Bible In One Year-Day 127 (Wednesday, May 07, 2014)

Commentary: 1Kings16-18. It is quite unfortunate to see that all the kings we read about in chapter16 disappointed God through idolatry, just because they wanted power. Most of them were raised by God just as He raised Jeroboam from the dust. Unfortunately, they patterned their lives after Jeroboam. For instance, God said to Baasha, the King of Israel, 1 Kings 16:2 “Forasmuch as I exalted thee out of the dust, and made thee prince over my people Israel; and thou hast walked in the way of Jeroboam, and hast made my people Israel to sin, to provoke me to anger with their sins;”

To pattern after Jeroboam is to be an ingrate for what God has done. King Ahab was not left out in this and that was how Elijah came into the scene to pass God’s judgment. The heaven was locked up and he put the spiritual key in his pocket;

1 Kings 17:1 “And Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the inhabitants of Gilead, said unto Ahab, As the LORD God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word.”

Elijah, the man with spiritual airline, feared no man but God. He was known to be a man who could not be caged because the wind was his wings. Jesus indirectly described the manner in which Elijah moved, John 3:8 “The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.”

Any position God has given us to occupy by grace should be maintained by His Spirit. King David confirmed that the Spirit of the Lord spoke by his mouth (2Sam23:2), which means he was under the influence of the Holy Spirit. You could imagine his statement when he sinned against the Lord;

Psalms 51:11-13 “Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me.Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit.Then will I teach transgressors thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto thee.”

David enjoyed the company of the Holy Spirit so much that he begged God not to take Him otherwise he was doomed. David was interested in repairing the broken relationship with the Holy Spirit. Therefore, as a king, administrator, you need the Holy Spirit and as a priest you need Him. As a child of the living God, you must not ignore Him if you really want to live as a champion. To be a spiritual giant you need to ride on the airline of the Holy Spirit, i.e. He must be your Pilot. By the Holy Spirit, you worship God better, know Jesus deeper and defeat the wiles of the enemy. The peace of heaven fills you with immeasurable hope only by the Spirit of God. You don’t need to introduce yourself when the fullness of the Holy Spirit is upon you, He does that, just as He did for Elijah;

1 Kings 17:24 “And the woman said to Elijah, Now by this I know that thou art a man of God, and that the word of the LORD in thy mouth is truth.”

He confirmed His words in the mouth of the Apostles. The manner in which He confirmed His words in the mouth of the Apostles was not in just preaching but in power, i.e. things changed instantly;

Acts 10:44-45 “While Peter yet spoke these words, the Holy Spirit fell on all them which heard the word.And they of the circumcision which believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because that on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Spirit.”

If there is anything we need in the church today, it is the comfort of the Holy Spirit and not display of the flesh or eloquent motivational speeches by the flesh (i.e. brain power). Acts 9:31 “Then had the churches rest throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria, and were edified; and walking in the fear of the Lord, and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, were multiplied.”

His comfort increases the church. May the Spirit of the living God comfort us on every side in the name of Jesus. Reading for today is 1Kings19-21. Keep the fire burning and alive

Romans 15:13 “Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Spirit.”