2 Kings – Chapter 4

Then he said, “Go outside, borrow vessels from all your neighbors, empty vessels and not too few. ⁴Then go in and shut the door behind yourself and your sons and pour into all these vessels. And when one is full, set it aside.” 2 Kings 4:3-4 – We are beginning to see a unique posture in the way Elisha handled his ministry. He allowed those who were to experience the miracle have a hand the miracle process. With the digging of ditches in the previous chapter, his servant being used in the raising of the Shunammite woman’s son, to here in this passage where the widow had to borrow vessels and do the filling. All the miracles God brought about, but Elisha allowed others to have their hand in seeing God’s miracle come about. We see though that the measure of their miracle was based on the measure of their faith. For the widow in our passage, the oil continued until she had no more vessels to put it in. If she borrowed only a couple, she’d have only a couple vessels full of oil. If she borrowed a million vessels, that’s how many she’d have full of oil. This too is something we should consider as we are praying for our own miracles in this life. God is inviting us into the process of His work, and He is calling us to place our faith in Him, yet our lack of faith can be the bottleneck to us seeing the extent of the miracle God could have provided. Choose then to have a “million vessel” type of faith rather than just a couple vessel type of faith. Trust that God is able to do more than we can ever comprehend in this life. As we then find ourselves in future opportunities in life where we need to have faith in the Lord to take care of us, remember often the measure of our miracle is connected to our measure of faith. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 3070

And Elisha said to her, “What shall I do for you? Tell me; what have you in the house?” And she said, “Your servant has nothing in the house except a jar of oil.” 2 Kings 4:2 – Often there will be a risk that we have to take in order for us to see the miracle we’re waiting on to come about. We see in this story the widow receiving from God an abundance of oil to sell to pay off her debts and live on, but in order to see the abundance there was the risk of pouring out the only oil she had to live on. We too can find ourselves being asked to risk something in order to see God’s miracle come about. Maybe that risk will look like a sacrifice of grudge you thought you had to hold on to in order to see your family healed. Maybe it will look like a sacrificial gift to your church in order to see it grow. However the risk looks, often risks precede the miracles. So if you’re right now praying for a miracle yet unwilling to risk whatever it is God is leading you to risk, maybe it’s not God that’s holding back the miracle…maybe you are. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac

And they poured out some for the men to eat. But while they were eating of the stew, they cried out, “O man of God, there is death in the pot!” And they could not eat it. He said, “Then bring flour.” And he threw it into the pot and said, “Pour some out for the men, that they may eat.” And there was no harm in the pot. 2 Kings 4:40-41 – What once held death no longer does because of God. Not only with this story but earlier in the chapter with the boy being brought back to life we see this truth. What was once dead and was filled with death no longer is that way because of the life God brings. If you have a relationship with Christ then this is your story as well. Death no longer is within you and is not your story. Because of Jesus, life is in you and life is your story. You have been brought out of death and into life. Remember though this isn’t the story for everyone you know. They still are in death waiting for life. Who can you speak with about this life they can have and how can you begin that process today? I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1027

She came and told the man of God, and he said, “Go, sell the oil and pay your debts, and you and your sons can live on the rest.” 2 Kings 4:7 – A widow who had lost so much was about to lose her two sons to the creditors. After coming to Elisha she experienced a miracle in her home that allowed her to pay of all her debts and even have money leftover to live on. First see that God is open to you coming to Him with your needs. What though I want to focus on is the leftover money after the debts were paid off. God takes care of our needs today but He also provides for our needs of tomorrow. He isn’t a Heavenly Father that holds back blessings because He is trying to save some for Himself. He has everything and provides for His children out of that abundance generously. He’s thinking about your needs today but He also wants to take care of your future needs too. This is our God. So never fear coming to Him with your needs. He finds pleasure in providing for our needs. And don’t be surprised if in the blessing there is leftover. He knows your needs of tomorrow and also calls us to be his hands providing for the needs of others. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2210