Open Heaven Topic: The Turning Point IV [Wednesday May 20, 2015]

Memorise: He that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver; nor he that loveth abundance with increase: this is also vanity. -Ecclesiastes 5:10

Read: 2 Kings 5:15-20

15 And he returned to the man of God, he and all his company, and came, and stood before him: and he said, Behold, now I know that there is no God in all the earth, but in Israel: now therefore, I pray thee, take a blessing of thy servant.

16 But he said, As the LORD liveth, before whom I stand, I will receive none. And he urged him to take it; but he refused.

17 And Naaman said, Shall there not then, I pray thee, be given to thy servant two mules’ burden of earth? for thy servant will henceforth offer neither burnt offering nor sacrifice unto other gods, but unto the LORD.

18 In this thing the LORD pardon thy servant, that when my master goeth into the house of Rimmon to worship there, and he leaneth on my hand, and I bow myself in the house of Rimmon: when I bow down myself in the house of Rimmon, the LORD pardon thy servant in this thing.

19 And he said unto him, Go in peace. So he departed from him a little way.

20 But Gehazi, the servant of Elisha the man of God, said, Behold, my master hath spared Naaman this Syrian, in not receiving at his hands that which he brought: but, as the LORD liveth, I will run after him, and take somewhat of him.

Bible in one Year: 2 Samuel 5:1-7:17, Mark 11:20-12:12

MESSAGE:

Gehazi was the servant of Prophet Elisha. He was privileged to be the apprentice of a great prophet and had the potential of inheriting at least thedouble portion of Elijah’s power that was upon Elisha. However, his covetousness ruined his destiny as a would-be great prophet. He decided to got after the material things of this world at the expense of his prophetic calling. He was so determined to go after worldly things that he even swore by God that he must “possess his possessions”. Like present-day worldly preachers, he seemed to be saying:”….. after all, he that labours by the altar must feed by the altar.” Consider his words in 2 Kings 5:20:

“But Gehazi, the servant of Elisha the man of God, said, Behold, my master hath spared Naaman this Syrian, in not receiving at his hands that which he brought: but, as the Lord liveth, I will run after him, and take somewhat of him.”

Once his son of covetousness was found out by his master, the leprosy of Naaman was transferred to him and all his generation after him (2 Kings 5:27).

Judas Iscariot is another individual we should learn from. He had almost the same moral and spiritual problem as Gehazi: covetousness and greed. The Bible says he was a thief, and being the treasurer of Jesus’ ministry, he often stole from the purse (John 12:4-6). His greed got to the level where he took a decision that condemned him to eternal perdition: he decided to sell his Master, the King of glory (Matthew 26:14-16). Before Judas Iscariot realised his folly, he had already ruined the opportunity of having himself numbered among the twelve apostles. He ended up committing suicide.

“Then Judas, which had betrayed him, when he saw that he was condemned, repented himself, and brought again the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priest and elders,… And he cast down the pieces of silver in the temple, and departed, and went and hanged himself.” -Matthew 27:3-5

Children of God in the 21st century must be wary of materialism. It is deadly; through it may not look that way. This is why John the Beloved warned us against worldliness, as if he knew what would become of the Church in the end-times (1 John 2:15-17).

Prayer Point: Father, guide me never to take a wrong decision that will blight my future in Jesus’ Name.

Open Heavens Daily Devotional written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye, the General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, one of the largest evangelical church in the world and also the President of Christ the Redeemer's Ministries.

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