Sat.’s Devo - Joash Comes to the Kingdom

Read: 2 Kings 10:32-12:21; Acts 18:1-22; Psalm 145:1-21; Proverbs 18:1 Jehu didn’t follow the Lord with all his heart and still worshipped false gods along with the Lord, so God began cutting off Israel’s land. He used Hazael king of Syria to do it. Hazael took the land east of the Jordan that had belonged to Gad, Manasseh and Rueben. When Jehu died, Jehoahaz his son reigned in his place. *** In Judah, Ahaziah had been killed so Athalia his mother ruled. She killed all the king’s sons and destroyed all the royal family. But, Jehosheba, the daughter of King Joram and Ahaziah’s sister, took one of Ahaziah’s infant sons and hid him away in a bedroom where his nurse raised him in secrecy. When Joash was seven years old, Jehoiada the priest had the captains the guards meet him in the house of the Lord. He made a covenant with them to help him set Joash as the king. They were to come on the Sabbath and surround the house of the Lord and protect Joash. He would proclaim that he is king and they were to kill anyone who tries to stop them. *** On that day, Jehoiada the priest brought out Joash and put the crown on his head and gave them the testimony o the Lord. They proclaimed him and anointed him and clapped their hands crying “Long live the king!” *** Athaliah heard the noice and went to the house of the Lord to see what was going on. When she saw Joash’s standing in the place of the king and heard the trumpets and what the people were saying she tore her clothes and cried, “Treason!” Jehoiada ordered her to be killed, so they took her out of the house of the Lord and killed her. *** Jehoiada made a covenant between the Lord and the king and the people, that they would be his people and worship him. They went and tore down the house of Baal and killed the priest of Baal. The soldiers brought the king from the house of the Lord to the king’s house. The people of the land rejoiced and there was peace in the city. *** Joash was seven years old when he began to reign over Judah and Jehu had been reigning for seven years over Israel. Jehu had rid Israel of Baal worship and now Joash rid Judah of it. *** A temple tax was taken every year and was supposed to be used for maintenance on the temple but after reigning for 23 years, Joash realized it was not being used for that. The priests refused to take responsibility so Jehoiada bore a hole in a chest and set guards over it. The people could put their money in there and it would be safe. When the chest got full, Jehoiada gave it to the repairmen and they did the work honestly and fairly. *** Hazael the king of Syria took Gath and was on his way to take Jerusalem. Joash took all the money in the temple treasury and paid them not to come. Joash was killed by his own servants and his son Amaziah took his place. *** In Acts, Paul left Athens and went to Corinth. There he met Aquila and Priscilla a couple who had been banned from Rome because they were Jews. They were also tent-makers and willingly they helped Paul in his ministry. *** Silas and Timothy arrived from Macedonia. Paul tried to convince the Jews about Jesus, but they refused to believe. Paul shook out his garments and told them he was going to the Gentiles. Paul did find Titius and Scrispus who believed in the Lord and became Christians. They were baptized. *** Paul had a dream telling him to keep speaking about Jesus because God would protect him from harm. God had many in this city who were his. So Paul stayed there another year and a half teaching the word of the Lord. *** When Gallio became proconsul of Achaia, the Jews joined to attack Paul and brought him before the tribunal. They accused Paul of teaching against the law. Paul was about to speak but Gallio interrupted and said that he refused to judge on questions concerning their law. He drove the Jews out of the tribunal. The people took Sosthenes, the ruler of the synagogue and beat him publicly, but Gallio didn’t care. *** Paul stayed longer then left for Syria taking Priscilla and Aquila with him. He left Priscilla and Aquila in Ephesus and he went to the synagogue to reason with the Jews. Then he left Ephesus to go to Caesarea then to Antioch. *** Lord, thanks to Paul’s diligence and perseverance the Gospel was spread throughout the earth. May we continue in his work to spread the Good News to the world.

Fri.’s Devo - Jehu Saves Israel

Read: 2 Kings 9:14-10:31; Acts 171-34; Psalm 144:1-15; Proverbs 17:27-28 Elisha had gone to Ramoth-gilead where Israel had troops were guarding the city against Hazael of Syria. King Joram of Israel had returned to Jezreel to heal from being wounded in the war. Elisha found Jehu, and in secret, he anointed him to be the next king of Israel. Jehu’s assignment was to strike down the house of Ahab and kill every male, whether they were a servant or a free man and to avenge the blood of all God’s prophets that Jezebel had killed. *** Jehu told his men not to tell anyone he was taking the kingdom until he could get to Jezreel and kill Joram. He flew in his chariot to Jezreel. King Joram and King Ahaziah came in their chariots out to meet him. He shot Joram in the heart. *** When Ahaziah saw what Jehu did to Joram, he fled toward Beth-haggan. Jehu chased him and shot him also. He fled to Meddigo where he died. His servants carried his body to Jerusalem and buried him there. Jehu had Joram’s body thrown on the plot of ground that was Naboth’s vineyard. *** Jehu entered Jezreel and went straight to where Jezebel was. He had her thrown down from her window and the dogs drank her blood and ate most of her body before they came to bury her. Everything that happened to Jezebel and Joram had been prophesied. *** Jehu then sent letters to Samaria to the leaders of the city telling them to set up a king to fight him. They were afraid of Jehu who had killed the king of Israel and Judah and asked Jehu to be their king. He told them he would if they behead all the king’s sons. They beheaded all 70 of them and sent the heads in baskets to Jehu. He lay them in two piles by the entrance of the gate until the next day. *** The next day, Jehu stood with the heads and told the people that they were innocent of killing the kings, but they had killed his sons. Then he explained that the Lord had ordained this to happen by the words of Elijah. *** Jehu set out to go to Samaria and met 42 of Ahaziah’s relatives on the way. Jehu had them slaughtered also. Then he met Rechab and asked if he was loyal to him. Rechab said he was so Jehu told him to come with him and see his zeal for the Lord. *** Jehu gathered all the people of Samaria and sent news throughout Israel for all the worshipers of Baal to meet him so he could worship Baal with them. On the appointed day, Jehu went with them into the house of Baal and made sure there were no worshipers of the Lord present. He let them offer their sacrifices and burnt offerings, then he told the men he had stationed outside not to let one of them escape. They went in and put all the worshippers of Baal to death and brought out the pillar in the house of Baal and burnt it. They turned the temple into a public bathroom. *** Jehu rid Israel of Baal worship, but he still worshiped the gods of Jeroboam and was not careful to walk in the law of the Lord with all his heart. *** In Acts, Paul and Silas came to Thessalonica and taught at the synagogue for three Sabbaths explaining why Jesus was the Messiah. The Jews became jealous of their new converts and went to Jason’s house where they were staying to get Paul and Silas. When they didn’t find them there, they brought out Jason and some of his brothers instead. They accused them of housing Paul and Silas who were riling up the people to believe there was another king other than Caesar. *** They let Jason go on bond and the believers sent Paul and Silas to Berea by night. They went to the synagogue there and the people were much more receptive. They listened to what Paul and Silas had to say until the instigators from Thessalonica came and stirred up the crowds against them. 
 *** Paul was sent to Athens and Silas and Timothy soon joined him. At Athens, Paul began debating with the Epicureans and the philosophers. He had noticed a statue that was inscribed with “To the unknown god.” All the Atheans and foreigners would meet to discuss politics, religion and any new thought. They wanted to hear what Paul had to say. He commented about the altar of the “unknown god” and said he would speak about him. He explained that God was the creator of everything they could see. He was the only God and the only one they should worship. He created all mankind and mankind is his offspring. God doesn’t live in man-made temples but the world is his temple. All people everywhere need to repent and turn to worship him because there will be a judgment day where every man will stand before him. Many scoffed at what Paul said, but some joined him and believed. *** Lord, you are the answer to every one and every thing. May we remember that one day we will all give an account for our lives. May we make the most of the days we have to live on the earth. May Jesus be exalted through us.

Thurs.’s Devo - God is Sovereign Over All

Read: 2 Kings 8:1-9:13; Acts 16:16-40; Psalm 143:1-12; Proverbs 17:26 Elisha warned the woman who he had raised to life that there was a famine coming that would last for seven years. She should go to another country to live it out. She went to the land of the Philistines. *** After the famine, she returned to get her land back. The king just happened to be talking to Gehazi about all the miracles Elisha had done. He was telling the story of this woman and her son Elisha had brought back from death when she walked in. He recognized her as the woman. She told her story to confirm it. The king ordered that all her land be given back to her and also, all the proceeds gotten from her land over the last seven years should be returned to her. *** Remember how God had given Elijah three things to do before he died and he only did the third one, which was to anoint Elisha to take his place. Today we will see how Elisha fulfilled the other two. One was to anoint Hazael king over Syria. *** Ben-hadad was king of Syria and had become very sick. He sent his servant Hazael to ask Elisha if he would recover or die. Elisha told him that he would recover from the sickness, but he would also die. Then, he told Hazael he would be the next king and he would do horrible things as king. *** Hazael went back to Ben-hadad, but he only told him he would recover. He killed him that night and ruled in his place. *** Meanwhile in Israel, Joram the son of Ahab was ruling. Jehoshaphat and Ahab had become friends and Ahab had given his daughter to marry Jehoshaphat’s son Jehoram. When Jehoshaphat died, Jehoram reigned over Judah. His wife led him to worship idols and sin. *** Edom rebelled against Judah and set up their own king so Jehoram went to get them back under his rule. His mission was unsuccessful and he had to flee Edom. *** Jehoram died and Ahaziah his son became king of Judah. He was also evil. Ahaziah went with the king of Israel, Joram to fight Hazael king of Syria. Joram was wounded in the battle and had to return to Jezreel to heal. Ahaziah went to visit him. *** Elisha sent one of the prophets from his school to go to Ramoth-gilead and find Jehu. (This was the second thing God had told Elijah to do before he died.) He was to take Jehu alone and anoint him king of Israel. Jehu was to strike down the house of Ahab to avenge the blood of God’s prophets that Jezebel had killed. The dogs would eat Jezebel in Jezreel and no one would bury her. After he told Jehu this, he was to flee. The prophet obeyed Elisha and did it just like he was told. *** When Jehu heard what the prophet had said, he came back to his men and told them. They blew the trumpet and proclaimed Jehu the king. *** In Acts, Silas and Paul were traveling together. They met a girl who was a fortune teller who discerned that they were men of God. She kept yelling that they were servants of the Most High God so much that Paul finally turned around and rebuked the divination spirit in her and told it to come out. *** Her handlers were not happy because they made a lot of money through her. They seized Paul and Silas and brought them before their rulers. They accused them of causing trouble and teaching against obeying the Roman laws. The magistrates had them beaten and thrown into prison. The jailer put them in the inner prison and put their feet in stocks. *** At midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing to the Lord while the other prisoners listened. Suddenly, there was an earthquake which shook the prison. The doors were opened and everyone’s chains were broken. The jailer woke up and was about to kill himself because he thought all his prisoners had escaped. Paul told him not to harm himself because they were all here. *** The jailer had them bring lights and he fell before Paul and Silas asking them how he could be saved. They told him to believe on the Lord Jesus and he and his whole household would be saved. They told him and his family about Jesus and they ministered to their wounds. Paul and Silas baptized the jailor and he fed them in his house. His whole household became believers. *** The next day, the magistrate sent for Paul and Silas and wanted to set them free. When they told Paul they could go, Paul told them that he was not leaving. He was a Roman citizen and they had publicly beaten him and put him in prison. He was not letting them get away with this by freeing them. Paul made them apologize and set them free. They asked Paul and Silas to please leave the city. They went first to visit with Lydia and the brothers there and encouraged them before they left. *** God will use anything the devil brings against us for His good if we let him. Paul and Silas were willing to suffer for Christ so that a jailor and his household would get saved. God restored the woman’s land to her who had honored Elijah and housed him all those years. God will reward our good works. *** Lord, may we be willing to suffer for the cause of your kingdom. Thank you that your will will be done and Satan has no power to stop it.

Wed.’s Devo - Signs and Wonders -

Read: 2 Kings 6:1-7:20; Acts 15:36-16:15; Psalm 142:1-7; Proverbs 17:24-25 Today we read more exploits of Elisha. Elisha mentored many younger prophets just like Elijah did. The school of the prophets became too small so they wanted to built a bigger place by the Jordan. As they were cutting down the trees to build, one of the prophet’s axe head came off and fell into the water. He was very upset because he had borrowed it. Elisha cut a stick and threw it into the water and the iron axe head floated to the top. *** The king of Syria was very perplexed and believed he had a mole among his soldiers because the king of Israel always was a step ahead of him. When he went to his servants to ask them about it, they said there was no mole, it was Elisha the prophet who told the king everything he was planning. *** The king of Syria sent his army to go to Dothan and seize Elisha. They surrounded the city of Dothan and Elisha’s servants saw them. He told Elisha they were surrounded and Elisha told him that there were more with them than with the Syrians. Elisha prayed that God would open his servant’s eyes. When his servants went to look again, he saw that surrounding the army of Syria was the army of God. The mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha. *** When the Syrians came to Elisha, he prayed that God would blind their eyes and he led them to the middle of Samaria. Then he prayed that God would open their eyes and they realized where they were. The king of Israel asked Elisha what he should do with the Syrian soldiers and Elisha told him to feed them, then send them home. *** Later, Benhadad, the king of Syria came and besieged Samaria. The people were starving. When the king heard of a woman eating her own baby he became so mad and planned to kill Elisha, blaming him for the famine. *** The king sent for Elisha and Elisha knew he was coming. He had his servant hold the door to keep the king’s messenger from taking him. He was waiting for the king to arrive. The king wanted to know when God was going to save them. Elisha told him that tomorrow about this same time, 7 quarts of flour would sell for a shekel (which is not very much money). When the king’s captain laughed at this, Elisha told him he would see it with his eyes but never eat it. *** There were four lepers who decided to surrender to the Syrians because they were dying and had nothing to lose. *** At the Syrian camp, the soldiers had heard the sound of a great army coming and feared Israel had hired the Hittites and the Egyptians to fight them. They ran for their lives leaving all their supplies behind. *** When the four lepers came to the Syrian camp they found it abandoned, but all their supplies there. They began plundering the tents and hiding it, then realized they shouldn’t keep this to themselves. They went to the gate of Samaria and told the gatekeepers to tell the king what they saw. *** The king sent messengers to see if what they had said was true or just a trap. When they saw how the army had fled, they came back and told the king it was safe to plunder their camp. The people went and plundered the Syrian camp and the guy who had mocked what Elisha said was trampled in the gate just as Elisha said would happen. *** In Acts, Paul and Barnabas returned to visit all the churches they had ministered in. Barnabas wanted to take John Mark with them but Paul didn’t because John Mark had left them during the first journey. Barnabas and Paul argued and finally, Barnabas took John Mark and went to Cyprus, and Paul took Silas and went to Syria with the blessing of the church. *** Paul met Timothy in Derbe and took him with him the rest of the trip. He circumcised him because of the Jews who were in the places they would visit. They shared with all the people what the decision of the church in Jerusalem was about circumcision and encouraged them in their walk. Many came to believe. *** They traveled on throughout Phrygia and Galtia. The Holy Spirit wound’t allow them to go to Asia or into Bithynia so they went to Troas. Paul had a vision of a man from Macedonia standing there asking him to come there to help them. So they set sail and went to Philippi which was a leading city in Macedonia. They met with the women who had a prayer group that met outside the city. One of the ladies who attended was Lydia who was from Thyatira and sold purple goods. She believed and was baptized. She invited them to come stay at her house. *** Lord, thank you that your Word confirms that signs and wonders will follow those who believer. Thank you for the signs and wonders you show us every day. May our eyes be open to see your work in the earth.

Tues.’s Devo - The Acts of Elisha -

Read: 2 Kings 4:18-5:27; Acts 15:1-35; Psalm 141:1-10; Proverbs 17:23 The boy who Elisha had promised to the woman was out working with his father and got such a bad headache, he had his servants take him home. He died in his mother’s lap. She place him in Elisha’s bed and took off to Mount Carmel to find Elisha. *** She found Elisha and told him what had happened. She begged him to come home with her. He came and prayed for the boy to come to life. He finally laid on the boy, transferring his own life into the child. The boy awoke an sneezed 7 times. Then Elisha gave the boy back to his mother, alive. *** There was a famine in the land and Elisha went to visit the sons of the prophets in Gilgal. The prophets were gathering herbs and whatever they could find to make a big stew. One of them accidentally brought back a poisonous gourd and put it in the pot. They realized it was deadly to eat, so Elisha asked for some flour. He put it in the pot, then it was fit to eat. *** A man arrived bringing his firstfruits of barley to the Lord. It was the time of Pentecost. Elisha gave his small 20 loaves to feed the prophets. God multiplied the 20 loaves so that it fed 100 hungry prophets and they even had some left over, just as Elisha had said. *** The commander of the Syrian army was a very popular and mighty man in Syria. His name was Naaman and he had leprosy. He had taken an Israelite girl from Israel on one of his raids. She live with him and his wife and served his wife. *** The little girl noticed his leprosy and mentioned that there was a prophet in Samaria that could cure him. Naaman told his king who sent a letter to the king of Israel offering him gifts to heal his servant of his leprosy. The king of Israel read it and thought the king of Syria was trying to stir up trouble. He was so upset he tore his clothes. He knew he couldn’t cure this man’s leprosy. *** Elisha heard about it and told the king to send the man to him, so he may know that there is a prophet in Israel. Naaman came to Elisha’s house, but Elisha didn’t even come out to meet him. He sent out Gehazi to tell him to go wash in the Jordan seven times and he would be healed. *** Naaman was disgraced that Elisha wouldn’t even come out and meet him personally, and that he told him to go and wash in dirty water. They had cleaner lakes in Syria. As he left angry, his servant stopped him and told him that it was an easy thing that the prophet had told him to do. He humbled himself and went and washed seven times and came out with skin like a baby’s. *** Naaman went back to Elisha’s house and wanted to give him gifts for healing him, but Elisha wouldn’t accept them. Naaman asked if it would be okay to take home some of the dirt from Israel. He promised not to worship any other god but the Lord of Israel and he asked for forgiveness when he had to take his master into the house of Rimmon. Elisha sent him home with his blessing of peace. *** Gehazi coveted the gifts they could have gotten from Naaman so he secretly went after him. He lied and told him that two men had come to visit and Elisha would like to give them some of the silver and clothes he had offered Elisha. Naaman gladly gave him two talents of silver and two changes of clothes. *** When Gehazi returned and Elisha asked him where he had gone, he lied and told him nowhere. Elisha told him what he had done and told him it was not the time to accept gifts. Elisha said that the leprosy that left Naaman would now be on Gehazi and his family forever. Gehazi’s body turned white with leprosy. *** Gehazi had seen Elisha multiply food in the famine, bring the dead back to life and countless other signs and wonders. He got the privilege of walking with the most powerful man on the earth and yet, he still lusted after what the world thought was precious. He got it through lies, and along with it the curses of the world. *** In Acts, there was much debate about whether the new Christians needed to be circumcised because of Moses’ law. Paul and Barnabas took their question to the church in Jerusalem. The church in Jerusalem rejoiced when they heard all God had done through them. *** The Pharisees rose up and argued that these new believers had to be circumcised. After much debate, Peter stood up and explained that they all agreed it was God’s will that Gentiles come to God, so why would they put on them the yoke of the law that they were not able to bear. They all believed that they were saved by grace, not by works. *** Then they listened to the stories that Paul and Barnabas told them of all the conversions of the Gentiles and the signs and wonders that happened on their trip. He quoted what the prophet said about the Gentiles and concluded that the only yoke they should put on the Gentiles is that they keep away from things polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from eating meat that had been strangled and from eating blood. *** The apostles agree with what Paul said and sent Judas and Silas with Paul and Barnabas to give the church their answer to the question of circumcision. They took the letter to Antioch where it was received with joy. Judas and Silas spent some time there encouraging and prophesying over them before returning to Jerusalem. Paul and Barnabas remained in Antioch teaching and preaching the word of God. *** Lord, help us to keep our eyes on you and your grace to save. Thank you for giving us hearts that want to do right because you have written your Word on our hearts. Thank you for your Holy Spirit which leads us into all truth.

Mon.’s Devo - Signs That Make You Wonder -

Read: 2 Kings 3:1-4:17; Acts 14:8-28; Psalm 140:1-13; Proverbs 17:22 Jehoram, reigned over Israel for 12 years while Jehoshaphat was king of Judah. Jehoram did evil in God’s eyes but he did put away the pillar of Baal. *** The king of Moab had been supplying Israel every year with 100,000 lambs and the wool of 100,000 rams but when Ahab died, they rebelled and stopped sending tribute to Israel. King Jehoram enlisted the help of Jehoshaphat and the king of Edom to come help him fight the Moabites. *** These three kings took their armies and marched for 7 days. They ran out of water and the king of Israel despaired for their lives. Jehoshaphat asked for a prophet of the Lord that they could ask what was to become of them. *** They found Elisha who made it clear that they only reason he came to help them was because he had respect for Jehoshaphat. He would have left the others to die. Elisha asked for a musician to play while he waited for God’s spirit to talk to him. The Lord told them that water would fill the stream bed, but it would not come as rain. He would also give the Moabites into their hand and when he did, they were to attack every fortified city and cut down every fruit tree and stop up all their springs of water and ruin their land with stones. *** The next morning, water came from Edom and filled the country with water. The Moabites came to attack them and saw the reflection of the sun on the water and thought it was blood. They reasoned that the three kings had rose up against one another and battled. When they came to get the spoil and were attacked by the Israelites. The Israelites did everything to their land that Elisha had told them to do. *** In an effort to win the battle, the king of Moab took his oldest son who was to be the next king and sacrificed him on the wall of the city. Israel retreated and went back to their own land. *** One of the widows of the prophets under Elisha came to him for help. She was broke and afraid that her creditors would take her two children as slaves. Elisha asked her what she had of any worth in her house. She had one jar of oil. He told her to borrow jars from her neighbors. When she obeyed that, he told her the next step. She was to pour from her jar into the other jars. When she had done that, he told her to go and sell it and it would pay off her debts and be enough for her family to live on. *** That is just the way the Lord leads us - step by step. It is one act of obedience followed by another act of obedience and when we get to the end, we see the result. *** Elisha traveled through Shunem often and a wealthy woman who lived there would invite him in to eat. She convinced her husband to build Elisha a room on to their house and supply it with a bed, table, chair and a lamp so he could stay there on his travels. *** Elisha and his servant, Gehazi spent many nights in that room. Elisha wanted to bless the woman for her kindness and asked Gehazi to find out what she might want. Gehazi noticed that she didn’t have a son and her husband was old and when he died she would be alone. Elisha called her in and told her that about this time next year, she would hold a son in her arms. The next spring, she bore a son. *** In Acts, Paul and Barnabas were in Lystra and as they were preaching, Paul noticed a man in the crowd who was crippled and saw that he had faith to be healed. This man had been born crippled, but Paul told him to stand up and he jumped up and began walking. The crowd went wild and thought the gods had come down as men. They called Barnabas - Zeus and Paul - Hermes. *** The priest from the temple of Zeus brought all the supplies to offer sacrifices to them. Paul tore his garments and tried to prove to them that he was a man just like them. He tried to convince them that it was God they should worship but he was having a hard time. *** Then Jews came from Antioch and Iconium and persuaded the fickle crowds to help them stone Paul. They stoned him and dragged him out of the city, thinking he was dead. The believers gathered around him and he got up and went back with Barnabas to Derbe where they preached and made many disciples. Then they returned to Lystra and Iconium and encouraged the believers there. They appointed leaders in the churches and prayed and fasted for them to be faithful to the Lord. *** They preached their way to Antioch and gave testimony of all they had experienced in their travels. *** Lord, you are the God of miracles and signs that make us wonder. May we see your signs and wonder. May we obey You in the small things so we can advance to the next step.

Sun.’s Devo - God Fulfills His Word

Read: 2 Kings 1:1-2:25; Acts 13:42-14:7; Psalm 139:1-24; Proverbs 17:19-21 Ahab died, and God’s word came true concerning Israel’s downfall. Moab rebelled against Israel and Ahaziah, Ahab’s son fell through the lattice in his bedroom and became ill. He sent messengers to Ekron to ask them to pray to their god Baal-zebub to see if he would recover. They had not made it out of town when Elijah met them. He asked them if Israel had no god that they would have to go to Ekron and ask their god. Then he told them that the Lord said that Ahaziah would die and not recover. *** When Ahaziah’s messengers returned so soon he asked them what happened. They told him and he wanted them to describe the man who told them he would die. When they did, he knew it was Elijah. 
 *** Ahaziah sent an officer with 50 men to go get Elijah and bring him before him. Elijah called down fire and it consumed them. Ahaziah sent another officer with 50 men and the same thing happened. When he sent the third officer with his 50 men, this officer had enough sense to fall down and beg for mercy from Elijah. Then Elijah knew he could go with this man. *** He went to Ahaziah and told him the same thing he had told his messengers. He would die, and he did. Ahaziah had no son, so his brother Jehoram became king. *** It was time for Elijah to be taken from the earth and Elijah and Elisha both knew it. Elijah went first to Bethel, then Jericho then to the Jordan. He struck the Jordan with his cloak and the water parted and he went across. He kept trying to lose Elisha, but Elisha refused to leave him. Finally, Elijah asked him what he wanted. Elisha asked for a double portion of his spirit. Elijah told him that if he saw him leave, he would get what he asked. As they were talking, chariots of fire and horses of fire came between them. Elijah went up in a whirlwind to heaven and Elisha saw Elijah go up. *** Elisha tore his cloak in half and put on the cloak that Elijah and left and went back to the Jordan. He did exactly what Elijah had done and the water parted and he walked back into Israel. He retraced Elijah’s path going to Jericho, then Bethel. From there he went to Mount Carmel and then to Samaria. All of these places were strategic places where God had done great things for the people of Israel. While Elisha was at Jericho, he healed the waters that were causing miscarriages. At Bethel, he cursed boys who dishonored him and they were killed by bears. *** In Acts, everywhere Paul and Barnabas went the people were hungry and begged to be taught about Jesus. On the next Sabbath, the synagogue was full of people. The Jews who saw the crowds were jealous and began to contradict what Paul was teaching. Paul told them that because they didn’t want the truth, they would take the truth to the Gentiles, just like the prophets foretold. God’s salvation would be given to the world. *** The Gentiles rejoiced when they heard this and many of them were saved. But the Jews got a bunch of elite people of the city on their side and they began to persecute Paul and Barnabas. They drove them out of town, but Paul and Barnabas shook off the dust from their feet and went to Iconium. The disciples were full of joy and the Holy Spirit. *** In Iconium they spoke at the Jewish synagogue and many came to believe, both Jews and Gentiles. They stayed there for an extended amount of time with great freedom to proclaim Christ. Signs and wonders followed their teaching. The city was divided between those who sided with the Jews and those who sided with the apostles. Paul and Barnabas got news that they wanted to stone them so they fled to Lystra and Derby and continued to preach. *** Lord, may we have that much conviction that we would be willing to suffer harm, persecution, loss of reputation and life for the sake of the truth. Thank you that we have the truth within us and no one can take that from us. May we both live and die for you.