An Elijah Style Swagger

1 Kings 18:27 "About noontime Elijah began mocking them. "You'll have to shout louder," he scoffed, "for surely he is a god! Perhaps he is deep in thought, or he is relieving himself. Or maybe he is away on a trip, or he is asleep and needs to be wakened!"

Elijah is on Mount Carmel in a showdown with 450 prophets of Baal. He challenges them to build an altar and call on their god to light the altar and burn it up. After a few failed attempts Elijah begins to mock them and their God. Eventually, Elijah calls on the one true God and he of course sets the altar ablaze.

This is easily one of my favorite Bible stories. I love the attitude and cockiness that Elijah displays. He has such strong faith in God he is able to toy with the prophets of Baal a bit. In the NFL certain players are known for having a swagger in the way they play the game. They walk and talk and play football with a certain confidence and pride in their game because they know they are good. Elijah has that same kind of swagger here on Mount Carmel. He knows who the victor is before the game is played. Do I have that same kind of confidence in my God? Do I have that same swagger?

Dear Jesus, give me the swagger and strut that Elijah had. Give me the courage and bravery Elijah displayed in front of his 450 enemies. Amen.

Don't Forget to Tip the Birds

1 Kings 17:5-6 "Elijah obeyed God's orders. He went and camped in the Kerith canyon on the other side of the Jordan. And sure enough, ravens brought him his meals, both breakfast and supper, and he drank from the brook."

God has ordered Elijah to get away from Ahab for awhile because God was going to bring drought and Ahab probably wasn't too happy with Elijah at the moment. So Elijah obediently follows God's instructions and God provides for him by sending ravens to feed him.

My 4 year old daughter Ellie just heard about this story last week at CrossWalk and we talked about it on the way home from church. We asked her what she thought of this story and how the birds fed Elijah and she replied "I wish birds would feed me too!" To Ellie, this story seems completely plausible and normal. Birds can feed people. What I have to understand is that yes, birds can feed people. God can and will provide for us. We just have to have faith and trust in Him.

Dear Jesus, help me to trust in you and believe birds can feed me. Amen.

Everything is New!

Revelation 21: "He who was seated on the throne said, "I am making everything new!" Then he said, "Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true."

John is writing about his revelation from God and he describes the new heaven and the new earth. In the new Jerusalem, seated on the throne God declares he is making all things new. The earth is new, heaven is new, his city is new, and his people will be new. Everything in creation will be new.

I love these words. I love the idea that God will make all things new in the end, and in fact is in the process of renewing us all now. That is the work of Christ in the lives of people. He takes old things and makes them new. He removes the old dead stuff in our lives and re creates us in his image. We cannot and will not remain the same once in Christ Jesus.

Dear Jesus, help me each day to allow myself to be made new in your image. Amen.