40 Days of Purpose – Your Spiritual Journey Part 1
How to Safely Land after a Spiritual High
“I think I’ve got everything. I’m off to climb a mountain. I’ve been in training all week – climbing all those stairs up to my office. I’ve climbed them at least 20 times this week. I’ve got my back pack filled with all the essentials – baked beans, baked beans, and baked beans. I’ve got my goggles – very important to keep the snow out. I’ve got my hiking boots, my climbing pick for those really steep sections. I’ve got my beanie and my scarf – to keep me warm, my big jacket And a rope – just in case I have to absaille down a cliff. I think I’m ready – but will I be safe.
Let me ask you a question – what’s the highest point on earth? Mount Everest. 29,035 feet. Did you know that close to 1,500 people have climbed to the summit of Mt. Everest? They’ve made it all the way to the top. During that period of time, 160 plus people have died, trying to summit Mt. Everest. That means that 1 in 10 die. And for that privilege, they pay about $60,000; 90 days of their lives and 1 in 10 don’t make it back. What do you think that is about? Let me ask you a question – is it more dangerous to climb Mt. Everest, or to descend down the slope of Mt. Everest? More people have died descending while they did trying to summit. That’s why I don’t just have all this gear, but I’ve also got my parachute – I figure that instead of climbing down, I’d leap off and glide on down. I wonder why no one has ever thought of doing that before???
Do you realise that there’s a spiritual application to all this? You need to be extra careful coming down from high places. Think about it. It is easy climbing trees – a lot harder climbing down. You know that is why policemen carry guns don’t you – to get all those cats down that are too scared to climb down out of trees. Over the past 7 weeks, many of us have been on a high place. We’ve been on a bit of a spiritual high. We’ve learnt so much about our purpose. We’ve grown closer to God as we’ve studied his Word. But now we begin the descent down the mountain to the normality of life. So to help us make a safe descent, we are beginning a two-week series all about getting started on the next leg of our spiritual journey.
Did you know that it is a fact of nature that beside mountains, there are valleys. There is probably nothing surer than the fact that as we come off a spiritual mountain top experience, some of us will be passing through valleys. And Satan will try his hardest to make these the darkest and most horrible places. How will we survive?
Let me ask you another question – in weather patterns…would you rather have a high-pressure system or a low-pressure system? If you know anything about weather, you’d tell me that you’d rather have a big high-pressure system. That’s where stable air is. You get fine weather, beautiful days and . It is the low-pressure systems that bring the unstable weather – the storms, the rain, the cyclones. Everything might be cruising along for you now, but with weather you can be sure that after each High, there will come a Low. If we are not ready for the inevitable lows of life, spiritually and emotionally, you’re going to be in trouble.
Life is a series of ups and downs. Life is a series of highs and lows. In life you’re going to find both the good and the bad. Did you hear about the guy who’s talking to his buddy and he said, “Hey, did you hear that John fell out of an airplane?” His buddy said, “Oh, that’s bad.” The first guy said, “No, he had a parachute.” The other guy said, “Oh, that’s good.” The first guy said, “Well, the parachute didn’t open.” The other guy said, “Oh, that’s bad.” The first guy said, “No, there was a haystack.” The other guy said, “Oh, that’s good.” The first guy said, “No, there was a pitchfork in it.” The other guy said, “Oh, that’s bad.” The first guy said, “No, he missed the pitchfork.” The other guy said, “Oh, that’s good.” The first guy said, “No, he missed the haystack.” Now, that was bad. That was really, really bad.
Life is like that sometimes isn’t it. You are on a roller coaster. And usually the highs are so good and the lows are so painful that you just want to hang onto the highs for as long as you can - .
But it is not possible to stay on a spiritual high all the time. If you read the Bible, what you’ll find is that the Bible is a parade of highs and lows, one right after another. Think about Daniel. He was taken prisoner by an invading army – that’s a low. But he was faithful to God and God blessed him. He found favour with the king and was given incredible influence – that’s a high. But because of his faithfulness to God, he was thrown into a den of hungry lions – that’s a low. But the lions didn’t eat him – that’s a high. You see the pattern? Then there’s the story of Jonah. He runs away from God - that’s a low. He is swallowed by a great fish – that is a low. But the fish vomits him up on dry ground – is that a high or a low? It’s a high…there’s only two ways out of a fish and I know which way I’d rather go. He goes and preaches in Ninevah and everyone repents – talk about a high. But then he gets depressed and is in the lowest of lows.
Go to the New Testament – you have Jesus and He’s at His baptism and His Father’s voice is heard from heaven – “this is My beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.” That was a high. What happened immediately after that? He’s in the desert for 40 days being assaulted with temptation by the devil himself – that was a low. But what happened after that? He began His ministry of teaching about the Kingdom of God and transforming lives and performing miracles. That was a high. But then what happened? He’s arrested, beaten and crucified. That was a low. But then what happened? He rose from the dead. And that was a high.
Life will be full of highs and lows, but what are we supposed to do when we get to the lows… Turn with me to Rev 2:2. John records what Jesus says to a group of Christians at Ephesus. They were a group of Christians that obviously had had some spiritual highs in their time. Take a look at it there in Revelation 2.
2 I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked men, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false. 3 You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary. 4 Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love. 5 Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place.
Notice the description of these followers of Jesus. They’ve grown in their faith. It’s obvious they had a clear sense of their purpose. They had served the Lord with gratitude and emotion and joy and diligence, but something had happened. Somewhere along the way, in their journey with Jesus, something had changed. Now it wasn’t a work problem. They were working along just fine. As a matter of fact, the Bible says, “you’re great at work” I don’t believe it was an information problem either. Their problem was a heart problem. They were suffering from what can adequately be described as heart-drift.
Let me ask you a question. Have you ever experienced heart-drift? Where your heart use to be just inflamed with passion and now it’s cold. I mean this happens in male/female relationships all the time. Let me use some pictures to illustrate what I mean.
1. You have an INSATIABLE DESIRE to learn all you can about the other person. I want you to imagine this couple. They are no longer dancing, but now they are at a romantic dinner. He’s not even touching his food. He’s not thinking about his stomach – he must be sick!!! Do you know what he’s doing? He’s talking to her. Having live conversation. Tell me about your past. Tell me about your pain. Tell me about your parents. Tell me about your present. Tell me about your plans for the future. But do relationships stay like this?
2. A second attribute of first love, there’s a HEAVY INVESTMENT in that love relationship. When you have first love, you’re willing to invest heavily. Hey, you want to spend some time together? No problem, you have all the time in the world. We can dance all night. Money? Not a problem. They’re out to dinner – “honey, order anything you want.” They go shopping together and he says, “Baby, buy whatever you want.” That was back when he would actually go shopping with her. Can you imagine him [Couple #2] going shopping with her? No. If he has to go shopping, he’d volunteer to sit on the bench and guard the parcels. Going shopping is like doing time in prison. When we are on a spiritual high, nothing is too much. We don’t care how long the Sunday services are going. We are keen to get involved in ministries. Nothing seems too much to give our Lord and Saviour.
3. A third attribute of first love, you’ve got this insatiable desire and this heavy investment, but then thirdly, there’s an INTENSE PREOCCUPATION of the heart. See, over here, this couple [Couple #1], there’s no one or nothing else catching their eye. Nothing else is grabbing at their heart. Why? Because there is no room in their heart for anything else. It was reckless abandonment, full devotion, complete affection. But this couple [Couple #2], what’s going through their head? Anything and everything except the person sitting next to them. When we are on a spiritual high, we find ourselves devoted to God above everything else. We wouldn’t think of missing a church service to go fishing. Small group would be a priority and come rain or storm, headache or broken neck, we’d be there and be there on time.
It is sad isn’t it that love doesn’t always stay this way. Revelation 2:4 says something very insightful about love. It does not say, “You have lost your first love.” It says, “You have left your first love.” It was a choice. Actually, it was a small series of choices. Now some of you have just come through this incredible 40 Days. Right now, you are on a high in your relationship with God. You hunger for God, it’s as if your hunger and thirst seem unquenchable. You cannot spend enough time. You can’t leverage enough of your resources. You can’t offer enough of your life to Him. Love has captured you and you are a willing captive. It’s a spiritual high. Bible study being held, you’re there. Worship service going on, you’re there. Scripture memory, you’re doing it. There is no place you’d rather be. Nothing else you’d rather give yourself to. Jesus Christ is the full focus of your heart and your devotion.
This is the spiritual high weather system. It’s providing sunshine and stability to your life, but remember what will follow – a low. Soon a low-pressure system will build. Clouds and storms cover the weather map of your soul. Rain and coldness blow across your heart and over a series of small choices, you’ve left your first love. What are you going to do when that happens? What do you do if it’s already happened? How do you find your way back to the place of your first love again? What steps do you take to avoid a spiritual low place? And what do you do to get out of a low when you are in the middle of it?
Well Revelation 2 gives us the answers:
Step 1 – the first step in this journey – in verse 5 is to “REMEMBER”. Can some of you remember when you were so spiritually hungry that you couldn’t stay away from this place? You didn’t care if the service lasted an hour and half, or two hours. It didn’t matter to you. You were just willing to hang out. But what’s happened? Some of you arrive now 15, 20, 30 minutes late.
You know when you were first in love with Christ, you’d come early, and you’d stay late. You were more like this couple [young] than this couple [elderly]. Like first love, maybe there was a time when you had an insatiable desire to learn about him. You made whatever investment in the relationship. He was the intense, preoccupation of your heart. All you wanted to do was love him and please him. Do you remember? Let me tell you something. God remembers. He remembers feeling the thrill within you the first time that the Bible really spoke to you. Remember that? He remembers your courage the first time you talked to someone else about how much Jesus meant to you. He was so proud of you. God remembers each time in worship where you would lift your hands and surrender to Him. He remembers when tears would easily come to your eyes because you were so filled with gratitude and wonder and amazement and grace. He remembers. And you know what when we are in the low parts of our lives? He misses that. This isn’t about trying to create guilt. Because if the truth were told, you miss that, too.
So what do you do? Take some time and maybe take the Bible out and thumb through the pages. Look at some of the verses you underlined because they spoke to you. Read the notes you jotted down in the margin. Or maybe you’ve written something in a journal, or something like a spiritual diary - take the time to read it. Find a quiet place in your heart to say, “God I miss you, too. I remember, and I’m coming back.”
Step 2 - Now look at verse 5 again. Notice the next step you take. When you’ve allowed love to slip, verse 5 says, “REPENT.” Now that is a heavy, heavy word. What does repent mean? The real definition of repent is – I recognize that where I am is not where I am supposed to be. So, I turn and move toward where I am supposed to be. How do you move to the place that you want to be with God? First, you remember. Second, you repent. It is an action word – it requires that you do something – you turn around, you move, you do something different. .
Step 3 – Again in verse 5 – you DO WHAT YOU USE TO DO. So what do you do? You take one step at a time. You do the next right thing. You know what? You don’t get to a spiritual mountain top in one step. And you will not get through a low valley in one step. So what do you do? You put one foot in front of the other. You take one right step a time and you will successfully make your way through the low places.
Some of you at the beginning of the 40 Days of Purpose said, “I am going to attend all six weekends for the 40 days.” Some of you did that and I want to commend you on that. You know what? It would be overwhelming to say, “I’ll make a church service on a weekend, every weekend, for the rest of my life.” That would be overwhelming to most of us. But there are 4 weekends left in this half of the year. Maybe you can say - “Yeah, I can make these four.” How about Bible reading? You know the daily reading we were doing during the 40 Days? A lot of scripture in that book. We were reading a lot of scripture. You say, “I don’t know if I can read that much.” How about this? – before you check email, how about five minutes with the Bible? Just 5 minutes before you check email. Or better still, buy a bible reading guide and give some time each day to reading and studying God’s word. How about scripture memory? Some of you are memorizing one verse of scripture every week. So maybe from your daily Bible reading or from our weekly sermon, you pick one verse of scripture, just one, that’ll you’ll memorize that week and you put it on your refrigerator door and you make the commitment, “I will not open this refrigerator door until I can say this verse with my eyes closed.” Think of the weight you’ll lose!!
I want to be very clear – the goal of all of these 5 purposes is not just to keep you busy. This is all about real change. The expectation is that you start becoming like Jesus. Becoming the person God created you to be. This is not just about attending, or reading, or memorizing, or buying or doing. It’s about really being like Jesus. And when you boil it right down, our character is developed through our obedience. Will you choose to obey all that God teaches you to do? It’s not about I’ll obey this part, but I’m not going to obey that part. Selective obedience is not obedience at all. That’s just called convenience. I’m talking about true obedience to God.
Lows will come into your life, so be ready for them. God actually allows us to go through lows to grow us, but we’ve got to keep our eyes on Jesus and keep following Him through the low and out the other side. Following Jesus from the mountain into the valley is a series of small steps, small choices all in the right direction. Look at Philippians 3:16. Let’s read this out loud together. “Now that we are on the right track, let’s stay on it.” One step, one choice at a time. You know when you are bush walking, it only takes one step to step off the path and you are going in the wrong direction. In our journey of life God by His Spirit guides us and forms Jesus in you a little bit at a time.
You might say, “Okay I am willing with God’s help to try to follow Him even into the valley. But I have one question. What if I trip?” It’s a great question. Here’s the answer –even when you stumble, trip and fall God never does. When you fail, God never does. Can I personalize that? When I fail, GOD NEVER DOES. Can we say it personally together? When I fail, God never does.
Let me tell you what I mean by that. God’s CARE for you will never fail. He’ll never stop caring. He died for you. He was caring for you before you even knew about Him.
One final thought, and then we’re done. God’s LOVE will never fail. Maybe you’ve blown it – really messed up. You are bloodied and scarred. You think, “God would never want me like this.” You could not be more wrong. Whoever you are, whatever you’ve have done, God wants you to come to Him. It’s like coming home. For those of you who are wanting a relationship with God, start the journey today. For those of you who are on your journey, stay steady.
Remember His love. Take the next right step. Just keep moving in His direction. Just keep making your way home to Him. He wants you in His arms, no matter what. Don’t worry if you slip up. Just remember, repent and do what you used to do. God still cares for you and God still loves you. Because His love never fails.
