What I learned today

2 Kings 4:1-7

In this section of scripture, Elijah has just been taken up to heaven and Elisha has received a double portion of Elijah’s Spirit. On his way to Samaria he comes across a widow who is being threatened by debt collectors to take her sons as slaves to pay off a debt her husband left. Elisha asks her, “what can I do to help you? What do you have in the house?” She answers, “Nothing at all, except a flask of olive oil”. Elisha instructs her to get multiple jars to her home, to go inside with her sons and shut the door and to fill the jars with the oil she had. She did and continued to fill jar after jar with the oil. Afterward when she told Elisha what happened, he told her to sell the oil to pay the debt and to live off the rest.

Lesson #1:
God doesn’t ask us to give what we don’t have, but He does ask for everything we do have. God can do absolutely anything with everything we have-even if it’s “little”. Just give it to Him and let Him do the rest. He doesn’t need our help, just your open hands. Give what you have. He is faithful to fill every empty jar of our lives. Release what isn’t yours to begin with and present it to the Lord. Jars will be filled and there will be excess.

2Kings 4:8-37

Elisha then went to Shunem. A wealthy woman was there and invited him in for a meal. After that he continued to stop there whenever he passed that way for a meal. Discerning that Elisha was a man of God, the woman and her husband then made a room for Elisha to rest in during his travels. Looking to show gratitude for her kindness, Elisha asks her what he can do for her (“Put in a word to the king or the commander of the army?”). Ultimately Elisha’s servant notes that the woman has no children and that her husband is up in age. Elisha tells her that she will have a son within the year. Of course, it happens and one day when the boy is in the field with his father he cried out about a headache and later died. The woman immediately tells her husband to get a servant and a donkey so she can go to the man of God. Her husband asks why (it’s not a new moon festival or a Sabbath), she says, “it will be alright”. She then comes to Gehiza, Elisha’s servant who asks if everything is ok. Again she says, “everything is fine”. But when she comes to Elisha, she falls to the ground before him and catches hold of his feet. She then says to him, “Did I ask you for a son, my lord? And didn’t I say, ‘Don’t deceive me and get my hopes up?

Lesson #2:

The woman had 2 opportunities to alert others to what had happened but she didn’t. Her husband wanted to know why the rush to see the man of God? It’s not a holiday, not a special event. She just says, “it will be alright”. Gehiza also asks and she says, “everything is fine”. She only begins to discuss the issue with Elijah-who to her was the only one who could do something to solve her problem.

Sometimes we have to be deliberate in the sharing of our "stuff". There is an old adage, “Misery loves company”. There are times when we just want someone to wallow with us and after a while, that can do more harm than good. Sometimes we want to tell everyone about our issues and look to them for advice instead of talking to, listening for and being obedient to the Lord. It’s tough when you know what you want to hear…and you know exactly who will say those words to you. I have found that while talking to friends can be comforting, the Lord is the ultimate comforter and the One who can make a difference in any situation!

What a Friend we have in Jesus,
  All our sins and griefs to bear!
What a privilege to carry
  Everything to God in prayer!
O what peace we often forfeit,
  O what needless pain we bear,
All because we do not carry
  Everything to God in prayer!

Source: http://www.hymnal.net/en/hymn/h/789#ixzz2wPSv9PUl

...and yet He loves

I love when I read the Word and something jumps out at me that I can struggle with and talk to Daddy about. This morning it was a piece of scripture from the Gospels: John 12

The chapter opens with Mary, loving on Jesus and pouring out her expensive perfume. After she pours it out on Jesus’ feet, Judas Iscariot says, “Why was this perfume not sold for 300 denarii [a year’s wages for an ordinary workman] and that [money] given to the poor (the destitute)?  Now he did not say this because he cared for the poor but because he was a thief; and having the bag (the money box, the purse of the Twelve) he took for himself what was put into it [pilfering the collections]” John 12:5-6 AMP

Wait…I’d missed this the first hundred times. Judas was not only Jesus’ betrayer, but a thief besides? The Treasurer of the group was a thief?

But he literally WALKED with Jesus. He heard the Words of God directly from the mouth of Jesus…as in he could TOUCH Him physically, every day. How does that happen?

We are a true mess without the Lord. Without Him we are nothing. But I realize that even as Christians, we are still not worthy. We still don’t deserve Him. We still are nothing compared to a Holy God. We can do nothing right without Him. It’s almost like, “wait, wasn’t Lazarus a literal FOLLOWER of Christ?” Because when you accept Christ and follow Him, that’s when you behave as you should all the time, that’s when you do everything right, right?

We will never know what it means for a truly Holy God to love a people who know what to do and still do the opposite (we hear you Paul).  Who know what sin is and the damage it causes and still partake of it. As a believer, I have a new-found awe and appreciation for the Lord that loves me. Even as I follow Him, I am a mess and He loves me still.

Embodied in this flesh that is constantly rising up and demanding to have it’s way and our eventual submissions to it...just to shut it up. This wretched flesh that insists on being satisfied. Our Lord loves us even when He knows our horrible thoughts and our sinful actions. His faithfulness and love are not conditional. No, I will never know how much it cost to see my sin on the cross, and I will also never understand what it means for Love to love me. Everyday…an "impossible" feat to love such a sinful people and yet, He neither falters nor hesitates to do so.