Happy 35th Anniversary to my sweet wife Tricia! Love you!

Joshua has always been one of my favorite Bible characters, so much so that we named our second son by that name. I believe that Joshua (the one in the Bible) can be such an inspiration to us by the things God commanded him and how he walked those things out in his life. Can you imagine trying to fill the shoes of Moses?  Over and over in Joshua 1 God tells Joshua to be strong and courageous...I believe He is saying those things to us. As a review here are the points to Joshua 1. 

 1. God wants us to put our past into perspective!  Joshua 1:1-2(NIV)

2. God wants us to realize He has a place for us!  Joshua 1:2-4(NIV)

3. God wants us to know that His power and presence will go with us to defeat our enemies!  Joshua 1:5 (NIV)  

4. God wants us to know that He will keep His promise to us!  Joshua 1:6 (NIV)

5. God wants us to have true prosperity!  Joshua 1:7-8 (NIV) 

6. God wants us to take possession of what He has promised!  Joshua 1:11 (NIV)

7. God wants us to be passionate about being obedient to Him! Joshua 1:16-17 (NIV)

  A.W.Tozer said, “The true follower of Christ will not ask, "If I embrace this truth, what will it cost me?" Rather he will say, "This is truth. God help me to walk in it, let come what may!"  What I am saying is that this is God’s truth and with His help we can and will walk victoriously in it!

Listen to God’s command to us in ...

...Isaiah 41:10 (NKJV)  "You are My servant, I have chosen you and have not cast you away:  Fear not, for I am with you; Be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, Yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.” What would you guess would be one of the most common commands in the Scripture?

It is not for us to be loving even though that may go to the core of God’s desire for us. Those who write about our spiritual lives often point to pride as being the root of our human fallen-ness but God’s most common command does not tell us to avoid pride. Walking in integrity and keeping oneself pure sexually is so important to God but these are still not what God commands us the most about. The single command in Scripture that occurs more often than any other—God’s most repeated instruction is formulated really in two words “fear not.”

We must know based on God’s Word and in our hearts that God can be trusted even when we are afraid.   In Isaiah 43:1‑3 (NKJV) it says,  “But now, thus says the LORD, who created you, O Jacob, And He who formed you, O Israel: “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; You are Mine.  When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; And through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, Nor shall the flame scorch you.  For I am the LORD your God, The Holy One of Israel, your Savior;” John Ortberg says, “I believe the reason God says ‘fear not’ so often is that fear will sink us faster than anything else. Fear disrupts faith and becomes the biggest obstacle to trusting and obeying God. What is fear and what is the cost of living in fear? Fear will cost us our self-esteem. Fear will cost us a loss of destiny.  Fear will cost us a sense of real intimacy. Fear will cost us our availability to God. Fear gets passed from generation to generation. Fear is the opposite of trusting in God. Trust in Him with all your heart!

What do you do when you think your biggest problems...

... are behind you, only to find out you have just been warming up?  John Ortberg says “Reality sets in. We face the obstacles. Unexpected conflict saps our spirit. Plans go awry. People we were counting on let us down. The economy zigs when it should have zagged.  Just when we were hoping for easy portage and smooth sailing, we are looking at the Rocky Mountains. What happens next?”  What do you do when you face the Rockies and how do you have the resiliency to keep going?  When Lewis and Clark were making their famous trek across our country they faced many obstacles ...none bigger than when they thought they were almost done with their trip just to realize they were facing the Rocky Mountains.

This is where being resilient servants of God becomes our survival. There is a field of study in the social sciences who have devoted much time to this idea of resiliency. They studied prisoners of war, those held in captivity in concentration camps, those who have faced crippling accidents or diseases and they found this about resilient people:

1. Resilient people continually seek to reassert some command and control over their destiny rather than seeing themselves as passive victims.

2. Resilient people have a larger than usual capacity for what might be called moral courage–for refusing to betray their values.

3. Resilient People find purpose and meaning in their suffering.

We can add to this list as believers in Christ that: 

4. Resilient people have a deep dependency on God. What do we do when you really believe you have made it through the greatest trial of your life just to find out something bigger is in the way?  Joseph in the book of Genesis found himself looking at the Rocky Mountains several times...captured by his brothers, thrown in a pit, sold into slavery, accused of rape, forgotten in prison...it seemed that God had forsaken him and his dreams.  For about 22 years Joseph faced one mountain after the other but he was able to have a deep dependency on God and to be resilient...how?  When he would face another test or obstacle the Scriptures would always say, “And the Lord was with Joseph...”  How many of you know that we can be resilient and face anything if we know that God is with us.  God used Joseph to save the then known world...How awesome is that?

Today I want to speak to you about a great concern...

... I have for the body of Christ. In John 8:31‑36 (NKJV) it says “Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." They answered Him, "We are Abraham's descendants, and have never been in bondage to anyone. How can you say, 'You will be made free'?" Jesus answered them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin. And a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever. Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.” We talk about freedom, we sing about freedom, and we say we Live In Freedom Everyday but do we really?

As pastors we have to deal with multiple things every day and sometimes it is almost shocking the things people share with us...I said “almost” because it seems to be the norm. Church folks are addicted to prescription drugs, addicted to pornography, living together out of wedlock, and bound by so many strongholds in their lives and it seems that cannot find their freedom in Christ. Jesus in speaking to those Jews who believed in Him and was telling them that they could be free but they denied that they had ever been in bondage to anyone. Excuse me, but were they not in bondage through most of the Old Testament and as Jesus was speaking to them they were under the bondage of the Romans.

Here lies the problem, until we admit that we have given the devil access to an area of our lives and have allowed him to be our master, we will not be free. Pastor Rick, I cannot be in bondage because I am a believer!  I do believe that you are a believer but if we were all honest, we have all allowed the enemy to take us into bondage in one area or another in our lives. It may be pride, a critical spirit, sexual addictions, drugs, alcohol, watching junk we shouldn’t watch, or whatever. So what’s the answer? We must come to Christ and confess our sin (our bondage) and allow Him to set us free. That is His will that we all be free. John 10:10 (NKJV) “The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.”

There are many “catch phrases”...

... that circulate through Christendom...sometimes they have great meaning and other times not so much. One such phrase is, “It is not about me” but reality tells us that most of what we do is about us and it is for us. Max Lucado in his book with the same title as the phrase It Is Not About Me is attempting to help us see that whatever we do should be done for the glory of God. Paul said in 1 Corinthians 10:31 (NKJV) “Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” Whatever we do we should be doing for God’s glory but all too many times “me” gets in the way.

Lucado says, “Our society is not wired for this kind of thinking. It’s a “me-centric” world out there, which destroys much of what should be good. Marriages are ruined because one or both partners are focused on their own happiness. Successful men and women are ruined by their own success, believing they don’t need anyone else’s input. And for some, life’s troubles are magnified because they believe life is all about them.”  The Gospel of Jesus Christ seems to be completely backward to our self-centered lifestyle here in the United States of America. We are taught and are even conditioned to believe that we have the right or entitlement to have what we want when we want it.

I have said for years that God is not so much interested in our happiness as He is our holiness. He wants us to deny ourselves, take up our cross, and follow Him. This seems so difficult when we are so comfortable taking care of number one.  Lucado says, “Our comfort is not God’s priority. If it is, something has gone awry.  If we are the marquee event, how do we explain flat-earth challenges like death, disease, slumping economies, or rumbling earthquakes? If God exists to please us, then shouldn’t we always be pleased?” The truth is that God does not exist to make a big deal out of us but we should exist to make a big deal out of Him. It is not about you and for a certainty it is not about me, it is all about Him. Psalm 34:3 (NKJV) “Oh, magnify the LORD with me, And let us exalt His name together.”  

We continue the series I Can’t Stay Here.

We continue the series I Can’t Stay Here. Today I want us to look at what can happen when this world (this cosmos) can begin to distort our lives and the truth of our lives. Our verse that goes with our name. You have two choices: John 10:10 (NKJV) “The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” We can choose to serve Christ faithfully and find life or we can go down a road of bad choices and end up wondering (like David) how we got here. He prayed Lord, forgive me and take not your Spirit from me.

1. Our spiritual passion is under attack. We are continuously bombarded with advertisements that tell us everything we really want to hear. If you drink a certain beverage you will be cool and everyone around you will be fit and beautiful. MacDonald – “Even though we are not aware of the relentless barrage of messages coming at us, the combined force of them is doing a number on us. They quietly sandblast the soul, the seat of conviction and value, threatening our ability to make and implement priority decisions.” 

2.  The choices made by Lot…he listened to his eyes. Genesis 13:10 (NKJV) “And Lot lifted his eyes and saw all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered everywhere (before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah) like the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt as you go toward Zoar.” --It is hard not to think about Lot because his inner life had become so distorted by the realities around him. He was living as a parasite off his uncle Abram and was in no place to make major decisions about his destiny. Lot listened to his eyes…Lot looked with his eyes and saw the beauty of Sodom. He did not look from an inner spirit of values and convictions that would have permitted him to see moral rot and filth. Lot looked with his eyes and Abraham looked with the eyes of his spirit and God blessed him. Lot’s choice would ultimately cost him his family, his dignity, and any sense of credibility he had ever had. 

3. Open the eyes of my heart. Ephesians 1:18 (NIV) I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints.” I pray that the eyes of our hearts are opened or enlightened. Yes, we are bombarded with all kinds of messages every day but we have a choice. Lot listened to his eyes…not the eyes of his heart but the eyes of his flesh, his desires. I am sure it was good for a while but consider the cost. The sin of Sodom so infected him that he was willing to give up his daughters. We can’t stay here…open the eyes of my heart, Lord!

We are continuing the series I Can’t Stay Here.

 In 1 Kings 19:3-4 (NLT2) ‘Elijah was afraid and fled for his life. He went to Beersheba, a town in Judah, and he left his servant there. Then he went on alone into the wilderness, traveling all day. He sat down under a solitary broom tree and prayed that he might die. “I have had enough, LORD,” he said. “Take my life, for I am no better than my ancestors who have already died.” We talked about him needing rest, bread, and water…Jesus tells us to come all who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest. The bread represented Jesus and His Word…He is the Bread of Life and when we consume Him we find salvation and peace. The water represents Holy Spirit in our lives…Living Water! Today I want us to look at what happens to us if we allow our spirits to go un-nurtured for a long period of time and how we can allow our spirits to dry out…Danger!

1. Running on empty. The unfilled tank spiritually is an invitation to disaster. We must understand that when we run out of gas, it not only affects us, but those around us. Romans 14:7 (NKJV) “For none of us lives to himself, and no one dies to himself.” Here is a caution to those of us who preach and those of us who are involved in the music of a Spirit-filled church. It is easy to mistake the applause and approval of the admiring crowd as God’s approval. MacDonald – It is action without heart, oratory without power, doctrine without love. People who are dried out within can often be, for a while, the hardest workers. But they can also become the harshest critics and the most negative teammates. Inside they experience a rising turbulence—confused goals and motives and inconsistent, unexplainable patterns of personal performance. 

2. King David facing another giant. As we study the life of King David I believe we can see a man who is faced with the temptation of adultery and murder and he is dried out spiritually and, unfortunately doesn’t even see it. James 1:14-16 (NKJV) “But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death. Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren.” 

3. Repentance and humility will restore us. Psalm 51:1 (NKJV) “Have mercy upon me, O God, According to Your lovingkindness; According to the multitude of Your tender mercies, Blot out my transgressions.” David finally realized…I Can’t Stay Here…I must get back to the Lord. We can’t stay here.