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[1]

F A I T H
Fantastic
Adventures
In
Trusting
Him
vs.
F E A R
False
Evidence
Appearing
Real
EXTREME
1 Kings 17:22 The LORD heard Elijah's cry, and the
boy's life returned to him, and he lived. Elijah picked
up the child and carried him down from the room into
the house. He gave him to his mother and said,
"Look, your son is alive!
Hebrews 11:35 Women received their dead, raised
to life again.
Phil 3;13,14 Brethren, I do not count myself to have
apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those
things which are behind and reaching forward to
those things which are ahead, I press toward the
goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ
Jesus.
We TOO can have this kind of enduring faith - All the
while trusting God for the end result!
Abramham - BELIEVED God could raise his son
from dead - Gen 22
Zarephaths widows son - 1 Kings 17:17-24
Shunamite womans son - 2 Kings 4:29-37
Jairus Daugther - John 20:1-10
Widows Son in Nain - Luke 7:12-16
Lazarus - John 11:38-44
Father of Prodigal son - Luke 11
Peter raised Dorcus - Acts 9 36-42
Paul raised Eutychus after a fall - Acts 20:7-12
JESUS and MANY others Mt 27:52
We need to recognize that it is GODs WORK -Only
JESUS has ability to initiate, restore and redeem life!
No amount of GOOD teaching, intention or
upbringing makes LIFE possible.
All our children, a dead in the sin nature, we need to
beseech God seeing with eyes in the spirit that truth.
Ezekiel - 37 - Valley of Dry Bones, whose were they?
It is a one-on-one encounter, not a second hand
encounter, No servant good enough, no staff good
enough. We need to have a vibrant, vital, even
violent encounter with the SOURCE of LIFE.
W= lOv= O
Hll OnO W=
lOv= Hlll l|Om
HlN wlO lv=
llll
FAITH
2 Kings 4:29-37
Now, faith is the substance of things hoped for,
the evidence of things not seen. Hebrews 11:1
EVERY PARENTS CRY,
GOD, BRING MY CHILD
TO LIFE!
PRESSING ON WITH EAGER INTENT....
Undeterred by the immediate crisis, undistracted by words, wails or woes of
others, she set her gaze toward the one who had been her help in times past,
the prophet of God, not until seeing him, did she pour out all that was in her
heart...HE HEARD HER CRY!
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The Shunammite
Woman's Son
LET me call your attention to a very
instructive miracle wrought by the
prophet: Elisha, as recorded in the Book
of II Kings 4.
The hospitality of the Shunammite woman
had been rewarded by the gift of a son;
BUT unfortunately, earthly mercies and
favor are of always without guarantee,
and after a few years the child got sick and
died.
The distressed but believing mother hurried
to the man of God; through him God had
spoken the promise which satised her
heart's desire, and she was going to plead
her case with him directly, KNOWING he
would bring it before HIS Divine Master.
Elisha had to deal with a dead child. It is
true that it was natural death;
But the death with which WE have to come
in contact is no less real death because it is
spiritual.
Our children are, just as us grown-up
people, "dead in trespasses and sins." AS in
Adam - all are in sin and all die.
We need to fully realize the state in which
all human beings are naturally found.
Unless we have a very clear sense of the
utter ruin and spiritual death of even OUR
children, we will be incapable of being
made a blessing to them. We need to
approach them not as sleepers who we can
by our own power awaken from their sleep,
but as to spiritual corpses who can only be
quickened by a power divine.
Elisha aimed at nothing less than the
restoration of the child to life. I have been
guilty of being content with aiming at
secondary benets, or even with realizing
them; BUT I want to strive for the grandest
of all ends, the salvation of their immortal
souls.
To merely to teach children to read the
Bible, to barely live by the duties of
morality, to instruct them in the basic letter
of the gospel and stories of goodness is
secondary at best... Our high calling is to be
PRESSING IN
Who was this woman?
Child bearing age, but old
husband
Weathly, prominent, well
connected
Hearts desire, to have a child
A Woman of Faith, Servants
heart
What did this woman do?
sought out the Prophet who
made the original promise
hurried, through rough
terrain to get to him
she pleaded her case and was
unrelenting
What didnt this woman do?
Didnt complain about her
childless lot
Didnt seek out salvation of
her husband when child died
Didnt speak a word of what
happened to anyone but
Prophet
Didnt satisfy with servant
taking staff ahead of prophet
Didnt leave prophets side,
until he arrived at her home
Jesus Made
the way for us
to follow
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the means, in the hands of God, of bringing
life from heaven to dead souls.
NOT out of a FEAR of their death, but an
ANCHORED HOPE in their
RESURRECTION.
Resurrection, then, is our aim!
To raise the dead is our mission!
How is so strange a work to be achieved?
If we yield to unbelief or fear, we will be
staggered and overcome by the EVIDENT
FACT that the work to which the Lord has
called us is COMPLETELY beyond our own
personal power.
We cannot raise the dead.
We are, no less & no more powerful than
Elisha! He in himself could not restore the
Shunammite's son.
Should this fact discourage us?
Instead it should direct us to the true Source
of power by shutting us off from our own
fantasy and might?
As with Elisha and the countless other
miracle workers of the Bible, we being NO
different should be aware that the man or
woman who lives in the region of faith
dwells in the realm of miracles.
Elisha was no common man now that God's
Spirit was upon him, calling him to God's
work, and aiding him in it. And you,
devoted, anxious, prayerful teacher,
remain no longer a common
being, you have become, in a
special manner, the temple of the
Holy Ghost; God dwells in you,
and you by faith have entered
upon the career of a wonder-
worker.
We are sent into the world not to do the
things which are possible to man, but those
impossibilities which God works by His
Spirit, by the means of His believing people.
We are to work miracles, to do marvels.
We are not to look at the restoration of dead
children, as being a thing unlikely or difcult
when we remember who it is that works
through our weak vessels of esh, emotions
and intellect.
In SUMMARY:
We can see here a few key lessons in the life
of faith from 2 Kings 4:8-37:
(1) She trusted the Lord instead of her
status: The Shunammite was a well-to-
do lady, which she leveraged for the
Kingdom of GOD. Knowing nancial
prosperity can not insulate from sin, trials
and stresses of life. She was content,
with life to an older man & childless. Her
faith was seen as it was excercised on
behalf of others benet. She illustrated
the principle of 1 Timothy 6:17-19: (a)
she did not trust in the uncertainty of
riches, (b) she was not proud and
arrogant over her wealth, and (c) she used
her wealth for others in need, laying up
treasures in heaven.
(2) Faith needs to grow; it cannot stand
still. Either it grows or it will regress. We
must progress in our life of faith and
grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus
WITHOUT FAITH....
Hebrews 11:6
... without faith it is
impossible to please Him
(GOD): for he that comes to
God must believe that He
Is (I AM), and that He Is a
rewarder of them that
diligently seek him.
The eyes of the LORD search
the whole earth in order to
strengthen those whose
hearts are fully committed
to Him. 2 Chron. 16:9
ANCHORED HOPE
Restoration, Redemption,
Reconciliation & Resurrection
are our HOPE in this Broken
World
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Christ (cf. Rom 4:19-20). The
Shunammites faith grew: her faith was
demonstrated by her desire to know the
Word, by her hospitality, by her
contentment (see verse 13), by being
willing to provide for others, take a
risk, and nally, by her calm
dependence in the midst of great
sorrow as she sought Gods solution
and answer to an incredible tragic
event.
(3) To live by faith also means learning
to immediately go to the Lord in all
of life, not only in its trials, pressures,
or calamities, but in everything because
we believe that He is the God of all
wisdom and comfort and He alone is
able to direct our lives. (Jer. 10:23;
Prov. 16:1; 2 Cor. 1:3-5). We may not
see an immediate solution or
deliverance from our calamity as did
the Shunammite in receiving her son
back to life, but believing in the Lords
compassion, love and eternal purposes
we can nd comfort and hope and
know that God will answer our need
and our prayers in a better time and in a
better way (cf. Heb 11:38-40;
12:25-29).
This woman did not rely on the
strength of those around her to get
her the help she sought or the
comfort she needed...
How often in our moments of
intense trial do we loose it when we
are being required of the Lord to
come, and yet we are wanting
someone else to do the work
for us...?
Both the Woman, needed to
have a personal encounter
with the Man of God, and
even the MAN of God,
needed to have an
encounter with
death. Neither could
send someone else,
though others can come
along, it is OUR encounter!

2 Corinthians 5: 7- For we walk by faith,
not by sight.
PAUL LEARNED THAT HIS NATURAL EYES BLINDED HIM TO
SEE THE SPIRITUAL TRUTHS , SO GOD RADICALLY ALTERED HIS
SIGHT PERSPECTIVE- WE NEED TO ASK GOD TO DO THE SAME,
TO GIVE US THE EYES TO SEE LIKE THE PROPHET ELISHA, THE
SPIRITUAL TRUTHS THAT SURROUND US.
Isaiah 41:10
Fear not, for I am with you. Do
not be dismayed. I am your
God. I will strengthen you; I
will help you; I will uphold you
with My victorious right hand.
1 Peter 5:7
Let Him have all your worries
and cares, for He is always
thinking about you and
watching everything that
concerns you.
John 14:18
No, I will not abandon you or
leave you as orphans in the
storm - I will come to you.
Living Translation
Faith
requires
Different
eyesight
FAITH,
ultimately
TRUSTs GOD
with the
Outcomes!

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