Church of Hope

Commitment is easy when things are going well.  Money in the bank... relationships are pleasant... work is stress free...

But what happens to our commitments when things go downhill?  In 1 Kings 17, Elijah faced a downhill time, but he kept His commitment to God.  The prophet of God had to leave - this was God's command to him.  Not knowing where our commitments will take us at times leaves a lot of room for doubt, but when we are committed to God, He will be there.  Elijah had to take a stand; a stand to stay committed to God and what God called him to do - It takes courage to take a stand.  It takes commitment to keep standing...

1 Kings 17:2-3, 6, it reads..."And Word of the Lord came to Him.. 'Go away from here and turn eastward and hide yourself by the brook Cherith which is east of the Jordan... The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning and bread and meat in the evening, and he would drink from the brook.."

Even as he was in trouble, the Word of the Lord came to Elijah.  God's presence came to him when He needed it most... RESPOND to the presence of God in your life as Elijah did.  Know that God will come to you, but are we going to respond to Him.  In response to His presence, RELOCATE to the place of God...God's command was to go away; God had a place just for Elijah to go to... That will be the place that God will change and transform you.  And when you are in that place that God has you, RECEIVE the transformational provision of God.  Not only will God provide all you need to be committed to Him, He will transform you in the process.  He was set aside by God for this time, and Elijah's commitment to God kept him where God wanted him to be.  Keep committed in troubled times by RESPONDING to the presence of God in your life, RELOCATING to the place of God, and RECEIVING the transformational provision of God.

Commitment is the secret to effective living; without it there is no success.  God wants us to make the commitments that will matter, ones that will glorify Him.  Have yourself committed... to God's ways...

In 2 Chronicles 15, we can read about King Asa.  As a king, he wanted to lead his people in the right way to make a commitment to God.  First he REMOVED DISTRACTIONS.  In 2 Chronicles 15:8, it says he..."removed the detestable idols from the whole land..."  Distraction will keep us from fully committing to God.  It continues in verse 8, ..."he repaired the altar of the Lord..."  To keep your commitment strong, REPAIR YOUR PLACE OF WORSHIP.   Let God repair the broken down altar of your heart and life and build it up to help you fully glorify Him.  In verse 12, it says..."They entered into a covenant to seek the Lord the God of their fathers with all their heart and soul..."  Asa knew that the people needed to recommit to God...  RECOMMIT YOUR HEART.  They vowed together to seek God with everything.  2 Chronicles 15:15 continues..."All Judah rejoiced about the oath because they had sworn with their whole heart and had sought Him earnestly..."  REJOICE IN YOUR COMMITMENT...  know the joy of your commitment to God, because He's committed to you.

When we make a commitment to serve God, it's easy to pull away, and seek our own way at times.  Even Asa struggled; 2 Chronicles 16:7 - "Because you relied on the King of Aram and not on the Lord, the army of the King of Aram has escaped from your hand..."  RESIST INDEPENDENCE FROM GOD.  Keep your commitment to depend on God, to look to Him as your everything.  Verse 9 of chapter 16 says this - "For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to Him."  He's looking for people that have had themselves committed (to Him). 

Today is a great day to look at the commitments we have today.  A commitment that counts is one that moves you past boundaries and self-imposed limitations.  When you commit to the right things, the limitations will be removed.  Wrong attitudes and direction is changed to the right attitude and direction because of our commitments.

In Joshua chapters 2 & 3, Joshua and the children of Israel were setting out to the promised land.  This took a commitment on their part - there was no going back.  In Joshua 2:24, it reads, "They said to Joshua, 'The Lord has surely given the whole land into our hands...'"  Nothing else compares to God's plans for our lives.  Commit everything to Him - COMMIT TO THE PLANS OF GOD!

As they prepared for their commitment to God's plans, Joshua said in chapter 3:5, "Consecrate yourselves for tomorrow the Lord will be amazing things among you..."   COMMIT AS THE PEOPLE OF GOD!  As His people we will commit and see His mighty hand.

And lastly, COMMIT AS THE PRIESTS OF GOD!  The prests carried the Ark of the Covenant; when we commit to carry the presence of God in our lives, He will do miracles on our behalf.  It says in Joshua 3:14-16 - "The priests carrying the Ark of the Covenant went ahead of them.  Now the Jordan was at flood stage all during harvest.  Yet as soon as the priests who carried the Ark reached the Jordan and their feet touched the waters edge, the water from upstream stopped flowing..."  Making the right commitments in our lives positions us for next level living.  When we commit to God's plans as God's people and as His priests, He removes the boundaries and limitations to get us to the next level, and for the children of Israel, the promised land.