The Church of Christ with the Elijah Message Blog

Matthew 9:2-8

And, behold, they brought to him a man sick of the palsy, lying on a bed: and Jesus seeing their faith said unto the sick of the palsy; Son, be of good cheer; thy sins be forgiven thee. And, behold, certain of the scribes said within themselves, This man blasphemeth. And Jesus knowing their thoughts said, Wherefore think ye evil in your hearts? For whether is easier, to say, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Arise, and walk? But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, (then saith he to the sick of the palsy,) Arise, take up thy bed, and go unto thine house. And he arose, and departed to his house. But when the multitudes saw it, they marvelled, and glorified God, which had given such power unto men.

God has a great amount of power, much power that he can take away our sins without even thinking about it. Some people don’t believe that this power is real with our proof. That is what Jesus does here. He proves his power by doing the easy thing and curing a man with palsy. People today also want to see the same power, and since they can’t see sins being washed away, they want miracles. Miracles do happen, but we cannot allow that to be our main judgment on the power of God

Alma 19:1-12

And it came to pass that after two days and two nights they were about to take his body and lay it in a sepulcher, which they had made for the purpose of burying their dead. Now the queen having heard of the fame of Ammon, therefore she sent and desired that he should come in unto her. And it came to pass that Ammon did as he was commanded, and went in unto the queen, and desired to know what she would that he should do. And she saith unto him: The servants of my husband have made it known unto me that thou art a prophet of a Holy God, and that thou hast power to do many mighty works in his name; Therefore, if this is the case, I would that ye should go in and see my husband, for he has been laid upon his bed for the space of two days and two nights; and some say that he is not dead, but others say that he is dead and that he stinketh, and that he ought to be placed in the sepulcher; but as for myself, to me he doth not stink. Now, this was what Ammon desired, for he knew that king Lamoni was under the power of God; he knew that the dark veil of unbelief being cast away from his mind, and the light which did light up his mind, which was the light of the glory of God, which was a marvelous light of his goodness—yea, this light had infused such joy into his soul, the cloud of darkness having been dispelled, and the light of everlasting light was lit up in his soul, yea, he knew that this had overcame his natural frame, and he was carried away in God— Therefore, what the queen desired of him was his only desire. Therefore, he went in to see the king according as the queen had desired him; and he saw the king, and he knew that he was not dead. And he saith unto the queen: He is not dead, but he sleepeth in God, and on the morrow he shall rise again; therefore bury him not. And Ammon saith unto her: Believest thou this? And she said unto him: I have had no witness save thy word, and the word of our servants; nevertheless I believe that it shall be according as thou hast said. And Ammon said unto her: Blessed art thou because of thy exceeding faith; I say unto thee, woman, there has not been such great faith among all the people of the Nephites.  And it came to pass that she watched over the bed of her husband, from that time even until that time on the morrow which Ammon had appointed that he should rise. And it came to pass that he arose, according to the words of Ammon; and as he arose, he stretched forth his hand unto the woman, and said: Blessed be the name of God, and blessed art thou.

The power of God is a mystery that cannot be explained at times. However the miracle here is great example of how God can use his power for the betterment of the faithful. By allowing the King to go through this God opened up a door for the king to convert his people to Christ. We have to be thankful that God does still do events like this today and we still are able to save many lives because of these miracles.  

1 Kings 18:30-39

And Elijah said unto all the people, Come near unto me. And all the people came near unto him. And he repaired the altar of the LORD that was broken down. And Elijah took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, unto whom the word of the LORD came, saying, Israel shall be thy name: And with the stones he built an altar in the name of the LORD: and he made a trench about the altar, as great as would contain two measures of seed. And he put the wood in order, and cut the bullock in pieces, and laid him on the wood, and said, Fill four barrels with water, and pour it on the burnt sacrifice, and on the wood. And he said, Do it the second time. And they did it the second time. And he said, Do it the third time. And they did it the third time. And the water ran round about the altar; and he filled the trench also with water. And it came to pass at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that Elijah the prophet came near, and said, LORD God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Israel, let it be known this day that thou art God in Israel, and that I am thy servant, and that I have done all these things at thy word. Hear me, O LORD, hear me, that this people may know that thou art the LORD God, and that thou hast turned their heart back again. Then the fire of the LORD fell, and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench. And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces: and they said, The LORD, he is the God; the LORD, he is the God.

The Lord has sown us his power time and time again. Sometimes it is by a large display like he did for Elijah and other times it is in small ways in our personal life. No matter how he does it though God does exist and is a powerful force.

Matthew 1:18-25

Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost. Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a publick example, was minded to put her away privily. But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee

Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins. Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us. Then Joseph being raised from sleep did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him, and took unto him his wife: And knew her not till she had brought forth her firstborn son: and he called his name JESUS.

To fulfill the promises that God made Christ had to become human. In today’s verses Joseph is told about this miracle in a dream. As an obedient servant of God he does what he is told. He takes Mary as his wife and when the baby is born it’s named Jesus. Let us all strive to be as obedient at Joseph in our lives.

Alma 19:1-13

And it came to pass that after two days and two nights they were about to take his body and lay it in a sepulcher, which they had made for the purpose of burying their dead. Now the queen having heard of the fame of Ammon, therefore she sent and desired that he should come in unto her. And it came to pass that Ammon did as he was commanded, and went in unto the queen, and desired to know what she would that he should do. And she saith unto him: The servants of my husband have made it known unto me that thou art a prophet of a Holy God, and that thou hast power to do many mighty works in his name; Therefore, if this is the case, I would that ye should go in and see my husband, for he has been laid upon his bed for the space of two days and two nights; and some say that he is not dead, but others say that he is dead and that he stinketh, and that he ought to be placed in the sepulcher; but as for myself, to me he doth not stink. Now, this was what Ammon desired, for he knew that king Lamoni was under the power of God; he knew that the dark veil of unbelief being cast away from his mind, and the light which did light up his mind, which was the light of the glory of God, which was a marvelous light of his goodness—yea, this light had infused such joy into his soul, the cloud of darkness having been dispelled, and the light of everlasting light was lit up in his soul, yea, he knew that this had overcame his natural frame, and he was carried away in God— Therefore, what the queen desired of him was his only desire. Therefore, he went in to see the king according as the queen had desired him; and he saw the king, and he knew that he was not dead. And he saith unto the queen: He is not dead, but he sleepeth in God, and on the morrow he shall rise again; therefore bury him not. And Ammon saith unto her: Believest thou this? And she said unto him: I have had no witness save thy word, and the word of our servants; nevertheless I believe that it shall be according as thou hast said. And Ammon said unto her: Blessed art thou because of thy exceeding faith; I say unto thee, woman, there has not been such great faith among all the people of the Nephites.  And it came to pass that she watched over the bed of her husband, from that time even until that time on the morrow which Ammon had appointed that he should rise. And it came to pass that he arose, according to the words of Ammon; and as he arose, he stretched forth his hand unto the woman, and said: Blessed be the name of God, and blessed art thou. For as sure as thou livest, behold, I have seen my Redeemer; and he shall come forth, and be born of a woman, and he shall redeem all mankind who believe on his name. Now, when he had said these words, his heart was swollen within him, and he sunk again with joy; and the queen also sunk down, being overpowered by the Spirit.

Faith is a powerful thing. It only takes a small amount to see great benefits. Miracles also are a great tool of God. People from around the world see miracles as proof of God’s love. Will you have faith in God and believe in Christ’s gospel?

Heard from Norm and Larry.  Things are going well in Kenya. The church is starting to build a building for the local in Kitale.  There are several hundred members in the local at Kitale. There has lots of growth with new locals being established across the county in the last several months.  There as been several miracles that God as done to help show the people his power. God is doing a great work and we pray that it continues.