ELIJAH

Today’s Reading: 1 Kings 17-18

Click scripture link to read online or HERE to listen online (then click the symbol of the audio speaker above the scripture portion).

Ruins of ancient Samaria-Sebaste, capital of Ahab and the northern 10 tribes of Israel. The prophets of Baal, Jezebel’s religion, dominated here when Elijah showed up. The ruins populate the hillside and comprise remains from six successive cultures dating back thousands of years: Canaanite, Israelite, Hellenistic, Herodian, Roman and Byzantine. This photo was taken in the modern Palestinian authority territory.

GOOGLE MAPS – To see where the photo was taken, click HERE.

Key Verse: 1 Kings 18:22

Then Elijah said to the people, “I alone am left a prophet of the Lord; but Baal’s prophets are 450 men.”

Who would have guessed that the odds favoured the one against so many formidable opponents? Yet that is precisely what happened. This dramatic confrontation has frequently drawn the comment, “One person with God is always a majority.” However, as Elijah learned, there were actually 100 other prophets of the Lord hiding (in two caves of 50 each), waiting for the day when they could boldly take a public stand once again. We should never give in to a “poor me pity party.” God ensures that we are never alone.

The Apostle Paul, in words to Timothy, felt very alone (Read 2 Timothy 4:9-16). But then he rallied and declared, “The Lord will deliver me from every evil work and preserve me for His heavenly kingdom. To Him be glory forever and ever. Amen”!!! Take time to worship God along with our prayers! He promised never to leave us alone. He’s over us, under us, around us and in us. Rejoice!!!

PRAYER FOR TODAY:

Lord God, Your eternal Word, which will never pass away, declares, “He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world” (1 John 4:4b). Please grant me a constant awareness of Your presence. May I be as Paul urged me, “Be being filled with Your Spirit” (Ephesians 5:18). In the Name of the One who was filled at all times with the fullness of God, my Friend who sticks closer than a brother, the Lord Jesus. AMEN!

100 PERSONAL WORDS:

I’m very aware that there are more ungodly leaders featured here in Kings than godly ones. Therefore, I’m taking comfort in the fact that, while there are bad leaders in our world today, there are also some good ones. Over the last two days I’ve mentioned President Reagan of the USA and Canada’s second leader, Prime Minister MacKenzie. I’ve also mentioned a very godly leader of Great Britain, Prime Minister Gladstone, who sponsored missions all over the U.K. where people were led to Christ. He was the one who negotiated with our Canadian leaders for separation without violence. The 13 British colonies to the south fought a bloody war for separation. It would seem that in the case of the United States, while there were some godly leaders on the American side, they did not have godly people to deal with in England. The colonies to the north waited about 90 years, but Canada was born without bloodshed. One of the people on the Canadian side was a man whom God used by the name of Sir John A. MacDonald, our first Prime Minister. I sat for at least an hour beside his grave in Kingston, Ontario, meditating on all I had read about him over the years. Yes, he had an alcohol problem. Yes, he was a flawed human being like all of us, but he dreamed big dreams. I sat in his seat in the Presbyterian Church he attended in Kingston. I was the guest of the minister, Rev. Max Putnam, who was serving as Moderator of the Presbyterian Church in Canada. I had studied history but learned for the first time from Max that John A. MacDonald had undergone an experience of genuine conversion to Christ, and for the last years of his life he shunned alcohol. Sometime later, in Grimsby, Ontario, I was shown a poster advertising a Methodist camp meeting at which our first Prime Minister was guest preacher. Finally, the press got it right in an article in the Ottawa Citizen newspaper headlined, “THE DAY SIR JOHN A. MET JESUS!” I’ll try to attach the article within the next couple of days, if I can locate it.

Yours to help encourage people in whom we can believe to run for leadership positions in all areas of human concern,

David

Sir John A. Macdonald, 1815-1891. First Prime Minister of Canada, 1867-1873. He served a second term as PM from 1878-1891.