Welcome to The Bonfire. We're in season six, talking about the power of God. And we're going to look at a story today that's been transformative for me. And as you think about God's power, we're looking at different passages in the Bible, different angles, so we can really understand how God works and how much power God has. And of course, God's power, His resurrection power, is available for us every day. And it's God who determines how He's going to move. But we can trust Him, and we can take a posture, we can position our lives into such a way where we give God access, we welcome God, and truly we all need His power. In our weakness, his power is what stands out. And we all have weaknesses, but he's powerful in those weaknesses. So when you feel like you're running out of energy or you don't have what it takes or you know it's beyond your abilities and you can't just try to fake or manipulate or control, that's an okay place to be because it leads us to reliance. And the Christian life is a life of reliance. Following Jesus is a life of reliance. If you don't want reliance, you're not going to have that much of God's power in your life. So let's take a humble position. Let's receive God's power today. And as we look at 2 Kings 5, this is a story, Naaman and his leprosy. And it's a reminder that God's power is not always instantaneous, but it's a process. God's power is brought into our lives and it's more incremental than monumental. We love the explosive breakthrough with God's power. We love to see and inspired by the ways God moves and miraculous ways in scripture. But sometimes what we overlook is the process and the buildup in what God is teaching us in our character because it's all linked together. God's power isn't just gonna show up in Naaman's life mutually exclusive from all of the other things that God wants to do in his life. And God is not just, you know, putting on a show with his power. Yes, his power glorifies himself, reveals his greatness, but also it's linked to the deep work God wants to do in our lives. 2 Kings chapter five, and this is a story of Naaman, who is a valiant soldier, and the Bible says the Lord has given him lots of victories. He serves as a commander in the airman army, and because of God's grace, God has enabled him to see some success and live through a lot of battles. Now, it's important to know that God blesses us before we ever acknowledge God. God gives you life before you put your trust in Jesus. Even when we're sinners, Christ died for us. Sometimes we're gonna look back in our lives and say, wow, God's hand was here and here and here because it's clear. In the rear view mirror, it's clear. And for Naaman, it's important that You know, as the Bible points out, God gave him the victories, and we need to realize that every victory in our life is from the Lord. God gives you ability, motivation, opportunities, success. God is the one who does it all. So thank God publicly. Thank God privately. Don't try to steal the credit or the glory. And Naaman is in a situation where although he's having military success, and his career, and he's admired, and there's a lot of prestige, and he has a major position, all these things are in place, and yet he has leprosy. And isn't it true that we will have five areas in life that are going well, and then we'll have some area that just feels brutal, and it's so disappointing. And he's in a position where he kind of feels helpless. What are you going to do when you hear that news, whether it's financial, relationship, family, health? It could be in a number of areas at the same time. But you know when life's going one way and then it isn't going that way anymore, and now you've got to face something you never wanted to face. That's the time where we need God's power. And Naaman isn't ready to turn to God. He's just thinking, you know, he's always relied on himself, or he's always been able to control things, or he's always been able to find someone who will take care of it. But now he's in a situation where he's struggling. And this is life-threatening. Leprosy meant a slow death and Naaman knew what the consequences would be of contracting this disease and he understood his health condition. It's always good to face reality and face the facts, but where is he going to find help? And what's interesting is that God raises up someone who's very unlikely. He's a servant girl, one of the Israelites. And God will provide for you in ways that you never expected and can't plan. And sometimes it'll be unlikely, and sometimes it won't come from the place you think it's gonna come from, or the person you think it's gonna come from. It'll be someone just out of the blue, what it feels like to you. I remember playing soccer in high school and wanting to play Division I soccer, and doors weren't opening. And it was interesting because our rival and the coach from that team ended up going to Dartmouth College and telling the coach at Dartmouth about me, and that helped bridge it. I never would have guessed that our coach from our rival team, I never even talked to him, would be going to bat for me, and care, and say something like that. So, God's gonna do that over and over again in your life, where you just don't see it coming, and someone blesses you, and says, here's a golden opportunity, or I've been looking out for you, or here's a way forward, here's a solution. And you just say, thank you. It's God's grace coming through someone. And this Israelite servant girl, who then shares, and she doesn't have the power to heal, but she knows the prophet, and it's Elisha. And she knows that if Naaman can go to the prophet, the prophet walking with God is gonna guide Naaman. And she takes a risk and points out that, hey, here's an option. When you're desperate, you'll listen to people and you'll become more open than maybe otherwise you would be. And sometimes God will use a desperate situation to lead us down a new path. We've got a lot of coping strategies, and I had a lot until I was a young adult, and then I was fighting for my life for a year physically, 10 years to fully recover, and I realized I need some more help. I need to go deeper in prayer. I need to learn how to give my burdens to God. I need to let some people into the pain. It just changed the way I handled tragedy, and I handled stress, and it was a good thing. But the desperation forced me into some new habits and trusting God in some new ways. And that's exactly where God is leading Naaman. Naaman has been able to live with the illusion that he can control everything, but now he's on a journey. And ultimately this journey is leading to God. And as Naaman first hears about this, he gets permission then to go and he approaches first the King of Israel. The King of Israel is like, I don't have the power to help him. How could I raise the debt? How can I fix this thing? But there's a prophet in the land and that's Elisha. Notice this, God's power moves through God's people who are paying close attention to what God is saying. Not everyone is going to be a wise counselor for you. You might have family, or you might have some different friends, or you might have people online. They're all giving you advice. But where's the wise counselor going to come from? You want to have some people who are walking close with God, tuned into the Holy Spirit, and that you can go to. And that wise counsel, that insight, that closeness with God is going to help you more than 10 people's opinion who aren't really in alignment with heaven. Find those people, Naaman's gonna go find Elisha, and then Elisha, who's humble, who's obedient to God, he's gonna send the word to Naaman. Now this is where it gets a little crazy because Naaman isn't used to being guided, and then Naaman doesn't like what he hears. Elijah sends the message very clearly, Naaman, you have leprosy, and the only way you're going to experience the healing, and it'll be from God, and it'll be a cleansing, and it'll be a restoration, is that you need to go to the Jordan River, and you need to dip seven times. When Naaman hears that, he doesn't like it. He thinks, why doesn't this great prophet just come and wave something over me or say something very quickly? And Naaman starts to rationalize and think, there's all these other rivers. Why does it have to be the Jordan? And in his mind, he's saying, no, no, no, no, no. I don't want it, I don't want it, I don't want it. Sometimes God's going to bring direction or a solution in your life, and initially you're going to think, no, no, no. It's not what I wanted, it's not what I planned, it doesn't make sense to me, I don't like it, and you're going to push it away. As you do that, you're pushing away God's direction, you're pushing away God, and you're pushing away God's power. As Jesus showed up in different places, not everyone trusted him, even in his hometown. The perspective is, what good can come from Nazareth? He's just a carpenter. This is Mary and Joseph's son. He didn't do many miracles there. They didn't have faith. He was looking for people who would say yes to following him. And never lose that pure, it's a faith where you're gonna trust Jesus, and you're gonna trust Him with the results, and He's the one you look to, never lose that. Sometimes when people study and study and study, they get filled with knowledge, knowledge puffs up, then they think they know the answers, and they lose that fresh reliance on God. Sometimes, for people who have been at a job for 5, 10, 15 years, they feel like they're the experts, they know it all, and they don't really need to rely on God the same way. Sometimes, for parents, as they're parents for 10, 15 years, they start to think, I've got it figured out, and they stop seeking God, inquiring of God, and being led by the Spirit. That's always a trap. Don't let experience or success or knowledge build up pride, and then you're now resisting the work of the Spirit and the power of God. The power of God will be most evident with people who are most teachable. And as you walk by faith, it's going to include some steps that you didn't want to take initially, you didn't like, it didn't make sense to you, and you've never seen it done before. There's no manual. As Elisha says, seven times in the Jordan. That's not optional. That's from the Lord. That's the command. That's where your healing is. Your healing isn't in the other rivers. It's not in the four dips. It's in the seven dips in the Jordan. God's word is unwavering. And it's a reminder that God's power flows through his spirit and his word. And as you open up the Bible, there might be a lot of things that you wrestle with that you don't like. You might feel some frustration. Why is hell real? Why is heaven real? Why is there one God, three persons, Father, Son, Holy Spirit? Why is prayer and fasting so important? There's just all these things that are counter-cultural. Why do I need God's word so much? It's nourishment for my soul. Like, I don't want a famine in my soul. Why? You know, we think, why, why, why? You can ask that question, and this side of heaven will get some answers. But sometimes it's simply God's thoughts and God's ways are above ours, and we don't fully know. We can't comprehend it all. Think of how much we actually know in this world. If you drew a huge circle with all the knowledge in this world on every topic, I think we'd put like one little dot in how much is in each of our minds. But God knows everything, created everything, sees it all perfectly. So do you see how it's presumptuous, how there's pride when we say, God, you should be living according to my one little dot of knowledge. Forget about the expanse of your knowledge that's thorough and perfect. Forget about your ways and your love, which is greater than mine. God, come into my world and just perform in my little dot of knowledge the way I want you to move. And that's trouble. God isn't forced on our terms. There's no power play with God. We don't say, God, you know, I don't like your word. I don't like your solution. If Naaman says, I'm not dipping in the Jordan River seven times, there won't be a healing for Naaman. There's no other name given to us by which we may be saved, but the name of Jesus. It's through the cross. It's through his shed blood. You might say, well, I don't think there needs to be shed blood for forgiveness. Well, God is holy and someone needed to take our place. Sin's a big deal against a holy God. The wages of sin is death, separation from God. Someone needed to take our place, human, perfect, sinless, and yet God at the same time to overcome death. That makes sense when you combine God's love, His holiness, His justice, His grace. You put it all together and it makes sense. But a lot of people don't like it. They find the gospel offensive. The gospel is good news. Christ died for our sins and He's risen. There's no better news. But for a lot of people, they stumble with that news because they don't want to humble themselves. They want to try to earn their way to heaven. They want to try to save themselves. And God says it won't happen. It's not by works. No one can boast. God is the one who has the final say. Let God be God, and it's our role to respond to Him. That's worship. That's walking by faith, is to respond to God's presence, His love, and His truth. And if you want God's power, be aligned with God's word. If you want God's power in your life, then open up the gates of your heart that the King of glory may come in. Naaman is going to wrestle with this. He doesn't want to do it. But some of his servants come alongside and say, Naaman, if the prophet asked you to do something great, would you not have done it? How much more than when he tells you wash and be cleansed? What his servants are doing is they're having a courageous conversation where they're saying, Naaman, you're gonna miss it. If it was something really difficult to get rid of leprosy, you would do that. But this is not that difficult. To go down to the Jordan and dip seven times, that's doable. Why wouldn't you do it? You see the gift that those servants are? It's a reminder that all of us need people in our lives who hold us accountable. All of us need people who will help us make the right decisions, who will come to our senses. We all have blind spots. And if you're not in your own shoes, if you have a little space and distance, it's really obvious. I mean, have you not looked at someone's life, and it's been so clear, like, you're going down the wrong road. Like, that's not going to end well. And you know it. You see it so clearly. But they don't. And they're convinced, like, this is best. And they just keep going. And that's what the servants see. Naaman's heading away from the Jordan River, where all the healing is. Maybe you have loved ones and you watch them and they're walking away from God. They're walking away from His healing. They're walking not in His ways, but they're going the opposite direction. When you see someone going the wrong way and the bridge is out, speak up. Don't be silent. And that's true for life on earth, and that's true for eternity. When you see someone headed towards an eternity without God, have the courage to speak up. Always be thinking about the other person's best interest. God's power and his words will flow through you. If you're wrapped up in yourself, you'll never do it. Because if you're wrapped up in yourself, it'll be fear that has the final say. You'll stay quiet because you'll think, well, what if they don't like it? What if they don't change? What if they don't respond? What if it doesn't go well? What if they don't like me as much? And you'll have all those fears and then you'll be quiet. It would have been so easy for Naaman's servants here to be quiet and say, well, he's our master. We report to him. He's won a lot of battles. He might not like it. Let's not say anything. And Naaman would have died of leprosy. There's people who are on a path to death, jail. There's people who are on a path to an eternity apart from God, and you see it, and you know it, and it's time to speak up. God's power is gonna flow through your words, and that person might be more teachable than you realize. You might be surprised who listens to you. You might be surprised who changes. You might be surprised who takes it to heart, who later looks back and says, thank you for having the guts to say something. Be like the servants. And at the same time, as we think about Naaman, stay humble, stay teachable. The best idea is probably not going to come from you in a lot of instances. People are going to be giving you good advice. Don't shut them down. Two-way communication. Keep listening. Take it to heart what they're saying. Even your critics are going to bring some truth that's going to be helpful for you. And Naaman, after he hears what they say, He turns around. Repentance is a 180 degree shift. It's when you say yes to God, in God's direction, and you turn from the wrong direction, you turn from sin, and you turn from patterns that are destructive, and you turn from thinking that is off base, and you turn around, and you head towards God, and you head towards healing, and you head towards truth. And Naaman went down to the Jordan River, and he dipped seven times. Not once, not four, not six, all seven times. When God calls you, you go all out. When God gives you a role, an opportunity, go all out. There was a king, and Elisha was talking to the king, and the king had an opportunity for victory, and he had six arrows, and each arrow was an arrow of victory from the Lord. And Elisha the prophet said, shoot the ground, and the king shot the ground with three arrows. And then Elisha rebuked him and said, you should have six arrows on the ground. You should have shot all six, and you would have had the full victory, but now you're only going to have the half victory. I'm encouraging you today to go all out. Go the distance. Don't go five days for God. Don't go six dips and act like it's seven. Don't go three dips and say that's good enough. Go the distance. Your healing is in the distance. Your power from God that's coming is in going the distance. Naaman was not healed after four times. There's going to be so many instances with God where you don't see it, you don't see it, you don't see it, you don't see it, but you stay faithful and then on the final time you're going to see the results. I'm saying God's power is a process and it's often given in incremental ways more than just the monumental. Every time Naaman dips before the seventh time, that's part of the process. That's significant. There's so much progress each time he's dipping, even though there's no results. And the process God is walking Naaman through is that Naaman You don't sit on the throne. Naaman, the whole world is not centered around you. Naaman, you don't have the final say. God has given Naaman victories in battle, Naaman's been valiant, but now leprosy has revealed how much Naaman needs God. And you have areas of your life where they're painful, and they reveal how much you need God. They are sins that you keep going back to, and they reveal how much you need God. It's attitude and comments with pride, and it reveals how much you need God. There's limitations you have physically, emotionally. There's relationship challenges. There's situations in your family that reveal how much you need God. Don't fight. Don't fight against, try to deny how much you need God. Naaman, as he dips seven times, each dip, I need God, I need God, I need God, I need God. It's not gonna be once or twice. It's coming through so clear. And the way God sets it up, it's kind of beautiful because Naaman's not gonna be able to say, oh yeah, look what I did. Look how I healed myself. Naaman's story is gonna be, I didn't know where to turn. a girl helped me, and I went to a prophet. And the prophet gave me instructions I didn't want to take. And then my close servants had the courage to speak up and redirect me. And then I went into the Jordan where I didn't want to go, and I kept dipping, because God said seven times. And when I was finally trusting God, God showed up, and that's how I'm better. That's going to be his story. And Naaman, after the healing, is amazed. And he wants to thank the prophet, Elisha. Bring him a gift, bring him some money. Like when God heals you and God's power moves, you're so grateful, there's an overflow, you wanna bless someone. And he tries to give a gift and give money to the prophet Elisha. And Elisha says, no, I serve the Lord. The Lord doesn't want me to take anything. I'm just doing this to glorify God and I'm being faithful. What a great check on our motives in our heart when we're serving people. Is it an overflowing grace and hope, gratitude for God, that our joy is in being faithful to God and that God is glorified? Do we expect things in return? Be careful about being entitled and expecting things from people. When Jesus gave to us, gave his life, we're never gonna pay back the Lord in full like that. There's just, we're not gonna come close. There's a massive gap between what Jesus did for us and anything we could ever do from Jesus. It's in two different worlds, it's so different. That's how Jesus lived, to serve and not be served. That's the one we imitate. That's our Savior. So when we serve, don't be quick to think, well, what do I get back? What's in it for me? That's not coming from God. And it takes a mature prophet, Elisha, to know that he and what he's doing, it's not linked to anything he's going to get back from Naaman. There are some tricksters. There are some people, some hustlers, who will use God and try and take advantage and take people's money and twist it around and get all the benefits. And no, he's not going to do that. He's not going to have that. And Naaman is content in being faithful, trusting God with the results, and God's providing for him. He doesn't need Naaman's money. Naaman, this is a great ending, Naaman declares the only God is the God of the Israelites. He's the only God. Naaman, through the miracle, has now moved beyond the miracle. The miracle and God's power in your life is not the end goal. The power of God is going to be evident in different parts of your life, but it's designed to draw you closer to God. Don't settle for just the blessings, go to the blesser. And the miracle might be encouraging, might be inspiring, it might be a story you tell for a long time, but don't stop with the miracle. Naaman declares, this God is the great God. He knows that his healing came from God. And he knows that the healing is just one small part of all the miracles and all the power God has. He's now shifted from being self-consumed, in pride, self-reliant, to trusting God, thanking God, praising God. That's the journey, the deeper journey. The miracle was part of the journey. The power of God was part of the journey. And it was part of Naaman changing, his character. changing in terms of some humility, changing in terms of trusting God and being obedient to God. And there's blessings that came from that. Obedience leads to blessings. When Naaman was obedient and Elisha was obedient, the power of God moved and showed up. So we see in this passage, as it ends, and he says, as surely as the Lord lives, you know, the prophet says, I don't expect a thing. And Naaman, even though he wanted to give, He said, okay, and then he just, he turned it into praise. The God of the Israelites, that's the God who he now worships. Let's make sure that God's power in our lives leads us to more worship. God gets to decide how he's gonna distribute, display, and demonstrate his power. That's God's, not ours. It's our role to listen to him, to respond, to trust him. Today, you can make a couple decisions. And I'm telling you, if you want more of the power of God in your life, first of all, align with God's Word. This Word is drenched with power. Start to receive it, live it, believe it. And as you do that, God's power is going to be evident. And then take those courageous steps. God's power is not usually gonna happen when we just sit back and are passive. God's power shows up when we take a step of faith. And whatever God is calling you to do, if it's new, if it doesn't make sense, if it's unusual, whatever that is, what God tells you to do, do it with all your heart. Do it unto the Lord and go the distance. All seven dips for Naaman, go all in with what God's calling you to do. And when he shows up and he changes your life and heals you and blesses other people, give him all the glory and make sure you look beyond just the miracle and the power of God to the God who has all the power. Don't just look to the power of God. Go the distance beyond that to the God of all power. And as you abide with God, that's when you're going to feel most alive, most grateful, most healed. God's power is available for everyone. including the commander of the airman army, including a man with leprosy, including a man who is skeptical, including a man who is stubborn, including a man who resisted at each point, Naaman, if God can move in power in Naaman's life, God can move in power in your life today. God doesn't give us a spirit of timidity, but power and love in a sound mind. I'm telling you, it starts in your relationship with Jesus. Put your trust in Him if you don't know Him as Lord and Savior. And if you do know Him, the Bible says, be filled with God's presence, be filled with the Holy Spirit. Ask God right now to fill you with His Spirit. And then how do you cultivate a habit that's gonna welcome God's power? Start to spend time in the Word and in prayer daily. And as you do that, God's gonna show up. Keep listening to God, keep taking that step of faith, and when God shows up in power, give Him the glory. I'm so grateful we can read name and story together in 2 Kings 5, and your story's significant. So start to share with other people what God has done in your life through his power to bring you peace, to provide for you, to protect you, and let's give God the glory together. This is the bonfire, this is where we grow in our faith, we dive into God's word, we draw close to God, and together, as you put the different embers together and we join together, God builds that fire, that fire grows. It's a fire in our souls, and it comes from God. God is a consuming fire, and it's our joy to know him, walk with him, and glorify him. Tell someone today about the goodness of God, and share this message. If it was encouraging for you, share it with someone else to build them up in how God wants to powerfully move in their lives. We'll see you next week. Thanks for watching!