The life of Elijah is fascinating to me. Elijah was one of the important Biblical prophets, who lived in during the times of King Ahab and his wicked queen Jezebel. God used Elijah mightily. The most important lesson I have learned from Elijah is how he moved only when he had a word from the Lord and that he moved at the word, he did not hesitate. It is so important to be a place with God that we can hear Him clearly and trust Him enough to take Him at His word no matter how it looks or how insignificant it may sound to us. Isaiah 28:16 says, “he that believeth will not make haste” (KJV). For instance even though the brook was drying up, he remained by the brook until word came from God.

 

It was Elijah who stood up to King Ahab and his wife Jezebel the evil leaders who had came into power over God’s people—the nation of Israel seducing them into worshipping the false gods Baal and Asherah which involved lots of sex, heterosexual and homosexual, and prostitution. Worshipers of Baal would get together and have drunken, orgies that was considered "worship”. And when things did not go well for the worshipers of Baal and Asherah, the worshiper was supposed to offer a sacrifice. The sacrifice needed to be a human, usually one of the children of the worshiper whom they would toss into a fire, and this was supposed to make Baal happy.

 

It is so important to be obedient to God’s word! When the Israelites first came to Canaan, God told them to destroy the Canaanites. The worship of these false gods and it’s culture of sin was almost certainly the reason why.

 

God used Elijah to pronounce judgment on King Ahab and his wife Jezebel.

 

1 Kings 17:1 “And then this happened: Elijah the Tishbite, from among the settlers of Gilead, confronted Ahab: "As surely as God lives, the God of Israel before whom I stand in obedient service, the next years are going to see a total drought—not a drop of dew or rain unless I say otherwise.”

 

The whole nation suffered a famine caused by the lack of rain. This was particularly humiliating for Jezebel since Baal was supposed to be the god of weather. So in anger Jezebel personally made sure all the prophets of God whom she could catch were killed (1 Kings 18:4).

 

The drought was so severe that Ahab called for Obadiah, a man who feared GOD who was in charge of the palace to go out and locate grass to keep the horses and mules from dying.

 

It had been over three years since Elijah proclaimed the drought and famine and God is about to end the drought, but before He does, he sends Elijah to confront the king and the whole Baal culture.

 

1 Kings 18:1-2 “A long time passed. Then God's word came to Elijah. The drought was now in its third year. The message: "Go and present yourself to Ahab; I'm about to make it rain on the country." Elijah set out to present himself to Ahab. So Elijah set out to present himself to Ahab.

 

While out searching for grass, Obadiah comes upon Elijah. Obadiah fell on his knees, bowing in reverence, and exclaimed, "Is it really you Elijah?” "Yes," said Elijah”, the real me. Now go and tell your boss, 'I've seen Elijah.'"

 

But Obadiah was afraid and asked Elijah, " what have I done to deserve this? Ahab will kill me. There isn't a country or kingdom where he hasn't sent out search parties looking for you. And if they said, 'We can't find him he would make them swear that you were not to be found. And now you're telling me, 'Go and tell him I found you! The minute I leave you the Spirit of God will whisk you away to who knows where. Then when I report to Ahab, you'll have disappeared and Ahab will kill me. And I've served God devoutly since I was a boy! Hasn't anyone told you what I did when Jezebel was out to kill the prophets of God, how I risked my life by hiding a hundred of them, fifty to a cave, and made sure they got food and water? And now you're telling me to draw attention to myself by announcing to my master, 'Elijah's been found.' Why, he'll kill me for sure."

 

Elijah assured him that he would meet with Ahab so Obadiah went to Ahab and told him.

 

Ahab went out to meet Elijah.The moment Ahab saw Elijah he said, "So it's you, old troublemaker!"

 

"It's not me who has caused trouble in Israel," said Elijah”, but you and your worship of false gods. Here is what I want you to do: Assemble everyone in Israel at Mount Carmel. And make sure that Jezebel’s four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal, and the four hundred prophets of the whore goddess Asherah, are there."

 

Satan the accuser of the brethren uses this same ploy today accusing God and his faithful ones for calamities.

 

So Ahab summoned everyone in Israel and the prophets, to Mount Carmel. Elijah challenged the people: "How long are you going to sit on the fence? If God is the real God, follow him; if it is Baal, follow him. But make up your minds!" In the same way, Jesus calls on us to choose. Many believe there are many roads to God and that all religions are the same. They all believe in love and goodness but only differ on matters of creation, sin, heaven, hell, God and salvation. But Christianity and religion are on completely different mountains leading to completely different places because the greatest difference is how to attain salvation and that is only through Jesus Christ. This is because Jesus claims to be God’s unique Son who lived a uniquely perfect life so that he could die a unique death, which pays for our sins (Jn. 14:6).

 

Then Elijah said, "I’m the only prophet of GOD left in Israel; and there are 450 prophets of Baal. Let the Baal prophets bring up two oxen; let them pick one, butcher it, and lay it out on an altar on firewood—but don’t ignite it. I’ll take the other ox, cut it up, and lay it on the wood. But neither will I light the fire. Then you pray to your gods and I’ll pray to GOD. The god who answers with fire will prove to be, in fact, God." All the people agreed.

 

Now we know the rest of the story. The fire of GOD fell and burned up the offering, the wood, the stones, the dirt, and even the water in the trench the sacrifices of the false prophets.

 

Now here is what I gleamed from this story and that is THERE IS ONLY ONE GOD who wants us to relate to him personally, not religiously. There is an unmistakable distinction between the way the Baal prophets relate to Baal and the way Elijah relates to God—and this is the contrast between religion and biblical spirituality.

The Baal prophets related to Baal through ritualism (18:26b “dance wildly”), and self-abasement (18:28). They did these things to get Baal’s attention, to merit his favor, and to manipulate him into doing what they wanted. This is classic of almost all world-religions. Many people even Christians think this is how God wants us to relate to him. Many leaders teach that these practices are biblical and please God.

But in the story Elijah doesn’t try to merit or manipulate—he trusts God’s faithfulness to his promises. He talks to God personally in the same way, once we receive Christ we can talk to God personally, as a child talks to his loving parents. This is because God promises to permanently accept you and welcome you into his presence—not because of your works for God, but because of Christ’s finished work for you.

Another story I like is that of the The Ten Virgins. This is a parable told by Jesus in the gospel of Matthew (Matthew 25:1-13). The message is clear: be prepared for the day of reckoning. The five virgins who are prepared for the bridegroom’s arrival are rewarded and the five who are not prepared are excluded. Here is the story:

God’s kingdom is like ten young virgins who took oil lamps and went out to greet the bridegroom. Five were silly and five were smart. The silly virgins took lamps, but no extra oil. The smart virgins took jars of oil to feed their lamps. The bridegroom didn’t show up when they expected him, and they all fell asleep.

In the middle of the night someone yelled out, “He’s here! The bridegroom’s here! Go out and greet him!” The ten virgins got up and got their lamps ready. The silly virgins said to the smart ones, “Our lamps are going out; lend us some of your oil”.

They answered, “There might not be enough to go around; go buy your own.” They did, but while they were out buying oil, the bridegroom arrived. When everyone who was there to greet him had gone into the wedding feast, the door was locked.

"Much later, the other virgins, the silly ones, showed up and knocked on the door, saying, “Master, we’re here. Let us in.”

"He answered, “Do I know you? I don't think I know you.” So stay alert. You have no idea when he might arrive.

To the world, the church appears to be foolish believing in the One True God and the Sacrifice of Jesus to redeem humanity, thinking that Jesus Christ is coming back or that He even existed at all. But as in the story of the ten virgins in the end, when the bridegroom makes His sudden and unexpected appearance, those who looked foolish are found to be wise; and those who appeared wise, end up looking foolish. Their foolishness is that they fell into trying to figure everything out. They figured they had time. They never thought that the He would appear so suddenly and the doors to the wedding hall would be closed. Their foolish figuring cost them dearly. They found themselves banging on a locked door, begging to be let in to the party to which they were invited, and hearing the harsh words of disappointment, "I don’t know you."

Do you know anyone who died unexpectedly? Did you think they would die that day? God’s way of keeping time is not the same as ours. "With the Lord, one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day." The Lord is not slow, He is patient in His delay and is mercy.

 

God desires and invites everyone to come and experience His grace. He is waiting on you to choose to come. How long will He wait? He does not say, what He did say is that "Now is the acceptable moment.

 

Now is the time of our salvation." Today is the day, not tomorrow or the next day, or next week. There may not be a tomorrow. The wise know that the bridegroom appears when you least expect him, like a thief in the night. The foolish live as if the invitation can wait - until next week, next month, or "whenever they have the time." All ten bridesmaids were invited, all ten slept, all were awakened. The wise rose to greet the bridegroom with joy, prepared to process into the banquet hall, lamps trimmed and burning, with oil enough to last forever. The foolish rose to greet the bridegroom with panic, scrambling for oil they do not have, and finding out too late that there is no oil to share. Each of us receives the gift of life through faith in Christ Jesus. No one can believe for another. No one can receive for another.

Are you tired of praying to and worshipping a dead god who will never be able to give you real answers? Are you tired of looking for things to fill that void that you feel on the inside? That void you feel is reserved for God alone and no man, woman, money or substance can fill it only God can. Are you tired of stumbling around in the darkness, broken and empty? You really don’t have to do that any longer you know. God your Creator – the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, the only True and Living God, the Only One with Power to Save you loves you and wants you to know Him. H wants to fill you with peace and give you real life -- forever. He loves you so much that He sent His Son to shed His Blood that you might be able to come boldly before His Throne of grace and ask for help.

Jesus said: "Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you:" (Matthew 7:7 -KJV)

Jesus is the Bridegroom. He is the only One who can bring us back to God. He died on the Cross and rose from the grave, paid the penalty for our sin and bridged the gap between God and mankind.

Don’t be like the foolish virgins! Jesus is coming soon! Whether you want him to or not…Whether you believe He is or not…He is coming. We do not know the day or the hour but we need to be ready.

The Bible gives us clear instructions on what to do to be ready. First, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Then accept Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior and turn your life over to Him, and agree to follow Him as He leads you. Don’t wait until the time is right, it will never be just right. Don’t wait until you get it together, because you will never get it together without Jesus. Don’t think because you life a good life that you are ready. Your good life and righteousness is as filthy rags to God. Choose this day whom you will serve.

If you are ready to accept Jesus now, here is a suggested prayer you can use. This is not a ritual based on specific words, but rather, a prayerful guideline for your sincere step of faith. It is important that you believe and agree with these words, are consciously aware that you are seeking Jesus Christ, trying and intending to speak directly to Him otherwise the prayer means nothing. Just speak directly to Jesus with your lips.

Let us pray:
Dear Jesus, Your word says that whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved (Romans 10:13). Jesus, I am calling on You right now. I admit that I am a sinner, deserving of Hell. I believe You are the Son of God who came in the flesh and died upon the cross, sacrificing Your precious blood to pay for my sins? I repent from all my sins, please forgive me. By faith I invite you to come into my life as my Lord and Savior. Thank you Jesus by faith I believe you have. Amen.

Now beloved if you prayed this prayer and truly meant these words the Lord Jesus HAS accepted you, welcome to the family of God. If you prayed this prayer send me an email at info@savemylovedones.com. I want to celebrate with you and send you some information that will help you in your new life with Christ!

God Bless you,
Angeline