Daily Devotional for Monday November 26, 2012

The Lesson of Faith from the Widow at Zarephath

(1 Kings 17:7-16)

Ask Bill: Pastor Bill, what would be a good illustration of true Biblical faith?

Answer: SEE TODAY'S DEVOTIONAL BELOW

Some time later the brook dried up because there had been no rain in the land. Then the word of the Lord came to him: "Go at once to Zarephath in the region of Sidon and stay there. I have directed a widow there to supply you with food." So he went to Zarephath. When he came to the town gate, a widow was there gathering sticks. He called to her and asked, "Would you bring me a little water in a jar so I may have a drink?" As she was going to get it, he called, "And bring me, please, a piece of bread." "As surely as the Lord your God lives," she replied, "I don't have any bread-only a handful of flour in a jar and a little olive oil in a jug. I am gathering a few sticks to take home and make a meal for myself and my son, that we may eat it-and die." Elijah said to her, "Don't be afraid. Go home and do as you have said. But first make a small loaf of bread for me from what you have and bring it to me, and then make something for yourself and your son. 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 sends rain on the land.'" She went away and did as Elijah had told her. So there was food every day for Elijah and for the woman and her family. For the jar of flour was not used up and the jug of oil did not run dry, in keeping with the word of the Lord spoken by Elijah. (1 Kings 17:7-16)

It is amazing how when we obey God, His blessings flow. Later in this wonderful story of faith, we see an additional blessing when the son of this widow dies, and the prophet, by the power of God, brought him back to life.

Things have not changed. Over these past 13 yrs we have tens of thousands of testimonies like this, where people obeyed God's voice and made great sacrifices to give to His work here at Liveprayer, and were blessed above and beyond all they could have imagined.

God's Word is true and God is faithful!!!

Let me be clear, many of those blessings are NOT financial. Obeying God doesn't mean you will get a knock at your door and find a Brinks truck. It DOES mean, that God will meet your needs, open doors that only He can open, and bless you in so many ways you probably don't even recognize. Good health, an old car that keep running, children who love the Lord, a wonderful marriage, a job, your home not in foreclosure, the list is endless in ways God blesses us that we don't even think of most days.

Why did God send the prophet to this particular woman? The prophet had to eat to sustain his life to deliver the message God called him to deliver to the people of his day. He too, had to have faith that God would provide for his needs. He too, had to have faith that this woman would respond to his plea at that critical time.

The lesson here is simple. For the man of God, doing God's work, faithfully serving God, he has to trust God daily for the needs to do that work. I know what that is like since this is how I have lived my life every day over the past 20 yrs.

Like the OT prophets, I own no buildings that need to be kept up, I have no investment portfolios for a rainy day, I have no huge staffs of people that need to be supported, since unlike so many I am not trying to build my own kingdom but God's! I just have the daily needs necessary to sustain life and this ministry so I can share the Truth of God's Word and the hope of Christ with the lost and hurting!

For those who love the Lord, God will call you often to do something that you may not understand, but as you exercise your faith and obey, you see God's blessings in your life and soon realize that it is in your faithfulness and obedience the Lord blesses. Despite the challenges we all face, God gives you His peace and joy as you honor and serve Him!

I love you and care about you so much! The fruit of my faith and obedience along with the faith and obedience of so many friends during these past 13+ yrs of Liveprayer has been tens of millions of lives impacted for Christ and just under 700,000 souls we know of who will be in Heaven for all eternity!!!

THANK YOU to those who were led and able to help me with a gift during the past week as we are desperately trying to cover the final $8,000 we are still behind from October operations. I am praying that God will speak to 1 or 2 others who can help me make up the final $8,000 today since it is seriously past due and our basic operational costs needed just to exist. Please pray about a special year-end gift to help me cover this past due amount today. If you can wire it or direct deposit the funds in our Wells Fargo account, or FedEx the funds, email me at: bkeller@liveprayer.com and I will get you the necessary information.

Of course if everyone will pray, and everyone who is able will send what you can, I am standing in faith that by Friday, the $40,000 we need for our November operations, $20,000 of that past-due, will be taken care of and we can end the month with NO SHORTFALL! That is $48,000 we need to bring in over the next 5 days, or just 48 of our friends making a special year-end sacrifice to God's work here of $1,000. Will you pray today about helping me with $10, $20, $100, or whatever God lays on your hear and you are able to give today? Our God is able!!!

TO GIVE A GIFT TO LIVEPRAYER, you can use your major credit card on our secure server at: www.liveprayer.com under the "Donation" link, you can give using your PayPal account using my email address: bkeller@liveprayer.com , or you can mail your gift to: Liveprayer, 6660 46th Ave. North, St.Petersburg, FL 33709. All gifts to Liveprayer are 100% tax deductible.

Thank you for your love, prayers, and sacrifice. Know that you and your family are in my prayers each day as we take our stand for the Lord in these last days!!!

In His love and service, Your friend and brother in Christ,

Bill Keller