TOPIC: YOUR SPIRITUAL FATHER
MEMORISE:
For though ye have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet have ye not many fathers: for in Christ Jesus ! have begotten you through the gospel. 1 Corinthians 4:15
READ: 1 Kings 19:19-21
19 So he departed thence, and found Elisha the son of Shaphat, who was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen before him, and he with the twelfth: and Elijah passed by him, and cast his mantle upon him.
20 And he left the oxen, and ran after Elijah, and said, Let me, I pray thee, kiss my father and my mother, and then I will follow thee. And he said unto him, Go back again: for what have I done to thee?
21 And he returned back from him, and took a yoke of oxen, and slew them, and boiled their flesh with the instruments of the oxen, and gave unto the people, and they did eat. Then he arose, and went after Elijah, and ministered unto him.
MESSAGE
Many people do not take the issue of who their spiritual father is seriously. Some people say that they have multiple fathers; such people are bastards because no human being can have more than one father. The role of your spiritual father in your life is very important. Even though Elijah said that Elisha, his spiritual son, had asked for a hard thing, he practically committed God to give a double portion of his spirit to him (2 Kings 2:9-15). That is a good example of the role a spiritual father can play in a fellow's destiny.
If you claim to have a spiritual father, you must do some things to prove it. If you are disobedient to your spiritual father, you are not his true child, and you cannot get the things that you expect to get from him. Also, a grown-up child will take care of his parents. If you don't sow anything, either in the form of service or material resources, into the life of your spiritual father, God will not recognize that relationship. 2 Kings 3:11 says that Elisha poured water on the hands of Elijah. That is what made their father-son relationship valid and qualified Elisha to get the double portion of his father's spirit. One night, during my prayer walk, some people met me and asked me to pray with them. For them not to disturb my prayers, I simply told them, "God bless you." As I went further, a fellow who was driving a bus passed by me and stopped. He took the little money he had in the bus, ran to me, and gave it to me. That time, when I said, "God bless you," it was from the depth of my heart. The money was not much, but he showed that I am truly his father so he could get something from me. When Isaac asked Esau to prepare food for him, it was not because he was hungry or that he could not afford to feed himself, he was telling the young man, "Spoil me so that I can bless you from my heat." There are blessings that come from the heart of your father; such blessings can never be reversed, as we see in Genesis 27:33-37.
Do what will make your spiritual father so willing to bless you that, even if what you ask for is beyond his control, he will commit God to give it to you.
ACTION POINT
Do something special for your spiritual father or mother today to spoil him or her.
BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Mark 12-13
AUTHOR: PASTOR E. A ADEBOYE
HYMN 30: WHEN WE WALK WITH THE LORD
1. When we walk with the Lord
in the light of his word,
what a glory he sheds on our way!
While we do his good will,
he abides with us still,
and with all who will trust and obey.
Refrain:
Trust and obey, for there's no other way
to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.
2. Not a burden we bear,
not a sorrow we share,
but our toil he doth richly repay;
not a grief or a loss,
not a frown or a cross,
but is blest if we trust and obey.
3 But we never can prove
the delights of his love
until all on the altar we lay;
for the favor he shows,
for the joy he bestows,
are for them who will trust and obey.
4. Then in fellowship sweet
we will sit at his feet,
or we'll walk by his side in the way;
what he says we will do,
where he sends we will go;
never fear, only trust and obey.
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