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| << January16, 2004 - Sand Dollar: Field of Angels |
February02, 2004 - Sand Dollar: Field of Angels, Robert H. Gilbert, Jr >> |
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Good Morning, Doves "Why Elijah in the Last Days?" -copyright (c)2004 Thomas B. Fideler. Recently, the online newsletter, The Voice from Zion, published an article entitled, "The Spirit of Elijah" It was this timely article that provoked me to ask, "Why Elijah?" "Behold, I am going to send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of the Lord. And he will restore the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the land with a curse." (Malachi 4:5-6). Why would God choose the sign and personage of Elijah for a Last Days' ministry? Were there not others from which to choose - other mighty men of God? The era in which Elijah ministered was a unique period in the history of the Jews. King Ahab and the wicked Jezebel governed Israel, the northern half of the divided kingdom. They were unencumbered by any allegiance to " Yahweh" (the Hebrew name of God, but rendered, "LORD" in most English translations of the Old Testament). In fact, they were what we might term, fundamentalist Baalites, "doing more to provoke the LORD, the God of Israel, to anger than did all the King's before him." (1 King's 16:33). King Ahab, his murderous wife and the priests of Baal were passionate about their unholy personal purpose. They ruled as though their calling was to extinguish all worship and knowledge of the Living God from the land of Israel, to break down and destroy the "altars of the Lord." It was unto this setting and time that God called and raised up his servant Elijah. Now let your heart ponder the era in which we live today. What is the nature and calling of the secular fundamentalists in our own country who are rising up to extinguish the worship and knowledge of the Living God from the land? With great passion and personal conviction of purpose they are breaking down the "altars" of the Lord, so as to remove every trace and memory of the Living God from our society. The current-day "prophets of Baal" promote and promulgate any ungodly form of worship, relationship, passion, activity or subject matter, in their quest to fully pay homage to their god called Freedom. This form can be more succinctly stated, "freedom from rules that make me feel guilty." The only rule is that none of these activities shall involve the knowledge or worship of the God of the Jews or Christians - and especially not His Son - lest you end up having your right to freedom removed. The average non- Christian and complacent ("good enough is good enough") Christian is being made ready for the charismatic powers of the Anti-Christ and the false prophet, when they come on the scene with new hope and promises. Elijah was a man of flesh just as common as our own (see James 5:17). Yet he was filled with the Spirit and power of the living God; he shook all of Israel. When he prayed the rain stopped for three years and six months; when he prayed, fire from God came down out of heaven and consumed the altar as well as the offering-after which he led the slaughter of 450 prophets of Baal. And then, when he prayed, the rain returned. All this caused the Jews of the northern kingdom to declare, "The LORD he is God! The LORD he is God!" More literally they were saying, "Yahweh, he is God" since Baal also means "lord or master." If there is one message that is clearer to me each day it is this: We serve a living God who will do all that he has said and who has all the power that is needed to accomplish what he has asked us to do! If the LORD is God, serve him, in fullness of spirit and power with all our hearts, not allowing ourselves to be lured into complacency or fear. ****************** ************** "The Spirit of Elijah" -by Voice from Zion. What can one man do in his brief lifetime if he is willing to be a living conduit through which the power of God may descend on men? There is absolutely no limit to the possible usefulness of such a life. The life of the prophet Elijah is an example for today of such a life. As he came to manhood the tide of human events had been running strongly against the truth of God. Jezebel, the wife of King Ahab, rose to power in Israel and began to systematically kill off the prophets of God and to establish the pagan worship of Baal. The system was supported by an immense organization of idolatry administered by priests of Baal that like a fungus growth infected the national life of Israel to its very heart. Yet, the circumstances were changed instantly when Elijah arose and said to king Ahab, "As the Lord, the God of Israel lives, before whom I stand, surely there shall be neither dew nor rain these years, except by my word." the situation began to change. (1 Kings 1:1) At the time Elijah spoke to king Ahab most of the Jews living in the northern kingdom of Israel believed their God Jehovah was dead and defeated, but to Elijah He was the one supreme reality of life. Because of his faith and through the power and inspiration of the Holy Spirit this lowly and unkempt man dared to stand and speak forth the word of God, "As the Lord God of Israel lives" to king Ahab. In his spirit there was the conviction by the Holy Spirit that he was chosen by God as one of his called and recognized servant messengers, and it was in this capacity that he stood before the king of Israel. IN WHAT CAPACITY DO YOU STAND TODAY? In America today are not the prophets of Baal killing off and seeking to silence the prophets of God and the Elijah's of the 21st century? Consider what happened to the dear Judge in Alabama when he refused to obey the order to remove the granite stone monument with the 10 Commandments inscribed on it? Not only did the prophets of Baal force the removal of the stone monument displaying the 10 Commandments, they saw to the orderly and swift removal of the judge. The same prophets of Baal have removed prayer and the 10 Commandments from our nation's schools. The same prophets of Baal have forced the teaching of evolution - that there is no God - into our nation's school system. The prophets of Baal have arisen in some of our major Christian denominations and have ordained homosexual priests. The prophets of Baal have recently declared in one of our state courts that homosexuals may now legally marry. IF THEY HATED ME THEY WILL HATE YOU! Jesus said the days would come when we who are of God would be hated! "If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you... ' A slave is not greater than his master.' If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you" (John 15:18-20). The days are fast approaching when it will be like the days of Elijah when to most, Jesus will seem to be dead and powerless. What will you do when you see this happening? Will you be an Elijah who stood before the king and effectively declared, "I know that my redeemer lives?" When you are called before men and persecuted for the love of Christ what will you do? Will you be an Elijah and begin to stand to turn the tide against the rising idolatry so that the existence and power of Jesus Christ may be vindicated? Do not be quick to say, "Yes Lord, send me," for the price will be high. Only if you are filled and empowered by the Holy Spirit can you hope to overcome the powers and principalities that will arise against you. Yet, if like Elijah you know and believe that "My redeemer lives," you will prevail. Source: http://www.voicefromzion.org/artman/publish/article_88.shtml ******************************************** REVIVAL SUPERSITE - http://www.streetrevival.com PROPHETIC SUPERSITE - http://www.prophetic-apostolic.com MODERATOR: Andrew Strom, Thunder Ministries, PO Box 12-1022, Henderson, West Auckland, New Zealand 1231. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ May your day be richly blessed. Go and spread 'good will and peace', as does the dove in the legend of the Sand Dollar. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Bob Johnston Sand Dollar Publisher Minneapolis, Minnesota USA *** ~~~ *** ~~~ *** ~~~ *** ~~~ *** ~~~ *** ~~~ *** ~~~ *** ~~~ *** ~~~ *** Important Subscription Information: To subscribe: visit the Sand Dollar page at www.ripplemaker.com or send a message to Bob@Ripplemaker.com with "Subscribe" in the subject. Please include your name and state & country of residence. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ To cancel your subscription, send a message to Bob@Ripplemaker.com with " Cancel Sand Dollar" in the subject. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ write to Bob@Ripplemaker.com Minneapolis |
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| << January16, 2004 - Sand Dollar: Field of Angels |
February02, 2004 - Sand Dollar: Field of Angels, Robert H. Gilbert, Jr >> |
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