Wednesday, June 15, 2016

Wed.’s Devo - Open Our Eyes

Read: 2 Kings 5-8:15
Today’s reading would make a good movie. I am just going to talk about two of the stories. The first one is the story of the healing of Naaman.
Leprosy is a picture of our sinful state - a problem that affects our flesh. The answer for Naaman was to dip in the Jordan River seven times. Our answer is to humble ourselves and confess our sins and our need of a savior. It was a simple thing but he almost missed his healing because of his pride. When he finally lost his pride and obeyed, he got restored. Salvation is so simple many miss it. They miss it because of this and their pride. Restoration comes when we humbly obey.
Ghazi was tempted by the rewards of the flesh and he was rewarded with Naaman’s problem of his flesh. One of the temptations of ministry is to want material reward for spiritual work. God is the one who rewards his servants. Our weaknesses can become our strengths if we give them to God or they can become our stumbling blocks if we actively pursue them.
The other story I want to address is the one in 2 Kings 6:8-23. When Elisha was surrounded by a great army with chariots and horses, his response to Gehazi was, “Don’t be afraid! For there are more on our side than on theirs!” When Gehazi got God’s perspective he could see that surrounding all the enemy was the Lord’s army with horses and chariots of fire.
We may feel surrounded by negative news and discouragement but we need to get God’s perspective. We have the army of God on our side. He will blind the enemy and put them in our hands if we have faith.
Lord, thank you for the free gift of salvation. Help us not to miss the simplicity of the gospel. Give us your eyes to see your army and have hope.

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