Bible Study: Put Your Trust in God 05.02.10

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Today is Sunday May 02, 2010 and we are reading through the Bible in a year. Today's message comes from the reading of the Book of II Kings, chapters 4-5. If you would like to read the chapters along with us here online you can Click Here to read them or copy & paste this link onto your browser: http://www.readytofollow.com/bible-may-2

Title: Bible Study: Putting Your Trust In God
As Christians we learn to put our trust in God to lead us and guide us in this crazy, unstable world. At times, even the things that God sends us seems crazy and unstable, but regardless of what we are facing the test comes in how much we put our trust in God. Every person, thing, or circumstance we encounter is used to strengthen us, correct us, and teach us that God is always in control and everything works together for our own good and His glory. Many Christians make the mistake of thinking that God can not make the same miracles happen as He did in the Bible, but the same God of Israel is the same God of every nation, He was then, He is now, and He will be for eternity. God will use any means to prove that He is still here and still in the miracle making business, but be careful, just as He makes miracles, He gives judgment upon those who take advantage of His good graces.

Elisha asked God for a double potion of His spirit before Elijah had gotten caught up in the whirlwind to heaven. God used him to show Israel that He was still their God and still alive and well in Israel, in fact, he was a type of Christ in his generation. People often went to Elisha in desperate need, such as the case of a widow woman. She had two sons and they were about to be taken from her to be slaves in order to pay a debt owed. “Now there cried a certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets unto Elisha, saying, Thy servant my husband is dead; and thou knowest that thy servant did fear the LORD: and the creditor is come to take unto him my two sons to be bondmen. And Elisha said unto her, What shall I do for thee? tell me, what hast thou in the house? And she said, Thine handmaid hath not any thing in the house, save a pot of oil. Then he said, Go, borrow thee vessels abroad of all thy neighbours, even empty vessels; borrow not a few. And when thou art come in, thou shalt shut the door upon thee and upon thy sons, and shalt pour out into all those vessels, and thou shalt set aside that which is full...And it came to pass, when the vessels were full, that she said unto her son, Bring me yet a vessel. And he said unto her, There is not a vessel more. And the oil stayed. Then she came and told the man of God. And he said, Go, sell the oil, and pay thy debt, and live thou and thy children of the rest.” - II Kings 4:1-4,6,7. Elisha instructed this woman to go and borrow as many empty pots as she could. By borrowing only empty pots allowed her to see the miracle of God filling them with oil and paying off the debt without owing anything to anyone else, all she would have to do it return the pots. If she would have borrowed oil it would have taken her in further debt. This should remind us all of the dangers of going into debt by owing things that we borrow. There is a danger of using money which really is not ours, of living beyond what the Lord has provided and incurring liabilities which we have no assurance of repaying. However, God will always provide and give us even a way to get out of the debt when put our trust in Him to help us out of it.

Another miracle that took place was in a man named Naaman, Naaman, was a great military, but had one severe problem, he was leprous. Desperate to be healed he went to Elisha, who told him to wash seven times in the Jordan river. At first he could not understand why he had to go to that specific river, but after a while he obeyed and was healed. Grateful of Elisha's help, Naaman offered him a huge reward, but he refused it. Sadly, we learn of Gehazi, an inspiring new prophet, who over heard Elish refuse the reward and took it upon himself to deceive Naaman and get the reward himself. “But Gehazi, the servant of Elisha the man of God, said, Behold, my master hath spared Naaman this Syrian, in not receiving at his hands that which he brought: but, as the LORD liveth, I will run after him, and take somewhat of him. So Gehazi followed after Naaman. And when Naaman saw him running after him, he lighted down from the chariot to meet him, and said, Is all well? And he said, All is well. My master hath sent me, saying, Behold, even now there be come to me from mount Ephraim two young men of the sons of the prophets: give them, I pray thee, a talent of silver, and two changes of garments. And Naaman said, Be content, take two talents. And he urged him, and bound two talents of silver in two bags, with two changes of garments, and laid them upon two of his servants; and they bare them before him.And when he came to the tower, he took them from their hand, and bestowed them in the house: and he let the men go, and they departed. But he went in, and stood before his master. And Elisha said unto him, Whence comest thou, Gehazi? And he said, Thy servant went no whither. And he said unto him, Went not mine heart with thee, when the man turned again from his chariot to meet thee? Is it a time to receive money, and to receive garments, and oliveyards, and vineyards, and sheep, and oxen, and menservants, and maidservants? The leprosy therefore of Naaman shall cleave unto thee, and unto thy seed for ever. And he went out from his presence a leper as white as snow.” - II Kings 5:20-27. This greedy servant persuaded himself into believing that God had blessed him with an opportunity to receive the reward. Sadly, because of his greed and deceit, he became leprous. Gehazi forfeited his opportunity to be the next honored prophet of God. Instead, he became a leper! When Gehazi was tested, he exposed his true character as a covetous hypocrite. Any desire for material gain above our desire to serve God robs us of His wonderful plan for our lives.

At times, it may seem that God is not around, that you are being punished for something you did not do, and that everything is being taken away from you, but the truth is God is always around and He does not punish those who live righteously. Although we may not understand why He we go through some of the things we do, or why He takes someone so young or why He allows certain people to come into our lives, it's all about putting our trust in Him. He sees beyond what we see on the surface, yes, He has the power to heal and can bring people back from the dead, but He is not going to do it for everyone. Why? Because if God gave us everything we ask for we will never learn to trust Him. The Book of Job explains just how precious and quick life is and how important it is to keep God in our lives, no matter what He takes from us. Job lost everything in his entire life, including his ten children, but through his suffering he came out of it and was blessed with twice as much as he had, even ten more children. “Every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him.” - Proverbs 30:5. Today, if you are struggling with things that you do not understand, just keep putting your trust in God. He is there, He will hear you and He will show you some answers. He knows what you are going through, all you have to do is call on Him.

Enjoy the rest of your day/night and enjoy the rest of the Lord's Day.
God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina

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