HE IS GOD, & by His gentle Holy Spirit, HE SPEAKS
“After the earthquake a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire;
(The First Book of the Kings 19: 12-13 NASB)
and after the fire a sound of a gentle blowing.
When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle
and went out and stood in the entrance of the cave.
And behold, a voice came to him and said,
“What are you doing here, Elijah?”
Are you walking through something difficult?
Are you going through a situation in life when it’s sometimes difficult to even catch your breath?
Do you listen to the world or to the Lord when the burdens of life press in on top of you?
Today, Lord, we pause in our busy morning to breathe You in, to sense Your presence here with us, right here in this moment. There are biblical passages, and while there are so many verses, today, let us focus on just these.
These are some of the verses that speak with assurance: God is with us, Emmanuel.
Elijah, the prophet of God, was on the run because he was being pursued by Queen Jezebel, and the queen wished to take Elijah’s life. He knew for a fact that she was angry and wished to do him harm, so he ran. She was furious at Elijah because he had killed all the false prophets, the false gods she worshipped, and he was afraid, so he ran (for his life). The Bible tells us in The First Book of the Kings 19 how Elijah ran for a whole day’s journey and, exhausted, he lay to sleep under a tree to rest (verse 5). It was there (under the juniper tree) and when Elijah was totally spent that God sent Elijah an angel to minister to him.
When we are walking through something difficult, the situations of life that take our breath, do we listen to the world’s teachings or do we see the angels of the Lord He sends to speak truth to us?
Elijah took strength in the nourishment the angel of the Lord provided, and for the next forty days, that very nourishment sustained him as he journeyed to Mount Horeb. I know, that seems virtually impossible, but it’s true, for the Bible says so.
After forty days and night, Elijah reached the mountain. Did we catch the significance of the Lord’s teaching? There will be times during our lives when we will be called upon to walk through a difficult situation, and we may need to endure the situation for a long time (just like Elijah), but even then, when walking through the valley, the Lord remains with us, and gives us the strength to endure. The Bible tells how Elijah reached Mount Horeb at the end of his long journey, and so will we, as we continue walking with the Lord and do not give up from believing.
HE IS GOD, & by His gentle Holy Spirit, HE SPEAKS.
The Gospel is the gentle voice of HIS love, grace, mercy, and peace. The Law of God shakes us, breaking us apart, helping us see our sinful nature and our need of a Savior. In HIM, we find pardon and HIS Righteousness and HIS free gift of salvation.
Truly, life is hard sometimes, and we are called to walk through situations that we just don’t have the strength to endure, but then we hear “a sound of a gentle blowing,” and we sense the Spirit of God with us, there in the midst of our circumstance. May we listen to what HE SPEAKS. May we hear HIS QUESTION. & May we respond and do what HE SAYS.
The prophet Isaiah recorded these words of the LORD—
“Do not fear, for I have redeemed you;
(The Book of Isaiah 43: 1b-3a NASB)
I have called you by name; you are Mine!
When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;
And through the rivers, they will not overflow you.
When you walk through the fire, you will not scorched,
Nor will the flame burn you.
For I am the LORD your God,
The Holy One of Israel, your Savior; . . . .”
GOD, we recognize how YOU are present with us.
We hear YOU SPEAK in YOUR gentle whisper.
We see YOU GOING with us through the fire, but even if we forget and do not see, still we know YOU ARE THERE, with us.
Patrick Mayberry & Katie Torwalt sing “God is Faithful.” Listen and Remember.
When the situations of life take our breath, do not listen to the world’s teachings but see the angels of the Lord He sends to speak truth to us.
When we walk through situations and just do not have the strength to endure, that’s where we hear “a sound of a gentle blowing,” and realize our LORD is near.
HE IS GOD, & by His gentle Holy Spirit, HE SPEAKS.
“Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received,
(The First Letter of Paul to the Corinthians 15: 1-2 & 10-11 NASB)
in which also you stand,
by which also you are saved, if you hold fast the word which I preached to you,
unless you believed in vain.
. . .
But by the grace of God I am what I am, [wrote the apostle Paul]
and His grace toward me did not prove vain;
but I labored even more than all of them,
yet not I, but the grace of God with me.
Whether then it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed.”
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