OPENING PRAYER

Father; Glory be to Your Holy Name, Honour be to Your Holy Name,

Adoration be to Your Holy Name.

We bless You Father because You have the ability to do the impossible.

We worship You, we adore You, we Magnify Your Holy Name – We just say:
Father, accept our worship in Jesus Name.

Today, we are asking Lord that You empower all of us like never before. You
will anoint us heavily so that we will be able to serve you like never before.

Let everyone of us become Mighty Vessels unto Honour in Your Hands.

In Jesus Mighty Name we have Prayed – Amen.

Praise the Lord – Hallelujah!

THEME: IT IS MY TIME TO FLY

TOPIC: WIDOW OF ZAREPHATH
1 KINGS 17: 8-16
8 And the word of the LORD came unto him (Elijah), saying,

9 Arise, get thee to Zarephath, which belongeth to Zidon, and dwell there:
behold, I have commanded a widow woman there to sustain thee.

10 So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the
City, behold, the widow woman was there gathering of sticks: and he called to
her, and said, Fetch me, I Pray thee, a little water in a vessel, that I may drink.

11 And as she was going to fetch it, he called to her, and said, Bring me, I
Pray thee, a morsel of bread in thine hand.

12 And she said, As the LORD thy God liveth, I have not a cake, but an
handful of meal in a barrel, and a little oil in a cruse: and, behold, I am
gathering two sticks, that I may go in and dress it for me and my son, that we
may eat it, and die.
13 And Elijah said unto her, Fear not; go and do as thou hast said: but make
me thereof a little cake first, and bring it unto me, and after make for thee and
for thy son.

14 For thus saith the LORD God of Israel, The barrel of meal shall not waste,
neither shall the cruse of oil fail, until the day that the LORD sendeth rain upon
the earth.

15 And she went and did according to the saying of Elijah: and she, and he,
and her house, did eat many days.

16 And the barrel of meal wasted not, neither did the cruse of oil fail,
according to the word of the LORD, which he spake by Elijah.

MESSAGE

We want to take a look once again at this Widow of Zarephath and see that
definitely, this must be a very, very Special Widow indeed – A Widow who
was willing to let go the Last Meal of the son and herself to a Prophet that she
has never met before!

… She must be a very, very Special Widow simply because she saw that this
must be a Man of God.

Because she has no way of being sure that the Prophecies of the Man of God
will come to Pass.

So, what will you call such a Woman?

I think I will call her a “Living Sacrifice”.

You know in Romans 12:1; the Bible said that: You are to Present yourself,
your body a Living Sacrifice.

… This Woman was Presenting herself to God as a Living Sacrifice – If I live, I

live; if I die, I die.

In Matthew 16:25; the Lord Jesus Christ said: You want to find your Life; you
must be willing to lose it. If you want to hold on to it; then you will lose it!

In John 12:24; Jesus Christ said that except a coin of Seed falls into the
ground and dies; it abides alone. But if it dies, then it will germinate and then
brings forth much Fruits.
Are you willing to be a Living Sacrifice?

… A very serious Question because this is a Question everyone who wants to

go Higher must answer.

Why? – Because until you surrendered your own “Personal Agenda”; you
cannot step into your “Real Destiny”.

If you want to hold on to your own “Personal Agenda”; then the Agenda God
has in Store for you will elude you!

1. In 1 Kings 19: 19-21 the Bible tells us that when Elijah threw his
Mantle on Elisha; that day, the Personal Agenda of Elisha
ended.
Because He had a Plan – He was going to inherit his father’s farm; he
was going to become the Greatest farmer in the Land.

That was why he was carefully monitoring what was going on in the farm.

But the day the Mantle fell on him – To demonstrate that he has ended his
own Agenda; the Bible said that he slew the animals that has been Pulling his
Tractor, boiled it and served the People and said bye-bye. His Personal
Agenda over!

But then you know that the moment he surrendered to the Agenda of God; he
began to rise rapidly to such an extent that by the time you get to

2 Kings 4: 8 -17; he became the Most Influential Man in the Land.

… He would have been a Great farmer but he has now become

somebody who could now say to the Shunamite Woman – Who do you
want me to talk to on your behalf: The King; the Commander In Chief of
the Armed Forces.

Just tell me because they all did my biddings – That is what he is saying.

And in case you don’t believe that they do his biddings – Read 2 Kings 6: 8-
23.

A King wanted to wage war, he wanted to lay an ambush for his own King;
many Kings wanted to attack his own King.

He said to the King: There is an ambush being laid for you; don’t go there.
The King said: Yes sir. Thank You.

He didn’t go there but just send somebody to go and check out what was
going on there and they discovered that it was true.

When the enemies’ King now send an Army to go and arrest Elisha and Elisha
arrested the Army and brought them to his King; the King said: My father;
shall I kill them? Permission sir to wipe out these enemies.

And he said: Your Majesty, are you the one that captured them?

Feed them and send them back to their Master – Yes sir! And the King
obeyed.

*He was supposed to be a very successful farmer but now he became

the Commander of the Kings of the Land because he gave his Life as a
Living Sacrifice.

As a matter of fact; by the time you read 2 Kings 13: 14 -19, when he was
about to die, he decreed the future. He told the King he was about to go and
the King said: My father, my father, now that you want to go, what do you
have for me?

He (Elisha) said that I will help you – Do this, do this and this is what will
happen.

I as the minister in Charge of GOCC - Olorun Lamona wanted to be the Great

Hair Dresser in Town but He Changed my Agenda.

… By the Grace of God, I have no regrets today. Some interesting things have
happened in my Life

If you Put aside your own Agenda and allowed the Agenda of God to take
over; if you can make your Life a Living Sacrifice to the Almighty God; you will
enter into your Destiny and the Plan God has for you is far, far more Superior
to the Plan you have for yourself.

2. Consider Peter – Why did Apostle Peter became so Prominent

among the Apostles?
Because if you read Acts 5: 12-16; the Bible said: By the hands of the
Apostles were many Miracles Performed – All the Apostles were Performing
Miracles.

But in the case of Peter; his Shadow was Healing the sick.
And this was the Man who was the “Most Unqualified” – Humanly speaking to
be an Apostle because he denied the Lord three (3) times. You all know the
Story.

And yet, when he came to a very, very serious situation; when God had to
choose between two (2) People – he chose Peter.

What do you mean when he had to choose among two (2) People?

Well I’m sure that you know the Story in John 15: 15-16.

On the day of the trial of the Lord Jesus Christ; when everybody fled; only two
(2) People stayed on – John the Beloveth and Peter.

… Oh, Peter followed afar off but he still arrived.

When he arrived and was standing outside; John the Beloveth who knew
somebody inside there came out and took him in.

… There were two (2) of them!

But when God is going to choose who will be Number 1; He wanted to choose
who will be leading – It was Peter.

I. On the day of Pentecost, it was Peter who Preached.

II. In Acts 3: 1-8; at the Beautiful Gate; it was Peter who took the lame Man by
the hand and told him to rise up and walk.

… And you go on and on; it was Peter, Peter – Why?

Maybe you will recall Luke 5: 1-11 – When Peter fished all night and caught
nothing. And Jesus Christ came into his boat and he caught so much fish that
two (2) boats began to sink.

The Bible said that when they got to the shore of the Sea, he forsook all and
followed Him.

… He never sold one of the fish. He just left everything and He made
himself a Living Sacrifice.

3. Consider another fellow called Paul.

In 1 Corinthians 15:9; he (Paul) said that I’m not even fit to be called an
Apostle because I Persecuted the Church.
… He said that I (Paul) started badly.

He said but as it is written in 2 Corinthians 12:11 – He said: I’m not in any way
Inferior to the Chiefest Apostle.

What is he saying? – I rose from nothing to the Top!

And was he just boasting for nothing?

Read Acts 19: 11-12; the Bible said that God Performed “Special Miracles” by
the hands of Paul.

Why?

I. Philippians 3: 7-11; Paul said that all things that were gain to me, I let them
go that I may win Christ.

… I made myself a Living Sacrifice; I surrendered all.

II. In Philippians 1: 20-21; he says: For me to live is Christ and to die is Gain.

… The Lord just take over, do what you like to my Life.

How high do you want to go? – That is a “Big Question” as we are talking
about “Going Higher”.

The answer is determined by how low do you want to descend?

Because in John 3:30; John the Baptist said: Jesus must Increase; I must
Decrease.

… He said: Let Jesus Christ rise, let me go Low.

And in Matthew 11:11; Jesus Christ replied – Of all Men born of a Woman as
far as the Old Testament is concerned; He said there is none Greater than
John the Baptist.

… The one who said I want to go Low; was raised to the Highest Level.

The Number of Steps down will determine the Number of Steps Up

James 4:10 says: If only you will humble yourself under the Mighty Hands of
God; He will lift you up.

Total Surrendering is going to lead to Total Promotion.

But there is one Point there that I must not forget in this Story at that Stage.

And that is this which is for all of us – “Don’t surrender yet; Help is on the
Way!

The Woman said: I just want to eat – I want to Prepare the food so that me
and my son will eat and die.

I. She wasn’t saying: We will eat and then wait for death.

II. She wasn’t saying: We will eat and then starve.

No, no; she is saying: This Meal will be our “Farewell Meal” to this world – We
will eat and then commit suicide.

… But Help was on the Way!

As she was going to gather the sticks to Prepare the “Last Meal”; God was
already sending somebody who will turn the Tides.

Psalms 46:1 says: God is our Ever-Present Help in times of trouble.

… God will arrive for you at the Right Time.

Help is coming. Don’t surrender to death yet.

ALTAR CALL

Instead, if you are not yet a Child of God, surrender to Jesus Christ now.

If you surrender to Jesus Christ; He will turn the Tides for you.

The Word of God made it clear: If any Man be in Christ, He is a New Creature;
Old Things has Passed away, all Things become New.

… All Things become New includes God turning the Tides for you!

So, if you have not yet given your Life to Jesus Christ; maybe you want to do
so now – If you will just bow your head now wherever you are.

Let Us Pray!

PRAYER FOR SALVATION AND CLOSING PRAYER

Ancient of Days; I want to Thank You once again for Your Words.
I want to give You all Glory and Honour Particularly for those who are
surrendering their lives to You now instead of surrendering to death.

Please, receive them, save their Souls, write their names in the Book of Life,
turn the Tides for them and let everything become New for them.

From now on; anytime they cry to You; Please answer them by Fire.

As for those of us who are already Your Children; the Grace to turn over our
lives for You completely so that we become a Living Sacrifice in Your Hands;
Please release to us in Jesus Name; so that very, very soon too, we will begin
to say: Ha, I had an Agenda for myself; I surrendered it to God. Look at what
God had done for me.

… Father, so let it be in Jesus Name.

Thank You Father.

In Jesus Mighty Name we have Prayed – Amen.

Praise the Lord – Hallelujah!