Devotional Song: … GO TO THIS LINK … Please take the time to take in a You Tube video of on of my favorite Christian singers, Gordon Mote, singing his song Don’t Let Me Miss The Glory, declaring his desire to have all that God’s Spirit offers in His glimpses of glory in this life.
Highlight Passage: 2nd Kings 2:9 [NKJV] …
9 … Elijah said to Elisha, … “Ask! What may I do for you, before I am taken away from you?” … Elisha said, “Please let a double portion of your Spirit be upon me.”
… John’s joy in noting how his beloved friend Gaius had walked in the truth of their Savior.
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Highlight Context – 2nd Kings 2:1-14 [NKJV] … USE THIS LINK …
… Elijah, ascending to heaven, passes the mantle of prophesy to Elisha.
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Reference Passage #1 - Matthew 28:18-20 [NKJV] … USE THIS LINK …
… Jesus commissions His disciples as He ascends into Heaven post resurrection.
Reference Passage #2 - Acts 1:8 [NKJV] … USE THIS LINK …
… The promise of God’s power through His Spirit coming into the hearts of any/all who believe in the resurrected Christ.
Reference Passage #3 - Ephesians 2:8-10, 3: 14-21 [NKJV] … USE THIS LINK …
… The promise for Gentiles, as well as Jews, is to receive God’s grace from the Holy Spirit when we receive salvation from our Lord.
My Journal for Today: Our Daily Bread author, Amy Boucher Pye, related the Biblical story of Elisha asking for a double portion of God’s Spirit when Elijah, his mentor, was taken up to heaven. He wrote: Tenacity and audacity—Elisha had heaps of both. Having spent time with Elijah, he witnessed the Lord working through the prophet by performing miracles and by speaking truth in an age of lies. Second Kings 2:1 tells us that Elijah is about to be taken “up to heaven,” and Elisha doesn’t want him to leave.
The time came for the dreaded separation, and Elisha knew he needed what Elijah had if he was going to successfully continue the ministry. So he made a daring demand: “Let me inherit a double portion of your spirit” (2 Kings 2:9). His bold request was a reference to the double portion given the firstborn son or heir under the law (Deut. 21:17). Elisha wanted to be recognized as the heir of Elijah. … And God said yes.
For any reading with me here, I pray we all realize that, as Christians, we can, if we have received the saving Holy Spirit when we repent of our sinfulness and make Christ the Lord of our lives, receive the same Spirit which was passed from Elijah to Elisha by God when Elijah rose into the 3rd Heaven (see attached photo). Elisha wanted even more of God’s Spirt than his mentor, Elijah, had experienced; and when the opportunity for that “more” was offered by God thru Elijah, Elisha jumped at the opportunity. He wanted, as Gordon Mote sings, to not miss out on the glory offered by God.
Do we want more of God’s glory in our lives? Can I sense an “AMEN!!” witness here? … Well, it’s offered to us … first by Jesus Himself (see The Great Commission in Matt. 28 and the charge to witness in Acts 1:8); and then by God thru Paul to all believers, including the Gentiles, in Ephesians 3:14-21 [esp. verse 20]. Well, … all we have to do is be willing to seek Him more and receive more of His enabling grace (see Eph. 2:10) to use in our witness on Christ’s behalf in our lives.
I want more!! … How about you?
My Prayer Today: O, Heavenly Father, … Lord, give me more of Your Spirit so that I can give more of me for You. Amen
Blogger Note: Everyday during this year, my daily devotional blogs are influenced by the reading and study of the online devotional blog entitled Our Daily Bread, distributed online via email by RBC Ministries. If you GO TO THIS LINK on the date of my blog, you can read/study the ODB blogs; or you can subscribe to the blog via email at that site.
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