Did you learn something new in Gods Word this week?
Did you read a familiar scripture that had new meaning for you?
We are going to look @ three verses today (@ least 3):
2 Corinthians 10:4-5
Psalm 27:4
Isaiah 43:13
Are you captive or captivated?
Let’s briefly look at two captives from the bible.
The first are the Israelites in Egypt and the second is Daniel.
The Israelites lived in Egypt for over 400 years.
In Genesis 15:13 we see that God sent them there.
“The He said to Abram: Know certainly that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, and will serve them, and they will afflict them for 400 years.”
We are told in Genesis 46:27 that because of famine in Canaan, 70 members of Jacobs went to Egypt.
It is also explained that because the Israelite population grew so large that Pharoah was concerned that they might ally with Egypts’ enemies and overthrow him. So, he began a slow process of enslavery.
Entire generations lived their lives as slaves.
What strikes me as amazing is that God sent them to Egypt, then allowed them to become slaves. He did this to show Egypt and Israel His providential and sovereign power.
But in the Exodus, we see another dimension explained in Exodus 6:7 ‘I will take you as My people, and I will be your God. Then you shall know that I am the LORD your God who brings you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians.’ Once again, He desires a relationship with His chosen people!
Then of course to reveal Himself to his people and Egypt, He sent down 10 plagues.
Given the vast numbers of Israelites, I had to ponder why they didn’t free themselves. The bible tells us that by design Pharoah kept them physically weary, but maybe they were also captives of their own minds? We’ll get back to that shortly.
Everyone knows the incredible story of Daniel. Once again, we see that Israelites are under rule from another country, this time Babylon. Captives!
Like Joseph, Daniel gained favor and high rank in office of a foreign government. Then there was a plot against Daniel and @ a old age, he himself was a captive in the lions’ den.
Although I don’t want to spend a great deal of time on captives, I think it important to consider some similarities and differences between the two captives.
First off, God allowed His chosen people to be captives to a foreign nation for a second time! I can’t help but wonder, were the Israelites ever captivated with God?
Secondly, when we look at Daniels life, it is evident that he was captivated with God at an early age, and never lost that captivation under the most dire circumstances.
So, there is one MAJOR difference in these two captives. One was apparently never captivated, and the other was obviously captivated.
But let’s look at the similarities:
In regards to Moses, who God called to lead the Israelites out of Egypt, He felt unworthy “Who am I” Moses asked. Ultimately, he moved from fear to faith, and was obedient to Gods calling of deliverance.
Daniel also was obedient and faithful which led to his deliverance.
Are you captive or captivated?
One definition of captivated is:
To influence and dominate by some special charm, art, or trait with and irresistible appeal.
Let’s reduce the definition to:
To influence and dominate by some special trait with an irresistible appeal.
That special trait is BEAUTY.
Are you captivated by Gods beauty?
Your first thought might be “I’ve never seen God so how can I be captivated by His beauty?”
Every year, I am captivated by Gods beauty in the early spring and early fall. For 35 years Lisa has had to listen to me being captivated by Gods beauty in the turning of the seasons in spring and fall. I know this isn’t supposed to be a guy thing, but seeing the flowers and trees change, mesmerizes me!
Years ago, one of my close friends made an observation about Brig, when he was about 5 years
old. He said “I can see you in Brig, one minute he is playing tackle football and the next he is enchanted with flowers!” Some might call that ADHD, but I call that acute awareness of my surroundings!
This past week, several members of my family, about 20 of us, spent the week on Bolivar. One day as I was sitting on the beach, I realized how much I loved the perpetual ocean breeze. It caused me think about perpetual motion, and mans inability to replicate it. Although many have tried, man has not been able to create perpetual motion or energy. We can’t even truly capture it, much less replicate it!
Yet we are surrounded by it, yet for the most part we aren’t captivated by Gods beauty in it. We may be intrigued by the mechanics behind it, but we tend to lose the beauty in it. Because we are surrounded by it, it has become mundane. What a paradoxical irony! (I don’t even know if that is a phrase, paradoxical irony)
Sometimes we are no longer captivated by something because we “figure it out”, or even because we can’t figure it out!
So how do we move from being captive to being captivated?
First off, let’s look at 1 John 2:15-16
John warns us:
15“Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in Him.”
16 “For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life-is not of the Father but is of the world”.
Interesting that John says “the lust of the eyes”. When we become captivated with something, it is most often through sight, and therefore it may be challenging to be captivated with God since He is not physical to our eyesight. This leaves us to discover other ways to become captivated with or in God.
Next: Set your heart on the coming of Christ. Philippians 3:20 tells us:
For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.
“Turn your eyes upon Jesus. Look full in His wonderful face. And the things of this world will grow strangely dim, in the light of His glory and grace”
To move from captive to captivated we can focus on Gods beauty.
As humans, beauty to us is a subjective standard, but in considering Gods beauty it is purely an objective standard. (repeat) He is to be the object of our captivation!
Psalm 27:4
One thing I have desired of the Lord, That I will seek: That I may dwell in the house of the Lord, all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in His temple.
We must also continually call upon the presence of the Holy Spirit.
Let’s look at Luke 11:13, we’ll start in verse 11:
If a son asks for bread from any father among you, will he give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent instead? Or if he asks for an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?
Lastly, we move from being captive to being captivated when our heart is full of joy and thirsts for Gods presence.
At the beginning of todays word, I asked if you have read any familiar scripture this week with new eyes. Well I did.
I’ve mentioned this before, but Ephesians chapter 4 is one of my favorite chapters in the New Testament. As I was preparing todays message, I came across Ephesians 4:8
“Therefore He says “When He ascended on high, He led the captivity captive, and gave gifts to men.”
He led captivity captive and at the same time, He released a variety of spiritual gifts!
This week I thought about the fact that we lose our captivation in Christ when we are not growing spiritually.
And before we can be captivated we must be delivered.
A few minutes ago, I posed the question “maybe the Israelites were captives of their own minds?”
In Romans 12:2 Paul admonishes us “and do not b conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable perfect will of God” Perhaps the Israelites needed a renewing of their minds!
So let’s talk a little about deliverance (no Andy, not the movie):
Just as the Israelites and Daniel needed deliverance, so do we.
The most important thing for us to remember is that once we are delivered into Gods hand, nothing can snatch us out of His hand.
Wednesday night I had a dream about Isaiah 43. Now in my dream, I was told to read Isaiah 43: 48-49. When I woke up and turned to Isaiah 43, I realized that my dream was a bit flawed. There is no verses 48 and 49!
However, I did land on verse 13:
“indeed before the day way, I am He, and there is no one who can deliver out of My hand; I work, and who will reverse it?
-ask someone to read their bible-
Romans 6:14-19 read from my bible
V17 deliverance through obedience. 12 or so translations, they all used: obey, obeyed or obedience
These 4 verses can help us understand deliverance:
2 Corinthians 10:5 “Casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience to Christ” There’s that word obedience again.
Hebrews 12:1 “Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with the endurance the race that is set before us”.
1 Peter 5:7 “Casting your care upon Him, for He cares for you”. The simplicity of that verse is almost overwhelming.
Brigs wedding story (I just realized I have two Brig stories today. I hope the others don’t get jealous)
Ephesians 6:17
“Take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the spirit which is the word of God”
We need salvation in order to be delivered! Salvation is the ULTIMATE deliverance!
To wrap this up:
We are delivered from our captivity through our obedience and faith, so we can become captivated in Gods Glory!
I’ll ask these questions of us: Why do we come to church?
To be captivated by the worship?
To be captivated by the words spoken behind the pulpit?
Or to be captivated in the presence of the Holy Spirit?
Like Moses, are we being obedient to Gods calling on our lives?
And Like Daniel do we have faith in God during our most troubling times?
A few months ago, I told a friend that I have become enthralled with the Old Testament and that I wasn’t exactly sure why. Several months back I read this statement: Every event in human history directs us to the return of Jesus Christ.
Yesterday, I realized why I am spending so much time in the Old Testament. I’m looking for and finding the gospel in the OT stories!
Have you left Egypt?
Have you returned to Egypt with a self-imposed captivity?
Do you desire deliverance?
Are you captivated in Gods Love?
