We had many questions this past Sunday. Some were similar enough that they were combined. At any rate, we love your questions and if you need further clarification just drop us a line in the comments section below.
How can I tell if something is a blessing or just my own impatience?
Let’s assume you are presented with a financial opportunity and you are wondering if you should accept it or not. Is it a blessing or are you being impatient? In situations like this it is good to ask a spiritually mature friend, mentor, or pastor. The only way someone can reliably know for sure if they are being impatient is if they are truly honest with themselves. Let’s face it sometimes we’re not honest with ourselves. A guy who is desperate for a wife and has never had success at landing a date starts dating the first girl that shows him attention. He thinks to himself, “Is this a blessing or am I being impatient?” Some may say it’s a blessing, while others may conclude he is being impatient. This is where the help of a trusted, spiritually mature mentor or pastor proves invaluable.
I thought generational curses were broken when Jesus died on the cross?
Pastor Conway is defining a curse as a sinful habit that one does, that becomes the tendency of a child. Our sinful habits were broken at the cross in the sense that they do not keep us from receiving eternal life. Curses have no effect on Christians when it comes to their eternal destiny. However, curses do negatively impact our daily lives. Sinful habits can destroy relationships, families, and entire churches. This is something we must continue to work towards overcoming. Thank God we don’t have to do it alone (John 14:16).
In the sermon Pastor Conway said Gehazi was one of the men with leprosy in 2 Kings 7:3-9 but the text does say who the leprous men were.
In 2 Kings 5 we are introduced to Gehazi who at the time was a servant of the prophet Elisha. Elisha, heals the captain of the Aram army, Naaman. But when Naaman tried to pay Elisha (somewhere around 1.2 million dollars) for healing him, Elisha refused payment. Gehazi is observing all of this and crafts a genius plan (sarcasm) to get some of Naaman’s money. He ends up not only getting money from Naaman but clothes too. Elisha finds out what he did and gives him leprosy. You can get the finer details in 2 Kings 5:20-27.
Fast forward to 2 Kings 7:9 where the leprous men are raiding the camp of the Aramean army taking food as well as money and clothes. One of the leprous men realizes that what they are doing is not right. Perhaps the author is giving us a clue that this man is Gehazi who realizes that the very thing he is now doing is the reason he now has leprosy. Further, the man who speaks is stealing the same type of items that Gehazi stole.
You are correct in observing that the text does not clearly state Gehazi is one of the four leprous men. Perhaps you would agree that the author gives us enough clues to make a safe assumption.
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