Your Refreshing Daily Devotional

We not only encounter joy in the presence of the Lord, strength also comes along. Elijah was completely depleted by the time he finished dealing with prophets of Baal on Mount Camel. To make the matter worse, he received a threat from Jezebel who promised to kill him within 24 hours. At that point he became suicidal. He later found his way to Horeb where things would take a dramatic turn. At Horeb, he heard the still small voice of God instructing him to go back to the city and anoint Hazael as king over Syria. Also, he was to anoint Jehu king over Israel while he would find a successor in Elisha the son of Shaphat. Having set everything in order, he cheated death and went to heaven by a whirlwind!

The regaining of strength and new thrust for ministry that Elijah enjoyed came from the still small voice of God…our future will always be traceable to the voice of God. Don’t let anything crowd out His voice from your life.

Several lessons can be gleaned from this story. Firstly, sometimes when we feel that it’s over, God may have many more exploits waiting for us in the wing. Elijah who had literally given up was seen with several miraculous acts afterwards. Secondly, the strength that he lost on one mountain was regained on another mountain. Mount Camel depleted him; but rejuvenation came to him on Mount Horeb, the mount of God. Finally, the still small voice of God will always make a difference. The regaining of strength and new thrust for ministry that Elijah enjoyed came from the still small voice of God. We may be surrounded by many a noise; but our future will always be traceable to the voice of God. Don’t let anything crowd out His voice from your life.

Among other things, reliability is a major way of defining faithfulness. It goes without saying that a reliable person is a faithful person. Again, to describe someone as being faithful is to say that he is true to his words. An indisputable attribute of God is faithfulness. Therefore, we can expect that God will always stand by His word and bring to pass every promise He makes. When God called Abraham, He promised to bless him and his seeds. Abraham’s choice of obedient lifestyle made it all the more compelling for God to honour His own side of the deal. No wonder, our text shows that God blessed Abraham in all things.

Among other things, reliability is a major way of defining faithfulness. It goes without saying that a reliable person is a faithful person…Believers who dare to walk in obedience like Abraham did can expect to experience all the blessings of the covenant.

In order to demonstrate His faithfulness to the full extent of the promise, it is important for God to bless the children of Abraham too. The extension of that promise is what the Jews all over the world are still enjoying today. Believers have a link to this. We are called Abraham’s children by faith. When the righteous are blessed, it is a proof of God’s righteousness. “The righteous shall flourish like a palm tree, He shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon. Those who are planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God. They shall still bear fruit in old age; they shall be fresh and flourishing, to declare that the Lord is upright; He is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in Him” (Psalm 92:12-15). Believers who dare to walk in obedience like Abraham did can expect to experience all the blessings of the covenant.

Some believers unwittingly drive themselves into mysticism. One way into this is neglecting to take the word of God on its face value. Another way is failure to separate between casual,  inconsequential dreams from prophetic ones. My wife and I stayed at a Guest House in Aswan, Egypt, when we visited. It was one of 17-ministry organization run by Germans. It was bed and breakfast setting. On the second night of our stay, I had a dream. I was talking with a woman who was supposed to be in charge of kitchen that morning. She spoke with a Liberian accent and was quite unfriendly. I asked her about breakfast and she sounded cocky. She later informed me that breakfast that morning was without egg! As soon as I woke up, I laughed; and told my wife that there was nothing to that dream other than that it came from multitude of travel and weariness. Lo and behold, there was no Liberian woman in the kitchen by daybreak; and egg was served!

Some believers unwittingly drive themselves into mysticism…They attach meanings to things that ought to be dismissed first hand. In the process they dabble into mysticism unknowingly.

There are believers who are rather too superstitious in handling matters of this nature. They attach meanings to things that ought to be dismissed first hand. In the process they dabble into mysticism unknowingly. God spoke extensively to saints in the Old Testament through dreams. However, in these last days, He has spoken expressly through His Son, Jesus Christ. Jesus is the word of God; and there is no better way to receive from Him than this. This does not foreclose the possibility of God speaking to us through dreams. After all, the Bible says that old men shall dream in the last days. Notwithstanding, every dream must line up with the written word of God and must be interpreted by the help of the Holy Spirit.

Hezekiah was not only known to be a righteous king with personal relationship with God, he also stirred the hearts of the people towards God through his reforms. He spearheaded the destruction of a bronze serpent that must have been over 600 years old. When the Israelites murmured in the wilderness, God sent fiery serpents to bite them. As they cried to the Lord, Moses was instructed to construct a serpent of copper and put it on a pole. Anyone bitten by a serpent was to look up to obtain healing. That was a symbolic sign of Jesus who was eventually lifted up on the Cross, giving salvation to everyone who looks up to Him. However, long after Moses had passed on and Israel settled in the Promised Land, the serpent became an object of worship and a snare to the children of Israel until Hezekiah destroyed it.

Just as expired drugs have no value to the body and can actually destroy, so are some religious beliefs and practices…Reviving the vestiges of Judaism is not a valid way to walk with God. Rather, it is a wrong step that will eventually lead to bondage.

Just as expired drugs have no value to the body and can actually destroy, so are some religious beliefs and practices. It is important to carry out periodic review and eventual reforms of the things to which we hold tenaciously. Through Christ, we have transitioned into the New Testament. Yet, we find believers engage the reverse gear and delve into those things that have since been taken away by the sacrifice of Jesus. Reviving the vestiges of Judaism is not a valid way to walk with God. Rather, it is a wrong step that will eventually lead to bondage.

In our previous meditation, we referred to Paul’s entrepreneurial spirit that made him turn negative things around for gospel purposes. He used his standing trial to preach the gospel to kings. His time in prison was used to pen down several epistles. Paul did more than writing in jail, he also turned it into a hall of prayer. The church he had helped found was a major item of his prayer while he was bodily absent from them.

The only rescue clause for Christianity to take back its glory is to contend for their kind of faith. It defies all odds and overcomes every assault of hell.

Most people in his condition would probably not pray at all as they may exhibit bitterness against God and man. The few who would pray will be too preoccupied with their own deliverance from the gulag to think of what was happening to other people. Here we see Paul exemplify the Master who even on the cross was praying for the salvation of mankind. Fredrick Faber wrote a hymn to praise the faith of our fathers. Their faith thrived in spite of imprisonment or threat of death. They kept the spiritual discipline of prayer and other duties even at the risk of their lives. Their brand of faith could not be intimidated, but overcame the most heinous program that hell could invent. By taking a stand, God came through for them with signs, miracles, and wondrous acts. The only rescue clause for Christianity to take back its glory is to contend for their kind of faith. It defies all odds and overcomes every assault of hell.

Whenever the word entrepreneur is bounced around, people immediately think in terms of business persons. While this is a correct definition, it does not embrace the totality of the concept. Among other things, an entrepreneur is someone who through creativity can turn something around and position it for more positive, impactful outcomes. To this extent, you can have an entrepreneurial leader or even entrepreneurial pastor. The Bible is full of examples of those who turned their situations around. Jephthah counts as one. He was expelled unceremoniously by his half-brothers from their father’s house. He wore a stigma of being born outside of wedlock and by a harlot. He did not become daunted by that expulsion, rather he went to work on himself and became the captain of a formidable army. In time of crisis, the people sent for him to come and take charge of the tribe.

By the help of the Spirit, we can turn any misery to mission, knowing full well that God will never permit what He cannot use for His glory.

Certainly, Paul would count for an entrepreneurial apostle. He had it rough with the Jews and Roman authorities. He was dragged before kings, but that only became an extension of his pulpit. This was what Paul referred to in our lead scripture. A further breakdown of that is found in verse 13 when he says, “So that my bonds in Christ are manifest in all the palace, and in all other places”. The chains actually became an avenue for him to stand before kings, fulfilling part of the original mission God had for him. When he was thrown into jail, he found a use for that as well. The jail provided the solitude he needed to write several of his epistles that have continued to bless Christians of different generations. By the help of the Spirit, we can turn any misery to mission, knowing full well that God will never permit what He cannot use for His glory.