What Are You Eating? | Pastor Darren Palmer | Faith Church

But I feel like God has just put a scripture

on my heart that is a word that I've been meditating

on for about two weeks now. I haven't written

anything down about this word. But as I was paddling

my kayak, this word kept coming to me over and

over and over. And I want to share it with you

this morning from the book of 1 Kings. chapter

1 Kings 19 · chapter mention

19. And so if you'll go there with me, it's about

Elijah. And so let's just take a moment and let's

pray. Father, I'm just asking that even if this

is for one person here this morning, as you have

put a pause on the word that I was going to preach,

as I put a pause, as you have put a pause on

that, I just ask that this word would go in to

somebody this morning. And we just open up our

hearts to what you have to say. Give us ears

to hear. what you have to say in Jesus' name.

Amen. Somebody asked me what was the best part

about the trip. And I shared with you already

that it was physically demanding. But the best

part about my trip was not the fishing or the

pictures. Some of you saw the pictures I posted

on Facebook. The best part about the trip was

that I was alone for eight days. I've never experienced

that. There were a few people I saw at Portages

and I talked with them, but for the most part,

for eight days, I was by myself. And it wasn't

that I was away from my family or my wife. What

really made being alone quality was that I had

no cell reception. I had no media to scroll.

I had no news to listen to. I had no sports to

give myself to. For eight days, it was me and

Jesus. And I listened to his voice. And about

the third or fourth day, I began to hear God

speak to me. on a level that I had not heard

in a long time. Hearing God. And as I would paddle,

I would sing often. A lot of times I would just

listen, but many times I would sing to the Lord

and just converse with the Father and talk with

Him. I believe that everybody, whether it's eight

days or whether it's a portion of each day, You

need time alone with the Father. There are seasons

maybe that you need a retreat like that to get

alone with God, to hear from Him for an extended

period of time. That's very difficult. It's never

happened for eight days in my life ever. The

longest I'd ever been alone was three and a half

days. And it was just an amazing, amazing experience.

And while I'm talking with the Lord, one night

when I was preparing a meal, this verse in 1

Kings 19 came to my heart. Now to give you some

background, if you back up and get the story

that set this up. Elijah had just won an incredible

victory. He had challenged the prophets of Baal,

and he had taunted them. He challenged them to

a duel of who was God. The God that answers by

fire. He is God. And of course, the prophets

of Baal went first and they called out all day

and they cut themselves and they cried out with

everything that they had. And all the while,

Elijah was walking back and forth and watching

them and he was taunting them. And he'd say,

where is your God? He can't answer by fire. And

one time, one translation says, is your God sitting

on the toilet? And so he was mocking the prophets

of Baal. He had great boldness mocking the prophets

of Baal. And then it was his turn. And he said,

we're going to do something before I call on

the name of my God. We're going to cover the

altar. We're going to cover the sacrifice. We're

going to flood it with the very thing that should

extinguish the fire. We're going to flood it

with water. And so they brought the water and

they poured it on the sacrifice. And then Elijah

called on the name of the Lord. And fire. came

down from heaven, licked up all the water, licked

up the sacrifice, burned the sacrifice in front

of them all. And the people, the people that

were watching this began to cry out and say,

the Lord, he is God. The Lord, he is God. And

Elijah took the 400 prophets of Baal and put

them all to the sword. Sounds like Hollywood,

doesn't it? And it was on the heels of that,

that Elijah, he went into a deep depression.

That's not really what I'm going to talk about

today. But he began to fear Jezebel. And we see

in verse 1, Ahab had told Jezebel everything

Elijah had done and how he had killed all the

prophets with the sword. And Jezebel sent a messenger

to Elijah to say, may the gods deal with me,

be it ever so severely, if by this time tomorrow

I do not make your life like that of one of them.

This was the power of this wicked, wicked false

prophetess. Elijah was afraid and ran for his

life. And when he came to bear Sheba in Judah,

he left his servant there while he himself went

a day's journey into the wilderness. He came

to a broom brush. He sat down under it and prayed

that he might die. I've had enough, Lord, he

said. How many of you have ever told God that?

Maybe you weren't like, maybe not severe so much

as Elijah. Maybe. Maybe. God, I've had enough.

God, I can't take it anymore. Take my life. I'm

no better than my ancestors. And he lay down

under the bush and fell asleep. Now here's the

part that began to speak to me. These phrases

that we're about to read kept coming over and

over into my heart all week. All at once an angel

touched him and said, Get up and eat. He looked

around and there by his head was some bread baked

over hot coals and a jar of water. He ate and

drank and lay down again. And the angel of the

Lord came back a second time and touched him

and said, Get up and eat, for the journey is

too much for you. So he got up and ate and drank.

Now listen to this next sentence. Strengthened

by that food. Everybody say that food. Strengthened

by that food, he traveled 40 days and 40 nights

until he reached Horeb, the mountain of God.

And he went into a cave. That food. Now here

I am. I'm at the campfire. And I had... Fried

some walleye and some rice, some Spanish rice.

And I'm looking at this food and this phrase

is going into my mind from this chapter of Scripture.

And I just felt the question come to me, how

long is this food going to strengthen you? And

I said, well, probably about eight hours. I was

physically exerting myself miles and miles every

single day. When I got to the campsite, usually

when we get to the campsite, we hang around a

fire and then we stay up late into the night

and we watch the stars. But I was so exhausted

that as soon as the dishes were washed, I would

crawl into my tent and fall asleep. The food

that I ate would last. A little while. And in

the morning I had to make another fire. And cook

some oatmeal. And that oatmeal last me. The oatmeal

does not last as long. As fresh fried walleye.

I'm just telling you that. You need. Sometimes

you just need fresh fried walleye. That's just

the truth. And it's a glorious thing. I feel

the anointing of the Lord right now. As I'm saying

this. You need that. You need that. I didn't

hear what Dale said, but I know it wasn't important.

What'd you say? Fried chicken. Fried chicken

with friends. Hallelujah. The strength of that

food. Elijah, this food was unlike any other

meal. That Elijah had ever eaten before. This

food was not typical bush food. This food, this

bread. That had been fresh baked over coals.

This jar of water. Was made by an angel. Elijah.

was being fed by the hand of an angel. Bread

cooked over hot coals, a jar of water, and Elijah

drank it and went back to sleep, and he ate it

and went back to sleep. And a second meal was

prepared for him. This was the bread of heaven.

It very well could have been like... Like the

manna only prepared and baked. That the Israelites

had many years before, 40 years in the wilderness.

The bread of angels. The bread of heaven. That

which God himself instructed an angel to feed

the prophet in his weariness. And in His place

of need. And I want to tell you in your place

of need this morning, in your place of weariness,

in your place of saying, God, I just don't have

it in me anymore. I want to tell you in that

place that God has prepared a meal for you. He

has prepared food for you. But it is up to you

and I. I love what Elijah did because he's discouraged.

He's afraid. He is at the end of his rope. But

you know what he did? He went into the wilderness.

And he positioned himself before the Lord. And

I want to tell you the mistake that we often

make when we feel like this is that we turn to

everything but God. And we listen to all the

other voices. And I want to ask you this morning

the question that I felt like God was asking

me during the trip. What are you feeding on?

What are you eating? Because if you are eating,

The stuff, and here I'm not talking about the

food that we're about to feed our bodies with.

I'm talking about the food that feeds your spirit

man. What are you feeding on? Because some of

you are starving. Some of you are starving because

you are not eating the food that God has provided

for you. What are you feeding on? Are you feeding

on food that will give you strength? Or are you

feeding on junk that will do nothing for you?

What are you feeding on? What are you feeding

on? The strength of that food took Elijah. 40

days and 40 nights to the mountain of God. Now

that mountain, you can read about that encounter

on your own. It was an incredible encounter and

it gave Elijah the instructions for the rest

of his life. And it was an awesome encounter.

That was the encounter I think Elijah was craving.

But until you have that encounter, I want to

tell you, God has sustenance for you. What are

you feeding on? Are you feeding on the news?

See, these are all the things that I was able

to turn off when I went into the wilderness.

And it took about three days to purge all those

voices out of my body. You know what I found

out? I'm feeding too much on that stuff. I'm

not feeding on the food that God had for me.

You know, in John chapter 4, Jesus is with the

John 4 · chapter mention

woman at the well. It's an incredible encounter.

Jesus prophesies over this woman and exposes

to her her life. And she is overwhelmed by it

all. And it's during that conversation that says,

The time is coming. Things that Jesus said like,

hey, the time is coming when people are neither

going to worship here nor in Jerusalem, but true

worshipers will worship God in spirit and in

truth. Hallelujah. He taught us during that conversation

about the baptism of the Holy Spirit, how the

Spirit of God would well up from within us and

become a fountain of eternal life. And he's having

this conversation with this woman who has had

500 husbands and is now living with a man that

he's not married to. And Jesus chose this woman

to be the evangelist that would win the entire

town to Jesus Christ. Hallelujah. We should never

write anybody off. God has purposes for everybody.

And you feel like your life has fallen apart

and like you haven't done things well? Jesus

will still choose you and use you. Hallelujah.

To do great things for God. I feel the presence

of the Lord right now. Hallelujah. The disciples

weren't there because they were off in the village

buying food. And they came back. They came back

with their Jimmy Johns. And they laid it out

before Jesus. They said, Jesus, come and eat.

They were astonished that he was talking with

a woman. And you know what Jesus told them? I

have food that you do not know about. And they

thought, what did, did he get some McDonald's

when we weren't looking? And Jesus told them,

he said, my food is to do the will of my Father.

To obey Him. That was what fed His Spirit. The

food that God has for you, it starts with the

Word of God. It starts with the infilling of

the Holy Spirit. But the food that God has for

you is abundant. The sources that God wants to

feed you from when you're in the center of His

will. are everywhere. How many of you felt fed

from God as people were sharing the words that

God had put on their heart this morning? Do you

know what that is? That's God giving you food

to eat. Hallelujah. There is the food of encouragement

that God wants you to impart to one another.

That's food that we need to eat. I am on a...

Boundary Waters Facebook group, imagine that.

And we talked together about the Boundary Waters.

Today, or yesterday, or maybe Friday, I can't

remember, a gentleman texted me that I'd never

heard of before. And because I had written on

the page, it's not a spiritual group, but I write

sometimes about my spiritual encounters. Maybe

not with strong words, but I try to put it out

there. And he wrote me a note and he said, I've

been on the Boundary Waters page for two or three

years now. Now you need to understand that there's

20 ,000 people on this page. He said, I've been

on the page for two or three years now, and you

are the most encouraging person in the whole

group. And I don't say that to pat myself on

the back. When he reached out with that word

of encouragement for me, do you know what that

did for me? It was like a meal that I was feeding

on. I just want to ask you, what are you feeding

on? What voices are you listening to? What voices

are you listening to? Elijah went on the strength

of that food. You know what that tells me? That

tells me that that food was not just physical

bread. It came from heaven. You don't eat a piece

of bread and journey for 40 days. There was something

spiritual in there. It came from heaven. Hallelujah.

What are you feeding on? The sustenance that

God has for you will carry you where you need

to go. Now, as we were worshiping this morning,

the Lord brought me to Colossians chapter 1.

Colossians 1 · chapter mention

And this phrase kept coming up to me as we were

worshiping. It's all about Jesus. Isn't it? It's

all about Jesus. It is all about Jesus. Hallelujah.

This life that we live is all about Jesus. Praise

God. It is all about following Him. And so I

turned, you didn't see me turn there, but I was

turning to Colossians chapter 1. And I want to

Colossians 1 · chapter mention

give you something that you can feed on because

it is all about Jesus. He is an amazing, amazing

God. Amen? And we have got to feed on Him. And

in Colossians chapter 1, oh hallelujah, this

Colossians 1 · chapter mention

is so good. I don't even know where to start

reading because it's all so good. But let's start

reading in verse 13. For he has rescued us from

the dominion of darkness and brought us into

the kingdom of the Son that he loves. In Him,

we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

Glory to God. Now, I want to tell you, as I'm

reading that, you know what it's doing to me?

It is feeding my soul. I want to read it again

because it's talking about the kingdom of God.

Do you know the kingdom of God is the kingdom

of the Son, Jesus Christ. For he has rescued

us from the dominion of darkness. Who in here

was under the dominion of darkness? Who in here

was in the clutches of sin? Maybe you were gripped

by addiction. You didn't even know the direction.

your life was going, you might have even for

a season enjoyed the dominion of darkness. But

then it exercised its demonic influence over

you. And Jesus, you turn to the Lord, and He

has delivered us, rescued us from that evil dominion,

and brought us into the kingdom of the Son. He

loves. Hallelujah. This, friends, is Jesus. In

Him, we have redemption. Glory to God. Glory

to God. I want to talk about that word redemption.

I want to feed your soul for a little bit this

morning. Because when you gave your life to Jesus,

it's not that he just gave you a ticket that

when you die, you can get to heaven. That's not

the only thing that happened. I'm no longer going

to hell. I'm going to heaven. Well, I am happy

about that. Praise God. I hope you're happy about

that too. But Jesus did not just come to get

you to heaven. He came to redeem your life. And

this means that everything about your life that

was garbage, that was junk, that was all the

stuff, that Jesus is redeeming it. He is buying

it back and he is turning it all around so that

it will work for your good on your behalf in

Jesus' name. Hallelujah. And so he is delivering

you from the darkness, but he is using all of

the stuff that was part of your past and turning

it into a testimony for the glory of God. Hallelujah.

Somebody's got to get excited about that. He

redeems you. And then it says the forgiveness

of sins. The forgiveness of sins. We need to

thank God right now that he has washed away all

of the darkness. All the stuff that nobody sees.

All the stuff that people did see or do see.

The forgiveness of sins. Think about your sin

for a moment. I don't want to do that, Pastor.

Well, sometimes it's important to remember that

pile. That pile. Some of you were really good

at sinning. Some of you were really good at it.

Some of you were better at it than others. Some

of you carried shame for what you did for years.

Can I remind you this morning that at the cross,

Jesus delivered you and forgave you and washed

away all of your sin. What are you eating? Are

you still feeding on the shame? Are you still

feeding on the deception and the lies of the

enemy? What are you feeding on? I want to remember

that I'm forgiven. And that Jesus has delivered

me and washed me from my shame. Hallelujah. taken

it all. What are you feeding on? The Son is the

image of the invisible God. Now, I want to remind

us this morning as I'm reading through this about

Jesus. We're talking about Jesus. He's the one

that lives in you. He's the one that now resides

in you. Christ in me. The hope of glory. It is

the great mystery. Jesus lives inside of me when

I give my life to Him. Hallelujah. Hallelujah.

Ask your neighbor, is Christ in you? Is Christ

in you? Is Jesus in you? Now I want to tell you

who Jesus is this morning. I want to give you

the description that Paul gave to the people.

This is where we should feed. This is what we

should eat. The Son is the image of the invisible

God. The firstborn over all creation. In Him.

Now imagine me out in creation. Some of those

pictures I posted on my Facebook page. In Him.

All things were created. Everything. He lives

in me. Things in heaven. Things on earth. Visible

and invisible. Whether thrones or powers or rulers

or authorities. All things. Everybody say all

things. Have been created through him and for

him. He is before all things and in him all things

hold together. Praise the Lord. He is the head

of his body. The church. Do you know how much

comfort that gives me? I'm just the pastor. He

is the head. He is the head. You know, I know

there's never any problems here at Faith Church.

We never have any problems, do we, Shelley? No?

We never have any problems here. But that's not

true. Just so you know, that's not true. But

when I pray, you know what I can say to the Lord?

I can say, Jesus, you have a problem in your

church. Do you know how freeing that is? That

this is not my church? I'm a pastor here, but

it is not my church. He is the head of faith

church. Amen? Let's just declare that together.

He is the head of faith church. Let's declare

it again. He is the head of faith church. Glory

to God. He is the head of the body, the church.

Do you know you can do the same thing for your

family? Do you know that Jesus is in charge of

your family if you'll let him be? You can give

it to him. You can say, Lord, this is your family.

I need you to work in my family. We belong to

you. We serve you. Jesus, this is your problem.

You are free, my friend. That doesn't mean you

don't have responsibility or action, but that

means he's the one that's going to take care

of it. He's the one that's going to do it. He

might show you what to do. He might give you

a piece of wisdom. He might call you to repentance

so that you can have healing in a relationship.

You have a part to play, but it is Him that is

going to do it. He's the head. He's the beginning

and the firstborn from among the dead. So that

in everything, He might have the supremacy. Now

listen to this. This is the Jesus that lives

in you. I can't even comprehend this. I don't

even know how to say it to you. But I hope it

does something on your inside to say, God is

big and He lives in me. Listen to this. God was

pleased to have all His fullness dwell in Christ.

The fullness of God dwells in me. You can feed

on that for a while. The fullness of God dwells

in me. It's no wonder that says God is for us.

Who can be against us? Whom shall I fear? The

fullness of God who created everything in the

universe. The fullness of God who brought us

the Word of God. The fullness of God who sent

His Son to die on a cross and redeem me. The

fullness of God that has worked miracles. In

fact, just in this room, let alone in the entire

body of Christ, the miracles represented in this

room. The fullness of God dwells inside of you.

You know, you get a hold of that and you'll quit

worrying. The fullness of God lives in you. And

through him, to reconcile to himself all things,

whether things on earth or things are heaven,

by making peace through his blood shed on the

cross. Once you were alienated from God and were

enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior,

but now he has reconciled you by Christ's physical

body through death to present you holy. In his

sight. The holiness that is in Jesus. Has been

transferred. To you. This is why. You can't stay

in your sin anymore. This is why when the Holy

Spirit convicts you of addiction and how you

treat the temple of the Holy Spirit, it's because

Christ lives in you. This is why you can't live

like the world lives or be in love with the things

that the world is in love with. Because Christ

lives in you. You are holy. like Christ is holy.

Have I attained perfection? No. But I am becoming

more and more like Christ as He gives me strength

and power. He sees me. It is God's will for my

life to walk in holiness. Without blemish, free

from accusation. Now here's the word. If you

continue in your faith. Established and firm.

And do not move from the hope held out in the

gospel. That's why the enemy tries to feed you

other things. To move your hope away from the

gospel. You have to stay firm, planted in Him.

This is the gospel that you heard and that has

been proclaimed to every creature under heaven

and of which I, Paul, have become a servant.

That's just one example of what you and I should

be feeding on. And I want to ask you simply this

morning, what are you feeding on? Let's pray.

Father, I ask you right now, as your spirit is

in this room, I can sense you in this place ministering

and speaking to people. There have been people

in this room and... Different seasons of my own

life, God. Where I have been feeding on the wrong

things. And this morning, God, we simply need

to acknowledge it. And we need to come back to

the table of the Lord. Elijah went through junk.

And so do we. But he positioned himself to hear

from God. To feed on what God had for him. God,

I ask this morning that you would see the heart

cry of every person here. People that have been

feeding on the wrong stuff. And they end up believing

the wrong stuff. And they end up worrying and

fretting. And they end up with vain imagination.

And they end up, oh God, with all kinds of thoughts

that are not your will and not your plan because

they're feeding on the wrong stuff. This morning

I ask that you'd help us to turn. God, it took

a couple days to flush all that stuff out of

me. And I don't want to go back. God, I want

to feed on what you have for me. I want to dwell

in the land, feed on your faithfulness. I want

to eat the meal that you have for me. I want

to receive all that you've got for me. God, direct

from your word. I want to receive from your spirit.

I want to receive from the brothers and sisters

that you've put in my life. I want to receive

from the many different ways that you speak to

my heart. I want to hear your voice. Friend,

if you're here this morning and you just freely

confess, I've been having some of the wrong voices

in my heart and in my mind. They've been influencing

me in the wrong direction. If that's you, I'd

just like you to stand up all over this place.

You might have been a Christian. You might be

an elder or a deacon in the house. But you've

been giving yourself to the wrong voice. Just

stand up all over this place. And by doing that,

you're just saying, God, I want to give myself

to the right voices in Jesus' name. It takes

courage to do that, I know. Just asking you.

Come on. Come on. Come on. Hallelujah. Hallelujah.

Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Oh my God. You're doing

a work right now. Just as if you're standing.

I want you to just. I want you to just confess

those things in your heart to the Lord right

now. And just say God. I just repent of. Of listening

to the wrong voice. About how I view myself.

My situation. My future. God, I want to listen

to you. I want to feed on the food that you are

preparing for me. Hallelujah. God, these standing

right now, I just pray that you'd give them special

grace to overcome. I pray they would know there

is therefore now no condemnation for those that

are in Christ Jesus. For those that are in Christ

Jesus. Hallelujah. Have been set free. In Jesus

name. We belong to you. Hallelujah. Hallelujah.

And this will apply to. Anybody here this morning,

if you are here and you are just saying, God,

I want to give myself to feed on the things that

God has for me. I want you to stand as well.

And I want you to say, God, here I am to feed

on the things that you have given for me. Hallelujah,

hallelujah, hallelujah. Oh God, we praise your

name. We praise your name. We give you glory.

God, just express that to the Lord right now.

Just say, Lord, I want to feed on what you have

for me. In Jesus' name.