By TIMOTHY L. MELTON, PASTOR
(Transcribed by Myra D. Colgate)
Cherokee Pentecostal Holiness Church
Read 1 Kings, Chapter 17; Ephesians 6:10-13
“Here are the three things we will need to watch out for, and each person does what they can, as they can.”
“We must look at what the problem is to be. In the text of the Bible is found, there is to be a drought. A drought means there are not going to be enough crops, livestock will be dying, and the economic State of the nation is about to fall. The spiritual state of the nation is about to fall, too. This can mean when things begin to take place, everything around us begins to fall apart. We can now watch what takes place every single day.
“Are people stealing from farms and other businesses, running them out of business? Are all these things happening just like in that day when there was no help for anyone? There was no help for the prophet outside of God. There was no hope for the widows and the orphans, none for the preachers, no hope even for church attendees. Watch carefully what happens next…
“In verse 17, we find there’s a widow, who has helped the prophet, and for her trouble, her son dies. There was a problem after a problem. With the drought, we have all these issues, and none to help. It’s all because there is only one voice that’s needed, one man, and they can’t find him. God told him to hide, and he did.
“It’s interesting, with the decline of everything around them, God was still taking care of the man of God, at the brook. Elijah is drinking his fill at the brook. Then, as there’s nothing to eat, the Bible tells us the ravens were coming with meat and bread to feed the man of God. (They fed him sandwiches?). God knows how to take care of those who are His. God had a Plan.
Point #1: “God provides to everyone, everywhere, His own Son. Yes, I’m talking about those who realize we have heard from God and what He has said for us to do. He may send us to a place we didn’t think to go. The Brook Cherith is in the middle of a desert. For He is the God Who does bring water to dry places. The children of Israel were thirsty, and He opened up a river out of a rock, in the middle of a desert, and He watered the millions and their livestock. How did God do it? If one’s problems are piling up, God knows what He’s doing. He had a plan before they went in, and then how to get them out of it! Thank You, Lord.
Point #2: “God knows how to make us shine where none can prosper. He knows how to keep us while everyone else is crying. He knows how to watch over us and get us out of it. Even if nobody else is there to help us, or everyone else has fallen. If nobody else is patting us on the back, we can get up and do what’s necessary anyway because God told us to do it. He knows how to prosper us when nobody else is prospering. He knows how to make us shine while darkness is all around, how to watch over me while everyone else is looking for flaws.
“We must realize that problems come to build our characters. They come to pull out of us what the Lord has planted within us. It is especially helpful to remember that when all hell has broken loose, we need to give God a big and powerful Praise for what He’s been able to do inside of us.
Point #3: “The Principle we must learn is how important obedience is and obeying precisely. God is not asking us what we think. He does not care what one may want, He’s only looking for a man or a woman of God to declare to God, “You are the One in control. You are the One Who knows where my feet are supposed to land.
“Father, I pray that You would open the Scriptures. Holy Ghost, I pray You’d begin to teach and preach. Lord, I pray, before this evening is done, Lord, every person in the House will be excited about what’s going on around us, for it’s all part of the Plan of God. We’re going to see it this evening. Thank You, God, Thank You for the Plan, for the Survival Guide in the coming days, Lord, before You return. We Love You and we Praise You in Jesus’ Name and we say, Amen.”
