God's Man for Life [Part 1]

Alan White, pastor, Bible teacher and author of his latest book, the power to bless this is John give you a phone call already sent the money my parents.

Please send money. My financial aid institution send me enough money if you are my friends, you owe me money for a female, don't worry I have plenty of money. Pastor Alan Wright welcome to another message of good music that will help you see your life in a whole new light. I'm Daniel.

Excited for you to hear the teaching today.

In the series miracle me has presented at renewal.

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Allen right here I present good mayors.

If there is a drought, or famine, you must remember that God can make it rain and he used Elijah to make it rain through his prayers and then told us in James five that Elijah just as human as you and I are and God used them. God can make it rain in the famine. But while the drought continues and the famine is severe until such time he makes it rain God will provide for his children were in first Kings chapter 17 for a word from the Lord that if you get this down in your spirit. It will change your life.

First Kings chapter 17 where we are learning about this miracle man Elijah and how he points us to the true miracle man. Jesus and we pick up reading at verse one of the first Kings 17 now allied to the test by up to should be a Gilead, said to Ahab, as the Lord, the God of Israel lives, before whom I stand, there shall be neither dew nor rain these years except by my word Ahab were told the scriptural was more wicked than all the kings of Israel that had preceded him and Elijah knew the word of the Lord from Deuteronomy that it said if my people disobey me, then I'll shut up the heavens and I'll be no rain so in an idolatrous land where there began to be worship of ball. Elijah had prayed. James says fervently that it wouldn't rain so that God's word would be fulfilled and that through the fulfillment of God's word of judgment against idolatry that the people return to God and so that's what's happening at verse two and the word of the Lord came to him, depart from here and turn eastward, and hide yourself by the brook Terrace which is east of the Jordan you shall drink from the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to feed you there. So he went and did according to the word of the Lord. They went live by the brook Sheriff that is east of the Jordan and the ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning, and bread and meat in the evening, and he drank from the brook mapper while the brook dried up, because there's no rain in the land where the Lord came to him arrived. Go to 05, which belongs to Sidon, and dwell there, behold, I've commanded a widow there to feed you.

So he arose and went to zero, fast, and when he came to the gate of the city, behold, a widow was there gathering sticks. I called her and said bring me a little water in a vessel that I may drink and she was going to bring a dissenter and bring me a morsel of bread in your hand and she said, is the Lord your God live. I have nothing baked only a handful of flour in a jar and little oil in a jug and now I'm gathering a couple of sticks that I may go and prepare for myself and my son.

We may even die. So I decided to not fear going to as you said first make me a little cake of it, bring it to me afterward make some for yourself and your son. For thus says the Lord, the God of Israel the jar of flour shall not be spent in the jug of oil shall not be empty until the day the Lord sends rain upon their and she went and did as Elijah said as she and her household ate for many days. Jar flowers not spent neither did the drug will become empty. According to the word of the Lord that he spoke by Elijah people a bit confused about provision. I chuckled of the story of a young man who wanted to ask woman's father for young ladies hand in marriage and so was that this fine young Christian man met with the father and the father said well tell me your plans.

If so, what I'd like to marry her daughter.

I love her very much and he says well. He said that. Tell me what kind of work do you do and the young man said well I don't actually have a job but I I study I study the Bible and I'm a very student of the Bible by so that's that's wonderful glad for your studies, but how would you forward to get her a nice engagement ring and the boy said well I'll be committed to my studies and the Lord will provide positive okay well how are you going to provide a home for her and food for the table. He said I will I will be committed to my studies and the Lord will provide a said what about when you have children, how would you be able to provide for them and raise them and educate them, and again he said I will I will trust the Lord.

I'll be committed to my studies in the Lord will provide.

Later on, the father was talking to his wife. Mother said to them, so will. How did the conversation go. Is it not very good. He said not only does the young man not have a job or any prospects, but evidently he thinks I'm God is one more guy's outgoing message on his voicemail hi this is John. If you have the phone company already sent the money. If you're my parents. Please send money. If you are my financial aid institution. You didn't send me enough money if you are my friends, you owe me money and if you are a female, don't worry I have plenty of money though to talk to about miraculous provision from the Lord and we're going to see and Elijah's life. Some principles of the gospel at play that I think will be a profound encouragement to you, but as you think about how it is that the Lord provided for Elijah and how does he provide for you ultimately want to point you to the power and significance of what it means for Jesus to quote Deuteronomy and say that man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.

It is a deep revelation.

It is powerful and will change your life.

There's so much rich beauty and principle in this incredible story about Elijah who prayed for a drought and then experienced the drought and then experience the day 3 1/2 you. Years later when the rain came in the famine ended and the first thing that I want to highlight for you is that here is Elijah who prayed that God would not make it rain because this is what God had said in Deuteronomy about what happens when people or in idolatry and rebellion.

His people as I was praying this according to word of God and then the Lord work this miracle through Elijah's prayer and the people were all suffering from this famine and when I want to highlight for you is that Elijah though he was used by God in this miraculous way, and his prayer life was used by God in a miraculous way that Elijah was not given a free ticket out of the famine. In other words, the drought that he prayed would come to pass upon the land was a drought he himself would experience. He felt the same thirst that others did. He saw the same Brooks dry up that others did. He watched the livestock become emaciated, just like others did. He saw the impact and he felt it and the roof of his mouth grew dry and he was in need.

If God didn't provide he would not make it. God is like this because you're a Christian doesn't mean you get a free ticket out of the troubles of the world. It means that God gives you an assurance you don't care for you in the middle of every famine, which to me is of profound reassurance when I read the newspapers in our day and see the drought of morality in the drought of love for God and the drought of truth and something in the flesh wants to sink in our member God's grace is sufficient. That's Alan Wright will have more teaching in a moment from today's important series like something is holding you back if you lack an important scene that could change everything. Is there someone you love to stack to help them out what's missing blessing on the Basingstoke and over I learned you can learn how to embrace the biblical practice of blessing to Pastor Alan writes new, but it's a blast, which quickly became an Amazon number one bestseller after 370s until now the hardcover book has only been available through retail sales this month right ministries once send you the I thank you for your demo send this not only receive the best-selling but also receive a free session video place in which Pastor Alan teaches how to blast and covers content not found in about a video course includes a detailed study guide perfect for personal growth or small group discussion. Make your gift today and discovered the power to blast the gospel is shared when you get to Alan Wright Ministries. This broadcast is only possible because of listener financial support. When you get today.

We will send you a special offer.

We are happy to send this to you as I banks from Alan Wright Ministries, seven 877-544-4860 877-544-4861 come to our website Pastor Alan.like today's teaching now continues your once again is Alan writing Paul was once given a baby battle and the spirit that wouldn't leave him alone. I don't know why there's any real confusion about what the thorn the circle thorn in the flesh. It's a symbol of foreign and were told what it is is a messenger of Satan's were said Frank crickets 12 so keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations of thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me.

It's demonic persecution to keep me from becoming conceited and three times I pleaded with the Lord about this. That should leave me but he said to me, my grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. Therefore Paul said, I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so the power of Christ may rest upon me. Sleep. Paul wanted thorn remove he wanted this was ask the Lord for Lord, I know everybody's facing spiritual battle but this is intent everywhere I go I'm facing the same spiritual battle fighting in the spirit against. Could I just could you just lift this so that I could have a vacation from it and I just have a ticket out of the normal stress of having to put the armor of God on every day and stay prayed up and stay full of the word and live and walk in the spirit cannot just take a vacation from that just be excused from the severity of spiritual battle and Orson because that very spiritual battle is a thing is making you hunger and thirst for me.

That's about what I will do is I will give you grace and onto glad because everything that Paul learned about grace. He taught it to us, they would've known it. This is our God is a God who might let Joseph be imprisoned, but the text says the Lord was with him in prison is a God who let there be a famine in the land. Elijah was in that famine in the Lord was with Elijah if he never let you experience weakness. How would you ever know his strength.

If you were never hungry. How would you ever draw near with an appetite for his grace. The Lord provides in the midst of the difficulties of life we experience the same kind of grief that people in this world experience, but the Lord provides in the midst of thinking.

For some reason this week of my father's death, and I had on the morning of that day. I had gone by the CM at the skilled care facility I had.

I knew his condition had worsened in recent weeks. I didn't sense there was anything eminent that was about to happen and visit him in the morning I went about my business afternoon had a number of things going on and in that evening I was growing dark and I don't know if had a moment like this.

I just couldn't shake it. I don't see him that day, but I couldn't shake it after my wife is that I just saw Kenny go back there was a dad to so we just did a song I satisfy Kenny go back over this go back over and I went back over and and there was singing about the same as that seen in that morning and just antibias bedside and my oldest brother David called about something else. It was a call about Dan my oldest brother David is only a few years older than me, but is very important in my life because now I was the youngest in my dad. Mom broke up and dad went around and my oldest brother, like a dad to me in a lot of ways just a few years older but is always there for me. You call and we're just talking about something else as I'm here visiting dad and while we were talking on the phone. We didn't talk we don't talk on the phone at off while we were talking, I noticed a change in dad's breathing and I interrupted our conversation I said that it some time with them is his breathing changed and so they were displayed on the phone. I held my father's hand and his breathing became more labored and slower and I wept and I had my brother on the phone and so my father wasn't alone when he died and I wasn't alone while I held his hand. We grieve we experience the same famines of the world's a right smack dab in the middle of it. God does miracles are his children and he provides could count on it comes in such unexpected ways. This the second thing I see here that is so powerful about this story is that it is like God has almost almost comically provided for Elijah in a way that if Elijah were to sit down and write down the top hundred ways that he would've imagined that God would provide for him in the middle of the famine. These two ways wouldn't make it didn't provided for by birds or poor widow. These are not the things that you would expect of them in the first case, the instruction to go to this brook. It's one of the last remaining Brooks that still has a trickle of water. I guess the Lord is saying. I know of a brook and it's going to be the last one to run out of water you go drink that water.

So he's there and you can drink the water of the brook, and God arranges and commands the Texas to send these birds the come and bring them food in the morning and food in the evening. What's interesting is is not just any birds. These are ravens. They are scavengers they like crows and this is an unclean animal to the Hebrew people you not supposed to eat him an idea is just funny that this bird that the Hebrews can't even eat is the one is bringing food to this Jewish prophet everyone they say go to the brook, and will bring some nice chickens over there for you. You know, but instead he thins these ugly ravens that Elijah would barely want to touch much less eat and every morning and every evening. The birds provide food for birds are a sample of that which is insignificant, helpless, so much so that Jesus to make his point said, consider the sparrows of the air, not one of them falls to the ground without my father's permission so that which is weak and unclean brings in food and then the Lord tells them to go to zero, fast of Sidon melt if you were Jewish.

And you know your Bible you are reading this you you go what because Sidon is the hometown of Jezebel and Sarah Pfaff is just in that region, and so Jezebel who is the symbol of idolatry and love of worship of Baal, who financed 450 prophets of Baal is the picture of everything that's gone wrong with the nation because Ahab the king of Israel had married this woman Jezebel. It's it's like a symbol of everything that's awful, would you could imagine. Would you say is like go to go to sin city. I will provide for you. There and so he travels to the epicenter of Baal worship and he is supposed to find this widow you know that in the ancient Middle Eastern culture. The widow was considered the most vulnerable of all people is an intensely patriarchal society, and widow had no real way to take care of herself with this woman Hannah assigned they would not yet grown, so she only had to care for herself, but she had to care for the son, and not only was she a widow in pagan land. She was a poor window right field said I'm coming, there's good news on the way you can catch the conclusion of this on our next edition in the series miracle man in today's teaching, placing a bookmark here God's man for life. Alan is back in a moment with additional insight on this for our life in a final word today stick with this like something is holding you back if you lack an important scene that could change everything. Is there someone you love to sing stack to help them out what's missing blessing. We all need faith filled vision spoken over, I learned you can learn how to embrace who practice a blessing to Pastor Alan writes new book, it's a blast, which quickly became an Amazon number one bestseller after 370s until now the hardcover book has only been available through retail sales this month right ministries once send you the I thank you for your demo send this not only receive the best-selling that also receive a free session video place in which Pastor Alan teaches how to blast and covers content not found in the video course includes a detailed study guide perfect for personal growth or small group discussion. Make your gift today and discovered the power to bless the gospel is shared when you get to Alan Wright Ministries. This broadcast is only possible because of listener financial support. When you get today.

We will send you a special offer. We are happy to send this to you as I thanks from Alan Wright Ministries, seven 877-544-4860 877-544-4861 come to our website Pastor Alan.work Alan.man for life. We placed a bookmark here, but I can tell there is encouragement there is hope for us. We been saying this a lot even through this early part of the series that just like us write these these heroes of the Bible are men and women like us just like us and when you see that God used Elijah and yet James reminds he is just like us then these miracles was in a different way and witnessing want today and it's a powerful story of provision and I think that if you're in a place in your life where your knee provision today for you.

Today's good news message is a listener supported production Alan Wright Ministries