Notableness: It Will Be Well With You (2 Kings 4:8-37)

Please read 2 Kings 4:8-37.

V.8 "Now it happened one day that Elisha went to Shunem, where there was a NOTABLE WOMAN, and she persuaded him to eat some food. So it was, as often as he passed by, he would turn in there to eat some food."

Why was she notable? I would think she was considered notable because of her hunger to hear and respond accordingly to who God is and what He was doing. 

V.9 "...I know this is a holy man of God, who passes by us regularly. Let us make room for him."

She and her husband provided sustenance for Elisha. I don't question her motivation in this for she asked nothing of him. I think she wanted just to have fellowship with Elisha as they both wanted the same thing - intimacy with God. Elisha thought to help her in conventional ways - to speak on her behalf to the king or the commander of the army (interesting here that holy men/women of God held sway with kings and all who were in authority). She was not interested. She wanted higher things - that is what made her notable!  

Elisha, having heard from Gehazi that she had no son and it appeared, conventionally, that she would not be able as her husband was old, informed her that she would give birth to a son in about one year. She was startled and apparently blessed by the spoken word of the prophet. God had given her something she dearly desired.

Now, here is where her notableness served again: the son died of a head ailment. What did she do? She ran to the man of God! What did she say? "It is well."  (Verse 23 and 26), which is translated "it WILL BE well", and, it was!  Although the boy had died, the prophet of God breathed life back into him!

So it shows that the NOTABLENESS of the Shunemite woman served her well! What she was after was more of God. She humbled herself under His mighty hand through her engagement of His prophet. The result: God gave her something He knew would bless her outside her ability to do for herself, and, even though the weapon formed and a significant one at that, the weapon did not prosper in the end. No sorrow added.

Entering The Sheepfold By The Door

 John 10:1-7

 

"Most assuredly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door, but climbs up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. BUT HE WHO ENTERS BY THE DOOR IS THE SHEPHERD OF THE SHEEP. To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice; and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. And when he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. Yet they will by no means follow a stranger, but will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers. Jesus used this illustration, but they did not understand the things which He spoke to them. Then Jesus said to them again, 'Most assuredly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep.' "


Is Jesus both the door and the shepherd in this context? In the previous chapter, we see what a sinful response Israel's current shepherds presented to Jesus' healing a blind man on the Sabbath. It is my understanding that Jesus was rebuking their shepherding and giving criteria to those He would be calling to shepherd the sheep. "For many are called, but few chosen." (Matthew 20:16) A "called one" becomes a "chosen one" by pointing his/her compass directly at Jesus Christ. Seek Him. Knock on His door. Ask of Him. There is much to learn to become a chosen one as Jesus doesn't send out novices. "Not a novice (new convert), lest being puffed up with pride he fall into the same condemnation as the devil." (1 Timothy 3:6)  Based upon a review of things, novices are not just new converts but converts who will not allow the chastening of the Lord in their hearts. They are immature. They are not receiving help nor are they are in a position to help others past where they have been helped. They are trying to enter the sheepfold apart from the door whether they know it or not. The door is with Him, through Him and in Him and includes His transformation of who you are: your soul. "Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things, and be in health just as YOUR SOUL PROSPERS (3 John 2).

There is a reason Jesus says to the messenger of the church at Laodicea, "I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire(the place in our development where the impurities are separated from purity) that you may be rich (in Christ) (Revelation 3:18)...It is because we need it!

Whether you are called to the ministry or serving in His kingdom in some other capacity, don't try to climb up some other way! Point your compass squarely at Him. He is faithful who promises!

The Affordable Care Act: What Did Jesus Do?

Matthew 17:24-27

The Affordable Care Act was passed into law in 2010. The law changes the options by which a health care plan is purchased. The United States government offers options, and private insurers are allowed to compete in that marketplace. Significant to this discussion is the fact that you MUST either purchase insurance coverage OR pay a penalty, or tax, for choosing not. After the legislation was signed by President Obama, there began a legal case to determine whether the law paralleled the U.S. Constitution. The Supreme Court affirmed it. It is the law of the land. The implementation has begun.


The U.S. government has always had the authority to increase taxes. This is the first time the citizens of this country have been REQUIRED to buy something that, previously, they had the choice not to.


"When they had come to Capernaum, those who received the temple tax came to Peter and said, 'Does your Teacher not pay the temple tax?' He said, 'Yes'. And when he had come into the house, Jesus anticipated him, saying, 'What do you think, Simon? From whom do kings of the earth take custom or taxes, from their sons or from strangers?' Peter said to Him, 'From strangers.' Jesus said to him, 'Then the sons are free. NEVERTHELESS, LEST WE OFFEND THEM, go to the sea, cast in a hook, and take the fish that comes up first. And when you have opened its mouth, you will find a piece of money; take that and give it to them for Me and you.' "


"Tell us, therefore, what do You think? Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not? Pay therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's." Matthew 22:17, 21


God has called us to be a testimony of Him in Christ Jesus toward men. Jesus was focused on the testimony of the Son of God paying what the kings of the earth had required. So should the sons of God be! We see how difficult it was for the Son of God to create a piece of money to pay the tax. He will make a way for us to obey this law according to His wise direction. Whether we agree with the reasoning behind this law or not, submission does not begin until we disagree. We want all men to understand that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God. When we order our steps with His, they will have that opportunity!