6.18.14

1 Kings 19:11-13 "Go out and stand before me on the mountain." the Lord told Him. and as Elijah stood there, the Lord passed by, and a mighty windstorm hit the mountain. It was such a terrible blast that the rocks were torn loose, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. And after the earthquake there was a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire there was the sound of a gentle whisper. when Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave.

And a voice said, "what are you dong here Elijah?"

My Thoughts

Wow! How often do we want God to come out mighty and powerful, when He is whispering to is exactly what we need to do in the mist of our problems?  How often in the mist of troubles do we forget what power there is in God's words?  How often do we forget that He spoke and the earth was formed? How often do we forget that if He speaks and tells us what He wants us to do and we act on those words, His power is in the whispering? And if we act on those whispers mountains can be moved without mighty winds, or earthquakes or fires. 

6.17.14

1 Kings 18:1 & 42-46 1. Later on, in the third year of the drought, The Lord said to Elijah, "Go and present yourself to King Ahab. tell him I will soon send rain!"

42-46 so Ahab went to eat and drink. but Elijah climbed to the top of Mount Carmel and Bowden low to the ground and prayed with his face between his knees.

Then he said to his servant, "Go and look out toward the sea."

The servant went and looked, then returned to Elijah and said, "I didn't see anything." 

Seven times Elijah told him to go and look. Finally the seventh time the servant told him, "I saw a little rain cloud about the size of a man's fist rising from the sea."

Then Elijah shouted, "Hurry to Ahab and tell him, "Climb into your chariot and go back home. If you don't hurry the rain will stop you,"

And soon the sky was black with clouds. A heavy wind brought a terrific rainstorm, and Ahab left quickly for Israel. Then the Lord gave a special strength to Elijah. he tucked his cloak into his belt and ran ahead of Ahab's chariot all the way to the entrance of Jazreel.

My Thoughts

In verse one God had told Elijah that He was sending the rain, in verse 46 Elijah knowing what God said still prayed for rain. He called down what God had promised. The Bible is full of God's promises to us but we need to do like Elijah did and call those promises down. 

Next in this story it looked like the rain God was sending was only a tiny amount, all they saw was a small rain cloud. But for Elijah it was confirmation that God was moving and Elijah knew that God moves in mighty ways!  All Elijah's servant saw was a tiny rain cloud, but Elijah told Ahab to hurry or he would be stopped by the rain. A terrific rain!

I think my lesson from this is when I see God moving, even though I only see the tiniest movement, the blessings are coming in a big way. I need to thank God at that moment for His answer to my prayers, enjoy life so I can be productive, and know God has my situation in His hands! 

This story today, although I have read it several times, spoke so much into my life. God is good. 

6.19.13

1 Kings 21:25-26 (No one else so completely sold himself to what was evil in the Lord's sight as Ahab did under the influence of his wife Jezebel.  His worst outrage was worshiping idols just as the Amorites had done -- the people whom the Lord and driven out from the land ahead of the Israelites.)

 

My Thoughts

"His worst outrage was worshiping idols."  Adoring reverence or regard was one of the definitions of worship. The the dictionary defined reverence as a feeling or attitude of deep respect tinged with awe; veneration. Veneration is a feeling of awe, respect, reverence.  When I think of worship I think of "spending time with," on Sunday mornings we spend time with God. 

 

Ahab's worst sin was worshiping idols.  What do we worship in America I asked myself.  Football comes to mind...the stands are always full... people plan their lives around football games.  Then we roll out the red carpet for movie stars, isn't that a form of worship?  I tend to spend lots of time watching TV, so here I am "spending time with" my TV!!  The list can go on and on and on...I am not picking on football fans or people that love the movies or people that have a lot of alone time and fill it with the sound of the TV.  What I am trying to do is get it straight in my mind what God would consider worshiping idols. 

 

I know that God sees worshiping idols as seeing an object as a god.  But treating an object or a person or a past time as the end all be all, would that be considered the same thing to God?  Our first response would be a resounding "NO!" Because we don't want to be guilty.  If we love God and we watch a lot of TV, or plan our lives around football...we after all love God!!  But what about the kings who worshiped God and other idols, didn't they do the same?  And it was still bad in God's sight. 

 

I am not saying to myself that we should never watch a football game or that we should never turn on the TV.  That we should never treat people with a little extra respect. The question I am asking myself is this, do I give TV more time and energy than I give God?  Do some of us give football more time and energy they they do God. Do we put people that simply star in a movie more awe than we give God?  Do we study more on something that we are interested in than we study on God?  And if and when we do, how does God see that? 

 

I would love you input on this!!  I would love it if you pondered it as much as I am this minute. I would love to know what you think.   Because I don't ever want God to feel as if I am worshiping something more than I worship Him!!! 

6.11.13

1 Kings 8:57-58 May the Lord our God be with us as he was with our ancestors; may he never leave us or abandon us.  May he give us the desire to do his will in everything and to obey all the commands, decrees and regulations that he gave our ancestors.

 

My Thoughts

King Solomon was standing over his people giving them a blessing when he said this.  When I read it I thought of the story where a father was asking Jesus to heal  his child he also asked Jesus to help his unbelief (Mark 9). This verse teaches me that I can ask God to help me have the desire to do His will.  I just need the desire to desire to do God's will... I just need a mustard seed of want...then when I ask God will take care of the rest!!  There is so much we can do is we just ask God.