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The Power of Total Commitment to God 1 Kings 17; Luke 4:14-30 We have to admire the courage of Elijah! He was truly a man of God – a man of courage, a man of strength, and a man with a close relationship with the Living God! This morning I hope to challenge all of us – and each of us to raise our level of expectation about our spiritual goals in life! When we first hear of Elijah, Israel was in a mess! Ahab the king was a very evil man! Check the record! 1 Kings 16:29-34 God had a man! Look how our text introduces Elijah. “Elijah said to Ahab, ‘As the Lord, the God of Israel lives, whom I serve, there will be neither dew nor rain in the next few years except at my word.” While the kings stood there in stunned silence, the prophet Elijah walked off and God hid him for a while! God is looking for men and women of courage. When He finds them, then He will take care of them. As we go through this teaching, ask yourself if you are willing to be that person! God still needs a few good men and women – young people, boys and girls today! May we all sign up! The Lord hid Elijah in the Kerith Ravine, east of the Jordan River. He told him that he would drink from the stream and be fed by the ravens. And they fed him well! He had bread and meat in the morning and bread and meat in the evening! When God has you in a place of rest, enjoy it, for there will be greater challenges just down the road! Sometime later the brook dried up – and Elijah was off on a new assignment. A poor widow was about to enjoy her last bit of food with her son and then they would be waiting for death. It was a severe drought. That was the same widow that God told the prophet would supply him with food! When Elijah – the man of God – asked for the bread and water the widow said, “I don’t have any! I’ve got a handful of flour and a little oil in a jug, and that’s it! In modern parlance Elijah said, “Don’t worry – it is more than enough! Feed me, and then feed yourself and your son, for God is going to provide everything you need.” (sermon continues below)
What miracle did God provide? During the drought she had all the flour and oil she needed. Paul wrote in Philippians, “My God shall supply all your need according to his riches in Christ Jesus.” Later the widow’s son died. Notice she was as strong in character as the prophet was. Instead of saying, “The Lord gives and the Lord takes away, blessed be the name of the Lord,” she went to Elijah and called him on the carpet! You have to like this spunky gal! She said, “What do you have against me, man of God? Did you come to remind me of my sin and kill my son?” Elijah took the boy to his room, laid him on his bed, and then prayed. “O Lord my God, have you brought tragedy also upon this widow I am staying with, by causing her son to die?” And God raised the boy from the dead. Interestingly, the boy’s mom said – “Now that you have restored my son I know that your are a man of God and that the word of the Lord from your mouth is the truth.”
When Jesus announced His ministry He drew from Isaiah 61. Listen to His promises: The Gospel is preached to the poor – they do not have to be poor! Freedom to the Prisoners Recovery of sight to the blind Release for the oppressed To proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor (This alludes to the year of Jubilee. Every 50 years slaves were set free, all debts forgiven and family boundary lines were restored.) As your Heavenly Father and best friend, God wants to bless you in every way possible! Think of the most blessed person you know, and that will give you a hint as to how God can bless you – and how He wants to bless you! Do you believe that? Now, it could be that YOU are the most blessed person you know. If that is true, rejoice and be glad! The bottom line is that God has no favorites. He loves us all equally. What He has done for one, He will do for another. That being said, let’s look at the “small print” on the covenant. We all have our special gifts and callings. Think "TAG": Talents, Abilities and Gifts. (I wish I knew who said that so I could give proper credit!) Your calling may lead you down a more difficult path. When Saul was converted, God told Ananias to tell him “how much he must suffer for My name.” Several of the disciples were beaten, and all but John the Beloved were probably martyrs. So… if you have problems, do not be distressed! Last week we talked about the power of faith and hope. Hope comes as a result of faithfully following God even when things are not going well – even when we suffer losses and disappointments. Romans 5:3-5 states, “We also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out His love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom He has given us.” This week our focus is on the power of total commitment to God. I know, that is idealistic and will never come to pass in this life! So, when we fall short we should not get distressed! We just keep plugging! It’s sort of like driving to Washington, DC. You are not going to get there in one or two days if you only drive 300 miles a day. However, if you drive many more miles than that, you will not enjoy the journey as much! Just enjoy the fact that you are making progress daily. If you are wise and have the time, stopping along the way and enjoying what our great nation has to offer is a fantastic idea. God wants us to enjoy our journey on this planet! Go for it! Life is too short to waste time and effort trying to be perfect. It just isn’t going to happen! However, our words make a big difference in how our lives turn out. When God created us in His image, He gave us the power to create! For the most part, that power is in our words – when we speak words of faith.
Words are very, very powerful! Wars have started, won/lost through words and the powerful impact they have. In Genesis 1 we read that God said, Let there be light…and there it was! His words were combined with faith! When Jesus hung on the cross He said, “It is finished!” Then He died, and our salvation was bought and paid for! Choose words wisely – whether they be words you hear or words you speak! Jesus said, “Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.” Back to Romans10:8-14. Your words make all the difference in the world when it comes to your salvation. “If you confess with your mouth (words) “Jesus is Lord” and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” We believe with our hearts and are justified – we confess with our mouth (words) and are saved. God puts a lot of power in words – but they must match our belief system. A lot of people give lip service to their words so they will be accepted. God, however, knows the difference! When Jesus was sent into the wilderness after His baptism, the temptation from Satan was a battle of words! As God’s Son, Jesus could have simply sent Satan away, however, since He was operating as the Son of Man, He resisted Satan with words, using scripture, to show us how to operate. George Foreman, the boxer, says that Cassius Clay (later known as Mohammad Ali) beat him with words. In a title boxing match, after Foreman had given Clay some of his strongest hits Clay responded, “Is that the best you can do? Is that all you have to offer?” Satan is actually a defeated foe – but he still beats up on people that let him. Satan’s power is in words. There is no way Satan can harm you otherwise. You are a child of God, but as Ephesians 6:11 says, “Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes.” How important is total commitment?
Looking at the corporal the quiet man on the horse asked, “Why don’t you help them?” “Me? Why, I’m a corporal!” Dismounting, the stranger took his place with the soldiers. Together, they heaved the large tree out of the road. As the quiet stranger remounted, the corporal asked, “And what is your name, sir?” “Washington. George Washington.” How can I become totally committed? Last Sunday night I was privileged to be the guest speaker at the Kingfisher Assembly of God. As you might guess, I used the same message that I used here last Sunday morning. However, instead of preaching it, I taught it – and thought that I did a pretty good job. After spending 45 minutes on teaching it seemed that I had overstayed my time, so I prayed and turned the service back over to the pastor. We spent another hour discussing the message – and had a wonderful time of sharing! One of the points that pastor Bruner brought out was the necessity of our dying to sin. Galatians 2:20 says, “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.” Galatians 5:24: “Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires.” Romans 6:8-10: “Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with Him. For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, He cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over Him. The death He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life He lives, He lives to God.” Romans 7:6: “But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit.” I had to wonder… do I really want to be that good? I certainly want the end results, but do I want to do the self-sacrifice? Am I that committed? |
Sunday, February 25, 2007
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Scriptures taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL
VERSION (NIV).
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Background, source not known. |