What!!! You didn't know how famous you are???

1 Kings 22

Now Jehoshaphath and Ahab have joined hands to fight for Naboth Gilead and get it back Jehoshaphath has shown his dependence on the Living Lord for guidance and support and in spite of 400 prophets prophesying, he asks for a prophet who would give the real Word of God regarding the direction they needed to take.

"v7 But Jehoshaphat asked, "Is there not a prophet of the LORD here whom we can inquire of?"

8 The king of Israel answered Jehoshaphat, "There is still one man through whom we can inquire of the LORD, but I hate him because he never prophesies anything good about me, but always bad. He is Micaiah son of Imlah." "The king should not say that," Jehoshaphat replied.

On Jehoshaphath's request Micaiah is called. Now here is an event in which once again majority doesn't win. It doesn't work that way with God. 400(prophets):1 (Micaiah) and previously we have read the event about sacrifice requiring fire from heaven Elijah versus prophets of Baal(450) and prophets of Asherah (450) so that was about 1:900.

In these verses about Micaiah I learnt a lot of valuable lessons

1. Just one true and obedient man of God is more than enough to fight against any large number of false witnesses or disobedient people- Leviticus 26:8 says "8 Five of you will chase a hundred, and a hundred of you will chase ten thousand, and your enemies will fall by the sword before you." And this verse is from the verses about Blessings for Obedience. Thats how powerful "a" and I stress "a" child of God is. Now from what I mentioned before this ratio is even greater for the prophet of God, man totally dedicated to doing God's will. Now you tell me how much light is needed to remove darkness from a room, we don't need a big large 5000 bulbs lighting, just 1 bulb is enough, just 1 candle is enough, just 1 light source no matter how tiny, is enough to give light in an absolutely dark place, even the tinted glasses give out light so even in darkness we can see (may not be totally clear, but we can atleast see the source of light no matter how dark it is) When everything is dark, JUST ONE SOURCE OF LIGHT in enough to expel darkness.
2. No one lights a lamp and puts it under cover-In simple words I'd like to say, the children of God are never under-cover agents. Micaiah is one prophet who hasn't been mentioned so far in this episode, which talks more of Elijah and Elisha, yet this one man's prophecy was going to change the course for Ahab. How did Ahab know of Micaiah? Even I don't know but I got this thought while reading and meditating on it-When our Living Lord God lights up our eyes to see His face and know Him, when our God lights up our lamp of knowledge of His love, He keeps us in the place where we will shine out brightest. Elijah was hiding by the brooks and the caves but people knew him, people around knew that God was with Elijah. David was hiding in caves of Adullam, yet people knew him. Jesus was a man of Jerusalem and from a tiny country of Israel, yet people around the world know Him. In this dark world, the children of God can be easily spotted, they are the ones that stand out, their life shines out. Whether they know it or not their lives are shining out before someone else. I don't think the fishermen in Galilee ever knew that half way across the globe there would be people learning from their experience. Thats the specialty of God's children. David says "You, O LORD, keep my lamp burning; my God turns my darkness into light".Psalm 18:27-29
3. Sticking out like a sore thumb- How can we never notice a sore thumb, which automatically sticks out. Ahab wasn't very happy with Micaiah's prophecies."but I hate him because he never prophesies anything good about me, but always bad. " I have this notion that everyone should like me. But now I've come to the realisation that not everyone will like me. When you start giving the Word of God, Word for Word as God said, I don't think many people will be happy about it. People like to hear good things about themselves and it is a good thing to encourage the good in others, but when there is need of correction, a strong word is needed. Jesus was giving the Pharisees a drink of their own medicine, they had become haughty in their doings of the Word, their hearts were far away from God, only their actions seemed like they were holy. Yet when God started dealing with them personally and in detail, they didn't like it. Not everyone will like you for being bluntly truthful about the Word of God. Yes, I have made the mistake of compromising the Word of God many times in my life just to please someone. However the sooner the sore thumb gets treated, the better. Its not that God just highlights all the bad, but always and always makes a way out for His children. Remember Lot, he was staying in one of the worst places on the earth, well it was his choice and people there didn't like him luch, yet you know what the Bible says "4For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but sent them to hell,[a] putting them into gloomy dungeons[b] to be held for judgment; 5if he did not spare the ancient world when he brought the flood on its ungodly people, but protected Noah, a preacher of righteousness, and seven others; 6if he condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah by burning them to ashes, and made them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly; 7and if he rescued Lot, a righteous man, who was distressed by the filthy lives of lawless men 8(for that righteous man, living among them day after day, was tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard)— 9if this is so, then the Lord knows how to rescue godly men from trials and to hold the unrighteous for the day of judgment, while continuing their punishment." 2 Peter 2:4-10 You've stood your ground and stuck out like a sore thumb and it hurts you that you're the only one or only few who stand for God, don't worry, God has a way out.

Conclusion: When one of God's child has decided to be obedient to God's Word in whatever way he or she knows best, God's power surrounds them, they suddenly match up with a bigger ratio, they no longer are people who fight 1:1, but they can now face even 1(child of God):100(principles of darkness). Seldom do we realise how much power there is in being an obedient child of God, we don't because we can only see the physical side of our lives, yet for the children who are lighted by God, have a spiritual side which is much more powerful and they are recognised there. From the episode of Sceva's sons trying to imitate Paul's mission of healing people in Jesus Name "13Some Jews who went around driving out evil spirits tried to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who were demon-possessed. They would say, "In the name of Jesus, whom Paul preaches, I command you to come out." 14Seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, were doing this. 15(One day) the evil spirit answered them, "Jesus I know, and I know about Paul, but who are you?"(Acts 19 :13-15). Those evil spirits knew Paul and you obedient children of God , if you thought you were in hiding, remember this, your obedience and love for Lord Jesus has made you known in a realm that even you don't know. So I exhort you my brethren, "In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.Matthew 5:15-17 If we haven't been obedient before but would want to turn our lives around right now, we can do it by reconciling with God and God will snatch you out from darkness and no matter how tiny a light you are, you can still shine out in darkness, like a crack in the wall of a dark cave. You will shine. So Shine out for Jesus.

Knowing our Father's Voice

1 Kings 22

Israel and Judah have been separated since Solomon's reign and now for the first time after 3 generations the two divisions of the Israelites decide to act together to fight for Ramoth Gilead. At this time Israel is being led by Ahab and Judah by Jehoshaphat.

3 The king of Israel had said to his officials, "Don't you know that Ramoth Gilead

belongs to us and yet we are doing nothing to retake it from the king of Aram?"
4 So he asked Jehoshaphat, "Will you go with me to fight against Ramoth Gilead?"

Jehoshaphat replied to the king of Israel, "I am as you are, my people as your people, my horses as your horses."

5 But Jehoshaphat also said to the king of Israel, "First seek the counsel of the LORD."

Notice here that Ahab asks Jehoshaphath for alliance to win Ramoth Gilead, after all it was their territory and Jehoshaphath agrees to it, yet he also said "First seek the counsel of the Lord"

6 So the king of Israel brought together the prophets—about four hundred men—

and asked them, "Shall I go to war against Ramoth Gilead, or shall I refrain?"

"Go," they answered, "for the Lord will give it into the king's hand."
7 But Jehoshaphat asked, "Is there not a prophet of the LORD here whom we can inquire of?"

Notice again that Jehoshaphath asks him for a prophet of the Lord who could prophesy the real Word from God.

I couldn't help but see the difference in these 2 kings and the following characteristics stood out

1. First seek counsel from God- While Ahab must have been thinking of acquiring more land,(even though it was theirs) Jehoshaphath knowing that it was theirs wanted to know what God would have them do, whether to go ahead with the plan or remain. Jehoshaphath clearly brings God first and asks Ahab to "First seek counsel from God" . The Word of God says "5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; 6 in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight" It is to acknowledge God in ALL your ways, in ways when you can guess the right answer or not. A friend may need a good word for guidance, yet maybe God would have us shut up and just be there and that would mean more to the friend than us trying our best to do something we think is right and talk. Let is first seek the counsel from God for no matter what we face. The result, God will make the path straight
2. Discernment- Though 400 prophets were prophesying the king to go on for the battle, Jehoshaphath asks him, isn't there someone who can inquire of the Lord. It almost sounds to me like, don't you have any real prophets. Jehoshaphath had a discerning spirit to understand whats from the Lord and what is not. 1 Corinthians 12 says "7Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good........10 to another distinguishing between spirits,". This is something God would have all His children, all His sheep know. The Bible says 27My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. John 10:26-28

Conclusion:These 2 points bring out to me the very heart of God. The centre of God's training of His sheep academy, to lean on God and to be able to discern His voice. When a child is born, they start recognising their parent's voice, it comes to them naturally, because they are born of them. So also we who are born of the Holy Spirit and of our Living God in our spiritual lives have the ability to listen to our God's voice in our spirit "The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children." Romans 8:15-17. Now, how well we listen to our God's voice depends on how often we listen to His voice. If we get accustomed to listening to other voices of this world , soon we will start doing what other voices tell us. Let us continue to go to our Father in Heaven every single time we have a need and in every situation of our life, let us continues to read His Love Letter to His children, the Bible and God's Spirit Himself will help us get connected in our spirit to our Daddy in heaven.

Mercy

In the book of 1 Kings 16 onwards we have been reading through the life of Ahab. I am now on the 22nd chapter of 1 Kings. In the readings I find Ahab a very fickle minded person and disobedient to God, unless it was something that would benefit him.

• He and his evil wife Jezebel killed the prophets of the Living Lord
• He started following the gods of his wife Jezebel , baal, ashtoreths, asherah ..etc
• He takes over Naboth's vineyard by false means and killed Naboth
• Leading the nation of Israel to sin before the Living God by making them follow gods other than the Living Lord.

Then the word of the Lord came to Ahab through Elijah -" 20 Ahab said to Elijah, "So you have found me, my enemy!" "I have found you," he answered, "because you have sold yourself to do evil in the eyes of the LORD. 21 'I am going to bring disaster on you. I will consume your descendants and cut off from Ahab every last male in Israel—slave or free. 22 I will make your house like that of Jeroboam son of Nebat and that of Baasha son of Ahijah, because you have provoked me to anger and have caused Israel to sin.'
23 "And also concerning Jezebel the LORD says: 'Dogs will devour Jezebel by the wall of [a] Jezreel.'
24 "Dogs will eat those belonging to Ahab who die in the city, and the birds of the air will feed on those who die in the country."
25 (There was never a man like Ahab, who sold himself to do evil in the eyes of the LORD, urged on by Jezebel his wife. 26 He behaved in the vilest manner by going after idols, like the Amorites the LORD drove out before Israel.)"

The Bible says "27 When Ahab heard these words, he tore his clothes, put on sackcloth and fasted. He lay in sackcloth and went around meekly. "

In spite of all the Ahab had done all his life, God saw his change and took him seriously and the Bible says "28 Then the word of the LORD came to Elijah the Tishbite: 29 "Have you noticed how Ahab has humbled himself before me? Because he has humbled himself, I will not bring this disaster in his day, but I will bring it on his house in the days of his son."

Lessons I learnt

God took notice of Ahab's humility, God noticed!!! And not for anything else but our God being the source of all mercy, who sits on the mercy seat, who looks down from above to see whom He can bless, God shows His mercy.

David constantly cried out for God's mercy for every situation of his life and God kept him safe in his arms. I went through Psalms and I find that David continually asked for God's mercy. He knew Whom he was approaching. Even Job humbled himself during his troubled times and said "Though I were innocent, I could not answer him; I could only plead with my Judge for mercy.Job 9:14-16 Job was living a righteous life yet he did not consider that a big deal, he let everything in God's hand that he could not demand God his healing his restoration on the basis of his good works so far, but on God's mercy. Oh that brings God honour, knowing that God has mercy on us, not for our sake but because it is His nature, it is His discretion, it is His choice. The moment we start depending and counting on our own deeds for seeking God's mercy, we elevate ourselves in the position of demanding from God, yet this is not so. Just because our God is a Loving and Wonderful Friend to us, doesn't mean we forget His Position, His Power and His Authority over us. "It does not, therefore, depend on man's desire or effort, but on God's mercy".Romans 9:15-17

• God's mercy is from everlasting to everlasting-Psa 100:5 "For the LORD [is] good; his mercy [is] everlasting; and his truth [endureth] to all generations. " "Psa 103:17 "But the mercy of the LORD [is] from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him, and his righteousness unto children's children; "
• The merciful shall receive mercy-"Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy" .Matthew 5:6-8 .
• Mercy is better than sacrifice-"For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings.Hosea 6:5-7

Resistance

1 Kings 20
After some time we see Ben-hadad king of Aram(Syria) went to attack Israel (now being ruled by Ahab). When Ben-hadad threatened Ahab that all the belonged to Ahab was his, Ahab sent word agreeing to it and calling Ben-hadad his lord!!! Ben-hadad sent another word besides saying he would send his men to search out Ahab's palace and take everything he chooses from it. Now Ahab was afraid and wanted to do something about it.

• Sometimes satan also tries the same with us, he puts thoughts in our mind that our finances will never get better, our children may not be good students, teenagers are impossible, if we start agreeing to his lies, it is as good as saying what Ahab said to Ben-hadad and called him lord. Soon like Ben-hadad, would come to claim what he falsely declared as his.

When Jesus was tempted in the wilderness, thats what satan did. The Bible says " 8Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. 9"All this I will give you," he said, "if you will bow down and worship me." (Matthew 4:8) How could satan give that land to Jesus? First of all nothing belongs to satan (Psalm 24:1-2 " 1 The earth is the LORD's, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it; 2 for he founded it upon the seas and established it upon the waters." ), he has laid claims on lands and people that have invited or allowed him to take claim of them.

So what belongs to us? I think anything that is related to you in any manner belongs to you. Remember we used to write our names on books that belonged to us, so I think since our family members bear our names with theirs as either wives, husbands, children, parents, relatives they are ours.The company which has your name in their registry, that work belongs to you. The property which receives mails in your name belongs to you (whether it be rent or otherwise). Our bodies belong to us, our health too, our minds our knowledge are gifts from God. What I mean to say is that everything that we have is a gift from God and we are His stewards while on this earth as we interact with our gifts. No one can take from us what we don't want to give. It is we who must value the gifts we received.

Ahab compromised with Ben-hadad and so Ben-hadad was bold enough to even threaten him to come to his palace and take everything.

Let us make no compromise, "Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you." James 4:6-8

• The first point in winning over our enemy who falsely claims what we have is to submit ourselves to God. To submit meaning, to understand and obey what God's will and plan is for our lives and work with God to bring it into completion.
• The second is to Resist the devil- To resist our enemy means to disagree with ,to oppose, to withstand, strive against. Its not a fancy goody goody feeling when you're in resistance to something, it just makes use of a lot of effort on our part. In our heart and mind resisting the enemy.

And the result will be that the enemy WILL flee.

Conclusion- Next time we get suggestions from our enemy to try to defeat us, let us resist, not like Ahab who gave in, but standing strong because the earth and everything in it belongs to our Lord God Almighty. Who dares take or even suggest taking from my DAD's property!!! We've got to stand and resist in our spiritual war, for all that which God our Daddy has made us stewards of, you brothers and sisters in Christ.

Insignificant in the world, significant in God's eyes

1Kings 19

A glorious miracle now under his belt, Elijah must have felt so bold and strong, now that he has seen God send fire from heaven to affirm Elijah's calling, Elijah's life purpose and His Word to Elijah, in spite of all that, we see Elijah very distressed now. Ahab has gone and told Jezebel all that Elijah did at mount carmel and now Jezebel seeks to kill him all the more. "3 Elijah was afraid [a] and ran for his life. When he came to Beersheba in Judah, he left his servant there, 4 while he himself went a day's journey into the desert. He came to a broom tree, sat down under it and prayed that he might die. "I have had enough, LORD," he said. "Take my life; I am no better than my ancestors." (1 Kings 19:3) In a short moment of time, Elijah said words that were totally unbelievable, to me. Why does this powerful man of God want to die, isn't it wonderful that God is so "visible" through his life, but then I see that this was not such a great time to live in. The Israelites had rejected the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and even killed the prophets of God. Sounds like a time of anti-Christ like time. Yet in this moment, God was working in the times, with Elijah. He was the lone preacher, the lone prophet of the time.

In his despair, Elijah cried to God and was so tired he slept under a broom tree and "All at once an angel touched him and said, "Get up and eat." 6 He looked around, and there by his head was a cake of bread baked over hot coals, and a jar of water. He ate and drank and then lay down again. 7 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." 8 So he got up and ate and drank. Strengthened by that food, he traveled forty days and forty nights until he reached Horeb, the mountain of God."
After this God met him at the cave in Horeb, gave Elijah the assignment of anointing Elisha and Jehu, also God let Elijah know "18 Yet I reserve seven thousand in Israel—all whose knees have not bowed down to Baal and all whose mouths have not kissed him.". This tells me that God knows ALL His people, whether other people know them or not.

Lessons I learnt

1. God examines the people of the earth-"The LORD is in his holy temple; the LORD is on his heavenly throne. He observes the sons of men; his eyes examine them." Psalm 11:3-5 Before we can tell God of the oppressor, God already knows, He has been examining them.
2. God had been keeping track of his own people, though Elijah did not know of other followers of the Living God-"But the eyes of the LORD are on those who fear him, on those whose hope is in his unfailing love " Psalm 33:17-19
3. God has His eyes on His people, to listen to their cries-"The eyes of the LORD are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their cry;"Psalm 34:14-16 There is never a time, when God is not listening to His children's cries. When Elijah cried out to God to kill him, God knew that Elijah needed food for strength and not death, so God provided him with what Elijah needed. What if God would have listened to Elijah's cry word for word!!! We wouldn't have known of the fire chariots and stuff I guess. It is good that God does not give us exactly as our heart desires, He knows what we need more than we do.

Conclusion:Whether others have noticed you or not, like those 7000 people who were yet faithful to God, God knows you. God has been keeping track of the believers in Jesus Name no matter how insignificant they have been. Those insignificant people whom Elijah didnt know, were in the message of strength from God to Elijah. It was so important for their existence to be mentioned to Elijah so that he could go on. Though these 7000 people's names are not mentioned, but they have been mentioned by God Himself at a time when Elijah had given up, Elijah wanted to die, Elijah was lonely. God knew the importance of the mention of these 7000 insignificant, unnamed believers of the Living God. Every child of God has a purpose, though may seem insignificant to the eyes of the world, they are critical in God's plan and God's eyes are always watching out for His children, no matter where they are.

Working out God's Plan

Elijah 18:1 says " 1 After a long time, in the third year, the word of the LORD came to Elijah: "Go and present yourself to Ahab, and I will send rain on the land."

Elijah obeyed God and went to meet Ahab. Here's an interesting thing happening in Elijah's life
".....Elijah climbed to the top of Carmel, bent down to the ground and put his face between his knees.
43 "Go and look toward the sea," he told his servant. And he went up and looked. "There is nothing there," he said. Seven times Elijah said, "Go back."
44 The seventh time the servant reported, "A cloud as small as a man's hand is rising from the sea." So Elijah said, "Go and tell Ahab, 'Hitch up your chariot and go down before the rain stops you.' "
45 Meanwhile, the sky grew black with clouds, the wind rose, a heavy rain came on and Ahab rode off to Jezreel. 46 The power of the LORD came upon Elijah and, tucking his cloak into his belt, he ran ahead of Ahab all the way to Jezreel." (1 Kings 18:42-45)

There are 2 things I noticed here, God promised Elijah about the rain. Elijah had to pray seven times and see that small hand of a cloud rise up in the horizon and then the rain poured.

1. Knowing what God has promised God is able to do-When God has promised something it sure will happen. We see this in the way Elijah persisted in prayer. Elijah had known from God that it would rain and that gave Elijah the base to build on to pray even more than ever. Has God given us a promise that He said He will bring to pass, take heart, trust the Word of God more than any thing. No matter what happens, or what the situation looks like right now, God will come through and His Promises will come true. Elijah knew that he knew that he knew, that what God has promised is true and will come to pass. If it has not, then maybe we're not hoping enough for it. Another thing of note is that, if we were to count all the verses in the bible and find the center verse, you know it would be Psalm 118:8 and it says "It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in man."
2. Who's report will you believe??- While Elijah prayed he asked his servant to keep bringing him back the status of the rain situation. The servant kept bringing a negative report, yet Elijah did not give up because he wasn't looking for the report from the servant but the result of the Word from God. Who's report do we readily believe. The moment we start praying for God's plan in our life, we are sure to get all sorts of reports in our lives, but above all we've got to stick onto what God says about our situation. If we've been praying for a loved one to meet our Saviour Lord Jesus and to be saved, we will find the appearance of the situation in our life and theirs going in a totally different direction, yet do not give up, God's foremost purpose and promise is that He came that all may know our Lord Jesus and be saved. We MUST (P)ray (U)ntil (S)omething (H)appens. So PUSH. Like Elijah did to bring God's Word to pass.
3. Pray in accordance to God's Word and His plan-Does praying mean praying anything we want? No. Elijah shows us that He had a mandate from God which had to happen and he prayed accordingly, without giving up hope, without being slack. Praying is a very very powerful means of bringing God's plan to come to pass on this earth. Even Jesus, when He taught us to pray "..let Your will be done on this earth as it is in heaven" Who can bring God's will to pass on this earth. Believers who pray God's will. Prayer is not ONLY for meeting our needs and blabbering our needs to God, it is bringing God's will to happen in our lives and in this earth.

Conclusion: Praying is an amazing tool, God blessed us with. Before knowing our Lord Jesus we did not know to pray. God opened the way for us to enter when Jesus died on the cross for our sins and the curtain tore in the temple and the Holy Place the Holy dwelling of God was accessible to us, because of our Saviour Lord Jesus. Hebrews 4:16 "Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need." Elijah prayed in confidence on God's Word regarding the rain, and it did rain and that small hand of a cloud rained so heavily and so quickly became rain cloud I am sure, no one could have imagined. Why doesn't our prayers work that way? The Bible says in James 4:3 "When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures." Dear brothers and sisters, lets get with our Father's business. Its been a long time since we prayed for God's will to be done in our individual lives and on this earth. Pray Until Something Happens, the Something that God has planned and promised will happen, if we pray according to His plan. Its ok if right now you don't know what to pray. The Holy Spirit will help and guide us and help us pray expectantly, like a pregnant mother, knowing for sure that in 9 months she will see her baby.

Remove the doubt and confusion

Reading through 1Kings 18, I am impressed at something Elijah says. In verse 21 we read "21 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."

This statement follows up with a clear demonstration of how the people should have responded. In other words, Elijah not only posed the question, but even laid out a demonstration of what is the right choice. I wonder if we could ever dare ask someone this question. I don't think we can can we??? What if we asked someone and then didnt have any live demo to follow up with it? How come Elijah did the live demo?? Well I grazed the texts from Elijah's life that I had read so far and found that this man was trained by God Himself.

Elijah had this confidence for the following reasons

1. Elijah was in need of food and shelter (as his story unfolds in 1 Kings 17)- He learnt God to be his provider
2. Elijah needed directions for his life- He was in a situation where he was so caught up with the Spirit of God that he really really needed God to direct him else he'd just be doing many things and getting nothing done. He learnt God to be his Guide.
3. Elijah had heard from God, and that was his confidence-Each time Elijah had to take action it was based on something God had told him to do. Now Elijah had heard from God and that was what gave him such confidence to boldly proclaim God's power before 450 people who didn't even worship his God.

How could Elijah go and dare someone not even of his own faith? Nowadays pastors have hard time convincing people from Christian homes that Jesus is Lord.

We have not experienced dire need, so we don't know divine provision. We have not walked in obedience so we don't know the triumph over test. We don't have listening ears, only hearing aids, no wonder we haven't heard from God. We're too busy with our own worlds.

I ask myself, How will others know of the power of our Living God, unless they see it from our lives. (Live demonstration). More than that, how will we know our God can provide unless we are in need. Its like unless we fall sick, we will never know God our Jehovah Rapha. Unless we are so poor that we can't say where our next meal is coming from, we'll not know Jehovah Jireh.

People around us are confused on whether they should follow the "Christian's God" or their own gods or no gods at all, because we who believe in God don't have anything stark difference in our lives to show them what's different about our God.

Elijah had the entire session of sacrifice to differentiate between their god and his. He knew his was real. How convincingly do we know our God, so we can demo through our lives too? If we don't our God is an impartial God and is willing to meet with you and me to help us learn more about him. (Deuteronomy 10:16-18). This training from God is for the willing and obedient, it doesn't matter how well qualified you are, but whether you are willing and obedient to go by the Word of God. If we do, we will learn and be living examples like Elijah and all who "knew" Jesus our Lord, whether they knew Him in flesh (when He was alive) or in faith like we are.

Consequences of Obedience

1 Kings 18

The Lord commands Elijah to go meet king Ahab(1 Kings 18:1). It was the same king Ahab who's wife Jezebel was killing the prophets of the Living God. However during such time there was another devout man of God named Obadiah who had hidden 100 prophets of God in caves and had kept feeding them. At this time the drought in the land is very severe and Obadiah and Ahab have come out to look for grass so that the horses could be fed and kept alive. Obadiah and Ahab split ways in search of grass for the horses. Elijah meets Obadiah on the way and asks him to take him to Ahab. Obadiah is very afraid and tells Elijah "9 "What have I done wrong," asked Obadiah, "that you are handing your servant over to Ahab to be put to death? 10 As surely as the LORD your God lives, there is not a nation or kingdom where my master has not sent someone to look for you. And whenever a nation or kingdom claimed you were not there, he made them swear they could not find you. 11 But now you tell me to go to my master and say, 'Elijah is here.' 12 I don't know where the Spirit of the LORD may carry you when I leave you. If I go and tell Ahab and he doesn't find you, he will kill me. Yet I your servant have worshiped the LORD since my youth." (1 Kings 18: 9-12) Obadiah is scared for life to take Elijah to Ahab. Yet Ahab is determined and finally goes to meet Ahab.

In this little episode from Elijah's life, I learnt the following lessons

1. Obeying God's commands opens communication with God-When God commanded Elijah for anything, Elijah did it immediately, not waiting not killing time. Obedience to God opens more ways for us to listen directly from God. Then God no longer has to ask someone else to tell us anything, He Himself will talk to us, because we are willing to listen and obey.
2. Obeying God's commands sets the course for our faith-As Elijah continued to follow God's commands, his faith grew and as a result the miracles in his life grew to higher power. From being miraculously fed by ravens, to the neverending jar of flour and oil, to raising the dead, to calling fire from heaven and then being carried into heaven. What a life!!! If there is a command God has given us a good way to find out if we are doing the right thing or not is to check the result of our lives, has the power grown or decreased. If it has decreased lets go back and do the last thing God had asked us to do and we will be back on track again.
3. Obeying God's command may bring obstacles, obey God rather than men- When God gives a command, soon enough something will come up which will challenge your faith, challenge your obedience even. When Elijah started off to meet Ahab, Obadiah (a man of God too) met Elijah and was so scared that he did not think meeting Ahab would be a good idea for Elijah. Yet "15 Elijah said, "As the LORD Almighty lives, whom I serve, I will surely present myself to Ahab today." No matter what staying steady on the Word of God matters. Acts 5:29 "Peter and the other apostles replied: "We must obey God rather than men! " It may be a weird command, it may look contrary, it make look disastrous, but if thats what God would have us do, lets do it. For God gives us the grace to do whatever He commands us to do.

Conclusion: The only way we will grow is by faith and obedience. Willingness. Jesus said "Luke 11:28 "Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it." 1 John 5:3 "This is love for God: to obey his commands. And his commands are not burdensome,"

Dear God, I know I haven't fully been obedient to You and have failed many a times, yet You have been so merciful to me.I thank You for your grace and mercy. Please help me to be completely obedient to you that I may see Your work in my life and that my life would turn into a blessing to others.

In Jesus Name I pray.

Amen

"Obedience surely is better than sacrifice"

Learning from prophet elijah

It has now been some time since Solomon's death, right now Ahab is ruling the Israelites and Asa is ruling Judah. "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. "( 1 Kings 16:29) So now you know the kind of ruler Israel had. However things aren't looking down during this time. The Israelites will see their God show them His power, His love and His concern for them, through one of the most powerful prophet, Elijah.
When we think, everything is going wrong, no one can ever correct this situation, no one serves the Living God anymore.... right in the midst of all that negative, God has His choicest people working for Him. God has His important tools of ministry hidden by the brook. God's timing is amazing. If Elijah lived on planet earth at any other time, it wouldn't have made much impact, like the way it did when he lived during Ahab's reign.

1 Now Elijah the Tishbite, from Tishbe [a] 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."
2 Then the word of the LORD came to Elijah: 3 "Leave here, turn eastward and hide in the Kerith Ravine, east of the Jordan. 4 You will drink from the brook, and I have ordered the ravens to feed you there."
(1 Kings 17:1,2)

When situations are looking doomed, remember God has placed His army men and women in critical places ready for action when called to do so by the Lord. Even you are one of them!!! God has placed you and me at this time in the nations of the world so that when the time is right, we will be brought out of our " Kerith Ravine" and be sent for our assignments.

Lessons:

1. God has us hidden before our real assignment, to learn total dependence on Him- Elijah was hidden in the Kerith Ravine, where he was fed by ravens and drank from the brook. He wasn't doing anything great there, just hiding and being fed. He was all alone.The hebrew word Kerith means "the cutting ". It is the place made by a natural cutting off of the place. This is where Elijah learnt to be totally cut off from people, from society, from earning for living..from family even, being fed by ravens, drinking from the brook. And this episode happened soon after he had made an appearance before the king Ahab and warned him of drought.Cut off means nothing else is there to divert your attention from God and there is no one to provide except God. If we're in a place where we aren't doing much, just waiting, even though our heart so wants to serve the Lord, lets remember, God is teaching us to wait and depend upon Him. We are waiting for the opportune time of assignment, when God would have us face, probably even to chase out, the prophets of baals. You wanna see something ...even Jesus was in the wilderness for 40 days and nights before He started His mission on this earth. Paul (Saul) was blinded by the power of God and was waiting and praying (Acts 9:10-12 ). After which we all know the tremendous ministry that came out through Paul's (Saul) work and the amazing power that shone through the life of our Lord Jesus. Such kind of immense demonstration of power can come only through lives which have been in the "cutting".
2. Waiting on God for our provisions-I was wondering at this next point. Now God had told Elijah that the rain wouldn't come unless by his word, as Elijah had declared to Ahab. Now the brook from which Elijah was drinking dried up. I wonder whether Elijah would have even thought of using the 'power' to make it rain. After all God had given him that word. Yet he did not. For God gave him different directions. He obeyed God and went to Zarephath to an old widow who would give him food and drink. I dont know what distance it was from Kerith Ravine to Zarephath, but Elijah went. We'd have to learn to use the power God gives us at the time that He wants us to use it. This can come only with total dependence on God, even to move.
3. Learning to be faithful in few things- Elijah's first encounter with a person after that "cutting" experience is with a widow in Zarephath and his first amazing task is the neverending jar of flour and oil. Wow, I just realised wasn't this the first thing Jesus did too at the wedding!!!.(John 2) and the Word of God says "11This, the first of his miraculous signs, Jesus performed in Cana of Galilee. He thus revealed his glory, and his disciples put their faith in him."(John 2:11) Elijah didn't start on the very first day calling fire from heaven, but started with the simple miracle of flour and oil. God will teach us to walk in His power little by little. Thats why the Word of God says "Matthew 25:21"His master replied, 'Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!'" God starts with us little by little so that we will learn to be faithful in the few things He gives us and from there we grow step by step. We cannot handle God's immense power in a split second from the day we were born again, so God teaches us to dwell in His obedience and walk in His Spirit as we learn His ways.

Conclusion: Our God is a wonderful teacher. He is able to guide us to our best potential, when we learn to listen to His every command so that the best in us is brought out. Not of our mind and our plan, but of God's plan and God's work. Only then can we be powerful in God and see God's power work through our lives, to bring healing to bring God's directions, to bring God's Word to His children who are living in these desolate times, like the time Israel was going through under king Ahab. Only then can the people see the great difference there is in the power of God and the power of man. Only then will the distinction be clear and evident to the people of the potential of our Living God and only then can we stand before the 450 prophets of baal and demonstrate how powerful our Living God is.If we haven't been able to show our God's power through our lives to the people around us I think its because we ourselves haven't experienced God's power in our own lives in staying dependent at the cutting place. Lets learn at our the Kerith Ravine where God has placed us, to find spiritual strength(food and water) through our Lord's provisions.

For Who's sake ?

David is no more, Solomon is no more and Israelites are being led by 2 kings. I couldn't help but read on to find out how many kings followed God and how many didn't. Only 7 out of 37 kings, who came after Solomon ever truly followed the Living Lord. Even with the 7 who followed the instructions of the Living Lord God, no one was like David.

God's testimony of David

• When Solomon turned from the Lord, God told Solomon "1 Kings 11:12Nevertheless, for the sake of David your father, I will not do it during your lifetime. I will tear it out of the hand of your son."
• When another descendant from Jeroboam was going to take leadership fo Israel God said 1 Kings 15:4 "Nevertheless, for David's sake the LORD his God gave him a lamp in Jerusalem by raising up a son to succeed him and by making Jerusalem strong."
• When Jehoshapat became king and did evil in the eyes of the Lord, 2 Kings 8:19 says "Nevertheless, for the sake of his servant David, the LORD was not willing to destroy Judah. He had promised to maintain a lamp for David and his descendants forever."
• When in fear, King Hezekiah called out to God to save Israel from Sennacherib's attack, God said 2 Kings 19:34 "I will defend this city and save it, for my sake and for the sake of David my servant."
• When Isaiah had given the final word to King Hezekiah that he would die, King Hezekiah prayed with tears and God did add 15 years to his life, however about Israel's protection God said "2 Kings 20:6 "I will add fifteen years to your life. And I will deliver you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria. I will defend this city for my sake and for the sake of my servant David.' "

I learnt some very valuable lessons here-

1. God's faithfulness-God did much for Israelites for the sake His servant David. In reading this account, I am reminded of our Lord Jesus Christ, who belonged to the line of David and like God remembered David every time the Israelites did something wrong, deserving punishment, so also whenever God sees unrighteousness among us, God remembers His Son Jesus and we go unpunished so that we may be saved, because of Jesus. The thing is our Living Lord is a just God and to not punish sin would be unlike His just nature, hence God made a WAY for us so that we may escape the penalties of sin. John 3:16"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." God gave His Son so that we may "believe" in Him and be saved. All God wanted the Israelites to do was be faithful like David and walk like him.
2. God's patience-I wondered, how could the Israelites go on in disobedience the way they did. From having 2 kings, then to idolatry, then worshipping asherah poles, to male shrines to prostitution and whatever vile they could think of. I was getting impatient, but you know what God was very very patient with them, I wondered why and I read in 2 Peter 3:15 "Bear in mind that our Lord's patience means salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him." It was for salvation.
3. Covered from total destruction- God constantly remembered David in His dealings with the children of Israel. Some very good prophets came by after David, yet the people were not fully willing to follow God. God constantly remembered David and for his sake, saved Israel. Isn't it the same case with us? Romans 13:14 says "Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature." Also Galatians 3:27 "for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ." So when a Just God looks at me, He sees me, yet in my weak flesh but He sees me clean, because of Lord Jesus, because we wear Jesus. He sees me clean, not because I am clean, but because He sees me through Jesus and so I escape God's wrath because Jesus bore my punishments. Hence 1 Corinthians 15:54 When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: "Death has been swallowed up in victory." This is what Jesus did for us. Overcame death for us, so that we may not die eternally.

Conclusion: Over time it is easy to forget, how we came to the knowledge of Jesus Christ in the first place. Who got us introduced to God first of all? Who intercedes for us day in and day out before our Father in heaven? How could we ever call a Living God our Father? It is not by our righteousness, but by our Lord Jesus Christ. After some time is passed on, when we get that joyous feeling that God hears our prayers, I am friends with the Eternal God, it might slip our minds how we got there in the the first place. Its because of our Lord Jesus.

Ephesians 2:8-10 "8For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9not by works, so that no one can boast. 10For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do"