2 Kings 2:13-18
Elisha picked up the cloak that had fallen from Elisha and went back and stood on the bank of the Jordan. Then he took the cloak that had fallen from him and struck the water with it. "Where now is the Lord God of Elijah?" he asked. When he struck the water, it divided to the right and to the left, and he crossed over.
The company of the prophets from Jericho, who were watching said, The spirit of Elijah is resting on Elisha." And they went to meet him and bowed down before him. "Look" they said, we your servants have fifty able men. Let them go and look for your master. Perhaps the spirit of the Lord picked him up and set him down on some mountain or in some valley."
"No' Elisha replied "do not send them"
But they persisted until he was too ashamed to refuse. So he said "send them." And they sent fifty men, who searched for three days but did not find them. When they returned to Elisha, who was staying in Jericho, he said to them "Did I not tell you not to go?"
It's interestring that Elisha took the cloak after it fell from Elijah. I think that one reason that he grabbed it was because it was the cloak that Elijah covered him with when he first met Elijah. It's interesting that he calls out to God at the water. "Where is the Lord God of Elijah" It's like he is crying out to God, "Please let this work as I touch the water, please let your presence be with me." What did the people see when they saw Elisha? They obviously saw that the spirit of Elijah was resting on Elisha. Was it his presence like Moses? Was it the cloak? I wonder. I also find it ironic that a company of prophets did not know that God had taken Elijah up to heaven. Isn't that a typical response though. Let me go find him, perhaps he is up that mountain.
The next set of stories get very interesting. I am not sharing these passages so much as to teach them in depth, but as I read the word of God, I get to write about the things that are impacting my heart and the things that are giving me greater impact as I search for Gods truth as I study Elisha. With that, I'm off for tonight.
2 Kings 2: 1-9
When the Lord was about to take Elijah up to heaven in a whirlwind,Elijah and Elisha were on thier way from Gilgal. Elijah said to Elisha "Stay here; the Lord has sent me to Bethel."
But Elisha said "As surely as the Lord lives and as you live, I will not leave you." So the y went down to Bethel.
The company of the prophets at Bethel came out to Elisha and asked him "Do you know that the Lord is going to take your master from you today?"
"Yes I know," Elisha replied "but do not speak of it." Then Elijah said to him "Stay here Elisha, the Lord has sent me to Jericho."
And he replied "As surely as the Lord lives and as you live, I will not leave you." So they went to Jericho.
The company of the prophets at Jericho came out to Elisha and asked him "Do you know that the Lord is going to take your master from you today?"
"Yes I know," Elisha replied "but do not speak of it."
Then Elijah said to him "Stay here Elisha, the Lord has sent me to the Jordan."
And he replied "As surely as the Lord lives and as you live, I will not leave you." So the two of them walked on.
Fifty men of the company of prophets went and stood at a distance, facing the place where Elijah and Elisha had stopped at the Jordan. Elijah took his cloak, rolled it up and struck the water with it. The water divided to the right and to the left, and the two of them crossed over on dry ground.
When they had crossed Elijah said to Elisha, "Tell me, what I can do for you before I am taken from you?"
"Let me inherit a double portion of your spirit." Elisha replied.
"You have asked a difficult thing." Elijah said "yet if you see me when I am taken from you, it will be yours....otherwise not.
As they were wallking along and talking together, suddenly a chariot of fire and horses of fire appeared and seperated the two of them, and Elijah went up into heaven in a whirlwind. Elisha saw this and cried out, "My father! My father! the chariots and horsemen of Israel!" And Elisha saw him no more. Then he took hold of his own clothes and tore them apart.
I will stop here. There is a little bit more but I will save the rest for tomorrow. I find it very interesting that three times Elijah tells Elisha to stay behind. I believe that he was testing Elisha to see if he would follow him even though he said for him to stay. You see I think that Elisha was so committed to be with Elijah that nothing could have seperated them. Not even Elijah himself.
I also wonder why Elisha told the prophets to be silent. What was his reason for telling them to not speak of Elijah being taken?
Elisha's request is a very cool request. Let me inherit a double portion of your spirit....wow. What would that look like today. Could that be the reason that we disciple people. To raise them up to be greater that we ourselves can be? I do believe that is how the church should function. If an Elder sees the Spirit of God on someone, I believe that the Elder should go and pour thier life into that person. In a sense put thier cloak over that individual to be thier successor.
This is encouraging stuff here folks. We are reading about a man that is so devoted to the call of God on his life that no man can seperate him from that. He is a man that is a faithful friend, he is wise, and speaks very cautiously. And he is a man that desires the best things that God can give him. He has walked with a man that loved God with all his heart and followed him anywhere. That was why he desired a double portion of his spirit....because of the spirit of God that flowed through Elijah.
May we be so bold as to ask God for suck things. Granted we do need to be obedient to where he is leading us now, but as we obey God, it will lead us to a greater freedom in his spirit.
1 Kings 19:19-21
So Elijah went from there and found Elisha son of Shaphat. He was plowing with twelve yolk and oxen, and he himself was driving the twelvth pair. Elijah came up to him and threw his cloak around him. Elisha then left his oxen and ran after Elijah. "Let me kiss my father and mother good-by." he said "and then I will come with you."
"Go back," Elijah replied. "What have I done to you?" So Elisha left him and went back. He took his yoke of oxen and slaughtered them. He burned the plowing equiptment to cook the meat and gave it to the people, and they ate. Then he set out to follow Elijah and became his attedant.
So this is where it all starts for young Elisha. (Beforehand God had asked Elijah to go and find Elisha and put his cloak around him).
I find it really interesting that Elijah never commanded nor asked Elisha to join him. He simply put his cloak around him. Yet Elisha felt that he needed to join him. I love Elijah's response. "What have I done to you?" as if to say, I never said that you had to follow me, go if you want to. Why ask me permission!
There is so much to learn and understand here. Why did he burn the plowing equiptment? Why not give it to his parents. Was it prophetic in a sense of putting his former life to death? I love his devotion to follow Elijah. Also I find it very interesting that Elijah never said that Elisha had to be his attendant, but that was the role that Elisha walked in. I'm not sure but I think that he would have known what Elijah was doing when he put his cloak on him. He could have been filled with pride and rose himself up, but he did the exact opposite and became his attendant.
Tomorrow we are going to read about when Elijah is taken up into heaven.
Today at lunch I was reading the word, and decided that I am going to get more focussed on my blog. I created this blog to share my journey as I search for God's truth. Well I am going to begin that in a more focussed way. Tonight after my kids go to bed, I am going to begin posting on an in depth look at the prophet Elisha. I want to have it documented and hopefully we will know more about this mighty man of God when we are done. It will also allow me to truly search for truth.
Release My Soul
(Craig Musseau)
To You, oh Lord I bring my worship
And offering of love to You
Surrounded in Your holy presence
And all I can say is that I love You
Give ear to the groaning in my spirit
Hear the crying in my heart
Release my soul to freely worship
For I was made to give You honour
Holy, holy, holy, holy
Tonight my wife and I bumped into Care bear at Starbucks. She had her little baby girl with her and I had the honor of holding her. Well as soon as I held her and looked into her pretty eyes I fell in love with her. She is very beautiful. Anyway. Care bear let me change her into her pajama's and as I was changing her my heart was overwhelmed with love for the little helpless babies that have no mommies or daddies to hold them and love them. I desire with all of my heart to run an orphanage in South America some day. It grieves my heart to see helpless children starving for love and affection. That to me is Hell on earth. No child should ache for such things. I live in the inner city and have been asking God, "What is your purpose for my family here. Well I am not sure but as my wife and I talked about it tonight, we felt that we are to simply love them. Today we had 6 children from our community in our back yard and house. It was cool. Our door bell is rung on the hour most days. Tonight we decided that we are going to buy hundreds of freezies and give them to the kids when they come over. We are already bringing one precious girl from our community to church, and it is my personal desire to invite more to come. It seems very easy for parents to allow thier children to go to "Sunday school". I think that the word "church" has too many negative connections to it. But every parent wants thier kids to be involved in Sunday school.If we invited all of the children that our kids are in relationship with we would be bringing, 7 kids to church besides our own 5. This excites me. LOL we would have to rope off a Van Loon section at church. Actually I see that if this trend continues, we would have to have others partnering with us to share the load so to speak. Granted that would open up a whole new area of childrens ministry, but isnt that what the church is about? Reaching beyond our borders. Our church is walking through what it looks like to make disciples. Wouldn't it be exciting to have our children involved in discipling and evangelising peers in thier very Sunday school class. I sense in my spirit that God is up to something in my community so please pray that my family would be sensitive to the Spirit of God on this matter.*Side note*I really need to encourage my kids and let them know that they are being lights in the darkness. They dont realize it but they are setting foundation for spiritual awakening in these very young lives. What an opportunity.
It is my sole desire to be able to share anytime with anyone, why I have the hope that I do. Not only that but have the spritural context to back it up. This in short is my lifes quest. As I grow in relationship with God and understand myself better I can know his heart better. His word is so utterly important to understand. I think that we really need to have a solid understanding of what his word says in order to not get decieved and know how to react to situations. So Hopefully through blogging, I can sort out my thoughts and come to some very critical truths from the word of God. Man is this ever heavy on me lately!!! So bear down cause I'm desiring to head in directions that will challenge outr thinking...or maybe not...God knows. Anyway, Im about to go out for coffee with Firestarter and the Moose so Good night.
I been hearing a lot lately about the "traditional" church and how it has been manufactured by man. Many people believe that God cannot bless organized churches. This concerns me. Not because I am part of one but because I believe that God can work through the intentions of man. You look at a church that is very structured. Is God there? Can we judge that? I came from a very structured Lutheran church and it set my foundation for my spiritual journey. I learned some great hymns, I had an excellent pastor, Sunday school was great, and they had a wonderful summer school. And yes God was there. Why are we so quick to judge? Older churches have a bad reputation of being spiritually dry. But at what standard? Our standard? Older churches with older people are very Spirit filled. It may not be overpowered by signs and wonders but look at the fruit in the lives of the people in these churches. The men are full of integrity, the wives honor their husbands, the children sit still in the service. They tithe regularily.
I think we get too caught up on what God is doing in our own lives and think that everyone needs to be there. This is not the case. This is pride. God leads people as he wishes. Besides if older churches were non existent, if charasmatic churches were non existent, if house churches were non existent. Where would the body of Christ be. The way I see it all are Gods design. We may have messed up in the process but you cant tell me that God does not bless different church types. We need to be together!!
What would things look like if the "older churches, traditional churches, charasmatic churches, house churches, came together to worship the one that seperates them in the first place? I for one would love to see that type of unity!!! I think we would see things that our very dreams could not imagine. It would also stop a lot of the finger pointing. And we would FINALLY be one as Jesus and the father are one!
I have been trying to get my head around what an apostle looks like in the 20th Century church. I know that when my church started to talk about it three years ago I was greatly distressed and concerned about where that would lead us. I was interpreting the apostolic ministry as a carbon copy of the origional 12 in the New Testiment. This caused me great concern. I have since begun to see that the apostolic ministry is more of a fathering role than an authoritarian role. People who feel led by God to be fathers to men and women that have not been fathered. By that I mean to be spiritual fathers. Now don't get me wrong we need spiritual mothers all the same but for now I am referring to fathers. I believe that as we walk with spiritual fathers and allow them to mentor us and teach us things that they have learned that we will grow faster and possibly beyond where our spiritual fathers have gone. I know that has greatly changed my perspective on the apostolic ministry. I dont totally understand it yet but I do know that as I study the written word of God and seek his heart on this matter, that he will indeed reveal his truth to me.
I feel it would be good to share some of my spiritual journey. I will start 10 years ago (don't worry I'm not long winded) In 1995 my wife and I were attending a Vineyard church in Calgary, Alberta. It was amazing. We experienced family, great moves of God that I didn't know existed. things like God's healing, speaking and gifts of the spirit to name a few. I was on cloud nine.
A young couple announced that they felt it in thier heart to return to Saskatoon, Saskatchewan to plant a church there. When they said that, something inside my wife and I clicked and we knew we were going to be involved in that. So we moved with them in the fall of that year. I was very young and foolish at the time and did things that many people would shake thier head at.
We walked very closely with that couple for probably three years. Over that time we were released to be in charge of evangelism. That was great, we enjoyed that, but there felt like something was missing. My entire focus was ministering to the poor. In the winter of 1999 I visited a retreat center outside of town, as I had heard that they had a food ministry and wanted to see how we coud work together. They were also looking for a full time driver to drive the van for that specific ministry.
I brought my wife out there about a week later and we visited some more. We talked more about this ministry opportunity with them, but my wife and I expressed that we could not commit to a full time ministry position, while holding onto a townhouse (rented through low income housing) and providing the basics for our ever growing family (two 1/2 at that point) They then invited us to move out there with them and live in thier lodge. We were excited, but still wanted to run it by our pastor and those that we felt could provide sound counsel. Our church had their Christmas party out there and while out there we all prayed about it and at the end they commisioned us to go.
So Jan 1999 we moved out there. It was great I felt that I had got the ticket to heaven's door. I got to do the very thing that I dreamt about day and night...and full time to boot. We started to see that there was a huge emphasis on submission and authority there. They would explain that it was training ground for being obedient to God. It got to the point where we had to ask "permission" to go into the city. Pretty much anything that we did we had to get permission for. We were really believing the lie that was being set before us. About three months later, We had the opportunity to go to Calgary to see our family, and I can remember lying in bed with my wife with a broken heart. We were crying out to God to reveal his truth to us. As we were preparing to go home we were almost sick with anxiety about going home. So we decided to go and spill the beans with my best friend. After several cups of coffee and pouring out our hearts we had decided that we were going to leave when we returned.
We got back on Monday and by Friday we were in an apartment that was offered to us for free, and that day I started a full time job. Talk about God moving quick.
For the next month we were numb, broken and confused. I wrestled with failure, doubt anger, fear, rejection, you name it I felt it that month. Coming from Calgary, we had expected a family welcome when we returned to our church. However we neglected to seek the care we desired so instead of healing we grew bitter. That ended in us leaving the Vineyard as we could not be somewhere where we were abandoned. I now realize that they were there for us but in our pain we didn't see it. We stopped going to church all together as we figured that we could do church better on our own, outside of the walls of politics. We would meet weekly with other "wounded" souls and we would lick each others wounds, so to speak. It was good for the time though as we still had fellowship. There was still that empty feeling that I have carried for years in my heart. I remember crying out for God to send me someone that could father me spiritually. We church shopped for quite some time before coming to Hope Fellowship during Easter. I will never forget that day. At the break,the pastor there came straight for us and embraced us and offered his assistance in any way he could. My wife and I talked later and both felt that it was home. Yikes this is getting long...sorry. :)
For three years I would watch from a distance, not getting involved, I would literally set myself apart. The church would go one way and I would go another. I would challenge leadership with concerns, words spoken etc. Then two years ago my pastor approached me and mentioned that he wanted to start discipling me. I always liked him but I couldn't trust him due to my past experiences. I willingly agreed and I am very glad that I did that. We have been working through a discipleship path book that goes through the foundations of the Christians life. I can remember when we got to the Holy Spirit part of the book, I was very sceptical about where he would go with it and to my surpirise, he accually agreed with me that I was on the right path. Since that time I have grown to love him and totally trust him. Not because he is perfect, but because he saw something in me and drew it out of me. This was the very thing that I had been asking and praying about for years. Now I am getting together with an elder in our church so there are two great influences in my life.
So when you read my post's on authority. Please see that I have been in the place of negative authority, and now I am experiencing a life changing transformation as I learn to submit myself under my pastors authority....in Christ...not over me. I will share in another post, what this looks like for me but for now I will be silent.I have never felt so peaceful, and I am fitting into the family much better now that I am in propper relationship with the greater spiritual family. Be blessed.
It's 1:15 in the morning. But I am not tired yet. My spirit is filled with peace and I am really feeling Gods closeness. So I am going to write about what is going through my head at this time. Authority: I have been following a blog that is talking about authority and some thoughts have come to mind. All too often people get afraid of the word authority because it has been abused in the past. I think I found a new understanding of it today. I was thinking about the great leaders in the bible. They all had people following them. Noah, Abraham, etc. These people that followed, had minds of thier own, they could pray if they chose to, heck they could have even asked God for some direction themselves. They chose to trust the person that was speaking to them. It was never required that the people followed. (at least not to my understanding) In fact some rebelled and faced Gods consequences. This made sense to me as they submitted willingly as they saw God in thier leaders lives.
We need to be behind our pastors and elders as they seek the heart of God for the direction of the church they are responsible for overseeing. The mistake comes in where people think that the leaders seek the heart of God for the flock where a truly Godly leader will direct the sheep to the shepherd. May we all just stop the debates and focus on the one who put us here in the first place!!! Personal words: This is not my response to my previous post but this is really on my heart tonight also. I believe with all my heart that as we seek the heart of God (no agenda), sit at his feet and really listen to his written word, spending time with him in literally hours of silence, and disciplining ourselves to be still, I believe that we get to see his heart. He desires to show us his heart. His word is full of admonition and affirmation. I think that he speaks to us through his written word and through his Holy Spirit. I believe that the Holy Spirit points out people that really need an encouraging word. When you look at a personal word, most words can and should be found in the word of God. Its a great morning. Thank you God for your presence in our lives. May we all take time to enjoy it.
I have been thinking a lot lately about the poor and my involvement with them. I live in the inner city and have not done too much yet. I remember when I moved into my community, I went to God with my master plan of ministry stuff and in my heart I felt he closed the door. He wants me to "be" a minister, not build a ministry". I have been involved extensively with working with the poor in the past. In fact in my previous church I was the person in charge of evangelism. I remember starting a donut and coffee drop in center on Saturday mornings. Man was that fun. People would come in and eat and drink and share thier struggles or just visit. We always went out into the community in groups as well. I remember one of my best friends and I would walk over to the Albany and Barry hotel and we would serve the "intoxicated" people donuts right in the bar. The real cool thing is that I still see people that came in and they comment on the memories there. I was a fun time. I remember getting kicked out an antique mall as they had a cafeteria (or so they said). But I was on fire then. God would put something on my heart and I would step out in obedience and BOOM things would happen. I remember having a vision of a long row of people sitting down and being served real food (not shelter style). I shared this with the ministry group that I was a part of and they took it and ran with it. I still believe that the picture I had in my head will still come to happen. I want to have some family fun days in my back yard yet. I remember we used to do that, boy was that a blessing. Cook up some hot dogs, serve some pop, have games for the kids. Wow we need to get into the groove of ministering to the poor. Jesus tells us that the poor will always be with us, but I still feel strongly that we need to be loving them and bringing them into the kingdom and showing them the love of the father. Oh to have the passion I had then. You see then I had passion that lacked wisdom, now I have more wisdom but seem to lack the passion...go figure. Well God moved me into the heart of the neglected inner city so he will show me where or what I am to do. (I call it the neglected inner city because no one wants to live here. I remember when I moved into the area most people were cautious and saying oh I hope you aren't in Riversdale)I remember when I moved to Saskatoon in 1995 I would drive down to Riversdale and I would walk up and down the avenues praying for them and asking God to touch them. Ironic that 8 years later he would move me there. Anyway I am rambling now.
As I sat in church yestersay, I was really hungry for what God's truth is in every situation. So I am asking for your help on my quest. I want you to comment and list the things or thing that you are unsure of when it comes to scripture or ways of living. Those gray areas so to speak. Then one by one I want to do extensive research in the word of God to find out the answers and then blog them.For example. "can a christian lose salvation"?.
I just had an amazing time with God. Well it was good in the sense that I was able to lie down and listen to his heart. I quieted my heart and started to listen. He was talking to me about 2 Chronicles 7:14. If my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and turn from thier wicked way, then I will turn my ear to your prayer and answer them and bring healing to your land. (I quoted that by memory so hopefully it was accurate)
He said " What does it mean to humble yourself ? Well let me tell you. Give up your rights. As long as you hold on to what you beleive is yours, I will not come close. What rights am I talking about? People all the time tell me... 'Well I have the right to have a nice home'. No you don't. Well I have the right to drive a nice vehicle. No you dont. Well I have the right to have a wife or husband that loves me. No you dont. Well I have the right to have a full time job. No you dont.
Well I have the right to good health.
No you dont.
You see the longer that you hold on to things that you believe are your rights to have, the longer I will wait to hear your prayer. I want you to die to yourself. If you come to me and want me to help your family, then first you need to die to the right of having one in the first place. You want to see my glory come to your family, your church, your city, your province, and your nation, then you need to give up the rights you think you deserve and come humbly before me. You have no rights. The only right you have is to bring me honor and praise. If my people will die to themselves, give up thier rights over to me, and pray, and when you see that you have no rights outside of Christ it will convict you to turn from your wicked ways as you will see them as unmet rights. My glory will come to a house that has no rights. My glory will be found in the humblest places on earth." Now that was cool. I haven't had a time with God like that for quite a long time. May we all learn the full context of 2 Chronicles 7:14
I just wanted to highlight that another fine gentleman in our church is now blogging. you can find him here
