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Everyday Miracles - The Book of 2 Kings · Bible in a Year with Jack Graham

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  Speaker 1: Let us pray. And the man of God said, Where
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  Speaker 1: fell it? And he showed him the place, and he
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  Speaker 1: cut down a stick, and cast it thither, and the
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  Speaker 1: iron did swim. 2 Kings 6.6 Thank you, Lord, for
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  Speaker 1: your continued faithfulness and favor as I listen to the
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  Speaker 1: readings in 2 Kings. I stand in awe and adoration.
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  Speaker 1: as I begin to realize that through the story of
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  Speaker 1: the widow in debt, you continually pour out the oil
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  Speaker 1: of anointing as long as there is an empty vessel
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  Speaker 1: ready to receive what you're pouring out. With this truth,
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  Speaker 1: I declare that my life will serve as an empty
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  Speaker 1: vessel so that you can continually pour out your goodness
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  Speaker 1: and anointing over me and my circumstances. Like Elisha, I
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  Speaker 1: declare that your miracles of turning bad situations to good
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  Speaker 1: will follow me. I declare that when my dreams seem
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  Speaker 1: to sink like the axe head, that in your goodness
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  Speaker 1: you will allow it to rise to the top, to
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  Speaker 1: be used for purpose and for building something that brings
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  Speaker 1: you honor. I prophesy over my life right now that
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  Speaker 1: miracles will be the norm in my life. and not
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  Speaker 1: the exception. I know you are good, and your name
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  Speaker 1: is all I need to achieve greatness. In Jesus' name, amen.
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  Speaker 1: Listening to these daily prayers strengthens your relationship with God.
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  Speaker 1: Continue hearing from the Lord by listening to today's Bible
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  Speaker 1: in a Year, 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: Hello, this is Jack Graham with today's episode of the
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  Speaker 3: Bible in a Year podcast. In our previous episode, we
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  Speaker 3: learned how God protected the kings of Judah, Israel, and
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  Speaker 3: Edom against the Moabite rebels. Though Israel's king, Joram, was
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  Speaker 3: still seeking out foreign gods rather than really turning to
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  Speaker 3: the Lord, Jehoshaphat, Judah's king, was righteous and because of
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  Speaker 3: his faithfulness to God, The Lord blessed Israel, Judah, and
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  Speaker 3: Edom with a great victory against Moab's army. Today, we'll
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  Speaker 3: dive deeper into the life of Elisha, the great prophet
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  Speaker 3: of God, the man that God had chosen to speak
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  Speaker 3: to Israel in his behalf. Elisha will prove as faithful
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  Speaker 3: and caring for God's people as his mentor Elijah had been,
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  Speaker 3: and he will witness God's unmistakable hand at work each day.
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  Speaker 3: Let's listen now to today's readings.
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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 2: it to the people. So he did. He broke up
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  Speaker 2: the loaves and began serving the sick and hungry. To
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  Speaker 2: his dismay, there was plenty of bread for everyone, with
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  Speaker 2: several loaves left over. Elisha continued to tend to the
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  Speaker 2: needs of hurting and hungry people. He found great purpose
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  Speaker 2: and fulfillment in helping those who could not repay him
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  Speaker 2: in any way. As he healed, taught, and tended to them,
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  Speaker 2: he began to feel his heart grow closer to God's.
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  Speaker 2: One day a group of prophets came to him and said,
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  Speaker 2: We would like to build a new place for us
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  Speaker 2: to meet. Our current home is too small. Let us
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  Speaker 2: go down to the Jordan River. There are plenty of
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  Speaker 2: logs and trees to be used. Go on ahead, Elisha
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  Speaker 2: said with a grin. However, the men insisted Elisha go
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  Speaker 2: with them. so he finished up his work and departed
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  Speaker 2: to the river with them. When they arrived, they began
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  Speaker 2: to swipe away at the trees. They chopped and sawed
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  Speaker 2: off all they could see. While one of them was working,
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  Speaker 2: his axe head flew off his handle and dropped into
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  Speaker 2: the bottom of the river.' No!' he yelled.' That was
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  Speaker 2: a borrowed axe!' Elisha walked up to the river.' Where
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  Speaker 2: did 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. Elijah 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 prophets. 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 when
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  Speaker 3: But 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 Jordans.
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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: I'm Pastor Jack Graham of Dallas, Texas. I would encourage
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  Speaker 3: you to download the Pray.com app and certainly to make
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  Speaker 3: Bible study and prayer a priority in your life. I
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  Speaker 3: would encourage you to go to church and be a
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  Speaker 3: part of a Bible-believing, Christ-exalting church. If you enjoyed this podcast,
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  Speaker 3: tell a friend. Let someone else know because the Word
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  Speaker 3: of God changes lives. And if you want more resources
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  Speaker 3: as to how you can know and love God and
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  Speaker 3: follow Him all the days of your life, be sure
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  Speaker 3: to visit jackgram.org as we have many resources available to
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  Speaker 3: you as you journey with the Lord. God bless you.