Tag: Trust

Categories
Articles

Are You a Modern Day Obadiah?

One of the little known characters in Scripture is Obadiah. Obadiah was in charge of King Ahab’ palace. He was a devout follower of God. He even risked his life by hiding one hundred of the Lord’s prophets from Jezebel as she scoured the land for prophets to kill.

Coming out of a three year drought that was caused by God and prophesied by Elijah, 1 Kings 18:1-19 tells the story of Elijah asking Obadiah to connect him with King Ahab. Even though he believed in God, and knew Elijah to be a true prophet of God, Obadiah’s response was “What have I done wrong that you are handing your servant over to Ahab to be put to death?”

In this article I will use this story to reveal six characteristics of today’s modern “Obadiahs”.

1. Modern day Obadiahs love Christ, but do not want to take a strong stand (v.3,7-12). Many people want to claim Christ, but not to be identified with Christ. They want to lay low or fly under the radar instead of being a clear ambassador of Christ.

2. Modern day Obadiahs try to straddle the fence of lordship (v.7-9). You have heard it said that “Jesus is either Lord of all or He is not Lord at all”. In reality it is impossible to straddle the lordship fence because straddling the lordship fence actually is not accepting the Lordship of Christ. Jesus said it this way, “You are either for me or you are against me.” Straddling the lordship fence makes one willing to debate with God.

3. Modern day Obadiahs want to be secret about their commitment (v.7-19). Secret Christians have destroyed the mission of the church for generations. Christianity was never meant to be a candle hidden under a basket, but rather it was meant to set up on a hill to provide light to the world.

4. Modern day Obadiahs consider the cost versus the personal benefits before choosing to obey (v.7-19). Jesus would say “Those who love me, obey me”. Obedience is always an issue of love and trust. Before committing they want a guarantee that all will work out comfortably.

5. Modern day Obadiahs are struggling to survive (v.7-19). Survival is the natural mindset of people who do not completely trust God with their future. They also want to remind you about the times in the past when them did something risky (v.13) as if that is a free pass to not obey God today.

6. Modern day Obadiahs are inconsistent in their commitment to God (v.7-19). Wishy-washy obedience is not true Christ-following. Competing mindsets and priorities lead to inconsistencies and create inner conflict (v.7-19).

The moral of the story: Don’t be an Obadiah. Choose to proudly follow Christ wherever He leads.

Categories
Sermon Videos

Do You Take God at His Word?

Every word from God contains the power to accomplish what He said.  The bible is not just a book to be read, it is a living, active, power-filled document. When the logos of God becomes rhema from Him transformational power is released.

When God makes His written word come alive in you it is filled with the power to deliver what it was meant to deliver. The question is; “Do you take God at His word?”

Categories
Sermon Videos

The Darkness Flees When We Turn the Lights On

Categories
Articles

Our Lives will Experience Heat & Drought

“But blessed is the person who trust in the Lord, whose confidence is in Him. He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.” (Jeremiah 17:7-8)

Jeremiah gives us a wealth of wisdom and encouragement in the two verses above. Blessed, joyful, content, and satisfied is the person who places their trust in God. Think about it for a moment. All worry and anxiety is rooted in distrust of God. We can deny it, but it is still every bit as true.

Scripture tells us to cast all of our fear, worry, and anxiety upon the Lord, but doing that requires trust. Fear, worry, and anxiety rob us of the joy, contentment, satisfaction, and overall blessing God intends to give each of us. God has always proven faithful, yet it is a normal flaw in our flesh to distrust God.

On the other hand, choosing to trust God releases joy, contentment, satisfaction, and the overall blessings of God. Proverbs says that if we trust the Lord fully, He will direct our paths. Jeremiah says that if we consistently choose trust we will be like the tree planted by the ever-flowing stream, regardless of the heat and drought of life, our roots will always be able to reach the life-giving stream.

All of our lives will experience “heat and drought”. Heat represents those times of intense pressure. Drought represents those times of dryness and emptiness. Life is ever changing. We have great days, and we have really hard days. We experience times of stress and pressure that increase our blood pressure and lower our tolerance. We experience extended times of emptiness, where we have expended so much, and nothing seems to be replenishing us.

The great news of the gospel is that regardless of the ups and downs and overall pressure of life, God is always faithful and trustworthy. It we choose to maintain our “rooted-ness’ in Him, we will find an ever flowing stream that will allow us to stay fresh and bear fruit. The heat and the droughts of life will come, but the river of God never ceases to flow to the point of our need.  But we it does require trust.

Our trust is based in our confidence in our unfailing, always faithful God, whose ways we do not always understand, but who nevertheless, is the definition of trustworthy. Complete and absolute trust in God provides the blessings of God you crave. It will give you peace in the raging storms, steadfastness in the howling winds, and calm when the world around you seems to quake. You can trust Him!

In the words of S.M. Lockridge, “He supplies strength for the weak and He’s available for the tempted and the tried. He sympathizes and He sees. He guards and He guides, He heals the sick, He cleansed the Leper, He forgives sinners, He discharges debtors, He delivers the captives, He defends the feeble, He blesses the young, He regards the aged, He rewards the diligent, He beautifies the meek. He’s the key to knowledge, He’s the well spring of wisdom, He’s the doorway of deliverance, He’s the pathway of peace, He’s the roadway of righteousness, He’s the highway of holiness, He’s the gateway to glory! You can trust Him! He’s the master of the mighty, He’s the captain of the conquers, He’s the head of heroes, He’s the leader of legislators, He’s the overseer of the over-comers, He’s the governor of the governors, He’s the prince of princes, He’s the king of kings, He’s the Lord of lords! You can trust Him!”

Categories
Articles

Surviving the Storms of Life

Life is full of figurative storms. Some of the storms we face are financial, some are relational, and some storms regard our health, and so on. We each realize that we have either just weathered a storm, are currently in a storm, or are about to endure a storm. Storms are simply a normal part of our reality. In light of that allow me to make nine observations about the storms of life using the story of Jesus and Peter walking on the water found in Matt. 14:22-33.

  1. Storms may come into the lives of Christians even though they are obeying Jesus (v.22). Life happens! God always wants to “give you life to the fullest”, and the enemy always “wants to steal, kill, and destroy” (John 10:10). Everything life and the enemy want to use to destroy you, God will use to make you exactly who He wants you to be; the testing of our faith develops perseverance. And “perseverance must finish its work so that we become mature and complete and lack nothing” (James 1:2-4).
  1. Sometimes what starts to be a routine journey can become a real battle (v.24). Have I mentioned that life happens yet?! No matter how perfect our planning process may be, we really have no idea what a day may have in store for us. Sometimes we see the storm coming…sometimes it catches us unaware and unprepared. The good news is that God is never caught off guard. He is already in your tomorrow.
  1. Times of crisis are merely opportunities for God’s intervention (v.27). God specializes in things once thought impossible! Miracles only happen in a place I call Miracle Territory. Peter could walk on the water until he got out of the boat. Get out of the boat of your comfort zone… God’s got everything under control.
  1. Sometimes God calms the storm, other times God chooses to calm the person (v.29-30). Trust Him! He knows you better than you know yourself. Good day or tough day… God always has a plan.
  1. Fear and doubt will cause a Christ-follower to sink into their circumstances (v.30). As true Christ-followers develop spiritually they learn to “walk by faith, not by sight” (2 Cor. 5:7). Fear and doubt always paralyzes God’s redemptive potential in and through you!
  1. Jesus will respond immediately when a believer calls (v.31). When you can’t see God’s hand working on your behalf, you can always trust His heart. God will never leave you or forsake you. In your darkest moment He is there.
  1. How we respond to life’s lessons showcases our spiritual maturity (v.31). When you squeeze a lemon you get lemon juice because that is what is inside the lemon. We can present ourselves to be sweet on the good days but when we are squeezed by the storms of life what comes out is what is really inside of us.
  1. When the lesson is over, Jesus will calm the storm (v.32). What a truth!!! By the way, the lesson is over when the lesson has been learned.
  1. The level of trust you have in Jesus depends greatly on whether you see his deeds or you know His ways (v.33). God is always faith and true! His grace will always be sufficient and His power will always be immeasurably more than all you can ask or imagine! You can trust Him!
Categories
Sermon Videos

God Works Out All Things For My Good