In this hour we as leaders must remember to humble ourselves and remember we are not greater than our Lord and Savior. Jesus was persecuted and we will be as well. So many Christians are falling away and stumbling due to do offenses. In Matthew 11:6 states, "And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me". One of the greatest men in the bible and the only one that had a double portion anointing was the prophet, Elisha. He is famous for his ability to believe God for a double portion of his master’s anointing, the notorious Prophet Elijah. However, we never hear much about the day, Elisha got in his feelings and was mocked.
How do we manage when we are mocked?
Let’s go ring Elisha’s doorbell and see what he did.
2 Kings 2:23 And he went up from thence unto Bethel: and as he was going up, there came forth little children out of the city, and mocked him, and said unto him, go up, thou bald head; go up, thou bald head.
24 And he turned back, and looked on them, and cursed them in the name of the Lord. And there came forth two she bears out of the wood, and tare forty and two children of them.
He cursed the children in the name of the Lord. What are we doing in the name of the Lord and justifying it as God? This was bad.
The Old Testament prophets weren’t even filled with the holy spirit and operated in this type of power. How much more of the power of God could we operate out of now after the filling of the holy spirit? The word tells us that life and death are in the power of the tongue. If we rewind just two verses before these two, we will see God honoring his word for good.
2 kings 2:21 And he went forth unto the spring of the waters, and cast the salt in there, and said, thus saith the Lord, I have healed these waters; there shall not be from thence any more death or barren land.
22 So the waters were healed unto this day, according to the saying of Elisha which he spake.
Notice how the Lord honored his word whether good or bad. What are we saying and causing people to be blessed or cursed? We as leaders will give an account for the things we say. Elisha cursed forty-two children, and two bears came out of a cave and tore them to pieces. How are we tearing each other to pieces in the name of the Lord with our words?
Pastors curse their members when they leave their congregations. Members turn on leaders and dishonor them in the name of the Lord and yet we forget that Saul had 30,000 men looking for David and instead of fighting him, he was hiding in caves. He didn’t touch him. David had two times he could have killed Saul but he didn’t. Even in death, he defended his honor and honored his seed. Where is the fear of the Lord? It was never about Saul for David. He was honoring God.
As the body of Christ, we must honor God and not allow the deception of the enemy to get us out of character. We want God to pour out his power. We want to be vessels of honor for God to honor our word and walk in demonstration. We must endure hardness as good soldiers in the face of persecution.
John Bevere said, offense is the bait of Satan. We cannot take his bait. God is calling us higher. He is trying to get us to see with the eye of the eagle with a panoramic view to expose the attacks of the enemy. God is going before us to make the crooked places straight and the rough places smooth to make our way plain because of our enemies. As the body of Christ, we must stop tripping over offenses and be crucified with Christ and allow God to fight our battles. This battle is the Lord’s. Arise, oh Lord and let our enemies be scattered.
Psalm 19:14
14 Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
Be acceptable in Your sight,
O Lord, my strength and my Redeemer.