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Now Elijah the Tishbite, from Tishbet in Gilead, said to Ahab, "As the Lord, the God of Israel, lives, whom I serve, there will be neither dew nor rain in the next few years except at my word." ! Kings 17:1
wham bam suddenly
this is our introduction to Elijah. He’s announcing a drought.
there is no lead up, no back story, no history. Just right into it. Centre stage.
Elijah was a man just like us. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops. James 5:17
When ordinary people pray, EXTRAordinary things happen! Brian Houston
so often we feel so ordinary and unspiritual. so natural and normal.
but our normalness and ordinaryness doesn’t disqualify us from the supernatural and extraordinary.
But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. 2 Corinthians 4:7
we are just clay vessels. well not really “just” in the sense of that is all we are – because WE ARE CHILDREN OF GOD!
Our Father is God Almighty, the great I AM, the everlasting king of kings! He is the one we pray to, the one we seek, the one we worship, the one we surrender to. He is the one who hears our prayers and answers our prayers. He is the one who changes the world, who moves mountains, who provides, who delivers, who comforts, who saves.
When ordinary people pray – God moves and extraordinary things happen because we pray and seek him!
don’t think you are too small to pray. know your God is big enough to hear and respond.
don’t think of yourself as too ordinary, just normal – believe you are a child of God and know that you can boldly enter the throne of God and find grace and help at your time of need (Hebrews 4:16)
pray, and expect God to respond, have faith in Almighty God, have faith in his love and grace and power. put your hope in God and believe for extraordinary answers. keep praying. don’t give up. keep seeking God!
i love the wiggles even more after this – a special song about allergies. my 6 year old has allergies and so do i. when i did an allergy test a few years back out of the 18 possible things i was tested for i reacted to 15. so allergies are a normal part of our home and language. i confess i am a food nazi but that and the grace and protection of God has kept particularly my daughter safe. good on ya wiggles for singing about it!
first day back at school today! exciting for us all. Caleb is a senior, in year 5, with a new teacher to the school. He is excited to find out who is in his class as he missed his last week and a bit of school cos of chicken pox last year. He has had 11 weeks off school. Yes. a long time. He is. so. ready. Evangeline is in year 2 and has lovely teacher who i dont really know well yet, but i am that parent, so we’ll be besties soon. this morning we’re going super early so i can esp meet Evangeline’s teacher and talk about her allergies.
sooooo first day back at school – where would you find me. 9am in mccafe with my best friend. drinking hot chocolate and talking kids, life, God, books, ministry, exciting things, mcleods daughters anything and everything. blissful! then a meeting with my pastor to talk cool new and wonderful things.
i totally love God. so impressed (not that He needs my impressededness!) with His love and grace and power and with how He unfolds His plans and draws us to Himself. Humbled that though i do not deserve it, He loves me, He saves me, He redeems me, He changes me. He is my strength, hope, joy, peace. All i am is because of Him.
and as always. i love Jesus with all i am and all my heart and all my soul and all my days. For His glory and the building of His kingdom and the rescue of the lost.
so what are you totally loving this week?
… check out what other peeps are loving whatever day of the week it is over at Paisley Jade
When the priests withdrew from the Holy Place, the cloud filled the temple of the Lord. And the priests could not perform their service because of the cloud, for the glory of the Lord filled his temple. 1 Kings 8:10-11
When Solomon had finished all these prayers and supplications to the Lord, he rose from before the altar of the Lord, where he had been kneeling with his hands spread out toward heaven. He stood and blessed the whole assembly of Israel in a loud voice, saying: “Praise be to the Lord, who has given rest to his people Israel just as he promised. Not one word has failed of all the good promises he gave through his servant Moses. May the Lord our God be with us as he was with our fathers; may he never leave us nor forsake us. May he turn our hearts to him, to walk in all his ways and to keep the commands, decrees and regulations he gave our fathers. And may these words of mine, which I have prayed before the Lord, be near to the Lord our God day and night, that he may uphold the cause of his servant and the cause of his people Israel according to each day’s need, so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the Lord is God and that there is no other. But your hearts must be fully committed to the Lord our God, to live by his decrees and obey his commands, as at this time.” 1 Kings 8:54-61
i think this is such a precious and poignant chapter. David had desired to build a temple to honour God – but God had told him that his son, Solomon would do this, so David then spent the rest of his life preparing and investing with this vision in mind. i am sure there were many conversations about the temple, as David would walk with his son, talk with his son, mentor his son. This chapter is the fulfilment of not on Solomon’s vision, but his fathers. a place for worship, to honour God. and how beautifully does God respond – He comes and fills the temple with His overwhelming glory – His tangible presence.
i was reading in Ezekiel last night: “I will show the holiness of my great name… Then the nations will know that I am the LORD, declares the Sovereign LORD, when I show myself holy through you before their eyes.” Ezekiel 36:23
in a way i think that God pouring His tangible presence into the temple is Him proving His reality and greatness – showing the holiness of His name – that 4 walls will not contain Him – that He cannot be limited to a temple – but that He is the almighty amazing God.
and interesting that the priests, those who later on through rules and regulations did try to contain Him – were the ones rendered unable to work, the ones overcome by His glorious presence.
i don’t want to elevate ministry above God – what i DO over walking with God and knowing Him in a relationship. and the awesome thing… that is God’s heart too. God wants to pour Himself out through us to reach the world and help people, but i think the heart of the matter, so to speak, is the heart.
Love first, ministry second.
Love first, works second.
Ministry and work flow out of our love and relationship with God.
1 Corinthians 3:16 Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you?
We are now the temple. And the temple needs to be filled with the power of the Holy Spirit to function properly as the temple. Just like Solomon’s temple. God filled His temple and then it was ready for use.
Fill first. Use second.
As ministers of the gospel, as christians, we need to be filled first and active and serving second.
i am hungry to know God and make Him known.
i am hungry to know His presence and His love.
His presence is everything. God isnt interested in a lukewarm cultural conditioning in our life. He wants us to know Him and walk with Him and love Him and worship Him. and in return His promise is that He will be our God and we will be His people. He lavishes His love on us. A-ma-zing.
He is inviting us to experience His reality and love.
Holy Spirit fall afresh on us.
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