Elisha Helps a Poor Widow
2 KINGS 4:1-7 One day the widow of a member of the group of prophets came to Elisha and cried out, "My husband who served you is dead, and you know how he feared the LORD. But now a creditor has come, threatening to take my two sons as slaves."2 "What can I do to help you?" Elisha asked. "Tell me, what do you have in the house?"
"Nothing at all, except a flask of olive oil," she replied.
3 And Elisha said, "Borrow as many empty jars as you can from your friends and neighbors. 4 Then go into your house with your sons and shut the door behind you. Pour olive oil from your flask into the jars, setting each one aside when it is filled."
5 So she did as she was told. Her sons kept bringing jars to her, and she filled one after another. 6 Soon every container was full to the brim!
"Bring me another jar," she said to one of her sons.
"There aren't any more!" he told her. And then the olive oil stopped flowing.
7 When she told the man of God what had happened, he said to her, "Now sell the olive oil and pay your debts, and you and your sons can live on what is left over."
Pastor Ron notes:
I believe that this is the formula to receiving a blessing and can serve as a road map to being blessed. Let's take a closer look at this NLT passage and break it down so we can digest it better. The first verse describes a situation that a desperate widow was in and how she turned to the man of God for help. A man plays a powerful role in a family and has been designed by God to be a leader of his wife and children.
It's God's plan for a woman to follow her leader as he follows Christ even through his legacy left on earth. Elisha was a man amongst men and a religious leader who asked the widow what she had in the house. Naturally she answered, "nothing at all" and then followed with an exception. We find ourselves looking more at what we don't have instead of what we do have because we think that what we have is not enough. Look to another passage of the Bible and see a similar question that Jesus asked his disciples and here's how they answered.
When Jesus lifted the basket of food up towards God He thanked Him for what they did have instead of pointing out what He only had. This is very important to receive a blessing so our lesson is to give God something to work with and make your except exceptional. The next step that Elisha instructed the widow to do in verse 3 is to borrow as many jars as she could from her friends and neighbors. If you're going to receive a blessing you must not only give God something to work with but also through your alignments will come your blessing. The people who you align yourself can be one of the most important keys to living a blessed life as you put your faith with your works.
The next step is to look at your life honestly and evaluate the few worthless things that need to be discarded and shut the door behind you. Leaving the wrong door cracked will only have the wrong door wide open in the future. It's time to completely shut the door behind you to receive a miracle from God.
The widow "did as she was told" and the oil flowed until every container was filled up to the brim. Many of Americans are in this situation right now were God has blessed us and has answered our prayers with jars filled up to the brim. The blessing is still not complete because there's still more work that needs to be done before the miracle can come to pass. What do you think would happen if the widow refused to take these full containers of olive oil and sell them? Winning isn't everything but giving the effort to win is! You must give God something to work with, align yourself with the right people and shut the door behind you.
We hope that you've enjoyed the blog about Elisha and the Widow. - Pastor Ron We also are looking forward to reaching many people on Google through our Pastor Ron page. #PastorRonR
We would like to thank our Holy Bible Verses Page on Facebook and Google for inspiring us to do this blog. :)
1 CORINTHIANS 11:3 But there is one thing I want you to know: The head of every man is Christ, the head of woman is man, and the head of Christ is God.
It's God's plan for a woman to follow her leader as he follows Christ even through his legacy left on earth. Elisha was a man amongst men and a religious leader who asked the widow what she had in the house. Naturally she answered, "nothing at all" and then followed with an exception. We find ourselves looking more at what we don't have instead of what we do have because we think that what we have is not enough. Look to another passage of the Bible and see a similar question that Jesus asked his disciples and here's how they answered.
MATTHEW 14:17 They told him, "We don't have anything here except five loaves of bread and two fish."
When Jesus lifted the basket of food up towards God He thanked Him for what they did have instead of pointing out what He only had. This is very important to receive a blessing so our lesson is to give God something to work with and make your except exceptional. The next step that Elisha instructed the widow to do in verse 3 is to borrow as many jars as she could from her friends and neighbors. If you're going to receive a blessing you must not only give God something to work with but also through your alignments will come your blessing. The people who you align yourself can be one of the most important keys to living a blessed life as you put your faith with your works.
MATTHEW 6:6 But when you pray, go away by yourself, shut the door behind you, and pray to your Father in private. Then your Father, who sees everything, will reward you.
The next step is to look at your life honestly and evaluate the few worthless things that need to be discarded and shut the door behind you. Leaving the wrong door cracked will only have the wrong door wide open in the future. It's time to completely shut the door behind you to receive a miracle from God.
MALACHI 3:10 Bring all the tithes into the storehouse so there will be enough food in my Temple. If you do," says the LORD of Heaven's Armies, "I will open the windows of heaven for you. I will pour out a blessing so great you won't have enough room to take it in! Try it! Put me to the test!
The widow "did as she was told" and the oil flowed until every container was filled up to the brim. Many of Americans are in this situation right now were God has blessed us and has answered our prayers with jars filled up to the brim. The blessing is still not complete because there's still more work that needs to be done before the miracle can come to pass. What do you think would happen if the widow refused to take these full containers of olive oil and sell them? Winning isn't everything but giving the effort to win is! You must give God something to work with, align yourself with the right people and shut the door behind you.
We hope that you've enjoyed the blog about Elisha and the Widow. - Pastor Ron We also are looking forward to reaching many people on Google through our Pastor Ron page. #PastorRonR
We would like to thank our Holy Bible Verses Page on Facebook and Google for inspiring us to do this blog. :)
