But I feel like God has just put a scripture
on my heart that is a word that I've been meditating
on for about two weeks now. I haven't written
anything down about this word. But as I was paddling
my kayak, this word kept coming to me over and
over and over. And I want to share it with you
this morning from the book of 1 Kings. chapter
19. And so if you'll go there with me, it's about
Elijah. And so let's just take a moment and let's
pray. Father, I'm just asking that even if this
is for one person here this morning, as you have
put a pause on the word that I was going to preach,
as I put a pause, as you have put a pause on
that, I just ask that this word would go in to
somebody this morning. And we just open up our
hearts to what you have to say. Give us ears
to hear. what you have to say in Jesus' name.
Amen. Somebody asked me what was the best part
about the trip. And I shared with you already
that it was physically demanding. But the best
part about my trip was not the fishing or the
pictures. Some of you saw the pictures I posted
on Facebook. The best part about the trip was
that I was alone for eight days. I've never experienced
that. There were a few people I saw at Portages
and I talked with them, but for the most part,
for eight days, I was by myself. And it wasn't
that I was away from my family or my wife. What
really made being alone quality was that I had
no cell reception. I had no media to scroll.
I had no news to listen to. I had no sports to
give myself to. For eight days, it was me and
Jesus. And I listened to his voice. And about
the third or fourth day, I began to hear God
speak to me. on a level that I had not heard
in a long time. Hearing God. And as I would paddle,
I would sing often. A lot of times I would just
listen, but many times I would sing to the Lord
and just converse with the Father and talk with
Him. I believe that everybody, whether it's eight
days or whether it's a portion of each day, You
need time alone with the Father. There are seasons
maybe that you need a retreat like that to get
alone with God, to hear from Him for an extended
period of time. That's very difficult. It's never
happened for eight days in my life ever. The
longest I'd ever been alone was three and a half
days. And it was just an amazing, amazing experience.
And while I'm talking with the Lord, one night
when I was preparing a meal, this verse in 1
Kings 19 came to my heart. Now to give you some
background, if you back up and get the story
that set this up. Elijah had just won an incredible
victory. He had challenged the prophets of Baal,
and he had taunted them. He challenged them to
a duel of who was God. The God that answers by
fire. He is God. And of course, the prophets
of Baal went first and they called out all day
and they cut themselves and they cried out with
everything that they had. And all the while,
Elijah was walking back and forth and watching
them and he was taunting them. And he'd say,
where is your God? He can't answer by fire. And
one time, one translation says, is your God sitting
on the toilet? And so he was mocking the prophets
of Baal. He had great boldness mocking the prophets
of Baal. And then it was his turn. And he said,
we're going to do something before I call on
the name of my God. We're going to cover the
altar. We're going to cover the sacrifice. We're
going to flood it with the very thing that should
extinguish the fire. We're going to flood it
with water. And so they brought the water and
they poured it on the sacrifice. And then Elijah
called on the name of the Lord. And fire. came
down from heaven, licked up all the water, licked
up the sacrifice, burned the sacrifice in front
of them all. And the people, the people that
were watching this began to cry out and say,
the Lord, he is God. The Lord, he is God. And
Elijah took the 400 prophets of Baal and put
them all to the sword. Sounds like Hollywood,
doesn't it? And it was on the heels of that,
that Elijah, he went into a deep depression.
That's not really what I'm going to talk about
today. But he began to fear Jezebel. And we see
in verse 1, Ahab had told Jezebel everything
Elijah had done and how he had killed all the
prophets with the sword. And Jezebel sent a messenger
to Elijah to say, may the gods deal with me,
be it ever so severely, if by this time tomorrow
I do not make your life like that of one of them.
This was the power of this wicked, wicked false
prophetess. Elijah was afraid and ran for his
life. And when he came to bear Sheba in Judah,
he left his servant there while he himself went
a day's journey into the wilderness. He came
to a broom brush. He sat down under it and prayed
that he might die. I've had enough, Lord, he
said. How many of you have ever told God that?
Maybe you weren't like, maybe not severe so much
as Elijah. Maybe. Maybe. God, I've had enough.
God, I can't take it anymore. Take my life. I'm
no better than my ancestors. And he lay down
under the bush and fell asleep. Now here's the
part that began to speak to me. These phrases
that we're about to read kept coming over and
over into my heart all week. All at once an angel
touched him and said, Get up and eat. He looked
around and there by his head was some bread baked
over hot coals and a jar of water. He ate and
drank and lay down again. And the angel of the
Lord came back a second time and touched him
and said, Get up and eat, for the journey is
too much for you. So he got up and ate and drank.
Now listen to this next sentence. Strengthened
by that food. Everybody say that food. Strengthened
by that food, he traveled 40 days and 40 nights
until he reached Horeb, the mountain of God.
And he went into a cave. That food. Now here
I am. I'm at the campfire. And I had... Fried
some walleye and some rice, some Spanish rice.
And I'm looking at this food and this phrase
is going into my mind from this chapter of Scripture.
And I just felt the question come to me, how
long is this food going to strengthen you? And
I said, well, probably about eight hours. I was
physically exerting myself miles and miles every
single day. When I got to the campsite, usually
when we get to the campsite, we hang around a
fire and then we stay up late into the night
and we watch the stars. But I was so exhausted
that as soon as the dishes were washed, I would
crawl into my tent and fall asleep. The food
that I ate would last. A little while. And in
the morning I had to make another fire. And cook
some oatmeal. And that oatmeal last me. The oatmeal
does not last as long. As fresh fried walleye.
I'm just telling you that. You need. Sometimes
you just need fresh fried walleye. That's just
the truth. And it's a glorious thing. I feel
the anointing of the Lord right now. As I'm saying
this. You need that. You need that. I didn't
hear what Dale said, but I know it wasn't important.
What'd you say? Fried chicken. Fried chicken
with friends. Hallelujah. The strength of that
food. Elijah, this food was unlike any other
meal. That Elijah had ever eaten before. This
food was not typical bush food. This food, this
bread. That had been fresh baked over coals.
This jar of water. Was made by an angel. Elijah.
was being fed by the hand of an angel. Bread
cooked over hot coals, a jar of water, and Elijah
drank it and went back to sleep, and he ate it
and went back to sleep. And a second meal was
prepared for him. This was the bread of heaven.
It very well could have been like... Like the
manna only prepared and baked. That the Israelites
had many years before, 40 years in the wilderness.
The bread of angels. The bread of heaven. That
which God himself instructed an angel to feed
the prophet in his weariness. And in His place
of need. And I want to tell you in your place
of need this morning, in your place of weariness,
in your place of saying, God, I just don't have
it in me anymore. I want to tell you in that
place that God has prepared a meal for you. He
has prepared food for you. But it is up to you
and I. I love what Elijah did because he's discouraged.
He's afraid. He is at the end of his rope. But
you know what he did? He went into the wilderness.
And he positioned himself before the Lord. And
I want to tell you the mistake that we often
make when we feel like this is that we turn to
everything but God. And we listen to all the
other voices. And I want to ask you this morning
the question that I felt like God was asking
me during the trip. What are you feeding on?
What are you eating? Because if you are eating,
The stuff, and here I'm not talking about the
food that we're about to feed our bodies with.
I'm talking about the food that feeds your spirit
man. What are you feeding on? Because some of
you are starving. Some of you are starving because
you are not eating the food that God has provided
for you. What are you feeding on? Are you feeding
on food that will give you strength? Or are you
feeding on junk that will do nothing for you?
What are you feeding on? What are you feeding
on? The strength of that food took Elijah. 40
days and 40 nights to the mountain of God. Now
that mountain, you can read about that encounter
on your own. It was an incredible encounter and
it gave Elijah the instructions for the rest
of his life. And it was an awesome encounter.
That was the encounter I think Elijah was craving.
But until you have that encounter, I want to
tell you, God has sustenance for you. What are
you feeding on? Are you feeding on the news?
See, these are all the things that I was able
to turn off when I went into the wilderness.
And it took about three days to purge all those
voices out of my body. You know what I found
out? I'm feeding too much on that stuff. I'm
not feeding on the food that God had for me.
You know, in John chapter 4, Jesus is with the
woman at the well. It's an incredible encounter.
Jesus prophesies over this woman and exposes
to her her life. And she is overwhelmed by it
all. And it's during that conversation that says,
The time is coming. Things that Jesus said like,
hey, the time is coming when people are neither
going to worship here nor in Jerusalem, but true
worshipers will worship God in spirit and in
truth. Hallelujah. He taught us during that conversation
about the baptism of the Holy Spirit, how the
Spirit of God would well up from within us and
become a fountain of eternal life. And he's having
this conversation with this woman who has had
500 husbands and is now living with a man that
he's not married to. And Jesus chose this woman
to be the evangelist that would win the entire
town to Jesus Christ. Hallelujah. We should never
write anybody off. God has purposes for everybody.
And you feel like your life has fallen apart
and like you haven't done things well? Jesus
will still choose you and use you. Hallelujah.
To do great things for God. I feel the presence
of the Lord right now. Hallelujah. The disciples
weren't there because they were off in the village
buying food. And they came back. They came back
with their Jimmy Johns. And they laid it out
before Jesus. They said, Jesus, come and eat.
They were astonished that he was talking with
a woman. And you know what Jesus told them? I
have food that you do not know about. And they
thought, what did, did he get some McDonald's
when we weren't looking? And Jesus told them,
he said, my food is to do the will of my Father.
To obey Him. That was what fed His Spirit. The
food that God has for you, it starts with the
Word of God. It starts with the infilling of
the Holy Spirit. But the food that God has for
you is abundant. The sources that God wants to
feed you from when you're in the center of His
will. are everywhere. How many of you felt fed
from God as people were sharing the words that
God had put on their heart this morning? Do you
know what that is? That's God giving you food
to eat. Hallelujah. There is the food of encouragement
that God wants you to impart to one another.
That's food that we need to eat. I am on a...
Boundary Waters Facebook group, imagine that.
And we talked together about the Boundary Waters.
Today, or yesterday, or maybe Friday, I can't
remember, a gentleman texted me that I'd never
heard of before. And because I had written on
the page, it's not a spiritual group, but I write
sometimes about my spiritual encounters. Maybe
not with strong words, but I try to put it out
there. And he wrote me a note and he said, I've
been on the Boundary Waters page for two or three
years now. Now you need to understand that there's
20 ,000 people on this page. He said, I've been
on the page for two or three years now, and you
are the most encouraging person in the whole
group. And I don't say that to pat myself on
the back. When he reached out with that word
of encouragement for me, do you know what that
did for me? It was like a meal that I was feeding
on. I just want to ask you, what are you feeding
on? What voices are you listening to? What voices
are you listening to? Elijah went on the strength
of that food. You know what that tells me? That
tells me that that food was not just physical
bread. It came from heaven. You don't eat a piece
of bread and journey for 40 days. There was something
spiritual in there. It came from heaven. Hallelujah.
What are you feeding on? The sustenance that
God has for you will carry you where you need
to go. Now, as we were worshiping this morning,
the Lord brought me to Colossians chapter 1.
And this phrase kept coming up to me as we were
worshiping. It's all about Jesus. Isn't it? It's
all about Jesus. It is all about Jesus. Hallelujah.
This life that we live is all about Jesus. Praise
God. It is all about following Him. And so I
turned, you didn't see me turn there, but I was
turning to Colossians chapter 1. And I want to
give you something that you can feed on because
it is all about Jesus. He is an amazing, amazing
God. Amen? And we have got to feed on Him. And
in Colossians chapter 1, oh hallelujah, this
is so good. I don't even know where to start
reading because it's all so good. But let's start
reading in verse 13. For he has rescued us from
the dominion of darkness and brought us into
the kingdom of the Son that he loves. In Him,
we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
Glory to God. Now, I want to tell you, as I'm
reading that, you know what it's doing to me?
It is feeding my soul. I want to read it again
because it's talking about the kingdom of God.
Do you know the kingdom of God is the kingdom
of the Son, Jesus Christ. For he has rescued
us from the dominion of darkness. Who in here
was under the dominion of darkness? Who in here
was in the clutches of sin? Maybe you were gripped
by addiction. You didn't even know the direction.
your life was going, you might have even for
a season enjoyed the dominion of darkness. But
then it exercised its demonic influence over
you. And Jesus, you turn to the Lord, and He
has delivered us, rescued us from that evil dominion,
and brought us into the kingdom of the Son. He
loves. Hallelujah. This, friends, is Jesus. In
Him, we have redemption. Glory to God. Glory
to God. I want to talk about that word redemption.
I want to feed your soul for a little bit this
morning. Because when you gave your life to Jesus,
it's not that he just gave you a ticket that
when you die, you can get to heaven. That's not
the only thing that happened. I'm no longer going
to hell. I'm going to heaven. Well, I am happy
about that. Praise God. I hope you're happy about
that too. But Jesus did not just come to get
you to heaven. He came to redeem your life. And
this means that everything about your life that
was garbage, that was junk, that was all the
stuff, that Jesus is redeeming it. He is buying
it back and he is turning it all around so that
it will work for your good on your behalf in
Jesus' name. Hallelujah. And so he is delivering
you from the darkness, but he is using all of
the stuff that was part of your past and turning
it into a testimony for the glory of God. Hallelujah.
Somebody's got to get excited about that. He
redeems you. And then it says the forgiveness
of sins. The forgiveness of sins. We need to
thank God right now that he has washed away all
of the darkness. All the stuff that nobody sees.
All the stuff that people did see or do see.
The forgiveness of sins. Think about your sin
for a moment. I don't want to do that, Pastor.
Well, sometimes it's important to remember that
pile. That pile. Some of you were really good
at sinning. Some of you were really good at it.
Some of you were better at it than others. Some
of you carried shame for what you did for years.
Can I remind you this morning that at the cross,
Jesus delivered you and forgave you and washed
away all of your sin. What are you eating? Are
you still feeding on the shame? Are you still
feeding on the deception and the lies of the
enemy? What are you feeding on? I want to remember
that I'm forgiven. And that Jesus has delivered
me and washed me from my shame. Hallelujah. taken
it all. What are you feeding on? The Son is the
image of the invisible God. Now, I want to remind
us this morning as I'm reading through this about
Jesus. We're talking about Jesus. He's the one
that lives in you. He's the one that now resides
in you. Christ in me. The hope of glory. It is
the great mystery. Jesus lives inside of me when
I give my life to Him. Hallelujah. Hallelujah.
Ask your neighbor, is Christ in you? Is Christ
in you? Is Jesus in you? Now I want to tell you
who Jesus is this morning. I want to give you
the description that Paul gave to the people.
This is where we should feed. This is what we
should eat. The Son is the image of the invisible
God. The firstborn over all creation. In Him.
Now imagine me out in creation. Some of those
pictures I posted on my Facebook page. In Him.
All things were created. Everything. He lives
in me. Things in heaven. Things on earth. Visible
and invisible. Whether thrones or powers or rulers
or authorities. All things. Everybody say all
things. Have been created through him and for
him. He is before all things and in him all things
hold together. Praise the Lord. He is the head
of his body. The church. Do you know how much
comfort that gives me? I'm just the pastor. He
is the head. He is the head. You know, I know
there's never any problems here at Faith Church.
We never have any problems, do we, Shelley? No?
We never have any problems here. But that's not
true. Just so you know, that's not true. But
when I pray, you know what I can say to the Lord?
I can say, Jesus, you have a problem in your
church. Do you know how freeing that is? That
this is not my church? I'm a pastor here, but
it is not my church. He is the head of faith
church. Amen? Let's just declare that together.
He is the head of faith church. Let's declare
it again. He is the head of faith church. Glory
to God. He is the head of the body, the church.
Do you know you can do the same thing for your
family? Do you know that Jesus is in charge of
your family if you'll let him be? You can give
it to him. You can say, Lord, this is your family.
I need you to work in my family. We belong to
you. We serve you. Jesus, this is your problem.
You are free, my friend. That doesn't mean you
don't have responsibility or action, but that
means he's the one that's going to take care
of it. He's the one that's going to do it. He
might show you what to do. He might give you
a piece of wisdom. He might call you to repentance
so that you can have healing in a relationship.
You have a part to play, but it is Him that is
going to do it. He's the head. He's the beginning
and the firstborn from among the dead. So that
in everything, He might have the supremacy. Now
listen to this. This is the Jesus that lives
in you. I can't even comprehend this. I don't
even know how to say it to you. But I hope it
does something on your inside to say, God is
big and He lives in me. Listen to this. God was
pleased to have all His fullness dwell in Christ.
The fullness of God dwells in me. You can feed
on that for a while. The fullness of God dwells
in me. It's no wonder that says God is for us.
Who can be against us? Whom shall I fear? The
fullness of God who created everything in the
universe. The fullness of God who brought us
the Word of God. The fullness of God who sent
His Son to die on a cross and redeem me. The
fullness of God that has worked miracles. In
fact, just in this room, let alone in the entire
body of Christ, the miracles represented in this
room. The fullness of God dwells inside of you.
You know, you get a hold of that and you'll quit
worrying. The fullness of God lives in you. And
through him, to reconcile to himself all things,
whether things on earth or things are heaven,
by making peace through his blood shed on the
cross. Once you were alienated from God and were
enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior,
but now he has reconciled you by Christ's physical
body through death to present you holy. In his
sight. The holiness that is in Jesus. Has been
transferred. To you. This is why. You can't stay
in your sin anymore. This is why when the Holy
Spirit convicts you of addiction and how you
treat the temple of the Holy Spirit, it's because
Christ lives in you. This is why you can't live
like the world lives or be in love with the things
that the world is in love with. Because Christ
lives in you. You are holy. like Christ is holy.
Have I attained perfection? No. But I am becoming
more and more like Christ as He gives me strength
and power. He sees me. It is God's will for my
life to walk in holiness. Without blemish, free
from accusation. Now here's the word. If you
continue in your faith. Established and firm.
And do not move from the hope held out in the
gospel. That's why the enemy tries to feed you
other things. To move your hope away from the
gospel. You have to stay firm, planted in Him.
This is the gospel that you heard and that has
been proclaimed to every creature under heaven
and of which I, Paul, have become a servant.
That's just one example of what you and I should
be feeding on. And I want to ask you simply this
morning, what are you feeding on? Let's pray.
Father, I ask you right now, as your spirit is
in this room, I can sense you in this place ministering
and speaking to people. There have been people
in this room and... Different seasons of my own
life, God. Where I have been feeding on the wrong
things. And this morning, God, we simply need
to acknowledge it. And we need to come back to
the table of the Lord. Elijah went through junk.
And so do we. But he positioned himself to hear
from God. To feed on what God had for him. God,
I ask this morning that you would see the heart
cry of every person here. People that have been
feeding on the wrong stuff. And they end up believing
the wrong stuff. And they end up worrying and
fretting. And they end up with vain imagination.
And they end up, oh God, with all kinds of thoughts
that are not your will and not your plan because
they're feeding on the wrong stuff. This morning
I ask that you'd help us to turn. God, it took
a couple days to flush all that stuff out of
me. And I don't want to go back. God, I want
to feed on what you have for me. I want to dwell
in the land, feed on your faithfulness. I want
to eat the meal that you have for me. I want
to receive all that you've got for me. God, direct
from your word. I want to receive from your spirit.
I want to receive from the brothers and sisters
that you've put in my life. I want to receive
from the many different ways that you speak to
my heart. I want to hear your voice. Friend,
if you're here this morning and you just freely
confess, I've been having some of the wrong voices
in my heart and in my mind. They've been influencing
me in the wrong direction. If that's you, I'd
just like you to stand up all over this place.
You might have been a Christian. You might be
an elder or a deacon in the house. But you've
been giving yourself to the wrong voice. Just
stand up all over this place. And by doing that,
you're just saying, God, I want to give myself
to the right voices in Jesus' name. It takes
courage to do that, I know. Just asking you.
Come on. Come on. Come on. Hallelujah. Hallelujah.
Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Oh my God. You're doing
a work right now. Just as if you're standing.
I want you to just. I want you to just confess
those things in your heart to the Lord right
now. And just say God. I just repent of. Of listening
to the wrong voice. About how I view myself.
My situation. My future. God, I want to listen
to you. I want to feed on the food that you are
preparing for me. Hallelujah. God, these standing
right now, I just pray that you'd give them special
grace to overcome. I pray they would know there
is therefore now no condemnation for those that
are in Christ Jesus. For those that are in Christ
Jesus. Hallelujah. Have been set free. In Jesus
name. We belong to you. Hallelujah. Hallelujah.
And this will apply to. Anybody here this morning,
if you are here and you are just saying, God,
I want to give myself to feed on the things that
God has for me. I want you to stand as well.
And I want you to say, God, here I am to feed
on the things that you have given for me. Hallelujah,
hallelujah, hallelujah. Oh God, we praise your
name. We praise your name. We give you glory.
God, just express that to the Lord right now.
Just say, Lord, I want to feed on what you have
for me. In Jesus' name.