It was good to see everyone there tonight and I am really looking forward to seeing those of you who were not able to make it as well.  This summer should bring us all lots of encouragement!  To illustrate the Divine Mentor method of journaling I will share my thoughts from tonight by the method.

I had been giving much thought to tonights meeting and praying for guidance as to what I was to share with the women tonight.  Yesterday's quiet time answered my prayer!  I was so touched by God's sweet provision and I hope you are blessed.

1 Kings 17:7-24

New International Version (NIV)

Elijah and the Widow at Zarephath

⁷ Some time later the brook dried up because there had been no rain in the land. ⁸ Then the word of the Lord came to him: ⁹ “Go at once to Zarephath in the region of Sidon and stay there. I have directed a widow there to supply you with food.” ¹⁰ So he went to Zarephath. When he came to the town gate, a widow was there gathering sticks. He called to her and asked, “Would you bring me a little water in a jar so I may have a drink?” ¹¹ As she was going to get it, he called, “And bring me, please, a piece of bread.”
¹² “As surely as the Lord your God lives,” she replied, “I don’t have any bread—only a handful of flour in a jar and a little olive oil in a jug. I am gathering a few sticks to take home and make a meal for myself and my son, that we may eat it—and die.”
¹³ Elijah said to her, “Don’t be afraid. Go home and do as you have said. But first make a small loaf of bread for me from what you have and bring it to me, and then make something for yourself and your son. ¹⁴ For this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘The jar of flour will not be used up and the jug of oil will not run dry until the day the Lord sends rain on the land.’”
¹⁵ She went away and did as Elijah had told her. So there was food every day for Elijah and for the woman and her family. ¹⁶ For the jar of flour was not used up and the jug of oil did not run dry, in keeping with the word of the Lord spoken by Elijah.
¹⁷ Some time later the son of the woman who owned the house became ill. He grew worse and worse, and finally stopped breathing. ¹⁸ She said to Elijah, “What do you have against me, man of God? Did you come to remind me of my sin and kill my son?”
¹⁹ “Give me your son,” Elijah replied. He took him from her arms, carried him to the upper room where he was staying, and laid him on his bed. ²⁰ Then he cried out to the Lord, “Lord my God, have you brought tragedy even on this widow I am staying with, by causing her son to die?” ²¹ Then he stretched himself out on the boy three times and cried out to the Lord, “Lord my God, let this boy’s life return to him!”
²² The Lord heard Elijah’s cry, and the boy’s life returned to him, and he lived. ²³ Elijah picked up the child and carried him down from the room into the house. He gave him to his mother and said, “Look, your son is alive!”
²⁴ Then the woman said to Elijah, “Now I know that you are a man of God and that the word of the Lord from your mouth is the truth.”

S - 1 Kings :24  Then the woman said to Elijah, "Now I know that you are a man of god and that the word of the Lord from your mouth is truth."

O- My first reaction to this passage is: Really??  Now she knows?  Hasn't God been supernaturally refilling her flour and oil for that last several months?  I want to leave it there, and I recognize that I am guilty of the same mistake.  However, the Holy Spirit points something out to me. In His mercy, he brings me deeper.  Truly, the woman had faith all along.  It took faith to make a cake for Elijah with the last of her flour and oil before she made some for her son and herself.  Faith was not new to her.  In God's mercy and kindness He was showing himself to her each day in His provision, just like He does for me.  Then she hit a moment of crisis, her son died.  She responds in anger, she almost seems to forget the nature of God. This is a place I think we have all been. God's response is so much kinder and merciful than mine would have been.  I don't think I would have been very patient, but God, who never tires of showing us who he is and calling us into a deeper relationship with Him, shows himself to her again and miraculously restores her son to life.  I love her reaction - '"Now I KNOW..."  This is the word that strikes me and touches my heart.  The meaning of that word 'KNOW' grows deeper, bolder, more complete each time he shows us more of Himself.  Again and again I can say, "Now I KNOW" and it means more each time.  It is the journey towards knowing without a doubt that Jesus is enough.  What a loving God we serve!

A- I serve a God that pursues me relentlessly.  His desire to show Himself to me and grow my faith and trust in Him has no limits.  May I pursue HIm with zeal, recognizing His amazing love for me!

P- Thank you God that you love me and you pursue me.  Thank you that you have given me your word so that I can know you better.  Forgive me that I don't spend more time in your presence and your word enjoying you and developing intimacy with you.  Draw me ever closer to you Lord on a daily basis.  Amen

This is my prayer for you as well!  I can promise you that if you spend daily time with God the return on your investment will be immeasurable.