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Friday 13 June 2014

Living for His Glory

Dear Precious Ladies

Wow! June is moving pretty fast!

How have the first few days been? I know that the Lord has allowed us to continue to be on earth for a very good reason. That is to worship Him and bring Him honour through all we say and do, be it at home or work or any other place. We have been handpicked by Him for Him!!!

I am back from an amazing time in Israel. Our God is real indeed and His word is true. We visited many key biblical places. It was just like walking through the pages of the Bible. I had been to Israel before but this time was very special in that we visited more significant areas with commonly known places. The valley where David fought the giant philistine Goliath was of great interest. When we went there I remembered how the children of Israel were being harassed by this man who seemed to have already won the victory by his threats and superior armour. But in the name of the Lord and with the help of the Lord David killed him. There I saw how things are not over before God says so. Our circumstances do not have the final say and we should not fear anyone or anything. We should face our giants with confidence in God. The account of David and Goliath is found in 1 Samuel 17 please read it and encourage yourself in the Lord.

The other place that inspired me was Mount Carmel 1 Kings 18 please read the whole chapter. The prophets of Baal seemed to have the upper hand and were swaying people from worshiping the true God to worshipping idols. The people had broken down the altar of God and had constructed altars to sacrifice to Baal. 450 prophets of Baal were present but Elijah was alone. Elijah proposed that they bring their sacrifice to the altar and the God who answered by fire was the true God. Baal’s prophets cried and cried to Baal but nothing happened. In verse 30 Elijah started by repairing the altar of the Lord that had been broken down. He prepared the altar then prayed a very powerful prayer in verse 36 to 40:

At the time of sacrifice, the prophet Elijah stepped forward and prayed: “Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, let it be known today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant and have done all these things at your command. Answer me, Lord, answer me, so these people will know that you, Lord, are God, and that you are turning their hearts back again.”  Then the fire of the Lord fell and burned up the sacrifice, the wood, the stones and the soil, and also licked up the water in the trench. When all the people saw this, they fell prostrate and cried, “The Lord—he is God! Then Elijah commanded them, “Seize the prophets of Baal. Don’t let anyone get away!” They seized them, and Elijah had them brought down to the Kishon Valley and slaughtered there.
Here I learnt that in order for God to do the miraculous in me and through me, the altar of worship that is my heart must be repaired and free from contamination. I also learnt that I must drive out the prophets of Baal from my heart.
PICTURE: MOUNT CARMEL
  Elijah prayed that the lord would answer so that the people would know that He is God and that Elijah was serving Him and the way that God answered was by a great fire that licked up even the water and stones. Baal did not answer his people. As I stood on that mountain I saw that before this great miracle could be performed the altar had to be repaired and stones put. Secondly Elijah prayed and communed with God. Also Elijah's motives of wanting this miracle was pure in order that people who were now double minded and caught between opinions could return to worship the true God. He did not want to perform the miracle so as to become a brand of the day so that people may praise and worship him as the latest man of God in town. His motive was to bring people to worship God. He did not start Elijah Mountain Fire International Ministries. The people fell and worshipped and acknowledged that the Lord is God.
These can represent anything ungodly in me. Anything that competes for my attention and focus hindering my true worship should go. Anything that causes me to doubt or to be double minded must go. It is my responsibility to identify and get rid of these things so that the power and fire of God can flow through me. I stood on that mountain and prayed that I too would learn from Elijah and that I would not entertain any strange worship or idols. I also learnt that when God uses me to do anything it must not be for my personal glory but so that people may know that the Lord He is God.

I pray that you may be encouraged by these two places and that as you read the accounts you too will glean lessons from them. I will share with you about a few more places next week.

God bless you as we proceed with the month of June. Remember the Lord He is God and he will use your life to demonstrate his love and his power to those in your sphere of influence.

Much love

Pastor Fatima Sibanda
Chairperson 

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