Fri.’s Devo - Prospering in the Famine

Read: 2 Kings 4:18-5:27; Acts 15:1-35; Psalm 1451:1-10; Proverbs 17;23 The child of the wealthy woman grew and went to help his father during harvest time. He suddenly got a terrible head ache and his father had him sent home to his mother. He died at noon and she took his body and put it on Elijah’s bed. Then she sent for a donkey to take her to Mt. Carmel to see Elijah. Elijah saw her coming but had no inkling from God why she was coming to see him. He sent Gehazi to find out if her husband and son were okay. She said that everything was fine. But when she reached Elijah, she fell on her face and held on to his feet. She asked Elijah why he had given her a son just to take him away. Elisha went with her, but sent Gehazi ahead to lay his staff on the boy. It didn’t do anything so when Elisha got there he went up and laid on the boy’s body until it became warm. Then he got up and prayed and laid on him again. This time the boy sneezed 7 times and sat up. *** Elisha called the woman to come and see her living son. She was so thankful. *** Elisha returned to Gilgal and there was a famine in the land. He was with the prophets-in-training who had gathered vegetables for some stew. When the first ones ate it they cried it was poisonous. Elisha asked for some flour and threw it into the pot and told them it was good now. *** Another time in the famine, a man brought a sack of fresh grain and 20 loaves of barley bread made from his first fruits. Elisha told them to use it to feed the prophets and their families which were 100 people. Gehazi exclaimed that it would never feed all of them. Elisha insisted that it would not only be enough but there would be leftovers and he was right. *** Famines happened because the leaders led the people into idolatry. God took care of his people that worshipped him, supernaturally. They prospered in the famines. *** The king of Aram had an army commander named Naaman that he greatly respected. Naaman suffered from leprosy. In their exploits, Naaman had brought back a young girl from Israel to serve his wife. One day the girl told her mistress that she wished Naaman would go see the prophet in Samaria and let him heal him. Naaman told his king what the girl had said and the king wrote a letter for him to take to the king of Israel so he would be safe. He also sent 250 pounds of silver and 150 pounds of gold and ten sets of clothing. *** When the king of Israel read the letter asking him to heal him of leprosy, he thought that the king of Aram was picking a fight with him. He couldn’t heal his leoprosy. *** Elisha sent a message to the king telling him to sent Naaman to him. He was the one he wanted to see anyway. So, Naaman went to Elijah’s house. Gehazi went out to tell him to dip in the Jordan 7 times and he would be healed. Naaman was offended that Elisha didn’t come out himself, and that he had wanted him to dip in the dirty Jordan. His pride almost lost him his healing but his servant reasoned with him that it was an easy thing he had told him to do. He saw his reasoning, so he did it and was healed. *** This reminds me of John’s message to be baptized and be clean. It is a small act of obedience that wields a great reward of cleansing of our souls. *** When the man came back the seventh time healed, he went back to Elisha and this time Elisha came out to meet him face to face. Naaman tried to give him his gifts of gold, silver and the clothes he had brought but Elisha refused. *** After he had gone, Gehazi was filled with lust for some of that money and clothes so he chased him down and concocted a story of why Elisha just needed a little of the reward for two prophets that had dropped in. Naaman gladly gave it to him and Gehazi took it back to Elisha’s and hid it in the ground. *** Elisha confronted Gehazi and he lied again to his face. Elisha told Gehazi that the leprosy that left Naaman would be on him and his descendants forever because of what he did. Reminds me of the verse: What does it gain a man to gain the whole world and lose his soul? *** In Acts, the church was going through a major shift from law to grace and the transition was rough. The old was constantly rubbing the new. The old was full of laws that had to be met to please God and the new had to do with a total change of heart and a new law of love. The leaders of the old way caused much contention for the new followers. They hated the change and their loss of power over the people. They argued that the new Gentiles had to be circumcised like them. After much debate, the apostles prayed and felt that the only law they should impose on them was to not eat food offered to idols, not to drink blood, and not to engage in sexual immorality. These were all requirements of the pagan worship. *** The believers were elated when they got the news of freedom instead of slavery to laws. *** The Church today is going through a major shift also. Are we going to go into law to keep our tradition or are we going to let the Holy Spirit have reign in our lives and in our churches? We are fighting a battle between good and evil and we have all the weapons and power to defeat it. We can not back down in fear or retreat but we have to keep fighting in victory. We were once sinners saved by grace but we are now the righteousness of Christ Jesus. Sin and death have no power over us. We are to bring the Kingdom of God down to earth. *** Lord, may we walk in victory because the Victor reigns inside of us.