Wednesday, May 13, 2015

IDENTIFY

Today’s Reading: 2 Kings 4-5

Click scripture link to read online or HERE to listen online (then click the symbol of the audio speaker above the scripture portion).

 

Seen in this photo is the Jordan River as it enters the northern part of the Sea of Galilee. In our reading, General Naaman, a leper from Syria, dipped his body seven times in the Jordan and was completely healed. This part of the Jordan Valley is a tangle of dense thorn bushes and tropical vegetation. In the Hebrew Bible it is called the “jungle of the Jordan” (Jeremiah 12:5; 49:19).

GOOGLE MAPS – To see where the photo was taken, click HERE.

 

Key Verse: 2 Kings 4:34

And he went up and lay on the child, and put his mouth on his mouth, his eyes on his eyes, and his hands on his hands; and he stretched himself out on the child, and the flesh of the child became warm.

Elisha identifies totally with this child. There had been an intervention of God in the child’s birth, and now in his return to life. God, in Jesus, has been involved with all of us, right from the beginning. We died spiritually. Christ, on the Cross, identified with us in our separation from life. He breathed into us the breath of life (John 20:19-22). This may have been a prophetic act by Jesus, predicting the time, seven weeks later, when the breath of God, as a rushing mighty wind, would fill the Upper Room (Acts 2:1-4). The sign of life for the child was to sneeze seven times and open his eyes. The sign of life at Pentecost, which continued throughout the history book of the early Church, was speaking in tongues, and life surged back into those who believed and received.
In today’s reading, the miracle of the oil teaches us that God provides according to our capacity to receive. The miracle of the flour in the pot and the supernatural provision of bread illustrate the power of Jesus, the Bread (flour) of Life, who removes the poison of sin which brings death. The cleansing of Naaman from leprosy is a powerful story of God’s grace when this proud Syrian General humbled himself. The greed of Gehazi, who became a leper, is a strong lesson for us all.

PRAYER FOR TODAY:

Lord God, I pray that I will learn from my daily readings. The child in today’s reading opened his eyes as another sign of life. Please open the eyes of my understanding so that I may see with insight all that You would reveal to me. In Jesus’ Name I pray, Amen!

100 PERSONAL WORDS:

God, who healed Naaman, is our God! In the Fall of 1955, Doctors Gamble and Flak of Peterborough, Ontario, told the President and Dean of the Bible College where I was a student in residence that they did not expect me to survive. The students identified with me in fasting and prayer. In my perception it seemed that the school officials were swimming into my dorm room. My fever was 105 degrees. They identified with me in the laying on of hands. I felt immediately like I was under a cooling shower. The fever departed and I got up and dressed, got into my 1947 Plymouth car, drove to the hospital, and asked Emergency to call the doctor. I experienced a miracle! God had one or two things for me to do. For example, Norma-Jean and I, along with our son Ron and his wife Ann, are scheduled to be in Israel next week at the Empowered 21 Global Congress, where I’m a speaker.  Ron and Ann, God willing, will be hosting a live 3-hour TV special from the Jordan River. I’ve asked Ron to give you the details of this live streamed event and where you can find it on your computer. Here’s Ron…

Hi friends – The 3-hour Jordan River event will be a unique production, as it will originate outdoors with a variety of interviews, worship music and preaching by Christian leaders from many countries…and all throughout the program, hundreds of people will be baptized in the Jordan River next to us! It will be broadcast worldwide on God TV, as well as streamed live on their website at www.god.tv/live. We will be live on Saturday, May 23rd, from 3:00pm – 6:00pm in Israel, which translates to 8:00am – 11:00am Eastern Standard Time on that Saturday.  We hope you will tune in! (It will also be repeated in the evening from 10:00pm – 1:00am EST). And while I have the opportunity, let me mention something to you that Dad likely won’t… On the final day of the Empowered 21 Global Congress, on Pentecost Sunday, May 24th, Dad will be honoured, along with several other Christian leaders, for his lifetime of significant world impact for Christ. Here is an article about it (click HERE). Many of these events in Israel will be broadcast and streamed live on God TV. You can look on their schedule from May 21-24 for programs labeled “Jerusalem 2015″…HERE is the link to view the broadcast schedule. God bless you – Ron

Yours for God’s miracles,

David

P.S. I promised the other day that I would share with you a March, 2000, newspaper article from The Ottawa Citizen about the conversion of Canada’s first Prime Minister. It’s a poor photo of part of the article, but the headline says it all…

Sir John A

14 thoughts on “Wednesday, May 13, 2015

  1. From Robin Aldrich, Facebook page: Witness Stand , May 13, 2015
    Please feel free to share my original composition below.
    This and more of my poetry can be found on the timeline of my facebook page.

    From Consuming Grief to Transforming Joy

    Alone in her house
    which was once filled with joy,
    the woman stood weeping…
    she’d just lost her boy !

    Just twelve months ago,
    her dear husband had died
    and now her one child
    slipped away on Death’s Tide !

    This city, so beauteous
    which was rightly called Nain;
    renowned for green pastures,
    now only spoke Pain !

    Inheritance gone
    with the deaths of two men;
    Life had lost all it’s meaning,
    Could she thrive once again ?

    She joined the great throng
    and acknowledged their pity,
    as they bore her dead son
    toward the gate of the city.

    Now Jesus had journeyed
    from Capernaum’s direction,
    and with the funeral cortege
    near the gate, made connection.

    The Pain of this widow
    who’d lost all, and now wept
    in her plight, reached His heart
    and Compassion now swept.

    “Weep no longer, dear daughter
    and yield not to fear”
    ( a Miracle was coming
    as His hand touched the bier !)

    The procession now gazed
    in shock and surprise
    as He spoke to the dead boy;
    “ Young man .. now Arise !”

    The young man sat up
    and started to speak !
    Jesus restored the loved boy
    to his mom’s tear-stained cheek !

    Like Elisha of old
    in a town close to hand;
    a boy was brought back to life,
    and the news filled the land !

    Feeling ‘dead’ in yourself ?
    Does Grief daily consume?
    Trust WHOLLY in Jesus
    He defeated Death’s Gloom !

    • Thank you so much Robin, very beautiful. I know this is from one of the bible stories but I don’t know the bible that well. Would u mind stateing where in the bible your great poems are inspiring you from?
      i.e. chapter, verse.
      God bless you.

      • I think it was Luke 7:14? Thanks again Robin. Not on any social media so send your poems by email to my family and friends. Blessings.

        • Hi again Lynda. I don’t hold any emails of those who comment to Rev Mainse’s blogs, so you may encourage your friends to visit my facebook page Witness Stand ( which is publically accessible ), or simply ‘copy and paste’ the poem to a ‘new email’ which you can then send to them. Blessings

          • Hi Robin
            Sorry, didn’t mean for u to send your poems to my family and friends. I was just short-cutting my sentence ’cause I’m writing on a tablet.
            Keep up the great work and thanks so much for all the info.

      • Hi Lynda
        This poem is based on the Luke Chapter 7 , verses 11 to 17, with allusions to the OT ccount of Elisha and the Shunnamite woman from 2 Kings chapter 4 verse 8 onwards. Shunem was on the other side of the hill from Nain and the OT account would have been well known to the ‘locals’ of course who would immediately draw comparisons My preceding poems have been taken from the Gospels. Thanks for asking. God Bless, Robin Aldrich

  2. WOW!
    Thanks so much for Ron’s PS today regarding the Global Congress.
    It will be great to be with you all in spirit via computer. David’s award on the final day will be a very fitting tribute to that part of your journey.
    Shalom,
    Graham.
    2012 Holy Land Yellow Bus.

  3. Thanks too for Ron’s PS. It will be so refreshing to be a part of this,especially when there seems to be so much negitivity on our airwaves.
    Enjoying our daily blog,Thanks so much!!!

  4. Wishing you a wonderful, blessed journey to Israel Rev. M. et al.

    “God seeks Christians who submit daily to the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 5:18), who study Scripture and seek to live biblically. Such people manifest the “fruit of the Spirit”—love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23). They impact their culture more powerfully than any survey can measure.”

  5. Thank you fellow saints for all your extra Bible scriptures. I am learning more from everyone each day. Also thank you Ron for your P.S. I look forward to watching the event. I hope the award ceremony for Rev. Mainse will also be available. Enjoy the rest of the day my brothers and sisters in Christ.

  6. Hope to tune into the EMPOWERED 21 GLOBAL CONGRESS events
    next week. Thanks for the information Pastor Mainse and Ron.
    Will remember you all in prayer. May God bless your mission,
    in Jesus Name I pray, Amen!

  7. Thank you Rev. Reynold for the amazing pictures you continue to provide!! and thanks Rev. David for the article and picture of our first Prime Minister and his conversion “The Day John A. Found Jesus”…Canada’s history.

    I too pray that the eyes of my understanding to be enlightened.

    Psalm 27:7-8 “Hear, O Lord, when I cry with my voice: have mercy also upon me, and answer me. When You said, Seek ye my face; my heart said unto You, Thy face, Lord, will I seek.”

    And thank you Rev. David, for interpretation of today’s scripture…it brings out a deeper understanding of God’s Word.

    Looking forward to viewing “Empowered 21 Global conference” and am praying for God’s anointing on you as you share what He has placed in your heart for that time in your life.

  8. We prayed for you at our Free Methodist church on Sunday. I plan to watch the telecast from Israel. My sister had a temperature of 106! She was in a coma and, as an infant, she did not come through the illness as well as you did. She is a very happy person and I appreciate her so much.

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