Resurrection Dreams

By Guy Amerson

From a man's earliest years, you are taught to follow your dreams. You are encouraged to dream big and to expect God to lead, guide, and help you achieve your dreams. Even your children's fairy tales and fables were filled with the pride and joy found in seeing your dreams and life's goals come true. Isn't it interesting that this is not found in God's reality for His saints? How could something so important to the human heart and soul be so vastly different from what God desires for us? As you read and study these stories, you will begin to identify with these women and understand God's true desire for us. If you can truly walk with these women, heart and soul, you too will receive back your resurrection dreams.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Jul 31, 2020
• ISBN: 9781098040390

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Resurrection Dreams

Guy Amerson

Copyright © 2020 by Guy Amerson

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods without the prior written permission of the publisher. For permission requests, solicit the publisher via the address below.

Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.

832 Park Avenue

Meadville, PA 16335

www.christianfaithpublishing.com

Printed in the United States of America

Table of Contents

A Beginning

Exactly the Same

Types and Symbols

The Story

The Spirit

The Widow

The Shunammite

The Widow of Nain

Resurrection Dreams

Your Son

Introduction

As a church planter, Bible teacher, and missionary, I have spent much time in God’s Word and many years dealing with Him in God’s schoolhouse. The teaching found here in this small book has always been of great significance to me. I remember it as the first clear-cut revelation God worked out in my life. It took many years of dealings to understand. There is, however, something secretive and special about its message, which makes it very personal to every seeking saint. As I share this message with you, just remember that I am not leading you through a theological study or a hermeneutical exegesis, but instead this is a spiritual revelation given to me from God that I am sharing from my heart to yours. I am sure that I have made some mistakes and will not agree with some doctors of theology, but that’s okay. Just read this little treatise with an open heart and expect the Holy Spirit to speak to you.

While a second-term junior in college, the Lord brought a crisis into my life that caused me to begin reading and searching His Word. During this dark time of dealing with God, He told me that it was His will that I should explain His Word to others. He had set me aside to teach His Word to His saints. Therefore, I began to read His Word and search for the deep purposes and principles of God’s heart in His Word. I began my search in the Old Testament, where He quickly led me to our two stories in the books of the Kings. At that time in my life, I was only slightly aware of spiritual reality, but in the same vein, I was not a student in man’s schools of theology. Thus, I was ripe for the Holy Spirit’s intervention in my understanding of God’s Word. It was during this last year at college that God really got hold of my heart and the Holy Spirit poured out a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him (Eph. 1:17). I could sense that I was seeing deeper than those around me and that the Holy Spirit was revealing deep truth to me. That is why I was so surprised when God refused to reveal the essence of these two stories to me.

As I read through 1 Kings and encountered the story of Elijah and the widow of Zarephath, I was greatly intrigued by this deeply personal story stuck in among the historical accounts of God dealing with Ahab and the people of Israel. It seemed as though God couldn’t have Elijah being totally unfruitful hiding in the wilderness for three years. So He put him to work, revealing the secrets of His heart. It became obvious there was something really unique about those particular circumstances in Israel at that time that God needed to reveal something very special to the saints of today.

In the same manner, I was greatly surprised to find the exact same story in 2 Kings. Now it is Ahab’s son Jehoram and the prophet is Elisha, but the story seemed to me to be exactly the same as the story of Elijah and Ahab. Again, the prophet is mixed up with a woman and her son while the nation of Israel is in great turmoil. What is there in that particular set of circumstances that God needs to bring us truth from His own heart?

Even now after forty years of reading, preaching, and speaking on these stories, I still get excited remembering what great things God has done for us. It is my hope and prayer that as you read this book it will be the catalyst you need to receive this very special and personal revelation of God’s heart.

Chapter 1

A Beginning

The best place to start is by reading these two great stories. Try to find the time to read both stories together in one sitting. Read them in the order they are found in the Bible. If you desire to get the most from these stories, dedicate your quiet time for several days to this study and read larger sections of scripture. I would suggest 1 Kings 15:25–1 Kings 18:18 and 2 Kings 3–4. This will give you a good context for understanding these people and their choices.

For the convenience of the reader, both stories are printed here. I read and study from the King James Bible; therefore, the teaching text and quotes will all be from the King James Version of the Holy Bible. Now let’s read 1 Kings 17:1–24:

And Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the inhabitants of Gilead, said unto Ahab, As the Lord God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word. And the word of the Lord came unto him, saying, Get thee hence, and turn thee eastward, and hide thyself by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan. And it shall be, that thou shalt drink of the brook; and I have commanded the ravens to feed thee there. So he went and did according unto the word of the Lord: for he went and dwelt by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan. And the ravens brought him bread and flesh in the morning, and bread and flesh in the evening; and he drank of the brook. And it came to pass after a while, that the brook dried up, because there had been no rain in the land. And the word of the Lord came unto him, saying, Arise, get thee to Zarephath, which belongeth to Zidon, and dwell there: behold, I have commanded a widow woman there to sustain thee. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. And she went and did according to the saying of Elijah: and she, and he, and her house, did eat many days. 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. And it came to pass after these things, that the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, fell sick; and his sickness was so sore, that there was no breath left in him. And she said unto Elijah, What have I to do with thee, O thou man of God? art thou come unto me to call my sin to remembrance, and to slay my son? And he said unto her, Give me thy son. And he took him out of her bosom, and carried him up into a loft, where he abode, and laid him upon his own bed. And he cried unto the Lord, and said, O Lord my God, hast thou also brought evil upon the widow with whom I sojourn, by slaying her son? And he stretched himself upon the child three times, and cried unto the Lord, and said, O Lord