Based on “When the Heat Gets Turned Up” by Pastor Dean Corns;
8/28-29/10, Message #DC133; Daily Devotional #3 - “Facing Spiritual Heat”
Preparing the Soil (Introduction): Elijah went before the people and said, “How long will you waver between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him.” But the people said nothing. (1 Kings 18:21)
Planting and Watering the Seed (Growth): During Elijah’s time of prophecy, King Ahab was on the throne. He was an evil king, married to Jezebel, who in turn provoked Ahab to place Baal idols and altars all over Samaria. Ahab also made an Asherah pole and did more to provoke the Lord, the God of Israel, to anger than did all the kings of Israel before him. (1 Kings 16:33) Needless to say, it wasn’t a good time in Elijah’s day, just as it wasn’t in Daniel’s, Shadrach’s, Meshach’s and Abednego’s day. Ahab had made a line in the sand and dared anyone to step to the other side. Elijah stuck to his commitment to God which prompted a showdown on Mount Carmel. “Now summon the people from all over Israel to meet me on Mount Carmel. And bring the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal and the four hundred prophets of Asherah, who eat at Jezebel’s table.” (I Kings 18:19) There on Mount Carmel, Ahab’s prophets and Elijah each built an altar. “Then call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of the LORD. The god who answers by fire – he is God.” (I Kings 18:24) All day and night the prophets cried out to their god. I love what the Bible says: …but there was no response; no one answered…. (1 Kings 18:26) Now it was Elijah’s turn. Elijah was so confident that the Lord was going to answer, that he poured water all over the offering, the altar, and the wood, not once, but three times. At the time of sacrifice, the prophet Elijah stepped forward and prayed; “Oh LORD, God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, let it be known today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant and have done all these things at your command. Answer me, O LORD; answer me, so these people will know that you, O LORD, are God, and that you are turning their hearts back to them.” Then the fire of the Lord fell and burned up the sacrifice, the wood and the stones, and the soil, and also licked up the water in the trench. When all the people saw this, they fell prostrate and cried, “The LORD – he is God! The LORD – he is God!” (I Kings 18:36-39) If they didn’t believe Elijah before, they certainly believed him now. I am sure the people watching that day took Elijah as a joke, but as the day progressed and their god was paying no attention, all eyes were watching to see if his God was going to pay any attention. If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened; but God has surely listened and heard my voice in prayer. Praise be to God, who has not rejected my prayer or withheld his love from me! (Psalm 66:18-20) We serve an amazing God, the One and only true God who answers to even the most simple of us in the midst of a trial.
Harvesting the Crop (Action/Response): Even after this amazing miracle, the country of Israel went from bad to worse. Elijah, himself, ran away from the situation. But in the quietness after the wind and the earthquake (1 Kings 19:11-12), the Lord spoke to Elijah to return and face the spiritual heat, even though he had already faced it once before on Mount Carmel. There are times like that in our lives when we are still healing from the wounds of a time of trial or celebrating the victory over our last spiritual battle when another one seems to hit. It’s in those moments that we need to remember that being in the fire with Jesus is better than sipping iced tea with the king.
Cultivating (Additional Reading): Joshua 24:14-16; 1 Kings 18
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All Bible references are from the New International Version (NIV) unless otherwise noted.