Daily Devotions
Filled with the Holy Spirit
"The Spirit of the LORD will carry you..."
Text: 1 Kings 18:12
THE MINISTRY OF THE PROPHETS OF GOD
One of the most significant servants of God in the Old Testament days must be the prophets. These servants of God were specially raised by the Lord to speak for Him. The prophetic ministry was most prominent in the days of the kings.
1. The priests had essentially failed to teach the word of God significantly.
2. The Judges God raised focused on delivering Israel from their wicked and powerful enemies.
3. The kings arose after the period of the Judges but many of the kings were despotic; they were self-serving kings instead of true shepherds of the Lord.
Amidst the chaos and wickedness that prevailed, God sent powerful servants called “prophets”. These were obviously anointed and filled with the Spirit of God. Some of them were given special powers from the Lord in order to effectively combat the wickedness that threatened to engulf the nation with spiritual darkness.
THE MINISTRY OF THE PRIOPHET ELIJAH
The prophet Elijah was sent by the Lord to minister in Israel in the reign of wicked King Ahab. What stood out in his ministry were the following things: –
1. The word of the LORD (1 Kings 17:2, 5).
a) The word of the Lord was sadly lacking in those days.
b) Elijah was a prophet of the word of God.
2. The power of the Lord
a) This was most evident.
b) God withheld rain at the word of Elijah (1 Kings 17:1).
3. The Spirit of the LORD
a) All Israel knew that Elijah was the anointed prophet of the Lord.
b) King Ahab made many attempts to arrest Elijah but they were all in vain (1 Kings 18:9-10).
THE HOLY SPIRIT’S POWER ACKNOWLEDGED
On one occasion Elijah met Obadiah, one of Ahab’s servants. He instructed Obadiah to inform King Ahab that he was in the country. Obadiah’s reply is most instructive.
“And now you say, ‘Go, tell your master, ‘Elijah is here’!’
And it shall come to pass, as soon as I am gone from you,
that the Spirit of the LORD will carry you to a place I do not know;
so when I go and tell Ahab, and he cannot find you, he will kill me.”
1 Kings 18:11-12