ANNOUNCEMENT - NEW BLOGSITE!

ANNOUNCEMENT!  I have opened a new blogsite:  http://greenersgrainofsalt.blogspot.com/ on Blogger which will allow me to grow the site’s visitor list as apparently I am exceeding the number allowed on WordPress? I am a neophyte at this so bear with me please…  I will keep this site open, however with the new site I will be able to post more of my photography and video and audio of my sermons and teachings.  Tell your friends, send them the link - there is room for them there!

Changes Coming for the Blog - New Blogsite

Even though Solomon is billed as the wisest man on Earth, he failed often.  When someone as wealthy as Solomon fails there are lessons learned if only the reader will take advantage of the experiences of others.  We are blessed beyond measure to have the words and thoughts of Solomon written in such an easy to follow medium as the Book of Proverbs.

 

Proverbs 1:1-7 (NASB)
^{Pr 1:1} The proverbs of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel:
² To know wisdom and instruction, To discern the sayings of understanding,
³ To receive instruction in wise behavior, Righteousness, justice and equity;
⁴ To give prudence to the naive, To the youth knowledge and discretion,
⁵ A wise man will hear and increase in learning, And a man of understanding will acquire wise counsel,
⁶ To understand a proverb and a figure, The words of the wise and their riddles.
⁷ The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; Fools despise wisdom and instruction.

 

After leading us on a path that surely includes whatever station of life any reader may occupy, young person, naïve, wise man, and a man of understanding we are given in Chapter 1, Verse 7; the key, the utter link to any pursuit and acquisition of wisdom; “fear of the Lord.”  This is followed precipitously by the rebuke of fools who identify themselves by despising wisdom and instruction.

 

God directed Solomon to include these chapters from a collection of his 3,000 proverbs leading me to believe these are the most salient and relevant, not only for the audience of Solomon’s time, but also for my generation.  We are not relegated to live in this complex world without direction for the simplest or most complex issues we may face.  God gave us Proverbs in which we receive amazing tidbits of instruction from Solomon’s vast experience.

 

How do we live a wise life in light of the snare’s present in this broken world?  We read Proverbs, presumed to be the book of Solomon’s middle years with the knowledge that Solomon has already experienced a litany of challenges that frankly, I will not likely face.  

When you think you are up against it, that the challenges of life are soon to overtake you, read Proverbs…  Better yet, when you are young, and the mountains of life are still perceived to be climbable, read Proverbs!  I wish I would have read it more as a youngster, how about you?

ANNOUNCEMENT!  I have opened a new blogsite:  http://greenersgrainofsalt.blogspot.com/ on Blogger which will allow me to grow the site’s visitor list as apparently I am exceeding the number allowed on WordPress? I am a neophyte at this so bear with me please…  I will keep this site open, however with the new site I will be able to post more of my photography and video and audio of my sermons and teachings.  Tell your friends, send them the link - there is room for them there!

Blessed is not Happy - Happy is not Blessed.

The Sermon on the Mount; The Beatitudes

     1     When Jesus saw the crowds, He went up on the mountain; and after He sat down, His disciples came to Him.

     2     He opened His mouth and began to teach them, saying,

     3     ”Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

When we start reading the Beatitudes we have to commit to reading all the verses in lieu of just one or two.  They are meant to be heard or read in piece-meal.  The Sermon is directed to Jesus’ Disciples, not necessarily the crowd that had gathered to hear the amazing Words of Jesus.

It was common for a rabbi to teach his students from a sitting position, and according to the scriptures, Jesus sat down, then His disciples came to Him to hear what Jesus Christ had to say to them.  They WANTED to learn because when they were called by Jesus, they left all to answer the call.  They left their careers, their assets, their tools, their clothes, their families; everything!  They left because this Man, Jesus of Nazareth called them to follow Him, and they did.

Verse 2 indicates Jesus began to teach them, saying,  which amplifies what may not be readily apparent…  This was ONLY the beginning of the disciples’ instruction.  We also know that the instructions that followed for the disciples apply to you and I.  “Tall order!” you say?  You don’t even know the half of it!

All of the core values of society were being changed and paradigms were being ripped apart by this Man, this Rabbi leading a band of disciples who followed a Man because He asked…  Would you follow Him.  Will you?

“Blessed are the…”  Blessed means what?  It does not mean “Happy” as some translations incorrectly report.  Happy indicates conditions of happenstance and that is not what is being referred to here by the Son of God, Yeshua.  The Greek word used here for “Blessed” is ‘Makarioi’ which means to be characterized by the quality of God. In Hebrew culture words can mean many things, and “Blessed” can also mean many things in Greek.  What?  You say, “I thought the New Testament was a translation into Greek, then into English?”  True.  However; the language translated FROM was Hebrew because that is what Jesus is, Jewish or Hebrew.

“Blessed” in this case does not refer to conditions of this world or circumstances that our lives bring us…  Rather, when Yeshua calls those who do and live what He prescribes He is saying that person is “indwelt by God and that person is fully satisfied.”  Not partly, not some…  Fully!

In order to be “Blessed” one must conform to the directive - not the suggestion - that Yeshua lays out.  IF you do this, you will be that.  This blessedness is a continual objective and not something you do once and discontinue.  As we get closer to God, the more blessed we become.

3     ”Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

“Poor in spirit” does not mean we are to be down-trodden or sad, or depressed.  The Greek word used here is ‘ptochos’ which means helpless, spiritual helplessness.  We cannot help ourselves in this area…  Only through a deep and deepening relationship with Jesus Christ, Yeshua - God’s Son can we know blessedness, and be blessed.

Did you catch the tense of the last part of that verse?  “…for theirs IS the kingdom of heaven.”  Yeshua doesn’t say “would be, will be, might one day be…”  Jesus says, “IS.”  The world says, “IF you do this or that now and moving forward…  You WILL possibly lose weight, possibly make more money, possibly be healthier, possibly be happier, etc.”  Jesus says  3     ”Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. (emphasis mine.)  The lawyers of today have disclaimers all around every assertion or product out there because they cannot be totally or even partly confident what they claim will happen as a result of using their product yet Yeshua tells His disciples if they recognize their deep need for God every moment of every day theirs IS the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed is not happy and happy is not blessed.  The Words of Yeshua (Jesus) don’t mean a lot, they mean everything.  When was the last time the book you were so engrossed in was the Word of God?  When was the last time the book you just couldn’t put down was the Bible?  Isn’t about time to be bless ed?

 

Testing, Testing, Testing?

Jesus was tempted.  Some would use the word “Tested.”  Matthew 4 contains the account of Satan tempting Him in the wilderness.  If you haven’t read that passage, read it now.  If you haven’t read that passage in awhile, read it now….

First, the Son of God was hungry.  He was human.  Satan tempted Jesus Christ (Yeshua) with food (bread) because he knew Jesus Christ would be hungry, because Jesus Christ was human.  Can you wrap your mind around the fact that Satan had the unmitigated gaul to tempt the very Son of God?

Why would you think Satan wouldn’t tempt you?  Before Jesus would begin His preaching ministry He was tempted, tested and found perfect without defect or weakness.  Matthew 4:17 records Yeshua’s first Words as Preacher and Rabbi, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”  Do you get that?  Yeshua had nothing to repent for, but the first admonition He had for the people who would hear Him was to “Repent.”

How long has it been since you invested some time in true repentance?  I mean on your face, deep in your soul repentance?  The first thing I must do whenever I preach or teach, is repent.  Before I dare utter a word that the Holy Spirit has given me to say I must repent.

Jesus Christ (Yeshua) was tested.  Perfect but tested.  Tempted and still perfect.  We, YOU  and ME are not perfect, and we are tested, tempted…  and we fail.  Does that mean we are destined to fail?  No.  Sanctification by discipleship, Daily DEEP Bible study, Soul-stirring prayer and worship of our God in the shadow of the empty cross where Yeshua was murdered by my sins…  That is where we return, on our knees because Jesus did that for you and I.  However; there, at the foot of the cross is not where we must stay…  The lessons are far too deep, too important to remain at one portion of the miracle of Christ.

The Beatitudes await us…  and the challenge grows deeper than a simple temptation when we are hungry.  Our food is the Word of God and the Work that He does in us and through us as we are daily changed by Him.

In the coming days we are going to learn what the Words of Jesus Christ of Nazareth really mean…  “Is this microphone on?  Testing, testing, testing…”

It doesn’t mean what you think it means…

Have you ever been told that a preconceived notion you held was rebutted and disproved?  How did you feel about it at the time?  Later on when you have had a chance to ponder the new revelation?

I am nearly finished a series that will rock your theological world by connecting your understanding of words to facts about the words as it relates to the Words of Jesus Christ.  I am fiercely challenged by this series in both researching, verifying, and writing it…  I know it will challenge and bless you too! 

Remember to subscribe to the RSS Feed so you can be notified when a new post arrives.  In the meantime, open your mind and understanding because I am going to get the root of your worldview (How you view things - what ‘filter’ you read things through…)

Fasten your seatbelts and place your tray table in its upright and locked position - and grab your Bible!

I will be in Medina, Ohio Thursday-Sunday for a Funeral

We all wish to have the address of “Heaven.”  We all must be saved by faith and repentance in order to be assured of residence in the presence of Jesus Christ and the Lord God.  Colleen’s Mother, a dear, dear Lady whom I loved is now “home.”

Home in Heaven because we are children of God and in His presence is our goal.  May we trust in Jesus Christ as Betty Claire Doyle trusted; completely.  May there be ice cream in Heaven, lots of it!

We will be attending the viewing on Friday evening at Wait and Son’s on Route 42 and the Funeral on Saturday at 11:00 a.m. at St. Francis Xavier on Route 18 and Spring Grove Street in Medina.  We will be honoring an incredible woman, remembering and celebrating her life and expressing Joy that only one who knows Jesus Christ can experience.

Feel free to call…

How do I hear from the Holy Spirit?

I am asked frequently the entitled question: “How do I hear from the Holy Spirit?”  Usually if someone is asking that question they are serious about knowing God, Doing HIS will, and honoring Him.  Occasionally it is asked of me by someone who desires a short cut to Heaven or at least blessings here on Earth.

The Bible has much to say about this very topic, but what it says is often co-opted by the first verse in the group from the pericope.  Here is one snippet of the the group:

 13     “^aWhatever you ask in My name, that will I do, so that ^bthe Father may be glorified in the Son.  14     “If you ask Me anything ^ain My name, I will do it.      15     “^aIf you love Me, you will keep My commandments.

Verse 13 receives all of the attention because that is where people who are searching for God’s blessings first look and affix their attention:  “IF I simply add ‘In Jesus’ Name’ to my prayers this says I get whatever I am praying for!!!  Hello new Calloway Corvette!!!  Slow down slam dancer, that isn’t what the verse, in its context means.  We are then ushered to verse 15, IF (emphasis mine) you love Me, you will keep my commandments.  The IF here is a condition of release, relief, and restoration.  IF you do this, then that means you love ME.

Verse 16 goes on:  16     “I will ask the Father, and He will give you another ¹^aHelper, that He may be with you forever;

The powerful IF is still in play here.  Jesus Christ, as the Holy Spirit will be our Helper (see note at bottom) and He will be with us forever, IF we keep His commandments.  Remember, this is Jesus Christ speaking to His disciples.  He is comforting them.  We in this time and era want the blessings and presence of God in our lives, the Holy Spirits intervention without doing anything and that simply doesn’t jive with scripture or, in this case, Jesus Christ’s own Words.

Maybe Verse 21 will help?  21     “^aHe who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me; and ^bhe who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will ^cdisclose Myself to him.”

Any help to you?  No?  Feels kind of like pressure on your chest to be perfect?  No, that is not what is expected, but Jesus Christ did not come to suspend the Law, He came to fulfill it.  We are still expected to pursue holiness while we are being sanctified for His purpose.  What that means is, “We are jacked up and all of us struggle with one thing or a hundred, and we will not be perfected this side of Heaven, but why not try every single day?”  Because Jesus Christ did not just say something that is no longer valid or applicable to today.  Jesus Christ is always relevant.  Either way, what Jesus Christ is saying is very clear, we must keep His commandments in order that we will be known as the ones who love Him and then He will disclose (or reveal) Himself to us through the Holy Spirit.  Maybe verse 23 and 24 will help?

          23     Jesus answered and said to him, “^aIf anyone loves Me, he will ^bkeep My word; and ^cMy Father will love him, and We ^dwill come to him and make Our abode with him.      24     “He who does not love Me ^adoes not keep My words; and ^bthe word which you hear is not Mine, but the Father’s who sent Me.

There is that IF again.  IF only there were no IF’s, but alas, there are IF’s.  The “IF’s” are what has gotten lost in translation in our worldview of today in lieu of the Biblical Worldview in play as Jesus Christ was speaking these Words.  We erase the IF when we don’t feel up to the task of seeking to “Keep His commandments.”  It gets difficult after awhile to maintain such a strict discipline - like an exercise regimine designed by the Navy SEAL’s, it isn’t easy or routine, nor will it ever be, but it must be done nonetheless.  What is the downside?  In verse 24, the “He who does not…” means that we or they or us - whoever is willfully disobedient in not keeping His Word faces a disconnect from the Holy Spirit and IF we are seeking that, it will not only be a terrible void, but also an emptyness that nothing in this world can fill.

 

Verse 26 clears some of this up for some of us:       26     “But the ^aHelper, the Holy Spirit, ^bwhom the Father will send in My name, ^cHe will teach you all things, and ^dbring to your remembrance all that I said to you.

 

Here Jesus Christ is telling His disciples that the Holy Spirit will surely come to their aid and the Holy Spirit will teach them all that they do not know, that they neeeeeed to know, and He will remind them of His Words.  This would be incredibly important when the future of the church would rest upon the apostle’s shoulders.  People would be healed in Jesus’ Name through the ministry of the Holy Spirit enacting upon the Apostle’s obedience, so the stakes were/are high.  However; we need to know, that no matter what healing we seek, WE must do something in order for that healing to come.

 

Acts 3 speaks of Peter and John enacting this promise from Jesus Christ when they were the human instruments in a supernatural healing of a beggar, lame since birth.

 

 

1     Now ^aPeter and John were going up to the temple at the ¹ninth hour, ^bthe hour of prayer.

     2     And ^aa man who had been lame from his mother’s womb was being carried along, whom they ^bused to set down every day at the gate of the temple which is called Beautiful, ^cin order to beg ¹alms of those who were entering the temple.

     3     When he saw ^aPeter and John about to go into the temple, he began asking to receive alms.

     4     But Peter, along with John, ^afixed his gaze on him and said, “Look at us!”

     5     And he began to give them his attention, expecting to receive something from them.

     6     But Peter said, “I do not possess silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you: ^aIn the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene—walk!”

     7     And seizing him by the right hand, he raised him up; and immediately his feet and his ankles were strengthened.

     8     ¹^aWith a leap he stood upright and began to walk; and he entered the temple with them, walking and leaping and praising God.

     9     And ^aall the people saw him walking and praising God;

     10     and they were taking note of him as being the one who used to ^asit at the Beautiful Gate of the temple to beg alms, and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.

The lame beggar had to “look at us!” in order to give due attention to those who would heal him in Jesus’ Name.  He had to do something.  He did it, and was healed.  So the religious rottweillers could not miss Who/What was actually responsible for the healing Peter and John made it very clear in verses 11-21.

 

 

11     While he was clinging to ^aPeter and John, all the people ran together to them at the so-called ¹^bportico of Solomon, full of amazement.

     12     But when Peter saw this, he replied to the people, “Men of Israel, why are you amazed at this, or why do you gaze at us, as if by our own power or piety we had made him walk?

     13     “^aThe God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, ^bthe God of our fathers, has glorified His ¹^cservant Jesus, the one whom ^dyou delivered and disowned in the presence of ^ePilate, when he had ^fdecided to release Him.

     14     “But you disowned ^athe Holy and Righteous One and ^basked for a murderer to be granted to you,

     15     but put to death the ¹^aPrince of life, the one whom ^bGod raised from the dead, a fact to which we are ^cwitnesses.

     16     “And on the basis of faith ^ain His name, it is ¹the name of Jesus which has strengthened this man whom you see and know; and the faith which comes through Him has given him this perfect health in the presence of you all.

     17     “And now, brethren, I know that you acted ^ain ignorance, just as your ^brulers did also.

     18     “But the things which ^aGod announced beforehand by the mouth of all the prophets, ^bthat His ¹Christ would suffer, He has thus fulfilled.

     19     “Therefore ^arepent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that ^btimes of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord;

     20     and that He may send Jesus, the ¹Christ appointed for you,

     21     ^awhom heaven must receive until the ¹period of ^brestoration of all things about which ^cGod spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from ancient time.

 

Repent and return so that a refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, restoration from the Holy Spirit.  Clear and unmistakable direction that we don’t like to hear these days.  IF we want the Holy Spirit in our lives in a very real and relevant way, we must obey.  We obey by keeping the commandments, reading and studying our Bibles, praying, seeking God’s Will, then doing His Will.  Keep fighting that sin that seems to have trapped you for the longest time and the Holy Spirit will come as your Helper.  You must first believe, then trust, then obey.

 

That is how you hear from the Holy Spirit.

(All Scripture from the NASB)

Whiners Need Not Apply

1 Corinthians 9:16-18 (NASB)
^{1Co 9:16} For if I preach the gospel, I have nothing to boast of, for I am under compulsion; for woe is me if I do not preach the gospel.
¹⁷ For if I do this voluntarily, I have a reward; but if against my will, I have a stewardship entrusted to me.
¹⁸ What then is my reward? That, when I preach the gospel, I may offer the gospel without charge, so as not to make full use of my right in the gospel.
In full disclosure I am violating a cardinal - or bluejay rule of writing…  “Don’t write while you are mad!”  What that means is that I am mad.  “Mad about what?” - you don’t ask?  I will tell you anyway….  I am angry about the state of society.  I am angry about the state of the christian church today.  I am angry about the state of marriages, both in secular and Christian society.  I am angry at the insurgence of postmodern emergent theology within the Christian churches, the pastors themselves, and society in general.  I am mostly angry because they seem to me to be related to one another.

“How?” - you didn’t ask again?  Because pastors who lead from a desire to be hip, trendy and cool rather than Biblically accurate lead people astray and into a gospel that is focused on others’ good deeds, feeding the poor in Africa, and in general, “Being nicer.”  However; it has been my experience that those pastors espousing this theology do none of those things in their personal lives.  When questioned about their motives or practices or even their theology - the postmodern emergent pastor retreats from his (or her) supernice, hip, trendy and cool persona into the real inside person that only when mad gets to come out.  They castigate the questioner as though they are religious Rottweillers bearing teeth through angry barks about “intolerance” or “Jesus was about love and helping people!”

While in the first take they present an attitude of openness and free speech, as long as it is they who are open to speak freely.  Question them and they revert to an entirely different persona you won’t likely recognize.  They spend most of their time talking about “change and emergent thought, and a ‘new way of doing church’ or even the increasingly more common among pme pastors; they don’t say anything at all.  Nothing about them being pastors - nothing about them serving Christ - nothing about their stand (On anything but poverty and injustice - but certainly NOT the Bible or Jesus Christ or Gawd forbid REPENTANCE!)

The postmodern emergent pastor (PMEP) prattles on about how hard and misunderstood the ministry is - only said of course to their fellow pastor friends - never to someone who just might need to hear about Jesus Christ and His saving grace at the commencement of repentance…  Then, when the prattling seems incessant the conversation turns to how the church is broken, how the traditional church is disfunctional and in need of deconstruction (a FAVorite word of the PMEP!)

Discipleship is leftovers getting moldy in the fridge.  Self-examination is bread getting moldy in the drawer.  Accountibility is fruit getting rotten in the basket.  The needs of those who are lost and getting further from a life in Christ with an assurance of eternity with Him while LIVING for Him while here on earth is simply unretrieved mail piling up in the mailbox.

Kingdom-focused.  Christ-centered.  God-honoring.  Biblically-based and centered.  Christians being the Hands and Feet of Yeshua (Jesus’ REAL Hebrew Name) through helping others while telling them WHY they do what they do - because of Jesus’ love for them demonstrated on the cross in our place because we are sinful, jacked up people who are in need of forgiveness that can only come from repentance and acceptance of Jesus Christ as the Savior and Guide for our lives.

Is that so hard?  Is that too traditional?  Tradition has deep roots in the origin of our faith and why it is so out of fashion now I do not know.  Traditions are not altars.  They are tethers to something that 2,000 years ago was started by a Man with no home, a Rabbi and the Son of God.  I can get with that.

Preaching the Gospel is hard work.  Preaching the Gospel comes with risks.  Preaching the Gospel is not for the faint of heart.  Whiners need not apply.

 

A new “Contract” with God?

What follows is a work of one of my professors, Dr. Skip Moen.  It so profoundly impacted me I thought I would copy it here for your consideration.  http://www.atgodstable.com/ is the source of this document.   In reading the Declaration of Dependence, ask yourself - “Do I really?”

Declaration of Dependence

I believe that God is the sovereign ruler of all creation.
I believe that God is a God of order, not confusion or chaos.
I believe that God is compassionate beyond measure, faithful to a fault, merciful and forgiving.
I believe that I am lost and hopelessly ruined without His daily intervention and interaction in my life.
I believe that the systems of this world lie within the power of the evil one who unfailingly pursues the destruction of all of God’s creation, including me.
I believe that reliance on human effort, human thinking and human willpower aligns me with the systems of this world and places me within the power of the evil one.
I believe that my own experience confirms my total inability to rescue myself from destructive choices.
I believe that I am addicted to my own agendas, mood-altering behaviors and self-sufficiency.
I believe that Jesus died on the cross to redeem me from the power of sin that would otherwise dominate and control my life.
I believe that Jesus alone can set me free from this slavery to self and systems.
I believe that Jesus calls me to a baptism of death in order to destroy self-sufficiency and system-addict thinking.
I believe that until I surrender completely to His will and lordship, I will falter in every attempt to live a life pleasing to God.
I believe that discipleship is the invitation to become a voluntary slave to the will of Jesus and the plan of the Father.
I believe that God desires my devotion to Him above all else and He will tax the farthest star and the last grain of sand in order to help me express that devotion.
I believe that obedience is more valuable than knowledge.
I believe that the will of the Father is manifest in the midst of suffering, affliction and hardship because these are the principles of kingdom redemptive work.
I believe that God provides for His children, lifts them from affliction, grants them peace and joy and prepares them for purposes beyond this life.
I believe that God’s path of righteousness is clear to those who are led by the Spirit.
I believe that I must live by every word from the mouth of God, eschewing all temptations to rely on my own understanding, efforts and abilities.
I believe that I am called to emulate Jesus, accept his path, identify with his suffering and experience the power of his resurrection.
I believe that God is trustworthy regardless of all my circumstances and that He will not fail to bring about what is best for me.
I believe that others should see Jesus in the conduct of my life.

To this end, I declare today a commitment to act only under the direction of my Lord and God, leaving behind any consideration of the world’s measures of success and any attempts to determine my own agendas for life. I realize and acknowledge that this commitment will require my total dependence on moment-to-moment interaction with my Lord. Today and henceforth, I am a slave to the Jesus Christ.

Signed _____________________ Date ____________________

Obedience is Dirty Business

Sometimes you have a problem in your life that only God can solve…  In fact, if we’re being honest; all of our struggles and problems can only be solved by God’s intervention, be it directly, or indirectly.

The irony is, sometimes the path to our healing goes through some muddy waters and sometimes the path to the miracle we seek involves deep obedience to God while following some rather dirty instructions.

Noah, in order to completely obey God had to do something way outside the box, he had to build a ship – which he had never seen or built in his life.  He had to build that ship to allow his family and the onboard zoo to survive the coming rains, which incidentally, neither he, nor anyone else had ever seen.  It took 120 years, but he did it.  And it did rain, and rain…. And rain.  He took 120 years of ridicule from everyone he knew and didn’t know and when the rain fell, his feet were dry and you and I are here today because he was obedient to God.

Ever think about Elisha?  In 2 Kings 5 the author recounts the story of a powerful Captain of the army of the King of Aram who had a very serious problem, leprosy.  Here is the passage in the event you don’t have your Bible with you at the moment:  Bold is my commentary.

2 Kings 5:1-14 (NASB)
^{2Ki 5:1} 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.
² Now the Arameans had gone out in bands and had taken captive a little girl from the land of Israel; and she waited on Naaman’s wife.
³ She said to her mistress, “I wish that my master were with the prophet who is in Samaria! Then he would cure him of his leprosy.” (Don’t miss that – this is a captive girl who was kidnapped and forced into slavery in this home of Naaman – Now THAT is real forgiveness and witnessing under tough circumstances.  It is very easy to say “Amen!” in church, it is a whole lot harder in her circumstance, yet she did.)
⁴ Naaman went in and told his master, saying, “Thus and thus spoke the girl who is from the land of Israel.”
⁵ Then the king of Aram said, “Go now, and I will send a letter to the king of Israel.” He departed and took with him ten talents of silver and six thousand shekels of gold and ten changes of clothes.  (How many of us think we can buy our way into healing or resolution of our problems?  This money was meant as a political peace offering as the cross-border relations were not that good – hence the kidnapping of little girls and what not.)
⁶ He brought the letter to the king of Israel, saying, “And now as this letter comes to you, behold, I have sent Naaman my servant to you, that you may cure him of his leprosy.”
⁷ When the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his clothes and said, “Am I God, to kill and to make alive, that this man is sending word to me to cure a man of his leprosy? But consider now, and see how he is seeking a quarrel against me.” (The King, Jehoram was tripping because he thought Ben-Hadad was trying to declare war with his country…  He just didn’t get it, either.)
⁸ 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.” (Remember, it is rarely about us, and always about God’s providence and power that is unleashed deep within our obedience.)
⁹ So Naaman came with his horses and his chariots and stood at the doorway of the house of Elisha. (I guess he was trying to impress Elisha and God into healing him – though it didn’t work because Elisha didn’t even come out himself, he sent a messenger to humble this might Captain.)
¹⁰ Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, “Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh will be restored to you and you will be clean.” (Uhhhm, Yuck!  The Jordan to this day is one nasty, muddy river!  Remember though that the Jordan is also an obedient river!  Remember when Joshua led the Nation of Israel through that very river and it obeyed?  Joshua 3 has that account if you would like to look it up.)
¹¹ But Naaman was furious and went away and said, “Behold, I thought, ‘He will surely come out to me and stand and call on the name of the Lord his God, and wave his hand over the place and cure the leper.’ (Let’s review here; Naaman is the big tough army captain, but HE is the one with the major problem and Elisha is the one with the answer and Naaman was insulted that Elisha didn’t come out himself to address he and all his finery and might healing him with some sort of fancy healing dance and wave…  Hmmmm, “How’s that workin’ for him?”)
¹² “Are not Abanah and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Could I not wash in them and be clean?” So he turned and went away in a rage. (God provided an answer to the problems Naaman presented to him, but the solution meant getting dirty with obedience – why couldn’t he just dip in one of the cleaner rivers? Because that wouldn’t constitute unquestioning obedience – and thus, commitment to God and His providence… Do we ever do that?  We tell God what and how the answer to our prayer should be…  “How’s that workin’ for you?”)
¹³ Then his servants came near and spoke to him and said, “My father, had the prophet told you to do some great thing, would you not have done it? How much more then, when he says to you, ‘Wash, and be clean’?” (They spoke some sense into this jacked-up dude – and fortunately for him, Naaman listened.)
¹⁴ So he went down and dipped himself seven times in the Jordan, according to the word of the man of God; and his flesh was restored like the flesh of a little child and he was clean. (Not only did God heal him through the instruction of Elisha, but he went one step further – he made his flesh like that of a little child!  Have you ever thought about dips 1-6?  What goes through your mind as the time between your pleading prayer to God for help and healing in your life in dips 1-6 of the solution?  We aren’t seeing results, but we also cannot skip to dip number seven without being obedient in dips 1-6.)

When you pray a prayer of pleading before the Holy God be careful what and how you pray.  Don’t say, “God I will do anything if you heal me!”  1.  That is not actually faith – it is testing a Holy God (Note to self – “Don’t do that!”)  2.  “Anything” means anything…  What are you prepared to do when God gives you instruction?  What aren’t you prepared to do?  Do not make a vow to God in haste, only to rescind the vow quietly when all is well again – like God won’t notice?

Dips 1-6 were a demonstration of obedience.  Dip 7 was the completion of obedience.  Are you willing to dip the 7^th time?  How dirty are you willing to get?  We do not have the right to question God in His instruction for our healing in our lives.  We demonstrate our unmitigated gaul to complain about His lack of providence when we have only dipped the 6th time, quitting before the 7th commanded dip.  Obedience can be dirty work.  Are you willing to get dirty?