Lesson 7

Impact of the Life of Elijah and its application

Elijah his Message

 

Elijah Review: 1 Kgs 17:2-4     

 

Now we find Elijah under orders from God to go to the brook Cherith and the promise of provision while there.

 

It would become a place of testing but also of spiritual nourishment and growth.

 

What does it mean to have ears to hear?  What about all the times we’re challenged to hear what the Spirit says to the Churches?

 

 

 

The only way we find true satisfaction or meaning in life is to hear the invisible, inaudible voice of the living God, the Lord Jesus, through developing our capacity to hear and see Him by spending time with Him in the Word.

 

Application:   Spiritually speaking, God has designed our time alone with Him to be a place where we can feed on His Word and think on the Lord, to be a kerith to us, a place of cutting, a place where God can chisel away on our character and cut the thinking of this world, this age out of our hearts. 

 

We need this time alone that we might draw upon our supernatural resources in the Lord, His Word and prayer which forms the basis for a life of faith.

 

 

We are to do this to bring God's influence over every area of our lives:

our motivations in life, what moves us, the things that pull us to conform or to compete,

our perspective on life, why we are here and what are we seeking,

our priorities and values, which impacts our use of our time, talents, treasures, and truth, and

our thought processes (2 Cor. 10:3-5). 

 

 

As we live our lives, we are challenged daily, nearly everyday we are  faced with a number of tests that challenge our faith, obedience, love for God, our virtues and priorities, and how we respond to these challenges demonstrate just how real God is to us.

 

 

Like wise it is when we take time to hide ourselves in the Word, to take some time away from the pressures of the day, that we begin to really experience the power of God in our  life. 

 

Its  there where we develop our dependence on Him and an increased love of our Savior;  and it will result in bringing order and strength to our spiritual life. 

 

If we desire to develop our relationship with Him and want to have true spiritual success in our life it is fundamental. 

 

 

It is there that we experience the power of God and the defeat of Satan and the influence of his world system with all of its distractions and counterfeits. 

 

 

Note the priority the Savior put on having time alone with His heavenly Father in the midst of a very busy schedule and how this directed his actions and objectives (Mark 1:32-38). 

 

Another reason for Elijah's time alone was PROTECTION. 

 

 

It was protection from himself;

 

Therefore hiding ourselves becomes a protection against burn-out, against lives of futility, against living to please people rather than God, and from becoming preoccupied with this world rather than with our God and what we have being in Christ.

 

This is not a call to monasticism. 

 

 

Furthermore, we will certainly be more apt to serve from biblical motives rather than the huvpt, often neurotic motivations of self-centered living or from a misplaced sense of responsibility. 

 

Let's look at some verses where satar is used; this word that means "to hide." 

Deut 29:29

 

Psalm 119:18-19

143:7-8

 

 

Questions in Summary:  

(1) What causes God to hide His presence from us? 

 

(2) Why do we lose sight of God's presence when He has so forcefully promised never to leave nor to forsake us?

 

(3) Why do we sometimes fail to experience the sustaining grace of His presence, strength and support so that we do not burn out, blow up, fall away, or deviate from a productive walk of faith with the Lord?

 

Answers:  

(1)  Because we fail to hide ourselves in His presence to draw upon His life, to evaluate and reorder our thinking according to the principles and promises of the Word

      (cf. Ps. 119:30, 105, 130, 147-148; Ps. 119:23, 49-52; and 143:4-8)

 

 

(2)  Another reason is because of unconfessed sin.  Many act as though God does not know nor care about what we do and we ignore our sins (Isa. 29:15; 40:27; Jer. 16:17; Isa. 59:1 with verses 2 and 9; and Ps. 32:1-6 with verse 7).

 

 

 

Application: The command to Elijah was, "go hide, conceal, or absent yourself." 

 

 

All around us voices are clamoring for our attention, time, and service. 

 

b. There is a Mystery aspect to God's Guidance

What God told Elijah to do was no mystery.  God's directions to Elijah were clear, just as the basic principles of God's moral will in Scripture are for us today. 

 

 

God's guidance usually comes to us one step at a time, which goes contrary to human nature. 

 

For the most part, God's plan is one day at a time, i.e., "give us this day our daily bread." 

 

 

But someone may ask, "shouldn't we make plans and set goals?"

Yes, but it is helpful to remember two important passages in Proverbs as we do:   Pr. 16:1;  Pr. 16:9

 

 

"Steps" is figurative of the course of one's life. 

 

We are to trust, commit, rest in God's perfect wisdom, and loving care, knowing that His power is sufficient, His purposes, and plan for each of us is perfect, its complete, that’s true no matter how things look to us. 

 

 

Ps. 119:133 Establish (kun) my footsteps in Thy word, And do not let any iniquity have dominion over me.   

 

 

Look at Phil. 2:13 “to will, to work  shaping of the vpt/desires

 

How?  Rom 12:2;