Mon.’s Devo- Let God Arise, and his Enemies Be Scattered 6-17-24

Read: 1 Kings 18:1-46; Acts 11:1-30; Psalm 135:1-21; Proverbs 17:12-13 In the third year of the drought, the Lord told Elijah to go and tell Ahab that he would soon send rain. *** The famine had become so severe that Ahab sent for Obadiah to help him fine enough grass in the land to save his horses. Obadiah was his palace administrator who feared the Lord. He also revered God’s prophets and had hidden 100 of them in caves when Jezebel tried to kill them. Ahab sent Obadiah one way and he went the other in search for grass. *** Elijah met Obadiah and told him he wanted to meet with Ahab. Obadiah was afraid to tell Ahab because he didn’t think Elijah would show up, then Obadiah would be killed. Elijah promised he would show, so Obadiah went to get Ahab. *** Ahab came to meet with Elijah and addressed him as the “troublemaker.” Ahab told him that all this was because of him and his idol worship. He was the troublemaker. He told him to bring the 450 Baal prophets and the 400 prophets of Asherah to Mt. Carmel along with the people. *** When they all arrived at Mt. Carmel, Ahab spoke to the people. He asked them how long were they going to waver between God and Baal. They had to choose one of them, they couldn’t have them both. Then he told the Baal prophets to prepare an altar and sacrifice a bull. He would do the same for the other bull. The god who answered in fire would be the true god. *** Elijah told the false prophets to go first. They prepared their altar and sacrificed their bull and hooped and hollered till noon. Nothing happened. Elijah mocked them asking if their god was asleep or going to the bathroom or daydreaming. They shouted louder, cut themselves and still no reply. When the time of the evening sacrifice was nearing, Elijah took over. *** Elijah prepared his altar with twelve stones - one for each tribe of Israel. Then he dug a trench around his altar. He piled wood on the altar, cut the bull into pieces and laid them on the wood. Then he asked for 4 large jars of precious water to be poured over the offering and the wood. He had them do this three times till the water filled the trench. *** Elijah walked up to the altar and prayed that the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob would prove today that He was the God of Israel and that Elijah was his servant. *** Immediately the fire of the Lord flashed down from heaven and burned up the sacrifice, the wood, the stones and the dust. It licked up all the water in the trench. When the people saw this, the fell on their faces and cried out to the Lord. *** Elijah commanded that they seize all the prophets of Ball and took them down to the Kishon Valley and killed them. He told Ahab to get something to eat and drink because a mighty rainstorm was coming. While Ahab was eating, Elijah went on top of Mt. Carmel and bowed to the ground and prayed with his face between his knees. *** He sent his servant to go look toward the sea. He sent him seven times and the last time he came back saying he saw a little cloud about the size of a man’s hand rising from the sea. Elijah told him to run tell Ahab to get home quickly. The sky turned black with clouds and a rainstorm hit. God gave Elijah supernatural strength and he outran Ahab’s chariot, all the way back to Jezebel. *** In Acts, Peter returned to Jerusalem and they were not happy that he had stayed in the home of a Gentile and ate with them. Peter told them about the vision he had and how the Holy Spirit fell on the whole household of Cornelius. When they heard his testimony, they stopped objecting and praised the Lord. They saw that God was reaching out to save the Gentiles too. *** The Jews that had been scattered because of persecution went to Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch of Syria and began preaching to the Jews about Jesus. Others came and preached to the Gentiles there. Many of the Gentiles believed and turned to the Lord. When the church at Jerusalem heard this they sent Barnabas to Antioch to encourage the believers. Many more came to the Lord. *** Barnabas left to go to Tarsus to find Saul. They brought him back to Antioch where they both stayed for a year teaching to the large crowds of people. While they were there the prophet, Agabus came and prophesied about a great famine that was about to come upon the entire Roman world. The believers in Antioch sent relief to their brothers and sisters in Judea and Jerusalem. *** Lord, we declare you are our God. May we live to see the prophets of Baal crushed and destroyed. Let Your truth reign.