Extraordinary—Ordinary People.
James 5:17-18TPT.
Can you picture the prophet Elijah driving on Red Bud Road or Hwy. 53? Can you see him in line at McDonald's, ordering a Big Mac and french fries? Rather hard to imagine, isn't it? Yet, James says that "Elijah was a man just like us—passion and emotions, the whole kit and caboodle,
Elijah did some very extraordinary things. But James’ message is that Elijah was just an ordinary person, and that God can take ordinary people and accomplish extraordinary things.
Elijah was one of the greatest prophets of the O.T! And yet, there is this amazing statement
Just listen to, James 5:17-18TPT Elijah was a man with human frailties, just like all of us, but he prayed and received supernatural answers. He actually shut the heavens over the land so there would be no rain for three and a half years! 18 Then he prayed again and the skies opened up over the land so that the rain came again and produced the harvest.
What does James mean when he says, "Elijah was a man just like us?" To be honest with you, I'm having a little trouble with that.
Elijah’s mission statement was similar to John the Baptist’s mission. It was to prepare the way, make straight the path. Prepare for the greatness of Jesus’ return!
Again, God loves to take the ordinary, and turn it into signs and wonders, mixed with fruit to help and heal others.
When that occurs, the ordinary becomes extraordinary.
Before we go any farther I want to give you—5 traits of extraordinary—ordinary people.
A focus on the things that matter.
Elijah was a man of fervent prayer—Such is the power of definite, specific, fervent prayer.
Do you have a prayer list? Who are you praying for on a regular basis?
There is an old poem that says: Lord, lay some soul upon my heart and love that soul through me, And may I nobly do my part to win that soul for Thee!
R. G. Lee told of a little boy playing with toys in the front yard while his mother sat on the porch engaged in handwork. Occasionally, and casually, the little boy would mumble a request for something to eat without ever looking up from his preoccupation with his playthings. To these requests, the mother seemed to pay no attention. After a while, the son laid his toys aside and made his way hurriedly to the side of his mother, clutched her with both hands to get her attention, and, looking pleadingly into her eyes, cried out fervently, "Mother, I want something to eat." Of course, the mother went immediately to grant his earnest appeal.
Let’s look at the scripture right above today’s text—James chapter 5, verse 17.
James 5:16AMP Therefore, confess your sins to one another [your false steps, your offenses], and pray for one another, that you may be healed and restored. The heartfelt and persistent prayer of a righteous man (believer) can accomplish much [when put into action and made effective by God—it is dynamic and can have tremendous power].
Once more, James 5:16TPT Confess and acknowledge how you have offended one another and then pray for one another to be instantly healed, for tremendous power is released through the passionate, heartfelt prayer of a godly believer!
Energized prayer, a prayer within a prayer. One translation calls Elijah’s prayers—Red hot—that gets the job done.
The extraordinary person knows it’s the intrinsic qualities that bring true satisfaction—those that satisfy our needs for emotional intimacy and personal growth.
Elijah knew that God’s will being accomplished would bring great satisfaction to his creator, himself, as well as others.
This I know, “If you will ask God for wisdom, continue to seek Him, God will come alive in every situation!” P.H
Focusing on extrinsic goals, by contrast—things such as physical attractiveness, wealth and fame—not only doesn’t satisfy us, it can damage our well-being by setting us up to feel that what we have is never enough. Again, focus on what really matters.
The second trait of extraordinary—ordinary people.
Kindness.
It’s lovely to be on the receiving end of kindness, but multiple studies confirm it feels even nicer to do kind things for others.
Jesus teaches—Luke 6:38TPT Give generously and generous gifts will be given back to you, shaken down to make room for more. Abundant gifts will pour out upon you with such an overflowing measure that it will run over the top! The measurement of your generosity becomes the measurement of your return.”
The Third trait of extraordinary—ordinary people.
A willingness to be seen as imperfect.
A willingness to be vulnerable gives us the freedom to pursue our dreams and tap into our creative powers.
Criticism and rejection come, but if you’re willing to be comfortable in your own skin, God will bless, and anoint.
Think about how exposed Jesus was upon the cross.
The Fourth trait of extraordinary—ordinary people.
An ability to connect.
A famous research project called the Grant Study has followed every aspect of the lives of 268 men from the 1930s to this day. A few years ago, the longtime director of the study, George Vaillant, was asked what he had learned from the mountains of data.
His response? “That the only thing that really matters in life are your relationships to other people.”
Extraordinary people understand this, that’s why they make others a priority.
The Fifth trait of extraordinary—ordinary people.
Joyfulness.
The antidote for fruitful joy is gratitude, as the extraordinary ones among us know.
They aren’t fooling themselves; they know that joy ebbs and flows, but they welcome what they get. These ordinary moments—is where joy is most often found.
David penned in, Psalm 30:5TPT I’ve learned that his anger lasts for a moment, but his loving favor lasts a lifetime! We may weep through the night, but at daybreak it will turn into shouts of ecstatic joy.
The Septuagint (The Greek Old Testament), reads, “There is wrath in his anger but life in His will [promise].”
This takes us back to the prophet Elijah. Elijah found joy through doing God’s will and helping others. The proof of this is in his 8 miracles:
Elijah asks God to close the skies for 3–1/2 years from any precipitation, this would be proof that Elijah’s God reigns supreme over every finite thing—namely, wicked Ahab and Jezebel.
I said this Wednesday, but to an infinite God, everything is finite—It’s on a lower level.
2. Elijah too, had to live through this 3 1/2 year draught, so God sends Elijah to a brook there, God supplies water and meat from the ravens over head.
3. The widow and her young son were about to starve of hunger. Elijah didn’t hesitate—God told Elijah what to tell this widow.
4. Elijah prays fire down from heaven on water—soaked wood.
5. The resurrection of the widow's son.
6. After 3-1/2 years Elijah prayed 7 times that the drought would be over. Guess what? It rained!
7. Elijah calls down fire from heaven to destroy 850 false prophets.
8. Fire brought down on the 51 soldiers (2 Kings 1:10). Fire brought down again on the second 51 soldiers. (2 Kings 1:12)
Last but not least, Elijah gets caught away into a whirl-wind.
Again, Elijah was a man of like passion as we are.
What was the key for Elijah? He prayed, He prayed fervently, He prayed God’s will.
Malachi 4:5-6NKJV “Look, I am sending you the prophet Elijah before the great and dreadful day of the Lord arrives. 6 His preaching will turn the hearts of fathers to their children, and the hearts of children to their fathers. Otherwise I will come and strike the land with a curse.”
This was fulfilled through John the Baptist in a figurative sense (Matthew 11:14, Mark 9:11-13, Luke 1:17). Yet because this Elijah comes before the coming of the great and dreadful day, we know that the Elijah prophecy is only completely fulfilled before the Second Coming of Jesus.
Again, According to scripture, Upon Jesus’ second coming, Elijah will be the forerunner of Jesus.
Elijah, John the Baptist, and Jesus’ mission seem to run parallel—Heal hurts, do justice, defeat evil, and prepare the way, and make a way.
Think for a minute, Jesus hanging, dying on a cursed cross. In return, He took our cruse.
Then we can read, Matthew 27:46-47NLT At about three o’clock, Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” which means “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?”
47 Some of the bystanders misunderstood and thought he was calling for the prophet Elijah.
In every Orthodox Jewish home at Passover time, even until this day Jews place chairs around the table and spread all the emblems of Passover, however, there is always one empty chair, because they are waiting for Elijah to come.
Elijah prayed and received supernatural miracles. As I thought on this, two— uncompromising statements came to me:
I. Gods man (woman) will not compromise their faith.
Elijah has an interesting name. It comes from two Hebrew words for God, "el" and "jah." Put them together and his name means, "Jehovah is God," which is exactly what Elijah believed.
Now King Ahab also believed that Jehovah was God. The problem was that he married a woman who believed that Baal was God.
Ahab was a politician who didn't want to offend anybody, especially Jezebel. Therefore he decided, "If worshiping one god is good, then worshiping two gods is even better.”
That’s why Elijah asked the question a couple of times—1 Kings 18:21NKJV And Elijah came to all the people, and said, “How long will you falter between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow Him; but if Baal, follow him.” But the people answered him not a word.
Paul stated in the book of, 1 Corinthians 1:18TPT To preach the message of the cross seems like sheer nonsense to those who are on their way to destruction, but to us who are being saved, it is the mighty power of God released within us.
Remember—Elijah hadn’t arrived, he had like passions and desires as we do. God was working on him.
II. Gods man (woman) will not conform to this world, but be transformed.
Romans 12:1-2NKJV I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. 2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
One translation reads—“Don’t be squeezed into the mold of this present age.”
The Aramaic word for—world is, ‘alma, which means “to surround” like being surrounded in time. Paul is warning us not to be conformed to this world surrounded by time, because this temporal world is coming to an end.
Again, Romans 12:1-2TM So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you
can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. 2 Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.
We are not to be squeezed into the mold of this world system, because it’s falling apart.
In closing, here’s just a few men and women of faith who refused to conform:
Noah, Joseph, Daniel, Esther, Elijah, Elisha, and how about Jesus. Right this very moment, I’m looking at a lot of men and women who refuse to compromise! P.H
Q&A: Will you allow God to take your ordinary and make it extraordinary?
Benedition.
