A Miracle in the Mud

2 Kings 5...


The only thing that we contribute to our salvation is our sin.  


We can't clean up what we've messed up.  


We either were in a mess.  Are in a mess, or are one bad decision away from being a mess.  



We can't earn a miracle. We can't buy a work of God. 



Sometimes we don't receive what God has for us because it doesn't meet our expectations. 



Don't put God in a box.  He is bigger than the box that you've put Him in.  



God is bigger than your brain.  You'll never understand Him. 



Do you fully understand your car?  Do you drive it anyway?



Do you fully understand medicine?  Does that keep you from going to the doctor?
  


You don't fully understand God?  Should that keep you from trusting Him. 



God requires our obedience not our understanding.
  


Your miracle is on the other side of complete obedience.
  


It is our responsibility to obey.  It is God's responsibility to heal. 



Mike Haman, Healing Place Church

Put Your Praise On

Choices lead feelings follow;therefore, choose joy. 

Psalm 95:1-2 (NKJV)

Oh come, let us sing to the Lord!
Let us shout joyfully to the Rock of our salvation.


2 Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving;
Let us shout joyfully to Him with psalms. 

Oh come, let us worship and bow down;
Let us kneel before the Lord our Maker. 
For He is our God,


And we are the people of His pasture,
And the sheep of His hand.

Today, if you will hear His voice:

We praise Him for what He has done. Praise is horizontal with other people.  Praise is on the eternal not on the temporal.  





Praise is a choice. Praise is focused on God only.  It is horizontal.  We are to praise God together.  Praise is an outward expression.

We worship God for who He is. Worship is vertical.  It's about you and God, together.  





Worship is a response. It is me focused. Worship is a feeling.  Worship is on the moment. 

   

(Isaiah 61:3 NKJV) To give them the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness.

· Praise focuses on God, not me. 

(Psalm 50:23) “Those who sacrifice thank offerings honor me…” 

· Praise reminds me of the eternal, not the temporal. 

(2 Corinthians 4:8-9, 17-18) We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed…

For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. 

So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. 

· Praise is outward, not inward. 

(Hebrews 13:15) Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that openly profess his name.

The Sacrificial Choice 

(Luke 19:37-40 MSG) Right at the crest, where Mount Olives begins its descent, the whole crowd of disciples burst into enthusiastic praise over all the mighty works they had witnessed: 

Blessed is he who comes, the king in God’s name! All’s well in heaven! Glory in the high places! 

Some Pharisees from the crowd told him, “Teacher, get your disciples under control!” 

But he said, “If they kept quiet, the stones would do it for them, shouting praise.”

1. Halel: To rave, boast, celebrate, to be clamorously foolish. 

(Psalm 35:18 NLT) I will thank you in front of the great assembly. I will praise you before all the people.

2. Yadah: To acknowledge in public. 

(Psalm 138:1) I will praise you, O LORD, with all my heart.

3. Barak: To bless by kneeling or bowing. 

(Psalm 103:1) Praise the LORD, O my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name. 

4. Zamar: Making music to God with strings. 

(Psalm 92:1) It is good to praise the LORD and make music to your name, O Most High. 

Psalm 150:3-5  (NIV)

3 Praise him with the sounding of the trumpet,
    praise him with the harp and lyre,
4 praise him with timbrel and dancing,
    praise him with the strings and pipe,
5 praise him with the clash of cymbals,
    praise him with resounding cymbals.

5. Shabach: To address in a loud tone, to shout. 

(Psalm 63:3-4) Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you. I will praise you as long as I live, and in your name I will lift up my hands. 

6. Towdah: To lift hands in adoration. 

(Psalm 50:23) He who offers praise glorifies me: and to him that orders his conversation aright will I show the salvation of God.

7. Tehilah: Exuberant singing. 

(Psalm 34:1) I will extol the LORD at all times; his praise will always be on my lips.

Psalm 108

My heart, O God, is steadfast;     I will sing and make music with all my soul.  I will praise you, Lord, among the nations;     I will sing of you among the peoples.

The only part of life that we can control is our reaction. 

Choose joy.

Chris Hodges, Church of the Highlands

https://www.churchofthehighlands.com/media/message/the-sacrificial-choice All scripture is from the New International Version unless otherwise noted.

Why, God?

God gives us what we need, so we will give Him what He deserves.  Our praise!

What God Wants

What can I give to God that He doesn't already have?   My sin.     

How to reach people

God accepts us, so He can change us.   We must lay aside our rights, and be intentional in adding value to others.   


We must connect with them and not correct them.  


You find out who you really are when you leave the Christian world behind to reach the lost.   


Do not forget who you are in Christ.  


Don't forget why you crossed over.   


See things from the lost's point of view.  


They think God is out of reach.


They think God can be reached by good works.  


They think that they are bad. 


John Maxwell, Church of the Highlands 

A Moment of Pain

A moment of pain is worth a lifetime of Glory.   


Who says that you are not better than you are?   


Free people.  Free people.  


God saves us to reach others.   


We must see God's world, the way He see it.  


We must put ourselves into God's shoes.  


We must never stop looking for lost people because God never stopped looking for us.  


If you can see the lost world, you'll never be the same.  Lost people are deceived.  

2 Corinthians 4:4  (NKJV)

4 whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them.  


We either accept the situation that we are in, or get to work changing it.  Just begin with one lost person.  

The Life Changing Choice

Joy Wins 

(John 10:10 NIV) The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. 

(2 Corinthians 5:17 NIV) Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: the old has gone, the new is here! 

Divine Order of JOY 

(Hebrews 12:1-3 TLB) Since we have such a huge crowd of men of faith watching us from the grandstands, let us strip off anything that slows us down or holds us back, and especially those sins that wrap themselves so tightly around our feet and trip us up; and let us run with patience the particular race that God has before us. Keep your eyes on Jesus, our leader and instructor. He was willing to die a shameful death on the cross because of the joy he knew would be his afterwards; and now he sits in the place of honor by the throne of God. If you want to keep from becoming fainthearted and weary, think about his patience as sinful men did such terrible things to him. 

Jesus 

(Matthew 6:33 AMP) But seek (aim at and strive after) first of all His kingdom and His righteousness (His way of doing and being right), and then all these things taken together will be given you besides. 

Others 

(Act 20:35) In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: “It is more blessed to give than to receive.”

Yourself 

(1 Peter 5:7 NLT) Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you. 

The Life-Changing Choice 

(Isaiah 9:2-3) The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned. You have enlarged the nation and increased their joy; they rejoice before you as people rejoice at the harvest, as warriors rejoice when dividing the plunder. 

1. Life-changing joy is inside out. 

(Galatians 5:22-23) But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and selfcontrol. Against such things there is no law. 

2. Life-changing joy is beyond circumstances. 

(Psalm 19:8) The precepts of the LORD are right, giving joy to the heart. The commands of the LORD are radiant, giving light to the eyes.

3. Life-changing joy is with others. 

(Psalm 16:11 ESV) You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore. 

4. Life-changing joy is going to win. 

(Nehemiah 8:10) Do not grieve, for the joy of the LORD is your strength.” 

Dino Rizzo, Church of the Highlands

Kill Joy?

(John 10:10) The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. 


 Sin steals our joy and gives us heaviness. 


(Psalm 32:1-11) Blessed (Happy) is the one whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered.


Blessed is the one whose sin the LORD does not count against them and in whose spirit is no deceit.


When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night your hand was heavy on me; my strength was sapped as in the heat of summer. 


Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD.” 


And you (God) forgave the guilt of my sin. 


Many are the woes of the wicked, but the LORD’s unfailing love surrounds the one who trusts in him. 


Rejoice in the LORD and be glad, you righteous; sing, all you who are upright in heart! 



 Sin kills and pollutes our lives. 



(Psalm 73:18-19) Surely you place them on slippery ground; you cast them down to ruin. How suddenly are they destroyed, completely swept away by terrors! 



 Sin destroys our identity. 


God knows what you did, but that's not who you are.



(Psalm 38:4, 6) My guilt has overwhelmed me like a burden too heavy to bear… I am bowed down and brought low. 





Ask for forgiveness and practice God's presence.  



You can't be guilty and happy as the same time. 



God will forgive your sins that you have committed, and that you will commit.  





It is a Daily Choice 


(Acts 3:19-20) Now repent of your sins and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped away. Then times of refreshment will come from the presence of the Lord. 



1. I will daily choose to put to death my old sin nature. 



(Psalm 51:2) Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. 



(Romans 8:12-13 NLT) Therefore, dear brothers and sisters, you have no obligation to do what your sinful nature urges you to do. For if you live by its dictates, you will die. But if through the power of the Spirit you put to death the deeds of your sinful nature, you will live. 



If you sin, you will not lose your forgiveness, but you will lose your joy. 



We must turn daily from our sins, and purpose yield to Jesus.   



That's why we have to have a daily change of heart.  



2. I will daily release my past and take another step toward freedom.



 (Psalm 51:7) Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. 



(James 5:16 MSG) Make this your common practice: Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you can live together whole and healed. The prayer of a person living right with God is something powerful to be reckoned with. 



3. I will daily pursue God’s plan for my life. 



(Psalm 51:10) Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. 



(Romans 12:2 NLT) Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect. 


4. I will daily live a life that impacts others. 



(Psalm 51:12-13) Restore to me the joy of your salvation… and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me. Then I will teach transgressors your ways, so that sinners will turn back to you. 



Joy is more than a feeling. It’s a way of living.



Chris Hodges, Church of the Highlands

https://www.churchofthehighlands.com/media/message/the-daily-choice