Today I'm Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram. God is on a mission. He's looking for a very select group of people on the face of the earth. In order to strongly support them, to empower them, to do amazing things in them and through them. Would you like to be that kind of person?
Would you like to be one that he selects? Stick around. Find out how. There's a question most of us never think to ask, not does God exist, but is God looking for me? Today on Living on the Edge, Chip Ingram opens a series called You Were Made for More, How to Discover God's Purpose for Your Life, with a breathtaking promise from 2 Chronicles that God is scanning the earth right now looking for men and women whose hearts are completely his, so he can work through them in extraordinary ways.
If you've ever sensed there's more to your life than you're currently living, this series is for you. Go ahead and open your Bible to 2 Chronicles 16. Here's Chip Ingram. For the eyes of the Lord go to and fro throughout the whole earth. That he might strongly support those whose hearts are fully his.
Think on that with me, okay? Get that in your head and your mind. The eyes of the Lord, the Spirit of God in this room on this night, are going up and down. all through the aisles. And he's looking for a man or a student or a woman whose heart is fully his, and he promises if he could find one man or one woman or one student, he would strongly support it.
What do venture capitalists do? They find people that have a dream, a vision, organization, skills, and a plan. And then, when they find the right people at the right plan at the right time, they fund it. And then they keep track and they bring about expertise. That's what God wants to do, He wants to fund.
Your ministry vision The Ephesians 2.10 calling on your life. And I want to tell you, we're going to talk about how to know if your heart is fully His, and if it is not, how to move week by week. where he will do in you and through you things you never dream. Because actually this book is full. Of stories of people that if you would have met them before they became apostles, or if you would have met them before they stood at the edge of the Red Sea, or if you would have met them just before the invaders were coming and they laid out this prayer before God and said, you know, there's a million or so of them and 300,000 of us, and we're going to be toast.
And God, if you don't do it, every single one, we're just ordinary people. And God cares about your relatives, and He cares about the people you work with, and He cares about the people that are right next door to you. And the fact of the matter is that he'll strongly support you, he'll give you whatever you need. If you need courage, you need faith, you need money, you need staff, you need an idea, whatever you need, if God can find a man, a woman, or a student. whose heart is fully his.
He will do extraordinary things. through ordinary people. for his exclusive glory.
So, if you pull out your teaching notes, let's start the journey together. And that's a great verse, and I actually memorized it years before I ever studied it. It was one of those verses that was wow. But let me give you a little background on it because it means even more. When you study the background, it actually comes out of a story in 2 Chronicles 16, but the real story starts about verses 14 and 15.
And it's about a king named Asa. And Asa was a good king at a bad time. And in this time in Ace's world, I mean, people are worshiping idols. They're sacrificing their kids to moloch and other. I mean, it was horrendous what was happening.
And most of the kings were involved in it. I mean, if you read 1 and 2 Samuel, 1 and 2 Chronicles, it goes like this: bad king, bad king, bad king, bad king, bad king, okay king, bad king, bad king, good king, bad king, bad king. I mean, there's not very many good kings. In fact, Asa's father Didn't do a great job and the one before him was worse. And Asa gets this heart for God.
And it opens in chapter uh 14. And he honored God because he removed the idols. And then he started a little building program. And then uh God gives him about 10 years of rest. He basically.
In the little area of Judah, He obeys God. And it begins to get cleaned up, and God sees His heart, and then God brings a test. There's the army of the Cushites. It's northern part of Africa. And they have well over a million soldiers.
And he's got a decent army, but it's like this is impossible. And so he goes out to battle and he literally says, God, You know, no one can stand against you. And you read the prayer, I encourage you to do it. And he basically says, God, if you don't show up, if you don't do it, there is no way. I mean, the odds are insurmountable.
And they have this amazing victory that's supernatural by God. And it's so amazing that when he gets done with the victory, a prophet comes. And the prophet says, ASA The Lord's pleased with you. And this is a great line. I read this afresh this morning.
And if you will be with him. He will be with you. Asa, if your life lines up and if you'll be with him and do life his way and align with him, he will be with you. If you turn away from him. Ace, he'll turn away from you.
And Asa like got it and he pulled together all the people. And he said, You know something? We, I mean, historically, we are so far off, and there's this national repentance, and there's this movement of God. And then another prophet comes, and so he gets 15 years of relative peace in a small area, and then he gets another 20 years of massive success, building programs, removal of idols. There's even a little line in there where it talks about he even removes.
The queen mother his grandmother. See, when you start getting really serious with God, He does stuff in you and through you. There'll be a few really touchy relationships that you've got to step up and be honest and clear. And walk with him. And I think that text was saying: Asa from bottom to top.
was honoring God. And then we pick it up in chapter 16. And it's the 36th year of his reign, so he's had 35 years of success. And there's a great door of opportunity in verses 1 through 6 of chapter 16. Here's the door of opportunity.
It looks like a bad situation. But just you can follow along. What happens is, is that Judah and Israel are at odds, and the king of Israel is really making war on Judah right now. And he's got 36 years, and after time, you get a little bit older. If you're not careful, you get comfortable.
and you start relying on you instead of relying on God. And so he sees this problem, and so he hires some mercenaries, the king of Aram. He empties his treasury, and the king goes ahead, does what he said he would do. He attacks Israel, Israel withdraws. Hey great, things are okay.
Now, let me read because I want you to pick up the text in verse 7 of chapter 16 of 2 Chronicles. And he's thinking, I'm a good man, I've been a good king, I've got 35 years under my belt. We had a problem? I have the resources took care of the problem. At that time, Hanani the seer or the prophet came to Asa the king of Judah and said to him, Because you relied on the king of Aram.
and not on the Lord your God. The army of the king of Aram has escaped from your hand. See, God's plan when He brought that difficulty, He wanted to use the biggest new difficulty for a greater and greater opportunity of victory. But he said you kind of blew it. And then he reminds him, we're not the great number of Cushites and Libyans, a mighty army with great numbers of chariots and horsemen, yet When you relied on the Lord, he delivered them into your hand.
And then we get our verse. See, this is an axiomatic characteristic of God. This isn't just an Old Testament passage. He rebukes him and he says, for the eyes of the Lord go to and fro throughout the whole earth. This is a principle.
This is how God works. Don't you understand, Asa? If you would have relied on him now, like you used to, the hand of God and the support of God and the victory of God. But instead, what you did? His youth grew comfortable.
And you relied on you. and on your resources and you missed. And unfortunately, if you continue to read, Asa's response is a little less than we'd hope. He gets a little contrary and throws a few people in prison and It's really a bit of a sad ending. A great door of opportunity.
A sad commentary. And here's what I tell you. When you read... Through this book. or when you read through church history, A lot of people start well in the Christian life.
Very, very few finish well. If you're fifty years and older, And you've walked with the Lord for 15 to 20 years. Let me put an asteris in your soul. chances are you will not finish well. Unless you get intentional, unless you get focused, what happens is you get risk adverse.
When you're desperate, when you didn't know anything, you'd read the Bible, it says it, I'll try it, I'll do it. God showed up, and then pretty soon He blesses your life, and then pretty soon you find a little comfort level, and you're. Operating on the verses of yesteryear. And then pretty soon it's God, how can you make my life work? And how can life not get too dangerous?
And you stop relying on God. And if you're not careful if we end up just a nice, moral, religious person. that misses what God called you to do in this life. And I don't know about you, but I don't want to be there. And I want to have a holy ambition.
I want to make a difference with my life until the day I die. You're listening to Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram. Don't go anywhere yet. There's more coming up. We're in a brand new series this week called You Were Made for More: How to Discover God's Purpose for Your Life.
If you ever have trouble catching one of these programs, or if you want to share any of these messages with a friend or family member, every lesson is available free at livingonthege.org. You'll also find study resources and bonus content from Chip. That's livingontheedge.org.
Well now here's Chip.
Well, the question is will we answer God's call to make a significant impact? at this pivotal moment in history. We are living in a window of opportunity of time. that God is calling his church to step up. and be difference makers.
And so we got a great door of opportunity. I mean, this is, read church history. I mean, the early church, it wasn't born out of things were going great. There was crisis. There was crisis in the government.
There was crisis in all these religions. There was crisis in philosophy. That produces a fertile environment where people like never before are open to not just hearing about Christ, but trusting Him and walking with Him and making a difference. What will it mean for each of us? First of all, it means we're going to have to model it.
You can't impart what you don't possess. You gotta model it. You can talk all day, you have to live it out. You can do God talk in the mall, but you've got to do God walk at home. And God walked at the job.
And God walk in your family.
So you have to model it. I was talking to a man on the plane. He's answered to a three or four year prayer. This was bizarre. And got on the plane to come from Dallas.
And a couple said, Excuse me, that, you know, we're husband and wife. Would you mind if we sit here? Could you sit here and we'll sit here? Said, you know, I'm traveling by myself, that's fine.
So they sit here, and I sit here, and the guy sits next to me. And I've been praying about how do you multiply groups? And God, how does it really work? And I understand bits and pieces. I've been reading.
I've been thinking. I've been looking at churches. I've looked at things around the world. I know there's a way and I've got pieces, but I don't understand it all. And I sit next to a guy that in the last 18 years Was responsible for writing the strategy and pioneering planning 100,000 churches around the world.
And I said, David, are you tired? He said, not particularly. I said, that's very good, because I'm getting my legal pad out, and you're going to be answering questions for the next three hours. He said, fire away. I said.
Brother, I am. And I mean, when I got done, I said, okay, where can I get this? He put pieces together that I've never seen. I'm just telling you, God. is working in our midst.
And it will require every person in this room. and every person in this church. to discover the holy ambition. that he has for you. Second, it requires focus.
The key to impact is concentration. And the key to concentration is elimination. If those last two quotes I've made sound a lot like Howard Hendrix, because it's Howard Hendrix. My mentor. I was listening to a series And it's called the ceiling of complexity.
As you work hard and you get focused and you do a few simple things, then that grows and then that grows and that grows, then you have to have meetings to talk about the simple things that grew into big things. Then you have to write reports about the simple things that grew into the big things. And then you have to hire people or get involved in other things. And then pretty soon your life. anybody have stacks at home?
Clutter, clutter, clutter, stack, stack, stacks, email, email, email, phone, phone, phone. And what actually, many of you are very successful, and then what happens is you hit a ceiling. And you unwisely, like me, believe that the way you break through the ceiling is working harder and longer. That's not. what the research demonstrates.
The fact of the matter is, your paradigm has to completely change. And you have to simplify your life. And you have to realize you get a focus. And there's a number of things that you've been doing, doing, doing, which made you successful that you step back and say, some of those I can't do anymore. And some people will be a little upset because I'm drawing a boundary.
And I'm going to get back to the simple, focused things that I'm best at, that I love to do, that cause the growth in my life, my family, my relationships. Most people today are flashlights. Diffuse light going multiple directions with high frustration. and lack of productivity. People who are laser beams have discovered the few things they can do.
They say no to a lot of things and to a lot of people, and they do a few things extraordinarily well. And a laser beam can cut through a steel door. and a flashlight can see about 30 feet across the room.
So what's your you? And we have, we've believed. We started to believe that the invisible gun that we hold to our head, that someone else's hand is on it, and it's not. It's yours and it's mine. I have to be here.
I gotta go here. I gotta go here. I gotta go here. My kids are involved in four youth sports and I've got these three meetings, those two meetings.
Well, time out. Who signed up for that? Who said your kids have to be involved in that much? I mean, at the end of the day, you make choices, I make choices, and to determine everything. And some of the subtle choices you've made have ripple effects that have you living a life that you don't like, that's not fulfilling what you were made to do.
And you keep hitting these walls. It'll require that we model it. then it requires focus. The key to focus is concentration. The key to concentration is elimination.
And so it'll mean for each of us that God gives us a holy ambition. God is searching as intently today as he was in Ace's day to strongly support those whose hearts are fully his. He's looking for those who would dare to dream and to believe that they can in fact. Change the world, and I would really say it like this: change the world. Your world.
No one knows your world and the needs. like you do. It's the people you love. There's certain things. We don't have to change the world if we will each change our little sections and the things that cause our heart to beat faster, and the needs and the hurts that cause something inside of us where the Spirit of God is pulled out and says, if you had more time.
You could really care and make a difference. And we keep telling the Spirit, well, I will later. When things slow down, and I will later when I have more time, and I will later when I have more resources. And I got news for you: that later is never coming. It comes when you say, That I must do.
And God, I will listen to your voice and rearrange my time and my schedule and my living and my thinking and my viewing around what it will cost to do that. And those who do that experience a holy ambition.
Well, our model is going to be a man that had a holy ambition. What I like about him, he's not a prophet, he's not a priest. He's a business guy. He's a guy with a nine to five job. His job in that day was to be the cupbearer, and you would taste the wine, taste the food, so that if it's poisoned, you die before the king does.
It was a great job if the food was good. But he also became a confidant. You became friends with the king. You were the inside man. It was always chosen someone outside the royal line.
So in this case, he wants a Jewish cupbearer because he's the Persian king because a lot of Persians want him job and the way you get to be the king is you kill the present king. And when you look at history, sometimes it's even your own sons or whoever does it. And so we're going to meet a man named Nehemiah. And God has judged his children because they've worshipped idols, and because of their worship of idols, they've been dispersed. And after they'd been dispersed, he promised he would regather them.
And there has been a partial return. And Zerubbabel was one of God's men, a prophet. And he went back and said, Hey, people, you know, God promised, let's get with the program. And it wasn't very successful. And then Ezra headed back, and he's a teacher and a scribe, and he teaches God's word, and still wasn't getting any traction.
And so we pick up the story in Nehemiah 1, and it says, The words of Nehemiah, the son of Hakaliah, in the month of Kislev, which is our November, December, in the 20th year, and the reference is the 20th year of King Ertaxerxes. Who's the king of Persia? While I was in the citadel of Susa, Henanai, one of my brothers, came from Judah with some other men, and I questioned them about the Jewish people. the Jewish remnant that survived the exile, and also about Jerusalem. And by the way, it's interesting.
that people that get a holy ambition that's from God ask questions. Nehemiah gets a report and he asks about the people and he asks about the place. And now we get the report. They said to me, Those who survived the exile are back in the province. and they're in great trouble and disgrace.
The wall of Jerusalem is broken down. And its gates have been burned with fire.
So the wall would be protection, it would be a functioning city. The gates are where the elders would meet. It's how you could close things off. You would have security. It would be a functioning city that was growing and making progress.
We know that the temple hasn't been rebuilt, that the walls are crumbled and the gates are burned. Basically, you look at Jerusalem, and this is the city that God promised would be the hope of the world. And if you could go back in a time machine and look at that city at this moment, you would just say, God's agenda is dead. It ain't going to happen. All those promises he made, and a coming Messiah, and they're all, man, it is, it's done.
The place is a shambles. And there's people today that when you look at the world situation, You look at the economy. You look at the violence and the murder. When you look at terrorism, When you look at people that have the ability to actually blow up whole cities, People are saying, you know, where's God in all this? The answer is He lives inside his children and they have an agenda today just like there was an agenda then.
And the issue will happen. that will really make the big difference is how will you respond to the news that you see today. You're listening to Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram and a message titled Develop a Dislocated Heart. Today's program ended right in the middle of Nehemiah's story, and what happens next is the whole point. Nehemiah was comfortable, influential, and had every reason to stay put.
But something shifted. Tune in next time to hear the rest. This week's series, You Were Made for More, pairs perfectly with our free resource called The Real You, an online assessment at therealyou.org. It's a carefully designed tool that helps you discover how God has wired you, your strengths, your passions, and how all of it connects to the purpose He made you for. Check it out today completely free at therealyou.org.
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Well now here's Chip Ingram. As we close, I want to talk about this phrase, holy ambition. When I say that, often those two words don't go together in people's mind. Holiness has this idea of something that is set apart, that is given to God, that it's pure, it's things that God does. And the word ambition, at least from most of our own experience, is about me and my stuff and how many likes I have and how many people are looking at my posts and how famous I am.
But here's what I would say. Those two words go together. You and I have been made for a very special purpose that no one in all the world can fulfil quite like us. Ephesians 2.10 says that we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto A good work. That He preordained from the foundations of the earth, He wants to birth something in you.
And you don't have to be famous, it doesn't have to be big. But there's something that He wants you to do that's holy. but he wants to birth a sense of ambition. Ambition says, I've got to do that. And there's drive and there's motivation and there's planning and there's energy and there's perseverance.
And so I just want to encourage you to stay with me on this journey. You know, down deep, we all long to make a difference. There's something that not just is, there's something that feels so good and just actually is so good. when we're used by God To love another person, to help another person, to get them on their feet, to restore a relationship, to help kids that no one cares about, to take food to people that are too old and can't get out. There's just amazing things that happen.
when a holy ambition gets birthed right out of your heart into reality. That's what this is about, so here's my prayer for you. Holy Father, Will you help my brothers and sisters? to join with me for this whole series. And would you burthen them very clearly?
the holy ambition you have for them. In Jesus' name, amen. I'm Dave Drewy.
Next time Chip Ingram asks a question most of us quietly avoid, do you actually care about the people around you enough to let it cost you something? You'll want to hear his answer. That's next time on Living on the Edge. Today's program is produced and sponsored by Living on the Edge. Uh
