The Eastern Trail is 20 miles long – Bug Light So. Portland to Saco Me
Picture Fred Prince
Our Blog is inspired by The Holy Spirit.
Ahab sent to all the children of Israel
and had the prophets assemble on Mount Carmel.
Elijah appealed to all the people and said,
“How long will you straddle the issue?
If the LORD is God, follow him; if Baal, follow him.”
The people, however, did not answer him.
So Elijah said to the people,
“I am the only surviving prophet of the LORD,
and there are four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal.
Give us two young bulls.
Let them choose one, cut it into pieces, and place it on the wood,
but start no fire.
I shall prepare the other and place it on the wood,
but shall start no fire.
You shall call on your gods, and I will call on the LORD.
The God who answers with fire is God.”
All the people answered, “Agreed!”
Elijah then said to the prophets of Baal,
“Choose one young bull and prepare it first,
for there are more of you.
Call upon your gods, but do not start the fire.”
Taking the young bull that was turned over to them, they prepared it
and called on Baal from morning to noon, saying,
“Answer us, Baal!”
But there was no sound, and no one answering.
And they hopped around the altar they had prepared.
When it was noon, Elijah taunted them:
“Call louder, for he is a god and may be meditating,
or may have retired, or may be on a journey.
Perhaps he is asleep and must be awakened.”
They called out louder and slashed themselves with swords and spears,
as was their custom, until blood gushed over them.
Noon passed and they remained in a prophetic state
until the time for offering sacrifice.
But there was not a sound;
no one answered, and no one was listening.
Then Elijah said to all the people, “Come here to me.”
When the people had done so, he repaired the altar of the LORD
that had been destroyed.
He took twelve stones, for the number of tribes of the sons of Jacob,
to whom the LORD had said, “Your name shall be Israel.”
He built an altar in honor of the LORD with the stones,
and made a trench around the altar
large enough for two measures of grain.
When he had arranged the wood,
he cut up the young bull and laid it on the wood.
“Fill four jars with water,” he said,
“and pour it over the burnt offering and over the wood.”
“Do it again,” he said, and they did it again.
“Do it a third time,” he said,
and they did it a third time.
The water flowed around the altar,
and the trench was filled with the water.
At the time for offering sacrifice,
the prophet Elijah came forward and said,
“LORD, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel,
let it be known this day that you are God in Israel
and that I am your servant
and have done all these things by your command.
Answer me, LORD!
Answer me, that this people may know that you, LORD, are God
and that you have brought them back to their senses.”
The LORD’s fire came down
and consumed the burnt offering, wood, stones, and dust,
and it lapped up the water in the trench.
Seeing this, all the people fell prostrate and said,
“The LORD is God! The LORD is God!” 1 Kings 18:20-39
In the Old Testament, this is one of my favorite readings,
Why?
Elijah is the surviving Prophet of the Lord, and he is facing four hundred and fifty prophets of baal. You may have forgotten that the Jewish people at that time worshiped baal and worshiped baal by immolating their children. I can’t even imagine sacrificing my sons/daughters to a god so that I could in some way prosper.
But that’s what the Jewish people were doing at that time.
I love how Elijah taunts the priest of baal.
Moses threatened Pharaoh, and if Pharaoh didn’t do as Moses requested, then a plague occurred.
Elijah taunts:
When it was noon, Elijah taunted them:
“Call louder, for he is a god and may be meditating,
or may have retired, or may be on a journey.
Perhaps he is asleep and must be awakened.”
Don’t you just love it?
Next, Elijah prepared the bull:
“Fill four jars with water,” he said,
“and pour it over the burnt offering and over the wood.”
“Do it again,” he said, and they did it again.
“Do it a third time,” he said,
and they did it a third time.
The water flowed around the altar,
and the trench was filled with the water.
Lastly, Elijah called on God to consume the offering.
The LORD’s fire came down
and consumed the burnt offering, wood, stones, and dust,
and it lapped up the water in the trench.
Seeing this, all the people fell prostrate and said,
“The LORD is God! The LORD is God!”
What is left out of this reading is Elijah then ordered the four-hundred and fifty priests of baal executed,
Then Elijah said to them, “Seize the prophets of Baal. Let none of them escape!” They seized them, and Elijah brought them down to the Wadi Kishon and there he slaughtered them. 1Kings 18: 40
If you enjoyed this reading as I have for years, you fell into satan’s trap!
Consider:
Jesus called the Pharisees and Sadducee’s hypocrites fifteen times in the New Testament, Jesus didn’t taunt them, what He said was true, and they knew it, and never forget Jesus loved them.
Jesus from His Cross is the one who is mocked.
Likewise the chief priests, with the scribes, mocked him among themselves and said, “He saved others; he cannot save himself. Let the Messiah, the King of Israel, come down now from the cross that we may see and believe.” Mathew 15:31-32
How did Jesus respond?
“Father, forgive them, they know not what they do.” Luke 23:34
And the result:
Peter proclaimed Jesus as the Messiah after Peter and the other Apostles were infused with The Holy Spirit, and three thousand were baptized and forgiven. Acts 2: 41
What a difference and this same difference sadly exists today.
Where do you choose to live?
satan?
No way, I choose life in the Holy Spirit, doing the will of God my Father, imitating His Beloved Son Jesus, alive in the “Spirit World.”
Every day we should want to acknowledge the Triune God as our God. Every day we should also throw out satan and the evil satan tries to bring into our lives.
We can get into the fight by telling satan “to get behind us” and by thanking God for all the blessings and difficulties God has BROUGHT and ALLOWED in our lives.,
For,
“The Lord is our God.”
“The nine” We pray you will grow in the Love, Joy, and Peace of the Holy Spirit by growing in Patience, Kindness, Generosity, Faithfulness, Gentleness, and Self-Control.
Sidebar:
Monday, we celebrated Memorial Day.
As you might know from my profile, I spent two years in the U.S. Navy aboard the U.S.S. Pine Island AV12, and two months of that time, we were in Viet Nam.
I am a Veteran and filled with joy because I served our country.
Our small town of Cape Elizabeth, Maine, did nothing for Memorial Day until twenty-five or so years ago when one man, who was not a veteran, decided this was wrong and started a parade to honor those who served and made the ultimate sacrifice.
I didn’t march for the first few years because of my anger, satan, about how the returning soldiers were treated when they returned home.
Because I had been in VietNam in 1964, I experienced none of this anger while I was in the Navy. Still, I always believed the men and women who are in the armed forces are our sons and daughters; and are family, and when a family is threatened, as men and women are when put in harm’s way, they, everyone back home, should back them as long as they remain in harm’s way.
Many in our society didn’t support our men and women at that time. In fact, many in our society condemned our armed forces!
It was disgusting!
I now know, Holy Spirit, “It’s not about me and my anger; it’s about those who served and won’t be coming home.”
I started and have continued to march in the parade, and what’s so interesting now for me is the emotion I feel as we march down the street and the warm reception we all receive from our fellow townsfolk.
I love this parade because we ask all who served, NOT just the veterans, to march and be recognized for their spent time protecting our wonderful country.
As I was driving home, a thought came to mind, Holy Spirit, each week we are asked to march, if you will, down the aisle at church and acknowledge a God of Outrageous Love.
We do this by receiving His Body and Blood as recognition of what They, the Triune God did for us by winning the battle over satan, and establishing a new world, the “Spirit World.”
Remember,
The Spirit World was unknown to the average person before Jesus.
Gail and I would like to thank all who served and helped keep this country the wonderful country it is.
America is the Home of the free because of the brave!
Thank you for your service!!!
Note:
Our pictures celebrate life by highlighting everyday things and events around us. Our hope is you will start to stop and smell the roses. Last week, I used our last day of golf for 2019 to show all those in the southern climates how we dress in Maine; at the end of the year, remember the ground is frozen, and the ball takes many unpredictable bounces.
We also decided that we would now start to offer a short explanation of the picture when necessary.
Today’s Picture;
The Eastern Trail is an abandoned rail line that has been converted into a walking and biking trail. NO CARS. Our country has thirty-six thousand plus miles of Rails to Trails. Type Rails to Trails in your browser’s search bar if you want more information. Enjoy!
