Praise be to the wonderful and powerful name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ!
He is the Aleph and Tav, the Beginning and the End. The Bible symbolizes the number seven as representing completeness. We see this in the seven days of Creation, the seven times Joshua marched around Jericho, and the seven seals of Revelation. Seven is the number of completion.
But what about the number six? Man was created on the sixth day. Six is not complete; it is imperfect. We were created imperfect. Today is imperfect. But tomorrow, when the perfect comes, the partial will be done away with. As 1 Corinthians 13:9 says, "But when the perfect comes, the partial will be done away."
God is the center of all that is happening today. We serve a powerful God—a God who created the heavens and the earth with just a word. We serve a God whose name is Jesus. The Bible would be incomplete without Jesus. You cannot understand the law, the prophets, the psalms, or the New Testament without knowing Him.
The name of Jesus is a strong and mighty tower in times like these. It is the name that heals our sickness, changes our lives, and stands above every other name given in heaven and on earth. Isaiah 13:13 reminds us of the power of God: "Therefore I will make the heavens tremble, and the earth will be shaken from its place at the wrath of the LORD of Hosts on the day of His burning anger."
The Lord says in Isaiah 66:1-2, "Heaven is My throne, and the earth is My footstool. Where then is a house you could build for Me? For My hands made all these things, thus all these things came into being." He is so far above us, yet He looks to the one who is humble and contrite of spirit, who trembles at His word.
During the lockdown, everything in our lives seemed to go down—our finances, businesses, wealth, and even our habits. But God's Word remained, shining like a fire in the darkness.
Now, consider what Elijah faced: a king and queen who despised him, 850 prophets of Baal, and no assurance of survival if God didn’t show up. Yet, Elijah trusted God.
Elijah did something extraordinary when he called on the Lord to send fire from heaven. He didn’t just prepare the sacrifice; he drenched it with water. Not once, but three times. He soaked the wood, the stones, the sacrifice, and even filled a trench around the altar with water. Why did he do this? Why would he make it humanly impossible for the fire to catch?
Elijah wanted to make it clear that what was about to happen was not a coincidence or a stroke of luck. Remember, this was during a severe drought—three and a half years without rain. The land was dry, and some might have claimed that a fire was a natural occurrence due to the dry conditions. But Elijah removed any possibility of such claims by soaking everything in water.
By doing this, Elijah was saying, "When this fire falls, you will know without a doubt that it is the Lord who has done this." It was a demonstration of God’s unmatched power, making sure that no one could say it was anything other than a divine act. The fire that fell from heaven didn’t just ignite the sacrifice—it consumed the wood, the stones, the dust, and even the water in the trench. There was no other explanation; the Lord, He is God!
In these imperfect times, we need to build our altars and trust God to show His power. The enemy knows our name but calls us by our sin. But God knows our sin and calls us by our name.
Just as Elijah built an altar and soaked it to demonstrate the undeniable power of God, we too must prepare our hearts, our altars, and our lives, so that when God moves, there is no mistaking it—it is Him and Him alone. We serve a God who turns our imperfections into His perfect work. He takes what seems impossible and makes it a testimony of His greatness.
Let us be reminded of who we are in Christ, and not focus on what we cannot be. Let us build our altars so that God can show His power for a revival.
Conclusion:
In these times of uncertainty, let us remember that we serve a perfect God. We are imperfect, but when the perfect comes, the partial will be done away with. Let us continue to trust in the powerful name of Jesus, build our altars, and wait for the fire of God to fall.
May the Lord bless you and keep you. Amen.
