Negative 'buts'

TEXT: 2 Kings 2:19-21 (NLT)

"One day the leaders of the town of Jericho visited Elisha. 'We have a problem, my lord,' they told him. 'This town is located in pleasant surroundings, as you can see. But the water is bad, and the land is unproductive.' Elisha said, 'Bring me a new bowl with salt in it.' So they brought it to him. Then he went out to the spring that supplied the town with water and threw the salt into it. And he said, 'This is what the lord says: I have purified this water. It will no longer cause death or infertility.'"

INTRODUCTION

But, is a three letter word, used to connect two phrases when the second one adds something different or seems surprising after the first one. It is a 'little' word with great implications. Hear the report about the town of Jericho: "This town is located in pleasant surroundings...BUT the water is bad and the land unproductive." The 'but' following the pleasant land of Jericho made it uninhabitable. The Lord will erase every 'but' in your life and family in Jesus name.

NEGATIVE BUTS

Water is indispensable to life. Without water there can be no life. Land is one of the most valuable resources on earth, it produces food for sustaining human life. If your water is bad and your land unproductive, then your life becomes unbearable. It is a huge problem to contend with. Land is also a source of income. If your source of income is barren, hunger and death is inevitable. Whatever the enemy has planted as a 'but' in your life, the power of God will uproot it today in Jesus name.

Naaman was a mighty warrior in the land of Syria, 'but' he was a leper. The great Shunamite woman was rich and powerful 'but' she was barren. Solomon and Samson were great and mighty men 'but' lust derailed their testimonies. In Matthew 1:1-6, the genealogy of Jesus contained the names of 4 women only because they had 'buts' in their lives - Thamar, Rehab, Ruth and Uria's wife (Bathsheba).You may have one or more 'buts' in your life, but the God of heaven is able to erase every 'but' in the life of his children. The Lord will arise for your sake and wipe away every 'but' in your life in Jesus name.

SALTS OF THE EARTH

A 'but' is like a long tail that nobody wants and is difficult to hide. In the town of Jericho, the prophet of God erased the 'but' in the town using salt. The 'buts' in their lives of the 'mothers' of Jesus did not stop God from using them to bring forth the Saviour of the world.

The moral fabric of our society today is collapsing because of the 'but' of sin. God is willing and able to turn lives around 'but' for sin. God has provided the salt needed to heal the earth as Matt 5:13 says: "Ye are the salt of the earth...' You, as a born again child of God is the salt that turns bitter lives to sweet lives and makes the barren fruitful. You are the salt of the earth. God will use you to cut off the tail of 'but' trailing your family and town permanently in Jesus name.

There is a small 'but', Matt 5:13b continues: "...but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men." If you, as the salt of the earth lose your flavour, then you are good for nothing. You will not lose your flavour in Jesus name.

Accept Jesus today and become the salt of the earth.

PRAYER:

Father, let me retain my flavour as the salt of the earth, sweeten my life with the salt of your word in Jesus name.

CONFESSION:

I am the salt of the earth.

God bless you. Shalom.