Floodgates of Heaven Devotions: Preach and Flee!

Today’s Reading: 2 Kings 7-9, John 1:1-28

Today’s Reflection: 2 Kings 9:1 And Elisha the prophet called one of the children of the prophets, and said unto him, Gird up thy loins, and take this box of oil in thine hand, and go to Ramothgilead:

It appears as if Elisha is in the process of training and developing a new, young, up-and-coming prophet of the land. As he assigns this son of a prophet with a major errand, it is later revealed that he is not just the son of a prophet, but in fact a prophet himself.

One could argue that Elisha was just too busy with other items on his agenda to personally deliver this message himself, but more likely it may have been that after feeling led of The Lord, he seized the opportunity to give this young prophet a chance to exercise his gift of prophecy.

And after further reading, you will discover he did his job very well! He went in, delivered the message, and went out quickly, just as instructed. Nothing more would ever be asked of any of God’s messengers. If we would but just go in, deliver the message, and leave it at that, we would see a world turned upside down by the message of God’s Word.

However, it is when we taint the message, or try to manipulate its outcome, that things get pretty messy. Do we think God needs help fulfilling His Word? Do we think by our lingering and manipulation of the audience, that the message will be more effectively received? I think not!

Oh messengers of God, the burden is upon us only to allow The Lord to do His work through His Word by His Spirit! We cannot quicken the dead; we can only speak God’s Word over the dead corpse. We cannot open the deaf ear; we can only declare at God’s command, “He that hath ears, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the Churches.” We cannot open the spiritually blinded eye; we can only speak God’s Word, and then step back and allow God’s Spirit to open their understanding.

That is why we must learn to preach just long enough to deliver the message, and then at once flee the scene before we make a scene of ourselves! Let us not interfere with the inner-workings of The Holy Spirit! Let us not be guilty of emotionally charging the invitation in such a way that one cannot tell whether the Spirit is moving, or the speaker is manipulating.

Abandon all notions to guide the wind of the Spirit. He will not be harnessed by talent, nor tethered by trickery. The wind bloweth where it listeth, and so is the movement of God’s Spirit. If He is not beckoned by a response of unfeigned faith in God’s Word alone, then He will not be beckoned at all. If we cannot trust that God’s Word will do the work, then we need not preach it at all. His Word will not return void!

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Floodgates of Heaven
Volume 2
Entry 129 of 365

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