GOD ALWAY'S HAS A FAITHFUL REMNANT

GOD WILL ALWAYS HAVE A TRUE RFEMNANT AND HOLD TRUE TO THE TRUE GOSPEL
AND THE FULL COUNCEL OF GOD IN THESE DARK DAYS OF GREAT DECEPTION!


Satan is currently having a field day with his false teachers spreading the ever-loved message that God is ONLY a God of love and blessings...OH so many blessings! Until your cup runneth over! Cars! Money-and lots of it (AFTER you give away ALL you currently have to said false teacher-take your pick-NO SHORTAGE!- anyway, yeah, LOTS and LOTS of STUFF and messages full of uhm.... ok, FLUFF (I AM a Christian girl now after all, at least pursuing with all humility knowing my fragility as a human-yikes!). So- Satan is on a tear across the land, many prisoners in hand, so it is REALLY IMPORTANT BELIEVERS that you and I know WHAT the Bible REALLY says, and that means...YES-HOMEWORK! But-SO WORTH IT! Never will you study something more rewarding and if YOU don't know your Bible, how will YOU know if someone pulls FALSE DOCTRINE on you? Exactly-you WON"T! Because the truth is that Jesus wants us to focus on building up treasures in Heaven, NOT so much focused on stuff here on earth, which is temporal, but focused on building our treasures in Heaven, where moth and rust cannot spoil, and where thieves cannot break in to steal. Besides, Jesus makes it WAY clear that only what we do here on earth for eternity will last when we stand at the judgment seat of Christ (2 Cor 5:10), which is ONLY for believers and is NOT a judgment for our sins (that was finished on the cross for all who believe; this judgment is for “rewards” for whatever we did on earth AFTER our conversion that was of eternal value.
If you just coasted through your life as a believer, considering “matters of faith” to be of a private nature, you have totally disobeyed Jesus who commands ALL believers to “Go and tell, making disciples of ALL nations, so SORRY, but He calls us ALL to SHARE our faith! Not to hide that light under a basket (Matt 5:16) so let your light shine!

But you know, many times after maybe months of walking faithfully with the Lord, OR after a BIG victory in your life spiritually, that’s when the sniveling “accuser of the brethren”, i.e. Satan, or more likely, one of his discepticons (Okay I stole it from the Transformers because it just so-fit), comes lurking about, feeding lies into your soul, trying to entice you back into old sin patterns, or worse, FEAR and anxiety, and then DARK DEPRESSION and soon you are questioning your ministry, your faith, your gifting, and OH YES, YOUR GOD and His trustworthiness to keep His word.

That’s EXACTLY what happened to the MOST FAMOUS Elijah in 1kings. The whole story runs from 1 Kings 18:1-19:18 and is STILL one of the FAVORITE stories that Jewish families pass on to their young; even when Christ was a babe Himself.
Elijah had just defeated ALL of wicked queen Jezebel’s prophet’s of Baal on Mt. Carmel by destroying Elijah’s thrice water-soaked altar (and I do mean soaked) see 1 Kings 18:20-40 for the whole fascinating story, one of the BEST in the Bible. Then, after holding the rain back from Israel for 3 ½ years by his word (Elijah), Elijah now informs wicked king Ahab that it will rain cats and dogs and in the power of the Holy Spirit, Elijah OUTRUNS Ahab in his CHARIOT (you know, with running horses….fast horses), and Elijah is BEATING Ahab! Got the picture in your mind? Isn’t God awesome? Oh-did I mention that Elijah had SLAUGHTERED ALL OF JEZEBEL”S 450 FALSE PROPHETS, FULFILLING OT LAW ABOUT FALSE PROPHETS?
SO- Jezebel was not pleased, to put it lightly, and put the word out that she would “do the same to Elijah” and here are the important words, vs. 19:3 Then HE (ELIJAH) WAS AFRAID. FEAR. We all know it. We’ve all felt it. We’ve all RUN from it instead of STANDING IN FAITH.  But I’m not beating Elijah up, hardly. It kind of gives us regular believers a moment of “WHEW!” when we hear that the great prophet Elijah could be brought down by fear, so like us, so good to know he was human after all isn’t it? I think that’s why the God of Grace left stories like that in the Bible, for all of us regular folks that would follow. And if all we saw of the Biblical heroes were their heroics, we would feel like such total failures in this faith thing, like, “How are WE ever going to measure up to THOSE guys and gals (yes, there were some gals.)  But that is also a big part of what proves the Bible’s authenticity, the fact that it portrays the heroes, warts, sins, failures and all, instead of wiping the record clean and presenting some sterile fabricated tale, which I’m pretty sure at least ONE group would have been prone to do, if allowed.
But not to digress, Elijah gets scared bad and takes off for yonder cave and then, he ends up in a place of retreat(running), isolation and loneliness and depression set in. Then, though Elijah THOUGHT he knew what God was doing, he really did not. And thus develops perhaps the most famous bed-time story for the Jewish people to tell their children. Because the Lord comes to Elijah in the cave and says, “What are you doing here Elijah?” and Elijah answers,” I have been very zealous for the Lord, the God of Hosts, For the people of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, thrown down Your altars, and killed Your prophets with the sword and I, even I only am left, and they seek my life, to take it away.” 1 Kin 19:10 And God said, “Go, stand on the mount before the Lord.” (Now, THAT would make ME afraid, just saying), And behold, the Lord passed by, and a  great and strong wind tore the mountains, and broke in pieces the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. And after the wind, an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. And after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire, the sound of a low whisper (other translations; a still small voice). And when Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his cloak (because no man can look upon God and live), and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave.

And behold, there came a voice to him and said, “What are you doing here Elijah?” And for the sake of my story, and my weariness, Elijah repeats himself, pretty much verbatim to God. 1 Kings 19:14 15 And the Lord said to him, “GO, return on your way, to the wilderness of Damascus. And when you arrive, you shall anoint Hazael to be king over Syria. 16 And Jehu the son of Nimshi you shall anoint to be king over Israel and Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah you shall anoint to be prophet in your place. And the one who escapes from the sword of Hazael shall Jehu put to death, and the one who escapes the sword of Jehu, shall Elisha put to death. 18 *Yet I will leave seven thousand in Israel, all the knees that have NOT bowed to BAAL, and every mouth that has NOT kissed him.”
WOW! So…lest you think God cruel and unfair here in his judgment, remember, He always gave the people plenty of time to repent BEFORE judgment as always. And Elijah isn’t being fired here, he’s worked long and hard for God, who’s shortly about to rapture (huh? Note the word, yes,) RAPTURE Elijah to Heaven alive in a chariot of fire while Elisha watches! So yes my friends, there IS a precedent set for the pre-trib rapture way back in the Old Testament, in fact Enoch in Genesis was the FIRST raptured saint: Gen 5:24 “Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him.”
So MY POINT in all of this? Sometimes we want to quit and feel all alone, but REMEMBER: GOD ALWAYS HAS AND ALWAYS WILL HAVE A FAITHFUL REMNANT. PERIOD. JUST AS HE NOW HAS A FAITHFUL JEWISH REMNANT, SEE ROMANS 9-11.OH-and ALL THE OT PROPHETS!  

Hillsong 2012; I Surrender