HEARING GODS VOICE LEADS TO BLESSINGS.
“And it came to pass after a while, that the brook dried up, because there had been no rain in the land. And the word of the LORD came unto him, saying, Arise, get thee to Zarephath, which [belongeth] to Zidon, and dwell there: behold, I have commanded a widow woman there to sustain thee. So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, behold, the widow woman [was] there gathering of sticks: and he called to her, and said, Fetch me, I pray thee, a little water in a vessel, that I may drink. And as she was going to fetch [it], he called to her, and said, Bring me, I pray thee, a morsel of bread in thine hand.
And she said, [As] the LORD thy God liveth, I have not a cake, but an handful of meal in a barrel, and a little oil in a cruse: and, behold, I [am] gathering two sticks, that I may go in and dress it for me and my son, that we may eat it, and die.”(1Kings.17:7).Today from this passage we are going to talk about hearing Gds voice. Although this is in the Old testament there are some principles that are similar that are applicable today for us. We will not only take this scripture as our base but we will bring certain incidents even from the New test. together with this old test.passage. So that we can get a better understanding of the voice of God. God loved communication. Many think that God does not talk much. he is a silent God, who loves meditation. No. God always speaks, he loves to speak. God speak to us even now through his eternal/living word. that is the bible. But there was also a time before the bible was written down and God still spoke to his people differently. He loved the people so much, and he wanted to protect/provide/lead them so he told the people how they should live and what they should do. People actually got to hear Gds voice. Right in the garden of Eden, God walked and talked with Adam and Eve. Later on. God spoke to Cain, and God spoke to Abram, and Isaac, and Jacob, even before the bible was written. Moses wrote the five books,but yet,God was speaking to the people even before the bible was written. Look how God comes to the rescue of Jacob. He speaks to him, and leads him, and shows him how to profit. He showed him thru visions, how to multiply his cattle.” I am the lord thy God which teacheth thee to profit,which leadeth thee by the way that thou shouldest go.”(Isa.48;17).Bible says God spoke to Abram in a vision to Joseph in a dream. He spoke to Israel in visions of the night. God spoke to Samuel in a vision. For Ezekiel the heavens were opened and he saw the visions of God. God even took him by the lock of his head and lifted him up between heaven and earth and brought him to the visions of God to Jerusalem. Daniel saw the visions of God,God spoke to Solomon in a dream by night in Gibeon. Job said “in a dream in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falleth upon men,in slumbering upon the bed.”(Job.33:15).Even in the New test. we find God speaking to Joseph in a dream, and warning him too. Pilate's wife too received a dream concerning Jesus. Beloved God is out to reach you,but are you hearing.” and it shall come to pass in the last days,saith Gd,I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams.’(Acts.2:17).O what revelations come forth thru dreams and visions. How were the disciples convinced to a level of who Christ was?” and as they came down from the mountain, Jesus charged them sayinhg,tell the vision to no man, until thee Son of man be risen again from the dead.’(Mt.17:9).O Elizabeth’s husband saw a vision. The holy women who came to the sepulcher on the Easter Sunday saw visions of angels. God spoke to Ananias in a vision, concerning Paul. Cornelius saw a vision.Peter saw a vision. Paul saw visions, at times in the night. Now don’t misunderstand me, these never occurred daily. but as and when God wanted. but God always speaks to us thru his word, he speaks to us thru his inward witness, and then the inward voice, and then by the authoritative voice of the Holy Spiirit,and then maybe at times he may come before you and speak to you, but that would be very rare, and with a purpose. But then he can speak to you through the visions, and dreams as well. But the primary way God speaks to us in the N.T.in the N.C.is by his Spirit in the inner man.
Yes since we are living in the new dispensation we needed to be guided more by the Spirit of God in our own spirits. In the O.T.these patriarchs were not born again. The Holy Spirit did speak to them, but then he would come and go, and the laity never had the privilege of the Holy Spirit leading and guiding them. Some of the things of the O.T.we need to leave at being in the Old dispensation. Like for instance many people try to put out a fleece, and they are fleeced. Yu know the story of Gideon the leader of the army. It so happened, that the all Midianites and Amalakites crossed the river and camped in the valley of Jezreel.So Gideon gathered his army, but he wanted to be sure if it was the will of God so he said to the lord. Lord if this is right, if you are using me to save Israel as you have already said it before then look I am placing a fleece of wool on the threshing floor. If the dew is on the fleece only, but the floor is dry, then I know that you will use me to save Israel, as you said." That's what happened. When he got up early the next morning, he wrung out the fleece--enough dew to fill a bowl with water! Then Gideon said to God, "Don't be impatient with me, but let me say one more thing. I want to try another time with the fleece. But this time let the fleece stay dry, while the dew drenches the ground." God made it happen that very night. Only the fleece was dry while the ground was wet with dew. It is mentioned in Jdgs.6:36-39.Now many take that scripture verse and throw out a fleece even now. Why do they do so? Because it saves a lot of time/trouble of praying and getting alone and waiting on Dandy maybe some time of fasting as well, so they just throw out a fleece. They say. Lord if you want me to do this, then you do that. Or God if you want me to have this, then open the door, and shut that door. I know at times we all do it. But that is not the safest way. For some of those doors the devil might shut, and some of the doors the devil might open. He is the god of this world, and these things are in his world. That is like praying Lord if you want me to go for village ministry, then when I go and meet Pastor next week to his house, let his front door open and Pastor be at the door smiling. I might open it myself,because first I live there, and second we don’t have many people in the house.God has a better way of leading his children than by a hit and miss method. The New.test. doesnt say.” as many are led by fleeces; they are the children of God.”No he said.” all those who are led by the spirit of Gd are the sons of Gd.But didn’t Gideon throw out a fleece? Yes he did but that was in the O.T.under the O.C.We have something better.” This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days,saith the lord,I will put my laws into their hearts,and in their minds will I write them.”(Heb.10:16).”for finding fault with them, he said. behold the days come saith the lord, when I will make a new covenant.”(Heb.8:8). “But now hath he obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also he is the mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises.”(Heb.8:6).The Old Covenant is for spiritually dead people. I am not spiritually dead. I am alive. I have the spirit of God in me. Moreover Gideon was not a prophet, priest or king. And in the Old test. only those three offices, were anointed by the Spirit of God. The Spirit of God was not personally present with the rest of the people. So it is dangerous for N.T.Spirit filled Christians to put out fleeces. Kenneth Hagin who now is gone to be with the lord, had a wonderful testimony to share on these lines. He was a pastor of a certain small church, but then a new church had come up, and they wanted him to come and try out as pastor. So he drove there and preached one Sunday. The church asked him if they could vote on him for pastorship.and Kenneth Hagin said yes. But then he was driving back home. it was in 1941,He said. Lord I am going to put out a fleece. I am just going to turn over to yu.He said. that time I didn’t realize I wasn’t really turning it over to the lord. He said if they elect him as a pastor, one hundred percent, I am going to accept that as being the will of God, and I am going to accept that church.” He got every vote. That was his fleece. He said they elected me 100%.they missed God, I missed God. they got fleeced. I got fleeced. I got out of the perfect will of God. and God just let me do it. Then they moved in the parsonage. Many things were more comfortable than what they had before. from the natural standpoint. They had more money. lived in a better parsonage. drove better car. But he would study and prepare the message, and be on fire to share. but the moment he would step there on the pulpit, the anointing would wane off. it was just like somebody pouring a bucket of cold water on him. He preached there 14 months, but never preached a decent sermon/No inspiration. His wife was reluctant to say anything. she finally did say. I think so you have got to where you can make a pretty good talk. Yes he said it was only talks. They had given a prescribed time for him to stay, and when it was over he left. Never waited for some signal. Later on after some time. he just wanted to go there for a meeting. because he wanted those people to know he knew how to preach. They had not really heard him preach. Revival broke out. They said you never preached like that before He said. Yes I preached like that before I came to your church, and I preached like that after I left here. But you didn’t preach like that when you were here. He said.No.because we were all out of the will of Gd. I was here out of the will of God, and you elected me out of the will of God. Kenneth Hagin learnt a vital lesson. He learnt that we should never depend on fleece business.That is why it is so important.that we hear God. let us learn a few things from the above passage and line it up with the lessons from the New test.
1).GOD DOES GUIDE HIS CHILDREN.
Beloved God does guide his children, and he delights in guiding us. but it all depends on how much tuned we are to God. The problem with us we are more natural conscious, and mental conscious than we are spiritual conscious.That is why we either live in the mental realm or the natural realm. So there is no possibility that God can guide us effectively. Jesus said
“God is a Spirit and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.’(Jn.4:24).God is a spirit and we can be directed by God in our spirits.”Worship”means crouch/lick like a dog that does to its Master/the dog is always ready to hear, his ears will prop up. Many times we get in to trouble because we seek guidance by means other than the way God has said. God wants to lead you, and guide you, if we only give top importance to our spirits. For there he speaks to us.” The Spirit itself( himself) beareth witness with our spirit,that we are the children of God.”(Rom.8:16).Paul says “I pray God your whole spirit, and soul, and body be preserved blameless…” (1Thes.5:23).Did you see that? Paul here begins with the inside first, the innermost part the most important part of man, the heart of his whole being/which is his spirit, then he comes to the lesser important one. We need to get the sequence/the priority. God has established a principle in the order of importance/urgency. It is spirit, then soul, then body. How often people misquote this verse. they say,body,soul,and spirit. Why do they put the body first? because they are more body conscious, than spirit conscious. Natural things mean more to them than spiritual things. David was established/and he flourished many times,because he was more conscious of God. He himself says “For thou wilt light my candle, the lord my God will enlighten my darkness.”(Ps.18;28).
O Many live in restlessness because they don’t want to hear God; they will not rely on God. God does speak in various ways. Yes God does speak audibly too, though God does not speak audibly many times. Even when God does speak audibly it is more or less a spiritual voice that has a side effect on the natural sound waves or that which produces certain sound waves in the natural. Sometimes the voice is discernable and at other times it is not. But yet God does speak in an audible voice. You see this kind of spectacular way of speaking is more prominent in the Old.testament. But still we are touching on the 5% area of the normal way the Spirit operates.95% of the time the Holy Spirit speaks thru the inward witness and the inward voice of the Holy Spirit, and most of the time he speaks thru his word. Now whether God speaks to us through his word or thru the inward witness or the inner voice or by the authoritative voice of the Holy Spirit they are all supernatural. It is the way God guides us for our benefit. though they may not all look to be spectacular/prominent/striking. People today are more prone to sensationalism than have anything supernatural. Just because sensationalism has a thrilling effect, it is like the lightening in the sky, which is more dramatic or one which draws attention, people are neglecting the supernatural. Because people are running after the spectacular they are missing on the supernatural which is as effective. Beloved God wants to reach to us, and we are to be helped, and if we want help whether one comes in a chariot or a horse or a boat, the help is important. Now in our story we find that because Elijah had heard Gd,that he could avoid a woman from committing suicide. I don’t know whether it was suicidal spirit or whether she meant that because of starvation she would die, or then she would kill her son and herself. For the way it is put “behold, I [am] gathering two sticks, that I may go in and dress it for me and my son, that we may eat it, and die.(1kings.17:12).Now it also seems that she may add some poison to her and her sons food and die consequently. But whatever it is, Elijah just reached there in time before her funeral. See the goodness of the lord for that gentile lady that God interrupted a funeral that was going to take place. But what if Elijah didn’t hear the word of God? She would have died with her son, and even Elijah would have starved, maybe not to death, but starved till some kind believer found him at the brook Cherith in Jordan.O how many are found at Cherith deprived of the blessings of God, just because they wouldn’t hear the word of God? So God does guide his children. He does speak to us.” for as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.”(Rom.8:14).With your body you can contact only the physical realm. with your mind you can contact only the mental realm/solical/intellectual realm,but with the spirit you can contact the spiritual realm,from where God speaks.That is why I encourage you to speak in tongues that is way you can build yourself up.” for if I pray in an unknown tongue, my spirit prayeth,but my understanding is unfruitful.”(1Cor.14:14).Our understanding /our natural human mentality is a part of our soul. My spirit really prays, when you pray in tongues. Paul doesn’t say when I pray in tongues my intellect prays/soul prays. No when I pray in tongues my spirit prays.That is a great benefit to hear the word of God.” for he that speaketh in an unknown tongue speaketh not unto men, but unto God.”(1Cor.14:2). God had promised thru the mouth of Isaiah.”With men of other tongues and other lips will I speak unto this people.”(1Cor.14:21).That is the way God will speak to us.”but God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit, for the Spirit searcheth all things,yea,the deep things of God.”(1Cor.2:10).
David says “I will hear what God the lord will speak, for he will speak peace unto his people, and to his saints.”(Ps.85:8).God not only spoke to David, but even to his saints. Yes he can speak to all of us, if we just allow the spirit to tell us. The primary way is through inward witness. There is always a check in you when you are thinking upon something. Either you get an eerie feeling, or like a red light of the signal you get a warning/or a sign to stop. It was not the voice, but an inward intuition. There are many times I get this kind of indication, wherein I think I should not do a certain thing.” He will speak peace unto his people.” It will always be peace. Certain things, you may continue to avoid, but it will come back to you in your thoughts, and it will make you a little bit uneasy. It has happened to me, and then I would say. Lord do you want me to do it this way, and then I will do it. and when I thought it that way, I would feel better in me. that was the go ahead signal. that is the witness I talk about. If you only learn to follow that inward witness, you will be successful/rich/he will guide you in all affairs of your life, whether it is financial/spiritual/relational. At other times he will lead you by the inner voice/inner conscience. Paul says “I say the truth in Christ, I lie not, my conscience also bearing witness in the holy Ghost.”(Rom.9:1).your spirit has a voice and he will speak to you to lead you and guide yu.There are times when I have decided to do a certain thing, and then gone off to sleep, and as I told you, I have no trouble in sleeping the bible says “He giveth his beloved sleep.”(Ps.127:2).I am his beloved, so are you.” he hath made us accepted in the beloved.”(Eph.1:6).so every time we go to sleep. we have a family prayer, and we sleep. but then there are times I don’t get sleep. My conscience hurts me. My conscience is the voice of my spirit. My spirit knows that I am listening to the natural, but not the spirit. that is the time I say Lord. do you want me that I should not take that step? Okay then I will not, and instantly I would fall asleep, and In the morning I know what I have to do. There are times when I have taken a particular decision, that I would wake up early, and that thought would be coming in me. then I would say. Lord is it that I am acting naturally? Please let me know. For in the natural I want to do it this way, but I don’t want to stand in your way. Then I hear him speak to me, and it at times is beyond my thinking. and I say. Lord Is it possible? but then it happens when I do it Gds way.Ex:I was buying this house, and I said. Lord I liked this house, but I wont be able to pay that amount? So I just put it off. but I was restless. at night. I said. do you want to buy it? I will, if you can help. He just led me to phone the owner up, and I did. he was ready to sell it to us, and I got the finance too for it, which was not possible. Praise Gd.Our spirit picks up things from the Holy Spirit.” I will stand upon my watch, and set me upon the tower,and will watch to see what he will say unto me,and what I shall answer when I am reproved.And the lord answered me.”(Hab.2:1,2). “I will hear what God the lord will speak.” In other words. I have spoken enough/or too much now I will hear what God will speak, and welcome his holy will. Speak for thy servant heareth.He will speak peace, the peace of God that surpasseth all understanding.O within may be fears/but soon it will be replaced with peace.God will do it. let us have an hearing ear.
2).WHAT ARE THE BLESSINGS AND LOSES OF HEARING AND NOT HEARING GOD?
We have this problem of either we don’t want the leading of the spirit or then we do take the help of the leading of the Spirit, because we are so established and so familiar with certain things that God had done before, that we think God will move the same way, or say to do the same things/or the same way even this time, and so when God moves differently this time, we go the way of the old time. and we fall flat on our faces.You know of Moses.You know how the children of Israel craved for water, and Moses cried to the lord.and the lord said.” Behold I will stand before thee there upon the rock in Horeb,and thou shall smite the rock and there shall come forth water out of it, that the people may drink, and Moses did that.(Ex.17:6).Then later on, after a long time. again they needed water. and God said.” speak ye unto the rock before their eyes,and it shall give forth his water.”(Num.20:8).Bible says. Moses “smote the rock, twice and water came out of it.(v.11).He thought why need I to ask God for the same thing. I am so familiar with God and certain things of God are same.But how foolish we are. God was angry with Moses.”Because you believed me not to sanctify me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this congregation into the land which I have given tem.”(v.12).You sees God keeps changing and moving in creative ways continually. There are some things that are the same yesterday, today and forever. But there are some things that will keep changing so that you don’t get too comfortable and trust in your own strength and don’t lean on God. It is what God demands that we be willing to change when he moves in a new way. Anything that is repeated in the same way, becomes monotonous, and loses its charm/sanctity/holiness/.it becomes mundane. Aren’t some of the songs that we sing carry an anointing? O like we sing that song of Yeshu ke haath.everyone is singing. You get in your house you are singing and you love the lord. You are caught up in that song. But after a month or so you realize that you are still singing but something has changed. Because you are so used to that song that you are signing it now for the sake of singing it. It is become by heart.and it is not like when you first started it. So though you know that song you lost the anointing. The songs are the same, but it seems to get dull, the song never changed, the tune was the same, but we have changed. Do you see that? Now know this that God never wants us to be comfortable in an area where we are not willing to change and where we are depending on our own strength. Whenever we reach a point where we become comfortable God starts rocking our boat. Like when God saw that Abraham was becoming comfortable he asked him to sacrifice his son whom he loved. God always demands our surrender. So when we sing the same old songs, we tend to lose the grip, and that is why the Psalmist says sing a new song unto the lord. Light is the same but we need to enter into different dimensions of it, and rays of it. Now look at Elijah he had seen the power of God working in his life. it was a daily miracle, for the crow to bring him his breakfast and dinner. You know of all the birds it was crows? they are the most stingy birds in the air. Yet God worked through it. If God can change the crow, he can change a donkey he can change us too. Now the brook had dried up. At such times people would give up, because was it not God that sent him there?Yes.But yet the brook dried up. Yes but at such times we learn the importance of clinging to God and to his word. that is the time we need to hold on to the promises of God. Elijah saw the change, but since he was a God listener, his trust never changed, it still was unfailing. He listened to Gd. Had it not been the lord that had sent Elijah to dwell by the brook Cherith,and now its waters were dried up? How do you explain that? Here is a very vital lesson to learn from the drying of the brook Cherith.Through it God endeavors to make us see and feel that our dependency should be on him alone, and that it is not that God once said, and that is all, now we should cling to the brook cherith for our sustenance, I told you, when he sees us comfortable he starts rocking our little boats of comfort/security. Because when we are too comfortable we don’t have fellowship with God. He listened to God the first time, and now again he is listening to God. If you can listen to God all the time you will never panic. You may lose your job,but if you still listen to God. he will tell you.My son fear not. I have something else for you ,which is far better. In every situation that you face in life, if you can only hear God you would be in perfect peace.”Thou will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee,because he trusteth in thee.”(Isa.26:3).You see God wants to speak to you. You are born again; The Spirit of God is in you. He will lead you there. If you want to better hear God in this new dispensation, then I will show you how to contact God effectively. Pray in tongues most of the time. Yes I encourage you to speak in tongues as much as you can.What did Jesus say?” In the last day that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, if any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet [given]; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.)”(Jn.7:37-39).When you receive the Holy Spirit, out of your belly shall flow rivers of living water. What is this belly? It is the innermost being/the spirit being. Didnt David say the same thing.” The spirit of man is the candle of the lord, searching all the INWARD PARTS OF THE BELLY.”(Prov.20:27).See that? All the leadings I have ever received have come from out of my spirit. And most of them have come when I was praying in tongues/or meditating on the word. When you are praying in tongues your spirit is very active. Many people have not reached to great success, because they have learnt and done only one kind of praying, and that is praying with the understanding, or mental praying. How sad to see Christians fighting spiritual battles with mental and physical abilities. In the crisis that Elijah was in, he needed the help of God.He needed God to speak to him, and if he had been near and around the vicinity of Ahab, he would have been restless. How many times God wants us to get into the closet that he can get us to hear him?” Hide by the brook of Cherith.’That is what God said. In the hidden life he could hear God. Be alone with me. Elijah had just become famous as an adversary of Ahab, because his prayers stopped the rain.At the moment of his new-found fame, God wanted Elijah to hide and be alone with God. "We must not be surprised, then, if sometimes our Father says: 'There, child, thou hast had enough of this hurry, and publicity, and excitement; get thee hence, and hide thyself by the brook - hide thyself in the Cherith, and there I will speak to you. That name “Cherith”means “to cut up or off/away.” This shows that God has some cutting to do in the life of Elijah, cutting of from his people, from your daily mundane work, cut off from all, get into the closet that God may speak to him. Through it God wants to show to you, how rickety/wobbly/alterable/changeable is the earth. but how stable/steady/steadfast is our God. We depend on our wisdom, and he turns it into foolishness, we are in worldly prosperity, and he strikes us down from the pinnacle of our wealth/our greatness, O hw he teaches us, we love somebody and he asks us to lay them on the altar, and others he takes them away, and yet how few of us and how few times we have learned the great lesson .Our hearts are still in the world, and he sends sorrow upon sorrow. Now listen God said to Elijah.” Go to Zarephath.’but notice God said something else.” I have commanded a widow to feed you.” Now she was not a rich widow, that who had a big estate, and what kind of welcome did he receive? When he went to the widow, all was ready; the banquet prepared for him, and a widow with hand towel standing beside the chair to serve him.No.there was a widow with suicidal tendencies and with tears running down her cheeks. Her son a skinny fellow standing beside her. She had just a little oil and a little flour, and she was ready to make bread of it and eat it and die. But had not God said I have commanded her? Yes he said so. But I thought if God had said, then he would send me to the best house in Zarphath, and I would get a warm welcome with a hot dinner. Who said that? I thought I would be shouting hallelujah/praise Gd.Well if you cannot shout glory in little things that God does, how/why should he give you a banquet? Now listen to this principle of God. He fed Elijah only in the widow’s home. Why could he not do the miracle in the desert itself.? God has a purpose. Now there are times, when you may have heard Gds word right, but the other person may have not heard you. See that was the case here. When God spoke to Elijah,God had also spoken to the widow. Her problem was God had spoken to her,but she didn’t hear it. Didnt God tell Elijah. I have commanded her.” Now how did God charge the widow? Here “commanded” also means “charged/commanded/.Now by the way she speaks to Elijah of dying. it would seem that either she was not commanded, or that she never heard God. When one is stooped in trouble, he often neglects Gds still voice. That is why when we are in trouble, instead of getting all worked up about it, try to hear God. Has it not been said. He spoke and it was done, and he commanded and it stood fast? He shall give his angels charge over thee? So divinely a message/messenger had been sent to her, in what way/how I don’t know, but possibly her faith was so low that she did not give into the message, for the message was. I am sending you a man of Gd,feed him, and he will bless you. Now this seemed so absurd for her, for she said. here I am dying with just one evening meal for me and my son, and this messenger who came visiting me says. I should give something, to the man of Gd,and I will be blessed. I don’t believe it at all. O how we miss God. If you don’t hear God in an evil situation, there are chances of you dying/losing in your situation without ever coming out of it. To hear God is deliverance. Some people live and die, and they die early because they don’t hear God. Thank God Elijah heard God. If Elijah had also not heard God, probably he would have died, and died early. and instead of one funeral there would have been two. We need to hear God, and God does speak. But firstly and primarily he speaks to us thru his word. If you don’t read the word,you will not know what God is saying.Secondly he also speaks thru the inward witness.Though I may not speak in detail, we will deal about it in detail some other time,exclusively.”The spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit.”(Rom.8:16).Beloved if you will only learn to follow that inward witness, God can make you rich, he can deliver you, he can give you bread in the midst of famine, he can send you to cherith,he can make a widow available for your blessing. You will not die but live.” For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.’(Rom.8:14).O this is the most important. thing that can happen to you.God had said it “a new heart also will I give you,and a new spirit will I put within you,and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do [them]. (Eze.36:26, 27).
Why didn’t the widow hear God?” And she said, [As] the LORD thy God liveth, I have not a cake, but an handful of meal in a barrel, and a little oil in a cruse: and, behold, I [am] gathering two sticks, that I may go in and dress it for me and my son, that we may eat it, and die.”(v.12). Did you notice how many “I” and how many “my” and how many “we” was there? I/me/my is the downfall of many good Christians. Her problem was she was self centered/self conscious, and not God conscious. If you are self centered you will never hear from God. If we are self-absorbed/it gives place to ego. But when you are benevolent/giving/unselfish. you will hear God. There is always blessings that come when you hear to obey. she was so absorbed in her life/her sons life/her own situation/my problem, my lack of food, my this ,my that. and then in the end our funeral. Self centeredness kills you. but when you die for others you shall live, but when you live for yourself you will die. We are born again. Now it is no more I but Christ.In the world we have this saying, that the opposite of love is hate.but in the bible the opposite of love is self. Paul says it.” seeks not her own.”(1Cor.13:5).Love believes all things. That is love. Love is what Jesus did on the cross. there it shows that he never lived for self, but for others, that is why he got a resurrection. He who saves his life shall lose it,but he who loses his life for Christ sake, shall gain it. He lived for others, not only the ones that he was acquainted with but beyond them. In his prayer he said.” father I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me thru their word.”(Jn.17:20).He looked far, beyond. The opposite. of love is self. She lived for self, and the more she lived for self, the more she was dying. She said. see what I have, I am gathering a few sticks, I have this little flour, this little oil. she had natural eyes. she was self centered, and she was dying too. Beloved she was hurt in her life, and that hurt was causing her to deprive the blessings to others. You know how some people think. If I have been deprived of this thing, let me not rejoice/or let me not help anybody. Let them also come the hard way, for I have come the hard way. That is not proper. If you are living in hurt, you are not dead spiritually speaking. but a person who is in Christ is crucified on the cross. He doesn’t feel a thing. You can curse him/spit on him/he doesn’t feel. Remember any hurt you have in your life is your pride being pricked. If your name is spoilt why do you worry? you are dead in Christ. Be concerned abut retaining Christ’s name. When Peter was called to walk on the water, he did it fine as long as his eyes were fixed on Jesus, but when his eyes turned to the waves he started sinking. Never let your natural/circumstances/replace the vision of the spirit, because soon disaster strikes. In some way God had reached to her,but she missed the voice/the messenger, while Elijah heard/the raven heard. Beloved is there a situation you are facing right now that seems to press you down? whether healing/finance/or any area of your life? dont be too filled with the voices of the world. Paul says “there are, it maybe, so many kinds of voices in the world, and none of them is without significance.”(1Cor.14:10).There are many voices and each has meaning. Every voice has an expression and meaning. Beloved was not John the. Baptist a voice of one crying in the wilderness prepare the way of the lord? but how many listened? Yes was there not a voice of the unclean spirit shouting out and crying with a loud voice, and saying what have I to do with you? There is also the voice of the father saying. this is my beloved Son.O his sheep will hear his voice. But for that you need to move closer to God as it is said.” when Moses saw it, he wondered at the sight, and as he drew near to behold it the voice of the lord came unto him.”(Acts.7:31).Beloved she must have heard many voices crying for bread/cursing Gd,because she lived in an idolatrous place of Ahab and Jezebel. Whose voice are you hearing? Does not the bible say when Herod spoke the people gave a shout saying it is the voice of a god, and not man? How mistaken they were, for their god immediately was struck down by the angel of the lord. Beloved see God, in your situation/financial strait/in your family/trouble. Beloved when you are only thinking on self. you lose track on Gd,and his activity/miracle, and it effects you, did you see how she saw her circumstances and was ready to die. what she feared most came upon her. Hope is the last thing that loses ones grip. If you lose hope you are lost forever. hope never rises high when you see your circumstances and not beyond. Faith is higher, it is the substance of things hoped for. But even if you have no strong faith to conquer a sitation,at least maintain your hope. When there is God there is God. where you don’t see God you don’t have hope. for he is the God of hope. Now Elijah said. first make me a cake, and give me water, and afterward whatever left over is there you can take of it and feed yourself and your Son.O strange are the ways of God. But then it has to be strange to them, that are self centered. We feel bad about the way God moves with certain people, but God knows what he does. he wants us to focus on him, rather than on self. I have seen people when they are concerned about others, God blesses them. One sister testified. I was suffering from chronic aliments, and I was crying for myself at the meeting, but then I looked at others who were crying for their ailments, and I said. Lord not me first but her, because she suffers more than me. and she began to be concerned about other woman, and she didn’t realize it, she was healed herself too. when you stop being concerned about self, and begin to pour your life for others, you put yourself in the line of healing. Some people say. why doesGod have to work round about.. Why make it hard for me to receive. God wants your faith to act. He wants you to conquer the natural then you can be a blessing to others as well. But why can’t the man of God just call me up on the stage from the congregation and say. thus says the lord you are healed? See God has many ways to deal with each one of us. God is not just concerned about your immediate needs, but for your whole life and the span of it. He wants you to know him, and walk with him. He wants you to know that there is something called keeping the healing also by faith. He wants to change your character. Take for instance the prophet of God. Kenneth Hagin.He was just 15 yrs old and he was dying. The pastor came and said the last prayer, and he prayed.O lord let your will be done. Give the mother the strength to take it/bear the circumstances that will be coming upon her. and that too right on his face. He cried out. No I want to live. He got hold of the word Mk.11:23,24.and claimed it/and received it every day. He spoke to God every day. and one day he heard Gd.It is not hearing and obeying, but hearing to obey. God will enlighten us, God will speak to us, and then best way God can lead us today in the New dispensation is through our spirits. In the Old he led them by the pillar of fire, because they were not born again. their spirits were dead, but now he leads us by the renewed spirit. But sadly many times we seek guidance by means other than the way God said. when we do that, we get into trouble. We sometimes judge how God is leading by what our physical senses tell us. But the bible never says, that God will guide us through our physical senses. There are others who look at things thru their mental standpoint, but there then God does not say that he would guide us thru our minds, he guides us by our spirits. The spirit of man is the candle of the lord. God does want to guide even those unbelievers at times, that he does by his mercy, but they don’t listen, and so there is a little light shone by God.” How often is the candle of the wicked put out and how often cometh their destruction upon them, God distributeth sorrows in his anger.”(Job.21:17).it is not the salvation light/or the renewed spirits, but their glory their light/their prosperity/their life. Now Kenneth Hagin did not just hear, but heard to obey. and the lord said. If you are healed. what are you doing on the bed? healthy people rise up early and are off the bed. He jumped out, and struggled a little bit, but he walked for the first time after almost a year. the whole room spun around him. but he started shouting I am healed. He walked, slowly but surely. He became a mighty man of God. The day he got healed he was just 15.16.but Jesus was not just interested in his healing. but was seeing the blessing of holding to God, hearing of God, walking in faith, walking and clinging to God and his word, and blessing others in the world. Many lose on this area. When they want to be healed/blessed/immediately, they become self centered, and when things come easy, you don’t value it. Yes God wants to heal you,but also he wants a change in the whole dimension of your life. He wants you to have a strong testimony of faith/yeildedness/commitment/and knowledge of God. that he can use you as a testimony. Now when she saw something in what Elijah said and did. she had faith rising in her. and surely the flour was not used up nor did the jar of oil run dry. As God blessed the house of Obed-edom of old, though a gentile, yet because he gave place to the ark of God, which speaks of Gds word. so also God blessed this widow, not only with physical sustenance, BT she came to know the living God as well. Beloved she gave out of the meager she had, and what she discovered was the law of God at work with all effectiveness.’ whosever shall give to drink unto one of these little ones a cup of cold water only in the name of a disciple, verily I say unto you, he shall in no wise lose his reward.’(Mt.10;42).Yu can imagine. Elijah now staying under the roof of the widow of Zarephath.The famine was still raging among the thousands around. But as each mornings sun arose on the members of this blessed home,lo,the barrel and the cruse which the evening meal seemed to have exhausted were again replenished. Gods mercies are new every morning, and his faithfulness every night. says the preacher. We can only venture to imagine how the prophet must have spent his hours in this secluded place. He could have walked up the mountain the rocky ridges and looked down on the snows of Hermon,and Tabor.he would have wandered near the seal of Galilee, little realizing that the God whom he served will later walk on the very shores of the lake. Yes and when the barrel had supplied the its evening meal, and the lamp had been lighted from the unfailing oil cruise, you can imagine him calling the mother and the son and would have preached to them the divine character of the God of Israel. How the blessings would come upon all of the earth.O picture how he must have narrated to them about the God of Israel. He must have narrated to them those eventful scenes of the how Israel were under bondage in Egypt, the exodus, the wilderness and the conquest of Canaan the wonders of David and Solomon. He would have taught them the songs of Israel.” Happy is he that has the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the lord his God.’He must have opened the scriptures tot hem. “Which executeth judgment for the oppressed: which giveth food to the hungry. The LORD looseth the prisoners:”(Ps.146:7). ‘The LORD preserveth the strangers; he relieveth the fatherless and widow:”(v.9).I believe that they would have been tutored by this great man of God. There they might have seen the dumbness of Baal, and the insensitivity of the idol worship.O How wonderful to hear the word of Gd.how wonderful to see God working in our stead.I pray that God may open our eyes to this area of truth. Praise God!!!
By Peter David Silway.
Peter Silway Ministries.
Vineyard Workers Church,India
