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“So Elisha said to her, “What shall I do for you? Tell me, what do you have in the house?” And she said, “Your maidservant has nothing in the house but a jar of oil.” (2 Kings 4:2 NKJV)
While the poor and desperate widow in the book of 2 Kings 4 verses 1-7 was running helter-skelter, desperately seeking deliverance from the creditor who was coming to enslave her two sons, unknown to her, God’s provision for her rescue was in her house (symbolized by a jar of oil).
The poor woman despised and abandoned God’s provision in her house in sheer ignorance. But when her eyes of understanding were opened, she appropriated this God’s provision and thus settled her debt in full and became free from the fear and harassment of the creditor.
Similarly, ignorance of God’s provision (grace) through the Lord Jesus Christ and lack of faith to appropriate what the Lord Jesus Christ has done and provided for all humanity through His death on the cross keeps many people in bondage to Sin and Satan.
The vast price that Jesus Christ paid through His atoning sacrifice on the cross has redeemed the whole world from captivity or slavery to Sin and Satan (1 John 2:2). This is the good news to proclaim to all sinners or spiritual debtors!
The sacrificial death of Jesus Christ on the cross is God’s provision to redeem the whole world from slavery to Satan. The sin debt of the entire human race has been paid in full by the precious blood of our Lord Jesus Christ.
It is not only the debt of the present believers in Christ that has been paid for in full but the debt of the whole world (the multitude of unbelievers). Christ tasted death for everyone (Heb. 2:9).
1 John 2:1-2 – NKJV
1 My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.
2 And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world.
As a result of the atoning sacrifice of Christ on the cross, salvation is now freely available to all men. Christ has completely wiped out all humanity’s sin-debt (Col. 2:14).
Therefore, everyone in the world can be saved, redeemed, or delivered from the captivity of Satan. This is why the Scripture states that God “desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” (1 Tim. 2:4 NKJV).
Although the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men in and through Christ Jesus, not all men have received or appropriated it by faith, and therefore, not all men are saved or redeemed from the captivity of Satan.
While it is true that salvation is available as a gift to all men, it is only those who receive the gift of salvation by faith in the person of Jesus Christ and His finished work that will enjoy the benefits of salvation, including freedom from the bondage, oppression, harassment or fear of Satan.
When Elisha had helped this poor and desperate woman discover God’s provision at her disposal to settle her debt and given her specific instructions on how to appropriate the divine provision, the woman returned home in faith to appropriate God’s provision (grace). She thus became entirely and permanently free from the threat and fear of her creditor.
2 Kings 4:5-7 – NKJV
5 So she went from him and shut the door behind her and her sons, who brought the vessels to her; and she poured it out.
6 Now it came to pass, when the vessels were full, that she said to her son, “Bring me another vessel.” And he said to her, “There is not another vessel.” So the oil ceased.
7 Then she came and told the man of God. And he said, “Go, sell the oil and pay your debt; and you and your sons live on the rest.”
Today, many believers are still languishing or pining away in sinful habits, sickness, poverty, failure, debt, fear, worry, or anxiety simply because of a lack of revelation knowledge of God’s grace and a lack of spiritual understanding of how to appropriate God’s grace by faith.
The riches of God’s grace are immeasurable, unlimited, and inexhaustible. God’s grace or provision available to us in and through Christ is infinitely greater than all our needs, problems, or challenges (Eph. 2:7). God’s grace is abundantly sufficient for us (2 Cor. 12:9). But it takes proper spiritual understanding and faith to appropriate and enjoy it.
Like the jar of oil in the woman’s house, the Holy Spirit is here on earth, dwelling in every believer and among the believers. The Holy Spirit is here to reveal God’s grace (the Lord Jesus Christ) to us increasingly so that we may see, know, and experience Him increasingly.
The Lord Jesus clearly states the mission of the Holy Spirit.
John 16:14-15 – NKJV
14 “He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you.
15 “All things that the Father has are Mine. Therefore I said that He will take of Mine and declare it to you.
Beloved, it is as you grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ through the help of the Holy Spirit that you will be able to appropriate, experience, and enjoy increasingly “the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.” (Eph. 2:7 NKJV).
You will only experience and enjoy the riches of God’s grace in Christ according to your revelation knowledge of Christ and your faith in Christ and His finished redemptive work (2 Peter 1:1-2).
In our text, the poor and desperate woman despised God’s provision because she didn’t know its significance. Similarly, many debtors or sinners today also despise God’s grace simply because they are ignorant of the importance of what Christ, by His death on the cross, has done for them.
It is vital for those who have tasted God’s grace and goodness to share the good news in love with those who have yet to understand its significance.
While the oil remained in the jar, it was despised, abandoned, and irrelevant to the woman. But when it was emptied into many suitable vessels, the woman could now appreciate its significance.
Likewise, until the Holy Spirit fills, manifests, and flows in and through suitable human vessels (believers), sinners or debtors to Sin and Satan in our generation will not appreciate the Holy Spirit or experience the power of the Holy Spirit (John 14:7).
Friend, although the Holy Spirit is here on a mission to deliver, rescue, and save sinners (debtors to Sin and Satan), the Holy Spirit needs you as a vessel to fill, flow, and work through.
Therefore, the Lord is calling you today to yield yourself increasingly to the Holy Spirit to work in you and flow through you to save, heal, and deliver the debtors or captives of Satan in this generation.
Prayer:
My Dear Heavenly Father, I consecrate my life to You today. Dear Holy Spirit, work mightily in me and through me to save, rescue, and deliver spiritual debtors that Satan is dragging to eternal damnation in my generation, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Our mandate is to Preserving the Faith of the Apostolic Generation.
Eniyekpemi Fidelis Oyinpreyebi.
AWH, Blogs.
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