A Needy Army (2 Kings 3:9-14)

4/8/2011 5:27:05 AM

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY

 

My Worship Time                                                                              Focus:  A needy army

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  2Kings 3:9-14

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            Message of the verses:  “9  So the king of Israel went with the king of Judah and the king of Edom; and they made a circuit of seven days’ journey, and there was no water for the army or for the cattle that followed them. 10  Then the king of Israel said, "Alas! For the LORD has called these three kings to give them into the hand of Moab." 11  But Jehoshaphat said, "Is there not a prophet of the LORD here, that we may inquire of the LORD by him?" And one of the king of Israel’s servants answered and said, "Elisha the son of Shaphat is here, who used to pour water on the hands of Elijah." 12  Jehoshaphat said, "The word of the LORD is with him." So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat and the king of Edom went down to him. 13  Now Elisha said to the king of Israel, "What do I have to do with you? Go to the prophets of your father and to the prophets of your mother." And the king of Israel said to him, "No, for the LORD has called these three kings together to give them into the hand of Moab." 14  Elisha said, "As the LORD of hosts lives, before whom I stand, were it not that I regard the presence of Jehoshaphat the king of Judah, I would not look at you nor see you.”

            As I begun to study the section of Scripture that speaks about Elijah and about Elisha the commentary from Dr. Wiersbe was enlightening to my heart as he described Elijah like John the Baptist and Elisha more like the Lord Jesus Christ.  Christ would get into the face of those who opposed when the time came to do it and He did it fearlessly; the same way that Elisha got in the face of the king of Israel, for the king of Israel was blaming the God of heaven for the fix they were in.

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:   If there is one thing in my walk with the Lord that I need to improve on, and I am sure that there are many things that I need to improve on, it is having the courage to speak up when the situation warrants it, and relying on the Lord to give me strength to do it.  I want to be more like Elisha, more like my Lord.

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:

 

1.       Fear the Lord and Him alone and depend upon Him so I don’t fear others whom I should not fear.

2.      Continue to learn contentment.

3.      Remember that the battle rages on, and I am in need of the spiritual armor.

4.      Give myself to the Lord for worship and service.

 

4/8/2011 5:50:35 AM

A Costly Rebellion (2 Kings 3:1-8)

4/7/2011 5:30:15 AM

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY

 

My Worship Time                                                                              Focus:  A costly rebellion

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  2Kings 3:1-8

 

            Message of the verses:  “1 ¶  Now Jehoram the son of Ahab became king over Israel at Samaria in the eighteenth year of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, and reigned twelve years. 2  He did evil in the sight of the LORD, though not like his father and his mother; for he put away the sacred pillar of Baal which his father had made. 3  Nevertheless, he clung to the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, which he made Israel sin; he did not depart from them. 4  Now Mesha king of Moab was a sheep breeder, and used to pay the king of Israel 100,000 lambs and the wool of 100,000 rams. 5  But when Ahab died, the king of Moab rebelled against the king of Israel.

    6 ¶  And King Jehoram went out of Samaria at that time and mustered all Israel. 7  Then he went and sent word to Jehoshaphat the king of Judah, saying, "The king of Moab has rebelled against me. Will you go with me to fight against Moab?" And he said, "I will go up; I am as you are, my people as your people, my horses as your horses." 8  He said, "Which way shall we go up?" And he answered, "The way of the wilderness of Edom."

 

            The first paragraph tells who is king of Israel and who is king of Judah, and it give the background for what is about to take place in the land of Israel.  In Dr. Wiersbe’s commentary he actually does very little commentary on the first three verses of this chapter an so I will pick it up with verses four through eight.

            After Ahab’s death and a short reign of his son Ahaziah’s Moab decided to rebel against Israel because of the great amount of sheep and wool that they had to pay to them each year.  King Joram did not want to lose this free income and since his brother-in-law was ruling Israel with his father Jehoshaphat he decided to go to war against Moab with the help of Judah.  They decided to go and attack Moab from the south and in doing this Israel’s army had to go through Judah to do this.  The southern border of Moab was more venerable than the northern border.

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I see no word in this section about consulting the Lord before this planned battle. 

            There are times in my life when I go off and do what seems to be the best thing for me to do without praying and asking the Lord’s counsel and this is something I need to stop.  God has the greatest of wisdom an so I need always to seek the Lord when doing things.

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:

 

1.       Give myself to the Lord for worship and service, and seek the Lord’s counsel in all decisions I make.

2.      Continue to learn contentment.

3.      Remember the battle rages on and I am in need of the spiritual armor, especially to protect my mind.

4.      Trust the Lord to direct my path today.    4/7/2011 5:47:45 AM

God Honors Faith PT-3 (2 Kings 2:23-25)

4/6/2011 5:28:35 AM

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY

 

My Worship Time                                                                  Focus:  God honors faith PT-3

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  2Kings 2:23-25

 

            Message of the verses:  “23  Then he went up from there to Bethel; and as he was going up by the way, young lads came out from the city and mocked him and said to him, "Go up, you baldhead; go up, you baldhead!" 24  When he looked behind him and saw them, he cursed them in the name of the LORD. Then two female bears came out of the woods and tore up forty-two lads of their number. 25  He went from there to Mount Carmel, and from there he returned to Samaria.”

 

            The KJV translates “little children” and the NASB translates “young lads” when describing the boys who were mocking Elisha.  In the Hebrew it means young men from the age of twelve to thirty, people who knew the difference from right and wrong.  The term “go up” refers to Elijah going up to heaven and these young men wanted to see Elisha go up too so he would be out of their hair.  The term “baldhead” was not something that the Jews liked to hear for they liked having hair and it was a disgrace to have their hair fall out.  In the Bible God spoke of having wild animals come after those who did not follow the Law, and so these bears came and mauled these young men leaving scars for all to see what happens when they did broke the Law of God.

            Elisha’s ministry was a turning point in Israel and there were other times when this happened and special judgment from the Lord came upon people.  When the tabernacle was built two of Aaron’s sons died for disobeying the Lord.  When Israel began to conquer the Promised Land the Lord judged Achan for hiding things he has stolen from the Lord, and at the beginning of the Church age Ananias and Sapphira lied to the Holy Spirit and the apostles and were killed.

            Elisha now leaves to where Elijah had his great victory and then on to the capital of Israel when he continues his ministry for the Lord.

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  It is good to be reminded of the things that have been blessings in my life from the Lord so that my faith is increased, but after that I need to move on to what the Lord has from me to accomplish for Him at this present time.  Aruba was a wonderful experience spiritually, but now we are in Kauai and need to follow what the Lord has for us to do at this time.

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:

 

1.      Remember each day is a new experience that has new challenges and new blessings from the Lord.

2.      Remember that the battle rages on and it starts in the mind, and I am in great need of the spiritual armor.

3.      Continue to learn contentment.

4.      Give myself to the Lord for worship and service this day.

5.      Seek the Holy Spirit to search my heart and see if there are any unconfessed sin in it.

 

4/6/2011 5:47:38 AM 

God Honors Faith PT-2 (2 Kings 2:19-22)

4/5/2011 5:26:59 AM

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY

 

My Worship Time                                                                  Focus:  God honors faith Pt. 2

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  2Kings 2:19-22

 

            Message of the verses:  “19 ¶  Then the men of the city said to Elisha, "Behold now, the situation of this city is pleasant, as my lord sees; but the water is bad and the land is unfruitful." 20  He said, "Bring me a new jar, and put salt in it." So they brought it to him. 21  He went out to the spring of water and threw salt in it and said, "Thus says the LORD, ’I have purified these waters; there shall not be from there death or unfruitfulness any longer.’" 22  So the waters have been purified to this day, according to the word of Elisha which he spoke.”

            The second sub-section is entitled “Healing bad waters,” and is the subject of today’s SD.

 

            Dr. Wiersbe points out the importance of salt to the Jewish people in his commentary on this section of Scripture.  "All the offerings of the holy gifts, which the sons of Israel offer to the LORD, I have given to you and your sons and your daughters with you, as a perpetual allotment. It is an everlasting covenant of salt before the LORD to you and your descendants with you."  This Scripture from Numbers 18:19 shows that the OT Jews thought of salt in terms of God’s covenant.  Also they thought of it as personal purity as seen in Lev.2:13, “’Every grain offering of yours, moreover, you shall season with salt, so that the salt of the covenant of your God shall not be lacking from your grain offering; with all your offerings you shall offer salt.” 

            In this miracle of faith the salt did not purify these waters but the Lord did it in response to the faith of Elisha.

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  Faith is an extremely important aspect of the Christian faith, and also of my walk with the Lord.  However I cannot get the horse before the cart, for it is the Lord who has given me faith to believe in Him, and not the other way around.  A verse, I believe in Colossians speaks of walking with the Lord in the same way that one comes to Him and that is by grace through faith.  I must live the Christian faith by grace through faith the same way I came into it, but must remember that it is the Lord who gives me both to exercise before Him.

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:

 

1.       Give myself to the Lord for worship and for service this day.

2.      Trust the Lord to work out the details of the great problems with the job I am working on. 

3.      Give me wisdom to be a help for this job.

4.      Remember the Spiritual battle that I am in, and that it starts in the mind, and that I need the Spiritual Armor on at all times.

5.      Continue to learn contentment.

 

4/5/2011 5:46:53 AM

God Honors Faith from 2 Kings 2:13-18

4/4/2011 5:30:19 AM

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY

 

My Worship Time                                                                              Focus:  God honors faith

 

Bible reading & Meditation                                                            Reference:  2Kings 2:13-18

 

            Message of the verses:  “13 ¶  He also took up the mantle of Elijah that fell from him and returned and stood by the bank of the Jordan. 14  He took the mantle of Elijah that fell from him and struck the waters and said, "Where is the LORD, the God of Elijah?" And when he also had struck the waters, they were divided here and there; and Elisha crossed over. 15  Now when the sons of the prophets who were at Jericho opposite him saw him, they said, "The spirit of Elijah rests on Elisha." And they came to meet him and bowed themselves to the ground before him. 16  They said to him, "Behold now, there are with your servants fifty strong men, please let them go and search for your master; perhaps the Spirit of the LORD has taken him up and cast him on some mountain or into some valley." And he said, "You shall not send." 17  But when they urged him until he was ashamed, he said, "Send." They sent therefore fifty men; and they searched three days but did not find him. 18  They returned to him while he was staying at Jericho; and he said to them, "Did I not say to you, ’Do not go’?’”

 

            Today’s lesson begins the forth main point which is the last truth about the Lord that Dr. Wiersbe teaches about in this first chapter of his book.  Today’s SD’s sub-point is entitled “Crossing the river.”  Dr. Wiersbe writes these words at the beginning of this last main point, “From now on, Elisha’s faith would put him in touch with the power of God and enable him to accomplish God’s work in Israel.  Three miracles are recorded here, each with spiritual messages that we need to understand today.”

            Dr. Wiersbe points out that there was a reason that Elijah was taken up to heaven on the West side of the Jordan river and that reason was that that Elisha would have to cross back over the river and he would do it by trusting the God of Israel to open up the river just like He did for Elisha and also like He did for Joshua.  Both incidents showed the people of Israel that God had appointed a new leader in Israel; Joshua who took the place of Moses and now Elisha who took the place of Elijah.  Elisha would have the faith in God in a similar way that Elisha would have, but he would do more miracles through his faith in the Lord.

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I too would like to have the kind of faith that both Elijah and Elisha had in the Lord so that I would be equipped to do His work in His way for His glory.

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:

 

1.       I must remember that I am in a battle, and that the enemy is strong, but the Lord will one day destroy him with the breath of His mouth.  In the mean time I must demonstrate faith in the Lord to protect me and to use the spiritual armor to do so as His Word commands me to do.  I must also remember that the temptations by the enemy first come to my mind and so I must keep my mind clean of sin.

4/4/2011 5:53:26 AM

           

God Rewards Service (2 Kings 2:7-12)

4/3/2011 8:00:13 AM

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY

 

My Worship Time                                                                  Focus:  God rewards service

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  2Kings 2:7-12

 

            Message of the verse:  “7  Now fifty men of the sons of the prophets went and stood opposite them at a distance, while the two of them stood by the Jordan. 8  Elijah took his mantle and folded it together and struck the waters, and they were divided here and there, so that the two of them crossed over on dry ground.

    “9 ¶  When they had crossed over, Elijah said to Elisha, "Ask what I shall do for you before I am taken from you." And Elisha said, "Please, let a double portion of your spirit be upon me." 10  He said, "You have asked a hard thing. Nevertheless, if you see me when I am taken from you, it shall be so for you; but if not, it shall not be so." 11  As they were going along and talking, behold, there appeared a chariot of fire and horses of fire which separated the two of them. And Elijah went up by a whirlwind to heaven. 12  Elisha saw it and cried out, "My father, my father, the chariots of Israel and its horsemen!" And he saw Elijah no more. Then he took hold of his own clothes and tore them in two pieces.”

 

            Dr. Wiersbe has brought up some very interesting points about this Scripture that I had not thought of before, and I suppose that this is actually the case with many of the Scriptures that I study with him.  For instance when Elisha asked Elijah for a double portion of Elijah’s spirit Dr. Wiersbe writes the following about it:  “the only inheritance he desired was a double measure of his master’s inner spirit of courage, faithfulness, faith in God, and obedience to God’s will.  In saying this, Elisha was accepting the prophetic ministry that Elijah had begun and declaring that he would carry it on to completion, with God’s help.”  The request that Elisha made was probably based upon Deuteronomy 21:17 “But he shall acknowledge the firstborn, the son of the unloved, by giving him a double portion of all that he has, for he is the beginning of his strength; to him belongs the right of the firstborn.’”

Elisha must have had this request already thought out, and it was the Lord who gave it to him, and the way that he knew that he would receive it was when he saw Elijah being transported to heaven.  Elisha was probably the only one who saw this for the others would go on looking for Elijah afterwards.

            It was fitting that the Lord transported Elijah to heaven with a fiery chariot and fiery horses, for Elijah was the prophet of fire as was demonstrated on three instances.

            Elijah was a great prophet while here on earth and as I said before I truly believe that he along with Moses will be the two witnesses’ from Revelation as neither one of them finished their ministry while here on earth the first time. 

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I am thankful to the Lord for the timing of my study on this great prophet Elijah, for God’s timing is always perfect even though at times it does not seem that way. 

            I would like to focus in on how quick Elisha answered Elijah with the request he gave him.  As stated above Elisha must have been thinking about this for some time, and I truly believe that it was the Lord who put this into his heart because this is what the Lord planed for him to have, but involved Elisha in this process by putting this in his heart.  If this request came to me from someone who could grant it, and that would mean it would actually come from God, then my request would be to be what Paul wrote to the Philippians, “Not that I speak from want, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am.”  I believe that contentment is one of the greatest gifts that the Lord could give to me, for in being content with all things as Paul stated then when troubles come I will be assured that God is truly in control and will work it out for my good and for His glory.  Paul learned this and I too have a desire to learn this.

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:

 

1.      Continue to learn contentment.

2.      Remember that the battle that I face each day begins in my mind and I am to keep my mind on the Lord, and I am to keep my spiritual armor on each day.

3.      I give myself to the Lord for worship and service this day.

4.      I trust the Lord will give me wisdom for the job that He has called me to do.

 

4/3/2011 8:31:59 AM 

God Wants us to Remember (2 Kings 2:1-6)

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