RAIN DOWN THE FIRE

Today’s Bible readings are 1 Kings 18:1-46, Acts 11:1-30, Psalm 135:1-21, & Proverbs 17:12-13

The zeal & passion of Elijah always excites me every time that I read this story in the bible. I am amazed at how bold he was for the Lord in a time that it could have cost him his life. We also see how boldness leads to a demonstration of God’s power.

The first thing that really captures my attention in this story is the fact that Elijah was convinced that God could do anything. He didn’t get wishy-washy about things. He knew who his God was & he knew what his God was able to do. This is the key thing in order for us to have victory in our life. Satan will try to convince us that God can’t do the things that He says He can do. We have to be convinced that He can. When we are convinced, we will see great things. When we are not convinced we will see little.

How convinced are you that God can do anything in your life? I hope that you are greatly convinced. Open your heart to Him during this time & watch Him rain down fire from heaven.

The Way To Make Love Prosper

Today’s Bible readings are 1 Kings 15:25-17:24, Acts 10:24-48, Psalm 134:1-3, & Proverbs 17:9-11

Proverbs 17:9-11

⁹ Love prospers when a fault is forgiven, but dwelling on it separates close friends. ¹⁰ A single rebuke does more for a person of understanding than a hundred lashes on the back of a fool.

¹¹ Evil people are eager for rebellion, but they will be severely punished.

Love is such an important force in our lives. It is the one thing that matters most. Jesus taught us that love is the fulfillment of the law. Love is what we all need to strive to grow in the most. Love never fails.

Today we have learned one of the secrets to help us grow in our love walk with God & with others. We all have plenty of room for improvement in this area. I know that I am always looking for ways to love better. It is not an easy thing to do. There are days when love doesn’t come easy.

1.      Offense may come.

2.      Frustrations can occur.

3.      People can let us down.

4.      Loved ones can hurt us.

5.      We can be mistreated.

All these things can make it difficult for us to walk in love. We may not see the problem with lacking in our love walk but the bible teaches that our faith works by love. I want my faith to work when I need it to. Love is the catalyst to faith.

What can we do to improve in our love walk? The key thing is revealed in our reading in Proverbs today. We must forgive. LOVE PROSPERS WHEN A FAULT IS FORGIVEN!!!This means that it is good for our love walk if we practice forgiveness.

1.      Love grows when we forgive.

2.      Love gets stronger when we forgive.

3.      Love goes deeper when we forgive.

4.      Love matures as we forgive.

5.      Love succeeds when we forgive.

What are you struggling with in the area of forgiveness? Are you angry at your spouse? Are you upset over something that has happened with one of your kids? Are you bitter because you didn’t get the promotion that you thought you deserved? These all come to destroy love, which in turn, will destroy your faith. If we let things take us down the path of unforgiveness we are doomed to fail.

1.      Our marriage will not get better.

2.      Our relationships will not be healed.

3.      Our soul will remain sick.

4.      Our mind will stay troubled.

5.      Our hearts will remain heavy.

6.      We will have no peace.

7.      We will have not rest.

We must choose to forgive.

If you forgive love will prosper. If love prospers you will prosper. I remind you what Paul said:

1 Corinthians 13:13

¹³ Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love.

 

Pastor Richard Schlotter

Living in Harmony

Today’s readings are 1 Kings 14:1-15:24, Acts 10:1-23, Psalm 133:1-3, and Proverbs 17:7-8.

Psalm 133:1-2

¹ How wonderful and pleasant it is
    when brothers live together in harmony!
² For harmony is as precious as the anointing oil
    that was poured over Aaron’s head,
    that ran down his beard
    and onto the border of his robe.

When we live in harmony with each other we can produce good fruit.  When people come together we can have conflict.  We are all so different.  I am a person who likes to be in the back ground listening and watching my friends and family.  It is enjoyable to me and I am comfortable doing that.  Then there are people like my husband Richard who are out going and enjoy speaking to people and engaging with them.  This makes him happy.  We are two different people who can come together and live in harmony.  

Let’s take the time to try and live in harmony with each other.   Forgiving and trying to not be offended so easily.  So we can accomplish more for the Kingdom of God.

Kelly Schlotter        

Rely on GOD

Today’s readings are 1 Kings 12:20-13:34, Acts 9:26-43, Psalms 132:1-18 and Proverbs 17:6

1 Kings 12:26

²⁶ Jeroboam thought to himself, “Unless I am careful, the kingdom will return to the dynasty of David.

This verse shows us that Jeroboam did not pray to God.  He did not consult God about this fear.  Jeroboam should have relied on God’s protection but instead he was listening to his counselors and built two gold calves for the people to worship.  Great sin is what the bible says about this. 

We can learn from this and apply it to our own lives.  When we rely on ourselves or on our friends for advice we can really get into trouble.  If we can wait and pray and see what God says about it then we can avoid further trouble.

Jeroboam really didn’t need to do anything with this fear.  He was in God’s protection up until this point.  When he started to do things on his own is when he got out of God’s will.

Try consulting God about fears.

Kelly Schlotter        

Blind As A Bat

Today’s Bible readings are 1 Kings 11:1-12:19, Acts 9:1-25, Psalm 131:1-3, & Proverbs 17:4-5

Acts 9:3-9

³ As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. ⁴ He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?”

⁵ “Who are you, Lord?” Saul asked.

“I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” he replied. ⁶ “Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”

⁷ The men traveling with Saul stood there speechless; they heard the sound but did not see anyone. ⁸ Saul got up from the ground, but when he opened his eyes he could see nothing. So they led him by the hand into Damascus. ⁹ For three days he was blind, and did not eat or drink anything.

Are you blind? That is a question we need to really ask ourselves. The initial answer would seem to be a loud NO for most of us. But I don’t know if that is the right answer. We may be very blind to a lot of things.

Saul didn’t realize that he was I opposition with God. He thought that he was doing God a favor by capturing the Christians. He thought that it was the right thing to do. He wasn’t openly rebellion against God. He was honoring the traditions that had been passed down to him. He was doing what religion had taught him to do. The only problem was that he found out he was actually working against what God really wanted, which was people to receive Jesus.

There are times when we fight against things that God has planned to use for His glory. There are many reasons that we would resist things.

1.      We don’t agree with the method.

2.      We don’t like the style.

3.      It is not what we are used to.

4.      It has never been done like that before.

5.      We don’t like the crowd that it attracts.

6.      We are afraid of other things happening.

7.      It wasn’t our idea.

I have seen all of these in action. To be quite honest, I have had each of these thoughts are one point in my life. I thank God that when I have gotten that way that the Holy Spirit has dealt with me. I don’t want to be blind to what God is doing. I want to be is step with Him so I can be a part of what He is doing instead of one of the pessimistic naysayers.

I have learned to examine the fruit before I reject things. I have been wrong in the past about things & my goal is to make less mistakes in the future. I don’t want to be critical about everything. I want to be open to things. I want God to stretch so I don’t get stuck in a rut. I don’t want to miss the next great move of God. I want to be involved in it. I want to play my part.

I want to challenge every person to put aside difference in this area tune your ear to the Holy Spirit. What is He speaking? Will you be willing to be quiet long enough to actually hear from Him? Would you stop pleading your case long enough to hear Him present His?  This is what really happened to Paul during this time of blindness. He was forced to re-evaluate his current position on many things.

GOD, HELP US TO KNOW YOUR WILL. TEACH US TO BE HUMBLE ENOUGH TO LAY OUR WILL DOWN LONG ENOUGH TO LEARN WHAT YOUR WILL REALLY IS. REMOVE THE SCALES FROM OUR EYES WE ASK IN JESUS NAME.

 

Pastor Richard Schlotter