Location, location, location

Introduction

(NLT) — 12 There is a path before each person that seems right, but it ends in death.

ILLUSTRATION- Being lost.

“Tonight I want to make an attempt to steer God’s people back onto the right path, not with clever words or my own persuasion, but with the word of God…”

“I believe we run the risk of loosing an entire generation because they are following a path that feels right, it seems right, but they are unaware they are walking into traps…”

“There is a story of a King who had the right questions, he had the right desires, but he was looking in the wrong place…”

MAIN POINT- You can have the right desires, the right questions but be looking for your answers in the wrong places.

ILLUSTRATION- When I had a bad dream and I woke up on the couch (cause I fell asleep there) thinking I was in my room, looking for the light switch where I thought it was in my room…

(NLT) — 1 After King Ahab’s death, the land of Moab rebelled against Israel. 2 One day Israel’s new king, Ahaziah, fell through the latticework of an upper room at his palace in Samaria and was seriously injured. So he sent messengers to the temple of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron, to ask whether he would recover.

(Likely because of the way the text reads, it seems like there was a sky light, and a wooden lattice covered the opening on the roof, he stepped on it; where he should not have stepped and fell through… He then asks a very fair question… Reasonable desire…)

3 But the angel of the Lord told Elijah, who was from Tishbe, “Go and confront the messengers of the king of Samaria and ask them, ‘Is there no God in Israel? Why are you going to Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron, to ask whether the king will recover?

(God had no problem with King Ahaziah asking his question, the problem was where he was going for his answer)

POINT- Stop living like God is dead!

4 Now, therefore, this is what the Lord says: You will never leave the bed you are lying on; you will surely die.’ ” So Elijah went to deliver the message. 5 When the messengers returned to the king, he asked them, “Why have you returned so soon?”

(When you go to the wrong places for your answers you will always return empty handed and find there was nothing there quicker than you realize.)

6 They replied, “A man came up to us and told us to go back to the king and give him this message. ‘This is what the Lord says: Is there no God in Israel? Why are you sending men to Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron, to ask whether you will recover? Therefore, because you have done this, you will never leave the bed you are lying on; you will surely die.’ ” 7 “What sort of man was he?” the king demanded. “What did he look like?” 8 They replied, “He was a hairy man, and he wore a leather belt around his waist.” “Elijah from Tishbe!” the king exclaimed.

(The King knew of Elijah because Elijah’s reputation preceeded himself… YET the King would still rather seek an idol than the Lord, its not that the king did not know of God’s power, he just chose to go his own way.)

9 Then he sent an army captain with fifty soldiers to arrest him. They found him sitting on top of a hill. The captain said to him, “Man of God, the king has commanded you to come down with us.”

POINT- We have all been damaged by a fall.

I’m talking to someone tonight and at some point in your life you stepped out in a place you never should have and you fell… You became damaged…

(Relationships- good and bad) There are people here tonight and you stepped out on your lattice of relationships and without warning they caved in on you and you fell and became crippled…

(Sin) Some of you stepped out onto the shaky lattice of sin and though it was great for a season, like a snare; a trap in gave way to a deep pit that injured you in the fall.

(Discouragement/Disappointments) I’m talking to someone and you fell through a lattice of discouragement as your hopes and dreams became to much weight and now you feel you hit the bottom.

I’m talking to someone right now, and you don’t even realize it, but you have been going the wrong way to get to the right thing…

But somewhere along the way you stepped out where you never should have stepped

We are all looking for the things God wants us to have…

Joy.

Peace.

Hope.

(NLT) — 13 I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit.

Fulfilment.

Confidence.

Love.

(NLT) — 1 See how very much our Father loves us, for he calls us his children, and that is what we are! But the people who belong to this world don’t recognize that we are God’s children because they don’t know him.

KEY POINT- The true desires of your heart can only be found when you look for the one who put them there.

(NLT) — 33 Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.

You might sit here tonight and think to yourself, “I go to church, I’m not seeking after an idol, I am obviously going to the right places.” But realize tonight that you still may be falling into the same trap as King Ahaziah…

MAIN POINT- WE CAN HAVE THE RIGHT QUESTIONS, THE RIGHT DESIRES BUT BE LOOKING IN THE WRONG PLACES.

WE GO TO THE WRONG PLACES WHEN WE…

1. Go to the place that has a reputation for defeat.

Think to yourself how often you return to the same sin knowing it will bring a moment of satisfaction, but then being left with shame and regret…

I do not believe it is an accident that sin has been a big point in the last 4 messages you have heard at this church, that is not always what we hit on, but its coming up a lot lately…

(NLT) — 2 One day Israel’s new king, Ahaziah, fell through the latticework of an upper room at his palace in Samaria and was seriously injured. So he sent messengers to the temple of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron, to ask whether he would recover.

KEY- Ekron was 1 of 5 major Philistine cities on the boarder of Israel.

The Philistines who once mocked God and tormented God’s people were reduced next to nothing when a man of God named David decided to step up and confront sin.

(NLT) — 45 David replied to the Philistine, “You come to me with sword, spear, and javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies—the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.

From that moment forward the Philistines were sent into hiding, they were stripped of all there power and authority. David with God’s power disarmed the Philistines who once oppressed God’s people…

(NLT) — 15 In this way, he disarmed the spiritual rulers and authorities. He shamed them publicly by his victory over them on the cross.

In the same way Jesus came and disarmed the enemy in our lives and stripped away the power of sin with the power of the Cross…

KEY POINT- Sin has been removed of its power BUT for some reason like King Ahaziah we go back to the place that was defeated.

ILLUSTRATION- I love winter, its my favorite of all seasons. It started when I first comprehended the idea of a “snow day.” The idea that everything slows down just because it snows… I love this. As a kid if there was just the slightest chance that it would snow through the night the very first thing that would come into my mind when I opened my eyes the next morning is, “I wonder if school is cancelled???” It did not matter how early it was I was going to get out of bed and look out my window, but being that I grew up in Virginia most of the time I’d look out the window and be left disappointed…

Some of you keep running back to your sin hoping, maybe this time…

And so we sell out and compromise… If I just tell the right joke (regardless of how it goes or what I have to say) If I just find the right image on google… If I just wear the right outfit…

POINT- Compromise is the enemy of character. Nothing is worth altering your God given role!

(NLT) — 25 They traded the truth about God for a lie. So they worshiped and served the things God created instead of the Creator himself, who is worthy of eternal praise! Amen.

POINT- Stop seeking out the temporary fix, the temporary answer.

(NLT) — 13 Laughter can conceal a heavy heart, but when the laughter ends, the grief remains.

POINT- God can not be the source of your strength if the world is the source of your standards.

2. When we get comfortable with the things that should annoy us.

(NLT) — 2 One day Israel’s new king, Ahaziah, fell through the latticework of an upper room at his palace in Samaria and was seriously injured. So he sent messengers to the temple of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron, to ask whether he would recover.

DEFINE- Baal-zebub literally translated means, “lord of the flies.”

ILLUSTRATION- I remember being at a lake with some friends one time and we had a good time throughout the course of the day and we were getting ready to leave, it was dark… I rolled down my window as we were leaving and I started to choke literally choke as millions of these small flies came swarming into my car… I had never seen so many bugs…

I began to ask God what does Baal-zebub represent to your people? What is the word that you want me to bring, and I felt God say, “Tell my people to stop being comfortable with what should annoy them.”

POINT- Flies are VERY annoying!

KEY- The thought that the people of Ekron would worship an idol that they call the lord of the flies sounds so crazy to me.

CHALLENGE- Don’t get comfortable with your insecurities, negative thoughts, worries… Sickness, problems, school…

CHALLENGE- Is it possible that you have built a temple that you worship your problems in? Is it possible that you have magnified your struggles more than you have magnified God??

Some of us have built up temples for the flies in our lives…

I’ll always be insecure about this so I may as well get comfortable with it… I may as well put this thought in a sacred place…

“For someone the enemy has said just get comfortable with your insecurity but I’m telling you that as a son or daughter of God insecurity has no place in your life!

You have gotten use to having to deal with your sickness… How about we tell it to leave…

You have gotten use to having chaos in your life, you feel that nothing is ever stable, don’t get use to instability RATHER stand on the solid rock that is Jesus Christ!! And tell your environment to shut up like Jesus did on the sea.

I’m here to serve notice to insecurity, to sickness, to the flies in our lives your eviction is NOW!

CHALLENGE- What have you settled into that God is calling you out of?

KEY- The presence of flies in your life is not proof that God has forgotten you… Just because there are flies doesn’t mean that the way it is supposed to be.

THERE IS SOMEONE IN THE ROOM RIGHT NOW WHO NEEDS TO KNOW THAT YOUR STRUGGLE IS NOT THE PLAN OF GOD…

KEY POINT- Your struggle is not the plan of God but it can become the way of God.

Let me explain…

(NLT) — 11 For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.

DEFINE- That word hope means to resolve what has been difficult.

SOMETIMES WE EXPEREINCE OUR FLIES AND WE GET DOWN ON OURSELVES… WE THINK GOD WHY? GOD THIS IS HARD…

THE TRUTH IS GOD KNEW ABOUT YOUR FAILURE, YOUR STRUGGLE, YOUR DISAPPOINTMENT BEFORE YOU EVEN EXPERIENCE IT AND HE ALREADY PREPARED A WAY FOR YOUR FREEDOM!!

(ESV) — 4 even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love

(NLT) — 6 Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. 7 Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.

KEY POINT- The limitations you embrace regulate the blessings you experience.

3. When we ignore the presence of God.

(NLT) — 3 But the angel of the Lord told Elijah, who was from Tishbe, “Go and confront the messengers of the king of Samaria and ask them, ‘Is there no God in Israel? Why are you going to Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron, to ask whether the king will recover?

KEY- The king knew of the power of God, because he knew of Elijah, as soon as the King’s servants begin to describe Elijah the King knows exactly who it is.

Understand the significance of what the king did…

This all just happened…

After Elijah prayed and asked for a 3 year drought to end it did

Elijah calls fire down from heaven in front of hundreds that consumes a wet sacrifice

Elijah calls for a drought and it doesn’t rain for 3 years

And now this new king is injured and he literally passes right by God to go to an idol from a foreign land…

ILLUSTRATION- Imagine for a moment that we are having a basketball workshop where Lebron James is the teacher and I decide to also hold a basketball workshop where I am the teacher right next door… Which one are you going to go to????

CHALLENGE- How many times have we passed up the presence of God to explore a land foreign to the spirt God put in us when he saved us???

Realize this tonight, the blood of Jesus gave us free access into God’s presence!

So everyday you have a choice to make - To embrace or ignore God’s presence…

ILLUSTRATION- Just the other day I got in the car and I went to turn on some music; not worship music, just for enjoyment, when I felt the spirit of God call me to worship… I didn’t feel like it, I wanted to just sit back and listen instead of sit up and engage… But I did it anyway, I worshiped, and in the process God refreshed me, spoke to me, gave me exactly what I needed for that day…

Same thing happened recently, I went to turn on Netflix and the spirit of God said, take a moment and seek me…

KEY POINT- God’s presence deserves your attention!

POINT- Knowing who is with you is more important than knowing where you are going.

4. When we follow the way of pride.

Let me tell you right now, God’s ways are not your ways - God’s ways are much higher than your ways!! God’s ways are much better than your ways!!

KEY- It is not enough to just know God’s ways are higher, but you have to display in your actions and choices that his ways are higher.

(NLT) — 8 They replied, “He was a hairy man, and he wore a leather belt around his waist.” “Elijah from Tishbe!” the king exclaimed.

The man that speaks for God…

The man that performs miracles…

The man who boldly speaks God’s word…

Yeah I want you to go arrest him.

9 Then he sent an army captain with fifty soldiers to arrest him. They found him sitting on top of a hill. The captain said to him, “Man of God, the king has commanded you to come down with us.”

KEY- The King and everyone knew who Elijah was and that he spoke for God, they knew because they had experienced that God’s power is unmatched. YET for some reason they acted like they had more power.

POINT- The evidence of pride in your life is not seen in what you believe its seen in what you do!

(NLT) — 19 You say you have faith, for you believe that there is one God. Good for you! Even the demons believe this, and they tremble in terror.

CHALLENGE- You may say I don’t have pride, I know God is greater, but are you living like God is greater???

Could you imagine what would’ve happened if the King cried mercy instead of digging his heels in the ground…

POINT- Pride is the barrier that keeps us from receiving strength in our weakness.

CONCLUSION…

MAIN POINT- WE CAN HAVE THE RIGHT QUESTIONS, THE RIGHT DESIRES BUT BE LOOKING IN THE WRONG PLACES.

(NLT) — 12 There is a path before each person that seems right, but it ends in death.

So maybe you are here tonight and you want to look in the right places, you want to go God’s way and you are wondering where do I start???

(NLT) — 6 Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.

MAIN POINT- If we are going to find ourselves in the right place and the right time we have to go the way of the cross.

It was the cross that bridged the gap between my shame and his glory…

It was the cross that paved over my guilt making way for life…

It was the cross that tunneled through through my fear and insecurity so that I could walk on dry ground into His love…

It was the cross that set my feet right behind his, now I walk out paths of righteousness…

CHALLENGE- Let’s go the way of the cross!!

HOW DO I GO THE WAY OF THE CROSS???

POINT- It’s not about me, its all about you Jesus!

(NLT) — 34 Then, calling the crowd to join his disciples, he said, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me.

POINT-