Timely Insights into God's Word from Khandielese Reyes

“And it was so, when Elisha the man of God had heard that the king of Israel had rent his clothes, that he sent to the king, saying, Wherefore hast thou rent thy clothes?  Let him come now to me, and he shall know that there is a prophet in Israel.  So Naaman came with his horses and with his chariot, and stood at the door of the house of Elisha.  And Elisha sent a messenger unto him, saying, Go and wash in Jordan seven times, and thy flesh shall come again to thee, and thou shalt be clean.  But Naaman was wroth, and went away, and said, Behold, I thought, He will surely come out to me, and stand, and call on the name of the LORD his God, and strike his hand over the place, and recover the leper.  Are not Abana and Pharpar, rivers in Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel?  May I not wash in them, and be clean?  So he turned and went away in rage.  And his servants came near, and spake unto him, and said, My father, if the prophet had bid thee do some great thing, wouldest thou not have done it?  How much rather then, when he saith to thee, Wash, and be clean?  The went he down, and dipped himself seven times in Jordan, according to the saying of the man of God: and his flesh came again like unto the flesh of a little child, and he was clean.”   (2^nd Kings 5:8-14)

The bible describes Naaman as “Captain of the Host”, he was the commander of the army of the King of Syria.   A man of “great” importance, having a “great name” amongst the people, a “mighty man of valour” according to the scriptures, and yet he was also A MAN WITH A NEED, A MAN AFFLICTED WITH LEPROSY, A MAN WHO NEEDED HEALING AND DELIVERANCE.  Thus, he sought help from the prophet of God, Elisha. 

Standing at the door of the prophet, this “mighty man of valour”, because of his status and prestige, expected preferential treatment in that he assumed the prophet Elisha would personally come out to meet him and perform some mighty miracle of healing upon his flesh as he said: “Behold, I thought he will surely come out to me, and stand, and call on the name of the Lord HIS God, and strike his hand over the place, and cover the leper.”  However, instead   he received a message through a messenger of the prophet Elisha instructing him what to do to receive his healing and because of this, Naaman was furious.  Rather than immediately heed to the voice of the prophet, Naaman instead became consumed with rage after being told to wash his body 7 times in the muddy waters of the Jordan to receive his healing.  His first reaction was to become offended and instantly began questioning the word of the prophet, who received HIS WORD from the Lord God.  Why does it have to be this way instead of that…… why can I not wash in any river instead of this river…. What makes this river better than the rest…etc.  However, after receiving wise counsel from his servant, Naaman did as was instructed by the prophet and received his healing.  Had he remained angry, and continued to try to dissect and rationalize the word given to him, his PRIDE would have cost him his healing.  

It is the same today within the “Church”, within the “Body of Christ” where many are not “Heeding to the voice of a Prophet” who if they are a true prophet of the Lord God, receives his/her WORDS DIRECTLY FROM THE LORD!  Thus, to reject the word of a prophet is to reject the word of the Lord for a prophet is merely a MESSENGER from the Lord sent to deliver HIS words!   Like Naaman, we are so quick to become offended as soon as a prophet of God opens his/her mouth to declare that which The Lord has spoken.  We pick and choose whom we will listen to and declare his/her authenticity based SOLELY upon the speech, whether or not our ears can ENDURE.  If the words of the prophet speak blessings, we saturate ourselves in it and receive it with a joyous heart for we love to hear about all the wonderful promises the Lord has made for those who are his.  We want to believe that even through our arrogance and pride, self righteousness and disobedience, strife and divisions, anger and bitterness, the Lord will STILL rain down his blessings.   Thus, our ears are opened wide to the speech of one who proclaim such things.  However, when the words of a prophet speak of warnings, of repentance, of correction and rebuke we instantaneously REJECT the message AND the messenger labeling such as false and deem such a one as an outcast!  We view them as harsh,  and label them as “preachers of DOOM and GLOOM” rather than true messengers of the Lord sent by God to warn his people of the serious consequences of sin and rebellion IF we do NOT REPENT and begin correcting those things that are not pleasing to the Lord within the Body of Christ and OURSELVES.  Yet, we  want NOTHING to do with correction although we proclaim and profess a desire to be holy and righteous in the eyes of the Lord, for if we TRULY DID desire correction then we would IMMEDIATELY receive the word of a prophet of God, and REPENT!  We cannot be so arrogant as to think the Body of Christ IS ALREADY PERFECTED and we are doing that which the Lord has commanded in his word, thus we need no improvement!  We cannot possibly be so foolish as to believe that WE shall escape the wrath of God IF we continue in rebellion to his commands and REJECT HIS correction through the words of HIS prophets.  We need only to look back on biblical history to see the price many paid by NOT heeding to the voice of a prophet whom the Lord God has CHOSEN to send to HIS people!  There are blessings INDEED for the children of God, but BLESSING DO NOT FOLLOW AFTER DISOBEDIENCE! 

We MUST REPENT from rejecting those whom God has sent us for not ALL speech is going to be a sweet sound to the ears, for there will be times when we NEED correction, and such is the time NOW!  We must put aside our foolish pride, and refrain from consistently stoning the messenger thereby rejecting the message.  For the words are given by the LORD to warn, instruct, direct, and heal.   YES HEAL, for like the leper Naaman who needed cleansing of his outward flesh, many within the body need cleansing of the INWARD.   Naaman was told to wash himself in the Jordan and his flesh would be cleansed, and it was so.  The LORD says to wash ourselves with His blood, that we may be INWARDLY cleansed.  The muddy waters of Jordan turned the crusty, diseased flesh of a man to that of a child’s.  THE BLOOD OF JESUS softens the crusty and stony heart of a man and inwardly cleanses him of all unrighteousness. 

The question is, do we DESIRE to be cleansed?  If so, then we must heed the instructions of the Lord as he delivers his word through his prophets, OR we can be offended by the words of a prophet, keep our leprous hearts, refuse to be washed in the blood of Jesus, MISS the blessing, and RECEIVE the curse…….TODAY IS THE DAY OF REPENTANCE!!

I love you all so very much. Have a blessed week in the Lord and remember: Whatever we do, do ALL for the GLORY of GOD, who ALONE is worthy of the GLORY and the PRAISE!

May the peace of the Lord be with you today and always…….

Khandielese
Daughter & Servant
   of the Lord God