Daily Bible Reading: 2 Kings 2

Elijah and Elisha went to Gilgal. Elijah told Elisha to stay there, because he had to go to Bethel, but Elisha refused. When they got there, other prophets were there and they came to Elisha and said, "Do you know that God is going to take Elijah today?" Elisha said, "Yes, I know. Be quiet."

Then Elijah told Elisha to stay in Bethel because God had sent him to Jericho. Elisha refused. The prophets of Jericho met Elisha and told him, "Do you know that God is going to take Elijah today?" Elisha said, "Yes, I know. Be quiet."

Then Elijah told Elisha to stay in Jericho because God had sent him to Jordan. Again, Elisha refused. When they got to the Jordan river, fifty prophets were watching as Elisha wrapped up his mantle and hit the waters of the river with it, and it divided and they crossed over on dry ground.

Elijah asked his friend, Elisha, "Is there anything I can do for you before God takes me?" And, Elisha answered, "I want a double portion of the spirit that you have." Elijah said, "That is a hard thing to give. But, if you see me taken up by God, then you shall have what you have asked for."

Then, as they walked and talked a little further, a chariot of fire with horses of fire came down and took Elijah up in a whirlwind. Elijah's mantle fell as he went up, so Elisha went and got it, and he hit the waters of the Jordan saying, "Is the God of Elijah here?" The waters parted and he went over.

The fifty prophets that had seen them walk over the Jordan came and met Elisha and said, "Let us go to look for Elijah. Maybe the Lord put him down somewhere else." But, Elisha said, "That isn't necessary," but they kept insisting, so Elisha told them to go ahead and look. They searched for three days but did not find Elijah. Then, they came back to Elisha, who said, "I told you it wouldn't be necessary. He is gone!"

The men of the city came to Elisha and said, "This is a good city, but the water is so bad even the plants can't drink it." So Elisha had them bring him a cruse of salt. He threw the salt into the water and said, "The Lord has healed these waters," and it was.

On his way back to Bethel, forty children came out taunting him about his bald head. Elisha cursed them in the name of God and two female bears came out and tore all the children to pieces.

He left there and went to Mt. Carmel, then he went to Samaria.

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If you follow a mentor who is god-fearing, and you learn from them, when they leave this world, you can be blessed with as much, if not more, knowledge and spirit as they have. This is due to the experience that you have, coupled with the experiences you learn from them.

The prophets knew that Elijah had been taken, they knew he was going to be, but they refused to believe it until they saw for themselves. This wasn't a bad thing, because it served to build the testimony Elisha had. For instance, if you get cancer, and you pray for healing, and you know without a shadow of a doubt that God has healed you, it is still good to get the doctor's to check you over so you can testify to them how God has healed you.

When God leaves you to take over someone else's job, it is always best to do it well as well, if not better than your predecessor.

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Daily Bible Reading: 2 Kings 1

After the death of Ahab, Moab rebelled. Ahaziah got sick and sent people to ask his god, Baal-zebub if he would get well.

Elijah, who was sent by God, stopped the men on their way. He said, "Your king is going to die because he chooses to ask Baal when there is already a God he can ask."

They went back to Ahaziah, who wanted to know why they had returned. They told him what Elijah had said, but not knowing him, said he was a "man of God." Ahaziah wanted to know what he looked like, and they described him as being rough and hairy.

So Ahaziah sent fifty men and their officer to find him and bring him back. They found Elijah sitting on a hill, and said, "Hey you! Man of God! The king wants you to come down, now!"

Elijah said, "If, as you say, I am a man of God, then may fire come down and burn all of you up!" and it did. Ahaziah sent fifty more men and their captain who met the same fate. Then he sent fifty more and their captain. When they found Elijah, the captain said,

"You have already killed two groups of men. Please spare my life and come down!"

So, Elijah went back with them. He told Ahaziah the same thing he told the men that were going to see Baal-zebub, and Ahaziah died.

Jehoram reigned in his place because Ahaziah had no son.

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Until the soldiers were willing to acknowledge that God had such power, and treat Elijah with respect because of God, God did not tell Elijah to go with them. The third group came in respect, so God told Elijah to go with them.

If you do not give God respect, He will take it.

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Daily Bible Reading: 1 Kings 19

Ahab went and told Jezebel everything Elijah had done, and how he had killed all of the prophets of Baal. This angered Jezebel, who swore to kill Elijah by the next day. So, Elijah ran to Beer-sheba and left his servant there, then he ran another day into the wilderness.

Tired and depressed, Elijah came to a juniper tree and sat down under it and began to pray that God would just go ahead and take him. He wanted to die. He fell asleep. Then, an Angel of the Lord woke him up and said, "Get up. Eat." When he looked, there was a cake baked for him on the campfire, and some water for him to drink in a flask.

So, he ate; and, he drank. Then, he fell asleep again.

The Angel woke him again, telling him, "Eat, drink. You have a long journey ahead of you. You need your strength."
After the second meal, Elijah had enough strength to travel 40 days and 40 nights to Mt. Horeb (the same mountain Moses saw the burning bush). He found a cave and set up camp there. God came to Elijah and said, "What are you doing here, Elijah?"

Elijah said, "I did all I did for you, and I am the only one left. Everyone wants to kill me."

God told him to go and stand on the mountain, so he did.

As he stood there, a great wind came. It was so strong it broke rocks. But, Elijah didn't see God in the wind. Then there was an earthquake. Elijah didn't see God in the earthquake. Then, there was fire. God wasn't in the fire, either. Then, it got quiet.

Elijah heard a small, still voice that said, "Why are you here, Elijah?"

Elijah repeated the same answer he gave before.

God told him, "Go back. On your way, stop in Damascus and annoint Hazael to be king of Syria. Then, annoint Jehu to be king of Israel. Then, annoint Elisha to take your place. There are still seven-thousand people in Israel who have not bowed down to Baal. The rest, Hazael will slay, and whoever he misses, Jehu will slay, and who he misses, Elisha will get."

Elijah, true to his nature, did as he was told. He found Elisha plowing with twelve oxen. He placed his mantle on Elisha and walked away. Elisha called after him, "Wait! Let me say goodbye to my family and I will come with you!"

Elijah waved him off with, "I haven't done anything for you to want to follow me."

Elisha cooked the oxen in a going away party with his family, then he caught up with Elijah and gave him support.

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God knows what you are going through. He already has plans in motion to make the world a better place for His children; but, sometimes, God wants to hear what His children are going through in their words, out of their hearts.

Notice that Elijah didn't get angry with God for putting him in this predicament. He simply stated the obvious: "I did this for you. Now, look where I am."

God had Elijah stand on the mountain and watch all these natural phenomenom take place. These were all out of Elijah's control. God wasn't in the wind -- just like He wasn't in Hurricane Katrina. He wasn't in the earthquake -- just like He wasn't in the earthquake that hit Haiti. He wasn't in the fire, either -- just like He isn't in the fires in Colorado, California, or West Texas.

Instead, God waited until it got quiet to say, "Hey, I'm right here. I haven't left. I wasn't in the wind, the earthquake or the fire, or anything else you may have witnessed before, because I was right here with you the whole time."

The storms of our lives sometimes seem overbearing. We run, we hide, we fight, we cry, and sometimes we laugh because that's all we can do. But, when it's quiet, and we are alone, with only God to talk to, we realize how blessed we are that throughout it all, we are still standing, shaky knees and all, because God is right here with us.

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Daily Bible Reading: 1 Kings 18

After three years, God told Elijah to go back to Ahab, "And I will send rain." So, Elijah went.

Obadiah was the governor of Ahab's household. He had much respect for God--so much so, that when Jezebel cut off all the prophets, and was having them put to death, he hid a hundred of God's prophets in caves, feeding them.

Ahab sent Obadiah to search the land for grass to feed the animals. While Obadiah was searching, he met Elijah. When he saw Elijah, he fell on his face and said, "Elijah!...is that you?"

Elijah said, "Yes. Go tell Ahab I want to see him."

"There is no way I am going to tell Ahab you are here! After you last seen him, he sent everyone in search of you. We had to swear by the kingdom that we hadn't seen you when we couldn't find you. If we said we saw you and you weren't there when he got here, he will kill me."

Elijah promised he would see Ahab that day, so Obadiah went to tell Ahab, and Ahab went to meet Elijah.

When Ahab saw Elijah, he said, "Are you the one causing all this trouble in Israel?"
to which Elijah replied, "I have caused no trouble. You are the one causing all the trouble by not following God. Now, I want a meeting with all of Israel at Mt. Carmel. Make sure you bring all 450 prophets of Baal, including the prophets of the grove.

So Ahab did as Elijah wanted. When they got there, Elijah stood before them and said, "How long will you ride the fence? If the Lord is your God then serve Him and only Him; but if Baal is your god, then serve him." No one spoke a word. So Elijah continued, "I am the only prophet of God left. There are 450 of Baal's prophets here. Let's see which God is the true God. Go get a young bull. Build an altar. Put wood on it, then let the true god light the fire to burn the sacrifice. I will pray to my God. You pray to yours. I will let Baal's prophets go first."

The people agreed.

Baal's prophets prayed, chanted, danced, yelled, leaped and made a big thing of it, but there god never brought fire for the altar. They kept trying. Finally, around noon, Elijah began making fun of them:

"Yell louder!" he said. "After all, he IS a god, is he not? Maybe he's busy talking to someone else. Maybe he's chasing someone. Maybe he can't hear you because he is on a trip somewhere? Hey! Maybe...maybe he's ASLEEP and you need to yell louder to wake him up!"

They kept trying until time for the evening sacrifice. Then it was Elijah's turn.

He called all the people to come near him. Then, he repaired the altar that was broken by Baal's prophets in their frenzy to get their god to answer. Then, he dug a trench around the altar and told the people to pour water all over the altar, the wood, the sacrifice and fill the trench so that it was all soaked wet.

Then Elijah prayed: "Dear Lord, let these people know that you are the only true God and that what I have said is truth!"

Fire came down and devoured the sacrifice, the altar, the wood and all the water around it.

The people of Israel bowed down, saying, "The Lord is God, the ONLY God!"

They took all the prophets of Baal and killed them. Then Elijah said to Ahab, "Eat, drink; rain is going to come now!"

Elijah went to the top of Mt. Carmel and sat with his head between his knees and told his servant, "Go, look toward the sea for rain." The servant went, and came back, saying, "I don't see anything." Elijah told him to go and come back seven times. On the seventh time, the servant came back and said, "I see a cloud!"

Elijah said, "Hurry, go tell Ahab to get his chariot and run to safety! It's going to storm!" Ahab ran to Jezreel with Elijah leading the way.

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There is only one God. When He makes Himself known, He leaves no doubt as to who He is or what He is about. When He gives, He gives abundantly. When He provides, He provides enough--but He refuses to bless those who do not serve His purpose. He does not let His children down, but He does not claim those who do not follow Him as His own.

What gods are you following? Who do you serve. I take Joshua's lead: "As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord!"

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