Much credit goes to Rev. Mike Riches for some of the ideas in this sermon.
Text Job 1:6 -19; Job 2:7-10;
INTRODUCTION
Where is your Passion?
What is it that gives you the most joy in your life?
If someone had asked me that question before I gave up the street life--my answer would have been, WINE--WOMEN and PERSONAL PLEASURE!
Today, the things that gives me the most joy in life are when I can help someone turn around and give their life to Christ
--watching men and women grow in the AA program as they stay clean and sober
-- and helping children better prepare themselves for kindergarten by teaching them about love and respect in our Faith Based Preschool.
That is where my passion lies!
That is why I get up every morning Thanking God for another opportunity to serve Him!
Where is your Passion?
What motivates you to get up in the morning?
What is your Joy based on?
For those of you who were here last week you will recall I spoke to you about "discovering our God given purpose in life", and then making a conscious decision to accept and fulfill that purpose.
Many Christians have already discerned their purpose and are actively seeking to live out that purpose. Others may still be wrestling with the idea and have yet to make a choice.
Let me say this for those of you who haven't made a choice . For those of you who are struggling and have not totally surrendered YOUR WILL to God's will--it may be that your passion for the PHYSICAL is greater than your passion for the SPIRITUAL.
Because at the end of the day, the choices you make and the road you choose will be determined by whatever you're most passionate about!
Let me show you how you can determine where your passion lies.
All you have to do is answer 3 simple questions.
1. How do I spend my time? What do I spend the most time doing?
2. What do I talk about the most? What are most of your conversations about?
3. How do I spend my money? What do I spend the most of my money on?
No one gets more of my income than God's Church! Why?
Because God is the one who allows me to have what I have in the first place. It seems like the natural the natural thing for me to do is to make sure the church get the first and the most of my increase?
On the same note, What do I spend the least of my time doing?
What do I talk about the least?
What do I spend the least amount of my money on?
When I answer those three questions it lets me know what is at the bottom of my priorities or what I am least passionate about. If our passion is for the things in the physical realm, those things that are attractive to our five senses, it will be hard and almost impossible for us to choose to live for God's purposes for our life because our physical desires are in a constant battle with God's spiritual desires. Am I telling the truth? Then somebody ought to say Amen.
If our passion is for the things in the physical realm then we will ultimately choose to live in a manner that brings us physical, temporary pleasure because that is what gives us the most joy. Amen!
The only problem with that is when we choose anything or any path that doesn't lead to Christ, we have made the wrong choice and our spiritual souls will be lost forever.
You know, the Bible teaches that we live in two realms. Not two worlds but two realms.
A realm is defined as:
1. A community or territory over which a sovereign rules.
2. A sovereign is one possessing, or held to possess supreme political power or sovereignty
b: one that exercises supreme authority within a limited sphere
There is a natural or physical realm in which we can see.
And then there is a invisible, or spiritual realm in which we cannot see.
God rules in the spiritual or the invisible realm while Satan rules in the physical realm.
These two realms interact and influence one another every day.
The spiritual realm affects your life and my life!
It affects families and singles.
It affects marriages,
Churches, communities, states, nations.
The spiritual realm affects anything you can name.
Have you ever wondered why you sometimes do something and then you can't figure out why you did it?
Have you ever experience a strong feeling about what you ought to be doing for Jesus but for some reason you can't make yourself speak up, step up and step out?
Do you ever wonder why there is so much chaos in the world? Why people are so inhumane toward one another?
Do you ever wonder why God's church is on the decrease and everything secular is on the increase?
Wonder Why the bars and night club parking lots are so full on Saturday night and the church parking lots so empty on Sunday morning.
Why are the athletic stadiums and fields are so full on Sunday morning with kids playing sports on Sunday and the Sunday school rooms so empty?
Why is 11:00 on Sunday morning still the most segregated hour of the day?
Does selfishness, stinginess, lying, and deceiving occur for no reason?
Does bad health just happen?
Do wars just happen?
Do abortions just happen?
Does homosexuality just happen?
The reason these things happen and the reason we act the way we do sometimes is because there is activity going on in the spiritual realm that we can't see, feel, tough, taste, or smell, that is creating circumstances in our physical realm which cause us to sometimes make unwise choices.
We're in a war zone and our opponent is Satan whose sphere of influence is in the invisible, spiritual realm but the effect of his deceiving treachery directly affects our natural or physical realm! Is anybody following me?
There are a lot of people who are not doing well in this war with the unseen because they do not know Jesus!
On the same note, there are many Christians who are also not doing too well because they have not recognized that there is one world but two realms.
Remember what Paul said in the book of Ephesians? We are not fighting against flesh and blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world. The unseen world! The spiritual world is as real as the physical world!
In other words the spiritual world where the angels and demons live and interact and actually influence us on a daily basis as we go about our daily routines in the world we are able to see.
One world but two realms!
The book of Job is a good book to read when we want to get a better understanding of how things happening in the spiritual realm affect our lives in the physical realm.
In chapter 1 beginning at verse 6 it reads:
6 One day the members of the heavenly court came to present themselves before the LORD, and the Accuser, Satan, came with them. 7 “Where have you come from?” the LORD asked Satan.
Satan answered the LORD, “I have been patrolling the earth, watching everything that’s going on.”
Remember what it says in 1 Peter 5:8?
Be careful! Watch out for attacks from the Devil, your great enemy. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for some victim to devour.
8 Then the LORD asked Satan, “Have you noticed my servant Job? He is the finest man in all the earth. He is blameless—a man of complete integrity. He fears God and stays away from evil.”
9 Satan replied to the LORD, “Yes, but Job has good reason to fear God. 10 You have always put a wall of protection around him and his home and his property. You have made him prosper in everything he does. Look how rich he is! 11 But reach out and take away everything he has, and he will surely curse you to your face!”
12 “All right, you may test him,” the LORD said to Satan. “Do whatever you want with everything he possesses, but don’t harm him physically.” So Satan left the LORD’s presence.
13 One day when Job’s sons and daughters were feasting at the oldest brother’s house, 14 a messenger arrived at Job’s home with this news: “Your oxen were plowing, with the donkeys feeding beside them, 15 when the Sabeans raided us. They stole all the animals and killed all the farmhands. I am the only one who escaped to tell you.”
16 While he was still speaking, another messenger arrived with this news: “The fire of God has fallen from heaven and burned up your sheep and all the shepherds. I am the only one who escaped to tell you.”
17 While he was still speaking, a third messenger arrived with this news: “Three bands of Chaldean raiders have stolen your camels and killed your servants. I am the only one who escaped to tell you.”
18 While he was still speaking, another messenger arrived with this news: “Your sons and daughters were feasting in their oldest brother’s home. 19 Suddenly, a powerful wind swept in from the wilderness and hit the house on all sides. The house collapsed, and all your children are dead. I am the only one who escaped to tell you.”
Through all of this, Job's faith and trust in God never wavered. And since that didn't get him to turn his back on God, Satan came to the Lord again. and requested to test Job even more.
Job 2:7-10
7 So Satan left the LORD’s presence, and he struck Job with terrible boils from head to foot.
8 Job scraped his skin with a piece of broken pottery as he sat among the ashes. 9 His wife said to him, “Are you still trying to maintain your integrity?
Curse God and die.”
10 But Job replied, “You talk like a foolish woman. Should we accept only good things from the hand of God and never anything bad?” So in all this, Job said nothing wrong.
Do you see what is happening here?
Job has no idea but his whole world is being turned upside down because of things happening in the spiritual world that he knows absolutely nothing about.
Job 1:6-12 and Job 2:7-10 gives us a better understanding of Job's situation.
It tells us that the spiritual realm affected Job's physical circumstances.
In the same way, the spiritual realm is affecting yours and mine every day.
We're in a war people and you need to know that it is a war that you cannot win without the help of the Holy Spirit! Amen!
We need to understand how this world operates if we want to live according to God's original plan.
If we looked at Job’s situation simply through the eyes of the physical realm,
we would probably give Job advice that only pertained to physical things.
But if we look at it through the eyes of the spiritual realm we realize that the enemy wants to destroy our lives!
He wants to ruin God's plan!
He want us to turn our obedience away from Jesus and turn it to him!
Satan will give you everything your heart desires in order to get you to worship him!
Because the more stuff you have,
the more money you have,
the more material possessions you have,
the more places you have to go,
the more appointments you have to keep,
the least likely you are to think about God.
One of Satan's greatest tools of deception is his ability to appeal to our human greed and make us think we are being blessed by God.
Satan will even give us more things to do for God because then you won't have the time to spend with God.
But it doesn't have to be this way.
God has given us everything we need to help us discern what is going on in the heavenly realm and to live a Godly life.
God has given us the gift of his Holy Word, known as the Bible,
the gift of knowledge and wisdom,
some have been given the gift of prophecy,
some have been given the gift of discerning spirits.
And the most precious gift of all, he has given us the gift of the Holy Spirit to live in us and to be our guide.
It is time we realize that that same Holy Spirit residing within us will give us the power to overcome any temptation or obstacle the enemy places before us if we are living by the Spirit power.
In order to live free and continue Christ’s ministry, we need to be filled with the Holy Spirit.
Ephesians 5:18 says, “Do not be drunk with wine, which will ruin you, but be filled with the Spirit.”
This is not an option. It’s a command.
We have a daily responsibility to be filled and controlled by God’s Spirit.
In Acts 4, God’s Spirit gave Peter and John special power to answer the religious leaders.
God’s Spirit enables us at particular moments to minister to others.
There is a spiritual battle going on for our hearts.
Satan wants to destroy God's plan and he will do anything in the world to get you to worship him..
He will allow you to become Rich-famous-lots of toys- power- sex- addictions, you name it.
God also wants dominion over our hearts. and he has already done all he is going to do: He gave his only son to suffer and die for our sins.
Now it's up to us to choose.
Is there anything in your life that keeps you from dedicating your heart to God?
Is there anything in your life that you have more passion for than God?
Anything you're seeking after more than God is idolatry. Another word for it is SIN!
Keep the four R’s in mind:
repent, of your sins,
resist the devil,
replace your former way of life with God’s way,
and receive the infilling of God’s Spirit.
Then you will know and experience the greatest joy and peace you've ever dreamed of having.
A joy greater than any happiness you get from any material possession.
A peace more serene than anything you can imagine.
Because it comes directly from God.
We are living in One World- But two distinctly different Realms. The Spiritual and the Physical.
Following one leads to Christ and eternal joy!
The other leads to Satan and eternal damnation!
Which will you choose, the Spiritual or the Physical? Amen.
