4/1/2011 5:33:55 AM
SPIRITUAL DIARY
My Worship Time Focus: God wants us to remember
Bible Reading
& Meditation Reference: 2Kings 2:1-6
Message of the verses: “ 1 And
it came about when the LORD was about to take up Elijah by a whirlwind to
heaven, that Elijah went with Elisha from Gilgal. 2 Elijah said to Elisha,
"Stay here please, for the LORD has sent me as far as Bethel." But
Elisha said, "As the LORD lives and as you yourself live, I will not leave
you." So they went down to Bethel. 3 Then the sons of the prophets who
were at Bethel came out to Elisha and said to him, "Do you know that the
LORD will take away your master from over you today?" And he said, "Yes,
I know; be still." 4 Elijah said to him, "Elisha, please stay here,
for the LORD has sent me to Jericho." But he said, "As the LORD
lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you." So they came to
Jericho. 5 The sons of the prophets who were at Jericho approached Elisha and
said to him, "Do you know that the LORD will take away your master from
over you today?" And he answered, "Yes, I know; be still." 6
Then Elijah said to him, "Please stay here, for the LORD has sent me to
the Jordan." And he said, "As the LORD lives, and as you yourself
live, I will not leave you." So the two of them went on.”
Today’s
lesson or at least the first part of it which Dr. Wiersbe entitles “Taking
advantage of the present,” is a very painful reminder of things that happened
at GBC that caused me to leave. This
section of Scripture begins to tell the story of the day when Elijah was taken
up into heaven, which pictures the rapture of the Church, has three sub-titles
given to it by Warren Wiersbe. It must
be noted the differences between Elijah, and Elisha for that is an important
part of this lesson. Elijah was older
than Elisha, and he was more like John the Baptist, while Elisha was younger
and his personality was more like the Lord Jesus Christ, less fiery and
gentler. Despite their differences they
did get along and worked well together for at least ten years. Dr. Wiersbe points out that the younger
generation should make it their business to learn from the older, however there
seems to be a trend in our countries churches to want to get rid of the older
people and this will do great harm for the cause or Christ.
The
next sub-section is entitled “Preparing for the future.” During this last do of Elijah’s live on earth
he went to visit the “sons of the prophets” in three places and Elisha followed
along with him not wanting to miss any opportunity to continue to learn from
Elijah, and also passing a test of staying with him as he had told Elijah he
would do when he was first told to follow him.
“The
sons of the prophets” was like a bible school of today in that they learned
from older and wiser men so that they could in turn pass what they learned to
the next generation of believers. The
world is always one generation away from the extinction of believers and the
way to prevent this is to follow the Scriptures that teach us to teach the
younger generation. Paul speaks of this
to Timothy, and the Lord gave an example of this with His disciples, and Jude
writes “the faith…once for all delivered to the saints,” and it is the job of
the older generation to pass it on to the next generation as Elijah was doing.
The
last sub-point is entitled “Reviewing the past.” The places that Elijah went and Elisha
followed him were important places in the history of Israel. He went to Gilgal, Bethel, Jericho, and then
to the Jordan River. Dr. Wiersbe writes
“Our eternal God doesn’t reside in special places, but we who are creatures of
time and history need these visible reminders to help us remember and better
understand what God has done for His people. The past is not an anchor to hold
us back but a rudder to guide us and the Lord can use these ‘tangible memories’
to strengthen our faith. It is important
for us to remember what God did in the past and to pass this treasure along to
our children and grandchildren.”
Dr.
Wiersbe points out the things that were similar in the life of Moses and
Elijah, and there are a lot of these things to point out. Things like both opened up bodies of water,
calling down fire from heaven, seeing the Lord provide food for them, praying
to alter the weather, giving the Law and calling the nation to repentance, and
they both had unique endings to their lives here on earth. Both of them were with the Lord Jesus Christ
on the Mount of Transfiguration. And if
I can add one more thing that may happen to them together, and that is coming
back in the tribulation period as the two wittiness’s.
One
more thing that I would like to point out that was also pointed out by Dr.
Wiersbe, and that is that when Elijah realized that the end was near for his
life on earth he did not sit on his hands but walked many miles and spoke to
many people who would be carrying on doing the work of the Lord, and this is
unlike some people who believe that the Lord is coming soon and sit on their
hands and do nothing.
Spiritual meaning for my life today: Keeping busy for the Lord is one thing that
is pointed out in this lesson.
I am sad to come to the end of the study
of Elijah for the things that he went through in his life were in a very small
way things that I was going through in my life, and things that perhaps I am
still going through, and therefore the study of his life was a great
encouragement to me.
My Steps of
Faith for Today:
1.
Remember that
the battle is hard, but the victory is assured.
Use my spiritual armor.
2.
Keep busy for the Lord.
3.
Continue to learn contentment.
4/2/2011 7:51:08 AM
No comments:
Post a Comment