You have More Going for you than You Know!

“When the servant of the man of God rose early in the morning and went out, behold, an army with horses and chariots was all around the city. And the servant said, “Alas, my master! What shall we do?” He said, “Do not be afraid, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” Then Elisha prayed and said, “O LORD, please open his eyes that he may see.” So the LORD opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw, and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.” (2Kings 6:15-17 ESV)

What a scary site it must have been for the servant of Elisha! They were surrounded by an enemy army whose purpose was the destruction of Elisha! Every where he looked he saw them. As a matter of fact the only thing he could see at that point was the Syrian army. He asked the question of Elisha, "What shall we do?"

There are times in our lives, when what we can see seems like we are facing overwhelming odds, and they are stacked against us. And we ask ourselves or those who are with us, "What are we going to do?" This servant could not see what Elisha saw, and therefore was afraid. But when his master prayed for him, the Lord was pleased to open his eyes, and show him that he actually had more going for him than he realized: "the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.”

When we walk by sight, it is a very fearful thing. But when we walk by faith, trusting in the provisions of God that we cannot necessarily see, we can have peace. Truly those that are with us are more than those that are against us. We can have peace and joy knowing that we have much more going for us than we can see.

"Dear Lord, open the eyes of our faith, and help us to trust in the One that we cannot see, especially when what we do see makes us afraid."

Is the Journey getting to Great for you?

“And he lay down and slept under a broom tree. And behold, an angel touched him and said to him, “Arise and eat.” And he looked, and behold, there was at his head a cake baked on hot stones and a jar of water. And he ate and drank and lay down again. And the angel of the LORD came again a second time and touched him and said, “Arise and eat, for the journey is too great for you.”” (1Kings 19:5-7 ESV)

There is no doubt about it, Elijah is in a bad way emotionally. First, Let's take a look and see what he is displaying in his life in this passage:

• Fear “Then he was afraid, and he arose and ran for his life and came to Beersheba, which belongs to Judah, and left his servant there.” (1Kings 19:3 ESV)
• Illogical thinking “And he asked that he might die, saying, “It is enough; now, O LORD, take away my life, for I am no better than my fathers.”” (1Kings 19:4 ESV) In verse three He is running for his life, and in verse 4, he is asking the Lord to take his life! That doesn't make sense. If he wanted to die, why didn't he just let Jezabel do her thing?
• Depression “And he asked that he might die, saying, “It is enough; now, O LORD, take away my life, for I am no better than my fathers.”” (1Kings 19:4 ESV)
• Exhaustion-“And he lay down and slept under a broom tree” (1Kings 19:5 ESV)
• Lonliness-“and I, even I only, am left, and they seek my life, to take it away.”” (1Kings 19:10 ESV)

Secondly, let's take a look into his life and see what has been happening to bring him to this place.

• A great exciting, emotionally draining spiritual victory in the slaying of the Prophets of Baal. (See 1 Kings 18:18ff)
• The threat of Jezebel, (2 Kings 19:1-2)
• He has been frantically running (v.3)
• He has forsaken his servant (v.3)

Thirdly, Let's see what he needed in this condition:

• Solitude-“But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness and came and sat down under a broom tree.” (1Kings 19:4 ESV)
• Rest-“And he lay down and slept under a broom tree” (1Kings 19:5 ESV)
• Food and Water-“And behold, an angel touched him and said to him, “Arise and eat.” And he looked, and behold, there was at his head a cake baked on hot stones and a jar of water. And he ate and drank and lay down again.” (1Kings 19:5-6 ESV)
• Communion with God- “Arise and eat, for the journey is too great for you.”
  

There is much more than can be said here, but I don't have time. But to summarize, we need to realize that many times when we are experiencing what Ellijah was experiencing, if we will take inventory of our lives, we will see what brought us to that place. But most importantly, we need to see what He needed, and realize that many times that is just what we need, rest, food, solitude, and communion with God..

"Prone to Wander Lord I feel it...."

1Kings 11:9 ¶ And the LORD was angry with Solomon, because his heart had turned away from the LORD, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice.

Without a doubt, one of the most amazing stories in all of the Bible is the appearance of God to Solomon, when Solomon first became King of Israel. He could have asked God for anything, but he chose to ask God for wisdom. God not only granted him his request for wisdom, but also promised him wealth, and victory over his enemies. There was a second time that God appeared to him, and that was after Solomon prayed the prayer of dedication for the temple.

Can you imagine having the God of the universe appear to you? Do you think that after that you could ever forsake Him, and become idolatrous? If you are like me, you are thinking right now that if God ever appeared to you, and granted you what He did for Solomon, that you would serve Him all of your days. You wonder how Solomon could do such a thing! But I must say, that the older I get, the less I trust myself. I am capable of forsaking the God who has already done so many wonderful things for me. If it were not for His persevering grace in my life I would have forsaken Him long ago.

There is a warning here for us. We must not trust our passed experiences with God to keep us faithful to Him, in the future! We must depend upon Him for fresh supplies of grace to keep us faithful. Also, I believe that we must guard our intimate relationships, and be sure they are the kind that brings us more near to God, and not the kind that causes us to drift from Him!

Finally, we must see that there is a cost for such forsaking. Solomon had the kingdom taken away from His posterity. Idolatry is never free, but is always very costly.

"Prone to wander, Lord I feel it. Prone to leave the God I love. Take my heart Lord take and seal it. Seal it for thy courts above."

The Gospel in the Words of an Ancient Woman

“We must all die; we are like water spilled on the ground, which cannot be gathered up again. But God will not take away life, and he devises means so that the banished one will not remain an outcast.” (2Sam 14:14 ESV)

These are the words of the woman who was sent by Joab to King David, when Absalom had been banished from the kingdom. They are strikingly prophetic, and have application to the human race. This morning, I just want to "squeeze" each phrase, and make some comments.

We must all die: In one way or another, this is true about all of us. Unless the Lord comes first, we will all die physically. But at one time we were all dead spiritually, because of our sin.

Eph. 2:1 And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins;

Those who do not repent of their sin, will die the second death and forever be separated from God, and the redeemed.

“And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.” (Rev 20:14; 21:8 KJV)

we are like water spilled on the ground, which cannot be gathered up again.

This illustrates the impossibility of our being restored and saved through human means. We cannot possibly gather water up after it has been spilled on the ground. But thank God even though are restoration is impossible with men, with God nothing is impossible.

But God will not take away life, and he devises means so that the banished one will not remain an outcast.”

It is not God that takes away life, it is sin! God has made a way for those who are banished to come back to Him and be restored. We do not have to be outcasts any longer, we can come back through the merits of our Lord Jesus Christs and what He accomplished on the Cross for us!

Eph. 2:13 But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.

Relationships--Vertical and Horizontal

“For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you.” (John 13:15 ESV)“Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever receives the one I send receives me, and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me.”” (John 13:20 ESV)

What a startling thing it is to realize that in John 13:15, the Lord Jesus Christ is commanding His disciples to treat one another in the same way that He has treated them. They are to do for one another the same things that He has done for them!

One of the first thoughts that comes into my mind when I think about this is, "Yeah, but He is supernatural--He is God Himself. How can I be expected to do for others what He has done for me?" Then the Holy Spirit reminds me that His Spirit is in me, to do through me what I cannot do myself.

The immediate context of this command is the washing of the disciples feet. But it would be unwise to limit this command to that act alone, since that act served as a symbol of the love and care that His disciples are to have for one another.

What has the Lord Jesus Christ done for His disciples, that they should also do for one another?

• He has loved them. “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.” (John 13:34 ESV)
• He has forgiven them and been kind to them “And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.” (Eph 4:32 KJV)
• He has sacrificially supplied their needs according to His ability. “Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. But whoso hath this world’s good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him? My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth. And hereby we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before him.” (1John 3:16-19 KJV)

We could spend much time expanding on this thought, but time is getting away and there is one more thought that I want to point out in this post. Not only are we to treat one another the way He has treated us, but we must realize that how we treat one another is how we are treating HIM!

“Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever receives the one I send receives me, and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me.”” (John 13:20 ESV)

There is no way to separate our relationship with Christ, from our relationship with His disciples. May the Lord help us to apply these truths in our relationships with each other!

An Illustration of How to Treat One's Enemies

“David sent messengers to the men of Jabesh-gilead and said to them, “May you be blessed by the LORD, because you showed this loyalty to Saul your lord and buried him. Now may the LORD show steadfast love and faithfulness to you. And I will do good to you because you have done this thing.” (2Sam 2:5-6 ESV)

There are people in this world who don't like me. They speak ill of me. If they had the opportunity to do ill to me, they would. I would like to think that I am an enemy of no one. I don't want to speak ill of any one, and I can honestly say that in my heart I don't desire to do ill to anyone. There are some people that I would rather they just left me alone.

In this text from 2 Samuel, David illustrates for us how to treat our enemies. His greatest enemy at that time was none other than his king, King Saul. Saul had tried to kill him on a number of occasions, and even hunted him, and would have killed him if he could have caught him. David had two opportunities to kill him, but refused. He recognized Saul as the Lord's anointed, and therefore refused to do harm to him.

When David heard that Saul was killed, he mourned. He then blessed the people who had blessed and been loyal to Saul.

May we learn a lesson from this. May the Lord help us to be gracious and kind to our enemies, instead of vengeful and bitter. Isn't that what the greater Son of David commanded us to do?

“Woe unto you, when all men shall speak well of you! for so did their fathers to the false prophets. But I say unto you which hear, Love your enemies, do good to them which hate you, Bless them that curse you, and pray for them which despitefully use you. And unto him that smiteth thee on the one cheek offer also the other; and him that taketh away thy cloke forbid not to take thy coat also. Give to every man that asketh of thee; and of him that taketh away thy goods ask them not again.” (Luke 6:26-30 KJV)'

Dear Lord,
Forgive me for the bitterness in my heart towards others. Help me to forgive them, and treat them graciously no matter how they treat me. Thank you that when I was your enemy, you poured out your grace and forgiveness on me.

God is Sovereign on the "bad days"

“And when David and his men came to the city, they found it burned with fire, and their wives and sons and daughters taken captive. Then David and the people who were with him raised their voices and wept until they had no more strength to weep. David’s two wives also had been taken captive, Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail the widow of Nabal of Carmel. And David was greatly distressed, for the people spoke of stoning him, because all the people were bitter in soul,* each for his sons and daughters. But David strengthened himself in the LORD his God.” (1Sam 30:3-6 ESV)

Someone has said that there are some days that it is not worth getting out of bed. If David had such days, surely the ones described in 1 Samuel chapters 29-30 had to be some of them.

In his effort to escape Saul, David went into the land of the Philistines. It would appear that he actually was on friendly, and comfortable terms with them. So much so, that he was prepared to fight along side them against the nation of Israel! It would appear to me that David's willingness to fight with the Lord's enemies against the Lord's people was indicative of David's spiritual condition. He was not trusting the Lord, but in a backslidden condition. The fact that He left his family in a vulnerable position is also indicative of his not thinking clearly and correctly.

In such a state, God could have just allowed him to go the way he wanted to go, but the Lord had other plans. I am so glad that God doesn't just let us go! He works many times against our will to bring us back to where we need to be. In this case He used the distrust and the lords of the Philistines to thrust David back where he needed to be.

It was a good thing that David and his men came back to Ziklag when they did. The Amalakites had come and burned the city and took both David's and all of the families of the men with David hostage. Wow, you talk about hard times! They wept and his men were on the verge of stoning him! But David turned back to the Lord: "But David strengthened himself in the LORD his God.”

David's turning back to the Lord was a turning point in his situation! He received assurance from the Lord that he would recover all! He not only recovered his family, their belongs, and that of the men that were with him, but a bunch of spoil as well!

No wonder he wrote:“I was pushed hard,* so that I was falling, but the LORD helped me. The LORD is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation. Glad songs of salvation are in the tents of the righteous: “The right hand of the LORDdoes valiantly, the right hand of the LORD exalts, the right hand of the LORDdoes valiantly!” I shall not die, but I shall live, and recount the deeds of the LORD. The LORD has disciplined me severely, but he has not given me over to death.” (Psa 118:13-18 ESV)

"Father, thank you for working against our will, when we are living against yours. Thank you for bringing us to the place where we are trusting you, and then delivering us from our enemies. Help us to rest in your sovereignty even during the bad times. May we endure your discipline, and grow from it." In Jesus Name I Pray!