It's All About His Glory

We talk a lot about God's glory.  We easily, perhaps too easily sing, "To God be the Glory."  We frequently promise to give God, "all the praise, honor, and glory" for His work in our lives.  

The thing that is so moving about Elijah's prayer on Mt. Carmel is that he is consumed with the glory of God and the fame of heaven's king.  He doesn't pray for fire merely to consume a sacrifice.  In 1 Kings 18:36-37 he prays, "O Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, today let it be known that You are God in Israel and that I am Your servant and I have done all these things according to Your word.  Answer me.  Answer me, O Lord, that this people may know that You, O Lord, are God and that You have turned their heart back again."

Elijah didn't want fire for fire's sake.  He wanted fire for the glory of God.  Even the part of his prayer that seems to want a validation of his ministry (that I am Your servant) is ultimately about validating the Word of the preacher and not the preacher of the Word.

Elijah prayed that God would answer in a way that would maximize God's glory.

As we pray for various issues, how often do we pray that God would answer in whatever way would accomplish His maximum glory?  Or do we simply make our requests with our goals, our dreams, and our agenda in mind?

Praying for the glory of God in any situation requires a "not my will but Your will be done" kind of prayer.  You see, often, we can't be sure that that our preferred response would result in the maximum glory for Christ.

Maybe God will receive some greater measure of glory through our sickness than through our healing.  Are we willing to pray for His maximum glory?

Maybe God will receive greater glory with your unemployment than your promotion.  Are you willing to pray for His maximum glory?

Maybe God will be magnified to a greater extent through pain, infirmity, and heartache.  Are you willing to pray for His maximum glory?

Maybe the reason God wants to restore a Christian marriage is not merely for the sake of the children.  Perhaps, He wants to restore it for the sake of His glory and the cause of His own name.

When we pray, let's pray to that end.  "For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever, amen."

Questions / Assignments for the Day:

1.  Make a list of your prayer requests today.  Be sure to include needs in your own life as well as the needs of others.

2.  Ask yourself, "How could God be glorified through His answer to these requests?"

3.  Conclude your prayer with words and thoughts like this, "Lord, I ask you to answer this prayer in whatever way will bring you maximum glory.  I trust you to glorify Your name through this matter."

It Happens After Payer

Pastor H.B. Charles, Jr. is the pastor of the Shiloh Metropolitan Baptist Church in Jacksonville, Florida.  He is also the author of a book on prayer called, "It Happens After Prayer."  The back of the book contains this synopsis, "Life's inevitable difficulties and disappointments can discourage us from praying but our response should be to pray anyway and keep praying.  Whatever our want or need, God invites us to come to Him with confidence, believing that He is able to answer - and He will answer."

Elijah never had a book listed on amazon.com but this sure sounds like a subject he would have written about.  Elijah was a man of prayer.  In fact, in James 5 when the writer is teaching on prayer, he draws from the account in 1 Kings as an example.

Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the earth for three years and six months.  Then he prayed again, and the sky poured rain and the earth produced its fruit. (James 5:17-18)

It wasn't the declaration that brought down the fire of God.

It wasn't the confrontation that brought down the fire of God.

It wasn't the separation that brought down the fire of God.

It was the supplication.  It was the prayer.

In 1 Kings 18 Elijah confronts the issue of sin and idolatry.  He issues a prophetic challenge, standing as boldly and flat-footed as a preacher could ever be asked to do.  He mocked the impotent idols of the Baal worshipers.  He built an altar.  He made a sacrifice.  Blood was shed.  And yet no fire fell.

It wasn't until after the prayer was offered in verses 36-37 that verse 38 begins, "Then the fire of the Lord fell..."

Most of us have heard the old saying, "Prayer changes things."  Perhaps you even have a bumper sticker or coffee mug with that saying on it.  It's not a bad statement so don't throw out the mug and don't scrape off the bumper sticker.  But, ultimately, prayer by itself doesn't change things.  If prayer changed things, then your situation would have automatically changed when you prayed.

God changes things.  And He does it as a response to obedient faith-filled prayer.

God also changes us.  And He does that when we pray.

Questions / Assignments of the Day:

Does your family pray together?  If not, it can be awkward.  Satan loves to promote awkwardness in prayer.  Start simple.  Ask your family members, "What one thing can I pray with you about today?"  Take a moment and pray for the request of your other family members.  You may find it easier to incorporate your prayer into the meal-time blessing.  Many children have never had their parents pray for them.  Why not start today?

Voice a prayer for your church.  Pray for your Sunday School teacher and the members of your class.  Ask God to send a spirit of revival and renewal to EBC.

Working for God

It is a fact of the culture and the country we live in today that we have raised a whole generation, if not 2 generations, that has little to no work ethic. While that is sad-but-true statement, it appears that the truth in Christianity may be sadder than that.  It seems we have raised multiple generations with no work ethic for God.

I believe that our devotion today in 1 Kings 18:30-37 shows us 3 things about working for God that we need to start re-instilling in the church, which means re-instilling in the individual Christians within the church.

Gods work can be a mending type of work. In verses 30-32 Elijah mends the torn down altar. This can be hard, tiring, laborious work at times. We are not talking about taking 12 rocks the size of a baseball and building some little figurine type of altar. These rocks had to be big enough and sturdy enough to support a full grown cow and all of the wood it would take to make a fire big enough to consume that whole cow.

We all have tendencies to tear down some of the holy, sacred things of God in our lives from time to time; and once torn down they take some effort to rebuild. It may not be easy or particularly quick, but it should be done, and must be done if we are going to move forward with any other work for God.

Gods work can be a messy type of work. In verses 33-35 it is easy to read over the reality of what was going on here. To do this the way God said do it you have to do this like it is commanded to be done in Leviticus chapter 1. There we find that to do what Elijah was doing (remember he is doing this by himself), meant he had to kill the cow, skin the cow, butcher the cow, wash the legs and entrails, and put certain parts up on the altar. Can you see Elijah on his knees in the mud and the blood? It’s not a pretty sight, but because we already know the end of the story it makes for a beautiful picture.

It can get messy when we do Gods work sometimes. It is messy sometimes confessing and asking for forgiveness, whether that be to God or to some person, but God says do it. It can be messy confronting people about their walk with God, but God says do it.  It’s not a pleasant thought that God’s work can be messy.  But this story reminds us that in the end we can see a beautiful picture just as Elijah did once he did the work like God says to do it.

Gods work should also be a magnifying type of work at all times. In verses 36-37 we find Elijah praying. Anyone who seeks to have a full prayer life knows that prayer in itself is work. While that is true, what I believe we need to see here is not only that Elijah prayed, but why he prayed. 

One of the reasons we see is at the end of verse 37 where Elijah says he wants God to turn the hearts of the people back to Him. The ultimate reason though is found in verse 36 and again in verse 37. That reason is so that others will know that He is God, that He will be magnified and glorified as God. Whatever we do for God, the ultimate goal of it all should be to magnify God and make His name great among people, even lost people.

Questions for the Day:

1.  Do a self-inventory of your personal service/work that you do for God, keeping in mind that a primary place of service to God is through the local church.  If someone were to ask you, "How do you serve God at Emmanuel Baptist" would you have a specific answer?

2.  Lead your family to find a simple, magnifying type of work you can do together, and then do it for the pure joy of helping someone else and glorifying God.

3.  Spend some time in prayer seeking where you may need to do a mending type of work, even if it turns into a messy type of work that involves giving or asking for forgiveness.

Compromise Makes No Sense

Elijah's call from Mt. Carmel is a blistery word of preaching against the scourge of compromise.  "How long will you hesitate (halt) between two opinions?  If the LORD is God, serve Him.  If Baal, follow him." (1 Kings 18:21)


What a statement!  What a challenge!  What a rebuke!

The idea of "halting between two opinions" is really a figure of speech.  We might say it like this, "How long are you going to sit on the fence of commitment?  Get in or get out.  If you want to live for the world, go live for the world.  If you want to live for God, come serve Him.  But get off the fence.  Be a pagan or be a believer.  You can't be both but you must be one or the other.  Make a decision."

Elijah is essentially saying that full-blown idolatry makes more sense than halfhearted faith.

Think about it logically.  The claims of God through His Word are either true or they are not.  If they are true, their truthfulness merits a response.  If they are false, their falsehood merits a response.  The one thing that makes no sense in the face of Biblical claims is a spiritual yawn.

If God's claims are true...if He loved you, saw you in your depraved state, sent His Son into the world to die in your place, raised Him from the dead, and offered you salvation on the basis of grace...He deserves a response of total commitment and complete surrender.

If that's all a lie, you owe it to yourself to walk away.  Live your life and enjoy this earthly existence.

For example, for some professing believers God is only worthy of attending church 3-4 times per year.  Elijah's comments mean that God is either worthy of ALL or He's worthy of NONE.  Either serve Him faithfully, or don't waste those other 3-4 Sundays either.  Give those Sundays to Baal as well.

Into a world of divided loyalties and weak-kneed commitment, Elijah's call rings truer than ever.  How long are the Lord's people going to live with a foot in the world and a foot in the church.  Get off the fence.  Get in or get out.

The words sound harsh and cutting.  And they are indeed confrontational.  But keep in mind: these words don't come from the administration building at Emmanuel Baptist Church.  They emanate from the top of Mt. Carmel from the inspired lips of the prophet of God.

And the decision for which his challenge calls is the only one that makes any sense.

Questions / Assignments for the Day:

1.  Pray and ask the Lord, "Are there areas of my life where I am not as committed as I ought to be?  Prayer?  Bible study?  Witnessing?  Giving?  Service?"

2.  Read 2 Corinthians 13:5.  Ask yourself (and maybe write some things down), "What evidence is there that I am really in the faith?"

You Must Choose

Today's devotional was written by Scotty Hayes

Elijah came near to all the people and said, “How long will you hesitate between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow Him; but if Baal, follow him.” But the people did not answer him a word. 1 Kings 18:21

In our culture today there are very few prophets who will ask the tough questions as Elijah did on Mt. Carmel. But when a true messenger of God preaches the full word of God there will be hard questions asked to the people of God. Many times when we are confronted with these pointed questions we answer with our silence. We find ourselves waiting and contemplating the two options as if we were on our own time schedule and not our heavenly Father’s.

In this passage we see that Elijah is telling the people that they must choose one side or the other. They must pick sides. “If the Lord is God, follow Him; but if Baal, follow him”. We are accustomed to choosing sides. We choose sides in almost every aspect of life from sports to entertainment.  Every day in various ways we make choices about life…which side we want to win and which side we want to lose.  Why do we think we can just stay silent when it comes to choosing to follow God?

I’ll never forget when my wife Jadison worked at Wayne County High School and we went to the Pierce County vs Wayne County football game. We had to choose a side to sit on. Because Wayne County was Jadison’s employer at that time we decided to sit on the Wayne County side.  This was not something I was personally fond of because grew up in Pierce county and I’m a PC Bear at heart but I had to choose a side.

In so doing I separated myself from the other team and all their supporters.  Some of them were even my close friends. Once we make a choice to go a certain direction, pick a side or to follow the one True God we join with that side and separate from the other!

I wonder if that is why people are so unwilling to choose a side when it comes to the things of the Lord. Could it be that we don't want to separate from our close friends, family or the ways that we were raised?  I wonder if we think we can enjoy the benefits of both sides if we remain silent on issues that would separate obedient believers from a fallen world?

There is a battle going on and it is a battle for souls. Jesus Christ has already won this battle and He is inviting us to join Him in His victory over sin and death!  But we must choose to follow Him.  In so doing we will unavoidably separate ourselves from a world who is following the ways of our other modern day gods.

A ten year old boy served as an usher at his aunt's wedding one Saturday afternoon.  He was taught to ask, "Which side would like to be seated on?  The bride's or the groom's?"  The following morning, he was asked to work as an usher at the country church his family attended.  Just before the service began, two first-time visitors walked up the sidewalk.  Visitors were rare at the country church and the young usher was puzzled.  Finally, he gathered his wits, opened the sanctuary door and boldly asked, "Who's side are you on anyway?"

An awkward question from a confused little usher.  But in the end, that's not a bad question.

Questions / Activities for the Day:

1.  Try to think of an occasion or two in recent memory where you have consciously made a choice to follow God's way and not the world's way.  If no memory comes to mind, ask the Lord, "Could it be I've silently chosen to follow Baal?"

2.  If certain instances do come to mind, recount to yourself and to your family any costs that were involved in making that choice (loss of friendship, lack of popularity, money, pleasure, etc).

3.  Thank the Lord Jesus for any such decisions you've made that honored Him.  They only happened because of His grace and not our goodness.

God's Drought Was God's Discipline

Today's devotional was written by Bro. Matt Rodgers

For our “Family Worship Week” devotionals this year, we are going to be examining principles drawn from 1 Kings 17-18. Many of you are familiar with this fascinating HIStory of the one true God of creation defying, disgracing and destroying the false god named Baal and his prophets on Mount Carmel.

There is glad news and sad news attached to this story. I’m going to give you the sad news and by the end of this devotional series you will receive the glad news.

The sad news associated with the story is SIN and its effects. 

The nation of Israel had forsaken their God and in blatant disobedience turned their affections to the Canaanite god named Baal who was a god of fertility and therefore was worshiped with obscenities and immorality by Israel. The people of God had sinned and because of His holiness God could not, would not and did not tolerate their sin. Our God is immutable and because of His immutability and holiness He cannot and will not tolerate our sin either.

Sin has consequences and the consequence that Israel would receive was a period of drought and famine for 3 1/2 years. During these three years the people of Israel suffered greatly. You and I cannot sin and have it go unnoticed and uncorrected. When we sin there will be some form of consequence.

According to Galatians 6:7-8, Paul writes “Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction.”

 

It has been said that “Sin always takes you farther than you want to go, keeps you longer than you want to stay, and costs you more than you are willing to pay.” The ultimate consequence of sin is death. This not only refers to physical death, but to eternal separation from God in hell.

You and I don’t have to experience the ultimate consequence of sin if we will believe by faith on Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sin and receive the promise of eternal life from God.

The truth is the Lord’s discipline is an often-ignored fact of life for believers. Yet the discipline from the hand of God is a response of His love for us and His desire for each of us to be holy. The famine occurred to give Ahab, his family and the Nation of Israel an opportunity to repent.

Those who live their lives outside of Christ, yet who's hearts have been convicted by the gospel of Christ, should follow the example of the first converts of the early church: “Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, 'Men and brethren, what shall we do?' Then Peter said to them, 'Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.'” (Acts 2:37-38)

As HIStory continues here in 1 Kings as well as throughout all Scripture we will see our only hope and help is Jesus.

Questions for the Day

Can you sin and escape the consequence and discipline of Almighty God?

According to Hebrews 12:3-11, what is the goal of God’s corrective hand?

 

What should be our response when we are found in sin?

Family Worship Week 2014

Daily devotionals for family worship week will begin appearing here on Monday, June 30th through Saturday, July 5th.  Stop back by each day.