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Welcome to the live big broadcast with Derek Greer. We believe this teaching from God's word will empower you to live a full, impactful life in Christ. Let's dig in. Today we're gonna look at two prophets and discover that stepping into your purpose can sometimes cost you everything. But when you think about it, it's really dirt for diamonds. With God, you always gain more than you will ever give up. We're going to be in one. Kings, chapter 19. Beginning with the first verse. And Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done. You know, with the ups and downs and the good kings, bad kings and the various challenges. The people of Israel had become lukewarm. They were not hot enough to be hot, nor cold enough to be cold. What a heartbreak it would be to live an almost Christian life and almost make it into heaven. And because of the people's situation, Elijah challenged the false prophets of BAAL to help turn God's people's heart back to the Lord. Matter of fact, let's go there first. Kings 18:24. And Elijah said this. He said, then you call on the name of your God and I will call on the name of the Lord. Yahweh, Jehovah, and the God who answers by fire, he is God. I think it's Benjamin Franklin that said, well done is better than well said. And when push comes to shove, when the baby needs formula, the doctor says it's cancer, you need a God who can answer. You don't need another religious theory. You don't need a whole bunch of cliches. You need God. What I found that the greatest tragedy in life is not unanswered prayer, but unoffered prayer. And the challenge was the people started backing away from God because things weren't going exactly the way they thought they should and the way they had planned. But I found in my life, and perhaps you found this in yours. God sometimes answers our prayers by giving us what we would have asked for had we known everything that God knows. So after Elijah makes his bold declaration, the God that answers by fire, he's the one we're gonna worship. He's God. All the people answered and said, watch this. It is well spoken. The reason they said that is because they didn't want another speech. They really wanted another sermon. They needed a God who would show up, show out, and show himself strong. Back to Kings 19. 1. And you know the narrative, Jehovah answered by fire. But you know, it only created a new problem. And you'll never get to the place on this Side of glory where there's no problems. Wherever you have people, you have what? Yeah, so great. I mean, fire comes down from heaven and he just does a bang up job. And he was expecting revival to hit the land. But watch what happens. And Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done. Also how he had executed all the prophets with a sword. Elijah was a bad boy. He had the guts to do whatever needed to get done when it needed to get done. Jesus spoke of this type of attitude this way. He said, if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off. You see, when your values are clear, even hard decisions become simple. 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 now, Elijah still had blood on his clothes. He had single handedly cut the heads off of 450 prophets of Baal. And fire came down from heaven. He poured water on the altar, but the fire was so hot and so intense, it lit anyway and the offering was consumed. I mean, this was bad boy. But there was something about this particular woman that got under his skin when he saw that he arose. How many men in this room know that an angry woman can be a scary thing? Just keep looking forward, guys. Keep looking forward to someone said, behind every angry woman is a man who had no idea what he did. I got one. I got one, brother. And when Elijah saw that, when this great prophet, this great man who calls down lightning from heaven, when he realized the anger of this queen, he arose and ran for his life. There is a reason that the queen is the most powerful piece on the chessboard. Verse 4. But He Himself went a day's journey into the wilderness. Any man in this room ever flip out, lose your stuff over a woman, then go into a dry. And I heard a mmm, real loud over there. Going to a dry and desolate place. Find yourself playing with your lips and drool coming out the right side of your mouth. But this was the situation of the prophet. And Elijah was afraid. And he came and sat down under the broom tree. And sometimes that's all you can kind of do is just sit down, try to collect yourself and figure out what to do. But I want you to watch what Elijah did next. And he prayed. This was not a short 10 second prayer. This was a sit down, oh my God, if you don't help me, no one else will kind of prayer. Anyone here ever been in a prayer in a moment like that? But watch what he prays. Watch what he prays. And he prayed that he might die. This was one of the most powerful prophets in the Bible. I mean, you have Moses and you have Elijah. I mean the company he keeps. Remember the two guys that appeared to Jesus at the transfiguration? It was Moses and Elijah. This was a powerful and bad man. But this one woman and her threat caused him to pray that God would take his life. You see, I don't care how powerful you are in ministry, I don't care how great and aura it is signs of one, I don't care. Woman trouble is real trouble. How many of you know that's true? And by the way, I had to tell the last service. None of this comes to me by experience. I don't, I, I, I've not experienced any of this. I just know this by the Spirit. The Holy Spirit woke me up last night and showed me what y' all were going through. And I'm able to be sympathetic. And Elijah said, it is enough. Sometimes you gotta get sick and tired of being sick and tired before things shift, before things move. He said, now, Lord, take my life. I'm no better than my Father's. He's like, God, I need you to kill me or answer me. But I'm not moving from here until you help me. And here's what I find, whether I feel suicidal or homicidal. Jeremiah 29:13 promises me, and when you seek me, you will find me when you seek me with your whole heart. Now here's the deal. The problem is I try to pray. Little cute convenient prayers, I'll prayer, you know, pray prayers that I heard. And I'll try to be real religious and I'll try to even throw some scripture in there. But the Bible said, when I seek him and I'll find him when I search with my whole heart. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous person avails much. Half hearted prayers will get you half the results. You hear what I'm saying? This man, though he was even praying the right thing, he was like, lord, take me out. But he was praying to God from his heart. When's the last time you had a conversation with God? Not from your head, but from your heart. God's not just after the Sunday morning part of your heart, the dressed up and just showered part of your heart. He will heal your whole heart if you will bring to him all the broken pieces. Yeah, and listen, this is why Jesus said, He said, I think it's in Matthew 5, I think Mount verse verse 30, he said, and when you pray, go into the King James Version says, a closet. Other translators say, go into a private room and pray in private. So God can. Do you know why God says that? Because when you're really praying, you don't want no one to know. Because just like we just judged him for his prayer, you don't want no one to judge you for your prayer. So he said, listen, go where it's private so you could tell me what's really going on in your life. Skip to verse 19. So then he departed from his place of prayer. And by the way, we need to pray the hardest when it's hardest to pray. But after this man got up from prayer, he prayed from his whole heart, even though the prayer was suicidal. Now, listen, I'm not trying to, you know, make us suicide. I'm not trying to, you know, celebrate that. But. But I wanted you to understand. His theology wasn't quite. His doctrine wasn't quite right, but God heard his heart, and if we would seek him with our whole heart, stop praying for things that you don't really want, hoping that God's going to give it to you anyway. It's the fervent, effectual prayer of a righteous person. And, and God, sometimes he's waiting for us to really want it, want it enough for us to stop being polite and tell him the truth about where we really are and what it is we really need. So after he got up from prayer, and it wasn't a correct prayer, you know, it wasn't right what he prayed, but God heard him and got him back on his feet. And God told him to anoint a new king over Syria, then a new king over Israel, and. And then he told him to anoint a new servant prophet to serve in his place. And you may not feel. You may feel like it's over for you, but it's not over until the Lord says it's over. And this man felt like, you know, it is over. Listen, I'm no better than my fathers. The prophets before me have prophesied and preached. And listen, I did this great revival, and then people are going back to being sideways. And he wanted to give up, but the Lord said, listen, it's not over, and it's not over for you unless the Lord says it's over. Watch what he did, though. The first thing he did. So he departed from that place and found Elisha. Now, let's get a little bit more focused with the text here. The first thing Elijah did after he snapped out of it was get Elisha so Elisha could watch Elijah do the things that God had told him to do. How many of y' all remember what John Maxwell said? He said, there's no success without a what. So this is the biblical pattern of leadership. We saw Jesus do this, and we see the other prophets do it. The mentor, the mentee, or the disciple watches you do it. Then you let them do it. Then you watch them as they do it. This is what Jesus did. Jesus did miracles. Then he sent his disciples out to do miracles. Then he went to heaven, and he's watching us do these miracles likewise. That's how you parent first. Your kids watch you do it. That's why you need to watch what you do. They need to watch you do it. Then let them do some of that with you. They get in their teens and y' all start working together, cooperating. But then at some point, you gotta step back and all you can do is coach. You just watch them do it and step in when you're invited. But let's keep going. And Elijah found Elisha, the son of Shaphath, who was plowing, meaning Elisha already had a job. Most people who are good at what they do are already engaged. Before my wife and I started dating, another guy was trying to talk to her. Foolish guy. But that fact didn't stop me from talking to her, too. You see, Gideon was threshing wheat on the threshing floor. Moses was shepherding sheep on the backside of the desert. The disciples were out fishing. If you aren't willing to go after what you want, don't be surprised if you never get it. So Elijah found Elisha, the son of Shapheth, who was plowing with 12 yoke of oxen before him. And he was with the 12. So he was employed. He had a job, in fact, in the ancient world, 12 oxen was much like 12 children tractors out in the field, working. Obviously, he was from a wealthy family, because this was his farm here. Because he owned enough land to require 12 oxes or 12 tractors to get it plowed. But watch this. Then Elijah passed him by. I need you to notice that the prophet did not introduce himself. The prophet didn't ask him how he was doing, how was his day. He didn't even say hello. All the prophet did was throw his mantle on him. Now, at this time in history, the mantle was emblematic of the prophetic office. It was like a king passing his crown or a race driver passing his or her keys to someone else. And Elisha, when this happened, Knew exactly what was going on. But here's the question. Why was Elijah so rough with Elisha? Because Elijah knew the toughness it took to last in God's service. 90% of the time, things don't go wrong. They just start wrong. If you keep trying to protect your children from everything strong and sharp, in the long run, you're gonna make them weak and dull. Our kids are more resilient than you ever imagined. Many times things don't go wrong with our children. We started wrong with our children in many relationships. It's not that the relationship went wrong, but it's what you compromised to keep it wrong. Then Elijah passed by him and threw his mantle on him. Why? Because some things can be taught, but other things have to be caught. Elijah threw this mantle at Elisha to see if he had the resilience, the resourcefulness to catch it. You see, Elijah needed Elisha to understand right out of the gate that he loved him too much to pamper him. You know, it's okay to have standards because high standards can protect you from low quality people. But watch what happens. And Elisha began to boo hoo, ran back to mom and dad, posted on Facebook how the prophet, you know, was so mean when you really get to know him. Can I give you just a little bit of medicine? If church hurt causes you to lose your faith in God, your faith was never in God, but in people. I'm going to show you up when I'm done. Yes, church hurt is real. I got stories I can tell, but so is God. Never walk away from your love, from a great God or our great God because of some little person and what they did. But watch what happens. Despite the way the prophet handled him and he left the oxen watch this. And ran after Elijah. How many of us would still run after the call of God after such a shoddy and unpleasant introduction? But sometimes the purpose of obstacles in our lives is to weed out fake companions and fake friends. God intentionally sets up hurdles so that people that don't want it enough can exit your life. Pay attention to what I'm preaching. As I said last week, as we get older, we don't really lose our friends. We just discover who they really are. And Elisha had the stuff to leave the oxen and run after Elijah. How many of us would leave a life of privilege, a life of wealth, a life of freedom, to become the servant of this grumpy man that earlier has already struggled with depression, fear, and suicidal thoughts? But Elijah didn't walk, but ran after this very Difficult man. You see, part of the purpose of life is to discover the purpose of your life and to give your whole soul and heart to that purpose, no matter what happens. And come what may, God lets difficult things happen to see how much we really want it. And he said, please let me kiss my father and my mother. He has every excuse. But if you're looking for an excuse, you're going to find it. Listen, I'm going to follow you. I just need to say goodbye. Please let me kiss my father and mother, and then I will follow you and watch what Elijah said. Go back again. For what have I done to you? Why was Elijah testing him this way? Because Elijah didn't want their relationship to rest on Elisha's commitment or the chemistry between the two of them as much as the calling from God. Let me see if I can say that better. Elijah wanted their relationship to rest on Elisha's commitment to God's calling and not just on their personal chemistry. Elijah wanted a companion and a successor with some metal. Somebody said, motivation may get you started, but commitment keeps you going. So Elisha turned back from him, said, oh, you hurt my feelings. No, he didn't ask Elijah for advice. He didn't make this Elijah's problem. He took a yoke of oxen and slaughtered them and boiled their flesh. Watch this. Using the oxen's equipment, they used wooden yokes back then. So this was like, in this time and period. It was like taking, you know, a sledgehammer to 12 tractor trailers, and then after you beat them down, break all the windows, setting them on fire. Despite the fact that Elijah gave Elisha every excuse to go back, Elisha was still willing to burn some bridges to fulfill some calls on his life. The call of God. This is how I knew as a young college student that I really got saved. It was when I threw away my little black book. Now, I know that went right over the head of the young people in the room, but today, that would be like deleting 99% of your contacts. I knew that I couldn't do good things entertaining bad company. And when you burn all the bridges behind you, it leaves you no choice but to move forward. And I knew I had to just cut off some of the things that were causing me trouble. But the challenge is some of us don't have the grit to make the cuts needed in order for us to endure and make it to the end. And he gave the meat and all the rest to the people. Watch this. And they what, ate? It's not just how much we give, but how much we put into our giving that God rewards. We don't all have equal gifts, but we can't have equal sacrifice. This was a wealthy boy. So you know, he offered to God, you know, 12 oxens and. And the rest. You might not have 12 boxes because I remember Jesus was there watching the offering and a woman put in, a widow woman put in a little bitty money. He said, this woman gave all she had. She gave more than everybody who's given. So it's what you put into the offering that makes the difference. Then he arose and followed Elijah. Watch this. And became his servant. In this narrative, Elijah left all to follow this gruff and grumpy prophet. But with us, all God requires is us to follow a perfect savior. Can I back up for just a second? Jesus told a parable, I think it was in Luke 18 of the unjust Judge. The Bible says that it was a widow woman, the weakest in culture and society. She had no advocates because there were no males in that family. It was a male driven culture. And she kept going before the judge asking for justice. She was in the right, she had been wronged. But every time she went to the judge, the judge would say no, but the Bible said she kept coming. And then actually, when you read the Greek response of the judge, right before he gives in to this woman, he said, listen, I'm gonna have to give this woman justice lest she blacken my eye. Now, she's a widow woman, so she's not gonna walk up and punch anybody in the eye. But I need you to understand the intensity of that woman. She had to come day in and day out to get the things she needed. Jesus ends the entire parable saying, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth? Will he find the type of faith that perseveres? The type of faith that handles offense? The type of faith that deals with getting pushed aside, being let down, disappointed. I have never in my life met so many people with church hurt. And I understand, you know, wherever you got people, you got trouble. But what I don't understand is they're surprised. The Bible said we're not to be surprised by the fiery trial. You know, as long as we're in the earth, we gonna face things. But we feel so entitled that we just pray one time. And the answer doesn't come like that. And I'm out here, I don't know if I'm serving the Lord ever again. I don't know if you know the Lord. If you're going to give up on him that easily? Because I serve a God that hung on that cross for hours, sweating and bleeding for your redemption. And you going to give up because you didn't get an answer to your prayer. And in five minutes, While I'm on the subject, the children of Israel were about to face their first city outside the promised land. Moses was dead, and Joshua's their leader. And Joshua said, listen, this is what I need y' all to do. I need y' all to walk around the city one time every day and be quiet. That's some of our problems. We talk too much, we start overthinking. And second guess what God told us to do. Be quiet. Walk around the city walls. Then on the seventh day, I need you to walk around seven times. What? I need you to understand. The walls didn't fall the first day. The walls didn't fall the second day. The walls didn't fall the third day, the fourth day, the fifth day, the walls didn't fall the sixth day. And then finally the seventh day came, and the walls didn't fall in the morning because the Bible said they had to walk around the city seven times that last day. So it was. It was once a day walking around their situation, saying, well, I believe God. He, you know, he did get us out of Egyptian bondage. And you know what? There was these 10 plagues. And then the water parted and we walked on dry ground, and there was manna that came down from heaven. And God has been faithful. God has kept us. You know, then we got to the Jordan, and then that parted. And you know what? This is a big God that we serve. I mean, he was bigger than all of Pharaoh's armies and all the rest. He kept us 40 years in the wilderness. And as they're going around, they're meditating on what God had accomplished and what God had done. And sometimes, you know, in your waiting, that's when your faith is growing and building and you're meditating on the things God had done. And then on the seventh day, God was like, this is the point. I need you to turn it up. And right at the point you feel, listen, I've done this six times. It makes no sense. They looking at us, they sticking their tongues at us. They think we're silly. You know, what's walking around the city got to do with conquering a city? But on the seventh day, God said, do something even more stupid. I want you to walk around the city seven times. So they're quietly walking around the city, remembering all that God had done and all his faithfulness and how he kept his chill and how the clothes didn't wear out and his shoes didn't grow old and how water came out of a rock and all that good stuff and had a cloud by day and a fire by night. And then on the seventh time, God said, release a shout. But. But here's the deal. A lot of us, we don't get to the shout because we give up on the third day, the fourth day, the fifth day. And then if we make it to the seventh day, like three times is way too much. You hear what I'm saying? But when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith? People that hang in there until it's done, people that hold on till God shows up. So though your baby's going sideways, you're going to keep praying for that child, calling on God's name for that child. Though you haven't seen your husband in a week, you keep calling on that name that's above every name that can be. You understand what I'm saying? When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith? Or just a whole bunch of offended people hurt because it didn't happen the way they thought it should happen? In our expensive cars and our beautiful homes in these last days, it's going to require a little something in order for God to show himself strong. Please don't mishear me. Following Jesus isn't always an easy road, but it is a road worth following. I'm going to end as quickly as I got started. Elijah had to take some stuff. But in the end, because he stuck with it, Elisha received a double portion from Elijah. You see, at some point, I'm not just doing what I'm doing for you, it's for God. And when you're ungrateful and unkind and all the rest, that's when I discover who I'm really doing it for. And God wants a people that are really living for. An audience of one living for his approval, Elisha received from Elijah simply because he was determined not to. Matter of fact, when you go to the end of it, Elisha continued, for the rest of ministry. Elijah keeps trying to send Elisha away, but Elisha wouldn't go. And there are things in your life that seem to be pushing you away and giving you every excuse to go in another direction. But we need to find the gumption, the commitment and the resolve of this Elijah if we're going to be successful. As I said in my introduction, what did I say? I said, bring your dirt to God and he'll give you diamonds for dirt. And right now he's not asking for you to bring everything wonderful because we don't have a whole bunch of wonderful stuff saying, you give me your dirt, I'll give you my diamonds. Thank you for joining us. Until next time, remember you have what it takes in Christ to live big. We also invite you to partner with Derek Greer Ministries in bringing the life changing and impactful teachings of God's Word to the world. Get started by visiting Derekrer.com by clicking the link in the description.