Keep sharing good news without ads.
Dr. Myron Golden
Good morning. Turn with me if you will to The book of second Kings the fourth chapter, you know, the Bible is such a such a fun book. And God knows what we need and when we need it and It's amazing to me That when we open our Bible God opens his mouth and he begins to speak to us because the Bible is not just what he has Said but it is what he is saying.
And you know religion often times he gets caught up in what God has said. But we as Christians ought to get caught up in what God is saying and what he wants to say to us. So, let's let's see if we can hear him This morning.
This is one of my favorite Stories in the Bible and I guess every time I preach about a story in the Bible. I'll say that so Yes, it's all good. So let's read from verse 1 Down to verse number 7 and See what the Lord has to say to us it says now there cried a certain woman of The wives of the sons of the prophets unto Elisha Saying thy Servant my husband is dead.
And thou knowest that my husband did fear the Lord and The creditor is come unto it is come to take unto him my two sons to be bondmen and Elisha said unto her what shall I do for thee? Tell me? What hast thou in the house?
And she said thine handmaid hath not anything in the house save a. And he said go borrow the vessels of all thy neighbors even empty vessels borrow not a few. And when thou art come in thou shalt shut the door upon thee and upon thy sons and Shalt pour out into the vessels and all those vessels and thou shalt set aside That which is full so she went.
That's a good thing to do so she went from him and shut the door upon her and upon her sons who brought the vessels unto her and She poured out and it came to pass. When the vessels were full she said unto her sons Bring me yet a vessel and he said unto her.
There is not a vessel more and the oil stayed. And she came and told the man of God and he said go and sell the oil and pay thy debt and live thou and thy children of The rest, you know, it's awesome to see that God Always has a plan and it's never plan B.
God's plan is always plan A. Because it always works he doesn't see sometimes we need plan B don't we but God don't ever need plan B because plan A is Enough. Our father we do. Thank you so much We are humbled by the fact that you are truly holy.
You're wonderful. You are the mighty God. We can't help but think of how much We need you Lord your word tells us if you were hungry He sure wouldn't tell us. We're humbled by the fact that you speak to us.
We pray that you'd help us to be humble enough to heed what we hear. Speak Lord and May this church hear what your spirit has to say to us today in Jesus name story of a tragedy turned triumphant this is the story a situation that seemed horrific and yet God gave the solution.
Look at this woman young woman two children husband died he was probably a seminary student if you will of Elisha a young preacher learning how to be a prophet and Taken away by the sovereignty of God God said it's time for you.
I'm ready for you and left this woman. His death left this woman in despair because in those days Women did not have the same Standing they didn't have the same. They didn't have the same Perspective of women in those days.
Women in those times look solely to their husbands as their Her sustenance is gone. Not only that but for something we don't know what they Obviously borrowed some money to buy some. Maybe it was a house.
Maybe it was some land. Maybe it was a chariot who knows what it was. But they they borrowed money to buy something and not only she left with two children doesn't know how she's gonna be them but now she's got this debt to pay and Also, no husband.
Imagine the emotional stress. And in Those days There were certain things that made slavery, okay. You know There were a lot of people back in the what when this country first started that tried to justify the American institution of slavery with the Bible.
But nothing could be further from the truth. Because what happened in the Bible times things that would cause someone to go into slavery if somebody if Somebody had a debt that they could not pay. That person they owed the debt to could take them into slavery.
Back in those times if they conquered a nation they could take prisoners from that nation and make those people slaves. Back in that time if there was a man who was who didn't didn't have the wherewithal to provide for his family He could sell himself and his entire family into slavery in exchange for somebody else taking care of.
Well in this case they owed her debt and they couldn't pay it. So she comes to the only place she can think of to go. She comes to the man of God that no doubt she had heard her husband talk about how much a blessing it was many times in the past and She comes to the man of God and she says You know how my husband feared the Lord and now he's gone and and the creditor wants to take my children.
What am I gonna do? Imagine the frantic emotions that must have run to the forefront of her mind and then the preacher Said something I I would not have been a I wouldn't have imagined that the preacher would say.
He said well, what do you want me to do about it? He said what show up? What shall I do for this? Elijah Said woman examine yourself. And oftentimes when problems come to us we start looking outside Ourselves for the problem for the solution to the problem that God wants us to look inside ourselves for.
He said what do you want me to do about it? I think sometimes as parents one of the best things we can do for our kids when they come to us with the problem sometimes He said examine Yourself. I heard one man say when somebody comes to me with the problem and they want me to give him a solution.
The first thing I say is well. Have you read a book to try to figure out how to fix this problem. If they say no he says well. Go read a book. Have you asked somebody who's had this problem what they did if they say no.
Why don't you go ask somebody but he doesn't just automatically give them an answer. Brother Dave and I were talking yesterday in the car on the way back home. He said, you know, oftentimes when somebody came to brother Rocky and asked brother Rocky a question.
He didn't just answer the question. He asked them a question. Well, why do you ask me that? And we know as we studied the scripture when Jesus when people came to Jesus with a question oftentimes He gave them a question as the answer to their question.
But we want to show people how much we know. Elijah didn't take this as an opportunity to show off his intellectual Spiritualism. He said what do you want me to do? He said examine your Self, and then he said something else.
He said Tell me. What do you have in the house not only do you need to examine yourself, but you need to express yourself, you know I've found that sometimes it's easier to find the solution to a problem when we start talking about.
You know, sometimes when we just keep it all inside and we're feeling it. We're thinking about it. Sometimes it's just the problem seems bigger than us. But as we talk about the problem It comes out from under the mic magnifying glass and it seems to get smaller and smaller and smaller.
He said I want you to tell me what do you have in the house? There is there is power in Words. Express yourself. That's why when people ask me how I'm doing. I say I'm excellent as always. Now that does catch folk off guard.
And it always makes me feel better. After I say. But you know what? I've noticed it also makes them feel better. Cuz generally speaking when folk ask you how you you're doing, they're not wanting to hear a laundry list of your problems.
Generally speaking the Bible says Life and death are in the power of the tongue and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof. The Bible says Thou shalt also decree a thing and it shall be established under thee.
And I believe a lot of folk talk themselves into doing bad and feeling bad when they could just as easily. Talk themselves into doing good and feeling good for the introduction. So I'll keep going. He said what do you have in the house?
Not only do should you examine yourself and express yourself? But you should expect more of yourself than you do of others. You know, I've discovered that all of the miserable people I've ever met in my life They had one thing in common they all expect more of somebody else they do themselves.
And the happiest people I know in the world are folk who expect more of themselves than they do to somebody else expect more of yourself. This woman came to Elisha probably Looking for an offering but he didn't give her an offering.
He gave her some options. He didn't give her an offering. He gave her he gave her some optimism. He said woman your situation ain't as bad as it seems it's bad. But it's not so bad. You can't handle it.
It's not so bad. You won't make it through it and he gave her an opportunity. Notice what? He said tell me what has down the house. That's what I want to talk to you about this morning. What do you have?
In. Think about that question. What do you have in the house? Well Let's look and see some things that this woman had in the house. That some she was aware of and some she wasn't. The Bible says there cried a certain woman of The wives of the prophets of the sons of the prophets unto Elisha saying thy servant My husband is dead.
We see the first thing this woman had in the house was some relationships With the Lord in your house. You may have a grandfather clock that was handed down from your grandfather's grandfather, but if you don't have a Relationship with the Lord in the house.
It doesn't matter. You may have a safe in your house full of cash and jewels and jewelry and precious stones, but if you don't have a Relationship with the Lord in the house. It doesn't matter. You may have a big-screen television.
But if you don't have a relationship with the Lord in the house it does not Matter. I thank God for the relationship that we can have with the Lord in the house through Jesus Christ. More important is it than the furniture?
More important is it than the food. More important is it than anything we have in our house that Relationship we have with the Lord. Thank the Lord for it. But not only did she have a relationship with the Lord.
She had a relationship with the leader. I Noticed that when she got in trouble, she didn't go looking for Ricky Lake and Phil Donahue and Oprah Winfrey. She didn't go to Bales above she went to The man of God.
Why. Because she had a good relationship with. There are so many churches across our land. No doubt in other countries as well where folk in the church don't have a good relationship. What's a man of God with the leadership that God is placed there and they're always causing friction and they always are The telephone and they're always talking about.
I can't believe the preacher said this and I can't believe he did that. But I know if this woman has been one of those kind of folk. She wouldn't have been talking to a life about her. She'd have felt too guilty to talk about a life.
She'd have she'd have probably been blaming in life, but she had a good Relationship with the leadership in the house. Some folk just some folk just can't submit themselves. But this woman she had a relationship with her Lord and with their leader and also with her loved ones.
We know that she had a relationship with her loved ones because when she came to the Elisha Talking about the fact that her husband had died and their children was about we're about to be taken away. The Bible says she was crying.
There cried a certain she didn't just come. I was Telling. Either brother Dave or Charlotte. I was telling them that. Just two weeks ago One of my cousins was killed in a fireworks accident. I went to the funeral.
When I got there and I saw his wife it was hard. She was broken. This woman who was married to this man that she loved had two small children that she loved when her husband died. She was she was just broken about it.
She had some relationships in the house. But we see also not only did she have some relationships. No, she said I served my husband is dead. She had some reversals. In-house. Y 'all y 'all saw those reversals.
Didn't you share the reversal of death? You know, I've noticed that all you have to do to have reversals in the house. Just keep on. And you're gonna have some reverse death. Oftentimes the reversals that we have in our house come in the form of separation.
Separated from something that we care about separated from something that we love. Separated from somebody that we love. Sometimes it's caused by death. Sometimes it's caused by rebellion. Sometimes it's caused by catastrophic accident.
Sometimes it's caused by something outside our control. Reversals. She also had the reversal of debt she said. You know my sir thy servant. My husband did fear the Lord and the creditors come to take unto him my two sons to be bondmen.
The reversal of debt. How debt can weigh us down. How it can bog us down. I believe that we all ought to work towards getting out of debt as Quickly as we can. In these perilous times. Reversal of debt can weigh you down.
It can make you feel like this like a bondman like a slave to it. The reversal of debt. And like the reversals of death and debt can do it brought another reversal with it. And that's the reversal of doubt.
Because Her husband was gone because her children looked like they were being about to be gone. This woman didn't know what she was gonna do. She Doubted that she could do anything. She had some reversals in the house.
She also had some responsibilities in the house. She had the responsibility of her children. Well, that's an important responsibility. God has given us children to shape them to polish them as arrows in the quiver of a mighty man.
Lot of women would think well now I can have my freedom children taken away. Good riddance. But not this woman. Her husband, her precious husband was already gone. She couldn't imagine living without those two children.
She had a responsibility To her children. She said Elisha. I've got to do something. I've got to do something to meet this responsibility to my children. I I don't know about you, but for me the older I get the more challenging it is for me to understand how to be a good parent and meet the Responsibilities that I have to my children.
This woman was in a circumstance in a situation where she didn't know what she was gonna do. You know, I know there are a lot of there are a lot of creditors out there. Who would like to take our children to be bondmen.
The creditor of drugs and alcohol and lasciviousness. And the wild lifestyle they'd all like to come take all of our children snatch them out of these pews. Take them out there with the bright lights and the wild music and the wild lifestyle and never let them come back but by the grace of God We've got a responsibility to look to God for a solution to that problem and fight for the freedom of our children.
She had a responsibility to the creditors. Whoever this creditor was, you know, we oftentimes when we think of our creditors. We only think of we only think of banks and Sears and Roebuck. They don't call it Sears and Roebuck anymore.
Sears and JCPenney's and Bells and Belks and all of that, but you know. Oftentimes we don't think about the debt we owe to the people who have paved the way for the freedom that we now have. The military people who have fought to give us our freedom.
Whether it be great men in history. Who paved the way for peace and freedom for this great land that God has blessed above all other lands in the world. Whether it be our parents. Who diligently taught us as much as they could.
Even though sometimes it's not as much as we wished it had been our grandparents. It's amazing to me how easily and how quickly it seems that we forget the debt we owe to past generations. Who have poured things into our lives that made our lives better.
We don't even stop To say thank you. Do you know every time I see somebody in a military uniform. Every time I see somebody in a military uniform. I have the opportunity to say hi to them. I say, how are you doing today?
I really appreciate what you are doing. You know why? Because so many people don't appreciate it. It seems to me that sometimes only the people with no brains have loud mouths why don't we open our mouths and Encourage someone who's doing a good thing.
What oftentimes police officers not as much as Military men, but oftentimes the police officers. I say I appreciate what you're doing to keep the bad guys at bay. Because the fact is I know me and while I appreciate that I'm not trying to put on a uniform and have anybody even think about shooting at me.
I don't even want to think about that. I don't want to think about that. I don't want my mind to go there. But I appreciate that other people are willing to make that sacrifice. And if I had to I would be willing to make that sacrifice.
But some people they they feel that is their purpose. They just they just do it. She had a responsibility to her children's children you know. Our modern-day Christianity in America, so it's so Diluted by Western thinking there are so much of the Bible that we cannot understand because we grew up in America.
I was talking to brother Dave In the car last night. But We have been brainwashed into thinking that. That's that ought to be the way it is. So selling something you never do that, but you know the Bible says the Bible says The he who withholdeth the corn the people shall curse him but blessings shall be upon the head of him that Selleth it you know what I you know what I received from that passage of Scripture that If we have something good.
And we don't sell it to somebody we are doing them a disservice, and it brings a curse to them to us. Corn is good if you've got something good not only do you have a right, but you have a responsibility.
That's now. That's the way I look at now. You may not look at it that way, but that's what I see in the Bible a matter of fact. We're gonna see that's what Elisha told this woman to do. The Bible says a good man leave an inheritance to his children's children.
My children don't even have any children yet, so that gives me a little more time to get that inheritance ready for. But I'm sure we're gonna work on it. I don't want there's I want my children to have some difficulty.
I Want my children's children to have some difficulty, but I don't want them to have all the difficulty I have. I want to give them a little bit of a head start in their life, but I didn't have in mind.
I believe that's my God-given responsibility. The Bible teaches us that what do you have? In the house. Well, we see something else she had she had not only did she have some relationships and some reversals and some responsibilities.
But this woman had some regrets in the house. You say regrets what what regret did she have and Elisha said unto her tell me What shall I do for thee. Tell me what has down the house, and she said thine handmaid hath not Anything in the house you know the Bible tells me there's treasure and Wine and oil in the dwelling place of the rich.
I mean of the wise not of the rich of the wise treasure. Wine and oil in the dwelling place of the wise, but a foolish man spendeth it up. But we somehow seem to think that God wants us to be in poverty and Desperation our whole life or we won't have anything to pray about.
I don't have to be in poverty and desperation. I got plenty to pray about. Some people say well, but the Bible says you'll have the poor always with you. I know, but that don't mean I got to be one of them.
This woman had some regrets in the house. She regretted her lack of preparation. This one was not ready for her husband's death. I Mean you can't prepare fully for that, but a person could prepare financially for that, but she wasn't prepared.
She had a regret of a lack of preparation. You know what a lack of preparation always leads to. It always leads to a lack of provision because they have not prepared themselves. When her husband died they did not have what they needed and when we don't prepare ourselves today we lack provision tomorrow.
Always. I'm amazed. Now that I'm 42 years old and it didn't just start happening yesterday. How many things in my day-to-day life. How many times in my day-to-day life? I wished I had paid closer attention in school.
I wished I said man. I wish you know I'd do a little writing. My proofreader said to me. She said you really like those semicolons, don't you I? Didn't know what they were used for. She said yeah, you like those question.
I mean the quotation marks do. Well, I just did the best I could. Thank the Lord for a proofreader. But A lack of preparation always leads to a lack of provision and a lack of provision always leads to a lack of peace now.
She here she is frantic in Desperation because of her. The regrets she had in the house don't regret. Tomorrow your lack of preparation today the last thing we see this woman had in the house. She said I have nothing and I haven't had nothing in the house.
Save a pot of oil. We see that this woman had some resources in The house. Nothing but a pot of oil. Then said then he said go borrow the vessels abroad of thy neighbor. Even empty vessels borrow not a few and when thou art come in thou shalt shut the door Upon thee and upon thy sons and thou shalt pour out Into all those vessels and thou shalt set aside that which is full the first resource.
She had some oil. See they use oil for food preparation. They used oil for lighting their lamps. They used oil to put on their skin. They had many things that they used oil for in those days. They used it sometimes as a fragrance.
And so this woman had some resources in her house that she had forgotten about her was unaware or didn't even recognize them. And I'm telling you all. All of us have some resources in the house that we've forgotten about.
All of us have some resources in the house that God has Blessed us with. We've all got some oil in the house. What do you have in the house? I'll tell you what you have in the house. You've got some resources in the house.
You've got some oil in your house, and maybe the oil that you have in your house is just the way you talk. Maybe the oil that you have in your house is that you can sing maybe you can paint a picture.
Maybe you can write a letter. Maybe you can write a poem, but everybody's got some oil. Maybe you can sew maybe you can do crafts. I don't know what your oil is, but I know you got some oil when I think about.
My kids have been doing for the last couple of weeks. They've been getting a booth at the flea market and getting some stuff and going out there and selling it and make a little bit Of money now. They're not making a fortune yet.
They're making some. They don't have to come and say dad you can have five dollars. You know it's funny sometimes. When I don't have my wallet with me. And I don't have my debit card, and I don't have.
I have to borrow money for my 12 year old daughter. And she has it. They say where does he get it from. She's got some oil in the house, and she knows. You know why it happened because she's got some oil in the house, and she recognized we've gotten trained in this Western ideology that somebody else is going to take care of us.
And when we get to thinking about somebody else taking care of us oftentimes. We don't start looking around the house for oil. That God has given us. But not only did she have some oil in the house, but she also had some offspring in the house.
He told her he said go and shut the door upon you and your sons. And you have your sons bring you the bottles and you pour the oil and woman don't you do all that work by yourself? You always walk behind them kids clean it up after you.
Heard somebody say one time children can do the most remarkable things that is as long as they have remarkable things to do. Oftentimes we don't think of resource offspring as a resource. But I'm not young.
I Mean I'm amazed when I see what God has done in my children when I see that my oldest son. And a lot of ways he's stronger than he can go longer than I can he can do stuff. I mean there's time you can't you couldn't nobody get out Offspring of resources that God has given us to bless us because we've blessed them their resource.
How many? Parents have poured into their young people's lives when they grew up they themselves grew up with nothing and they made a way for their kids to get an education and that child went on and got that education and went on later to provide for their parents.
You got the Resource of offspring and this is the last point you've got the resource. I want you to see what happened. This is this to me is so this is just like God. This is like you mentioned in Sunday school this morning brother Otis oftentimes.
God comes through at the last minute. That's what happened. Bible says verse 5 so she went from him and shut the door upon her and upon her sons who brought the vessels to her and she poured out. And she poured out and she poured out and she poured out and it came to pass when the vessels were full.
That she said unto her sons bring me yet a vessel and he said unto her There is not a vessel more and the oil stayed. Then she came and told the man of God and he said go and sell the oil and pay thy debt and live thou and thy Sons of the rest the more she poured out.
You know I noticed that about God. When we do all we can do he'll do what he can do. I like I like to do what I can do just so I get to see him do. I'm talking about omnipotence in the house. I'm I'm talking about when God gets in there and starts to work.
It's bigger than anything we could have imagined. I can remember one time back when I was back when I was traveling as an evangelist and I Actually was right after we left the church in Brunswick, Georgia, and it had been maybe a month maybe two months.
But I'm telling you I don't remember being that broke in a mighty long time I'm turning. I had car payments that were due and I had school bills that were due and I had a motel six Refrigerator you don't know the motel six refrigerator.
Don't you you open it up and they left the light on for you. That's all that was in there and I'm telling you I was just broke. And I can remember praying. What am I gonna do. This was amazing to me this blew me away.
I I was there nobody nobody there knew except brother Joe the guy who's having to meet me. He didn't really know me. I met him at a preacher's fellowship, and he didn't he didn't know me. Came back Wednesday Wednesday night they took up an offering for This lady in Texas whose husband had died and She was a widower of a preacher down in Down in Houston, and they took up this offering.
He had left behind all these medical bills and Lord said take that little bit of money. You got out your pocket and put it in that offer. I said, well, it's only $19 ain't gonna pay that. And the next morning Nobody in there knew how bad that money was nobody but me and God Don't hear me.
I knew it. God would nobody else had a clue. And when I got done preaching they pick up an offering for me and there were no more people in that church. I Say what happened Has some omnipotence in the house and God got in my plan, and I didn't even have a plan.
God had a plan. I came. I just I was just there without a plan and Omnipotence got in my house, you know I thank God for the way he works and the way he moves and when he gets involved in your plan, you know I'm getting ready to sell my house for about nine years now.
I paid $200 for it, and we got a contract for it right now for $16 ,000. You say what happened? Omnipotence is in the house. And God can do stuff that we can't do. God can do something in your life that you can't do.
God can make a way out of no way. God can open up a door when there wasn't even a door there. God can provide for you and for me. I didn't realize that microphone was on. That's amazing. Omnipotence in the house.
We ought to thank God every day that we serve a God that's alive and real and he cares about what we need and he cares about our circumstances and he's able to provide for us in ways we can't provide for ourselves.
Thank God for a man of God who said what do you have in your house? She said all I have is some oil. He said no you don't, you got some offspring. You get in there with that offspring and start doing what you can do and watch God do what he can do.
What do you have in the house? Let's pray. Father, thank you so much for your word. I pray that you'd help us to recognize some of the resources that we have. I pray that you would help us to cherish the relationship that we have with you and with our loved ones.
Help us not hesitate to say I love you today because tomorrow they will be gone and so will we. Help us not to forget to say thank you today because tomorrow they will be gone and so will we. Help us to thank you and to realize and to relish and to cherish the resources that you've given us.
You've given all of us some oil. Help us to find out what it is and help us to begin to pour that oil out and bless others so you can pour more oil in and bless us. That you would just continue to speak to us and help us to recognize and open our eyes to the resources that we have in the house.
With every head bowed and every eye closed, we'd say, Brother Myron, I know I'm saved. I've got a relationship with the Lord in the house. There's no doubt in my mind about that. I received Jesus as my Savior and as a result of that, I've got a relationship with the Lord in the house.
That's your testimony testified by a raised hand. You know you're saved. No doubt in your mind about it. Praise the Lord. Anybody say, Brother Myron, I'm not sure but I'd like to be sure. Please pray for me.
Anybody like that? Let's say, Brother Myron, God has shown me some things in this message today that I've got some resources, some relationships or something that I've not recognized. Pray for me that I will seize it.
See it and seize it. Pray for me. Anybody like that? Praise the Lord. God bless you. God bless you. God bless you. Father, thank you so much for your word. Thank you for the truth and the power of it and I pray that you would bless us today and that you would speak to us continually throughout the day.
Continue to hear and respond to your word.
Thank you, Father. Let's stand and pray together for our time together. Father, we ask you to let our time together and have our work be filled. Thank you for the truth we're about to have. Thank you for the church.
Thank you for our visitors. And Father, we ask you to bless us again. Amen.