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Then Elijah said to the people, 'I, even I only, am left as a prophet of Yahweh; but Baal's prophets are four hundred fifty men. Let them therefore give us two bulls; and let them choose one bull for themselves, and cut it in pieces, and lay it on the wood, and put no fire under; and I will dress the other bull, and lay it on the wood, and put no fire under it. You call on the name of your god, and I will call on Yahweh's name. The God who answers by fire, let him be God.' All the people answered, 'What you say is good.' 1 Kings 18:22 WEB

Early in the morning, one man of God, along with four-hundred-fifty prophets of baal and four-hundred prophets of asherah, went up Mount Carmel to settle the age old question of 'Who is God.' That had become a 'gray area' for the people had been chasing after baal for prosperity and materialism, and they worshiped asherah as the goddess of sex and fertility. It was fun. Israel was serving a lot of 'gods' in those days, but that afternoon, God Almighty answered by fire. Elijah the Prophet walked away alone, while the others were left broken, defeated, disappointed, and dead.

Today, we are faced with the same type of choices. It is easy to say that we follow the Almighty God, but who do we give our time and resources to? Do we chase baal and asherah as diligently as they did? The Lord wants you to have money, but He does not want money to have you, for the 'love of money' is a root of all types of evil. It can cause people to lie, cheat, and steal to get more. Also, it has nothing to do with the amount of money that you have. A beggar can be consumed by the 'love' of money, while a billionaire could theoretically be unaffected. In the same sense, a man can 'lust' after a woman, and not actually have relations with her. It's the inner desire.

Do not put the pursuit of happiness, or the pursuit of more money, before your time with Him. These things have their place, and if you seek the Lord first each day, all these things will be added to you anyway. The less that you care about them, the more of it you that will probably have. He wants your heart and to be first in your life, just as your spouse would want to be. Once He has control of your heart, the rest of you will follow. Choose Jesus.

Prayer: Heavenly Father I choose You today and I want You to be a priority in my life. Please bring things into balance, teach me what I need to know, help me focus on the right things. Lead me and I will follow. Speak and I will listen. In the name of Jesus Christ I pray.

Note: Ladies, today is Thankful Thursday at the "Ladies in Distress" group (our RHM women's group)! You are welcome to join in our weekly sharing of thankfulness for the Lord's presence and any blessings you may have experienced, big or small! "Ladies in Distress" is a private group, so if you have any problems joining, just post anywhere and we will help you :). Here is the link: Ladies in Distress

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