BROTHER SEMILOORE OSANYINBI
[biblegateway passage=” 2 KINGS 5:18-27 ” display=” 2 KINGS 5:18-27 “]
[biblegateway passage=”EZEKIEL 28:12-16 ” display=”EZEKIEL 28:12-16 “]
Gehazi was supposed to be the next in line to Elisha. He followed Elisha over a period of time. He had a great destiny hanging on his head. He was supposed to be a national prophet. However, greed interrupted his journey. Elisha swore not to merchandise the grace of God upon his life, as such, he wouldn’t receive any of Naaman’s tempting gifts. Every true prophet is known by his consecration to God.
After the several “Thus saith the Lord” that must have been received by Gehazi, he ended up miserable because he didn’t deal with the little foxes of lust and greed in his life. He could not deal with the tempting thoughts of materialism. He gave in to the allure of wealth and he fell down flat. He lost out of the plans of God for his life.
Opportunities will always come but we must realize that we are not meant to seize every one that comes. Some opportunities are meant to be ignored. We must be able to recognize the Kings of Sodom and the Naamans of our lives so that we do not collect their gifts. We need to learn from our Patriarchs Abraham and Elisha the right timing for collecting gifts.
We cannot handle the anointing if we do not have consecrated hearts. We need hearts that will not take undue advantage of the anointing for self aggrandizement.
[biblegateway passage=”1 JOHN 2:15 ” display=”1 JOHN 2:15 “]
[biblegateway passage=”PSALM 24:3-4 ” display=”PSALM 24:3-4 “]
[biblegateway passage=”1 JOHN 5:21 ” display=”1 JOHN 5:21 “]
The world and the things of the world will stop us from partaking in the Divine nature. We all have degrees of worldliness in our hearts but we must always trust God to deliver us so that we do not get messed up.
Clean hands and pure hearts are highly required if we must receive the blessing of God. We must be wary of lifting up our souls to vanity and swearing deceitfully if we must fulfill God’s mandate for our lives.
Gehazi was inconsistent in his walk with God and he perpetuated death upon his generations yet unborn. The little issues we don’t deal with now can affect our posterity. We must keep ourselves from anything and everything that occupies the place of God in our hearts. Every substitution for God in our hearts, no matter how little, is sure to destroy us.
[biblegateway passage=”PHILIPPIANS 3:4-10 ” display=”PHILIPPIANS 3:4-10 “]
[biblegateway passage=”NUMBERS 22:23 ” display=”NUMBERS 22:23 “]
[biblegateway passage=”2 TIMOTHY 4:10″ display=”2 TIMOTHY 4:10″]
Paul had so many things to be proud about in his life but he had to come to a place where those things no longer mattered to him so that he might gain Christ. He had to give them up so that he would not go about establishing his own righteousness. If we have to be able ministers of the new testament, our hearts must be thoroughly dealt with. When we always go about avoiding hardship, we are actually not ready to be totally separated unto God. In the process of son-ship, there will always be pains.
Balaam who saw open visions of God got so debased because of gain that he had to debate with a mere animal. He intentionally ignored God just so that he might enrich himself.
Demas left the substance of the gospel he was chasing initially. He went after fads. He chased shadows and fell away from grace.
[biblegateway passage=”PSALM 26:1 ” display=”PSALM 26:1 “]
[biblegateway passage=”2 TIMOTHY 2:19-21 ” display=”2 TIMOTHY 2:19-21 “]
We always have to subject our hearts to God for examination and proving. It is by examining and proving us that God will really know those who are His. God tests and tries us so that He can remove every dross from our hearts.
We can only know where we are falling short when God examines and proves our hearts. As such, we will able to purge ourselves of every impurity.
It is by purging our hearts that we make our calling and election sure. It is by purging our hearts that we make ourselves fit for the master’s use.
We have to constantly open our hearts to God so that He can always help us deal with every little fox that might debar us from getting to the peak of His will for our lives.