1 Kings 17:1-4:“And Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the inhabitants of Gilead, said unto Ahab, as the Lord God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word. 2: And the word of the Lord came unto him, saying. 3: Get thee hence, and turn thee eastward, and hide thyself by the brook Cherith that is before Jordan. 4: And it shall be that thou shalt drink of the brook; and I have commanded the ravens to feed thee there.”

Satan, the Devil, is the accuser and attacker of the God’s children, the brethren.Devil on its own cannot act or fight human beings; he is powerless when it comes to physical actions. He, therefore, takes possession of either human beings or animals to fight men. It was serpent, the Devil used to deceive Adam and Eve. He cajoled them to eat the forbidden fruit, which God had warned them not to eat. The Devil, therefore, is the enemy of man.

In this message, the two principal actors are: King Ahab, who ruled in the Northern Kingdom at the time Israel was divided into two kingdoms following Rehoboam’s foolish answer to the Israelites when they requested him to lighten their burden. The Northern Kingdom was called Israel, while the Southern Kingdom was referred to as Judah. Ahab was a representative of Devil. He was the instrument the Devil used to derail the people from serving the Supreme God and also as a tormentor of the people.

He allowed his wife, Jezebel, to bring in another god into Israel and forced the Israelites to worship it in place of the Supreme God. He equally allowed his wife to use his name to instruct the elders of Jezreel to falsely accuse Naboth of blasphemy, and stoned him to death because Naboth refused to give his vineyard to him. King Ahab, therefore, was a Devil-incarnate.

The other principal actor was Prophet Elijah, who stood as a messiah; God’s instrument for delivering people from the bondage of King Ahab. It was only Elijah that could challenge Ahab and his wife for their religious apostasy. It is as a result of Ahab’s actions against God and humanity that God used Elijah to decree that there would be no rain for three years, as he expounded in the scripture above; declaring there shall be no dew or rain for three years, but according to his words. As soon as these words came out of Elijah’s mouth, he headed eastward to a brook Cherith to hide himself. God commanded a raven to feed him while there. This is an indication that God was behind the declaration of no rain.

Having put King Ahab and the entire Israelites into famine, Ahab started searching for Him in every nation with the intention to kill him as a wayto reverse his declaration of no rain.

After three years and the fulfillment of the declaration, Elijah decided to show himself to Ahab as stated in 1Kings 18:5-12:“And Ahab said unto Obadiah, go into the land, unto all fountains of water, and unto all brooks: peradventure we may find grass to save the horses and mules alive, that we lose not all the beasts. 6: So they divided the land between them to pass throughout it: Ahab went one way by himself, and Obadiah went another way by himself. 7: And as Obadiah was in the way, behold, Elijah met him: and he knew him, and fell on his face, and said, art thou that my lord Elijah? 8: And he answered him, I am: go, tell thy lord, behold, Elijah is here. 9: And he said, what have I sinned, that thou wouldest deliver thy servant into the hand of Ahab to slay me? 10: As the Lord thy God liveth, there is no nation or kingdom, whither my lord hath not sent to seek thee: and when they said, he is not there; he took an oath of the kingdom and nation that they found thee not. 11: And now thou sayest, go, tell thy lord, behold, Elijah is here.12: And it shall come to pass, as soon as I am gone from thee that the Spirit of the Lord shall carry thee whither I know not; and so when I come and tell Ahab, and he cannot find thee, he shall slay me: but I thy servant fear the Lord from my youth.

Ahab had killed many people he sent to search out for Prophet Elijah when they returned to tell him where they saw Elijah, but on getting there God would hide Elijah and Ahab will kill the messenger. At this time, Elijah was ready to show himself to the King because he was ready to reverse the decree of no rain. The people had suffered all through these three years of famine, no food, fruit, vegetable to the extent that the people killed their children for food. Ahab was searching for Elijah to reverse the decree, but the Prophet was nowhere to be found until when the declaration came to fulfillment. Again, according to the words of Elijah the rainfall returned after the Prophet appeared and decreed the return of rainfall.

Again, God used Prophet Elijah to fight King Ahab when he took Naboth’s vineyard. The Bible reports this in 1Kings 21:17-21 saying:“And the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying. 18: Arise, go down to meet Ahab king of Israel, which is in Samaria: behold, he is in the vineyard of Naboth, whither he is gone down to possess it.19: And thou shalt speak unto him, saying, thus saith the Lord, Hast thou killed, and also taken possession? And thou shalt speak unto him, saying, thus saith the Lord, in the place where dogs licked the blood of Naboth shall dogs lick thy blood, even thine. 20: And Ahab said to Elijah, hast thou found me, O mine enemy? And he answered, I have found thee: because thou hast sold thyself to work evil in the sight of the Lord.21: Behold, I will bring evil upon thee, and will take away thy posterity, and will cut off from Ahab him that pisseth against the wall, and him that is shut up and left in Israel.”

Devil is always finding ways to afflict and attack the children of God. It is, therefore, expedient for us to depend on God at all times to fight, for His children and give them victory over the devil. God is Almighty and has power to do all things. In all you do, depend on God.

When the Devil used the serpent to deceive Adam and Eve to eat the forbidden fruit, as a result of which God punished him in Genesis 3:14-15 saying:“And the Lord God said unto the serpent, because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life. 15: And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.”

God has put enmity between the Devil represented by serpent here and the seed of the woman. The seed of the woman is our Lord Jesus Christ, who will bruise the head of the serpent. Every human being on earth is a seed of the woman, hence, will always strike the head of the serpent at sight anytime.

Presently, God has anointed men to deliver people from the hands of the Devil. Through strong men of God like Elijah, men are delivered from the torments and bondage of the Devil. There are men of God today, who deliver people from torment of the Devil through intercessory prayers.

You should understand the work of deliverance that is done by God through Jesus Christ. Hence, prayers are made in the name of Jesus Christ. You can equally pray by yourself. You only need to have faith in God and live holy and righteous life.
In any difficult situation you find yourself call on God for help. As God used Elijah in the Bible days,He still uses people today.

It is important you understand the power of God and His willingness to deliver His people at all times. That is why He said in 2Chronicles 7:13-15:“If I shut up heaven that there be no rain, or if I command the locusts to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among my people. 14: If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.15: Now mine eyes shall be open, and mine ears attend unto the prayer that is made in this place.”

God is ready to answer prayers made in humility of heart for the deliverance and blessing of His people; therefore, call on God in time of need and He will answer you in Jesus’ name.

Testimony Of The Lord’s Doing
God Granted Me Admission To Further My Studies In Foreign Land
MY name is Okeke Patrick Ugochukwu. I reside at Port Harcourt. I am of the orthodox faith. When a friend invited me to The Lord’s Chosen, I did not want to come because I was a member of an orthodox church. But the brother insisted he would continue to talk to me about coming to The Lord’s Chosen. One fateful Sunday, l prepared to go to my church, but on a second thought, l decided to visit The Lord’s Chosen on trial basis. When l came, l was happy with the declaration of the Pastor(G.O). After the service, the brother who invited me came and asked me things about the service, which I said it was okay. He further asked if l had any problem and I answered in the affirmative.

I am a nurse by profession and I have been trying to go overseas to further my studies, but my quest was to no avail. Apart from this, I had other problems. The brother said l should just worship the God of Chosen, and the things that I want will be done for me. There and then, l promised to worship the God of Chosen. Then the brother held my hands and said:“Let God of Chosen perfect my heart desires.” I said amen! He askedme again, just to be sure:“You said you will worship the God of chosen.” And I said yes, if He will grant my heart desires. The brother said:“just go and consider them done.” Already before this time, l have applied to some schools in Canada, United Kingdom (U.K), among others, but none of them responded; instead I was getting rejection. I was surprised because as for qualification, l have it, because I made 2.1(second class upper) in my degree result; so, what is actually happening? I could not explain. After the service on that Sunday and the prayer of that brother on Tuesday of the following week, l received series of letters from Canada, U.K and other places. I was surprised.It was as if the door just opened following my coming to The Lord’s Chosen. Immediately, I called the person that brought me to The Lord’s Chosen, and told him the breakthrough and expressed my joy and gratitude.

In fact, the admissions were many that I did not knowwhich to pick. However, after the miracle, l abandoned The Lord’s Chosen.I was not serious again, but when I wanted to pay my tuition fee, l ran into problems, and l called the personthat introduced me to The Lord’s Chosen. I complained to him and he asked whether l still worship with the God of Chosen, l confessed to him that l have not been serious. He advised that l should forget about everything and go back to the God of Chosen and He will arrange everything for me. So, l went back and truly God of Chosen surprised me. Even when l was having challenges with my bank, l could not transfer money, God of Chosen intervened and made a way for me. Praise the Lord! He also made my bankcard to come out seamlessly. This God is wonderful.

Note, I discovered that there is a process in serving this God of Chosen and that process is worshipping Him, sowing seed, and following Him bumper-to-bumper. Now,I am processing my visa and l know that God of Chosen that did it before, will do it again. May His name be glorified in Jesus’ name.

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