1 Kings chapter 19 shows us a very relatable side of a famous prophet. Here we see Elijah, this mighty, bold, prophet who has just been used to turn Israel back to God, running in fear from the king’s wicked wife. He’s even come to the point of praying that God will just take his life. He doesn’t even want to live anymore! So now he’s in this cave and the Bible says the word of the Lord came to him. But the word wasn’t instruction or promise, but in a question. What are you doing here, Elijah?

We have to remember that when God asks a question, it isn’t because he doesn’t know the answer. It’s because he wants us to answer it. We will all give an account for what we’ve done. And Elijah now has to answer this question. What are you doing here? It wasn’t long ago that you outran a chariot in the spirit to the very place you ran from in fear. Elijah answers the Lord and then Elijah is told to go stand on the mountain in the very presence of the Lord because the Lord is about to pass by. This is getting good! The Lord is going to actually be right there. Before it was just his word, but now it’s his presence! I wonder what he’ll say to Elijah when he himself if right there to speak to him? So the Bible says that a strong, mighty wind comes that tears the mountains apart and shatters the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord wasn’t in the wind. Then there was an earthquake, but the Lord wasn’t in the earthquake, then there was fire, but the Lord wasn’t in the fire. And then, all of the sudden, a quietness and a still small voice… You just know God’s gonna say something good… Then God says… What are you doing here, Elijah?

Isn’t that something? God’s word was the same. His question was the same. What are you doing here? Elijah answers the same each time in honesty and God in return gives him further instruction to go back and to continue in obedience.

This is a story most of us can relate to. We have these amazing encounters with God and he provides for us and proves himself to us, and yet we find ourselves running and secluding ourselves when something hits a little too close to home. Is this where you’re at? If so then answer this question… What are you doing here? How did you get to where you are? Why are you in this position? Why aren’t you where you’re supposed to be? What are you doing here? Where is “here”? Have I forgotten how mighty you are, Lord? Have I forgotten that your spirit will not take me where you’re grace can’t keep me?

Our honest answer brings us into confession, which brings us into a position for forgiveness.

I love that the last thing before the still small voice was fire. God’s reminder of the chapter before when he proved himself by answering by fire. I believe we hear his voice better when we’re also reminded of who he is. We can do this by looking back at all he’s done in our lives. God is waiting to give you new instructions. And you may not experience a mighty wind, or earthquake, or fire, and you may not even hear a still small voice…. But guess what, the word of the Lord has already come to you. And his word is the same whether you are standing in his presence or hiding in a cave.

Growing up working every summer for my dad’s plumbing company, and digging lots of ditches and holes, I can tell ya that the worst thing to dig was that miry, Texas clay. It sticks to everything! It even forms a suction on the shovel and makes it really tough to pull it back out! It doesn’t take long for your shovel and shoes to weigh 3x as much as when you started…. That is, if you can get your shoe out that got stuck in that nasty and sticky clay! And even when you do get it out and put it on, you carry the weight around with you and leave traces of it everywhere you go. That’s why I love the verse in psalm chapter 40 that says “He brought me up out of the pit of destruction, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, making my footsteps firm.” 
If you ever feel like you’re stuck, weighted down, and that you’re tracking your mess all over the place, then check out the previous verse…. “I waited patiently for the Lord; and He inclined to me, and heard MY CRY.” 
Cry out to God who hears and He’s gonna help you! He’s gonna pull you out of that clay…… And He’s also been known to wash some feet.

The world’s advice is to follow your heart. The Word’s advice is to follow Christ. The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it? (Jeremiah 17:9) Yet Christ never sinned, nor ever deceived anyone.(1 Peter 2:22) If your heart’s desires don’t line up with the word, hand them over to God. It’s sometimes hard to fathom that freedom and abundant life come through denying things that promise to give us just that. However those things that we often believe will set us free, are really prison cells that prevent us from true freedom. Just like an inmate is unable to walk across the street due to the prison gates, those enslaved by sin cannot walk into the fullness of God’s plan for their life. They are limited by their lack of limits. Lead astray by the wrong leader. 
Create in us clean hearts oh God, and renew a steadfast Spirit in us as we make the choice to deny ourselves and to follow you!

Luke 14:23, And the lord said unto the servant, ‘Go out into the highways and hedges and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled.

When I was growing up I spent most of my summer days at my cousins house. We’d play outside and run around the neighborhood as kids do. Swimming, tetherball, baseball, kickball, and hide-n-go seek were everyday events. My aunt and uncle’s house had bushes along the front with those pointy leaves and we learned really quickly to stay out of those hedges! They were mosquito filled, prickly, and dark and dirty underneath as well as behind.

We lost many a Frisbee and many balls have been banished because it just wasn’t worth it to get all scratched up and dirty. However, every once in a while, what had landed in the hedges was valuable enough for us to tough it out and get it. One of us would get back behind the needle tipped leaves and would recover not only what we originally intended to get, but would also find all of those toys and treasures we’d forgotten about. Things that had been lost and were hidden from our sight. Things that hadn’t seen daylight in a long time. Things that wouldn’t have been found, unless someone had searched for them.

The Bible tells us to go out into the highways and the hedges. The highways are easy. We see people standing beside them everyday holding signs declaring their need. In the spiritual, these people are easily seen and their needs are obvious. We help them all the time.

But what about the people who have been lost in the hedges? The ones who have been forgotten about and declared unworthy of rescue. The ones who aren’t on our way to work and aren’t standing in the light where God desires them to be. We’re instructed to go out INTO the hedges to compel them to come to the master’s house. Yes we may get scratched up, we may get attacked by a swarm of mosquitos who are out for blood, and we may get dirty.

But there are treasures in the hedges. There are more than we know of and we’re instructed to go in after them. We acknowledge their worth by meeting them where they are. Philippians 2:3 tells us not to do anything for selfish purposes, but with humility think of others as better than yourselves. We know that Christ came to seek that which was lost, and He now lives in us and through us. This is our duty. This is part of our purpose.

Just like it was at my aunt and uncle’s house, the hedges were in the front yard. We didn’t have to go far, and neither do you. Say yes to the master’s command today and go out into the hedges.

Norman Normalton was a normal boy in a normal neighborhood with a normal house that had an abnormally large tree in the back yard. Norman had always dreamed of building a big amazing tree house for he and his friends to play in. But Norman felt that he was just too normal to complete such a big task.

One day Norman told his friend Encouragement about his dream of building a tree house and to his surprise, Encouragement said, “I believe you can do it!”
“Really?”, said Norman. “Really!”, said Encouragement. “I’ll even help you, and I bet our friends would help too.”

Encouragement had caused Norman to believe that this really was possible.

The next day at school, Norman saw the Attitude twins, who were nothing alike might I add. Their names were Good Attitude and Bad Attitude. Norman told them about the new project and asked if they’d like to help.

“That’s dumb.” Bad Attitude grumbled. “How fun!”, said Good Attitude “I’d love to help. I know we could build an amazing tree house!” So Norman told Good Attutude to head to his house after school.

Negativity overheard the conversation and quickly budded in. “There’s no way you guys can build a tree house in your tree. It’s too big.
“Well, there’s no harm in trying.”, replied Good Attitude

So throughout the day, Norman invited all his friends to come over after school to help with the tree house.
Everyone showed up and they got to work right away. Norman, Encouragement, Good Attitude, Patience, Perseverance, Kindness, Hard Work, and of course Faithfulness, who was always there, worked hard.

“This is really coming along nice”, said Kindness.

“It sure is, this is the greatest tree house ever” exclaimed Good Attitude

Norman was so happy to see his dream coming true.

Then out of the house came Norman’s mom, Mrs. Normalton. “It’s time to eat”, said Mrs. Normalton. “Looks like you’ll have to finish tomorrow.”
“Oh no”, Norman said sadly. “I really wanted to finish today”

“It’s ok”, said Patience. “There’s always tomorrow.”

“I wish we could finish, but I’ll come back tomorrow if you want.” said Faithfulness.

The neighbor boys Optimist and Pessimist from next-door walked over to see what was going on. “We’re building a tree house”, Norman said excitingly. “But now we have to quit to eat.”

“It’s half unfinished”, Said Pessimist

“Looks half finished to me”, Optimist quickly replied

Just then Thoughtfulness showed up with sandwiches for everyone! “Hey guys, I thought you might be getting hungry!”

“Yea!” shouted everyone. “We can keep working.”

“If we keep this up, we’ll be finished in no time!”, said Perseverance.

So Norman and his friends worked and worked and finished the tree house. Norman stood back and looked at it in amazement.

“I knew you could do it”, exclaimed Encouragement

Norman smiled and replied, “I bet I could do anything with the help of Encouragement, Good Attitude, Patience, Kindness, Perseverance, Faithfulness, Thoughtfulness and Hard Work!”
And Norman was right!

I was watching a movie that was set back in time and I couldn’t help but to be thankful for all of the luxuries we have today. We not only have indoor plumbing, but we have toilets that flush themselves after we use them. We can use Facetime and chat face to face with someone far away in real time, and we can hop in the car and be 60 miles down the road in less than an hour.

Don’t judge, but I would totally love to go back in time and show off some of our technology. Maybe even sell it and get rich! But as I thought about it… what we have today wouldn’t work if I were to travel with it back in time because it was the gradual increase in technology and knowledge that allows us to have what we have today. Satellites had to be built, programed, and positioned in space before a GPS could work. The light bulb had to be invented before headlights on a car. We had the huge computer before the laptop and the old school TV before we were watching Netflix on our iPads. We’ve built on what we’ve learned and we’ve failed many times, which only led to us making corrections and improvements.

It’s the same in our lives. Where we are today as individuals is the product of 1 day at a time, 1 lesson at a time. The product of many mistakes, glitches, corrections and improvements that we’ve built upon in order to grow. Just like technology, we are able to constantly learn and apply new things to our lives. The Bible tells us to be wise, to listen, and to add to our learning. We serve a God who is so great that we couldn’t possibly attain all there is to know about him, even if he were to reveal a mind blowing truth about himself each day for the rest of eternity! If you are living on this planet, you know that the iPhone keeps coming out with new models. Each one has new features that make it a little different from the previous version. They’ve discovered the power of building on what they’ve learned. Learning, understanding, applying, and growing are key to success. I desire to build more and more, and to grow more and more in the Lord. I don’t want next years model of Chris Taylor to be the same as this years model. I’m learning new things about the unchangeable God I serve and love all the time. Through growth in him, I’m able to do things through Him that I wasn’t able to do before.

We live in a culture that will camp out overnight in front of a store in order to be the first in line for the latest and greatest cell phone release. They spend 600 dollars on a phone that has a few new features even though there’s nothing wrong with the one they currently own… and yet spiritually, they’re a rotary dial and perfectly content with it.

Father, I’ll be the first in line each day anticipating the latest and greatest from you! I pray that you’ll reveal yourself to me in extravagant and mind blowing ways. I ask that you reveal the glitches in my life and help me to grow in wisdom, knowledge, and understanding… and most importantly, to become more life Christ each day!

Proverbs 8:34
Blessed is the man who listens to me, watching daily at my gates, waiting at my doorpost.

People spend massive amounts of money to restore classic cars. I’ve watched shows where buyers have spent what seemed like a fortune for an old vehicle. Some of the most expensive cars are the ones that weren’t produced in mass quantity. So if there were only 500 made, the car, even all rusted out, often cost more than it did brand new. In this popular hobby, rarity equals value. So with that in mind, I can’t help but feel special. I knew God had paid an amount for me that seemed outrageous, but why? Like the car that to the naked eye looks like junkyard material, and yet to the collector is worth millions. I was junkyard material to a lot of people, but God saw the value. You see, he knows that I wasn’t made in mass quantity. There weren’t even only 500 made. There was only one. I’m the only original Christopher Taylor.

I’m currently in this fortress of a shop in the care and ownership of God. When we hear the word restoration, we usually think of the historic home that is now new and marvelous, or the car that is taken to all the shows for everyone to drool over. Restoration sounds like such a beautiful thing, which it is, but the process isn’t as easy or painless as I’d thought it might be. I guess I figured that since I still run, the process would be simple. Clean me up, paint me, and change my oil so I can go another 3,000 miles while looking good. My thoughts were, if I can just pass the inspection I’ll be all right. Boy was I wrong. When I came into the shop, I was completely taken apart. All the after-market parts were taken away and I was stripped to nothing. Even the parts I thought were ok, and parts I thought were useful added features were removed from me. Then God revealed to me that I had some cracks in my frame. Things were out of line, which explained why I so often went off the road, which damaged me even further. My transmission was damaged from overloading and pulling a trailer full of baggage. The consistent high speeds had burned up my motor and anything that required maintenance had been utterly neglected. Even my ability to play music was gone. My radio had been stuck on an AM news station with constant reports of the other successful cars, but never a mention of me unless it was negative. Now the only voice I hear is God’s. The great designer and mechanic himself. He’s filled me with words of worth. He affirmed to me that this process will be worth it.

Everything has to be emptied to be refilled. Cracks have to be welded, which is extremely hot and uncomfortable, even to others who are close to the sparks. The sanding down is painful and required endurance, even when I feel I’m being rubbed the wrong way. He told me, “The better the sanding job, the more things will roll right off your back!” He’s also had to rewire me. I’d gotten some things crossed. Some wired had been spliced and others were feeding electricity to dangerous places that could have fried me or someone else. He gutted my interior. I had no idea how stained and ugly it had become. It makes sense though with all of the things I’d allowed inside that should never be allowed inside a vehicle. He removed the masking smell of the paper pine tree hanging from my rear-view mirror, which was the only clean part of my car since I was always looking back at my past.
After a lot of work, I’m brand new again. I’m amazed when I look in the shop mirror. “Everything’s new”, God said to me proudly as he got out his trusty hand held mirror to show me all of the things he’d done. It’s absolutely incredible the work that God can do! No one else can do it. I’m so glad I stayed in the shop to let him finish the work he started. If I had pulled out during the difficult times, I would have never dreamed this was possible. Now I’m complete and lacking nothing.

Then a chill ran all over me as God circled around me breathing and polishing me so that he could see his reflection. He breathed on my windshield and wiped his hand across the glass to reveal the wonderful things in front of me. He said, “You are my workmanship, my work of art and a masterpiece. My fingerprints are on every part of you. I’m going to drive you places you’ve only dreamed of and show you unimaginable things. Some of the places we’re going may frighten you at first, but fear not. You see I, your builder, alone know what you’re capable of, and have I got some surprises in store for you!”

When He knocks on your door
Let Him inside
He’s got the key
But He’ll let you decide

It’s fun to go jogging early in the morning or late afternoon when the sun cast the biggest shadows. It’s fun because my shadow makes me look so tall! Running mid-day doesn’t cast a big shadow because the sun is high above and the light is all around. Shadows are only cast when there’s partial or complete darkness in an area. It happens when something comes between a surface and a ray of light. The Bible says, in 1 John 1:7, we are to live our lives in the light. And not only in the light, but in the light as God is in the light, and get this…God is light. That means he is and is surrounded by light. So we too are to be surrounded with light. He lives in us and shines through us. This also means we have to be transparent. We let God’s light shine on every part of us so that he can cleanse each part in order to shine through it. When I was a kid, I would take the lampshade off the lamp in my room and melt Legos on the light bulb. (sorry mom) This would cause a big shadow on my wall because the little plastic block was blocking the light. (I don’t think that’s why it’s called a block) You and I are light bulbs for God, and sin causes spots and shadows. Anything you try to keep secret or any sin you haven’t allowed the Lord to wash away is causing a dark place for Satan to work in your life. Satan loves our shadows because he hates the light. Darkness allows him a place to be himself where he doesn’t even have to wear a costume. If you claim to be a Christian but are still keeping part of yourself in the dark, check this out. If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. 1John 1:6-7 This is why we have to purify ourselves with the blood of Jesus. He wants to wash all of our stains away so that we can be the light of the world, which he’s called us to be. Sometimes we fear shedding light on some of the things we’ve kept in the dark. Sometimes it’s for fear of shame. Sometimes it’s for fear of loss. Usually it all comes down to the fear of losing something, whether it’s a relationship, a reputation, or other things you’ve gained that can only live in the dark. The bible says in 2 Peter 3:14 to make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him. Are you obeying this command? Do you have spots that you’re using more effort to conceal than to cleanse? God gives us the choice of bringing things into the light on our own and finding mercy, or he’ll bring them to the light. Proverbs 28:13 says whoever conceals their sins does not prosper, but the one who confesses and renounces them finds mercy. Search your life today and ask the Lord to reveal any spots that are preventing you from shining shadow free. Take some real-estate away from the enemy today and be in the light as the Lord is in the light!

14“You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. 15Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. Matthew 5:14-16

Psalm 139
You have searched me, Lord, and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue you, Lord, know it completely. You hem me in behind and before, and you lay your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain. Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,” even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you. For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. How precious to me are your thoughts, oh God! How vast is the sum of them. Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand-

These words are life changing. I’ve talked to many people who believe they’re in their current condition because they were “born that way”. They believe that they were wired wrong and that God created them in a way contrary to his will. This is simply not true, yet such a common belief. You are wonderfully made by God! There was nothing hidden from him that he missed. He loves you so much. In fact he loved you long before you entered this world. He thought about you so much that his thoughts about you outnumber the grains of sand. He spent time designing your every part, down to the smallest cell in your body. He numbered your hairs and he intricately wove you together. Some of the greatest things we know of, such as light and the universe, were simply spoken into existence… but God formed you with his hands. He even wrote out each day of your life with plans to prosper you and not to harm you. He created your inmost being and filled it with all of the gifts, talents, personality, and purpose that are specific and unique for you and for your part of his great story and yours. Then, being so in love with you with a love so great that nothing could separate you from it, he has to do an unthinkable thing……. He has to send you, his wonderful creation, into this world through the sinful flesh. God’s masterpiece, wrapped in corruption. Even David said in Psalm 51:5, “Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me.” We also know from Jesus himself that what is born of the flesh is flesh, but what is born of the Spirit is Spirit. We were all born of the flesh. So when you say you were “born that way”, I can agree with you, but let me assure you that you weren’t created that way! God still sees the masterpiece he created when he sees you and no amount of darkness can hide it from him. He sees your inmost being. However, we often don’t see it when we find our identity through the flesh and not the spirit. We allow the inmost being to be filled with all the lies of the world and of our own corrupted flesh and it’s desires.

Psalm 51:6 says that God desires TRUTH in the innermost being… that’s the place he filled with “who you are” when he made you and it’s were you find your sense of self. So how do we do this? Where do we find this truth? Well, we know his word is true, we know that Jesus is the truth (the life and the way), and we know that his Spirit is the Spirit of truth…. so when we get saved and we allow TRUTH to fill that innermost being, it’s then and only then that we find out who we really are. That’s when all the lies of the flesh come face to face with the true, inescapable, un-arguable truth of who God says you are! We come alive at that moment. The Holy Spirit brings to life that which God created before you entered this world. We are born again of the Spirit. We all have a flesh that desires the complete opposite of what God desires, so don’t let that flesh become your identity. You have already been given one! Surrender your life to Him and let Truth himself do his work!

But it doesn’t stop there. Sometimes we get saved and expect everything to instantaneously change. We expect all of our desires to be different immediately and when they aren’t we doubt that anything has happened. We may even believe we’re the same person we were before we got saved. I’ve discovered that getting set free isn’t the problem. Learning to walk in the freedom we’ve received seems to be the issue more often than not. Our minds have already become trained to think and process certain ways, and our first response of action is to let our emotions take the wheel. It’s hard enough to walk by faith and not by sight… but faith and not by feelings can be even harder! Martin Luther wrote a poem that has impacted my life. He wrote,

“Feelings come and feelings go,
And feelings are deceiving;
My warrant is the Word of God–
Naught else is worth believing.

Though all my heart should feel condemned
For want of some sweet token,
There is One greater than my heart
Whose Word cannot be broken.

I’ll trust in God’s unchanging Word
Till soul and body sever,
For, though all things shall pass away,
HIS WORD SHALL STAND FOREVER!”

Freedom is not based on feelings! He who the Son has set free is free indeed, whether you feel like it or not. We still have flesh and we still live in a fallen world. Don’t be discouraged when you desire things that you don’t want to desire. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. Galatians 5:17
We’re told in the word that this is taking place. Everyone deals with this. That’s why the word says, No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.
James 1:14 says that each person is tempted when he is drawn away and enticed by his own evil desires.
Satan would love to trick you with condemnation and lies. If he can fool you into thinking that it’s hopeless because you still battle and still desire wrong things, he’s got a foothold in your life. We must be aware of his scheme, and aware that though our flesh has evil desires, we know how to get the right desires placed directly into the heart! We have the promise that when we delight ourselves in the Lord, he will give us the desires of our heart. He gives us right desires. Some people read that verse and think that God’s gonna give them what their heart already desires or what their flesh wants, but what He’s saying is…”Here are the right desires. I’m giving them to you as you delight yourself not in what you took delight in before, but in ME”. We often think that delight comes from what we desire, but according to the word, our desires come from what we take delight in.

Thoughts are also key. They are powerful. A tiny thought enters your mind, you meditate on it, it grows, and by the times it gets into your heart it’s so much bigger than what it was when it started. This is how we get full of rage, bitterness, confusion, and deceit. Have you ever blown up at a situation that started off small and ended up huge? A thought entered your mind, you meditated on it and it got down into your inmost being. Then it grew until it became something that changed you, changed your perspective, effected the people around you, and get this… it changed the way you felt! The principal is the same for the word! We get it in our minds and we think on it and meditate on it until it sinks down into our inmost being, the heart, and it grows into something so amazing and beautiful. It changes us and our perspective. It effects the people around us and even changes the way we feel.

Psalms 1 says, Blessed is the one…whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night. That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither—whatever they do prospers.

The mind is the portal to the inmost being! Our thought life is so important in the process of transformation that God gives us a list of things to think on. Philippians 4:8 (ESV) Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.
I challenge you to fill your mind and heart with the TRUTH. Surrender, be emptied, and be filled with everything God has for you. Be filled with Him and be who you are in and through Him. That’s what you were born for! Be born of the Spirit so that when people see the change in your life and wonder what’s happened, you can simply say… I WAS BORN THIS WAY!

EPHESIANS 3:16 (AMP)
May He grant you out of the rich treasury of His glory to be strengthened and reinforced with mighty power in the inner man by the [Holy] Spirit [Himself indwelling your innermost being and personality].