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And Elijah took the child and brought him down from the upper chamber into the house and delivered him to his mother. And Elijah said, “See, your son lives.” 1 Kings 17:23 As a physician, being the bearer of bad news is a terrible part of the job. Back when I worked in the ER,…
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And he cried to the LORD, “O LORD my God, have you brought calamity even upon the widow with whom I sojourn, by killing her son?” 1 Kings 17:20 Years ago, while still quite early in my medical career, I was working in the Emergency Room when I met an elderly patient with a fracture…
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And Elijah said to her, “Do not fear; go and do as you have said. But first make me a little cake of it and bring it to me, and afterward make something for yourself and your son.” 1 Kings 17:13 I’ve always worried that my doubt diminishes or disqualifies my faith, making it meaningless.…
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Then the word of the LORD came to him, “Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and dwell there. Behold, I have commanded a widow there to feed you.”  1 Kings 17:8-9 In medicine, nurses generally do not place orders. Rather, the ordering of labs, imaging, and medications is generally considered to be the…
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And the ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning, and bread and meat in the evening, and he drank from the brook. And after a while the brook dried up, because there was no rain in the land. 1 Kings 17:6-7 The church which I attend frequently sings about God never letting us…
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In his days Hiel of Bethel built Jericho. He laid its foundation at the cost of Abiram his firstborn, and set up its gates at the cost of his youngest son Segub, according to the word of the LORD, which he spoke by Joshua the son of Nun. 1 Kings 16:34 While addicted, I engaged…
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Depart from here and turn eastward and hide yourself by the brook Cherith, which is east of the Jordan. You shall drink from the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to feed you there. 1 Kings 17:3 This well-meaning phrase pops up in my life occasionally – Jesus, take the wheel. Recognizing that following…
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And as if it had been a light thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, he took for his wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians, and went and served Baal and worshiped him. 1 Kings 16:31 When it comes to politics, it’s common for…
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And Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the LORD, more than all who were before him. 1 Kings 16:30 It seems to me that it is quite natural for the rules of a family to become more lenient from one generation to another. My parents, for instance, never went to…
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In the twenty-seventh year of Asa king of Judah, Zimri reigned seven days in Tirzah. 1 Kings 16:15 The life of addiction is chaos. There is no peace. In my own addiction, I lived in constant turmoil, hating who I was, constantly trying to figure out where my next bottle of pills would come from,…
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