The God Of Elijah

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The books of Kings are filled with many miraculous deeds done by the prophets Elijah and Elisha through the power of Almighty God.  We see a handful of flour and a little jar of oil lasting almost three years feeding three people; salt added to water and it is no longer bitter; an iron axe-head floating; oil not running out; people being raised from the dead; heavenly angels and chariots surrounding an army and one of my favorites-a dead man is brought to life by touching the bones of Elisha.

What a wonderful time to be alive!

What a wonderful time to be on God’s side!

The question that comes to my mind is: Where is the God of Elijah and Elisha?  Why don’t we see miracles like these today? Is it because our faith is weak?  Jesus said all we need is to have faith the size of a mustard seed. What will it take to develop this faith?  Or, is developing faith the wrong concept?   Either I have faith or I don’t.

Faith is not something that I can produce in myself, faith is a gift from God so that I can believe that He is and that He can do all things; nothing is too hard for Him; nothing is impossible with God.  If it is God’s will-it will be accomplished.  The most important question is:  Do I want to use the gift of faith or do I want to do it by my power and hope that it is God’s will?

By the grace of God let us live by faith!

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Instruments of Righteousness Romans 6:13

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Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness. Romans 6:13

 We are admonished and encouraged by the Apostle Paul to offer the members of our bodies as instruments of righteousness.  Since we are baptized into Christ Jesus we have victory over sin.  Sin is no longer our master and we now have a choice – choose sin or choose righteousness.

 We should pay close attention to our thoughts, words and actions and try to align them with the teachings of God’s Word as we seek righteousness.

The mature Christian will seek to please God in everything he or she does and heeding this verse (Romans 6:13) is a good place to start. Let us seek to offer ourselves wholly to God today surrendering each part of our body to him as instruments of righteousness.

 Surrender

We surrender our will to you today,

Show us how to choose your way.
We walk by faith and not by sight,
For you alone know what is right.
When we can’t see the final end
And more trouble lies beyond the bend,
Give us strength to carry on,
As you keep us safely in your hands.
Our prayers - Your will be done,
Our dreams - Serving only you
Our wish - Walking closer with you
Our desires - Surrendering to you alone.
We heed your command to walk in your path,
For your shed blood our salvation bought.

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Card of the Month - Life's Simple Pleasures.

For those of you who know me well~ you may be able to guess why July is my favorite month of the year. July 16th is the day I say Happy Birthday to me! I read recently about a man, turning 65, who decided to celebrate his birthday by giving rather than getting. He stood on a street corner and offered $5.00 to anyone who stopped. He said that it was one of the best birthdays he ever had.

One of the paradoxical philosophies of Christianity is the thought that we are blessed more in giving than in receiving. Many of Paul's epistles speaks about 'one anothering'. We should love one another, be kind to one another, honor one another, do not be a stumbling block to another etc...

Jesus' last discourse to his disciples as recorded in the Gospel of John echoed this same sentiment when he said that if we show love to each other, people will know that we are his followers.

This birthday, I have chosen not to rejoice in the getting but in enjoying the simpler things of life.

Take time to enjoy Life's Simple Pleasures~~~

Watching your favorite movie (you’ve seen it at least a dozen times.);

Singing along with the radio;

Getting a phone-call from a friend;

Finding a card in the mailbox that says ~Just Wanted to say Hi~;

Walking in the moonlight;

Licking an ice cream cone;

Reading a good book;

Inhaling the sweet fragrance of your garden’s flowers;

Taking the long way home just to enjoy the scenic drive; …..

Have a great week!

For A Season...

Luke 4:13 – After the devil had finished the temptations he left him for a season, an opportune time.

Ecclesiastes 3:1- 8 - There is a time for everything and a season for every activity under heaven…

Galatians 4:4 – But when the time had fully come God sent his son…

Romans 5:6 – You see that at just the right time, when we were still powerless Christ died for the ungodly.

Some prophecies in the Old Testament gave precise time for events to happen. Daniel knew that the time of exile was coming to an end because of a prophecy from Jeremiah and it motivated him to pray for the Jews - A great prayer of repentance found in Daniel 9.

We are on God’s timetable. There is a timer on our lives. We don’t know exactly where we are on that timer but we know that one day the timer will go off.

Our trials are only for a season; our disappointments will not last forever; our happiness is fleeting. We remember as if it were only yesterday that our children were toddlers and in what seems like a very short time we became Grandparents.

Let us meditate on the words of Paul from Romans 5 when he tells us that we should ‘rejoice in sufferings’. Why? Because when the timer goes off on our sufferings and we would have developed perseverance or endurance. Endurance will then build our character and our hope will be strengthened in the Lord through His Holy Spirit.

Ecclesiastes 3:11- He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men…

Take some time to reflect on the seasons of your life…Do you remember the timer going off on a time of illness, a job or a season of unemployment, maybe a place of residence or a relationship? As you waited for God’s will to be revealed he kept you safe and secure and he will continue to do so as you wait for the timer to go off on your current circumstances.