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It is now November and I have just finished up in Georgia, my home state, with a month of meetings where God worked in so many hearts. It is Thanksgiving and I am now in the Midwest, Ohio and Kentucky before I return to New England to spend Christmas with my family and also our Church Family.
As I was praying about what God would have me write regarding Thanksgiving, I thought about all the things we should be thankful for. But as I thought about it, most of the things that we are thankful for are material blessings. Very few Christians are thankful for Spiritual blessings. As I travel I see bumper stickers all the time that read…God Bless America…Churches praying for God’s Blessings. But there is something that God requires before Blessing is given.
REQUIREMENTS FOR GOD’S BLESSINGS
As you read 1Kings 18:21-38 we see an example of a Biblical Principle…God requires certain things of us before He gives us His blessing. God’s Blessing is conditional.
Before the rain would fall, the wayward Israelites had to accept the changes that God required of them. Repentance is always essential whenever God’s people have been stiff-necked and self-willed. Elijah exhorted the people to turn from their rebellious ways, to soften their hard hearts and to return to the strait and narrow path. They had to repent before the Lord would bless.
In addition to making a definite choice concerning who they would serve (V. 21), Israel also had to recognize that service to or worship of any god other than the Lord God was only fruitless and vain (V. 24). So it is with the believer today. He, too, must come to the place where he realizes that anything outside the Father’s will is vanity. The believer who tries to serve God and his own selfish desires will never experience inner satisfaction. Only Jesus Christ can meet our deepest needs.
Elijah subsequently took steps to restore Israel’s proper worship and communion with the Lord. He repaired the Altar, which speaks of renewed reliance upon prayer (V. 30). He laid the prepared offering, piece by piece, upon the Altar, typifying the Saint’s total yieldedness to the Father’s will (V. 33). He then poured water over all the wood and the offering to emphasize the removal of anything that could cause the Revival to appear counterfeit or pretended (V. 35). Finally, Elijah prayed acknowledgeding Israel’s sin and God’s Power to turn their hearts back again (VV. 36-37). All of this was done in Obedience to God’s Word (V. 36b), another requirement. As expected, the fire of God fell and Revival began (VV 38-40).
We see in 1Kings 18:36-40 that Israel chose to return to the Lord. Spiritual Fruit invariably follows genuine Repentance. Dealing with sin God’s way, results in a sincere change of the heart and mind. So when Israel chose to return to the Lord, He, in turn, “turned their hearts back again.” (V. 37). John 1:9 also expresses this worthwhile truth. As Christians, when we become defiled by sin, we too, can confess our sins to the Lord and be blessed, just as God restored Israel to the place of Blessing. “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” The Lord also testified to Israel thought Hosea, “I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely: for Mine anger is turned away from him.” (Hosea 14:4). Restoration to the place of right relationship and renewed blessing is a Spirit-wrought work of Grace…Thank God for His Mercy!
In order to resume a proper fellowship with the Lord, the heart must be made right, and only God can accomplish this by the inner working of the Holy Spirit. Israel’s changed heart revealed itself by a renewed reverence for the Lord (V. 39). The backsliding saint is desensitized to God’s Presence, but the Spiritual believer is intensely aware of the nearness of his Lord and seeks to serve Him acceptably “with reverence and Godly fear.” (Hebrews 12:28).
Separation from defilement is essential if the child of God is to maintain a Christ-Honoring Walk. (V. 40).
Once the believer gets right with the Lord, he no longer sees complicity with evil and evildoers as inconsequential. Israel put away whatever was contrary to truth, including the false prophets. May we experience Spirit-Wrought Renewal in our own Hearts Today…Our work comes out of our Blessings—not, our Blessings come out of our work.
We love you and greatly appreciate your ministries. Pray for us as we do for you.
May God Bless You one and all,
Love and Prayers in Christ,
Randy Davis
