The victory over Ai (Joshua 7-8) could not take place until the
sin of Achan had been dealt with. There needs to be the tearing down of
sin before there can be the building up with salvation. This is a
spiritual principle of the greatest importance. God withholds His
blessing from us when we withhold our obedience from Him. It is to an
obedient people that God sends His blessing. We must,in repentance,
remove the barriers to God’s blessing. When we do this, we can, then,
reach out, by faith, and receive the blessing that He is so eager to
give to us.
We read about Elijah in his high-points of strength - the triumph over the prophets of Baal (1 Kings 18:36-39) - and his low-points of weakness - he is ready to give up: “I’ve had enough now, Lord” (1 Kings 19:4). How did Elijah get into such a mess? He forgot this: “The Lord’s power was on Elijah” (1 Kings 18:46). In all life’s ups and downs, we must hold on to this: The Lord has sent His Spirit of power to live in us (2 Timothy 1:7). How are we to live in the power of the Spirit? We need to feed on the Word of God and drink in the Word of God (1 Kings 17:4). We need to pray that the Lord will send His showers of blessing (1 Kings 17:14). We are to live our life “according to the Word of the Lord” (1 Kings 17:16). For our life of faith to be strong in the Lord, we need to listen attentively to the preaching of God’s Word (1 Kings 17:24).
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