Seven Thousand

"Yet I have reserved seven thousand in Israel, all whose knees have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him," ~ 1 Kings 19:18

Just a little while ago, God had worked so many wonders for Elijah. God rained down fire from heaven, while Baal could not. After years of drought, it had finally rained. God was working so mightily to bring about true worship in Israel. One would think that Elijah would be so excited to see God's continuous working, but one thing prevented him: a death warrant from Queen Jezebel. The prophet's life was in danger. Loosing all hope and courage, he fell to the ground and exclaimed, "It is enough! Now, Lord, take my life, for I am no better than my fathers!" Soon, he would be in the grave with his ancestors. Poor Elijah! So discouraged! So depressed! But God had not forgotten His servant. Twice, God sent an angel to wake Elijah up so he could eat. After waking up, Elijah still didn't seem to have recovered from his bought of depression. When God asked him what he was doing there, Elijah replied, "I have been very zealous for the Lord of Hosts... I alone am left and they seek to take my life. " He had worked so hard for God and now he was all alone. No one was left. Not even one. Or maybe there was. In a still small voice, God assured His weary prophet, "I have reserved seven thousand in Israel, all whose knees have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him," Elijah must have been shocked out of his mind! Here he was, thinking that he was all alone, but God had reserved SEVEN THOUSAND people! There were SEVEN THOUSAND people who had chosen to worship God. SEVEN THOUSAND who were ready to stand with Elijah. SEVEN THOUSAND who would not bow to Baal. SEVEN THOUSAND! But most importantly, he had all of heaven on his side. With God, he could face the world!

There have been times when we've all felt like Elijah. Times when we feel like we're all alone. We've fought so hard to stand for truth, but all to no avail. There may even have been some times when we've cried out to God and gotten no answer. But God has not forsaken you! He did not forget about Elijah, and He will not forget about you either. When we feel as if we're the only ones left, ask God to show you the BIG picture. Like Elijah, you just might realize that you're anything but alone. Friends and family are there to support you. People who you've almost forgotten about haven't forgotten about you. But best of all, GOD hasn't forgotten you! For He has promised, "I will NEVER leave you nor forsake you." (Hebrews 13:5) With God on our side, we are never alone! 

I Can Do All Things...

The story is told of a man named Moni Bawa who lived in India. He had strong morals and always believed in being a good person, but there was a problem. He had one bad trait of character that he could never overcome: his fiery temper. He was well known for flashing angry insults or swear words and always regretting the hurtful words he had spoken. Realizing his own weakness of character, he decided to stop his temper once and for all by taking a “vow of silence”. He vowed not to say another word for the next six years. That way, he would be forced to control his temper more. Believe it or not, Moni was able to keep his vow for the full six years! Talk about self control! Afterwards, someone asked him if he had cured himself from his bad temper. He confessed that even after the many years of silence, he was still unable to control it. “I have been silent for six years, but it hasn’t helped. My temper is still bad,” he said afterwards. You see the problem isn’t that Moni didn’t try hard enough. Nor is it the fact that perhaps he didn’t use the right method. The problem was that he was trying to do it all on his own. You see, all of us, and I mean ALL of us have bad traits of character (I probably have a million more than the average person,) and none of us will ever be able to overcome by our own strength or willpower. I bet that even if Moni was silent for 40 years or even 100 years, his temper wouldn’t change. Yes, he may learn how to show his anger less, but it would still be inside of him, a part of him. The only way that we can TRULY overcome any bad trait of character is by finding strength from Christ, the only person who has overcome every sin for us!

Philippians 4:13

I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

Let’s claim the promises of the Bible and give our temptations to Jesus! (And trust me, it’s much easier than trying to do things by your own strength!)

The Tortoise and the Birds

Philippians 2:3-11

Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others. Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus,

I once heard a funny story that I thought I’d share with you: There once was a bright green tortoise that had a big dream: to travel the world. He had always dreamed of seeing the world, smelling the different smells, meeting new creatures…. It was his grandest dream. For many days he wondered if there was a way he could accomplish his dream. One day, as he watched a large group of birds flying through the air, an idea came to his mind. Clearing his throat, he began to call the birds. Finally, two curious birds flew down to see what the tortoise wanted. The tortoise explained that he wanted to travel the world and see new sights, hear new sounds, but he was too slow to do so. He politely asked the two birds if they would be willing to help him. He explained that perhaps the two birds could hold a stick between their beaks, and he would hold on to the stick with his mouth, while the birds flew around the world. It was a clever idea indeed, and the birds, wanting to help the tortoise, agreed. Minutes later, the tortoise was up in the air with the birds, his life-long dream finally being fulfilled. I’m such a smart little tortoise, he thought to himself. Who would have thought of such an idea? As he peered down below him, he saw some humans talking amongst themselves, “Wow! Look at that! Those birds must be mighty smart to have come up with such an idea!” Anger began to boil up inside the tortoise. The other human added, “I guess I really underestimate the intelligence of birds!” That did it. The tortoise could not handle it any more. He had to put these silly humans in place. Yelling out he screamed, “Hey! You… AGGHHHH!!!” As soon as those first words left his mouth, the tortoise had unwillingly let go of the stick he was holding on to, and fell down to the ground far below.

          There’s this small five letter word that gets many of us into trouble: pride. We all struggle with it, and it’s a cause of much trouble today. The wisest man once said, “Pride goes before destruction, And a haughty spirit before a fall.” Proverbs 16:18 Many arguments start because we do not want to admit that we’re wrong. Many fights start because both sides do not want to show their weakness. People fight over power and position, because of pride. That’s how the world does things, always defending self, always thinking better of self than of others, but that’s not God’s way. Jesus lived a life of self-denial and humility. He once said in Matthew 8:20 “And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.”” You see, if Jesus, the King, God Himself, was able to live outside, sleep on the grass, surely we can be humble too. Humility is God’s way, and I am sure it would save us from a lot of trouble.

\Picture Story: Once again, I found this picture on the internet, but I chose this Indian and Greek fable because it has a powerful moral to it.

Perfect Reflection

2 Corinthians 3:18

But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.

The moon is a beautiful sight to behold indeed! Sometimes when it’s late, and I get a chance to look out the window, my eyes are always drawn to the brightly shining moon in the night sky. It’s bright light always give a warm, soft feeling inside. But the moon can only shine because it reflects the light from the sun.  Without the constant, glistening sun, the moon would be as dark as the midnight sky; barely visible. Only through the sun’s rays, the moon is able to be illuminated by a brilliant glow that points to the still brighter brightness of the sun. In the same way, we are to perfectly reflect the image and character of Christ. In this world darkened by sin, we may not be able to replace Christ when He was on earth, but we can be a beautiful reflection of Him. When we allow Christ to be reflected through our lives, we point people to the living Creator. We may not always get a chance to speak to people of God’s love, but we can most definitely live our lives representing Him. And when we do so, we are silently pointing to Christ. Sometimes that’s all it takes; a perfect reflection.

Picture Story: Once again, this is not my picture (as you can see from the bottom left corner,) but this is a beautiful picture of a solar eclipse; the time when the moon finally meets the Son.

What Goes in Must Come Out!

Luke 6:45

⁴⁵ A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil. For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.

                           I once read a true story, and this a little how it went: Amanda* screamed as her kitchen burst into flames. She desperately tried to put the fire out, but it had become too large and was quickly spreading through her kitchen and to the rest of her home. What a mess I’ve created! Amanda said to herself. Not knowing what else to do, she ran to the phone and dialed 911. Beads of sweat began to form on her forehead. The fire department were on their way, but the flames began to spread rapidly. Finding herself trapped in the living room, she hoped they would find her soon. The minutes seemed like hours, when finally she was carried out by a firefighter. “You’re a fortunate young lady. With that kind of fire, you could have easily been killed.” Still, she had lost most of her home to the flames, and it would cost her a large sum of money to repair it all. But what had started such a fire? Amanda was reluctant to say at first, but finally admitted that she had read a story where they had used water, oil, alcohol, and toothpaste to make a magical, powerful potion and she had attempted to make the same potion.

            It seems quite silly that someone would actually do such a crazy thing, but it just shows us that what goes in must come out. The things we read, watch, listen to, all have an impact on our mind. Of course we may not go to the extreme that Amanda did, but the things we put in our minds WILL affect us in the long run. It may be in small, subtle ways, just like sin. Sin usually starts in the small things, but eventually grows into the things that we would have never even imagined doing before. In the same way whatever we put into our minds will show in the long run. If we are watching violent movies, it will eventually show when we are around people. If the music we listen to contains inappropriate language, we will end up speaking like the singer. But it goes the other way as well. If we read the bible, listen to pure music, we can be shaped more into the character of Christ. So fix your eyes upon Jesus, and be made into the same likeness!

Picture Story: This picture is NOT mine… I found it off Google… but I used it because I think it really shows the point.

~Victoria

*Name has been changed

Feelings

I stumbled on the book "Living by Principle" by Ellen White. Ch 4 is entirely devoted to the subject of feelings. 

We often mistakenly use our feelings as a guide to help us determine if God has heard our prayers, if He still loves us, if we are right with Him etc. The truth is that feelings and faith are not synonymous. 

I highly encourage you to read the chapter. It was so powerful for me, it brought me to my knees. 

Here is the link to the chapter: 

https://egwwritings.org/?ref=en_PH048.30.1

Here are some excerpts:

Holding God's Hand

Hosea 11:3

“When Israel was a child, I loved him,

And out of Egypt I called My son.

 

As they called them,

So they went from them;

They sacrificed to the Baals,

And burned incense to carved images.

“I taught Ephraim to walk,

Taking them by their arms;

But they did not know that I healed them.

 

I drew them with gentle cords,

With bands of love,

And I was to them as those who take the yoke from their neck.

I stooped and fed them.

The story is told of a young boy who had just gotten a brand new winter coat. The little boy loved his new coat, but above all, he loved the warm pockets. The pockets were so warm that he didn’t need to wear any winter gloves. One day the little boy and his father were taking a walk through their snowy, white neighborhood, enjoying the fresh crisp air, the snow on the trees and the crunch of snow beneath their boots. Unfortunately though, there was much ice beneath the snow, making it difficult for the young boy to keep his footing. Several times he slipped, and probably  would have fallen if his father didn’t catch him. His father offered to hold his hand, but the little boy refused. I’m a young man now, and men don’t hold their father’s hands, he thought to himself. Plus, his hands would get cold if he took them out of his pockets. So the two walked on for sometime, until there was a large, slippery piece of ice, covered in snow. The little boy stepped onto the ice and his legs began to wobble. His father tried to catch him, but it was too late. The little boy was already on the ground, sobbing. Lovingly, the father reached out his hand to wipe the little boy’s tears and lifted him up to his feet. And together they walked on, hand in hand.  

The young boy quickly realized that with his hands in his pockets, it was hard for his father  to do anything for him. Many times we are asking for God’s protection, but we are not willing to give up the things of this world to allow Christ to fully work in our lives. Lets take our hands out of our pockets and let God take care of us!!!

Picture Story: Yes, I know.... I did break the rule this time. I was planning on drawing a picture and then taking a picture of my picture, but I soon found out that my drawing skills need ALOT of work. So I decided to break the rule, and post this picture. I love it because it's so beautiful and I can really see the verse from Hosea through this picture.