Friday Morning Scripture (Wk15/2022) – 1 Kings 19:1-19

Elijah Flees from Jezebel

1 Now Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and how he had killed all the prophets [of Baal] with the sword.

2 Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, “So may the gods do to me, and even more, if by this time tomorrow I do not make your [1]life like the life of one of them.”

3 And Elijah was afraid and arose and ran for his life, and he came to [2]Beersheba which belongs to Judah, and he left his servant there.

4 But he himself traveled a day’s journey into the wilderness, and he came and sat down under a juniper tree and asked [God] that he might die. He said, “It is enough; now, O Lord, take my life, for I am no better than my fathers.”

5 He lay down and slept under the juniper tree, and behold, an angel touched him and said to him, “Get up and eat.”

6 He looked, and by his head there was a bread cake baked on hot coal, and a pitcher of water. So he ate and drank and lay down again.

7 Then the angel of the Lord came again a second time and touched him and said, “Get up, and eat, for the journey is too long for you [without adequate sustenance].”

8 So he got up and ate and drank, and with the strength of that food he traveled forty days and nights to Horeb (Sinai), the mountain of God.

Elijah at Horeb

9 There he came to a cave and spent the night in it; and behold, the word of the Lord came to him, and He said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

10 He said, “I have been very [3]zealous (impassioned) for the Lord God of hosts (armies) [proclaiming what is rightfully and uniquely His]; for the sons of Israel have abandoned (broken) Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and killed Your prophets with the sword. And I, only I, am left; and they seek to take away my life.”

11 So He said, “Go out and stand on the mountain before the Lord.” And behold, the Lord was passing by, and a great and powerful wind was tearing out the mountains and breaking the rocks in pieces before the Lord; but the Lord was not in the wind. And after the wind, [there was] an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake.

12 After the earthquake, [there was] a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire, [there was] the sound of a gentle blowing.

13 When Elijah heard the sound, he wrapped his face in his mantle (cloak) and went out and stood in the entrance of the cave. And behold, a voice came to him and said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

14 He said, “I have been very zealous for the Lord God of hosts (armies), because the sons of Israel have abandoned (broken) Your covenant, torn down Your altars and killed Your prophets with the sword. And I, only I, am left; and they seek to take away my life.”

15 The Lord [4]said to him, “Go, return on your way to the Wilderness of Damascus; and when you arrive, you shall anoint Hazael as king over Aram (Syria);

16 and you shall anoint Jehu the son of Nimshi as king over Israel; and anoint Elisha the son of Shaphat of [5]Abel-meholah as prophet in your place.

17 It shall come about that Jehu shall put to death whoever escapes from the sword of Hazael, and Elisha shall put to death whoever escapes the sword of Jehu.

18 Yet I will leave 7,000 [survivors] in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed down to Baal and every mouth that has not kissed him.”

19 So Elijah departed from there and found Elisha the son of Shaphat, while he was plowing with twelve pairs of oxen before him, and he with the twelfth. Elijah went over to him and threw his mantle (coat) on him.

20 He left the oxen and ran after Elijah and said, “Please let me kiss my father and mother [goodbye], then I will follow you.” And he said to him, “Go on back; for what have I done to [stop] you?”

21 So Elisha left him and went back. Then he took a pair of oxen and sacrificed them and boiled their meat with the implements of the oxen [as fuel], and gave the meat to the people, and they ate. Then he stood and followed Elijah, and served him.

1 Kings 19:1-21 (AMP)

Footnotes

  1. 1 Kings 19:2 Lit soul.
  2. 1 Kings 19:3 Beersheba was about ninety miles south of Jezreel and was not part of Ahab’s kingdom.
  3. 1 Kings 19:10 Or jealous, i.e. intolerant of unfaithfulness.
  4. 1 Kings 19:15 God tells Elijah how to complete the destruction of the worship of Baal. First, Hazael was to be placed on the Aramean (Syrian) throne in order to attack Ahab. Second, when Ahab was weakened, Jehu was to seize his throne because he opposed the worship of Baal and was a powerful military man. Third, Elijah was to appoint Elisha as his successor, as the one who would, along with Jehu, strike down Baal’s remaining followers.
  5. 1 Kings 19:16 This city was located in the tribal territory of Manasseh in the Jordan River valley.

Lion Bites – Global Prophetic Alliance – Acclimatise

It is time to take stock, be fed, and be refreshed for the journey ahead of you is great. You are turning a corner and entering into a new season of radical surrender.

You are going to climb to a higher level than you have before in your journey with Me and there is a need to acclimatise and be strengthened. There is fresh provision for you as you ascend. I will feed, guide, and nourish you by My word. I will counsel you and watch over you.

Then as he lay and slept under a broom tree, suddenly an angel touched him, and said to him, “Arise and eat.” Then he looked, and there by his head was a cake baked on coals, and a jar of water. So he ate and drank, and lay down again. And the angel of the Lord came back the second time, and touched him, and said, “Arise and eat, because the journey is too great for you.” So he arose, and ate and drank; and he went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights as far as Horeb, the mountain of God.

1 Kings 19:5-8 (NKJV)

Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.

Psalm 119:105 (ESV)

Who may ascend into the hill of the Lord? Or who may stand in His holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who has not lifted up his soul to an idol, nor sworn deceitfully. He shall receive blessing from the Lord, and righteousness from the God of his salvation.

Psalm 24:3-5 (NKJV)

#lionbites

Thursday Morning Scripture (Wk15/2022 – John 15:18-27

Disciples’ Relation to the World

18 “If the world hates you [and it does], know that it has hated Me before it hated you.

19 If you belonged to the world, the world would love [you as] its own and would treat you with affection. But you are not of the world [you no longer belong to it], but I have chosen you out of the world. And because of this the world hates you.

20 Remember [and continue to remember] that I told you, ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. If they kept My word, they will keep yours also.

21 But they will do all these [hurtful] things to you for My name’s sake [because you bear My name and are identified with Me], for they do not know the One who sent Me.

22 If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have [the guilt of their] sin; but now they have no excuse for their sin.

23 The one who hates Me also hates My Father.

24 If I had not done among them the works (attesting miracles) which no one else [ever] did, they would not have [the guilt of their] sin; but now [the fact is that] they have both seen [these works] and have hated Me [and continue to hate Me] and My Father as well.

25 But [this is so] that the word which has been written in their Law would be fulfilled, ‘They hated Me without a cause.’

26 “But when the [1]Helper (Comforter, Advocate, Intercessor—Counselor, Strengthener, Standby) comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, that is the Spirit of Truth who comes from the Father, He will testify and bear witness about Me.

27 But you will testify also and be My witnesses, because you have been with Me from the beginning.

John 15:18-27 (AMP)

Footnotes

  1. John 15:26 Gr Paracletos, one called alongside to help.

Thursday Morning Scripture (Wk15/2022) – John 15:12-17

Disciples’ Relation to Each Other

12 “This is My commandment, that you [1]love and unselfishly seek the best for one another, just as I have loved you.

13 No one has greater love [nor stronger commitment] than to lay down his own life for his friends.

14 You are my friends if you keep on doing what I command you.

15 I do not call you servants any longer, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you [My] friends, because I have revealed to you everything that I have heard from My Father.

16 You have not chosen Me, but I have chosen you and I have appointed and placed and purposefully planted you, so that you would go and bear fruit and keep on bearing, and that your fruit will remain and be lasting, so that whatever you ask of the Father in My name [as My representative] He may give to you.

17 This [is what] I command you: that you love and unselfishly seek the best for one another.

John 15:12-17 (AMP)

Thursday Morning Scripture (Wk15/2022) – John 15:1-11

Jesus Is The Vine – Followers Are Branches

1 “[1]I am the true Vine, and My Father is the vinedresser.

2 Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that continues to bear fruit, He[repeatedly] prunes, so that it will bear more fruit [even richer and finer fruit].

3 You are already clean because of the word which I have given you [the teachings which I have discussed with you].

4 Remain in Me, and I[will remain] in you. Just as no branch can bear fruit by itself without remaining in the vine, neither can you [bear fruit, producing evidence of your faith] unless you remain in Me.

5 [2]I am the Vine; you are the branches. The one who remains in Me and I in him bears much fruit, for [otherwise] apart from Me [that is, cut off from vital union with Me] you can do nothing.

6 If anyone does not remain in Me, he is thrown out like a [broken off] branch, and withers and dies; and they gather such branches and throw them into the fire, and they are burned.

7 If you remain in Me and My words remain in you [that is, if we are vitally united and My message lives in your heart], ask whatever you wish and it will be done for you.

8 My Father is glorified and honoured by this, when you bear much fruit, and prove yourselves to be My [true] disciples.

9 I have loved you just as the Father has loved Me; remain in My love [and do not doubt My love for you].

10 If you keep My commandments and obey My teaching, you will remain in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and remain in His love.

11 I have told you these things so that My joy and delight may be in you, and that your joy may be made full and complete and overflowing.

John 15:1-11 (AMP)

Footnotes

  1. John 15:1 The seventh of the memorable “I am” statements. See note 6:35.
  2. John 15:5 See note v 1.