From: June 23, 2024
“So he set it before them. And they ate and had some left, according to the word of the LORD” (2 Kings 4:44 ESV).
When the prophet Elisha was given an offering of bread, he instructed his servant, Gehazi, to feed the people with it. But Gehazi answered that there wasn’t enough to feed the one hundred men gathered there. Yet Elisha had heard from the Lord that there would not only be enough to feed everyone, but some leftover. So Elisha’s servant distributed the bread and it was just as the word of the Lord had said.
Does this story sound familiar? Surely this miraculous feeding foreshadowed the feeding of the 5,000 by Jesus. Indeed, the ministry of Elisha as recorded in 2 Kings was a preparation for the coming Messiah, so that Israel would recognize Him when He appeared. For the Scripture recorded that Elisha raised a dead child to life, healed a leper and fed a multitude, which are all miracles that Jesus performed, yet in greater fashion.
Even Elisha’s name is similar (In Hebrew, “El” means “God” and “sha” is a shortened version of “shua,” which means “salvation.”). Compare this to the name of Jesus (In Hebrew it is “Yeshua.” The “Ye” is a shortened version of “Yahweh” or as some pronounce it “Yehovah.” This is the covenant name of the LORD God revealed to Moses, which is translated “I AM.” And “shua” means “salvation.”). Both the names Elisha and Jesus mean “God’s salvation,” however Jesus’ name uses God’s covenantal name, which makes it similar but superior. For as the apostle Peter said, “There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).
PRAYER: Dear Father, thank You for preparing the way for Your Son, Jesus. We see the entire Old Testament and especially the ministry of Elisha as a preparation for the Messiah. Now help us to read the entire Bible through the lens of Your Son, Jesus. For He is the only One who saves and knowing Him is the only way to understand the Word of Life You have revealed to us through Your prophets and ultimately through Your Son. In His name, the wonderful name of Jesus, we pray, amen.
From: June 23, 2023
“Take control of what I say, O Lord, and guard my lips. Don’t let me drift toward evil or take part in acts of wickedness” (Psalm 141:3-4 NLT).
David understood that he needed help controlling his speech. Only the Lord can tame the tongue. So, David prayed that God would take control of his words and set a guard over his lips.
The Spirit inspired the apostle James to write about the same topic saying, “If we could control our tongues, we would be perfect and could also control ourselves in every other way” (James 3:2). He concludes the matter writing, “No one can tame the tongue. It is restless and evil, full of deadly poison” (James 3:8).
Only the Lord can tame the tongue. So be careful about what you say. First, ask the Lord to take control of your tongue as David did. Then seek to be a blessing to others as Paul instructed, “Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them” (Eph. 4:29).
And remember to always listen before speaking. For the Lord gave us two ears and only one mouth. Therefore, “be quick to listen and slow to speak” (James 1:19).
PRAYER: O Lord, teach us to give our first words to You every morning, so that the rest of the day they might be under Your control. Only You can tame the tongue. Fill us afresh with Your Spirit that our lips may offer acceptable worship to You and be a blessing to others. In Jesus’ name, amen.
From: June 23, 2022
ONLY ONE WAY OF SALVATION
After certain Judaizers came to Antioch, teaching that circumcision was required for salvation, Paul and Barnabas were sent to bring the question to the apostles at Jerusalem. After much deliberation, Peter stood and reminded everyone that he had been the first one chosen to carry the gospel to the Gentiles. He reminded them how the Spirit had been given to them when they heard the gospel and believed in Jesus. He questioned why the yoke of the law should be added to salvation when even the Jews couldn’t keep it and in fact, weren’t saved by the law, but by the “undeserved grace of the Lord Jesus.”
The basis of salvation is grace, which is God’s unmerited favor given to those who have put their faith in Christ Jesus. As the apostle Paul wrote, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast” (Eph. 2:8-9).
This grace is not only unmerited (we didn’t earn it), but it is “undeserved” because as sinners, we actually deserved death. “But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners” (Rom. 5:8). In other words, Christ died in our place. Now that’s grace!
There is not a Jewish “way” or a Gentile “way” of salvation. We are all saved by the “same way,” which is by the undeserved, unmerited grace of Jesus Christ!
PRAYER: Dear Father, in this day of relativism, when people are deceived to think there are many ways to God, help us to speak the truth that Jesus is the only way. Give us a holy boldness to proclaim the gospel. In Jesus’ name, amen.
From: June 23, 2016
David prayed that the Lord would help him control his tongue. He wanted to stop sinful speech. He understood the difficulty in taming the tongue and knew he needed help. Many is the sin that spews forth from the mouth, which in fact, expresses the condition of the heart. David was right to petition the Lord for a guard over his mouth, yet an even better prayer is to ask the Lord to deal with our hearts. And this is just what David did in the next verse of the psalm, saying, “Do not let my heart incline to any evil” (Psa. 141:4). Let us join David in praying today, “Lord, cleanse my heart and control my tongue today!”
From: June 23, 2014
Simple instructions… The Uganda mission team is home again. Yet, I can still hear Blake teaching the “simple instructions” of salvation through the lesson of Naaman. Children and adults alike in Uganda freely responded. What a great surprise to return to the world of reliable internet and see this OYB reading today. Naaman had to surrender his pride and “go and wash” in the Jordan to be healed of leprosy. Jesus gave us simple instructions too in order to be saved. “Believe on the One whom God has sent” (John 6:29).
From: June 23, 2012
In today’s OYB reading Elisha (“El” – God; “sha” – saves/salvation) raised a child from the dead, multiplied a meal with leftovers, healed a leper, and was disappointed by a greedy disciple. Who else in the Bible does this sound like? Elisha is a clear foreshadowing of Christ. God was preparing His people for Jesus (“Je” – Jehovah; “sus” – saves/salvation).