“Wash and be clean?”-2 Kings 5:13

The Lord has been dealing with me about my pride or ego. I consider myself as someone that has a thorn in my side, which helps me to stay humble 2 Corinthians 12:7-10. But from time to time this pride creeps up inside me. The Lord took me on a journey in 2 Kings 5  Naaman healed of leprosy, He was a great man in the sight of his master and highly regarded. Naaman went with his horses and chariots and stopped at the door of Elisha’s house, looking for healing of his leprosy. Naaman's ego started to take over when Elisha would not go to the door to him, but sent a messenger to say, Go wash in Jordan seven times, and promising him that if he did so his disease should be cured. I asked myself, why did Elisha send a messenger to him with these directions? Did Elisha know that Naaman was a proud man? Naaman was disgusted, not what he expected, Elisha, sending him orders by a servant, and not coming to him himself, 2 Kings. 5:11. And Naaman  took it hard that he must be sent to wash in Jordan, a river of Israel, when he thought Abana and Pharpar, rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel. Naaman's , own servants gave him this reproof and counsel, “If the prophet had bidden thee to do some great thing, like submitting to some painful thing, Wouldst thou not have done it? No doubt thou would. So why not submit to so easy a method as this, Wash and be clean?”-2 Kings 5:13

 The Lord made me look straight in the mirror, seeing just because of my thorn in my side..I feel I deserve entitlements. For me it's a hard lesson, not to take Christ on my own terms ..I must be willing to have Christ upon any terms... yielding to the will of God. 

Comments

The Good News said…
With my illness, I have good days and bad days...Paul has been on my mind. Paul was pained with a thorn in the flesh, and buffeted with a messenger of Satan, 2 Cor. 12:7. I have no idea what this could be, it could be some great pain or some great temptation. What.. I do know, God often brings good out of evil, that the reproaches of our enemies help to hide our pride from us. I sometimes forget even though I have good days with my MS, soon those unbearable days will come ..and I must confess I get mad at God on those grieves days. No doubt, what Paul calls a thorn in his flesh was very grievous to him: but the thorns Christ wore for us, and with which he was crowned, sanctify and make easy all the thorns in the flesh we may at any time be afflicted with. On those very bad days I need Jesus more then ever before, and like Paul I stay humble, calling on HIS name JESUS!
October 23, 2020 at 4:56 PM
The Good News said…
Sure, I bless my meals in the name of the Lord, and I'll say things like, “Lord willing, we'll get this project finished on time.” But in truth, when I walk onto the field of battle—be it work, or a difficult relationship, or an ongoing temptation—I cling to my own strength, my own skills, my own weapons of war. I hedge my bets and qualify my promises and trust in myself to get the job done. I am like Goliath, invoking the name of a deity I don’t really trust, and faking my way with a lot of bluster and faith in past accomplishments.
What would it be like to live David’s faith?
October 23, 2020 at 4:59 PM
The Good News said…
Because of the extravagance of those revelations, and so I wouldn’t get a big head, I was given the gift of a handicap to keep me in constant touch with my limitations. Satan’s angel did his best to get me down; what he in fact did was push me to my knees. No danger then of walking around high and mighty! At first I didn’t think of it as a gift, and begged God to remove it. Three times I did that, and then he told me,
My grace is enough; it’s all you need.
My strength comes into its own in your weakness.
Once I heard that, I was glad to let it happen. I quit focusing on the handicap and began appreciating the gift. It was a case of Christ’s strength moving in on my weakness. Now I take limitations in stride, and with good cheer, these limitations that cut me down to size—abuse, accidents, opposition, bad breaks. I just let Christ take over! And so the weaker I get, the stronger I become.-2 Corinthians 12:7-10 MSG
October 23, 2020 at 5:19 PM
The Good News said…
And he put forth his hand, and touched him, saying, I will: make you clean. And immediately the leprosy departed from him.-Luke 5:13. Jesus has been showing his deep humility to me, Jesus chose to touch the man with leprosy because he knew it has been years since someone held his hand, gave him a hug even to just look at him straight in his face. Jesus goes beyond the healing and fills our void. A women who was in the hospital with Tuberculosis, had one request that I would just want someone to hold my hand with out wearing those gloves. That touch could be a listening ear to someone in distress, to figure out a way to meet their need. A fighter stated when rescuing a person from a house fire, the greatest comfort was when he came alongside that person just to give a hug. Jesus humility comes to me through dear friends and family, willing to reach out their hand to me from my miry pit and pull me up out of my anxiety and fears, not to give up....
November 17, 2020 at 4:07 PM
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