I receive these once in a while.  If you have never seen these, these are 
good.  You can click on the listen link, I think it's real player.  You can 
either read this with screen reader, or listen to the audio which I like to 
do if I can.  Sometimes they don't download properly, but this is really 
good.  It makes you think, or at least it did me.
For unto us a child is born.  Unto us a son is given.

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "A Word With You" <[log in to unmask]>; <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>; <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Thursday, January 26, 2006 12:00 AM
Subject: AWWY - "Flying High, Falling Flat" (#4969)


>
> A WORD WITH YOU
> By Ron Hutchcraft
> #4969 - "Flying High, Falling Flat"
> 1 Kings 18:37
>
> Listen to the audio broadcast!
> http://www.gospelcom.net/cgi-bin/ramhurl?p=pnm&f=/rhm/sounds/awwy/awwy4969.rm
>
>    Our little granddaughter is a Mickey Mouse fan. So the other day I got 
> her a big helium Mickey balloon. It's gone through three pretty distinct 
> phases. First, Mickey was totally flat and folded up into a little square. 
> Then the lady at the store gave him a shot of helium that's made Mickey 
> big and flying high. In fact, without a string to tie him down, he'd fly 
> away and end up somewhere in Bolivia. I know from past experience, though, 
> that there's another phase coming. His flying high days can't last 
> forever. One day, we're going to find him all soft, mushy, and slowly 
> shriveling up on the floor.
>
>    I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about 
> "Flying High, Falling Flat."
>
>    The life and times of a helium balloon aren't all that different from 
> the life and times of folks like you and me. We start out flat, we open 
> our lives up to Jesus Christ, He enlarges our life, gives us some 
> victorious seasons where we are flying high, and then often overnight, 
> we've gone flat and we hit the ground. It doesn't have to be that way.
>
>    If you know that cycle all too well, you need to see how this cycle 
> worked in the life of one of God's great servants in the Bible. Elijah was 
> one of the most powerful of God's ancient prophets. And he was flying high 
> in God that day on Mount Carmel when he single-handedly challenged 450 
> prophets of the idol Baal to a spiritual showdown. It was sort of a 
> spiritual "Gunfight at the O.K. Corral." Elijah's challenge is to see 
> whose God will consume with fire from heaven the sacrifice that has been 
> laid on the altar.
>
>    Our word for today from the Word of God begins with 1 Kings 18:37 as 
> Elijah prays in front of this army of false prophets: "Answer me, O Lord, 
> answer me, so these people will know that You, O Lord, are God, and that 
> You are turning their hearts back again." The entire prayer is only 60 
> words, but Elijah mentions God nine times in those 60 words. On Mt. 
> Carmel, it's clearly all about the Lord God. And the fire falls, consuming 
> the sacrifice and causing all to cry out, "The Lord - he is God!"
>
>    Now fast forward to the next chapter. The king has threatened Elijah's 
> life and in fear he runs to the desert. He sits under a tree, and in the 
> Bible's words, "prayed that he might die. 'I have had enough, Lord,' he 
> said. 'Take my life; I am no better than my ancestors.' ... I have been 
> very zealous for the Lord God ... I am the only one left'" (1 Kings 
> 19:4-5, 10). On Mt. Carmel, it was all about God. In the desert, it was 
> all about me. And that's the difference between flying high and falling 
> flat. During the victory time, it's all about the Lord. But often in the 
> aftermath of a victory, something happens that makes it suddenly all about 
> me, and we crash.
>
>    Jesus said the devil is a thief who comes "to steal and kill and 
> destroy" (John 10:10). And every time God does something good in your 
> life, the devil is there with some cheap shot he wants to use to rob you 
> of the joy of what God has done. Don't fall for it. It's like you've just 
> won the Super Bowl, you're walking off the field, and your defeated 
> opponent says, "I'll make you pay for this." And he gives you a bloody 
> nose. Yeah, he hurt you a little, but he can't change the outcome. You 
> still won, and nothing he can do can change the victory. So when the 
> joy-robber comes in after the victory and tries to get you all focused on 
> yourself, you tell him, "I know who this is, and I am not falling for it! 
> We won, and you can't change it!"
>
>    Life won't always be "flying high" moments like Elijah's Mt. Carmel, 
> but you can be consistently joyful and hopeful and positive, even when 
> some of the air goes out. Because "the joy of the Lord is your strength" 
> (Nehemiah 8:10) - not the joy of your circumstances. It's your Lord who 
> inflates you with His joy, His victory, so you don't have to lie deflated 
> in a corner ever again!
>
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