WISDOM FOR LIVING DAILY DEVOTIONAL
FEBRUARY 17, 2023
TOPIC: WHAT IS YOUR ATTITUDE TO THE LORD’S ANOINTED?
BY T. O. BANSO
âThen he went up from there to Bethel; and as he was going up the road, some youths came from the city and mocked him, and said to him, âGo up, you baldhead! Go up, you baldhead!ââ (2 Kings 2:23 New King James Version).
In 2 Kings 2:19-22, the servant of God, Elisha, the successor of the Prophet Elijah, healed the water of Jericho that was bad and made the land barren or unproductive. He performed the miracle because the men of the city, acknowledging the anointing of God upon Him, visited him and told him their problem.
2 Kings 2:19 says, âThen the men of the city said to Elisha, âPlease notice, the situation of this city is pleasant, as my lord sees; but the water is bad, and the ground barrenââ (New King James Version). Their visit showed their regard for him and their belief in his ministry.
From what they said, Elisha knew they wanted a divine solution to the problem. âAnd he said, âBring me a new bowl, and put salt in it.â So they brought it to him. Then he went out to the source of the water, and cast in the salt there, and said, âThus says the LORD: ‘I have healed this water; from it there shall be no more death or barrenness.â So the water remains healed to this day, according to the word of Elisha which he spokeâ (2 Kings 2:20-22 New King James Version).
On the surface, a new bowl with salt in it that Elisha asked the men of Jericho to bring had no relevance to the problem. But these men didnât query him. Therefore, they did what he asked them to do. Consequently, the bad water was healed and the barrenness being experienced in the city ceased. The attitude of the men of Jericho contributed to this. What is your attitude to the anointed servant of God?
The words of Mary, the earthly mother of Jesus, are relevant here. After the wine was exhausted at the wedding in Cana of Galilee, and Mary wanted Him to come to their rescue, she told the servants at the wedding to do whatever Jesus asked them to do. When Jesus eventually decided to help, the servants did what He told them to do and water turned into wine (John 2:1-10).
If they didnât have regard for Him, the miracle wouldnât have taken place. How much you esteem a servant of God may determine the extent that the anointing of God upon Him will bless you. That doesnât mean you should worship any minister of God. You should worship only God.
The anointing of God upon Elisha blessed the people of Jericho and a similar thing happened at the wedding of the Cana of Galilee, as you have seen. How you position yourself in relation to the anointed servant of God may determine whether youâre blessed by his anointing or not.
At Nazareth, Jesus couldnât help them because they were telling stories about Him and His family. They were too familiar with Him because they knew when He was a small boy and grew up in their midst. âIs not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, and brother of James, and Joses, and Judas, and Simon? and are not his sisters here with us? And they were offended in himâ (Mark 6:3 American Standard Version).
People who tell this kind of story know so much about the servant of God that he canât bless them! It is better they donât know what they know so that they will be blessed. Whatever you know about a servant of God that wonât let you honour him, regard him, or esteem him is your enemy. You must deliberately shift your focus from such information and focus on Jesus in the life of that servant of God. Also, donât listen to people with such information.
Because of the attitude of the people of Nazareth, Jesus couldn’t do any mighty work there, except that He laid His hands on a few sick people and healed them (Matthew 13:58; Mark 6:5). According to Jesus, âA prophet is not without honor except in his own country, among his own relatives, and in his own houseâ (Mark 6:4 New King James Version). John 1:11-12 says about Jesus that He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him but as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name:
Servants of God are human beings but donât relate to them in the flesh; relate to them based on the calling of God on their lives. Relate to them in the Spirit. The Apostle Paul said, âTherefore, from now on, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him thus no longerâ (2 Corinthians 5:16 New King James Version).
The New Living Translation puts it thus: âSo we have stopped evaluating others from a human point of view. At one time we thought of Christ merely from a human point of view. How differently we know him now!â (2 Corinthians 5:16).
The servant of God may be your spouse, child, parent, sibling, uncle, or family member. He could even be your former student, employee, or tenant. Never dwell on that, otherwise, you will be robbing yourself, and miss what God could use him to do in your life. The anointing you donât esteem cannot work for you. If you donât expect the anointing on a servant of God to bless you, you may not be disappointed! It wonât bless you.
Peter had to engage the attention of the lame man at the Beautiful Gate of the Temple; he raised his expectation before ministering to him. âAnd fixing his eyes on him, with John, Peter said, âLook at us.â So he gave them his attention, expecting to receive something from them. Then Peter said, âSilver and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walkââ (Acts 3:4-6 New King James Version).
After this, Peter took the lame man by the right hand and lifted him up. Immediately, he was healed. He started walking, leaping, and praising God. Everybody was amazed seeing the man they had always seen at the Beautiful Gate begging alms. Suppose the lame man paid no attention to Peter and had no expectations. He might have remained a beggar until he died.
How do you relate to the anointed servant of God? Do you criticize, mock, or despise him? After the miracle that Elisha performed at Jericho, he went to Bethel. Unfortunately, there was another miracle there! It was a negative miracle! It happened because some youths despised Elisha. They mocked him. This showed the spiritual decadence of Bethel.
Bethel means the house of God but it had become a centre of idolatry, as one of Jeroboam’s two calves of gold was at Bethel. 2 King 2:23b says, âSome youths came from the city and mocked him, and said to him, âGo up, you baldhead! Go up, you baldhead!ââ (New King James Version).
By saying âGo upâ, these youths were probably mocking Elisha as regards the going up of his master to heaven in a chariot of fire. They might have been mocking him to go up to heaven as his master supposedly did! Elisha obviously considered their utterance as blasphemy, which provoked him to curse them in the name of the LORD and He responded with a miracle!
The Bible says, âSo he turned around and looked at them, and pronounced a curse on them in the name of the LORD. And two female bears came out of the woods and mauled forty-two of the youthsâ (verse 24 New King James Version). Did you see that?
The same man whom the anointing of God upon his life caused the bad water of Jericho to be healed also caused forty-two youths to be killed by two female bears. The attitude of these youths attracted the negative miracle in their lives. Be careful of your attitude to the anointed.
What is your attitude to the Lord’s anointed? Donât mock, despise, or hurt him/her. Even when David twice had the opportunity of killing Saul, he refused to because Saul, as the king, was the Lordâs anointed (1 Samuel 24:6, 10; 26:9, 23). Also, David told the Amalekite who claimed to have killed Saul, âHow was it you were not afraid to put forth your hand to destroy the LORD’s anointed?â (2 Samuel 1:14 New King James Version). Therefore, he ordered that he should be executed.
What is your attitude to the Lord’s anointed? No servant of God is perfect but never make this the subject of mockery, despise, or even comedy as some comedians do in their search for fame and money. Any youth who thinks that his talent is in making fun of a servant of God has a bad talent! Or his talent has been perverted by Satan. If he has a pastor, he should warn him because he is positioning himself against the anointing.
Position yourself correctly in relation to the anointed. âHe who gives honour to a prophet, in the name of a prophet, will be given a prophet’s reward; and he who gives honour to an upright man, in the name of an upright man, will be given an upright man’s rewardâ (Matthew 10:41 Bible in Basic English). As King Jehoshaphat said in 2 Chronicles 20:20, believe in the Lord your God, and you shall be established; believe His prophets, and you shall prosper.
TAKE ACTION!
If you are not born again, you need to give your life to Jesus now. I urge you to take the following steps: *Admit that you are a sinner and you cannot save yourself and repent of your sins. *Confess Jesus as your Lord and Saviour. *Renounce your past way of life â your relationship with the devil and his works. *Invite Jesus into your life. *As a mark of seriousness to mature in the faith, start attending a Bible-believing and Bible-teaching church. There they will teach you how to grow in the Kingdom of God.
Kindly say this prayer now: O Lord God, I come unto You today. I know I am a sinner and I cannot save myself. I believe that Jesus is the Son of God who died on the cross to save me and God raised Him on the third day. I repent of my sins and confess Jesus as my Lord and Saviour. I surrender my life to Jesus now and invite Him into my heart. By this prayer, I know I am saved. Thank You, Jesus, for saving me and making me a child of God.
I believe you have said this prayer from your heart. Congratulations! You will need to join a Bible-believing and Bible-teaching church in your area where they will teach you how to live your new life in Christ Jesus. I pray that you flourish like a palm tree and grow like a cedar of Lebanon. May you grow into Christ in all things and become all God wants you to be. I will be glad to hear from you. The Lord be with you.
PRAYER POINTS: Holy Spirit, help me how to honour the servants of God so that I will receive a prophet’s reward. Enable me to cultivate the right attitude toward the Lord’s anointed. I shall not mock, despise, or hurt the servant of God. Father, deliver our youths from the societal influence of making fun of the servants of God and the things of God.
(For over 900 in-depth and powerful messages by T. O. Banso, visit www.cedarministry.org).
T. O. Banso is the President of Cedar Ministry International, Abuja, Nigeria.
Phone No: +2348155744752, +2348033113523
WhatsApp No: +2349081295947
Email: cedarministryintl@yahoo.com,
cedarministryng@gmail.com
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