Buillding Walls Will Never Make Better People!

BUILDING WALLS WILL NEVER MAKE BETTER PEOPLE!

By Wade Martin Hughes, Sr. Kyfingers@aol.com

I was a member of THE YOUNG AND RESTLESS in the ENERAL HOSPITAL in the city of DALLAS.

I was waiting to see THE DOCTORS. They told me I was at THE EDGE OF NIGHT. My illness was serious.

Suddenly I realized I had just ONE LIFE TO LIVE.

I wanted to see ALL MY CHILDREN before I entered ANOTHER WORLD. In my SEARCH FOR TOMORROW

I was frustrated. But AS THE WORLD TURNS something happened. THE GUIDING LIGHT appeared.

And God changed my life. I’ve been born again. Now my wife and I are enjoying ... THE DAYS OF OUR LIFES

serving God. (Source unknown)

TEXT:

1 Kings 19:4 But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a juniper tree; and he requested for himself that he might die, and said, It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life; for I am not better than my fathers.

10: And he said, I have been very jealous for the Lord God of hosts: for the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away.

14: And he said, I have been very jealous for the Lord God of hosts: because the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altar and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away.

1. SPITE FENCES:

I had a good friend that pastored a church in the same town where I pastored. We had a very good friendship and often pent time together. We both loved to laugh.

The church my friend pastored was next to a local grocery store. The grocery store venders would park in the back of the property to unload their wares. Occasionally when several venders were in the back at the same time, the venders would temporarily park in the church’s parking lot.

This really angered the pastor, he talked to the store owner and demanded this parking stop immediately.

The owner agreed and gave notice for this to stop, yet the vendors continued on a regular basis.

The pastor would go over and tell the venders a piece of his mind.

I will be honest with you and tell you, the church used the grocery store’s parking lot every Sunday and on Wednesday.

The church’s lot was rather small, and the store’s lot was very convenient.

The pastor got more and more angry and decided to do something.

The pastor was a talented builder, so he laid the footer and laid a beautiful concrete block wall along the pavement to stop

the venders from parking there. There would be a block and a space, and the wall was beautiful.

The church people would park in the grocery store’s lot and walk around the wall.

But the wall was very effective, and it stopped the venders from parking there.

The pastor purchased a brand new Lincoln Continental Town Car, wow what a car.

The pastor’s wife was backing out of the church one dark, rainy night, and she backed right into the 10 feet high wall.

The wall crumbled from the force and crushed the car, and did several thousand dollars worth of damage to the sparkling new Lincoln.

See, the benefit of the parking lot was mutual, but the pastor let the venders become a thorn in his flesh,

seems his anger backfired! A little later the block wall came down.

Was the pastor right? Sure, it was the church’s property, but the motive of the wall was a SPITE FENCE?

WALLED IN -

When we build walls and spite fences to keep others out, the effective wall will work, but as we build fences to keep others out, the same fence will trap you in...

2. DEFINE SOME TERMS:

REJECTION:

to refuse to acknowledge, to throw away, useless, no good

ALIENATION:

Alienation - cause lose of feelings of love, not attached, not loyal, wholly different, belong to another.

3. ELIJAH WAS A MAN OF GOD, BUT HE LET REJECTION DRIVE HIM:

Elijah the Prophet of Fire tasted great victory:

1. birds feed

2. widow feeds

3. Bring dead boy to life

4. No rain

5. Rain - cloud

6. Fire test Baal prophets

But Elijah allows rejection to dictate to his spirit

1. He is discouraged.

2. Elijah complains.

3. Elijah gets tired and exhausted.

4. Elijah wants to die, instead of being a VICTOR, HE YIELDS TO A VICTIM SPIRIT.

4. JEZEBEL’S REJECTION HURTS ELIJAH AND HE LOOSES FOCUS AND LOOSES FAITH!