May 19, 2019, | Pastor Nathan Elms
1 Kings 18:37
• In the days of Elijah, the people had turned to Baal for their blessings.
• Elijah understood that the battle and the mission was for the hearts of the people.
• Elijah called for a drought; which entered Israel into a trial. We all learn best in the the school of hardknocks. This trial is not purposeless, but helped the people understand that their blessings come from God.
• Elijah calls for a showdown to move the hearts of the people from an idol to the one true God.
• Flesh still has the temptation of looking for something else, besides the Lord, for fulfilment and blessing.
• The Scripture speaks of a sacrifice of thanksgiving or of praise, but the Scripture never speaks of a sacrifice of worship. In true worship we become the sacrifice.
• How do we find idols in our lives? Look for where we are bleeding. Our idols asks us to bleed for them. Idols will always ask more of us than we should give.
• The beauty of the Gospel is that instead of us bleeding for what we are seeking, the Lord was willing to bleed for us.
• The things that we have idolized may have a proper place in our lives, whether money, our careers or our families – but they would serve us better in their proper place, rather than sitting on the throne of our hearts. We cannot serve two masters. Worship of the Lord Jesus demonstrates that He is our sole source of blessing, hope, and fulfilment.
• We must come to the end of ourselves to realize that God reigns. We are not called to be our own purpose.
• Our job is to carry the presence of God. As long as we are full of ourselves, we will only see what we need.
• Seeking satisfaction outside of God is similar to adultery by seeking meaning and pleasure outside of covenant.
• When we turn away from seeking meaning in this world, then we are ready to turn to the Lord with our whole heart and enter into a relationship with our Savior.
• We all have a next step – take it.
