Healed and Clean

2 Kings 5:1 (2-4)

[2 Ki 5:1 ESV] Naaman, commander of the army of the king of Syria, was a great man with his master and in high favor, because by him the Lord had given victory to Syria. He was a mighty man of valor, but he was a leper.

The story of Naaman is one of those stories that make you think about the ways God works in the world. Jesus even referred to Naaman as an example of God reaching over the Jews to heal a pagan. let’s look at the story.
Naaman was the Commander of the armies of Aram (Syria). The Lord gave him victory over Israel at Ramoth-gilead where King Ahab was killed in battle.
The scriptures describe his as “a great man,” a technical term which meant he was a man of considerable social standing, a mighty warrior and highly regarded by the king.
After giving us this glowing introduction the test continues with the simple words, “…but he was a leper.”
Leprosy referred to any number of different skin diseases. It had many social implications and even the possibly of death. To say the least he was in a very desperate condition.

The Path to healing
Naaman had exhausted every means of healing at his disposal. No doubt he was discouraged, depressed and desperate.
In his household there was a slave girl who was probably taken during the war with Israel. She had compassion on the pagan military commander and provided a solution.

[2 Ki 5:3 ESV] She said to her mistress, “Would that my lord were with the prophet who is in Samaria! He would cure him of his leprosy.”

The king of Syria wrote a letter of invitation to the king of Israel. The king of Israel was shocked and dismayed with the request for him to heal Naaman. The prophet Elisha heard about the incident at told the king to send Naaman to him.
Apparently Naaman had quite a few expectations of what would happen when the prophet healed him. He would probably be welcomed as an honored guest, there would be a very moving solemn mysterious ritual and the disease would be gone. But that is not what happened.
Elisha didn’t even come out of his house. There was no greeting, ritual, spells or incantations. He simply sent his servant tell Naaman to, “Go wash in the Jordan seven times.”
Naaman was angry, offended and indignant, but his servants persuaded him to do as the prophet asked. And he was cleansed.
This story has profound implications for our cleansing as well. We can learn a lot about the salvation God offers from the story of Naaman

God reaches out to enemies

Naaman was an enemy and Romans says the same thing about us:

[Rom 5:10 ESV ] For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.

We are rebels by nature and yet God reaches out to us because he loves us.

Salvation only comes God’s way

There was only one way for Naaman to be healed, and only one way for us to be saved
Here is the way way:

• Confess: Agree with God about your rebellion
• Repent: Turn and forsake your way
• Believe: Place you whole trust in what God did through his Son, Jesus in the cross and resurrection

Salvation comes only through faith and obedience
For Naaman to be healed he had to believe what Elisha said and act on it. The same is true for us. Just knowing is not enough, we must act on what we know; and then obey. Obedience is the demonstration of trust, the test of faith. That faith and obedience should then spill over into every other area of our life.

God uses all kinds of people as witnesses
We tend to favor professionals. We will travel far and wide to hear the testimony of some famous person, but completely discount the testimony of those we rub shoulders with every day. God used a slave girl and he uses others as well, just ordinary people. God can even use you!
Every encounter you have has the potential to change someone’s eternal destiny. So we must live our faith, talk our faith and be ready
Conclusion
We have an incurable disease within us called sin. This disease destroys our life inch by inch. It messes up every relationship in our lives, because there is something wrong with our primary relationship – our relationship with God.
There is a cure. The cure does not rest in us, but in the power of God.
To be healed we must trust the Word of God spoken by prophets and ordinary people— and we must obey.
When we Obey we are healed, saved, cleansed, delivered and restored.
It can start right now! No blinding lights, no pilgrimage to the Holy Land, no verses to memorize, no special words to utter. Just believe and Obey.

Are You Ready For Marriage?

1 Corinthians 7

In 1982 I attended a singles conference and heard the best advice I had ever heard for someone contemplating marriage: “It is more important for you to be the right person than to find the right person.”
I want to share some information with you today by asking you a few questions so that you can decide for yourself if you are ready for marriage or remarriage. These questions are not exhaustive, they are just suggestive. This information is drawn from scripture and the best research we have on what makes successful marriages.
First of all, l believe premarital counseling is a must. Many people spend a year planning their wedding and never think about their marriage. If your fiancee is unwilling to attend premarital counseling — drop them!

Now to the Questions…

1. Should you get married?
Marriage is not a forgone conclusion. God has called some people in to singleness for the sake of their mission. If someone is single don’t think it is your mission to find them a mate.
Some people believe “There is only one person for me.” This is a completely unbiblical notion. There are many people with whom you could be compatible. the Bible indicates that your mate should be a member of the opposite sex, and should be a believer.

2. Are you happy in your single life?
You must learn to find your significance and fulfillment in God first. We can not expect others to meet all of our emotional needs. If you are unhappy in your single life and you marry someone to make you happy all you are doing is bringing someone into your unhappiness. Find your happiness in God and your life as it is, then invite someone into your happiness.

3. Have you lived on your own?
You stand a much better chance of having a successful marriage if both you and your spouse lived on your own prior to marriage. It demonstrates that you know what it means to be an independent adult. You should know by experience how to run a household and live on a budget. Until you have learned to take on adult responsibilities in the world, you are not ready for marriage.

What if you have not live on your own then at the very least you can live on a budget, pay your own bills, clean your own room and solve your own problems.

4. Have you learned to resolve conflict in a healthy manner?
There will be conflict, even in the best marriage. When there is conflict both people contribute to the problem, every problem. Conflict resolution is one of the most important skills you can learn for life and marriage. If every problem in your life is someone else’s fault you are not ready for marriage. Do you pout when you don’t get your way? Do you get mad when it is clear you are the one at fault? Do you manipulate others into doing what you want? If so it’s time to grow up before you get married.

5. Have you learned healthy communication habits?
The biggest asset in communication is the ability to listen, to listen for understanding. Instead of listening many people are trying to formulate their rebuttal, and never hear what the other person is saying. If you are prone to use quips and comebacks, if you always have to have the last word, it’s time to learn better communication lessons.

6. Do you understand the commitment of marriage?
the vows that we take are more than just poetry. They should mean something.

For better, for worse,
For richer, for poorer,
In sickness and in health,
To love and to cherish,
Until we are parted by death.
This is my solemn vow.

The degree to whiich we keep our vows determins whether we are people of our word. What would you do if one of you becomes disabled and can’t work? Or if one of you maked a bad investment and lost your life savings? Or if one of you gained a lot of weight or contracted a terminal illness? That is when you find out if your vows mean anything.

7. Can you sacrifice for the sake of your mate?
Marriage is a world of compromises and sacrifices. Can you sacrifice and not hold it against the other person. Can you sacrifice your dreams, material possessions, finances or time for your mate? Can you sacrifice your need to be right all the time or your need to be the center of attention.

8. Are you committed to sexual purity?
Becoming sexually involved clouds your judgment in every other area of your relationship and besides in is sin. If you are not sexually pure now, why would you expect to be after marriage? Can you delay you sexual gratification and guard the other person’s honor? If not now when?

Marriage is the closest relationship possible between two people. It is a great blessings for those who enter this holy covenant determining to glorify God. That is why many of the older services include this phrase from the 1935 Book of Worship:

It is therefore not to be entered into unadvisedly,
but reverently, discreetly, and in the fear of God.

Disciple Bible Study

For the past nine months two groups of people from Woodbine have been involved in Disciple Bible Study. Disciple is produced by the United Methodist Publishing House and has been in existence for over 15 years.

Disciple I takes the group on a journey through approximately 75% of the Bible in order to take in the broad sweep of Biblical history. Other studies in the series focus on different specific parts of Scripture.

The whole point of Disciple can be summed up in these few verses.

“If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
John 8:31-32 (ESV)

There are three words I want us to consider as we think about what it means to be a disciple.

Abide
If we abide in Jesus’ word we are his disciples…

To abide means to remain, dwell, continue in the words of Jesus. In other words. We are to establish a permanent relationship with the Word of Christ, a relationship which includes hearing, understanding and obeying.If we abide, continue in Jesus’ word we will be his disciples.

The opposite is also true. If we do not abide, no matter what we think or say we are not disciples — we have no relationship with Christ. The only way to have a relationship with a person is to be engaged with their words, their expressions of themselves. To have a relationship with Jesus is to be engaged with his words. A disciple is one who is learning from the master, seeking to be like the master. That is our goal as disciples: to increasingly become like Jesus in our life situations. In order to do that we must become engaged with the words of our master Jesus the Christ

The Truth
If we abide in Jesus’ word we are his disciples and we will know the truth…

Outside of a relationship with Christ we can only assume the truth about him. As we enter a relationship with Jesus through his word we discover the truth about him and more.
Abiding in the word of Jesus Christ tells us:

• The truth about God: his nature, will, purpose
• The truth about Jesus: his identity, mission
• The truth about ourselves: identity, sins, gifts, mission
• The truth about the church: identity, mission
• The truth about the world: their need

When we know the truth it changes every perception we have

Freedom
If we abide in Jesus’ word we are his disciples and we will know the truth and the truth will make us free.

The freedom Jesus brings is the freedom to become who God created us to be. One way to envision this is through the image of the exodus.

In slavery the Jews were the people of God and had a mission to reveal God to the world, but they couldn’t do it in slavery. God sent Moses as their deliverer to bring them our of bondage. At Sinai they got a glimpse of who God is, who they were and what their mission was. It started at Sinai with the Commandments and continued with the wanderings and settlement of Canaan. With every event the people learned more about who God was and who they were are God’s people. Finally they learned about the mission in the world to be a light to the nations.

This is an apt analogy to our life in Christ as well. In Christ we are delivered from slavery to sin. Through God’s word we learn the truth about God, ourselves and the world in which we live. We are then set free to be the people of God in a broken world so others can see and join us in this kingdom life.

That is what Disciple is all about. Disciple helps us to learn about the people of God in the past and how God taught them and lead them to be a light to the world. God did that through their successes and failures. And so God does with us as well.

In Disciple we learn to abiding in God’s Word, become disciples of Jesus Christ, discover the truth, and are set free to live out the mission we have been given.

Maybe you have struggled to do all of this on your own. If so, I invite you to join a Disciple group and see the power and grace of God released in your life in new ways.