“THE DEVIL IS NOT GOING TO GIVE UP ON YOU”

 

DISCUSSION:                                                                                                         

As the spiritual state of the nation of God continues to decline, the prophets of God became afraid of Ahab and Jezebel and hid in caves in groups of fifties. God is looking for a prophet with the courage to, not only confront Ahab and Jezebel, but also make a statement from God against idolatry.  God finds His man in Elijah.  Elijah not only has the courage to confront Ahab and Jezebel, but he is also willing to take on the entire group of the prophets of Baal in a showdown.  The result, God shows His power through Elijah and gets rid of 400 prophets of Asherah and 450 prophets of Baal.  One would think that after such a devastating defeat, that Ahab and Jezebel would either retreat or repent from their wicked ways; but that was not the case.  In fact, the defeat only fueled Jezebels hatred for Elijah and she sets out to kill him.  I always thought that was kind of ridiculous on her part.  I mean… what is she thinking is going to happen? If God protected Elijah against 850 pagan prophets, would He not be able to protect him for the threats of Jezebel?  However, this threat disturbed Elijah. He was so distraught about her threat, that he is sent into a state of depression.  One may ask, “How is that possible?  Was Elijah not on cloud nine?  Did this not just motivate him more to defeat her once and for all?” On the contrary, the exact opposite took place.  Elijah becomes afraid of Jezebel and becomes so depressed that God had to send a raven to make sure he had enough food to survive.  Why would Satan go after a man of Elijah’s caliber and tempt him with fear, especially after such an astounding defeat of evil and wickedness.  Yet even amid defeat, Satan is still at work.  The lesson for us today is that Satan will never give up on us.  He is constantly looking at several options that will cause us to fall into his traps.  As Christians, sometimes we need to be reminded that we are not alone.  Not only are there others out there facing the same temptation we are, they are also battling under the same circumstances.  We also need to be reminded, as Elijah was, that God continues to sustain us even at our weakest point.  That means we can never stop seeking to improve our lives as we follow the example of Jesus.  Since Satan will never give up on his attempts to lure me away from God, it should be comforting for us to know that He doesn’t give up on us either.

 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Tuesday - October 4, 2016

Woodlawn Family Bible Study TUESDAY BIBLE READING:    Genesis 32:22-32 Do you want to be blessed? That sounds like a rhetorical question, doesn’t it? Who doesn’t want to be blessed? I guess it really depends on your definition of “blessed.” Many people desire blessings that will make them wealthy or, perhaps, material goods. However, being blessed is not limited to those physical things. In fact, sometimes we can be blessed in the most unusual ways. For instance, in Genesis 32:26, we find Jacob wrestling with what we often call an angel. Within the story, Jacob is overtaking the angel and holding him down; refusing to let go until the angel gives him a blessing. The angel obliges Jacob, but not in the way he might have imagined. The angel changed his name from “Jacob” to “Israel,” but he also did something else. He put Jacob’s hip joint out of socket, causing him much pain and difficulty walking. In part, his blessing had to do with him walking with a limp. How is tha...
Read more

Resolutions: Draw closer to God through study of His word

BIBLE READING: John 14.7 Spend time alone with God’s Word.  Besides the spiritual growth we will gain from study, we will also come to know Him better.  Reading His word brings us in touch with Him.  Jesus tells us in John 14:7 – “If you had known Me, you would have known my Father also.”   Just studying the life of Jesus will help us to know God better.   In seeking God’s help, we can draw closer to Him through prayer, meditation, nature, and study.   “But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law doth he meditate day and night.” Psalm 1:2  I Tim.4:13,15 - “Give attention to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine… meditate on these things; give yourself wholly to them.”   Regardless of our circumstances we can rely on God’s unchanging character.  God is good. God loves me. God is with me. God knows my problems. God cares. Romans 8:31(b) tells us, “If God is for us, who can be against us?” Make a resolution to slo...
Read more

“Examples”

BIBLE READING: Mark 13- Luke 1 DISCUSSION                                                                                   This past week we have read of some great examples in the bible.   We read in Mark 13 about us being ready and being prepared for when Jesus returns.   We need to all stay awake!   In Mark 14 we read of one action having such an impact.   How this woman gave her very best to Jesus because of her love for Him.   In Mark 15 we read of Pontius Pilate and his desire to keep his power.   He loved his power and did not want to give it up even if that meant sending an inno...
Read more