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When they had crossed, Elijah said to Elisha, “Tell me, what can I do for you before I am taken from you?” “Let me inherit a double portion of your spirit,” Elisha replied. “You have asked a difficult thing,” Elijah said, “yet if you see me when I am taken from you, it will be yours–otherwise not.” 2 Kings 2:9-10
The Old Testament prophet Elisha had watched his teacher, Elijah, perform many miracles. Now it was time for Elijah to be taken up into heaven. Three times Elijah told his student to stay behind as he continued his journey. Three times Elisha refused to listen.
Finally, Elijah asked Elisha what he wanted to have as a gift before Elijah was taken up into heaven. Imagine that! Elisha knew the power that Elijah had. He could have asked for anything, but Elisha didn’t ask for power, honor, prestige or any other earthly thing. He asked for a double portion of Elijah’s spirit.
The word ‘spirit’ refers to that inner passion to know God and follow Him more closely. Of all the things he could have asked for Elisha wanted to feel the passion for God, the faith and the wisdom that he’d seen in his master. He wanted to be used of God in even mightier ways than Elijah, but for God’s glory not his. What a bold statement. Elisha wasn’t afraid to ask God for the best!
There is a lesson to be learned by Elisha’s courage. He knew that once the inner quality of life was established the external results would follow. He was persistent in pursing the best God had to give him. External results don’t necessarily mean fame and fortune but it does mean seeing our lives and the lives of others changed for eternity.
None of us should ever be afraid to ask God to give us His absolute best! As Christ followers don’t be afraid to ask God to do mighty things in your life. As His child, He wants you to be all you can be. We tend to measure our ‘success’ or ‘abilities’ by things that others can see, but God looks on the heart.
PRAYER: Father God, I ask that you would help me to have the courage to seek your absolute best in my life. Help me to see myself as you see me, to put aside my own feelings of inadequacy and to forgive myself and others so that you can use me however you see fit. Amen.
Then He touched their eyes and said, “According to your faith will it be done to you.” Matthew 9:29
“But I just don’t have the faith for that to happen.” Ever hear someone say that, or something similar? You hear stories about how God is working in the lives of other people and wonder why it doesn’t happen to you? Miraculous healings. Relational turn-arounds. Anonymous checks showing up in the mail just in time to save your house, your business or your marriage?
Faith isn’t really faith until it’s proven. To say I believe God will do something great in my life means nothing unless I open myself up to Him and allow Him to have complete control of my attitude and actions. Faith grows as it is tested. Strong faith doesn’t come without strong adversity. It is our reaction to life that grows our faith.
One day Jesus was walking along the road. As he nears the house where he was to stay for the night two blind men sitting along the road asked him to have mercy on them. It appears that Jesus walked right by these two men and went into the house. For many that would have been the end of the story. The men would have continued to beg and remained unhealed. But these two men got up and followed Jesus. They followed Him right into the house and asked again for mercy.
This time Jesus touched their eyes and said that they would be healed according to the amount of faith they had. How much faith did they have? They had enough faith to get up from the ground and follow the one hope they had for vision. They didn’t let their handicap keep them back. They didn’t shrug their shoulders and say “I guess we don’t have enough faith”. Instead they took action. They took a risk. Because of that their faith was proven to be strong and they received their sight.
Getting ‘Faith’ means you make a decision at some point in your life that things are going to be different. From that point on you are going to live with the belief that God can change you and use you for good. It means that you realize that while you must take the first step towards faith, it is God’s power working in you that will help you endure. Growing in faith doesn’t come without risk and without pain of some sort.
PRAYER: Dear Jesus. So many times I have missed out on great things because I’m afraid to take the risk and move out in faith. I ask that you give me courage to move out and that you empower me with your Spirit to make a difference in my corner of the world. I realize that I cannot do this in my power. Amen.
“If you can?” said Jesus, “Everything is possible for him who believes.” Mark 9:23
Mark tells the story of the man who brought his son to Jesus for healing from a terrible demon that would throw the boy into violent seizures. Sometimes the demon would try to kill the boy by trying to throw the boy into fire or water. The man was desperate for help.
When he found Jesus the father said to Him, “If you can do anything please help us.” Jesus responded by saying the verse for today, “If you can?” said Jesus, “Everything is possible for him who believes.” The man responded by saying what each of us has no doubt felt in our lives. “I do believe…help me in my unbelief.”
It isn’t enough to simply believe. Had the man sat at home watching the boy convulse and say “I believe you will be healed’ nothing would have happened. Empty belief brings empty results. The boy was healed because of at least three things that the man did that each of us must do if we are to see God work in our lives.
First he didn’t simply believe. He believed in God. He sought out Jesus because he ‘knew’ from what he’d seen and heard that this man was a man of the Most High God. His belief was based on fact and on a power that could indeed heal his son.
Secondly, he put action to his belief. He sought out what God had for him rather than sitting at home and feeling sorry for himself and his boy. He pursued Jesus. Jesus tells us to “seek, and we shall find.”
Lastly, the man believed in himself. He believed that he was important enough to be heard. It wasn’t that he was worthy of being heard for any reason. Like the Roman commander said to Jesus, “I’m not worthy of you coming to my house…” The man believed in his ‘worth’ because of God’s love and mercy, not his own righteousness.
Believing involves believing God to be who He says He is, believing that if you seek Him, He will come to you, and believing that you are worthy of His working in your life because of Jesus and God’s unlimited mercy.
Don’t give up! Don’t let the enemy keep you from believing in God. Don’t listen to his lies about your worthlessness. When we believe as the man did, ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE!
PRAYER: Heavenly Father. There are so many times when I feel like the father in this story. I want to believe your promises but my fear, my circumstances, the guilt I have keep me from seeking after your blessing. Help me today with my belief. Show me the wonder of your mercy in my life. Amen.
He did this that he might clearly demonstrate though the ages to come the immeasurable (limitless, surpassing) riches of His fee grace (His unmerited favor) in (His) kindness and goodness of heat toward us in Christ Jesus. Ephesians 2:7 (Amplified)
Grace is more than forgiveness of Sin. The Bible tells us that not only are we forgiven but the Father showers us with a multitude of blessings. Unlimited favor! How would life be different for us as followers of Jesus Christ if we could completely grasp this one truth?
God the Father, the creator of the universe wants nothing but the best for us as His children. We are like only children to Him. We are the sole heir, the only one He has to shower His goodness on. It’s not a competition thing with the believer across the church aisle. We don’t lack because ‘he got my blessing’.
To live fully in God’s grace and to enjoy the blessings He has for us doesn’t involve a change in circumstance or location. It demands a change of vision. Some of God’s most amazing blessings come out of adversity and hardship but too often we feel so surrounded by the wilderness we miss the oasis’ along the way.
YOU are God’s chosen child. He has placed you where you are for a reason. He’s gifted you for His glory. Don’t let the circumstances you are surrounded by cause you to miss the blessings hidden in the sand of the wilderness.
PRAYER: Heavenly Father. Thank you for the many riches you have given me. Forgive me for the times I have dwelt on my circumstances and not on my position in Christ. Encourage me and strengthen me for today. Help me in the midst of my pain to feel your comfort. Empower me to live according to your unlimited blessings. Amen.
She was thinking to herself, “If I can just put a finger on his robe, I’ll get well.” Jesus turned – caught her at it. Then he reassured her: “Courage, daughter. You took a risk of faith, and now you’re well.” The woman was well from then on. Matthew 9:21-22
It had been twelve long agonizing years. Nothing the doctors could do to help. In her day medicine was far less effective than it is today. Not only was there physical fatigue from the constant blood loss, there was the religious and social stigma as well. She may as well have been a leper! According to the Law she was unclean.
We only know her as the woman ‘with the issue of the blood’! A few short verses and she’s gone. Just a blip on the screen of Scripture. But there is something that I admire about her and that is her tenacity. I’m not sure many of us can really comprehend the social, emotional, spiritual and of course physical struggle this woman must have endured throughout those 12 years.
It would have been easy to give up. No one would have blamed her if she had turned into an angry, bitter woman, yet we see none of that. It would have been completely understandable if she’d turned her back on God in anger for the ‘injustice’ that fell upon her.
Something drove her to that street that day. Something deep down inside her never let her give up hope that someday, somehow God would heal her. That’s courage. That is quiet strength. The refusal to let anything keep us from pursuing God’s best for us, even when all the odds seem stacked against us.
Don’t give up. John Eldredge talks about ‘the great wound’ as being that event or events in our past that have hurt us deeply and can keep us from trusting God completely. Just as He did with this woman, Jesus has come to heal the wound that each of us bears. By His touch the wound can be healed.
PRAYER: Dear Jesus. I thank you that you know the pain that I’ve been bearing for so long. I thank you that even during those times when I feel all alone you are there, waiting for me to come into your arms. I reach out to you today. I touch the fringes of your robe and ask you to heal me. I love you. Thank you for loving me. Amen
Mike Fisk & Built with Grace 