Open Heaven 19 April 2022
MEMORISE: Mark 10:47 – And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out, and say, Jesus, thou son of David, have mercy on me.
BIBLE READING: 2 Kings 5:1-19
Naaman, commander of the army of the king of Syria, was a great man with his master, accepted [and acceptable], because by him the Lord had given victory to Syria. He was also a mighty man of valor, but he was a leper.
2 The Syrians had gone out in bands and had brought away captive out of the land of Israel a little maid, and she waited on Naaman’s wife.
3 She said to her mistress, Would that my lord were with the prophet who is in Samaria! For he would heal him of his leprosy.
4 [Naaman] went in and told his king, Thus and thus said the maid from Israel.
5 And the king of Syria said, Go now, and I will send a letter to the king of Israel. And he departed and took with him ten talents of silver, 6,000 shekels of gold, and ten changes of raiment.
6 And he brought the letter to the king of Israel. It said, When this letter comes to you, I will with it have sent to you my servant Naaman, that you may cure him of leprosy.
7 When the king of Israel read the letter, he rent his clothes and said, Am I God, to kill and to make alive, that this man sends to me to heal a man of his leprosy? Just consider and see how he is seeking a quarrel with me.
8 When Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had rent his clothes, he sent to the king, asking, Why have you rent your clothes? Let Naaman come now to me and he shall know that there is a prophet in Israel.
9 So Naaman came with his horses and chariots and stopped at Elisha’s door.
10 Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored and you shall be clean.
11 But Naaman was angry and went away and said, Behold, I thought he would surely come out to me and stand and call on the name of the Lord his God, and wave his hand over the place and heal the leper.
12 Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? May I not wash in them and be clean? So he turned and went away in a rage.
13 And his servants came near and said to him, My father, if the prophet had bid you to do some great thing, would you not have done it? How much rather, then, when he says to you, Wash and be clean?
14 Then he went down and dipped himself seven times in the Jordan, as the man of God had said, and his flesh was restored like that of a little child, and he was clean.
15 Then Naaman returned to the man of God, he and all his company, and stood before him. He said, Behold, now I know that there is no God in all the earth but in Israel. So now accept a gift from your servant.
16 Elisha said, As the Lord lives, before Whom I stand, I will accept none. He urged him to take it, but Elisha refused.
17 Naaman said, Then, I pray you, let there be given to me, your servant, two mules’ burden of earth. For your servant will henceforth offer neither burnt offering nor sacrifice to other gods, but only to the Lord.
18 In this thing may the Lord pardon your servant: when my master [the king] goes into the house of [his god] Rimmon to worship there, and he leans on my hand and I bow myself in the house of Rimmon, when I bow down myself in the house of Rimmon, may the Lord pardon your servant in this thing.
19 Elisha said to him, Go in peace. So Naaman departed from him a little way.
Read yesterday’s Open Heaven Devotional here
Testimonies are powerful – so powerful that they can birth many other great things. Whenever you lock up your testimony in your heart and refuse to share it, you have no idea how many other great things you are actually locking up. In the Bible reading for today, the little girl had every reason to keep her mouth shut being a mere slave, but she shared the testimony of the awesome power of her God. That simple testimony birthed many more which include the healing of Naaman and his conversion from serving idols to worshipping the Most High God.
It was the testimonies Bartimaeus had heard in the past that birthed his own testimonies (Mark 10:46-52). When you share your testimony, you are helping to raise the faith of other people to also receive a miracle from God. I remember when I just joined the Redeemed Christian Church of God and I would hear people talk about the healing power of the Lord. I found it hard to believe that one could get healed without medication. In fact, my thought was, “You people have shown me the way to heaven; please don’t try to get me there faster than necessary”. However, one day, I saw an old man who was always bent double due to a disease, standing and walking upright. I was shocked, so when it was announced that he would be sharing his testimony of divine healing at the evening service, I was the first to arrive. By the time I heard his testimony, my faith arose and I also began to walk in divine health from then. Your testimony is a link to someone else’s testimony, so don’t hide it.
Secondly, testimonies draw people to become members of the Kingdom of God. Jesus said in John 4:48 that some people will not believe the gospel unless they see signs and wonders.
Share your testimonies with unbelievers, let them know how great your God is, let them realise what they are missing when they refuse to surrender their lives to Him. The young girl in the Bible reading today shared her testimony with unbelievers and ended up winning them to God. Your testimony may be all that you need to win that fellow in your office or neighbourhood to Christ; be sure to share it today.
PRAYER POINT: Share a testimony of God’s goodness and power with at least one unbeliever today. You can even do it on social media.
BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: 2 Kings 5, 2 Kings 6, 2 Kings 7
Thank you for studying today’s Open Heaven – Testimonies Birth More Testimonies – written by Pastor Enoch A.
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Open Heaven 19 April 2022
