Tuesday, February 7, 2012

Faith Produces Miracles - Part 2

Read 1Kings 17:1-3 
When the Lord gives His prophets a true word there will always be those who resist truth.  Because of their lack of salvation or spiritual immaturity they will become angered at the one who is the deliverer of truth.  That is what happened here.  The Northern Kingdom of Israel had no faithful kings to lead them in the ways of God.  They all were wicked, and lead the people into worshiping heathen gods. Many of the priest appointed by Israel’s kings were corrupt and ineffective.  Imagine that.  The folks you are suppose to look to for spiritual guidance are corrupt & ineffective.
 That tells me we must be careful in who we follow.  God wants us to use some discernment.  Discernment is our Holy Ghost radar that lets us know in our knower that something or someone is righteous or unholy.  It’s that keen awareness that God gives his children.  Be aware.  Don’t put your blinders on and let stuff go that doesn’t sound, look, or act right just because it’s at church.  The Devil goes to church too.  That’s where he gets some of his best recruits.  Don’t get sucked into TV ministries & these pop up ministries that many are quickly drawn into.  You better check to see if it’s God or Satan that they are following.  Measure the ministry by the Word of God. 
Elijah was one of the first in a long line of prophets God sent to Israel and Judah.  God sent Elijah to King Ahab to tell him that Israel was going to be punished because of its great wickedness. There are always consequences for our actions.  Always! But God is such a loving God that even in the midst of our wrong He’ll send us a strong word of warning.  You better listen to what God is telling you.
Ahab was wicked and he was married to the wicked Jezebel.  This is what the Bible says about King Ahab in 1st Kings 16:30-33 (KJV)  (turn with me back one page) 

30And Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the LORD above all that were before him.  31And it came to pass, as if it had been a light thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, that he took to wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Zidonians, and went and served Baal, and worshipped him.  32And he reared up an altar for Baal in the house of Baal, which he had built in Samaria.  33And Ahab made a grove; and Ahab did more to provoke the LORD God of Israel to anger than all the kings of Israel that were before him. 

       Baal was believed to be the god who brought rain and bountiful harvest.  Through the influence of Ahab and his wicked wife Jezebel, Israel had started worshipping Baal, Ashteroth, and other idol gods.  So when Elijah came into the presence of this Baal-worshiping king and told him there would be no rain for many years, Ahab was shocked.  Ahab & Jezebel thought they were in charge of things and they didn’t take too kindly to Elijah’s words. Ahab was known to be powerful, but Elijah told him about “One” who had far greater power than himself, his priest, or the gods they worshiped. 

God chose to stop the rains from falling, as punishment for their wicked ways.   For three and a half years, it didn’t rain. Imagine no rain for 3 ½ years. They would not get a drop.  That’s why we need to be so careful when it rains for more than an hour and we start saying things like I sure wish this rain would stop.  I need to cut my grass.  Be careful you might just get what you asked for.  My advice is to leave the weather to God.  He knows when we need rain and when it needs to stop.   

I’m sure they probably dismissed Elijah’s prophecy at first but as time went by and they had no rain, they remembered the words of Elijah and their anger kindled against him.  However, God always has a protection system for His children.  God protected Elijah by sending him to the Cherith Brook near Jordan. 
Speak this boldly in the atmosphere
My faith can produce the miracle I need!
Let’s look at:  1st Kings 17:4-7. 

I.  Unlikely Sources

Elijah has earnestly prayed that the rains would not fall and God answered his prayer.  But now we see that God has sent Elijah to hide by the brook Cherith as a place of refuge from Ahab & Jezebel.  This journey we are on for Jesus is not for the stationary.  Elijah knew that Israel needed a reality check on their behavior towards God, God answered, and now he’s on the run for his life,  from a wicked king and his wife Jezebel.  Elijah, the prophet of God, who is obeying his Father, had to leave his place of comfort to go and lay low in isolation in the woods because the bad guys are after him for telling them the truth. 
God does not have to tell Elijah 3 times nor does he have to send several people to confirm His words.  God tells Elijah in verse 3 to “get thee hence” and in verse 5 it says, “So he went and did according to unto the word of the Lord.”  Elijah knows the voice of God and he quickly by faith obeys his voice.  Elijah doesn’t ask how he’s going to get food or what he’s supposed to do when he gets there. He hears and he faithfully obeys. 
(Proverbs 3:5, 6) says "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct thy paths."  Quit staying up all night long worry about things and obey the voice of God.  He just said in Proverbs to trust in Him and quit trying to figure things out with your little empty mind, recognize Him, and He’ll give you a step by step process to what you need to do next.  Elijah did that and look at what peace he’s in when hostility was all around him. 
God’s has ravens (unclean birds /unlikely sources) bringing Elijah (food) meat & bread in the morning and meat & bread in the evening.  Look at God! He has his own delivery service.  Elijah had all the drink he needed right there at the brook.  And look he’s satisfied with the provisions that God is making for him.  Tell me God won’t supply your needs.  Quit trying to figure it out, God’s already worked it out.  Just pray, have faith, obey and (get satisfied) with God’s provision.
Tell your neighbor don’t get comfortable. Once God has blessed us he usually sends us out to be a blessing.  Elijah has been bountifully blessed at the Kerith Brook & I’m sure he’s gotten real used to being pampered & protected by God but God has work for Elijah to do.  So, he dries up that situation so he has to move to a new place.  That’s a word for somebody.  You’ve been getting upset because it looks like things are not going well where you are but I believe that God will dry up your current situation so you have to transition.  See we get comfortable when things are good.  But at your greatest level of comfort ………….God says move! 
So the word of the Lord came to Elijah. And it must have sounded like one of those good news/bad news jokes. "The good news, Elijah, is that you get to leave Kerith. The bad news is I want you to go to Zarephath." Zarephath? Isn’t that just like God to send us to minister in a place where our enemy used to hang out?  From the brook Kerith, east of the Jordan, all the way to Sidon, was a long walk. Worse yet, Sidon was Gentile, and the home territory of Jezebel, who wanted Elijah’s head. God sends Elijah straight to Jezebel’s old stomping ground.

Saturday, February 4, 2012

Faith Produces Miracles - Part I

Hebrews 11:6 tells us that without faith it is impossible to please God.  Do you have an ultimate desire to please Almighty God?  Do you ever just wake up in the morning and think, God, today I want to please you in everything I say and in everything I do?  Well, according to this passage of scripture if you need a miracle in your life you must have faith.  Faith produces miracles! 
We are living in an economically unstable time.  Jobs are being lost, wages & hours are being cut, homes are being foreclosed, and prices are skyrocketing.  Folks are worried to death about what’s going to happen.  Crime is on the rise, drug usage is on the rise, solicitation is on the rise and church attendance is way down.  Satan has been very effective in his job.  The hearts of mankind are being so enwrapped by him that young folks are dropping dead due to stress and anxiety. 
But in the midst of so much negativity and pain I have some good news. Your faith in God can produce a miracle in your life.  The body of Christ does not have time to be distracted by what things look like.   This is our greatest time in history to be about our Father’s business.  He’s opening doors of ministry like never before.  God’s church is not a game.  God has need of workers in every area that He lets your foot tread upon.  It’s time to get some God knowledge in your head and some boldness in your spirit.  The Bible says this race is not given to the swift nor the strong but the one that endures to the end.  Someone reading right now is ready to give up and call it quit.  I speak to you by the power of the Holy Spirit now is the time to get so hungry & thirsty for God that you chase after Him to be fed.   Start chasing after God and see what happens!
So many times we ask God for something and we say that we are praying & praying and he never answers.  Well first of all God always answer.  The problem is we get so caught up in the way that we expect to get His answer that we miss it.  It’s time we quit praying our will and really start praying God’s will for our lives.  Quit expecting God to send you checks in the mail and lump sum increases in your bank account.  Don’t get me wrong He’s God and He can do all that.  But you asked Him to meet your financial needs.  He had a sister & the brother to give you some vegetables from their garden, a friend treated you to lunch and somebody anonymously cut your grass for you.  He just blessed you with a $100 package but because he didn’t send it to you in cash your crying out saying, Lord when are you going answer.  He already did!
       When Peter walked on water, he did so not through his own faith, but by looking to Jesus. When he was focused on Jesus, he transcended natural laws and walked on the turbulent waters despite the huge waves. However, the moment he stopped looking to Jesus, and focused on the ‘terrifying’ waves instead, he immediately sank. But were the waves any larger or more dangerous than those during the brief moment when he walked on water? Of course not! The only difference is that when he stopped looking to Jesus, and focused on his ‘problem’ instead, he in effect relinquished the power he had in Jesus, and allowed his surroundings to affect him. Always remember, Jesus is the Author and Finisher of our faith, and He ALWAYS has the first and last word in every situation. By looking to Him, we allow Him to work in our lives, and our faith grows.
       We can actually say we have faith when we are not moved by our circumstances or the way thing look all around us and we rest in Jesus.  Bills and no money, rest in Jesus!  Health issues and loads of medication, rest in Jesus!  Folks in your house acting like heathens, rest in Jesus!  Tossing & toiling all night long, rest in Jesus! 
          When we rest in Jesus, we are telling Him that we trust Him, and believe that He’s already worked it out. Instead of constantly worrying and fretting about that which we can do nothing about, we need to start praising like David.  He said “The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want”. There is nothing we need that God cannot provide! Everything we could possibly need, He has an abundance of it.  The question is can you handle the blessings of God? Hmmm....Let that marinate.  Stop running away from Him until you need something but rather cling tightly to Him at all times.