8-26-23 Humbled and Healed

Daily Devotion: Humbled and Healed - by Greg Laurie – www.harvest.org Now Naaman, commander of the army of the king of Syria, was a great and honorable man in the eyes of his master, because by him the Lord had given victory to Syria. He was also a mighty man of valor, but a leper. —2 Kings 5:1 https://harvest.org/resources/devotion/humbled-and-healed/ - Listen The great Syrian general Naaman was famous. He was celebrated. But he also had leprosy, and at that time, leprosy was incurable. However, Naaman heard about a prophet in Israel named Elisha, whom God had used to heal people. Naaman made the journey to meet with Elisha, no doubt expecting that as soon as he rolled in with his entourage, the prophet would come to greet him and promptly heal him. However, when Naaman arrived at Elisha’s house, Elisha sent his servant with a message for the general: “Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored to you, and you shall be clean” (2 Kings 5:10 NKJV). This offended Namaan. He effectively thought, “What? He didn’t even come out to greet me! I’m going home. We have better rivers in Syria.” But then he realized that he didn’t have many options, and he decided he should give it a try. Why was Namaan reluctant? Immersing himself in the Jordan River meant that he would have to remove his beautiful breastplate. He would have to lay aside his royal robes. He would have to take off the helmet that he hid behind. Basically, he would have to expose the fact that he had leprosy. And that would be humiliating and embarrassing. Naaman was a proud man, a military man. But he also was someone who needed to humble himself in the sight of God. So Naaman went down to the Jordan and immersed himself in it one time. Nothing happened. He immersed himself a second time, and again nothing happened. Nothing changed either after the third, fourth, fifth, or sixth time he immersed himself. But when he came up from the water the seventh time, he was healed. That’s because he humbled himself and did what God wanted him to do. Naaman had to see his real condition before God. We need to do the same.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

9-17-23 Not in a Billion Years

Not In A Million Billion Years :: By Dave Hubley Published on: December 24, 2022 by RR10 Category:General Articles (There is a special message at the end of this article for those who might happen to read this and do not have Jesus in their life and are looking for peace and a way to better understand the present-day insanity and confusion.) Several years ago, I had a conversation with a guy in a waiting room while getting an oil change (in the car, not me). I don’t recall exactly how the conversation originated or how it progressed, but I have never forgotten it. As I recall, it had something to do with evolution and an article that was contained in a “waiting room magazine” that was available there. He made the observation that God was “something that man had made up.” I can’t recall the exact reason he used to justify his opinion, but it had something to do with the usual reasons people give: Weak-willed people needing a crutch, and blah, blah, blah. I engaged him in a “witness,
Read more

9-16-23 Santa Staleness

Santa Staleness :: By Edwin Tan Published on: December 24, 2022 by RR10 Category:General Articles My one and only trip to Israel had more than a profound effect on my present-day psyche. It might have been three decades ago, but there is more than a lingering aftertaste. It happened smack in the last fortnight of the year. Surprisingly absent were the familiar sights and sounds of the Christmas most people are accustomed to. Hardly any Christmas decorations in downtown Tel Aviv, if not any of the shopping thoroughfares across the Holy Land. Hanukah was a breath of fresh air – not anything resembling a Christmas carol most people grew up with did surface. The Christmas Eve service in a small Protestant church not far away from Jerusalem’s Old City was awesome; songs that truly celebrated the virgin birth of our Lord, which though seemingly unheard of, were a welcome inspiration to many a soul. There was even one sung in Arabic! So it began, my overt disdain for the secular Christmas t
Read more

9-15-23 Miracles 2

Miracles 2 :: By Jim Towers Published on: December 21, 2022 by RR10 Category:General Articles This story is a continuation of the exciting things God continues doing in my life. I was supposed to have died a while back, and sometimes I feel as though I may do so soon. But since I’m ready to meet my maker, I have no fear of death. In fact, my evangelistic zeal has only increased, especially as I see the fast approaching of the “Tribulation period” mentioned in the book of Revelation. Insofar as my acting career is concerned, I just finished filming a soliloquy featuring Melchior, one of the three Magi who followed the star to Christ lying in the manger, and am preparing to portray a Jewish Priest on stage. Like I said, God is working overtime in my life, and I will be appearing on stage singing Broadway show tunes sometime in March, so I have a lot of rehearsing to do. In the meantime, I will be signing Christmas carols acapella at a park here in Naples. Since it is a spontaneous th
Read more