and your father's family have. You have abandoned the LORD's commands and have followed the Baals. Now summon the people from all over Israel to meet me on Mount Carmel. And bring the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal and the four hundred prophets of Asherah, who eat at Jezebel's table."
20“So Ahab sent word throughout all Israel and assembled the prophets on Mount Carmel.
So here we have the showdown.
Ahab brought 850 pagan prophets to M.C. to match wits w/ Eli.
850! Do you ever notice how evil loves to gather together?
Or how negative people just feed off of one-another?
A Farmer had a neighbor that just absolutely was negative, no matter what. If it was raining, the farmer would say to his neighbor, "Boy, look at it rain, God's sort of washing it clean." "Yeah, but if it keeps up it's gonna flood." Then the sun would come out and he'd say, "If it keeps that up, it's gonna just scorch the crops." The farmer thought, "What am I gonna do to win this guy?" So he trained his dog to walk on water. He didn't tell his neighbor, he just took him duck hunting. Boom! Boom! They brought these ducks out of the sky, and said to his dog, "Go get 'em." The dog went across, picked them up, and hopped back in the boat, nothing wet-- just his paws. The farmer said, "What do you think of that?" The neighbor said, "He can't swim, can he?"
Ahab, as well as other evil kings hated God’s prophets b/c they spoke against sin and idolatry. So w/ the kings’ backing many pagan prophets sprang up to counter the word of God’s
prophets.
But Elijah showed the people that just speaking a prophecy wasn’t enough, that one needed the power of the true living God to fulfill it.
21 Elijah went before the people and said, "How long will you waver between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him." But the people said nothing.”
Elijah challenges the people to take a stand - to follow whoever was the true God. Why do you think so many people wavered between the 2 choices? Maybe some people were just not sure
- like the undecided votes we always hear about prior to election times.
However, many of them did know that the Lord was God, but they enjoyed the sinful pleasures and other selfish benefits that came along with siding w/ Ahab.
This really demonstrates the importance of taking a stand for Christ. If we just drift along w/ whatever is pleasant and easy, we will someday discover that we have been following a false god - ourselves.
So many live for themselves - we must take a stand b/c we too can drift into nothingness - meaningless - we think we have all these current, important, even urgent issues, but in reality most of them are meaningless.
Solomon, the wisest man to ever live tells us it’s all meaningless apart from God. in Eccl. chapters 1 & 2 he goes into specific
detail of all the things we consider of great importance are meaningless - work, play, pleasures, fooling around, a full list.
“You gotta stand for something or you’ll fall for anything”
we kinda laugh at that quote, but it’s really quite true.
It’s what happens to alot of us - we fall for anything, the current, urgent issues of each day can keep us from what really matters if we are not settled in already that everything is meaningless apart from God - He must be the center and highest priority.
Listen... is that the case in your life? Or is your life full of “anythings”?
We’ve become accustomed to watching life happen rather than living it. If we want to be heroic we just p/u a copy of BraveHeart, if we want a love story we p/u Sleepless in Seattle,
if we want mystery or adventure we p/u Lord of the Rings or Fantastic 4 - in actuality we deceive ourselves and we think we’re living life when we’re really just watching.
And what God is wanting us to hear is we can live a life more wonderful, more powerful than anything we can observe.
read v.22 on...
Then Elijah said to them, "I am the only one of the LORD's prophets left, but Baal has four hundred and fifty prophets. 23 Get two bulls for us. Let them choose one for themselves, and let them cut it into pieces and put it on the wood but not set fire to it. I will prepare the other bull and put it on the wood but not set fire to it. 24 Then you call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of the LORD. The god who answers by fire—he is God." Then all the people said, "What you say is good."
25 Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, "Choose one of the bulls and prepare it first, since there are so many of you. Call on the name of your god, but do not light the fire." 26 So they took the bull given them and prepared it. Then they called on the name of Baal from morning till noon. "O Baal, answer us!" they shouted. But there was no response; no one answered. And they danced around the altar they had made.
27 At noon Elijah began to taunt them. "Shout louder!" he said. "Surely he is a god! Perhaps he is deep in thought, or busy, or traveling. Maybe he is sleeping and must be awakened." 28 So they shouted louder and slashed themselves with swords and spears, as was their custom, until their blood flowed. 29 Midday passed, and they continued their frantic prophesying until the time for the evening sacrifice. But there was no response, no one answered, no one paid attention.”
Although the prophets of Baal raved all afternoon, no one
answered them. Their god was silent b/c it’s not real!
You see the gods were tempted to follow may not be made of wood or stone, but they’re just as false, just as dangerous b/c they cause us to follow something other than the true God.
Be it power, status, money, appearance, or materialism can become our gods if we devote our lives to them - if they have a higher priority then is it a false god in our lives.
30“Then Elijah said to all the people, "Come here to me." They came to him, and he repaired the altar of the LORD, which was in ruins. 31 Elijah took twelve stones, one for each of the tribes descended from Jacob, to whom the word of the LORD had come, saying, "Your name shall be Israel."
I love this... Elijah calling the people towards him - “get closer
I don’t want you to miss this” (Venice Beach entertainer walking on glass - come closer)
Elijah grabs 12 stones to build the altar - you may remember in week 1 of this series we discussed the splitting of Israel into 2 kingdoms - a southern and northern kingdom - the north w/ 10 tribes of Israel and the south w/ 2.
Placing 12 stones around the altar was a silent reminder of they’re selfish reasons for the split.
Do you ever notice God placing these little silent reminders in your life? Little subtle hints, a small tap on the shoulder whenever our selfish wants start taking over?
Hey, don’t miss those - He has our best interest
32 “With the stones he built an altar in the name of the LORD, and he dug a trench around it large enough to hold two seahs of seed. 33 He arranged the wood, cut the bull into pieces and laid it on the wood. Then he said to them, "Fill four large jars with water and pour it on the offering and on the wood."
34 "Do it again," he said, and they did it again. "Do it a third time," he ordered, and they did it the third time. 35 The water ran down around the altar and even filled the trench.”
Totally drown the thing man - like a typhoon
b/c I don’t want there to be any doubt, I don’t want a single
person questioning what’s really happening here.
Something similar ever happen to you?
Just as Elijah doused the altar w/ water basically saying, there’s no way I could even get a spark to land on this much less have it consumed in fire. Only God, the true living God will be able to.
as for us...
I mean you’ve hit rock bottom or you’re at your wits end - there is absolutely nothing more you can do - you’re out of options - if anything is going happen it’s gonna be God - only God can pull this off.
Welcome to God's Waiting Room. It’s that place in your life where there are things beyond your control that you can’t speed up—an answer to prayer, a miracle, a change in a situation—you want it to happen, and happen quickly, but it is totally out of your control and you have to wait on God. Have you been there? Are you there now?
We need to remember what God CAN do and not only what we can do - we must be patient and faithful. - watch what happens -
36”At the time of sacrifice, the prophet Elijah stepped forward and prayed: "O LORD, God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, let it be known today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant and have done all these things at your command. 37 Answer me, O LORD, answer me, so these people will know that you, O LORD, are God, (see his humility - last week)and that you are turning their hearts back again." (check this out)
38 Then the fire of the LORD fell and burned up the sacrifice, the wood, the stones and the soil, and also licked up the water in the trench.
39 When all the people saw this, they fell prostrate and cried, "The LORD -he is God! The LORD -he is God!"
I bet they did! I’m thinking if I were on the other side of this I’d be crying out, "The LORD -he is God! The LORD -he is God!"
Here God flashed fire from heaven for Elijah.
You know what? He’ll help us too - to accomplish what He commands us to do. The proof of that may not be as dramatic in our lives as in this case, but God will make resources available to us in creative ways to accomplish His purposes.
He will give us the wisdom to raise a family, the courage to take a stand a stand for truth, or the means to provide help for someone in need.
Like Elijah, we can have faith that whatever God commands us to do, He will provide what we need to carry it through.
‘Where God guides, He provides’
Here’s what we’ve seen studying Elijah today:
We’ve gotta stand for something, something real, authentic - something of eternal value - We can only find that in God
Sometimes, God asks us to get closer, don’t miss this.
It appears you may be at a dead-end, out of options, nothing more you can do - and God says, get closer, watch this
and pulls us thru and all we can do is stand in awe, jaw dropped awe - God is breath-taking, awe-inspiring, wonderfully
magnificent!
As we see w/ our own eyes, there’s no way this could have happened other than a miracle, only by the hand of God.
It builds our faith and we draw closer relationally to the Creator of the Universe. Our heart beats w/ His & that’s a good thing.
We can’t waver - we need to make God the most important thing in our lives. And you know what, when we do that - life is soooo much better, much better.
It doesn’t mean we will live these pain-free perfect lives - but it sure is alot easier to deal with b/c of the love He has for us and the hope we have in the God who has created everything and in control of everything.
Whatever you are dealing with, whatever difficulty is in your life right now...
God is saying, "Come closer... I don't want you to miss this"
“So Obadiah went to meet Ahab and told him, and Ahab went to meet Elijah. When he saw Elijah, he said to him, "Is that you, you troubler of Israel?"
"I have not made trouble for Israel," Elijah replied. "But you and your father's family have. You have abandoned the LORD's commands and have followed the Baals. Now summon the people from all over Israel to meet me on Mount Carmel. And bring the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal and the four hundred prophets of Asherah, who eat at Jezebel's table."
20“So Ahab sent word throughout all Israel and assembled the prophets on Mount Carmel.
So here we have the showdown.
Ahab brought 850 pagan prophets to M.C. to match wits w/ Eli.
850! Do you ever notice how evil loves to gather together?
Or how negative people just feed off of one-another?
A Farmer had a neighbor that just absolutely was negative, no matter what. If it was raining, the farmer would say to his neighbor, "Boy, look at it rain, God's sort of washing it clean." "Yeah, but if it keeps up it's gonna flood." Then the sun would come out and he'd say, "If it keeps that up, it's gonna just scorch the crops." The farmer thought, "What am I gonna do to win this guy?" So he trained his dog to walk on water. He didn't tell his neighbor, he just took him duck hunting. Boom! Boom! They brought these ducks out of the sky, and said to his dog, "Go get 'em." The dog went across, picked them up, and hopped back in the boat, nothing wet-- just his paws. The farmer said, "What do you think of that?" The neighbor said, "He can't swim, can he?"
Ahab, as well as other evil kings hated God’s prophets b/c they spoke against sin and idolatry. So w/ the kings’ backing many pagan prophets sprang up to counter the word of God’s
prophets.
But Elijah showed the people that just speaking a prophecy wasn’t enough, that one needed the power of the true living God to fulfill it.
21 Elijah went before the people and said, "How long will you waver between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him." But the people said nothing.”
Elijah challenges the people to take a stand - to follow whoever was the true God. Why do you think so many people wavered between the 2 choices? Maybe some people were just not sure
- like the undecided votes we always hear about prior to election times.
However, many of them did know that the Lord was God, but they enjoyed the sinful pleasures and other selfish benefits that came along with siding w/ Ahab.
This really demonstrates the importance of taking a stand for Christ. If we just drift along w/ whatever is pleasant and easy, we will someday discover that we have been following a false god - ourselves.
So many live for themselves - we must take a stand b/c we too can drift into nothingness - meaningless - we think we have all these current, important, even urgent issues, but in reality most of them are meaningless.
Solomon, the wisest man to ever live tells us it’s all meaningless apart from God. in Eccl. chapters 1 & 2 he goes into specific
detail of all the things we consider of great importance are meaningless - work, play, pleasures, fooling around, a full list.
“You gotta stand for something or you’ll fall for anything”
we kinda laugh at that quote, but it’s really quite true.
It’s what happens to alot of us - we fall for anything, the current, urgent issues of each day can keep us from what really matters if we are not settled in already that everything is meaningless apart from God - He must be the center and highest priority.
Listen... is that the case in your life? Or is your life full of “anythings”?
We’ve become accustomed to watching life happen rather than living it. If we want to be heroic we just p/u a copy of BraveHeart, if we want a love story we p/u Sleepless in Seattle,
if we want mystery or adventure we p/u Lord of the Rings or Fantastic 4 - in actuality we deceive ourselves and we think we’re living life when we’re really just watching.
And what God is wanting us to hear is we can live a life more wonderful, more powerful than anything we can observe.
read v.22 on...
Then Elijah said to them, "I am the only one of the LORD's prophets left, but Baal has four hundred and fifty prophets. 23 Get two bulls for us. Let them choose one for themselves, and let them cut it into pieces and put it on the wood but not set fire to it. I will prepare the other bull and put it on the wood but not set fire to it. 24 Then you call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of the LORD. The god who answers by fire—he is God." Then all the people said, "What you say is good."
25 Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, "Choose one of the bulls and prepare it first, since there are so many of you. Call on the name of your god, but do not light the fire." 26 So they took the bull given them and prepared it. Then they called on the name of Baal from morning till noon. "O Baal, answer us!" they shouted. But there was no response; no one answered. And they danced around the altar they had made.
27 At noon Elijah began to taunt them. "Shout louder!" he said. "Surely he is a god! Perhaps he is deep in thought, or busy, or traveling. Maybe he is sleeping and must be awakened." 28 So they shouted louder and slashed themselves with swords and spears, as was their custom, until their blood flowed. 29 Midday passed, and they continued their frantic prophesying until the time for the evening sacrifice. But there was no response, no one answered, no one paid attention.”
Although the prophets of Baal raved all afternoon, no one
answered them. Their god was silent b/c it’s not real!
You see the gods were tempted to follow may not be made of wood or stone, but they’re just as false, just as dangerous b/c they cause us to follow something other than the true God.
Be it power, status, money, appearance, or materialism can become our gods if we devote our lives to them - if they have a higher priority then is it a false god in our lives.
30“Then Elijah said to all the people, "Come here to me." They came to him, and he repaired the altar of the LORD, which was in ruins. 31 Elijah took twelve stones, one for each of the tribes descended from Jacob, to whom the word of the LORD had come, saying, "Your name shall be Israel."
I love this... Elijah calling the people towards him - “get closer
I don’t want you to miss this” (Venice Beach entertainer walking on glass - come closer)
Elijah grabs 12 stones to build the altar - you may remember in week 1 of this series we discussed the splitting of Israel into 2 kingdoms - a southern and northern kingdom - the north w/ 10 tribes of Israel and the south w/ 2.
Placing 12 stones around the altar was a silent reminder of they’re selfish reasons for the split.
Do you ever notice God placing these little silent reminders in your life? Little subtle hints, a small tap on the shoulder whenever our selfish wants start taking over?
Hey, don’t miss those - He has our best interest
32 “With the stones he built an altar in the name of the LORD, and he dug a trench around it large enough to hold two seahs of seed. 33 He arranged the wood, cut the bull into pieces and laid it on the wood. Then he said to them, "Fill four large jars with water and pour it on the offering and on the wood."
34 "Do it again," he said, and they did it again. "Do it a third time," he ordered, and they did it the third time. 35 The water ran down around the altar and even filled the trench.”
Totally drown the thing man - like a typhoon
b/c I don’t want there to be any doubt, I don’t want a single
person questioning what’s really happening here.
Something similar ever happen to you?
Just as Elijah doused the altar w/ water basically saying, there’s no way I could even get a spark to land on this much less have it consumed in fire. Only God, the true living God will be able to.
as for us...
I mean you’ve hit rock bottom or you’re at your wits end - there is absolutely nothing more you can do - you’re out of options - if anything is going happen it’s gonna be God - only God can pull this off.
Welcome to God's Waiting Room. It’s that place in your life where there are things beyond your control that you can’t speed up—an answer to prayer, a miracle, a change in a situation—you want it to happen, and happen quickly, but it is totally out of your control and you have to wait on God. Have you been there? Are you there now?
We need to remember what God CAN do and not only what we can do - we must be patient and faithful. - watch what happens -
36”At the time of sacrifice, the prophet Elijah stepped forward and prayed: "O LORD, God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, let it be known today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant and have done all these things at your command. 37 Answer me, O LORD, answer me, so these people will know that you, O LORD, are God, (see his humility - last week)and that you are turning their hearts back again." (check this out)
38 Then the fire of the LORD fell and burned up the sacrifice, the wood, the stones and the soil, and also licked up the water in the trench.
39 When all the people saw this, they fell prostrate and cried, "The LORD -he is God! The LORD -he is God!"
I bet they did! I’m thinking if I were on the other side of this I’d be crying out, "The LORD -he is God! The LORD -he is God!"
Here God flashed fire from heaven for Elijah.
You know what? He’ll help us too - to accomplish what He commands us to do. The proof of that may not be as dramatic in our lives as in this case, but God will make resources available to us in creative ways to accomplish His purposes.
He will give us the wisdom to raise a family, the courage to take a stand a stand for truth, or the means to provide help for someone in need.
Like Elijah, we can have faith that whatever God commands us to do, He will provide what we need to carry it through.
‘Where God guides, He provides’
Here’s what we’ve seen studying Elijah today:
We’ve gotta stand for something, something real, authentic - something of eternal value - We can only find that in God
Sometimes, God asks us to get closer, don’t miss this.
It appears you may be at a dead-end, out of options, nothing more you can do - and God says, get closer, watch this
and pulls us thru and all we can do is stand in awe, jaw dropped awe - God is breath-taking, awe-inspiring, wonderfully
magnificent!
As we see w/ our own eyes, there’s no way this could have happened other than a miracle, only by the hand of God.
It builds our faith and we draw closer relationally to the Creator of the Universe. Our heart beats w/ His & that’s a good thing.
We can’t waver - we need to make God the most important thing in our lives. And you know what, when we do that - life is soooo much better, much better.
It doesn’t mean we will live these pain-free perfect lives - but it sure is alot easier to deal with b/c of the love He has for us and the hope we have in the God who has created everything and in control of everything.
Whatever you are dealing with, whatever difficulty is in your life right now...
God is saying, "Come closer... I don't want you to miss this"
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
The Elijah Element - Integrity
7 As Obadiah was walking along, Elijah met him. Obadiah recognized him, bowed down to the ground, and said, "Is it really you, my lord Elijah?"
8 "Yes," he replied. "Go tell your master, 'Elijah is here.' "
9 "What have I done wrong," asked Obadiah, "that you are handing your servant over to Ahab to be put to death? 10 As surely as the LORD your God lives, there is not a nation or kingdom where my master has not sent someone to look for you. And whenever a nation or kingdom claimed you were not there, he made them swear they could not find you. 11 But now you tell me to go to my master and say, 'Elijah is here.' 12 I don't know where the Spirit of the LORD may carry you when I leave you. If I go and tell Ahab and he doesn't find you, he will kill me. Yet I your servant have worshiped the LORD since my youth. 13 Haven't you heard, my lord, what I did while Jezebel was killing the prophets of the LORD ? I hid a hundred of the LORD's prophets in two caves, fifty in each, and supplied them with food and water. 14 And now you tell me to go to my master and say, 'Elijah is here.' He will kill me!"
15 Elijah said, "As the LORD Almighty lives, whom I serve, I will surely present myself to Ahab today."
16 So Obadiah went to meet Ahab and told him, and Ahab went to meet Elijah. 17 When he saw Elijah, he said to him, "Is that you, you troubler of Israel?" 1 Kings 18:7-17
Something we have seen as we study this together is that Elijah is not only a man of faith, he is also a man of his word.
Ob. is freakin’ out - “no way Elijah, r u kidding me? - you’re gonna get me killed - I’ll be hung at the gallows” - “I’m not gonna tell Ahab you’re here, he’s been looking for you for years and people have died when you weren’t found”
Elijah calms him by reassuring Ob. - “I’m gonna be here - you can bank on that - I’m gonna do what I say”
Ob. knows the character of Elijah and that alone is enough for him to trust Elijah.
“Our character is more caught than taught”
In every sphere of our culture—business, government, sports, education and religion—we face an integrity crisis. Long-accepted ethical codes of conduct are giving way to the short-term pragmatics of ambition, profit, and pleasure. What scares me the most about all of this is that a lack of integrity no longer shocks people anymore. Ethical compromise is no longer reprehensible, but is actually gaining acceptability.
Some time ago the Dallas Times Herald reported that while on his way to school one day, a young boy found two large canvas sacks lying in the street. When he looked inside he was amazed to find that the sacks were full of money—$415,000 in fact! When he returned the money to the Princeton Armored Service, he received a reward of $1,000 and got his story in the paper. But the young boy was very unhappy about it all. In his interview he said he had expected a larger reward. “I don’t understand it,” he complained. “If I had to do it over again, I’d probably keep the money.”
No matter who you are, whether you’re aware of it or not - our character is always on trial. I read a story recently about a pastor who preached a sermon on honesty one Sunday morning. The next day he took the bus to get to his office. After he paid the fare, he realized that the bus driver had given him back way too much change. During the rest of the journey, the pastor rationalized how God had provided him with some extra money he needed for the week. But he just could not live with himself, and before he got off the bus he said to the driver, “You have made a mistake. You’ve given me too much change.” And he proceeded to give back the extra money. The driver smiled and said, “That was no mistake. I was at your church yesterday and heard you preach on honesty. So I decided to put you to a test this morning!”
There are a number of people who think it’s Ok, who rationalize
how they can cut corners in life. “Who will ever know” they say.
But the truth is that other people know.
Your spouse, children, friends, family, co-workers all know.
And more important, even if you cover your tracks really, really well, and others do not see up front what you’re up to, you do!
Just as the pastor on the bus, we don’t want to give away or sell our integrity for any price.
Integrity commits itself to character over personal gain, to
people over other things, to service over power, to principle over convenience, to the long view over the immediate.
But we want the immediate, we don’t want to work so hard - it’s easy to cut corners for our own or even our family’s benefit.
b/c everybody else is doing it - but,
The road of integrity may not be the easiest one, but it’s the only one that will get us where we ultimately want to go.
it appears in - life of Integrity
The Character you Demonstrate
There’s a person at work that you can trust, you know that when they give you their word they’re gona keep it.
1 of ways to BA from crowd of compromise is to live a life of integrity.
It’s the character you demonstrate and not to allow yourself to compromise your ethics.
I’m amazed by the fact that so many believers find it OK to blur the lines and smear their character.
I think it’s just that we live in an envir. where it’s OK to be dishonest, to compromise values and principles - I think what we under-estimate is that we are supposed to be the human personification of the exact opposite of Enron.
We should be the solution to the corruption in the world.
And people whether they believe in God or not, should be able to watch our lives and say, “I don’t know all about this guys belief system, but I know I can trust him. His values, his chara., his morals”
It shows by the Character you Demonstrate
It is then when you can begin to influence the lives of others w/ the good news of J.C.
How do we become a person who can positively influence other people? We need to develop these qualities of integrity and live by them everyday.
Commit yourself to Honesty and reliability
Integrity begins w/ a specific, conscious decision. If we wait until a moment of crisis before settling our integrity issues, we will set ourselves up for failure. Chose today to live a life that honors God, full of integrity and.... determine to stick w/ it.
“Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him and he will do this” Psalm 37:4-5
Consistent Character
Solid trust can only develop when people can trust you ALL THE TIME. If they never know from moment to moment what you’re going to do, then we can never get to a deep confident level of trust. 1 Cor. 13 gives us insight of consistent character.
the love of a Christ follower -
“It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.” 1 Corinthians 13:7 - it’s consistent
Straight Talk
Honest communication. To be trustworthy, we must walk the talk.
“Simply let your 'Yes' be 'Yes,' and your 'No,' 'No'” Matt. 5:37
Open Up
Value transparency - people eventually find out about your flaws, even if you try to hide them. But when we’re honest up front, admit our weaknesses, they appreciate your honesty and integrity - and are able to relate better to you.
“Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor” Ephesians 4:25
Humility
People wont trust you if they see that you’re driven by ego,
jealousy, or the belief that you’re better than others.
“Finally, all of you, live in harmony with one another; be sympathetic, love as brothers, be compassionate and humble.”
1 Peter 3:8
Support Others
Nothing develops or displays character better than your desire to put others 1st - above yourself.
“If any of your people become poor and unable to support themselves, you must help them, just as you are supposed to help foreigners who live among you.” Leviticus 25:35
An Attitude of Servitude
“Your attitude must be like my own, for I did not come to be served, but to serve” Matthew 20:28
Giving of yourself and your time to others shows that you care about them. to be known by love
Fulfill your promises
Say what you mean - mean what you say
“be... trustworthy in everything.” 1 Timothy 3:11
Never promise anything you can’t deliver - and when you say you’ll do something - do it - follow thru. A sure way to break the trust of others is to fail to fulfill your commitments. - kids (parents w/empty promises and/or empty threats)
8 "Yes," he replied. "Go tell your master, 'Elijah is here.' "
9 "What have I done wrong," asked Obadiah, "that you are handing your servant over to Ahab to be put to death? 10 As surely as the LORD your God lives, there is not a nation or kingdom where my master has not sent someone to look for you. And whenever a nation or kingdom claimed you were not there, he made them swear they could not find you. 11 But now you tell me to go to my master and say, 'Elijah is here.' 12 I don't know where the Spirit of the LORD may carry you when I leave you. If I go and tell Ahab and he doesn't find you, he will kill me. Yet I your servant have worshiped the LORD since my youth. 13 Haven't you heard, my lord, what I did while Jezebel was killing the prophets of the LORD ? I hid a hundred of the LORD's prophets in two caves, fifty in each, and supplied them with food and water. 14 And now you tell me to go to my master and say, 'Elijah is here.' He will kill me!"
15 Elijah said, "As the LORD Almighty lives, whom I serve, I will surely present myself to Ahab today."
16 So Obadiah went to meet Ahab and told him, and Ahab went to meet Elijah. 17 When he saw Elijah, he said to him, "Is that you, you troubler of Israel?" 1 Kings 18:7-17
Something we have seen as we study this together is that Elijah is not only a man of faith, he is also a man of his word.
Ob. is freakin’ out - “no way Elijah, r u kidding me? - you’re gonna get me killed - I’ll be hung at the gallows” - “I’m not gonna tell Ahab you’re here, he’s been looking for you for years and people have died when you weren’t found”
Elijah calms him by reassuring Ob. - “I’m gonna be here - you can bank on that - I’m gonna do what I say”
Ob. knows the character of Elijah and that alone is enough for him to trust Elijah.
“Our character is more caught than taught”
In every sphere of our culture—business, government, sports, education and religion—we face an integrity crisis. Long-accepted ethical codes of conduct are giving way to the short-term pragmatics of ambition, profit, and pleasure. What scares me the most about all of this is that a lack of integrity no longer shocks people anymore. Ethical compromise is no longer reprehensible, but is actually gaining acceptability.
Some time ago the Dallas Times Herald reported that while on his way to school one day, a young boy found two large canvas sacks lying in the street. When he looked inside he was amazed to find that the sacks were full of money—$415,000 in fact! When he returned the money to the Princeton Armored Service, he received a reward of $1,000 and got his story in the paper. But the young boy was very unhappy about it all. In his interview he said he had expected a larger reward. “I don’t understand it,” he complained. “If I had to do it over again, I’d probably keep the money.”
No matter who you are, whether you’re aware of it or not - our character is always on trial. I read a story recently about a pastor who preached a sermon on honesty one Sunday morning. The next day he took the bus to get to his office. After he paid the fare, he realized that the bus driver had given him back way too much change. During the rest of the journey, the pastor rationalized how God had provided him with some extra money he needed for the week. But he just could not live with himself, and before he got off the bus he said to the driver, “You have made a mistake. You’ve given me too much change.” And he proceeded to give back the extra money. The driver smiled and said, “That was no mistake. I was at your church yesterday and heard you preach on honesty. So I decided to put you to a test this morning!”
There are a number of people who think it’s Ok, who rationalize
how they can cut corners in life. “Who will ever know” they say.
But the truth is that other people know.
Your spouse, children, friends, family, co-workers all know.
And more important, even if you cover your tracks really, really well, and others do not see up front what you’re up to, you do!
Just as the pastor on the bus, we don’t want to give away or sell our integrity for any price.
Integrity commits itself to character over personal gain, to
people over other things, to service over power, to principle over convenience, to the long view over the immediate.
But we want the immediate, we don’t want to work so hard - it’s easy to cut corners for our own or even our family’s benefit.
b/c everybody else is doing it - but,
The road of integrity may not be the easiest one, but it’s the only one that will get us where we ultimately want to go.
it appears in - life of Integrity
The Character you Demonstrate
There’s a person at work that you can trust, you know that when they give you their word they’re gona keep it.
1 of ways to BA from crowd of compromise is to live a life of integrity.
It’s the character you demonstrate and not to allow yourself to compromise your ethics.
I’m amazed by the fact that so many believers find it OK to blur the lines and smear their character.
I think it’s just that we live in an envir. where it’s OK to be dishonest, to compromise values and principles - I think what we under-estimate is that we are supposed to be the human personification of the exact opposite of Enron.
We should be the solution to the corruption in the world.
And people whether they believe in God or not, should be able to watch our lives and say, “I don’t know all about this guys belief system, but I know I can trust him. His values, his chara., his morals”
It shows by the Character you Demonstrate
It is then when you can begin to influence the lives of others w/ the good news of J.C.
How do we become a person who can positively influence other people? We need to develop these qualities of integrity and live by them everyday.
Commit yourself to Honesty and reliability
Integrity begins w/ a specific, conscious decision. If we wait until a moment of crisis before settling our integrity issues, we will set ourselves up for failure. Chose today to live a life that honors God, full of integrity and.... determine to stick w/ it.
“Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him and he will do this” Psalm 37:4-5
Consistent Character
Solid trust can only develop when people can trust you ALL THE TIME. If they never know from moment to moment what you’re going to do, then we can never get to a deep confident level of trust. 1 Cor. 13 gives us insight of consistent character.
the love of a Christ follower -
“It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.” 1 Corinthians 13:7 - it’s consistent
Straight Talk
Honest communication. To be trustworthy, we must walk the talk.
“Simply let your 'Yes' be 'Yes,' and your 'No,' 'No'” Matt. 5:37
Open Up
Value transparency - people eventually find out about your flaws, even if you try to hide them. But when we’re honest up front, admit our weaknesses, they appreciate your honesty and integrity - and are able to relate better to you.
“Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor” Ephesians 4:25
Humility
People wont trust you if they see that you’re driven by ego,
jealousy, or the belief that you’re better than others.
“Finally, all of you, live in harmony with one another; be sympathetic, love as brothers, be compassionate and humble.”
1 Peter 3:8
Support Others
Nothing develops or displays character better than your desire to put others 1st - above yourself.
“If any of your people become poor and unable to support themselves, you must help them, just as you are supposed to help foreigners who live among you.” Leviticus 25:35
An Attitude of Servitude
“Your attitude must be like my own, for I did not come to be served, but to serve” Matthew 20:28
Giving of yourself and your time to others shows that you care about them. to be known by love
Fulfill your promises
Say what you mean - mean what you say
“be... trustworthy in everything.” 1 Timothy 3:11
Never promise anything you can’t deliver - and when you say you’ll do something - do it - follow thru. A sure way to break the trust of others is to fail to fulfill your commitments. - kids (parents w/empty promises and/or empty threats)
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