Strength For The Journey

[nChrist]

Author: Theodore Epp
Source: Strength for the Journey
Scripture Reference 1 Kings 18:25-29

The Majority Can Be Wrong

1 Kings 18:25-29

As the majority group, the worshipers of Baal had been given first chance. Because there were so many of them it took them only a very short time to prepare the sacrifice. As is often the case in matters that pertain to God, however, the majority was on the wrong side.

When Elijah admonished these idolatrous priests not to put any fire under their offering, he was warning them that he would not stand for any tricks.

They had often deceived people, but what they were now doing was out in the open with many eyes watching them. There was no opportunity given to these tricksters and imposters to use fire on the altar to Baal.

The frenzy of Baal's prophets reached its height at noon. In the excitement generated by the rhythm and speed of the priests' action, it would not have taken a great deal for the people watching them to have been swept off their feet emotionally and to have joined in the wild orgy.

But Elijah was ready for this very thing. He very effectively used the weapon of sarcasm to expose the intentions of these evil men and at the same time to insure emotional stability among the observers.

It is possible that Israel had never seen such earnestness and enthusiasm at any previous time. But such things are no proof that the cause is good and true.

Some people assume that such a display of zeal and fervor is evidence of spirituality; however, this can be far from the truth.

"The king is not saved by a mighty army; a warrior is not delivered by great strength" (Ps. 33:16, NASB).

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[nChrist]

Author: Theodore Epp
Source: Strength for the Journey
Scripture Reference 1 Kings 18:30-39

The Fire Falls

1 Kings 18:30-39

By having water poured over the sacrifice as often as he did, Elijah prevented any human counterfeiting or trickery. Then he began to pray.

This short prayer has only 63 English words (even fewer in Hebrew), and it takes about 20 seconds to speak them.

But the prophets of Baal had prayed to their idol for several hours and had received no answer at all. Elijah prayed for 20 seconds, and God answered by fire.

Elijah's prayer differed in character and sincerity from that of the prophets of Baal. James described it when he said, "The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much" (James 5:16).

Even some Christians seem to misunderstand what this verse means. They shout in prayer as though God were deaf. They put on a demonstration as though they had to attract God's attention.

Earnestness in prayer does not involve physical gestures but a condition of the heart and will with regard to the purposes of God.

Perhaps here we may learn to examine our own prayers. Since Elijah's prayer was motivated by his desire to see God honored, God answered His servant.

In writing concerning prayer James said, "Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts" (4:3). Right motives are essential if our prayers are to be answered.

"For our God is a consuming fire" (Heb. 12:29).

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[nChrist]

Author: Theodore Epp
Source: Strength for the Journey
Scripture Reference 1 Kings 18:40-46

Rain At Last!

1 Kings 18:40-46

To have allowed the prophets of Baal to continue living and exercising all their evil practices would have exposed the Israelites to further corruption.

It would have left the impression in the minds of these priests as well as the Israelites that the prophets of Baal, though agents of apostasy, were immune from judgment. God said that they were all to be destroyed. Not one of them was to escape.

When Elijah declared that there was the sound of abundance of rain, no rain had as yet fallen. There were no clouds in the sky, no thunder and lightning, nothing that gave visible proof that rain was imminent.

There was not a physical sign anywhere that rain was on the way. Elijah's statement was based on his faith in the Word of God.

The scene, as depicted in 1 Kings 18, is remarkable. Ahab was probably still surrounded by his nobles, riding in all his pomp to Jezreel--at least 16 miles away.

Then the rain began to fall, and ahead of the king ran Elijah in the power of the Lord. The countryside that had seen so much sun and so little rain was dry and hot and showed the ravages of the drought.

Then suddenly the sky was filled with dark clouds, the lightning flashed, the thunder rolled, and the rain poured down. The hand of the Lord was on His prophet, and Elijah outran the chariot to the gates of the city!

"For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise" (Heb. 10:36).

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Author: Theodore Epp
Source: Strength for the Journey
Scripture Reference 1 Kings 19:1-8

A Mighty Man Falls

1 Kings 19:1-8

Elijah traveled on foot about 95 miles to the southern border of Judah. Then he went another day's journey into the wilderness.

By that time he was completely exhausted. He had remarkable physical strength and endurance, but he had extended himself to the breaking point.

He had first prepared for the "showdown" with the prophets of Baal at Mount Carmel. Then it was necessary to kill the prophets of Baal. Such invasion of Satan's territory is not done easily.

Then Elijah prayed for rain with great earnestness, and finally he ran about 16 miles to Jezreel to see what results would follow the great triumph at Mount Carmel. All of this took place in one day.

Satan knows that a tired body is an added opportunity for him, and he took advantage of it in this case. When Jezebel threatened Elijah, he seemed to lose control and continued running until he sat under the juniper tree in the wilderness.

Then he requested that he might die. Elijah had lost hope of seeing the people of Israel return to the Lord. Thus life no longer was attractive to him.

When hope is gone, life is not worth living. Perhaps it seemed to Elijah that the Lord had given up also, but this was not the case. The Lord did not answer the prayer of His discouraged servant when he asked to die.

The present world has no answer to the turmoil and strife going on in its midst, but the Church is not without hope. Our hope lies in the coming of our Lord. This we must never forget.

"Hope deferred maketh the heart sick: but when the desire cometh, it is a tree of life" (Prov. 13:12).

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[nChrist]

Author: Theodore Epp
Source: Streams in the Desert
Scripture Reference 1 Kings 19:8-18

God Is Still in Control

1 Kings 19:8-18

Perhaps we have felt like Elijah and said, "What is the use?" Perhaps we have given the best of our lives to accomplish something for the Lord and feel that we have been left stranded.

Perhaps we feel that the Enemy is seeking to destroy all traces of Christianity and belief in the true God and that he is after our soul too. Perhaps we feel we are the only one left of all God's people.

If so, we need to be reminded, as Elijah was, that God still had 7000 who had not bowed their knee to Baal.

And God still is the Almighty God. He is still on His throne. People cannot dethrone Him, no matter how hard they try. All we need for life and godliness and Christian service is found in Him.

Perhaps we have tried hard to overcome temptations and to rise above our testings. Perhaps we have fought against the overwhelming odds of modernism in our church.

Perhaps we have done so and have found few, if any, standing with us, and we are about ready to give up our belief in the fundamentals of the Word of God. Do not give up. God is still in control of this world and this universe.

Perhaps we have tried hard to live for the Lord and have failed. Perhaps we fail today as we failed yesterday and the day before and are asking, "What's the use?"

Let us come out of the cave of darkness and listen to the still, small voice of God. He tells us that He has given us all that pertains to life and godliness (see 2 Pet. 1:3). Every provision has been made for us.

"In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will" (Eph. 1:11).

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Author: Theodore Epp
Source: Strength for the Journey
Scripture Reference 2 Kings 2:1-11

Bypassing Death

2 Kings 2:1-11

The closing incident in Elijah's life was perhaps the most touching in his whole history. He was translated to heaven without having to die.

His ministry may have covered 15 or 20 years, but the public aspect of it was much briefer than that.

At a time of great depression in his life, when lying under a juniper tree, he had prayed for death, but when the time of his translation came, he was thankful that God had not answered that prayer.

The prophet's translation was to be at a specially designated place. Elijah had learned long ago that absolute obedience to God's directions was necessary for God's blessings.

Elijah began his journey from Gilgal to the place of his ascension, and Elisha insisted on going with him. This journey involved a great test for Elisha, who was to be Elijah's successor.

From the account you may be led to think that Elijah was reluctant to have Elisha go with him, but this may well have been part of the test for the younger man.

Elijah was alone in his ministry, and he was humble, and he may have felt that his coming translation was too sacred a matter to be witnessed by others.

We can learn valuable lessons from this experience. If we wish to behold the glory of God and to be fit vessels to participate in God's work, we must go on to maturity in Christ.

"Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord" (1 Thess. 4:17).

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[nChrist]

Author: Theodore Epp
Source: Strength for the Journey
Scripture Reference James 5:16-18

We Can Do It Also

James 5:16-18

The Bible says Elijah was a man subject to like passions, or as another translation says it, "A man of like nature" (James 5:17, RSV).

God permits us to see where Elijah failed so that we need not think we are dealing with a perfect man. He was human just as we are; what sets him apart from most of us is that he fully believed God.

What Elijah accomplished is possible to us today if God should call us to such a ministry and if we will believe and trust Him for it.

It is true that we know nothing of Elijah's family background or of his life before his public ministry began. He appeared suddenly, and he went away suddenly.

Yet he was a man who had the same fallen nature that we have; he was subject to temptations similar to ours; he faced the same tests and trials that all humans face.

He walked with the same God we have the privilege of walking with. He sought the Lord for the same things that you and I seek Him for.

We may seek the Lord as Elijah did, for our Saviour made God's will very plain: "Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you" (Matt. 7:7).

The Apostle Paul said, "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me" (Phil. 4:13).

"The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms" (Deut. 33:27).

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Author: Theodore Epp
Source: Strength for the Journey
Scripture Reference Job 1:1-5

Qualities That Please God

Job 1:1-5

In brief but pointed phrases Job is described in the first verse in the book: "There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was perfect and upright, and one that feared God, and eschewed evil" (Job 1:1).

First of all, he is said to be "perfect." This word does not refer to sinless perfection but to the fact that Job wholeheartedly wanted to please God.

Second, Job is described as an upright man. He had a good relationship with other human beings, which was due to his having a right relationship with God. He was a man of unusual piety.

Third, Job was a man who feared God. In the Old Testament context this refers to a man who had a reverential trust of God coupled with a hatred for evil. "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom" (Ps. 111:10; Prov. 9:10). With that trust in God grows a sensitivity to sin and a hatred of it.

Fourth, Job was a man who eschewed evil, which means that he turned away from it. He abstained from evil and shunned it. His manner of life corresponded to his relationship with God.

Through trust in Jesus Christ, we have been cleansed from sin. Its guilt has been removed, and we are counted righteous in God's eyes./p>

We are born again, but does our conduct before other people indicate what our relationship is before God? Job's conduct did.

"Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man" (Eccles. 12:13).

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Author: Theodore Epp
Source: Strength for the Journey
Scripture Reference Job 1:6-11

A Glimpse That Strengthens

Job 1:6-11

In the first two chapters of the Book of Job, God gives us a look behind the scenes so that we can see events on earth from the standpoint of heaven.

There is no doubt that if Job could have seen into the councils of heaven before and during his trial, he would have answered his friends quite differently. But God did not allow him to know about this heavenly scene presented to us.

Nor did God explain it to him at the close of his experiences. He may have learned about it after he went to heaven but not before.

God's eternal purpose for Job would have been thwarted if Job had been given the explanation for his trial. If he had known all that went on behind the scenes in heaven, there would have been no place for faith.

Without faith, Hebrews 11:6 tells us, it is impossible to please God. Job could never have been purified, as gold is purified by fire, if he had not gone through the situation in which he had to trust God implicitly.

God has permitted us to see these things to help strengthen our faith when we face baffling afflictions. His purpose is that we might place implicit faith in Him and in His counsel and His goals for us, believing that the hard experiences in life are permitted for a good purpose.

This is the teaching of Romans 8:28,29: "All things work together for good" for the believer.

"For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory" (2 Cor. 4:17).

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Daily devotions for 08-17-2006:

Title: Victorious Faith Defeats Satan
Author: Theodore Epp
Devotion: Theodore Epp
Scripture References:
Job 1:12-22
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Title: Victorious Faith Defeats Satan

Job 1: 12-22

According to Job 1:12 the Lord gave Satan permission to afflict Job up to a certain point.

God told Satan that he could do what he wanted with all Job had, but he was not to touch Job himself.  So Satan set out to prove that Job was not what God claimed him to be, but God's purpose was to show that Job was a man of God.

When the great calamities fell upon Job, it was not Satan's lightning nor Satan's whirlwind that brought destruction.  The lightning and the wind belong to God.

Satan merely had permission from God to use them.  Even Job saw this, for he said, "The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord" (v. 21).

The character of a person is generally revealed at a time of sudden crisis. When there is no time for reflection, our true nature is revealed. This is especially true when someone is under as much pressure as Job was.

Satan was defeated by Job's turning to the Lord. The Evil One failed in everything he tried to do against Job.

Instead of driving Job away from God, Satan had driven him closer to God.  Here was a man who could be faced with all that Satan could cast at him and still stand firm in his faith.

Is this how we react when Satan brings trials and testings into our lives? Or do we cringe and ask why? Do we shake and tremble under the terrible trial?

"My grace is sufficient for thee:  for my strength is made perfect in weakness" (2 Cor. 12:9).

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Author: Theodore Epp
Source: Strength for the Journey
Scripture Reference Job 2:1-10

Questioning God's Love

Job 2:1-10

Satan did not give up easily. He did not succeed the first time, but he would try again.

He had removed Job's possessions and his family, but now he was going to touch Job where he thought every person was vulnerable. Satan's proposition now was to add physical suffering to the problems of this man whom he thought was strained to the breaking point.

God had given His permission, so Satan brought a terrible disease on Job. Some think it was a form of black leprosy, said to be the worst kind of leprosy.

Even after all this, Satan was not through with Job. Another blow was still to come. Job's wife came to him and said, "Dost thou still retain thine integrity? curse God, and die" (Job 2:9).

She must have thought that God, whom Job served, had forsaken him. Possibly she thought God could not be a God of love since He had let such suffering come upon a man who had served Him so well.

Isn't such an attitude familiar to us? Haven't we even thought these things ourselves?

"'For I know the plans that I have for you,' declares the Lord, 'plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope"' (Jer. 29:11, NASB).

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Author: Theodore Epp
Source: Strength for the Journey
Scripture Reference Job 2:11-3:5

Needed: True Friends

Job 2:11-3:5

Friends can be very valuable. The right kind of friends can help us over the difficult spots in life. But the quality of friendship expressed by these three men left much to be desired.

When they saw Job's plight, they were shocked. They hardly knew what to think. The man whom they had known as the greatest man in their part of the world was ill and sitting on an ash heap.

They were silent for seven days, having no comfort to give him. They said nothing, and apparently Job said nothing in all that time. But Satan kept up the pressure, and finally at the end of the seven days Job opened his mouth and cursed the day he was born.

In the wake of all these combined losses, now had come the crowning loss--he began to doubt that God really cared about him.

This was a most crucial moment in Job's experience. He cursed the day of his birth, but he did not curse God. He doubted God's care, but he did not lose faith that God existed.

This was when his friends should have helped him. This was when they should have encouraged him, but they did not.

Are we friends to those in need? Do we stand by fellow believers when they experience times of difficulty and stress? Or do we find someone in difficulty and add to their troubles?

"A friend loveth at all times" (Prov. 17:17).

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Author: Theodore Epp
Source: Strength for the Journey
Scripture Reference Job 4:1-7

Counsel Based on Human Experience

Job 4:1-7

Eliphaz was possibly the eldest of the group and supposedly the wisest also. However, superior age does not mean superior wisdom.

The philosophy of Eliphaz was based on what we will call general observations and spiritual illumination. He claimed to have some kind of vision, on which he laid a great deal of stress. Several times in Job 4 he stressed what he had seen and experienced.

Eliphaz used what is today called the psychological approach--he commended Job before he condemned him.

Eliphaz then leaned heavily on his observations, which were all related to his experience. No one, as far as he had seen, had ever perished if he was innocent.

Suffering, according to his experience, was always the result of God's judgment of sin. His conclusion was that Job was no exception to this rule and was being punished for some sin he had committed.

Some people have this idea today. They believe that if a person or a family is going through severe trials, such trials are deserved and are the result of sin.

If this were true, why did David suffer as he did before he became king? He had to run for his life, not because he had done wrong but because Saul was jealous of him.

And what about our Saviour Himself? He did not sin. In fact, He could not sin. And yet He suffered.

It is easy to see that the argument of Eliphaz was not correct.

"For I will give you utterance and wisdom which none of your opponents will be able to resist or refute" (Luke 21:15, NASB).

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Author: Theodore Epp
Source: Strength for the Journey
Scripture Reference Job 8:1-10

Counsel Based on Tradition

Job 8:1-10

Bildad made no appeal to the revealed will of God but only to whatever wisdom the fathers may have taught.

He asked if God perverted justice. The answer, of course, is no. Then Bildad used this premise to argue that Job must have lost his children because of some transgression on their part. He also charged Job with lack of purity and uprightness.

This was little help to a man who, according to Job 1, had offered sacrifices to God just in case his children had offended God in something they had said or done. Then to have them accused of some sin that was so great that they all died because of it was a terrible charge to make.

The arguments of Bildad were all from appearance and based on suppositions. He used many "ifs." He did not really know, but he supposed many things. This was the way he interpreted the situation, but his interpretation was wrong.

Christians need to learn to distinguish between facts and how the facts are interpreted. Just because we read something does not mean we may assume that something else is also true.

Just because one person interprets a set of facts a certain way does not mean that his interpretation is correct. All the facts may not be given. And often the withholding of one essential fact can change the interpretation.

"Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ" (Col. 2:8).

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Author: Theodore Epp
Source: Strength for the Journey
Scripture Reference Job 11:1-7

Counsel Based on Logic Alone

Job 11:1-7

Zophar is the most dogmatic of the three. He assumes many things, based on his own intuition, or common sense, and then states his conclusion with a finality that permits no opposition.

For Job to differ with Zophar's conclusions is proof, in Zophar's eyes, that Job is a sinner.

Some people are like that today. They are so sure of what they say that anyone who disagrees with them calls forth their scorn or anger.

Zophar was a legalist and a formalist. He did not understand God's character at all. He knew a certain amount of truth, but it was distorted because it was not complete.

When men like Zophar assume what is untrue and call for repentance on the basis of their false assumptions, they only stir up anger.

God, of course, allowed these men to use their arguments against Job. The Lord wanted to help him see that though his calamities were not the result of sin, his character needed to be refined.

Job needed to be made humble, for he was proud. But we cannot force people to see this by sheer dogmatism on our part.

"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD." (Isa. 55:8).

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