Have a Mount Carmel Moment

“Have a Mount Carmel Moment”

“When Elijah heard the quiet voice, he muffled his face with his great cloak, went to the mouth of the cave, and stood there. A quiet voice asked, “So Elijah, now tell me, what are you doing here?” Elijah said it again, “I’ve been working my heart out for God, the God–of-the-Angel-Armies, because the people of Israel have abandoned your covenant, destroyed your places of worship, and murdered your prophets. I’m the only one left, and now they’re trying to kill me.”
1 Kings 19: 13-14 (The Message)

Now if you have read your Bible you know that God gives instruction to Elijah to anoint a king, then anoint a successor and then He lets Elijah know that “Meanwhile, I’m preserving for Myself seven thousand souls: the knees that haven’t bowed to the god Baal, the mouths that haven’t kissed his image.” I have heard some preachers say some stuff about Elijah in this moment in his ministry that made him sound kind of weak or weakened by the stand he made at Mount Carmel. You remember, Elijah mocked a god that didn’t exist and even in some translations saying that it had gone to the bathroom. I think he must have had a good belly at the expense of the prophets of Baal. The odds were something like 450 to 1against him.

There were many other great moments that Elijah had in his ministry but “Showdown on Mount Carmel” is my favorite and I don’t care what other preachers have said about the aftermath of this battle. So where am I going with this? Well frankly I’ll ask this…Have you had your Mount Carmel moment and when it was over went and hid in your man cave? Have you gone into a situation where you mocked the idol of someone else’s heart to the point of belittlement and the repercussions of it made you run and hide from all the others who worship the same idol?

Well if you have answered yes to this you must have ran into Ahab’s Jezebel. You must have been that someone who would have reinforced a weak king with encouragement from the Word. You must have been the person that said “Come let us rejoice the Newborn King” and then got slammed with some politically correct rhetoric that tries so hard to deny “Christ in Christmas”. Now ask yourself this, “Would Elijah have been disappointed that Ahab would not have been able to uphold the reformation that occurred on Mount Carmel?” Or how about, “Am I disappointed that despite my efforts, my attempts at defending Christmas seems to fall by the wayside?” Well Brethren do not be dismayed.

In chapter 11 of the Book of Romans, Paul writes these words of encouragement after he quotes the aforementioned verse (from The Message) “It’s the same today. There’s a fiercely loyal minority still- not many, perhaps, but probably more than you think. They’re holding on, not because of what they think they’re going to get out of it, but because they’re convinced of God’s grace and purpose in choosing them. If they were only thinking of their own immediate self-interest, they would have left long ago.”

This season let us not “Bah…Humbug!” at those who say “Happy Holidays” but use the moment to show what Christmas would be like if you took Christ out of it. Now I am not saying dare your fellow workers to cry out to Santa Clause to appear and then rib them on the possibility of him being in the bathroom when he doesn’t slide down the chimney. What I am saying is this a small divine appointment to share why Jesus died for you, the importance of His shed blood and His resurrection into Heaven. And just so you aware, some of those cashiers at Wal-mart feel the same way I do. I found that out first hand. -- Chris Hughes is a graduate of the Colony of Mercy and a frequent contributor to Freedom Fighter

God's WORD for US: Proverbs 12; Hosea 9-11; Revelation 3

Great Quote: “The answer is simple. Jesus offended some people as a result of obeying the Father and serving others. His offense did not come did not come by demanding His own rights. The Pharisees were offended when He healed on the Sabbath. His disciples were offended by the truth His Father had Him preach. Mary and Martha were offended when He delayed His return to heal Lazarus.. But you will not find Jesus offending others by serving Himself.” The Bait of Satan -- John Bevere