"He arranged the wood, cut the bull into pieces and laid it on the wood. Then he said to them, “Fill four large jars with water and pour it on the offering and on the wood. Do it again, he said, and they did it again. Do it a third time, he ordered, and they did it the third time. The water ran down around the altar and even filled the trench." 1 Kings 18:33-35
Pour water on it! Let's make sure everybody knows beyond any shadow...beyond any hint of a doubt that God did this! Soak it! Drench it! More jars! More jars! More jars! Give the water some time to soak in! Hey prophets of Baal, why don't ya pour some flame retardant on it! You arrogant blasphemers of the Most High God! Let’s make sure no fire can burn so the fire of God can fall and everyone will know the truth!
Can you hear Elijah's passion? Can you hear his voice thunder as it rips through and terrorizes the prophets of Baal? Can you feel the false prophets' fear as they tremble at what's about to happen? Can you sense the eminence of God's Kingdom and all its forces ready to explode out of the sky to encroach onto the scene...like gates rattling, before the thoroughbreds are unleashed to run the track...his chariots of wrath...stomp in place...suck breath into their nostrils...even the horses burn passionate with his righteous, angry justice.
"I must decrease, he must increase."
This is my continual prayer to God...
Pour water on it, Lord...soak it...destroy it....rip it to shreds...make sure it fails!!! Make sure every one of my human efforts fail...every self-promoting, self-exalting, self-worshipping, fleshly works be utterly destroyed...root out the dark worship of Baal...in me...that YOU would LIVE...in me...that YOUR work would be accomplished and not mine…"the flesh profits nothing, the Spirit gives life"...did you read that? Nothing! Your works count for nothing! It is the SPIRIT that gives life! “Flesh gives birth to flesh; the Spirit gives birth to spirit”.
Jesus' flesh was ripped to shreds from scourging and it hung on display for the entire world to see...that our flesh profits nothing! It actually....destroys...he was destroyed by fleshly men. How many of us desire so much to truly move in the power of the Holy Spirit that we would pray...for cross-work...to pray..."I have been crucified with Christ, it is no longer I who live but Christ who lives in me"…crucify me Lord…not for ourselves, although there are AMAZING benefits...no, we pray to die...FOR HIM...and for the world...we follow in his footsteps..."pick up your cross and deny yourselves"...we are his SLAVES...and I love it!
"unless a kernal of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it produces no fruit"
I have a friend who has an amazing voice...she gets lots and lots of compliments on how wonderful her voice is...she sings all the time and people love it. But a few Sundays ago something different happened...psalm 22:3 says in the KJV that God inhabits the praises of his people; literally translated...he sits down and dwells among his people...a few Sundays ago it was as though he sat down and dwelled among us. She was unaware that the entire congregation who was sitting at the beginning of the song were now standing...voices full volume...hands lifted...worshipping the Lord…God had arrived and it was astounding...she was unaware of our standing because her eyes were closed...she was captivated by her Savior and unaware of what was happening around her.
Pour water on it! Let's make sure everybody knows beyond any shadow...beyond any hint of a doubt that God did this! Soak it! Drench it! More jars! More jars! More jars! Give the water some time to soak in! Hey prophets of Baal, why don't ya pour some flame retardant on it! You arrogant blasphemers of the Most High God! Let’s make sure no fire can burn so the fire of God can fall and everyone will know the truth!
Can you hear Elijah's passion? Can you hear his voice thunder as it rips through and terrorizes the prophets of Baal? Can you feel the false prophets' fear as they tremble at what's about to happen? Can you sense the eminence of God's Kingdom and all its forces ready to explode out of the sky to encroach onto the scene...like gates rattling, before the thoroughbreds are unleashed to run the track...his chariots of wrath...stomp in place...suck breath into their nostrils...even the horses burn passionate with his righteous, angry justice.
"I must decrease, he must increase."
This is my continual prayer to God...
Pour water on it, Lord...soak it...destroy it....rip it to shreds...make sure it fails!!! Make sure every one of my human efforts fail...every self-promoting, self-exalting, self-worshipping, fleshly works be utterly destroyed...root out the dark worship of Baal...in me...that YOU would LIVE...in me...that YOUR work would be accomplished and not mine…"the flesh profits nothing, the Spirit gives life"...did you read that? Nothing! Your works count for nothing! It is the SPIRIT that gives life! “Flesh gives birth to flesh; the Spirit gives birth to spirit”.
Jesus' flesh was ripped to shreds from scourging and it hung on display for the entire world to see...that our flesh profits nothing! It actually....destroys...he was destroyed by fleshly men. How many of us desire so much to truly move in the power of the Holy Spirit that we would pray...for cross-work...to pray..."I have been crucified with Christ, it is no longer I who live but Christ who lives in me"…crucify me Lord…not for ourselves, although there are AMAZING benefits...no, we pray to die...FOR HIM...and for the world...we follow in his footsteps..."pick up your cross and deny yourselves"...we are his SLAVES...and I love it!
"unless a kernal of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it produces no fruit"
I have a friend who has an amazing voice...she gets lots and lots of compliments on how wonderful her voice is...she sings all the time and people love it. But a few Sundays ago something different happened...psalm 22:3 says in the KJV that God inhabits the praises of his people; literally translated...he sits down and dwells among his people...a few Sundays ago it was as though he sat down and dwelled among us. She was unaware that the entire congregation who was sitting at the beginning of the song were now standing...voices full volume...hands lifted...worshipping the Lord…God had arrived and it was astounding...she was unaware of our standing because her eyes were closed...she was captivated by her Savior and unaware of what was happening around her.
The compliments were different after this time she sang...I know because I read some of them on facebook...they were more like, "God really moved when you sang...and...I really sensed the anointing when you sang"...her voice didn't matter quite as much this time. People came hungry for God…and they were fed.
What I know about this person is that her life has been ripped to shreds and put back together again...she's been to the cross...and continually welcomes it again and again in order that God is glorified...knowing she has much growing to do...much more self-worship to die to…as all of us do...she prays daily to die…and God honored that prayer in a special way that day.
What I know about this person is that her life has been ripped to shreds and put back together again...she's been to the cross...and continually welcomes it again and again in order that God is glorified...knowing she has much growing to do...much more self-worship to die to…as all of us do...she prays daily to die…and God honored that prayer in a special way that day.
That is only one example…has anyone ever brought you food and brought the presence of God with them? Has anyone ever visited you when you were in deep depression…and they brought with them a mysterious light that penetrated your darkness when nothing else could?…has anyone ever hugged you and it was as though Jesus, himself, just hugged you?…has anyone ever patted you on the back, spoke a few words to you and it was as though God, himself, just spoke to you?
“God works supernaturally through natural means”, author unknown.
Pour water on it, Lord! May my efforts fail so yours would live through me, SO THAT ALL WOULD KNOW THAT IT IS YOU AND NOT ME…SO THAT THE FIRE OF GOD WOULD FALL ON ME...
Paul said, “I come not with eloquent words but with a demonstration of God’s power”.
It is a supernatural life that we are called to live. We are called to walk in a DIVINE calling but there’s only one way to get there…it’s not by having lots of “mystical, ecstatic” experiences and dancing around an altar flailing and frantically prophecying. 1 Kings 18:26-28
It’s by answering the call to come and die…continually…before the throne…in the workplace…in the marketplace…it’s by embracing the cross, the struggle…it comes by wrestling, like Jacob, with the Angel of the Lord until you receive your new name…the name of someone who walks “not by might, nor by power, but by His Spirit…”
First of all....Yes, yes and YES! We will never grow if we do not daily, sometimes hourly die to ourselves. May I never find myself stagnate again. Never. It is a toxic place to dwell.
ReplyDeleteI am humbled by your generosity in words. God is SO good! I have never truly understood the real meaning of "supernatural" until the last year and a half. Our family could NEVER have gotten through the last 2 attacks, had it not been for the Holy Spirit's presence over all of us. Never. Be blessed, my friend.
Kari