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God’s message to me: How big is your faith? How many pots, jars, and other vessels would you gather if the man of God said you could fill them all from one small vessel of oil? Would you run to the prophet believing he could raise your son from the dead? Could you trust a small amount of food to feed a multitude of people?
Promises: Ours is a God of the impossible. He can make food multiply, He can raise the dead and heal the terminally ill. He can make Iron float on water. He can provide warning and information better than any spy.
Commands: Trust in the Lord and He will provide all your needs.
Timeless principles: When hard times come it is God’s people who get the blame. Whether it is the Jews or the Christians they are blamed for calamity. With famine in the land and the capital under siege the king of Israel called for Elisha to be killed. When hard times came to Germany Hitler blamed the Jews. When terrorists smashed planes into the twin towers Christians were blamed and faith was relabeled as hate.
How can I apply what I’ve learned: When everything is going wrong and you seem to have no way out, trust God to give you safe passage.
more to learn for in-depth study: The Jordan river was not the cleanest water source around. In fact, at that time it was a bit of a cesspool. Taking a bath in that filth would be dubious for a healthy man but, because the man of God had told him that God would heal him if he did so, Namaan, washed in that mucky river 7 times.
tomorrow: Second Kings 7-8
Showing posts with label faith. Show all posts
Showing posts with label faith. Show all posts
Saturday, April 25, 2009
Second Kings 1-3
God’s message to me: We Christians really don’t know the power we can wield. God has promised us the ability to do all we read about in the bible and more. Despite that fact we continue to assume the days of miracles are over. With faith the size of a mustard seed we can move a mountain. We can heal and cast out demons. We can survive attack and withstand poison as long as God wills us to. We have no reason to fear embarrassment. If we can agree together before God and ask things in the name of His Son they will be granted that our joy may be full and that His power will be known.
Promises: God is not mocked. When the king demanded Elijah to come God revealed His power by burning the soldiers where they stood when Elijah asked Him too. He did it to prove He was God and Elijah was His man. He parted the waters for Elijah and again for Elisha to show Elisha he was indeed empowered as his predecessor. He also fulfilled the curse of Elisha on the boys who mocked him.
Commands: Do what God commands, no matter how useless it may seem, and He will provide far more than you could imagine to fulfill your needs and desires.
Timeless principles: God will often use the same thing that brings success to His people to bring disaster on their enemies. The king of Judah, who served God, went with the kings of Samaria(Israel) and Edom(the children of Esau) to battle the Moabites. Lacking water they sought the council of Elisha.
Because of Jehoshaphat, who served the Lord, Elisha inquired of the Lord and instructed them to dig ditches in the valley where they were camped. God filled the ditches with water so that the army and it’s animals could drink, he caused the water to look like blood to the Moabites so that they thought the three kings fought amongst each other and dashed in for an easy victory, only to find 3 armies, rested, fed and watered, ready to overcome them.
How can I apply what I’ve learned: Trust God and don’t worry about the means. When God told the kings to dig ditches He also told them those ditches would be filled with water miraculously. The water wouldn’t come from rain or runoff or a stream or any other visible source. God would fill them. God did fill them and He can fulfill your needs just as miraculously.
more to learn for in-depth study: Baal Zebub, which is where we get the name Beelzebub, means Lord of the flies and was one of several false gods known as Baal.
tomorrow: Second Kings 4-6
Promises: God is not mocked. When the king demanded Elijah to come God revealed His power by burning the soldiers where they stood when Elijah asked Him too. He did it to prove He was God and Elijah was His man. He parted the waters for Elijah and again for Elisha to show Elisha he was indeed empowered as his predecessor. He also fulfilled the curse of Elisha on the boys who mocked him.
Commands: Do what God commands, no matter how useless it may seem, and He will provide far more than you could imagine to fulfill your needs and desires.
Timeless principles: God will often use the same thing that brings success to His people to bring disaster on their enemies. The king of Judah, who served God, went with the kings of Samaria(Israel) and Edom(the children of Esau) to battle the Moabites. Lacking water they sought the council of Elisha.
Because of Jehoshaphat, who served the Lord, Elisha inquired of the Lord and instructed them to dig ditches in the valley where they were camped. God filled the ditches with water so that the army and it’s animals could drink, he caused the water to look like blood to the Moabites so that they thought the three kings fought amongst each other and dashed in for an easy victory, only to find 3 armies, rested, fed and watered, ready to overcome them.
How can I apply what I’ve learned: Trust God and don’t worry about the means. When God told the kings to dig ditches He also told them those ditches would be filled with water miraculously. The water wouldn’t come from rain or runoff or a stream or any other visible source. God would fill them. God did fill them and He can fulfill your needs just as miraculously.
more to learn for in-depth study: Baal Zebub, which is where we get the name Beelzebub, means Lord of the flies and was one of several false gods known as Baal.
tomorrow: Second Kings 4-6
Monday, March 23, 2009
First Samuel 8-11
God’s message to me: God can accomplish great things under any circumstance. Following His leadership we can have the benefit of His victory without a great burden of leadership. By following the worlds way and appointing others over us, we force ourselves into submission to those authorities regardless of their foolish ways. Even in the United States, where our representative Republic resembles the leadership of the judges by having representatives instead of rulers, we still find ourselves submitted to oppressive law. Anyone who believes our government is without oppression should try dealing with the IRS, Dept of Motor Vehicles, Social Security Administration or any other bureaucracy that has authority to make decision over you. Compare your experience with those who can decide what you do and don’t get with your experience at McDonald's, where their survival as a business depends on you being a happy customer. It won’t be hard to see what God meant about having kings.
Promises: God promised a draft and victory over the enemy. When those who didn’t trust Saul looked for a peace treaty on their own they were offered peace in exchange for mutilation and humiliation. When Saul heard of it he was still tending fields as a farm boy rather than leading as king. God changed that on the spot. Saul’s anger was such that he chopped up his own cows and sent the parts around all of Israel with word that the same would happen to all the cattle of the people who didn’t come out to join the fight against Israel’s enemies. (sound like a draft?) He then led the 330,000 man army into battle, divided into three companies. They started killing Ammorites at sunrise and continued until the heat of the day by which time the army of the Ammorites was on the run and so scattered that you could not even find two Ammorites running together. WHEN GOD MAKES A PROMISE YOU CAN COUNT ON IT.
Commands: This is implied through out the bible but never said directly. It’s God’s way or the Hard way. For some reason we are always prone to choosing the hard way.
Timeless principles: Even among the great heroes of the bible, it is often true that the children do not live up to the reputation of the father. Samuel was a good and just man who served the Lord through his entire life. As he was getting old and couldn’t continue to travel the circuit he used to travel judging Israel, he appointed his sons to be judges. His sons did not follow God’s ways, they took bribes, looked for dishonest gains and perverted justice to their own ends.
How can I apply what I’ve learned: Christ tells us that his burden is light. Doing it God’s way is a lot easier than doing it our way. There is a way that seems good to a man but it’s end is destruction. No matter how politically, logically or seemingly correct our ideas may be they can never be easier or more successful than doing it God’s way even if God’s way seems insane, impractical or impossible. This is where faith really comes into play. God has left ample evidence so that proving the gospel is easy. It doesn’t take a lot of faith to look at overwhelming evidence and say, “I believe”. The real leap of faith is in saying, “I don’t know how your going to do this Lord, but you promised me you would and I believe.”
more to learn for in-depth study: As God had predicted centuries before, while giving the law through Moses in the wilderness, the people demanded a king. God told Samuel to warn them what it meant. A king would draft their children into the military. A king would appoint commanders at all levels to ensure his orders were carried out. He would take people to tend his fields, make his arms, cook his food, make his perfumes and bake his bread. He would take the best of the peoples fields, vineyards, olive groves and flocks and herds and give it to his servants. He would take a tithe of the grain and wine to pay his officers. The best of the peoples servants, cattle, pack animals, and young men would be put to work for the king. The people would be servants to their king and would cry out over the oppression of the king they demanded.
The people didn’t listen to the warning. Saul wasn’t a great king but he wasn’t a major oppressor. David was better but still continued to lead the armies to war. Solomon ruled in peace but held the largest army and the most wealth of any king of Israel. After Solomon, all the predicted evil of kings and more was visited on Israel by the various self centered and abusive kings that ruled.
tomorrow: First Samuel 12-14
Promises: God promised a draft and victory over the enemy. When those who didn’t trust Saul looked for a peace treaty on their own they were offered peace in exchange for mutilation and humiliation. When Saul heard of it he was still tending fields as a farm boy rather than leading as king. God changed that on the spot. Saul’s anger was such that he chopped up his own cows and sent the parts around all of Israel with word that the same would happen to all the cattle of the people who didn’t come out to join the fight against Israel’s enemies. (sound like a draft?) He then led the 330,000 man army into battle, divided into three companies. They started killing Ammorites at sunrise and continued until the heat of the day by which time the army of the Ammorites was on the run and so scattered that you could not even find two Ammorites running together. WHEN GOD MAKES A PROMISE YOU CAN COUNT ON IT.
Commands: This is implied through out the bible but never said directly. It’s God’s way or the Hard way. For some reason we are always prone to choosing the hard way.
Timeless principles: Even among the great heroes of the bible, it is often true that the children do not live up to the reputation of the father. Samuel was a good and just man who served the Lord through his entire life. As he was getting old and couldn’t continue to travel the circuit he used to travel judging Israel, he appointed his sons to be judges. His sons did not follow God’s ways, they took bribes, looked for dishonest gains and perverted justice to their own ends.
How can I apply what I’ve learned: Christ tells us that his burden is light. Doing it God’s way is a lot easier than doing it our way. There is a way that seems good to a man but it’s end is destruction. No matter how politically, logically or seemingly correct our ideas may be they can never be easier or more successful than doing it God’s way even if God’s way seems insane, impractical or impossible. This is where faith really comes into play. God has left ample evidence so that proving the gospel is easy. It doesn’t take a lot of faith to look at overwhelming evidence and say, “I believe”. The real leap of faith is in saying, “I don’t know how your going to do this Lord, but you promised me you would and I believe.”
more to learn for in-depth study: As God had predicted centuries before, while giving the law through Moses in the wilderness, the people demanded a king. God told Samuel to warn them what it meant. A king would draft their children into the military. A king would appoint commanders at all levels to ensure his orders were carried out. He would take people to tend his fields, make his arms, cook his food, make his perfumes and bake his bread. He would take the best of the peoples fields, vineyards, olive groves and flocks and herds and give it to his servants. He would take a tithe of the grain and wine to pay his officers. The best of the peoples servants, cattle, pack animals, and young men would be put to work for the king. The people would be servants to their king and would cry out over the oppression of the king they demanded.
The people didn’t listen to the warning. Saul wasn’t a great king but he wasn’t a major oppressor. David was better but still continued to lead the armies to war. Solomon ruled in peace but held the largest army and the most wealth of any king of Israel. After Solomon, all the predicted evil of kings and more was visited on Israel by the various self centered and abusive kings that ruled.
tomorrow: First Samuel 12-14
Friday, February 13, 2009
Numbers 14-15
God’s message to me: God fulfills His promises in His timing. When the time is right we will have what we are promised regardless of the odds. Trying to claim things before He gives them only leads to defeat and pain.
Promises: The bible contains many promises for us. They are ours for the asking and when God decides the time is right they are ours for the taking. We don’t have Him speaking to us from a cloud or a temple but we do have the Bible and prayer to provide us with communication with Him. Seek His guidance through prayer and find His answers in the bible and in the way the bible prescribes.
Commands: Unintentional sin is still sin and must be atoned for. Intentional sin is rebellion against God.
Timeless principles: What God promises He will deliver but claiming something in His name does not help if He has not promised it or has forbidden it. The Israelites changed their minds after complaining against God. They decided they could take the land in God’s name after God had said they could not. They lost their battle and their lives.
How can I apply what I’ve learned: Accept and claim what God has promised when it is due. Do not think to claim what is not yours.
more to learn for in-depth study: Every Israelite over the age of 20 except Moses, Aaron, Joshua and Caleb was doomed to die during the 40 years in the wilderness leaving their children to take the land of Canaan. The remaining 10 spies died by plague immediately as an example.
tomorrow: Numbers 16-18
Promises: The bible contains many promises for us. They are ours for the asking and when God decides the time is right they are ours for the taking. We don’t have Him speaking to us from a cloud or a temple but we do have the Bible and prayer to provide us with communication with Him. Seek His guidance through prayer and find His answers in the bible and in the way the bible prescribes.
Commands: Unintentional sin is still sin and must be atoned for. Intentional sin is rebellion against God.
Timeless principles: What God promises He will deliver but claiming something in His name does not help if He has not promised it or has forbidden it. The Israelites changed their minds after complaining against God. They decided they could take the land in God’s name after God had said they could not. They lost their battle and their lives.
How can I apply what I’ve learned: Accept and claim what God has promised when it is due. Do not think to claim what is not yours.
more to learn for in-depth study: Every Israelite over the age of 20 except Moses, Aaron, Joshua and Caleb was doomed to die during the 40 years in the wilderness leaving their children to take the land of Canaan. The remaining 10 spies died by plague immediately as an example.
tomorrow: Numbers 16-18
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