Hope Killers

Hope Has a Name
Hope Killers

I. Introduction

A. God never wants to die in us!

B. Jeremiah 29:11 (NAS) ”For I know the plans that I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.”

C. Bible stories are not like “ ”!

D. I Kings 19:2 (NLT) So Jezebel sent this message to Elijah: “May the gods strike me and even kill me if by this time tomorrow I have not killed you just as you killed them.”

E. I Kings 19:4 (NLT) Then he went on alone into the wilderness, traveling all day. He sat down under a solitary broom tree and prayed that he might die. “I have had enough, Lord,” he said. “Take my life, for I am no better than my ancestors who have already died.”

II. Hope Killers

A.

1. I Kings 19:5-6 (NLT) ⁵Then he lay down and slept under the broom tree. But as he was sleeping, an angel touched him and told him, “Get up and eat!” ⁶He looked around and there beside his head was some bread baked on hot stones and a jar of water! So he ate and drank and lay down again.

2. The moral of the story is, never underestimate the spiritual power of a and a , because things aren’t always what they seem!

3. You will never reach consistent spiritual when you live in a state of perpetual physical !

B.

1. I Kings 19:8-9 (NLT) ⁸So he got up and ate and drank, and the food gave him enough strength to travel forty days and forty nights to Mount Sinai, the mountain of God. ⁹There he came to a cave, where he spent the night. But the Lord said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

2. I Kings 19:10 (NLT) Elijah replied, “I have zealously served the Lord God Almighty. But the people of Israel have broken their covenant with you, torn down your altars, and killed every one of your prophets. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me, too.”

3. Whenever we fall into self-pity, it distorts our ! And it makes us feel more than we really are.

4. I Kings 19:11-12 (NLT) ¹¹“Go out and stand before me on the mountain,” the Lord told him. And as Elijah stood there, the Lord passed by, and a mighty windstorm hit the mountain. It was such a terrible blast that the rocks were torn loose, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. ¹²And after the earthquake there was a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire there was the sound of a gentle whisper.

a. “”

5. I Kings 19:14 (NLT) He replied again, “I have zealously served the Lord God Almighty. But the people of Israel have broken their covenant with you, torn down your altars, and killed every one of your prophets. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me, too.”

6. God says, “Elijah, you’re part of a much community! Things are not always the way they .”

7. Hope is not a activity! Hope is a sport!

8. will diminish your hope! But will multiply it!

C.

1. Hope exists right alongside of worry!

2. Hope and worry are !

3. Our hope is in !

4. I Kings 19:15 (NLT) Then the Lord told him, “Go back the same way you came, and travel to the wilderness of Damascus. When you arrive there, anoint Hazael to be king of Aram.”

5. The writer tells us absolutely nothing about how Elijah about this.

6. Elijah what asked him to do.

7. It’s much easier to your way into a feeling than to your way into an !

8. What do need to do as far as in hope goes?

9. Stop waiting to hope and start in hope!

III. Conclusion