You Are Never Alone

"And he [Elijah] said, I have been very jealous for the LORD God of hosts: because the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away. 

And the LORD said unto him, Go, return on thy way to the wilderness of Damascus: and when thou comest, anoint Hazael to be king over Syria: And Jehu the son of Nimshi shalt thou anoint to be king over Israel: and Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abelmeholah shalt thou anoint to be prophet in thy room. And it shall come to pass, that him that escapeth the sword of Hazael shall Jehu slay: and him that escapeth from the sword of Jehu shall Elisha slay. Yet I have left me seven thousand in Israel, all the knees which have not bowed unto Baal, and every mouth which hath not kissed him." I Kings 19:14-18

Elijah had a complaint towards God.  He had stood for God in the face of great opposition.  Now he was the only one left and the people desired to take his life as well.  His unsaid accusation against God was, "Where are you God? Don't you see what is happening? Why are you letting this happen to me, especially when I have stood for you?  Don't you care?  Why have you forsaken me?"

Sometimes you go through situations in life when you feel as if you are all alone.  It seems there is no one there to help and no one who sees or cares about your distress.  But God sees.  Not only does He see, but He cares and has already provided the answer.  The key is to not lose faith in Him during these times.

Elijah was mistaken.  Although he could not see them, God had 7,000 people who had not turned from Him in serving Baal. Now here is the thing.  It is not like there was Elijah on one hand and then 7,000 on the other. For all we know, those 7,000 could also have individually felt like they were alone.  Scripture does not say that there was fellowship amongst them or that they even knew of each other.

Mad Cause God Won't Change

A lot of professing Christians are actually mad at God because He won't change (Malachi 3:6).  I know it sounds silly, but they actually want God to be like a no good man who lies to you; and they get angry when confronted with the fact that He is not.

The Lord lays out for us clearly in His word who He is, what He will accept and what He will not. Yet, people keep on their own way, doing what they want to do, expecting that somehow in the end it is going to be different than what God says. They don't want to be told what to do by God and falsely believe that He will accept their strange offerings in place of their obedience.  For some reason - their life experiences, feelings of self-entitlement, head knowledge, hardships, religious works, etc. - they believe that He will make an exception for them.  He won't.

God will honor all of His promises, whether seemingly good or bad.  We cannot malign His righteousness because of His faithfulness in keeping His word.  Yet that is exactly what people are doing when they look upon Him to change His word.  He is not some joker who is stringing you along, but His word is true. Otherwise, we would not be able to trust in Him in any matter.

The AWESOME Love of Our God

Additional Resource
The ONLY Reason Salvation Can Be Lost

Even If

"Thou, O king, hast made a decree, that every man that shall hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and dulcimer, and all kinds of musick, shall fall down and worship the golden image: And whoso falleth not down and worshippeth, that he should be cast into the midst of a burning fiery furnace. There are certain Jews whom thou hast set over the affairs of the province of Babylon, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego; these men, O king, have not regarded thee: they serve not thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up. 

Then Nebuchadnezzar in his rage and fury commanded to bring Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Then they brought these men before the king. Nebuchadnezzar spake and said unto them, Is it true, O Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, do not ye serve my gods, nor worship the golden image which I have set up? Now if ye be ready that at what time ye hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and dulcimer, and all kinds of musick, ye fall down and worship the image which I have made; well: but if ye worship not, ye shall be cast the same hour into the midst of a burning fiery furnace; and who is that God that shall deliver you out of my hands? 

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer thee in this matter. If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king. But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up." Daniel 3:10-18

On Saturday, the Lord had me reflecting on this Scripture and told me the following:

The three Hebrew boys here were not showing some sort of bravado when they responded to Nebuchadnezzar. Neither were they daring the Devil to throw all he had at them as if they could take it.  Their statement came simply from a place of faith in God. They knew that their lives were in the Lord's hands and that - even if a fiery trial was to be a part of their future - He would be right there with them...and He was (Daniel 3:23-26).

The Blood of Sprinkling

"But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel." Hebrews 12:22-24

sprinkling: Greek word rhantismos meaning a cleansing or purification; the blood of sprinkling, i.e. appointed for sprinkling (serving to purify).

With the exception of I Peter 1:2, this word is used exclusively in the book of Hebrews.  This is fitting since Hebrews speaks primarily of our redemption in Christ as compared to the Old Testament offerings.  We know that without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of sin (Hebrews 9:22).

Why does the sprinkling of Jesus' blood speak of more excellent things than Abel's?  Because Abel's blood was spilled by his muderous brother Cain and "cried out" from the ground to the Father for retribution (Genesis 4:10).  Yet Jesus' blood spilled as a willful offering cries out from the altar in Heaven for mercy.  While the cry of Abel's blood brings about curses, the cry of Jesus' blood pours out redemption.

When are we sprinkled (cleansed/purified) by the blood of Jesus? When we turn in faith to Him and as we walk continually with Him.

"But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin." I John 1:7

Stranger Still

Two strangers are at a hospital. The man sits at a piano and begins to play. The woman sits next to him and joins him in song.  This spontaneous, unrehearsed duet - caught on video by the man's wife - has since gone viral and been picked by national news as they share clips of this "inspiring" moment.

The thing about the news clips is that what they all seem to universally omit are the references to Jesus Christ.  By looking at the news, you would think these two are just singing about love.  The videos are abruptly cut short or muted after that.  Yet listen to the whole video, and you will see that these two are singing about the life changing, redeeming, supernatural, agape love of Jesus Christ which brings deliverance and healing.

The irony is that as two strangers come together to sing about the love of Jesus Christ - which each and every person needs - the world continues to try and ensure He remains a stranger.

The world loves to lavish praise on acts of "love" devoid from the One who is love, Jesus Christ. Don't become one of those people who espouse the goodness of others based upon the supposed merits of their own humanity.  What the world needs now is Jesus, and we must never forget it.

I know nothing of these 2 individuals personally, but I post this so that we remain ever mindful of the spiritual war we face.  It is real.

"Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars' hill, and said, Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious. For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription, TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you. 

God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands; Neither is worshipped with men's hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things; And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation; That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us: For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring." Acts 17:22-28

May by our lives and our testimony, Jesus be no more a stranger to those who are lost and ensnared by the god of this world.