Living the Faith at Home

1 Kings 17 NLT

8. Then the Lord said to Elijah,
9. “Go and live in the village of Zarephath, near the city of Sidon. I have instructed a widow there to feed you.”
10. So he went to Zarephath. As he arrived at the gates of the village, he saw a widow gathering sticks, and he asked her, “Would you please bring me a little water in a cup?”
11. As she was going to get it, he called to her, “Bring me a bite of bread, too.”
12. But she said, “I swear by the Lord your God that I don’t have a single piece of bread in the house.
    And I have only a handful of flour left in the jar and a little cooking oil in the bottom of the jug.
    I was just gathering a few sticks to cook this last meal, and then my son and I will die.”
13. But Elijah said to her, “Don’t be afraid! Go ahead and do just what you’ve said, but make a little bread for me first. Then use what’s left to prepare a meal for yourself and your son.
14. For this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: There will always be flour and olive oil left in your containers until the time when the Lord sends rain and the crops grow again!”
15. So she did as Elijah said, and she and Elijah and her family continued to eat for many days.
16. There was always enough flour and olive oil left in the containers, just as the Lord had promised through Elijah.

If our love for Christ is what it should be, it will resemble the law of gravity,
which not only controls the planets in their spheres but guides the course of each dust grain through the autumn breeze and determines the fall of a rose petal fluttering to the path.
Everything will come beneath its sway – each look, each word, each trivial act.

Elijah(5) - The Test of the Homelife F.B. Meyer

Hebrews 12 NIV

5. Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said,
   “I will never leave you;
   I will never forsake you.”

Philippians 4 NIV

11. …I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.
12. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty.
    I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation,
    whether well fed or hungry,
    whether living in plenty or in want.
13. I can do all this through Christ who gives me strength.

A wise saying

• Don’t grumble
  because you don’t have what you want.
  Be grateful
  that you don’t get what you deserve!

1 Timothy 6:6: “Godliness with contentment is great gain”

1 Kings 17 NLT

17. Some time later the woman’s son became sick. He grew worse and worse, and finally he died.
18. Then she said to Elijah, “O man of God, what have you done to me? Have you come here to point out my sins and kill my son?”

“We mutter we splutter
We fume and we spurt
We mumble we grumble
Our feelings get hurt.
We can’t understand things
Our vision grows dim
But all that we need
Is to surrender to Him.”

Anonymous

Afflictions may test me
they cannot destroy me
one glimpse of my Love
turns them all into joy

Galatians 5

22. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
23. gentleness and self-control…

1 Kings 17 cont’d

18. …Have you come here to point out my sins and kill my son?”
19. But Elijah replied, “Give me your son.”
    And he took the child’s body from her arms, carried him up the stairs to the room where he was staying, and laid the body on his bed.
20. Then Elijah cried out to the Lord,
    “O Lord my God, why have you brought tragedy to this widow who has opened her home to me, causing her son to die?”
21. And he stretched himself out over the child three times and cried out to the Lord,
    “O Lord my God, please let this child’s life return to him.”
22. The Lord heard Elijah’s prayer, and the life of the child returned, and he revived!
23. Then Elijah brought him down from the upper room and gave him to his mother. “Look!” he said. “Your son is alive!”
24. Then the woman told Elijah, “Now I know for sure that you are a man of God, and that the Lord truly speaks through you.”

Summary

1. If the Holy Spirit is really filling the heart:
   • There will be a gentleness in speach.
   • There will be a tenderness and thoughtfulness in the smallest actions.
   • There will be a visible peace which passes all understanding.
2. Christ desires to make a difference in our home.
   He does this through ours heart.
   Jesus wiil not be Lord in our homes until he is truly Lord in our hearts

Prayer

“Lord Jesus, please enter this heart of mine
and make it your own.

Lord Jesus, please enter this house of mine
and make it your home.

And as you enter, Prince of Peace,
bring your peace.

And Lord of Life, bring your life.

And Shepherd of Love, bring your love.

Please do not come as a guest,
come to abide.

Come to love.
Come to continue your work of creation,
to bring light out of darkness,
to bring healing and hope.

Lord Jesus by your grace, enable me to truly live my faith in my home.

May my life be marked with contentment, gentleness, and your life-giving presence.
Amen!