A Commanded Blessing

1 Kings 17:8-9

“Then the word of the LORD came to Elijah, saying, "Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and dwell there. See, I have commanded a widow there to provide for you."

Israel had been experiencing seven years of drought and famine. It must have been terrible. There was no international food supply like we have today. Elijah the prophet of God was caught in the midst of this famine that was brought on by Israel’s idolatry. Yet, God had supernatural provision for this man of God in the midst of the famine.

Notice in the above verse that Elijah’s provision came at “the word of the Lord.” Supernatural provision always comes through divine direction. To walk in God’s provision we need to have a relationship with God to hear his voice. In Matthew 17:27, when Jesus and Peter needed to pay their taxes, Jesus tells Peter to go catch a fish and the money for the tax was in the fish’s mouth. In Luke 5:5, the disciples have fished all night and have caught nothing. Jesus commands them to throw their nets on the other side. They object because they know that in the natural there is no provision there. But Peter said, “nevertheless at Your word I will let down the net," and when they did they caught so much the they had to have help to pull it in. In both these stories God provides through their means of employment, as they were fisherman, but in a supernatural way.

The second key in the story of Elijah is that God tells him, “I have commanded a widow there to provide for you.” Notice command is in the past tense. God has already prepared the provision for Elijah even before he speaks to him. However, Elijah has to respond in obedience to God’s instructions, even if did not make much sense in the natural. In Psalms 133:3, God commands a blessing on those who walk in unity. Our provision comes by the authority of Almighty God. God commands provision for those who follow after Him.

We serve a creative God who has a multitude of ways to provide for us. We oftentimes miss God’s provision because we only expect provision in a certain way and, therefore, are not receptive to God’s ways. Elijah and the widow, the receiver and the giver, both participate in the miraculous provision of God. Just like the manna for Israel in the desert, they received a daily provision of oil and flour for the duration of the drought. I have learned through 35 years of ministry in missions that God’s provision comes many times from the least likely source and oftentimes right at the last minute in our point of need.

Today as you walk with God in obedience to Him, He has a commanded blessing for you. Don’t limit God to your ways, but expect God to provide in the most unexpected and creative ways that you may know it only comes from Him. Step out of your world of the natural and into God’s world where the supernatural is natural.

Andy Clark

Withered Hand

In 2 Corinthians 12 the Apostle Paul referred to a “thorn in the flesh,” which has led to a lot of speculation over the centuries. But if we are not careful, we miss the crux of what Paul is trying to teach us, and that was God’s response to his request for God to remove the thorn."My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness."  Paul’s response is, “Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.” I Corinthians 12:9

We are not too good about boasting in our infirmities or weaknesses. We usually boast in our strengths and hide our weaknesses, or we are embarrassed by or frustrated with our infirmities. In Mark chapter three, Jesus approaches a man with a withered hand and commands him to “stretch forth his hand.” When he does, his weathered hand is healed and Jesus is glorified. It is only in stretching forth the withered part of our character, life, and ministry at Christ’s command that we can be healed and God glorified. As long as we hide our withered hand in shame, we remain handicapped and unable to reach our full potential in Christ and be used for His glory.

We all tend to operate in the areas of our strengths and abilities. However, when we do, we box ourselves into the limitation of our vision, resources and talents, and God does not receive the glory. God wants to do far beyond what we could ask or think but can only do so as we are willing to seek His will and launch out beyond the borders of our comfort zone into the area of our inability.  As Jesus glorified the Father in the earth, God in these last days is looking for a people He can empower and through whom He can be glorified.

“For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, that no flesh should glory in His presence. But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God — and righteousness and sanctification and redemption — that, as it is written, "He who glories, let him glory in the Lord." I Corinthians 1:26-31

God is not looking for gifted, talented, educated and beautiful people, though He can use all these things for His glory. God is looking for people who, despite all their shortcomings and frailties, are willing to launch out into the deep and respond to God’s initiative, people who are willing to cast their net out again when they have already fished all night with no success. God is looking for people who are willing to be foolish in order that He may be glorified, people who despite all the odds are willing to believe God for the impossible.

“But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us.”  (2 Corinthians 4:7) The world is looking for real people, not perfect people.

May God, by His Spirit, be your strength and enabler today.

Andy Clark

Be Strong and Courageous

Joshua 1:6-9

“Be strong and of good courage, for to this people you shall divide as an inheritance the land which I swore to their fathers to give them. Only be strong and very courageous, that you may observe to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may prosper wherever you go. This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go."

Joshua was facing an overwhelming challenge. He was to take a nation of Bedouins with their families and herds of animals to conquer a land of great walled cities, and men in armor riding in chariots. It was like the Masai warriors taking on the US Marines. The odds were totally against Israel. However, in this portion of Scripture God gives Joshua three reasons they could be strong and courageous against these odds.

The first reason was that their victory was based on God’s promises. “You shall divide as an inheritance the land which I swore to their fathers to give them.” “You shall!” It was a done deal, no matter what the odds were against them. Revelation 13:8 says, “Christ was slain before the foundation of the earth.” In God’s mind and time frame, redemption of man was accomplished before man was created. In God’s mind Canaan was already belonging to Israel before the first battle was fought, because God had promised it to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. 2 Corinthians 1:20 says, “For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us.”

The second reason for success was God’s law. God’s promises are based on God’s ways. God’s law is not bondage, but a lifestyle that leads to victory. God’s laws are an expression of himself. David said, “Oh, how I love Your law! It is my meditation all the day.” (Psalms 119:97) David was in love with God, and he was in love with God’s law. Psalms 119:165 says, “Great peace have those who love Your law, and nothing causes them to stumble.” God told Joshua, if you meditate on my law day and night and do all that is written in it, your way will prosper and you will have good success.

The third reason we can be strong and courageous when all odds seem to be against us is because God commanded it. Our success is not contingent on our ability, other people, or our circumstances. Out success is based on the authority of Almighty God. Hebrews 6:13-14 says, “For when God made a promise to Abraham, because He could swear by no one greater, He swore by Himself, saying, "Surely blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply you." God’s word, God’s promises and our success are based squarely on the character and authority of God.

No matter what you are facing today, dust off God’s Word and His promises and be strong and courageous, “for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

Andy Clark

The Fourth Watch

In the story of Mark 6:46-51, Jesus had sent the disciples away in a boat to the other side, and “He departed to the mountain to pray. Now when evening came, the boat was in the middle of the sea; and He was alone on the land. Then He saw them straining at rowing, for the wind was against them. Now about the fourth watch of the night He came to them, walking on the sea, and would have passed them by. And when they saw Him walking on the sea, they supposed it was a ghost, and cried out; for they all saw Him and were troubled. But immediately He talked with them and said to them, "Be of good cheer! It is I; do not be afraid." Then He went up into the boat to them, and the wind ceased. And they were greatly amazed in themselves beyond measure, and marveled.”

As we look out over the Middle East and North Africa, the hopes of the Arab Spring that began in Egypt are quickly fading and a frost is setting in with signs of a deepening winter and growing darkness over the land. With the growing darkness a new tempest is coming to blow across the waters bringing waves that will threaten to swamp the feeble boats filled with believers straining at the oars to reach the safety of the shore. Much of what has been accomplished appears to be threatened.

But we must be encouraged, for our High Priest who conquered death and rose again is seated at the right hand of the Father. Through the darkness and the tempest, He sees those who are straining at the oars and is interceding for them. As we look out over the darkness and the tempest that our brothers and sisters face, we cannot be complacent, but must come into agreement with our High Priest to intercede for those who are caught in the storm. We need to intercede for their protection and that they will not become fearful and discouraged, for at the fourth watch when there seems to be no hope, the Lord Almighty will come walking on the water, bringing peace and deliverance from the storm.

Maybe today you are facing a tempest in your life, your family, your business, job or ministry. You feel that the wind is against you. I want to encourage you that your High Priest sees you straining at the oars and He is interceding for you. When the night is the darkest and the waves seems about to swamp your boat, the Savior in whom you put your trust will come walking on the water to bring you deliverance and good cheer.

We live in trying days, but also days of great opportunity to see the glory of the Lord as we never have before. It is not time to pull back, but it is time to intercede for one another and for the persecuted church. As the Apostle Paul encouraged us in Galatians 6:9,

“Let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.” Despite what you see or what you hear, it is harvest time!

Andy Clark

Maintaining or Obtaining

As I was reading my daily Bible reading this past week, the Spirit quickened this portion from Deuteronomy 11:10-12:

“For the land which you go to possess is not like the land of Egypt from which you have come, where you sowed your seed and watered it by foot, as a vegetable garden; but the land which you cross over to possess is a land of hills and valleys, which drinks water from the rain of heaven, a land for which the LORD your God cares; the eyes of the LORD your God are always on it, from the beginning of the year to the very end of the year.”

God is trying to help His people who have come out of four hundred years of slavery, to understand how much greater this land of promise is than the land of Egypt. All they have known is subsistence farming, where they could only plant as much as they could physically water and maintain. God is taking them into a land where they will never have to water. In this land they can plant as much land as they can conquer. This is a land of divine provision from the beginning to the end of the year.

We, too like the children of Israel, are often enslaved by our limitations. We work hard by our own might to develop and maintain our vegetable garden. The land which God has for us to possess is not like the land of Egypt from which we have come. God’s kingdom does not operate by the principles of this world. God’s challenge to Israel in Deuteronomy 11:13-14 is the same challenge he gives us today. “If you earnestly obey My commandments which I command you today, to love the LORD your God and serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul, then I will give you the rain for your land in its season, the early rain and the latter rain.”

As we celebrate Easter, we celebrate the death and resurrection of Christ to deliver us from the bondages and limitations of our past and to bring us into the fullness of what God has for us. God wants to be our provider, no matter what the need may be. Jesus said, “I have come that you may have life, and that you may have it more abundantly.” (John 10:10) Let us not be so preoccupied trying to water our vegetable garden that we fail to pursue, love, and serve the Lord our God with all our heart and soul. This Easter season let us purpose once again to allow Jesus to be the center of our life, family, job, and ministry. May we not be satisfied just to maintain what we have but to obtain all that He has provided for us so richly and freely to enjoy.

This Easter season may you celebrate Jesus as you never have before. Lay aside your business and your problems and celebrate Jesus for who He is. Renew your love relationship with Him who died for your sin and rose again in power for your freedom. Dust off those promises He has given you and believe Him again to do the supernatural in your life.

Andy Clark