Double Portion – #22 Greed. It’s such a dangerous sin that often starts small and rationalizes its way to being bigger. Read 2 Kings 5:20-27. But Gehazi, the servant of Elisha the man of God, thought, “Behold, my master has spared this Naaman the Aramean, by not receiving from his hands what he brought. As the Lord lives, I will run after him and take something from him.” So Gehazi pursued Naaman. When Naaman saw one running after him, he came down from the chariot to meet him and said, “Is all well?” He said, “All is well. My master has sent me, saying, ‘Behold, just now two young men…

Double Portion – #21 A difficult situation. Naaman has been cleansed and his whole life has been changed. He is now a believer. Yet, he has a concern. Read 2 Kings 5:15-19. When he returned to the man of God with all his company, and came and stood before him, he said, “Behold now, I know that there is no God in all the earth, but in Israel; so please take a present from your servant now.” But he said, “As the Lord lives, before whom I stand, I will take nothing.” And he urged him to take it, but he refused. Naaman said, “If not, please let your servant…

Double Portion – #20 What’s bigger, our ego or our desire to be obedient? For Naaman as he was seeking a cure for his leprosy, that became the question. Read 2 Kings 5:8-14. It happened when Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his clothes, that he sent word to the king, saying, “Why have you torn your clothes? Now let him come to me, and he shall know that there is a prophet in Israel.” So Naaman came with his horses and his chariots and stood at the doorway of the house of Elisha. Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, “Go and…

Double Portion – #19 The servant loves her master. She was stolen from her people, but she has created a new life and she loves her new master. She loves this life so much that she wants to see him healed so she tells him about the prophet in Samaria. Read 2 Kings 5:1-7. Now Naaman, captain of the army of the king of Aram, was a great man with his master, and highly respected, because by him the Lord had given victory to Aram. The man was also a valiant warrior, but he was a leper. Now the Arameans had gone out in bands and had taken captive a…

Double Portion – #18 More food than they need. Sound familiar? Here we see Elisha in a story that foreshadows Jesus feeding a large group of people with a small amount of food. Read 2 Kings 4:42-44 Now a man came from Baal-shalishah, and brought the man of God bread of the first fruits, twenty loaves of barley and fresh ears of grain in his sack. And he said, “Give them to the people that they may eat.” His attendant said, “What, will I set this before a hundred men?” But he said, “Give them to the people that they may eat, for thus says the Lord , ‘They shall…

Double Portion – #17 There’s death in the pot. Such an interesting statement, especially since the scripture doesn’t record anything about anyone dying. Elisha shares the next of many amazing miracles that he performs. Read 2 Kings 4:38-41. When Elisha returned to Gilgal, there was a famine in the land. As the sons of the prophets were sitting before him, he said to his servant, “Put on the large pot and boil stew for the sons of the prophets.” Then one went out into the field to gather herbs, and found a wild vine and gathered from it his lap full of wild gourds, and came and sliced them into…

Double Portion – #16 Praising God comes first. We see the conclusion of the story with the woman and her son in 2 Kings 4:29-37. Then he said to Gehazi, “Gird up your loins and take my staff in your hand, and go your way; if you meet any man, do not salute him, and if anyone salutes you, do not answer him; and lay my staff on the lad’s face.” The mother of the lad said, “As the Lord lives and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” And he arose and followed her. Then Gehazi passed on before them and laid the staff on the lad’s…

Double Portion – #15 Unfulfilled hope. There are very few things that are as disheartening and disappointing as hope that has gone unfulfilled. Read 2 Kings 4:24-28. Then she saddled a donkey and said to her servant, “Drive and go forward; do not slow down the pace for me unless I tell you.” So she went and came to the man of God to Mount Carmel. When the man of God saw her at a distance, he said to Gehazi his servant, “Behold, there is the Shunammite. Please run now to meet her and say to her, ‘Is it well with you? Is it well with your husband? Is it…

Double Portion – #14 Faith and trust. The woman didn’t even bother telling her husband that their son had died. She just headed out to the Man of God. Read 2 Kings 4:18-23. When the child was grown, the day came that he went out to his father to the reapers. He said to his father, “My head, my head.” And he said to his servant, “Carry him to his mother.” When he had taken him and brought him to his mother, he sat on her lap until noon, and then died. She went up and laid him on the bed of the man of God, and shut the door…

Double Portion – #13 What do you look for in return for doing what is right? This woman has been kind to Elisha and now he wants to find a way to repay her. Read 2 Kings 4:11-17. One day he came there and turned in to the upper chamber and rested. Then he said to Gehazi his servant, “Call this Shunammite.” And when he had called her, she stood before him. He said to him, “Say now to her, ‘Behold, you have been careful for us with all this care; what can I do for you? Would you be spoken for to the king or to the captain of…