FAITH IN CONFLICT
01/25/09
IKing 18:41-45
41 And Elijah said unto Ahab, Get thee up, eat and drink; for there is a sound of abundance of rain.
42 So Ahab went up to eat and to drink. And Elijah went up to the top of Carmel; and he cast himself down upon the earth, and put his face between his knees,
43 And said to his servant, Go up now, look toward the sea. And he went up, and looked, and said, There is nothing. And he said, Go again seven times.
44 And it came to pass at the seventh time, that he said, Behold, there ariseth a little cloud out of the sea, like a man's hand. And he said, Go up, say unto Ahab, Prepare thy chariot, and get thee down, that the rain stop thee not.
45 And it came to pass in the mean while, that the heaven was black with clouds and wind, and there was a great rain. And Ahab rode, and went to Jezreel.
(KJV)
*** The scriptures declare at least 5 times...
*** The just shall live by FAITH.
*** You can't sit by someone who has faith and get their faith.
*** Faith is a personal experience, born in your life measured by your ability to withstand opposition and affliction.
*** You can't measure my faith by the look of my car, or the size of my wallet.
*** You can measure my faith by my ability to stand up against opposition...
*** When you see how tough I am in the battle and how relentless I am when all hell is breaking loose, sick,no money, now you are talking about faith!
*** And by the way...God can't move a mountain till there's a mountain to move.
*** But Elijah concluded if God be for me...
*** Out numbered standing alone he looked like a fool.
*** But sometimes you got to have the kind of faith that makes you look like a fool.
*** I don't know how, when, or how but I know I am coming out of this!
*** Elijah gives us a perfect illustration of faith in conflict.
*** By three powerful didactic ways;
A SIGN, A SOUND AND A STORM.
*** A SIGN....
*** Outnumbered on all sides and God said go ahead and dig ditches, make trenches and pour water, I am going to give you a public sign.
***It's one thing for God to bring you out in private but it,s another thing when He brings you out in public.
***A sign that tells everybody the Lord was on your side!
*** When you get a sign like that you will have church in your living room, get happy washing dishes.
*** Everybody looking at you and He brought you out! It will make you praise the Lord.
*** You can't get out of here and have a secret sign of how to get on I 90, no it has to be a public sign, it has to have a light on it, etc.
*** Fire fell from heaven...licked up the wood and water and rocks...when God gives you a sign it will burn stuff that everyone said could not be burned.
*** But after all that isn't it funny how before you get out of one thing here comes something else?
*** He didn't even get to celebrate the sign cause he is still standing there in the drought.
*** What do you do when God has done great things for you and you are still in a “dry place”?
*** It's worse than a famine we can exist longer without food than we can without water.
*** I know what it is like to preach to others and get in the car and go home in a dry place.
*** To be honest you can shout all over the church and go home in a dry place.
*** And you can stay in a dry place a long time!
*** For the dry place God gave no sign, He just gave a sound!
*** Everything is still dry outwardly but, in my spirit...
*** Have you ever heard something in your spirit that was totally different from your situation?
*** Its an oxymoron, its a contradiction of circumstances, because outwardly I can't see anything anywhere but, inwardly I hear a sound!
*** I hear the sound of abundance...
*** Someone has been a drought so long that they can't hardly even say abundance, they no longer feel abundance, hear abundance,talk etc.
*** God's talking to you about greatness and you are in weakness, going into business when you just lost your job, buy a house and you are backed up on your rent, success while you were dealing with failure.
*** Shake your neighbor and tell them, “I heard something!”
***” I would have died but I heard something, would've quit but I heard something...”
*** I want to talk to someone who hears something in your spirit greater than you see in your life.
*** Your life may be going crazy but your spirit is talking about productivity, abundance of rain and showers of blessings.
*** It's hard to tell anyone that you heard it when you have because you look like a fool.
“ I see the church full!” And families just walked out.
*** But it won't happen till you tell it.
*** When you hear something on the inside and you tell someone on the outside and they try to tell you that it isn't going to happen you have to have such faith that you tell them go back and check again.
***And keep sending them back until they come into agreement with what you see.
Amos 3:3
3 Can two walk together, except they be agreed?
(KJV)
*** You aren't ready to work with me until you hear what I hear.
*** When it got to the 7th time the servant had to admit, “ I do see something!”
*** A STORM!
***Breakthrough! It may not be big but you need to learn to thank Him for a little breakthrough.
*** If Elijah would have let this testimony intimidate him he would have got frustrated, and said,” Lord I been serving you all this time and living holy and all you give me is this little old cloud?”
*** But sometimes in order to get your breakthrough you've got to dance over a little cloud!
*** ...get thee down, that the rain stop thee not.
*** What God was saying was, “It may look small but you're going to get a lot out of this one!”
*** All he had was a cloud the size of a mans hand yet he said,...get thee down, that the rain stop thee not.
*** In other words if you don't move before the storm hits, it will stop your progress!
*** For all of those folk who are waiting on the blessing to come and then you going to move, you are going to miss the blessing!
*** This blessing is for those radical saints who will praise God in advance.
*** The reason the enemy tried to kill you is you are going to get a lot out of this!
*** After you have suffered a while God's going to give you double for your trouble.
