Enough Oil To Pay Off The Debt

   This story really happened, many, many years ago. The same God who raised Jesus from the dead, the same God who works wonders today, showed His mercy and power to a woman in desperate need. The woman was a widow, and there were bills that hadn't been paid since she was widowed. In those days, people who were in debt could pay off the debt by giving their children to serve in the family that they were indebted to. In this case, the creditors were about to take the sons of this widowed lady, and that would satisfy the debt that she owed. But, look what God did for her.
   Here is the account from The Message Bible. It is found in 2 Kings 4:1-7.

One day the wife of a man from the guild of prophets called out to Elisha, “Your servant my husband is dead. You well know what a good man he was, devoted to God. And now the man to whom he was in debt is on his way to collect by taking my two children as slaves.”

 Elisha said, “I wonder how I can be of help. Tell me, what do you have in your house?”

“Nothing,” she said. “Well, I do have a little oil.”

 “Here’s what you do,” said Elisha. “Go up and down the street and borrow jugs and bowls from all your neighbors. And not just a few—all you can get. Then come home and lock the door behind you, you and your sons. Pour oil into each container; when each is full, set it aside.”

 She did what he said. She locked the door behind her and her sons; as they brought the containers to her, she filled them. When all the jugs and bowls were full, she said to one of her sons, “Another jug, please.”

He said, “That’s it. There are no more jugs.”

Then the oil stopped.

 She went and told the story to the man of God. He said, “Go sell the oil and make good on your debts. Live, both you and your sons, on what’s left.”

  How about that one? God was very merciful to this widow. This incident happened around 850 - 800 years before Christ, in the country of Israel. 

   The Bible tells us that God doesn't change. That means, He was all-powerful 2,00 years ago, and He is all-powerful today. He was just 4,000 years ago, and He is just today. God never had a beginning and of course, He will never have an ending. He is infinite. He showed mercy to His people throughout History, and He still shows mercy to His people today.

God is uncreated. He never had a
beginning and has always been
in existence.

No More Rash!

   Years ago, probably during my second pregnancy, I was in for a doctor's appointment. As he was examining me, he was startled and made some kind of remark about a rash that covered most of my body. I looked like a giraffe! That did it. I asked God to heal me of my rash.
   My rash problems began when I was around 13 or 14. My girlfriend and I spent a lot of time in different lakes around town. Her dad used to drive us to them and we would swim in some of them. That is where I believe the rash originally came from.
  Over the next couple of years, the rash continued to be on my skin. Most of it was hidden under my clothing though, but some of it you could see on my arms.
  After I got married, the rash was still there. It would be more obvious whenever I was sweating. I went to the doctor, and he gave me a prescription ointment that worked. I was happy, but the tube was very small, and didn't go very far. It was also expensive, so I could not continue using it, as effective as it was.
  Of course, the rash came back in full force, and it was very noticeable when I was pregnant with my second child. Even the doctor noticed it, although he didn't know what kind of rash it was, plus, even if he did, I would not have been able to use any medications on it until I was through with the pregnancy. So, I prayed for God to take the rash away.
   Actually, I forgot about my prayer and even the rash, but months later I did remember and noticed that the rash was no longer there. That was back in the mid 80s, and the rash has never been back on my body since that time. Thank God for answering that prayer and healing my body from whatever that rash was!