Creative Faith 1a. Kings 17-19
Robert Ewing
Seven principles make us capable of having creative faith—faith that speaks the words of God, and through it, miraculous situations occur. Elijah was a man subject to passions like ours; however, throughout his life, Elías is an example of living in these principles of creative faith.
Los The seven Principles:
1.The word "Rhema".- 1 Kings 17:1.
2.Complete dependence.- 1 Kings 17:2-7.
3.Tolerance. 1st Kings 17:8-16.
4. Rest in the test.- 1 Kings 17:17-24.
5. Mandate of faith. 1st Kings 18:1-19.
6. Knowing God. 1st Kings 18:20-40.
a. The Father.- Verses 20-32.
b. The son. Verses 33-37.
c. The Holy Spirit. Verses 38-40.
7. Faith rewarded. 1st Kings 18:41-46.
a. Purification of fear. 1st Kings 19:1-3.
b. Purification of pride. 1 Kings 19:5.
c. Purification of independence. 1a. Kings 19:10.
d. Purification of living in the five senses of the body. 1a.Kings 19:11-17.
1. The Word Rhema.
1a. Kings 17:1. The prophet Elijah stood before Ahab and spoke a rhema word from God. Elijah did not care about Ahab's position; Ahab was the King; However, Elijah spoke a word from the King of Kings. Elijah made the word rhema his own by saying “by my word.” But in fact Elijah was speaking the will of God.
2. Complete dependence.
3. Tolerance.
1st Kings 17:8-16. Elijah and the widow of Zarephath knew the sovereign empire of God; This circumstance allowed them to be tolerant. The woman went and obeyed Elijah in everything that was required of her.We can be tolerant in all situations and circumstances thanks to the sovereignty of God. God knew all the events that would and will happen to us and He can prepare solutions for us. In his sovereignty God plans things.
4. Rest in the test.
1st Kings 17:17-24. There are degrees or different levels in the knowledge of the word of God. This knowledge brings tolerance in difficult situations and that will allow us to rest in the test.
The practical experience of the test was the illness and death of that widowed woman's son; Given this circumstance, Elijah asked for the already dead son. Specifically, God had granted that woman oil and flour and Elijah upon arriving asked her to prepare a cake of bread for him; The woman hurried to decorate the bread cake; she knew it was the last supply of flour and oil; However, she gave what she had to the prophet and in this way they survived.
But now, the woman was facing a more difficult and complex situation in her life, because the child was her son; That son was hers, he was the fruit of her pain and she faced the prophet's request; He was asking for that child and the woman gave Elijah everything she had and everything she was; That son represented the woman's life itself.
This became a deeper test, because despite the death of the son, the widow did not want to give him up; She did not want to give her son dead but thank God she gave the child to the prophet and the widow thought in her heart “this son belongs more to you, O God, than to me.”
If we want God to use us directly, we must completely surrender to the Lord.
The widow had given her son to the prophet Elijah; She recognized who that child came from. Elijah took the child to the upper room (this is the chamber of life; it is the place where the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus operates) the lower room has communication to the world through its doors; It is the room or place of the five senses. However, to operate a creative faith, it is necessary to be in the chamber of life.
(In this aspect we find a message of death, burial and resurrection to the longings of the soul). The miracle came from God; God raised the child from the dead, and this little one was given back to his mother.
5. Faith Command.
1st Kings' 18:1-19. There is something about faith that gives orders and commands. There was a time when the Lord stood and commanded the storm to subside; He ordered the winds and the sea to be silent; This was a command of faith.
There will be times when we receive commands from God; He commands us to do something tremendous; something that could be dangerous, very dangerous.
God commanded Elijah to show himself to King Ahab; this mandate was dangerous; Elijah knew Ahab's desire to kill him; However, Elijah obeyed God's command.
Sometimes God is going to lead us to very risky places; On many occasions we should not count on our life as something very precious. "Even though I walk through the valley of shadow and death I will fear no evil because you will be with me..."; "crossing the valley of baca (valley of tears) make it a fountain, they will go from strength to strength, they will see God in Zion...".
The practical advice is to obey God's commands of faith without considering the danger. The apostle Paul had the answer of death to himself for trusting not in him but in God who raises the dead (II Corinthians 1:9).
In the command of faith, God calls Ahab (a figure of today's anti-Christian leaders), but God is looking for people to defeat the spirit of antichrist.
In Revelation the sword of the Spirit that will destroy the antichrist is described (Ephesians 6:17); said sword is the sword of the mouth of God. It is the sword of the Spirit; It is the Rhema word of God. Time after time God has done this, pronouncing the word rhema is similar to a sword or rapier that causes deep wounds in the spirit of the antichrist.
6. Knowing God.
1st Kings 18:20-40. The prophet Daniel declares "those who know their God will strive and do" (Daniel 11:32). Despite everything Ahab had done in Israel there were still people who knew their God. In this aspect we see the trinity of God:
to. The Father.- Verses 20-32.
b. The Son.- Verses 33-37.
c. The Holy Spirit.- Verses 38-40.
a. Elijah knew God; He, for that reason, gathered 12 stones to rebuild the altar of Jehovah (here we see death, burial and resurrection). He was therefore the victim on the 12 stones of the altar. The victim is a figure of death.
b. Elijah ordered water to be sprinkled on the altar. This is the way to know Christ. To know God the Son is to know His sacrifice. The sacrifice was buried in water because Elijah wanted to make God's work evident.
c. Elijah prayed to God and commanded the fire to fall (figure of the Holy Spirit). The experience of the fire devouring the holocaust and even consuming the water is the expression of the resurrection. That miracle broke the neck of Israel and brought the people to their knees and brought out from the hearts of the nation the recognition of their God: "Jehovah is God! and Jehovah is God!"
This can also be called the victory over Mount Carmel.
The ministry of the Holy Spirit has not ended with the pouring out of fire on the burnt offering, for the sword of the Spirit is his Word; Then Elijah took out his sword and killed the prophets of Baal.
7. Faith rewarded.
1st Kings 18:41-46. God rewards Elijah's faith and the glory of God falls with the rain. In practical experience, Elijah was on his knees.
There are four types of rain:
a. Early rain.
b.latter rain.
c. Winter rain or heavy rain and
d. Light shower at any time.
God brought four expressions of purification in rewarded faith:
a. Purification of fear. 1st Kings 19:1-3.
b. Purification of pride. 1st Kings 19:5.
c. Purification of independence. 1st Kings 19:10.
d. Purification of living in the 5 senses of the body. 1st Kings 19:11-17.
God did not desire a comet-like Elijah; That is, God did not want the prophet to fluctuate from one place to another. In the perspective of ministry and spiritual growth, God wants firmness in his servants and his children. For these reasons, God carried out these 4 forms of purification:
a. A woman caused fear and fear in the prophet and Elijah, faced with danger, fled to save his life.
b. But there was also pride in the prophet; Elijah felt like he was the best of all and God freed him, purified him from pride.
c. Elías thought he was the only one. Elijah told the Lord “I am the only one left” but that was not the case, God had 7,000 men who had not bowed their knees before Baal.
d. Finally, by obeying the Lord and standing on the mountain, Elijah had to realize the sensational things of the 5 senses of the body (these are not deep) but God was dealing with Elijah (1 Kings 19:11-13).
The apostle James writes of Elijah the following: "Elijah was a man subject to passions like us, but he prayed to God and the heavens were closed and he prayed again and the rain came."
Our condition does not matter; By moving in the principles of the prophet Elijah, we will be walking in a creative faith.
