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Hopelessness Can Smother

KATHY— Days of Elijah were war torn times with fresh battles continually breaking out. Several days into the battle against lack and starvation, another battle broke out in the widow’s life.  Her son got sick and kept getting worse until finally he died.  The woman shouted at Elijah, “What have I done to you? I thought you were God’s prophet. Did you come here to cause the death of my son as a reminder that I’ve sinned against God?”  War has a way of bringing the struggles of a warrior’s heart to the surface.  Not only was she battling for survival and the life of her son, an old enemy showed up too.  Condemnation reared its ugly head and pushed the war torn woman to the edge of hopelessness, anguish and anger that had her shouting at the prophet.  Hopelessness can smother the fight in us and usually leads to a pit of self-examination and despair.  The widow went there and decided that losing her son was due to her past sins.  That thinking would have had her throwing up her hands and quitting . . . BUT GOD.

Something Peter Never Heard Of

Peter’s friends were weeping and praying for his release from prison but it is most doubtful that they were visualizing an angel walking in and slapping him on the hip and commanding him to rise up (Acts 12:7) while his chains simply fell off. Which one of them actually pictured in their mind that an angel would simply usher Peter out of that prison like they were going for a Sunday stroll? How can we call this event anything but extraordinary? One of the amazing factors about Peter’s experience is that he was experiencing something that he had never even taught on! There was no popular teaching making the rounds at all the big conferences that taught about the existence of a special squad of jail-breaking angels. Something happened that Peter had never heard of.

Calling on Father on a Daily Basis

Melissa — Let’s not limit calling on God for great and mighty answers to things we need only. If He says I’ll “show you great and mighty things” why in the world would we not call on Him on a daily basis to see what awesomeness He has in store for the here and now? The requirement for asking such things daily is to be in a dominion/heaven-on-earth state rather than a victimized one. A victimized state of mind keeps us stuck on “me, my, me”. The way out of victimhood is in truth because it has a tendency to set you free IF you know it by meditating on and living it (John 8:32). This is one of the main issues we face today because we have too much information, whether it be truth or a lie, at our fingertips every moment of every day. Easy access has become the demoralizer of an entitled culture. Yes, this applies to Christians as well.   

Peter Had Never Heard of That Miracle

Peter’s friends were weeping and praying for his release from prison but it is most doubtful that they were visualizing an angel walking in and slapping him on the hip and commanding him to rise up (Acts 12:7) while his chains simply fell off. Which one of them actually pictured in their mind that an angel would simply usher Peter out of that prison like they were going for a Sunday stroll? How can we call this event anything but extraordinary? One of the amazing factors about Peter’s experience is that he was experiencing something that he had never even taught on! There was no popular teaching making the rounds at all the big conferences that taught about the existence of a special squad of jail-breaking angels. Something happened that Peter had never heard of.

Pivot on God’s Will

KATHY—Days of Elijah were times of shortages and scarce supply.  The God-backed stand we take must pivot on obedience to God’s will and directions.  After Elijah confronted the king, the Lord told him to leave and go to hide near Cherith Creek.  He was to drink water from the creek, and eat the food God told the ravens to bring him. Elijah obeyed the LORD and ravens brought him bread and meat twice a day.  He drank water from the creek, but after a while, it dried up because there was no rain.  The drought lasted over three years and everyone was affected.  The shortages even reached Elijah, but so did God’s detailed plans and supernatural provisions. After the airmail deliveries stopped, the Lord told Elijah to go to Zarephath where a widow would give him food.  At first the widow adamantly told him she couldn’t feed him because she was also in scarcity and lack.  In fact, she was planning her last meal before dying, but there was Divine connection between Elijah’s lack and the widow’s shortage of supplies.  That connection not only brought provision for both of them, it also revealed a supernatural resource for both of them.  We too shall come through days of Elijah having experienced the miraculous of our God and His planned connections.

New Norm for a Valuable Legacy

As the people of God assemble today may hear about, speak about and expect to see a new norm for the sons/daughters of Father God to live in and move in as they minister to their hopeless family members and minister to a hopeless world. May they pray for and hope for the Book of Acts level of operating in the norm of Holy Spirit like the surprised disciples began to do after Pentecost. May they act like the Book of Acts is still being written and may they take part in the legacy recorded for those yet to come. Acts 14:3,TPT—“Yet Paul and Barnabas stayed there for a long time, preaching boldly and fearlessly about the Lord. Many trusted in the Lord, for he backed up his message of grace with miracles, signs, and wonders performed by the apostles.”

Book-of-Acts-Norm

When Peter was in prison (Acts 12:7) he had been presented with a great opportunity to be introduced to the Book-of-Acts-norm. In reading that awesome book’s account of the early church, we cannot help but observe that God’s people had been ushered into a new era, an era in which they could fully expect to function in ways and means they had never seen the likes of. There are things, events and supply in Heaven that Father wants to get into the earth. But they are extraordinary by our standards and He is desiring cooperation from us “earthen vessels that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.”

The Answer and the Best Solution

MELISSA — Simply put, we don’t get to determine what the answer must be when we call on Father God. That kind of determination is a prescription for indigestion. Why? Because we are working from a very limited soul-perspective of the situation with even more limited soul-solutions. This kind of limitation focuses on the impossible rather than the God of the impossible. He not only sees the problem, but where it came from (possibly from entitlement mindsets passed on through the bloodline?) and He sees the best solution for the complete fix. That right there is the kind of “great and mighty” answer we are truly looking for.

Times of Confronting

KATHY—Days of Elijah were times of confronting governmental powers that be.
Elijah showed up in 1 Kings 17 to confront the puppet king of Israel with a proclamation:  “I’m a servant of the living LORD, the God of Israel. And I swear in His name that it won’t rain until I say so.  There won’t even be any dew on the ground.”  Beyond the forecast of a drought, it had to unnerve King Ahab that a man would get in his face and tell him, “I have the say so over your domain and over the weather warfare of your storm god, because I represent the higher government of God Almighty.”  In these days of Elijah, whether we are dealing with dark forces at work against our home or community or region or nation or other realms, we can take a stand when we are convinced and confident that Almighty God is backing us.  

Coming to a New Norm

In the Bible, when a person or a nation received a breakthrough, when they began a new era, God was trying to tell them that they did not have to operate at the previous level. He was, through His Word and through their experiences, attempting to get across to them that they had come to a new norm. When we come to a new norm (or simply desire to) we would do well to realize that we must think differently and put effort into functioning differently.