Podcasts about as elijah

1 Kings 21:12-29 ESV 17 Then the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying, 18 “Arise, go down to meet Ahab king of Israel, who is in Samaria; behold, he is in the vineyard of Naboth, where he has gone to take possession. 19 And you shall say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord, “Have you killed and also taken possession?”' And you shall say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord: “In the place where dogs licked up the blood of Naboth shall dogs lick your own blood.”'” 20 Ahab said to Elijah, “Have you found me, O my enemy?” He answered, “I have found you, because you have sold yourself to do what is evil in the sight of the Lord. 21 Behold, I will bring disaster upon you. I will utterly burn you up, and will cut off from Ahab every male, bond or free, in Israel. 22 And I will make your house like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and like the house of Baasha the son of Ahijah, for the anger to which you have provoked me, and because you have made Israel to sin. 23 And of Jezebel the Lord also said, ‘The dogs shall eat Jezebel within the walls of Jezreel.' 24 Anyone belonging to Ahab who dies in the city the dogs shall eat, and anyone of his who dies in the open country the birds of the heavens shall eat.” 25 (There was none who sold himself to do what was evil in the sight of the Lord like Ahab, whom Jezebel his wife incited. 26 He acted very abominably in going after idols, as the Amorites had done, whom the Lord cast out before the people of Israel.) 27 And when Ahab heard those words, he tore his clothes and put sackcloth on his flesh and fasted and lay in sackcloth and went about dejectedly. 28 And the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying, 29 “Have you seen how Ahab has humbled himself before me? Because he has humbled himself before me, I will not bring the disaster in his days; but in his son's days I will bring the disaster upon his house.” A BITTER END. Time and again, Ahab had proven how unconscionable he was. Despite to God's goodness, he remained adamant and unchanged until his end as the leopard's spot. Paul once asked, “Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?”[Rom 2:4] Power and affluence are two causes to spiritual blindness. Solomon said, “Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.”[Prov 16:18] Ahab might be enjoying for he got what he wanted. But, did he see his fall coming? As Elijah confronted to him for his sins, he said, “Have you found me, O my enemy?” Apparently, he saw Elijah, God's prophet, as the problem. For being hardened to the core, he rebelled God like no other. “(There was none who sold himself to do what was evil in the sight of the Lord like Ahab, whom Jezebel his wife incited. He acted very abominably in going after idols, as the Amorites had done, whom the Lord cast out before the people of Israel.)”[v.25,26] God's judgments upon him was so staggering – his family would be obliterated and Jezebel horribly would be eaten by dogs. In fact, “anyone belonging to Ahab who dies in the city the dogs shall eat, and anyone of his who dies in the open country the birds of the heavens shall eat.”[v.24] Until Ahab heard God's horrible judgment, he broke down. God saw the sincerity of his heart. The Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying, “Have you seen how Ahab has humbled himself before me? Because he has humbled himself before me, I will not bring the disaster in his days; but in his son's days I will bring the disaster upon his house.”[v.28,29] It was a little bit too late. Yet, God forgave him and had soften a bit the consequences. He won't see it happening in his time. But, surely it would happen in his son's days. Thus, let's not be careless. By the grace of God, let it be that the end be better than its beginning.[Ecc 7:8]

God's people were worshipping the gods of other nations along with the God of Israel. As Elijah said, they were hobbling between two crutches. God uses Elijah, his prophet, to show who the true God is during an epic showdown between Elijah and 450 prophets of Baal. It would seem Elijah would be outmatched, but really it was a battle between God and Baal - and Baal would prove to be no match at all for the true God.

Pastor Jonathan Barbee taught from 1 Kings 19:1-18. As Elijah challenged the 450 prophets of Baal, he declared with boldness to worship God. Yet, just a short time later Elijah ran from Ahab and Jezebel. He was controlled by fear doubting the Lord. Just as God spoke to Elijah - God desires to renew us with revival. April 25, 2021.

Readings: Jonah 3:1–5,10 Psalm 25:4–9 1 Corinthians 7:29–31 Mark 1:14–20 The calling of the brothers in today’s Gospel evokes Elisha’s commissioning by the prophet Elijah (see 1 Kings 19:19–21). As Elijah comes upon Elisha working on his family’s farm, so Jesus sees the brothers working by the seaside. And as Elisha left his mother and father to follow Elijah, so the brothers leave their father to come after Jesus. Jesus’ promise—to make them “fishers of men”—evokes Israel’s deepest hopes. The prophet Jeremiah announced a new exodus in which God would send “many fishermen” to restore the Israelites from exile, as once He brought them out of slavery in Egypt (see Jeremiah 16:14–16). By Jesus’ Cross and Resurrection, this new exodus has begun (see Luke 9:31). And the apostles are the first of a new people of God, the Church—a new family, based not on blood ties, but on belief in Jesus and a desire to do the Father’s will (see John 1:12–13; Matthew 12:46–50). From now on, even our most important worldly concerns—family relations, occupations, and possessions—must be judged in light of the Gospel, Paul says in today’s Epistle. The first word of Jesus’ Gospel—repent—means we must totally change our way of thinking and living, turning from evil, doing all for the love of God. And we should be consoled by Nineveh’s repentance in today’s First Reading. Even the wicked Nineveh could repent at Jonah’s preaching. And in Jesus we have “something greater than Jonah” (Matthew 12:41). We have God come as our savior, to show sinners the way, as we sing in today’s Psalm. This should give us hope—that loved ones who remain far from God will find compassion if they turn to Him. But we, too, must continue along the path of repentance—striving daily to pattern our lives after His.

Join us as we explore God's ancient wisdom and apply it to our modern lives. His word is as current and relevant today as it was when he inspired its authors more than two and a half millennia ago. The websites where you can reach us are alittlewalkwithgod.com, richardagee.com, or saf.church. I hope you will join us every week and be sure to let us know how you enjoy the podcast and let others know about it, too. Thanks for listening. Thanks for joining me today for “A Little Walk with God.” I'm your host Richard Agee. In case you haven't noticed, church attendance in the United States has been on the decline for the last several years. Now we can blame the coronavirus pandemic and our inability to gather without risk of spreading the disease. Still, that excuse doesn't explain the decades before the pandemic when attendance continued to fall. For a few short weeks at the beginning of the pandemic, online church service attendance actually grew to levels above physical attendance in some denominations. That didn't last as we got used to the pandemic and decided the church wouldn't help us end it. We could blame our enlightenment on the low attendance, I suppose. Except, I'm not sure how enlightened we are when I listen to the news. I find us filled with as much hate and prejudice and bigotry as ever, maybe even at higher levels when you read letters from any other period in our history. One would assume enlightenment would end that kind of thinking, but it has only grown in the last couple of decades. Our democracy may not last the way it is progressing. Our greatest problem? We left no room for God. We leave lots of room for political correctness. We make sure we stay on the right side of an argument. We work hard to use the right words, so no one accuses us of being racist, the latest and most heinous crime in the country. We step gingerly around pronouns to avoid damaging the psyche of anyone in the LGBTQQIP2SAA community. That's the latest acronym for the all-inclusive community of the various self-identified gender-specific groups, including more than fifteen different parties. But we still throw away our youngest and oldest in our society through our policies. We live in trying times. I've discovered, though, that correctness does not equal right. If you read the last verses of the book of Judges, you'll find the Israelites individually thought they acted correctly, but they did not act rightly. It says, “everyone did what was right in their own eyes.” They thought themselves enlightened. They thought they could succeed by their rules instead of God's. Today, we would say their motto was, “If it feels good, do it.” In that book, we find the same things in our society; abuse of power, abuse of the poor and helpless, and disregard for those in need. Their self-admired wisdom fell far short, though, and they paid the price for their disobedience. For periods of time, God allowed outside nations to invade the land and wreak havoc on the Israelites. After they acknowledged their sin and would cry out for mercy, he would come to their aid, raise up a judge or warrior-leader, and rescue them from their enemies. But after repeating their cycle of apostasy and repentance through several iterations, we come to the end of the book of Judges when the author remarks everyone did what was right in their own eyes. Even the priests failed to follow the laws God set for the nation. Eli, the high priest, let his sons take advantage of the people, taking whatever they wanted for themselves instead of the portion of sacrifices set aside for them. We find out how bad the situation had become spiritually with God's selection of the last judge and first prophet, Samuel, in the book by his name. Samuel served the Lord by helping Eli the priest, who was by that time almost blind. In those days, the Lord hardly ever spoke directly to people, and he did not appear to them in dreams very often. But one night, Eli was asleep in his room, and Samuel was sleeping on a mat near the sacred chest in the Lord's house. They had not been asleep very long when the Lord called out Samuel's name. “Here I am!” Samuel answered. Then he ran to Eli and said, “Here I am. What do you want?” “I didn't call you,” Eli answered. “Go back to bed.” Samuel went back. Again the Lord called out Samuel's name. Samuel got up and went to Eli. “Here I am,” he said. “What do you want?” Eli told him, “Son, I didn't call you. Go back to sleep.” The Lord had not spoken to Samuel before, and Samuel did not recognize the voice. When the Lord called out his name for the third time, Samuel went to Eli again and said, “Here I am. What do you want?” Eli finally realized that it was the Lord who was speaking to Samuel. So he said, “Go back and lie down! If someone speaks to you again, answer, ‘I'm listening, Lord. What do you want me to do?'” Once again Samuel went back and lay down.  The Lord then stood beside Samuel and called out as he had done before, “Samuel! Samuel!” “I'm listening,” Samuel answered. “What do you want me to do?” (1 Samuel 3:1-10 CEV) Did you notice? In those days, the Lord hardly ever spoke directly to people, and he did not appear to them in dreams very often. He spoke directly to Adam and Eve. God spoke directly to Noah, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He spoke directly to many of the judges he called to lead the people against their enemies. He often appeared in dreams to the patriarchs and sometimes to their enemies to warn them against harming God's people. But when Samuel went to the tabernacle under the tutelage of Eli, God stopped talking to people. I sometimes wonder if it was because they stopped listening and just did what they wanted anyway. I think God has that problem with us sometimes. We let the noise of the world drown out his voice. We let all our electronics, social media, news, entertainment, jobs, business drown out his voice. As Elijah discovered, his voice won't be heard in the whirlwind or the earthquake but the whisper of a gentle breeze. You must listen carefully to hear him. We get addicted to the things around us other than God instead of filling our hearts and minds with him, then wonder why we don't hear from him. God still speaks, though. His word is alive and active and sharper than a two-edged sword, Paul tells us. We must get away from the noise to let it speak to us. God's spirit, active in his word, will prick our conscience and let us know what he wants us to do, how we need to transform our lives and our thinking to become more like him to prepare for citizenship in his kingdom. We can hear him in the words of Christian friends and mentors, carried by the winds of the spirit, guiding us into the right path instead of the politically correct path. Will they be the same? Sometimes, but not always. We can be sure the path will always be one of love. Remember the two great commandments, love God, and love others. All the rest hang on these two. To hear God, take Eli's advice to Samuel. Expect God to speak. When Eli realized the Lord called in the middle of the night, he gave Samuel instruction. Listen to everything he tells you. Listening means more than acknowledging soundwaves vibrate your eardrums and your brain registers the pattern as words and sentences. Listening means letting those words and sentences sink into your brain with meaning and purpose. It means understanding the task directed by those words. Listen to God. Finally, Eli told Samuel to respond, “What do you want me to do?” James says we must be doers of the word and not only hearers of the word. To hear and know what God wants of me and then not to do it means rebellion against him, disobedience, and sin. We need more like Samuel today. Those who will expect God to speak, listen intently to his voice through the avenues his spirit uses to proclaim his words to us and then execute his commands. The world will do everything it can to drown his words in the political correctness that smothers truth and righteousness, but God's word remains in the end. He created this place, and he will judge it in the future. If he will act as our judge, doesn't it make sense to listen to him instead of his adversary? It's time we stand boldly proclaiming God's rightness in a world gone wrong. You can find me at richardagee.com. I also invite you to join us at San Antonio First Church of the Nazarene on West Avenue in San Antonio to hear more Bible-based teaching. You can find out more about my church at SAF.church. Thanks for listening. If you enjoyed it, tell a friend. If you didn't, send me an email and let me know how better to reach out to those around you. Until next week, may God richly bless you as you venture into His story each day. Scriptures marked CEV are taken from the CONTEMPORARY ENGLISH VERSION (CEV): Scripture taken from the CONTEMPORARY ENGLISH VERSION copyright© 1995 by the American Bible Society. Used by permission.  

Executive Producer Album Art Credit: Steve Webb This episode is brought to you in part by Executive Producer, John Anonymous. Today's Bible Translation Bible translation used in today's episode: Ch.19-20 NLV, Ch. 21-22 CEB Support Please remember that this is a listener supported show. Your support of any amount is needed and very much appreciated. Find out how by clicking here. Thoughts When we last saw Elijah, God had answered his prayers to rain down fire on the sacrifice in order to show that Baal was a false god. God did that and more, remember? And here we see Elijah cowering at a threat from Jezebel. Seem strange? Maybe just a bit. At least we know that Elijah was aware that this great thing that God did in consuming the sacrifice and the water and the dirt was a God thing and not an Elijah thing. He stayed humble and aware of his own humanity. That’s a good thing. And he didn’t presume on God’s favor, which I happen to think is a good thing, too. We sometimes have the idea that since we are “kids of the King” that we don’t have to be concerned about things…that God will just magically take care of us. We forget what Jesus said to satan when He was in the desert and satan was tempting Him.  Satan told Jesus to jump from a high spot because God’s angels would surely keep Him from harm. But Jesus told satan that we must not put the Lord to the test. So Elijah took Jezebel’s threat to heart.  Remember that earlier, God told Elijah to hide when his life was in danger? So Elijah just naturally assumed that this would be a good thing to do here, as well. And while Elijah was in the desert, we see that he was greatly discouraged. He even said to God, “Just let me die here.”  Isn’t that strange, too? You would think that after witnessing God’s great display before the false prophets of Baal, and the celebration of the people of Israel, Elijah would be on cloud nine. But we see a man who is worn out. The running, the hiding, the threats have all weighed on him. And we now know that after a great emotional high, it is natural to fall into a funk shortly thereafter. So there might have been a bit of that in play here, as well. Regardless, God wasn’t through with Elijah, and he sent an angel to care for him there in the desert. He sent food and water. And after eating two meals, with a time of sleep in between, the food sustains Elijah for forty days as he traveled to Mt. Horeb, the mountain of God. This was the same mountain where God appeared to Moses and gave Moses the tablets. This is where God first spoke to Moses from the burning bush, and where he actually revealed a bit of himself to Moses. And God spoke to Elijah here. He wasn’t in the terrible wind. He wasn’t in the earthquake. He wasn’t in the fire. But he was in the sound of gentle blowing…a still, small voice. When is it that you’re able to hear a gentle, quiet, still, small voice? When you are listening. When *you* are still.  Do you want to hear the voice of God? Do you really? Are you ready for it? Do you desire it more than anything? Then stop. Be still. Listen. Wait. If you are really thirsting to hear Him, I believe He will speak to you, as He spoke to Elijah, and as He has spoken to me.  As Elijah said in today’s reading, and as I echo, “I am not better than my fathers.” You don’t have to be some great prophet. You only have to be willing to humble yourself and desire to know God more. 

ENGAGING THE REFORMATION OF HEZEKIAH IN THE REOPENING OF THE TEMPLE OF GOD. We continue to examine the critical concept of the reformation of the temple and the Altar of God. The process of what the Lord is doing in this new day is getting clearer as the day unfolds before us. One important thing we hear the Father speak to us is, we must be wary of allowing the enemy to distract us from what He is emphasizing at this important moment. There are several spiritual dimensions that we are entering and each of us must know what is relevant to our own personal formation. This is the day of the reopening of the temple of God and the spirit of Hezekiah is awakening a company of priests back to their rightful place of function again. This message opens us to a new channel of emphasis in our journey towards spiritual renewal and engagement of the horns that have hindered the advancement of the things of the Father in our lives and society. As Elijah climbed up to the mountain to the reformation and restoration of the shattered altar, we must also begin with full commitment to see the restoration of the altar of God in our nation. 2 CHRONICLES 29 3 In the first month of the first year of his reign, he opened the doors of the temple of the Lord and repaired them. 4 He brought in the priests and the Levites, assembled them in the square on the east side 5and said: “Listen to me, Levites! Consecrate yourselves now and consecrate the temple of the Lord, the God of your ancestors. Remove all defilement from the sanctuary. 6 Our parents were unfaithful; they did evil in the eyes of the Lord our God and forsook him. They turned their faces away from the Lord’s dwelling place and turned their backs on him. 7 They also shut the doors of the portico and put out the lamps. They did not burn incense or present any burnt offerings at the sanctuary to the God of Israel. 8 Therefore, the anger of the Lord has fallen on Judah and Jerusalem; he has made them an object of dread and horror and scorn, as you can see with your own eyes. 9 This is why our fathers have fallen by the sword and why our sons and daughters and our wives are in captivity. 10 Now I intend to make a covenant with the Lord, the God of Israel, so that his fierce anger will turn away from us. 1 1My sons, do not be negligent now, for the Lord has chosen you to stand before him and serve him, to minister before him and to burn incense.”

ENGAGING THE REFORMATION OF HEZEKIAH IN THE REOPENING OF THE TEMPLE OF GOD. We continue to examine the critical concept of the reformation of the temple and the Altar of God. The process of what the Lord is doing in this new day is getting clearer as the day unfolds before us. One important thing we hear the Father speak to us is, we must be wary of allowing the enemy to distract us from what He is emphasizing at this important moment. There are several spiritual dimensions that we are entering and each of us must know what is relevant to our own personal formation. This is the day of the reopening of the temple of God and the spirit of Hezekiah is awakening a company of priest back to their rightful place of function again. This message opens us to a new channel of emphasis in our journey towards spiritual renewal and engagement of the horns that have hindered the advancement of the things of the Father in our lives and society. As Elijah climbed up to the mountain to the reformation and restoration of the shattered altar, we must also begin with full commitment to see the restoration of the altar of God in our nation. 2 CHRONICLES 29 3 In the first month of the first year of his reign, he opened the doors of the temple of the Lord and repaired them. 4 He brought in the priests and the Levites, assembled them in the square on the east side 5and said: “Listen to me, Levites! Consecrate yourselves now and consecrate the temple of the Lord, the God of your ancestors. Remove all defilement from the sanctuary. 6 Our parents were unfaithful; they did evil in the eyes of the Lord our God and forsook him. They turned their faces away from the Lord’s dwelling place and turned their backs on him. 7 They also shut the doors of the portico and put out the lamps. They did not burn incense or present any burnt offerings at the sanctuary to the God of Israel. 8 Therefore, the anger of the Lord has fallen on Judah and Jerusalem; he has made them an object of dread and horror and scorn, as you can see with your own eyes. 9 This is why our fathers have fallen by the sword and why our sons and daughters and our wives are in captivity. 10 Now I intend to make a covenant with the Lord, the God of Israel, so that his fierce anger will turn away from us. 1 1My sons, do not be negligent now, for the Lord has chosen you to stand before him and serve him, to minister before him and to burn incense.”

In dark times, God seeks to strengthen our faith in His Word. As Elijah goes to a widow in Zarephath, we see (1) the sovereign call of faith, (2) the supreme challenge of faith, and (3) the serious crisis of faith.

We finish up our Don't Be OK series where we have followed the Prophet Elijah as he confronts King Ahab and the way that Israel has been led away from worshipping God to worshipping the false god of Baal. As Elijah seemed to have claimed victory on Mt. Carmel, the situation for Israel, and Elijah, did not change. As Elijah retreated from the wrath of Queen Jezebel and from his own inner feelings of defeat, Elijah was led to a sacred place where God has encountered His people before. On Mt. Carmel, Elijah experienced the true presence of God and soon realized that through everything, His God was always there.... We have cut down on the length of our podcasts by beginning to only have the message portion of the service uploaded. This has cut down greatly on our processing and uploading work necessary to produce our podcasts and youtube videos each week.

As Elijah confronts King Ahab, we are challenged to consider the excuses which cripple us and the Savior who lived wholeheartedly for us.

As Elijah waits for the Lord he encounters many powerful and turbulent forces, but he recognizes God's presence in a whispering sound. May his experience remind us to cultivate a listening heart as we seek the Lord in our lives. June 12, 2020 - Cathedral Rectory - Superior, WI Fr. Andrew Ricci - www.studyprayserve.com  

 Tennessee-based teenage improver (19 years old)  and prolific Chessable author and superuser NM Elijah Logozar has taken his rating from the 1700s to the USCF Master title (2200) in about 3 years!  He has probably improved even more in online blitz and puzzle rush, which he utilizes as serious training tools. As Elijah tells us, his “secret” is that he often spends 10 hours per day on chess, an approach that admittedly is not replicable for most of us. But Elijah also takes the science of chess improvement very seriously, and despite his young age, he is well-versed on the topic of chess improvement and aging. Elijah is also a big advocate of and exemplar of using spaced repetition and The Woodpecker Method, and he answers questions and shares insight on how he thinks to best use these training tools.  So all in all, there is a lot to learn about chess improvement in this densely packed conversation. Please sit back and enjoy.   As always you can find more information, timestamps and hyperlinks below.  04:00- After a brief intro Elijah dives into his experiences with spaced repetition in his training, and he talks about The Woodpecker Method in particular.  Mentioned: Recapping The Woodpecker Method and Rapid Chess Improvement wiith Neal Bruce, David Milliern, The Mozart Effect    19:30- Elijah Logozar’s Chessable courses are on sale at Chessable.com! Check them out here: https://www.chessable.com/author/logozar/ 20:00- Elijah fields a question related to frustrations with using the Woodpecker Method. For what level chess player is it really appropriate? Is solving for accuracy or speed more important? Mentioned: IM Kostya Kavutskiy, Flamingo Chess’s Woodpecker-Related Blog Post , Pokerram’s Chess Diary on ChessTempo, Randy Julian, ChessIMO app  29:00- Elijah answers a question from a Patreon Supporter regarding other recommended methods of tactics training.  Mentioned: Kasparov’s My Great Predecessors, Dvoretsky’s Analytical Manual  40:00- Openings talk! A Patreon supporter asks, “What should you do if you consult two different authors on chess openings and they each recommend a different move?”  GameChanger by GM Mathew Sadler and Natasha Regan, Questions of Modern Chess Theory by Isaac Lipnitsky, Crush the Taimanov by Elijah Logozar  52:00- A Patreon mailbag question relates to how Elijah uses Chessable in his study regimen, and another relates to how to incorporate analyzing one’s games.  Mentioned: 100 Endgames You Must Know, Dvoretsky’s Endgame Manual  57:00- This episode is brought to you in part by Decode Chess- a company whose software explains the suggestions of chess engines in plain language that you can understand. Go here to try it out for free:  https://decodechess.com/ 58:00- One last Patreon mailbag question asks whether Elijah plays with training partners, and then we segue into the topic of Elijah’s favorite chess books.  Mentioned: ChessDojo Discord Channel, Aagaard’s Thinking Inside the Box, Secret’s of Modern Chess Strategy by IM John Watson, Move First Think Later, Quality Chess Books, Small Steps to Giant Improvement,  Dynamic Chess Strategy, The Road to Chess Improvement  1:13:00- Elijah volunteered to do an impromptu blindfold chess puzzle, so I read him a miniature that ends in a tactic. The game is here: https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1250708 1:17:00- Thanks to Elijah for coming on and sharing his chess improvement experiences. You can reach him on these platforms: Chessable- https://www.chessable.com/author/logozar/ Chess.com- https://www.chess.com/member/logoczar Twitter- https://twitter.com/ElijahLogozar If you would like to help support Perpetual Chess, you can do so here: https://www.perpetualchesspod.com/donate

As Elijah continued his time of preparation for being used powerfully by God, he saw that taking God at his word was the key to unlocking heaven’s resources. What are we believing that God has said?

As Elijah continued his time of preparation for being used powerfully by God, he saw that taking God at his word was the key to unlocking heaven’s resources. What are we believing that God has said?

As Elijah continued his time of preparation for being used powerfully by God, he saw that taking God at his word was the key to unlocking heaven’s resources. What are we believing that God has said?

As Elijah continued his time of preparation for being used powerfully by God, he saw that taking God at his word was the key to unlocking heaven’s resources. What are we believing that God has said?

Rev. Brian Flamme, pastor at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Roswell, NM, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Romans 11:1-12. Although Israel according to the flesh has rejected God’s Word, He has not rejected His people. St. Paul himself, a physical descendant from Abraham, had heard the Gospel and believed. As He always has, God has preserved for Himself a remnant of His elect, those whom He has saved by His grace. As Elijah’s eyes were opened to see God’s remnant in the midst of rampant idolatry in his day, so St. Paul’s eyes were opened to see God’s remnant in the midst of the rejection of the Gospel by a majority of Jews. The key is to see the Church as God sees her: according to grace, not works. The elect among Israel according to the flesh did receive the righteousness of faith, but the rest were hardened. As God gave them over to their sinful desires, He did so not as a permanent rejection, but in a desire to break their hardened hearts and bring them to repentance and faith. Just as He had embraced the Gentiles with His grace, so too He would use the jealousy the Jews had toward the Gentiles in an effort to bring them back to His fatherly embrace. “The Righteousness of God for You” is a mini-series on Sharper Iron that goes through St. Paul’s Epistle to the Romans. Human righteousness cannot save, because all have sinned and fall short of God’s glory. Only the righteousness of God can bring life and forgiveness to sinners. This is the righteousness that He has fulfilled in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. This is the righteousness that is revealed in the Gospel, the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes. This is the righteousness that is not earned, but is freely given by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone.

What's In A Name? Reader: Calum Cameron Date: 29th February 2020 Time: ------------------- Names are important. You may be called after your Granddad or Granny or maybe you were given a name that had no connection with your family at all. What about Elijah's name? It was very important and I'll tell you why. We don't know who gave him his name — possibly his father or his granny but it was a name that was making a statement in a very difficult time in his country. When Elijah lived, Israel was surrounded by several heathen nations who worshipped false gods. They had gods of the hills, gods of the valleys, gods of rain, harvests and so on. Even in Israel itself there were people who worshipped these false gods — the Baals that are often mentioned in the Old Testament. That is why Elijah's name was so important. His name means **'the Lord (he and only he) is God'**. Elijah's name was telling people what he believed and what they should have believed too. There is only one living and true God, the God who makes himself known to us in his word and (in the New Testament) by his Son, Jesus Christ. Elijah really lived up to his name. People came to speak of the God of Elijah. When people think of you and your name, do they know you are a follower of Jesus Christ? God calls us to live up to the name Christian. As Elijah found, that takes courage, but it also brings help.

In this episode of the Constant Smiles podcast, we take to the sea. That’s right, co-hosts, Dr. Rich Constantine and Elijah Desmond have swapped their offices for the Smiles at Sea cruise where they give a keynote speech to some of the leaders in the dentistry industry. The duo explains the concept behind Constant Smiles, the reasons they decided to do the podcast and the types of guests they want on in the future. As Rich puts it, there are two different types of successful people. Those who live in chaos and are stressed out all the time and those who are just happy where they are, knowing that their hard work will pay off, and they enjoy the journey. The Constant Smile podcast is all about learning from the latter. We want to understand how they live in the now, stay focused and keep smiling so we can all do the same too. As Elijah puts it: #JustKeepSmiling In this episode find out about: The concept behind the Constant Smiles podcast The type of guests Rich and Elijah want on the podcast What success looks like to Elijah  The ‘Smile on Cancer’ charity and Elijah’s motivational concerts The celebrities they would love to have on the show For more information and to explore other episodes click here. (https://constantsmiles.com)

Archives Listen to the Prayer Audio:PRAYER FOCUS: HAVING PURE HEARTS TO WAGE WAR AND TAKE BACK ALL THAT HAS BEEN STOLEN! OUR HEARTS ARE PURE SO WE CAN SEE GOD!Heavenly Father,We come to You today with hearts filled with Praise and Thanksgiving for all that You have done for us because we have given our hearts to Your Son, Jesus who is our Messiah and Lord!  We may not at time say it right but we know that You hear us because You know our hearts and You have accepted us as Your Family whom You have turned into Prayer Warriors in this Your Holy Spirit has named the Strike Force of Prayer. Father, we know we are under the shadow of Your Wing and that You do keep us off the enemy’s radar during this sacred time with You.  Keep us listening on your frequency and let the enemy camp be in confusion and chaos because they are in his frequency which brings darkness, but we rejoice because we are in the Light and we are covered by Your Love.  So grateful Lord that we are Yours and You hold us in Your Strong Grip!Father, we are armored up to run into the battle You have directed us to fight in this day! Father we seek a destruction of the influence of the spirit of Jezebel in this Your Army of Warriors.  We are here to have pure hearts.  We will not tolerate any of the jealousy, competition or other accusations that this spirit of Jezebel makes us among us Your Prayer Army.Holy Spirit guide us to weed out any who align themselves with this abomination that the spirit of Elijah must face in this hour.  We are her to honor and glorify You O Lord!  As Elijah of old destroyed the prophets of Baal, we too stand firm in our faith and the authority given us by Your Son to strike down this spirit in any way in our midst!  Be gone spirit of Jezebel into the pit where you came from and where you belong!  Thank You, Father for purifying our hearts now and into eternity!Father also in this time we come against the spirit of Leviathan who is a twister of the Truth and even the very words of Scripture.  Just as Satan tried to trick Your Son in the desert by quoting the Scriptures, we too face it in our day.  There are too many who quote Scripture but do not live it in our land this day.  Bring down all those who are in leadership of being shepherds in the midst of Your Flock.  These wolves in sheep clothing who are an abomination to You as they try to lead us into a one world religion and bind us to worship of Baal. Lord enough continue to expose them and may they face the Justice they deserve for all of the lies, deceit and trickery they are a part of.  Lord continue to purify our assemblies and bring us into the move of the Holy Spirit that has been started so that we can return to the Book of Acts and be committed as Peter and John and say “I have neither silver or gold, but what I do have in Jesus the Christ: I say arise Walk!”  Lord that we will say to others be healed in Jesus name!  All that Jesus the Christ has told us to do we will do in His name now and every day You give us to do our part of spreading the kingdom throughout our nation and to those nations who are hungering for the Good News!   Father, this is a time when so many falsely accuse our President Trump and other good righteous men and women who are here anointed to serve You in the capacity of leadership and guide us into the way of Peace.  May all those who are speaking mockery or scandalous words or accusations that are unfounded be silenced and that they receive that which they curse on others come to be upon them and to face the consequences of their words.  You have told us we are responsible for all that we say and so Lord we are here to use our tongues to bring words of healing and encouragement to all that You have given us to mentor, teach, instruct or disciple to expand Your Kingdom.  We know this is a precious responsibility and so we are here with pure hearts to fulfill it and so You will get all the Glory and Hon...

As Elijah comes to the end of his ministry he calls Elisha to come and learn from his as an apprentice. Elisha's approach to his calling teaches models what it means to do everything as though you are working for the Lord.

As Elijah makes his way to Mt.Carmel, God has prepared a time of refreshing and a change of perspective. As we see in Elijah's life, sometimes our perspective needs to be changed so that our souls can be refreshed.

The Good and Sovereign Rule of God a. God places us in time and space for His good purposes. b. Even when we cannot see him, God works for the good of his people. c. God moves sovereignly to keep his covenant promises. d. God humbles the proud and exalts the humble. Esther 7:1-6 V. 1. Haman was depressed; a feast with the king & queen would feed his pride. The king at this point does not know of Esther’s Jewish heritage. V. 3. The king is shocked to hear his own queen ask for her own life. Not just her own life, Esther intercedes for the lives of all the Jewish people. The king must have expected Esther to ask for material things, but Esther asks for something far more precious, far more than what a king’s riches could afford. We live in a world that tries to place human value on only sexuality or what political party you support or how much money you have in the bank or whether you’re born or unborn or old or young. Our faith is one that speaks of the value and sacredness of human life itself. We believe that all people, young and old, rich and poor, male and female, strong and weak, people who agree with us and people who would oppose us – all of them, everyone was made in the image of God. Every human life in every stage is precious. Esther prays, for life: “let my life be granted for my wish, and my people for my request.” We must pray for life and salvation. We must intercede against wickedness that would destroy life. We must give our money, our time, our prayers that lives might be saved, suffering relieved, and souls saved from the destruction of sin. Intercession for Life and Salvation  Pray for the perishing  As Elijah for the widow’s son (1 Ki 17)  Pray for the righteous among the wicked  As Abraham for Sodom (Gen 18)  Pray for your children and grandchildren  As Job for his children (Job 1:5)  Pray for your friends  As Job for his friends (Job 42:8)  Pray for those guilty of sin  As Jesus for those who crucified him (Lk 23:34) Vv. 5-6. Who? A foe, enemy, This wicked Haman. Minces no words: this was evil. Esther 7:7-10 V 7. Irony: Haman was angry that Mordecai would not bow before him. Now Haman bowed begging before Esther. Vv. 9-10. Irony: Mordecai was hanged on the gallows he had prepared for Mordecai. Haman sowed pride, arrogance, death, conspiracy. He reaped self-destruction. Sowing and Reaping. Galatians 6:7-8 Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. Haman had been warned by his friends and his wife, “you will not overcome him but will surely fall before him.” The Lord is good to give warnings of his coming judgment. 2 Peter 2:9 The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. The Lord is not wishing that any should perish, but all to repent. The wicked, the proud, those who refuse to put their faith in Christ will perish. God calls his people to intercede for the perishing.

As Elijah, the man of God, encounters the false prophets of Baal, Ahab, and the estranged Israelite's, we come to the main event in 1 Kings 18. We see 3 things in the Life of Elijah: 1. Elijah Prepared to Worship 2. Elijah Raised the Stakes 3. Elijah Trust the Lord

As Elijah gears up for his return to public ministry in Israel, he encounters a tragedy and responds with incredible kindness. What he models is a challenge to all of us to act the same: to keep our eyes open to the need around us and respond with kindness- a costly, selfless, compassionate kindness that is totally at odds with the expectations of the society around us.

Well hey everybody! I’m back and on the mend from pneumonia. Mm boy I was a sick puppy. As you can probably hear, I’m still not 100%, but I think that in a few more days I’ll be right as rain, as they say. I want to thank everyone who prayed for my recovery and wished me well. It means a lot to me that you’re praying for me and care when I’m sick. Thank you. Well, let’s get on with it, shall we? When we last saw Elijah, God had answered his prayers to rain down fire on the sacrifice in order to show that Baal was a false god. God did that and more, remember? And here we see Elijah cowering at a threat from Jezebel. Seem strange? Maybe just a bit. At least we know that Elijah was aware that this great thing that God did in consuming the sacrifice and the water and the dirt was a God thing and not an Elijah thing. He stayed humble and aware of his own humanity. That’s a good thing. And he didn’t presume on God’s favor, which I happen to think is a good thing, too. We sometimes have the idea that since we are “kids of the King” that we don’t have to be concerned about things…that God will just magically take care of us. We forget what Jesus said to satan when He was in the desert and satan was tempting Him. Satan told Jesus to jump from a high spot because God’s angels would surely keep Him from harm. But Jesus told satan that we must not put the Lord to the test. So Elijah took Jezebel’s threat to heart. Remember that earlier, God told Elijah to hide when his life was in danger? So Elijah just naturally assumed that this would be a good thing to do here, as well. And while Elijah was in the desert, we see that he was greatly discouraged. He even said to God, “Just let me die here.” Isn’t that strange, too? You would think that after witnessing God’s great display before the false prophets of Baal, and the celebration of the people of Israel, Elijah would be on cloud nine. But we see a man who is worn out. The running, the hiding, the threats have all weighed on him. And we now know that after a great emotional high, it is natural to fall into a funk shortly thereafter. So there might have been a bit of that in play here, as well. Regardless, God wasn’t through with Elijah, and he sent an angel to care for him there in the desert. He sent food and water. And after eating two meals, with a time of sleep in between, the food sustains Elijah for forty days as he traveled to Mt. Horeb, the mountain of God. This was the same mountain where God appeared to Moses and gave Moses the tablets. This is where God first spoke to Moses from the burning bush, and where he actually revealed a bit of himself to Moses. And God spoke to Elijah here. He wasn’t in the terrible wind. He wasn’t in the earthquake. He wasn’t in the fire. But he was in the sound of gentle blowing…a still, small voice. When is it that you’re able to hear a gentle, quiet, still, small voice? When you are listening. When *you* are still. Do you want to hear the voice of God? Do you really? Are you ready for it? Do you desire it more than anything? Then stop. Be still. Listen. Wait. If you are really thirsting to hear Him, I believe He will speak to you, as He spoke to Elijah, and as He has spoken to me. As Elijah said in today’s reading, and as I echo, “I am not better than my fathers.” You don’t have to be some great prophet. You only have to be willing to humble yourself and desire to know God more. What do you think?

As Elijah is used by God to Demonstrate God's strength and faithfulness to the evil prophets and king, He is thrust into an incredible victory where the false God is shown to be impotent to do anything, and the living God is show to be all-powerful and true. But as is so often the case, Elijah moves from the mountain-top experience of Victory, into the valleys of despair, as he flees in fear, and wrestles with doubt and his own self-pity. Yet, God is found to be faithful in all of these things. Pastor Rory Rodgers teaches on 1 Kings 18:21-19:15

As Elijah the prophet is raised up to confront the King, we find that, even in the midst of marvelous signs and wonders, the King, and the people still falter. Pastor Rory Rodgers teaches on Faltering between two opinions when the Lord has so clearly laid out His desire for you.

“God, why have you brought me to this place?” may very well have been Elijah’s question. As Elijah leaves the dry brook at Kerith Ravine, he is lead to the empty cupboard of a widow and her son. Had he mistook the call of God in his life? Was he making a crucial mistake? Why would God call Him to put a widow and her son in jeopardy? God was at work! And, God had a plan. Big Idea: God’s plan is often times surprising, but always worth following. Live a life of obedience and watch in amazement at what God does. (1 Kings 17:8-16)