Latest / Bible in a Year with Jack Graham / Everyday Miracles

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Everyday Miracles · Bible in a Year with Jack Graham

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  Speaker 1: And the man of God said, Where fell it? And
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  Speaker 1: he showed him the place, and he cut down a stick,
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  Speaker 1: and cast it thither, and the iron did swim. 2
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  Speaker 1: Kings 6.6 Thank you, Lord, for your continued faithfulness and
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  Speaker 1: favor as I listen to the readings in 2 Kings.
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  Speaker 1: I stand in awe and adoration as I begin to
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  Speaker 1: realize that Through the story of the widow in debt,
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  Speaker 1: you continually pour out the oil of anointing as long
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  Speaker 1: as there is an empty vessel ready to receive what
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  Speaker 1: you're pouring out. With this truth, I declare that my
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  Speaker 1: life will serve as an empty vessel so that you
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  Speaker 1: can continually pour out your goodness and anointing over me
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  Speaker 1: and my circumstances. Like Elisha, I declare that that your
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  Speaker 1: miracles of turning bad situations to good will follow me.
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  Speaker 1: I declare that when my dreams seem to sink like
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  Speaker 1: the axe head, that in your goodness you will allow
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  Speaker 1: it to rise to the top, to be used for
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  Speaker 1: purpose and for building something that brings you honor. I
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  Speaker 1: prophesy over my life right now that miracles will be
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  Speaker 1: the norm in my life and not the exception. I
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  Speaker 1: know you are good, and your name is all I
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  Speaker 1: need to achieve greatness. In Jesus' name, amen. Listening to
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  Speaker 1: these daily prayers strengthens your relationship with God. Continue hearing
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  Speaker 1: from the Lord by listening to today's Bible in a Year,
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  Speaker 1: brought to you by BibleInAYear.com.
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  Speaker 2: Everyday Miracles In our last story we learned about the
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  Speaker 2: three kings battling against the Moabite rebellion. God honored Israel
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  Speaker 2: solely because they aligned themselves with Judah who remained faithful.
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  Speaker 2: Now we will learn about Elisha's relationship with the people
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  Speaker 2: of Israel. His kind and gentle soul ministered to the
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  Speaker 2: sheep of God. Every day Elisha experienced a small miracle
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  Speaker 2: as he gave his life to the service of others.
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  Speaker 2: inspired by the book of 2 Kings.
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  Speaker 3: We're so glad you joined us on the Bible in
• 2:40
  Speaker 3: a Year podcast today. The Bible in a Year podcast
• 2:43
  Speaker 3: is an outreach of PowerPoint Ministries and can only come
• 2:47
  Speaker 3: to you each week through the support of listeners just
• 2:50
  Speaker 3: like you. Your support today is so important that we
• 2:53
  Speaker 3: want to thank you for your gift by giving you
• 2:55
  Speaker 3: a copy of my book called The Jesus Book. It
• 2:59
  Speaker 3: is a powerful guide that shows how every book of
• 3:01
  Speaker 3: the Bible points to Jesus and how his living word,
• 3:05
  Speaker 3: the truth of God's word, will transform your life. So
• 3:08
  Speaker 3: to get a copy of the Jesus book, simply go
• 3:11
  Speaker 3: to jackgraham.org slash Jesus. That's jackgraham.org slash Jesus. And thank
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  Speaker 3: you for your support. In our previous episode, we learned
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  Speaker 3: how God protected the kings of Judah, Israel, and Edom
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  Speaker 3: against the Moabite rebels. Though Israel's king, Joram, was still
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  Speaker 3: seeking out foreign gods rather than really turning to the Lord, Jehoshaphat,
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  Speaker 3: Judah's king, was righteous and because of his faithfulness to God,
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  Speaker 3: the Lord blessed Israel, Judah, and Edom with a great
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  Speaker 3: victory against Moab's army. Today, we'll dive deeper into the
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  Speaker 3: life of Elisha, the great prophet of God, the man
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  Speaker 3: that God had chosen to speak to Israel in his behalf.
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  Speaker 3: Elisha will prove as faithful and caring for God's people
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  Speaker 3: as his mentor Elijah had been. And he will witness
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  Speaker 3: God's unmistakable hand at work each day. Let's listen now
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  Speaker 3: to today's reading.
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  Speaker 2: The prophet Elisha traveled the land of Israel in search
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  Speaker 2: of God's will. He would walk into towns, care for
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  Speaker 2: those in need, and then depart to the next place.
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  Speaker 2: He walked with integrity and wisdom. He was alert and
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  Speaker 2: attuned to the will of God. He was sensitive to
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  Speaker 2: the still and quiet voice of God just as Elisha was.
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  Speaker 2: One day, as Elisha was teaching in a small town,
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  Speaker 2: a widow of a prophet came to him. Her face
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  Speaker 2: was weary from many sleepless nights. Her eyes were red
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  Speaker 2: from many tears, and her hair was turning gray. Past
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  Speaker 2: the haggard exterior, Elisha could recognize the woman as the
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  Speaker 2: wife of one of his dear friends who had passed away.
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  Speaker 2: She clung to him and began to cry. You knew
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  Speaker 2: my husband, she wept. He served you, but now he
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  Speaker 2: is dead, and there is no one to care for me.
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  Speaker 2: A debt collector has come to my home, threatening to
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  Speaker 2: take my two boys as slaves. Elisha's heart broke as
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  Speaker 2: he listened to her cries. The shepherding heart of God
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  Speaker 2: was upon him, and he desired for nothing more than
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  Speaker 2: to see her pain relieved. What can I do for you?
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  Speaker 2: Elisha asked. What do you own to give the collector?
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  Speaker 2: The woman wiped her eyes and said, I have nothing
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  Speaker 2: except a flask of olive oil. Elisha gave her a
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  Speaker 2: reassuring smile. Go and find as many empty jars as
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  Speaker 2: you can. Borrow some from your friends. Then go into
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  Speaker 2: your house and shut the door. Pour the oil from
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  Speaker 2: your flask into the jars. Set each one aside once
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  Speaker 2: it is filled. Elisha gave her very specific directions. In
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  Speaker 2: his heart, he was excited to see what the Lord
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  Speaker 2: was about to do. She did as she was told.
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  Speaker 2: She filled the jars of olive oil, and her sons
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  Speaker 2: continued to bring more jars to be filled. To her dismay,
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  Speaker 2: the flask of olive oil continued to pour out oil
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  Speaker 2: well beyond its limits. She watched as jar after jar
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  Speaker 2: was filled to the brim with fresh olive oil. Tears
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  Speaker 2: streamed down her face as she watched the Lord's faithfulness
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  Speaker 2: unfold before her very eyes. Once every jar she found
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  Speaker 2: was filled with olive oil, she went back to Elisha
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  Speaker 2: and shared with him what had happened. He smiled and said,
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  Speaker 2: Now sell the olive oil to pay off your debts.
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  Speaker 2: You should be free after that. So the woman left
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  Speaker 2: with hope in her steps. Sometime after, Elisha returned to Gilgal.
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  Speaker 2: On his travels, he noticed that the fields of grain
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  Speaker 2: were withering away under the intense eastern sun. A harsh
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  Speaker 2: and warm wind blew in from the south. and dust
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  Speaker 2: piled up over the crops. Elisha knew that no good
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  Speaker 2: could come of this. Gilgal was experiencing a famine. Elisha
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  Speaker 2: went into the city and was invited to a meeting
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  Speaker 2: of elders. They were seated before him and prepared a
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  Speaker 2: small meal. One of the elders asked the servant to
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  Speaker 2: start a fire and begin a pot of stew. The
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  Speaker 2: servant was quick to please and began immediately chopping vegetables
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  Speaker 2: and tending to the fire. He went out into the
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  Speaker 2: field and gathered more herbs and came back with a
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  Speaker 2: handful of wild gourds. He shredded the gourds and put
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  Speaker 2: them in the stew. Without realizing it, he had poisoned
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  Speaker 2: the stew with blighted gourds. They corrupted the stew, making
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  Speaker 2: it bitter and deadly. With one bite, every elder recognized
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  Speaker 2: the stew was poisoned.' Man of God!' they exclaimed.' There
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  Speaker 2: is no way we could eat this!' So they spat
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  Speaker 2: the stew out and berated the servant. Elisha, without using
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  Speaker 2: any harsh words, looked at the servant and said, Bring
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  Speaker 2: me some flour. So he did. Elisha took the flour
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  Speaker 2: and threw it into the pot. Now it should be
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  Speaker 2: good to eat, he said. So the men ate it
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  Speaker 2: and were unharmed. They all marveled in their minds at
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  Speaker 2: Elisha's mystic powers. However, they knew it was from God himself.
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  Speaker 2: One day, as Elisha was caring for the needs of
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  Speaker 2: the starving people, a man approached him. The man came
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  Speaker 2: with a large basket of loaves. He was a tall man, stocky,
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  Speaker 2: and wore a genuine smile. He threw the basket down
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  Speaker 2: at Elisha's feet and said, Here I have twenty loaves.
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  Speaker 2: Elisha smiled at the gesture and asked the man to
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  Speaker 2: disperse it to the people. There were over a hundred
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  Speaker 2: of them seeking Elisha's care. The man gave a nervous
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  Speaker 2: laugh and said, What? How can I feed a hundred
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  Speaker 2: people with twenty small loaves? Elisha paid no attention to
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  Speaker 2: the man's question and simply repeated himself, Go and give.
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  Speaker 3: It to the people.
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  Speaker 2: So he did. He broke up the loaves and began
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  Speaker 2: serving the sick and hungry. To his dismay, there was
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  Speaker 2: plenty of bread for everyone, with several loaves left over.
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  Speaker 2: Elisha continued to tend to the needs of hurting and
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  Speaker 2: hungry people. He found great purpose and fulfillment in helping
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  Speaker 2: those who could not repay him in any way. As
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  Speaker 2: he healed, taught, and tended to them, he began to
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  Speaker 2: feel his heart grow closer to God's. One day a
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  Speaker 2: group of prophets came to him and said, We would
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  Speaker 2: like to build a new place for us to meet.
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  Speaker 2: Our current home is too small. Let us go down
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  Speaker 2: to the Jordan River. There are plenty of logs and
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  Speaker 2: trees to be used. Go on ahead, Elisha said with
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  Speaker 2: a grin. However, the men insisted Elisha go with them.
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  Speaker 2: So he finished up his work and departed to the
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  Speaker 2: river with them. When they arrived, they began to swipe
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  Speaker 2: away at the trees. They chopped and sawed off all
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  Speaker 2: they could see. While one of them was working, his
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  Speaker 2: axe head flew off his handle and dropped into the
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  Speaker 2: bottom of the river. No, he yelled. That was a
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  Speaker 2: borrowed axe. Elisha walked up to the river. Where did
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  Speaker 2: it fall, he asked, still looking at the rushing water.
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  Speaker 2: The man pointed to the place. So Elisha cut off
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  Speaker 2: a stick and threw it into the water at that spot. Then,
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  Speaker 2: like it was a bobbing apple, the axe floated to
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  Speaker 2: the surface of the water for the man to retrieve.
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  Speaker 2: These were the miracles Elisha dealt with, the small and
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  Speaker 2: seemingly insignificant problems of everyday townsfolk. Elisha helped widows with
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  Speaker 2: jars of oil. He helped elders with stew and beggars
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  Speaker 2: with bread. He helped prophets build homes, and he preached
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  Speaker 2: to the average people of Israel. Elisha gave his life
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  Speaker 2: to serve those who could not help themselves. This was
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  Speaker 2: the heart of God. The heart of God was not
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  Speaker 2: just for kings and warriors. The heart of God was
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  Speaker 2: for the widow, the orphan, the hungry, and the sick.
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  Speaker 2: The heart of God was to help people find hope
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  Speaker 2: in everyday life. So Elisha continued to serve as a
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  Speaker 2: shepherd over the people, and God worked through him day
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  Speaker 2: by day.
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  Speaker 3: As we begin today's passage, we see the heart of
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  Speaker 3: Elisha for God's people. He had been called to a
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  Speaker 3: prophetic ministry for sure, speaking God's word to Israel and
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  Speaker 3: to her kings. But he was also called to a
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  Speaker 3: pastoral ministry of caring for God's people. In this passage...
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  Speaker 3: We read of four miracles that God performed through Elisha.
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  Speaker 3: The first was for a woman, the widow of a
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  Speaker 3: prophet who came to Elisha and said she had a
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  Speaker 3: debt she could not repay and feared she would have
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  Speaker 3: to give her sons as slaves to the creditor. Elisha's
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  Speaker 3: heart went out to the woman. And we read in
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  Speaker 3: 2 Kings 4, verse 2, these words, What shall I
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  Speaker 3: do for you? Tell me. What have you in the house?
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  Speaker 3: And she said, Your servant has nothing in the house
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  Speaker 3: except a jar of oil. The widow knew what she liked.
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  Speaker 3: She did not have enough. It was understandable. She had
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  Speaker 3: just lost her husband. She was a widow and now
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  Speaker 3: in a desperate state. But Elisha looked at her with
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  Speaker 3: eyes of faith and compassion. So he told her to
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  Speaker 3: gather as many jars as she could from her home,
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  Speaker 3: from her friends and her neighbors. He then had her
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  Speaker 3: and her sons go into their home, close the doors,
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  Speaker 3: and begin pouring oil into the jars. It probably sounded
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  Speaker 3: like a wild and crazy request, but the woman had
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  Speaker 3: faith in the Lord and the Lord's prophet. To her amazement,
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  Speaker 3: the oil poured freely in a steady stream until every
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  Speaker 3: single jar was full. It was a full-on miracle. What
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  Speaker 3: started as not enough even for her was increased by
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  Speaker 3: God until she had more and more than enough to
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  Speaker 3: sell and repay her debt and live off the rest.
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  Speaker 3: What a miracle. Our God is a God of might
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  Speaker 3: and miracles. And we always don't see physical miracles, but
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  Speaker 3: we see the extraordinary provision of God in our lives,
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  Speaker 3: the supernatural provision of God in our lives each day
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  Speaker 3: when we pray and seek him. God will do the
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  Speaker 3: extraordinary through the ordinary in your life when you give
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  Speaker 3: it to him. The Bible says that my God shall
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  Speaker 3: supply all of your needs according to his riches and
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  Speaker 3: glory in Jesus Christ. That's all of your needs. And
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  Speaker 3: just as God provided for this widow and her family,
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  Speaker 3: God will provide for you. We also heard how God
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  Speaker 3: worked through Elisha to feed 100 starving men with just
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  Speaker 3: 20 small loaves. Again, God took what was not enough
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  Speaker 3: and made it abundant enough to provide for the needy.
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  Speaker 3: And so we have two miracles that show us that
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  Speaker 3: our God is the God of enough, and He can
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  Speaker 3: take our not enough and make it more than abundant.
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  Speaker 3: The two other miracles weren't about God making a lot
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  Speaker 3: out of a little, but they have something in common
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  Speaker 3: with each other. Did you notice it? In the first,
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  Speaker 3: a stew that was poisoned by the careless addition of
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  Speaker 3: a wrong ingredient corrupted gourds became inedible and deadly. In
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  Speaker 3: a town where famine was threatening those living there, losing
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  Speaker 3: food like this was tragic. But then Elisha took some
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  Speaker 3: flour and threw it into the pot, restoring it miraculously
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  Speaker 3: so the elders could eat it without concern for their safety.
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  Speaker 3: And in the second miracle, an axe head flew off
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  Speaker 3: its handle and fell into the depths of the Jordan.
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  Speaker 3: Like the stew, it seemed like it was lost for good,
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  Speaker 3: or so everyone thought. But God once again works miraculously
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  Speaker 3: through Elisha and the axe head floated on the surface
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  Speaker 3: of the water. Yes, it floated. That was the supernatural
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  Speaker 3: work of God. Both miracles demonstrate that God is able
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  Speaker 3: to restore what is lost, that God is able to
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  Speaker 3: do what is needed. That which is poison and bitter
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  Speaker 3: can be made right, and that which is forever lost,
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  Speaker 3: seemingly gone forever, can be found and put to use again.
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  Speaker 3: Most of all, This passage shows us that God is
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  Speaker 3: blessing his prophet Elisha even as he promised and that
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  Speaker 3: the miracles and the spirit of God that was upon
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  Speaker 3: him was flowing freely. The miracles Elisha performed pointed to
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  Speaker 3: a day and a person yet to come. One day
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  Speaker 3: God would send Jesus to provide for our needs, all
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  Speaker 3: of them, with abundance. He said, I have come that
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  Speaker 3: you might have life and have it more abundantly. Dear Lord,
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  Speaker 3: we thank you for your miracle working power in our lives.
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  Speaker 3: taking ordinary things and doing extraordinary things. We thank you
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  Speaker 3: that what is lost can be found in you. And
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  Speaker 3: when we seemingly don't have enough, Lord, you are enough.
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  Speaker 3: Thank you for your faithfulness in our lives. In Christ's name, amen.
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  Speaker 3: Thank you for listening to today's Bible in a Year podcast.
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  Speaker 3: And before we go, I wanted to let you know
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  Speaker 3: that the Bible in a Year podcast is an outreach
• 15:50
  Speaker 3: of PowerPoint Ministries, and can only come to you each
• 15:54
  Speaker 3: week through the support of listeners like you. Your support
• 15:58
  Speaker 3: today is so important that we want to thank you
• 16:01
  Speaker 3: for your gift by giving you a copy of my
• 16:03
  Speaker 3: book called The Jesus Book. This book is a powerful
• 16:07
  Speaker 3: guide that shows how every book in the Bible points
• 16:10
  Speaker 3: to Christ and how you can better read and understand
• 16:13
  Speaker 3: the Bible and how God's Word transforms our lives. So
• 16:17
  Speaker 3: to get your copy of The Jesus Book, Simply go
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  Speaker 3: to jackgram.org slash Jesus. That's jackgram.org slash Jesus. And thank
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  Speaker 3: you for your support.