Elijah Taken to Heaven

 2 Kings 1:12b-14

 

August 18, 2021

 

 

Elijah Taken to Heaven

Then he took hold of his own clothes and tore them in two pieces.  And he took up the cloak of Elijah that had fallen from him and went back and stood on the bank of the Jordan.   Then he took the cloak of Elijah that had fallen from him and struck the water, saying, “Where is the Lord, the God of Elijah?” And when he had struck the water, the water was parted to the one side and to the other, and Elisha went over.

Jesus once said of a Centurion; “I have not seen such faith in all of Israel” Now being a Roman solider over many men gave this man great power, yet he was wiser than most who attend a church, for the Centurion knew he was in the presence of real authority.

 

As we look at these two men, Elijah, and Elisha, one can be sure you are seeing two men who fear God and it was God who called them and gave them amazing faith.  Now often God requires His prophets to go places and do things they were not to say the least excited about, lack walking around naked for three years as the Lord required of Isaiah, or going to a wicked city like Nineveh and preaching that unless they repent God was going destroy them, as was Jonah.   It is clear that Jonah needed a little encouragement but so do you and I often.

 

I would not be truthful if I did not tell you I’m a little envious of these men like Elijah and Elisha, faith, and I do have a fear of the Lord.  As I ponder on that it became clear, God has given me the Scriptures in their entirety and those men did not have that.  The Holy Spirit enwalls me and I am enveloped in the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, yes give all that the prophet talked about as God gave them insights, yet they walked in obedience.  Not seeking their will, but the will of the Father.  

 

I have been given so much, and I still am a mess, is it only me that wrestles with this thing God calls flesh?  No, one who wrote much of the New Testament, shares this with us in Romans 7:15-20, “For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate.   Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good.   So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.  For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out.   For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing.   Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.”

 

And God has made clear that we are called and equip to walk in the spirit and not in the flesh.

 

From the Back Porch,

 

Bob Rice