The Joy is Your Strength
Scripture Reading: I Kings 19:1-18
1 And Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, also how he had executed all the prophets with
the sword. 2 Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, “So let the gods do to me, and
more also, if I do not make your life as the life of one of them by tomorrow about this time.” 3
And when he saw that, he arose and ran for his life, and went to Beersheba, which belongs to
Judah, and left his servant there.
4 But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a
broom tree. And he prayed that he might die, and said, “It is enough! Now, LORD, take my life,
for I am no better than my fathers!”
5 Then as he lay and slept under a broom tree, suddenly an angel touched him, and said to him,
“Arise and eat.” 6 Then he looked, and there by his head was a cake baked on coals, and a jar
of water. So he ate and drank, and lay down again. 7 And the angel of the LORD came back the
second time, and touched him, and said, “Arise and eat, because the journey is too great for
you.” 8 So he arose, and ate and drank; and he went in the strength of that food forty days and
forty nights as far as Horeb, the mountain of God.
9 And there he went into a cave, and spent the night in that place; and behold, the word of the
LORD came to him, and He said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
10 So he said, “I have been very zealous for the LORD God of hosts; for the children of Israel
have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and killed Your prophets with the sword. I
alone am left; and they seek to take my life.”
11 Then He said, “Go out, and stand on the mountain before the LORD.” And behold, the LORD
passed by, and a great and strong wind tore into the mountains and broke the rocks in pieces
before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the
LORD was not in the earthquake; 12 and after the earthquake a fire, but the LORD was not in
the fire; and after the fire a still small voice.
13 So it was, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and
stood in the entrance of the cave. Suddenly a voice came to him, and said, “What are you
doing here, Elijah?”
14 And he said, “I have been very zealous for the LORD God of hosts; because the children of
Israel have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and killed Your prophets with the
sword. I alone am left; and they seek to take my life.”
15 Then the LORD said to him: “Go, return on your way to the Wilderness of Damascus; and
when you arrive, anoint Hazael as king over Syria. 16 Also you shall anoint Jehu the son of
Nimshi as king over Israel. And Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abel Meholah you shall anoint as
prophet in your place. 17 It shall be that whoever escapes the sword of Hazael, Jehu will kill;
and whoever escapes the sword of Jehu, Elisha will kill. 18 Yet I have reserved seven
thousand in Israel, all whose knees have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not
kissed him.”
This passage begins with Ahab telling Jezebel of Elijah’s great victory. This one
solitary prophet of the LORD Yahweh had just orchestrated the demise of 450
prophets of Baal and 400 prophets of Asherah on Mount Carmel. This was an
amazing victory and a great show of the power of the Almighty. If you remember the
account, it’s the one where Elijah tells them to make an altar for a sacrifice and then
tells them to let their god answer by fire. Of course since their god was no god at all,
they spent all day calling to him and still no fire. Then Elijah prepares his altar and
his sacrifice, pours jar after jar of water on it, and when he calls on his God who is
God; He delivers! Our God not just consumes the sopping sacrifice but even burns
up all the rocks on the altar. The people, having seen who is really the prophet of
God, put the prophets of Baal and Asherah to the sword.
After this great victory you would think Elijah would be flying high, at the top of his
game. But Jezebel sends him a message that she’s going to do to him what he did to
the other prophets. So he ran! Did you catch that? It doesn’t say he even inquired
of God. This is the same God who had just given him the victory. His first reaction
was the human reaction of fear. He was afraid, so he ran. Then he leaves his
servant in Beersheba and goes on into the wilderness. Look what he does next. He
sits down and wishes he were dead. He actually asks God to take his life. That’s
really going from a high point to a low point, huh?
Have you ever been there? Where Elijah was at that point? I know I have. In fact,
just yesterday I woke up in the doldrums. No particular reason why. I called my
friend’s widower the night before and realized that I had only really talked with him
with his wife. I wanted to be comforting but I just felt so inadequate. I want to stay in
touch with the family and just felt so disappointed in myself after the conversation.
Then I went to check out a website for this young punk-style preacher and I didn’t
have a problem with his punk persona or his tattoos but I had a lot of trouble with his
message because it was going against what the Word of God says. This young man
has a lot of people flocking to him and it just seems like he’s telling them what they
want to hear, so I was a bit disappointed about that.
So, like I said, I woke up and realized right away that something was off. This is
another tactic the enemy uses to push our buttons. He knows that our joy is our
strength, so the enemy will try to come against that joy.
Nehemiah 8:9-11
9 And Nehemiah, who was the governor, Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who
taught the people said to all the people, “This day is holy to the LORD your God; do not mourn
nor weep.” For all the people wept, when they heard the words of the Law.
10 Then he said to them, “Go your way, eat the fat, drink the sweet, and send portions to those
for whom nothing is prepared; for this day is holy to our Lord. Do not sorrow, for the joy of the
LORD is your strength.”
11 So the Levites quieted all the people, saying, “Be still, for the day is holy; do not be grieved.”
It tells us in Psalm 118:24, This is the day the LORD has made; We will rejoice and be glad in
it. Every day that you wake up you have the choice as to whether you will be glad or
will you be sad. Nehemiah told the people that the joy of the LORD is our strength.
That’s important to remember especially when the enemy is pushing your buttons.
Sometimes we will have each other to encourage us but there are times when you will
have to encourage your self!
I Samuel 30:3-6
3 So David and his men came to the city, and there it was, burned with fire; and their wives,
their sons, and their daughters had been taken captive. 4 Then David and the people who were
with him lifted up their voices and wept, until they had no more power to weep. 5 And David’s
two wives, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail the widow of Nabal the Carmelite, had been
taken captive. 6 Now David was greatly distressed, for the people spoke of stoning him,
because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and his daughters. But
David strengthened himself in the LORD his God.
David strengthened himself in the LORD! The men came back and the city was
burned and their wives and children had been taken captive. Things were bad,
really, really bad! You know, we’ve been talking a lot about spiritual warfare over the
past few weeks. We’ve been looking at how to deal with the enemy as he comes
against you. How to recognize the tactics he uses against us. He used those same
tactics against Cain.
Genesis 4:4-8
4 Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat. And the LORD respected Abel
and his offering, 5 but He did not respect Cain and his offering. And Cain was very angry, and
his countenance fell.
6 So the LORD said to Cain, “Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen? 7 If
you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its
desire is for you, but you should rule over it.”
8 Now Cain talked with Abel his brother; and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that
Cain rose up against Abel his brother and killed him.
I’d always thought Cain was angry at Abel but I saw something a little differently this
time. It never says he’s angry with Abel. It just says that he is angry and his
countenance fell. He was mad and depressed, a very dangerous combination. The
Father warns him and points directly to the real issue in verses 6 and 7. Anger and
depression are the root of this sin that Cain will perpetrate. God warns him that sin is
just waiting for the right opportunity now. God has given man dominion over all
things, including our own emotions. It doesn’t even say Cain argued with Abel. For
all we know Abel may have been trying to console his brother and his brother just
lashed out at him. Most of us have like been on both sides of this situation. Upset
and angry and you don’t want someone trying to make us feel better. Sometimes
you can be angry about one thing and end up taking it out on someone who has
nothing to do with it. That’s because the enemy has successfully stolen your joy and
you have left the door wide open by not taking it back. When we recognize that
coming against our joy is part of the enemy’s game plan, we can make it our game
plan to do as Paul said in Philippians 4:4, Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say,
rejoice! Always means always; in all circumstances, no matter what! Just as David
strengthened himself in the LORD when things were bleak, so we must learn to do
the same.
Getting back to our scripture reading. How does Elijah get through this time of deep
depression? Well. First the angel came and told him to arise and eat. For me these
two instructions are very important. Arise, pick yourself up; be encouraged. And eat,
nourish yourself but remember that man does not live by bread alone but by every
word that proceeds from the mouth of God (Deut 8:3, John 6:58). When we feel
ourselves getting down we need to encourage ourselves with the joy of the LORD
and bring ourselves into remembrance of God’s word. The only way we’ll be able
bring ourselves into remembrance of that Word is for that Word to already be in us.
There is absolutely no shame in getting down. There is a problem, however, with
staying there and getting comfortable being there. I used to tell my son Cameron
that a righteous man may fall seven times, but he gets up (Proverb 24:16).
So, after he arises and eats, the word of the LORD comes to him and the question is
what are you doing here. What had brought him to this point? Why are you in this
place of depression? Elijah complains that the children of Israel have forsaken God’s
covenant, killed the prophets and Elijah believes he is the only one left. Have you
ever felt like you’re the only one? So Yahweh tells him to go outside the cave and He
shows Elijah this grand display, which included a great wind, an earthquake, fire and
then a still small voice. The LORD wasn’t in the wind or in the earthquake or in the
fire, but when the still small voice came; Elijah responded. I think most people are
waiting for God to make Himself known in some grand display and unfortunately, they
miss the fact that He’s right there whispering to us in that still small voice. But that’s
another sermon for another day.
Once Elijah hears that still small voice the question comes again. What are you
doing here? He answers in the very same way. At this point God just tells him what
He has purposed for him to and basically says go do it. That’s what I think we need
to focus on sometimes. What is your purpose? Find it and hold onto it with all you’ve
got. When you think you have no purpose it is easy to fall into the enemy’s trap of
deception. The LORD Yahweh reminded Elijah that he had a purpose. Then he
gives him a little bonus. Hey, by the way, you’re not the only one. It may look that
way. It may feel that way, but it’s not that way. When we do good and negative
things come form it, many times we feel like Elijah felt. Too many times believers will
use this as an excuse to go back to the world’s way of doing things. Just as when
Moses was on the mountain and the Israelites thought he wasn’t coming back, they
were ready to pack up and head back to Egypt. Some people think doing good is a
magic formula for good coming back to you and that’s just not the case. It’s whole
‘pay it forward’ idea; good karma and all that, but that’s not what our Lord and Savior
tells us. John 16:33, These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have
peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome
the world.” It's not just bad people that have bad things happen to them. You know
the age old question - Why do bad things happen to good people? Because bad
things happen to ALL people! But Messiah tells us not to worry because He has
overcome this world. Let us focus on the things of God, not the things of this world.
We have been forewarned of the trouble that may come. So, let us arise and eat, be
purposeful warriors, be of good cheer, fear not, be not afraid, rejoice in the LORD
always, and keep the door closed to sin!
Sermon by: Denise Baxley
Date: December 17, 2006
Scripture Reading: I Kings 19:1-18
1 And Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, also how he had executed all the prophets with
the sword. 2 Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, “So let the gods do to me, and
more also, if I do not make your life as the life of one of them by tomorrow about this time.” 3
And when he saw that, he arose and ran for his life, and went to Beersheba, which belongs to
Judah, and left his servant there.
4 But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a
broom tree. And he prayed that he might die, and said, “It is enough! Now, LORD, take my life,
for I am no better than my fathers!”
5 Then as he lay and slept under a broom tree, suddenly an angel touched him, and said to him,
“Arise and eat.” 6 Then he looked, and there by his head was a cake baked on coals, and a jar
of water. So he ate and drank, and lay down again. 7 And the angel of the LORD came back the
second time, and touched him, and said, “Arise and eat, because the journey is too great for
you.” 8 So he arose, and ate and drank; and he went in the strength of that food forty days and
forty nights as far as Horeb, the mountain of God.
9 And there he went into a cave, and spent the night in that place; and behold, the word of the
LORD came to him, and He said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
10 So he said, “I have been very zealous for the LORD God of hosts; for the children of Israel
have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and killed Your prophets with the sword. I
alone am left; and they seek to take my life.”
11 Then He said, “Go out, and stand on the mountain before the LORD.” And behold, the LORD
passed by, and a great and strong wind tore into the mountains and broke the rocks in pieces
before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the
LORD was not in the earthquake; 12 and after the earthquake a fire, but the LORD was not in
the fire; and after the fire a still small voice.
13 So it was, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and
stood in the entrance of the cave. Suddenly a voice came to him, and said, “What are you
doing here, Elijah?”
14 And he said, “I have been very zealous for the LORD God of hosts; because the children of
Israel have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and killed Your prophets with the
sword. I alone am left; and they seek to take my life.”
15 Then the LORD said to him: “Go, return on your way to the Wilderness of Damascus; and
when you arrive, anoint Hazael as king over Syria. 16 Also you shall anoint Jehu the son of
Nimshi as king over Israel. And Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abel Meholah you shall anoint as
prophet in your place. 17 It shall be that whoever escapes the sword of Hazael, Jehu will kill;
and whoever escapes the sword of Jehu, Elisha will kill. 18 Yet I have reserved seven
thousand in Israel, all whose knees have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not
kissed him.”
This passage begins with Ahab telling Jezebel of Elijah’s great victory. This one
solitary prophet of the LORD Yahweh had just orchestrated the demise of 450
prophets of Baal and 400 prophets of Asherah on Mount Carmel. This was an
amazing victory and a great show of the power of the Almighty. If you remember the
account, it’s the one where Elijah tells them to make an altar for a sacrifice and then
tells them to let their god answer by fire. Of course since their god was no god at all,
they spent all day calling to him and still no fire. Then Elijah prepares his altar and
his sacrifice, pours jar after jar of water on it, and when he calls on his God who is
God; He delivers! Our God not just consumes the sopping sacrifice but even burns
up all the rocks on the altar. The people, having seen who is really the prophet of
God, put the prophets of Baal and Asherah to the sword.
After this great victory you would think Elijah would be flying high, at the top of his
game. But Jezebel sends him a message that she’s going to do to him what he did to
the other prophets. So he ran! Did you catch that? It doesn’t say he even inquired
of God. This is the same God who had just given him the victory. His first reaction
was the human reaction of fear. He was afraid, so he ran. Then he leaves his
servant in Beersheba and goes on into the wilderness. Look what he does next. He
sits down and wishes he were dead. He actually asks God to take his life. That’s
really going from a high point to a low point, huh?
Have you ever been there? Where Elijah was at that point? I know I have. In fact,
just yesterday I woke up in the doldrums. No particular reason why. I called my
friend’s widower the night before and realized that I had only really talked with him
with his wife. I wanted to be comforting but I just felt so inadequate. I want to stay in
touch with the family and just felt so disappointed in myself after the conversation.
Then I went to check out a website for this young punk-style preacher and I didn’t
have a problem with his punk persona or his tattoos but I had a lot of trouble with his
message because it was going against what the Word of God says. This young man
has a lot of people flocking to him and it just seems like he’s telling them what they
want to hear, so I was a bit disappointed about that.
So, like I said, I woke up and realized right away that something was off. This is
another tactic the enemy uses to push our buttons. He knows that our joy is our
strength, so the enemy will try to come against that joy.
Nehemiah 8:9-11
9 And Nehemiah, who was the governor, Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who
taught the people said to all the people, “This day is holy to the LORD your God; do not mourn
nor weep.” For all the people wept, when they heard the words of the Law.
10 Then he said to them, “Go your way, eat the fat, drink the sweet, and send portions to those
for whom nothing is prepared; for this day is holy to our Lord. Do not sorrow, for the joy of the
LORD is your strength.”
11 So the Levites quieted all the people, saying, “Be still, for the day is holy; do not be grieved.”
It tells us in Psalm 118:24, This is the day the LORD has made; We will rejoice and be glad in
it. Every day that you wake up you have the choice as to whether you will be glad or
will you be sad. Nehemiah told the people that the joy of the LORD is our strength.
That’s important to remember especially when the enemy is pushing your buttons.
Sometimes we will have each other to encourage us but there are times when you will
have to encourage your self!
I Samuel 30:3-6
3 So David and his men came to the city, and there it was, burned with fire; and their wives,
their sons, and their daughters had been taken captive. 4 Then David and the people who were
with him lifted up their voices and wept, until they had no more power to weep. 5 And David’s
two wives, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail the widow of Nabal the Carmelite, had been
taken captive. 6 Now David was greatly distressed, for the people spoke of stoning him,
because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and his daughters. But
David strengthened himself in the LORD his God.
David strengthened himself in the LORD! The men came back and the city was
burned and their wives and children had been taken captive. Things were bad,
really, really bad! You know, we’ve been talking a lot about spiritual warfare over the
past few weeks. We’ve been looking at how to deal with the enemy as he comes
against you. How to recognize the tactics he uses against us. He used those same
tactics against Cain.
Genesis 4:4-8
4 Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat. And the LORD respected Abel
and his offering, 5 but He did not respect Cain and his offering. And Cain was very angry, and
his countenance fell.
6 So the LORD said to Cain, “Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen? 7 If
you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its
desire is for you, but you should rule over it.”
8 Now Cain talked with Abel his brother; and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that
Cain rose up against Abel his brother and killed him.
I’d always thought Cain was angry at Abel but I saw something a little differently this
time. It never says he’s angry with Abel. It just says that he is angry and his
countenance fell. He was mad and depressed, a very dangerous combination. The
Father warns him and points directly to the real issue in verses 6 and 7. Anger and
depression are the root of this sin that Cain will perpetrate. God warns him that sin is
just waiting for the right opportunity now. God has given man dominion over all
things, including our own emotions. It doesn’t even say Cain argued with Abel. For
all we know Abel may have been trying to console his brother and his brother just
lashed out at him. Most of us have like been on both sides of this situation. Upset
and angry and you don’t want someone trying to make us feel better. Sometimes
you can be angry about one thing and end up taking it out on someone who has
nothing to do with it. That’s because the enemy has successfully stolen your joy and
you have left the door wide open by not taking it back. When we recognize that
coming against our joy is part of the enemy’s game plan, we can make it our game
plan to do as Paul said in Philippians 4:4, Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say,
rejoice! Always means always; in all circumstances, no matter what! Just as David
strengthened himself in the LORD when things were bleak, so we must learn to do
the same.
Getting back to our scripture reading. How does Elijah get through this time of deep
depression? Well. First the angel came and told him to arise and eat. For me these
two instructions are very important. Arise, pick yourself up; be encouraged. And eat,
nourish yourself but remember that man does not live by bread alone but by every
word that proceeds from the mouth of God (Deut 8:3, John 6:58). When we feel
ourselves getting down we need to encourage ourselves with the joy of the LORD
and bring ourselves into remembrance of God’s word. The only way we’ll be able
bring ourselves into remembrance of that Word is for that Word to already be in us.
There is absolutely no shame in getting down. There is a problem, however, with
staying there and getting comfortable being there. I used to tell my son Cameron
that a righteous man may fall seven times, but he gets up (Proverb 24:16).
So, after he arises and eats, the word of the LORD comes to him and the question is
what are you doing here. What had brought him to this point? Why are you in this
place of depression? Elijah complains that the children of Israel have forsaken God’s
covenant, killed the prophets and Elijah believes he is the only one left. Have you
ever felt like you’re the only one? So Yahweh tells him to go outside the cave and He
shows Elijah this grand display, which included a great wind, an earthquake, fire and
then a still small voice. The LORD wasn’t in the wind or in the earthquake or in the
fire, but when the still small voice came; Elijah responded. I think most people are
waiting for God to make Himself known in some grand display and unfortunately, they
miss the fact that He’s right there whispering to us in that still small voice. But that’s
another sermon for another day.
Once Elijah hears that still small voice the question comes again. What are you
doing here? He answers in the very same way. At this point God just tells him what
He has purposed for him to and basically says go do it. That’s what I think we need
to focus on sometimes. What is your purpose? Find it and hold onto it with all you’ve
got. When you think you have no purpose it is easy to fall into the enemy’s trap of
deception. The LORD Yahweh reminded Elijah that he had a purpose. Then he
gives him a little bonus. Hey, by the way, you’re not the only one. It may look that
way. It may feel that way, but it’s not that way. When we do good and negative
things come form it, many times we feel like Elijah felt. Too many times believers will
use this as an excuse to go back to the world’s way of doing things. Just as when
Moses was on the mountain and the Israelites thought he wasn’t coming back, they
were ready to pack up and head back to Egypt. Some people think doing good is a
magic formula for good coming back to you and that’s just not the case. It’s whole
‘pay it forward’ idea; good karma and all that, but that’s not what our Lord and Savior
tells us. John 16:33, These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have
peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome
the world.” It's not just bad people that have bad things happen to them. You know
the age old question - Why do bad things happen to good people? Because bad
things happen to ALL people! But Messiah tells us not to worry because He has
overcome this world. Let us focus on the things of God, not the things of this world.
We have been forewarned of the trouble that may come. So, let us arise and eat, be
purposeful warriors, be of good cheer, fear not, be not afraid, rejoice in the LORD
always, and keep the door closed to sin!
Sermon by: Denise Baxley
Date: December 17, 2006
