“Health in Humility and Grief in Greed”

Raising the Cross in a Crumbling Culture

West Side Baptist Church v November 14, 2004

Pastor Scott Thielen

Text: 2 Kings 5:1-27

Idea: God is looking for people who are longing for an extreme makeover of the heart

Introduction

Hook—Fables with morals

When you were a child, you probably learned some well-known children’s stories. These fables have been told to children for generations because parents understand that the most important thing we can give our children is a sense of morality. Right and wrong.

Children without moral foundations can be downright ugly to each other. And we all know people who became adults without ever growing up morally. For instance, here are some moral lessons and the stories that go with them:

The Boy who Cried Wolf… taught us that honesty is always the best policy
The Lion and the Mouse… taught us that compassion can turn enemies into friends
The Three Little Kittens… taught us that responsibility leads to reward and greater responsibility
The Three Little Pigs… taught us to work smart; you need the right tools and the right materials to do a job right
The Tortoise and the Hare… taught us that perseverance makes up for all sorts of disadvantages
The Little Steam Engine…taught us how important it is to have resolve to overcome obstacles
Humpty Dumpty… not really sure what this was about. Don’t fall off of a wall!

And when it comes to learning about beauty, perhaps there is no better known children’s story than The Ugly Duckling by Hans Christian Anderson. The moral of that story is that everyone can be beautiful on the inside.

And that’s what we’re going to explore this morning: the importance of what you’re like on the inside.

In our generation we are witnessing a reality TV revolution. And it’s all about the makeover. Americans are obsessed with makeovers.

A makeover is simply making something over again, starting over, re-doing something.

There are all kinds of makeovers featured on TV…

Home makeovers—there are now more than 30 television series dedicated to real-life makeovers in and outside of the home. We’re in the age of DIY… “do it yourself.”

People are also flocking to “people makeover” shows.

Fashion makeovers like “What Not to Wear” and “The Fashion Police”
Health makeovers like “The Biggest Loser” and
Beauty makeovers like “The Swan.” The show was so popular that a second season was planned. For "Swan 2," over 300,000 women applied, hoping to fulfill "a dream to radically change their lives for the better." Clearly, TV's slice-and-dice makeover shows are making plastic surgery very popular.

And, of course, Hollywood encourages us to be healthy and beautiful by giving us shows like Dallas Reunion: The Return to Southfork, Desperate Housewives, and The O.C. These are the kinds of shows that are supposed to show us what normal people are like. It’s no wonder everyone wants a makeover!

But the show that started it all was “Extreme Makeover.” (Here are some examples)

Each new episode features participants in their "before" phase, then as they undergo their various procedures and, finally, when the end results are revealed to their families and friends. The transformations are accomplished through the skills of an "Extreme Team," consisting of plastic surgeons, dermatologists, eye surgeons and cosmetic dentists, along with a talented team of hair and makeup artists, stylists and personal trainers.

Need/Common Ground

Why are these makeover shows so popular? Because everybody has things they’d like to change about their life. This is like the ultimate experience: to be able to fix what’s wrong in your life.

You may want to change your appearance
You may want to change your home
You may want to change your job
You may want to change your relationships

Transition

God is looking for people who want a makeover, too. But He is more interested in changing what’s on the inside first. God is looking for people who are longing for an extreme makeover of the heart.

This morning we’re going to look at the stories of two men who wanted to radically change their lives. One wanted a physical makeover, and the other a financial makeover. In the end, they got more than they bargained for.

Lessons from Two “Extreme Makeovers” of the Heart

Extreme Makeover #1: Naaman

2 Kings 5:1-19a

The first story is about a powerful man who faced an impossible situation. There are five key people in this story: Naaman (the military leader of Aram or what we would call Syria), a young slave girl, the King of Syria, the King of Israel, and Elisha the prophet. But the lessons are for everyone.

Verse 1

Now Naaman was commander of the army of the king of Aram. He was a great man in the sight of his master and highly regarded, because through him the LORD had given victory to Aram. He was a valiant soldier, but he had leprosy.

Several observations about Naaman:

He was a great warrior
He was a prestigious military leader
He was held in honor by the king and the nation
He was undoubtedly quite wealthy
He had enjoyed victory over Israel (with God’s help, unknowingly)

In spite of his greatness, Naaman learned an important lesson that all of us must learn:

LESSON 1. Everyone—regardless of age, wealth or status—will face impossible challenges in life (5:1)

“Now Naaman was… a great man… but he had leprosy”

Naaman faced a challenge he couldn’t conquer.

He had leprosy. explain leprosy

Application

If you wish you could change something about your life, don’t worry, you’re not alone. This is something we all share in common. What’s important is that you don’t feel sorry for yourself. We all face challenges. They are hard to overcome. And some of them are impossible. That’s exactly what Naaman came to realize.

What Naaman came to understand was that all the power and wealth available to man still cannot solve all your problems.

Take Christopher Reeve, for example. In spite of his great wealth and resolve to overcome his spinal injury, in the end he was helpless against an infection caused by a bed sore. Something that small has greater power than the will to live.

All of us are vulnerable to forces beyond our control. And sometimes God gives us pop quizzes in life to test our faith. When faced with challenges in life, will I trust in God or in something else?

Transition

Well, Naaman was in a tough spot. There’s no doubt that by this time in his life, he had done everything humanly possible to address his problem. And all the things he could try didn’t help. He was desperate. He had run out of options.

At moments like this, at the point of greatest need, when a person realizes that there is no way to avoid this problem, that’s when they need believing friends to step forward and lead the way to God. And somebody did that for Naaman.

LESSON 2. Everyone needs friends who will lead them to God (5:2-9)

“If only my master would see the prophet...”

The amazing thing is to see who became Naaman’s friend.

Naaman is helped by someone else’s faith (5:2-5)

Now bands from Aram had gone out and had taken captive a young girl from Israel, and she served Naaman’s wife. She said to her mistress, “If only my master would see the prophet who is in Samaria! He would cure him of his leprosy.” Naaman went to his master and told him what the girl from Israel had said. “By all means, go,” the king of Aram replied. “I will send a letter to the king of Israel.” So Naaman left, taking with him ten talents of silver, six thousand shekels of gold and ten sets of clothing.

Fortunately for Naaman, he knew someone who cared about him enough to lead him to the one true God. The person who cared enough about Naaman to lead him to God was a young Hebrew girl.

Some time in the recent past, Naaman’s armies had raided northern Israel and—as they often did—took captives. This young girl was taken into slavery by the Syrians, and guess where she worked? In Naaman’s house.

She could have been angry at Naaman.
She certainly could have been bitter.
But instead, she saw his need and knew that what Naaman needed more than anything was the power of the living God.

Application

Isn’t that one of the hardest assignments we have as believers in Christ?

When we’ve been hurt by someone else, when we’ve been mistreated, how many of us are angry and hold a grudge.
Yet Jesus tells us to love our enemies. And that’s exactly what this young girl did. She looked past Naaman’s sin and saw his need for a Savior.
That is why we are called ministers of reconciliation. We have opportunity to lead people to the true and living God. That’s where their deepest needs will be met.

Back in Israel, the prophet Elisha does the same thing for Israel’s King Jehoram. Ironically, unlike the faith of the young slave girl in captivity, the King of Israel had no faith in God. He was an ungodly leader just like his father Ahab and his brother Ahaziah.

The king of Israel has no faith (5:6-7)

The letter that he took to the king of Israel read: “With this letter I am sending my servant Naaman to you so that you may cure him of his leprosy.” As soon as the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his robes and said, “Am I God? Can I kill and bring back to life? Why does this fellow send someone to me to be cured of his leprosy? See how he is trying to pick a quarrel with me!”

The king, when he got this letter from the King of Syria, was a basket-case. Why? Because it was obvious to him that his enemy was picking another military fight with him. He assumed that he was being instructed to heal Naaman. He knew he had no power to do that, and if he failed that it would spark another war.

It never even crossed his mind that that his nation represented the living God. He never once thought of the prophet of God. Because Jehoram was an ungodly man. God wasn’t a part of his life.

But when Elisha learns of the letter and the king’s response, he immediately sends word to the king that God can handle it.

God’s prophet intervenes (5:8-9)

When Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his robes, he sent him this message: “Why have you torn your robes? Have the man come to me and he will know that there is a prophet in Israel.” So Naaman went with his horses and chariots and stopped at the door of Elisha’s house.

Israel’s King had no relationship with God. And so this becomes an opportunity for Elisha to show God’s presence and power in this situation. If God would do something miraculous it would impact Naaman, the whole nation of Syria, and perhaps even the King of Israel.

Transition

So, Elisha tells Naaman exactly what he needs to do. But he forces him to make a choice. But even for a great military leader, making life-changing choices can be harder than you think.

Change requires a choice. And in this situation, Elisha offers Naaman the opportunity to change his life. But it would require a choice.

LESSON 3. Everyone will make life-changing choices (5:10-13)

Elisha tests Naaman’s ability to trust and obey God (5:10-12)

Elisha sent a messenger to say to him, “Go, wash yourself seven times in the Jordan, and your flesh will be restored and you will be cleansed.” But Naaman went away angry and said, “I thought that he would surely come out to me and stand and call on the name of the LORD his God, wave his hand over the spot and cure me of my leprosy. Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than any of the waters of Israel? Couldn’t I wash in them and be cleansed?” So he turned and went off in a rage.

Notice that Naaman is ticked off because of what Elisha did. What did Elisha do?

How Elisha upset Naaman:

§ Elisha disregarded his dignity

“Elisha sent a messenger…”

Elisha didn’t even come out of his house to meet the man. And that didn’t go over very well. Here is the most powerful military leader in the nation of Syria along with his whole entourage, traveling many miles to seek out this prophet. And, like a busy doctor, Elisha sends a prescription out via messenger.

§ Elisha shattered his expectations

“I thought that he would surely… stand and call…wave his hand over the spot…”

“If someone is going to heal you of a disease,” Naaman thought, “it ought to be done a certain way. You know, he should stand in front of me, say a few things, and wave his hand over me. That’s how healing is done, right?”

§ Elisha seemed to insult his intelligence

“Are not… the rivers of Damascus better than any of the waters of Israel?…”

He told him to go wash himself seven times in the Jordan River. OK. So why was Naaman so upset? Because the Jordan was a muddy stream. If he wanted to wash himself he could have done that back in Damascus in the pristine rivers there. Washing in the Jordan made no sense. It was stupid.

So, like so many of us, Naaman storms off in a rage because it all seems so stupid. He is furious, because he came all this way for nothing.

Can you feel his pain? He was faced with a difficult choice.

What was the real choice Naaman was faced with? His choice was this:

Whether to look foolish in front of everyone or keep his image up.
Whether to take a risk and get healed or to stay secure and lose any hope of ever getting better.
Whether to trust God or himself. Ultimately, this was the choice.

1 Corinthians 1:26-27 tells us that God chose the foolish things to shame the wise. We may have to do things that seem foolish to the people around us. But obedience is more important than image. Acceptance by God trumps acceptance by ungodly people.

Would Naaman trust and obey God, even when it seemed foolish? Sometimes God calls us to do things that look foolish to others. We have to choose whom we will serve.

Fortunately for Naaman, he had friends who once again helped him think it through.

Naaman again helped by someone else’s faith (5:13)

Naaman’s servants went to him and said, “My father, if the prophet had told you to do some great thing, would you not have done it? How much more, then, when he tells you, ‘Wash and be cleansed’!”

Basically, his servants point out that if he was willing to come all this way to be healed, why resist Elisha’s offer just because it doesn’t make sense. Maybe there is more to this than he first thought.

Transition

And so, after his servants encourage him to rethink his reaction, Naaman has a change of heart.

It wasn’t just a passive decision to go along with the popular vote, it was a deep change of mind about what Elisha was telling him to do.
His experience and brain were telling him to walk away from it. But his heart began to open up to the possibility that God just might heal him.
But he would have to change his mind and heart about the whole thing. And that’s exactly what he did. He changed his mind, and his heart became open to the living God to change all of him.

And the lesson he learned that day is that…:

LESSON 4. Everyone has the option of an extreme makeover of the heart (5:14-19a)

The makeover of Naaman’s heart has three parts to it. Just like you might work on your body, your clothes, and your attitude, a makeover of the heart involves three dimensions of heart change.

Three dimensions of change:

§ First, you choose to humble yourself before God

Before anything else can happen, you have to change the way you look at God and yourself.

Naaman was an accomplished person. He was self-confident, and a leader. This would require a huge step of faith. He didn’t know a lot about the God of Israel, but he knew that for change to occur he would have to trust this God.

And that’s where true heart change always begins. You have to stop believing in yourself and start believing in God. That change of thinking is what the Bible calls repentance. It means giving up your pride in yourself for a genuine humility before God.

§ Second, you choose to obey God

Notice that Naaman not only humbles himself, but he also chooses to obey God’s instructions. It’s never enough to humble yourself only in your mind. True humility will be seen in your actions.

Verse 14

So he went down and dipped himself in the Jordan seven times, as the man of God had told him, and his flesh was restored and became clean like that of a young boy.

Naaman had to dip into the water not once, not twice, but seven times.

I can imagine that each time he was wrestling with whether to keep going. You can almost hear Satan whispering to him, “You are a fool. OK, you did it twice. That’s enough. If you dip again you will look like that much more of a fool.”
Our test is always to fully obey. And there are so many reasons we find to stop short of going all the way.

Of all the people who had leprosy, it’s interesting that centuries later Jesus mentions only Naaman by name. In Luke 4:27… “there were many in Israel with leprosy in the time of Elisha the prophet, yet not one of them was cleansed—only Naaman the Syrian.”

The point is that most of us are too proud to obey God. Not much has changed.

§ Third, you choose to honor God

Verse 15-19a

Then Naaman and all his attendants went back to the man of God. He stood before him and said, “Now I know that there is no God in all the world except in Israel. Please accept now a gift from your servant.” The prophet answered, “As surely as the LORD lives, whom I serve, I will not accept a thing.” And even though Naaman urged him, he refused. “If you will not,” said Naaman, “please let me, your servant, be given as much earth as a pair of mules can carry, for your servant will never again make burnt offerings and sacrifices to any other god but the LORD. But may the LORD forgive your servant for this one thing: When my master enters the temple of Rimmon to bow down and he is leaning on my arm and I bow there also—when I bow down in the temple of Rimmon, may the LORD forgive your servant for this.” “Go in peace,” Elisha said.

Notice that Naaman’s change of heart was obvious after his skin was completely restored and the leprosy cured. True humility and obedience will result in a changed view of God. You could say that Naaman was cleansed from the inside out.

Transition

Through Naaman’s story, we’ve learned that…

Everyone, no matter how rich or powerful, will face impossible challenges
Everyone needs friends who will lead them to God
Everyone will be faced with life-changing choices
Everyone has the option of an extreme makeover of the heart

And we’ve got one more lesson to learn, and it comes from a man named Gehazi.

Extreme Makeover #2: Gehazi

2 Kings 5:19b-27

The second story is about Elisha’s servant, Gehazi, and how he reacts to Naaman’s healing.

Like Naaman, Gehazi—the servant of Elisha—faced a challenge he couldn’t conquer either

§ Gehazi’s challenge? His obsession: possessions

§ The reason? Gehazi concludes that Naaman doesn’t deserve them, he does.

§ The choice? Will I let this opportunity pass by or will I do whatever it takes to get what I deserve?

§ The spiral downward? Gehazi takes that first step of disobedience, which turns out to be the first step to disaster.

Here are three things he does for himself:

Three steps toward disaster:

§ He thinks for himself

There’s thinking for yourself and thinking for yourself. Gehazi was watching out for #1.

After Naaman had traveled some distance, Gehazi, the servant of Elisha the man of God, said to himself, “My master was too easy on Naaman, this Aramean, by not accepting from him what he brought. As surely as the LORD lives, I will run after him and get something from him.” So Gehazi hurried after Naaman.

§ He lies for himself

When Naaman saw him running toward him, he got down from the chariot to meet him. “Is everything all right?” he asked. “Everything is all right,” Gehazi answered. “My master sent me to say, ‘Two young men from the company of the prophets have just come to me from the hill country of Ephraim. Please give them a talent of silver and two sets of clothing.’” “By all means, take two talents,” said Naaman. He urged Gehazi to accept them, and then tied up the two talents of silver in two bags, with two sets of clothing. He gave them to two of his servants, and they carried them ahead of Gehazi.

§ He lies to cover up the lie for himself

When Gehazi came to the hill, he took the things from the servants and put them away in the house. He sent the men away and they left. Then he went in and stood before his master Elisha. “Where have you been, Gehazi?” Elisha asked. “Your servant didn’t go anywhere,” Gehazi answered. But Elisha said to him, “Was not my spirit with you when the man got down from his chariot to meet you? Is this the time to take money, or to accept clothes, olive groves, vineyards, flocks, herds, or menservants and maidservants?

We didn’t expect to see Gehazi behave this way. This is Elisha’s servant. He’s been right there watching miraculous event after miraculous event. If anyone was convinced God could work in powerful ways, Gehazi had seen it with his own eyes.

Gehazi should have been one of the most spiritually enlightened people of his generation, right? Well, the fact is that experience with God doesn’t guarantee obedience to God.

So what was the problem? Why did he take matters into his own hands instead of trusting God? Because he was selfish. He wanted God’s power to help him, not some outsider army commander from another country. He reasoned that he deserved it. Beware of thinking that you deserve what you haven’t got.

And what are the consequences for Gehazi’s self-centered thinking? He gets what he didn’t ask for.

Gehazi gets what he didn’t ask for

Naaman’s leprosy will cling to you and to your descendants forever.” Then Gehazi went from Elisha’s presence and he was leprous, as white as snow.

His real problem was that Gehazi forgot who God really is. And we are just as vulnerable to make this mistake. The longer we are Christians, the easier it is for us to become comfortable with mediocrity, to become blind to our own sinfulness.

And this is the fifth lesson I want you to consider this morning.

LESSON 5. Everyone is capable of forgetting who God really is

Gehazi forgot about God’s provision. It’s never right to take what belongs to someone else. But you and I are just as vulnerable to the sin of greed. We become greedy when we lose sight of all God has given us.
He also forgot about God’s judgment on sin. God hates sin, and while Christ died to take our punishment on himself, we need to remember that sin does have consequences. The leprosy was the direct consequence for his actions.

It’s a good thing that God doesn’t always give us what we want. We think we know what is best for us, but often what we want is what will hurt us. Gehazi needed his greed removed more than anything.

We don’t know for sure what happened to Gehazi after this point. But this we do know: he learned a personal lesson about the power of God.

All we know is that some years later we find him in the King’s palace telling the King all about God’s power and all the amazing things Elisha had done as God’s anointed prophet. He clearly learned his lesson, and experienced a heart makeover, but he learned it the hard way.

My World

Review

Two men in need of a makeover. Only one got what he hoped for. You can change your circumstances, but that doesn’t mean your life will change. To change your life you have to change your heart.

Both men faced similar opportunities:

1. Each man wanted a makeover. Neither man understood that what they wanted could be found only by trusting God.

2. Each man was given a test.

§ Naaman was encouraged by friends along the way and finally made the right choice. The result was cleansing, healing, and a change of heart. Naaman, by changing his attitude and obeying, passed his test.

§ Gehazi, however, failed his test, in spite of all the advantages he had as Elisha’s servant. Gehazi had the direct encouragement and example of God’s own prophet Elisha, yet in the end, for what he wanted so badly, he was willing to do anything. Even disobey God’s Word. He made the wrong choice, and the result was disastrous.

Application

DIY = Do It Yourself. This is what got Gehazi into trouble. Rather… DIH: Do It Humbly

The lessons of Naaman and Gehazi can be reduced to a simple equation: Challenges + Choices = Consequences.

Here’s the key: to make the right choices, you will need a heart makeover.
Every time you face a serious challenge in your life, you have an opportunity to inspect your heart motivations and invite God to change your dreams and desires.

Challenges in our lives

Take a moment and think about the challenge you are facing.

Everyone is facing a challenge of some kind. What is it?
As you think about that challenge, are you going to trust and obey God or take matters into your own hands?
Challenges in life are unwanted, unexpected and unavoidable. You can’t control some of the challenges that come into your life, but you can control how you respond to them.

Choices we make

Each of us needs to deal with two core challenges to a godly life:

Pride…

Peter writes about it with lots of personal experience:

“Young men, in the same way be submissive to those who are older. All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, ‘God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble’. Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you” 1 Peter 5:5-7 NIV

the antidote to pride is humility before God. Pride leads to destruction (Proverbs 16:18-19). Humility leads to spiritual health and wholeness.

Greed…

Problem of greed: John 12:6 (Judas); Acts 5:3 (Ananias & Sapphira); 1 timothy 3:8-11 (deacons/servants “not pursuing dishonest gain)); 1 Timothy 6:9-10 (warning about wanting more and more money);

Hebrews 13:5 tells us:

“Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, ‘Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you’”

the antidote is gratitude to God. Greed leads to grief. Gratitude leads to contentment.

Consequences of our choices

With each challenge we face, a choice is made. And the choice we make determines the consequences.

Humility (yielding to God’s wisdom and will) leads to health.

--OR--

Pride (a lack of humility) leads to ruin.

Contentment (satisfaction with God’s wisdom and will) leads to security.

--OR--

Greed (a lack of contentment) leads to ruin.

Restatement

Here’s your choice: are you going to focus on a makeover of your circumstances, or a makeover of your heart? Whatever you are looking for won’t be found any other way than by looking to the one true God.

God is looking for people who want a makeover, but He is more interested in changing what’s on the inside first. God is looking for people who are longing for an extreme makeover of the heart.

My Story

There was a time when I had a safe, comfortable Christian life and I wanted to keep it that way.

Patti and I both had growing careers and were quite content to live out the rest of our lives working in the high-tech world of the Silicon Valley.
But God presented me with a challenge, and I was forced to make a choice. Would I allow Him to give me a heart makeover—creating a passion for something else—or not?
After weeks of agony, I finally humbled myself and took the first step of obedience: I shared my heart with my wife.
After she went through the same process, we left our life in California and set out on a journey to devote the rest of our lives to equipping God’s people to live out their faith in the middle of a crumbling culture.

Visualization

What is the challenge you are facing in your life?

Are you ready to invite God to give you a makeover from the inside out?

Think about the amazing things God did through Elisha because of his faith in the living God. What would God do with 700 Elishas in Yakima county? There’s only one way to find out!

PRAY

Makeover Tips for the Heart

Don’t try to cover up your flaws. Like a home makeover, paint won’t actually cover flaws in the walls. Neither can you try to hide the truth about your heart. Don’t try to hide it; get it out in the open and deal with it.
Ask the Lord for two things: humility toward Him and gratitude for all He has done. With these two qualities within, your life will begin to look completely different to those around you. This is perhaps the most practical thing you can do to raise the cross in a crumbling culture.

§ Be like Christ.

§ Ask Him to satisfy your deepest desires.

§ Invite Him to fill your heart and mind with His Word.

§ Become Christ’s hands and feet so that the people around you can see His presence in your life.

Remember that God knows the challenges in your life. And He is going to test you on them. Ask Him to show you what they are, to help you face each challenge and deal with it with a trusting heart, so that you don’t miss out on the future God has prepared for you.

!! Home Group Study Questions

2 Kings 5

Connecting with God’s Family

1. Have you ever watched a “makeover” show on TV? What did you find intriguing about it? Unhealthy? Why do you think people are drawn to shows about changing the appearance of things?

Growing to be Like Christ

2. If leprosy is a picture of sin, what can we find out about sin from these passages: Leviticus 13:45-46; Mark 1:40-42?

3. If verse 2 described someone today, wouldn’t you expect that person to bitterly ask, “God, why did you allow this to happen to me?” What does verse 3 suggest is the reason people respond to life’s challenges in different ways? Compare your answers with 1 Corinthians 1:26-27.

4. From our vantage point in history, what seems to be the reason God allowed the little girl to be taken captive? What light does that throw on the problem of suffering? What passages suggest that our suffering can help others?

5. What promise did Elisha make to Naaman in verses 9-10? Have you ever struggled to obey God in seemingly trivial matters? Why do you think we make obedience such a complicated thing?

6. Initially, Naaman made a common mistake. Jesus mentions a mistake that many people make in John 5:39-40. What is it and why is it still a problem?

7. Jesus mentions Naaman in Luke 4:27 as an example. What is His point?

8. How can our unwillingness to humble ourselves actually deprive us of good gifts from God? What tangible benefits do you see in humbling yourself to do what God requires of you?

Developing Your SHAPE to Serve Others

9. Why would it have compromised the name of God and His prophet if Elisha had accepted payment for Naaman’s healing?

10. What can you do this week to serve someone else without payment? Decide right now on a person and creative way to serve. Share your servant stories next time you get together.

Sharing Your Life Mission with Others

11. How did Naaman learn about the healing powers of the prophet of God? What can we learn from this example about living in a crumbling culture?

12. Do you have a friend who is facing an impossible challenge in his or her life? If so, become God’s friend for this person. Sometimes those with no faith in God need friends to believe for them for a while. You can do two things: pray for their hearts to be open to God, and invite them to seek God’s help.

Surrendering Your Life for God’s Pleasure

13. Are you facing an impossible challenge in your life? If so, lay down your pride and choose to humble yourself before God. He alone can meet your need. If you don’t have an impossible challenge right now, you will. And when it comes, be prepared for how to respond.