Thursday Devotional - Faithful God Despite Unfaithful Servant (4/13/23)

Would you be motivated to go out and steal after witnessing a magnificent miracle? I think I’m usually motivated to do the opposite – praise God and be generous with others! Well, Elisha’s servant wasn’t too happy with the way Elisha rejected Naaman’s gifts after God miraculously healed Naaman.

II Kings 5:19b-24                After Naaman had traveled some distance, ²⁰ Gehazi, the servant of Elisha the man of God, said to himself, “My master was too easy on Naaman, this Aramean, by not accepting from him what he brought. As surely as the Lord lives, I will run after him and get something from him.”

²¹ So Gehazi hurried after Naaman. When Naaman saw him running toward him, he got down from the chariot to meet him. “Is everything all right?” he asked.

²² “Everything is all right,” Gehazi answered. “My master sent me to say, ‘Two young men from the company of the prophets have just come to me from the hill country of Ephraim. Please give them a talent of silver and two sets of clothing.’”

²³ “By all means, take two talents,” said Naaman. He urged Gehazi to accept them, and then tied up the two talents of silver in two bags, with two sets of clothing. He gave them to two of his servants, and they carried them ahead of Gehazi. ²⁴ When Gehazi came to the hill, he took the things from the servants and put them away in the house. He sent the men away and they left.

Wow! I can’t believe Gehazi! I see a correlation between Gehazi and Judas. Both men watched God/Jesus perform amazing miracles, yet focused on what was in it for them in the short-term. God had been faithful to them and to those around them, yet it wasn’t enough.

How about you and me? Maybe we aren’t motivated to steal, but maybe we  wonder what’s in it for me, when is it my turn or why God doesn’t do something that “big” for me? Instead of focusing on ourselves, let’s praise our faithful God when we see an amazing miracle in the life of someone else!

Alice

Thursday Devotional - Faithful God through an Enemy Ruler (3/23/23)

Remember where Naaman was from? He was a ruler for the enemy king of Aram!!! Look how our Faithful God worked in his life to not only heal him physically, but spiritually!

II Kings 5:17-19      ¹⁷ “If you will not,” said Naaman, “please let me, your servant, be given as much earth as a pair of mules can carry, for your servant will never again make burnt offerings and sacrifices to any other god but the Lord. ¹⁸ But may the Lord forgive your servant for this one thing: When my master enters the temple of Rimmon to bow down and he is leaning on my arm and I have to bow there also—when I bow down in the temple of Rimmon, may the Lord forgive your servant for this.”

¹⁹ “Go in peace,” Elisha said.

Naaman wasn’t just grateful he was healed; he had a complete heart change. He met the true God and wanted to live for and worship only Him! As a result, God used Naaman to take back to his country evidence of who the True and Living God is! It will be exciting to see in heaven who all Naaman influenced in “enemy” territory.

Like Naaman, how has meeting God motivated you and me to live for and worship only Him? Where might He want to use you and me to influence others, even in “enemy” territory? 

Alice

Thursday Devotional - Faithful God through the Holy Spirit (3/16/23)

Remember how angry Naaman was??? I think the Holy Spirit humbled him and he listened to the advice of his servants.  

II Kings 5:14-16 ¹⁴ So he went down and dipped himself in the Jordan seven times, as the man of God had told him, and his flesh was restored and became clean like that of a young boy.

¹⁵ Then Naaman and all his attendants went back to the man of God. He stood before him and said, “Now I know that there is no God in all the world except in Israel. So please accept a gift from your servant.”

¹⁶ The prophet answered, “As surely as the Lord lives, whom I serve, I will not accept a thing.” And even though Naaman urged him, he refused.

I think God used the frustrations in Naaman’s life to prepare him to understand who the Living and True God is! Now that Naaman is healed, he does truly acknowledge God and gives God all the glory!!!

How might God be using the Holy Spirit in your life to humble you through a frustrating situation? Like Naaman, let’s allow God to change our anger into humble submission to His will, even when what He asks us to do doesn’t make sense.  

Alice

Thursday Devotional - Faithful God through More Servants (3/9/23)

Elisha seemed unhospitable and unwelcoming to Naaman, especially after intentionally asking the king to send Naaman to him!!! However, I think Elisha was behaving this way to make sure all the glory went to God Most High!

II Kings 5:10-13 ¹⁰ Elisha sent a messenger to say to him, “Go, wash yourself seven times in the Jordan, and your flesh will be restored and you will be cleansed.”

¹¹ But Naaman went away angry and said, “I thought that he would surely come out to me and stand and call on the name of the Lord his God, wave his hand over the spot and cure me of my leprosy. ¹² Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Couldn’t I wash in them and be cleansed?” So he turned and went off in a rage.

¹³ Naaman’s servants went to him and said, “My father, if the prophet had told you to do some great thing, would you not have done it? How much more, then, when he tells you, ‘Wash and be cleansed’!” 

Our Faithful God used even more servants to accomplish His purposes and plans in this situation! He had them be bold and brave to challenge their master in his fit of rage. Maybe the servants knew the character of the Israelite servant girl and had believed what she had told them about her God.

The way God was responding to the need was certainly different than what anyone expected. I think God was using these frustrations to prepare the heart of Naaman and the hearts of those around him to receive a greater blessing than mere physical healing!

I know I can act like Naaman and get angry when prayers don’t get answered my way or in my time. However, God is still actively working! We can anticipate His greater purposes!   

Thursday Devotional - Faithful God through a Bold Prophet (3/2/23)

Word of the King of Aram’s letter must have travelled fast! Somehow Elisha knew about it before Naaman left the king of Israel!  

II Kings 5:7-10    ⁷ As soon as the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his robes and said, “Am I God? Can I kill and bring back to life? Why does this fellow send someone to me to be cured of his leprosy? See how he is trying to pick a quarrel with me!”

⁸ When Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his robes, he sent him this message: “Why have you torn your robes? Have the man come to me and he will know that there is a prophet in Israel.” ⁹ So Naaman went with his horses and chariots and stopped at the door of Elisha’s house. ¹⁰ Elisha sent a messenger to say to him, “Go, wash yourself seven times in the Jordan, and your flesh will be restored and you will be cleansed.”

This was a bold move by Elisha, as the King of Israel was probably Jehoram, the son of wicked king Ahab. Ahab and his wife, Jezebel, had tried several times to kill Elijah (Elisha’s predecessor).

Elisha had compassion for this foreigner, though, and cared about Naaman’s spiritual and physical wellbeing. He also, and maybe most importantly, cared about God’s name and reputation. When Elisha said “Have the man come to me and he will know that there is a prophet in Israel,” I don’t think he was pridefully talking about himself. I think he was saying the God of Israel is the true and living God that is still actively working through His servants.

Like Elisha, when have you and I boldly stood for God’s reputation? Where might He want to use you and me to boldly stand today for who He is and what He has and can do?

Alice

Thursday Devotional (a day late) Faithful God through an Enemy King (2/24/23)

We had no internet yesterday because of the ice storm (and no school, so I took the day off). Sorry this is a day late! I guess I could have posted it Wednesday night when I wrote! 

A caring captive spoke up for the benefit of her captor, as we saw last week! Naaman’s servant confidently told him where he could find healing for his leprosy. Not only did Naaman believe her, but so did Israel’s enemy king, the king of Aram!

II Kings 5:4-6     Naaman went to his master and told him what the girl from Israel had said. ⁵ “By all means, go,” the king of Aram replied. “I will send a letter to the king of Israel.” So Naaman left, taking with him ten talents of silver, six thousand shekels of gold and ten sets of clothing. ⁶ The letter that he took to the king of Israel read: “With this letter I am sending my servant Naaman to you so that you may cure him of his leprosy.”

Even though the king of Aram misunderstood WHO could heal Naaman, God faithfully used him to compassionately act on behalf of his commander. He could have viewed this as a dangerous ploy by the servant girl or a risky encounter with the king of Israel. Yet, he boldly wrote a letter and sent his commander!

Where might God want to use you and me to speak up or write a letter for the benefit of someone else? Maybe we’re afraid it’s too risky or won’t help. Our Faithful God can use our small actions (at His direction) to accomplish His BIG plan.

Alice

Thursday Devotional - Faithful God through a Servant Girl (2/16/23)

 It’s amazing to see God miraculously provide for the needs of His people and His followers (like we have the last few weeks), but what about the enemy of His people? Does God ever miraculously provide for them?

If you know the story of Elisha and leprous Naaman, the answer is “Yes!”

I’d like to pick apart this familiar story over the next few weeks, focusing on how God used many people in small ways as part of His compassionately BIG restoration of Naaman, the foreign enemy.

II Kings 5:1-4     Now Naaman was commander of the army of the king of Aram. He was a great man in the sight of his master and highly regarded, because through him the Lord had given victory to Aram. He was a valiant soldier, but he had leprosy.

² Now bands of raiders from Aram had gone out and had taken captive a young girl from Israel, and she served Naaman’s wife. ³ She said to her mistress, “If only my master would see the prophet who is in Samaria! He would cure him of his leprosy.”

⁴ Naaman went to his master and told him what the girl from Israel had said.

Several things stand out to me about the servant girl. She was compassionate and caring (rather than bitter and revengeful about her plight). She was bold and brave to speak up. She was confident in the God of Israel and what He could do through the prophet Elisha. She also must have been trustworthy for Naaman to even consider what she said (as a foreign and female slave).

What about you and me? Where might God want us to speak up and share even a simple truth about Him? Our Faithful God may take a simple truth we speak to be part of accomplishing a BIG plan!  

Alice