FACING THE IMPOSSIBLE

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EMPTY JARS AND DITCHES

Read 2 Kings 3:1–4:7

     "Make this valley full of ditches. For this is what the LORD says: 'You will see neither wind nor rain, yet this valley will be filled with water, and you, your cattle and your other animals will drink.' " 2 Kings 3:16-17 NIV

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     In these stories, Elisha performs two miracles: One for the armies of Judah and Israel, asking God to deliver them from the Moabites–and the other for a widow and her sons who could not pay her creditors.  In each case, Elisha asked them to do something that demonstrated their faith: The armies were to dig ditches–in anticipation that God would fill them with water. The widow and her sons were to gather empty jars–believing that God would fill them with oil.

     Both the armies and the widow were faced with a situation they couldn’t handle alone. They had to acknowledge that God was able to meet their needs, by obeying the Word of the Lord spoken through Elisha. The jars were filled with oil and the ditches with water–which miraculously appeared to be blood–causing the Moabites to be defeated.

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     We too can be victorious when our hearts are filled with the water of God’s Word and faith in the shed blood of Jesus Christ for our sins. Like the widow’s jars, we will too be filled with the oil of God’s Holy Spirit.  Lord, I bring my empty jar to You. Fill me with a double portion of Your Holy Spirit as I walk out into this day, and may the oil and water continue to flow out to others through me.

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     "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him."    John 7:37b-38 NIV