The God who Protects (2 Kings 6:15-17)

4/23/2011 8:06:07 AM

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY

 

My Worship Time                                                                  Focus:  The God who protects

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                  Reference:  2Kings 6:15-17

 

            Message of the verses:  “15  Now when the attendant of the man of God had risen early and gone out, behold, an army with horses and chariots was circling the city. And his servant said to him, "Alas, my master! What shall we do?" 16  So he answered, "Do not fear, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them." 17  Then Elisha prayed and said, "O LORD, I pray, open his eyes that he may see." And the LORD opened the servant’s eyes and he saw; and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.”

 

            The name of this young man is not told, but for sure it is not Gehazi, but perhaps a young man from the school of the prophets.  It is good to see that this young man has gotten up early, for that is a good habit to get into, and it is even better to study the Word of God in the morning when your mind is more clear and fresh.

            The young man goes to his master with the problem that he has, and I believe that Elisha knew what was going to happen even before it happened, for the Lord was communicating to Elisha what the king of Syria was going to do.  “Faith comes by hearing and hearing from the Word of God.”  This verse tells how faith is increased in the life of the believer, so that is one of the important reasons of staying in the Word of God, and doing it in the morning is the best time to do it.

            Dr. Wiersbe points out that Elisha may have been thinking of Psalm 27:3, “Though a host encamp against me, My heart will not fear; Though war arise against me, In spite of this I shall be confident.”  Or perhaps he could have been thinking of what Moses wrote in Deuteronomy 20:3-4, "He shall say to them, ’Hear, O Israel, you are approaching the battle against your enemies today. Do not be fainthearted. Do not be afraid, or panic, or tremble before them, for the LORD your God is the one who goes with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save you.’”

            Now let’s talk about angels, for it was angels that the young man saw when Elisha prayed to have his eyes open to see, as seen in verse 17b.  Dr. Wiersbe writes the following:  The angels are servants to God’s people (Heb. 1:14), and until we get to heaven, we will never fully know how much they have helped us.”  Jesus mentioned that he could ask His Father for many angels and He would have given them to Him.  The Bible has much to say about angels, both good and bad angels and this is just one of the times it can be seen.  God’s angels do the bidding of the Lord, and there are different ranks of angels, and even the Lord Jesus Christ before His incarnation was called the Angel of the Lord on different occasions. 

 

Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I wish to write about faith, and how the reading and studying of the Word of God increases my faith, for there are those who questioned me on why I study God’s Word most every day of my life and that it increases my faith in God is just one of the reasons why I study it, but a very important reason.

I must say that the quote from Dr. Wiersbe on when we get to heaven we will see how much the angels have aided us has been something I have often though about and am looking forward to.

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:

 

1.      Continue to see the Lord open my eyes as I study His Word so that I can apply it to my life.

2.      Continue to learn contentment.

3.      I give myself to the Lord for worship and for service.  4/23/2011 8:31:06 AM

The God who Sees (2 Kings 6:8-14)

4/22/2011 6:30:22 AM

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY

 

My Worship Time                                                                  Focus:  The God who sees

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  2Kings 6:8-14

 

            Message of the verses:  “  8 ¶  Now the king of Aram was warring against Israel; and he counseled with his servants saying, "In such and such a place shall be my camp." 9  The man of God sent word to the king of Israel saying, "Beware that you do not pass this place, for the Arameans are coming down there." 10  The king of Israel sent to the place about which the man of God had told him; thus he warned him, so that he guarded himself there, more than once or twice. 11  Now the heart of the king of Aram was enraged over this thing; and he called his servants and said to them, "Will you tell me which of us is for the king of Israel?" 12  One of his servants said, "No, 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."

    “13 ¶  So he said, "Go and see where he is, that I may send and take him." And it was told him, saying, "Behold, he is in Dothan." 14  He sent horses and chariots and a great army there, and they came by night and surrounded the city.”

 

            Today’s SD begins the forth chapter in Dr. Wiersbe’s commentary on 2Kings and he entitles it “The Battle is the Lord’s.”  Today’s lesson comes from the first main point of this chapter.

            The text is referring to the Syrian’s and the king is Ben Hadad.  The problem with him is that whenever he decides to attack Israel the prophet Elisha tells the king of Israel what he is about to do and therefore he believes that he has a spy in his midst, and the reason that he thinks this way is because that he is an unbeliever who worships idols and these idols cannot see so therefore he cannot understand the One True God of Israel.  Idols cannot see nor hear, nor walk, nor talk like the God of Israel.

            One of his officers tells the king that Elisha tells the king of Israel what he says while in his bedroom, and so the decision is to kill Elisha and so the king of Syria sends an army to surround the city that Elisha is in.  Now if Elisha knew what the king was going to do before he did it he also knew that the king would send the soldiers to kill him.  Does this cause fear to come over Elisha?  The answer is no, for Elisha was doing the will of the Lord and “When God’s servants are in His will and doing His work, they are immortal until their work is done.”  (Warren Wiersbe) 

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  Long before we came to Kauai we prayed that if the Lord did not want us to come here we would be content staying in Ohio.  There were many delays and we thought that maybe the Lord wanted us to stay home.  I believe the delays were so that I could witness to a couple of people and then the Lord would clear the way for us to leave.  Well we worked from Jan. to the first week of April when the job stopped for a while and we are now wondering if the Lord is going to send us home or if the job will start back up again and we continue to stay here.  I surely want the same kind of contentment that Elisha has in this passage, trusting the Lord in the circumstances that He has put me in, knowing that I am in His will for my life at this time.  I believe that this time off is also from the Lord and that when His time is right we will go back to work, so I am resting in the Lord, for He is in control of all of this.

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:

 

1.      Continue to learn contentment.

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

3.      Trust the Lord to see all of us through the hike we are planning to take today.

4.      Trust the Lord to give us good weather so we can have a good hike and for Sandy to have a good time today.

5.      Remember that the battle still rages on and I am in need of the spiritual armor so that I can stand.  4/22/2011 6:53:03 AM

The Student--Ministry Restored (2 Kings 6:1-7)

4/21/2011 7:24:11 AM

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY

 

My Worship Time                                                      Focus:  The student—ministry restored

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  2Kings 6:1-7

 

            Message of the verses:  “1 ¶  Now the sons of the prophets said to Elisha, "Behold now, the place before you where we are living is too limited for us. 2  "Please let us go to the Jordan and each of us take from there a beam, and let us make a place there for ourselves where we may live." So he said, "Go." 3  Then one said, "Please be willing to go with your servants." And he answered, "I shall go." 4  So he went with them; and when they came to the Jordan, they cut down trees. 5  But as one was felling a beam, the axe head fell into the water; and he cried out and said, "Alas, my master! For it was borrowed." 6  Then the man of God said, "Where did it fall?" And when he showed him the place, he cut off a stick and threw it in there, and made the iron float. 7  He said, "Take it up for yourself." So he put out his hand and took it.”

 

            A little background is in order here to help understand what is going on.  Back in chapter four we find that Elisha had done a miracle to make sure that the sons of the prophets did not die from the food they were eating, and this story picks up after that one.  Elisha was not only a miracle working prophet, but he was also a teacher to the young men in the schools.  This brings up the point of how important Christian education is, for without it the next generation would not know the things of the Lord.  2Timothy 2:2 shows this point in the NT setting, “The things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.”  It has been wisely said that we are always one generation away from losing the teachings of the Lord, and that is why they need to be taught and passed on.  Both D. L. Moody and Charles H. Spurgeon were not educated men, and the Lord used both to start schools that are still going on today.  They both saw the need of passing on to the next generation the things of God.

            The sons of the prophets needed to add on to their school at Jericho so being the kind shepherd type that Elisha was he went with them to the river to get the trees that were needed to build the school.  The story of the lost ax head is seen in this section, and one must look at it from the prospective of that time or one may miss what is going on.  Metal tools were scarce during that time and there was even a law about what would happen if an ax head came off and injured or killed someone.  The young man had borrowed this ax head and it would be very expensive to have to buy another, and so he came to Elisha and told him his problem.  He was smart enough to make sure he knew where it went into the river and so Elisha, through the power of God, did a miracle to retrieve the ax head.  This was important to the young man, and to Elisha, but it was also important to God, and so the ax head floated and the young man picked it up.

            In his commentary on this section Warren Wiersbe points out a couple of lessons that can be learned from this miracle from 2Kings.  The first point he makes is that all we have is borrowed from the Lord and we are but stewards of the things we have.  This would include our gifts and our abilities that we receive from the Lord.  Some may think that they learned them so they earned them, but it is the Lord who gives the ability and the talent to all. 

            Next is how we take care of the “tools” that the Lord has given to us.  I remember a passage, I think, is from 1Timothy where Paul exhorts Timothy to kindle the fire of the gifts that God had given to him.  In other words Timothy you have to use those gifts or take a chance on losing them, so start using them for the glory of the Lord.  There is a passage from Ecc. 10:10 that speaks of keeping our ax heads sharpened so that the work is not as hard and this applies to believers today.  We need to keep our spiritual tools sharpened so we can use them better, and this involves things like Bible Study, memorizing God’s Word, and meditating on it, listening to God’s servants preach, and also prayer, and doing all of this will help keep our “ax head” sharp for the work of the Lord.

            The ax-head was lost and the Lord can restore things that are lost in our life.  The important thing is to realize that you lost it, so one needs to take inventory of his life from time to time.

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I am not to work for the Lord without a cutting edge on my ax head.  It is easy in the rush, rush world to go around with a dull ax head and miss out on doing things for the Lord.  I love Eph. 2:10, “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.”  This follows on the footsteps of verses eight and nine which speak of how one is saved, but many miss verse ten.  This verse says to me that God has prepared for me work to do for Him, and in order for me to accomplish that work I must keep my walk with Him clean, I must study to show myself approved, and I must be willing to do this work or else I believe that the Lord will use someone else to do this work and this is something that I do not want to happen so keeping my “ax head” sharp is important.

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:

 

1.      Psalm 130:23-24 are important verses to remember and to apply to my life often:  “Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me and know my anxious thoughts; And see if there be any hurtful way in me, And lead me in the everlasting way.”

2.      Continue to learn contentment.  Phil. 4:11 “Not that I speak from want, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am.”

3.      I want to give myself to the Lord for worship and for service this day:  Romans 12:1-2 “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.  And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”

 

4/21/2011 8:14:30 AM

           

Gehazi--ministry Revoked (2 Kings 5:20-27)

4/20/2011 8:05:41 AM

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY

 

My Worship Time                                                                  Focus:  Gehazi—ministry revoked

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  2Kings 5:20-27

 

            Message of the verses:  This is the third section in Dr. Wiersbe’s commentary in this the forth chapter of his book and he entitles the first sub-section “He lied to himself and it covers verse 20:  “20 ¶  But Gehazi, the servant of Elisha the man of God, thought, ‘Behold, my master has spared this Naaman the Aramean, by not receiving from his hands what he brought. As the LORD lives, I will run after him and take something from him.’”

 

            "You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife or his male servant or his female servant or his ox or his donkey or anything that belongs to your neighbor."  This is the tenth commandment which is found in Exodus 20:17.  Luke 12:15 reads as follows, “And He said to them, "Take heed and beware of covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses." (NKJV)  And Philippians 4:11-12 has this to say, “11  Not that I speak from want, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. 12  I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need.”  I have either read or just figured out that the opposite of contentment is covetousness, and when one breaks the tenth commandment one can easily break all of the rest easily.  I think of what the Apostle Paul wrote in Romans chapter seven when he was explaining to all that he indeed had a sin nature for he wrote, “What shall we say then? Is the Law sin? May it never be! On the contrary, I would not have come to know sin except through the Law; for I would not have known about coveting if the Law had not said, "YOU SHALL NOT COVET."  One cannot covet something and at the same time live with contentment and this is exactly the problem that Gehazi had and this had really been showing its self for a while.  Not only did he break the tenth commandment but when he spoke “as the LORD lives” he broke the third commandment, for Gehazi seems to have no fear of God as he has actually taken His name in vain.

 

            He lied to Naaman (vv.21-24).  “21  So Gehazi pursued Naaman. When Naaman saw one running after him, he came down from the chariot to meet him and said, "Is all well?" 22  He said, "All is well. My master has sent me, saying, ’Behold, just now two young men of the sons of the prophets have come to me from the hill country of Ephraim. Please give them a talent of silver and two changes of clothes.’" 23  Naaman said, "Be pleased to take two talents." And he urged him, and bound two talents of silver in two bags with two changes of clothes and gave them to two of his servants; and they carried them before him. 24  When he came to the hill, he took them from their hand and deposited them in the house, and he sent the men away, and they departed.”  When Naaman had asked Gehazi is all well he was using the word “shalom” and this word means peace along with other things all of which Gehazi hand none of, for he was being deceitful to Naaman, which meant that all was not well.  His master had not sent him, but his master knew what was going on, for the Lord was telling Elisha what Gehazi was doing and what was going to become of him. 

 

            The last sub-point is entitled “He lied to Elisha) and it covers verses 25-27:  “25  But he went in and stood before his master. And Elisha said to him, "Where have you been, Gehazi?" And he said, "Your servant went nowhere." 26  Then he said to him, "Did not my heart go with you, when the man turned from his chariot to meet you? Is it a time to receive money and to receive clothes and olive groves and vineyards and sheep and oxen and male and female servants? 27  "Therefore, the leprosy of Naaman shall cling to you and to your descendants forever." So he went out from his presence a leper as white as snow.”

 

            This did not turn out the way that Gehazi had thought that it would for his sin was about to find him out (Numbers 32:23b).  Gehazi was doing something in ministry that should not be done and that is use it to prophet for himself, and he is not the first to do such a thing nor the last.  There as some passages in the NT that shows that this should not be done for they are written by the Apostle Paul who could have succumbed to this same situation, but he did not and he penned the following:  “  1 ¶  For you yourselves know, brethren, that our coming to you was not in vain, 2  but after we had already suffered and been mistreated in Philippi, as you know, we had the boldness in our God to speak to you the gospel of God amid much opposition. 3  For our exhortation does not come from error or impurity or by way of deceit; 4  but just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, not as pleasing men, but God who examines our hearts. 5  For we never came with flattering speech, as you know, nor with a pretext for greed-God is witness- 6  nor did we seek glory from men, either from you or from others, even though as apostles of Christ we might have asserted our authority (1Thes. 2:1-6).”  “17  For we are not like many, peddling the word of God, but as from sincerity, but as from God, we speak in Christ in the sight of God (2Cor. 2:17).  “but we have renounced the things hidden because of shame, not walking in craftiness or adulterating the word of God, but by the manifestation of truth commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God (2Cor. 4:2).”

            Dr. Wiersbe writes the following “The covetousness that ate away at his heart became leprosy eating away at his body.”  Gehazi got the leprosy that Naaman, and not only he but it would remain in his family, and it was all the fault of not being content, but being covetous. 

            This is story number two of three in the Bible that a person is punished for being covetous.  Achan in Joshua seven is the first and Ananias and Sapphira in Acts chapter five is the other.

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  Paul said that he had learned to be content, and one thing about it that he learned was seen in that verse in Romans seven where he knew that he was a sinner because he broke the tenth commandment.  It has been at least five years since I read a book called “The Bumps are what You Climb On,” written by Warren Wiersbe.  The last chapter of the book was all about contentment, and it has been a spiritual goal of mine to learn contentment ever since reading that chapter.  It has changed my life in a good way, and I am thankful for the bumps that I have been climbing on for they have taken me to places that I never thought that I would ever go, and I have meet people that I never thought I would ever meet.

            The portion in verse three of 1Thessiloians two also speaks volumes to me today in a convicting way for just as  Paul had been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so have I and the gospel is not only there to tell others their need for the Savior, but it is there to live a life before the Lord in a way that pleases Him.  I want to do better at that, along with doing better in telling others the good news of Jesus Christ.

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:

 

1.      Continue to learn contentment.

2.      Tell others about Jesus Christ.

3.      Remember that the war is raging on and I am in need of the spiritual armor.

 

4/20/2011 9:22:43 AM

Trusting the Lord (2 Kings 5:13-15a)

4/18/2011 7:40:24 AM

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY

 

My Worship Time                                                                  Focus:  Trusting the Lord

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  2Kings 5:13-15a

 

            Message of the verses:  “13  Then his servants came near and spoke to him and said, "My father, had the prophet told you to do some great thing, would you not have done it? How much more then, when he says to you, ’Wash, and be clean’?" 14  So he went down and dipped himself seven times in the Jordan, according to the word of the man of God; and his flesh was restored like the flesh of a little child and he was clean.

    “15 ¶  When he returned to the man of God with all his company, and came and stood before him, he said, "Behold now, I know that there is no God in all the earth, but in Israel.”

 

            This is the second servant that had an effect on Naaman, for the first one was the little girl who was from Israel who suggested that he go to see the prophet in the first place, and no another servant speaks to Naaman, and it is for sure that this servant like the first was speaking to Naaman what the Lord wanted him to know.

            As stated before this was not only to be a healing of the physical, but this was to be new life given to Naaman who after he was cleansed from the leprosy he would be, in the language of the NT “born again.”

            I would suppose that I have not thought a lot about the salvation of the OT saints like those of the NT saints and actually there is little or no difference between the two.  I believe that the Bible teaches that in eternity past God the Father choose those who would come to salvation, and then the Son of God, Jesus Christ paid the penalty for those that the Father chose, and it was the third Person of the Godhead, the Holy Spirit who gave the necessary effectual to those who the Father called and who Christ died for.  Those who were saved or born-again in the OT, like Naaman who trust that the Lord would provide the Messiah to take away their sins.  Perhaps not all of the OT saints knew how all of this was going to work, but none the less they put their trust in God to save them and that was what needed to happen.  The statement that I made about the process of salvation is not what all people who are saved believe, but none the less over the years that I have been a NT believer, I believe that God has made this clear to me.  This has taken my years of study to come to this conclusion and frankly this is the only way that it all makes perfect sense to me.  I realize that John MacArthur has had a lot to do with all of this, as he has opened up the Scriptures to me so that I can understand this, and because of this I know that I did not have anything to do with my salvation other than receive it as a gift from the hand of a loving God.  It was a simple act of faith like Naaman took when his servant said that he should take the simple act of faith and wash in the Jordan River seven times, the perfect number or complete number of God.  Naaman came up from the seventh washing a new person as that 14^th verse said “and he was clean.”  The next thing he did was to give testimony and glory to the God who saved him, saying that He was the One True God, and there was no other gods before Him. 

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  Again I have to think of the verse that has been running through my mind for the last few weeks:  “Therefore as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him (Col. 2:6).  It was by grace through faith that Naaman was saved as it was the same for me and it was by grace through faith that he began his walk with the Lord by giving glory to his Redeemer in 15a.  I have to be a channel to which the Lord flows through me to accomplish what He desires me to do.  I am to keep this channel clean so God can use me to do what He wants me to do.

 

 My Steps of Faith for Today:

 

1.      Be a clean vessel so that God can use me, and remember that all temptation begins in the mind so I need to protect my mind.

2.      Because I am in a war I am in need of the spiritual armor so that I can stand.

3.      Continue to learn contentment.   4/18/2011 8:17:11 AM

Serving the Lord (2 Kings 5:15b-19)

4/19/2011 9:41:52 AM

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY

 

My Worship Time                                                                  Focus:  Serving the Lord

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  2Kings 5:15b-19

 

            Message of the verses:  “so please take a present from your servant now." 16  But he said, "As the LORD lives, before whom I stand, I will take nothing." And he urged him to take it, but he refused. 17  Naaman said, "If not, please let your servant at least be given two mules’ load of earth; for your servant will no longer offer burnt offering nor will he sacrifice to other gods, but to the LORD. 18  "In this matter may the LORD pardon your servant: when my master goes into the house of Rimmon to worship there, and he leans on my hand and I bow myself in the house of Rimmon, when I bow myself in the house of Rimmon, the LORD pardon your servant in this matter." 19  He said to him, "Go in peace." So he departed from him some distance.”

 

            Naaman is now a new believer and has also been cleansed of his leprosy and so he feels that he needs to go back to Elisha’s house and give him a few gifts to thank him for what has happened to him.  Ephesians 1:5-6 has something to say about this, and the only reason I put verse five into it is to make it flow.  “5  He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, 6  to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved.”  The point here is that when a person is saved he brings praise to the glory of God’s grace, and this is freely given to the one saved.  This is why Elisha could not receive a gift from Naaman.  In other parts of the Scriptures men have turned down gifts also.  Abraham, Daniel (5:17); Peter and John (Acts 8:18-24). 

            One can see that Naaman is growing in his walk with the Lord because first of all he asks Elisha for some earth from Israel.  Many people believed that there were gods for each land and perhaps even though he has stated that God is the God of all of the earth he still wanted to take back this earth to worship the Lord on.  It must be remembered that he is a new believer and also that the Lord will teach him what he should do.  This will make a good witness to the folks back home when they ask him why he brought this earth back.  Next he realizes that he will have to go into the temple with the king because of his position of power and he wants Elisha to realize that he has to do this but it will not be in his heart to do this.

            Another note on him coming back to Elisha’s house is found in Luke 17:11-19, “11 ¶  While He was on the way to Jerusalem, He was passing between Samaria and Galilee. 12  As He entered a village, ten leprous men who stood at a distance met Him; 13  and they raised their voices, saying, "Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!" 14  When He saw them, He said to them, "Go and show yourselves to the priests." And as they were going, they were cleansed. 15  Now one of them, when he saw that he had been healed, turned back, glorifying God with a loud voice, 16  and he fell on his face at His feet, giving thanks to Him. And he was a Samaritan. 17  Then Jesus answered and said, "Were there not ten cleansed? But the nine-where are they? 18  "Was no one found who returned to give glory to God, except this foreigner?" 19  And He said to him, "Stand up and go; your faith has made you well.’”

            Elisha did not lecture him about the things he asked for, he just told him to “go in peace.”  This was a usual covenant blessing given to a Jew speaking to another Jew.  I am sure that Elisha would pray for him that the Lord would use him and the servant girl to witness for His glory while living in Syria.

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  Looking back on the time when I first became a believer I can see how patience the Lord was with me, and I must have done some things that were kind of dumb and also not in line with what the Scriptures taught, but the Lord has brought me this far and even though I still do some dumb things He is patient with me and so I must be patient with others too.  The Christian life is a marathon and not a 100 yard dash, and it is also a series of new beginnings, so when I fall I must dust myself off and get up and get back into the race for the glory of God.

 

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:

 

1.      Continue to learn contentment.

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

3.      Remember Psalm 139:23-24.

4.      Remember the battle is fierce and I am in need of the spiritual armor.

5.      Continue to trust the Lord to use us while he has here on Kauai.

 

4/19/2011 10:09:54 AM

 

Resting in the Lord (2 Kings 5:11-12)

4/17/2011 8:19:05 AM

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY

 

My Worship Time                                                                  Focus:  Resting in the Lord

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  2Kings 5:11-12

 

            Message of the verses:  “11  But Naaman was furious and went away and said, "Behold, I thought, ’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 cure the leper.’ 12  "Are not Abanah and 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.”

 

            Dr. Wiersbe in his commentary on this section of Scripture that speaks about Naaman is talking about not only his physical healing but also his spiritual healing, and that is the most important part.  Naaman has leprosy and in the Bible that is a pretty good description of sin, and of course Naaman is a sinner in need of being saved.  When Naaman left Syria he had a plan in his mind as to how the king or the prophet would heal him, but it did not happen that way.  Many people today have a plan on how they are going to make their lives acceptable to the Lord, but their plan will not work, for they have to follow the Lord’s plan.  Dr. Donald Grey Barnhouse used to say “Everybody has the privilege of going to heaven God’s way or going to hell their own way.”  That pretty much sums up what was going on in the heart of Naaman at this point.  D. L. Moody said this about this passage, “He had marked out a way of his won for the prophet to heal him, and was mad because he didn’t follow his plans.”

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  “Therefore as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him” is Colossians 2:6 and a verse that I keep running over in my mind.  When I was lost in my sin before God saved me I had to do it His way in order to be saved, and now after that wonderful salvation that God has provided for me I have to walk with Him the same way that He saved me, and I believe that is grace through faith.  I could not come to the Lord my own way, but I had to come to the Lord His way, and I can’t walk in the Lord my way, but I have to do it His way.  I want this very much to happen in my life.

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:

 

1.      Therefore as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him.

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

3.      I must remember that I am in a fierce battle and am in need of the spiritual armor to be on and in place.

4.      Continue to learn contentment.

 

4/17/2011 8:42:10 AM