Letting Go

Some of you may have heard of the song "Nothing I Hold On To" by United Pursuit. It's a great song, with easy to remember words. The bridge of the song is really simple, it just says, "I will climb this mountain with my hands wide open" 

These lyrics remind me of in Genesis, when God told Abraham to go up to the top of Mt. Moriah, and sacrifice his son Isaac. God asked Abraham to do this to test his faith. God had it all planned out ahead of time that a ram would be caught in a bush at just the right time, and an angel showed up to stop him from sacrificing Isaac. But Abraham didn't know all of this up front. 

Mt. Moriah was a few days away. So they packed everything up, the wood, the oil, all the supplies, and they got some of their servants together and they went off on this trip.

When they get near Mt. Moriah, Abraham tells the servants to wait for them while they go and sacrifice. In Genesis 22:6, Abraham says, "I and the boy will go and sacrifice, and we will return to you." 

Check out Abraham's faith here. Even though God told him to sacrifice his son, and he's ready to do it if that's what God wants, Abraham knows that they're coming back. You see a few chapters earlier, God promised that through Abraham's seed (Isaac), God would raise up a nation. Abraham knows that God isn't done with Isaac yet. 

So they are walking up the mountain, and Isaac asks, "Hey dad, where's the sacrifice?" Awkward question at that moment... Well, Isaac.... you're the sacrifice... Probably wouldn't be the most fun trip. But that isn't what Abraham says. In Genesis 22:8, Abraham tells Isaac, "God will provide for Himself the lamb for a burnt offering."

So they went up the mountain, with no offering but Isaac. 

What a picture. Abraham is letting go of everything that he holds dear. Isaac is the son that he was promised in his old age. It isn't like he has a bunch of other kids at home, or can have more kids. Isaac is their only shot. But Abraham walked in obedience.

Is God calling you to let go of some things like He did to Abraham? It would have been really easy for Abraham to get defensive, and say something like, "No, God! Not Isaac! YOU gave me Isaac!"

But Abraham didn't say that. If he had said that, he would have been elevating Isaac higher than God in his heart. 

You see, God wants our hearts to Himself. He'll give us blessings, and He'll put people in our lives that He allows us to share this life with, but ultimately, we are His. We've been bought at the price of the blood of a Lamb. 

All of this was a beautiful picture, because a few thousand years later, God would give His own Son as a sacrifice. God did provide the lamb, not only for Abraham and Isaac, but later for the whole world. Jesus' blood that He shed on the cross, and His death were the payment for our sins. The price that we owed was put on Him. He has purchased us with His blood, and that is why He can ask us to let go of these things.

Ask God today, "Is there anything in my heart that I've put higher than You? What changes do I need to make to keep You as the Lord of my life? Please give me Your Holy Spirit to walk in, so that I will have Your strength to let go of these things, and to follow You will all of my heart. Amen."

How to Start a Revival

Have any of you ever asked God to change the world? I've prayed some big prayers, asking God to bring revival to our nation, but the more I pray those things, the smaller my prayers become. Not smaller in the sense of not asking God to do those big things, but more focused. It went from asking God to bring revival to our nation to asking Him to bring revival in this city, of Wilmington, NC. From there it went to asking for a revival in our church, and eventually, my prayers worked their way down to, "God, bring a revival in me. Revive my heart for You!"

The more that I thought and prayed about this idea of revival, the more I realized that it has to start somewhere. Someone has to be the first one to seek after revival, not in others, but in themselves.

So what is a revival? 

Dictionary.com defines "Revival" as an improvement in the condition or strength of something, or an instance of something becoming popular, active, or important again. 

If we want to see revival in our cities, and in this nation, it has to begin in our own hearts.

We must be the ones to put God back into the place of Lord in our hearts and our lives.

In 1 Kings 18, Israel is completely wrapped up in idolatry. The nation that is supposed to be God's own has turned their backs on Him. There is only a small remnant of people seeking God, and all but one of them are in hiding. All of them but Elijah.

Elijah goes to the King, Ahab, and puts him on the spot for his rebellion against God. It hasn't rained in 3 years, and Elijah puts the blame on Ahab for leading the people away from God.

Elijah challenges Ahab to a duel of the gods. He says, "Hey! Why don't we let what we're worshiping decide for us. They can't both be God." So they set up this contest. 

Two altars

Two sacrifices

No fire.

The 400 prophets of Baal set up their sacrifice, but they aren't allowed to bring fire. They have to ask their god to bring the fire. So they have this whole elaborate worship service to Baal. They're going at it for 3 hours. Nothing happens. 

No fire.

So it's Elijah's turn. He rebuilds an altar to the Lord, and then he makes it interesting. He has some people get water, and pour it all over the sacrifice. The wood is soaked, the animal is soaked, the water even fills a trench around the altar. 

And then Elijah prays. 1 Kings 18:36-37, "And at the time of the offering of oblation, Elijah the prohet came near and said, O Lord, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that You are God in Israel, and that I am your servant, and that I have done all these things at Your word. Answer me, O Lord, answer me that this people may know that You, O Lord, are God, and that You have turned their hearts back." 

Simple prayer. Elijah asks God to show up and defend His name. "Show them that You're God!" 

"Show them that You're calling them back to You!" 

Any guesses as to what happened?

Fire.

Fire fell from Heaven, and it consumed the offering, the wood, the stones of the altar, and the water around it. It even burned up the dust!

When the people saw it, they shouted out! "The Lord, He is God!" 

God showed up in a major way, and He defended His name. There was a revival in the nation. But it started with one person. It started with only Elijah. A man willing to take a stand and say "this isn't okay." 

Notice that in 1 Kings 18:30, "Elijah repaired the altar of the Lord that had been thrown down." 

For revival to come, the altar had to be rebuilt. It took work. For there to be change in our lives, it takes work. We have to rebuild some things that have been torn down. Maybe it's your devotional life, your prayer life, or your marriage. 

Maybe you're on the other end of the spectrum, and there are some things in your life that need to be torn down...

If that's the case, keep reading 1 Kings 18. In verse 40, Elijah takes the 400 prophets of Baal, and he kills them. 

Maybe you're thinking, "that's a bit harsh!" But think about it. These were men who had led the nation away from God. They needed to not be able to do that again. Deuteronomy even says to kill false prophets who lead people away from God. 

It's a serious thing.

But think about this with me. There might not be 400 prophets following your around every day, pulling you away from God. That would be kind of weird. 

But there might be things in your life that are pulling you away from God. Maybe it's the group of friends you hang out with, or your entertainment choices. 

Just like Elijah did, it's time for us to put those things to death. If we want to see revival begin in our hearts, we need to build up the things of God, and tear down the things of this world.

And watch. When you do that, when you take a stand for Jesus, the world will notice. 

"Lord, let revival come in my heart. Help me to see the things that need to be rebuilt and the things that need to be torn down. Give me the strength by Your Holy Spirit to make these changes, to follow You with everything I have. Help me to live for You, and for You alone. In Jesus' name, amen."

Distracted

In 2 Kings 22, we're told of a king named Josiah. Throughout 1-2 Kings, we're told of different kings of Israel and Judah. Some of them walked with God, more often than not they "did what was evil in the sight of the Lord." Josiah was in the minority. He was one of the few kings who followed the Lord. In 2 Kings 22:2, it says that He didn't only follow the Lord, but he didn't turn aside to the right or the left. 

Josiah was committed to the Lord, and he wouldn't let anything turn him from that. He wasn't looking around, he wasn't interested in what the world had to offer. He made up his mind that he was going to follow God. 

The picture of a racehorse comes to my mind. The horses are lined up, waiting for the gate to open, adrenaline is high. The gate drops, and they take off! If you look closely, you'll see that the horses in these races have something called "blinders" on their eyes. These blinders take away their peripheral vision, so that they can only focus in the direction that they are facing. It removes the distractions to help the horses focus on the goal. 

Josiah gave himself mental, and spiritual blinders. He refused to be distracted by other things. He made up his mind that he was going to run as hard as he could towards his goal of pleasing the Lord. 

This world needs more men and women who will follow in Josiah's footsteps. There are so many things in this world that want to take our focus off of God, and onto things that don't matter, things that will pull us away from God. Will you join me in taking a stand against this? Will you join me in setting our eyes on Christ, and refusing to let the things of the flesh steal our hearts? We will see this world changed when God's people devote themselves fully to Him, let's be the generation that makes the change, that refuses to follow. We're a generation of rebels, refusing to follow standards that have been set. Let's refuse to follow the standard of this world, and be driven towards our goal of following Jesus. 

Paul said it this way in Philippians 3:13-14, "brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus."

Voices

In the book of 1 Kings, we meet a guy named Ahab. Maybe you've heard of him. Ahab was the king of Israel, and he was a wicked king. (1 Kings 16:30)  He didn't follow God. In the 7 chapters that his story is recounted in, a few people come along and try to tell him to do the right thing. However, in 1 Kings 22, two men stand for God, and ask him to do the same.

1 Kings 22:5 "and Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, "Inquire first for the word of the LORD."

Jehoshaphat was king of Judah, and he's asking Ahab to go to war with him. Ahab agrees without hesitation, but Jehoshaphat says, "hold on a second. Let's see what God says first."

Through the course of events, Micaiah the prophet is brought to Ahab.

1 Kings 22:14 "But Micaiah said, "as the LORD lives, what the LORD says to me, that I will speak."

Micaiah was being pressured to say what the king wanted to hear, just like all of the other "prophets" But Micaiah understood something. He didn't have to worry about what the other prophets thought. He didn't have to worry about what the king thought. Micaiah was only concerned with what the LORD thought of him.

He knew where God stood, and he wasn't moving from there.

Micaiah prophecies that Ahab will be killed in battle, and later in the chapter that happens. It's sad when you look at all of the opportunities that Ahab had to turn back to God, to live a different life, and to leave a different legacy.

Just like Ahab, we have voices in our lives. Some of them want to push us toward the world. They say the things that sound good, but aren't what God has. We need to learn to distinguish between the voices, and hear the voice of the God who leads us.

Be careful what voices you listen to. What are they leading you toward? Are they bringing you closer to God, or are they leading you farther into sin? Just like Ahab, a big part of the legacy that you leave is dependent upon the voices that you listen to.

Return of the King

In the gospels, we are introduced to a man named John the Baptist. He was God's prophet to Israel, coming as the forerunner for Christ. He played the part of the hype man. Getting everybody ready for Jesus.

It's interesting, we don't have any sermon's from John the Baptist, or any long messages. His message was short and to the point. "Repent, for the Kingdom of God is at hand."

Basically, he was telling the world, "Jesus is coming. Get ready." It ended up being an awesome time of revival in Israel. Mark 1:5 says that all of Judea and Jerusalem were coming to John in the wilderness and getting baptized. There was a response to John's message. People didn't take lightly that the Kingdom of God was coming. They acted based on John's words. They were repenting of their sin. The nation was turning back to God.

We can look at this and see it as just a nice story, an interesting piece of history. Or we can see it as relevant to us today. You see, there is a similar message that has been given to us.

In Acts 1:10, Jesus has just ascended into Heaven, and two angels appear to the Apostles. They give the Apostles some inside information, a spoiler alert. The angels tell the Apostles that Jesus will return in the same way that He departed.

Jesus is coming back. He even said it Himself in Mark 13:26, "And then they will see the Son of Man coming in the clouds with great power and glory."

John the Baptist's message was a simple one, but a convicting one. "Jesus is coming, are you ready?"
We have been left with a message no different from John's. "Jesus is coming back. Are you ready?"

With identical messages, our responses should be identical to that of Israel at the time of John the Baptist. This message of the return of Christ isn't something to note down and then forget.

The return of Christ demands action on our part. Preparation is needed. We live in a world that loves to prepare. Preparation is in our nature. I went camping last weekend, it was one night in the woods in a sleeping bag. I took over 100 feet of rope, just in case. I didn't use any of it. It sat in my bag the whole time. But I was READY! If I had needed to tie a bear to a tree, or rappel down the face of a cliff, I was prepared!

Preparation is in all of us. How many of us charge our phones every night, even if it's still almost fully charged. Because what if we need that whole 100% of our battery tomorrow? We love to prepare.

Now I leave you with this. Preparation is in our nature, we long to be ready. Jesus is coming back. Jesus Himself said that nobody knows when. It could literally be at any moment. Are you ready? Turn back to God today. Don't wait. Get prepared for the return of the King.

Contaminated

If you've ever drank bottled water, you've probably seen the "Nestle" Water. They sell it at Walmart, and grocery stores, and gas stations, pretty much everywhere.

I was drinking some today, which is pretty standard. I noticed that their slogan on the bottle is "Pure Life" That really got me thinking. They say that to remind you that it doesn't have any junk in it. The water doesn't have anything that would pollute or contaminate it. It did at one point, but it was put through filters, and those things were worked out of it so that we could have Nestle Pure Life water. 

If it said "Kind of pure" or even "mostly pure" we wouldn't want to drink it! I don't want to drink water that has "only a little bit of pollution" in it. I want pure water! We even go so far as to support getting clean water to other countries. We send money to dig wells and get purifiers to them so that they don't have to drink contaminated water either. Clean, pure water is a big deal to us.

What about ourselves though? James 4:8 tells us, "Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded." 

1 Timothy says that we should be setting the example in purity.

Throughout the Bible we're told to be pure. We're told that we need to rid ourselves of the contamination and the pollution. Christ made us His bride, His pure bride. 

We're made pure by the blood of Christ. His death paid for our sin, it removed our impurity. However, that doesn't justify lifestyles of sin. We're called to live pure and blameless lives! (Philippians 1:9-10) 

We're not okay with putting contaminated water into our bodies, why should we be okay with leaving contamination in them? We need to rid ourselves of the pollution from sin.

Just like with water, that requires a filter.

Our filter is the Word of God. God has given us His standard within the Bible, we are called to live by it.

Philippians 4:8 is one of my favorite verses, and I've often described it as a content filter. 

"Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things."

These things are what we're called to live by. That implies that things that don't qualify in this list don't belong in our lives. Remove the pollution! Decontaminate! 

I recently saw the new movie, "Monster's University" and it reminded me of it's counterpart, "Monster's Inc." In that movie, one unfortunate monster gets contaminated by items belonging to humans on multiple occasions. Every time the clean up crew runs in yelling "2319!!!! We have a 2319!!!" They put him in a bag, and they shave his entire body, and they spray him down. All with the goal of decontaminating him. 

We need to become like that towards our sin, urgent to decontaminate ourselves, no hesitation to remove anything that might get in the way of our walks with God. 

Father, purify our hearts, create in us new hearts with a desire only for You. Change our focus to Your face and Your glory. Lead us in Your paths, make us like Jesus. Amen.

End of the Story

We're closing out our 3 part series on the book of Jonah today. We've followed Jonah, a man of God, a prophet, the equivalent today of a pastor or a missionary as he runs from God.

God asked him to go to Nineveh, but instead he ran the opposite direction, and ended up in a fish because of it.

Jonah turns back to God while he's in the fish and the fish vomits him out onto dry ground. That's where we pick up. 

Jonah 3:1-2, "Then the Word of The Lord came to Jonah the second time saying, "Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it the message that I tell you."

The Word of The Lord came to Jonah.... AGAIN! You know, if I had been God in this situation, I probably wouldn't have sent Jonah again. I would have found someone who would cause less trouble. Maybe send the fish, that would get people's attention.

But you see, God is all about second chances. God knew Jonah would run the first time before he even told him to go. 

God gives second chances to people who don't deserve first chances.

God already knows every mistake that you will ever make. He knows how you will drop the ball and how you will fail and mess up, but He still chooses you! He still has plans for your life.

Ephesians 2:10 tells us, "For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them."

No matter how badly you mess up, God still has a calling on your life.

Jonah 3:3-4, "So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh, according to the Word of The Lord. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly great city, three days' journey in breadth. Jonah began to go into the city, going a day's journey. And he called out, "Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!"

This time Jonah obeys. He's learned that it ends better for him when he follows God.

That is one heck of a city! It took three days just to walk across the whole town.

History tells us that the walls of the city were 100 feet high, and they had 200 foot towers on them. The wall was wide enough for three chariots to ride side by side on top of it.

I think that it's interesting.. Jonah's message isn't the kind of message that people like to hear. He basically says, "You're all going to die in forty days."

Jonah 3:5-9, "And the people of Nineveh believed God. They called for a fast and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them to the least of them. The word reached the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, removed his robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. And he issued a proclamation and published through Nineveh, "By the decree of the king and his nobles: Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste anything. Let them not feed or drink water, but let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and let them call out mightily to God. Let everyone turn from his evil way and from the violence that is in his hands. Who knows? God may turn and relent and turn from his fierce anger, so that we may not perish."

Check this out: Jonah preaches, and EVERYONE listens! All the way to the point of the king finding out about what's happening, and he repents and tells the whole city to repent!!

They all turn to God, and look at verse 9 again. "Maybe God will relent." Maybe... they don't even know if he will.

Jonah preached, and the people got convicted. God's light was poured into their city, and it made them see how dark they were. When they saw their darkness contrasted against God's light, they abandoned their darkness for God.

The last verse of chapter three is one of my favorite Bible verses. It shows God's response to their repentance.

Jonah 3:10, "When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil way, God relented of the disaster that He had said He would do to them, and He did not do it."

God saw what they did. He saw how they repented.

They didn't "say the right words" or give enough money to the right organization. 

They changed what they were doing. Their lives began to reflect God's light.

When God saw the fruit in their lives, He held off the disaster.

What's interesting is the contrast we see between the people of Nineveh in chapter 3, and Jonah in chapter 4.

Jonah 4:1-3, "But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was angry. And he prayed to the LORD and said, "O LORD, is not this what I said when I was yet in my country? That is why I made haste to flee to Tarshish; for I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from disaster. Therefore now, O LORD, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live."

Hold on a second.... The whole city of Nineveh just got saved, commentators estimate that there were about half a million people in the city. Jonah has just led the biggest revival in history, and he's upset about it. WHAT?!

Jonah knows that God is gracious.

Jonah knows that God is merciful.

Jonah knows that God is slow to anger.

Jonah knows that God is loving. 

Jonah's knowledge of God was not the problem.

Jonah's response to God was the problem. 

Jonah even admits that he ran from God because he didn't want to see God forgive the city of Nineveh. Wow. We get a real glimpse of Jonah's heart here, and it's nothing like God's.

Jonah tells God that he is so upset about this that it would be better if her were just dead.

The Messsage paraphrases this like this, "So God, if you won't kill them, kill me! I'm better off dead."

Whoa Jonah. This dude is DRAMAAAAAAAAA.... But God still responds to him lovingly. 

Jonah 4:4-9, "And the LORD said, "Do you do well to be angry?" Jonah went out of the city and sat to the east of the city and made a booth for himself there. He sat under it in the shade, till he should see what would become of the city. Now the LORD God appointed a plant and made it come up over Jonah, that it might be a shade over his head, to save him from his discomfort. So Jonah was exceedingly glad because of the plant. But when dawn came up the next day, God appointed a worm that attacked the plant, so that it withered. When the sun rose, God appointed a scorching east wind, and the sun beat down on the head of Jonah so that he was faint. And he asked that he might die and said, "It is better for me to die than to live." But God said to Jonah, "Do you do well to be angry for the plant?" And he said, "Yes, I do well to be angry, angry enough to die."

So here's the scene - God calls Jonah out on getting so upset, so Jonah goes outside the city and sits down to watch God destroy it. While he's sitting there, God sets up a little illustration for him.

A plant grows up and gives Jonah some shade. Jonah was "exceedingly glad." Jonah was stoked about this plant. At least Jonah is never apathetic. God forgives Nineveh, he's mad enough to die. God sends him a plant to give him shade, he's stoked. 

But the next day, God kills the plant. No more shade, and God even sends a hot wind to make it worse. You can probably guess the outcome here. Jonah gets upset, specifically " so upset that he'd be better off dead."

God calls Jonah out again in love. "Should you really be angry?"

Jonah's response, "Yep! I'm so angry that you might as well kill me here." Whoa, dude! Take a chill pill! But then God explains this illustration to Jonah. 

Jonah 4:10-11, "And the LORD said, "You pity the plant, for which you did not labor, nor did you make it grow, which came into being in a night and perished in a night. And should not I pity Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know their right hand from their left, and also much cattle?"

Jonah is upset that the plant died. It was just a plant!

God is much more concerned about the people of Nineveh. 120,000 people that don't know their right hand from their left.... Kids don't know their right hand from their left. (the one where your pointer finger and thumb make an L is your left.) 120,000 kids in the city. 

God cares about Nineveh.

Look at this contrast here,

Nineveh hears God speak to them, they repent, turn around, and start living differently.

Jonah hears God speak to him, runs away, then gets angry with God.

Nineveh (a city of wicked people) have a better response to God than His own people do. When it comes down to it, this book ends with Nineveh being closer to God than Jonah. 

Now I want to ask this question, which category are you in?

Not which category would you put yourself in, but honestly today, which category are you lined up wtih? What does your response to God look like? Are you against God, or mad at Him? Are you doing what He says only because you have to? Or are you really responding to God, making changes in your life to reflect Him?

Jesus came and died on the cross for us, so that we could be lined up with God, joined in relationship with Him. 

Jesus didn't die on the cross so that we could go to church, or so that we could have cute Bible verses to post on our walls when we want to feel better. He didn't die on the cross to give us a prayer for before we eat.

Jesus died on the cross to offer you a radical, joyful, hopeful, Spirit filled life with Him. I heard it put this way, "the Gospel is the story of God covering His naked enemies, bringing them to the wedding feast, and marrying them rather than crushing them."

All He asks us to do is respond in faith.

Jonah's story ends with a man who is completely unrepentant, completely unwilling to turn towards God and resond. Your story could end any day. Which camp are you in? 

As God's light is poured on you, are you repenting with Nineveh, or getting upset and emotional with Jonah?