A man is hiking up a steep mountain trail when he slips and falls over the edge. He is able to grab hold of some old scrub brush as he falls. He is hanging on for dear life and is yelling for helping. A voice answers him and the man ask for help. The voice tells him that He is God and just to let go. The man explains that if he lets go he will fall. God again tells the man to let go. The man then yells, “Is there anybody else up there?”
The man didn’t want to let go. God was saying the only way to save yourself is to let go.
Most of us finding letting go very hard. We don’t like to do it.
For God to work in our lives we have to let go, we have to empty our hands.
In 1 Kings 17:7-16 we read of an event in the life of Elijah. There is a drought in the land which has lead to a famine. God tells Elijah to go to the town of Zarephath and there God had commanded a widow to supply him with food. When Elijah gets there, the widow only has enough food for one meal for herself and her son. Elijah tells the widow to fix him something to eat first and then something for her and her son. He tells her that if she will continue to do that, God will make the food last until God gives the land rain. The widow obeys what Elijah tells her and God provides.
The widow of Zarephath emptied her hands.
She trusted God.
She obeyed despite her fear.
She obeyed God in a seemly impossible situation.
God provided.
How can you empty your hands?
Acknowledge Jesus as FIRST.
Revelation 22:13
I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last.
Give yourself COMPLETELY to Jesus.
2 Corinthians 8:5
They even exceeded our expectations, because they gave themselves to the Lord first and then to us, consistent with God’s will.
Seek God’s Kingdom BEFORE anything.
Matthew 6:33
Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and He will give you everything you need.
Submit yourself to God’s AUTHORITY.
Matthew 20:26-27
But among you it will be different. Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you must become your slave.
Make it a PRIORITY to tell others.
John 1:40-41
Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was one of the two who heard John’s witness and followed Jesus. The first thing he did after finding where Jesus lived was find his brother, Simon, telling him, “We’ve found the Messiah (that is, “Christ”).
LOVE God first above anybody.
Mark 12:30
And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.
The widow trusted and obeyed God.
God provided!
When you trust and obey God, He will provide.
We have to empty our hands and turn everything over to God.
We have to empty our hands of spiritual things. We cannot save ourselves. We cannot change ourselves. We have to acknowledge our sin and let Jesus by His Spirit transform us.
We have to empty our hands of emotional things. We have to look to Jesus for our self-worth. We have to see ourselves as His treasured possession. We have to let Jesus not the world define who we are. We have to let Jesus’ opinion be the one that matters and know that He loves us no matter what.
We have to empty our hands of financial things. All we have belongs to Jesus. Our material possessions are to be used to honor Him. Our money is to be spent according to His will. It is not just about tithing. It is about using all of our material wealth for God’s Kingdom.
We have to empty our hands of our marriage. Your marriage is not yours; it belongs to Jesus. It is His to be used to glorify Him. Husbands are to love their wives unconditionally. Wives are to respect their husbands unconditionally. We are to do that because that is what God commands. We do it because by doing it we show the world Jesus.
We have to empty our hands of our children. Your children are not yours; their belong to Jesus. Our job as parents is not to raise children but to raise adults. Adults who will obey and follow Jesus. As parents we are not to make our children like we want them to be. We are to be used by God to mold them into who He wants them to be.
1 Peter 5:6-7
Be humble in the presence of God’s might power, and He will honor you when the time comes. God cares for you, so turn your worries over to Him.
You came into this world empty-handed. You will go out of this world emptied handed. Why not live in this world empty-handed?
Raising the Roof and Removing the Walls is being empty-handed.
Raising the Roof and Removing the Walls is about letting go of everything.
Raising the Roof and Removing the Walls is about letting Jesus control everything I have and everything I am.
Tenth Avenue North has a song called Empty My Hands. The chorus summarizes what Jesus desires for us to do.
So empty my hands
Fill up my heart
Capture my mind with You
Empty your hands - Surrender your life to Jesus
Fill up your heart - With Jesus, His truth, His will
Capture your mind with You - Let Jesus have control our your mind
When we empty our hands by surrendering ourselves to Jesus as our Master then He takes over and relieves us of our
Sin
Guilty
Worries
Stresses
Emptying our hands lets Jesus provide what we need.
In Emptiness Raising the Roof and Removing the Walls
Joe
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