- Oct 11, 2005
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Part one here
Belief is accepting something as true. I know that God can deliver me.
That is belief. Faith is acting on what you are believing God for.
God acts according to faith. God gives us instructions on how to get what we have asked for, all the instruction we need is in the word…
Belief is saying that you know God is able to do it. Faith is saying that God has already done it according to His word.
Do we have faith or do we just believe?
Mark 11:24 Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.
2 Kings 4:8 Elisha the prophet of God carrying the mantle of His mentor Elijah, passed through Shunem.
Every time he passed by, a Shunammite woman would feed him some bread. The bible tells us that she was a great woman.
This woman had a husband who was old and she was barren. She had no children. The Shunammite woman did not really know Elisha but she perceived that he was a holy man of God.
We have to ask ourselves something. When people see us, can they tell that we are men and women of God?
We should not have to give them a big speech of how holy we are.
Let them judge by the fruits that we bear. How do we carry ourselves? How is our speech? What words come out of our mouths? Do our actions contradict what we are saying to people around us?
2 Kings 4:8-10 Please, let us make a small upper room on the wall; and let us put a bed for him there, and a table and a chair and a lampstand; so it will be, whenever he comes to us, he can turn in there.
Elisha meets a wealthy Shunammite woman who displays wonderful hospitality. She not only provides Elisha meals from time to time, but she goes so far as to build a furnished guest room on top of their house expressly for the prophet!
… No name given for the woman; just her town… Hospitality is something that Christians should be known for.
Heb. 13:2 Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.
2 Kings 4:11-17 Look, you have been concerned for us with all this care. What can I do for you? Do you want me to speak on your behalf to the king or to the commander of the army? She answered, I dwell among my own people.
Elisha wants to show his appreciation, but the woman was being kind simply to be… He finds out her needs, and then promises a miraculous conception along the lines of Isaac or John the Baptist…
Did the Shunammite women have a lack of faith? Possibly she didn’t want to get her hopes up regarding something she considered impossible.
Here’s the thing: it WAS impossible! But what is impossible for man is possible with God. This was no harder for God than to bring water from a rock…
2 Kings 4:18-23 And he said to his father, My head, my head! So he said to a servant, Carry him to his mother. When he had taken him and brought him to his mother, he sat on her knees till noon, and then died.
Tragedy strikes…
The one thing that was promised to her is now gone. Now we find the Shunammite woman in a dead situation. But she didn’t panic. How many of us would have lost our minds in this situation? She laid her son on the bed that she had prepared for Elisha.
The woman called to her husband. Tell a young lad to saddle me up so that I may go and find the man of God. Can you see what is brewing in the mind of the Shunammite woman? She knows that the fight is not over.
She is in the midst of a dead situation and is allowing her faith to move her in the direction that will bring life to her dead situation.
Did the father even understand his son had died? Not likely – the woman seemingly doesn’t want any delays; she just wants to get to Elisha as soon as possible.
Her husband askes her… is everything ok and she replies, it is well… It is interesting here that she actually uses the word shalom which means peace or nothing missing and nothing broken…
She is speaking life into the situation… She spoke peace into the situation…
This shows the faith of the woman. She prepared for the resurrection of the boy, not his burial.
2 Kings 4:24-27 Then she saddled a donkey, and said to her servant, Drive, and go forward; do not slacken the pace for me unless I tell you.
Interesting that the Shunammite woman didn’t tell anyone what was going on – not her husband nor Gehazi.
She didn’t want any doubt to enter, she didn’t want to speak it out and she didn’t want any delays… The Shunammite woman needed a miracle, and there was only one person she could turn to –
Do we go straight to God in our times of distress? Stand on the word and PRAY! Never neglect the value of prayer, go directly to the source!
God hadn’t told Elisha. It’s tough to say which is more astounding: the fact that God didn’t tell Elisha anything regarding this woman God had already told him so much about?
Or that Elisha’s relationship with God was so intimate that he expected God to tell him what was on the woman’s heart?
What do you do when something’s obviously wrong, but you don’t know what? Sometimes the best thing to do is to remain silent (like Elisha).
Sometimes the best thing we can do is simply BE with someone in their distress, pray and stand with them…
2 Kings 4: 28-30 And the mother of the child said, As the LORD lives, and as your soul lives, I will not leave you. So he arose and followed her.
She had one desire & one desire only: for Elisha to personally come. Nothing else would suffice… (Ministry is hands-on)
Notice by this point, if she hadn’t fully believed God beforehand, the Shunammite HAD come to faith! As the LORD lives… Her faith was founded upon the Living God. So is ours! …
2 Kings 4:31-32 When Elisha came into the house; there was the boy, lying dead on his bed.
Keep in mind this was Elisha’s 1st plan. Gehazi just did what Elisha had already told him to do… but it didn’t work.
How do you respond when God doesn’t do what you expect Him to do?
Keep trusting – keep seeking – keep standing on the word…
2 Kings 4:33-37And he called Gehazi and said, Call this Shunammite woman. So he called her. And when she came in to him, he said, Pick up your son.
· The Shunammite woman didn’t give up!
· The Shunammite woman showed her faith by her actions…
· She got her son back from the dead…
Belief is accepting something as true. I know that God can deliver me.
That is belief. Faith is acting on what you are believing God for.
God acts according to faith. God gives us instructions on how to get what we have asked for, all the instruction we need is in the word…
Belief is saying that you know God is able to do it. Faith is saying that God has already done it according to His word.
Do we have faith or do we just believe?
Mark 11:24 Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.
2 Kings 4:8 Elisha the prophet of God carrying the mantle of His mentor Elijah, passed through Shunem.
Every time he passed by, a Shunammite woman would feed him some bread. The bible tells us that she was a great woman.
This woman had a husband who was old and she was barren. She had no children. The Shunammite woman did not really know Elisha but she perceived that he was a holy man of God.
We have to ask ourselves something. When people see us, can they tell that we are men and women of God?
We should not have to give them a big speech of how holy we are.
Let them judge by the fruits that we bear. How do we carry ourselves? How is our speech? What words come out of our mouths? Do our actions contradict what we are saying to people around us?
2 Kings 4:8-10 Please, let us make a small upper room on the wall; and let us put a bed for him there, and a table and a chair and a lampstand; so it will be, whenever he comes to us, he can turn in there.
Elisha meets a wealthy Shunammite woman who displays wonderful hospitality. She not only provides Elisha meals from time to time, but she goes so far as to build a furnished guest room on top of their house expressly for the prophet!
… No name given for the woman; just her town… Hospitality is something that Christians should be known for.
Heb. 13:2 Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.
2 Kings 4:11-17 Look, you have been concerned for us with all this care. What can I do for you? Do you want me to speak on your behalf to the king or to the commander of the army? She answered, I dwell among my own people.
Elisha wants to show his appreciation, but the woman was being kind simply to be… He finds out her needs, and then promises a miraculous conception along the lines of Isaac or John the Baptist…
Did the Shunammite women have a lack of faith? Possibly she didn’t want to get her hopes up regarding something she considered impossible.
Here’s the thing: it WAS impossible! But what is impossible for man is possible with God. This was no harder for God than to bring water from a rock…
2 Kings 4:18-23 And he said to his father, My head, my head! So he said to a servant, Carry him to his mother. When he had taken him and brought him to his mother, he sat on her knees till noon, and then died.
Tragedy strikes…
The one thing that was promised to her is now gone. Now we find the Shunammite woman in a dead situation. But she didn’t panic. How many of us would have lost our minds in this situation? She laid her son on the bed that she had prepared for Elisha.
The woman called to her husband. Tell a young lad to saddle me up so that I may go and find the man of God. Can you see what is brewing in the mind of the Shunammite woman? She knows that the fight is not over.
She is in the midst of a dead situation and is allowing her faith to move her in the direction that will bring life to her dead situation.
Did the father even understand his son had died? Not likely – the woman seemingly doesn’t want any delays; she just wants to get to Elisha as soon as possible.
Her husband askes her… is everything ok and she replies, it is well… It is interesting here that she actually uses the word shalom which means peace or nothing missing and nothing broken…
She is speaking life into the situation… She spoke peace into the situation…
This shows the faith of the woman. She prepared for the resurrection of the boy, not his burial.
2 Kings 4:24-27 Then she saddled a donkey, and said to her servant, Drive, and go forward; do not slacken the pace for me unless I tell you.
Interesting that the Shunammite woman didn’t tell anyone what was going on – not her husband nor Gehazi.
She didn’t want any doubt to enter, she didn’t want to speak it out and she didn’t want any delays… The Shunammite woman needed a miracle, and there was only one person she could turn to –
Do we go straight to God in our times of distress? Stand on the word and PRAY! Never neglect the value of prayer, go directly to the source!
God hadn’t told Elisha. It’s tough to say which is more astounding: the fact that God didn’t tell Elisha anything regarding this woman God had already told him so much about?
Or that Elisha’s relationship with God was so intimate that he expected God to tell him what was on the woman’s heart?
What do you do when something’s obviously wrong, but you don’t know what? Sometimes the best thing to do is to remain silent (like Elisha).
Sometimes the best thing we can do is simply BE with someone in their distress, pray and stand with them…
2 Kings 4: 28-30 And the mother of the child said, As the LORD lives, and as your soul lives, I will not leave you. So he arose and followed her.
She had one desire & one desire only: for Elisha to personally come. Nothing else would suffice… (Ministry is hands-on)
Notice by this point, if she hadn’t fully believed God beforehand, the Shunammite HAD come to faith! As the LORD lives… Her faith was founded upon the Living God. So is ours! …
2 Kings 4:31-32 When Elisha came into the house; there was the boy, lying dead on his bed.
Keep in mind this was Elisha’s 1st plan. Gehazi just did what Elisha had already told him to do… but it didn’t work.
How do you respond when God doesn’t do what you expect Him to do?
Keep trusting – keep seeking – keep standing on the word…
2 Kings 4:33-37And he called Gehazi and said, Call this Shunammite woman. So he called her. And when she came in to him, he said, Pick up your son.
· The Shunammite woman didn’t give up!
· The Shunammite woman showed her faith by her actions…
· She got her son back from the dead…
