Scripture: 2 Kings 5 v 6 - 14
A little Israeli slave girl told Naaman, who suffered
from leprosy, that there was a prophet called Elisha who lived in Israel who
could pray for him to be healed of his disease. So Naaman wrote a letter to the
King of Israel to ask for Elisha to come to Syria to heal him.
Elisha was summoned and he told Naaman that he
should wash in the Jordan river 7 times and he would be cleansed of leprosy and
made whole.
Stubborn, angry Naaman had thought the prophet would come
to him and pronounce him healed after performing some prayers. He also
considered the rivers in his own land superior to the Jordan.
He sounds just like anyone of us when our expectations
are not met. We shout and perform. We want set rituals and a religious show to
ensure that God is taking notice, but our God works in mysterious ways. He does
the unexpected every time. He needs to outwit the predictable things of Satan.
Satan loves rituals and showiness and other attention-seeking devices.
Go dip yourself in Jordan River 7 times for healing was
Elisha's word to Naaman. Eventually, after many complaints, he obeyed and was
completely healed.
How many times have we missed a blessing or a miracle
because the manner of it was not to our liking. Our pride and perfection become
stumbling blocks to the moving of the Holy Spirit. Jesus hates organised religion because it
completely blocks the true spiritual anointing.
He wants us to live in simplicity and to love one another
in humility and trust. Miracles will flow from the hands of people who are fully
submitted to the Lordship of Jesus.
Jesus wants us to be living saints who are willing to
follow where He leads us. Willing to be obedient to every instruction He writes
on our hearts - every day has new and different commands specifically crafted
for each individual who is in a personal relationship with Jesus.
Think of the dead saints being prayed to in the Catholic
Church. We are not permitted to communicate with the dead. Now another two
popes - John Paul 2 and John 23 are about to be "canonized" as saints
years after their death because JP has performed two miracles since his death
while John is lagging behind with only one miracle.
This is false Christianity at its very worst! It is a
mockery of the true walk of faith that born again saints experience every day.
There is no Christian teaching that tells us that we must expect to perform
miracles after we are dead. If Naaman had had to wait for a dead prophet to
heal him he would have had a very long wait.
If you need healing of any disease you have a living
Healer called Jesus Christ to whom all things are possible. He performs many
miracles every day and is the only true miracle worker. This is the real
mystery of Christianity that the unsaved cannot grasp - Christ in us the hope
of glory. Jesus who died on the Cross and rose from the dead joined Himself to
each one of us to make a new creation that could live on Earth but be separate
from the world system. When you are born again, baptized in water and the Holy
Spirit you are that new creation and Jesus in you can continue the work He
started when He lived on Earth. Healing, saving, delivering, preaching,
honouring His Father and creating love and reconciliation in us.