HPC Heat 1&2

Review

Central Point: Practical hope, comfort, and direction result from looking at our lives and our world from God’s big picture perspective.

Personal Application: I always need to to evaluate myself in light of what God says about himself, me, my world, and change

Relational Application: I need to help people see the hope found in looking at their lives from God’s big picture perspective.

Make it Real Question: What aspects of the heat-thorns-cross-fruit model do you tend to emphasize or the neglect more than others?

Heat 1 & 2

Central Point: The Bible describes life this way: we live in a broken world as people who struggle daily. Yet, God understands the full range of our joys and sorrows.

Personal Application: Understanding my struggles in the context of a broken world and knowing God is using these circumstances is a necessary part of experiencing lasting change.

Relational Application: I need to help others see that God understands their situation, and that they must be honest about their role in their struggles.

The Big Question

How am I to understand my present circumstances (Heat)? We are natural interpreters. Bad things happen and we want to know why? Good things happen and we wonder is this a cosmic sign that I am on the right track? What is God doing through my present circumstances? In a world filled with both joy and sorrow.. Does any of it matter or have meaning? Is there a purpose in my pains or my joys?

First we must recognize that this is a broken world.

A Broken World

Psalm 88 “A Song. A Psalm of the Sons of Korah. To the choirmaster: according to Mahalath Leannoth. A Maskil of Heman the Ezrahite. O Lord, God of my salvation, I cry out day and night before you. Let my prayer come before you; incline your ear to my cry! For my soul is full of troubles, and my life draws near to Sheol. I am counted among those who go down to the pit; I am a man who has no strength, like one set loose among the dead, like the slain that lie in the grave, like those whom you remember no more, for they are cut off from your hand. You have put me in the depths of the pit, in the regions dark and deep. Your wrath lies heavy upon me, and you overwhelm me with all your waves. Selah You have caused my companions to shun me; you have made me a horror to them. I am shut in so that I cannot escape; my eye grows dim through sorrow. Every day I call upon you, O Lord; I spread out my hands to you. Do you work wonders for the dead? Do the departed rise up to praise you? Selah Is your steadfast love declared in the grave, or your faithfulness in Abaddon? Are your wonders known in the darkness, or your righteousness in the land of forgetfulness? But I, O Lord, cry to you; in the morning my prayer comes before you. O Lord, why do you cast my soul away? Why do you hide your face from me? Afflicted and close to death from my youth up, I suffer your terrors; I am helpless. Your wrath has swept over me; your dreadful assaults destroy me. They surround me like a flood all day long; they close in on me together. You have caused my beloved and my friend to shun me; my companions have become darkness.”

How does the psalmist describe his life? i.e. full of troubles, near death, no strength, like a dead man, forgotten by God, overwhelmed, feels God’s wrath upon Him, shunned by friends, trapped, sorrowful, Does God care about men like him? helpless, feels destroyed, abandoned by God and friends…

What is the point of all that? This is a broken world Romans 8:22 “For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now.” And God knows it! God knows that this is a broken world where things do not work as they ought. These circumstances we are calling “Heat” in our particular model. The idea of “Heat” is the recognization that there are factors outside of us, that have direct impact on us. God is aware and in control of our circumstances. Better yet, he is using these circumstances to help us change. Romans 8:28–30 “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.” Heat is impactful, but it NOT determinative.

Heat Is Used for Change

James 1:2–18 “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways. Let the lowly brother boast in his exaltation, and the rich in his humiliation, because like a flower of the grass he will pass away. For the sun rises with its scorching heat and withers the grass; its flower falls, and its beauty perishes. So also will the rich man fade away in the midst of his pursuits. Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him. Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death. Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.”

James 1:2—4 This text tells us that it is a joy to encounter various trials. Why? Because it produces steadfastness which when it has its full effect makes us perfect and complete. God is working to see us be glorified one day, that is perfect of complete. God is using our trials to help us get there. Yet, there is effort involved. James 1:5-8 When you lack wisdom, when you don’t understand why bad things happen what are you to do? Ask!!! And we must ask in faith… what does that mean? What does it mean to ask in faith? What do we need to believe? (The world is broken, God is using it, and we will be glorified) When we doubt these truths we cut ourselves off from God’s sanctifying work in our lives. We become bitter rather than better. This is not the prosperity Gospel with says faith leads to material gain, or an emotional fulfillment gospel that promises a change in circumstances. The promise of God is to change you, not your circumstances. Because… even good circumstances are used for God’s purposes.

James 1:9–11 “Let the lowly brother boast in his exaltation, and the rich in his humiliation, because like a flower of the grass he will pass away. For the sun rises with its scorching heat and withers the grass; its flower falls, and its beauty perishes. So also will the rich man fade away in the midst of his pursuits.” Even the rich will fade away. The heat of life will destroy all that is temporal… and our circumstances are temporary. Even our life long circumstances are temporary in the light of eternity. Wealth will fade. So who is the blessed man, the man with rich circumstance… No. James 1:12 “Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.” This is God’s promise, eternal life through Jesus.

Which means our greatest problems are not outside of us, they are not our Heat… Our greatest problem is inside of us. It is our sin, the way we respond to our circumstances both good and bad. We see then as we read that want tempts us is our own desires. James 1:14–15 “But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.” What is inside of you, indwelling sin that is what can kill you! It is deadly, we must make war with our sin and circumstance is a weapon that God gives us to wage war with this enemy. Don’t confuse the ally of Heat for the enemy. God uses trial! Brothers and sisters your trials and blessings are the good gifts from above … circumstances are in the control of God. And God is committed to seeing you change. James 1:17–18 “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.” God’s goodness does not change with the ebbs and flows of this broken world. He is a good Father when your life is good, and He is still a good Father when your world is turned upside down. What we must do is first determine to believe that truth: God is good. Second consider how is God using my circumstances (Heat) for my good and His glory.

Practice Identifying Heat

Numbers 11:4–23 “Now the rabble that was among them had a strong craving. And the people of Israel also wept again and said, “Oh that we had meat to eat! We remember the fish we ate in Egypt that cost nothing, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic. But now our strength is dried up, and there is nothing at all but this manna to look at.” Now the manna was like coriander seed, and its appearance like that of bdellium. The people went about and gathered it and ground it in handmills or beat it in mortars and boiled it in pots and made cakes of it. And the taste of it was like the taste of cakes baked with oil. When the dew fell upon the camp in the night, the manna fell with it. Moses heard the people weeping throughout their clans, everyone at the door of his tent. And the anger of the Lord blazed hotly, and Moses was displeased. Moses said to the Lord, “Why have you dealt ill with your servant? And why have I not found favor in your sight, that you lay the burden of all this people on me? Did I conceive all this people? Did I give them birth, that you should say to me, ‘Carry them in your bosom, as a nurse carries a nursing child,’ to the land that you swore to give their fathers? Where am I to get meat to give to all this people? For they weep before me and say, ‘Give us meat, that we may eat.’ I am not able to carry all this people alone; the burden is too heavy for me. If you will treat me like this, kill me at once, if I find favor in your sight, that I may not see my wretchedness.” Then the Lord said to Moses, “Gather for me seventy men of the elders of Israel, whom you know to be the elders of the people and officers over them, and bring them to the tent of meeting, and let them take their stand there with you. And I will come down and talk with you there. And I will take some of the Spirit that is on you and put it on them, and they shall bear the burden of the people with you, so that you may not bear it yourself alone. And say to the people, ‘Consecrate yourselves for tomorrow, and you shall eat meat, for you have wept in the hearing of the Lord, saying, “Who will give us meat to eat? For it was better for us in Egypt.” Therefore the Lord will give you meat, and you shall eat. You shall not eat just one day, or two days, or five days, or ten days, or twenty days, but a whole month, until it comes out at your nostrils and becomes loathsome to you, because you have rejected the Lord who is among you and have wept before him, saying, “Why did we come out of Egypt?” ’ ” But Moses said, “The people among whom I am number six hundred thousand on foot, and you have said, ‘I will give them meat, that they may eat a whole month!’ Shall flocks and herds be slaughtered for them, and be enough for them? Or shall all the fish of the sea be gathered together for them, and be enough for them?” And the Lord said to Moses, “Is the Lord’s hand shortened? Now you shall see whether my word will come true for you or not.””

What is the Heat?

Numbers 13:25–33 “At the end of forty days they returned from spying out the land. And they came to Moses and Aaron and to all the congregation of the people of Israel in the wilderness of Paran, at Kadesh. They brought back word to them and to all the congregation, and showed them the fruit of the land. And they told him, “We came to the land to which you sent us. It flows with milk and honey, and this is its fruit. However, the people who dwell in the land are strong, and the cities are fortified and very large. And besides, we saw the descendants of Anak there. The Amalekites dwell in the land of the Negeb. The Hittites, the Jebusites, and the Amorites dwell in the hill country. And the Canaanites dwell by the sea, and along the Jordan.” But Caleb quieted the people before Moses and said, “Let us go up at once and occupy it, for we are well able to overcome it.” Then the men who had gone up with him said, “We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we are.” So they brought to the people of Israel a bad report of the land that they had spied out, saying, “The land, through which we have gone to spy it out, is a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people that we saw in it are of great height. And there we saw the Nephilim (the sons of Anak, who come from the Nephilim), and we seemed to ourselves like grasshoppers, and so we seemed to them.””

What’s the heat?

Numbers 20:1–5 “And the people of Israel, the whole congregation, came into the wilderness of Zin in the first month, and the people stayed in Kadesh. And Miriam died there and was buried there. Now there was no water for the congregation. And they assembled themselves together against Moses and against Aaron. And the people quarreled with Moses and said, “Would that we had perished when our brothers perished before the Lord! Why have you brought the assembly of the Lord into this wilderness, that we should die here, both we and our cattle? And why have you made us come up out of Egypt to bring us to this evil place? It is no place for grain or figs or vines or pomegranates, and there is no water to drink.””

What’s the heat?

Conclusion

Read Deuteronomy 8