Read 1 Kings 19:1-21 and 2 Kings 2:1-25, 6:8-19

Being the youngest, I often was called by one of my sisters’ names. In fact, truthfully, I felt like I grew up in the shadow of my two older sisters. Perhaps that’s how our biblical character we read about today felt. Many people get the stories of Elijah and Elisha confused because their names are so similar. Elisha definitely had big shoes to fill in the shadow of his mentor, Elijah, but we will see today that Elisha, although he may not be as well known, was just as prominent.

Our character, Elisha, enters the scene in 1 Kings 19 after Elijah, a great prophet of God, was burned out from ministry. Elijah fled from wicked Jezebel, who sought to kill him, hid under a tree wishing to die, ate breakfast made by an angel, heard God’s voice in a gentle wind and was convinced he was the only one left on God’s side.

He was done.

So, God told Elijah that another prophet would take his place. Elijah first found Elisha plowing a field but Elisha quickly left his family, the oxen and the fields behind and followed Elijah. Elisha was Elijah’s right-hand man who did not leave his side. He was dedicated to minister to Elijah and learn from him before God miraculously took Elijah in a chariot of fire right in front of Elisha. Wow! Can you imagine seeing that?! Elisha saw it and cried out, “My father, my father, the chariots of Israel and its horsemen!” And whoosh! A whirlwind took Elijah to heaven!

Before God whisked away Elijah, Elisha asked Elijah to give him a double portion of his spirit and he was granted that request. The book of 2 Kings is full of story after story of the miracles God performed through Elisha. Oil was multiplied for a widow, a boy was raised from the dead, an iron axe head was caused to float. Elisha was no doubt a man of God, full of compassion for others.

One of my favorite stories of Elisha is found in 2 Kings 6:8-19. The king of Aram was at war with Israel and, because God gave Elisha the ability to supernaturally know where the enemy camped, the king of Aram was enraged and sought to take Elisha. At night the Arameans surrounded Elisha’s city with chariots. In the morning Elisha’s servant was shocked at the scene-completely surrounded without an escape! Elisha comforted him and said, “Do not fear, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” God permitted Elisha to see the unseen spiritual battle! He saw that God’s forces outnumbered the enemy’s. Elisha then prayed that his servant’s eyes would be opened to see the same thing and they were!

This reminds me of Ephesians 6:10-18 where Paul writes that our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.” Paul continues with instruction to put on the full armor of God- the belt of truth, breastplate of righteousness, shoes of the gospel of peace, shield of faith, helmet of salvation and sword of the Spirit, the Word of God. The unseen battle is real.  What are you fighting? Rest assured that, although we cannot see the spiritual forces at war, God’s forces outnumber Satan’s and the victory is God’s! Oh, that we could see, like Elisha, that those who are with us are more than those who are with them.

Be strong in the Lord, and in the strength of His might. You are on the winning side.

Charline Engle

Read 2 Kings 22:1-23:30

If you are able to name more than three or four of the roughly forty kings of Israel and Judah, you are probably better than the average Jesus follower. Meanwhile, to know many of the specific details about Josiah, king of Judah from 640 to 609 B.C., is even more impressive. Of course, we must keep in mind that Jesus does not call us to just expand our knowledge so as to win at games of Bible trivia. Instead, He calls us to love God and love people (Matt. 22:34-40). So, what are the facts we learn about Josiah and what does he model that we can mimic?

Josiah was faithful in his youth – He became king at the age of 8 (2 Kings 22:1). By the time he was 16, he was seeking the Lord. By the age of 20, he was leading the nation to address the rampant idol worship present at the time (2 Chronicles 34:3).

If you are young, don’t allow your age to limit your faithfulness. Instead, “Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity (1 Tim. 4:12).”

Josiah valued the Word of God – Up to the age of 26, Josiah had been following the Lord as likely defined by oral tradition. He knew of the ways of his forefather David and didn’t deter from the right path (2 Kings 22:1, 2). He didn’t have his own copy of the Old Testament Law on a shelf in the palace. But, at 26, a copy of the Law was found. Josiah was immediately humble and responsive to what he discovered in the Scriptures.

You and I enjoy the privilege of having unlimited access to multiple copies and diverse translations of the completed canon of biblical truth. Do we value that? Do we orient our lives accordingly? After all, “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work (2 Tim. 3:16, 17).”

Josiah, then, serves as a great example of faithfulness to God and His word. Will you follow in his footsteps?

Steve Kern

Read 2 Kings 5:1-27

Well, that was intense.

In this chapter, there are two different sections highlighted by two separate characters on two different journeys.

First of all, we read about Naaman who is a commander of the king of Aram who has leprosy. Through one of their raids, they captured an Israeli girl who eventually asked why Naaman hadn’t gone to a prophet of God to cure his leprosy.

Initially, Naaman went to Israel with the intent of personally meeting Elisha and having him pray immediately over his disease. Instead, he is caught off guard when Elisa sends word through a messenger to dip himself in the Jordan River seven times to be cured of his leprosy.

You can almost feel Naaman’s frustration, “I traveled all this way to do something that I could have done back home? How does this make sense? Our rivers are in way better condition than these Israeli rivers!” In the midst of his frustration, he turns and walks away from the promise of healing.

How often do you allow something like a small annoyance or set back to turn you away from what’s best? “Ah! This isn’t how I wanted things to go! I deserve better! This is humiliating!” and with that, we turn away from God’s promise for us. All throughout the Bible, God promises to care for us and never forsake us. What are you allowing to hold you back from experiencing that promise?

Naaman is eventually healed by following the command of Elisha and, after Elisha refuses to accept payment for his help, Naaman is back on his way home.

This is where we meet the second character of the story. Naaman just experienced life change through God and commits his life and worship to Him. However, the servant of Elisha saw this as an opportunity to extort monetary compensation from Naaman. He, Gehazi, tracks Naaman down and makes up a story of why he needs to take money back, of which Naaman is quick to provide.

However, Gehazi’s sin is quickly found out and, after lying about his whereabouts, Elisha says that the leprosy that Naaman was just cured from would cling to Gehazi and his family forever.

There is such power in greed. If your perspective is not heavenly and you are shortsighted in your faith, there is the possibility to make huge mistakes.

My encouragement to you all is simple and comes from lessons that we learned from Naaman and Gehazi: have complete trust in God’s plan for your life and be ultra-sensitive to greed in your life.

As you finish this reading, I urge you to pray and open yourself up to the Holy Spirit. Allow Him to reveal any distrust or greed in your life and take it upon yourself to live in a way that honors God.

Jake Lawson

Read 1 Kings 19:1-21 and 2 Kings 2:1-25, 6:8-19

Being the youngest, I often was called by one of my sisters’ names. In fact, truthfully, I felt like I grew up in the shadow of my two older sisters. Perhaps that’s how our biblical character we read about today felt. Many people get the stories of Elijah and Elisha confused because their names are so similar. Elisha definitely had big shoes to fill in the shadow of his mentor, Elijah, but we will see today that Elisha, although he may not be as well known, was just as prominent.

Our character, Elisha, enters the scene in 1 Kings 19 after Elijah, a great prophet of God, was burned out from ministry. Elijah fled from wicked Jezebel, who sought to kill him, hid under a tree wishing to die, ate breakfast made by an angel, heard God’s voice in a gentle wind and was convinced he was the only one left on God’s side.

He was done.

So, God told Elijah that another prophet would take his place. Elijah first found Elisha plowing a field but Elisha quickly left his family, the oxen and the fields behind and followed Elijah. Elisha was Elijah’s right-hand man who did not leave his side. He was dedicated to minister to Elijah and learn from him before God miraculously took Elijah in a chariot of fire right in front of Elisha. Wow! Can you imagine seeing that?! Elisha saw it and cried out, “My father, my father, the chariots of Israel and its horsemen!” And whoosh! A whirlwind took Elijah to heaven!

Before God whisked away Elijah, Elisha asked Elijah to give him a double portion of his spirit and he was granted that request. 2 Kings is full of story after story of the miracles God performed through Elisha. Oil was multiplied for a widow, a boy was raised from the dead, an iron axe head was caused to float. Elisha was no doubt a man of God, full of compassion for others.

One of my favorite stories of Elisha is found in 2 Kings 6:8-19. The king of Aram was at war with Israel and, because God gave Elisha the ability to supernaturally know where the enemy camped, the king of Aram was enraged and sought to take Elisha. At night the Arameans surrounded Elisha’s city with chariots. In the morning Elisha’s servant was shocked at the scene-completely surrounded without an escape! Elisha comforted him and said, “Do not fear, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” God permitted Elisha to see the unseen spiritual battle! He saw that God’s forces outnumbered the enemy’s’. Elisha then prayed that his servant’s eyes would be opened to see the same thing and they were!

This reminds me of Ephesians 6:10-18 where Paul writes that our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.” Paul continues with instruction to put on the full armor of God- the belt of truth, breastplate of righteousness, shoes of the gospel of peace, shield of faith, helmet of salvation and sword of the Spirit, the Word of God. The unseen battle is real.  What are you fighting? Rest assured that, although we cannot see the spiritual forces at war, God’s forces outnumber Satan’s and the victory is God’s! Oh, that we could see, like Elisha, that those who are with us are more than those who are with them.

Be strong in the Lord, and in the strength of His might. You are on the winning side.

Charline Engle

Read 2 Kings 22:1-23:30

If you are able to name more than three or four of the roughly forty kings of Israel and Judah, you are probably better than the average Jesus follower. Meanwhile, to know many of the specific details about Josiah, king of Judah from 640 to 609 B.C., is even more impressive. Of course, we must keep in mind that Jesus does not call us to just expand our knowledge so as to win at games of Bible trivia. Instead, He calls us to love God and love people (Matt. 22:34-40). So, what are the facts we learn about Josiah and what does he model that we can mimic?

Josiah was faithful in his youth – He became king at the age of 8 (2 Kings 22:1). By the time he was 16, he was seeking the Lord. By the age of 20, he was leading the nation to address the rampant idol worship present at the time (2 Chronicles 34:3).

If you are young, don’t allow your age to limit your faithfulness. Instead, “Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity (1 Tim. 4:12).”

Josiah valued the Word of God – Up to the age of 26, Josiah had been following the Lord as likely defined by oral tradition. He knew of the ways of his forefather David and didn’t deter from the right path (2 Kings 22:1, 2). He didn’t have his own copy of the Old Testament Law on a shelf in the palace. But, at 26, a copy of the Law was found. Josiah was immediately humble and responsive to what he discovered in the Scriptures.

You and I enjoy the privilege of having unlimited access to multiple copies and diverse translations of the completed canon of biblical truth. Do we value that? Do we orient our lives accordingly? After all, “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work (2 Tim. 3:16, 17).”

Josiah, then, serves as a great example of faithfulness to God and His word. Will you follow in his footsteps?

Steve Kern

Read 2 Kings 5:1-27

Well, that was intense.

In this chapter, there are two different sections highlighted by two separate characters on two different journeys.

First of all, we read about Naaman who is a commander of the king of Aram who has leprosy. Through one of their raids, they captured an Israeli girl who eventually asked why Naaman hadn’t gone to a prophet of God to cure his leprosy.

Initially, Naaman went to Israel with the intent of personally meeting Elisha and having him pray immediately over his disease. Instead, he is caught off guard when Elisa sends word through a messenger to dip himself in the Jordan River seven times to be cured of his leprosy.

You can almost feel Naaman’s frustration, “I traveled all this way to do something that I could have done back home? How does this make sense? Our rivers are in way better condition than these Israeli rivers!” In the midst of his frustration, he turns and walks away from the promise of healing.

How often do you allow something like a small annoyance or set back to turn you away from what’s best? “Ah! This isn’t how I wanted things to go! I deserve better! This is humiliating!” and with that, we turn away from God’s promise for us. All throughout the Bible, God promises to care for us and never forsake us. What are you allowing to hold you back from experiencing that promise?

Naaman is eventually healed by following the command of Elisha and, after Elisha refuses to accept payment for his help, Naaman is back on his way home.

This is where we meet the second character of the story. Naaman just experienced life change through God and commits his life and worship to him. However, the servant of Elisha saw this as an opportunity to extort monetary compensation from Naaman. He, Gehazi, tracks Naaman down and makes up a story of why he needs to take money back, of which Naaman is quick to provide.

However, Gehazi’s sin is quickly found out and, after lying about his whereabouts, Elisha says that the leprosy that Naaman was just cured from would cling to Gehazi and his family forever.

Well, dang…

There is such power in greed. If your perspective is not heavenly and you are shortsighted in your faith, there is the possibility to make huge mistakes.

My encouragement to you all is simple and comes from lessons that we learned from Naaman and Gehazi: have complete trust in God’s plan for your life and be ultra-sensitive to greed in your life.

As you finish this reading, I urge you to pray and open yourself up to the Holy Spirit. Allow Him to reveal any distrust or greed in your life and take it upon yourself to live in a way that honors God.

Jake Lawson