Greater Life Church

Greater Life Church

Fires are part of life's journey. No one is exempt from the fires of life. Note that that is plural. We will all experience multiple fires as we go through life. Fire serves a divine purpose. The fires of trial and adversity are a refining process. Most things that are done for God that are worthwhile are brought out of a fire. The scriptures that encourage us the most are the result of someone going through a fire. The book of Psalms, in particular the 23 Psalm was written in a time of desperation and adversity. Most of Paul’s letters were written from a prison cell or in the midst of great suffering. When we find ourselves in a fire, we are not alone. Being in the fire is not God dicipilining us. Most of the time the presence of fire in our life means that God is working through something to lead us to a blessing on the other side. God does not waste his time on something worthless. He will not exert his effort on something is not worthwhile. If we are in a fire, it is because God is working. Fire has a revealing quality. Fire will burn away the outer layers and expose that which is hidden. Fire has a cleansing property. A forest fire burns away the underbrush and non-native vegetation. When God allows fire in life, it is not to hurt, it is to help. It is there to burn away things that have accumulated in life that do not need to be there. In a refining process, the fire must be very hot to melt the metal. The more precious metals the hotter fire required to refine it. In our text, Isiah reminds his people to Glorify God in the midst of the fire. He was speaking to a people before they went into Babylonian captivity. He was reminding them to praise God even in the midst of the adversity that was to come in Babylon. Human nature is to complain while in the fire. God reminds His people through the man of God to be different from the world and to praise God even in the midst of a fire. What we do in the fire is a testament to the glory of God and the failure of the world. Even after this reminder, Israel did not do as God commanded. They hung their harps on the willows and questioned "how can we sing." If there is ever a place that needs to hear redemption's song it is in the midst of a fire. The world needs to hear that there is a God that is still able, there is a God that still cares. People in the world know when we are having a hard time. When we demonstrate a faith and trust in God, we demonstrate and proclaim His glory. What we say when we glorify God in the fire is that the fire has not destroyed us, but made us. Made us stronger, better, wiser. Great things are done in the fire, and great things in life will come through the fire. He did not ask us praise Him for the fire, but He wants us to praise HIm in the fire. No one wants or enjoys the fire, but we will all have one. When we are in the fire, don't panic; but praise. Don't hope the fire will end, or wallow in self pity. In stead of worrying what all is wrong, focus on what is right. That is how to glorify God in the fire.

Fires are part of life's journey. No one is exempt from the fires of life. Note that that is plural. We will all experience multiple fires as we go through life. Fire serves a divine purpose. The fires of trial and adversity are a refining process. Most things that are done for God that are worthwhile are brought out of a fire. The scriptures that encourage us the most are the result of someone going through a fire. The book of Psalms, in particular the 23 Psalm was written in a time of desperation and adversity. Most of Paul’s letters were written from a prison cell or in the midst of great suffering. When we find ourselves in a fire, we are not alone. Being in the fire is not God dicipilining us. Most of the time the presence of fire in our life means that God is working through something to lead us to a blessing on the other side. God does not waste his time on something worthless. He will not exert his effort on something is not worthwhile. If we are in a fire, it is because God is working. Fire has a revealing quality. Fire will burn away the outer layers and expose that which is hidden. Fire has a cleansing property. A forest fire burns away the underbrush and non-native vegetation. When God allows fire in life, it is not to hurt, it is to help. It is there to burn away things that have accumulated in life that do not need to be there. In a refining process, the fire must be very hot to melt the metal. The more precious metals the hotter fire required to refine it. In our text, Isiah reminds his people to Glorify God in the midst of the fire. He was speaking to a people before they went into Babylonian captivity. He was reminding them to praise God even in the midst of the adversity that was to come in Babylon. Human nature is to complain while in the fire. God reminds His people through the man of God to be different from the world and to praise God even in the midst of a fire. What we do in the fire is a testament to the glory of God and the failure of the world. Even after this reminder, Israel did not do as God commanded. They hung their harps on the willows and questioned "how can we sing." If there is ever a place that needs to hear redemption's song it is in the midst of a fire. The world needs to hear that there is a God that is still able, there is a God that still cares. People in the world know when we are having a hard time. When we demonstrate a faith and trust in God, we demonstrate and proclaim His glory. What we say when we glorify God in the fire is that the fire has not destroyed us, but made us. Made us stronger, better, wiser. Great things are done in the fire, and great things in life will come through the fire. He did not ask us praise Him for the fire, but He wants us to praise HIm in the fire. No one wants or enjoys the fire, but we will all have one. When we are in the fire, don't panic; but praise. Don't hope the fire will end, or wallow in self pity. In stead of worrying what all is wrong, focus on what is right. That is how to glorify God in the fire.

Jesus' earthly ministry was astounding. There is a long list of miracles. He would restore the withered hand, He would raise the dead., He would cast out daemons. He opened the deaf ear, He opened the blind eye. He cleansed leapers. He calmed the storm and cursed the fig tree. By the time of our scripture, Jesus had performed at least 11 profound miracles. In our text Jesus returns to His hometown. He came not as the man he was when He left, but as a rabbi with His twelve disciples. He was given the opportunity to speak in the synagogue. Whatever His subject, His message was profound enough to cause them to question: "from where did he get his wisdom?" The nature of their questions seems to indicate that Jesus was being judged. Rather than the wisdom of what He had to say being met with reverence and awe, it was met with an attitude of skepticism and hostility. In this case familiarity indeed breed contempt. Because He had lived among them and was one of them, they could not view Him as the blessing that he was. What a loss they suffered. He was limited not by a lack of power and authority, but by a lack of response. Their lives were limited by their unbelief. His power did not depend upon faith. There were other miracles where there was no evidence of faith. His miracles however, did depend upon opportunity and someone opening themselves to receive it. They could not open them selves up to the fact that Jesus could do the impossible. There is nothing too hard for God. Jesus was limited because they would not let HIm work. What are we missing because we do not let God work? What would God do if we would only let Him? God is not on trial, we are. It is not about what God can or cannot do. God is more than capable. It is about are we open to receive it. Nothing limits the hand of God like people that will not reach for it.

Jesus' earthly ministry was astounding. There is a long list of miracles. He would restore the withered hand, He would raise the dead., He would cast out daemons. He opened the deaf ear, He opened the blind eye. He cleansed leapers. He calmed the storm and cursed the fig tree. By the time of our scripture, Jesus had performed at least 11 profound miracles. In our text Jesus returns to His hometown. He came not as the man he was when He left, but as a rabbi with His twelve disciples. He was given the opportunity to speak in the synagogue. Whatever His subject, His message was profound enough to cause them to question: "from where did he get his wisdom?" The nature of their questions seems to indicate that Jesus was being judged. Rather than the wisdom of what He had to say being met with reverence and awe, it was met with an attitude of skepticism and hostility. In this case familiarity indeed breed contempt. Because He had lived among them and was one of them, they could not view Him as the blessing that he was. What a loss they suffered. He was limited not by a lack of power and authority, but by a lack of response. Their lives were limited by their unbelief. His power did not depend upon faith. There were other miracles where there was no evidence of faith. His miracles however, did depend upon opportunity and someone opening themselves to receive it. They could not open them selves up to the fact that Jesus could do the impossible. There is nothing too hard for God. Jesus was limited because they would not let HIm work. What are we missing because we do not let God work? What would God do if we would only let Him? God is not on trial, we are. It is not about what God can or cannot do. God is more than capable. It is about are we open to receive it. Nothing limits the hand of God like people that will not reach for it.

When Jesus came to earth as a human, he associated with some unsavory people His ministry took Him to many people who were less than perfect. He would associate with sinners, politicians, adulterers and people who were possessed by demons. God will assocate with all type of people except for one: the one that turns back.

In our text, Jesus gives an example of a man who sets out to build a tower. He specifically said a tower. Not a house. A tower is a more significant endeavor than building a house. This analogy carries on to life. We are not building an ordinary life. We are building a spiritual structure that requires planning and work. We are building for eternity and we cannot afford to get it wrong. We certainly cannot afford to begin building, and then not be able to finish. This is not a trivial undertaking. It takes and requires a great deal of planning and execution. Many people are good starters, but not so good a finisher. It take much more to finish than it does to start. What does it take to finish well? What does it look like to finish what we start? First we must not lose site of what we are doing. We are building something that is eternally important. We cannot lose site of why we started. We must keep the goal in focus. In any undertaking, we will encounter obstacles. In order to finish, we must not allow these obstacles to derail us. We cannot become distracted with secondary things and lose sight of the main thing. Finally we must never allow the cost of building to cause us to shortcut our efforts to build. Too many people set out to live for God and then think that it costs too much. Life is costly not matter what. The right kind of life is worth every cost, every bit of energy and every setback that we encounter. We must be committed to finishing what we start.

When Jesus came to earth as a human, he associated with some unsavory people His ministry took Him to many people who were less than perfect. He would associate with sinners, politicians, adulterers and people who were possessed by demons. God will assocate with all type of people except for one: the one that turns back.

In our text, Jesus gives an example of a man who sets out to build a tower. He specifically said a tower. Not a house. A tower is a more significant endeavor than building a house. This analogy carries on to life. We are not building an ordinary life. We are building a spiritual structure that requires planning and work. We are building for eternity and we cannot afford to get it wrong. We certainly cannot afford to begin building, and then not be able to finish. This is not a trivial undertaking. It takes and requires a great deal of planning and execution. Many people are good starters, but not so good a finisher. It take much more to finish than it does to start. What does it take to finish well? What does it look like to finish what we start? First we must not lose site of what we are doing. We are building something that is eternally important. We cannot lose site of why we started. We must keep the goal in focus. In any undertaking, we will encounter obstacles. In order to finish, we must not allow these obstacles to derail us. We cannot become distracted with secondary things and lose sight of the main thing. Finally we must never allow the cost of building to cause us to shortcut our efforts to build. Too many people set out to live for God and then think that it costs too much. Life is costly not matter what. The right kind of life is worth every cost, every bit of energy and every setback that we encounter. We must be committed to finishing what we start.

Our text expresses God's very intimate knowledge of us and His deep love for us. God is intimately involved in our lives. There is not a place in this universe that we can go that He does not know where we are. In those dark moments of life, He knows where we are. We may feel alone in those dark places, but the truth is, God is with us even in those times. No matter what the situation, God knows where we are. God does not intend that we live our lives in a hopeless situation. God did not just call Israel out because they were special, He called out Israel in order to bless the entire world. God had a plan from the beginning that he would bless the people of Israel and that the people of Israel would bless the entire world. God brought Israel out of slavery in Egypt, but they were never able to shed the slave mentality that they had. God desires us to be free. He desires that we be delivered from the bondage of sin. He wants that we would live a life as a free people and enjoy the blessings He wants to give us. God wants to bless us, so that He can bless the world through us. God wants to do something for our church. We must yield ourselves to His spirit to allow that to happen.

Our text expresses God's very intimate knowledge of us and His deep love for us. God is intimately involved in our lives. There is not a place in this universe that we can go that He does not know where we are. In those dark moments of life, He knows where we are. We may feel alone in those dark places, but the truth is, God is with us even in those times. No matter what the situation, God knows where we are. God does not intend that we live our lives in a hopeless situation. God did not just call Israel out because they were special, He called out Israel in order to bless the entire world. God had a plan from the beginning that he would bless the people of Israel and that the people of Israel would bless the entire world. God brought Israel out of slavery in Egypt, but they were never able to shed the slave mentality that they had. God desires us to be free. He desires that we be delivered from the bondage of sin. He wants that we would live a life as a free people and enjoy the blessings He wants to give us. God wants to bless us, so that He can bless the world through us. God wants to do something for our church. We must yield ourselves to His spirit to allow that to happen.