A Study Of The Miraculous – Part VI
ws022702
Recap: Read 2 Kings 4:1-4
* Miracles are not mad rushes and anxious attempts.
* Do not run off half cocked
* You do not have to know the whole journey to take the first step … but you do need to know the first step
* A time of proving is almost always required
* After you take the first step, wait on God to give you the next step
* Leaving does not equal going somewhere … don’t mistake process for purpose
* Trust God and begin your journey on faith
We must stay on the protected pathway of God to receive and conserve our miracle. Sometimes it comes in stages or seasons. Little by little. Line upon line. (Isaiah 28:10)
* Remember Matthew 12:44: The ultimate purpose of casting out devils is not so that the person can be empty and clean, but rather so that they can be filled up with God and occupied with the Kingdom. Empty and clean are a part of the process to get to the purpose. The purpose may require more work and come after the miracle moment. There is a purpose to the process, but the process is not the purpose.
* At times miracles can require hard work.
* John 2:6 And there were set there six waterpots of stone, after the manner of the purifying of the Jews, containing two or three firkins apiece.
7 Jesus saith unto them, Fill the waterpots with water. And they filled them up to the brim.
8 And he saith unto them, Draw out now, and bear unto the governor of the feast. And they bare it.
> One Firkin equals about 9 gallons
> 3 Firkins equals about 27 gallons
> Six waterpots equaled about 162 gallons
> Filled to the brim?
> Now draw out and carry?
> there was a wedding celebration going on … it was time to join the party crowd, not the working crowd.
> no work … no miracle
5 So
* So What?
* Psalms 107:2 Let the redeemed of the LORD say so, whom he hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy;
5. So she went from him,
* A break through may require a break with or a break from
* Abram was told to break with his family, his friends and break away from his homeland to receive a miracle from God. He first broke away from his homeland but not with his family … he got nothing but delay. He then broke with his father but kept his nephew … he got nothing but famine. Then he finally obeyed God and received his break through and his name was changed to Abraham, his wife’s name changed to Sarah, he was given a promise of the stars and every thing he could see from the mountain and given a son in his old age.
* Not all breaks with are breaks from bad people or places. Some times, like in 2 Kings 4, or in Abram’s life, a break through can at times require a break with good things, good people and things that were God’s will yesterday, but not God’s will for tomorrow. What you are going through may well be positioning for your future, not punishment for your past.
* You don’t have to tear down one thing to build up another.
* You can be happy about where you are going without being ugly about where you have been. This is why a vision is so important and why just leaving somewhere does not equal going somewhere. (not talking about leaving or fleeing sin)
* Remember that Elisha was endeavoring to get her eyes off of the arm of man and onto God. Elisha would not be present for the miracle. He did his part and now she would have to do hers. This made her responsible to God for the outcome. Even though she had always depended on her husband, now she would have to face new territory and take the lead herself for her, her family and her future.
* Sometimes you have to do what you have never done before to get what you have never gotten before.
* Miracles may require walking on some new ground doing some new things.
* She had a God too!
> Elisha was not her savior
> Elisha was not her God
> Elisha was not her answer
> Elisha was not her provider
> Elisha was just another messenger of God
* one sign of a mature messenger of God is that they can deliver the message from God without getting personally offended if it is not received. Many Christians give counsel and advice in the name of Jesus and then feel responsible to make the person do it or to make them feel guilty if they don’t do it or to judge them for not doing it right or on time. This is a poor and immature quality of a messenger’s life.
* A true messenger separates himself from the message. He realizes that he is not the judge, jury or executioner but merely the witness.
* A mature messenger is not personally offended when people don’t receive the message. They derive their value from having carried and delivered the message … not necessarily how many people heard it or obeyed it. Certainly they feel more satisfied if the message is received, but not defeated if it is not. I have found this to be a trait of some people whose messages are not really from God but from them. God’s messages are filled with salvation opportunities and may also contain damnation realities but are never smug or fulfilled with the destruction of those damned. We should never be happy with the hurt of others.
* This woman took her first step toward her miracle … She went from Elisha … She moved herself to depend on God and not man.
* She became a doer of the word and not just a hearer.
>James 1:25 But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.
