• Devotional

    Christian Devotional – August 16, 2020

    Always Second – #2 Saul shows his true heart and disobeys God. It’s interesting, even though this passage doesn’t directly deal with Jonathan, it has profound impact on him. You can read the full story of what Saul does in 1 Samuel 13:5-14, but we’re going to just look at verses 13 and 14. Samuel said to Saul, “You have acted foolishly; you have not kept the commandment of the Lord your God, which He commanded you, for now the Lord would have established your kingdom over Israel forever. But now your kingdom shall not endure. The Lord has sought out for Himself a man after His own heart, and…

  • Devotional

    Christian Devotional – August 15, 2020

    Always Second – #1 The life of Jonathan will be the focus of my next study. Given some of my current circumstances, God brought this to me as my next topic and I am looking forward to the learnings and encouragement that God brings through the study of His Word. Lets start by reading 1 Samuel 13:1-4. Saul was thirty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned forty two years over Israel. Now Saul chose for himself 3,000 men of Israel, of which 2,000 were with Saul in Michmash and in the hill country of Bethel, while 1,000 were with Jonathan at Gibeah of Benjamin. But he…

  • Devotional

    Christian Devotional – August 14, 2020

    Double Portion – #35 Elisha has died and was buried. And now, just to confirm where his power came from, God does one more miracle through Elisha. Read it 2 Kings 13:20-21. Elisha died, and they buried him. Now the bands of the Moabites would invade the land in the spring of the year. As they were burying a man, behold, they saw a marauding band; and they cast the man into the grave of Elisha. And when the man touched the bones of Elisha he revived and stood up on his feet.2 Kings 13:20‭-‬21 NASBhttps://bible.com/bible/100/2ki.13.20-21.NASB A man who was dead was thrown into the grave of Elisha, then he…

  • Devotional

    Christian Devotional – August 13, 2020

    Double Portion – #34 We’re nearing the end of Elisha’s life. Several kings have changed and still God was in control. Now it is time for Elisha to go to be with the Lord. Read 2 Kings 13:14-19. When Elisha became sick with the illness of which he was to die, Joash the king of Israel came down to him and wept over him and said, “My father, my father, the chariots of Israel and its horsemen!” Elisha said to him, “Take a bow and arrows.” So he took a bow and arrows. Then he said to the king of Israel, “Put your hand on the bow.” And he put…

  • Devotional

    Christian Devotional – August 11, 2020

    Double Portion – #33 God fulfills his word. As we saw yesterday, God had Elisha give an unusual order. Today, we see that order fulfilled and all the ramifications of it. Because of the length, I’m not going to copy the entire passage here, but it’s well worth reading. Read 2 Kings 9:4-37. We’re going to focus on verse 13. Then they hurried and each man took his garment and placed it under him on the bare steps, and blew the trumpet, saying, “Jehu is king!”2 Kings 9:13 NASBhttps://bible.com/bible/100/2ki.9.13.NASB After the servant did what Elisha commanded him, all the people followed Jehu. They recognized the authority of God and the…

  • Devotional

    Christian Devotional – August 10, 2020

    Double Portion – #32 Odd instructions. Or at least, we would have thought them odd. Read 2 Kings 9:1-3. Now Elisha the prophet called one of the sons of the prophets and said to him, “Gird up your loins, and take this flask of oil in your hand and go to Ramoth-gilead. When you arrive there, search out Jehu the son of Jehoshaphat the son of Nimshi, and go in and bid him arise from among his brothers, and bring him to an inner room. Then take the flask of oil and pour it on his head and say, ‘Thus says the Lord , “I have anointed you king over…

  • Devotional

    Christian Devotional – August 9, 2020

    Double Portion – #31 The King of Aram is sick and sends his servant to Elisha to find out if he will die. That doesn’t exactly go the way the king expects. Read 2 Kings 8:7-15. Then Elisha came to Damascus. Now Ben-hadad king of Aram was sick, and it was told him, saying, “The man of God has come here.” The king said to Hazael, “Take a gift in your hand and go to meet the man of God, and inquire of the Lord by him, saying, ‘Will I recover from this sickness?'” So Hazael went to meet him and took a gift in his hand, even every kind…

  • Devotional

    Christian Devotional – August 8, 2020

    Double Portion – #30 God keeps track of all the details and the timing. Read 2 Kings 8:1-6. Now Elisha spoke to the woman whose son he had restored to life, saying, “Arise and go with your household, and sojourn wherever you can sojourn; for the Lord has called for a famine, and it will even come on the land for seven years.” So the woman arose and did according to the word of the man of God, and she went with her household and sojourned in the land of the Philistines seven years. At the end of seven years, the woman returned from the land of the Philistines; and…

  • Devotional

    Christian Devotional – August 6, 2020

    The rest of the story. Yesterday we saw Elisha sharing the message to the king. Today we read the full story of how God brought this about. Read 2 Kings 7:3-20. Now there were four leprous men at the entrance of the gate; and they said to one another, “Why do we sit here until we die? If we say, ‘We will enter the city,’ then the famine is in the city and we will die there; and if we sit here, we die also. Now therefore come, and let us go over to the camp of the Arameans. If they spare us, we will live; and if they kill…

  • Devotional

    Christian Devotional – August 5, 2020

    Double Portion – #28 It’s one thing to see God’s provision, it’s another thing to actually experience it. Read 2 Kings 7:1-2. Then Elisha said, “Listen to the word of the Lord ; thus says the Lord , ‘Tomorrow about this time a measure of fine flour will be sold for a shekel, and two measures of barley for a shekel, in the gate of Samaria.'” The royal officer on whose hand the king was leaning answered the man of God and said, “Behold, if the Lord should make windows in heaven, could this thing be?” Then he said, “Behold, you will see it with your own eyes, but you…