Look Again
TODAY’S SCRIPTURE
‘Go and look toward the sea,’ he told
his servant. And he went up and looked. ‘There is nothing there,’ he said.
Seven times Elijah said, ‘Go back.’ The seventh time the servant reported, ‘A
cloud as small as a man’s hand is rising from the sea…
1 Kings 18:43-44, NIV.
TODAY’S WORD
The Bible says that after the prophet
Elijah prayed and asked God to end the drought, he said to the people, “I can
hear the sound of an abundance of rain.”
He was saying in effect, “There is a
yes from God in our future!”
Elijah told his assistant to go look
on the other side of the mountain to see if there was any sign of rain. When
the assistant came back, he said, “No, Elijah. There’s not a cloud in the sky.
It’s perfectly clear.” Elijah didn’t get discouraged and think, “What are we
going to do now? I might as well quit this prophet business.” No, he simply
said, “Go back and look again.”
This happened six different times, but
Elijah kept saying, “Go look again.” On the seventh time, the servant came back
and said, “Elijah, I saw a small cloud in the sky. It isn’t much, just the size
of a man’s hand.” Elijah’s answer was basically, “You’d better get your
umbrella. Rain is coming!”
Friend, like Elijah, maybe you are
believing for something and aren’t seeing anything happen. Don’t give up, go
look again! If God has promised it, He will do it. It won’t be long until you
see His showers of blessing pouring down on every area of your life!
PRAYER FOR TODAY
Father, thank You for Your
faithfulness. I believe that You are working behind the scenes even when I
can’t see it. I choose to keep believing. I choose to look again until I see
every promise fulfilled in Jesus’ Name. Amen.
***
“But if we live in the light, as God is in the light, we can share fellowship with each other. Then the blood of Jesus, God's Son, cleanses us from every sin. If we say we have no sin, we are fooling ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” (1 John 1:7-8 NCV)
In Christian fellowship, people should experience authenticity.
Authentic fellowship is not superficial, surface-level chit-chat. It’s genuine, heart-to-heart, sometimes gut-level sharing.
It happens when people get honest about who they are and what is happening in their lives. They share their hurts, reveal their feelings, confess their failures, disclose their doubts, admit their fears, acknowledge their weaknesses, and ask for help and prayer.
Authenticity is the exact opposite of what you find in many churches. Instead of an atmosphere of honesty and humility, there is pretending, role-playing, politicking, superficial politeness, and shallow conversation.
People wear masks, keep their guard up, and act as if everything is rosy in their lives. These attitudes are the death of real friendship.
It’s only as we become open about our lives that we experience authentic fellowship. The Bible says, “If we live in the light, as God is in the light, we can share fellowship with each other .… If we say we have no sin, we are fooling ourselves” (1 John 1:7-8, NCV).
The world thinks intimacy occurs in the dark, but God says it happens in the light. We tend to use darkness to hide our hurts, faults, fears, failures, and flaws. But in the light, we bring them all out into the open and admit who we really are.
Of course, being authentic requires both courage and humility. It means facing our fear of exposure, rejection, and being hurt again.
Why would anyone take such a risk?
Because it’s the only way to grow spiritually and be emotionally healthy. The Bible says, “Make this your common practice: Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you can live together whole and healed” (James 5:16 MSG).
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