The Search For Significance

It all began with a birth. The newborn child saw his mother as his caregiver and wanted her to hold him, to feed him, and to love him. He wanted to be important in her eyes. As he grew, he included his father into his need to be important and any siblings, and all the while his heart was looking for significance; he sought the attention of those around him.

As time went on, he found some friends and wanted to be important in their eyes as well. Peer Pressure set in and began to control his desire for significance. Each one of us knows this search as if it were our own!

While it is not necessarily wrong to be significant in someone’s eyes, I do want to set this in context and where it started and where it could go.

To understand this in its entirety we have to understand where the search began.

God had created each one of us with a significance built in to us. As created by God, we are his, we are cared for, we are protected, and we are loved. This same care was afforded the angelic beings at the beginning of time.

As God created Mankind, Lucifer already being significant in God’s eyes, wanted yet more significance. His heart was set on being as important to those around him as God is. Going against the established setup is always rebellion and Lucifer rebelled against his Creator and God for the sake of being significant to yet more people/angels. Lucifer was an archangel in community of angels meaning that his role was actually a leader in the angelic realm. As a leader, Lucifer lead a full-fledged revolt against the Lord God of Heaven and he became the ultimate leader to one third of the angels.

I will be like God and be my own boss, he thought. No more will I have to bow before the Almighty in worship or submission was his thinking. Was he right? No! Lucifer also known as Satan still has to bow in submission to God. He does have some reign to do his own thing, but he will pay for anything that is in rebellion to God. Since he is living in rebellion with no hope for redemption, all is lost. So did Satan become like God? No! Satan is not Almighty, and his plans need to fall into submission to his Creator. Satan is not All-knowing, not Omni-present, nor is he All-powerful.

While God did create man and woman significant in His eyes, their desire to be more significant drove them to disobedience. You shall be as gods, was the motive behind their rebellion, and the opportunity to become as gods was too much to pass up they thought, and they made their choice to be their own master of their life, bringing with this choice all the corruption and vices this world knows today.

The Pharisaical Leaders of Jesus day allowed their desire to be significant to initiate some really obnoxious behavior, and while making a show of worshiping God, they demanded others to sit up and take notice of their righteousness, and piety by blowing on horns when they stopped to pray on the street corners and by clanging huge purses full of gold into the tithe box. The reality is that, though they may have been respected leaders in Israel; they were not worshiping God but were worshiping their righteousness, and the admiration of the people of Israel.

Wanting to be significant moves men and women to do strange things, and in today’s society; we find ourselves looking for ways to be known. We have the Guinness Book of Records, along with the infamy that accompanies the criminal. It is as if the world has given up on trying to be holy and no longer seeks the approval of Jehovah for the sake of being significant in the eyes of the world.

Years ago mankind would have taken a greater pleasure in dressing distinguished but now dress has become so casual that our lifestyle has followed suit.

The significance that God has placed within our being is not brought about by our works whether good or evil, but is there as a part of the creation of our being. We may choose to disregard the significance that God has placed in our heart and be the master of our own soul, but wait; there is no such thing, we will either be serving Jehovah, or the devil and which, my friends will it be?

Now that “All we like sheep have gone astray”, how do we regain the significance with God? It won’t by our own works of righteousness, but by a broken and contrite heart. So go ahead and humble yourself before the Lord, and recognize His Supremacy, His Authority, and his Life within you; and live life like never before. It may be difficult to stay the path, but worth it all, for Jesus Christ has paid the penalty for our rebellion and opened the door to re-establish a relationship with you!

‪#‎significance‬ ‪#‎relationshipwithGod‬ ‪#‎infamy‬ ‪#‎brokenandcontrite‬

Trauma Doesn't Mean We Aren't Blessed

2 Kings 4

Our study today is summed up by giving personal examples of how if you want God to intervene in your life then you must ask! God knows your need you say, well so He does; but the Word of God in various places that we must ask before we receive good at the hand of God! There are some standard blessings that apply in most scenarios like life, and health and so on. This life is about trust and honor and we do live in a cursed world so circumstances arise giving birth to sorrow, and pain, maybe even hopelessness; but we must ask, and if God blesses us by turning our affliction away then we are blessed, if God blesses us by making us stronger of faith by taking us on a real journey of mountains and valleys then we are blessed. We could be blessed by God giving us wisdom where we lacked it.

Numbers 27:21 (Ask Counsel)
2 Chronicles 20:4-30 (Ask help from God) 2 Chronicles 20:4,17
Zechariah 10:1 (Ask for rain, even when there has been a season of dryness - Spiritual and physical)
Matthew 7:7-12 Luke 11:11-13 (Ask, Seek, Knock - Good gifts)
James 1:5 (Ask Wisdom)

The woman in our study today had no ulterior motives when offering Elisha the extra room she and her husband had made for him. She apparently had been moved by God to prepare first a meal for him and then a room for him to spend the night. When Elisha offered to speak well of her to the higher authorities, she indicated she was content to live among her people.

The village of Shunem was located on a piece of land that had been designated for the Tribe of Issachar. Joshua 19:17-23 It was located about three miles from Jezreel which was known as the city of the kings. It was here that the saga of Naboth’s Vineyard played out resulting in his death.

This woman for whom we have no name recorded, was barren and could have no children. Elisha, as a thank you had his servant keep his eyes on some way he could help her to thank her for her kindness. Through this a special son/child was born as a miracle for her husband was old. God honored Elisha's request to give her a son.

The Shunammite woman's son, who was promised by Elisha as a spokesman/prophet for God did on a hot morning while he was helping his father with the harvest. He had complained of a severe headache and his father had sent him home to be cared for there. He died about noon and his mother took his body up to Elisha's room and laid it on Elisha's bed. She then went to get Elisha.

There was no panic, no deep distress after the death of her child. She didn’t even tell her husband that their child was dead. He had known the son wasn’t feeling well, and had taken him home to be taken care of there.

She told her husband that she was going to the prophet and “it would be well”. She had faith that God’s servant would be able to raise her son. She uttered no angry words to the prophet of God, she didn’t say “What kind of God would do that”.

The Shunammite woman sought, and knocked physically when she went after the prophet. There are three steps to asking: just plain asking “May I have this situation reversed”, Seeking is a more intense type of asking and then there is beating on the gates of Heaven (metaphorically of course they are not shut by day nor by night).

The words she used, “It is well” is the same word used for peace and safety. The Strong’s Concordance says, “safe - for example, well, happy, friendly, also as an abstract meaning it means welfare, such as health prosperity and peace, to do or ask a favor.

The definition of Shalom is quite varied and to determine what exactly she meant could be difficult, but there are several things we can take away from this: First of all, there was peace, not panic; Secondly, she was seeking for someone’s welfare Thirdly, She was asking a favour of both her husband and Elisha.

There are a couple of questions that arise from this account. What was Elisha doing at Mt. Carmel? How great was the distance between Shunem and Mt. Carmel?

Mt. Carmel had been the site of a great spiritual victory for Elijah and there had been built a school for the prophets instructing them in the ways of God. Elisha was an itinerant prophet who made his way round to the various schools that had been set up for the prophets. The distance between Shunem and Mt. Carmel is roughly 30 Miles. That would equate to about a 9 Hour Trek on foot.

She was considered a “great woman” socially. Her standing in the community was that of respect, and wealth. People would have looked up to her, and even though she could have sent her servant to get Elisha she went humbly to plead at his feet. She actually pressed the servant she was traveling with to travel fast and not to worry about whether she can keep up. She said, “I will tell you when to slow down”.

Elisha seeing her approach him and kneeling at his feet clutching his ankles as a means of displaying the desperation she was in.

Though she wasn't panicked she wanted God to come through for her. Elisha recognized the agony in her spirit and though God hadn't revealed to him ahead of time about the family, he was ready to help.

God could have revealed this to him, but for some reason this time He didn't. We don't know the why behind God choosing to not reveal this especially when God usually did reveal things ahead of time to alert him as to what issues he was going to be facing.

What can we learn from it though? Sometimes things happen to us that make us wonder how that will work out for our good. In this case she lost her only son/child. Consider with me what would have been the end result if she had not appealed with God to intervene. She was probably praying before that her son would be healed, but now that he was dead, she was not going to give up. Sometimes our situations seem to be hopeless, but if we give up we will not see the work of God!

Matthew 7:7,8

When you have placed your life, all of your life under God’s control; whether it is the emotional part of your life, the Spiritual part of your life or the physical part of your life, then you will understand that God as your Sovereign King will work things out in your story. Romans 8:28

I do not want to leave a false impression that everything will always work out the way we want them to, but it will ultimately be up to God then to bless us in the way He sees fit. A lost job, A death in the family, A broken down vehicle, etc…, is not a blessing; but God’s blessing can come out of it whether it is for the purification of the saint, or some other blessing. Sometimes we become so materialistic that we believe that God is not blessing us unless it is a material blessing!

‪#‎blessing‬ ‪#‎shunammitewoman‬ ‪#‎askseekknock‬ ‪#‎2Kings4‬ ‪#‎2Kings‬

Dueling Prophets

1 Kings 18

“And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces: and they said The Lord He is the God; The Lord He is the God.” 1 Kings 18:39

Elijah, having just raised the widow’s son back to life, and having fulfilled his mission with her; The Word of The Lord came again to him. This time however, Elijah was to inform the wicked king Ahab of the rain that was headed for Israel. Again, the whole reason there was this drought in the first place was Ahab had initiated a kingdom of tolerance for heathen religions, and where Baal worshiped reigned supreme. Baal, the god of storms had failed his followers miserably these last three years and it was time for a showdown of the gods. Israel had not repented yet, and it was time to force a battle between the powers of evil and the righteous power of God.

Jezebel, the queen of Israel, had succeeded in killing many of the followers of Yahweh in an effort to create this tolerant society toward her favored religion, and to appease her own god (the god Baal).

We now have an interesting character come into the story, and his name is Obadiah. Obadiah is a fervent worshipper of Yahweh, and has used his connections as king’s steward to hide 100 of the prophets of God by 50’s in caves. The study today takes him out across the land looking for water as the drought had dried up all available resources for quite a ways. It is on this venture that Obadiah meets Elijah as he comes out of hiding for the first time since the drought began.

Elijah tells Obadiah to let Ahab know that he is in the area and would like to see him. Obadiah trembled at the thought of delivering that message, (1) because Elijah was a prophet of God and Jezebel wanted his head, (and 2) because Elijah had a knack for disappearing into nowhere only to be found when the time was right.

Obadiah’s words were, “I will tell Ahab that you are here and the Spirit of the Lord will come upon you and carry you away to a place that I know not of”.

Only when Elijah promised that he would see Ahab, did Obadiah consent to giving Ahab the message.

Ahab couldn’t stand Elijah’s presence due to the righteousness of Elijah condemning the unrighteousness of Ahab. Also look at 1 John 3:12 1 Peter 3:16 2 Timothy 3:12 Cain was infuriated by Abel’s righteousness.

Ahab knew Elijah was a prophet of God, yet he blamed him for the trouble that had befallen Israel. Ahab’s kingdom was built around tolerance of the Zidonian god Baal and goddess Ashteroth and he assumed that as god/goddess they would take care of him, yet these last three years they had failed him as this “trouble” had fallen upon Israel. He assumed this “trouble” was brought on by Elijah’s insistence in worshipping the One True God, and his own gods had removed their blessing. We could say that Ahab was a spiritual man, even that Jezebel was a spiritual woman; but their spirituality resulted in idolatry, which is rebellion of God’s ways, which is witchcraft. Behind every idol is a demon receiving the worship that is given it.

Our children are those in our little domain, just like Ahab as king of Israel had his kingdom of people who were looking to him for guidance. If we as parents are not an example of serving God, whether it’s by losing our temper, disrespect of our leaders, or fellow church members, or whether we are halting between two religions; these could all give rise to a generation of people who are disillusioned having a tainted view of who God is. If we as parents are super concerned with things pertaining to us, be it our hurts, our gifts, or how we expect that men should treat us; then we are selfishly expecting to have our rights upheld. The Bible says offences will come and “Woe to whoever shall give them”. Our children will see who we respond to situations that are less than ideal, and we will make or break their view of God and His ways! Their blood will surely be on our hands if they lose out spiritually due to our lack of spiritual discernment. Matthew 18:6

During the reign of Ahab, many Israelites tried to worship both God and Baal in order to please the prophets and the rulers. This is a compromise of faith and it is clear through the Word of God that compromise of faith will always be sin and will be judged. Revelation 2:14 - Joshua 24:15

So, who really was troubling Israel? When God said in Deuteronomy 11:16-17, “Take heed to yourselves, that your heart be not deceived, and ye turn aside, and serve other gods, and worship them; 17 And then the Lord's wrath be kindled against you, and he shut up the heaven, that there be no rain, and that the land yield not her fruit; and lest ye perish quickly from off the good land which the Lord giveth you.”; He made it clear that certain requirements need to be met or they would be judged along with their land being cursed for their sake. God was not just “troubling” Israel, but was wanting them to see the futility of their worship in an inanimate god. This trouble was self-inflicted because of their rebellious heart.

Today, Do you feel like God is inflicting you? Before you blame God for it, take a look at your life. Are you in whole obedience to God and what he has revealed to you? Also understand that if you are walking in complete obedience to God, Satan would love to sift you as wheat. Further still, Recognize that this may not be a personal struggle, rather this earth is cursed generally, not to make it hard for you, but because of the sin of the world that men and women may realize their need of surrendering to God.

When we forsake the commandments of the Lord, it is clear we will bring “trouble” on ourselves.

What does it mean, “Thou hast followed Baalim”? Is this just a variant of the name Baal? Baalim, according to the Strong’s Concordance is the plural form of Baal.

As Elijah meets with Ahab, he gives this call to worship. It is a contest of worship to see which (G)god is going to come through for their prophets(s). It is time for the showdown. Israel had not repented from following Baal, but they were going to be forced to see that God/Jehovah is the True God and that Elijah is His messenger.

Elijah called them to this contest on Mt. Carmel. Now Mt. Carmel was a beautiful Mountain that overlooked the Mediterranean Sea. It was believed to have been the home of the god Baal. Baal was in a sense challenged to a duel on his “home turf”. Elijah was outnumbered 850/1 by the prophets of Baal, plus if you would count the rest of the worshippers of Baal, that number would have risen tremendously.

Israel has been trying to have a tolerant stance toward this false religion, and as anybody can guess true tolerance of anything whether it is a false god or an ideology always end up biting you in the end. There is no such thing as true complete tolerance.

Elijah built the altar with 12 stones to remind the Israelites they were part of the 12 tribes of Israel and that God has chosen them as His people. This symbolized a return to the worship of the true God as the altar had been in disrepair until now.

The Israelites needed to acknowledge that Jehovah is God (the only God) before the drought could end. Leviticus 26:40-45 by the same token, our spiritual drought can be reversed by recognizing that God alone is God and by following in obedience.