Elijah, a man of God 8: theunfetteredpreacher

Elijah has reappeared in King Ahabs life, we have seen the Lord send down fire to burn up Elijahs sacrifice. 

The people of Israel, have repented, and helped round up the prophets of Baal, so they could be executed for refusing to repent and follow God.

That is where we find ourselves.  1  Kings 18

And Elijah said unto Ahab, Get thee up, eat and drink; for there is a sound of abundance of rain.  So Ahab went up to eat and to drink.

Elijah, given another Word of Knowledge, “a sound of abundance of rain.”  Telling the King once more what to do.

Get thee up, eat and drink;”

Ahab did as directed.

Elijah went up to the top of Carmel; and he cast himself down upon the earth, and put his face between his knees,”

He had a Word of Knowledge, rain is comming, but where is it?   He believed, but did not just sit and wait, no, he cast himself down, (Not just kneeled, but fell to his knees), and put his face between his knees.

We find Elijah, praying the Word from God into existence.

And said to his servant, Go up now, look toward the sea.  And he went up, and looked, and said, There is nothing. And he said, Go again seven times.

Seven times, do you think it might be significant?  Check out how often seven times is required.

➣Jacob bowed himself to the ground seven times, until he came near to his brother.
➢dip his finger in some of the blood, and sprinkle it seven times
➢dip his right finger in the oil that is in his left hand, and shall sprinkle of the oil with his finger seven times before the Lord:
➢and sprinkle the house seven times:
➢thou shalt number seven sabbaths of years unto thee, seven times seven years; and the space of the seven sabbaths of years shall be unto thee forty and nine years.
➣if ye will not yet for all this hearken unto me, then I will punish you seven times more for your sins.
➢ if ye walk contrary unto me, and will not hearken unto me; I will bring seven times more plagues upon you according to your sins.
➢seven priests shall bear before the ark seven trumpets of rams’ horns: and the seventh day ye shall compass the city seven times, and the priests shall blow with the trumpets.
➣it came to pass on the seventh day, that they rose early about the dawning of the day, and compassed the city after the same manner seven times: only on that day they compassed the city seven times.
➢he returned, and walked in the house to and fro; and went up, and stretched himself upon him: and the child sneezed seven times, and the child
➣Go and wash in Jordan seven times, and thy flesh shall come again to thee, and thou shalt be clean.
➢The words of the Lord are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times.
➣Seven times a day do I praise thee because of thy righteous judgments.
➢For a just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again:
➣they should heat the furnace seven times more than it was wont to be heated.
➢ I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven.
➣if he trespass against thee seven times in a day, and seven times in a day turn again to thee, saying, I repent; thou shalt forgive him.

And it came to pass at the seventh time,
that he said, “Behold, there ariseth a little cloud out of the sea, like a man’s hand.”

And Elijah said, “Go up, say unto Ahab, Prepare thy chariot, and get thee down that the rain stop thee not.”

And it came to pass in the mean while, that the heaven was black with clouds and wind, and there was a great rain. And Ahab rode, and went to Jezreel.

And the hand of the Lord was on Elijah; and he girded up his loins, and ran before Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel.

The hand of the Lord was on Elijah, he ran faster than a chariot…  or was he translated?

It doesn’t matter, it was The Lord.

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Lord, help us to be people on which, “the hand of the Lord,” could reside.  Lord help us to be faithful, obedient servants.  Amen

Elijah, a man of God 6: The Fix-it Shop-Filling Station

1 Kings 18:  Elijah meets Ahab again, this time Signs and Wonders confirm his Word.

How long halt ye between two opinions?

For three years Elijah stayed with the widow, while the Lord provided food daily and raised her son from the dead.  (miracles)

The Lord told Elijah to go to Ahab, he went, but Ahab, in the end, came to him.

When Ahab saw Elijah, he said unto him: “Art thou he that troubleth Israel?”

From Adam to you and I, when we sin our first response is:  “That woman you gave me.”  It’s not my fault, I was tricked, I had no idea You didn’t approve of … 

When will we just learn to say, Yes, Lord, I screwed up, forgive me?

Elijah set the record straight:   “I have not troubled Israel; but thou, and thy father’s house, in that ye have forsaken the commandments of the Lord, and thou hast followed Baalim.”  (a Word of Knowledge)

Remember:   “Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the Lord above all that were before him.

Elijah then sent for all Israel, the 450 prophets of Baal, (the sun God), and 400 of Jezebels prophets, (of the groves), to gather at Mt Carmel. 

After they were gathered Elijah spoke:

How long halt ye between two opinions? if the Lord be God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him:”  (a Word of Wisdom)

This really, is a question for us, today. 

Todays Christian is more likely to identify with his Denomination than with Christ.

I’m a Baptist, Methodist, Catholic, Church of God,  ect…

The symbols, rituals, traditions of our services, have become more important then true Worship. 

(If you don’t think so, try skipping a tradition to use the time for teaching, or testimonials.)

We worry more about filling the seats, meeting the buget, tickling the ears, then training our people how to wait on the Lord.

We are double minded.

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We cannot follow Christ, because we are following, Luther, Wesley, Billy or Franklin, Charles Stanley….  (all good examples), but not the final word.

The Book is what we need to follow.   The people in Elijahs time:  “answered him not a word.”

Unfortunately today, we don’t, by silence, admit to our sins.  No we  have many words, multiple excuses.

Every man, woman and child, written about in the Bible, is just that.  Some of them sin, and rebel against God.

Some,  hide and feed the prophets of God. 
Some sing and pray, and interceed, others are Prophets, some work miracles, some have great faith, and heal the sick.

They are people, like us.  No better or worse, not at all different then us except, obedience to God is job #1.

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Do you ever wonder why we don’t see signs and wonders following?   Why our children are so easily, pulled away from “the church?”

We have allowed “the church”,  to become the building, “Worship” to become, the order of the Sunday service.

The “presence  of God”, is just an after thought.

We are “The Church, Christ in us, the hope of glory.  The things He did and more, are our great commission.

He sent us to build a house for Him to abide in.  Our house, (Gods Temple), is full of the world, instead.

We must empty ourselves of the world, and fill ourselves with His Word and Life.

You might be a powerful prophet of God.  Or lead the next great Bible teacher, to the Lord. 

We cannot do either with out a strong, faithful, obedience to His Word and Spirit.

He gave us the tools, you know what they are, but they are buried, out of sight, misunderstood, rejected, never to be seen and used, by those who claim to believe.

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Lord, open our eyes, lead us to the place, You would use us.  Empower us by Your Holy Spirit, to do Your will.  Amen

Elijah, a man of God 4: The Fix-it Shop-Filling Station

1 Kings 17:  Now I Know!!!

As we once again join our prophet, he is still being fed by the gift of miracles and the widow.

(Are you tired of seeing gifts and word of?  I keep repeating it because they are the Gifts of the Spirit, the Talents of Matthew 25, given to us to build His church. 

Instead of striving to receive and learning to increase their use, most Denominations have buried them).

Unfortunately, like the manna of old, this never runnng out of oil and flour, it’s not so amazing anymore, this miracle, has become old hat, expected…  Maybe it is just the way it is, is it really even a miracle?

Then the widows world gets turned upside down. The son whom she loves gets sick and dies.

She cries out:  “What have I to do with thee, O thou man of God? art thou come unto me to call my sin to remembrance, and to slay my son?

She believes this sickness is a punishment for past sins.  It is not.  It is for the glory of God.

Elijah answered:  “Give me thy son.”  He took the boy to his loft, laid him on his bed.

O Lord my God, hast thou also brought evil upon the widow with whom I sojourn, by slaying her son?

The man of God, had no fore knowledge of this sickness, he had no understanding of the Lords plan, but he had the Gift of Faith for the working of miracles.

So he stretched himself out three times apon the child, crying out:  “O Lord my God, I pray thee, let this child’s soul come into him again.

The symbol of “3” times is important for this first person raised from the dead in the word.

A fortaste of the only begotten.

The Lord heard the voice of Elijah;  and the child revived, and awoke from the dead.

We underestimate the power of our words, the power of life and death are in the tongue.

We often speak death, to our finances, health, relationships, jobs…  We must learn to speek truth and the truth of, Gods Word.

What does God desire for us? 

We need to know the answer to that and speak it into existence.  As the Lord spoke the world into existence.

Elijah brought the child to his mother and said:  “See, thy son liveth.

Her answer is classic:  “Now by this I know that thou art a man of God, and that the word of the Lord in thy mouth is truth.

The miracles of provision had become  commonplace, of no notice.  “by this I know.

Saints, that is one of my biggest failures, to realize the Lord has supplied my needs for the last 35 plus years.

He said He would, and He has.  I heard it asked:  “What would tomorrow be like, if we only had what we thanked God for today?”

No, like the Hebrews, we need more.  It’s not enough our sandles aren’t worn-out, we have food and shelter.  Our lusts and desires only bring leaness to our souls.

It is hard for us to acknowledge the everyday miracles we receive.  We just accept them and never really seek the face of God, to walk in his power as Elijah did.

Elijah, like Abram, Moses, David and all the other Bible greats were just men and women such as we are.

No more or less.  Why do they stand above the crowd?

They learned to live at the feet of Jesus, they knew and walked in the way of the Holy of Holies.

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Even when they missed the mark, their hearts were turned toward God.  How about you?

Lord, draw us close to You.  Mold us into vessels you can use, to draw all men to You.  Amen

What is my responsibility as “theunfetteredpreacher”? The Fix-it Shop-Filling Station

The last few weeks I have gotten some wonderful feed back, about some of my blog posts. 

My purpose and my prayer is that this blog brings people to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ, my Lord and Savior.

Being brought up Catholic, I had heard the Bible stories, believed Jesus died for me and yet never knew I could know Him.

After much prayer, that if He (God), was real I wanted to know a God of Power, not just of hot wind. 

He brought me to Christian Retreat in Bradenton Fla.  

They believed and taught me for 3 years, as I worked as a cook, to study the Word for myself, with out Denominational Glasses.

When I first left school, I thought you needed to believe like I do, or you were not a good Christian.   Thank God, I grew out of that.

As I found truth in the word I had not been taught I was excited, it was new revelation to me.  My eyes were opened, some others were not excited.

We find all sorts of Denominations that do not except the truth of the Baptism of the Holy Spirit is for today. 

Where in my understanding, Jesus told us to wait to receive, so we would be equiped for the ministry.  This includes all the Gifts in 1 Cor. 12-14, Eph. and Romans.

So I find myself knowing, reading and learning from the KJ only people, Baptists, Catholics, Prosperity Preachers, even the UMC, where I play piano, lead praise (not so much now), and teach OT.

I feed on the truth… backed up by 2 or 3 scriptures, chuckle at some harmless bad Doctrine and throw out the dangerous Doctrine.

In my old age I have realized, if we agree we love and serve Jesus, the rest is the color in Gods garden.   He made us all as we are, and loves us even if we are wrong, if our hearts are right.

I leave you with these three scriptures…

Psalm 34:18
The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.

Psalm 51:17
The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.”

Isaiah 57:15
For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.”

If you meet the above criteria, you are my brother.  It  is your responsibility to study to shew yourself approved, rightly dividing the word of truth.

So don’t take my word, or another mans word, as the ultimate truth;  KNOW FOR YOURSELF, WHAT TO BELIEVE BY THE STUDY OF THE WORD.  

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Lord, I pray I lead no one anywhere, except closer to You.   Amen

Did more to provoke the LORD God: The Fix-it Shop-Filling Station

1 Kings: 16. 33.
And Ahab made a grove; and Ahab did more to provoke the LORD God of Israel to anger than all the kings of Israel that were before him.”

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We are repeating this moment of Israels history.  The northern kingdom had many evil kings, the next worse then the last.

We now meet Ahab and Jezebel, openly worshiping and sacrificing to Baal, a false God. 

It had become no big deal, for all of Israel, to walk in and practice sin. 

If it seems right in our eyes… it is.

God sent in Elijah and a drought. 
Continue reading

Asa’s heart was perfect: The Fix-it Shop-Filling Station

As a comment to my post:  “In the time of his old age:”  my friend “janjoy52” commented:

“2 Chronicles 16 said Asa went to a foreign king to pay for helping rid Israel’s army. God sent His prophet to say if He handled Asa’s enemies before who were greater in number than Israel’s army why did he seek another (foreign) king and not Him in his distress. Asa rejected God’s word, punished and jailed God’s prophet. Then, the Bible points out, even with his painful feet Asa refused to ask for God’s help.”

She is absolutely correct, so how can the word tell us in 2 places that:

1 Kings 15:11-24
King James Version (KJV)
And Asa did that which was right in the eyes of the Lord, as did David his father.

But the high places were not removed: nevertheless Asa’s heart was perfect with the Lord all his days.

2 Chronicles 14:2
King James Version (KJV)
And Asa did that which was good and right in the eyes of the Lord his God:

2 Chronicles 15:17
King James Version (KJV)
But the high places were not taken away out of Israel: nevertheless the heart of Asa was perfect all his days.

The answer is in the same verses.   “The high places were not taken away out of Israel:

Solomon, did the same thing (  “The high places were not taken away out of Israel:“), and the scriptures clearly tell us:

1 Kings 11:4
For it came to pass, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned away his heart after other gods: and his heart was not perfect with the Lord his God, as was the heart of David his father.

How could this be?  The same failure in both men, one, the wisest man the world has known. 

One heart turned, the other didn’t.  (Too many wives, I’d guess… lol… that’s what it says).

I know in my own life, when the Lord came into my life, I was delievered from this body of sin and death.

He immediately delivered me from addiction from nicotine, alcohol, and other bad habits.  I no longer craved these things.

12 years later… I decided a cigar would taste good.  It did.  I was addicted again for 18 years.

I loved the Lord, but I was knowingly doing something that He had delivered me from, that I knew He didn’t approve of.

I fought for years to quit, it took a time of prayer and fasting to be delivered, smoke free again, for 6 years, this time.

So, the truth is sin seperates us from God, but it may be, that it is not a sin unto death. 

The only sin that we can not be forgiven is not allowing Jesus to be our Savior and King.

Matthew 12:31-32
King James Version (KJV)
Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men.

And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come.”

John 8:24
I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins.”

1 John 5:15-17
King James Version (KJV)
And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.

If any man see his brother sin a sin which is not unto death, he shall ask, and he shall give him life for them that sin not unto death. There is a sin unto death: I do not say that he shall pray for it.  All unrighteousness is sin: and there is a sin not unto death.”

I love the Lord, I sin differently, daily… but I ask the Lords forgiveness when I realize the state I am in.

We must know how to repent.  We must take responsibility, and not blame, “that women that You gave me.”

I believe if Adam had known repentance, God, Jesus, would never have had to sacrifice Himself to Jehovah, the Lord because the Lord forgives the contrite heart.

Psalm 34:18
The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.

Psalm 51:17
The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.”

Learn to repent, to turn towards God and away from your sin, keep:  A heart this is perfect all your days. 

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I’ll look for you in heaven.