Entrusted With The Secret Things Of God

Being stuck in grumbling and complaining is remaining in infancy in our faith.  

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Are you faithful with the trust you have been given?  Yes, there’s a trust fund we can withdraw from, it’s the treasury of revelation.  

Servant’s of God, “It is required that those who have been given  a trust must prove faithful.”  (1 Corinthians 4: 2)  How are we investing in that trust?

Paul is addressing the divisions in the Corinthian church.  The people are comparing the Apostles they have been given to teach them.  They were judging them with their own opinions.  

Paul gets sarcastic, not to shame them, but to make the church realize they have been given everything they need.  He says, “Already you have all you want!  You have become kings–and that without us! How I wish that you really had become kings so that we might be kings with you!” (1 Corinthians 4: 8)  Yes, Paul is ridiculing and addressing their haughtiness.  They are thinking they are something they are not!  

Paul reminds them that he is their spiritual father.  “For in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel.”  (1 Corinthians 4: 15)  

  • Be grateful to those who have mentored you.  They are a gift from God.  Be respectful and honoring to them. 

Paul is calling them up to a new level.  “For the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power.”  (1 Corinthians 4: 20)  

A mark of an Apostle, a true follower of Yeshua, are kingdom builders. 

  • Being stuck in grumbling and complaining is remaining in infancy in our faith.  
  • It’s time to grow up and grow out.  
  • Growing out is having a kingdom mindset.  (Shared from 1 Corinthians 4, Modified)

Kingdom-minded folks go out and grow out of their comfort zones.  

Elijah was told by the Lord to, “Leave here, turn eastward and hide in Kerith Ravine, east of the Jordan.  You will drink from the brook and I have ordered the ravens to feed you there.”  (1 Kings 17: 3-4)  

  • Growing out and kingdom building will take you in a new direction.

Notice, the Lord told Elijah to leave here and turn eastward.  He was giving him a new direction and a new level of faith.  He told Elijah that he would feed him from the raven’s mouth and that he could drink from the brook.  

Eww! Yuk!  Could you drink dirty brook water?  I’ve had experiences with birds and food when I’ve been at the beach. The ravishing seagulls come to snatch my food right out of my hands.  I’ve lost several sandwiches that way.  I’ve seen these hoggish birds rip large holes through a Lays Potato Chip bag and devour salty chips.  I’ve seen them prey on small, vulnerable children who had a sand bucket in one hand and a small sandwich waving in the air; unknowingly, that they will be the next victim of being stolen from.  

Many times I’ve thought the film crew was coming to film another version of “The Birds” movie by Alfred Hitchcock. 

C’mon God!  You are going to feed Elijah from the mouth of a dirty raven?  Oh, the cost of obedience to trust God!  

“So he did what the Lord had told him.”  (1 Kings 17: 5)  He went and, “The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning and bread and meat in the evening, and he drank from the brook.”  (1 Kings 17: 6)  

God didn’t mess around!  He fed him in the morning and the evening.  Our God is faithful to do exceedingly and abundantly above and beyond what we could think or even imagine.  I can’t imagine being fed by a bird.  That’s certainly above and beyond my wildest imagination!  

Here it comes.  Uh oh!  “Some time later the brook dried up because there had been no rain in the land.”  (1 Kings 17: 7)    

So what’s Elijah to do next?  Where will his provision come from?  Will he die and dehydrate?  Nope!  God has another plan for him to leave, change his direction, and go again.  Go where?  Go to the house of a widow for He had commanded a widow in that place to supply him with food.  

Elijah goes and sees the widow gathering sticks.  He calls to her asking for a little water and some bread.  She tells him, “I don’t have any bread–only a handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a jug.”  (1 Kings 17: 12)  Ahh!  A jar and a jug.  

Elijah instructs her to go home, make some bread, but to serve him first, then give your son and yourself the food.  The nerve of him!  

  • God’s order of things is usually different than what we think, or what we have been familiar with.  
  • Let him change the order or the usual way of doing things.  We may see a miracle.  

Then Elijah prophecies:  “For this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says, “The jar of flour will not be used up and the jug of oil will not run dry until the day the Lord gives rain on the land.”  (1 Kings 17: 14)  

  • Kingdom building and kingdom mindset folks accept and expect miracles to happen. It’s a different way of thinking.
  • Kingdom-minded folks learn to live a life of obedience.  

How did the woman, the widow, respond?  “She went away and did as Elijah had told her.”  (1 Kings 17: 15)  

The jar of flour and jug of oil never ran out.  There was food every day for Elijah, the woman and her son.  Now he’s hanging out with the woman.  He’s become her guest. They had daily provision.  

Some time later, her son becomes ill and stops breathing.  She runs to Elijah saying, “What did you have against me, man of God?  Did you come to remind me of my sin and kill my son?  (1 Kings 17: 18)  

  • When things go wrong or bad happens, why do we assume it’s always punishment from God?  That’s not always the case!  

What does Elijah, this man of God, do?  “He stretched himself out on the boy three times and cried to the Lord, “O Lord my God, let this boy’s life return to him.”  (1 Kings 17: 21)  

He lived!  The Lord heard Elijah’s prayer and saw his faith, then carried her son in his arms and said, to the woman, “Look, your son is alive!”  (1 Kings 17: 23b)  

  • God’s son, Jesus, is alive, too!  He’s continuing His kingdom-building skills through us! 
  • Obeying the voice of the Lord, even when it looks foolish, may produce miracles.   
  • Elijah had been entrusted to obedience to carry out the plan of God, so are we. (Shared from 1 Kings 17, Modified)  

Prophets see upcoming events.  The prophet Amos “Saw concerning Israel two years before the earthquake, when Uzziah was king of Judah and Jeroboam was king of Israel.”  (Amos 1: 1)  

Amos is producing judgements on Israel’s neighbors.
They are: Damascus, Gaza, Tyre, Edom and Ammon. He starts each oracle with, “I will not turn back my wrath…” 

Amos was declaring that God was going to judge his unfaithful, disobedient, covenant-breaking people.  They continually failed to honor and obey Him.  

When you are entrusted with the secret things of God, obedience is carried out and special revelation given. Sometimes that entails heeding a warning and impending judgement.  

 

 

 


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About the Author

Mary Beth Pecora, a faithful wife, mother, grandmother, friend, worshiper and servant leader, who loves life and loves people. More importantly, she passionately loves God and the fullness of who He is! For twenty-three years she has served in leadership positions within the ministry of Aglow International. Currently, she and her husband serve at The Secret Place--A Psalm 91 Ministry. It's a place for individual folks to come, be exhorted and prayed for, while being ushered to ministry stations within the room. They continue to serve monthly in the Prayer Room at their home church that they have been a part of for almost forty years. In April of 2022 they both received their Ministry License and were Ordained in May of 2023. She delights in encouraging folks of all ages within various walks of life. Her love of writing is now her passion, which led her to publish two books, "Restoration Explosion In The New Year," and "Navigating The Mysteries Of God." Above all that’s been accomplished and concluded, the BEST thing to her is knowing her Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. He is her everything—her very best friend. Visit: Mybelovedsvoice.com