The God In The Box, Or The God Of Our Salvation

*I Kings 19:9-13

„h Today¡¦s sermon has to do with how we view God. our perspective of who God is and what he can do determines how victorious we will be in our every day matters.

Our view of God determines our response to certain situations;

„h Elijah¡¦s view of God was a god that responded to big events but was not really concerned about the little things. (We may feel that;¡§God is certainly concerned about a big event such as 911. But not about little old me, I¡¦m to insignificant¡¨)

„h ?Do you serve a God that can truly do the impossible or a God that can only do certain things?

(Many times we limit God, he becomes the God in the little box of our own imagination)

-This is the story of the prophet Elijah (a powerful man and prophet of God)

-A man that had believed God for many big things in his life

His name alone says a lot about his character; (¡§Jehovah is God¡¨) How would you like to have a name like that?

1. He believed God to bring a drought for three years upon Israel because of the idolatry of a wicked king(Ahab) and the people.

2. Ravens miraculously fed him as he was going through a time of drought himself.

3. He believed God to miraculously supply oil and flour for a widow and her son.

4. He believed God to raise a boy from the dead.

5. He challenged the 450 prophets of Baal on mount Carmel and believed God to send fire from heaven and give him the victory.

6. But at this time in his life he had molded God to the little box of his imagination. (Like many of us do many times)

-We can¡¦t believe God for the simple things even though we have seen Him at work;

„h He can save us but He can¡¦t save our family members. ¡§They are to hard¡¨.

„h He can deliver you from things like nicotine or alcohol. But lying and lack of faith you wont give over to God.

„h People will even entrust God with their lives but not with their monetary possessions. Their attitude is; ¡§you take care of this and I will handle the other less important things¡¨

2. We have developed our own perspective of how and when God moves;

- God only moves if we pray a certain prayer (two hail Mary¡¦s and an our father)

- God will only move if the pastor prays.

- God will not listen if I don¡¦t pray at least for half our.

3. We make poor excuses for getting ourselves into certain situations and blame it on others. (Look at verse 10)

¡§The lord said to him, what are you doing here, Elijah (other words what are you doing in a place where I didn¡¦t direct you? Why are you taking your eyes off me and placing them on what¡¦s going on around you?, why are you feeling sorry for yourself, cant you see what I am doing in your life, cant you see how I can use you when you let yourself be directed by me?)

(LOOK AT THE EXCUSES ON VERSE 10)

4. We expect God to move a certain way. The way that we want Him to (look at verse 11)

-If you are Pentecostal and no one spoke in tongues or no one moved their head from side to side then God wasn¡¦t there.

- If you are from another denomination and the music was a little loud, ¡§it wasn¡¦t from God¡¨

-If the pastor didn¡¦t entertain you, ¡§you didn¡¦t feel God¡¨

5. Notice that the wind, the earthquake and the fire are external manifestations of the power of God,( many seek these things instead of a true relationship with God.)

- God wants a personal relationship.

- We serve a personal God who is interested in us individually.

- He speaks to us in a still small voice (the voice of the Holy Spirit).

- The conviction that comes from within (some may call it a gut feeling, ladies call it female intuition) That is God trying to communicate with you.

Conclusion;

#4) THREE STEPS TO take God out of the box:

1) Go to where God is. (Verse 11) says; ¡§Go out and stand on the mountain before the Lord¡¨). When we have a face to face encounter with Him we see He is bigger than anything else.

- Places where God is; at church, in the word, with other brethren, with the pastor, with your immediate family, in your prayer closet.

2) Listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit. (Verse 13); ¡§So it was when Elijah heard it that he wrapped his face in his mantle¡¨.

- Gut feeling (If it doesn¡¦t feel good, maybe it¡¦s the Holy Spirit speaking to you¡¨)