Tag: elijah

Posted in Evangelism, Faith, Leadership, Life Inspiration, Uncategorized

A Walk in the Wilderness

Written by talk2shari Published Discussion Leave a Comment on A Walk in the Wilderness

For several years after I was saved, I failed to get baptized, because I had been baptized pre-salvation. But I had a praying friend, Doyle Ballengee, who the Spirit revealed to him the necessity of that event in my life. And so I stood before the congregation of Victory Baptist Church and told them of my “assumption of salvation, realization of being lost, struggle to believe I was saved when I actually got saved, and the wisdom that I needed to be baptized to make it clear in my own head once and for all, I am a child of God and this is how I will identify with Him, both publicly and personally. And from that decision point, I’ve never turned back. My salvation is stead fast in Christ and my service is bold! But it’s not been without many, many wilderness experiences along the way.

I’ve heard a few sermons lately, and the mention of the text on several occasions about the transfiguration of Christ. And any time I hear a specific word of God on multiple occasions I can assume that God is getting my attention and saying “Shari… park here for a while.” And so this morning I’m parked. In between jumping up and down in a giddy, childish excitement kind of way. It’s like I got the prize out of the box of cereal before my siblings! Now it’s not just mine… and I didn’t actually think it up. It started with my co-teacher Doug Rowe a few weeks ago who taught on the transfiguration. Then I’ve heard it in sermons and comments a few more times, and then this morning I listened to Jace Robertson on “Unashamed” the podcast and I couldn’t stop thinking about the significance of this word in my life. 

Wandering

Both Elijah and Moses did some serious wandering in the wilderness. It wasn’t Moses’ fault that he was leading a rebellious nation of people. (Exodus)  Elijah, in a moment of weakness, wanders into the wilderness believing himself to be alone and the last of the mighty men of God willing to take a stand, and in 1 Kings 19:8 it reads

And he arose, and did eat and drink, and went in the strength of that meat forty days and forty nights into Horeb the mount of God. 

40… seems of great importance.

Although my salvation at 34 begin a whirlwind of faith, the dates and times of significant events seem to escape me. However, I was nearing, if not 40 years of age when I got baptized. And that was the for certain the start of my ministry. Where I actually considered myself in the work of the Lord. But even knowing that, I still did my share of wandering! It wasn’t until 2010 at the age of 48 when I settled into the “Jesus Chick” role, that I stopped wandering on a large scale and began wandering within the bounds of wordpress, trying to figure out how to market and use this platform for the Glory of God. So here I am… still wandering in that zone, but ever so happy to be. But it’s been a struggle. My decision to step out in faith immediately put me on Satan’s radar, and I’ve been there ever since. He has a lot to work with in me. As someone so cleverly once said, “serving God is being on a battleship, not a love boat.” It’s war!

Jace tuned me in on a verse this morning in Hebrews that really ties some strings together when it comes to my own walk with the Lord, and what I see happening in the lives of others. Please understand, I AM NOT saying I have all of life figured out in the realm of faith… but… I have a little snippet that has brought me along thus far, and Hebrews 4:1-2 explains it!

Hebrews 4:1-2 

Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it. For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it.

Warfare

War’s scary! But a life without rest, the constant fear of the enemy would be far worse. Because of Christ we can enter into the rest and security of the believer, but not without the Word of God being a large portion of our life. It’s why so many people are living defeated lives as Christians. You cannot possibly live in peace if you stay in the battle zone all the time. Moses and Elijah, the two on the mountain of Transfiguration stand before us as an example that we all, even the most faithful, struggle. But neither of those men stopped serving, or listening for God. 

I have good friends, who just don’t get the importance of church and personal bible study. They “fit” church in when they can. Scripture is a “go to” in times of trouble, and prayer is an occasional “formality.” Or something they ask for because they don’t know how to have a conversation with God themselves. It makes me nauseous! Because I can fall into that trap just as easy as anyone else. The writer of Hebrews summed it up! The word does not profit those who aren’t mixed with faith. If you’re not active in your relationship with God, you’re gonna find yourself in a cave thinking you’re the only one left! (1 Kings 19). 

Wantoness 

Nothing Satan had to offer Christ was of interest to Him. But He still used the Word of God to put Satan in His place. There was little mention of Christ’s life prior to that day in the water, but suddenly Jesus was on the scene and Satan wasn’t happy about it. He placed the very things that were of interest to himself before Jesus figuring that would catch Jesus’ eye. What Satan wanted more than anything was worship. And he knew that mankind (for which Jesus was now a part of) loved stuff! Oh… I just stepped on my own toes to the point I may have severed a couple. My eyes can so easily be captured by shiny, blingy things. Be it music, apparel, jewelry, etc. I just love STUFF! So Satan knows if he wants to capture my attention just put those things in front of me.

The children of Israel exited Egypt with more “stuff” than any had ever owned. Egypt was throwing things their way to get their plague brining bodies out of their town. But even with all that stuff, they still wanted more. It’s the nature of man. Nothing’s ever seems “enough.” Until you’re at the end of life and then you truly realize there is nothing that will bring “rest” to the body and mind except the Lord Jesus Himself. He was on the mountain with Moses and He was on the mountain with Elijah in that still small voice! And He has been on every mountain top experience I’ve had and He lead me out of every valley!

In all honesty. I have needed nothing that God didn’t provide. But that did not stop my wantoness.

Washing 

Elijah’s wilderness experience came after the drought of water in 1 Kings 17.

Moses’ wilderness experience came after the parting of the Red Sea in Exodus 15.

Jesus’ wilderness experience came after His baptism in Matthew 4:1.

Following the water… wilderness. Water us significant. The Bible is called the “washing of water by the word.” It is through the word of God that we find healing, cleansing, leading… everything we stand of need of. It’s in there! And once that’s discovered by a child of God, Satan ain’t happy!

James 4:7

Submit yourselves there to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

Submission gets a bad wrap in society today. Nobody wants to submit. Israel didn’t… and the Gentiles don’t. We’re just another nation of people that wants to give God a headache. Praise His Holy Name! He is so patient with us. 

When Jesus took James, Peter and John upon the mountain to pray, and there introduced him to Elijah and Moses, woah… what an amazing time that must have been! Until the next “40”

Acts 1:3 – To whom also he shewed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God:

Isn’t the word of God amazing! Can you understand why I was so captivated by this word this morning and how all those “parts and pieces” from the Old Testament and the New Testament fit together like some amazing spiritual jigsaw puzzle? Just like you and I. 

There will come a day when we get to glory, face to face with the One Who saved us and He lets us in on all the mysteries of the Bible and how we too played a role. Oh…. goodness… gracious!!!!  Thanks for letting me share that with you. I hope it made sense. It does in my head, but that’s a dangerous ground to walk. 

God bless ya!!! And if you find some nuggets of truth, share them with me. And let me join in your journey!

Posted in Bible Journaling, Christian Service, Life Inspiration

A Great Word for the Day!

Written by talk2shari Published Discussion Leave a Comment on A Great Word for the Day!

Persistence

If I’m anything, I’m persistent. But that still doesn’t stop the interference of Satan or the flesh of Shari that often arises in the form of discouragement or aggravation. I’m persistent… not patient. And there’s always plenty of avenues to take to another direction, re-plan the plan, so to speak; and plenty of people to tell you that perhaps that wasn’t God’s plan for you after all. So how do you know that you know? The same way everyone who’s been anyone has known for thousands of years, Stop, drop and listen, that’s how I roll! It was how Elijah and Elisha rolled as well in 1st and 2nd Kings.

Now… I’m not in the league of either. But I serve the same God. Elijah stopped the rain, and then started the rain in 1 Kings 17 and 18.

1 Kings 17:1

And Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the inhabitants of Gilead, said unto Ahab, As the Lord God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word.

1 Kings 18:41-44

41And Elijah said unto Ahab, Get thee up, eat and drink; for there is a sound of abundance of rain.42 So Ahab went up to eat and to drink. And Elijah went up to the top of Carmel; and he cast himself down upon the earth, and put his face between his knees, 43 And said to his servant, Go up now, look toward the sea. And he went up, and looked, and said, There is nothing. And he said, Go again seven times. 44 And it came to pass at the seventh time, that he said, Behold, there ariseth a little cloud out of the sea, like a man’s hand. And he said, Go up, say unto Ahab, Prepare thy chariot, and get thee down that the rain stop thee not.

Seven times Elijah sent his servant up to look toward the sea. Six times there was nothing, and the seventh time there but a little cloud the size of a man’s hand. But Elijah wasn’t concerned with the size of the cloud, because he knew from his perspective something that looked small was anything but from God’s perspective it was an abundance. Elijah believed that before the first drop appeared because he’d heard it from God (vs. 41).

The things that God spoke into my heart in 2010… (7 years ago) have yet to come to pass. But God continues to say serve. He continues to say serve where I am. It ain’t easy. But He never promised that it would be. I’m waiting for the mantle to fall.

So was Elisha the successor to Elijah. He too believed in his calling. When he received word that Elijah’s job was about to be open he never left Elijah’s side, even though Elijah said stay.

Elijah said I’m going to Bethel, you stay here. Elisha went to Bethel.

Elijah told Elisha to tarry there, he was going to Jericho. Elisha went to Jericho.

Elijah told him to tarry there, he was going to Jordan. Elisha went to Jordan.

Elisha was persistent. He persisted until the mantle of Elijah rested on his shoulders and he received a double portion of his spirit.

Elijah’s seven time miracle of the rain, was followed by Elisha having two seven time miracles.

When the child died who he had blessed the Shunemite family with, Elisha in faith brought the child back and seven times the child sneezed when he was revived. And when Naaman was afflicted with leprosy, Elisha instructed him to dip in the Jordan seven times and be healed and so he was. Elisha proved the double portion blessing of Elijah more than once, but he wouldn’t have proven it once if he hadn’t have persisted when Elijah said stay.

And so it was my word this morning as I arose at the crack of dawn and God said read… and then said write… and then said… persist. And so it now is our word. Yours and mine. Because I don’t believe for a second this message is only mine, else God would have stopped with read…

If the Lord impresses up on your heart to support this ministry it would be much appreciated!

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The Overcomer’s Club

Written by talk2shari Published Discussion 2 Comments on The Overcomer’s Club

Let me premise this blog by stating that I’m not a psychologist, or expert in mental health. I did however stay at the Stonewall Jackson Resort this week, which may qualify me in some manner as much as some of those “experts” that I’ve heard speak. I understand depression from the victim’s point of view, being one who has struggled with it for years and since salvation in 1996 have not mastered, but managed my own through relying on God’s grace to pull me through. That sounds all pious and religious, but in truth just means that I quit trying to fix it on my own and began asking God to help me through it. Each time was different, sometimes were darker than others. It varied from a nightlight of hope to a dimly lit room, it was never utter darkness for me, because in Christ I truly did have light, even though it was sometime shrouded by the trouble of the day.

If you struggle with depression this blog will not fix you, its 710 word after all. How far can that take you? What I hope it does is to “turn up the light” a little in your life today. J

.B. Phillips, author of Your God is Too Small, dealt with depression all of this life. In one of his many letters he offered this comment to someone struggling with depression. “As far as you can, and God knows how difficult this is, try to relax in and upon Him. As far as my experience goes, to get to even a breath of God’s peace in the midst of pain is infinitely worth having.”

For me that “breath of God’s peace” was my nightlight in dark times. In my heart I knew that “God had this.”, my head however would sometimes join the liars club and berate me with thoughts of defeat and discouragement. That’s Satan at his finest isn’t it? If you’re a Christian he can’t get into your heart, because Christ dwells there. So in the very core of you there is always a light. But in your mind, where the world can seep in, Satan has free reign to beat his drum and loud and long he will until you’re spiraling into the direction of depression.

So how do you spiral out?

Again… I’m not an expert. This is what works for me. I place myself in the winner’s circle with those who God’s shown me battled depression.

  1. The woman of Samaria in John 4 who came to the well in the heat of the day to avoid the judgmental eyes of society and met the one true Judge, who didn’t condemn her but loved her out of the lifestyle she as in.
  2. Moses wanted to die in Exodus 32:32, asking God to blot his name out of the book because of what the children of Israel had done with the golden calf – yet, he was the greatest leader ever known.
  3. 3.      Elijah sat down under a juniper tree in I Kings 19:4 and told God “It is enough; now, O Lord, take my life.”  The same Elijah who had brought fire down from Heaven.
  4. 4.      King David, my hero in the faith in Psalm 6:6 said I am weary with my groaning; all the night make I my bed to swim; I water my couch with my tears.
  5. 5.      The widow in I Kings 17:12 who had come to the end of her finances and was prepared to die a death of starvation with her child, when God sent an endless supply of provision.

The overcomers club! There were times that they had self-inflicted depression and other times it came from the outside, just like mine. But God brought them through! None of them were perfect, their sins rivaled the worst, and yet God’s mercy and grace is shown all over them. It is in those stories that I come to the “Why not me?” phase of healing. If God did it for them, why not me? They were just ordinary, messed up people, just like me.

I’m not an expert at much, but I may be nearing the benchmark of an expert in failures. But… God’s got me covered. Amen!

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Wait for iiiiiitttttt…. Bring on the rain!

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James 5:17-20 ~ Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months.And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit. Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth, and one convert him; Let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins.

I love passionate Christian people! They not only stir my soul but things happen when you’re around them. Sometimes it happens quickly and other times you have to patiently wait for the rain. For three years and six months Elijah prayed for the rain. You can almost hear him saying “Wait for iiiiittttt….” No doubt there were people who laughed him to scorn, his friends may have stuck with him for a while but some of them likely walked away shaking their heads saying “Po ol Elijah, he just don’t get it.” Yeah, I know they didn’t speak country in Israel but I can still see it. More than that I see Elijah watching them walk away and being a little broken hearted that they didn’t have his faith. They served the same God, they’d seen and heard of His miracles, they knew God wasn’t on the clock, why couldn’t they believe? But that was okay, because Elijah had enough faith for all of them.

Passion isn’t for the faint of heart, but it is for anyone who will believe. James said Elijah was a man of “like passions.” He was just like us, he put his under-britches on the same way we do. I’ve been waiting for God to move in an area of my life and I know there are people out there who are saying “Po ol Shari, she just don’t get it.” Well I’m waiting on the rain! Have I been tempted to move to another mountain with a moister climate? Plenty of times!But the truth of the matter is, if I moved there I know in my heart that that land would be dry and barren too. God said “Wait” and I so I am…

In I Kings 18 we find Elijah still waiting in faith, God had rained down fire on the altar on Mt. Carmel and Elijah knew that the sky was about to open up. In verse 41 “Elijah said unto Ahab, Get thee up, eat and drink; for there is a sound of abundance of rain.”  He hadn’t seen the first drop, but he could hear it! He had been faithful, He had kept his eye on the sky believing it was on its way. He was passionate about his purpose in life, to show others the power of his God.

So here we passionate people are. Is there something you in faith have been waiting for God to do?

Elijah told them to go seven times and check for the rain, Let me know if I can pray for you and at Wait for iiiiittttt…7 tonight I’ll check the posts and lift your request to the Lord.