Do Not Fear! That's Easy For You To Say

Check out this story about the prophet Elisha.

2 Kings 6:12-16(NKJV)

12And one of his servants said, “None, my lord, O king; but Elisha, the prophet who is in Israel, tells the king of Israel the words that you speak in your bedroom.”

13So he said, “Go and see where he is, that I may send and get him.” And it was told him, saying, “Surely he is in Dothan.”

14Therefore he sent horses and chariots and a great army there, and they came by night and surrounded the city. 

15And when the servant of the man of God arose early and went out, there was an army, surrounding the city with horses and chariots. And his servant said to him, “Alas, my master! What shall we do?”

16So he answered, “Do not fear, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” 

So the King is out to get Elisha.  Elisha's servant wakes up and sees the city surrounded.  He tells Elisha and what are the first words out of Elisha's mouth?

Do not fear!

2 Timothy 1:7(NKJV)

7For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.

It's often been said that faith and fear cannot exist in the same body.  Why is it then that for most of us, when faced with the unknown we get fearful?  It seems to be our natural reaction.  How do we deal with that?

First we have to train ourselves to recognize it.  When we feel fear we need to train ourselves to immediately  recognize that we are feeling fear and put a stop to it.  We aren't powerless here.  Look at the Scripture from 2 Timothy.

That Scripture tells us specifically that fear isn't from God.  That same Scripture goes on to tell us that God has given us power.   I would assume that if God gives us power it would be OK with Him if we use that power to defeat fear!

So how do you get that power?  Well the first step is to invite Jesus into your life.  Have you done that yet?  Just have a talk with Jesus and let you know what you need.  "Dear Jesus…."

Please Answer My Prayer (but only if you do it my way)

You ever notice how picky some people can be?

2 Kings 5:8-12(NKJV)

8So it was, when Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his clothes, that he sent to the king, saying, “Why have you torn your clothes? Please let him come to me, and he shall know that there is a prophet in Israel.”

9Then Naaman went with his horses and chariot, and he stood at the door of Elisha’s house. 

10And Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, “Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored to you, and you shall be clean.” 

11But Naaman became furious, and went away and said, “Indeed, I said to myself, ‘He will surely come out to me, and stand and call on the name of the Lord his God, and wave his hand over the place, and heal the leprosy.’ 

12Are not the £Abanah and the Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Could I not wash in them and be clean?” So he turned and went away in a rage. 

What was Naaman's goal?  To be cured of leprosy.  Why was he upset?  Because God didn't cure Naaman's leprosy in a flashy enough manner.  There weren't enough theatrics to suit him. 

The lesson to be learned?  When God answer's your prayer be grateful for the answer and accept that God's answer was delivered in the way God felt best.  Go with it! 

"empty vessels; do not gather just a few"

Great story.  I'll share what I take from this story after you read it.

2 Kings 4:1-7(NKJV)

1A certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets cried out to Elisha, saying, “Your servant my husband is dead, and you know that your servant feared the Lord. And the creditor is coming to take my two sons to be his slaves.”

2So Elisha said to her, “What shall I do for you? Tell me, what do you have in the house?” And she said, “Your maidservant has nothing in the house but a jar of oil.”

3Then he said, “Go, borrow vessels from everywhere, from all your neighbors—empty vessels; do not gather just a few. 

4And when you have come in, you shall shut the door behind you and your sons; then pour it into all those vessels, and set aside the full ones.”

5So she went from him and shut the door behind her and her sons, who brought the vessels to her; and she poured it out. 

6Now it came to pass, when the vessels were full, that she said to her son, “Bring me another vessel.” And he said to her, “There is not another vessel.” So the oil ceased. 

7Then she came and told the man of God. And he said, “Go, sell the oil and pay your debt; and you and your sons live on the rest.”

Scripture tells us that once we accept Jesus and are part of the family of God, that God wants to bless us.  I think this story gives us a clue as to how that happens.

We all have things to contribute to spreading God's Word.  One of the most important things we have is our time.  But whatever it is that each of us has to offer, I believe that it is through being willing to use those gifts in the service of God that God blesses us.

As the story says "“Go, borrow vessels from everywhere, from all your neighbors—empty vessels; do not gather just a few.  ".  Each of those empty vessels is a time when you have responded to God's call.  Whether it be an answer to a need for money, for volunteers, for time or whatever, each time we answer we open another empty vessel through which God can pour out additional blessings on us.

And notice that Scripture tells us to get a lot of empty pots, not just a few.  Why?  Because once the empty pots were gone, the blessings dried up.  What's that tell us? 

Be generous towards God in all that you have and do!

Not sure what to pray for? Try this!

Sometimes people get stumped on what to pray for.  I have a couple of ideas. 

First off if you are having trouble coming up with something to say to God, maybe that is an indication that it is time to just quietly sit and listen for God to speak to you.

Second, check out this verse.

2 Kings 2:9(NKJV)

9And so it was, when they had crossed over, that Elijah said to Elisha, “Ask! What may I do for you, before I am taken away from you?” Elisha said, “Please let a double portion of your spirit be upon me.”

Reminds me of King Solomon when he asked for wisdom and knowledge.  Imagine what life would be like with a "double portion of God's spirit". 

Give it a try!

How Did God Deal With Bullies?

Bullying is a big topic in the US.  I never realized that the Bible addressed bullying this directly but look what I found in II Kings 2.

2 Kings 2:22-24(NKJV)

22So the water remains healed to this day, according to the word of Elisha which he spoke.

23Then he went up from there to Bethel; and as he was going up the road, some youths came from the city and mocked him, and said to him, “Go up, you baldhead! Go up, you baldhead!”

24So he turned around and looked at them, and pronounced a curse on them in the name of the Lord. And two female bears came out of the woods and mauled forty-two of the youths.

LOL, wow!  God sends two female bears to maul the kids!

The Bible never ceases to amaze me.  What a great guide for life.  There is something in there to cover just about every situation you can think of.  Even bullying.

Pick it up and give it a read!

Dude, Maybe That's A Clue!

Dude, Maybe That's A Clue!

Thursday, April 18, 2013

5:26 PM

This Scripture just made me chuckle.

1 Kings 22:8(NKJV)

8So the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “There is still one man, Micaiah the son of Imlah, by whom we may inquire of the Lord; but I hate him, because he does not prophesy good concerning me, but evil.” And Jehoshaphat said, “Let not the king say such things!”

Dude, if a man of God doesn't prophecy anything good for or about you, maybe that's a clue!  Might be time to consider your ways.

I'm just saying…. :)

We Have To Do Our Part!

1 Kings 20:22(NKJV)

22And the prophet came to the king of Israel and said to him, “Go, strengthen yourself; take note, and see what you should do, for in the spring of the year the king of Syria will come up against you.”

Interesting advice.  We are always looking for God to help us and that is a good thing.  He has promised to do so.  But that doesn't mean that He is going to do everything for us.  The verse above tells us what He expects from us.

I see two main things here.

#1. Strengthen yourself.  What do you think God is talking about there?  I think He means that we need to strengthen ourselves physically by exercising and taking care of our bodies.  We also need to strengthen ourselves spiritually by being in the Word daily.

#2. Take note, and see what you should do.  To me this means to use our God given abilities of intellect and observation to develop a strategy to achieve the objectives that God has given us.

We need to lean on and depend on God but we have a responsibility to be prepared and ready when he calls!