Daily Devotions

Posts tagged “Days of Elijah

Identity Established by Jehovah

KATHY — Days of Elijah mark a time when God’s people have their identity established. 1Ki 18:30    ‘And Elijah said to all the people, Come near to me. And all the people came near to him; and he healed the altar of Jehovah that had been broken down.  31  And Elijah took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom the Word of Jehovah came, saying, Israel shall be your name.  With those stones, he drew a line between who they had become and who they were meant to be, and they were about to see their God confirm it.  36  And it happened at the offering of the sacrifice, that Elijah the prophet came near and said, O Jehovah, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known today that You are God in Israel, and I am Your servant, that by Your Word I have done all these things.  37 Answer me, O Jehovah, answer me; and this people shall know that You are Jehovah God; and You shall turn their hearts back again.  38  And fire fell from Jehovah and burned up the burnt offering, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and the water in the trench was licked up.  39  And all the people saw, and fell on their faces, and said, Jehovah, He is the God; Jehovah, He is THE God!”  So shall days like the days of Elijah go down in history again!  


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.


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.


Days of Elijah

KATHY—Over a two week period I kept hearing, “These are the days of Elijah.”  It wasn’t a song echoing within me but a declaration. I later discovered several other folks were hearing this also.  Since I know we hear in part, I figured it was likely that each of us was hearing a different emphasis in the Days of Elijah.  Setting out to embrace my part, I searched out significance in the Days of Elijah.  I was amazed how vividly the conditions he faced were the same we are facing in our days of history (1Kings 17-18). As our days mirror the days of Elijah in so many details, may we be encouraged that we too will see the called-of-God follow the Lord’s directions and take down corrupt government and willful evil, both now and in generations to come. (This is the first excerpt from Kathy’s article “Days of Elijah”. We will post more in the next week or so.)


Days of Elijah are Familiar

KATHY—In earlier posts I have mentioned some things that “the days of Elijah”, from the Bible, were significantly similar to the days we are dealing with now. This is another one.  Days of Elijah mark a time when God’s people have their identity established.  1Ki 18:30  “And Elijah said to all the people, Come near to me. And all the people came near to him; and he healed the altar of Jehovah that had been broken down. 1Ki 18:31  And Elijah took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom the Word of Jehovah came, saying, Israel shall be your name.  With those stones, he drew a line between who they had become and who they were meant to be, and they were about to see their God confirm it.  1Ki 18:36  And it happened at the offering of the sacrifice, that Elijah the prophet came near and said, O Jehovah, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known today that You are God in Israel, and I am Your servant, that by Your Word I have done all these things. 1Ki 18:37 Answer me, O Jehovah, answer me; and this people shall know that You are Jehovah God; and You shall turn their hearts back again. 1Ki 18:38  And fire fell from Jehovah and burned up the burnt offering, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and the water in the trench was licked up. 1Ki 18:39  And all the people saw, and fell on their faces, and said, Jehovah, He is the God; Jehovah, He is THE God!”  So shall days like the days of Elijah go down in history again!  


Shortages and Scarce Supply

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 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.


Days of Elijah

Kathy—Over a two week period I kept hearing, “These are the days of Elijah.”  It wasn’t a song echoing within me but a declaration. I later discovered several other folks were hearing this also. Since I know we hear in part, I figured it was likely that each of us was hearing a different emphasis in the Days of Elijah. Setting out to embrace my part, I searched out significance in the Days of Elijah.  I was amazed how vividly the conditions he faced were the same we are facing in our days of history. 

Days of Elijah were crucial times under wicked leadership.  Ahab was the king, but the true ruler was his witchy wife, Jezebel.  Her influence had infiltrated the nation and led Israel into idol worship as they bowed the knee to her Phoenician god, Baal.  Baal was considered the sun god and the storm god, and worshiping him involved sensuality, ritualistic prostitution and human sacrifice. (Who would have imagined such would ever be the case in America?!) The evil forces behind Jezebel and her puppet king were the cause of Israel’s troubled state.  Elijah came at the peak of their arrogance and atrocities to warn them God had had enough.  Like the days of Elijah, we too stand at just such a precipice to confront the wicked arrogance and atrocities of this day because God is saying enough is enough.    
(This is the first excerpt from Kathy’a article “Days of Elijah”)