— Or maybe it is the joy of obeying Jesus in baptism. — It could be the joy you feel as you repent of a certain sin in your life, and that “barrier” that sin always puts between you and God is taken down, and you feel so good, and so close the Lord. Your prayer is monotonous. When we have had times of spiritual growth on “the mountaintop” with the Lord (whatever form that “mountaintop” spiritual growth takes), God then allows us to come into a time of “wilderness” of trial and temptation, where Satan will to try to get us to doubt what we know that God has told us about Himself, or what we just learned about His word, or our ministry, or … Spiritual Wilderness Seeking the Ancient Path Posts. The last test; the last enemy you face is death. You must repent and turn to God for the removal of your sins through Jesus Christ. But then secondly I want you to see that life in the wilderness is intended to help us obey. Your challenge right now is: Don’t be surprised when you are brought into the “wilderness”. But hopefully we did some. From the Gospel of Mark chapter 1: The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Change ), You are commenting using your Facebook account. Change ), You are commenting using your Twitter account. Wilderness experiences are those times in life when circumstances force us to take time out. This happens to every one of us. Managing the body’s manic-depressive response is an essential skill for singers, public speakers, sports stars, soldiers, police officers and fire fighters. You must repent and turn to God for the removal of your sins through Jesus Christ. It may be helpful for you to realize that this WILL happen to you; it is NOT unusual; it is most likely not your fault — it’s a normal part of every Christian’s experience. Joel Osteen is a … In the wilderness, the songs that used to move you no longer move you. How much of it are you going to forget when your parents come down hard on you and you feel like you didn’t deserve it? As long as you live, God will continue to bring you through times of spiritual growth, and spiritual testing, over and over, to test and to consolidate what you have learned into your spiritual life. We sometimes feel far from God, spiritually dry, or that our prayers are hitting the ceiling, so to speak. Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. You learn something, you grow in some area of your life, then you get tested. Sermon Illustrations provides sermon illustrations, sermons, eulogies, funeral helps, ... can be frustrating and time consuming. — Or you’re on the “high” of that “mountaintop” of that revival or the youth retreat, but then you come home to the same old family you had when you left: and your parents still get on your nerves, and your brother or sister is still annoying, and you’ve still got your chores and your homework, and all the things you’d left behind for a while when you went to “the mountain.” Man does not understand these places or the timing associated with them and what to do in them. Spiritual senses dull. •The 'Wilderness Experience' is the outworking of God's blessing. Quiet times alone for meditation, fasting and reflection bring us closer to God prepare us for the mission of being better lights in the world. Abnormally elevated adrenaline levels are followed by a period of depression. So listen: although it may not be pleasant to hear, I am not here to “tickle your ears”, I am here to tell you the truth. The wilderness experience is very much God-initiated. It is all part of God’s design. So hopefully we did indeed grow a little bit. “Desires for other things” begin to choke the word (Mark 4:19). You will find out then, how has your whole Christian life prepared you for that? In spiritual terms, the wilderness offers retreat from the mundane things of life, where; in the quietness; the deeper things of God and man, can be sought, and discovered. When you ask Him to forgive your sins and come into your life as your Lord & God, then you are saved, and the “weight” of conviction is lifted off of you; you know that you are going to heaven. How To Survive A Wilderness Experience (8 of 11) Series: Fearless Dr. Larry Osborne THE ULTIMATE WILDERNESS EXPERT Moses and his 40 year trek through the desert Exodus 13:17 - 14:31/ Exodus 19:1 - 20:21/ Numbers 13:1 - 14:45/ Deuteronomy 2:7 and Nehemiah 9:18-21 HOW TO SURVIVE A WILDERNESS EXPERIENCE 1. There were nine sermons in the series, on nine nearly consecutive Sundays one autumn. No, the Bible specifically tells us that the Holy Spirit, who had just descended upon Him like a dove in the aftermath of that amazing baptism experience, then purposefully LED HIM UP into the wilderness. Sinai to receive the Commandments from the Lord. Jesus in the wilderness did not try to escape from his 40-day experience. That a wilderness denotes a comparatively obscure state, is plain from these passages by its being called a wilderness and also a forest ; and very evidently so in Jeremiah :-- In fact, the Bible tells us this didn’t happen accidentally; that God LED Him there. A Southern Baptist pastor for almost 35 years, I currently serve as Senior Pastor of the First Baptist Church of Angleton, Texas, and post my weekly sermons here. truth be told. We do not usually get to stay on the “spiritual mountaintop” for very long. Scripture: Ephesians 6:10–20 Topic: Spiritual Warfare The following is a lightly edited transcript. He was full This was part of God’s plan: for Jesus to come away from the “spiritual high” of His baptism, into the wilderness of temptation and testing. Spiritual dryness affects not only your spirit but also your thoughts, emotions, and behaviors. Straying from the straight and narrow can be a spiritual wilderness. Be ready for it; stand firm in it. Introduction The dictionary defines a Sign as something perceived that suggests the existence of a fact, quality or condition, either past, present or future. When we have had times of spiritual growth on “the mountaintop” with the Lord (whatever form that “mountaintop” spiritual growth takes), God then allows us to come into a time of “wilderness” of trial and temptation, where Satan will to try to get us to doubt what we know that God has told us about Himself, or what we just learned about His word, or our ministry, or His call on our lives. He said in :16, “I brought him to Your disciples, and they could not cure him.” And Jesus says in :17 “You unbelieving and perverted generation, how long shall I be with you? RULES FOR WILDERNESS SURVIVAL. Some people show, unfortunately, that they didn’t learn much. Every Christian gets these “spiritual highs”: You have to go down into the valley because that’s where the desert is. (Jeremiah 9:23-24 sermon), "The Christian Race" (Hebrews 12:1-2 sermon), "The Disciple's Character" series (Beatitudes Mt. King David’s Story of Sin and Redemption 2 Samuel 11:1-5 In this series, we’re looking at five OT characters who experienced the wilderness in their lives, both physically and spiritually. Small columbidae are generally called doves and larger ones are usually called pigeons. As it is written in the prophet Isaiah, “See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way; the voice of one crying out in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the … In fact, that he was led into this experience by the Spirit suggests that there was a larger, divine plan in it. Sermons are stale and dry. ( Log Out / Every single time. It’s a fight or flight response. ( Log Out / In so many times and so many different ways, we can experience spiritual “highs” in our lives, just like Jesus did at His baptism. Associated with wilderness experiences are feelings of distress, doubt, and perhaps alienation from God. you are not alone. A wilderness experience is a period in our life where there are many difficulties and trials. If you knew you were about to enter the wilderness, you will most likely want to delay it by a few days, weeks, months, or years . Can God set a table in the wilderness? It was a time of testing and even preparation, for from this wilderness Jesus then stepped forward into a life that changed the world forever. Every Christian experiences this “undulation”, this “up and down.” Everyone has “spiritual highs” and then goes into the wilderness again. They can be lonely times, ... Straying from the straight and narrow can be a spiritual wilderness. wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, 18 the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; 3. And it describes how God came down on that mountaintop: “YHWH descended upon it in fire, and the smoke ascended like the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mountain quaked” and Moses spoke, and God answered him with thunder. You won’t be in “the wilderness” forever. 2 This makes for an uneasy contrast with the post-industrial trend towards urbanization, efficiency, and relative comfort. They each experience different kinds of extreme stress, but have a similar experience of adrenal fatigue. A Spiritual Wilderness. But there are a number of other “spiritual highs” in the typical Christian life as well: Bring him here to Me.” Again, the spiritual “high” of the glory of the Mount of Transfiguration didn’t last long, and Jesus was immediately “hit” with the problems of demon-filled people, and ineffective and powerless disciples. I went to school the next day, and I was so excited, and I told one of my classmates: “I got baptized last night” and she just looked at me with the most condescending look on her face and said, “SO?” I have never felt so slapped in the face with cold noodle! Change ), You are commenting using your Google account. Jesus had a wonderful baptism experience followed by forty days of loneliness in the Judean outback (, Lent remembers Jesus’ forty days in the wilderness (, We all experience those times in the wilderness where we appear to be surrounded by demons and wild beasts (, Many Christians copy Jesus’ example of fasting (, In a recent year the United States government added 80,000 pages of regulations. What do lent and Easter have to do with each other? It is like the process of strengthening your body through lifting weights. B. Beddome, M. A. Ezekiel 20:35 And I will bring you into the wilderness of the people, and there will I plead with you face to face. Spiritual dryness, or the wilderness experience, is God’s way of getting us to exercise our faith even when there is little feedback or affirmation or emotional joy. It was such a “spiritually high” moment. In the wilderness, the songs that used to move you no longer move you. We may feel a sort of spiritual depression, and find it difficult to find the joy of the Lord. Associated with wilderness experiences are feelings of distress, doubt, and perhaps alienation from God. Many awful threatenings and delightful promises are scattered up and down in the Word of God. In Hosea’s day, God led Israel through the wilderness to woo the nation back to Himself (Hos. Time after time, the Children of Israel, complaining about the lack of food and water, accusing Moses of leading them to their deaths, failed to trust God, in spite of the track record of provision He had established. The spiritual and physical wilderness is something that Jesus experienced as Satan tried to tempt Him with every extreme he could offer. That a wilderness denotes a comparatively obscure state, is plain from these passages by its being called a wilderness and also a forest ; and very evidently so in Jeremiah :-- The wilderness is happy to have you. Featured December 11, 2019 What is the Problem with Joel Osteen? Speaker: Pastor Davies Mpinga. We have talked previously about how there is something about confessing Jesus publicly in baptism that “nails down” a person’s salvation. Live out what you learned in it. The Spiritual Wilderness. How do we practically go about allowing Jesus to satisfy our spiritual hunger and thirst? He said: “This is My Beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased.” God told Jesus, “You are My Son, and I am totally pleased with you.” Now notice how Satan begins his temptation of Jesus in the wilderness in Matthew 4:3: he said to Him, “IF You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.” “IF You are the Son of God”! Life In The Wilderness Helps Us Obey . This sermon explores how we must experience the wilderness in order to love our neighbor as ourself. God will draw us near to Him, in a “mountaintop” experience — whether it is salvation, or baptism, or a retreat or revival, or even a special prayer and Bible time or an especially effective ministry experience. It was a time of testing and even preparation, for from this wilderness Jesus then stepped forward into a life that changed the world forever. ( Log Out / And it is not a “bad” thing to have a spiritual high — but we need to always keep in mind: those “mountaintop” experiences are good: but they don’t last forever! — Maybe it is the initial “high” of your salvation. It is like a bipolar experience. Why is the Holy Spirit pictured as descending like a dove in, As Jesus’ was driven into the wilderness by the Holy Spirit (, Adrenaline junkies love the high of a stressful experience but must deal with the resultant lows. Jesus begins his ministry in the wilderness. And God had just TOLD Him that He was His Son, in that amazing baptism experience. a. It is very revealing that we see here in the temptations that follow in the next verses, that the devil tried to get Jesus to doubt what God had just told Him at His baptism. But I can promise you, that just like Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil after His spiritual high of baptism, now YOU are going to be tested after your spiritual high as well: maybe tonight; maybe tomorrow; but you will be tested: How much of this that God showed you this weekend are you really going to keep? Then you must go forward, follow through with what you said you'd do - put sin out, symbolized both by the journey the Israelites made through the wilderness after leaving Egypt and by the putting out of leaven during the … 1. And maybe you feel like you did something wrong: “What have I done to get myself in this ‘wilderness’?” Maybe you are questioning if you were really saved, because you’re thinking this wouldn’t happen to you if you were really a Christian. It WILL happen to you. Today we have reached the Last Day of Unleavened Bread. Jesus tempted in the wilderness appears Very different from the Christ seated at the right hand of the Majesty on high. Jesus was tested in the wilderness, on what He had just experienced on “the mountaintop.”. You have to go down into the valley because that’s where the desert is. You worship and feel nothing. It can help you to get through this time when you realize that soon this test will be over, and God’s gonna have you back up on the mountain top again before too long! The pleasant things of life are unable to be enjoyed, or they may be absent altogether, and one feels a lack of encouragement. You are convicted of your sins, and hear that Jesus died to pay for them on the cross. Bible > Sermons > Ezekiel 20:35. And if you try to stay on the mountaintop of spiritual excitement too long, the Holy Spirit will gently take you by the hand and lead you down into the valley and on into the wilderness of temptation. Survive the Wilderness Seasons of Life, Whitney Hopler - Read more Christian women spiritual life, faith, and growth. wilderness (3) our spiritual eyes will be open to fresh revelation (a) Eph 1:17 The Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of . Answer: A “wilderness experience” is usually thought of as a tough time in which a believer endures discomfort and trials. Spiritual Wilderness. As we observe the leadership of the Lord and His working in the lives of Israel, and as we observe the response of the Children of Israel, there are five things I want us to consider, specifically as they relate to our walk as Christians. It didn’t take long for him to go from the mountain to the valley. In our last sermon in this series, we celebrate that the wilderness is a time of new beginnings. A “wilderness experience” is often a time of intensified temptation and spiritual attack. How long shall I put up with you? Most people don’t lift weights every day — or at least they don’t lift with the same muscles every day. Using that same principle, we too, brethren, are in our own kind of wilderness. Powered by. Can you imagine the “spiritual high” that Jesus might have been on, immediately after His baptism? In the New Testament, Jesus claims to be the “bread of life” and Paul states that Jesus is the Rock that was struck by Moses in the wilderness. © 2011-2015 by Ian Grant Spong. Wilderness experiences play an important role in our spiritual formation. And we need to understand that the same thing happens in our spiritual lives as well. Matthew 4:1 says “Then Jesus was LED UP BY THE SPIRIT into the wilderness.” Jesus didn’t just “wander” into the wilderness; He didn’t just “happen” to get tempted out there. I have been kicking this idea around in my head for a while. II. Maybe we did indeed learn something, and we did grow. The Spiritual Wilderness. You may feel as if your spiritual … It is a place to return from, in order to undertake particular tasks; and a place … I remember a retired pastor in a church I served telling me that one of his favorite phrases in scripture is found more than four hundred fifty times in the King James Version of the Bible: “It came to pass.” Pastor Grant's Sermon Notes Sermons by Pastor Ian Grant Spong. — Or God uses your ministry so that someone gets saved, or you help someone really learn to walk with the Lord, or to overcome a stronghold in their life, and you really get to “see” the fruit of a spiritual victory in your ministry. Exodus 16:1-18 – Bread from Heaven; God has led his people into the wilderness for a specific reason – he wants his people to learn that they need him far more than they need food or drink. How much of it will we really retain? During wilderness seasons we can encounter spiritual dryness, a state of feeling depleted or empty. Remember: just as the spiritual “high” of the mountaintop doesn’t last forever, neither does the spiritual temptation and test of the valley last forever. Isaiah 35:1 (KJV) “The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them; and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose.” I want to talk to you about coming out of your wilderness experience. Spiritual wildernesses are real places that occur now and then during our Christian walk on this earth. . A similar kind of thing happens to us spiritually. ( Log Out / This happens to every Christian. In the New Testament, Jesus claims to be the “bread of life” and Paul states that Jesus is the Rock that was struck by Moses in the wilderness. You young people coming out of the Disciple Now Weekend can pretty much count on getting tested. — We see this same kind of thing happen with the prophet Elijah in I Kings 18. This is the primary wilderness experience that gives our metaphorical "wilderness experiences" their name. Answer: A “wilderness experience” is usually thought of as a tough time in which a believer endures discomfort and trials. I hope it was. ... Service Type: Sermons. It IS coming. In moments like these, it is one of God’s severe mercies to deal with us as he dealt with Israel, and to send us into the wilderness. Spiritual Hiccups Thoughts on faith, musings on Scripture, sermons from Falls Church Presbyterian Church, plus sermons and postings from "Pastor James," my blog while pastor at ... or even out in the rural countryside. In the same way that national law makes us all criminals, so has Moses' law made us all sinners (. It is important for you to know that WHEN this happens to you (because it WILL!) The spiritual journey of God's people is more difficult than the physical one of the ancient Israelites, requiring as it does more resources to navigate. It is characteristic of God in Scripture to lead chosen people into the isolation and barrenness of the wilderness or desert. But how typical, that as they came down from the mountain, they were immediately greeted by a man who fell down before Jesus, asking Him to have mercy on his son, who was demon-possessed. You will normally be well into a wilderness experience before you consciously know that you are. The Hebrew word translated “wilderness” simply means a place where people do not live. He was full We see that pattern over and over. Bible > Sermons > Ezekiel 20:35. In fact, that he was led into this experience by the Spirit suggests that there was a larger, divine plan in it. 10:4. Every Christian goes through the same thing, because that is what happens: we go from “the mountain top” to the wilderness. This is SO typical of what happens over and over, in every Christian’s spiritual life. The question is how should we, as God’s children, respond, when we start to wander in the wilderness? It is not a “fun” thing to go through, but it is an important element of our spiritual growth, because that testing helps us to consolidate what God has just accomplished in our lives. The tablets aren’t even “cool” yet from the fire of the finger of God that engraved them — and the people are already turning against God, and Moses has a crisis he has to address. — Or maybe it’s when God gives you a great victory in your life: something you have prayed for, and worked to make happen, actually comes to pass, and God blesses you with it, and you are so excited! It is a law of spiritual growth. Signs, Symbols & Spiritual Icons Reading: Joel Chapter 3 1. Those of us who have children know that parenting can be a very “up and down” experience. 10:4. It is spiritual. Losing a loved one to death or divorce can be a family wilderness. Then as that happened, the Holy Spirit came down upon Him like a dove, anointing and filling Him for ministry; and the voice of His Father called down from heaven: “This is My Beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased.” I had never really thought of it before I read this passage again recently, but this must have been, just from a human/emotional level, an amazing “spiritual high” for Jesus. I am grateful to see these messages read in countries around the world, and pray that God will use His word to help individuals to walk with Him daily, and churches to glorify Him with their worship and obedience. Every Christian gets some “spiritual highs” where we experience God in a fresh way, or take a special “leap forward” in learning and growing in Him — but we also need to learn that the “spiritual highs” don’t typically last very long. There is a great joy in that! Jesus was led by the Holy Spirit to the wilderness (desert) to be tempted by the devil! But how much of that have we really learned? What have you learned from your whole life of walking with God that has prepared you for this hour? The adrenaline rush of good and bad times is followed by long or short periods of depression or adrenaline letdown. As we observe the leadership of the Lord and His working in the lives of Israel, and as we observe the response of the Children of Israel, there are five things I want us to consider, specifically as they relate to our walk as Christians. I. Or what are you going to do when you face some of your old friends on Monday? Maybe this was a “spiritual high” weekend for you. We may feel a sort of spiritual depression, and find it … Peter tells us “Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you, which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange thing were happening to you.” (I Peter 4:12). Spiritual Warfare Brian Fletcher Ephesians 6:10-13 There is a cosmic battle taking place between good and evil. Don’t let the enemy mess with you like that. IN the night my hope lives on … bleak times, Nova Scotia, neighbour on ventilator, as antion economy; perosnally each of us wake up - wilderness experience - with relationships, brokenness - book how responding like first genreation - God set up - with holiness in camp to deal with uncleanness, brokennes… Your prayer is monotonous. He went from a spiritual “high” right into a time of testing, as an example for us in our spiritual lives as well. — Or it could even just be the “high” of a great personal quiet time with God, and the special closeness He gave you with Him in worship. Jesus was led by the Holy Spirit to the wilderness (desert) to be tempted by the devil! God “leads us up” by His Spirit into a “wilderness” where we get tested and see how much of that we really kept. It is all part of God’s design. Ears of the death: speaks of our spiritual ears . This is the primary wilderness experience that gives our metaphorical "wilderness experiences" their name. You may feel as if your spiritual life is stuck in a rut. I remember a few months ago I had had the greatest worship and Bible reading time one day, and I was outside just walking and praying and looking up at the moon and the stars, and I was just so thrilled and thanked God. The wilderness experience is very much God-initiated. The pleasant things of life are unable to be enjoyed, or they may be absent altogether, and one feels a lack of encouragement. Proposition – God will always be with us in the wilderness experiences. Don’t give up in the middle of it. The result from this lack of knowledge is, many years are lost and some even die in them without ever reaching their destiny. The wilderness period can last days, or years, depending on how quickly we learn its lessons. . We sometimes feel far from God, spiritually dry, or that our prayers are hitting the ceiling, so to speak. From The “Mountaintop” to “The Wilderness”, It is very revealing that immediately after that “spiritual high” that Jesus experienced, the very next verse tells us: “Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.”. — Or you get that spiritual “high” from worship, and Bible Study, and discipleship, and ministry, and Christian fellowship on Sunday, and what a great day it was; a foretaste of heaven! ‘You’re spiritual Wilderness’ Matthew 4:1-11 Today we are going to have a look at how Jesus Christ handled Satan’s temptation through his forty days in the wilderness and compare it to our Christian life today. Spiritual Hiccups Thoughts on faith, musings on Scripture, sermons from Falls Church Presbyterian Church, plus sermons and postings from "Pastor James," my blog while pastor at Boulevard Presbyterian in Columbus, OH. ... sermon: Wilderness Wanderings (Part Two) #1539-AM John W. Ritenbaugh Given 15-Apr-20; 78 minutes ‘You’re spiritual Wilderness’ Matthew 4:1-11 Today we are going to have a look at how Jesus Christ handled Satan’s temptation through his forty days in the wilderness and compare it to our Christian life today. John 6:35&36; I Cor. Since the wilderness is a common experience of our faith, we need to learn about it and especially we need to learn the rules of spiritual survival in this wilderness. Enemy mess with you like that friends on Monday divorce can be frustrating and time consuming was a! And over, in the spiritual life of wilderness another way to of... Following is a time of new beginnings you won ’ t really “ ”. 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