Ch4: Episode 4: Faith, Flour, and Miracles: The Widow of Zarephath's Story

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Hello and welcome back to the Diary of a Black Woman podcast.

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I'm your host Connie Morris and today we're examining the story of the widow

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at Zarephath from the book of 1 Kings chapter 17 verses 8 to 16.

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We are still in chapter 4, What is in Your Hands?

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From the Simple to the Supernatural.

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And this episode will teach us about faith, obedience, and the miraculous provision.

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So if you have your Bible, you can go with me to 1 Kings 17.

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And we're going to read from probably verse 7 through verse 16,

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just to hear the story in its entirety.

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And then, like always, we'll just kind of go through and just get an understanding

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of the emotional situation of what this woman was going through and how this

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is going to affect our life. So let's go.

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I'm reading from the NIV, and it says, Sometime later the brook dried up because

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there has been no rain in the land.

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So we're in a state of famine in the land. Then the word of the Lord came to him. It came to Elijah.

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It says, Go at once to Zarephath in the region of Sidon and stay there.

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I have directed a widow there to supply you with food.

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So he went to Zarephath. When he came to the town gate, a widow was there gathering sticks.

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He called to her and asked, Would you bring me a little water in a jar so I can have a drink?

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As she was going to get it, he called, and bring me, please, a piece of bread.

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As surely as the Lord your God lives, she replies, I don't have any bread,

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only a handful of flour in a jar and a little olive oil in a jug.

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And I'm gathering a fruit sticks to take home and make a meal for myself and

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my son that we may eat and die. eye.

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Elijah said to her, don't be afraid.

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Go home and do as you have said, but first make a small loaf of bread for me

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from what you have and bring it to me and then make some for yourself and your son.

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For this is what the Lord, the God of Israel says,

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the jar of flour will not be used up and the The jug of oil would not run dry

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until the day of the Lord's sin rained on the land.

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She went away and did as Elijah had told her.

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So there was food every day for Elijah and for the woman and her family.

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For the jar of flour was not used up and the jug of oil did not run dry.

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In keeping the word of the Lord spoken by Elijah.

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Sometime later, okay, we're going to stop there.

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So we see here that there was some more instructions.

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We see here that the prophet Elijah encountered a widow at Zarephath during a severe famine.

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Despite her own dire circumstances, she followed Elijah's instructions to first

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make a small loaf of bread for her from her last bit of flour and oil.

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Her active faith led to a miraculous, unending supply of flour and oil,

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sustaining her family and Elijah.

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This is a powerful story because God sent her there, but God already has spoken

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to her heart that the prophet is going to come and this is what I want you to do.

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But her first reply was like I'll get

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you some water Hope this ain't the man God's talking

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about Wanting me to make him some

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bread And lo and behold It was that

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same guy That prophet That prophet did want to make some bread Wanted him to

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do a miracle With this flour and this water So flour and water Don't make bread

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So it was probably with some other ingredients And a little oven back there cooking up some stuff.

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And when she did that first, and there was more flour left, think what that did to her heart.

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That this God that told her that this prophet was coming to her house,

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because the Bible says there was more widows. There was more widows at the house.

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There was more people in the world than just this one, but God sent the prophet

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to her house. How powerful is that? So let's read a little cultural background.

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How does she get to have this miraculous, supernatural happening at her house

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over just a little flour and a little bit of oil and the prophet is hanging out at her house?

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Think of how powerful that was. I'd be like, I'm feeding the prophet.

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Well, I got a lot of questions, Mr. Prophet. So I'm gonna feed you some...

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I'm going to feed you. What do you need? You want some, what else you want with this bread?

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We got a lot to talk about. I got a lot of questions.

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And so the region of Zarephath was in Sidon, outside of Israel,

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indicating that God's provisions extends beyond national and ethnic boundaries.

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That's powerful. I love that. that when God's provisions extends beyond ethnic boundaries.

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So God doesn't really have any type of racial issues.

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Ding dong, ding dong, that God can provide for you, no matter what your racial,

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what's your ethnicity, where you at.

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If you have faith, God is with you all the way.

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I like it. Famine mentioned in

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the story Reflects a period of severe

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drought Leading to widespread hunger and scarcity So we see here Famine means

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there's a lack of everything in the land But when God blesses your house It

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means there is no lack of scarcity That means that flour won't run out That water,

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that oil won't run out You're

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going to have flour and oil and whatever else

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you need to make that bread and whatever else

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whatever excuse me whatever else you need to make

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that bread oh so

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i love that god doesn't care about your race he doesn't care about your ethnicity

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if you have faith he's with you and if you are in a severe drought if there's

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There's a full famine in your land if he's got you. He's a provider.

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Famine often symbolizes a time of testing and reliance on divine provision.

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The story of the widow of Zarephath highlights God's ability to provide in the

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midst of extreme scarcity.

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God is a provider. And so if he's going to provide, isn't it best he provides when it's scarcity?

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So we don't have any fear.

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No, we hear on the news, you need to get, you got to buy, get some gold,

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get stacked up on some food, all these fear things that people are telling you to do.

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And you're saying, I don't have money to even buy grocery.

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And you're telling me I have to stack up. Just trust God that whatever you have

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is going to be enough to provide for you in the event of whatever is going to happen in this world.

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Either famine or feast that God will provide for you.

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This is a great story and a great timing to have this to hold on to.

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So trust that God's ability to provide in the midst of extreme scarcity.

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I mean, it's good to have a little extra, but we go out and buy all this food and nothing happens.

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What you going to do with all that extra stuff? Because it has an expiration date.

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It's not going to last forever unless you're stacking up on that super food

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that said last for 10 years. Who's going to eat that food anyway?

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I don't even want to know what that tastes like. It's probably tasting like

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the food that's been on the shelves in our stores anyway, I guess.

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So don't get worried. Don't get him fat to start putting that start thinking,

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talking to God right now. What do you have in your hand?

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Well, where's your plans for me? Start getting your faith together, your obedience, right?

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Lord, how are you going to provide for me when blankety blank break loose?

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Or not. Just be ready, right?

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So trust that God has the ability to provide in the midst of whatever the world is trying to show us.

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And turn off the TV, right?

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You start believing. You're getting your faith in what they're saying. And you listen.

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They've been saying that for like, I don't watch TV. But what I gather,

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for the last three or four years, they've been scaring you. and you probably

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got food stacked up to your ears already.

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You think, is that going to be enough? Is that going to be enough?

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Trust God's ability to provide in the midst of whatever they got going on. Amen.

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Elijah's presence in Zarephath, a foreign land, emphasizes God's concern for

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all people, not just the Israelites. Isn't that powerful?

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That God loves all people. Somebody needs to tell the news people that, right?

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Somebody needs to tell Black Lives Matter that all lives matter, right?

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So somebody needs to pass that on, that God is concerned for all people,

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not just the special people that we call special.

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God loves all people. Don't get me preaching.

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Don't get me preaching. All right, let's move on. So what's the role of the prophets like Elijah?

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Prophets like Elijah are instrumental in conveying God's message and performing

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miracles to demonstrate God's power and care.

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So we have, there's false prophets out there.

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If you have a pastor and he's a good pastor, pay attention to what he's saying.

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God's going to give him instructions for you. If you always want to hear everybody's

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profit, you're going to get twisted and you're going to end up,

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you're going to get some stuff, you're going to get some stuff wrong.

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Pay attention to what your pastor is saying at this hour.

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If he's a good pastor, if he has not led you wrong before, then you need to

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pay attention to what he is saying

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right now so that you can be on cue for what he has for your church.

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Because God is speaking to him, right?

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For his body, all right? So you listen to a whole bunch of stuff,

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you're gonna be running around like a, what you call those things with the head cut off?

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Yes, uh-huh. And so pay attention to what God has for you.

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Speaking to your head of the church, and also pay attention to your head of your household.

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And if you're the head of your household, God's talking to you about what you

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need to do in a time of famine and how to build your faith up for what is to

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come, what might to come, or whatever is to come.

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And so prophets like Elijah are instrumental because remember God speaks to

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the prophet about what to come.

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He doesn't do anything unless he speaks to the prophet's first,

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First, so make sure you're paying attention to what your prophet is saying to you.

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Elijah's interaction with the widow showcases the prophet's role in facilitating

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divine intervention and provision.

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Oh, my gosh. And so when you're paying attention to what's happening in your

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neck of the woods, come on now.

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God's going to make sure that there is intervention and there is provision for

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you. What has your pastor been preaching on lately?

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What's been going on in your church ladies he's

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been talking about provision he's talking about God's going to provide for you

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he's talking about your your breakthrough is coming what's going on at your

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church right because I know the news got things a little twisted things are

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a little off a lot of things going on sometimes we have to pay attention to what God is saying to us.

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I don't know why I'm going on this tangent, but let's just pay attention to what God is saying to us.

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Okay, so God is a provider. He is the divine. What do you have in your hands, right?

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God will provide for you. He will protect you. And I want to say this again.

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It says, Elijah, Elijah interaction with the widow. I love that.

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His role is facilitating.

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I love that word. for facilitating divine intervention and provision.

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So Elijah just showed up and his test was, can you get me some water?

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Then he says, while you at it, can you get me some bread?

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Simple test, yeah, I'll get you some water. Bread, I don't know,

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we're gonna lay here and die.

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He said, no, you're not, just make me some bread first and then you're gonna

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have enough bread to last.

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And so her test was to do what? Make that bread first. Now, she could have made

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some bread first, ate it, and said, sorry, there was no more bread.

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And that would have been the end of her story.

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But she followed instructions.

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I love that. Let's go back to that scripture because I want to show you how

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she followed instructions.

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I love it. I love it. Let's go back here.

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I love it because his job was to facilitate this.

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And I just want to give you enough faith to know that When your prophet,

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your pastor tells you to do something and you do it,

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He's facilitating your divine intervention and provision.

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And I want to read it We're going to start here at verse Verse.

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Let's start all over. Let's read it over. It says verse nine,

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go at once to Zarephath in the region of Sidon and stay there.

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And I've directed a widow. So the widow had already had instructions there to supply you with food.

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So she already knew that, that Elijah was coming over and was going to ask some

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of these hard questions.

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So he went to Zarephath. He went right there where God God told him to go.

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When he came to the town gate, a widow was gathering sticks.

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He called to her and asked, would you bring me a little water in a jar so I

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can have a drink? That was the cue.

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As she was going to get it, he called, test one, and bring me,

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please, a piece of bread.

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And here she goes. As surely as the Lord God lives, she replied, I don't have any bread.

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Didn't the Lord tell you that you were going to feed the prophet?

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I don't have any bread, only a handful of flour in the jar and a little oil in the jug.

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I am gathering a few sticks to take home to make a meal for myself and my son that we may eat and die.

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Is that what the Lord told her? Look how Elijah is so calm. Elijah said, don't be afraid.

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Go home and do as you have said.

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But make a small loaf of bread for me from what you have and bring it to me.

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So first, do what you're going to do, but make that first loaf of bread for me.

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And then make some for yourself and son. done.

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And then when you do that, for this is verse 14, for this is what the Lord, the God of Israel says.

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Then he began to prophesy. The jar of flour will not be used up and the jug

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of oil will not run dry until the day the Lord sends rain on the land.

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And she said, okay, this is the right guy. She went away and did as Elijah had told her.

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So there was food every day for Elijah and for the woman and her family.

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For the jar of flour was not used up and the jug of oil did not run dry.

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And keeping the word of the Lord, what the Lord has spoken.

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Because she obeyed, she didn't run out of food.

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So I think that was her test too. She said, oh, he's prophesying.

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This is the right guy. And he said, do not fear.

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And then she went and did that. So I read that twice so we can build our faith

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up on what the word of the Lord said to the prophet it that until it rains until

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it says any quiet until trying to find it again.

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He said, don't be afraid. Go home and do as you have said.

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But first make a small loaf of bread for me and what you have and bring it to

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me and make something for yourself and son.

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For this is what the Lord, the God of Israel says.

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That's what she prophesied. He says that the jar of flour will not be used up

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and the jug of oil will not run dry until the day of the Lord sends rain in

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the land. Let's hold on to that.

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That God's word will not return void. It will do what it was sent to do.

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I love that. The widow's desperation. The widow's situation was desperate and

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her son was facing intimate starvation.

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Her emotional state would have been one of hopelessness and fear.

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The impact of famine and loss. Nope. Hopeless and fear. Glory to God.

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So she, she, that fam, think about being in famine and all you have is that

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little piece of bread left, right? That oil.

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But God has spoke to you that someone's coming, that you won't run out.

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But you still have that little bit of fear in you that no one wants to die.

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But she has said in her heart that if this guy don't come through,

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I've said in my heart to die.

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So desperation drove her to comply to Elijah's request.

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Despite apparent risks of her life, she says, I'm going to do this.

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This has to work. But think what happened when she did make that first cake.

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And then she realized there was enough left. And so we understand that the famine

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compounded her struggles, made her survival even more challenging. Right.

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So she's like, here we go.

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But she trusted in what the word of the Lord said to her heart first,

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because she was expecting this to happen.

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He showed up and then her actions, then her faith without works is dead.

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So she had to do something.

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And when she did it, she saw the miraculous happen. She saw the supernatural happen. So let's go.

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Elijah question. Elijah requests for a small loaf of bread, test the widow's

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faith and willingness to give from her limited resources.

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There was limited because if, if, if God wasn't going to show up,

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Elijah was going to live and they were going to die.

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And so when we get our super spiritual, guess what?

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Dang, Elijah, you're going to eat the last meal of this, this couple.

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And you looking at this, like this man going to eat our last meal for real.

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And think about the little boy saying, mama, you're going to give this to this

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man. We don't even know this man. You're going to eat our last meal.

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But then Let's just make the cake. You know, I'm going to trust God. And then watch the cake.

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And then he watched the flour fill up. He watched the oil fill up.

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We don't know what happened to that little boy, but I bet you he's some prophet

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in the land somewhere because he saw a miracle happen right before his eyes.

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It highlights the principle that faith

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often requires us to act in obedience

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Even when it seems illogical or

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risky I said there ain't no shortcuts There isn't no shortcuts in this life

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called faith It will seem illogical or risky Didn't it seem illogical that Elijah

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would ask this single mother of a child To just feed him first?

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What? That was illogical.

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But she says, I'm going to trust the Lord because the Lord already told her.

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I've already spoken to a widow in Zarephath.

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Because God's spoken to you doesn't take away that fear sometimes, right?

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And so, but when she began to do what she knew in her heart to do,

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even because the prophet was there and because he prophesied,

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that added to the faith that was in her heart.

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So the widow's act of giving her last bit of flower oil demonstrated that our

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willingness to offer what little we have can lead to God's miraculous provision.

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Wow. Could you do that? I don't know if I could.

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I know. It's like, I know my hariposa feed you. I was expecting you.

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It's a famine in the land. I got my baby. We don't know how old the baby was.

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And you're getting everything set up to cook the final bread.

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But where's your faith with God? Okay, I'm going to do this.

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I'm just going to believe in the miraculous because I believe you sent this

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man here because I'm going to believe it. I'm just going to do it. Here we go.

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And if I die, I go to heaven, then I'll talk to Jesus when I get there about

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what just happened here, right?

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The small amount of flower or symbolizes the widow's remaining hope and sustenance.

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Her willingness to give it away in faith opens the door for God's abundant provision.

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It reminds me of a story of the widow's might, which is found in Luke 21,

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1-4, where the poor widow's tiny offering is valued highly by Jesus.

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The widow's act of giving in Zarephath reflects profound faith and trusting in God.

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And so we have to remember that.

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It's kind of like there's a breakthrough of our faith when we actually,

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we just have to do what God says and just wait, right?

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And we have to have a faith that God is with us and he has a way that he will provide for us.

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And he said he never, I think it's a scripture, it is a scripture,

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never seen the righteous forsaken or his seed begging bread, which is in Psalms 37.

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That whole Psalm 37 is really rich And so you can say Well I've never seen his

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seed begging bread And so if you wanted God's children You don't have to worry

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about begging for bread I don't know why he always uses bread Bread can be used as food or money,

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And so we just have to trust him During this shaking time in the world Things are going to shake up,

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We hear that all the time So when things are shaking Our God is not shaking

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And if we are in his kingdom, we are not shaken either. Amen. Amen.

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Despite the widow's faith is evident for her to follow Elijah's instructions.

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We've been covering that a lot.

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Despite her doubt situation, she still had to follow the instructions.

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Remember, you still have to follow instructions.

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Her act of obedience lead to continuous provisions. visions.

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She had to make the bread for Elijah first, period.

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She didn't have to make the bread for her kid and herself first.

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The instruction was make the bread for me first and then make the bread for you and your child.

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That was the faith act.

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If she would have changed it up any kind of way, it wouldn't have worked.

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The story reinforces the principle

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that faith coupled with obedience can lead to miraculous outcome.

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God's honor and rewards our faith, even when they involve significant and personal sacrifice.

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There was a sacrifice, but there was no death. Yeah, it's probably a lot of

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sweating, crying and tears.

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Like when it comes to doing, wanting the miraculous, giving the simple,

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like the chapter four says, what do you have in your hands?

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What do you have in your hands? What do you have in your hands?

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God can bless what you have in your hands. It might seem illogical.

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It might seem risky. It will require obedience, but you will be blessed.

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How do we apply this story to our lives?

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We must reflect on your resources. Take a moment to assess what you have,

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skills, talents, times, or even your financial resources.

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Nothing is too small for God to use. Nothing is too small for God to use.

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He talked about the oil. We talk about the flour, right?

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We talk about the Queen of Sheba. She gave almost everything. And Moses' staff.

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What is it that you have in your hand? Can you sing? Can you dance?

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What skill? I know artists that can actually draw. People have that nice handwriting.

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I mean, you can create all kinds of things. What skill do you have in your hand? Create new things.

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Like the widow, step out in faith with what you have.

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Trust that God can multiply your humble offerings beyond your imaginations.

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You see that her faith affected her son's life.

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It affected Elijah's life.

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Even though the prophet, think

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about the prophet, really depended on that widow woman to sustain him.

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You know? Wow. So it required not just the prophet's faith, but also that little

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woman's faith to sustain him.

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Okay, so reflect on your resources. Each of you could use whatever gift you

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have received to serve others as a faithful steward of God's grace in various forms.

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So the gifts that you have come from God. Whatever you have,

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how big, how small, they all come from God.

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So make sure that you are faithful stewards with God's grace,

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whatever form it comes in, you are responsible for those.

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And act in faith. And we cover this.

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

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I'm going to see if I can find another translation of that same verse.

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I like to look at different translations. Let's see how we can be encouraged

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with Hebrews 11.1 in the NIV.

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Let's see how we can be encouraged. NIV sounds familiar.

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Give me a minute here. I'm just doing it live. Let's do an Amplified.

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Now, faith is the assurance, title deed, confirmation of things hoped for,

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divinely guaranteed, and the evidence of things not seen, the conviction of their reality.

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Faith comprehends as fact what cannot be experienced by the physical senses.

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Oh, I like that. Repeat that again. Again, now faith is assurance,

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in parentheses, title, deed, confirmation of things hoped for,

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parentheses, divinely guaranteed.

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And it says, and the evidence of things not seen, it says, the conviction of their reality,

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faith comprehends as fact what cannot be experienced by the physical senses.

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And so faith requires you to move when you don't quite understand what you're moving with.

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Whoa, whoa, just move and trust in that God has your next step,

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right? Obedience brings blessing.

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The widow followed Elijah instructions precisely.

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

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So obey is better than sacrifice. So just follow the instructions.

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And finally, 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 flower and oil did not run out, demonstrating God's abundant provisions.

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You know, that's powerful. The widow's flower and oil did not run out,

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demonstrating God's abundant provisions.

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

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Philippians 4.19. what do you

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have in your house that has not run out think about

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it have we believed that fine advance do we

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always are we always so quick to run to the store because we know maybe we have

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the money to go get it we can believe for something to run out so I have this

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favorite lipstick and they don't make it anymore they don't make it anymore

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they just don't make it anymore and I searched around and around around and

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I just believe God said Lord I like this lipstick They don't make it anymore.

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I just don't want it to run out because it's my favorite lipstick.

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And somehow, some way, I mean, I was looking all over the place for it and I couldn't find it.

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And somehow, some way, I don't know, that I was cleaning out my lipstick,

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my makeup thing, and I found two tubes of lipstick.

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Lipstick and I'm holding those on I'm like

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lord I don't want these to run out so I've had these lipsticks for

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the last six months and they haven't ran out and

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so hello I believe for the miraculous it's only lipstick y'all but I'm believing

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like they don't make it anymore and this is like my favorite lipstick and it's

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I ain't gonna tell you the name and then it's but.

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They don't make it anymore. I've been searching for it. They even said they don't make it anymore.

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I'm looking on eBay for it. That's how bad I like it, but they don't make it anymore.

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But God, suddenly these showed up in a miraculous way at my home.

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And so I'm just going to believe, and I still have this one.

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I've been opening the other one and I'm using the same lipstick and I haven't

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ran out and it's been like six months.

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And so just the simple things, folks, just the simple things.

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So let's believe that we trust in the Lord.

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I know I say this a lot, but trust in the Lord with all is Proverbs 3, 5, and 6.

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Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not to your own understanding

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

395
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And so don't lean in your own understanding. What do you have in your hand?

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Trust in him, not your own understanding. And I think when I get into my own

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understanding, I mess things up.

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So I'd be like, Lord, help me, help me. Give me wisdom.

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Give me your understanding of it. Because every time I try to understand it, I mess it up.

400
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And also understand that faith without works is dead. You have to do something.

401
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God is not like a Santa Claus. You have to do something, right? Right.

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I mean, Santa Claus don't even exist, but we act like we can just close our

403
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eyes and like open our eyes and put a tree up and then wish that the gift is

404
00:34:18,035 --> 00:34:20,015
under the tree. That's not how it works.

405
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You have to put your faith to work. You have to do what God says.

406
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Follow the instructions.

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So let's get to our decrees. Remember, if you have any stories that God is doing

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some supernatural things in your life, I would love to hear it.

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You know, you can send it to my email or you can just put it on on the podcast

410
00:34:44,910 --> 00:34:48,710
under the review or whatever they do with that.

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So the others can build their faith up. you know, anything that God has multiplied

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you, or if he gave you an unexpected, you have something that has not ran out,

413
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like some lipstick, some deodorant, some soap, your favorite soap,

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that God is still at work. I mean, my lipstick, six months, y'all.

415
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Lipstick does not last six months. You know that, because they don't put enough

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00:35:11,070 --> 00:35:15,470
in there the last six months, but it's last six months. I am so excited.

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All right, so let's do some decrees, and then we got to move on. Yes.

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So repeat after me.

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I decree that my faith and obedience, even in times of scarcity,

420
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will open the doors to God's endless provision.

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Let's do that one again. And I want to add something at the end.

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You might laugh, you know, but just do it with me. I decree that my faith and

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obedience, even in times of scarcity, I won't be scared.

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I will use my faith and God will open the doors to his endless provision. vision.

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All right. I decree that my giving, even out of my need, will lead to God's abundant blessings.

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I decree that my faith and obedience will unlock God's supernatural provisions.

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

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I like that. Okay, good job. So we see that our faith and obedience unlocks the supernatural.

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Okay? So remember that. And in scarcity, don't get scared to start to get your faith.

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Say, okay, Lord, just like you did it for the widow with the oil,

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just like you did it with the widow of Zarephath. You just start to believe.

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God wants to do that miracle. He wants to do that miracle in your life.

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He wants to take that simple to the supernatural.

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He wants you to brag on him. So don't feel like you're doing something like

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you feel like I feel stupid. Don't say that.

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Because when he does the miraculous, you won't be feeling stupid.

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When you feed your neighborhood out of your oil and your flour,

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making all that bread and cake and all that good stuff.

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And you're like, and then they find out all you have was just one cup of flour

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and one cup of sugar, three eggs, however it takes to make a cake.

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And you're feeding the whole neighborhood because of your faith.

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Amen. So don't ever feel like you're doing anything stupid.

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When you're trusting God, it's going to be illogical.

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It's going to be risky, but it's going to be well worth it. Okay.

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Thank you again for listening to my podcast, Diary of a Black Woman.

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This story of the widow of Zarephath is a powerful reminder of God's faithfulness.

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And God's willingness. Come on, he sent a prophet to a widow's house to preserve

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her, to give her instructions on how to survive during a famine.

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He will do the same for you.

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So join us next time as we explore the blessings of tithing from Malachi 3, 9 through 11.

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Say bless and keep on believing and God wants to do supernatural in your life.