Thurs.’s Devo - The Signs and Wonders of Elisha

Read: 2 Kings 6:1-7:20; Acts 15:36-16:15; Psalm 142:1-7; Proverbs 17:24-25 The Kings were written by the prophets so we have many stories about them. Elisha had a school of prophets where he taught young students of the Word how to hear God’s voice. The building they were meeting in was too small so they were building a new one. As one of them was cutting down a tree, his axe head fell into the river. He was most upset because he had borrowed the axe. Elijah threw in a stick where the axe head had fallen and the axe head floated to the surface where the man could grab it. No problem is too big for God! Aram and Israel were at war. God would tell Elisha the strategy and position of Aram’s army and he would tell the king of Israel. The king of Aram accused his own army of having a mole who was giving information to Israel, but his soldiers told him it was Elisha. When the king heard that Elisha was in Dothan he sent a great army with many chariots and horses to surround the town. Elisha’s servant went out that morning and seeing the troops he came in panicked and told Elisha. Elisha told him that there were more on their side than on the enemy’s. He prayed that his servant’s eyes would be opened and that he would be able to see in the spirit. When his servant looked again, he saw the army of God and chariots of fire. As the Aramean army approached, Elisha prayed that they would be made blind. God struck them with blindness and Elisha went out to meet them. He told them they were in the wrong city and led them to Samaria. Then he prayed for their eyes to open. When they did, they found themselves in the middle of Israel’s capital. The king of Israel asked Elisha what he should do to them and Elisha told him to feed them and send them home. They left and didn’t return for a while. After a while, Ben-hadad, kind of Aram came and besieged Samaria. The siege lasted so long, the people were starving. One woman came to the king complaining about her friend who wouldn’t give his son for them to cook and eat. She had given her’s the night before. This so upset the king that he put on sackcloth and mourned. He blamed Elisha for all the trouble and came to kill him. Elisha met the king and told him that the Lord said that by this time tomorrow, six quarts of flour would cost only one piece of silver and twelve quarts of barley grain would cost only one piece of silver. The king’s officer commented that what he said was impossible. Elisha told him that because he didn’t believe, he would see it with his eyes but not be able to partake of any of it. There were four lepers who were so hungry, they decided to go surrender to the Arameans hoping they would feed them. When they got to their camp they found it empty of men but full of provisions. They came back and told the king. The people stampeded to the camp, trampling the man who had doubted and everything that Elisha said came to pass. In Acts, Paul and Barnabas disagreed about whether to take John Mark with them. John Mark had abandoned them the first trip, so Paul wouldn’t consider taking him. Their disagreement led to them separating and Paul and Silas going to Syria while Barnabas and John Mark went to Cyprus. Paul met a young disciple in Lystra named Timothy and invited him to join them on their journey. They strengthened the churches as they went but the Holy Spirit kept them from going into Asia. Paul had a vision of a man from Macedonia in Greece pleading them to come there. They went there and met with women who were hungry to hear the gospel. One of them was Lydia from Thyatira. She and her household were baptized and she invited them to stay at her house. We don’t know what happened to Barnabas and John Mark but it just shows us that they were human with the same problems we face. Lord, help us to live our lives filled with your Holy Spirit and walking in love and forgiveness.