December 1

One More Life Miracle

2 Kings 13:20-21 So Elisha died, and they buried him. Now bands of Moabites used to invade the land in the spring of the year. 21 And as a man was being buried, behold, a marauding band was seen and the man was thrown into the grave of Elisha, and as soon as the man touched the bones of Elisha, he revived and stood on his feet.

 

HERE is Miracle Number 22, the final recorded miracle God did through Elisha's ministry. Remarkable, isn't it, that God would do this? There is no prayer here, no expectation that God would go to a dead Gentile, one who likely had little knowledge of God and "breathe into his nostrils the breath of life" (Gen 2:8). Yet, God acted into this man's life in the same way he created Adam, the same way he would act into his Son's dead human body some 700 years!  

    We often speak of Jesus' resurrection as a single life-raising event in the Bible and in history. But there are many more. We know Jesus raised at least three people to life. We have seen both Elijah and Elisha raise boys to life. Peter and Paul prayed, and dead bodies came to life. In the world today, there are numerous accounts of resurrections. My wife, Barb, has seen a little boy return from the dead and into life.

    Do you believe this? Do you trust that God is life? Do you have faith he formed and created all things, to even breathe life into the first man? He did so, and he still does so as a sign and wonder to strengthen believers and to witness to unbelievers.

    Even more, the Heavenly Father offers his breath of life as an eternal breath through our faith in Jesus Christ. Graciously, the Holy Spirit berates new life into our souls born dead in Adam's sin. Gloriously, the Spirit is a wind of life, resurrection and power to eternal life.

    How's your faith today? Do you believe God is your eternal breath of life? What will you do in response?

Prayer: Touch me, Father, that I will rise up from life-killing doubts, fears and weariness that cause my soul to die. Touch me, Jesus, that I am alive in your love. Touch me, Spirit, that I live in the power of the Almighty God. In your name I pray, amen.

November 30

Go Full Out

2 Kings 13:15-19 And Elisha said to Joash, "Take a  bow and arrows." So he took a bow and arrows. 16 Then he said to the king of Israel, "Draw the bow," and he drew it. And Elisha laid his hands on the king's hands. 17 And he said, "Open the window eastward," and he opened it. Then Elisha said, "Shoot," and he shot. And he said, "The Lord's arrow of victory, the arrow of victory over Syria! For you shall fight the Syrians in Aphek until you have made an end of them." 18 And he said, "Take the arrows," and he took them. And he said to the king of Israel, "Strike the ground with them." And he struck three times and stopped. 19 Then the man of God was angry with him and said, "You should have struck five or six times; then you would have struck down Syria until you had made an end of it, but now you will strike down Syria only three times."

HERE is a good place we could ask, "What's wrong with striking the arrows three times to the ground? How was Joash supposed to know what was required of him? How much would have satisfied the Lord?"

    The way we can answer the questions is to consider how much passion is required in the world to lead for Jesus today. We all have heard accounts of people who have done great things for the Lord. The common threads in these faithful lives is that each faced great opposition from the world (and sometimes inside the church) and their great passion for the Lord took them through the trials.

    We certainly see such trial and passionate perseverance in Jesus' life. What agony he experienced. What passion he demonstrated to fulfill the Father's will on the cross. We read Acts to see the Apostles' and early teachers' passion for Jesus. No thing could stop them! We consider people of faith whose name are known as "great Christians", and we must remember how they sacrificed a great deal - even their lives - for their love for Jesus. All of us as Jesus' disciples must be passionately persistent to fulfill the Great Commission that the church will continue to grow and teach of Jesus.

    Joash, though, seemed to miss the passion. I don't think a good king, truly desiring to obey God and be passionate for God would only strike an arrow three times to the ground. Given such a command from a Prophet, a godly, I believe a passionate leader would strike the ground until the arrow broke. This Miracle Number 21 in Elisha's ministry is a prophecy of limitation to ambivalent Joash. Joash's weak physical action revealed a weak heart. God would limit his victories.

    God wants passion in our hearts. He creates us new in Christ Jesus that we become a sharp arrow into the enemies of God. The Son went to the cross that we would be his children. We must passionately strike the world for his salvation to point the world to the final victory recorded in Revelation 11:15 Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, "The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever."  

    There is no complacency, no half-hearted living for the King in the Kingdom of God.

Prayer: Lord God, grant me passion that I am willing to be broken to faithfully serve you. In Jesus' name, amen.

November 27

The Prophet's Grief

2 Kings 8:7-15 Now Elisha came to Damascus. Ben-hadad the king of Syria was sick. And when it was told him, "The man of God has come here," 8 the king said to Hazael, "Take a present with you and go to meet the man of God, and inquire of the Lord through him, saying, 'Shall I recover from this sickness?'" 9 So Hazael went to meet Elisha, and took a present with him, all kinds of goods of Damascus, forty camel loads. When he came and stood before Elisha, he said, "Your son Ben-hadad king of Syria has sent me to you, saying, 'Shall I recover from this sickness?'" 10 And Elisha said to him, "Go, say to him, 'You shall certainly recover,' but the Lord has shown me that he shall certainly die." 11 And he fixed his gaze and stared at him, until he was embarrassed. And the man of God wept. 12 And Hazael said, "Why does my lord weep?" He answered, "Because I know the evil that you will do to the people of Israel. You will set on fire their fortresses, and you will kill their young men with the sword and dash in pieces their little ones and rip open their pregnant women." 13 And Hazael said, "What is your servant, who is but a dog, that he should do this great thing?" Elisha answered, "The Lord has shown me that you are to be king over Syria." 14 Then he departed from Elisha and came to his master, who said to him, "What did Elisha say to you?" And he answered, "He told me that you would certainly recover." 15 But the next day he took the bed cloth and dipped it in water and spread it over his face, till he died. And Hazael became king in his place.

THIS is a hard story, isn't it? These are the kinds of stories in the Bible most of us would rather avoid. It speaks too much of mankind's hard heart and God's judgment against sin. Once again we see how God used Syria to judge Israel. Elisha stood before Hazael, the man who would wreak havoc on Elisha's people. (This is told in 2 Kings 9-13. A summary of Hazael's reign is 2 Kings 10:32 In those days the Lord began to cut off parts of Israel. Hazael defeated them throughout the territory of Israel.)

     Through God's Miracle Number 20 through Elisha, God revealed Israel's punishment, and all Elisha could do was to weep for his people. He knew there was no holding back the Lord's declared will to destroy the evil in Israel.

     The Bible's teachings of these past few days are difficult to read and to consider. We revolt against war's horrible atrocities. We find God's judgment foreign to our thinking as we in the church are taught to focus on such words gracious as 1 John 4:16 So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. Indeed, we are told to always approach unbelievers with God's love.

     And so we must. But in so doing, be sure to note, "whoever abides in love abides in God and God abides in him." Israel did not abide in God's love. They detested his love for them. They despised his commands and rejected his offers to bless them. They ignored his holiness. They forgot his majesty. They dismissed the glorious truth that he had called them unto himself. They placed the eternal God on the same level as manmade idols. They sinned grievously.

     Are you as Elisha? Do you know without doubt the Lord will judge those who forget God? Do you weep for the unrepentant sinners around you? Do you pray that God will awaken them to his salvation? Do you love them enough to tell the unsaved of God's judgment?

Prayer: Lord of Heaven and earth, I weep over my sin and call on your power to forgive me, to heal me of my transgressions. I weep over sin in the world. I pray for your power to awaken the world to your eternal salvation. In Jesus' name, amen.

November 25

Four Times Saved

 

2 Kings 8:1-6 Now Elisha had said to the woman whose son he had restored to life, "Arise, and depart with your household, and sojourn wherever you can, for the Lord has called for a famine, and it will come upon the land for seven years." 2 So the woman arose and did according to the word of the man of God. She went with her household and sojourned in the land of the Philistines seven years. 3 And at the end of the seven years, when the woman returned from the land of the Philistines, she went to appeal to the king for her house and her land. 4 Now the king was talking with Gehazi the servant of the man of God, saying, "Tell me all the great things that Elisha has done." 5 And while he was telling the king how Elisha had restored the dead to life, behold, the woman whose son he had restored to life appealed to the king for her house and her land. And Gehazi said, "My lord, O king, here is the woman, and here is her son whom Elisha restored to life." 6 And when the king asked the woman, she told him. So the king appointed an official for her, saying, "Restore all that was hers, together with all the produce of the fields from the day that she left the land until now."

THE Scripture goes back in time a bit to a time before Gehazi violated Elisha's trust (2 Kings 5).  Again we see Elisha ministering to the Shunammite woman as he did in 2 Kings 4. I encourage you to reread this chapter to see the ways God rewarded this faithful woman.

          To summarize, God had brought two life-giving miracles for this woman through Elisha. First, God gave to her a son. Second, the Lord resurrected her son when he suddenly died from an illness.

          Now see her faith in action. As during Elijah's ministry, God judged unrepentant Israel through a drought. In God's Miracle Number 18, Elisha warned the Shunammite, so she could be safe among the Philistines for 7 years. (Consider there was no drought on Israel's enemy.) Faithfully the Shunammite acted. She believed the Prophet's warnings. She was saved.

          Then in Miracle Number 19 God rewarded the Shunammite woman even more. Do you see God's timing here? Gehazi was telling Joram of the Shunammite's son's resurrection. She then walked into the room during the conversation. Joram apparently is impressed that she is under God's care. King Joram restored the Shunammite's property to her possession, and he ordered that she receive 7 years of the income from the land!

          Two things to note here: First, God's timing is perfect. Gehazi and the Shunammite were in Joram's presence under God's sovereign plan for her faithful life. Second, be faithful to believe God's Word spoken into your life. When you hear God speak, go and do what he says. The Shunammite heard God's mercy, and she believed. She lived in his blessings. Joram heard of God's mercy, but he never believed. He would die under God's curse.

          In closing, you may ask, "What is a word from God? How do I hear him?" Well, what are you reading on this page and hearing in your heart right now? What has his Scripture revealed to you? Don't just sit there and think about it. Learn what it says, then faithfully go do it.

Prayer: Thank you God for revealing your will into my life. May I truly pray, "Thy will be done on earth as it is Heaven." May I understand how that prayer applies to me. Amen.

November 24

Consequences

2 Kings 7:17-19 Now the king had appointed the captain on whose hand he leaned to have charge of the gate. And the people trampled him in the gate, so that he died, as the man of God had said when the king came down to him. 18 For when the man of God had said to the king, "Two seahs of barley shall be sold for a shekel, and a seah of fine flour for a shekel, about this time tomorrow in the gate of Samaria," 19 the captain had answered the man of God, "If the Lord himself should make windows in heaven, could such a thing be?" And he had said, "You shall see it with your own eyes, but you shall not eat of it." 20 And so it happened to him, for the people trampled him in the gate and he died.

Yesterday's Scripture was a picture of Heaven's eternal, glorious salvation of saved souls. This passage is a picture of eternal judgment and the death of unsaved souls. The captain had denied God's power. He had no faith to say such faith confessions as 2 Corinthians 9:15 "Thanks be to God for his inexpressible gift!"  There stood the captain at Samaria's gate. He saw the empty Syrian camp full of plenty before him, but he could not go. God judged his unbelief, and he died.

          Too often we diminish the consequence of unbelief. Even worse, too many are taught there is no consequence to say, "I don't believe the Bible is true." We don't like to talk about judgment and condemnation. We find it more comfortable to refrain from telling the entire Bible's truth that clearly tells us God will judge sin. And God will save those who confess and call on his name.

          Yes, there is a difference. Otherwise, why would Jesus have come? Why the cross? Why, indeed, the Bible?

          How many people are told, but do not believe "the Lord himself should make windows in heaven" to save them? Countless millions of people have heard and denied the truth. What do we as believers as Jesus' disciples do?

          We keep telling the truth - the whole truth of sin, Savior and salvation. Then we rest on the Sovereign Lord to use the truth to save. Be urgent to tell. Be at peace to know you have proclaimed God's truth. Pray for the unbelieving in your life.

Prayer: Our Father in Heaven, may we keep your name holy to tell of our need for you and your grace to save souls from death. Grant our tongues the love to speak to the world 1 Corinthians 15:56 "The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." In Jesus' name, amen. 

2 Kings 7:14-16 So the kings' servants took two horsemen, and the king sent them after the army of the Syrians, saying, "Go and see." 15 So they went after them as far as the Jordan, and behold, all the way was littered with garments and equipment that the Syrians had thrown away in their haste. And the messengers returned and told the king. 16 Then the people went out and plundered the camp of the Syrians. So a seah of fine flour was sold for a shekel, and two seahs of barley for a shekel, according to the word of the Lord.

 

IT has been a miraculous 24 hours in Samaria, the capital city of Israel. The city was under siege from the Syrian army. People were starving to death. King Joram wanted to kill Elisha, who had prophesied God would save Samaria. Elisha then faithfully reconfirmed God would save the city, and it would happen the next day. Then four lepers with a very dim ray of hope they would survive went into the enemy Syrian camp to find food.

    Wondrously, the lepers found the camp empty! God had raised fear in their hearts, and they went home. The lepers reported the good news to King Joram, who said, "It's a trick." Joram's servants, though, said, "Let's check it out." So the servants go. They find the lepers are telling the truth. But the king's servants do not stop there. They follow the enemy's trail to the Jordan River. They see only remnants of things the Syrians dropped in their retreat. The Syrians are gone out of Israel! Praise the Lord; he has delivered Samaria's citizens from evil!

    The city hears the good news. Eagerly they believe, and they go out into the abandoned Syrian camp. It is full of food and valuable items. Just as Elisha had prophesied, food is suddenly bountiful and cheap. The Lord's Word has come true.

    In this, God's Miracle Number 12 through Elisha's ministry, God saves his people from death into physical salvation. Certainly we see here a picture of what it is to be "born again" into spiritual salvation. We are born starved of God's spiritual food. Without Jesus, the Bread of Life, we die an eternal death. But then miraculously God acted, so new life bounteously comes to our souls. And now he sends servants to tell the good news.

    Jesus teaches us about God's miraculous salvation in John 3:5-7 "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Do not wonder that I said to you, 'You must be born again.'" Praise the Lord; he has delivered his chosen people from evil!

    In this week of Thanksgiving (For readers in Africa, this Thursday is a holiday in the U.S. called "Thanksgiving". It was originally designed to give thanks to God for our bounty here in the U.S.) when someone asks you, "For what are you thankful?" will you answer, "I am thankful for the miracle of my salvation, that I can consume the Bread of Life, the gospel of Jesus Christ. I thank God that I am born again in the power of the Holy Spirit." Why would you not say that? What else is so important?

Prayer: Lord God, how can I ever take you for granted? How can I not think of you when people ask me, "For what are you thankful?" I pray this week, especially, I will tell people of your marvelous bounty of life. In Jesus' name, amen.

2 Kings 7:13 And one of his servants said, "Let some men take five of the remaining horses, seeing that those who are left here will fare like the whole multitude of Israel who have already perished. Let us send and see."

WHEN we looked two weeks ago at Naaman, the Syrian leader God cured of leprosy, do you remember it was his servants who urged him to follow Elisha's instructions? Naaman was insulted that Elisha told him to bathe in the Jordan River. His servants, though, implored him to believe in the instructions from the man of God.

    Here again a servant steps in to speak faith to an unbeliever. In a sense, this faithful servant is as the lepers who got up and went into the Syrian camp. The servant speaks wisdom. He has a plan. He offers a solution to the question, "Is this for real?" The servant has hope.

    Are you this type of servant for Jesus Christ? Knowing the Bible's teachings, we must faithfully uphold and speak God's Word to encourage, even implore unbelievers to step into the good news of Jesus' salvation. Confidently we are to speak to them of the ways Jesus has changed our lives. Lovingly, we can tell them of sin's terrible consequences as displayed everyday in the news and the lives of friends and loved ones.      Wonderfully, we get to speak the good news of Jesus crucified, died, risen and ascended.

    Believe in God's good news plan of salvation. Offer his plan to those who need to be saved. Be a true servant of Jesus Christ. Love God and love others enough to tell the good news to those who even say, "it's a trap."

Prayer: Lord God, prepare ears to hear and hearts to believe in your great plan of salvation. In Jesus' name, amen.

2 Kings 7:10-12 So they came and called to the gatekeepers of the city and told them, "We came to the camp of the Syrians, and behold, there was no one to be seen or heard there, nothing but the horses tied and the donkeys tied and the tents as they were." 11 Then the gatekeepers called out, and it was told within the king's household. 12 And the king rose in the night and said to his servants, "I will tell you what the Syrians have done to us. They know that we are hungry. Therefore they have gone out of the camp to hide themselves in the open country, thinking, 'When they come out of the city, we shall take them alive and get into the city.'"

DOES the king's reaction sound familiar? Perhaps based on yesterday's teaching, you were encouraged to speak to someone of Jesus. Then they said something like this, "Are you kidding me? That's ridiculous. The Bible is too restrictive. I'll choose my own way to Heaven."

    That's essentially King Joram's response to the lepers' good news. He thinks it's a trap. He has ignored the words from God's Prophet Elisha that God would deliver Samaria from the deadly siege. Elisha had even said it would happen on this day Joram heard the lepers' good news. But when he hears the leper's report, Joram's response is essentially, "That's ridiculous. It's a trap. I'll decide what we need to do to overcome Syria."

    Yes, the gospel message is good news, too good to be true. Can it be that Jesus saves? Can it be salvation is from God's grace gift of faith to us? Many like Joram will deny God's grace to save. They will point to Christianity as a crutch, a trap to imprison them and keep them from enjoying sensual pleasures. Surely they can live anyway they want. Heaven is for everyone!

    But we must be firm to hold to the truth. Stand on Jesus' enormous love. Be steadfast in such teachings of our faith as Romans 5:7-8 "For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die—8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us."  

    God has done something we don't deserve. Accept, then, in his love. Acknowledge his grace. Trust in his work. Receive his truth. Confess, "I believe!" and be prepared for the blessings he has prepared for you.

Prayer: Holy Spirit, when I tell the good news, "Jesus saves!" move hearts to receive the blessings of the Father's salvation. In Jesus' name, amen.

2 Kings 7:8 And when these lepers came to the edge of the camp, they went into a tent and ate and drank, and they carried off silver and gold and clothing and went and hid them. Then they came back and entered another tent and carried off things from it and went and hid them. 9 Then they said to one another, "We are not doing right. This day is a day of good news. If we are silent and wait until the morning light, punishment will overtake us. Now therefore come; let us go and tell the king's household."  

TWO days ago I wrote about these four lepers' attitude to get up and go. They chose to enter the enemy Syrian camp amid the likelihood they would be killed. Their slim hope of survival was better than the sure death of starvation in besieged Samaria. Now see the bounty of their Spirit-led hope! In God's grace they have essentially become wealthy men, filled with earthily riches in a matter of hours.

          But as God acted to stir their minds to go to the Syrian camp, he now stirs their minds to consider, "We are not doing right." They realized they were keeping from the king and the city the good news of the bounty they had discovered.

          As we have seen God's grace to save these men, we now see a demonstration of what we are to do with God's grace gift of life to us. Jesus clearly tells his disciples what to do with his good news in Acts 1:8 "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth." 

          As the lepers realized they must be witnesses to the city of Samaria the good news of physical plenty, you and I must witness the good news of Jesus' salvation to the world. To keep the gospel's riches to ourselves would not be "doing right".

          I know, many do not want to hear the good news. But would you rather do what sinners want or what the Savior commands? To tell of Jesus' salvation, we must seek the Lord's help. We can pray such a discipleship prayer as, "Lord, show me today who I need to tell about Jesus." And then we must be ready to do what's right. We must be faithful to get up and see who the Lord will bring to us.

          The only right thing to do is to give God's gracious bounty he has given to our souls.

Prayer: Lord God, bring to me today someone who needs to know the Good News of your gracious salvation. In Jesus' name, amen.

2 Kings 7:6-7 For the Lord had made the army of the Syrians hear the sound of chariots and of horses, the sound of a great army, so that they said to one another, "Behold, the king of Israel has hired against us the kings of the Hittites and the kings of Egypt to come against us." 7 So they fled away in the twilight and abandoned their tents, their horses, and their donkeys, leaving the camp as it was, and fled for their lives.

THE Lord God has chased away Syria's army. They were prepared to destroy the city of Samaria that had been under the burden of a deadly siege. Even more, God has prepared a bounty of food, animals and shelter for the people living in the city of Samaria. Soon the people will hear the good news of their salvation. They will feast on the Lord's bounty. God's grace is about to pour forth to Samaria.

    There are two ways I see the Lord's amazing grace here. First, the people of Samaria did not deserve God's mercy. As we have seen in past readings, King Joram of Israel, along with all of the kings of Israel, led his people in idol worship. God's people lived in constant sin, neglecting their true God. Still, God delivered his people from certain death and conquest. By his grace they were physically saved.

    Second, we see God's amazing grace in the bounty of provisions. There is more in the Syrian camp than just enough to get by for a day or so. The Israelites will find enough food for days. They will also discover other wealth by which they can purchase goods. Samaria's starving city will be reenergized and life will begin anew out of the siege and into plenty for them.

    Now let's ask, "Do these two grace acts mean we can do whatever we desire and still be saved?" No ,it does not. We must remember the many who starved to death in Samaria under God's judgment. Today, many starve unto eternal death without faith in Jesus.  

    Do you live in God's gracious salvation? Then celebrate with eternal gratitude these words we often hear from Ephesians 2:8 "For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God." Yes, rejoice and know that graciously, God has called you out of sin's siege to enter the Kingdom of eternal bounty.

Prayer: O Lord, we pray for those who physically hunger this day. Grant them the bounty of your provisions. We pray for those who spiritually hunger. Grant them the bounty of your Kingdom. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.