The Key to Pleasing God

Have you ever asked the question, “What does it take to please God?” 

- There are some people who think that the way you please God is through religious ritual.

- You do certain kinds of rituals and then God is pleased and you're in the in-crowd. 

- But that's not true.

- There are others who think that the way you please God is through rules and regulations – and that if you just do certain things, then God will say, "You're okay." 

- But that doesn't please God either.

- Some people think that if my bad works are real low and my good works are real high, and we kind of balance them out, well, maybe God will grade on a curve and as long as I do more good than bad, I'm okay – That's not true either. 

- The Bible says that there's only one way that you can please God. 

- (Hebrews 11:6) And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.

- The only way you can please God is by faith.

          Now, the problem with that is that a lot of people think they have faith, but they don't. 

 - How do I know I have the kind of faith that gives me access into heaven?" 

  Fortunately, in the book of James, chapter 2, James tells us four things that faith is not – and then he tells us what it is.

WHAT IS REAL FAITH?

1.      Real faith is not just something you SAY

- (James 2:14)  What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him?

- You might circle that word, "claim". 

- He's not saying here that the guy actually has faith, he says he just claims it. 

- In other words, he talks a good line – He knows all the right phrases – He's got the jargon down pat – He knows the language of Christianese. 

- He claims faith, but that doesn't mean he's necessarily possesses it.

- George Gallup says that there are 50 million people in America who say, "I am a Christian." 

- But not all of those 50 million can back it up with a Christian lifestyle.

- And just because a person claims it, doesn't mean they have it. 

- The point I want to make here is that real faith is more than just talk. 

- Not everybody who has a Christian bumper sticker or Fish symbol on their car is a Christian – Have you figured that one out? 

- I mean, you don't have to get more than a couple rude hand gestures from the driver before you begin to figure, “Hey, maybe that guy’s not a believer.”

- “He must have borrowed the car – Or he bought it second-hand and couldn't scrape it off. 

- Not everybody who claims to be a believer really is – Faith is more than just something you say.

2.      Real faith is not just something you FEEL     

- A lot of people confuse emotions and feelings with faith. 

- They come to a church service and they are emotionally moved, they're inspired, and they're stimulated. 

- They get a quiver in their liver and, you know, "Oh, man!  I'm moved!" 

- And they go out after the service and maybe they've even cried or felt God's presence, and that’s great.

- But just because you've felt God's presence doesn't mean you have real faith. 

- There's a big difference between faith and feeling.

- (James 2:15-16) Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, "Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it?  

- He's saying here that faith is not just mere sentimentality. 

- You go out on the street and you see some homeless person who's destitute. 

- They're poor, they're hungry, they're cold, they need clothing and shelter. 

- And you walk up to them and say, "Cheer up," or "Don't worry, be happy!" 

- That's not faith. 

- (1 John 3:17) If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him?

- Faith is practical – It gets involved in people's hurts. 

- And when you see a need, you do something about it. 

- You don't just spout off and say, "I'll pray for you." – You do something about it. 

- You see, if you're a Christian, you're a part of the family of God. 

- And when you became a believer, you became a part of this family. 

- And as a result, you have some family responsibilities.

- What are those family responsibilities? 

- You care about it when other Christians are hurt, or in pain, or grief, or sorrow. 

- You say, "Well, I can't meet everybody's needs!" – You're right – You can't. 

- But you can meet some – and it may not make a difference to everybody, but it makes a difference to those people.

3.      Real faith is not just something you THINK

- You know, some people think of faith as a philosophical quest. 

- It's something they want to discuss and debate and argue about. 

- And when they think about faith, it's their mental stimulation, it's a concept to be debated, it's an idea to be discussed, it's a principle to be bandied about. 

- And we don't make any decision on it, and we certainly don't make any commitment to it, we just discuss it.

- Now James imagines this kind of person in verse 18, this philosophical debater, he says, (James 2:18 ) But someone will say, "You have faith; I have deeds." Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do.

- What's he talking about here? 

- He says, "Well, here's this guy who says, "Hey! You're into faith.  Hmmm. I'm into deeds.  Different strokes for different folks.  You're into that, I'm into this.  Let's debate it.  Let's talk about it.  Let's discuss it.” 

- And James is making a point here. 

- He's saying faith is not something you debate – It's something you do. 

- The key phrase in here, and I want you to circle this, is the phrase, "show me". 

- "Show me your faith with o deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do." 

- Faith is odorless, it's colorless, it's weightless – So how do you know when you've got it? 

- How do you know if you've got the real kind of faith that pleases God? 

- How do you know you've got the kind of faith that gets you into heaven? 

- Well, the Bible says to look at your lifestyle, and real faith will show up in the way you are living your day to day life. 

- Faith is like calories – You can't see them, but you can sure see the results.

- And when a person really has Christ in his or her life, you can see it. 

- And if you can't see it, you have every reason to doubt, "Do I have the real, legitimate stuff?

- In America today, we have this gap between behavior and belief. 

- And what we say we believe, we don't always back up with our lifestyles. 

- You might say, "Hey, Pastor, you know my husband is a Christian."

-  I say, "Oh, really?  Does he hang out with other Christians, you know, fellowship?"  "No." 

- "Does he have any desire to go to church?  Do you ever see him read the Bible?  Do you hear him pray on a regular basis?  Does he tithe his income?  Does he share his faith with anybody, ever tell anybody about Christ?"  "No" 

- "Then how do you know he’s a Christian?" – "Well, he thinks he is."

- But just because you think it, doesn't mean it's so. 

- Faith is not something you think, or that you feel, or that you say.

- It's much more than that – If it’s real, it will show up in your life. 

- If you were to walk out of here after the service and you were to stick your hand into a 220 voltage socket, you'd get connected to the power source, and you would know it – and your body would show it.

- Well, God is a far greater power source than that. 

- And I don't think it is possible for God to come into your life with o changing you. 

- And when people say, "Oh, I have Christ in my life.  I believe in Christ." 

- And you say, "Well, how are you different?" 

- If they don't know any difference, you have every reason to doubt if they've got the real thing. 

- I don't believe somebody as big as Jesus Christ can come into your life and not change you. 

- Because when Jesus moves into the house, He starts rearranging the furniture. 

- And all of a sudden, your values change. 

- Things that used to be important to you are cheap thrills now–and you see through it

- And you've got a whole new set of values and all of a sudden, you're concerned about other people who are Christians and all of a sudden you're concerned about serving God, not just making money. 

- And all of a sudden, you're concerned about things that are going to last for eternity -- not just what's going to happen tomorrow. 

- Your whole life starts taking on new meaning and new purpose and new significance and new value. 

- Real faith always produces a changed life. 

4.      Real faith is not just something you BELIEVE

- A lot of people have strong beliefs about Jesus Christ, strong beliefs about God, strong beliefs about the Bible. 

- I mean, they went to catechism, they know the creed, they know the religion, they've got the doctrine down, "I believe in this and that and this and that . . ."  and all those kind of things. 

- Oh, they have great beliefs! – But that's not enough. 

- And James points this out, he uses a little sarcasm here in v. 19, (James 2:19 ) You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that--and shudder.

- He says, "Big deal!  You're not doing anything different than Satan does." 

- Satan believes in God, but you're not going to find him in heaven. 

- Why?  Because he hasn't made a commitment.

- You see, I believe in George Washington – But I'm not a Washingtonian. 

- But I believe in Jesus Christ and I'm a Christian. 

- Why?  Because I have committed my life to Him.  I have accepted Him as Lord.

- I’ve gone beyond a merely intellectual belief in His existence, to a belief that says “I trust You”, “I’m turning over my life to You.”

- A lot of people are going to miss heaven by 18 inches, because they've got it up here, in their head, but they don't have it here, in their heart. 

- They've got a head knowledge – but let’s see it in your life.

- “Well, I’m Baptist”, Good, glad to hear it! "Well, I'm Catholic."  Fantastic!  Great.  "I’m Presbyterian," Fantastic!  Fine.  "I'm from the Independent Christian Church, Restoration Movement." Well, Good for you! "I'm Lutheran." Fine. 

- Listen, that’s all fine and good, but there's no verse in the Bible that says, "Religion is the way to heaven." – Because it's not. 

- Jesus didn't say, "I've come so that you might have religion."  Or rules, or regulations, or rituals. 

- He said, "I've come that you might have life." – It's a relationship. 

- Real faith is not just something you believe. 

5.      Real faith is something you DO

- (James 2:20 NLT)  Fool! When will you ever learn that faith that does not result in good deeds is useless?

- He's saying, how will you know that you've got real faith? 

- You look at your lifestyle and see what kind of actions follow as a result of it.

- You say, "How do I visibly show that I have faith?"

- Well, the first thing you need to do is to be baptized if you haven’t yet.

- That's the very first command of Christ. 

- In Baptism I am publicly identifying myself with Christ, and with His Body, the Church. 

- Once a little boy asked, "Pastor, when can I get advertised?"—I like that. 

- Because that's what baptism is – Baptism is an advertisement for Jesus Christ. 

- Baptism is saying to the world, "I'm not ashamed to say I'm a Christian.  I'm not ashamed to follow the first command of Christ, to identify myself as a believer." 

- What else do you do? – You start following the other commands of Christ – Our faith is proven by the way we live.   

- Now, please don't misunderstand me – This is too important to misunderstand. 

- You ask, "Are you saying that I've got to work my way to heaven?"  No. 

- "Are you saying that I've got to do good works to be saved?"  No. No.  No. 

- Good works are not the root of salvation, they are the fruit of salvation. 

- They don't make you a Christian, they show that you are a Christian. 

- They don't deliver salvation; they demonstrate salvation. 

- You do good works not to get it but because you've already got it – It's proof. 

- Only by trusting Christ can you be saved. 

- But the proof that you have trusted Christ is shown in your lifestyle.   

- And if there's no proof out there, you have every reason to doubt whether you've ever really tuned in. 

- A good passage that shows both of these truths together is Ephesians 2:8-10. 

- (Eph 2:8-10) For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God-- not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

TWO IMPORTANT FACTS:

1.      The basis for my salvation is GOD’S GRACE

- I can't earn it – I never will – I don't deserve it. 

- It's just a free gift that I accept, and I trust God to come through on His promise. 

- I accept what Christ did for me. 

- The basis of my salvation is God's grace. 

2.      The proof of my salvation is MY MINISTRY

- You say, "Do I have a ministry?"  Yes, you do if you're a believer. 

- What is ministry?  Ministry is just a $10 word that means serving God by serving other people. 

- The Bible says that you have a ministry if you're a Christian. 

- That you are called to serve – You are saved to serve – It’s part of the deal.

Conclusion:

- What am I saying?  Let me just summarize all of this. 

- I'm saying that if your faith doesn't work, if there's no evidence of it, then it's not real faith. 

- And you need to settle that issue. 

- Some of you need, today, to say, "I want to settle the issue today.  I want to start, not just to believe in Christ, but I want to follow Him."  That's real faith.

- Now, let me ask you, what are you going to do as a result of today's message? 

- Specifically, as you walk out of here, what are you going to do about it? 

- You could say, "Oh, I heard it.  And I thought about it.  And I felt it.  And I believed it.” But that's not enough.

- What are you going to do about what you've heard today? 

- You need to ask God, "What's the next step in my life? 

- Some of you need to be baptized. 

- You believe that Jesus is who He claimed to be, and you need to identify with Him in this way as you begin your journey.

- Others need to discover your ministry.

 

Don't Drink The Hot Kool-Aid!!!!

There's Power in Christ

I revised this from my sermon last week.  PLEASE LEAVE COMMENTS.

Ephesians 3:14-3:21

  Three people were arguing about what profession was used first in the bible. The Surgeon says, "The Medical profession was used first when God took a rib from Adam and made Eve.

The Engineer says, "No, engineering was used first. Just think of the engineering job it took to create the world out of chaos. But the Politician says, "You would have nothing if we didn't create chaos in the beginning?”

I think politicians see themselves as men and women of power, but I think most Americans view them as creating chaos in our country. Power is not found in politics. 

  I think we have some really good things available to us in Christ but often, we don’t even realize it! And we don’t put these things to use in life. And one of them is the power to overcome obstacles and difficulties in life.

Paul tells how to receive power for life.
1- Power through prayer
2- Power through Spirit
3- Power through love

I. POWER THROUGH PRAYER

16 I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being.

Preacher John Wesley said, “I have so much to do that I spend several hours in prayer before I am able to do it.” Could this be the reason that he was able to accomplish so much for Christ during his lifetime?

John Wesley traveled two hundred and fifty miles a day for 40 years.  He rode 250,000 miles in his lifetime. He preached forty thousand sermons (2 or 3 times a day); produced four hundred books; knew ten languages. At eighty-three he was annoyed that he could not write more than fifteen hours a day without hurting his eyes, and at eighty-six he was ashamed he could not preached more than twice a day. He complained in his diary that there was an increasing tendency to lie in bed until 5:30 in the morning.

He was quite a man, quite a preacher man! And you could easily see why he accomplished much for Christ.

Abraham Lincoln said, “I have been driven many times to my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had absolutely no other place to go.”

 I wonder why Abraham Lincoln wanted to go any other places before going to God in prayer! Why didn’t Lincoln want to go to God first? Why don’t we turn to God first instead of turning to Him as a last resort?

It’s like what Corrie Ten Boom said about prayer. She said, “Is prayer your steering wheel or your spare tire?” Why not make the Lord in prayer your steering wheel instead of your spare tire?! “Jesus, take the wheel!”

Matthew 7:7-11 7“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. 9 “Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? 11 If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!”

Luke 11:1 “One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.”

Why did the disciples ask Jesus to teach them to pray? What did they see in the prayer life of Jesus that made them want to learn to pray? Could it be that Jesus received power through prayer, power through talking to His heavenly Father?

There is great power through prayer, but not because of who we are, but because of who He is!

II. POWER THROUGH SPIRIT

16 I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being,

An American with an English gentleman was viewing the Niagara whirlpool rapids, when he said to his friend: “Come, and I’ll show you the greatest unused power in the world.” And taking him to the foot of Niagara Falls, “There,” he said, “is the greatest unused power in the world!”

“Ah, no, my brother, not so!” was the reply. “The greatest unused power in the world is the Holy Spirit of the living God.”

There is some truth to this story and that is, the Holy Spirit is a spirit of great power. He waits to give us strength to serve the Lord, but He is not to be used, but rather we are to be used by Him!

- It was said of the famous preacher, Dwight L. Moody of 1800‘s, that he didn’t have a monopoly on the Holy Spirit but that the Holy Spirit had a monopoly on him!

THIS IS OUR NEED TODAY. The Holy Spirit needs to have a monopoly on our lives and when He does, we will experience greater power for life and service.

E. M. Bounds wrote: “The Church is looking for better methods; God is looking for better men. The Holy Spirit does not flow through methods, but through men. He does not come on machinery, but on men. He does not anoint plans, but men…Men of prayer."

D.L Moody said, "I believe firmly that the moment our hearts are emptied of pride and selfishness and ambition and everything that is contrary to God's law, the Holy Spirit will fill every corner of our hearts.

“But if we are full of pride and conceit and ambition and the world, there is no room for the Spirit of God. We must be emptied before we can be filled." AMEN. God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble. And the Holy Spirit.

If the Holy Spirit is indeed the third person of the Godhead, and He is, then we need Him just as much as we need God as our Heavenly Father and Jesus as our Savior!

John 16:7-13 7 But I tell you the truth: It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. 8 When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment: 9 in regard to sin, because men do not believe in me; 10 in regard to righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; 11 and in regard to judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned. 12 “I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. 13 But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth.

Acts 1:8 “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

16 I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being.

The Holy Spirit can strengthen our inner being or our human spirit if we ask God for His strength. But what if we don’t ask? Does this mean that we have to go it alone or without help? I don’t know but I sure don’t want to try to do things on my own. I want to rely on God’s Spirit to strengthen me for life and service. I can’t serve or teach and preach without His help! Maybe you can, but I can’t.

III. POWER THROUGH LOVE

17 And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18 may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19 and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

Rooted and established in love. Is there anything better than this? God is love so is there anything better than being established in love? And when you love like God loves people, there is great power.

Here is a love story. It’s called: CYMBALA'S EASTER STORY. Jim Cymbala preaches at a church in the slums of New York. He tells the following story: It was Easter Sunday and I was so tired at the end of the day that I just went to the edge of the platform, pulled down my tie and sat down and draped my feet over the edge.

“It was a wonderful service with many people coming forward. The counselors were talking with these people. As I was sitting there I looked up the middle aisle, and there in about the third row was a man who looked about fifty, disheveled, filthy. He looked up at me rather sheepishly, as if saying, “Could I talk to you?” We have homeless people coming in all the time, asking for money or whatever. So as I sat there, I said to myself, though I am ashamed of it, “What a way to end a Sunday. I’ve had such a good time, preaching and ministering, and here’s a fellow probably wanting some money for more wine.”

He walked up. When he got within about five feet of me, I smelled a horrible smell like I’d never smelled in my life. It was so awful that when he got close, I would inhale by looking away, and then I’d talk to him, and then look away to inhale, because I couldn’t inhale facing him. I asked him, “What’s your name?” “David.” “How long have you been on the street?” “Six years.” “How old are you?” “Thirty-two.” He looked fifty--hair matted; front teeth missing; wino; eyes slightly glazed. “Where did you sleep last night, David?” “Abandoned truck.”

I keep in my back pocket a money clip that also holds some credit cards. I fumbled to pick one out thinking; I’ll give him some money. I won’t even get a volunteer. They are all busy talking with others. Usually we don’t give money to people. We take them to get something to eat.

I took the money out. David pushed his finger in front of me. He said, “I don’t want your money. I want this Jesus, the One you were talking about, because I’m not going to make it. I’m going to die on the street.”

I started to weep for myself. I was going to give a couple of dollars to someone God had sent to me. See how easy it is? I could make the excuse I was tired. There is no excuse. I was not seeing him the way God sees him. I was not feeling what God feels.

But oh, did that change! David just stood there. He didn’t know what was happening. I pleaded with God, “God, forgive me! Forgive me! Please forgive me. I am so sorry to represent You this way. I’m so sorry. Here I am with my message and my points, and You send somebody and I am not ready for it. Oh, God!”

Something came over me. Suddenly I started to weep deeper, and David began to weep. He fell against my chest as I was sitting there.

He fell against my white shirt and tie, and I put my arms around him, and there we wept on each other. The smell of His person became a beautiful aroma. Here is what I thought the Lord made real to me: If you don’t love this smell, I can’t use you, because this is why I called you where you are. This is what you are about. You are about this smell.

Christ changed David’s life. He started memorizing portions of Scripture that were incredible. We got him a place to live. We hired him in the church to do maintenance, and we got his teeth fixed. He was a handsome man when he came out of the hospital. They detoxed him in 6 days. He spent that Thanksgiving at my house. He also spent Christmas at my house. When we were exchanging presents, he pulled out a little thing and he said, “This is for you.” It was a little white hanky. It was the only thing he could afford.

A year later David got up and talked about his conversion to Christ. The minute he took the mic and began to speak, I said, “The man is a preacher.”

This past Easter we ordained David. He is an associate minister of a church over in New Jersey. And I was so close to saying, “Here, take this; I’m a busy preacher.”

We can get so full of ourselves. There is great power in living a life of love.

20 Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.
 

Facing The Wilderness of Life

I adapted my sermon last Sunday for this post.




2 Kings 3:1-3:21

In the context of our country’s history, we don’t think about wilderness in the same light as the biblical wilderness.

We grew up hearing about Daniel Boone and the wilderness...meaning the woods and forests.
But in the Bible, when the writers spoke of the wilderness, they were referring to desert regions.

Picture in your mind a dry place where nothing green grows.
Everything in the wilderness is brown and unappealing to the eye.
The environment of the wilderness is void of any brightened colors, ranging from brown to browner. (Is that a word?)

Everything in the wilderness has adapted itself to live in this type of climate.
It rarely rains in the wilderness, and when it does, plants store the moisture they need because there is no guarantee when it will rain again.

When we, as Christians are going through our wilderness experience, we must be like the trees and the other animals of the wilderness.
We must learn to adapt our faith to the challenges that a wilderness brings.

The animals in the wilderness have learned to travel and hunt at night because it is cooler at night.

Spiritually, we too must learn to find a place where the Lord can minister to us in our wilderness.
It is a place where He can give us instruction about what to do next.

Like the trees that store up water, uncertain of when it will rain again, we must store up His Word in our hearts.

Many of us are living in the wilderness for various reasons.

The wilderness is a place of dying.
It is a place where all the things that cause you to stumble in your walk with God are killed.

If you have ever watched a movie where people have gone into the desert with little or no understanding of life in the wilderness, they often did not survive there.
Since they had no one to help or advise them, they tried to fight the elements in their own strength.

In the same manner, many of us have spiritually been in the wilderness, and we have tried unsuccessfully to fight the battle in our own strength.
You see, the wilderness is a place where God says,
"I finally have you in a place where I can speak to you."

In our text today, we find that because Jehoram was unprepared for life in the wilderness, he needed someone who knew something about the wilderness.
Therefore, he asked for Jehoshaphat’s help.

Don’t ever be fooled into thinking that you can be fully prepared for life in the wilderness.
Sometimes, God leads us abruptly into the wilderness.
He might have been trying to get you to come to Him or to get you to take your spiritual life more seriously.

Perhaps He has been trying to draw your attention to the call that He has placed on your life.

God loves you so much that he is willing to take a risk on you and lead you into the wilderness experience.

Understand, God will not override our will.
But He also knows that it really is our desire to do His will.
So He takes you into the wilderness experience.
That time when it is not pretty.
It’s dry. It’s Hot! It is trying...

He knows that here in the wilderness, you will either serve Him or reject Him.

You may say, " Lord, where ever You lead, I will follow...even through the wilderness".
Or you may decide to say, "I can’t deal with this. I quit."

God knows that we must be tried in the fire so that we can become pure as gold.
So he brings us into the wilderness experience to perfect our faith.

Can I tell you that you cannot have all pleasure with out pain.
And you can’t truly enjoy the good times without adversity!

Your faith is perfected in the furnace of affliction and adversity.
There is something about going through dilemmas and crises that brings us to the place where we discover things about God which we would not have known under other circumstances!

The sins in Jehoram’s life prevented him from walking with God like he should have.
His relationship with God was superficial.
However, when he got in trouble, whenever he needed God as a fire escape.
He called on God only when things where going bad.
In essence, he wanted to use God as his servant, rather than serve God.
He was interested in God only if God served his own selfish purpose.

Many of us have tried to use God for personal gain.
We view God as a spiritual Santa Claus who is there at our every whim, one who will bring us gifts and presents that are beyond our reach.
The only time some talk to Him is when they need something from Him!

If a loved one becomes terminally ill, we immediately call on Him.
We are ready to beat down the pastor’s door so that he can pray for us, or we call on the saints and implore their prayer and support.

But for some, as soon as the problem is over, what happens?

They slump right back into the backslidden state that they were in before the problem jolted them to pray.
Can I tell you.... that is precisely the reason that some folks are constantly in a problem!

You see, God is fully aware of the sad fact that should we have all our needs met, we will never seek Him with all our hearts.

Like the children of Israel, we tend to become arrogant, prideful, and forget the fact that we must fully acknowledge God in times of prosperity AND adversity!

Old Jehoram was pretty smart, and he knew something about God.
He realized that he did not have a solid relationship with the Lord,
...so he courted the friendship of someone who did.

He said to Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, "I have go to go out to fight and I want you to fight with me".

Jehoshaphat says, "If you are going to war, I will go with you.
My people are your people. I’m going to assume the responsibility of getting you the victory and all my captains and warriors are at your disposal".

So, now that the union has been made, and Jehoshaphat has committed himself to bring home the victory, the next question to address is,  "How do we go about it?"

They began to seek the mind of God on the matter.
One of the servants of the king of Israel told Jehoshaphat about Elisha who had the word of the Lord.

So Jehoshaphat, Jehoram and the king of Edom set out to see Elisha, the prophet of God.

2K 3:13 And Elisha said unto the king of Israel, What have I to do with thee? get thee to the prophets of thy father, and to the prophets of thy mother. And the king of Israel said unto him, Nay: for the LORD hath called these three kings together, to deliver them into the hand of Moab.
2K 3:14 And Elisha said, As the LORD of hosts liveth, before whom I stand, surely, were it not that I regard the presence of
Jehoshaphat the king of Judah, I would not look toward thee, nor
see thee. (KJV)

You know, there are times that we are so obsessed with our destination that we forget that we must go through various phases to get there.

For example, when a woman is pregnant, it is apparent to all that she is carrying a baby.
After the baby is born, all we see is a beautiful baby.
We forget that there is a process of bringing that baby into the world......a process that is painful, for both the mother and the child!

For the mother, it is the process of pushing this delicate life our of her body where it has lived snugly for nine long, peaceful months.
For the baby, it is the process of being pushed into a place that it perceives to be unfriendly and cold, very different from the home it had occupied for nine months.

Just like the baby in it’s mother’s womb, we may have to let go of something that has become part of us. The comfortable place.

We are always confessing that we want the perfect will of God for our lives, but we must not forget the fact that we must conquer the obstacles that stand in the way of our future success in which God’s ultimate will is realized.

King Jehoshaphat asked the question, "How shall we go up against Moab to get victory?"

The unexpected answer was, "You have to go through the wilderness of Edom to get the victory."

Listen to me church, If you want to get the victory, you must be willing to go through the wilderness.

I want to reiterate this fact:
It is not always easy to get the victory because it belongs to the other side of the wilderness!

You must be willing to go through a little time of abasement, confusion, adversity, and even opposition before you arrive at your destination.

Many think that it is unfair to go through this phase.

But you see, it is the wilderness that weeds out the saints from the "aints".

It is the wilderness that weeds out the people who really want to do something for God from people who just have a momentary, superficial, mundane relationship with Him.

It is the wilderness that makes a hypocrite back up and say,
"I can’t take it anymore".

The wilderness, God’s killing field, will weed out all the impostors because they cannot survive the adversity of the wilderness.

I want to warn you that you will have to go through the wilderness to attain the will of God for your life.

The wilderness teaches us to stand;
It teaches us to cast our cares upon Him;
It teaches us to rely and totally depend on Him for life support, because we know in due season we shall reap if we faint not!


Some can’t handle the smallest problems.
Some feel that the hardships placed on their path indicate that God either has forsaken them or is punishing them for some sin they have committed.

The devil has successfully employed that lie to deter folks from seeking the Father.
Don’t for a moment think that you can do it on your own.
You will fail miserably.

Remember the story of Joshua and Caleb.
When the spies had been sent in to Canaan, and the report came back, Joshua and Caleb were the only two with a good report.
They were the only ones of faith.

Had they tried to enter into Canaan on their own strength or cognizance, they would have perished in the wilderness.

Even when life in the wilderness became dull and unappealing, they did not stop seeking God.
They continued to rely on His guidance.

We need to be like Joshua and Caleb, and be persistent in faith even in the wilderness where problems are at their worst.

The greatest battle that we face while we are in the wilderness is the one between the new and the old man.

The old man that God is trying to kill in the wilderness refuses to die.
It wants to resurrect old hurts and old problems.
But as new creatures in Christ Jesus, we must put the old man to death.

Despite the situations that you may be facing, you must constantly remind yourself that you are a new creature and the old man is DEAD!

Let me tell you something this morning...
My God is the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End.
There is nothing too hard for Him!
There is nothing that He cannot handle!
Because we know who we are in Christ Jesus and what we mean to our heavenly Father, Satan tries to discourage us.

He tries to use sickness, financial problems, family stress and anything and everything you can think of to incapacitate us.

The question that you must ask yourself is, "Who is my God?" "Whom do I serve?"
Then answer the question.... "My God is the way Maker."
The Bible says that if God be for us, who can be against us?

* God is so real in my inward man.

* He has not only washed away all my sins, but He has filled my
cup with His love so that my cup bubbles over.

* He is the Lover of my soul.

* He is the Answer to my every need.

* He is my Burden-Bearer,

Now, maybe you are the kind of person who can handle everything that comes your way, but I can’t!

However, I know someone who is able to take it!
His name is Jesus!


The enemy fights those who know who they are and whose they are.
The Bible affirms that God is Faithful.

Are you aware that the more the enemy fights you, the greater the indication that blessings are on the way?

You must become aware of this fact as a Christian!
If you do not know this about your life, you cannot make it.

You have got to know that it is because you are on the verge of a miracle that the devil is fighting you.

He is fighting you so hard because you are getting closer to your
deliverance, and the closer you get, the greater the struggle!

If you hold out a little while longer, God’s going to give you the victory in every circumstance of your life.

I am learning to be encouraged when I meet with obstacles because I see them as an indication of a fresh move of God in my life.

Now let me tell you, when you are in the wilderness, you must find out what the plan of God is for you.

You cannot rely on anyone else’s plan.
Only a plan from God will suffice in the wilderness.

God has not promised that you will not go through hardship.
And He has not promised that you will not experience adversity.

But listen to what He does say,
"When you pass through the waters, I will be with you.
When you go through the flood, I’ll be there.
Should you have to go through fire, I will be there.
As I was with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, so will I be with you.
I will be the forth One in the furnace!"

I am so very grateful that the Lord’s been walking with me these past 34 years.

I say this, not because I have not been through anything, or that I have not faced various challenges and dark moments in life,
but rather because I do recognize that the Lord has been with me in the fiery furnace.
He has protected me from the scorching of the flames.
When the pressure and the flames seemed as if they would engulf me, His words of assurance would comfort me.

There are many who would have lost their mind had the Lord not been on their side.

They would have gone crazy and lost control, but the Lord comforted them in their darkest hour.

It is not that we did not go through the wilderness, but when we went through it, God was with us.
God will be with you when mama, daddy, sister, and brother leave.

When the folks you thought would be with you all the way, walk out of the door, God says, "Lo, I am with you always even unto the ends of the world."

You need not fear the wilderness if you take God with you everywhere you go.

I must take Him with me everywhere I go, or else I would fall on my face.

I truly need the Lord for I cannot function without Him.
I need Him in the morning;
I need Him in the noon day;
I need Him when the sun is down.
I need Him to run this church.
I need Him to teach me how to be a good father.
I need Him to be a good husband.

Don’t you try anything without God, because you will not succeed.

The enemy may come to discourage you.
He may whisper to your mind that you are all alone.
He will tell you that God will not help you or that you have committed a horrible sin that has brought God’s wrath on you.
Don’t you buy that stuff for even a minute.

Satan thinks that he catches the Lord by surprise, but oh, is he wrong!

God is a God of plans.
He is a God of order.
As the God who knows all things, He is never surprised by the attack of the enemy.

While the enemy is planning his strategies,
God has already made a counter plan for him.

He has already made a way of escape for you.
Now, you must trust Him!

Peter asked the Lord if he could join Him on the sea.
After the Lord told Him to come, Peter got out of the boat and walked on the sea until he took his eyes off of Jesus.

Maybe you are in trouble right now.

Maybe you are hearing this sermon, and you are trying to find answers to your situation.

Maybe you have been trying to run your life without God, or you have been trying to deal with your wilderness without God’s help.

You may be convinced that you know what you are doing and that you are not obligated to listen to anyone.

Be careful, for pride comes before a fall.
My friend, you do need God.
You need Him to help you hold your mind together.

You need Him when you are at the breaking point and people have disappointed you.

Can I tell you something....
Nobody else but God will get up with you at 4:00 a.m. and hold you in His arms.

Nobody else but God can comfort you when you are depressed.

Only God can supernaturally soothe your nerves and quell your worries.

Only He can give you that peace that passes all understanding.

When the Bible talks about peace that passes all understanding,
it refers to a peace that is anointed!

When people look at your situation, and then look at you, they will be confused.
They will say, "Why is he/she so peaceful?
Doesn’t he realize that it is hopeless?"

It is simply the God-given peace that you enjoy.
Try it. Believe me, you will like it!

God says, "It’s gonna be alright.
Just trust Me, just lean on Me, and look to Me for total deliverance!"

You might not be able to see how it will work out, but you’ve got to trust that before it is all over, God’s going to give you the victory.
You see, God’s Got a Plan!

Why I Hate Religion But Love Jesus.

I have had people ask me throughout my life, if I am a religious person.  I usually reply no.  I have a relationship with God.  I don't need religion.  This video does explain pretty well what I am talking about.

We must Peek, Push and Press in 2012

     
Wouldn't it be wonderful if everyday and everything worked out just as you planned? Think about it, if every morning the sun was shining, the temperature was just right with a light breeze coming from the right direction. You made exactly the amount of money that you needed and had enough left over to do what you wanted, your kids never needed new shoes and your extended family never bothered you! And what if in your spiritual life you always understood the scripture, God always answered your prayers exactly like you thought He should, your body was always healed and no one ever got on your nerves? Wouldn't it be nice? But it usually isn't that way is it?
But what if you could do something about where you are? What if there were simple steps that would enable you to reach beyond where you are to where God wants you to be? Would you be willing to take those steps? After all, we can't expect God to do everything...can we?
Our walk with God is a journey and a covenant, there is nothing God cannot do, He is willing to do anything for His children, but there are somethings we have to do with Him to arrive at our destination:

1. Peek -Perhaps our greatest need is to see what God is seeing, to have spiritual vision that enables us to see beyond the outward appearance and to see what is actually taking place around us. The amazing thing to me is that too often we believe that God doesn't really know what is actually taking place in our lives, we think He's surprised at the events of our lives and world, that unless we tell Him, He really doesn't have a clue...but He does. Just as Elisha had to remind his servant, God has to remind us, open your eyes and look, there are more for you than against you, surrounding you is an angelic host that is prepared to defend you and to deliver everything you have need of...just peek into the realm of heaven!
2. Push -Sometimes we have to push some stuff out of the way, to get rid of the things that prohibit and hinder our progression. The Apostle Paul said that we have to lay aside every weight and the sin that so easily besets us in order that we may run and obtain the prize. But not do we push out the stuff, we push ourselves out of the box, out of our comfort zones, out of the nest so that we may fly! I have to admit, sometimes it's easier to stay in the nest than it is to fly, to do something we've never done before, to go where we've never been...you have to push yourself knowing that in every step you take God is with you!
3. Press -The Apostle Paul we haven't arrived or received everything Christ died for us to receive, so we press forward. Pressing is more than getting up in the morning and saying, "Well, I think I'll be victorious today!" In fact, we are victorious because we are in Christ and He is in us. Pressing forward is the determined walk that says regardless of what takes place in my life I will keep moving, I will go forward until I have crossed the finish line!
Today, take a moment to peek into what God is saying, push out the junk and push out from the safety zone and press forward into all that God has for you...It's going to be worth it!