Ch4: Episode 1: The Widow's Oil: From Simple Faith to Supernatural Provision

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Welcome to the Diary of a Black Woman podcast. I'm your host,

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Connie Morris, and we are starting a new series with Chapter 4, What is in Your Hands?

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From the Simple to the Supernatural. Today we start in episode 1,

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The Widow's Oil, 2 Kings 4,

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verses 1-7 So we're going to explore the profound impact of faith in our everyday lives,

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And today we will dive into the story of The Widow's Oil Coming again from 2

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Kings 4, verses 1-7 So if you have your Bibles, get those ready as I continue

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with this introduction.

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This powerful narrative, I'm going to read from the New International Version.

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You find your favorite version.

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This powerful narrative reminds us that what we have,

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no matter how small, Ma, that what we have, no matter how small,

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we become the source of the miracle,

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that that can become the source of the miracle if we entrust it to God.

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And so let's find out what was going on in this widow's life.

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And then we're going to do a backstory.

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And like I always do, I want to get into that widow's emotional state,

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what she was feeling, what was going on at that time of the Bible times.

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And then we'll continue with the story.

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And so let's go to 2 Kings chapter 4 in the NIV translation.

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And mine's at the title of the Bible says the widow's olive oil.

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And so let's see what was going on with her life here.

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And it says the wife of a man from the company of the prophets cried out to Elisha.

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So we see that Elisha was a prophet.

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And so she was a wife of a prophet and said, your servant, my husband is dead.

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So she lost her husband and you know that he reverent the Lord,

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but now his creditor is coming to take my two boys as his slaves.

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Verse two, Elijah replies to her, how can I help you?

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Tell me, what do you have in your house?

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Your servant has nothing here at all, she said, except a small jar of olive oil.

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Elijah said, go around and ask all your neighbors for empty jars.

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Don't ask for just a few. Then go inside and shut the door behind you and your sons.

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Sons, pour oil into all the jars and as much, okay, pour oil into all the jars

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and as each is filled, put one aside.

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So she has a little jar of oil. Go ask the neighbors and gather all the jars.

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Don't go running your mouth. Just go get all the empty jars and then fill them

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up and then sell them aside. side. Follow the instructions.

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She left him and shut the door behind her and her sons, and they brought the

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jars to her, and she kept pouring.

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When all the jars were full, she said to her sons, Bring me another one.

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But he replied, There is not a jar left.

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Then the oil stopped flowing. She went and told the man of God and she said,

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go and sell the oil and pay your debt debts.

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And you and your sons can live on what is what?

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I can't say it right. You and your sons can live on what is left.

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So we see here that she had a little all I have is a little jar of oil.

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She said, go ask your neighbors for some empty containers and then go gather them up.

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Close the door behind you and just keep filling them up.

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And when they're all filled, come and talk to me.

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I love that. Close the door. Don't go talk to nobody else and go fill it up.

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Then he says, go sell this oil and pay your debt and you and your sons can live off the rest.

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What do you have in your hands from the simple to the supernatural? natural.

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What do you think was happening to the faith of the boys as that little jar

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of oil kept filling those empty containers?

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And what do you think was happening to the woman, that little jar of oil was

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filling the containers and they kept putting it aside, side,

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putting it aside, following the instructions.

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Do you think it was quiet in there? What do you think was going on inside that

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house, in that room as they were doing that?

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Just pausing for effect here. I don't know about you, but our Friday was like, wow, this is what?

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So we find the widow in dire need here, facing the loss of her sons to slavery due to her deaths.

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Elisha asked her, what do you have in your house?

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Her response, a small jar of olive oil, sets the stage for a miraculous provision.

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Through her faith and obedience, a little oil she had was multiplied,

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filling many jars and allowing her to pay her debts and live off the rest.

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Wow. I just want to read that again because that's powerful.

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That instruction from the prophet, that dire need from the woman and the instruction

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from the prophet produced a miracle.

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At any time during that little conversation, she could have said, what?

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This ain't going to do nothing. And that would have been the end of her story.

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But no, no, no, no, no. She says the prophet, because she had a husband that was a prophet.

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She knew of her husband and her husband probably knew Elisha.

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And so she said, whatever Elisha does when, you know, when God speaks, it comes to pass.

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So whatever she, he says, I'm going to do it. And so she did it.

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And so that built up the son's faith and the woman's faith and they did it.

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And so what do you have in your house? I'm asking you, what do you have in your

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house? And her response was a small jar of olive oil. And that's enough.

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That's enough. That's enough. Set the stage for miraculous provision.

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Through her faith and obedience, the little oil she had was multiplied,

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filling her jars and allowing her to pay her debts and living off the rest.

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So I did a little background on what would have happened if she didn't follow those instructions.

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Just a little cultural background that what would have happened to this lady

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and her two sons if she would have just not believed God?

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This was a time where she needed to believe God. If I was in an audience,

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I was preaching from a pulpit and I raised your audience.

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How many are really desperate right now that they need a miracle from God?

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I bet you you can. I can see you raising your hand right now.

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What do you have in your house?

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What do you have in your hand? So no matter how, that's why he said, close the door.

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Because, you know, because you got the neighbors, because you got neighbors,

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you got the nosy neighbors who wants to, what you going to do with all those bottles?

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What you going to do? What you up to over there?

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I always call it the nosy Nancy's. What you up to over there?

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What you doing with all those bottles? Just close the door.

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Close the door. And do what God has told you to do.

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And you know, if you ever find out, and this, I'm trying not to make this a

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long, long podcast, but you ever find out that sometimes when God tells you

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to do something, you don't even quite understand the instructions.

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So you can't even explain it to somebody else.

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So for this particular episode or all the rest, or anytime God tells you to

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do something, just do it.

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And then maybe tell the story later once you quite understand it.

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So this lady said, I don't even know what I'm doing. I know in my own mind,

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this oil in my own thinking is not enough to fill up all these containers,

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but because this prophet told me to do so, I'm just going to do it.

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I'm just going to believe for each and every bottle to be full.

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I'm going to have faith for each and every one of these bottles to be filled

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in the name of Jesus. each one.

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Tell the sons, we're going to believe for each and every one of these bottles

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to be filled. So what was going on at the time? Now we got our faith all filled up.

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And so in ancient Israel, debt was a serious matter.

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Those unable to pay their debts often face the loss of their property and in

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extreme cases, their freedom.

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The law permitted creditors to take debtors or their children as enslaved people

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as slaves, enslaved people to work off debt.

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You can find that in Leviticus chapter 25, 39 through 40.

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So it was biblical to just to take property and.

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Take you away, your freedom, take your kids to pay off debt.

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They did that today. I think people would be debt-free. Can I get an amen in

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the audience? Hallelujah.

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All right. And then the second point here is the socioeconomic status of widows.

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Now she's a widow and was particularly precarious.

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Without a husband, they are often had no means of income, making them vulnerable

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to exploitation and extreme poverty.

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So since they had no way of provision, guess what? They were just taken advantage of.

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And so the widow's plight was not just financial, but also social and emotional.

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The potential loss of her sons to slavery met the loss of her remaining family

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and her future support system.

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Slavery due to debt was expected consequences reflecting the harsh reality of

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economic hardship in the Bible times, in biblical times.

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So now if we think about what was happening in that room with the closed door,

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it was, I said it really calm, but think how nervous she was.

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I don't think she spilled not one drop of oil because that meant that every

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drop was, Everything that was happening in that room was very dire.

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It was a very serious situation.

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So I believe it was quiet in there. I believe if she was praying,

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she was praying quietly.

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She was praying in her holy language. She was praying quietly.

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She was praying out to God quietly because this was an extreme,

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serious case where she can lose, hey, her freedom, her son's freedom.

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And it was just a harsh reality where at the end, when all her sources was all

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depleted, that she can even die.

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Here. So it was economic hardship for her.

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What was the role of the prophets at that time? The role of the prophets in

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Israel acted as God's spokesperson, providing guidance, performing miracles,

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and offering divine intervention in the times of need.

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Elisha's involvement signifies God's care for the marginalized and his provision

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for those in desperate circumstances.

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It's so important. Sometimes we have prophets. My pastor is a prophet.

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There's many prophets around, right?

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But so what is the role of a prophet? That they are God's spokesperson,

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providing guidance, performing miracles, and offering divine intervention in In the times of need.

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How powerful is that? That God sends us a prophet for guidance,

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for miracles, for divine intervention.

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But how many times that when that prophet speaks to you, that you,

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do you obey what they say? Or do you have your own opinion?

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And that could be a breakthrough. How many times do the prophet,

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he has a pastor anointing and he's a prophet.

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He has other gifts. But guess what? When he says a scripture on the board,

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a scripture on the board, when he preaches, how many times do you go home and

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write that scripture down and study that scripture?

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Because that's your word. That's your freedom.

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That's your simple to the supernatural.

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How many honor God's word that much?

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When the word of God goes across the board, that's your freedom.

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I mean, you're in debt, but yet the word goes across, comes to your place near

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you, and you have the word to give you freedom, but you are yet to obey it,

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and you are yet to still have some struggles.

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Just saying something, something that gets you to think about it.

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So we see here that in the ancient time, debt was a serious matter.

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We see here in the ancient time that the socioeconomic status of widows was

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particularly precarious.

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You know, so without a husband, there was no means of income.

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So if you take away her two boys, that will put her in a financial and emotional state.

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So when this lady, when this prophet showed up at her house,

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I read that scripture kind of without any emotion.

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But when she was crying out to that prophet, she was filled with emotions. What would you say?

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I would say she was pretty much, would you say, in desperation because her life

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really counting on a miracle from the Lord.

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How many out there are saying that your life is counting on a miracle from the Lord? her. Okay.

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So this little situation was dire, filled with grief from the loss of her husband

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and the looming loss of her sons.

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Her emotional state would have been one of a profound despair and fear.

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So in ancient times, losing a spouse meant losing one's protector and provider.

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So there might be some widows I'm talking to out there.

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So they really understand when I'm talking about single women out there that

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I'm talking to, you know, male or female, right?

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So what it feels like to not have the provider.

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The widow faced challenges, widow faced the challenge of providing for her family

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alone, which was nearly impossible in that cultural content.

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So desperation leads us to seek divine help more earnestly.

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The widow plea to Elijah represents a cry for divine intervention,

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demonstrating that in our lowest moments, God hears us and responds.

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So when she cried out to the prophet, come on now, that God also heard her.

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And so we know that God never leaves us or forsakes us.

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So just when she closed that door, guess who also stepped in the room? Come on, y'all.

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The Holy Spirit also stepped in the room to help her with that miracle.

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Come on. And so she cried out for help, and she received her miraculous intervention.

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She paid off her debt, which relieved her from any more harassment about anything.

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She got to keep her sons and she got to live off the rest.

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You know, when God blessed you, living off the rest was probably a lot more

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than what we thought it was.

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So what was Elijah's question? Let's back it up a little bit.

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Elijah asked her, what do you have in your house? And then the direct answer

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to the widow, she started to think, right, what does she have in her house?

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And she says, this answer emphasized, this question emphasized the importance

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of recognizing and valuing what we already have.

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Often we overlook our resources because they seem too small or insignificant.

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Insignificant, but God can use even the smallest things to work miracles.

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So I want you to think, what do you have in your house?

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What do you have in your hands?

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What do you have that you think that is too small for God to use?

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Because God wants to use that.

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To work a miracle in your life. God wants to use that to work the supernatural in your life.

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God wants to use that to show off that he is alive in your life.

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Let's focus on the small jar of oil here. The small jar of oil symbolizes the potential.

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It's only the potential for God's provision.

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It represents something seemingly insignificant that given to God in faith can lead to abundance.

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When we think about the story in the Bible, what story comes to mind when we

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think that was insignificant that fed many people, that really supplied the

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need, excuse me, of many people?

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The story of feeding 5,000 in the book of John, John 6, 9-13,

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I think Jesus fed 5,000 at least twice in the Bible.

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There was a small boy offering five loaves and two fishes fed a multitude.

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Both stories illustrate how God multiplies small offerings to meet significant needs.

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So how we can give the least and God can multiply it to meet the needs.

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He said, you can live off the rest.

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When he said he fed 5,000, you know, you hear different stories that the 5,000

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was men, but they came with their wives and their children.

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So it was probably way over 5,000.

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You know, you got children and wives.

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So that's maybe double that with the children, maybe 15, 20,000 people with

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five loaves and two fishes because the kid offered it to Jesus.

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And then they had leftovers. What?

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So what do you have in your house? What do you have in your hands that you want

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to give God for a miracle?

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From the simple to the supernatural.

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Let's talk about faith and obedience. The widow's faith and willingness.

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The widow's faith is evident in her obedience to Elijah instructions. Did I say instructions?

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Despite her dire situations, she followed those commands that Elijah gave her, those instructions.

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And you think like Elijah could have said, be filled in the name of Jesus,

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and it would have been done, right?

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You know, we want, God is not like the Santa Claus.

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He has you to do some work. Hello. So you can say, you know, I did my part.

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So Elijah had many different ways to do it. Remember, he's getting instructions from God.

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But despite the dire situation, she followed his seemingly illogical commands to gather empty jars.

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So she had to go knock on the neighbor's doors and gather as many jars as she can.

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It was her job to gather as many jars as she can, right?

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Then she had to fill it and put it aside. So there were still instructions to be followed.

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How many of us, I'm just asking a question, miss out because we want to have a shortcut?

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How many of us miss out because we don't want to follow the instructions?

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We want God to like do it now, do it quick, do it right away.

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Way. We don't want to do the work.

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I'm just asking a question, right? Go gather the, like, gang,

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you know, can we, Lord, can you do it? Like, can you do it?

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Can you go get the, I don't want to be, it's going to be embarrassing for me to go ask.

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Cause they know my husband died, you know, you know, they know I'm emotional

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and stuff, you know, they know, I don't, you know, I don't feel like,

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you know, what I'm going to say to them about asking for these bottle.

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You know, I'm already nervous.

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Shoot, give me a cart and I'm going to go get as many of these jars that I can.

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And sometimes we just have to

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put pride aside and just be obedient to what the Lord has told you to do.

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Because they know that when you do that, you are taking part of that testimony

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that's going to show that when you live off the rest,

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they're going to remember that this widow came and knocked on the door and got

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these bottles, these jars.

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They're going to remember your face when God blesses you.

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They're going to remember the God who blesses you.

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Everything we do has a part that gives God the glory. story.

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So step back out of your pride and just do follow the instruction.

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I always say there's no shortcuts in this journey.

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Sometimes I wish there was, but there is no shortcuts in this journey.

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Just follow the instructions, set the jar aside.

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And when it's done, go get the man a guy. and he says, go sell.

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So she still had to go sell them.

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So now she has an oil business.

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She has an olive oil business. Where'd she get that oil at?

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That holy oil from the Holy Spirit. What?

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Some special oil that she was selling. I bet it had a nice fragrance to it.

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It was different because it came right from the heavenlies.

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So it's probably sold really quick and live off the wrath.

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So I don't know if she sold the rest or she just kept filling more bottles.

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Come on now, because they kept coming back for more.

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So now she had a business. She was now an entrepreneur because she listened to the Lord.

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Glory to God. Throughout the Bible, faith often precedes obedience,

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which then leads to miraculous outcomes.

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The widow's story reinforces this principle, showing that our acts of faith

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and obedience can set the stage for God's supernatural intervention.

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Did we miss something here? showing that acts of faith and obedience can set

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the stage for God's supernatural intervention.

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It didn't say that when you wake up the next morning, it was done.

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Sometimes God can do some stuff like that. Yes, he can.

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But then sometimes we have to work for it. She had to sell something.

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So her business, she lived off the rest. I believe that she lived off the rest

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because she is now an entrepreneur, a CEO of some oil.

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She got some fancy oil skin, some fancy heavenly oil.

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What was the name of her business? Business. But she had to use faith,

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believe God, do what God said, obey what God said, and she was blessed.

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Right? So how do we apply this to our lives? Number one, reflect on your resources.

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Take a moment to assess what you have, what skills you have,

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what talents you have, what time you have, and even your financial resources.

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Nothing is too small for God to use. The scripture for that is each of you,

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each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others as faithful

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stewards of God's grace.

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It is in various forms as found in first Peter chapter four, verse 10.

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Act in faith. Point two, like the widow, step out in faith with what you have.

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Trust that God can multiply your humble offering beyond your imagination.

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I like that. Step out in faith.

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You know how hard it was for me to step out in faith with a podcast.

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It sounds easy. I I make mistakes.

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I don't start all over. I just repeat it and just keep it moving.

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Otherwise, I like things perfect and perfectionist. But hey,

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I'm just doing a podcast for the Lord. I'm doing it for Jesus.

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I'm using my skills and my talents for Jesus.

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Just like the widow, stepping out in faith. What do I have in my hand?

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Where I have the gifts and talents what God has given me to talk, to preach,

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to share my story, and to trust that God can multiply my humble offerings beyond

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what I can even ask or think.

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And what scripture foundation is. Now faith is, faith is not yesterday,

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it's not tomorrow, is right now.

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So faith is confidence in what we hope for and the assurance about what we do not see.

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So you won't know what you got until you go.

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You don't know what you hope for. You don't know, what am I talking about?

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So now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we We do not see.

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So you have to step out in faith and you don't know what's going to go and what's not going to go.

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I have two different podcasts that I have up and I will share that with you right now.

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It's called the Morris perspective.

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Like I said, I'm an educator, retired police officer. My goal is to change the world.

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I'm an implicit bias expert, I call myself. I wrote a couple of books on the topic.

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And so I use the Morris perspective to get that information out.

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And I've been having a great time with it. And I also use the Diary of a Black

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Woman podcast, which God gave me also to work this side of my life,

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which is the devotional side.

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And I thought one would go flat and the other one would go, you know.

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But God has kept them both tied up, which is so funny because they're both are

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doing well. They're actually equal.

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And so I was like, okay, God. So you never know what gifts, the gift that God's

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giving you, what's going to go and what's not.

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So like I'm saying, I'm filling those jars that God said, go do this, faith and obedience.

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And I'm doing what he's asked me to do. Yes, it's work, but I'm doing what he told me to do, right?

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So now faith and confidence is what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.

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That was extra, but I wanted to show you that I'm putting to work what he's told me to do.

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Obedience brings blessings.

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Number three, the widow followed Elijah's instructions precisely.

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Precisely, our obedience to God's guidance can unlock his supernatural provision.

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Yes, the widow followed his instructions precisely.

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I'm going to leave that out there because, like I said, there's no shortcuts.

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And if you did it wrong, go back and do it right. I'm the one that don't follow instruction.

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I make it sound like I'm all holy, but you put something together,

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you're like, wait a minute. it.

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Like this table for my podcast, I'm like, it's only like four different, it's four legs.

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It shouldn't be that hard to put together. No instructions required.

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Yeah, you can mess it up. So I went back and put it together,

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follow the instructions, easy peasy.

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And so following instructions precisely is very, very important.

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Our obedience to God's guidance can unlock his It's supernatural provision.

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The scripture here is found in 1 Samuel 15, 22.

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Now, faith is scripture. We know that. If you don't know, it's found in Hebrews

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11, 1. I'm going to read 1 Samuel 15, 22.

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It says, Samuel replied, does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices

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as much as in obeying the Lord?

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To obey is better than sacrifices.

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I'm sorry, to obey is better than sacrifice and to heed is better than the fat of rams.

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So God loves obedience rather than sacrifice.

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And then number four, expect miracles.

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Anticipate that God will show up in miraculous ways when you act in faith.

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The widow's oil kept flowing until every char was filled. I love that.

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And so in Philippians 4.19, the scripture foundation for that one,

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and my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus.

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So practical applications, reflect on your resources, act in faith,

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obedience brings blessings, things.

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And the best one, expect miracles.

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Expect miracles.

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And then some additional scriptures. I'm just going to add these last two. Proverbs 3, 5, and 6.

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Trust in the Lord with all your heart. Lean not to your own understanding.

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In all your ways, submit to him and he will make your path straight.

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So don't try to figure it out. Just do what he says.

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We always want to know what happens if it don't work? What happens if it does work?

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Trust in the Lord with all your heart. And what I say, don't try to figure out.

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Lean not to your own understanding.

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You know, in James 2, 14 to 17, and it says, what good is it,

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my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds?

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Can such faith save them? Suppose a brother or sisters without clothes and daily

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food, if one of you says to them, go in peace and keep warm and well-fed,

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but does nothing about their physical needs?

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What good is it in the same way? Faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.

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And so all that talk without any action is nothing.

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So I wish I would have, coulda, you know, and people have a thousand and one

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excuses not to do what's on their heart to do.

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And I don't know about you, but you ever, I don't, God doesn't let me get away with a lot.

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So I can't say that he'll say, okay, you can wait another day,

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but he would never let, if he got something for me to do, I'm usually quick to do it.

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But if I'm a little delayed in it, he'll give me a couple days and it's back on me.

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He's not going to let it delay. I'm not really a procrastinator because when

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he wants it done, I try to get it done.

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You ever got something on your heart that he wants you to do and you keep putting

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it off and then all of a sudden you look around and someone else is doing what

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you're supposed to be doing, you can't get mad at him, right?

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And so faith without works is dead.

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And I like when he said in the Bible, it says, If you see someone without food

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or clothing and you don't provide for them and you wish them well, that's not even good.

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That's another whole devotional. But do something, right? So God's giving you

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a plan. What's in your hand? We're going to stay focused.

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Do that thing he's told you to do. And I'm really wearing that out because we

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got four episodes, four more episodes.

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And by the time we get off of these episodes you should be doing what God has

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called you to do you should not be getting no rest for the weary you will be

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like that little oil with oils what's in your house.

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What skills and talents do you have that you've been holding back?

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And so remember, God can multiply even the smallest offering.

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And then what I like is that it's unexpected.

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God can give you, your faith can give you an unexpected blessing.

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Because you don't know what he's going to do with that thing.

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He's telling you, you might think it's going to be, oh, it's not going to be much.

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And it blows up into something big.

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All right, let's do the decrees. And then we are going to wrap this one up.

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This was really good. It's really good for me.

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Decrees just help encourage you. I'm going to just speak to decrees over you.

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And then, well, we can say them together. And this encourage you to get moving.

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Even I would encourage you, like, if you haven't already, have a journal and

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just write down some ideas and just pray over them. and ask for instructions.

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Ask God to give you some instruction.

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Maybe you don't have the finances to go that route right now, but just ask.

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Ask him, how do I get money through? Maybe you got to sell some things to get some things moving.

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Some things that's been sitting there that you can actually sell.

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My family always say, don't give it to Connie because she will sell it. I'm not using it.

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I'm going to donate it or sell it. I'm not a hoarder. I'm giving some stuff away. way.

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I don't want all that stuff in my house, just sitting around collecting dust.

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I'm going to sell it and I'm going to invest into something that I'm going to

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use. That'll be me. So maybe that can be you.

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All right. So the decrees for today, repeat after me. Here we go.

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I decree that what I have, no

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matter how small, is enough for a miracle when I place it in God's hand.

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I decree that my humble offering will be blessed and multiplied by the Lord.

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I decree that my faith and obedience would unlock God's supernatural provision. vision.

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I decree that I will expect and receive God's miraculous interventions in my life.

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That's it. So thank you again for joining me today.

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Remember, it's not about the size of what you have, but the faith at which you offer it.

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Join us next time as we continue to explore how God uses the simple to achieve the supernatural.

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Stay blessed and keep believing in the miraculous.

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This is Diary of a Black Woman podcast. Until we see each other again, God bless.