Latest / A Chapter a Day Bible Reading / January 23 - 1 Kings 17

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January 23 - 1 Kings 17 · A Chapter a Day Bible Reading

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  Hello friends, it's Sean here. It's a Thursday.
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  It is the 23rd of January. Lovely to have your company.
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  Thanks for tapping on play and inviting me into your day with
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  the next chapter of God's Word. And you might be thinking, ah,
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  Sean, you are lucky that I invited you in today because I
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  am getting just a little bit sick of hearing king after king
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  after king just doing the wrong thing and God punishing them.
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  What is God doing to try and draw them back?
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  He's just sitting on his throne and, and offering them
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  punishment. Well, I've heard you.
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  God heard you. The author of First Kings heard
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  you, and he has shifted gears slightly today.
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  We are not going to hear about kings doing the wrong thing.
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  But today we are going to meet someone who, well, I reckon you
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  probably know this guy. We are going to meet Elijah,
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  God's prophet, today, and we're going to see what God is doing
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  in the midst of these faithless days.
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  So here friends, there's a story for you, one that you've well
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  heard before, but we're going to hear again with fresh ears to
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  see what God has to share with us today as we read together
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  First Kings chapter 17. Now Elijah, who was from Tishbay
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  in Gilead, told King Ahab, as surely as the Lord, the God of
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  Israel lives, the God I serve, there will be no dew or reign
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  during the next few years until I give the word.
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  Then the Lord said to Elijah, Go to the east and hide by
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  Kerrithbrook near where it enters the Jordan River.
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  Drink from the brook and eat what the Ravens bring you, for I
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  have commanded them to bring you food.
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  So Elijah did as the Lord told him, and camped beside
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  Kerrithbrook, east of the Jordan.
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  The Ravens brought him bread and meat each morning and evening,
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  and he drank from the brook. But after a while the brook
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  dried up, and there was no rainfall anywhere in the land.
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  Then the Lord said to Elijah, Go and live in the village of
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  Zarephath, near the city of Sidon.
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  I have instructed a widow there to feed you.
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  So he went to Zarephath. As he arrived at the gates of
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  the village, he saw a widow gathering sticks.
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  And he asked her, Would you please bring me a little water
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  and a cup? As she was going to get it.
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  He called to her, Bring me a bite of bread too.
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  But she said, I swear by the Lord your God that I don't have
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  a single piece of bread in the house, and I only have a handful
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  of flour left in the jar and a little cooking oil in the bottom
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  of the jug. I was just gathering a few
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  sticks to cook this last meal and then my son and I will die.
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  But Elijah said to her, don't be afraid.
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  Go ahead and do just what you've said, but make a little bread
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  for me first. Then use what's left to prepare
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  a meal for yourself and your son.
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  For this is what the Lord the God of Israel says.
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  There will always be flour and olive oil left in your
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  containers until the time when the Lord sends rain and the
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  crops grow again. So she did as Elijah said, and
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  she and Elijah and her family continued to eat for many days.
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  There was always enough flour and olive oil left in the
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  containers, just as the Lord had promised through Elijah.
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  Some time later, the woman's son became sick.
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  He grew worse and worse, and finally he died.
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  Then she said to Elijah, O man of God, what have you done to
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  me? Have you come here to point out
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  my sins and kill my son? But Elijah replied, Give me your
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  son. And he took the child's body
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  from her arms, carried him up the stairs to the room where he
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  was staying, and laid the body on his bed.
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  Then Elijah cried out to the Lord.
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  Oh Lord my God, why have you brought tragedy to this widow
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  who has opened her home to me, causing her son to die?
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  And he stretched himself out over the child three times and
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  cried out to the Lord. Oh Lord, my God, please let this
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  child's life return to him. The Lord heard Elijah's prayer
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  and the life of the child returned, and he revived.
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  Then Elijah brought him down from the upper room and gave him
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  to his mother. Look, he said, your son is
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  alive. Then the woman told Elijah.
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  Now I know for sure that you are a man of God and that the Lord
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  truly speaks through you. Our Lord, as we see the
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  experience of the widow, it often mirrors our own experience
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  in that sometimes we are asked to step out in faith in serving
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  You, and other times things are so clearly right and we can see
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  Your hand at work. But Lord, during those times
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  where there is very little flour or oil left in our jars, our
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  pray that You give us faith to step out in your service.
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  Lord, whether that's us feeling foolish as we stand up and speak
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  on your behalf or whether that's us being generous to the point
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  that it hurts. Lord, we just pray that you
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  continue to open our hearts and lead us to be your people in
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  this world that doesn't know you.
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  And Lord, thank you for those grand acts of mercy and
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  provision where we see your hand just holding us and guiding us
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  and blessing us. You truly are a God who lives
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  our lives day by day with us, and we are so grateful.
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  And we continue to live lives of praise today and every day.
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  In your name we pray Jesus, Amen.