Drought prepares us for what is to come

Let's go to Scripture. We are going to locate ourselves in First Kings, Chapter 17. First Kings, chapter 17, Verse 1 to 7. And we are going to be looking at a passage from the Scriptures that tells us about the person of Elijah as God speaks to him, as God speaks to him. use and we will be dealing with the theme: the drought prepares us for what is to come.

First Kings 17 and we're going to be reading Verse 1 initially. There with your Bible open, stay there, we're going to pray and then we read the verse.

'Father we thank you because you are beautiful, Lord, because you make yourself present in the midst of your people who are determined to gather to worship you, to bless your name, and to listen and attend to what you have Father, for us, Mister. Father, in this hour we take captive every thought to the obedience of Christ Jesus in such a way, Lord, that everything that you have determined that your Word by which you send it today does in us, so be it on this day. Lord we stand before you with an open heart, with our spiritual ears alert, attentive to what You have for us, Lord. Thank you we give you for your Word in this hour. Thank you because You are ready to speak to us once again. Amen, amen, amen.

Verse one of that Chapter 17 says as follows: "Then Elijah, a pipit who was one of the inhabitants of Galat, said to Acha: As the Lord lives, the God of Israel in whose presence I am. That there will be no rain or dew in these years but by my Word. Live Jehovah, God of Israel in whose presence I am. That there will be no rain, nor dew in these years but by my Word.

In this part of this chapter 17 of First Kings in the literary context of what is happening there in the Biblical narrative we find that the Prophet Elijah appears for the first time in the Biblical narrative and that particular Verse 1 narrates to us or records a Word of God given to King Akat through the Prophet. The following verses, verses 2 through 7 record the Word, a Word given to Elijah to the Prophet who has already administered the Word to the King, verses 2 through 7 record the Word given to Elijah and its complement of divine supernatural provision, as we are going to see later.

But speaking a little, placing ourselves a little more within the context of what is happening within the biblical narrative, I want to mention some details so that we understand the event of what Elijah is declaring here in this prophetic Word. King Ahab has married Gesabeth, a woman who does not serve Jehovah, but serves other gods. A non-Israelite woman, God had forbidden the Israelites, His Chosen People, to unite with other peoples, because this would lead them precisely to... what? To become contaminated and to move away from their God and to sin by going to other gods. This woman influences King Ahab and also influences the people. And Ahab himself because of having been influenced, he influences the people and the people are led, they allow themselves to be led to... what? And he is conquered to worship other gods. And in particular this woman and King Ahab at this point in history have turned to worship the god Baal - the Canaanite god of rain.

So a people who had known Almighty God, the only God and true God, allowed themselves to be influenced by everything that paganism brings and at one point in history their hearts were far removed from the only true Jehovah, God who exists and lives . He has turned his heart away and is after… what? Of the principles and paganism of service and following... who? To the god Baal, god of rain.

It means, then, that it is in this context that the prophetic Word of the instrument of God, Elijah, comes to the people and there the word said: "As the Lord lives, God of Israel, in whose presence I stand" and a time is announced. ? of drought. The prophetic Word is a word of judgment because of the condition of the people. When God sends a judgment he has a purpose, when God sends a judgment later the purpose of the judgment comes because of what the people have done, but God's purpose is to bring the people back to Himself, to serve Him, to run what has to run. And I clarify what I am talking about in the context so that we understand what is happening, not in any sense am I going to be talking here about God coming to judgment or anything like that. We are simply placing ourselves in the context and then applying some truths to our Christian life and to our life as a church.

So in the case of Israel, the announced drought comes because of sin.

We in our Christian life experience different situations, we live different experiences that can be drought-like or that can be from other circumstances and what I want to bring or develop this morning is that we are going to be taking the experience of how God works with the people and especially with Elijah to apply it to how we should live each experience that comes into our lives in our Christian life live it in such a way that we are observing and preparing for the next thing that God has for us.

That is why I titled this message: "Drought prepares us for what is to come."

For example, in our times, at the national level, we have been going through an economic recession that you can see, well, we are starting to emerge and there are signs of improvement, but even so, there is still a long way to go... right? Quite. So there is a circumstance, that although as a nation we are believers, or we are not believers, we have to live because we are in this world, we are in this nation and they directly affect our family, our house, our budgets -our budgets- our finances . Concerns can come, the different circumstances that as a consequence of this situation affect our lives, affect what we do, affect our plans and then each circumstance is like this one that I am setting the example -that everyone in the nation is experiencing- like any other circumstance or experience that we live in life, will affect us but we have to learn to process everything that comes in such a way that we take advantage of it and bless it in the Lord and we can then go back and point towards what God has for us next and it helps us to learn. It helps us prepare.

We must therefore maintain our Faith and grow in Faith. Grasping from the Lord and through the different experiences that come into our lives. It is interesting, going back to the scripture passage that the prophet that God uses to bring this word to Israel, his name we already mentioned is Elijah, his name means 'Jehovah is my God'. In other words, even his name itself is already speaking to the people. To a people who have forgotten that Jehovah is their God. The very name of the prophet is already prophetic for the people, he is reminding them 'I am Jehovah, the God you have to serve. As my servant, my prophet, he serves me and Jehovah, I Jehovah am his God.' So the prophet had a name that meant the message he was proclaiming and Elijah was a man of prayer, a man given to God, a man given to please God and to communicate the word that God gave him. Historically and theologically speaking through the Scriptures we can say that Elijah became a character in Israel of great importance for the people of God. It was of great importance in the entire Biblical narrative that we find in Kings and it was of great importance and is of great importance to the present day for the Jewish people. In the biblical narration of Kings we see an Elias that the following chapters narrate and incidents of miracles, signs, wonders that you may have heard here in Predications of how God brought words and performed feats and miracles through this prophet are told. .

So he pronounced the Word but also then God used him as a prodigy with signs, with miracles because 'Jehovah is my God'. And Elijah also represents what the sense of announcement, among other things, of the coming of the Messiah means to the Jews to this day. To such an extent that the Jews in the present for Passover leave an empty chair at their tables for when Elijah comes because they are waiting for Elijah to come first before the Messiah arrives; since for the purposes of the Jews the Messiah has not yet arrived.

So Elijah has historical and theological significance for God's people, for us as well today. The basis of the declaration of the Word that the prophet is giving is cemented, the basis is Jehovah himself because he declares 'As Jehovah lives. In whose presence I am'. What he communicates he does not communicate because he wanted to communicate it. He does not communicate it because it occurred to him out of his head, he does not communicate it because he observed the condition of the town and said, “Oh! I must give a strong word to this town!” Yes, he communicates it responsibly because as a prophet he inquires before his God and his God communicates the word to him as a faithful instrument to the Lord, he is used to process what comes out of the throne of God for correction, in this case, of his people. And now here -although it is not today's theme but let me mention a little. Sometimes I do that in the Predications- here we only have a beginning, that which God uses by giving a specific word, be it prophetic, be it knowledge. We have to be zealous and careful to be able to minister what God gives us, not to add and subtract and not give it the tone that God has not given it, but to be faithful, upright to what God communicates to us because 'Jehovah is my God'. But let's go back to today's theme: 'Lives the Lord in whose presence I stand.' Elijah bases what he is saying on the fact that my God lives and that he lives, he as a prophet as a son of God, lives in the presence of God.

Here we see another point, those of us who serve the Lord, be it in the prophetic area, in whatever area, we have to live in the presence of God to communicate or do what God commands us to do. It cannot be based on ourselves but on the truth and the fact that we depend on what? of what flows from Heaven, of what flows from the throne of God to be able to minister his blessing and his Word to his people.

But also that phrase or that expression 'Live Jehovah in whose presence I am', shows us that there is Faith in this prophet of God; that you have to have Faith and believe what God is communicating to you because if you do not have Faith in what God is communicating to you what you are going to say, what you are going to proclaim is going to be… what? One word… what? dead. A word that the people might not respond to even when it is a strong Word. The prophet of God -those who minister to the Lord in whatever area, whether in the area of prophecy or in whatever area- we have to have faith in God and maintain our Faith regardless of what area God uses us in, we have to minister in Faith that we are believing God who is telling us what we have to do. To God who is leading us to serve him the way we are serving him. Elijah's Faith was based on who God is. Our Faith in our walk in the Lord and in our service to God has to be based on who God is. God is the only God, He is the true one, He is Jehovah of Hosts. He is my King, He is our Lord, He is the Lord of the Church, He is the only God who reigns and lives forever. That is the basis of our delivery, that is the basis of our service.

And the main point is the reality that my God lives and that he is present at all times.

Israel had known a living God, a God who walked with them in the desert, who cared for them, who kept them, who gave them provision, food, water that sustained them. What happened to them through, first the Red Sea and then through the entire desert, which gives them the Promised Land at a given moment. Israel saw the miracles, the wonders of this living God. Israel had certainly known a living God, but at this point in history they had forgotten to keep their Faith, to place their faith in the living God and had been transferred to the pagan rain god Baal.

'In whose presence I am'. In whose presence are we? In the presence of whom we dare to proclaim what we proclaim when we minister the Word. In whose presence do we communicate what we have to communicate? In whose presence do we spend our time? Yesterday we talked about being alone with the Lord, about drinking from the fountain. Where are we going to take from the source? Elijah was in the presence of his God. And that expression not only tells us about closeness to God, but it also tells us about a relationship of an official position and trust that what he is going to say is valid because the God he serves and the God who is before him is supporting him. Your presence.

When we minister to the Lord we cannot trust ourselves, we have to trust who? in the God who is giving us what we are going to minister and that we are in what? In its presence. But that phrase 'In whose presence I am' also binds the person who says it - including, and I am speaking in the context of the people of Israel, to the death penalty if the Word spoken is not fulfilled - so what Elijah is pronouncing with his lips it has to be a word that is pronounced definitively believing God in Faith and in confidence in the God whom he is serving. Because even your own life can be at stake if this Word is not fulfilled.

So the word of the prophet comes to be… what? the word of God himself. It is interesting that the final part of that verse one when the word Elijah is proclaimed declares, "there will be no rain, nor dew in these years," and then says, "except by my Word." Shouldn't we say...? -There is no traditional and official phrase that should say 'the word of the Lord- Did Jehovah tell me? It is interesting that the prophet is communicating the Word of God but at a given moment he says, if not why? On my word because he knows where he stands. Because he knows that my word is not my word, my word is the word that comes from the throne of God. So the word of the prophet and the word that comes from the throne of God come together and are one. This is the conscience, this is the confidence, this is the Faith that Elias has when he is communicating the word to the people. But we have to move on in the Biblical passage and we have to move on and I want to repeat then that the type of judgment, the type of word that is announced is a word of judgment where what is pronounced? in other words: there will be a drought because there is no rain, nor is there dew. There will be no rain, there will be no dew on the earth. Palestine has a good pattern of rain and dew but in the summer, if it weren't for the dew on the vegetation... what? I would die. So the rain and the dew are equally important for us in our places but for Palestine -like any other place- the rain and the dew are important to maintain the life of a population, of a region and in Palestine -I go back and repeat- particularly in the summer if not for the dew, the vegetation, what? One dies and when there are then times of drought like the one that is being announced here in this prophetic word… what would happen? When there is no rain, when there is no dew, famine comes, the vegetation dies, then there are no fruits of the earth, the animals also die and there is chaos on earth.

The need for dew, for example, we see when God speaks metaphorically to Israel and says: 'I will be like the dew for Israel' in the sense that the dew… is what? Necessary. That the dew is indispensable as much as the rain. So the rain and the dew are used in the Scriptures in a symbolic way to speak to us of God's blessing, to speak to us of well-being, to speak to us of the presence of God in the town, to speak to us of prosperity and I clarify in the biblical sense of the word prosperity; Not like a prosperity doctrine that strays from Biblical principles is running around. But prosperity in the sense of God's care, of blessing, of God's well-being for our lives. So what rain and dew represent are God's blessing on the people and a word is being announced where it is saying "God's blessing is withdrawn" because of... what? of the condition of the people. But I go back and repeat, this is not the condition of this Congregation today, but from what is happening here we are going to continue learning and observing some principles that help us. On the other hand, when there is a lot of rain and when there is dew it means for the people of Israel that… what? That the town is blessed, that the town is in… what? Abundantly, that the people are being favored by God because they are obedient. So when Elijah proclaims this word he is understanding what the prophet is saying because in the law of the Old Testament the law had already been communicated to the people and they had been told: "If you obey me, the earth will be blessed. But if you away from me worshiping other gods the earth will not receive rain, the blessing will be withdrawn".

So when the word of the prophet comes, the people understand, they are understanding what the prophet is talking about. They didn't need much explanation and we, then, applying this phrase about drought, applying it to experiences in general, whatever they are, that comes into our lives, we could ask ourselves: what do we have to do in times of drought? What do we have to do when for whatever reasons -reasons that life brings, like the example I brought a while ago of economic recession, reasons for example when someone dear to us dies- different circumstances and experiences that we go through in life, what we have to do in times of drought; in quotes I say now representing any particular situation or experience?

Number One: hide in God. Verse 2 of this passage: 'And the word of the Lord came to him saying - remember that at the beginning of the first verse I said a word to the people, from 2 onwards a word to whom? to the same prophet- now 3: "get away from here and return to the East and hide in the stream that Keré that is in front of the Jordan", in the middle of a dry night God already has his plan for the prophet.

In the midst of the recession that could come, God already had his plan for us. And I don't know if it has happened to you but in times of recession we have sometimes experienced more blessing than at other times. So, in the midst of the announcement of what is to come, of the experience that could come, whatever it may be: positive, negative or intermediate, let us understand and live with our hearts confident that God cares for us and that God sends us... to what ? to hide

Now, you when a few years ago when we were children, right? And we played hide and seek, remember? And we would play hide and seek and find the place, right? When everyone runs to hide and the person who had to look for them stayed in a place where they couldn't see where they were hiding, we looked for the darkest, most difficult place, for what? So they don't find us. Because if they found me, it would be my last turn to search, that was the game, right? But usually, there was a boy, a very cunning and mischievous girl who hid in a place that no matter how hard you looked... so I don't remember what the phrase was used but one had to make a statement to get him out, because there was no one to find it, do you remember that? The other days, right? But you know what? We have to hide ourselves. Thus we are called to hide in the Lord. God calls us to hide in times of drought, in any experience that comes into our lives, that we identify as going to affect our lives in any way whatsoever; God tells you: "hide yourself in me". And God told Elais 'Hide in the Kerit brook,' and gave him specific instructions 'Which is in front of the Jordan' and God says to us "hide in your Kerit. I have a Kerit for you in the midst of the drought ". Being hidden in God implies security, it implies God's care. The Apostle Paul spoke of that security when he spoke "Our life is hidden in Christ." It is in Christ that we are secure, we are not secure in ourselves, but in Christ. So when God calls us and gives us instructions in those times of drought we have to follow them like the prophet Elijah did. We see then how God in the midst of an announcement of drought for God's dealings with the people, God is also dealing with his faithful people, with his prophet.

And now, yes, we are going to apply it even more to ourselves. God is dealing with us, his prophets, because this is a prophetic people. God is dealing with us, with his faithful people and tells us: "hide in Kerit. Because I bring new things, because I bring things for your life", because what you are going through, or the experiences that come to your life, or who come to this church as a Congregation will take you to the next thing that God has. So we must live those experiences in life or experiences as a Congregation, focused on taking advantage, hiding ourselves in Kerit in the presence of God to be prepared for the next thing that comes in the Lord. "Hide in Kerit." In Kerit we have God's protection and the enemy cannot find us to harm us. We are going to see later how certainly God's care was over the life of the prophet. Where? hidden in Kerit. So when God tells us to hide, let's do it. Let's do it in faith and trust because God is preparing us.

What do we have to do in times of drought? Trust in that sovereign care of God. Trust that God will do what needs to be done. Sometimes we live tight experiences in life, even financially, but we continue to trust that God is in control and that God will take us to the other side and sometimes when we least imagine, God's help comes. Sometimes we have some tighter experiences than others, but I assure you one thing: God does not fail. God does not fail. Men can fail us but God does not fail us and God did not fail the prophet. And it is interesting that in the next Verse he continues saying: "You will drink from the stream. And I have commanded the ravens to feed you there." God uses nature itself at his service to provide the prophet. And the prophet is indicated, instructions are given that in Kerit he is going to drink from the water of God. Elijah was to drink of the water that God was going to provide at a time when there would be no water, at a time when there would be a drought. God provides in the midst of drought, in the midst of experiences, in the midst of circumstances, God gives you what others do not have. But you have to go and drink the water that God has already determined to provide in Kerit.

We were talking about water yesterday when we talked about drinking from the fountain and we all know that water is essential for human existence, to be able to live, and biblically speaking, water represents that: life. Jesus himself declared to the Samaritan woman and we were talking about this yesterday, that "He who drank of the water that He gives him" would have what? "He will never be thirsty" because what does that water give? "Gives eternal life." Jesus also said, "If anyone thirsts, come to me and drink." Because he is what? the water of eternal life. So drinking divine water implies life, but life to live an abundant Christian life, being satisfied in God, in his presence even in times of drought. God would sustain the prophet and give him drink in the Kerit stream. And we can imagine that the prophet's experience was such when he saw God supplying his physical needs that his spiritual experience and his faith must have grown. The supply of God in the natural and the physical or the needs that he had should have worked, that experience should have worked inside the prophet to further affirm the faith that the prophet already had. So regardless of the different experiences we live in life, let's learn and try to find in it the positive side of faith. The positive side of what God has, to affirm our hearts in the midst of experiences, in the midst of circumstances because

God is teaching us for what is coming next, so that we affirm our hearts, our confidence and move on.

Elijah was also given instructions that he would have to eat the sustenance that God was going to provide, that is, not only water, but he was also told: 'And I have commanded the ravens to feed you there.' God had already given instructions. To the stream that provided water, and to the crows that provided him with food. But it is interesting that God uses whom he wants as he wants. Because now we are talking about animals, about birds. Ravens are predators, that is, they prey on dead animals, animal meat, but for whom? To take them to someone to eat? No; for themselves. Does it mean then that God is going to perform the miracle of using the crows to prey on the meat of animals but instead of keeping it they take it to where? to the prophet. God was going to supply the prophet in the way that he sovereignly comes up with and determines to supply. There is a miracle from God. There is the miracle of the water that would come out of the stream and there would be the miracle of God supplying through some animals that what they grab is for themselves, not to take it to anyone. But in this case the divine order came from Heaven, it came from the throne of God and the animals, the ravens, would bring provision. God sends you ravens and provides you with what you need and we are talking materially, physical needs and other areas. God uses whoever he wants to use. In other portions of Scripture, in other Biblical passages, ravens represent negative things, but at other times they represent positive things. In this case, God uses them positively to bless and provide for the prophet.

I have experienced that God has sent his ravens into my life through the years, even financially. I remember in Puerto Rico there were about two years that we were completely dedicated to missionary work, we did missions for about ten years. But in all those ten years, two were fully dedicated, without secular work. And then we depended on God's provision and I remember that I arrived at my house one day and in front of the front door there were two packages, two bags or bags of vegetables, of food. We never found out who left them in that place. God sent his ravens. God sent his provision.

At that stage, in those two years - I don't know if I've told it before, but I want to tell it to illustrate what I'm saying - we had to pay the mortgage on the house, the mortgage on the house and we were $75 short and the payment it expired the next day. That night there was a knock on the door, a pastor who lived two houses down from where we lived came with an envelope in his hand. He knew we were on missions and it just so happens, right? that day God touched him to come to our house with an envelope and give us a blessing. And you know what? When we opened the envelope, how much was the amount? 75 dollars. God uses whoever he wants to use, he sends his angels, he sends his ravens, but he sends provision and meets our needs. Supply our physical needs, supply our emotional needs, supply what we need.

How many times have you received a call from a brother or sister saying, "let me pray for you," or "I had a dream," or "I have a concern for you and God has sent me this," and it's exactly what you need? God sends and supplies in the midst of experiences, in the midst of drought, in the midst of circumstances. In Puerto Rico we did -as I mentioned- missions for a long time, the church where we were continues to do missions up to the present; I remember that at the time when we were there, there was a non-believer, non-evangelical person, let's say it that way, who worked with an insurance agency that collected goods due to fire or floods or whatever it was that could save the merchandise. it was reasonably good. This merchandise was delivered to this person and he was free whatever he wanted with it. And he called us because he knew that we gave missionary trips to Haiti, to the Indians to supply the different needs and he called us and gave us that merchandise. God supplying through his ravens. And not only did he give us the merchandise, but then he came "where are you going?, what do you need?" and he wrote a check for sometimes a thousand, two thousand or three thousand dollars for what? to go to meet the needs of other places. God supplying even through non-believers, God uses whoever he wants to use to respond to our needs.

All these experiences that we live in this treatment and in this process of God make us maintain our faith and grow in Faith in this process. God also announced to the prophet that he would feed him, sorry, he already announced that he would feed him, but then, the ravens were not only going to bring him meat, but the ravens would also bring him bread.

The next Verse says: "And he went and did according to the word of the Lord. "He" refers to Elijah. Elijah obeyed. God gives him the instructions and Elijah obeys. And then he says "he went and lived by the brook of Kerit that is opposite the Jordan" and what happens? Verse 6 "the ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning and bread and meat in the evening and he drank from the brook". In other words, the ravens not only brought him meat but also they also brought him what? bread. The word bread in Hebrew is the word "leham" and is translated by our word bread, but it usually represents in the Bible, in Hebrew, solid food in general. Not only and exclusively what that we know as bread, but solid food in general. So God is providing solid food to the prophet, he is providing him with what he needs in times of drought when others would not have, the prophet would have. God has provided you, even when others have not, we have still had to move forward e a project to start a new building. God is providing, God is blessing even in times of drought.

So God fulfills the word that he pronounces to the prophet, he will also fulfill the word of drought that he announced to the people. The Scriptures speak to us of someone who is the "bread of life." Jesus is the bread of life and he who "comes to Jesus -say the Scriptures- will not hunger" but that biblical verse not only applies to the moment we convert but we will not hunger in our Christian life. When we come to the Lord - and now I am emphasizing not being hungry in the spiritual sense - we will no longer be hungry, because in the Lord we are satisfied, but we have to go to Kerit because it is in Kerit that God will supply us with His bread and its blessing. We have to be obedient like the prophet Elijah. The Scripture says that the "prophet went and did as God commanded him."

Sometimes we want to receive the blessings of Kerit but without going to Kerit and without doing what God tells us to do... We want to take the "bread of life" every day but sometimes we don't go where we have to go. God sustains us in the midst of the drought but we have to follow the instructions to go to our Kerit. Certainly God sustained the prophet and certainly God sustains us but the prophet obeyed and we have to obey. In the obedience of the prophet we see a man who continues to believe in God, because if you do not believe that God has to provide in the place he told you, you go elsewhere. The prophet kept his faith and stood before the announcement of drought. We have to keep our Faith and we have to obey. Says he "lived by the creek" he went and lived by the creek. We are going to go and we are going to live together with our Kerit. You have to do according to and act according to the instructions that God gives. We cannot take another route.

Sometimes we hear the word and we rejoice "Oh, yes Lord, You are going to take care of us, because You have spoken!" but later when we have to follow the instructions and the details of what we have to do, we take another side, we take another way, another route, God does not fulfill what he promised not because he did not want to but because we did not fulfill our part. God expects us to go to Kerit because in Kerit is God's blessing and provision. We must do according to what God tells us. We have to go where God tells us to go and certainly we already read that the crows were coming, and? they served him The authority and the word of God are fully fulfilled. God does not fail. That is one of the experiences or one of the truths that we learn at Kerit. The reality that God does not fail you. You have seen....? Of course you have, that God has not failed you and now God is speaking to a particular person. If you have seen in the past how God has not failed you, may your faith not falter, the Lord tells you in what you are living in the present. Because just as God did in the past, so you will do in the present and even more. You have seen. And the Lord also says to you people, have you seen what I have done in your midst? So, people, I will not fail, I have even greater things for you. You have seen people and you will see, says the Lord.

Returning to the Scriptures, we repeat, the ravens came and served him. The word proclaimed by God to the prophet was fulfilled. It was fulfilled because the prophet obeyed. With this we see that faith is linked to obedience. And obedience is linked to faith because we believe what God has said, we obey and because we obey we see that God fulfills what he has said. Obedience leads to growth in faith by seeing that God fulfills what he promised. Obedience leads to a greater process, to a greater stage of advancing in seeing the reality of God's fulfillment.

Biblical faith is one that is linked to what God says, that is why I say obedience is linked to Faith. Biblical faith is one that obeys because it agrees with what God says. In obedience I submit to God's instructions and then I advance in what God has for me and at the same time my faith grows in the Lord. We grow in our faith, we grow in the Lord given the experiences that we constantly live because of obeying the word of God. But what happens? Returning then to the verse that follows, we find the following: verse 7: "After a few days, the stream dried up because it had not rained on the earth." That biblical verse lets me see that the first prophetic word given to the people was fulfilled. It had not rained on the earth. OK?

God fulfilled the word of judgment for the people. We had already seen that God fulfilled the word he had given the prophet of provision but now we could say that Elijah could be questioning God's provision. God, Lord, but how did you send Kerit to me and now what happened? It hadn't rained, since it didn't rain it dried up but you said that here I would drink from the stream. And what happened, sir? God provided you in Kerit, but God takes you to another place because God has other plans and in those other places he will also provide for you.

Sometimes God sends us Kerit but it is for a while that we are going to be in Kerit. Then God has other places where we have to go and also obey and we will also enter the process of keeping our Faith and growing in God but we have to move from Kerit.

To God: "Lord, You failed me. The brook dried up," the prophet might have said. But, the prophet... what did he do? The prophet did not begin to complain, "but Lord You sent me here and the brook dried up." No!", the prophet simply followed the next instructions that God was going to give him. And we cannot go into the entire passage that follows, I am only going to read one verse.

It says: "then the word of Jehovah came to him saying 'Get up, go to Sarepta of Sidon and dwell there. And here I have commanded a widow woman to support you'". He had the experience of Kerit, he obeyed, he kept his faith, his faith should have grown, but now we are leaving Kerit for another place. And in that other place God already has provision. Each experience in our lives takes us to a next place and in that next place we will continue learning for a next one that God has. So we can say that each experience, each Kerit in our lives must work in us to prepare for what God has for us to prepare for what is to come. What came next for Elijah? We already read it, you have studied this passage of the widow of Sarepta. God provides him through a widowed woman with a handful of flour, a little oil that is left over, he has to prepare food for the prophet. But then neither the oil nor the flour was lacking.

And the prophet could have said: "Oh, Lord! but why didn't you let the brook keep flowing and the ravens keep bringing me meat instead of taking me to this woman who has nothing?" The prophet obeyed, which seems illogical, but the woman also obeyed. Every experience leads us to… what? To obedience and to grow in Faith

What else came next for Elijah? The resurrection of the son of Sarepta came. When the son dies, Elijah prays for him and God resurrects him. What else came next for Elijah? According to the biblical narrative of Kings, came the confrontation with the 400 prophets of Baal. remember? Israel had turned away worshiping the god Baal, the god of rain, Elijah confronts them. He prepared an altar, poured water around the altar and told them "Pray for Baal to send fire to consume the burnt offering." But there they did as much ceremony as they could do and nothing happened. But when Elijah poured water around the altar that he prepared for Jehovah, the fire came down and consumed it still in the water. And he consumed the holocaust and Jehovah demonstrated through the fire that Baal, god of rain, is not really the god of rain because there had been drought throughout the earth and that God is God of fire, of rain, of all nature because He is the only God.

Each experience that came after the lived experience takes the prophet from glory to glory. Every experience that we live in the Lord and that we are obedient and maintain our faith lead us to grow in faith and live from glory to glory. Each Kerit prepares us for the next thing that God has for us.

What else came next for Elijah? We are going to go to Chapter 18 - I am not going to dwell too much on this biblical passage - but I want to mention a few things. What else came next for Elijah? Elijah's trust and faith in God was tested for three and a half years after declaring the Word that a drought would come on the earth. Indeed, for three and a half years it did not rain on the earth. The faith of a man by communicating a word, God fulfills exactly what has been pronounced through the lips of the prophet. But three and a half years passed, you know? the faith of the prophet had to be maintained in those three and a half years. But there comes a time when time has passed and God has to send rain. And through the same prophet who declared drought now comes a word declaring that rain will come on the earth.

Chapter 18 verse 41 says as follows: "Then Elijah said to Ahab: 'Go up, eat and drink, because a great rain is heard'". This all occurs after the event of defeating Baal. Already the God Baal was defeated, right? Now when the people understand who Jehovah of hosts is, now the word of judgment is withdrawn and the rain of blessing comes. It says: "Because a great rain is heard". Here the prophet is declaring a word that great rain is heard when there is no rain, when the drought is still present. There is Faith in the heart of the prophet and there is obedience. Ahab went up to eat and drink and he climbed to the top of Carmel and prostrated himself on the ground and put his face between his knees.He declares the word that God gives him to declare and then he goes to pray and prostrates his face between his knees, he bows down to pray and he prostrates himself before God and what would Elijah be doing? Crying for the rain to come. He declares the word and then he cries out. That also lets us see the processes of God's servants. One obeys, one declares what God says, sometimes one is communicating a word that he does not understand why he communicates it but God knows. But one also spends his processes in the Lord. And then while Ahab is there eating and drinking and then in Verse 43 he says: "And he said to his servant, 'come up now and look towards the sea'" and "He went up and m she went and said 'There is nothing' and he said again 'Come back seven times'. At the seventh time he said 'I see a small cloud like the palm of a man's hand coming up from the sea' And he said to him: 'Go and tell Ahab 'Hitch up your chariot and get down so that the rain will not catch you' ". Send the servant not once, not twice, not three, not four, not five, but seven times. Seven times in the Bible represents the fullness of God and seven times is that the servant sees the small cloud that announces the rain that Elijah had already given the prophetic word and then when the small cloud comes out Elijah sends King Ahab to say 'Prepare your car, move because a great rain is coming' And indeed the miracle of God occurred, the prophetic word was fulfilled that the rain would come. Ahab, then, is given those instructions and Verse 45 says: "And it came to pass, while they were doing this, that 'the heavens were darkened with clouds and wind and there was a great rain'" according to the word that came out that King Ahab was given 'Go and tell him that a great rain is coming', likewise God fulfilled it.

When I was a prophet of God, according to what you proclaim with your lips that comes out of the throne of God, exactly as it comes out of the throne of God, God will fulfill it. And your faith will grow by seeing God at work. People of God according to what comes out of the throne of God and that you proclaim and determine to do, God will fulfill it and you will grow from glory to glory when you see God working in each experience as a church. And it goes on to say: "And it came to pass that while he was doing this, the heavens were darkened with clouds and wind and there was a great rain. And Ahab went up and came to Jezeel and the hand of the Lord was upon Elijah, and he girded up his loins and ran before Ahab. until we come to Jezeel." There was a distance from the mount where Elijah was to Jezeel. Ahab was in what? in cars. Elijah was what? Elías says that he ran because the miracle of rain only occurred after a drought of three and a half years. There is also another miracle there. Elías is in the mountains, Elías is running, he has no means of transportation. King Ahab goes ahead according to the instructions he was given but... Elijah arrives first.

God leads him, God passes him forward. People of God, God passes you on. And perhaps you will arrive before many others who are running, or many others who are in cars even if we are walking, even if we go only with our own two feet. God passes us on because God intends his purpose in us. Each experience, Church of the Lord, each experience, be it drought type or whatever it was, that we live in the Lord, we must live it in obedience, we must live it in faith maintaining our faith. It will lead us to see God at work and that experience prepares us for what is coming next. Just as we see in the narration in the Bible of the life of the prophet Elijah, each experience after Kerit, became an experience of what? of glory in glory, of miracles and prodigies, of God's blessing of God's tremendous and powerful work. But he had to go through depending on God in what? in Kerit.

Church of God in this place, you have depended on your God in Kerit therefore God takes you to the next, therefore God takes you and a great blessing rain is coming. A great blessing rain comes for his people because we have been faithful in Kerit, because we have waited for God's provision in Kerit, because we have battled against the fences that are raised in our society. Because we have been obedient to the Lord, because we have entered each stage in the processes that God leads us. We have been obedient, we have kept our Faith, we have grown, we have matured. It's God's time to move on to what's next.

Church of God you have been faithful in your Kerit, prepare for the torrential rain that is coming. What is your drought? God is preparing you - now I am speaking in the individual sense - God is preparing you regardless of experience or circumstance let's learn to depend on God, to keep our Faith, to obey, to get closer and closer to God in our Kerit and God will show his power. We will mature, we will grow in faith, we will advance in the Lord and God will use each experience to prepare us for what he has for us next.

Stand up, please.

We adore you, God. We adore you, Lord. Blessed are you God, blessed are you Lord. Raise your hands to Heaven while we listen to that melody. And say "Thank you, Lord." Thank you Lord because I recognize that You have provided provision in my Kerit. Thank you Lord because you taught me to go to Kerit. Thank you, Lord, because there I found your stream, because there I drank from your water and ate from your provision and from your bread. I ate of that succulent meat that you served me in times of drought when there is supposed to be no meat. Thank you, Lord, because in that experience in Kerit I learned that You are a faithful God. But let's also say, "I thank You, Lord, that my faith has stood, held, and grew in Kerit, and now I'm moving forward to reach and grab and achieve the next thing You have for me. Now I'm moving forward to confront the prophets of Baal to the Baals of our society. Now I am moving forward to be able to bless other lives with prodigies, signs and miracles that You do in my life and in the midst of your people to bless other lives in need. Now I am moving forward to bless other lives reaching them for You Lord. Now I am moving forward to the next thing that You have for my life. Now I am moving forward to the next thing in which You want to use me as your instrument in the midst of your people to serve You. Now I am moving forward as a Church for the next that You have Lord. Now I am advancing as a Church for the next thing that You have determined in your plan because you have seen Lord that we have tried to be faithful to you, keep our faith in our Kerit and now as a Church you take us to next, sir. Let us say: Lord, here we are. Count on us once again. We adore you Lord. Father, I bless this town at this hour. I declare a word of blessing on this Congregation, I declare a word of blessing on every life that is here in this place. I declare a word of blessing on every mother, on every wife, husband, children, brothers, relatives. I declare a word of blessing over their lives so that they are even more strengthened in Kerit and so that they continue moving towards the next thing that You have for them, Lord. I declare for them strength, I declare even greater growth in faith, I declare, Lord, a blessing upon your people. I declare, Lord, that your gifts continue to spread even more in the midst of your people.

I declare Lord, that even more you cry healing, miracles and prodigies just as you did with the prophet Elijah will occur Lord in this place as they have occurred in the past, even more, as they have occurred in Kerit, even more will occur, Lord and that your name be exalted through your works, Lord. I declare that your word be proclaimed in this place and that lives continue to come before you to receive you to be transformed, that this place continue to be filled with new lives, with lives that come in need and that you rescue and transform them. Thank you, Lord, because You are going to continue operating the greatest miracle of salvation in this place. Thank you Lord for everything that You bring to this Church. I bless them in your name. Amen, amen, amen.

Sermon by Awilda Gonzalez-Tejera recorded June 7, 2009 at León de Judá Congregation

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