John 15:13-15
Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you.
California Beach
God loves impossible situations!
Elijah, God’s prophet, faced an impossible and discouraging situation. The people of Israel refused to follow God and worshipped idols despite His unfailing kindness to them. How did Elijah handle these thankless rebels? He trusted God and turned to Him in fervent prayer. God responded with a series of amazing miracles that proved He, alone, was the true God, and challenged the people of Israel to obey God’s Word.
A Lake in Montana
Let’s consider another impossible situation from earlier in Israel’s history. God chose Abraham out of a pagan society and made a very important covenant with him. God asked Abraham to leave his country and family for a new land He would show him. Just imagine what a difficult thing God was asking Abraham to do. It was nearly an impossible challenge for Abraham, but he pulled up stakes and left his home in Ur of the Chaldeans, never turning back. God graciously blessed Abraham’s trust, declaring him to be righteous in His sight.
Now consider the children of Israel and another impossible situation in this timeline.
Then they arrived at to the Red Sea, facing another impossible situation
They were walled in on four sides:
So what could they do?
Multnomah Falls, Oregon
They cried to the Lord, and the Lord made a way through the Red Sea.
This is by means of another miracle led by Moses listening to God and following God’s command.
God’s people were griping and complaining while Moses was listening to God’s Word and depending on God’s grace.
God loves impossible situations!
God will always make a way through life’s challenges and difficulties if we believe Him, pray and trust Him.
Learn to pray through the rough situations that come your way and obey God.
God will put you in impossible situations to prove that He is God.
God has a purpose, a divine purpose resting behind every event in life. Many times we do not realize it till we look back and see God’s hand working, protecting and guiding us. Why did we meet this person, why did we end up at this church, at this fellowship, at this function in the body of Christ.
So now look at a few events in the Bible about Elijah.
Sea of Galilee, Israel
It was not what Elijah did, but who he was that is most significant. People love the story of the burnt sacrifice and how God proved that Jehovah is God. But the real significance of Elijah’s life and ministry is that he is a man who was available for whatever the Lord wanted to do. He followed The Lord, or to use a hard term for many “He Obeyed The Lord“. Elijah was a person what followed the Lord. Again not what he did, but that what he did was what the Lord was doing.
Even thought Elijah’s Prayer was wonderful, yet he is a person the Lord could use in any situation. Elijah prayed and the rain stopped, Elijah prayed and the rain came. The Lord could use him in any direction. Elijah could be used by God even when the direction or plans seem to change.
He did not stick to a program, but was available in many situations. I am not saying we should not have programs, but what if the Lord adjusts it or suspends it for a time, or sometimes terminates it?
Elijah is mentioned a few times in the New Testament, but not even mentioned in the great chapter on faith in Hebrews 11.
One day Jesus took a few disciples (Peter, James and John) to a high mountain, perhaps it was mount Hermon in northern Israel.
Mount Bachelor, Oregon
And there appeared with Jesus two people from the Old Testament: Moses and Elijah. These two represented the Law and the prophets. But why not Samuel, I always personally thought Samuel should be the top represented prophet, but God choose Moses and Elijah to appear with Jesus.
The two were talkng to Jesus, Luke says they were talking about Jesus’ death.
Then Peter had a “great idea”, no it was a “bad idea”. Peter wanted to build a great monument to all three people: Jesus, Moses ands Elijah. So the Father started to speak from heaven saying “This is my son, Hear Him“. We should never get distracted from Jesus.
All these events and activities have a divine purpose. These all show we need to follow Jesus and not be distracted by other things. We need to follow Him.
In the 1500’s there were many men and women who helped to change the world, but none as much as the German monk-turned-professor Martin Luther. He helped reform Christian tradition by speaking against the many religious errors of his day and comparing them to what the Bible actually teaches.
Lake Coeur d’Alene, Idaho
One area was the doctrine of justification by faith and works. Luther taught that the Scriptures declare a sinner is justified by faith in Christ alone (Ephesians 2:8-9) and not by works of penance. It is by grace that a believer is saved, plus nothing. Luther brought people back to what the Bible teaches, and not what traditions were teaching. That gracious salvation would lead to a changed life of good deeds, not the other way around.
Another problem that Luther wanted to fix was the medieval view of indulgences… a document Christians could buy which was supposed to pardon a person from the sins they had committed. Luther criticized this teaching because he believed it replaced the Biblical doctrine of repentance (1 John 1:9-10).
Another tradition Luther objected to was denying the authority of the Bible, by elevating religious traditions above the Old and New Testaments. Luther faithfully preached that the Bible, not the church, is the ultimate authority over matters of faith and life (Acts 5:29). Because the Bible was only allowed in Latin, an academic language, Luther chose to translate the Word of God into the German tongue so that any literate person in his land could read the Bible and learn its glorious message.
Lake Coeur d’Alene, Idaho
Luther and his fellow Reformers also helped restore congregational singing, lay leadership, the sanctity of common work for the glory of God, and a renewed focus on the centrality of the gospel in every area of a Christian’s life. While Luther had real flaws, he played an undeniably important role in the development of theology and the church in the 16th century.
Lake Coeur d’Alene, Idaho
The best time to pray is in the morning. Enjoy this short video on Prayer in the morning.
The Bible is a book that tells a story. The story the Bible tells is God’s story. So the Bible is not written by God as a theology book, it is written to tell a wonderful story.
So in the Morning enjoy reading God’s story. So enjoy this animation about morning prayer and Bible reading.
God loves morning prayer time. What a great time to pray and think about God, the source of our life. The Morning sets the direction for the day.
Little Spokane River and Reflections
These are very simple animated Bible stories that relate to Christmas time, you can view them at DrewHaninger.com/video. The titles include: Awesome Morning Prayer Time, The Bible Overview in 29 Seconds, The Bible Overview in Two Minutes. I was inspired to produce these to help people get engaged with the Bible.
We have great software that uniquely enhances your ability to study the Bible, but when all is said and done, it’s not about our software. It’s about the magnificent Word of a mighty God, who desires to communicate truth to you that can change your life.
Vineyards in Israel
The Word of God comes to us in a form of a Book, The Bible. This is from Martin Luther who appreciated the Bible as a book. A book inspired by God so we can read it.
Wheat fields