Always put God FIRST–Always Have a Steady Supply
In Kings 17 we have many tremendous life lessons for people who are in the Kingdom of God. The Bible says much about God providing for all of our needs, and it instructs us on what we’re to do in order for God’s supply to continue to flow to us no matter what circumstances we find ourselves in. If you’re in a situation of famine, plague, storm or war, you can still expect and enjoy a steady provision from the Lord your Provider.
In this particular testimony, a great famine is upon the land. God tells Elijah to go to a certain town where he (the prophet), a widow and her son will be provided for. When the man of God arrives in the town, he finds the widow who is at the end of her provision. She has no support, no job, and no foreseeable provision; she’s about to prepare her last meal for herself and her son, and then starve to death.
“But Elijah said to her, Don’t be afraid! Go ahead and cook that, “last meal,” but bake me a little loaf of bread FIRST. Afterward there will still be food for you and your son. For this is what the Lord, the God of Israel says: There will always be plenty of flour and oil left in your containers until the time when the Lord sends rain and the crops grow again!” 1 Kings 17:13-14.
Now, this woman had the Word of the Lord/the Promise of God. She just had to ACT upon it. We all have many Words/Promises from the Lord too! Are we acting upon them?
“Honor the Lord by giving Him your money and the FIRST part of all your crops. Then you will have more grain and grapes than you will ever need.” Proverbs 3:9-10 CEV
“But more than anything else, put God’s work FIRST and DO what He wants. Then the other things will be yours as well.” Matthew 6:33 CEV
The widow didn’t put herself first. She put the Kingdom work FIRST by giving FIRST to the minister of God. I have heard for many years, people in many nations say, “But, we’re too poor to give.” And that’s exactly why they never have enough and never will have enough until they start to ACT and put God FIRST with the little they have—just like this widow.
“So she did as Elijah said, and she and Elijah and her son continued to eat from her supply of flour and oil for many days. For no matter how much they used, there was always enough left in the containers, JUST AS THE LORD HAD PROMISED through Elijah.” Kings 17:15-16 NLT
Notice These Things
1. Elijah the widow, and her son were all provided for BECAUSE they ACTED upon the word of the Lord.
2. Go does much with little when we are faithful to put Him FIRST with our little. You are never, EVER, too poor to give.
3. Notice carefully–each day, in order for all the supply to continue, she must give to God FIRST. Each day she was faithful to the Kingdom FIRST; and Kingdom giving became her lifestyle!
4. “The three of them ate for many days.” 1 Kings 17:15Bible scholars believe it was from one to three years or 365 to as many as 1,095 days.
So understand and be convinced that when you give to God FIRST you are never losing it or throwing it away! It will be multiplied back to you and you will receive an eternal reward as well. Matthew 6:20.
SO, FEAR NOT and put God FIRST. You will prove that there will ALWAYS be enough for you and yours!
–Pastor Steve Shank
Rejected from Both Sides
“During those days, Saul, full of angry threats and rage, wanted to murder the disciples of the Lord Jesus…When Saul arrived in Jerusalem, he attempted to introduce himself to the fellowship of the believers, but everyone was afraid of him because they doubted he was a true disciple.” Acts 9:1,26 TPT Here we find what commonly happens whenever a high profile “notorious” sinner gets converted to Jesus. Many of the believers doubted the validity and sincerity of Paul’s conversion; so I am sure he was rejected by his old Pharisee community and not really accepted by his new Christian community either! Thank God for Barnabas who took the young believer, Paul, under his wing and discipled him.
I began to preach last May that some of the least likely people, high profile “notorious” sinners were going to be getting saved soon. Be ready to take these people into your midst and disciple them! Love them unconditionally, be patient with them, and give them grace so that they can make it in Jesus and not fall away.
People are going to get saved like my friend back in USSR days who was a feared Mafia hit man–now he has been a Pastor/Evangelist for over 20 years; like my friend who had one of the first full sex change surgeries in the 1970’s, then got saved and went back to his God-given identity as a man and Evangelized Hollywood until he went to Heaven; or Pastor/Evangelist Joshua Blahyi who was called “the most evil man in the world.’ He was an African Warlord and General who believed the more human sacrifices he offered, the more power his demon god would give him. He was responsible for killing over 20,000 people. In 1996 he had a Saul of Tarsus conversion and has faithfully served and preached Jesus ever since-Glory to God! Our friend, David Hogan, knows him and has preached with him in Africa.
Let’s do our best to pray for these high profile “notorious” sinners. Back in 1978 songwriter/singer Bob Dylan professed his faith in Christ. Here’s what he said–“I sensed a presence in the room that couldn’t have been anyone but Jesus. Jesus put His hand on me. It was a physical thing. I felt it. I felt it all over me. I felt my whole body tremble. The Glory of the Lord knocked me down.”
From 1978-1981 he wrote and recorded songs only about Jesus. But, he was rejected by most in his old rock community, and accepted by very few in his new Christian community. The end result was that he walked away from Christ.
Recently, rapper Kanye West has reported that he’s an all out follower of Jesus. He says Jesus restored his mental health and established his life on solid ground. He says from now on all of his music will be about Jesus. His new album is called, “Jesus Is King.” Will Christians pray for him? Will they remember he is only a baby Christian? Will they give him grace and room to grow? Will they doubt whether his is a “True disciple?” Acts 9:26
To all you seasoned believers-I exhort you to believe for God to reach the most unlikely people…even the most evil of men…and pray for them to be kept by the grace of God and rooted and discipled deep in Christ! Can I get an Amen?
