Whacha Got?
2 Kings 4:1-7 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 thy servant did fear the LORD: and the creditor is come to take unto him my two sons to be bondmen. (2) 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 any thing in the house, save a pot of oil. (3) Then he said, Go, borrow thee vessels abroad of all thy neighbors, even empty vessels; borrow not a few. (4) And when thou art come in, thou shalt shut the door upon thee and upon thy sons, and shalt pour out into all those vessels, and thou shalt set aside that which is full. (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. (6) And it came to pass, when the vessels were full, that she said unto her son, Bring me yet a vessel. And he said unto her, There is not a vessel more. And the oil stayed. (7) Then she came and told the man of God. And he said, Go, sell the oil, and pay thy debt, and live thou and thy children of the rest.
Check out V.3 again – Borrow as many as you can find. Borrow not a few.
What’s that you have in your hand?
I can use it, If you’re willing to lose it
Take the little you have and make it grand,
I am El-Shaddai, I will more than supply your need
Our thinking as a ministry, and as a church, and as a family needs to learn to expect much from everyone. Everyone doing their part in order to make the whole ministry functional.
Conventional wisdom or thinking tells us to expect just a little from everyone, and much will be accomplished.
Many are of the belief that if we ask too much from people that they will simply go elsewhere, to a place where not much, if anything is required of them.
With that type of leadership thinking, instead of going forward, a church will get stuck in a deadly trap of maintenance.
GOD HELP THIS MINISTRY TO NEVER GET TO THAT POINT! THAT IS DEATH!
Let’s set this message up: look again to the Bible
2 Kings 4: 1-2 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 thy servant did fear the LORD: and the creditor is come to take unto him my two sons to be bondmen. (2) 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 any thing in the house, save a pot of oil.
· She saw that she didn’t have enough to pay the bills
· She saw that what she did have wouldn’t keep her children from becoming slaves
· She saw little, but the man of God saw much!
· She said all that she had, was a pot of oil.
Again, conventional thinking says:
· Give little
· Pray little
· Do little
The Spiritual result of this type of thinking?
· Get little or nothing
· Hear little or nothing
· Accomplish little or nothing
Again, to the lie – “If everyone does a LITTLE, a lot will be accomplished.”
My Senior class motto was: “If we all pull together, the whole world will keel over!”
I don’t buy the Dudley DoLittle philosophy!
I expect much from people
I expect people to do their 100%, just like you expect me to give my 100%!
I expect people to work 100% in their giftedness, and I believe that God in turn will MULTIPLY that effort!
Can I get an AMEN?
This little lady had nothing to look forward to, but an empty house, after losing her husband. She was even getting ready to lose her boys to slavery, THEN A MAN OF GOD STEPPED ON TO THE SCENE!
Come on somebody, do you see a lot in a little?
Or do you see a little in a lot?
The church and leadership that expects much, can in fact get much, because WE KNOW that God can do much with whatever we have in the house!
Just Come As You Are!
Serve As You Are!
Worship As You Are!
Besides, God has never asked: “What is the LEAST that you can do?” He demands, “What Do You Have”?
In 2 Kings 2:4, the widow gave ALL she had, then collected the empty vessels!
Folks, when you have given EVERYTHING YOU HAVE, IT’S TIME TO SHOUT! Because a revealing is coming your way, and a blessing is headed your direction that you cannot even begin to contain! OH GIVE HIM PRAISE TONIGHT!
God needs that surrender of your ALL, so we can approach Him EMPTY for God’s Divine Purposes in our lives!
2 Kings 4: (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.
She poured, and poured, and poured. It didn’t say she stopped when she got tired, the Word states that she stopped when the vessels stopped coming.
Remember when all the vessels had been filled, the oil STOPPED FLOWING for the widow! When YOUR VESSEL IS FULL OF THE WORLD, THE OIL OF ANOINTING WILL STOP FLOWING IN YOUR LIFE!
Everybody in this church should be used as vessels for God to use and to fill!
We must move our focus beyond the walls of the church, and begin to go out and find empty vessels!
It’s time to see God’s Multiplication of Ministry in Panama City!
Do you realize that most people in the church today have not reached their FULL POTENTIAL in Christ and in Ministry?
Worse than that, many today in the church do not feel it is necessary to reach their God-given potential!
WRONG! It is our responsibility to share the passion for Christ, and for souls, and the passion for ministry to both the churched and the unchurched of Panama City!
Many people today are like a friend of mine who thought that they had NOTHING AT ALL to offer the Body of Christ, so they just don’t bother coming to church, they don’t bother praying, they don’t bother sharing Christ! How SAD!
Give WHATEVER YOU HAVE! God takes that little that you have, and makes it GRAND! That gift that you have, give it to God, let Him use it. Let Him craft and hone it to where you can be used to win Souls to Christ!
Give yourself as a vessel over to the Lord in faith, and He will begin to work miracles both through you and for you!
· BEGIN TO EXPECT GOD TO DO MUCH!
· HAVE GREAT, LARGE, AMBITIOUS EXPECTATIONS OF THE GIFTS THAT HE GAVE YOU!
§ GOD WORKS THROUGH POSITIVE EXPECTATIONS! - FAITH!
Child of God, you can be certain of this:
· The dreams and visions God gave you were not given to you to frustrate you, they were given to you to be realized through you!
· God NEVER GIVES DREAMS AND VISIONS TO HUMBLE YOU!
o He gives them to you when you have humbled yourself in His sight!
· You WERE, and ARE meant to be a vessel to bring Glory and Honor to GOD!
Be willing to give what you have.
All of it!
Don’t hold any of it back!
Not just a little of it! Give it All!
Give Both Barrels!
God gave Abraham a big dream @ 75 years old:
· “I’m going to make you a father of a multitude. The father of a nation!”
Abraham expected God to do MUCH with a LITTLE – himself.
Sarah and He were past the childbearing years, “BUT GOD” stepped in and opened up that vessel and the rest, as you might say, “is history.”
By FAITH – they trusted in the God of miracles!
By FAITH - they believed in something that was not there, that in time it would be!
By FAITH – they counted on and expected a miracle!
By FAITH – THEY LOOKED AT WHAT WAS NOT, AND BELIEVED THAT IT WAS, UNTIL IT WAS!
Robert F. Kennedy – “Some men see things as they are, and say ‘why’? I dream of things that are not, and say, ‘why not’”?
Back to 2 Kings 4
· The widow had gathered the vessels, went from Elisha and shut the door behind her.
· As her sons brought her vessels, she filled, and filled, and filled until she ran out of vessels!
My responsibility is this:
· Pour the Word of God into you until you are full and ready for the ministry! That is known as Discipleship
· Then you will go out and bring back MORE and MORE vessels for this ministry to fill!
Let me ask you as I close this message:
What do YOU EXPECT FROM GOD?
What do YOU THINK HE EXPECTS FROM YOU?
Are you willing to give what it is that you have and expect MUCH in return?
Folks, God is looking for empty vessels in His church, into whom He can pour His Word, His Spirit, and His Power! So, Whacha Got?
