Extraordinary...Opens (5/24/20)

Beyond Normal “Extraordinary…opens” Philippians 3:12-14; 2 Kings 18

 

 I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me. 13 No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.                                                                       Philippians 3:12-14

 

“Hezekiah trusted in the Lord, the God of Israel. There was no one like him among all the kings of Judah, either before or after his time.”             2 Kings 18:5

 

What does it take to OPEN THE EXTRAORDINARY?

#1) Break with the past

v3-4, “He did what was pleasing in the Lord’s sight, just as his ancestor David had done. He removed the pagan shrines, smashed the sacred pillars, and cut down the Asherah poles. He broke up the bronze serpent that Moses had made, because the people of Israel had been offering sacrifices to it. The bronze serpent was called Nehushtan.”

 

“But forget all that—it is nothing compared to what I am going to do. For I am about to do something new. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it? I will make a pathway through the wilderness. I will create rivers in the dry wasteland.”                Isaiah 43:18-19

 

#2) Make a Hard Turn

v4, “He removed the pagan shrines, smashed the sacred pillars, and cut down the Asherah poles. He broke up the bronze serpent that Moses had made…”

 

Hebrews 9:27, “…each person is destined to die once and after that comes judgment…”

 

#3) Take a Bold Stand

v7b, “He revolted against the king of Assyria and refused to pay him tribute.”

 

“Pray as if everything depended upon God. Work as if everything depended on you.”

Saint Augustine