Last night I dreamed that me and Uncle Si from Duck Dynasty and about 3 other men were working on something together. We were getting a house ready and then taking it on the road. We got all of the hunting and fishing stuff put together and moved a lot of things around. When all that was finally done we all hopped in an RV and hit the highway. The RV had about 2 feet of beautiful clear perfect water in the floor and some areas deep enough to swim in. As we were driving we saw a creepy black snake in the water trying to sneak up on us. I got out a shotgun and went to shoot it but it hid on the other side of the seat. So we all started searching for the thing to kill it.
Now the name Si is short for Silas and the significance behind that name shouldn’t be missed. It means man of the forest but it also means the number 3. It’s unusual to find a name with a real number correlation although the numerology people would have believe they all do. Some people say that number 3 has to do with the fullness of God. And of course there has to be some Bible attached to the name too because Silas was one of the apostle Paul’s companions. They walked together for about 4 chapters of Acts. It was Silas on the other end of the chains in prison with Paul when they praised God until all the chains fell off and the doors flung open. Talk about a prophetic act! Break every chain Lord!
Now that we have a little bit of a picture of why Uncle Si was in my dream, let’s break it down a little. God is doing something in my life and maybe other people’s lives as well. Maybe several men because there was a group of just generic men in my dream going with me in this. It has to do with walking with God, getting into he woods and putting food on the table. We are getting ready right now and when this starts it’ll be like a little movement. The Holy Spirt will be knee deep in this thing but there will be a sneaky little attempt to cause it to fail or cause damage through the process. But the men in the group will be diligent to stop it. This is going to break chains off of men and boys in this nation and raise up Godly men. Uncle Si may literally be involved too, it does seem like his kind of thing. I think God is answering my prayers for my own sons and daughters. I need some help keeping them on track when the other adults around us push heavy metal, Harry Potter, fantasy books and movies and shooting games as the ways to have fun with kids. The world is full of these mindless monsters poisoning our children and then wondering why they are burning things down in the streets. We need Godly men to rise up and mentor these kids. I’m trying but nobody mentored me so I’m stumbling through it and learning as I go.
How many of you know how good blue Hawaiian Punch is in the morning? Honestly it’s like nectar from Heaven. Ok let’s get into the Bible and find Jesus! How about today we read the salvation story in 2 Kings 5. It starts out with a great general from another country named Naaman. He was a great man with a great problem: leprosy. Many of us are like Naaman, we have a problem that we need God to fix like a character flaw, illness or circumstance of some kind. We are great except that we need God for this one thing. The truth is that’s just the first thing but it’s the one that the Holy Spirit uses to draw us to Him.
Naaman couldn’t fix his own self so he was asking around and someone pointed him to Elisha. And in our own lives when people are looking for the solution to their problems, we need not hesitate to point them towards Jesus. Now a funny thing happened, Naaman didn’t quite understand how this all works. So when he was sent to Elisha he went to the king instead. The king of the physical kingdom had no idea what to do. The same will be true for those who seek Jesus by looking to prominent people and leaders. You may be near the solution but it doesn’t lie in the man, it’s Jesus that you’re looking for.
So Naaman finally figures out where to go and when he gets there it’s just too easy! He can’t accept that it is so simple! He wants to see Harry Potter wave his wand and scream out an enchantment and watch some magic spirit juice squirt across the room and to be lifted in the air by the craziness! He wants a Hollyweird miracle! But Elijah says go wash in the river and you’ll be clean. It just couldn’t be that simple! Many of us when we find Jesus are confused at the simplicity. We’ve got such a big problem! It can’t just be easy, we should have to work for it or something right?
That’s how the human mind thinks, to get big results, do big work. But Jesus did the big work for us and made us rich with a spiritual inheritance that we don’t deserve. It just doesn’t feel like it can be that simple. Washing in the river represents receiving the Holy Spirit and water baptism also represents receiving the Holy Spirit. The seal of salvation, wash and be clean. Jesus says if you ask for the Holy Spirit God will give you the Holy Spirit. It’s that simple, believe it, do it, really on the finished work of Jesus and inherit salvation.
Naaman shows the reason that Jesus healed the sick in this verse as well. When Naaman swallows his pride, and goes to the river to wash away his sickness, he reacts the way so many people do. He turns to God. No-one had to tell him to repent, he knew instantly once he was clean that repentance had to happen. The same is true when you receive the Holy Spirit. You don’t have to fix your life before you go to the water. You swallow your pride and go to the water and when you are clean, you start to walk with God. I remember trying to quit smoking dozens of times over the 15 years I smoked. But when I received God’s Spirit, I quit on accident. I carried around a half a pack of cigarettes for a month before I realized I had quit. God did that and it was an amazing miracle in my life! He’s turned me to Him in area after area of my life. I’m a little mess now, but years ago I was a really big mess!
Do it again Lord! Let the Naamans of the world come to you for the solution to their problem, let them wash in your Holy River, and let them be healed time and time again. May your life go from glory to glory to glory as the issues in your life are set in order. I hope you can read along in our Bible study today, we went from 2 Kings 5 – 15. One my favorite unsung Bible heroes is in this section, Jehu. He’s the guy that took down Jezebel. Great stuff! May you all shine in the face of trouble and obey in the face of pride. May the Lord hatch you into your new body at His coming so that you will live with Him forever, and may God bless all y’all.
Practice Outlaw 