Pastor Jon Burgess
November 25, 2018 - W1847

[Video from Pastor Jon in Israel] 

Aloha, New Hope! I’m here in Jordan (next to Israel) only three days into the Footsteps of Jesus Tour with Pastor Wayne Cordeiro; I’ve already learned so much and I have something to share with you that God put on my heart.

As we’re ending the Closer series, I want to start at the place where you and I need to get closer to the Lord the most, and that’s in our lowest places when we feel like giving up—when we are broken and bruised. And, there’s no better place to do that than here at the Dead Sea, the lowest place on earth!

Over the centuries, the Dead Sea was cut off from any fresh water, and now it’s really a lake. The water is 8.6 times saltier than a regular ocean, and the salt content is so high that you float right on the top of it! It’s called the Dead Sea because nothing can live in it—everything dies! As a result, no microbes can live here. It’s the farthest from fresh water that you can really get.

Yet, we come across a promise/prophecy in scripture that speaks to those lowest places in our lives that we need right now:

Ezekiel 47:8-9 NASB says, “⁸ Then he said to me, ‘These waters go out toward the eastern region and go down into the Arabah(the location we're at where the waters enter; then they go toward the sea, being made to flow into the sea, (listen to what happens when the fresh river of God enters the Dead Sea) and the waters of the sea become fresh. ⁹ It will come about that every living creature which swarms in every place where the river goes, will live. And there will be very many fish, for these waters go there and the others become fresh; so everything will live where the river goes.’”

I believe this is also true in our lives that, at our lowest places, we have become disconnected from the flowing river of God. And our relationships (marriages, boyfriend/girlfriend friendships) that once were close have now become embittered. That’s the reason God calls us to get closer to Him; the closer we are to His endless reservoir, the more we will see transformation take place: Where there is death, there will be life; where nothing can survive, we will begin to thrive. I believe that Ezekiel’s prophecy is something that God wants to do in your heart and mind.

Interestingly, in the natural, there’s been studies done by a local university, recently, that in the deep surfaces of the Dead Sea are springs that (very possibly) might change the entire Sea—so that there’s no longer death, but allowing for life. What if God is trying to clue us in on something spiritual that He wants to do by reconnecting us to His living springs—His living water?

How do we get connected to the living water of God? Let me share one of the lowest places in my life as a young man: I was feeling so alone because all of my friends were finding those they were planning to spend the rest of their lives with, and I felt that my standards were too high and girls didn’t really want to date me. It was in the place that was supposed to be life-giving that my relationships became dead and dying. How did I open up that Dead Sea of my heart in the place where I kind of gave up that God had a woman for me? First of all, I called out to God and said, “God, forgive me for doubting you. Forgive me for not trusting you. Forgive me for going along with my emotions or comparing my walk with someone else’s walk.”

When I invited God into the lowest place in my life (my relationships), it wasn’t long that He restored my hope!

What's your lowest place? What's your Dead Sea? What's the place that you need to, first of all, repent, get low before the Lord, and invite Him into that lowest place where you have given up? Can you listen to Ezekiel’s prophecy and understand that when you invite the fresh spring of God's water, that He will bring hope when you've become hopeless; strength where you've become weak and given into temptation and sin. He will completely transform you! With the springs of living water, when we go deep, He will change the very make?up of that low, dead place, and turn it into something life?giving!

From the lowest place (Dead Sea), we are now going to the highest place (1700 feet elevation) in Israel—Mount Carmel (where Elijah met with God).

Elijah confronts the prophets of Baal and Asherah. The people of Israel had blended in with the surrounding nations, and Elijah wanted the people of Israel to come out from all of society…

1 Kings 18:20-21 NIV says, “²⁰ So Ahab sent word throughout all Israel and assembled the prophets on Mount Carmel. ²¹ Elijah went before the people and said, ‘How long will you waver between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him.’But the people said nothing.”

God was using Elijah to instigate a challenge to the people because the people had become a part of the false culture, false worship, and false idols.

I believe one of the things that inhibit our intimacy (getting closer to God) is the choice to not choose!

It’s been amazing to be here in the Holy Land and to see the actual places where Jesus walked, and where fire from heaven actually happened! But for many of us, I believe, our faith goes deeper when we simply make that choice to not doubt, but to believe our beliefs.

For each of us, this moment here might actually be a line in the sand where the Lord is saying, “I want you to choose to draw closer to me; lean into me. Don’t wait for the fire to fall. Don’t wait for the problem to be resolved. And don’t wait for the proof that God is real.”

1. Dead Sea: When You’re At Your Downcast Choose Repentance.

Choosing repentance is what we are called to do. No one can choose repentance for you. It literally means changing of your mind. When you’re at your lowest place, most depressed place, the battle really is in your mind before you can work out that depression.

2. Mt. Carmel: When You’re Double-Minded Choose Submission. 

When we choose submission, we are choosing God’s Lordship over every area of our lives:

James 4:7-10 NIV says, “⁷ Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.⁸ Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. ⁹ Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. ¹⁰ Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.”

Submission is actually a military term. When someone enlists as a soldier, they are submitting themselves to the commander, the general, or the chief; whatever the military leader orders—the soldier will follow through! 

So reading it in that way: Submit yourselves to Commander God, then resist the devil (the enemy), and he flees because our God knows the strategy that works against the devil! He is the one who knows how this whole thing plays out! Before you see the fire fall, before you see the prayer answered, before you see the cancer healed, before you see the marriage healed, submit yourself to the Lord.

The Lord is saying, “When you submit to me, I will help you to have the right attitude in the right place. And you will no longer take as light that which is heavy, and no longer take as heavy that which is light. The only way we keep from getting those things in the wrong place is by submitting to the Lord.

How do I do that? This is how I submit to the daily commands of my General, my God, through the Life Journal.

3. Jordan River: When You’re Doubtful Choose Obedience.

We all struggle with doubts, so what’s the quickest way to solve the doubts in our lives? It’s to obey God no matter what, whether it makes sense or not!

Matthew 3:13-15 NIV says, “¹³ Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John. ¹⁴ But John tried to deter him, saying, ‘I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?’ ¹⁵ Jesus replied, ‘Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.’ Then John consented.” 

It didn’t make sense to John to baptize Jesus because baptism symbolized the washing away of sins, and Jesus is the sinless One! Plus, it might make John look as if he’s not a great prophet because he’s been saying all along that the Lamb of God is coming. And if he’s seen baptizing the one who he says is the Lamb of God, doesn’t that automatically disqualify him from being the Messiah? It could be that John was thinking about appearances, as well.

Sometimes, when God asks us to do something that doesn’t make sense, we often make our decision based on what other people around us might perceive it as being. Ridiculous! Why are you going to church on a Sunday when there’s all kinds of other things you could be doing? But you obeyed. And God, a lot of times, won't explain to us why He's asking us to do something.

I believe, as Christians, we walk in agreement with Jesus, but not in obedience to Jesus. We will do the things He’s asking us to do as long as we agree with Him; but the moment He asks us to do something that we don’t agree with, or doesn’t make sense, or may make us look ridiculous, we’re like, “Whoa, time out!” John is teaching us that, when we are doubtful in our faith, we must choose obedience—whether it makes sense or not, because obedience is not predicated upon explanation or agreement! In other words, God is asking you to obey Him whether you agree with Him or not. When you’re doubtful of God’s word to you, you just obey Him!

I would have missed out on that opportunity to have the joy of my salvation restored had I not obeyed the Lord in that simple act of water baptism. I don’t know what it is for you, but I’m asking that you would obey Him. 

Questions:

1. How will you show your obedience to God?

2. In what ways will you show others how you are obedient to God?

3. How did you manage to get out of the lowest point in your life?

4. How will you show others how to get out of the lowest points of their lives?

5. How will you find joy in your salvation?

6. Why is it important to find joy in your salvation?