|
Home | Previous
| Next | lftd05
Sept.16.05: Light For The Day - "Renewed Hope"
God gives Hope to us as we give Help to others.
---------------
-- 1Kings 19:4,15
"4 Then Elijah went on alone into the desert, traveling all day. He sat down under a solitary broom tree and prayed that he might die.
"I have had enough, LORD," he said.
"Take my life, for I am no better than my ancestors." .............
15 Then the LORD said to him, "Go, return on your way.... "
---------
"RENEWED HOPE"
People who live without hope can become suicidal.
In 1 Kings 19, we read that Elijah was despondent.
He was physically and emotionally drained after
fleeing from the evil Queen Jezebel. In despair, he
asked God to take his life. Instead, the angel of the
Lord ministered to his physical needs. Some days
later, the Lord spoke to Elijah and told him that his
work was not over.
When you are in despair, the first step on the
pathway to New Hope is to take care of your physical
needs. Then listen to God's voice through the
Scriptures. The Lord will show you your spiritual
condition and tell you what He would have you do
to bless others.
-- Dennis J. DeHaan
-- 2 Chronicles 20:15
"Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this great
multitute. For the battle is not yours, but God's."
----------
- Roman 12:12
"Rejoice in your hope, be patient in tribulation,
be constant in prayer."
- Roman 8:24
"For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is
seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees?"
- 1Peter 1:3
"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ! In His great mercy He has given us new birth
into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus
Christ from the dead."
-----------
"Unless commitment is made, there are only
promises and hopes... but no plans."
- Peter Drucker
"Most of the important things in the world have been
accomplished by people who have kept on trying
when there seemed to be no hope at all."
- Dale Carnegie
"If money is your hope for independence you will
never have it. The only real security that a man
will have in this world is a reserve of Love, Faith,
Knowledge, Experience, and Ability."
- Henry Ford
--------------------------
-- 1 Kings 19
1 Now Ahab told Jezebel everything Elijah had done and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword.
2 So Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah to say, "May the gods deal with me, be it ever so severely, if by this time tomorrow I do not make your life like that of one of them."
3 Elijah was afraid and ran for his life. When he came to Beersheba in Judah, he left his servant there,
4 while he himself went a day’s journey into the desert. He came to a broom tree, sat down under it and prayed that he might die. "I have had enough, LORD," he said. "Take my life; I am no better than my ancestors."
5 Then he lay down under the tree and fell asleep. All at once an angel touched him and said, "Get up and eat."
6 He looked around, and there by his head was a cake of bread baked over hot coals, and a jar of water. He ate and drank and then lay down again.
7 The angel of the LORD came back a second time and touched him and said, "Get up and eat, for the journey is too much for you."
8 So he got up and ate and drank. Strengthened by that food, he traveled forty days and forty nights until he reached Horeb, the mountain of God.
9 There he went into a cave and spent the night. And the word of the LORD came to him: "What are you doing here, Elijah?"
10 He replied, "I have been very zealous for the LORD God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, broken down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too."
11 The LORD said, "Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the LORD, for the LORD is about to pass by." Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake.
12 After the earthquake came a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper.
13 When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave. Then a voice said to him, "What are you doing here, Elijah?"
14 He replied, "I have been very zealous for the LORD God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, broken down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too."
15 The LORD said to him, "Go back the way you came, and go to the Desert of Damascus. When you get there, anoint Hazael king over Aram.
16 Also, anoint Jehu son of Nimshi king over Israel, and anoint Elisha son of Shaphat from Abel Meholah to succeed you as prophet.
17 Jehu will put to death any who escape the sword of Hazael, and Elisha will put to death any who escape the sword of Jehu.
18 Yet I reserve seven thousand in Israel— all whose knees have not bowed down to Baal and all whose mouths have not kissed him."
19 So Elijah went from there and found Elisha son of Shaphat. He was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen, and he himself was driving the twelfth pair. Elijah went up to him and threw his cloak around him.
20 Elisha then left his oxen and ran after Elijah. "Let me kiss my father and mother good-by," he said, "and then I will come with you." "Go back," Elijah replied. "What have I done to you?"
21 So Elisha left him and went back. He took his yoke of oxen and slaughtered them. He burned the plowing equipment to cook the meat and gave it to the people, and they ate. Then he set out to follow Elijah and became his attendant.
|