God's plan continues...would you be a part of it?

Background:I am moving on to Ezra. Israel has seen its share of kings and leaders, those that led them to the Lord and those that led them away too. The 2 Israelites kingdoms Jerusalem and Samaria, lost their inheritance, to the Babylonians until Cyprus the king of Persia came into ruling in Persia and the Persian empire was strong "1 In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, in order to fulfill the word of the LORD spoken by Jeremiah, the LORD moved the heart of Cyrus king of Persia to make a proclamation throughout his realm and to put it in writing:
2 "This is what Cyrus king of Persia says:" 'The LORD, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and he has appointed me to build a temple for him at Jerusalem in Judah. 3 Anyone of his people among you—may his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem in Judah and build the temple of the LORD, the God of Israel, the God who is in Jerusalem. 4 And the people of any place where survivors may now be living are to provide him with silver and gold, with goods and livestock, and with freewill offerings for the temple of God in Jerusalem.' "

When there was no king available to head the Israelites, God moved the heart of a Persian king to do what the Israelites were required to do. He gathered them to build the the temple of God in Jerusalem. God would love His children to participate in His plan for us, for the new Jerusalem. We have a choice to either get in on the plan, because ultimately God's plan continues. When we participate in God's plan, we get a chance to see our Father in action and see how beautifully He orchestrates everything together and works them all out for good.

When nobody thought it would ever work, no king stood up like David did, Israel(both kingdoms Judah and Jerusalem) lost its inheritance to the kings of Babylon and were living as servants to them and not knowing what would happen, even through the ages when people thought Israel as a separate country was a myth from the Bible, God's plan continued to work even through God moving the heart of a Persian king and Israel as a nation was born again on the May 14 1948.

There is nothing impossible for my God. He is able , no matter how disheartening situations may get. No matter how far one may be lost, my God is able to save in His most amazing manner, and no one is ever unreachable from His love. More than that, God has a plan and it cannot be thwarted. His big plan continues on. Our individual plans are the ones that either can get aligned to God's plan or lose out on the big picture, only to find that what we have been fretting for was absolutely worthless. God wants His amazing plan unfolded in my life and yours.

Conclusion: Remember the time when Jesus entered Jerusalem with much fanfare and rejoicing and the Pharisees wanted the disciples to shut up. "I tell you," he replied, "if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out."Luke 19:39-41. God is not hampered by human failure and negligence, His bigger plan continues, with the open invitation to see His glorious design unfold as the New Jerusalem will be unveiled. Its not our pride but our humility that God would like us, His only created beings to participate as co-heirs of this New Rule. Yet if we think it's because of "me" God's plan moves, Jesus's words reminds us "Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father.' For I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham."Luke 3:7-9 God is omnipotent and able, He cares for us and wants us to be part of that magnificent plan He has for the whole mankind, so that we know Him and know the truth about the real plan that is working constantly and when we allow that plan of God in our life, we'll get to see God's power of His kingdom at work in our life too. Whether we realise it or not, Jesus told us, that the Kingdom of God is already here and whether we want to be a part of it, or just stand looking at it as if it wont work and looks foolish, it is our choice. God's plan continues...would you like to be a part of it?

Blessed Over and Beyond

2 Kings 8 :1-6
Background: It has been some time since the siege, Israel has been through another bout with drought. During this period of drought, Elish told the Shunnamite woman, who's son God had restored , to sojourn somewhere else, until the drought passes. She obeyed and left for 7 years as asked by Elisha. When she returns, she goes straight to the king to ask for her possessions she had left behind. At this time the king asked Gehazi to tell him of the wondrous things the Lord had done through Elisha, "5And as Gehazi was telling the king how [Elisha] had restored the dead to life, behold, the woman whose son he had restored to life appealed to the king for her house and land. And Gehazi said, My lord O king, this is the woman, and this is her son whom Elisha brought back to life."6When the king asked the woman, she told him. So the king appointed to her a certain officer, saying, Restore all that was hers, and all the fruits of the field since the day that she left the land even until now.

Lessons I learnt

1. God Himself is with us, wherever we go when we obey Him-This Shunnamite woman was blessed, in her obedience to Elisha's word regarding the drought in Israel and had gone out of the country as told. Its not an easy decision to leave your home, your people and your country on a word for something that has not yet happened. But the Word of God has more examples than one, of people who did seemingly unintelligent things in obedience to His Word and were blessed. Noah(boat on land), Abraham(leaving house to have his own son at 75yrs) , Joseph(obeying God without cribbing following a dream), David(what was he going to slay with a stone), Jesus(leaving his heavenly abode to be born in a manger and being killed brutally). All these didn't make sense, but in the end they were blessed beyond measure. The promise for us is God Himself being with us, no matter where He takes us as we obey Him. John 14:23 Jesus replied, "If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. We may not be in a familiar locality, but our heavenly family is with us.
2. When you've obeyed, blessings pour in-The woman, (unlike what we've read from Ruth) sojourns for a while and does return. The instruction to sojourn, is to go away from the country for a while and return. She obeys it completely and in this she is blessed. Not only does she get back what she had left behind, but also all the fruits of the field since the time she had left until now. Isn't that amazing.

Conclusion:The Word of God says "Matthew 19:29 "And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life." God is not talking about abandoning everything and running away from your responsibilities. He is talking about people who will reject you for your believing Jesus, it happens a lot in India. Many people are thrown out of their houses, left out, beaten or not given food. All this by their own family members and sadly some turn back too. Jesus promises to more than make up for our sacrifices; do we believe him enough to sacrifice whatever our calling demands? Let us be encouraged through the life of this Shunnamite woman, God's word is true and when He says He will bless us for our obedience, He truly will, more than we can imagine. Also, let us pray for those who have been shaken by emotions of family and given up or turned away, that God will strengthen His Words in their heart once again and give them courage.

Unwanted People Wanted by God for Missions Impossible

Have you ever thought or wondered, when you're in a tough situation and hoping that one day things will get better but that day seems it will never come??? Samaria faced one such situation. The Aramean king decided to lay a siege on Samaria and the siege lasted many days. Here are some lessons from this episode.

Lessons

1. Only someone outside the siege can help-"25 There was a great famine in the city; the siege lasted so long that a donkey's head sold for eighty shekels [a] of silver, and a quarter of a cab [b] of seed pods [c] for five shekels. [d] "
   Siege (meaning : the act or process of surrounding and attacking a fortified place in such a way as to isolate it from help and supplies, for the purpose of lessening the resistance of the defenders and thereby making capture possible) doesn't kill people immediately like in a battle, but forces them to surrender slowly by cutting off their supplies, cutting them off from what could sustain their physical life. Siege, as I think more of it, seems to be a state wherein, you cannot help yourself from inside your fort or your area. A country in siege can only be helped if they've got someone outside of the siege who can probably attack the enemy surrounding their city and thereby freeing them. In case they even think of fighting the battle from the inside, all they are going to do is exhaust their resources. In essence their own strength cannot help, they WILL NEED external help. Sometimes, situations in life are like a siege, you feel locked up in full pressure, probably in your emotions, in your health, in your finances and the list could be endless. However no matter how worse the situation gets, there is a way out, as the people in Samaria find later in this episode.
2. Things we counted worthless becomes valuable-"a donkey's head sold for eighty shekels [a] of silver, and a quarter of a cab [b] of seed pods [c] for five shekels. [d] " When in a life's storm, we'll find that the people you were counting of much worth and working to please them are nowhere to be seen to help, but in that mess there still stand a few people who we didn't care much about when things were going good, and they're worth so much now, just because they are there for you and with you. It changes our perspective for value drastically.
3. If we don't have an answer to our problem, we cannot blame the cause on someone else-The king of Samaria, couldnt provide a solution to 2 women's dilemma in this episode and instead goes ahead and blames Elisha and resorts to taking his life!!! That doesn't make sense, Elisha had nothing to do with the siege.Blaming Elisha and trying to kill him would have sought nothing for victory or freedom for the king. Sometimes we do this and still find no answer, only make oursleves more bitter, more trapped, and giving in to the enemy's game plan of making us helpless.
4. What economy is all about?-When the king reached Elisha to kill him "1 Elisha said, "Hear the word of the LORD. This is what the LORD says: About this time tomorrow, a seah [a] of flour will sell for a shekel [b] and two seahs [c] of barley for a shekel at the gate of Samaria." Seems impossible right, but it is possible, when you're NOT thinking the way the enemy wants you to think(trapped), when you don't depend on the limited resources within the boundaries which the enemy is trying to bind you in, when your strength in the situation comes from outside, from someone who has authority over all authorities, anything becomes POSSIBLE. No difficult situation can stand before that realisation of having a Wonderful, Powerful, Living, Loving, Allknowing, Omnipresent Almighty GOD.
5. Unwanted people, wanted by God -In olden days, leprosy was treated as a curse and the lepers were sent out of the city gates forever, there they lived and died, no one cared for them, no houses, no provisions except if someone be kind so as to throw something down from the city wall. These were the people who would accomplish God's miracle of overturning Samaria's economy. Read about their endeavour and you will find, the worthless unwanted people of Samaria were the ones whom God used to bring forth His word to pass.

Conclusion: During painful times in life, when you're like in a siege trying to find an answer which is almost seeming impossible to you, take heart, look for the answer not in blame, but in Jesus Name. The Name above all names. If you've been treated as useless, untouchable, unworthy, take heart, you're of much worth for God to do the missions that are normally impossible.

Lesson from a floating axehead

2 Kings 6
An Axhead Floats
1 The company of the prophets said to Elisha, "Look, the place where we meet with you is too small for us. 2 Let us go to the Jordan, where each of us can get a pole; and let us build a place there for us to live." And he said, "Go."
3 Then one of them said, "Won't you please come with your servants?" "I will," Elisha replied. 4 And he went with them. They went to the Jordan and began to cut down trees. 5 As one of them was cutting down a tree, the iron axhead fell into the water. "Oh, my lord," he cried out, "it was borrowed!"
6 The man of God asked, "Where did it fall?" When he showed him the place, Elisha cut a stick and threw it there, and made the iron float. 7 "Lift it out," he said. Then the man reached out his hand and took it."

A short episode here from Elisha's life, I learnt some lessons here on how to tackle life's problems.

1. No matter what the weight of the problem, it will float when surrendered to God-Have you ever caught yourself, worrying about life sometimes, and it weighs us down. As I was reading this passage, God showed me that the weight of the axehead didn't matter. Elisha wasn't wondering what to do when that man cried out. He didn't even try diving into the problem or jumping into the waters. He just threw a stick at it!!! And the axehead floated. What is impossible for man, is possible with God. I don't know how many times I would need to hear that.
2. Know where it went wrong/down and start your work there-It doesn't make sense to search for something in the house when you know it got lost in the streets. Elisha asks this man ""Where did it fall?" It is more than likely that YOU yourself will know what went wrong and where. Thats where we start working from. For e.g. if I have an overweight problem, I don't beat up the person who sold me the burger or fries. I acknowledge where the weakness lies and work at it, right there. Not around the bush.
3. God sends in the solution-Like Elisha, cut the stick and threw it into the water where the axehead had fallen, God also sends in the solution. When Abraham went upto the mountains to sacrifice Isaac, God saw his obedience, and his solution was sent there, the ram. When Moses was telling God how weak he was in speech, Aaron was already on his way to meet him. When the widow and her son had only enough bread and oil left, Elijah was already on his way to meet them. There are more examples like so, if we read through the Word of God. Once we know where we should start work, God already has sent his solution.
4. It is for us to "Lift it out"-It is for us to take action and come out of the problem, the final work is ours. God has already done His work on your situation, now it is upto us to come out. God sent Aaron, it was upto Moses to get to work from then. He had no excuses left to run away from the work God had planned for him. When Abraham saw the ram it was upto him to untangle the ram and make the sacrifice. When Elijah asked the woman to make bread for him first, it was then left to her to take that step and see God's miracle of provision.

Conclusion-No matter how heavy the problem in our lives may seem, God has already sent the provision/solution for it. Its only upto us to identify where the problem is and what we must do in obedience. If Moses hadn't gone to the burning bush, he wouldn't have ever come out of the guilt of murdering an Egyptian. If Abraham had feared sacrificing his son, he would have never seen God's provision of the ram. If the woman had not dared to make bread for Elijah from what was only for she and her son, she would not have seen God's provision.

Dear Lord, open our eyes that we may see where the problem is, to obey you in doing what is asked of us according to Your Living Word, and to be obedient so that we will see Your might and provision and power to save our lives. In Jesus our Saviour's name we ask.

Amen

Whats our motivation?

2 Kings 5
Naaman has got healed after his 7th Dip and then now he's returned to Elisha to give him gifts of clothing and riches, but Elisha refuses. Hence, Naaman, asks for some mud from the land so he can go back and build an altar for the Living God in his place. Later Gehazi chases Naaman and asks for the gifts that Naaman was planning to give Elisha, without Elisha's consent.

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 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.

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."

I couldn't help but notice the stark difference in the way Naaman and Gehazi behaved at this situation. This man Naaman, came to know the Lord for the first time in his life and is awestruck and worshipful towards God, on the other hand Gehazi has gone to make better of this opportunity. Gehazi wants to make some money. I wondered, what just happened here? Wasn't Gehazi right by the side of Elisha himself, every time there was a miracle being performed. Isn't this the 1st time something so miraculous has happened in Naaman's life. Why then did Gehazi run for money, where Naaman was so overwhelmed by God's power and decided to follow him. I think it has something to do with "complacency" or "leaving the first love". Here are a few questions I asked myself, well before I go ahead I wanted to make clear , I judge myself, so that no one will judge me...so these lessons from the lives of people in the Bible, help me keep myself on track.

What am I serving God for?-For a house, for money, for health...or whatever we might need, in exchange of our service??? Well thats a very powerful question. If we are coming to Jesus ONLY for these things, we might as well be behaving like Gehazi. How many times I have said, I know, God if you do this/that for me, I will never leave you.

But the question is, how many times have I said like Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego did "16 Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to the king, "O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. 17 If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it, and he will rescue us from your hand, O king. 18 But even if he does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up."

At the end of our time here on earth, will God say..

3You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary. 4Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love. (Revelation 2:3-5 )

OR

I know your deeds, your love and faith, your service and perseverance, and that you are now doing more than you did at first. Revelation 2:18-20

The only way we can know for sure is to let the Word of God do what it does best,

"For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword,

it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow;

it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.Hebrews 4:11-13"

prune us and make us all the more powerful in knowing our Lord, in the way that Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego did, so we'd be sooooooo sure that our God is for us and no one can be against us, and we will follow God not because of that carrot on the stick principle, but because we WANT to follow God because we love Him for His love for us, because He's the One who loved us first.

The 7th Dip

Now that Naaman knows what to do, he goes to Israel to meet this prophet,Israelite servant girl told him about.

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."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 any of the waters of Israel? Couldn't I wash in them and be cleansed?" So he turned and went off in a rage.

Naaman was convinced enough to go upto Israel, yet he was utterly disappointed by the solution given to his problem. Was dipping in a river the ONLY solution he travelled for? Was "it" that simple? Surely he could have performed such a thing back at his own place. Why was he called out so far to do so? I think, if he had known earlier he wouldn't even have bothered coming. Come on now, his problem was BIG wasn't it? Also he had been bearing this trouble for such a long time, so wouldn't it be great if someone did something similarly BIG to resolve it!!!! I'd think so too.

But looking at the situation, from outside the book, I think

1. It wasn't so much about the "procedure" of healing, but of "obedience". Was Naaman going to be obedient enough to do what this man of God (whom he didn't know) asked him to do? This result of Naaman's choice to obey or not to obey, could bring him out of that situation or leave him in there.
2. It was about "desperation" . Naaman had probably been desperate to try anything in order to get rid of his situation and was willing and even went down to being humble enough to listen to his servant girl's suggestion.
3. It was about "humility". Naaman was a man of reason, he paid attention to people and that helped him a lot. His servants played an important role in his healing. This time, during his travel to the Israel nation to meet the Israelite prophet, when Naaman almost turns around and is about to walk away from that one step he was asked to take, to dip, his servants pitch in again "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'!" And once again, you know Naaman did listen to them and HE WAS HEALED.

It was an interesting journey for Naaman, not knowing what to do, pressed into desperation by that disease, he humbled himself to listen to his servants and obedient, to the point of doing the silly and simple, 7 dips in the Jordan river as asked by the prophet. If we were to analyse the situation, it would break up into several points of being "obedient" in little things, which let into the big victory. Redemption from that BIG issue that Naaman was once facing. Sure enough it all amounted to this :- " his flesh was restored and became clean like that of a young boy. " Dipping 7 times, might have felt weird too (I think). Every dip made with the expectation to see a change, but it doesn't come until your done with the 6th one, which still wouldn't show you any changes, but it was the 7th dip. Almost like going around Jericho so many times, until that last but one, which still didn't show any indication of change. But the victory was in the last one. In the very end of obedience. So with 6 unsuccessful dips, would the 7th make a difference? Yes it did. It did because it was the completion of obedience. It was being obedient till the end of the ordeal.

Conclusion: Naaman was(I think) a desperate man, he had had enough with his situation and though not so willing, but was made willing with the help of his servants who ushered him into obedience and therefore winning the battle against disease, that had followed him for long. If you're in a situation, in a condition, in a disease which is just not letting go of you. Find out what to do (not all procedures are the same for everyone, though all may have similar diseases or shortcomings), from the right source of information. If you have found out and are following the instructions towards your redemption, then stay on it. Don't give up at the 6th dip. Go on to full obedience. The reward awaits at the end of it.

Jesus said in the parable ""His master replied, 'Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!'Matthew 25:20-22

The reward is not for people who've given up in between, even in the last but one effort, but for those who've gone till the end. "Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life." Revelation 2:9-11. Even to the point of death, the last stop of all human beings. Be encouraged, if you're at your 6th dip, the 7th is the one that heals. It does matter that you've been obedient in doing the 6 dips, without which you would never reach the 7th dip anyway. God will bless.

Working out God's Plan

Elijah 18:1 says " 1 After a long time, in the third year, the word of the LORD came to Elijah: "Go and present yourself to Ahab, and I will send rain on the land."

Elijah obeyed God and went to meet Ahab. Here's an interesting thing happening in Elijah's life
".....Elijah climbed to the top of Carmel, bent down to the ground and put his face between his knees.
43 "Go and look toward the sea," he told his servant. And he went up and looked. "There is nothing there," he said. Seven times Elijah said, "Go back."
44 The seventh time the servant reported, "A cloud as small as a man's hand is rising from the sea." So Elijah said, "Go and tell Ahab, 'Hitch up your chariot and go down before the rain stops you.' "
45 Meanwhile, the sky grew black with clouds, the wind rose, a heavy rain came on and Ahab rode off to Jezreel. 46 The power of the LORD came upon Elijah and, tucking his cloak into his belt, he ran ahead of Ahab all the way to Jezreel." (1 Kings 18:42-45)

There are 2 things I noticed here, God promised Elijah about the rain. Elijah had to pray seven times and see that small hand of a cloud rise up in the horizon and then the rain poured.

1. Knowing what God has promised God is able to do-When God has promised something it sure will happen. We see this in the way Elijah persisted in prayer. Elijah had known from God that it would rain and that gave Elijah the base to build on to pray even more than ever. Has God given us a promise that He said He will bring to pass, take heart, trust the Word of God more than any thing. No matter what happens, or what the situation looks like right now, God will come through and His Promises will come true. Elijah knew that he knew that he knew, that what God has promised is true and will come to pass. If it has not, then maybe we're not hoping enough for it. Another thing of note is that, if we were to count all the verses in the bible and find the center verse, you know it would be Psalm 118:8 and it says "It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in man."
2. Who's report will you believe??- While Elijah prayed he asked his servant to keep bringing him back the status of the rain situation. The servant kept bringing a negative report, yet Elijah did not give up because he wasn't looking for the report from the servant but the result of the Word from God. Who's report do we readily believe. The moment we start praying for God's plan in our life, we are sure to get all sorts of reports in our lives, but above all we've got to stick onto what God says about our situation. If we've been praying for a loved one to meet our Saviour Lord Jesus and to be saved, we will find the appearance of the situation in our life and theirs going in a totally different direction, yet do not give up, God's foremost purpose and promise is that He came that all may know our Lord Jesus and be saved. We MUST (P)ray (U)ntil (S)omething (H)appens. So PUSH. Like Elijah did to bring God's Word to pass.
3. Pray in accordance to God's Word and His plan-Does praying mean praying anything we want? No. Elijah shows us that He had a mandate from God which had to happen and he prayed accordingly, without giving up hope, without being slack. Praying is a very very powerful means of bringing God's plan to come to pass on this earth. Even Jesus, when He taught us to pray "..let Your will be done on this earth as it is in heaven" Who can bring God's will to pass on this earth. Believers who pray God's will. Prayer is not ONLY for meeting our needs and blabbering our needs to God, it is bringing God's will to happen in our lives and in this earth.

Conclusion: Praying is an amazing tool, God blessed us with. Before knowing our Lord Jesus we did not know to pray. God opened the way for us to enter when Jesus died on the cross for our sins and the curtain tore in the temple and the Holy Place the Holy dwelling of God was accessible to us, because of our Saviour Lord Jesus. Hebrews 4:16 "Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need." Elijah prayed in confidence on God's Word regarding the rain, and it did rain and that small hand of a cloud rained so heavily and so quickly became rain cloud I am sure, no one could have imagined. Why doesn't our prayers work that way? The Bible says in James 4:3 "When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures." Dear brothers and sisters, lets get with our Father's business. Its been a long time since we prayed for God's will to be done in our individual lives and on this earth. Pray Until Something Happens, the Something that God has planned and promised will happen, if we pray according to His plan. Its ok if right now you don't know what to pray. The Holy Spirit will help and guide us and help us pray expectantly, like a pregnant mother, knowing for sure that in 9 months she will see her baby.