Annie had some thoughts about the ax head passage found in 2 Kings. When she shared them with me, the Holy Spirit began speaking…How beautiful the Holy Spirit is. So beautiful.
1 The disciples of the prophets said to Elisha, “The place where we’re staying is too small for us. 2 Let’s go to the Jordan River. Each of us can get some logs and make a place for us to live there.”
Elisha said, “Go ahead.”
3 Then one of the disciples asked, “Won’t you please come with us?”
Elisha answered, “I’ll go.”
4 So he went with them. They came to the Jordan River and began to cut down trees. 5 As one of them was cutting down a tree, the ax head fell into the water. He cried out, “Oh no, master! It was borrowed!”
6 The man of God asked, “Where did it fall?” When he showed Elisha the place, Elisha cut off a piece of wood. He threw it into the water at that place and made the ax head float. 7 Elisha said, “Pick it up.” The disciple reached for it and picked it up.
2 Kings 6:1-7
Whether we’re aware of it at the time or not, fear and oppression are always trying to influence and intimidate us. They’re always working to get a foot in the door in our lives. The father of lies is constantly seeking to devour us, to get us to doubt God and His Word, to begin to disbelieve The Truth, to make us ineffective in our witness, to pressure us, to shut us up and to leave us scared, and feeling weaponless, spiritually. On the other hand, God is also trying to build us up and to expand us in Him, in Who He is, in the power of His might.
You’re living life and having a “normal” day when something comes up that robs you of your ax head, of who you are in The Lion of Judah. You sense you can’t go on without it. The work God has you doing gets temporarily suspended because you’ve lost your identity in Christ.
The ax head. Hmmm, where did we lose or leave our ax head? When did we stop trusting in God’s sovereignty, and stop believing that He really is in control. Try to remember where and when we last had the ax head. God always calls Ann and me back to into His care for us, His peace, rest and joy – it’s our ax head. It’s amazing how many times we’re tempted to get off of God’s peace, rest and joy in our lives. The enemy will try to have us react to circumstances with fear, intimidation, our own understanding, in our own remedies, etc. All we ever need to do is get back to relying on the Holy Spirit and Jesus Who remind us again that They’re still with us, still in control, and that we can simply rest in Their love for us as They work all things together for our good.
What wonderful, matchless, almighty, powerful, priceless love, comfort and joy. There is so much supernatural strength in the Holy Spirit. When we remember to get back in Him, we re-enter the all-valuable dwelling place of the Most High. Nothing like sinking back into His all-caring, soothing, protective Presence. There is no place like the place in The Lion of Judah.
Forgot who you are in Christ? Ask Him to show you where the ax head He gave you for your life is. He’ll always direct you back to it, back to who you are in The Lion of Judah.
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He who finds a wife finds a good thing,
And obtains favor from the Lord.
Proverbs 18:22
The other day, I was tired and started to have some heavier, downward-spiraling thoughts. Ann recognized something was going on (that I was being bullied by lies), but I told her it was simply that I was tired after not sleeping well for a couple of nights. Finally, the next day, I saw what the enemy was up to and rebuked him out loud, got out the 91st Psalm and began putting God’s Truth back in me to dispel the darkness that was trying to get me off track and down. Ann told me if it was merely being tired, why were my thoughts not peaceful thoughts instead of the restless thoughts I was having? I’m so thankful for my discerning wife. What a blessing she is in my life. Thank You, Jesus, for blessing me with Annie and her incredible love and support.
God is so good. He’s so faithful.
God bless you all today, mighty ones. ☺
Mark
Note: While we may not agree with everything a particular church or Christian group teaches or believes, there are times when we can be blessed by something outside the realm of our current understanding of God.