Topic: Help From Subordinates [Friday August 7, 2015]
Memorise: And strangers shall stand and feed your flocks, and the sons of the alien shall be your plowmen and your vinedressers. – Isaiah 61:5.
Read: 2 Kings 5:1-4, 10-14 (KJV)
1. Now Naaman, captain of the host of the king of Syria, was a great man with his master, and honourable, because by him the LORD had given deliverance unto Syria: he was also a mighty man in valour, but he was a leper.
2. And the Syrians had gone out by companies, and had brought away captive out of the land of Israel a little maid; and she waited on Naaman’s wife.
3. And she said unto her mistress, Would God my lord were with the prophet that is in Samaria!for he would recover him of his leprosy.
4. And one went in, and told his lord, saying, Thus and thus said the maid that is of the land of Israel.
2 Kings 5:10-14
10. And Elisha sent a messenger unto him, saying, Go and wash in Jordan seven times, and thy flesh shall come again to thee, and thou shalt be clean.
11. But Naaman was wroth, 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 strike his hand over the place, and recover the leper.
12. Are not Abana and Pharpar, rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? may I not wash in them, and be clean? So he turned and went away in a rage.
13. And his servants came near, and spake unto him, and said, My father, if the prophet had bid thee do some great thing, wouldest thou not have done it? how much rather then, when he saith to thee, Wash, and be clean?
14. Then went he down, and dipped himself seven times in Jordan, according to the saying of the man of God: and his flesh came again like unto the flesh of a little child, and he was clean.
Bible In One Year: Esther 8-10; John 9:35-10:21
MESSAGE:
God had His agenda already set out before the foundation of the world. When the right time comes for Him to unfold a specific plan in His agenda, He looks out for those He can use to achieve His purpose. For example, when the time came for God to accomplish an earlier plan to turn a Syrian army general into a worshipper of Jehovah, God sought the vessel to use, and He found a young captive girl who was serving as a maid in the house of Naaman. She cooperated with God and told Naaman’s wife of a highly anointed prophet of God in Israel who could cure the incurable leprosy that was a blemish upon Naaman’s life.
Some other vessels that God used in achieving His purpose concerning Naaman were Naaman’s personal assistants. When they arrived at the front of Elisha’s house, Elisha simply sent his servant to tell Naaman to go and dip seven times in River Jordan and he would be healed. Naaman took offence that the prophet could not even honour him by coming out to talk personally to him. How could the prophet send a servant to him? Besides, he did not like River Jordan at all. Why did the prophet not choose any of the prestigious rivers around? He was angry, and he decided to leave. Had it not been that some of his servants decided to talk frankly with him, making him see the folly of his decision to return home empty-handed, he would have become a victim of his anger. He listened to them, went and dipped in the river and came out whole. When he returned to the prophet, he offered him a gift which he refused. He then requested to carry some of the soil from Israel to his native land to raise an altar to Jehovah there, and he promised to serve the Almighty God going forward. God can use anyone. Are you a housemaid or a houseboy? God can use you. Are you a servant? God can use you. God also use Prophet Elisha. Are you a servant of God? God can use you. One lesson from the maid and the servant is that if you can deal with the problems of fear and intimidation, you can be used by God to help your superiors. Never look down on yourself. Do not say that because you are uneducated, you cannot speak to the educated about Jesus. Use the Pidgin English or vernacular you know to pass across the message of the love of Jesus to others. The help that will move some superiors to their next level lies in the hands of their subordinates. You can be used to assist your superiors. The greatest assistance you can give to those above you is to link them up with Jesus.
Prayer Point: Father, let my ears be open to Your voice coming through my subordinates.
Open Heavens Daily Devotional guide was written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye, the General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, one of the largest evangelical church in the world and also the President of Christ the Redeemer’s Ministries.
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