Thurs.’s Devo - The Power of the Truth

Read: 2 Kings 3:1-4:17; Acts 14:8-28’ Psalm 140:1-13; Proverbs 17:22 King Joram was an evil king and worshipped idols but he was not as evil as his father Ahab and his mother, Jezebel. He did tear down the sacred pillar of Baal. *** Once Ahab was dead, King Mesha of Moab decided he was not going to pay any more tribute to Israel. He had paid 100,000 lambs and the wool of 100,000 rams annually to Ahab. Joram along with King Jehoshaphat and the king of Edom joined together to fight Moab. They took the route through the wilderness and after seven days, they had no water. Joram blamed it on the Lord but Jehoshaphat asked if there was a prophet of God they could ask for help. *** Elisha came but made it clear that the reason he came was only because of the respect he had for King Jehoshaphat. He asked for a harp to be played and when Gods power came to him he said that the dry valley they were in would be filled with water and it would be enough for the men and their animals. But, this was a small thing; he would also give them victory over their enemy. They would capture their best towns, even the ones with walls and they would cut down all their good trees, stop up all their springs and ruin all their good land with stones. *** Then next day, at the time of the morning sacrifice water appeared in the valley flowing from the direction of Edom. *** Meanwhile, Edom heard of their plans and mobilized against them. When they saw the water, they thought it was the blood of their enemies and ran to take the plunder. They met by the armies instead and everything Elisha said, happened. *** When the king of Moab saw that there was no hope, he took his son and sacrificed him on the wall. Israel went home the victors. *** One day, the widow of one of the prophets went to Elisha and told him that she was broke. Her creditor told her that if she didn’t pay her bills he was taking her two sons as his slaves. Elisha asked her what she did have. She had one bottle of oil. He told her to borrow as many bottles as she could. Then he told her to start filling them with the oil she had. She filled all of the bottles and then the oil stopped producing. She sold the oil, paid off her creditor and lived on the rest of it. *** Elisha often traveled through the town of Shunem and would stop and stay there. A wealthy woman who lived there told her husband about Elisha’s visits to their town and how he was a holy man. She wanted to build a room on to their house for him to stay in. Her husband agreed and they built a room on their roof and furnished it with a bed, lamp, table and chair. Elisha would stay with her every time he came to town. *** During one visit, Elisha asked his servant Gehazi to get the woman so he could speak to her. He asked her what he could give her in return for her kindness and she said that her family took good care of her. *** Later, Elisha asked Gehazi what he thought she might need or want. He said that she didn’t have a son and her husband was getting old. So, Elisha called the woman back in and told her that she would have a son by next year. She had a hard time believing it but she did have a son by the next year. *** In Acts, Paul and Barnabas were in Lystra and healed a man who had been born crippled. The people were so amazed they thought that Barnabas must be Zeus and Paul Hermes. There was a temple of Zeus right outside of town so the priest from the temple came with bulls and wreaths of flowers to the town gates to do sacrifices to the apostles. When Paul and Barnabas heard what was happening they tore their clothes and ran out yelling that they were mere men who had come to turn them from worshipping idols to worship the true God of heaven and earth. *** Their enemies from Antioch and Iconium arrived in the midst of all the chaos and had Paul taken out of town and stoned to death. After they left, Paul stood up and walked back into town. The next day, he and Barnabas left for Derbe. They made many converts there. Then they went back to the places they had the most opposition: Antioch Lystra, and Iconium. They strengthened the believers and encouraged them in their faith. They set in place elders in the church to help lead the church in truth. *** They traveled with the Good News to Pisidia, Pamphylia, Perga and down to Attalia. They returned to Antioch and reported to them their stories of how the Gentiles had become believers. They all rejoiced. *** Lord, your power is amazing and there is nothing you won’t do for those who love you and are yours. Thank you for your loving kindness. May we be bold like Paul and not afraid of opposition. May persecution just make us stronger in our resolve.