A New Start

TODAY'S SPECIAL: 2 Kings 23:19-25

TO CHEW ON: "Neither before nor after Josiah was there a king like him who turned to the Lord as he did – with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his strength, in accordance with all the Law of Moses." 2 Kings 23:25

“Everybody come to the temple. King Josiah has called a special meeting.” Quickly word traveled from house to house. When everyone had gathered, Josiah opened the book that the priests had found. He read aloud all the laws God had given Moses. Then in front of all the people he promised God that he would keep these laws for the rest of his life.

After he had dismissed everyone, he got to work.


Wherever there was an idol, he told his servants to smash it. Wherever there was an Asherah pole, he commanded it be taken down. Wherever there were altars, he broke them. He took down statues that had been dedicated to the sun god and made sure every dish, goblet, utensil or piece of furniture that had been used to worship an idol was taken out of the temple.

Josiah burned the rubbish outside Jerusalem.
Illustration by Annie Vallotton from the Good News Bible
© American Bible Society 1976, 1992, used with permission.

He told the people to get rid of the idols in their homes. He even went to Samaria and destroyed everything to do with idol worship there. Finally the land was cleaned up. Then he called the people together again for a big Passover celebration.

No one before or after Josiah worked so hard at doing what God had said. Always before, the kings had done a half job. They rid the land of some idols and altars. But the ones they left soon lured the people back to idol worship again. Josiah’s thoroughness helped Judah to turn from their old ways and make a new start.

We can clean up our lives like Josiah cleaned up the land. We can name the things we’re sorry for in prayer. We can get rid of things like books, games, music and anything else that will tempt us to again wander away from God. We can be as thorough in our new start as Josiah was.

PRAYER: Dear God, please show me everything that comes between You and me. Help me to rid my life of it. Amen.


MORE: Your new startYou start a new day energetic and fresh from a night’s sleep. You start a new basketball tournament with no losses. You start a new school year with clean books, long pencils, maybe a new backpack and even new clothes. What changes might happen when you make a new start with God:

1. You feel clean inside
2. You sing
3. You feel peaceful
4. You get a different body
5. You feel joyful
6. You make a new set of friends

ANSWERS

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Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture quotations are taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Adult readers - DAILY DEVOTIONS FOR ADULTS  are available too at Other Food: daily devo's. 

A Deathbed Prayer

TODAY’S SPECIAL: 2 Kings 20:1-11

TO CHEW ON: “'Go back and tell Hezekiah, the leader of my people, 'This is what the Lord, the God of your father David says: "I have heard your prayer and seen your tears; I will heal you. On the third day from now you will go up to the temple of the Lord. I will add fifteen years to your life . . ."’” 2 Kings 20:5,6a

Hezekiah was very ill. The doctors expected him to die. Even the prophet Isaiah said, “Put your affairs in order, because you’re going to die.”


But Hezekiah didn’t want to die. As Isaiah left the room, he turned his face to the wall and began to cry. As he wept, he prayed, “God, I’ve tried to please you. I’ve served you wholeheartedly...”

Isaiah wasn’t even out of the palace when God spoke to him again. “Go back inside and tell Hezekiah, ‘I’ve heard your prayer. I’ve seen your tears. In three days you will get better.’” And that’s exactly what happened.


What is the first thing you think of doing when you or someone in your family is sick? Take a pill? Go to the doctor? Do you pray too?

Because Hezekiah prayed, God healed him and lengthened his life. That’s not to say we don’t go to doctors and follow their instructions. Isaiah told the servants to put a poultice (medicine) on the boil that was making Hezekiah sick. But when we’re sick, let’s not forget to pray – to go first to the One who created us and knows more about curing our sicknesses than any doctor.

PRAYER: Dear God, please heal ________ (name of person) from ______ (name of sickness). I thank You! Amen.

MORE: Does God Heal Today?
Some people think that God only healed people from physical sickness in instant and supernatural ways in Bible times. But the Bible tells us to take all our problems, including physical and mental sickness, to God. These words from James remind us that God invites prayers specifically for healing from sickness. You might want to memorize it.

Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven. James 5:14,15

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Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture quotations are taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Adult readers - DAILY DEVOTIONS FOR ADULTS  are available too at Other Food: daily devo's. 

Copying the Wrong Cat

TODAY’S SPECIAL: 2 Kings 17:15-20

TO CHEW ON: "But they would not listen and were as stiff-necked as their ancestors, who did not trust in the Lord their God. They rejected his decrees and the covenant he had made with their ancestors and the statutes he had warned them to keep. They followed worthless idols and themselves became worthless. They imitated the nations around them although the Lord had ordered them, 'Do not do as they do.' " 2 Kings 17:14,15

Israel was in big trouble. It was about thirty years and five kings after Jeroboam II. Shalmaneser king of Assyria had discovered that Israel’s present king Hoshea had secretly made a pact with Egypt. When Hoshea stopped paying the tax that Shalmaneser demanded, he arrested King Hoshea and took him to an Assyrian prison.

Then his army went through the countryside, rounding up the people. When they came to Samaria, the gates were locked. But Shalmaneser had all the time in the world. His army camped outside the city and waited for the people inside to surrender.


The Samaritans hung on for three years. But finally, desperate for food and water, they surrendered. In no time Shalmaneser had rounded up all those people too. He marched all his captives to Assyria. And that was the end of Israel.


Israel had had many chances to return to God. Many prophets had preached, warned and begged her kings and people to destroy their idols and worship God again. Again and again they chose to ignore those warnings. Finally God had had enough. The reason for Israel’s fall is spelled out in today’s reading.

What was the main thing to blame? (2 Kings 17:15):
1. bad crops and famine.
2. a weak army.
3. imitating the idol-worshiping nations around them.
4. a plague of sickness.


We aren’t that different today. Like the Israelites we love to imitate those we admire. It’s not imitation that’s bad, but whom we choose as our models. Let’s be careful to choose models of whom God would approve.

PRAYER: Dear God, help me to choose my models wisely. Amen.


MORE: Pick Someone to Copy
You have been introduced to many Bible characters: Job, Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Rebekah, Jacob, Joseph, Esau, Moses, Joshua, Rachel, Ruth and others. If you were to choose one of them to imitate, who would it be? Why?

ANSWERS


Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture quotations are taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.


Adult readers - DAILY DEVOTIONS FOR ADULTS  are available too at Other Food: daily devo's. 

Jehu's Unfinished Job

TODAY’S SPECIAL: 2 Kings 10:18-29

TO CHEW ON: “So Jehu destroyed Baal worship in Israel. However, he did not turn away from the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, which he had caused Israel to commit – the worship of the golden calves at Bethel and Dan.” 2 Kings 10:28,29

Jehu lost no time getting to work on job the prophet had given him. When Ahab’s son King Joram was recovering from a war injury in Jezreel, Jehu rode there in his chariot and did away with Joram. Next he had Queen Jezebel killed. Finally, he destroyed the worship of the idol Baal.


He did this by tricking all the Baal prophets. He told the people to call them together for a big, big sacrifice. “Ahab served Baal a little,” Jehu said. “I will serve him much. Any Baal prophet who doesn’t show up will be killed.”

When all the prophets had gathered in Baal’s temple, Jehu posted guards outside. “Don’t let anyone escape,” he said. Then he made the sacrifice. And right after that he gave the signal to the guards to destroy every Baal prophet in the temple.

After that was done, Jehu tore down the Baal altar and the temple. In this way he stopped Baal worship in Israel.

But he didn’t go far enough. What did he still allow that was not pleasing to God? (2 Kings 10:28,29) __________


Has God showed you something that needs to change in your life? Maybe, for example, you’ve stolen something in the past. You know that God hates stealing. You decide never to steal anything again. Still you haven't make it right with the person you stole from or returned or paid for the thing you stole. So you haven't finished the clean-up. Don’t be like Jehu and go only partway in obeying God. Instead, finish the job.

PRAYER: Dear God, please help me to finish doing what You ask. Amen.


MORE: Unfinished Projects
Do you have unfinished projects sitting around your room or house?

What are they?

Why didn’t you finish them?

Pick out one unfinished project and determine to finish it. Work on it today.

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Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture quotations are taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Adult readers - DAILY DEVOTIONS FOR ADULTS  are available too at Other Food: daily devo's. 

Payback

TODAY’S SPECIAL: 2 Kings 9:1-13

TO CHEW ON: "You are to destroy the house of Ahab your master, and I will avenge the blood of my servants the prophets and the blood of all the Lord’s servants shed by Jezebel." 2 Kings 9:7


One day after Ahab had died and his son Joram was king, Elisha sent one of the prophets on a special errand. “Take a bottle of oil and go to Ramoth Gilead,” he said. “Find Captain Jehu and secretly anoint him king.”

When the prophet found Jehu at the army barracks he said, “I have a message for you.” They went into the house so they could talk privately. There the prophet poured oil on Jehu’s head and said, “I anoint you king over Israel. You are to destroy all the family of Ahab. This is because Ahab and Jezebel destroyed God’s servants the prophets.” When he was done, the prophet opened the door and ran.

Illustration by Annie Vallotton from the Good News Bible
© American Bible Society 1976, 1992, used with permission.

“What was that about?” Jehu’s fellow soldiers asked when he came out.

Jehu told them what the prophet had said. Then they took off their cloaks and spread them on the floor under Jehu’s feet just like they would for a king. Someone sounded a trumpet and everyone shouted, “Jehu is king!”

At the time of Ahab and Jezebel, it probably seemed to the prophets and other people who followed God that He had forgotten them. But God never forgets. At the right time, He called Jehu to punish Ahab’s family for the bad things they had done.

Has someone hurt you? Are you tempted to get even? Instead, why don’t you ask God to work things out in His way, like He did for the prophets in Israel.

PRAYER: Dear God, I trust You to be fair with me and those who have hurt me. Amen.

SUPERSIZE IT: Revenge - Not Ours to Take
It’s natural to want to get even with those who have hurt us. But if we belong to God, He has promised to take care of revenge for us:

"Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: 'It is mine to avenge; I will repay,' says the Lord." - Romans 12:19

Instead of taking revenge on enemies how should we treat them (Romans 12:20-21)?
1. If our enemy is hungry we should _________
2. If our enemy is thirsty we should __________
3. We should overcome evil with __________

Answers

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Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture quotations are taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Adult readers - DAILY DEVOTIONS FOR ADULTS  are available too at Other Food: daily devo's. 

Good News!

TODAY’S SPECIAL: 2 Kings 7:1-9

TO CHEW ON: "Then they said to each other, 'What we’re doing is not right. This is a day of good news and we are keeping it to ourselves. If we wait until daylight, punishment will overtake us. Let’s go at once and report this to the royal palace.' ” 2 Kings 7:9

What do you do when you have good news?
- Make very sure no one finds out.
- Write about it only in your journal.
- Email, phone, text-message and tell all your friends.

Chances are, you do the last. We all love good news – and love even more to share it with others so they can be happy with us.

Four lepers living outside Samaria didn’t have good news very often. Lately life was even worse than usual because they were starving. Their family members who usually brought them food were locked inside the gates of the city.

Standing guard outside the gates and surrounding the city walls was the army of Aram and King Ben Hadad. He wanted Samaria as his own. He was determined to stay as long as it took to capture the city. He was sure that when the Israeli people and their king got hungry enough, they’d be happy to surrender to him – just to keep from starving.


This day the lepers decided to do more than wait around to die of hunger. Since the only place there was food was in the enemy camp, they would go there. If the enemy killed them, they were as good as dead anyway. But if they soldiers had mercy on them and fed them, they’d have saved their own lives.

When they got to the enemy camp, what a surprise. The place was deserted. There were no people, only tents. Inside the tents were silver, gold, beautiful clothes and FOOD!



The lepers ate till they were full. Then they took some beautiful things and hid them. Suddenly they remembered the people in the city. They were still starving.

“This isn’t right,” they said to each other. “We have to tell the people in Samaria.” So they did. And by that night, no one in the city was hungry any more. Their lives were saved because the lepers remembered to share the good news.

We too have good news. It’s not news about food that gives us physical life. It’s news about how we can have eternal life and live forever in heaven with Jesus. Have you told someone else this good news? Don’t keep the good news to yourself. Tell your family and friends so they can accept Jesus and have eternal life too.

PRAYER: Dear God, thank You for Jesus and the good news of how we can live forever with You. Amen.


MORE: Siege
Samaria was a city surrounded by walls. It was also built on a hilltop. The walls and the view of approaching soldiers made it a hard city to capture.

Ben Hadad, the Syrian king, tried to capture it by putting it under siege. This means his army surrounded the city walls. They blocked the city gates. No traders or farmers could enter with food. He was hoping that when all the food in the city was gone, the starving king and people would give up. Then Samaria would belong to him.

Draw a picture of a city under siege.

(And if you’re puzzling over the mystery of the deserted camp? Read the rest of the story in 2 Kings 7:10-20)

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Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture quotations are taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Adult readers - DAILY DEVOTIONS FOR ADULTS  are available too at Other Food: daily devo's. 

Invisible Army

TODAY’S SPECIAL: 2 Kings 6:8-23

TO CHEW ON: “’Don’t be afraid,’” the prophet answered. ‘Those who are with us are more than those who are with them.’” 2 Kings 6:16

During the time of Elisha, the kings of Aram and Israel were at war. But because God told Elisha where the Aramaens were, and Elisha told the king of Israel, the Israeli king was always getting away.

“Who of you is telling Israel our plans?” the King of Aram demanded of his soldiers.

“No one,” they replied. “It’s Elisha, the prophet. He knows everything – even what you say in your bedroom.”

“Capture him,” The king commanded. He sent a large force of soldiers on horses to arrest Elisha. They came at night and surrounded Dothan, the city where Elisha was staying.

The next morning when Elisha’s servant got up, he saw the army around the city. “My lord, what shall we do?” he asked Elisha.

“Don’t be afraid,” Elisha replied. Then he prayed, “God, open his eyes.”

In the next instant the servant saw that the hills surrounding the city were full of horses – and these weren’t the enemy’s horses. They were surrounded by chariots of fire. God’s army of angels was all around, protecting Elisha and the servant.


Help tell the end of the story by choosing the right answer to each question.
1. What happened as the Aram army came toward Elisha ? (2 Kings 6:18)
a] soldiers threw spears at Elisha.
b] the servant screamed for help.
c] Elisha prayed and the soldiers became blind.

2. Where did Elisha lead the army? (2 Kings 6:19)
a] Jerusalem.
b] Bethlehem.
c] Samaria.


3. What did Elisha tell the king of Israel to do with the army? (2 Kings 6:22)
a] feed them.
b] kill them.
c] put them in prison.

4. Then what happened? (2 Kings 6:23)
a] the Aramaeans captured Elisha.
b] Aram stopped their raids on Israel.
c] Elisha and his servant sneaked out of the city.

PRAYER: Dear God, thank You for stories of Your protection. Please protect me today. Amen.

Illustration by Annie Vallotton from the Good News Bible
© American Bible Society 1976, 1992, used with permission.

MORE: Angel Protection
Many verses in the Bible talk about angels.
Three of them are:
Psalm 34:7, Matthew 18:10, Hebrews 1:14

Which is your favorite?
Draw a picture of what you think an angel might look like. Write your favorite angel verse under the picture. Then thank God for the protection of angels today.

Answers

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Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture quotations are taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Adult readers - DAILY DEVOTIONS FOR ADULTS  are available too at Other Food: daily devo's. 

Greedy Lying Gehazi

TODAY’S SPECIAL: 2 Kings 5:15-27


TO CHEW ON: “When he went in and stood before his master, Elisha asked him, 'Where have you been, Gehazi?'
'Your servant didn’t go anywhere,' Gehazi answered" - 2 Kings 5:25

Naaman offers gifts to Elisha

After he had left, Elisha’s servant Gehazi couldn’t get the thought of Naaman’s gifts out of his mind. My master was too easy on Naaman, he thought. But I’d sure like some of those things.

He ran after Naaman’s carriage, caught up to it and said, “My master has changed his mind. He has visitors and could use some of your gifts.”

“No problem,” Naaman said. He loaded two servants with many pounds of silver and two new sets of clothes.

When they came near to Elisha and Gehazi’s house, Gehazi took the things from Naaman’s servants and sent them back. Then he hid the clothes and money in his room before he went to wait on Elisha.

“Where have you been?” Elisha asked him.
1. What did Gehazi answer? (2 Kings 5:25 ) ____________

He should have been smarter than to try and hide anything from God’s prophet. For God had told Elisha exactly what had happened. “Didn’t I see you when you approached Naaman’s carriage?” Elisha asked. “This isn’t the time to collect stuff.”

2. Then Elisha told Gehazi what his punishment would be. What? (2 Kings 15:27) _______
Gehazi learned the hard way that it never pays to tell a lie.

PRAYER: Dear God, I can never fool you with a lie. Help me to learn that. Amen.

MORE: Old Lies
Have you ever told a lie and got away with it? Are you sure there is no one who knows about the lie you told?

Though you may never get found out the way Gehazi did, there is Someone who knows. God. And His opinion about lying is clear. He doesn’t approve of it and tells us in Proverbs that our unconfessed lies will eventually be punished (Proverbs 19:5,9).

Here are some things you can do to take care of old lies.
1. Admit they are sin and confess them to God.
2. Confess those lies to the people you lied to.
3. Ask God to help you recognize and overcome the habit of lying – in both words and actions.

Answers


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Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture quotations are taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Adult readers - DAILY DEVOTIONS FOR ADULTS  are available too at Other Food: daily devo's. 

A Little Girl's Big Love

TODAY’S SPECIAL: 2 Kings 5:1-14

TO CHEW ON: “Now bands of raiders 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.' ” 2 Kings 5:2,3

Suppose you were a little girl who, one day, was captured by enemy soldiers. They took you far away from home. Alone in a new country, you had to work for the people who captured you. This was what happened to the little Israeli girl who worked for Captain Naaman’s wife.

One day she noticed her mistress was very sad. “What’s wrong?” she asked.

“My husband has leprosy,” Naaman’s wife answered.

Now the little girl could have been selfish. She could have thought, this man’s soldiers took me away from my parents. He deserves to be sick. But that wasn’t her attitude. Instead she thought about how she could help Captain Naaman. And she thought of prophet Elisha. He did amazing things. He had even raised a little boy from the dead.

“If only my master could see the prophet who is in Samaria,” she said. “He would cure him of his leprosy.”


Naaman’s wife told this to Naaman. Soon he was on his way to find the prophet.

When he came to Elisha’s house, Elisha sent his servant with a message telling Naaman what to do: “Go wash yourself seven times in the Jordan.”


This instruction made Naaman furious. He thought the least Elisha would do was come out, pray and wave his hands over his leprosy. He wanted to turn around and go home. But his servants convinced him to do as the prophet had said.

Sure enough. After seven-dips in the Jordan, Naaman was healed! Because a little girl loved others – even her enemies – more than herself, God healed an army captain of leprosy.


PRAYER: Dear God, please help me to love others more than myself. Amen.

MORE: Leprosy
Leprosy was one of the most dreaded diseases in Bible times. There was no cure for it. It was also very contagious (spread easily from person to person). For that reason, a person who had leprosy had to move away from family and friends so their loved ones wouldn’t get sick too. They had to live alone or in colonies with other lepers.

Find out more about leprosy (now usually called Hansen’s disease) from books or the internet.
1. Do people still get leprosy?
2. Are there medicines to cure it?
3. How can you tell if a person has leprosy?
4. Find out about Father Damien, a missionary to lepers in Hawaii.

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Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture quotations are taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Adult readers - DAILY DEVOTIONS FOR ADULTS  are available too at Other Food: daily devo's. 

Death In Shunem

TODAY’S SPECIAL: 2 Kings 4:27-37

TO CHEW ON: "He went in, shut the door on the two of them and prayed to the Lord." 2 Kings 4:33

Elisha and his servant Gehazi did a lot of traveling. One day they went to Shunem. A rich woman there invited them for a meal in her house. Then, knowing Elisha often traveled to Shunem, she and her husband fixed up a room for Elisha and his servant. Now every time they came to town, they had a place to stay.

One day Elisha asked the woman, “After all you’ve done for us, what can we do for you?”

“I have everything I need,” she said.

“She doesn’t have any children,” Gehazi said to Elisha after she had left.

“Right,” said Elisha. “Call her back.”

When the woman came, Elisha said to her, “By this time next year, God will give you a son.”

Sure enough, a year later, she had a baby boy. She had never been happier! But one day, when the little boy was with his dad, he got sick. “My head! My head!” he cried. Servants carried him home. But a little while later he died.


Immediately his mother saddled a donkey and went to find Elisha. If anyone would know what to do, he would. When she found him, she persuaded him to go back with her.

When Elisha got to the house in Shunem he went into the room where the little boy lay.

He was still and cold. Elisha closed the door and prayed to God. After a while, he lay on top of the little boy. Slowly Elisha felt him grow warm. Finally he sneezed, seven times, and then opened his eyes.

Elisha called the Shunamite woman in. He gave her little boy back to her, alive again. She couldn’t thank Elisha or God enough for the miracle of her dead little boy – come back to life.


PRAYER: Dear God, thank you for Your power over death. Amen

MORE: A Promise
Has someone close to you died – a grandparent, uncle, friend, brother, sister or parent? Perhaps you prayed before they died that God would keep them alive. Maybe you prayed after they died that God would make them live again.

Though God has the power to raise people from death, He often doesn’t. And so we experience death. It is a sad, sad time.

But Jesus has won the final war over death. And we know that someday, because of Jesus, we will again see our loved ones who have died. It’s a Bible promise you might want to memorize.

"For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable,* and we will be changed." - 1 Corinthians 15:52.

* ‘imperishable’ means a body or form that won’t decay or die. It will last forever.

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Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture quotations are taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Adult readers - DAILY DEVOTIONS FOR ADULTS  are available too at Other Food: daily devo's. 

What Do You Have?

TODAY’S SPECIAL: 2 Kings 4:1-7

TO CHEW ON: "Elisha replied, 'How can I help you? Tell me, what do you have in your house?'
'Your servant has nothing there at all,' she said, 'except a small jar of olive oil.'” 2 Kings 4:2

Elisha became a leader among the prophets like Elijah was before him. One day the wife of a prophet who had died came to Elisha with a big problem. “My husband owed a man some money,” she said. “Now that man says if I don’t pay back the debt, he’ll make my sons his slaves.”

“What do you have in your house?” Elisha asked.

“Only a little oil,” the woman replied.

“Here’s what to do,” Elisha said. “Send your boys out to gather oil containers. Collect as many as you can. Then close the door of your house and fill all those containers with the oil you have.”

How would she ever fill even one container with the little bit of oil she had, the woman wondered. Yet she did as Elisha said. After her sons had collected bottles, jugs and jars of all shapes and sizes from the neighborhood, they began to fill them. And an amazing thing happened. The oil never ran out – at least not till the very last container was full.


Excited, she went back to Elisha and told him what had happened.

“Now go sell that oil,” he said to her. “Use the money you get to pay your debt. Keep what’s left over to live on.”

Because the widow did what Elisha told her with the only thing she had, God gave her what she needed, and more.

What do you have? Give it to God and watch him multiply it too!

PRAYER: Dear God, help me to give myself and the things I have to You. Amen.


MORE: A What’s-in-your-house Collage
Make a collage of things you have in your house (no going out and buying supplies allowed).

- What you need:
Collage backing: cardboard cut from cereal boxes, packaging, cardboard boxes etc.
Collage materials: colorful magazine pictures, dried beans, seeds, rice, macaroni, buttons, sequins or glitter, shells etc.
Paste or glue: If you don’t have any in your house, make a paste with flour and water.
Scissors for cutting paper, or use your fingers to tear the paper into the shapes you want.

- What you do:
Arrange and glue materials onto the cardboard backing.
Display your collage in a place where you’ll see it often. Let it remind you that God can use the things you already have.

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Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture quotations are taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.


Adult readers - DAILY DEVOTIONS FOR ADULTS  are available too at Other Food: daily devo's. 

Double Strength

TODAY’S SPECIAL: 2 Kings 2:1-15

TO CHEW ON: "When they had crossed, Elijah said to Elisha, 'Tell me what I can do for you before I am taken from you?'
'Let me inherit a double portion of your spirit,' Elisha replied." 2 Kings 2:9

One day as Elijah and Elisha were walking down the road, Elijah said, “God has told me to go to Bethel. But you stay here.”

Elisha had a strange feeling about this day. Somehow he knew that Elijah wouldn’t be with him much longer. He wanted to spend every minute he could with this incredible man. “No,” he replied. “I want to go with you.”

After spending some time in Bethel Elijah said “Now God is sending me to Jericho. You stay behind.”

But Elisha wouldn’t. He walked with Elijah to Jericho.

After they had visited the prophets in Jericho, Elijah said, “Now God is telling me to go to the Jordan, but you stay here.”

“I will not leave you,” Elisha replied.

When they got to the Jordan River, Elijah took off his robe, rolled it up and struck the water. Instantly it parted and the two men walked to the other side on dry ground.

“What can I do for you before God takes me away?” Elijah asked Elisha.

What should he ask for, Elisha wondered. He knew he didn’t want money or fame or nice things. What he wanted more than anything else was to be just like Elijah. “I want a double portion of your spirit,” Elisha answered.

“That’s a hard thing,” Elijah replied “You’ll get that only if you see God take me away.”

Then, as they were walking along, out of no where a chariot of fire and fiery horses appeared. In the next instant Elijah was swept away on the chariot and out of Elisha’s sight.



“My Father! My Father!” he called out. But Elijah was gone. All that was left was his robe. Elisha picked it up and walked back the way they came. When he got to the Jordan, he did just as Elijah had done. The water parted just like before.

Prophets watching on the other side of the Jordan saw what happened. “Elijah’s spirit is on Elisha,” they said. When they met him they promised to serve him like they had served Elijah.

Elijah wanted God’s best in his life. Because he had the determination and courage to go after it, God blessed him by answering his request.

PRAYER: Dear God, please put in my heart and mind to go after Your best for me. Amen

MORE: Mentors and Models
When Elisha got to know Elijah, he wanted to be like him. When Elijah asked Elisha what he wanted as a parting gift, more than money, nice things or popularity he wanted God’s power in his life just like he had seen it in Elijah.

Is there a Bible character, or a person that you’ve read about in a book, or someone you know of whom you would say, ‘I’d like to be just like that person?
Who is it?
Why do you want to be like that person?

You can pray that God will give you the godly qualities you see in their lives.

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Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture quotations are taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.


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