Lessons from Elijah The Prophet || Joshua Maponga III

[Music] the gospel according to mapunga jay here on your station brand new space we're moving all our content and sermons for your spiritual development right here you subscribe you share with your friends this is your new home for your spiritual [Music] growth [Music] we bring your greetings the last time we're here we went through the store of elijah the drawing of the blue counter there transferring off his address and changing from the brook side into the greater city the city of zarephath and we looked at a few principles there that we are dealing with a god who dries up brooks but a god also makes streams in the wilderness so we need to deal and balance up this picture that we only don't bask in the goodness of god and we also forget the justice of god but when abraham when elijah is in the wilderness dealing with his own problems god is building another story lying in the city of zarephath and from the zerefud side the woman's basket is running low hair oil is running low as elijah also the stream is running low and the bread supply that is given is told eat a lot eat much more for the journey is long spirituality needs thorough time for preparation you cannot always speak like something i will wake up as usual there are times when you must do unusual things when the journey becomes unusual and the lord tells him to say move up move up and move to the east and when he moves over to the east he goes and he sits at the well i like that part there another day we must come here and talk about the theology of the wheel of the well how many weddings were happening at the well how many conversations have taken place at the well and what is it that is with this world business and women and when you study carefully you will find actually these are founders of life and fountains of greater supply a great meeting place of various society ask moses and zipporah you can ask elias you can ask jesus and the woman at the well and the stories will go on and on including the 12th wealth that jacob had built for his sons but when when elijah moves into the city of zelfart and he sits by the well i like that part also strategic positioning strategic positioning now you you want to place yourself where grace can find you that reminds me of success place yourself where grace can find you knowing the geography of the city is an advantage for you can go and sit on a tree when you know this is how they're going to come through and in a similar fashion we find elijah here sitting by the well i like that part where must you sit in life sit next to supplies sit next to the places where grace can find you where god when he's in need of something he does not need to look for you but he'll find you on the spot and even opportunities people privileges will criss-cross your path when you're well-positioned the concept of ask and you shall find seek and knock does not lock us away in our houses behind our doors fasting and praying hoping that prayers will be answered with asking is seeking with seeking is knocking and with the knocking is an opening of the doors therefore if you are going to be working with god stop praying and work in isolation within the midst of divine movement there is also strategic positioning where elijah sits himself where the community comes often where the well supplies the water and constantly it's a place of meeting and he sits here by the well i like something very nice on that passage while he's sitting here you know the divine instructions sometimes baffle you a prophet like elijah who had worked with god for weeks or months or days on end i don't know how long he was in the wilderness having communication with god constantly but when god sends him to a city he does not even tell him what will happen in that city interesting and yet we have people today who call themselves prophets who seem to have seen into june into july into august into the end of the year but here is a good example that when god works with you sometimes he can place you in a place and does not give you the gprs does not give you a strategic planning session does not give you any instructions except that you must get there and sit there while he is there busy waiting then scripture ignores a beautiful part it just tells us the ending of it for the woman here had lost her husband we don't know how she had minimal supplies in her house that part is clear she had little flour shed little oil you don't need anything else but to eat what you have and die but in the midst of her mega minion supplies she decides she's gonna go and look for some firewood now take note two stories are coming together one from the wilderness and one from the city and the meeting place is the well the woman is looking for firewood outside the city picking up firewood that gets me excited you see there is something in life you must always learn is this idea i want to say it early least i forget it do not stop collecting firewood because your flour has gone low don't stop collecting firewood because your oil is now low don't stop cooking for your husband because he's no longer coming home don't stop looking after your children because your wife is not being nice to them don't stop working hard because the salaries are not being increased don't stop doing god's work because corona has now limited you collect the firewood simply means constantly be in the business of gathering resources that are able to assist you to kind of to can south african english to can cook when the blessings arrive the woman was looking for firewood i like to say it in a nice way gathering sticks that's what the bible says gathering sticks acts of kindness acts of goodness acts of patience acts of love acts of understanding constantly moving in the direction of goodness in the absence of the resources now for me that's deep theology that we need to unpack because many of us are actually evil ask me why we are only good to those that are good to us and we are evil to those that are evil to us in the words of yeshua what difference does it make between you therefore and the pagans they love those that love them and they hate those that love that hate them also but what makes a difference is when you love those that hate you and you pray for those that persecute you then it puts you in a different legal together and this concept of gathering sticks for me it is the primary principle of evangelism and outreach you do good things not because you want people to become christian you do good things because they are human beings many times you go around distributing food parcels and etc and while people are chewing the food yeah that is adventist food you must now accept the god of the church and come and join the church otherwise you will not eat food i would speak that food on your face and walk away you don't give me food because you intend to make me an adventist or make me a christian you give me food because i'm a human being i'm a human being first before i can become anything that you want to in fact that food is not clean food because it comes with intentions it comes with intentions and the intentions are not clear you're not interested in my health you're not interested in my stomach but you're trying to use my stomach so that you can get to my head that's quite abusive food is too calculated we do good things because it is the right thing to do and i will not give you a good principle gather sticks even in the absence of let's do good things for the community let's do good things for our children let's do good things for husbands and wives let's do good things for the community constantly gather the sticks now take note blessings don't come to people who are sitting in their houses crying over little oil crying over little flower prophets never find people who are sitting in the backs of their houses moaning and whining over the death of their husbands and how they've lost everything i'll just eat this and die i love the attitude even when i am waiting to die i would rather die looking for resources as if nothing has happened and while she is gathering sticks doing what was important to her and one wonders when you gather these sticks what are going to do with them because they don't have enough to cook with no even if i die with my son at least i must have some firewood that is next to me near me maybe for other uses maybe something will happen i don't know i might even get tempted to build up some theology that maybe she had faith enough that in in the absence of not being able to get more food she would just use this firewood to warm herself up as she's waiting for death but she had the resources with her and now enjoy this part when you are busy doing what is constructive grace intercepts a conversation there's a hopeless case that is coming here and there's a man with a word and they meet at the junction of need there is something that elijah has that the woman needs there is something that the woman has which elijah needs and for me what brings us together as human beings is need let me give you a philosophy that i run with if you don't know what to do with me don't hate me i'm none of your business for the time being when you know what i mean in your life and you find my position they're all that i must play in your life you will not find it anywhere else except you come here so let me give you a good theology never insult lazarette lambast downgrade other people because divine grace has not made you all sufficient there is stuff that which belongs to you which he has placed in them and relationships is the password to access those things and none of us are in the business of messing up relationships because i don't believe like you because i don't think like you because i don't dress up like you because i don't walk like you because i don't like the music that you like and you think that because i am not you after all every time you deprive me an opportunity to be myself you are depriving yourself an opportunity to experience me there is staff that is in me which belongs to you and the staff that is in you that belongs to me therefore you need to be kind with relationships as they are the password of accessing those resources if you look around yourself and the relationships that you have even the people that you think are the most useless it's only that you don't know what is in them that belongs to you so i've developed a very interesting attitude these days where i actually believe that the world is conspiring for my success now that's me i don't know about you i think that the world is conspiring for my success people have built up tv stations for me people have are making cars right now waiting for me to come and drive them people are booting up airplanes for me the airports belong to me because the whole world over is making resources and giving services which will make my life comfortable and if i don't know what to do with those people stop insulting and stop marginalizing people the world works for even if you don't read the bible all things come on one more time all things the good and the bad they work together in partnership for your good if you are called by the name of the lord and you are appointed for a task such as this therefore that is good things or it is bad things come on hug everything with a smile when you meet an enemy pray for them even your infant this one is a nice one your enemies they need more prayers because sometimes when the lord places you in their hands your prayers will make them softer so when you're praying for your enemies you're actually praying for your own welfare for their times when you fall in the hands of your enemies just pray for them that they have enough food they have enough happiness they have enough everything so that when you enter and you reach their hands you will not be a problem to them so pray for enemies and pray for those that persecute you but your needs are found in other people and other people also have what you need i think this is where the bible becomes interesting we're do unto others what you want others to do unto you also this creates for us a community and i think only africans can really understand this passage because we believe in ubuntu living together you know we belong together you happy me happy we happy community happy we build up our communities based on these inter-social relationships which must not be governed by simple tempers and misunderstandings that are found amongst us on the same note you tend to find out again that when elijah sits in on the well and the woman comes in by the well elijah looks at the woman and says to the woman well woman please can you go home and make me something to eat take note again that divine grace does not count what we what we don't have i like that part there grace does not calculate what we don't have grace always looks at what we have take note of that make me some bread to eat the woman dances around calculating her resources weighing her stomach her son's stomach the prophet's stomach and for sure what what elijah is asking for she has but the problems is not enough for her strategy and for her plan and for her agenda in her mind she has a son and herself and the last meal that she has been reciting all along while she's collecting this wood and the prophet comes around and says actually that's what you must give me to eat to which is honest i like that part he's honest i don't have enough for all of us all i have is for me and my son and after we eat this we are done let me teach you a principle of thai thing right there for some of you are struggling with tithe there's a verse that says i'm the alpha and i'm the omega when we do the thai thing we have been taught as a church only to tithe on the alpha when everything is there let me give you a secret when you look into your account entity at 15 000 you look again now it is 4.5 you look a few days later now it is 1.2 you look again another day now there's 80 rand left and you know that's all you have and that the last one that you have either way it's game over here is a secret how about taking the last one that you have put it in an envelope and report to grace that the omega is what i have put in an envelope see the miracle of what will happen because every time you throw it over you are reporting as to what has remained and this woman used the omega principle when the lust that you have is what you give to access the more that you must receive and many of us will be broke even when you are remaining with 50 runs and there's nothing more you can do you are still going to get poor anywhere you may as well you may as well just take the last thing that you have and hand it over into the arms of grace is this not the theology little becomes much we we talk about the alpha when you still have much who is spoken about giving the little the woman of zerifath gives us the omega the lust that she has goes home bakes her bread in faith the boy should have been looking wondering mommy is this for me sorry my son this one is not for you there's a stranger at the gate now this story becomes complicated and i also have a problem with god on this particular because what type of an adult an old grown man with a beard would be eating children that'd be eating food that belongs to children i mean who eats a baby's child in the name of look after me first but the principle is strong sometimes we must prioritize our relationship with god to such an extent that we can sacrifice the list of ourselves for the match of the instructions that are given give it to me i will eat first you miss that part at the beginning i will eat i will eat first and then you will go home and make for your son and for yourself did you hear that part in other words the prophet does not mix words in the midst of that he put some interesting innuendos no no no it's not about you not eating i'm just saying make for me first i like that part there do mine first because then the story then unfolds in a good way so after she brings the cake to elijah and elijah eats elijah instructs and says now go back home now that's why i have a problem again number two because i would not have left that old man sitting on the well you have eaten my food and my child's cake now there's nothing left at home now you are telling me to go home and make for myself and my son said no no no no that's delicate if we are going home we are going together but the woman had more faith than i did more faith than i have she turns her back she walks back home to make for herself now for me that's the journey of faith when you have spent what you had faith in when you have exhausted what you knew it almost sounds sounds familiar when men have been fishing on the sea for a whole night and they catch nothing and then the master says cast your nets on the right but we have been doing it but this time around is with an instruction do it again so that the difference in obedience there's no difference with obedience with instructions go home make some for yourself and your son to which she walks back home she finds there is enough flour she makes enough oil she makes for herself and her son take note she did not stop there she went back to the well and invited the man of god to come and live with her for the next three and half years elijah lived in a house which had a miracle i want to conclude somewhere there the difference of this passage i've had many young pastors struggling with it and saying yeah the lord blessed them for three and a half years and hoop they go away as if there was a 50 kgs of blessings that appeared or flower at the corner of the house so the blessings were sorted out and she was sorted for the next three and a half years it does not work like that and what informs me that does not work like that number one it is the lord's prayer give us give us this day our daily bread just when you want to confirm on that the services of the temple the bread was new every morning now did you not hear david sing about it but his mercies are new every morning what does it mean therefore every time she wanted to cook there was enough for them to cook first time oh let's work on the passage nicely first time there was enough for one man second time there was enough for two people you and your son third time there was enough for three people you your son and elijah and for the next three and a half years every time she wanted to cook no matter how many people were within a house the supplies of oil and the supplies of flower never ran out because god's presence constantly gave us the feeling if you want to understand how the miracle happened you need to go to the to the messiah breaking the bread and the oil that is now in the new testament now when jesus is breaking the bread remember the bread is the mixture of the oil and the flower and he's breaking the oil and is breaking the flow and you're looking into his hands it's just five loaves and three fishes but the more he's breaking the more it is multiplied come on here's some grace out there god multiplies by dividing he adds by subtraction equals sign twelve baskets of leftovers and five thousand fed full you don't need a 50 kgs of blessings in your life you don't need enough backup for you to have faith that okay i have i've listened to me guys who has ever received a hundred years in one day it's one day at a time it's one night at a time what causes stress is you want 40 years ahead 10 years behind that's 50 and you want to solve them in one day that's a system of a lot because how do you fix 24 hours into 60 years front and back and you want to solve that within 24 hours that's the first recipe of depression and stress is when you are trying to fit big time in small time maybe this time you can sing that song with understanding one day at a time one day at a time you know slowly but surely night after night whispers wisdom to the following day and elijah and the woman stayed together for three and a half years the supplies of the lord were constantly given they cooked they ate they lived for a long time because finally they'd understood if not lend it well that your problems are in my solutions and my solutions are in your problem i need you you need me we are all part of one big family what is in me belongs to you what is in you belongs to me can we learn some sharing white men and black men white men you need the black men black men you need the white men finding each other is a recipe for life you will starve by the well thinking of the word of god you'll starve in your own house thinking you don't need wood collect the sticks in your homes collect the sticks in your workplaces collect the sticks in your communities prepare for the blessings so that when the flower is finally given to you in the evening you don't look for fire within the duck you may end up bringing some snakes into the house have the resources necessary to support to assist you to cook the meals when the lord has blessed you ah i like that part there stop praying for a car when you don't have a license come on collect the wood hello somebody out there collect the wood if god bless you with the car and you don't have a license you are in nonsense you it will kill you and kill other children also i said collect the woods while you're waiting for promotion come on collect the woods do some studying out there do some extra learning sharpen up your skills someone with me out there while you are waiting while you are waiting to get married come on start some ironing start some ironing and do whistling while you're ironing fix up some jackets learn how to polish some shoes come on some young men out there start learning how to make some gardens i'm saying make fit collect some sticks while you're waiting for the blessings to happen don't sit around and fold your arms waiting for the doors of blessings to come through waiting for a breakthrough a breakthrough is nothing without firewood on standby may the lord of grace give you strength while you're connecting the collecting these sticks preparing for your miracles to happen our father which are in heaven hallowed be thy name thy kingdom come thou will be done on earth as it is in heaven give us this day our daily bread forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us lead us not into temptation deliver us from evil for thine is the kingdom the power and the glory forever and ever amen [Music] the gospel according to mapunga jay here on your station brand new space we're moving all our content and sermons for your spiritual development right here you subscribe you share with your friends this is your new home for your spiritual [Music] growth

Channel: The Gospel According to Maponga Joshua III

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Id: beQz0BD-iws

Length: 27min 21sec (1641 seconds)

Published: Sun Jun 28 2020