A Home Like That

Fresh Faith Review

Last week we started our summer reading series on Pastor Jim Cymbala’s book, “Fresh Faith - What happens when Real Faith Ignites God’s People.”

We looked at the progression that the enemy uses to try to destroy the life of a believer.

Remember, he doesn’t have the right to do nor the ability to do it outside of us giving him the space in our life to do it.

shows us that progression

First he steals: Our first love, and then with that goes our joy

When these things are missing from a believers life, death starts to enter in.

Death to the calling that God has given to us - that is our purpose

Then our significance to God and more importantly God’s significance to us

And finally those things that God has created us for - our giftings and abilities

And when those things are dead - a life with Christ is destroyed

And then we closed out last week by looking at how our faith is the supernatural (Or I should say One of) weapons that we have to stop satan from being able to steal from us.

Basically if we don’t have faith, we are already destroyed

We have no walk - because it is a walk of faith

We have no salvation - because we accept what Jesus did on the cross for us by faith

and we have no prayer life - Because prayer is totally a statement of our faith.

Let’s get into today’s message. It’s entitled, “A Home Like That.”

How many enjoyed Amalia’s Story? It was powerful wasn’t it? How God can restore all that the enemy has tried to rob, kill and destroy.

And that’s really what I want to look at this morning. God’s powerful restoration that is available to each of our lives.

Joel 2:18–27 NKJV

Then the Lord will be zealous for His land, And pity His people. The Lord will answer and say to His people, “Behold, I will send you grain and new wine and oil, And you will be satisfied by them; I will no longer make you a reproach among the nations. “But I will remove far from you the northern army, And will drive him away into a barren and desolate land, With his face toward the eastern sea And his back toward the western sea; His stench will come up, And his foul odor will rise, Because he has done monstrous things.” Fear not, O land; Be glad and rejoice, For the Lord has done marvelous things! Do not be afraid, you beasts of the field; For the open pastures are springing up, And the tree bears its fruit; The fig tree and the vine yield their strength. Be glad then, you children of Zion, And rejoice in the Lord your God; For He has given you the former rain faithfully, And He will cause the rain to come down for you— The former rain, And the latter rain in the first month. The threshing floors shall be full of wheat, And the vats shall overflow with new wine and oil. “So I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten, The crawling locust, The consuming locust, And the chewing locust, My great army which I sent among you. You shall eat in plenty and be satisfied, And praise the name of the Lord your God, Who has dealt wondrously with you; And My people shall never be put to shame. Then you shall know that I am in the midst of Israel: I am the Lord your God And there is no other. My people shall never be put to shame.

In the first chapter, just before this, you would see that God had sent an army against his people because of their rebelliousness and sinfulness.

But unlike in most of the situations, it was not an army of man. It was an army of bug - locusts to be exact.

Now I don’t want to take the time to get into this today, but apparently there are four stages of a locusts life and these bugs must have spend enough time devouring Israels crops and fields that all four stages of a locusts life were present.

Look at chapter 1 and starting with verse 2

Joel 1:2–4 NKJV

Hear this, you elders, And give ear, all you inhabitants of the land! Has anything like this happened in your days, Or even in the days of your fathers? Tell your children about it, Let your children tell their children, And their children another generation. What the chewing locust left, the swarming locust has eaten; What the swarming locust left, the crawling locust has eaten; And what the crawling locust left, the consuming locust has eaten.

Joel 1:2-

So as these waves or times of locusts come through, the land is completely devastated. The land is barren.

And we see here that every one is affected from the drunkard to the farmers, priests and so on.

But we see in the first verses that we read that God is going to restore it back. And not just enough, but it all.

Back down to verse 25 of chapter 2

The New King James Version Chapter 2

So I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten,

The crawling locust,

The consuming locust,

And the chewing locust,

My great army which I sent among you.

These are the scriptures that I heard in my heart as I read Amalia’s Story.

And I take the message title from one of the things Amalia says - “Oh I wish I could live in a home as this.”

Because of all the pain that she had been through, she experiences something different and it becomes something that she dreams about.

I don’t think Amalia is that far off from any one of us.

Our situation may not be her situation, but we have all been in places of

brokenness

pain

sorrow

even destruction.

It goes along with last weeks message - the enemy is out to steal, kill and destroy

And we all as human beings have been are still are at one point on that scale - robbed, facing situations of death of something or the destruction of something.

But look what God says - I will restore it back to you. And not just one thing, but I will restore it all

What the swarming locust ate, what the crawling locust ate, what the consuming locust ate and even the chewing locust.

Amalia says that she felt that her father had destroyed and stolen everything.

And the enemy of our lives, satan, has been having a field day on this world

Why? because of the penalty of sin.

But while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

In our sin, through his sinless sacrifice, he makes a way for us out of this

We (everyone of us) can have a home like that. God makes a way.

So we see here in these scriptures, that there is no degree or progression of devastation that God cannot restore in.

I think that one of the traps that the enemy uses is to make us think that we have gone too far for God’s forgiveness to effect us.

Or maybe God just won’t forgive us because of where we are at.

You are not the only one to think that. Jesus brings it out in a parable that he used specifically for teaching about the progression of sin and the forgiveness of God - The prodigal son.

What does the son say when he decides to go back to his father? I am no worthy of sonship, but I’ll go back and become a servant.

What’s the Father’s statement about that? Bring the fatted calf, invite the neighbors, prepare the wine and the food, tonight we celebrate for my son who was once lost has returned.

My brother or sister, those of you who are not in the family of God yet, you are never too far away. There is nothing that you can or could have done that God can not forgive and restore in.

Look what he says in verse 12 and thirteen

The New King James Version Chapter 2

Turn to Me with all your heart,

With fasting, with weeping, and with mourning.”

13 So rend your heart, and not your garments;

That turn to me in the original language is return to me.

That implies that there has been a running or a going away from God. A backsliding. A choice to go away from or even desert the things of the Lord.

And yet he invites us to return.

Yes, he expects a brokenness on our part

He expects a heart change - rend your hearts and not your garments

He expects a repentant heart - one with weeping and mourning, like we saw back when we were looking at the beatitudes and blessed are those who mourn.

If we continue to read on we see

The New King James Version Chapter 2

Return to the LORD your God,

For He is gracious and merciful,

Slow to anger, and of great kindness;

And He relents from doing harm.

So let me ask you. Is that the God whom you have faith in?

This whole summer will be about our faith. I’m not sure that the book is going to go there, but I know that I’m going to be speaking on not only the amount of faith that we have, but the type of faith we have.

Who is our faith in? For most people it can be more in themselves than in their God

And then what kind of God to put their faith in? What do they really know about Him, because that is all that they are going to be able to have faith in him for.

Then, what about His Word? Do you know his complete word? Or have you just grabbed at pieces and segments because you like what they say.

A stable and secure and strong faith, is going to trust in the whole Word of God. The Yes’s and the No’s included.

Amalia and so many others, didn’t know this gracious and merciful God.

Our world does not understand that He is slow to anger and that he relents from doing harm

Most people see a god with lightning coming out of his fingers aimed at those who do wrong.

Many, like Amalia see a God who is unconcerned about them. A god who doesn’t care what they are going through

And so to believe for a better life is so foreign for them and impossible for them to achieve.

But Jesus works in impossibilities.

So if you’re situation of life and what you have experienced is an impossible one then listen to the words of

2 Corinthians 5:17 NKJV

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.

2 Corinthians

I looked up that word anyone in the greek and do you know what it means? It means anyone.

Not just his favorite

Not just those in a certain church

Not just those who fell under a certain limit of sin

No ANYONE. Everyone of us can know God’s full restoration in our lives.

Look at verse 27 of

Joel 2:27 NKJV

Then you shall know that I am in the midst of Israel: I am the Lord your God And there is no other. My people shall never be put to shame.

Twice here God says this - My people shall never be put to shame.

Church, it’s a shameful thing when we don’t live up to the potential of what Christ died to enable us to live to.

It’s a shameful thing when a people who have been delivered from the attacks of the enemy, are constantly stolen from and beat up.

Maybe we don’t see it as a shame. But God does. Because he is a jealous god and when people look at us, our lives don’t speak up to the amount of Glory that God should get.

Listen to me today, anyone who visits with us today, should be able to recognize that the living God is in our midst.

If that doesn’t happen, than this is a shame. Because we are missing out on so much more that God wants to do in our midst.

Your co-workers should be able to tell that God is living in you.

Your family should be able to see that God is active in your life.

When we go to the pool today, there should be something that speaks to those swimming with us that there is a difference in us.

And the power of God should move.

If not it is a shame.

Amalia says that when it came to drugs, she only would take those things that sped her up. Uppers. And her reasoning was because I wanted anything I took to lift me up and make me happy.

That’s what our world is looking for today. That’s what people are getting involved in and trying to use to fill the god shaped hole in their lives - anything that lifts them up and makes them happy.

Did you notice the closing verses of this chapter? They are the very ones that Peter used when he spoke about what had happened on the day of pentecost.

Joel 2:28–32 NKJV

“And it shall come to pass afterward That I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, Your old men shall dream dreams, Your young men shall see visions. And also on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days. “And I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth: Blood and fire and pillars of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, And the moon into blood, Before the coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord. And it shall come to pass That whoever calls on the name of the Lord Shall be saved. For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be deliverance, As the Lord has said, Among the remnant whom the Lord calls.

Joel 2:28-

I will pour out my spirit upon ALL FLesh. We could also say as we said a few minutes back, that means anyone.

God doesn’t want his people to be ashamed, so He is going to pour out his spirit upon them. - Again the baptism of the Holy Spirit.

You talk about being happy. You talk about being lifted up.

This is all part of the restoration of God in our lives.

You can have a home like that. Not a physical place, but a spiritual place that is full of love, acceptance, power and joy. A place where you matter and where nobody tears you down or does evil things to you. A place where you will want to be and where you will enjoy being.

That is the presence of the Holy spirit of God.

That is the family of God

That is right here, where God is continuously working his restoration in our lives.

It doesn’t matter what level of destruction you are in

It doesn’t matter how far you have gone from him

It doesn’t matter where you are now

What matters is the precious blood of Jesus and all that he came to do for you.

If you will return to God

If you will give him your whole heart

If you will trust in what He has done

You will be restored.

That’s what Amalia found out and God is no respecter of persons.

PRAY