KINDNESS COMMUNICATES

HOW KINDNESS DOES COMMUNICATES?

There is a saying which say, “Action speaks louder than words.” And it is true it does. There are those whose actions of kindness towards others have spoken in a language that is only known to the victims. And in many cases, the actioner does little speech or no speech at all, leaving the victim with their mouth wide open. And at times we are left with the question, “How did they know I was passing through this? Or how did they know me, needing this?  In all this or in whichever way, our heavenly Father who sees in secret and especially the secret tears known only to an individual commands even the ravens and his angels to feed the concerned. Let’s see this (1 Kings 17:1-4) “And Elijah the Tishbite, of the inhabitant of Gilead, said to Ahab, “As the Lord God of the Israel lives, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, except by my words.” Then the word of the Lord came to him, saying, “Get away from here and turn eastward, and hide by the brook Cherith, which flows into the Jordan.” And it will be that you shall drink from the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to feed you there.  Prophet Elijah was a daring one! And because of the daring message that he had delivered to the people and their king concerning the land, he had to flee and save his live at the command of God. And because he obeyed the word of God, God did send him ravens to feed him (V. 5-6) “So he went according to the word of the Lord, for he went and stayed by the Brook Cherith, which flows into the Jordan. The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning and bread and meat in the evening; and he drank from the Brook.”

ANGEL OF THE LORD’S KINDNESS TO ELIJAH

 God again sent Elijah an angel who fed him as he fled away for his life from the wicked Jezebel who threatened to take his life just as his had done to the prophets of Baal whom Elijah had executed by the sword. Reference; (1 Kings 19:1-3). At the wilderness, he was exhausted and overwhelmed from thirst and hunger. But the Lord his God, showed him kindness which communicated much louder because of his circumstantial which made him preferred to die, rather than live from the miseries that had befallen upon him(V.4-8) “But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a broom tree. And he prayed that he might die and said, “It is enough!” Now, Lord take my life, for I am no better than my fathers!” Then as he lay and slept under broom tree, suddenly an angel touched him, and said to him, “Arise and eat.” Then he looked, and there by his head, was a cake baked on coals, and a jar of water. So he eat and drunk and lay down again. And the angel of the Lord came gain the second time, and touched him and said, “Arise eat, because the journey is too great for you.” So he arose, and eat ad drunk; and he went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights as far as Horeb, the Mountain of God.” God had worked tremendous miracles, signs and wonders by his servants Elijah and Moses.  And Elisha had to acknowledge the God of Elijah as he parted the River Jordan, as a God of signs and wonders. My beloved, this God of Moses and Elijah He is the same God who sits on His throne even today; as He has never failed, He has never changed neither has He slumbered. It is us His people who lives in assumption that this God was God in the days of our forefather’s, but that is not true. He is still the same God who sends His angels with not only food but all things that our heart desires. May the Almighty Father intervene in any challenge an individual or a family, or a church, or an organization, a company or a nation; that are facing at this point?  May the God of Elijah, show us kindness that will speak in our situations today in the Mighty name of Jesus Christ I do pray and believe. Amen and Amen and Amen.

ZAREPHETH’S WIDOW’S KINDNESS TO ELIJAH

This woman though a widow and had only left with a handful  flour for herself and her son to eat and die, her obedience and kindness did speak for her for may days (1 Kings 17: 8-24) “Then the word of the Lord came to him saying, “Arise go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and dwell there. See I have commanded a widow there to provide for you.” So Elijah the servant of God asked the woman for a cup of water, and before she could bring it, he also asked for a morsel of bread in her hand , and the widow responded thus (V. 12-16) So she said, “As the Lord your God lives, I do not have bread, only a handful of flour in a bin and a little oil in a jar; and see, I am gathering a couple of sticks that I may go in and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat it and die.” And Elijah said to her, “Do not fear; go and do as you have said, but make me a small cake from it first, and bring it to me; and afterward, make some for yourself and your son. For thus says the Lord God of Israel: “The bin of your flour shall not be used up, nor shall the jar of oil run dry, until the day the Lord sends rain on the earth. So she went away and did according to the word of Elijah; and she and he and her household ate for many days. The bin of the flour was not used up, nor did the jar of oil run dry according to the word of the Lord which He spoke by Elijah.” Here also obedience and kindness applied together, which did speak for Elijah, the widow and her entire household, who ate for many days without the flour used up or the oil ran dry.  It didn’t end up there as the widow’s kindness continued to speak for her in this manner (V. 17-19) “Now it came to pass after these things that the son of the woman who owned the house became sick. And his sickness was so serious that there was no breath left in him. So she said to Elijah, “What have I to do with you, O man of God? Have you come to me to bring my sin to remembrance, and to kill my son?” And he said to her, “Give me your son.” So he took him out of her hand and carried him to the upper room where he was staying, and laid him on his own bed.”  So Elijah cried to the Lord His God concerning the child, the Lord heard the voice of Elijah and the child revived (V. 22-24) ”Then the Lord heard the voice of Elijah; and the soul of the child came back to him, and he revived.  And Elijah took the child and brought him down from the upper room into the house, and gave him to his mother. And Elijah said, “See your son lives!”  Then the woman said to Elijah, “Now by this I know that you are a man of God, and that the word of the Lord in your moth is the truth.”  This last act of kindness spoke much louder than the multiplication of the flour and the oil to this widow; as that was her only son the treasure of her life. And by his revival, the widow believed the prophet and his words as truth.

THE ACT OF THE NOTABLE SHUNAMMITE WOMAN

The act of this Shunammite woman also spoke louder to Elisha the servant of God in this manner (2 kings 4:8-10) “Now it happened one day that Elisha went to Shunem, where there was a notable woman, and she persuaded him to eat some food. So it was as often as he passed by. He would turn in there to eat some food. And she said to her husband, “Look now, I know that this is a holy man of God, who passes by us regularly. Please let us make a small upper room on the wall; and let us put a bed for him there, and a table and a chair and a lampstand; so it will be, whenever he comes to us, he can turn in there.”  This was a real notable, virtues and a woman of valor who had a golden heart indeed. Her kindness was noted by Elisha, who in turn spoke a word of healing to her barren womb and she was able to conceive and bore a son. (V. 11-13) “And it happened one day that he came there, and he turned into the upper room and lay down there. Then he said to Gehazi his servant, Call this Shunammite woman.” When he had called her, she stood before him. And he said to him, “Say now to her, ‘Look, you have been concerned for us with all this care. What can I do for you? Do you want me to speak on your behave to the king or to the commander of the army? She answered, I dwell among my people.”  See beloved, how kindness spoke in the favor of this notable woman that even before she could speak for herself what she wanted, Gehazi was there answering for her (V. 14-17) “So he said, “What then is to be done for her?” And Gehazi answered, “Actually, she has no son, and her husband is old.” Then he said, “About this time next year, you shall embrace a son.” And she said, “No, my lord. Man of God, do not lie to your maid servant!” But the woman conceived and bore a son when the appointed time had come, of which Elisha had told her.” Related just as the story of Sarah in Genesis 21. And as the story turned out to be like the Zarepheth widow, her son also died and revived again after Elisha the man of God prayed for him (V. 18-20, 36-37) “And the child grew. Now it happened one day the he went out to his father, to the reapers. And he said to his father, “My head, my head!” So he said to a servant, “Carry him to his mother, he sat on her knee till noon, and then died. And he called Gehazi and said, “Call this Shunammite woman.” So he called her. And when she came in to him, he said, “Pick up your son.” So she went in, fell at his feet, and bowed to the ground; then she picked her son and went out.”

A MAN AFTER GOD’S OWN HEART

One of the reasons David was said to be a man after God’s own heart was (1 Sam.13:14) “But now your kingdom shall not continue. The Lord has sought for Himself a man after His own heart, and the Lord has commanded him to be commander over his people because you have not kept what the Lord commanded you.” This was because of David’s kindness (2 Sam. 2:5-6) “So David send messages to the men of Jabesh Gilead, and said to them, “You are blessed of the Lord, for you have shown this kindness to your lord, to Saul and have buried him. And now, may the Lord show kindness and truth to you. I also will repay you this kindness, because you have done this thing.” On two occasions when opportunity presented itself, he refuses to kill the man who was at the time desperately attempting to murder him. Reference: (1 Sam. 24:1-6; 26:1-20). Another time he spared the life of an arrogant evil farmer who had defied him. Reference: (1 Sam. 25:2-35). And finally this we had seen in the previous message, “UNUSUAL KINDNESS”  his kindness to Mephiboseth, Saul’s lame grandson (2 Sam. 9:6, 7) and in his allowing a godless enemy who had blasphemed him to go unpunished (2 Sam. 16:5-12). In the New Testament we are admonished to show such kindness, both toward our enemies (Luke 6:35) “But love your enemies, do good, and lend, hoping for nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the most High. For He is kind to the unthankful and evil,” toward all fellow believers (Rom. 12:10) “Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another:” (Eph. 4:32) “And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.”  And the basis of this command is God’s marvelous kindness to us (Eph. 2:7) “That in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of Hi grace in His kindness toward us in Chris Jesus.” See also (Titus 3:4) “And when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward men appeared.” One of the most powerful parable Christ told, and perhaps the most famous, concerned the kindness of a Samaritan to an injured victim of robbery (Luke 10:30-37).

Apostle Peter wrote (2 Peter 1:7) “To godliness [add] brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love.” For kindness is a universal language that the deaf can hear, the blind can read and the retarded can understand.

“Grace to you and Favor from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ be with us all. Amen and Amen and Amen.”