There are many lessons to be learned from the stories recorded about the Prophet Elisha. This is the 19th in a series focused on the life of this great prophet of God.
“Now the king of Syria was making war against Israel; and he consulted with his servants, saying, ‘My camp will be in such and such a place.’ And the man of God sent to the king of Israel, saying, ‘Beware that you do not pass this place, for the Syrians are coming down there.’ Then the king of Israel sent someone to the place of which the man of God had told him. Thus he warned him, and he was watchful there, not just once or twice. Therefore the heart of the king of Syria was greatly troubled by this thing; and he called his servants and said to them, ‘Will you not show me which of us is for the king of Israel?’ And one of his servants said, ‘None, my lord, O king; but Elisha, the prophet who is in Israel, tells the king of Israel the words that you speak in your bedroom.’” (2 Kings 6:8-12) NKJV
Just imagine. You are the commander of the armed force of a mighty world power. Your desire is to overtake a miniscule country and bring it into your domain. Your plans are flawless, your men, well-trained; but every time you go in for the attack, you find the enemy already knows ahead of time what you are going to do, and is ready and waiting to oppose you! What should be such an easy thing becomes suddenly incredibly difficult! In frustration, you offer a reward to any of your officers who can tell you which one of your men is an informer, only to find out that it isn’t one of your men at all! It’s some person you’ve never met, you’ve never even heard of, who seems to be able to read your mind!
Pretty scary, isn’t it? How do you beat such an enemy???
You may not physically be at war, my friends, but we are all engaged in a serious spiritual battle. The enemy is stronger than you or I, and he’s been around so much longer than we have that he knows ALL the tricks in the book. He also knows you and I better than we knows ourselves, and to top it all off, he’s DEAD set on getting us BACK to HIS kingdom. The enemy? The devil.
How can you fight such an adversary? It probably seems that you have no weapon whatsoever strong enough to combat such an enemy.
But then, neither did Israel! Nothing they could do on their own would make a difference against Syria. Yet there was a man of God . . . A man who seemed to be able to read the king of Syria’s thoughts . . . And because of this man, Syria could do nothing against Israel . . .
Friends, we may not be Elisha, but the same power he demonstrated is at the disposal of each of us! When we accept Jesus into our hearts, all of His power becomes our own. All we have to do is claim that power, and just like one man, Elisha, thwarted the plans of the king of Syria, we, too, can thwart the plans of the enemy! But the key is believing that what we have is enough!
Remember: When Jesus died on the cross 2000 years ago, the price was paid. The devil was defeated. He no longer has any weapon strong enough to defeat us (Is. 54:16-17). Yet we allow him to do so anyway. Why? Because we don’t call on that power! We don’t claim the power of the Blood of Jesus as our own!
What about it friends? Why not claim the power of the Blood against the power of the enemy? You’ll be amazed how, just like in Elisha’s day, all the attacks of the enemy will be defeated! You will discover that you have in your hands, indeed, the world’s greatest weapon!
“’And I have created the spoiler to destroy. No weapon formed against you shall prosper, and every tongue which rises against you in judgment you shall condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and their righteousness is from Me,’ says the LORD.” (Isa 54:16-17) NKJV
Please see next Saturday’s edition of The Nugget for Lessons From Elisha, Part 20.
Love in Christ,
Lyn
Lyn Chaffart, Moderator, The Nugget, Scriptural Nuggets ( www.scripturalnuggets.org ), Answers2Prayer Ministries, www.Answers2Prayer.org
(To access the entire “Lessons From Elisha” mini-series, please click here.)