One Year Bible, June 22

2 KINGS 3:1-4:17                                                                                                          
JEHORAM and ELISHA: Jehoram, King of Israel; Jehoshaphat, King of Judah, and the King of Edom joined hands to war against the MOABITES, who had rebelled against Jehoram.

BEHIND THE SCENES: Athaliah, daughter of Ahab and Jezebel (of Israel), had married another Jehoram, son of King Jehoshaphat of Judah. This is PROBABLY why Jehoshaphat was willing to team up with the ungodly King Jehoram.

PANIC BUTTON! The three joined armies took the long way around to confront the Moabites, but there was NO WATER in the valley! Jehoram panicked, but Jehoshaphat called for the "prophet of the Lord".

"BRING ME A MINSTREL".  A musician anointed by the Holy Spirit can "oil the spirit" of a prophet, so he can prophesy. The praise stirred up the Word of the Lord.

THE WATER AND THE BLOOD:  Brought the victory. When the sun shone on the water in the ditches, it appeared to be blood. There was a five-point victory that day!

"VESSELS, NOT A FEW":  Elisha knows that God is going to do a miracle. But it will start with what she already has.  Make room for God's abundance.   As long as there were vessels to be filled, the oil flowed. (Oil a type of the Holy Spirit being poured out.)

THE PROPHET'S ROOM: "A great woman" - a woman of good reputation and of wealth. She set aside a room for Elisha to stay whenever he was in town. GEHAZI, is Elisha's servant or assistant.   Keep your eye on him!  And on your wallet!  When Elisha told the "great woman" she would have a son by this time next year, she said, "Get out of here!"  ("Don't lie to me!")

RESPONSE:   The Holy Spirit will flow into us as long as we have the CAPACITY and can receive more of Him!   So, the secret is to increase my capacity!   How do I do that?   HUNGER for more of God. I can teach my heart to do that by constant PRAISE AND THANKSGIVING to GOD for His goodness and greatness.   It makes my heart want more.   Now I am a HUGE VESSEL.   Fill me up, Holy Spirit!   Every day!

ACTS 14:8-28                                                                                                                    
HERMES AND ZEUS: The pagans believed Barnabas and Paul to be Roman or Greek gods because of a supernatural healing.  Paul actually went from being thought a GOD to being STONED TO DEATH and left on the road outside town.

AFFLICTION: "CONTINUE in the faith" ("persevere")  We "MUST" through "much tribulation (affliction) enter into the kingdom of God".   The PURPOSE of AFFLICTION is to die to yourself and live to God.  Affliction gives us the OPPORTUNITY to die.  It comes because we choose Jesus.  Affliction is not judgment, but it is the dealing of God for growth.  Affliction breaks our stubbornness and resistance and teaches us to cling to God in utter dependency.  When we complain and whine instead of giving up and growing, God doesn't give up --- He afflicts.  This death process to SELF that comes with AFFLICTION or TRIBULATION, is also referred to "refining or purging silver or gold; breaking the outer shell; pressing the grapes; breaking up the fallow ground; winnowing the wheat; separating out the chaff".   This is all so that His glory may be revealed in me. (2 Cor 4:17; Heb 5:8; 1 Pet 2:21)

RESPONSE:  Even Job thought that God was mad at him!  Yet God called him "a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil?"  God was showing Job off!  Think about it!  At a time when Job couldn't see God anywhere, was when he was actually under God's most intense scrutiny!  When I feel abandoned or distant from God, I wonder if the Truth is, that God is watching me most closely to see what I will do.  Especially if things are "going wrong" at the time.  Every time I am tempted to get mad, feel sorry for myself, be offended, lose my temper....I remember that there are beings that are watching me.  It is my opportunity to kill my flesh again!  Sometimes I try to see how "low" I can go - doing the most detestable jobs, doing things no one else wants to do, giving away something valuable, paying a complement, etc. 


PSALM 140:1-13                                                                                                            
If you are pursuing God with your whole heart, and if your motive is to please God, then Psalm 138-145 describe you and your mission.

Psalm 140 reveals that "in the day of battle" we cling to God because in ourselves we are utterly helpless, but assured of the ultimate destruction of the wicked. This deals with the enemies without. There seems to be a conspiracy of wickedness around us. 

PROVERBS 17:22                                                                                                         
A "merry heart" is one that is content and rejoicing in the Lord.   As we place our confidence in God, and as we "delight ourselves in the Lord", that communicates itself to the extremities of life.  The spirit, on the other hand, when it is "broken" is like having a wounded conscience or a sense of guilt and fear of wrath. It can make us physically sick.

RESPONSE:   I can tell when I have unresolved issues with the Holy Spirit. It's not the same as when I am being "afflicted".  When I am being "refined, afflicted, pressured, winnowed" - the ONLY way out is DOWN.  Submit my FLESH to obedience and it will die.  HOWEVER, when it is an ISSUE with the Holy Spirit, God feels distant, and I feel insecure. The longer I wait to submit, obey, forgive, repent, or whatever the issue might be......the more sickly I feel.