Study from God’s Word… 1st Kings, Chapters 17 - 19 … Passage for Reflection: 1st Kings 18: 21… NIV Elijah went before the people and said, “How long will you waver between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow Him; but if Baal is God, follow him.”
My Journal for Today: Reading about Elijah, God’s Prophet in troubled times, being a man called by God to show the power of God when God’s people had wavered in faith, makes me wonder sometimes why God doesn’t do business today the way He did in the Old Testament. But then I realize that Elijah was merely an arch-type of Jesus; and now, having the chronicles of the Great One, the God-Man, Jesus, in our New Testament, we have all the power we need in the Person of the Holy Spirit, imparted to Christ’s Bride, the Church, to do business in a world which now, as it was in Elijah’s day, is in the midst of a famine, … though our famine is one of spiritual faith not one where the rains do not fall.
But we can learn much from the stories of Elijah, related in today’s focus passages from Chapters 17-19 in 1st Kings. And when you come to today’s verse, highlighted by Dr. Smith in his devotional for this date, can you sense the Prophet’s frustration with God’s children? Yes, … there Elijah was, seeing God’s people wavering between their traditional beliefs in the God Who had delivered them from Egypt and the indulgence of the flesh they got when they followed the promises of Baal, with worship which involved such things as sexual satisfaction in the priestesses of Baal who were prostitutes.
As Dr. Smith points out today, the phrase “waver between two opinions” in today’s verse is the Hebrew “pacah shena’yim ca’iph,” which can be pictured by birds hopping between branches, not knowing where to land. And Dr. Smith aptly asks his readers to empathize; because we’ve all been driving in traffic, frustrated by being behind a driver ahead who wavers between two lanes ahead of us, not knowing which lane to follow. Or as parents we see teens today, knowing in their heads that drugs are deadly, yet relenting to the temptation to give meth a try. And then they get hooked; followed by hating themselves for becoming addicted. They are flighty birds, bouncing between branches, not knowing where to land.
And everyday I deal with men, … men like I was once, who ride what I call the “repentance rollercoaster.” They know, as Christians, that sexual sin is lethal, … yet, they can’t seem to internalize that surrender to God’s power from His Spirit will give them the empowering grace they need to overcome the pull of the flesh which porn or same sex attraction holds in their lives. They are, as Dr. Smith, calls it, “spiritual schizophrenics,” … wandering birds who can’t decide which branch to land on … the one promised by God or the one which give such fleshly satisfaction offered by Satan.
Can anybody reading this identify? Well, as we read in these Chapters in 1st Kings, Elijah, was a strong Prophet of God, calling God’s people to the way of the Lord and showing God’s infinite power to take charge in the world; but Elijah was also the weakling who needed to be shown by the same God that the LORD would provide Elijah His enabling and providential grace when the Prophet became weak and needed help.
So, I hope we can all get the messages conveyed by God’s truth, through His word, in these chapters. And helping us to examine ourselves, my devotional author prompts me to ask myself (and you ask yourself), "Is my attempt to keep one foot in the world (or the flesh) while keeping the other on high ground robbing me of an inner peace I’ve never known (or desire to have)?" My words were added in the parentheses; but I think you get the idea. We so often can be spiritual schizophrenics as our lives are lived out as the modern definition of “insanity,” which is “… trying to do the same thing over and over again, expecting different results.” That’s what Elijah was challenging God’s people to realize in today’s study verse; and it is the truth we all need to answer for ourselves today.
My Prayer for Today: Lord, thank You for showing me the answer to this question in my life. Help me to carry my testimony to others and show them that YOU are the only choice and the only way for man to walk free from the call of the flesh. Amen
Showing posts with label Elijah. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Elijah. Show all posts
Friday, June 04, 2010
Thursday, July 02, 2009
2009 – Day 182.July 2 – Redirecting Our Gaze
2009 – Day 182.July 2 – Redirecting Our Gaze
Passage of the Day: 2nd Kings 2: 9 – 13 … Linked for your study …
Second Passage of the Day: Matthew 17: 1 – 13 … Linked for your study …
My Journal for Today: It’s my last day studying the life and works of Elijah, one of God’s great prophetic heroes of the Old Testament. And Chuck Swindoll makes an interesting and accurate observation to close out this study. He makes the personal study note that Elijah’s life was one which causes us to look to the life of our Savior.
And in this final look, Swindoll redirects our thoughts, remembering how Elijah often spent time alone to allow God to shape his being just as Jesus did when He was on His trek to the cross. >>> And we saw Elijah’s courage to face the ungodliness of the leaders of his day. Certainly that has to remind us of Jesus as He confronted the misguided religious leaders of His day. >>> Then there was the compassion of Elijah which was exhibited during his time with the widow in the wilderness; and reading this, I immediately thought of the compassion of our Lord with the woman at the well or with the prostitute whom he restored to life eternal. … Then, we studied how Elijah had his own time of agony, much like Jesus’ confrontation with Satan in Gethsemane. >>> And finally we see Elijah being lifted directly into heaven much like our Savior who was lifted by the Spirit of God directly to be with God, the Father.
Is it no wonder that when Jesus asked his disciples about whom the people said He was [see Matt. 16: 13-14], they responded with the image of the Prophet Elijah. And any well schooled Jew of that day would know the prophesy of Malachi (in Malachi 4: 5 – 6) that when the Messiah comes, He would be preceded by one like Elijah; and we know, of course, from Scripture that this was fulfilled by the life of John the Baptist.
Swindoll is right that studying the life of Elijah takes our spiritual vision off of the world and ourselves and places our directional focus on Christ. Certainly Swindoll is right when he claims that one of the primary goals of every Christian is to be transformed into Christlikeness. And in seeking Christlikeness, we need to be able to see that we must take our eyes off of the world or our own desires and to do what Christ commanded of His disciples in Luke 9: 23, a passage I really hope you have memorized and internalized, because it is Christ’s command for us to become like Him … to deny ourselves, … to take up our crosses daily, … and to follow Him. Following in the life example of an Elijah certainly is walking in the truth of Christ’s commands.
And once again, as it so often happens when I come to my time with God in these morning times of my life, as today, my mind is taken back to that great old hymn …
Turn your eyes upon Jesus
Look full in His wonderful face;
And the things of this world will grow strangely dim
In the light of His glory and grace.
Studying Elijah’s life has allowed me to do just that; and it has re-energized me with the desire to become more like our Savior. And for anyone who might be spending time with God along with me here in this study, that is my prayer for you as well.
My Prayer for Today: Lord, turn our eyes to You so that we can follow You and become more like You. Transform us, Lord, into Your image so that we might glorify You, our Father, in Heaven. Amen
Passage of the Day: 2nd Kings 2: 9 – 13 … Linked for your study …
Second Passage of the Day: Matthew 17: 1 – 13 … Linked for your study …
My Journal for Today: It’s my last day studying the life and works of Elijah, one of God’s great prophetic heroes of the Old Testament. And Chuck Swindoll makes an interesting and accurate observation to close out this study. He makes the personal study note that Elijah’s life was one which causes us to look to the life of our Savior.
And in this final look, Swindoll redirects our thoughts, remembering how Elijah often spent time alone to allow God to shape his being just as Jesus did when He was on His trek to the cross. >>> And we saw Elijah’s courage to face the ungodliness of the leaders of his day. Certainly that has to remind us of Jesus as He confronted the misguided religious leaders of His day. >>> Then there was the compassion of Elijah which was exhibited during his time with the widow in the wilderness; and reading this, I immediately thought of the compassion of our Lord with the woman at the well or with the prostitute whom he restored to life eternal. … Then, we studied how Elijah had his own time of agony, much like Jesus’ confrontation with Satan in Gethsemane. >>> And finally we see Elijah being lifted directly into heaven much like our Savior who was lifted by the Spirit of God directly to be with God, the Father.
Is it no wonder that when Jesus asked his disciples about whom the people said He was [see Matt. 16: 13-14], they responded with the image of the Prophet Elijah. And any well schooled Jew of that day would know the prophesy of Malachi (in Malachi 4: 5 – 6) that when the Messiah comes, He would be preceded by one like Elijah; and we know, of course, from Scripture that this was fulfilled by the life of John the Baptist.
Swindoll is right that studying the life of Elijah takes our spiritual vision off of the world and ourselves and places our directional focus on Christ. Certainly Swindoll is right when he claims that one of the primary goals of every Christian is to be transformed into Christlikeness. And in seeking Christlikeness, we need to be able to see that we must take our eyes off of the world or our own desires and to do what Christ commanded of His disciples in Luke 9: 23, a passage I really hope you have memorized and internalized, because it is Christ’s command for us to become like Him … to deny ourselves, … to take up our crosses daily, … and to follow Him. Following in the life example of an Elijah certainly is walking in the truth of Christ’s commands.
And once again, as it so often happens when I come to my time with God in these morning times of my life, as today, my mind is taken back to that great old hymn …
Turn your eyes upon Jesus
Look full in His wonderful face;
And the things of this world will grow strangely dim
In the light of His glory and grace.
Studying Elijah’s life has allowed me to do just that; and it has re-energized me with the desire to become more like our Savior. And for anyone who might be spending time with God along with me here in this study, that is my prayer for you as well.
My Prayer for Today: Lord, turn our eyes to You so that we can follow You and become more like You. Transform us, Lord, into Your image so that we might glorify You, our Father, in Heaven. Amen
Thursday, May 28, 2009
2009 – Day 147.May 28 – A Unique Spokesperson
2009 – Day 147.May 28 – A Unique Spokesperson
Passage of the Day: 1st Kings 16: 29 – 17: 1 … 29 In the thirty-eighth year of Asa king of Judah, Ahab son of Omri became king of Israel, and he reigned in Samaria over Israel twenty-two years. 30 Ahab son of Omri did more evil in the eyes of the LORD than any of those before him. 31 He not only considered it trivial to commit the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, but he also married Jezebel daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians, and began to serve Baal and worship him. 32 He set up an altar for Baal in the temple of Baal that he built in Samaria. 33 Ahab also made an Asherah pole and did more to provoke the LORD, the God of Israel, to anger than did all the kings of Israel before him. … 34 In Ahab's time, Hiel of Bethel rebuilt Jericho. He laid its foundations at the cost of his firstborn son Abiram, and he set up its gates at the cost of his youngest son Segub, in accordance with the word of the LORD spoken by Joshua son of Nun.
1 Kings 17 : 1 Now Elijah the Tishbite, from Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab, "As the LORD, the God of Israel, lives, whom I serve, there will be neither dew nor rain in the next few years except at my word."
My Journal for Today: Yes, same passage again; and today Chuck Swindoll drills home a very important point with this same scenario. His point … no one is insignificant when he (or she) is standing or working for God’s glory. And it is often the case that God’s chosen servants are not what the world would recognize as “THE” right man or woman for the job. The Apostle Paul even made the same point in 1st Cor. 1: 26 – 29 [linked here for your reference ] .
And you may be God’s chosen one for a very important ministry which honors God; and you may not even recognize your importance or even what you do as being God’s chosen one for ministry. For example, many wives and mothers or dads and husbands are devalued by the world; but your ministry as a spouse to one and as a parent to your kids could well change the world. It’s not too difficult to find great men or women of history who attribute who they’ve become to the loving and faithful “ministry” of parents who stood in the gap to model Godly living in their family. And the opposite is true as well. Many of the monsters of this world came from broken homes where the parenting was either unGodly or non-existent. So, the point, … if you’re a spouse or a parent, see it as a chosen ministry which glorifies God by your standing in the gap for everything God represents.
God could have chosen a mighty army to destroy the wickedness in the world perpetrated by Ahab and Jezebel. He did just that when you read the book of Habakkuk. But in this instance, God called only one man, and Elijah was not exactly the picture of charisma or strength. He was an older man from a nowhere town, and he was the one who was going to change the course of history by simply being God’s messenger to an evil world.
Do you see evil around you? Yeah, I know … “DUH!” Well, my friend, you are an Elijah; and you are called to stand in the gap for truth and for God’s way of living. If you’re a parent, everything you can do to raise your kids to resist drugs or pornography is being an Elijah standing for God. When you write a letter or call your governmental representatives to vote in a Godly way, you are an Elijah standing for God. When you serve your spouse in a way that mirrors how Christ served His Bride, you are an Elijah.
So, never see yourself as “a nobody,” who has no purpose. You are an “Elijah,” and when you stand for God in any way in this world or culture, you are God’s messenger for these times just as the Prophet was for his. Today … let’s go be Elijah. Let’s go change the world!
My Prayer for Today: Today, Lord, I will stand for You. Amen
Passage of the Day: 1st Kings 16: 29 – 17: 1 … 29 In the thirty-eighth year of Asa king of Judah, Ahab son of Omri became king of Israel, and he reigned in Samaria over Israel twenty-two years. 30 Ahab son of Omri did more evil in the eyes of the LORD than any of those before him. 31 He not only considered it trivial to commit the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, but he also married Jezebel daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians, and began to serve Baal and worship him. 32 He set up an altar for Baal in the temple of Baal that he built in Samaria. 33 Ahab also made an Asherah pole and did more to provoke the LORD, the God of Israel, to anger than did all the kings of Israel before him. … 34 In Ahab's time, Hiel of Bethel rebuilt Jericho. He laid its foundations at the cost of his firstborn son Abiram, and he set up its gates at the cost of his youngest son Segub, in accordance with the word of the LORD spoken by Joshua son of Nun.
1 Kings 17 : 1 Now Elijah the Tishbite, from Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab, "As the LORD, the God of Israel, lives, whom I serve, there will be neither dew nor rain in the next few years except at my word."
My Journal for Today: Yes, same passage again; and today Chuck Swindoll drills home a very important point with this same scenario. His point … no one is insignificant when he (or she) is standing or working for God’s glory. And it is often the case that God’s chosen servants are not what the world would recognize as “THE” right man or woman for the job. The Apostle Paul even made the same point in 1st Cor. 1: 26 – 29 [linked here for your reference ] .
And you may be God’s chosen one for a very important ministry which honors God; and you may not even recognize your importance or even what you do as being God’s chosen one for ministry. For example, many wives and mothers or dads and husbands are devalued by the world; but your ministry as a spouse to one and as a parent to your kids could well change the world. It’s not too difficult to find great men or women of history who attribute who they’ve become to the loving and faithful “ministry” of parents who stood in the gap to model Godly living in their family. And the opposite is true as well. Many of the monsters of this world came from broken homes where the parenting was either unGodly or non-existent. So, the point, … if you’re a spouse or a parent, see it as a chosen ministry which glorifies God by your standing in the gap for everything God represents.
God could have chosen a mighty army to destroy the wickedness in the world perpetrated by Ahab and Jezebel. He did just that when you read the book of Habakkuk. But in this instance, God called only one man, and Elijah was not exactly the picture of charisma or strength. He was an older man from a nowhere town, and he was the one who was going to change the course of history by simply being God’s messenger to an evil world.
Do you see evil around you? Yeah, I know … “DUH!” Well, my friend, you are an Elijah; and you are called to stand in the gap for truth and for God’s way of living. If you’re a parent, everything you can do to raise your kids to resist drugs or pornography is being an Elijah standing for God. When you write a letter or call your governmental representatives to vote in a Godly way, you are an Elijah standing for God. When you serve your spouse in a way that mirrors how Christ served His Bride, you are an Elijah.
So, never see yourself as “a nobody,” who has no purpose. You are an “Elijah,” and when you stand for God in any way in this world or culture, you are God’s messenger for these times just as the Prophet was for his. Today … let’s go be Elijah. Let’s go change the world!
My Prayer for Today: Today, Lord, I will stand for You. Amen
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
2009 – Day 145.May 26 – Elijah - Alone in the Gap
Transition Note: Elijah: A Man of Heroism and Humility is our new study, again using Chuck Swindoll's devotional book, Great Days with the Great Lives as my devotional guide. I pray we all can grow closer to God and become more like our Lord in this study.
===================
2009 – Day 145.May 26 – Alone in the Gap
Passage of the Day: 1st Kings 16: 29 – 17: 1 … 29 In the thirty-eighth year of Asa king of Judah, Ahab son of Omri became king of Israel, and he reigned in Samaria over Israel twenty-two years. 30 Ahab son of Omri did more evil in the eyes of the LORD than any of those before him. 31 He not only considered it trivial to commit the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, but he also married Jezebel daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians, and began to serve Baal and worship him. 32 He set up an altar for Baal in the temple of Baal that he built in Samaria. 33 Ahab also made an Asherah pole and did more to provoke the LORD, the God of Israel, to anger than did all the kings of Israel before him. … 34 In Ahab's time, Hiel of Bethel rebuilt Jericho. He laid its foundations at the cost of his firstborn son Abiram, and he set up its gates at the cost of his youngest son Segub, in accordance with the word of the LORD spoken by Joshua son of Nun.
1 Kings 17 : 1 Now Elijah the Tishbite, from Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab, "As the LORD, the God of Israel, lives, whom I serve, there will be neither dew nor rain in the next few years except at my word."
My Journal for Today: Here was the scene. It was a day when the gap between God being Lord of all in Israel had widened to its greatest extent. Ahab and Jezebel ruled the Northern tribes of Israel; and Baal was their little-g “god.” The one true God, Jehovah, had faded in the minds and hearts of God’s “chosen” people, and somewhat quietly, but significantly, we are introduced, in Verse 17: 1 of our study passage today, to “Elijah,” who came from a small town, called Tishbe, likely located about 20 miles south of the Sea of Galilee, which was in the area controlled by Ahab.
Then Chuck Swindoll introduces his devotional readers and yours truly to the significance of Elijah’s name, which, in Hebrew, is a composite of the word “El,” which is a short of “Elohim” or the Hebrew word for “God” and “jah,” which is a short for “Jehovah,” or “The Lord” in Hebrew. These two words are separated by the Hebrew letter “I,” which refers to “my” or “mine.” So, when we put this all together we see that Elijah’s name declares, “my God is Jehovah,” or “The Lord is my God,” which would have been a very brash declaration in a country where worship of the god Baal was required.
It’s not difficult to see some parallels between the times in which Elijah stepped on the scene in Israel and today’s world. Today we live in a world permeated by false “gods;” and the concepts of “God” or “Christ” are becoming more and more hostile to the culture as time goes by. And so, anyone who stands in the gap declaring that “The Lord is my God” stands out as being in opposition to the running tide of our world. Elijah was just such a man in his day.
Swindoll points out that it doesn’t take too much interpretation to see that our Lord, God, … the same God as the one, true God who had chosen those people in Israel in Elijah’s day, desires to have men and women of God who’re willing to stand alone – if need be – to declare “The Lord and Savior, Jesus, is my God!” Elijah, just by his very name, was just such a man in his day, and Swindoll goes immediately to illustrate this by a few modern day “Elijahs,” who stood in the gap for God at Columbine High School in Littleton, CO, a few years ago. Here were a few students who, where challenged as to their faith, were gunned down because they were willing to say, “Yes, I’m a Christian.” And their courage became loud witnesses in our times for someone who was willing to stand in the gap for God.
Elijah was such a man; and so I look forward to a concentrated study into the life of one who would stand up for God in a world which was hostile to our Lord.
My Prayer for Today: Oh, Lord, raise up the Elijah in me … that I may be willing and able to stand for You, … no matter what! Amen
===================
2009 – Day 145.May 26 – Alone in the Gap
Passage of the Day: 1st Kings 16: 29 – 17: 1 … 29 In the thirty-eighth year of Asa king of Judah, Ahab son of Omri became king of Israel, and he reigned in Samaria over Israel twenty-two years. 30 Ahab son of Omri did more evil in the eyes of the LORD than any of those before him. 31 He not only considered it trivial to commit the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, but he also married Jezebel daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians, and began to serve Baal and worship him. 32 He set up an altar for Baal in the temple of Baal that he built in Samaria. 33 Ahab also made an Asherah pole and did more to provoke the LORD, the God of Israel, to anger than did all the kings of Israel before him. … 34 In Ahab's time, Hiel of Bethel rebuilt Jericho. He laid its foundations at the cost of his firstborn son Abiram, and he set up its gates at the cost of his youngest son Segub, in accordance with the word of the LORD spoken by Joshua son of Nun.
1 Kings 17 : 1 Now Elijah the Tishbite, from Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab, "As the LORD, the God of Israel, lives, whom I serve, there will be neither dew nor rain in the next few years except at my word."
My Journal for Today: Here was the scene. It was a day when the gap between God being Lord of all in Israel had widened to its greatest extent. Ahab and Jezebel ruled the Northern tribes of Israel; and Baal was their little-g “god.” The one true God, Jehovah, had faded in the minds and hearts of God’s “chosen” people, and somewhat quietly, but significantly, we are introduced, in Verse 17: 1 of our study passage today, to “Elijah,” who came from a small town, called Tishbe, likely located about 20 miles south of the Sea of Galilee, which was in the area controlled by Ahab.
Then Chuck Swindoll introduces his devotional readers and yours truly to the significance of Elijah’s name, which, in Hebrew, is a composite of the word “El,” which is a short of “Elohim” or the Hebrew word for “God” and “jah,” which is a short for “Jehovah,” or “The Lord” in Hebrew. These two words are separated by the Hebrew letter “I,” which refers to “my” or “mine.” So, when we put this all together we see that Elijah’s name declares, “my God is Jehovah,” or “The Lord is my God,” which would have been a very brash declaration in a country where worship of the god Baal was required.
It’s not difficult to see some parallels between the times in which Elijah stepped on the scene in Israel and today’s world. Today we live in a world permeated by false “gods;” and the concepts of “God” or “Christ” are becoming more and more hostile to the culture as time goes by. And so, anyone who stands in the gap declaring that “The Lord is my God” stands out as being in opposition to the running tide of our world. Elijah was just such a man in his day.
Swindoll points out that it doesn’t take too much interpretation to see that our Lord, God, … the same God as the one, true God who had chosen those people in Israel in Elijah’s day, desires to have men and women of God who’re willing to stand alone – if need be – to declare “The Lord and Savior, Jesus, is my God!” Elijah, just by his very name, was just such a man in his day, and Swindoll goes immediately to illustrate this by a few modern day “Elijahs,” who stood in the gap for God at Columbine High School in Littleton, CO, a few years ago. Here were a few students who, where challenged as to their faith, were gunned down because they were willing to say, “Yes, I’m a Christian.” And their courage became loud witnesses in our times for someone who was willing to stand in the gap for God.
Elijah was such a man; and so I look forward to a concentrated study into the life of one who would stand up for God in a world which was hostile to our Lord.
My Prayer for Today: Oh, Lord, raise up the Elijah in me … that I may be willing and able to stand for You, … no matter what! Amen
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