1 Kings 19:1-4 – “Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, including a detailed account of how he killed all the prophets with the sword. 2 Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah with this warning, “May the gods judge me severely if by this time tomorrow I do not take your life as you did theirs!”  3 Elijah was afraid, so he got up and fled for his life to Beer Sheba in Judah.  He left his servant there, 4 while he went a day’s journey into the wilderness.  He went and sat down under a shrub and asked the Lord to take his life: “I’ve had enough!  Now, O Lord, take my life.  After all, I’m no better than my ancestors.”

Elijah had just participated in a mighty miracle and had killed the prophets of Baal.   Jezebel sent him a threat.    He became afraid.    That captured my thoughts.   How did the Fear get in?

He had just seen the demonstration of God’s Almightiness, and yet became fearful when the queen of Baal threatened him.  Why?   We are often the most vulnerable after a victory. 

Before the battle and during the battle, we are focused, and faith flows.  After the victory, we are often physically, mentally, and emotionally drained.  We shift from supernatural strength and adrenaline to our humanity.

Elijah ran!   Exhausted, he lay down to sleep.   The angel came and gave him food.   He slept more, and a second time, the angel fed him.  The food of heaven and divine, as well as physical rest, is required to reach the place God has purposed.

He traveled 40 days and nights away from where he was, the victory and the threat.  In the cave, God asked a probing question, “Why are you here, Elijah?”   It was not rhetorical but literal.   “Elijah, why have you run from Jezebel?”

Elijah gave his human justification.   God responded by manifesting Himself to the prophet.   There was a powerful wind, earthquake, and fire (demonstrations and manifestations we call a move of God), but God was not in them.  

The real move of God was in the soft whisper of God.   Then God asked again, “Why are you here, Elijah?”  He got the same response.  The presence of God should have transformed him, but he was still focused on himself and his problem.

God then said in verse 15, “Go back the way you came and then go into the wilderness…”   Do you see that?  It is first, go back to the place of victory and where fear gripped your heart, then pursue My purposes.   He had three specific tasks.

God shifted Elijah’s focus from self and fear with the assurance and reminder Elijah, you are not alone!  There are 7,000 others who are standing for Me!

Think about this: if one can put a multitude to flight, think about what 7,000 can do.   That revelation was a source of hope and courage.  It should be to us as well.  We are not God’s only ones.   There are many others.   We are the Body of Christ, the Army of God on the earth.

Don’t look for the visible manifestations (they are wonderful).  Listen for the Voice of His presence; therein is the strength. 

• The Word of God is our sustenance for life. 
• The Spirit of God is our power.
• The Purpose of God is our mission.

If we have been sidetracked by fear, let’s retrace our steps so we can fulfill His call and purpose.  In the strength of His Word, the rest of His Spirit, and the assurance of being linked in the Body, we are more than conquerors.
Don’t focus on the problem.  Focus on the promise.  God is whispering, but if we focus on the threat, the wind, the earthquake, or the fire, we will miss the whisper where the strength lies.

May faith crowd out all fear from your heart, and may you see the demonstration of the Almightiness of God today!

1 Kings 17:1 – “Elijah the Tishbite, from Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab, “As certainly as the Lord God of Israel lives (whom I serve), there will be no dew or rain in the years ahead unless I give the command.”

Last Sunday morning, as I prayed, I sensed in my spirit that the LORD was calling His church to soar like an eagle and roar like a lion.   Victory is ours for the taking!   I pray for everyone to prosper and be in health, even as your soul prospers.

During my devotional time, I heard in my spirit, “The reason many prayers are not answered is they are prayed in human hope, not divine expectation.”

I have mused on that since it came.    It was prevalent in my heart before my 7 AM Sunday broadcast.   It resurfaced during the praise and worship in church and has resurfaced multiple times.   Therefore, I know I need to reexamine my prayers, heart, and condition.  It has been with me for days!

Human hope is whimsical and fickle.   Human hope is not doggedly persistent.  Human hope is swayed by circumstances and is easily distracted.  In contrast, divine expectation is fixed, unshakeable, and filled with the anticipation of assurance.  It is the heart of faith.

Elijah, in 1 Kings, demonstrated divine expectation.  He prophesied no rain and then explicitly obeyed with a sense of knowing that drought and famine were not only imminent but present regardless of how things looked.

When he challenged the prophets of Baal, he did so with divine expectation and placed his life on the line.  When he prayed for rain, he exhibited divine expectation.  He persistently sent his servant to look for a visible manifestation.  When a cloud as tiny as the palm of the hand appeared, he instructed Ahab to rush to the city because torrential rain was coming.  His only real evidence was his divine expectation based on God’s promise!

Human hope would not have pressed in and obtained, but divine expectation would not let him stop.  How are we praying?   The evidence is in our persistence and actions.

Human hope wishes for a time almost fatalistically.  Divine expectation is so confident in the answer that it has corresponding actions as if it were already a reality.

How are we praying?   Do we pray and allow our words and minds to provide room for doubt?   Do we pray with a lack of confidence or with divine expectancy?   The bottom line is, “Do we believe God’s Word, and do we trust His character?”    If we add, “He’s sovereign and knows best,” That may indicate that our prayers are founded on human hope, not divine expectation.   He is sovereign, but He has declared He wants to give us the kingdom and has given us authority and the privilege of tapping into His limitlessness.

Challenge yourself to expect.  Open your heart to the Holy Spirit, pray God’s promises, and watch divine expectancy develop.   You can be victorious!  Why not today?  Why not soar like an eagle and roar like a lion through God’s promises and provisions?

I pray that today will be a day of soaring and roaring for you!

2 Samuel 22:17 – “He reached down from above and grabbed me; He pulled me from the surging water.”

As I read, prayed, and meditated on the Word of God today, I was drawn to 2 Samuel 22 and David’s song of deliverance.   God had delivered David from peril and powerful enemies, and he wrote and sang his song of Thanksgiving!    This reveals another dimension of why God called him a man after His own heart.  His humility and dependence were ever-present.

David’s description of God is incredible.   I was captivated by the thought of God reaching down and grabbing us in verse 17.  The imagery is inspiring!  God’s hand reached down from heaven, grabbed him, and lifted him from the surging water.  (Symbolizing the plight David faced from people and potential death.)  Nothing can stop God’s mighty hand!

In verse 29, David declares, “Indeed, You are my lamp, LORD.  The LORD illuminates the darkness around me.”  There is no night in God!  In verse 30, he shouts, “Indeed, with Your help, I can charge against an army; by my God’s power, I can jump over a wall.”   Nothing is daunting when God is present.

In verses 35-37, David proclaimed, “He trains my hands for battle; my arms can bend even the strongest bow.  You give me Your protective shield; Your willingness to help enables me to prevail.   You widen my path; my feet do not slip.”

What a picture of the relationship between God and David.  A relationship that gave total confidence and enabled total victory.   A relationship that is available to us today!   It was complete trust with humble obedience.  That opens doors otherwise unopenable.    Remember that nothing can stop you if you live out of that relationship!

May the Spirit of God reach down from Heaven and grab you today and lift you into the presence of the Almighty!

1 Samuel 13:11-12 – “ But Samuel said, “What have you done?” Saul replied, “When I saw that the army had started to abandon me, and that you didn’t come at the appointed time, and that the Philistines had assembled at Micmash, ¹² I thought, ‘Now the Philistines will come down on me at Gilgal and I have not sought the Lord’s favor.’ So I felt obligated to offer the burnt offering.”

As I read, prayed, and meditated on the Word of God today, I was challenged on several fronts.  The stories of Saul and David depict human reason vs. obedience.   Paul’s words in Romans reflect the power of the flesh and the evidence of true total transformation.

Samuel came to Saul in 1 Samuel 13:11-12 and challenged him over his presumptuous act of disobedience.  Saul did what we tend to do; he justified himself.

Saul said, “But, I saw the desertion of the army.  You, Samuel, were late (it’s your fault).  I didn’t have a clear word from God.  The enemy had gathered against me, so I THOUGHT I was obligated to do something.”  Human reason vs. Obedience brought about his destruction.   God is on time even if it’s not on our timetable.   Trust is to be maintained even in delay.   Saul’s reason opened the door to greed and self-serving, which resulted in his rejection by God.

David’s simplistic faith, developed through the events of his life, enabled him to look beyond Goliath, reject fear, and rely on God’s promises.  He was a covenant person.

His view was that the giant had defied God.   If God could enable him to overcome stronger and faster enemies in the form of hungry lions and bears, Goliath would be just another problem God would dispose of.   His confidence was in God.   David rejected everything but what God had equipped him with.   

His confidence was in God, his sling, and a few selected stones.  David demonstrated life in calm confidence, the confidence expressed by the three Hebrew children.   God can; that’s not up for debate.   We believe God will, and that is confidence.  But regardless, we are still totally committed to Him.

In Romans, Paul addresses this faith and life, revealing that the transformed are transformed.  In Romans 6:8 – “Now IF we died with Christ, we believe we will live with Him.” That’s not just someday in heaven but here!

In Romans 6:12, he instructs us to do something rather than have it done for us.   Too many backhandedly blame God for their weaknesses of the flesh.   We say, “I’ve asked God to help me (whatever it is that we want to be free from).”   Verse 12 declares, “THEREFORE, do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its desires, and do not present your members to sin as instruments to be used for unrighteousness.”

If we are in Christ, we are made new on the inside.   Springs do not issue forth sweet and bitter water.   What comes out is what is inside.  What manifests in us is what we yield to.   Dying to self is not a forced thing by God but a willing cooperation with Him.   

God presents the way of transformation, but we have to go through that door and practice righteousness.   Righteousness is not an arbitrary act of God forcing a change in us.   We are gifted with the grace and strength to resist, but we have to resist.   Yielding to the flesh is easy, and resisting requires trust and determination.

When I got saved, God removed some desires, but for me to enjoy that freedom, I had to resist any temptation or opportunity to revert to them.   Giving it to Jesus means rejecting it when it tries to come back.   If we dabble in sin, sin will rule us.   If we resist sin, grace will empower us.

Let’s be the people Paul speaks of as dead to sin and a person like David who is totally confident in God.   Victory or defeat is before us, awaiting our decision.

May your day be filled with awareness of God’s person, power, and provision!