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Jars of Hope
Have you ever cried out for help but not known what exactly to ask for?
So Elisha said to her, “What shall I do for you? Tell me, what do you have in the house?” And she said, “Your maidservant has nothing in the house but a jar of oil.” 2 Kings 4:2
Did she know hope would come in a jar of oil?
Our Biblical Groundwork: 2 Kings 4:1-7
Elijah has been taken to heaven by chariot and Elisha is in his place as a prophet of God. He is running a school to train the prophets but one of them has passed away.
Somehow the prophet acquired debt and the widow could not pay restitution. By law the children would be required to work off the debt of their father. There mother was beside herself so she went to Elisha for assistance not knowing how he could assist but that she needed him to so she would not lose her sons to slavery.
Elisha asks her what she has in the house. She tells him she has nothing save one jar of oil. Good enough but she will need more to pay off the debt. He instructs her to go borrow more jars, bring them into the house and close the door.
She closes the door and fills all of the borrowed jars using her small jar of oil. When she sees they are all full she tells her sons to get more but there is no more, so the miracle ceases. She tells Elisha it is done and he gives her more instruction.
Biblical Life Lesson: A Miracle is never without instruction.
This story reminds of the times Jesus healed someone or performed a miracle in their sight. None of it was done without instruction regarding either how to get it or how to keep it.
When you first cry out to Jesus in need you really don’t know what you need because you need everything. You feel lost and alone. You need Him, yourself and others. It is all far away.
He will ask you what you have and show Him your tiny jar of oil. But that jar of oil is exactly what He has in mind for you but bigger. There is hope in that jar of oil.
The has been a biblical life lesson to live life to.
Join me in The Bible Gals community tomorrow at 2pm EST for the Biblical Power Tools to keep offering up that little jar of oil to keep pouring out hope for the future.
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Death Makes you Alive
Have you had a near death experience or heard one that changed you?
The Widow of Zarepath thought she and her son would die but then her son actually did die. This experience could do nothing but change her forever.
Our Biblical Background: 1 Kings 17
Elijah, a prophet of God, rose up in the Land of Israel to tell Ahab there would be a famine in the land for three years. Ahab had allowed his wife Jezebel to set up Baal and Asherah high places for people to worship.
The Lord fed Elijah with the birds until the water dried up then He sent him to a widow in Zarepath, a suburb of Sidon. She was at the gate collecting twigs when Elijah showed up. He asked for a drink and a morsel of bread. She told him she had only a little and then her and her son were going to die.
That was not part of God’s plan for her so she lived. Elijah stayed with her but while he was there her son took ill and died. Elijah brought him up to his room and begged the Lord to put his soul back inside him. The Lord answered him and the boy lived. A miracle offered to all of us.
Our Biblical Lesson: Living begins when our old self dies.
The widow was willing to die physically when Elijah got to her but was her old self willing to die as well. The death of the widows son was enough sorrow for her old self to take up her cross. All the teachings Elijah gave her during the time that he was with her were confirmed for her.
As Jesus followers we understand this concept and can get behind it but are we living it? Are we carrying our old self around with us and giving her licence to lead? Are you alive in Christ or are you dead in self? Paul said in Philippians 1:21, “For me, to live is Christ, to die is gain.”
Join me in The Bible Gals Monday at 2pm EST to discuss the Biblical Power Tools for how to live for Christ and die to self.
I have exciting news for you as well. I am running a FREE Biblical Goal Bootcamp to help you plan a future with Jesus in The Bible Gals from February 22-26th. You can learn how to set biblical goals even if you don’t know your vision from God yet. Sign up here and make sure you join The Bible Gals.
