Living Victoriously in an Upside Down Life

In 2 Kings 5 is the story about a very respected and honorable military captain to the King of Syria named Naaman. He was an extremely valiant warrior, but he had leprosy. In one of his victories over Israel that the Lord gave him (v.1), he kidnapped a young girl from Israel to be a slave to his wife.

 

Through that young slave girl, Naaman found his healing and freedom. If you read and meditate on the whole story, you will find plenty to learn. It always amazes me how much the Bible can teach us, but we just look over it superficially and call it reading. I have had that experience, but since I started to read, meditate, pray, and constantly think about the passages I read, the Lord has shown me so many things. 

 

For example, in this passage you'll find topics such as: a good reputation, sharing your faith (in the New Testament, we call that evangelism), misunderstandings, pride, prejudices, faith in action that produces healing, humility, lying, selfishness, greed, judgement, supernatural knowledge, and a focus on the One who gave us life in the first place, God.

 

Although all of these topics are very interesting and I could probably write about each one, none of them would even be in the Bible through this story if it weren't for the young slave girl. If she had not spoken up, we would have probably never heard of Naaman; he would have died a leper.

 

The life of that young slave girl had to have been a difficult one. We know nothing about her parents, but can you imagine what went through their minds when their daughter was taken from them? Heartbreaking to say the least! She was stripped from her parents, from her homeland, from her community, from the comfort of home to a place that, in her mind, was the enemy camp. Yet, though her life turned upside down, she held on to her faith. Her faith in Almighty God. She knew about Elisha the Prophet; she knew he could heal her master.

 

What an amazing picture of someone who was forced to live in a situation for which she did not ask. Instead of feeling sorry for herself and living a life as a "victim", she decided to live a life from a victorious position. She knew the Truth and where to find it. She had God-given compassion for the very one who kidnapped her.

 

A lot of our problems can be resolved when we change the way we think. Jesus said, "The Truth will make you free" (John 8:32). We just need to know what that Truth is.

 

It does not matter what we've gone through. Some of us may have gone through worse situations, but we can still take the position of being victorious. If you have made Jesus Lord of your life, you are victorious (Romans 8:37). You can live a victorious life if you make Him Lord. This doesn't mean everything is going to turn out perfectly, but in the imperfections of life, we can trust in Him because He said he would never leave us nor forsake us (Hebrews 13:5).

 

You can Live Victoriously in an Upside Down Life. You never know the impact of a Word the Lord can speak through you.

"What is Pentecost?" by Javan Smith

 

While we were in Colorado, I had the privilege of sitting down over coffee with one of Emma's teachers who has become a good friend. He teaches on the Old Testament and since I was about to preach about Pentecost the next Sunday, I wanted to pick his brain about the relationship of Pentecost in the Old Testament.

 

He recently wrote about Pentecost and I asked his permission to share it in our message. These photos are what he posted as well. Enjoy what he wrote...

 

What is Pentecost?

Fifty days after Passover, is the biblical feast known as Shavuot (the Feast of Weeks). Through Church history, Shavuot has commonly been called “Pentecost,” a name derived from the Greek word for “fiftieth.” Because most of the world follows the Gregorian calendar, rather than the lunar Hebrew calendar, churches observe “Pentecost Sunday” on a day that may not correspond with the biblical Feast of Shavuot, but regardless of what some scholars may argue, Pentecost and Shavuot are the same holiday.

Of the seven feasts of Israel, Pentecost is the final spring feast. Four feasts occur during the Spring and three occur during the Fall. When studied as a complete panorama, the seven feasts tell the story of the betrothal and marriage of the Messiah with His Bride. In the four spring feasts, we see a portrayal of the betrothal or ‘kiddushin.’ At the betrothal stage, the bridegroom offers the cup of wine to his beloved, and she has the choice of whether to accept. Once she accepts, then the marriage contract, known as the ‘ketubah’ is drawn up, specifying the bride price, or “mohar.” Yeshua the Messiah fulfilled the four spring feasts in His first coming, when He came as the suffering servant. In the first Pentecost that followed His crucifixion, Jesus sent the bride price (“mohar”) of the Holy Spirit, whom Ephesians 1:13-14 refers to as the down payment of our promised redemption.

During Passover, the Lord offered the cup of wine, revealing His intent to betroth us to Himself. Recall that the very first Passover was the night that the Lord led the armies of Israel out of Egypt. Most scholars believe that the Law was given at Mt. Sinai fifty days after the very first Passover, which would have been the very first Feast of Shavuot. In a sense, the Law represented the marriage contract (the ketubah) between the Lord and His Bride. Of course, Israel broke the marriage contract (see Jeremiah 31:32), but when Jesus came, He paid the price of the broken contract. In fact, when He was in the wilderness, He responded to each temptation by saying “it is written.” The Hebrew word for “marriage contract” (“ketubah”) literally means “written.” Though the New Testament is recorded in Greek, Jesus would have spoken Aramaic or Hebrew, and the word that He would have used to say “it is written” would have been a direct reference to the marriage contract that was given at the first Shavuot, namely the Law. Even though the bride had broken the contract, the Bridegroom came to keep that which had been “written.”

Pentecost represents a season of waiting. After Passover, the people of God are to count fifty days, from barley harvest to wheat harvest. Recall that the Holy Spirit came “when the Day of Pentecost had fully come,” according to Acts 2:1-4. Why did it happen when Pentecost had fully come? Fulfillment of the Promise had to happen on the fiftieth day, corresponding to the time frame God had prearranged millennia earlier. Between the Resurrection and the promised outpouring of the Holy Spirit, what did Jesus instruct His disciples to do? He told them to wait! (see Luke 24:49). Sometimes, waiting can seem maddening, but we know that He is working in the waiting.

Befitting to the theme of waiting, the story of Ruth is generally associated with the holiday of Shavuot. Orthodox Jews traditionally read the Book of Ruth during the Shavuot season. Ruth’s redemptive story is a story of waiting, trusting that her redeemer was working on her behalf. From the time of barley harvest, corresponding to Passover, to the time of wheat harvest, corresponding to Pentecost, Ruth patiently continued to glean in the field of Boaz. After waiting for nearly seven weeks, she received an instruction from her mother-in-law, Naomi. What was that instruction? Essentially, Naomi instructed her to wait some more! In Ruth 3:18, Naomi told Ruth, “Sit still, my daughter, until you know how the matter will turn out; for the man will not rest until he has concluded the matter this day.” Meanwhile, while Ruth waited, Boaz was acting as her kinsman-redeemer, working out the details of her redemption!

And so, as Pentecost season is upon us, we are reminded that we are in a time of waiting. Our season of waiting is not a time to sit idle, just as Ruth continued to serve in the field while she waited. Likewise, we remain about the King’s business while we await the return of our Redeemer. The three fall feasts which are yet to be fulfilled remind us of the reason why we are waiting. During the three fall feasts, namely the Feast of Trumpets, the Day of Atonement, and the Feast of Tabernacles, we look ahead to the wedding phase of our marriage to the Messiah, known in Hebrew as the “nissuin.” One day the trumpet will sound, and He will carry away His Bride to dwell with Him in His Tabernacle! For this reason, the Fall Feasts symbolize the phase of when He will marry us once and for all and carry us away to abide with Him eternally. The etymology of the “nissuin” phase comes from a Hebrew word meaning to “lift away” or to “carry away.” Praise the Lord!

So let us wait for Him, and let us be about the King’s business as we wait. Whether you observe Pentecost according to the Gregorian calendar or the Hebrew calendar, or whether you have never observed the feast at all, remember to thank Him for the marriage contract that He upheld for you and the down payment of the Holy Spirit that He gave to you as a bride price. Most importantly, remember to look up, for your redemption draws nigh!

 

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If you would like more information about Javan, he and his wife have a ministry called Javareg Ministries.