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The Power of the Resurrection is at Work in…

Tuesday October 11, 2022

Scripture Passage: 1 Kings 17: ¹⁹ “Give me your son,” Elijah replied. He took him from her arms, carried him to the upper room where he was staying, and laid him on his bed. ²⁰ Then he cried out to the Lord, “Lord my God, have you brought tragedy even on this widow I am staying with, by causing her son to die?” ²¹ Then he stretched himself out on the boy three times and cried out to the Lord, “Lord my God, let this boy’s life return to him!”

Life Lesson: The ministry of the church is to extend the grace and power of God in this world to those who have no hope.  We declare in Christ Jesus the power of the resurrection!

– Here in this record of scripture God gives to us a window through which we can gaze into a seemingly hopeless crisis and discover the victory our faith in Christ can extend to those without hope.

– The response of the man of God after being berated by the widow’s accusations is not to try to defend himself or the God whom he serves, but instead to say, “Give me your son”.      

– Church, we need not offer our explanations as to why a tragedy has unfolded on another, or endeavor to defend why God has allowed it; rather we can open our arms to the bereaved and the grieving and invite them to share their burden with us. 

– We can do more than simply hear the pain of others; we can take their pain by prayer to God!  This is precisely what Elijah, the man of God did in response to the widow’s inconsolable pain.     

– How do we bring hope into a hopeless situation?  We do so in the name of Jesus!  How can we, the church, offer light when the darkness is almost palpable?  We can through the mighty name of Jesus!  His light shines in the darkness and the darkness can never put it out!

– Stop trying to explain why and instead seek the One who holds all the answers!  Elijah was looking at a situation for which there was no hope, no quick fix, no explanation that could ever suffice and he did not run from it; he walked toward it, and he extended his arms inviting the widow to place her hopelessness upon him.

– Christian, we might not know what to do, but we know the One who does!  We might not know how to help, but we serve the One who can!  What Elijah did here was unprecedented in scripture!  Nowhere in scripture is there any record prior to this account of anyone being raised from the dead!  But Elijah looked ahead to the power of the resurrection as he was led by faith!  The same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead led Elijah to believe God for the impossible!  

– We serve the One who has already defeated death, hell, and the grave!  By faith, we always have reason to hope and to offer that hope to those in despair!  The power of the resurrection is at work in those who believe!

The God Who Saved You Yesterday Is With You…

Thursday September 22, 2022

Scripture Passage: 1 Kings 17: 17 Some time later the son of the woman who owned the house became ill. He grew worse and worse, and finally stopped breathing. 18 She said to Elijah, “What do you have against me, man of God? Did you come to remind me of my sin and kill my son?”

Life Lesson: The miracle that we experienced yesterday will always by challenge by the crisis we will face tomorrow. 

– Here lies a biblical principle that most fail to accept and anticipate.  Not the we should live in a mentality of waiting for the next crisis, however, those who are children of God and who live in a hostile environment must not be taken by surprise when trouble yet again comes knocking at our door. 

– This principle is found throughout the scriptures and prominently portrayed in the Exodus, a type or foreshadowing of what God would later do for humanity through His Son Jesus Christ.  God saved Israel out of the bondage of Egypt only to confront them time and again with what seemed like impossible situations.  The trouble at the Red Sea was only the beginning of the many challenges the Israelites would face on their way to the Land of Promise. 

– The widow exercised faith in the word of the Lord and subsequently she experienced a tremendous miracle of God’s provision.  However, that miraculous provision would seemingly be eclipsed by the subsequent illness and death of her son.  After what good is the miraculous provision of food that saved her son’s life if he would soon succumb to illness and death?!

– This is the dilemma many believers often times find themselves in.  The tremendous miraculous provision of yesterday can be overshadowed by the tragedy of today.  What was it that Job said pertaining to such realities?  Job 2: ¹⁰ He replied, “… Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?” I don’t know about you, but I’m all about accepting good from God but not much into the trouble part!

– Like the widow, when tragedy strikes, we too might cry out, “God, why are you doing this terrible thing to me?”  I know some do not like that language but those people need to read through the psalms as well as really take to heart what Job said in response to the tragedies he experienced.  Sometimes we might wrongly think God is reminding us of our past sins but we must always remember our past, confessed sins, are under the blood.  Jesus corrected the wrong thinking of the disciples who asked, John 9: ² … “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” ³ “Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him.  Always remember that what the enemy intends for evil, God intends for good, Gen. 50:20, see also Rom. 8: ²⁸ And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”!

Those Who Believe God’s Word Will Act On it!

Wednesday September 21, 2022

Scripture Passage: 1 Kings 17: ¹⁵ She went away and did as Elijah had told her. So there was food every day for Elijah and for the woman and her family. ¹⁶ For the jar of flour was not used up and the jug of oil did not run dry, in keeping with the word of the Lord spoken by Elijah.

Life Lesson: It is never enough for us to agree in principle with the word of the Lord, we must act upon it in obedience. 

– The widow went away and did as Elijah had told her.  Now it would be easy for us to gloss over this part of the story and focus only on the miraculous provision that happened subsequent to her obedience, but we must not. 

– It is here at the point of acting on what the word of God has told us that many of us fail. If for example the message we receive from God’s word is in conflict with what we want or the direction we want to go, many will find a way to rationalize why they must “go with their gut” rather than heed the word of God.

– It is precisely here, at the point where we decide if we will follow God’s word or go our own way, that is so very crucial to our spiritual development and our spiritual health.  In John 6:66 many turned away from the following Jesus because of His hard teaching and when Jesus turned and asked His disciples if they would turn away as well, Peter replied, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. ⁶⁹ We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God.”

– There is always a choice that is intrinsic to our walk of faith.  We may choose to trust the word of the Lord above all else or we may choose to go a different way; to quite literally turn away from following the Lord.  Here’s the rub, those who know Him also know that to go any other way is to follow a path that leads to destruction, but they also know that to follow Him is to walk in the newness of life that only Christ can make possible.

– The widow chose to walk toward life when she turned her heart away from the despair that threatened her as well as her son, and instead to act on the word of God that had been revealed to her.  This she did by faith.  She acted on faith even though everything within her and the situation all around her screamed at her to go a different way.

– But that is just it, isn’t it?  This world, our sinful nature, and the father of lies will scream for us to turn away from the authoritative word of the Lord!  But by faith we choose to listen to God’s word and to act upon what it tells us.  And those who trust the word of the Lord and act on it, know in their heart that His words are the words of eternal life!

Such Giving Can Only Be By Faith!

Tuesday September 20, 2022

Scripture Passage: 1 Kings 17: ¹³ Elijah said to her, “Don’t be afraid. Go home and do as you have said. But first make a small loaf of bread for me from what you have and bring it to me, and then make something for yourself and your son. ¹⁴ For this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘The jar of flour will not be used up and the jug of oil will not run dry until the day the Lord sends rain on the land.’”

Life Lesson: The principle of the tithe is to give to God the first fruits of what we have in faith believing that God will provide the remainder for the faithful. 

– Elijah said to the woman, “Don’t be afraid. Go home and do as you have said. But first make a small loaf of bread for me from what you have and bring it to me, and then make something for yourself and your son.” 

– Elijah prefaced what he was about to tell the woman with, “Don’t be afraid”.  If there is one thing that can cause fear to well up within us, it is the worry that we will not have enough.  God knows our weakness and so God tells us, “Do not be afraid”. 

– The instruction for the widow, a widow being someone who is already at a great disadvantage due to her situation, was to first of all, before making anything for herself or her son, make something for Elijah and bring it to him.  At this point many would reason they should first make something for themselves and for their family and whatever might be left over could then be given in faith to God. 

– But no, firstly she was to make from out of her measly rations food that would be devoted to God.  How many of us use what we have to first pay our credit cards, our monthly bills, our entertainment bills, our taxes and whatever else comes along, and then if we have anything left over, we might give some of that as a tithe to God? 

– We rationalize why this must be, yet what if the widow had done the same as we often times do?  Would her story have been as awesome and as miraculous?  We forget that our limited resources or even the lack thereof is the fertile soil in which God plants the seeds of His miraculous provisions! 

– Church!  I have lived this truth!  I have watched the Lord provide in ways that have absolutely astounded me as well as those whom I have shared my story with!  You say, “But there’s nothing left!”  Give to God first and then trust God to provide the rest!  Abel brought as an offering to God, “fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock”, Gen. 4:4 and we are told, “The Lord looked with favor on Abel and his offering”.  Why is it important to give God the first fruits?  Because doing so is an act of faith that God will provide the other lambs yet to be born and the other portions of the harvest yet to be brought in!  When we give to God first, we are saying, “Lord you have given this to me and now I give it back to you without knowing what I will yet receive from you.”  Such giving can only be by faith!

God Can Breathe New Life Into Our Hopeless Situation!

Monday September 19, 2022

Scripture Passage: 1 Kings 17: ¹² “As surely as the Lord your God lives,” she replied, “I don’t have any bread—only a handful of flour in a jar and a little olive oil in a jug. I am gathering a few sticks to take home and make a meal for myself and my son, that we may eat it—and die.”

Life Lesson: Our lack of resources is never a challenge to God, in fact our little is our opportunity to exercise faith and to witness God’s miraculous provision!

– Elijah asked the widow for food and water, yet she had almost nothing left to give. How do you respond when your resources are almost gone, yet you are asked to give?   At this point many or most would recoil and refuse trying to preserve what little we have left. 

– Does it seem reckless and foolish to you for someone to give when their resources are almost gone?  Jesus sat by the temple with His disciples and observed, Luke 21: As Jesus looked up, he saw the rich putting their gifts into the temple treasury. ² He also saw a poor widow put in two very small copper coins. ³ “Truly I tell you,” he said, “this poor widow has put in more than all the others. ⁴ All these people gave their gifts out of their wealth; but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on.”

– So, what do you think?  Was the woman foolish to give all she had left to live on in offering to God?  This is where our faith is truly tested.  Do we actually believe that God can and will provide or not?  Many will respond with a resounding, “Yes” however when pressed by financial hardship one of the first things many will do is withhold their tithe. 

– Again, for perspective I point us back to the widow of Zarephath.  God had commanded her to provide sustenance for Elijah, yet she had almost nothing at all to give.   The widow that Jesus gave attention to gave generously out of her poverty, in fact in the eyes of God she gave more than any of the others who had given out of their abundance. 

– We read nothing more about the poor widow other than Jesus commended her faith and quite frankly to have Jesus commend you for your faith is incredible!  The widow of Zarephath had a choice, hold on tightly to the little that she had or give what she had by faith to God.  She chose to trust God and that meant she had to give over the little she had in faith believing that God would provide.  

– Sometimes our situation seems absolutely hopeless and hopelessness can make us desperate. Let me suggest a better way to approach hopelessness; instead of becoming desperate and insular we can open ourselves up to the promises of God!  We can choose to respond as did both of the widows we have studied today and choose to believe that God can breathe new life into our hopeless situation as we entrust what He has given us to Him by faith!

When Your Only Resource is Faith You Have All…

Friday September 16, 2022

Scripture Passage: 1 Kings 17: ⁷ Some time later the brook dried up because there had been no rain in the land. ⁸ Then the word of the Lord came to him: ⁹ “Go at once to Zarephath in the region of Sidon and stay there. I have directed a widow there to supply you with food.” ¹⁰ So he went to Zarephath. When he came to the town gate, a widow was there gathering sticks. He called to her and asked, “Would you bring me a little water in a jar so I may have a drink?” ¹¹ As she was going to get it, he called, “And bring me, please, a piece of bread.”

Life Lesson: The Lord can use the most unlikely means available to meet our needs.  In this way we learn that our provision has come by the Hand of God and not through natural means.

– God directed Elijah to go to the house of a widow where he would be supplied with food.  The widow was not well off, in fact she had come to the end of her resources so one might wonder why the Lord would send His servant there for provisions.

– I have learned through personal experience in ministry that God’s provisions can come through completely unexpected sources.  Paul tells us in 1 Cor. 1: ²⁶ Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. ²⁷ But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. ²⁸ God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, ²⁹ so that no one may boast before him. ³⁰ It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. ³¹ Therefore, as it is written: “Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.”

– Here Paul highlights not the personal strengths of those being called by God as though their personal strengths were assets to God; rather Paul cites their personal weaknesses!  Why?  So that those who would choose to boast would make their boast only in the Lord! 

– I love to make my boast in what God has done!  When people boast about their personal accomplishments it does not have the power and authority of when we boast in the Lord!  Boasting in the Lord is not about me or us, it is about what God has done in me or through us!  When we boast in the Lord, we point to God’s power manifested through His miraculous provisions in our lives and that same power is available to those who hear our testimony!  Like the widow who had nothing left only to soon realize that the God of Elijah was more than able to supply all of her needs! It wasn’t about what she had or she could do, it became about what God would do in her when she chose to believe the word of the Lord!

– God sent Elijah with no resource other than his faith in God to a widow who was almost completely out of resources.  Let me tell you something, when your only resource is your faith in God, you have all that you really need!

When Your Resources Dry Up, Look Up!

Thursday September 15, 2022

Scripture Passage: 1 Kings 17: ⁷ Some time later the brook dried up because there had been no rain in the land. ⁸ Then the word of the Lord came to him: ⁹ “Go at once to Zarephath in the region of Sidon and stay there. I have directed a widow there to supply you with food.” ¹⁰ So he went to Zarephath. When he came to the town gate, a widow was there gathering sticks. He called to her and asked, “Would you bring me a little water in a jar so I may have a drink?” ¹¹ As she was going to get it, he called, “And bring me, please, a piece of bread.”

Life Lesson: When one provision from the Lord “dries up” look intently for what the Lord will do to meet your need in a fresh new way. 

– We tend to panic when our resources run dry. What we must always keep in mind is how faithfully God provides for those who wait upon Him.  When the brook dried up, Elijah did not fret over it.  We are told that the brook dried up and then the word of the Lord came to Elijah.

– There is an important life lesson for us to grab hold of in this account: The drying up of a precious resource for Elijah was a catalyst for a fresh revelation from God!  It is no different for us today. 

– Until God allows what we are so reliant upon today to dry up, how then can we experience God’s power and provision afresh and anew!?  We can learn here that our crisis today is a means for our personal growth and development in faith. 

– This is the reason James writes so passionately in his first chapter, ² Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, ³ because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. ⁴ Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” 

– We want to grow in our faith.  We want to become mature and complete in our faith, not lacking anything. We cannot have this unless we go through trials of many kinds.  Unfaltering faith is no accident!  It is forged in the crucible of fire!  It is the blows of the Masters hammer that fashions the metal and makes it fit for its work!

– When we seem to be lacking of this world’s treasures, we can be certain that God has something very special that He intends to do in us and through us!  Like David we will look beyond our needs and testify, that “The Lord is my Shepherd and I lack nothing”, Psalm 23!

– Don’t tell me you have to see it to believe it!  By faith we believe it and in God’s time we will therefore see it!