2 Kings 6:8-23

There is a lot to learn from 2 Kings 6:8-23

The first things that caught my attention was the protection, unseen, that was around Elisha. If God protected Elisha then you know we are protected now. God is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. But there is more than just that once instance of protection. Let me go step by step on what the Lord revealed to me.

I have learned that the Lord will use this to help others but that He also ALWAYS has something He is trying to teach me too. So before I start let’s agree in prayer

         Dear Lord, I ask that you open our eyes to the Truth You are trying to show us in these passages.

         That if it’s encouragement you are sending, we accept it and give you praise and thanksgiving; standing on Your promises.

          If it’s conviction, then help us to set our pride down, repent and begin to draw on the Truth You are giving us so we can move forward and see our prayers answered for protection.

         In Jesus  Name, Amen

The king of Aram was at war with Israel, he made plans to surround them and kill them but time after time they were warned. Elisha heard the Lord and warned the king of Israel every time, saving them.

So here’s the first thing I see – Elisha knew the Lord so well that he could go boldly before the king of Israel and tell him what the Lord had to say. Elisha was so connected to the Lord that the king always believed him and made the changes that were needed to keep his land and his people safe.

Therefore, Elisha’s life, the way he acted, dressed, spent his time must have shown his commitment to the Lord. The king knew he could trust what Elisha had to say, he was trustworthy. I don’t imagine Elisha went to wild parties, had premarital sex, cussed up a storm, stole, disrespected elders and those in leadership positions, walked in pride, lied, etc.

I have to admit that there are times I get too busy or have the radio or TV on while I’m cleaning or on the web. Now there is nothing wrong with this as I usually have Christian radio or TV on BUT when I have it on all the time I’m not leaving room to hear from God. He wants to talk to me (to you) about things. He wants to give me people and things to pray about. There are many things He will give me IF I’m listening. Can you imagine God telling one of us about an impending attack on our family, neighborhood or something bigger and we are too busy to hear him.

Okay, the next thing.

Now the king of Aram decides to get Elisha. He sends horses and chariots and a ‘strong force’ to get Elisha. And notice, they ‘went by night’ to surround the city.

Let me ask you, when you are doing something you should not be doing isn't it usually in the ‘dark’? That dark could be another city where no one knows you, a bar on the other side of town, even in your own home with the curtains drawn. Evil dwells in darkness, where no light has come in. It is easier for the enemy to sneak up on you in the darkness. This is another reason I need to know God, really know who He is, and to obey Him. Because when that darkness tries to come in you want His light to expose it so you have the victory over the darkness, the harm that is trying to come against you, your family, and your country.

Okay, so ‘the servant of the man of God’ saw this army with horses and chariots around the ‘city’. Doesn't say Elisha’s home, it says ‘the city’. So many people could have gotten hurt or killed while they went to get this one man.

The servant  asked Elisha what they should do, he was afraid.

Now notice what Elisha tells his servant and what he prays:

                “Don’t be afraid….those who are with us are more than those who are with them”

Now remember a ‘strong force’ was sent by the king of Aram, but Elisha was unmoved, he knew he had the best protection. I believe Elisha was concerned for his servant and wanted to see the fear leave him so Elisha prayed – ‘open his eyes, Lord, so that he may see’. Elisha wanted his servant to see what he saw.

Now let me ask this. How close must Elisha have been to God to SEE the unseen in our world? Do you think Elisha was like we are today and spent most of his time in front of a TV, playing video games, sleeping, eating, whatever your distraction is (I know they didn’t have TV’s, video games, etc.  back then but there were other distractions).

I want to know how to see God’s protection, His angels, chariots and horses! Now I’m ahead of myself…..

So after Elisha prayed for his servant to see, God opened the servant’s eyes and he saw ‘the hills full of horses and chariots of FIRE all around Elisha.

This ‘mighty force’ had an added element – FIRE and it was not burning up the horses or chariots. What power!!

I believe it was because of Elisha’s faith that he was able to know, see and pray for his servant to see this. A faith so strong he could see the unseen in this world. He did not fear! I would not fear if I saw this kind of protection around me, my family, and my country. And you know what, I believe that same protection is here for me, for us; if we would just believe and grow in our faith. What if we would listen to the Lord and take the time to sit at His feet instead of giving in to our fleshly desires? Believe me, I’m guilty here and I want to change.

Now don’t get me wrong I’m not saying we have to do this ALL day and night, that would be silly as we do have responsibilities that the Lord has given us – provide for our family, provide for the orphans and widows, we need a place to live and a car to drive or bus money – so yes we have to work BUT what we need to ask ourselves, what I have to ask myself – once I am done with my 8 hour day, once the weekend is here, etc. What am I doing with that time? Oh and you can spend time with God at work and hear from Him there too – every task you have to do you can quietly give it to the Lord, asking Him to give you wisdom and to bless the work of your hands…..you just can’t sit down and close your eyes all day!

Okay, so back to when you are not at work. This is what I have been guilty of – I come home and decide it’s all about me now. I have children and a husband I need to feed and spend time with, that is something I LOVED doing and it almost always included time in the Word or taking walks and talking about God in what we would see in nature BUT then once the kids were in bed I wanted to do what I wanted to do – give in to my flesh and eat popcorn or candy and watch TV ALL night until I could no longer hold my eyes open…..too tired for prayer or Bible reading or study. Or I would want to go out on the town and drink or go to a game and drink, not intending to drink too much…….I could give a lot of examples, some good and some not so good…..but my point is I put God last when he should have been first and I would have received my refreshment, my peace and my protection from Him. I may have seen those unseen forces by now!

Okay, moving on again J 

Elisha prayed to the Lord to blind the army and God answered Elisha’s prayer. With confidence in the Lord, with faith in God’s protection; Elisha walked up to this ‘mighty force’, this army sent to capture him and basically told them they were in the wrong place but he would lead them to the man they were looking for.

Can you believe this!

So they allowed him to lead them and once they entered the city Elisha asked the Lord to open their eyes. What a shock it must have been to have their eyes opened and find they were inside Samaria with the king of Israel and Elisha.

Another great lesson follows, at least for me.

This army came to capture Elisha which would have probably led to his life imprisonment or death. But when the king of Israel asked Elisha; ‘Shall I kill them, my father? Shall I kill them?’

(Okay, I don’t know why the king of Israel called Elisha ‘my father’. Anyone have any revelation on that?)

Elisha responded with, ‘Do not kill them……set food and water before them so that they may eat and drink and then go back to their master.’  WOW Elisha is responding with forgiveness, mercy and love, sounds like the Father.

He had good reason to have them killed or imprisoned but Elisha’s heart was right before the Lord. Elisha KNEW the Lord and His ways, knew what the Father wanted. Because of the way Elisha responded to this army the ‘bands from Aram stopped raiding Israel’s territory.’ Can you say WOW again!!

Like I said, so many things to see and learn from these passages but this last one really blew me away and talked to me.

Elisha reached out to them in kindness, spared their lives, and trusted God for His protection. Elisha did not call them names or talk bad about them to the king, no he treated them like he would a friend. He had the king of Israel give them a ‘great feast’ and then sent them home to their master. Because of this king Aram stopped raiding Israel’s territory.

Maybe we should stop and think about some of our actions (I know I need to) because most of what happens to us individually is very tiny compared to an army coming against us. What do you think would happen if we treated those we see as our enemies, be those in our own families, in our churches, in our work place, etc…..if we started treating them as God commands us to; with forgiveness, mercy, love, compassion……so they see God is on our side, He protects us, He lives in us and because of that we can love and forgive as He does.

Put all this together and I begin to wonder how the tables would turn and the US would be spared from future attacks.

We do have an unseen army that God has sent to protect us. We do have a God that will answer our prayers according to His Word. BUT we need to KNOW Him, to know what His Word says, to study it, pray about it, and listen to God to give us revelation. We need to be in unity in the church.  How can we have denominational fights and not live any differently than the world? That’s not faith. We need to be able to talk to each other, study the Word and allow the Holy Spirit to teach us without having these big disagreements. We need to get a handle on the scandals taking place in the churches, for Pastors to stop looking at preaching as a ‘job with a paycheck.’ I could go on and on but I won’t.

It is time for me to pray and listen to the Lord more on this because I desire to have the faith that Elisha had, one where I can see the unseen and know I/we are protected. To know I can pray and see the prayers answered and can be as forgiving to my enemies, sending them back where they came from amazed at the hospitality they received and then seeing peace cover the home, the land, how amazing would that be? Could people deny there is a God then? Where did we lose it? I want it back, how about you?

Love

Do you understand this part of Scripture or do you gloss over it?   Luke 6:27

I can tell you I have in the past and still would like, at times, to gloss over it.

I’m supposed to love as God loves (in the Greek it means actively doing what the Lord prefers, with Him—by His power and direction.

God loves everyone; He died on the cross and was raised for everyone…..no exceptions! If we are to love like that it will take His power and direction, at least for me!

“But I tell you who hear me: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.

Did you notice it say ‘who hear me’.

That means we are to listen to Him, to hear God’s voice which prompts Him to birth faith within.

Then He goes on to say it’s our ‘enemies’ we are to love and do well to. We are to do good to those that hate us, bless those that curse us and pray for those that mistreat us.

So let me see if I’m loving as I’m supposed to…..someone tells awful lies about me, my husband or my daughter; someone may murder one of my loved ones; someone may steal from me; someone may make advances towards my husband; the list can go on and on…….

Then He goes on to say -

If someone strikes you on one cheek, turn to him the other also. If someone takes your cloak, do not stop him from taking your tunic. Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. Do to others as you would have them do to you.

If they strike us we turn the other cheek, they steal we give them more and while they do wrong to us we are to do to them as we wish they were doing to us.

In the worldly way of thinking this is asinine. Why should I do this to someone so obviously evil and mean? We rationalize and say they deserve everything I do back to them. I can make my lies bigger than theirs, I can reverse it and flirt with their boyfriend/husband, and I can kill for revenge...….stop right there!! 

That is truly the world’s way of thinking, acting in the flesh and not the Spirit. That does not make things better for anyone. It does not give you or anyone else a chance to see the truth of God’s Word and His ways. It will not increase your faith in Him. You see God has His reasons for telling us how we are to respond because it is His desire that all be saved – ALL.

“If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even ‘sinners’ love those who love them. And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even ‘sinners’ do that. And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even ‘sinners’ lend to ‘sinners,’ expecting to be repaid in full. But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. Luke 6:27-36

More can be said about these Scriptures but I will stop here for now.

Read these, look up the Greek for love, enemy, etc. Ask God to give you revelation and wisdom.

Love like He loves and you will be amazed.

Christena Hammes

Has Breath Publishing LLC

(c)

Hear  - Greek - 191 akoúō – properly, to hear (listen); (figuratively) to hear God's voice which prompts Him to birth faith within

Love - Greek - With the believer, 25 /agapáō ("to love") means actively doing what the Lord prefers, with Him (by His power and direction). True 25 /agapáō ("loving") is always defined by God – a "discriminating affection which involves choice and selection"

Enemy - Greek - 2190 exthrós – properly, an enemy; someone openly hostile (at enmity), animated by deep-seated hatred. 2190/exthros ("enemy"), implies irreconcilable hostility, proceeding out of a "personal" hatred bent on inflicting harm (DNTT).

Encouragement Then Correction

Encouragement Then Correction?

This seems backwards to me!

However this is how the Lord has been moving in my life lately. And I think I’m beginning to understand why.

I have had a growing desire to share my life and shout the victory to God.  I want to jump and shout – look what God has done in and through me!!  He set me free, He healed me and He gave me wisdom and revelation as I read His word and began having a relationship with Him.

We have had several people (some professional doctors) tell my husband and I we should be doing marriage seminars.

It is the desire of our heart to get God’s word out there, to show people how to use the Word of God to overcome, to find strength during the time of change, to have the peace that passes all understanding, and to know how much God loves them.

God wants us to follow His commands because He loves us not because he is some mean, angry God. Our Father knows what will harm us and what will bless us. He gave us His word for a reason and it wasn’t for it to sit on the coffee table or to open only on Sundays (that’s what I use to do, therefore no victory).

Proverbs 30:5-6  “Every word of God is flawless; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him. Do not add to his words, or he will rebuke you and prove you a liar.

So, if I’m going to share God with people, I need to know His word – not add to it nor take away from it.

Here is where some encouragement comes in for me. 

I have been growing and walking with the Lord, closely for about 5 years. My husband and I read the Word together and pray when we wake (before getting out of bed) and before turning out the lights for our evening rest. We pray over each other before we go places, we speak God’s word over each other. We have a walk with our Father in our marriage of ‘one’.  That is an amazing encouragement to me. We support each other through everything, be it our flesh or the enemy that comes against us.

Since we have been doing this we are hearing from the Lord more and more. There is a boldness rising up in me to share all the junk God has set me free from, there is a freedom from shame, there is a desire for the church as well as the unsaved to wake up and there is a desire for me to go higher Sometimes going higher means you have some cleaning up to do!

The encouragement has been coming from God, from people, from books and from sermons. Actually it is always coming from God (if I know His voice and don’t listen to the voice of a stranger). There again, you have to have that relationship with the Father so you can know His voice.

This encouragement has been in the form of blessings and I have felt overwhelmed to the point of tears on several occasions. I was at one point saying, “God no more, I’m swimming in blessings” and then I stopped and changed my mind!!!  “Don’t stop Lord, keep giving me blessings in abundance so I can give to others.” 

You see I heard the Lord tell me He loves to bless me because I recognize they are from Him. The Lord went on to say, “You are to share these blessings, they are not all yours to keep.”  I began to understand a little better why I was being overwhelmed with blessings.  And it changed my attitude to one of gratitude and joy.  I can’t help but smile, open the door for someone, and serve people.

Now in the midst of this encouragement and blessing from the Lord I’m also hearing and sharing with my husband what the Lord wants me to do.  I shared my discernment and he confirmed I have great discernment.  Here comes a correction through my husband from the Lord. “But even though you are right on with your discernment, you lack patience.”  Ouch! He is right.  He went on to say, “People know you have discernment and they receive it BUT there isn’t always an immediate response or change that will take place, it is a warning and you WAIT for the Lord’s leading, again know what His Word says.”

My husband is so wise!!  And that is another testimony because there was a time, wise or not, I would have been so hateful to him for saying this and would have shut him out for weeks.  I’ve been delivered and I have such a love for my husband and great respect that it gives me joy!

So now on this part of the journey things begin to come against me, against us because my husband and I are one.  And by ‘this part of the journey’ I don’t have one particular one in mind, there have been many, it’s just the Lord gave me revelation recently.   So, you begin to have things come against you that make you question if you heard from God.  Once again know His Word and don’t add to it or take it away.  As long as you speak God’s Word you know it’s the enemy because you’ve made someone uncomfortable.

I remember the days my flesh would scream when someone spoke God’s Word to me, they spoke truth about my situation (and still have that come against me sometimes, and even though I’m not where I need to be but thank God I’m not where I use to be-Joyce Meyer).

So to bring this all together, God gave me step by step direction on what I was to do and told me very clearly, stick with My Word, so I did. When the enemy comes against you he can’t stand against the Word of God.

So I knew what God wanted me to do in several instances, knew attacks would come, didn’t expect my doubt to come or to find I still had fear. But again this was all God preparing me for my next step. So I’m just amazed at how good I feel, how confident in Christ I am and how protected by my God and my husband I am. So I’m just swimming in the joy of the Lord and full of thanksgiving. Actually saying ‘thanks’ just didn’t seem to be enough for all He had, was and is doing in my life – but I couldn’t quit thanking Him and telling Him how much I love Him.

Then, oh no……..I begin to hear a few things here and there from the Lord that are not encouragement, they are warnings, they are showing me where I have not let God have every area of this temple He lives in. I begin to hear – when you pray are your motives right, do they match My Word? Or they are warnings for the future. God wants me to move out and speak and He is showing me things in my flesh that could get in the way. He is showing me there is still some fear and a wall begins to go up, He cannot work with a wall up.

I could tell you more but I think I’ve typed more than I planned already!

These warnings, these corrections, I’m actually beginning to see them as blessings now. Because God is advancing me and He wants me to share His power so these ‘things’ have to be out of me so He can move forward in my speaking, my blogging, in all I do.

I hope I’m more aware of His moving in my life now as I obey Him in my writing, speaking, serving, etc. Because I see how He gives me the joy of the Lord which is my strength and then as He comes in and shows me things to look at and to check in my spirit, there is more of an eagerness to make the changes, to repent and move forward in Him. You may ask, does it still hurt and my flesh cringe?  Yep, sometimes it is a struggle to admit there is something in me that is not of God. Praise God, my spirit overcomes my flesh because God lives in me and my desire is to serve Him!

I will speak the Word of God with boldness and love. I will not back down from His Truth. The Word does not change and God does not lie. But then I will also follow His leading as He is the one that will make the change in someone’s life. They have to go through what I have and recognize it, I can’t make them. But God, precious, wonderful, loving God will help them do the right thing, according to His Word, if they will just trust Him and move through those awful fleshly pains.

I can tell you, check yourself when you find yourself getting angry over the Word of God. I can guarantee you it’s your flesh warring against the Spirit. I’m tired of allowing my flesh to win – no more! I belong to God. I serve God. I believe God.

May God bless each one of you with His abundant joy, strength and peace, as you listen and obey His Word.  You will not regret it and it does get easier!

I am an overcomer in the name of Jesus and so are you!

The Power of Praying for Your Adult Children

We had another awesome class!

It has been awesome having some of the husbands join us in this study.

We were on Chapter 3

'Pray That your Adult Children Will Grow in Wisdom, 

Discernment, and Revelation'

This chapter starts out with an excellent point.

Stormie Omartian says

'In order to have peace as parents, we have to pray for certain things to be true in the lives of our adult children. And then we have to trust God to answer those prayers. We can't be obsessing over everything that happens in their lives, because that would not only drive us crazy, but everyone around us as well.....We don't have to figure out every little detail: that's God's job.'

Once again this brings it back to us. What do we need

to change in our prayer life as parents?

Are we trusting God? Or still trying to take things

into our own hands?

We need to stop praying....God change my son/daughter....

make them ..... and then it's something we want

maybe even worldly.

One thing I'm learning from this study is to make

sure my prayers are Scripture based and that

my heart is right.

To do this I must have a relationship with my

Father. I need to be in His word, to pray

and praise Him daily.

So as you pray for wisdom, discernment and revelation for your

children - pray it for you and your spouse too.

In the Greek

wisdom = insight, the art of using wisdom - clarity

discernment = perception - cuts through hazy ethical (moral) matters

revelation = once hidden now revealed in the Gospel

We need to pray for our children to have wisdom, discernment and revelation.

We want them to know God, have a relationship

with Him that is their own.

As they begin to have wisdom and allow the

Holy Spirit to work in and through them, they

will have discernment.

With discernment they will begin to have

revelation from the Lord, which will give

them purpose.

So Father, I ask that you give our daughters and sons Your wisdom. Wisdom to understand Your word and Your ways.

As they gain wisdom, teach them discernment so when

faced with the many decisions and situations, they will

know when to flee, how to pray and when

to boldly speak Your Name, Your Word.

And give them revelation into Your Word so they

will know what Your good and perfect will

is for their lives.

I praise You and thank You for blessing me with

my wonderful children. I trust You Lord, to

fulfill your word in their lives.

In Jesus Name I Pray,

amen

Psalm 119:34 Give me understanding and I will obey your instructions; I will put them into practice with all my heart.

James 3:17 But the wisdom from above is first of all pure. It is also peace loving, gentle at all times, and willing to yield to others. It is full of mercy and good deeds. It shows no favoritism and is always sincere.

Proverbs 1:5 

let the wise listen and add to their learning, and let the discerning get guidance

Psalm 119:125

I am your servant; give me discernment that I may understand your statutes.

1 Corinthians 2:14

The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.

Proverbs 29:18

Where there is no revelation, the people cast off restraint; but blessed is he who keeps the law.

Ephesians 1:17-19