In this episode, God shows His power to Ahaziah and takes Elijah up to heaven, while Elisha continues the ministry. In Christ, we get to be a faithful part of His Body with members from all across the world!
With your kids: Who are the 5 people you talk to most often each week? Ask God to show you how you can talk with them about how great He is.
P.S. Don’t forget, if you’re a patron, you can check out the latest bonus episodes on my patreon page, https://www.patreon.com/aliciayoder. So far, Finn has told the stories of Samuel being born, David’s friendship with Jonathan, the end of Saul’s life, and Jesus’ death and resurrection.
Are you feeling overwhelmed not knowing how to pray about our current crisis? You can pray along with this 4 minute video, and check out their other ones, too. (There are prayercast videos for over 100 nations in the world!)
How do I do the good works God has prepared for me to do in this pandemic season? How do I know if I’m doing the right things, when others seem to be on such different adventures? My holy adventure right now is caring for my three children in the four walls of this home, which doesn’t seem like much of an adventure, or even a path leading somewhere.
God gently helped me to think of my seasons as a pasture, with His sovereign care and protection and the principles from His Word being the fence. There’s not one path inside the fence, and He is the One who carries me into a different pasture when He wants to. I am safe to make choices in this pasture and laugh and enjoy the husband sheep and three little lambs in the pasture with me.
Some sheep do lots of running and jumping in their pasture, and some do lots of drinking water and resting. He doesn’t love the active sheep more than the resting ones, and I don’t have to be afraid for sheep from other pastures to see my life in this pasture.
Will you trust Him to fill you with His Spirit’s strength to do the things He’s called you to do in the pasture He has you in today? And that the rhythm of resting and working is beautiful to Him?
I’ve had to repent of the lie that working is always more pleasing to Him than resting. I’ve had to repent of wanting to be in complete control of where my husband sheep and little lambs go in our pasture and what they do. And Jesus has given me the reminder of His role as my Good Shepherd leading me, interceding for me (whether I’m working or resting), and that He delights to give me the freedom to lay in the grass, looking up at the sky He made.
Where do natural disasters and pandemics like the coronavirus come from? Our pastor preached from Psalm 106, explaining that natural disasters are a result of the curse/judgment of God because of Adam’s sin (and the sin of all of humanity). The very ground is cursed because of Adam’s sin (Gen. 3:17), and we are constantly working to harness creation. This creation is groaning because it’s not living it’s original curse-free purpose. We are reminded of our frailty, and of the greater judgment to come. We have sinned like our fathers before us and deserve to live under this curse. But in His great love, God sent Jesus to become a curse for us, to bear the wrath that keeps us from ultimate judgment and will welcome us into an eternal life on a curse-free new Earth (for all who confess that Jesus Christ is Lord and receive His forgiveness for their sins through His death on the cross). This is the outward-focused loving God everyone needs as the whole world groans today. (Romans 10:9)
In this episode, I share about Jehoshaphat’s worshipful response to an enemy army coming against him and that as believers we have the Holy Spirit to help us understand the gift of His Word, the Bible.
P.S. I’ve put some bonus episodes on my patreon page that are exclusively for patrons, and you’ll also have access to each regular podcast episode a week before it releases anywhere else. Happy listening!
With your kids: What’s one thing that’s been making you feel nervous or scared or concerned lately? Share with each other and pray for each other, then sing a song of praise to God!
As we wake each morning with the reality of the coronavirus, what reality should also fill our minds? This is Christ’s world. As Jonathan Edwards put it, “The rising and setting of the sun is a picture of the death and resurrection of Christ, the true light of the world.” He is victorious. His yoke, His way is light as we compare it to the weight of glory that is coming for those who are in Christ. A way that trusts Him without having to understand it all, leaning on Him as He makes our paths straight. According to Michael Reeves, “we most honor the Father by sharing his own everlasting delight in his Son.” As these realities capture our thoughts, we will be able to share this truth with the sick, the healthy, and the fearful. Will you take a moment to remember and worship this Christ?
For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. (Ephesians 2:10)
It’s an invitation to paint with Him, His hand holding mine, as we run the brush across the canvas to make something beautiful. It’s an invitation to get messy, not worrying if the paint gets in my hair or rubs on my face, because He loves me and enjoys being with me and has time for me.
Each of my days can be a beautiful painting, offered for His delight, but also a process of doing something beautiful with Him. My paintings have looked different depending on the season. If each activity were a different color, some paintings would use many more colors than others.
When I had baby Faith, her color of paint covered much of the canvas for a while, and there was less Bible study color, less housekeeping color, less phone conversation color, and less cooking color. God enjoys all the different kinds of paintings filled with the colors of loving my husband, the colors of planning meals, shopping, preparing, and cleaning up, the colors of caring for and training and teaching my children, and inviting them to enjoy God. And the colors of writing, and Bible studies, and music and watching a fun show. Some of the color is added when I am doing nothing but being held by God, and some strokes get interrupted before I think I’m finished.
But each painting gets stuck to God’s fridge, part of all the paintings of my brothers and sisters in Christ, a mosaic of kingdom beauty. And when we stand together and look at the fridge, we praise Him for giving the paints and the ability to make something beautiful, remembering that He is guiding our hands to help us paint. And that even the splotches where we tried to pull our hand away from His get redeemed as He guides our hands again, reminding us of how much we need Him.
In this episode, King Ahab refuses to listen to the Lord’s prophet and dies in battle, while King Jehoshaphat makes a poor decision but asks the Lord for help. We have an even better King, and can run to Him in repentance all because of Jesus’s sacrifice.
With your kids: What is your least favorite chore to do? (And share yours.) What could you pray before doing that job?
Finn and I finished editing our second bonus episode where he tells the story of David and Jonathan’s friendship from 1 Samuel 20 and we discuss why Jesus is the best. If you’d like to listen and help sustain the podcast at the same time, you can swim over to my page.
What does it mean for my Shepherd’s goodness and lovingkindness to follow me all the days of my life? It means that when I look behind me, I see God in every moment of my past. (Or I ask Him to show me where He was.) When I look forward, into the future, I can see how my Good Shepherd is shielding me from the wind as He goes before me, leading me to the good works He has for me. And when I just feel tired or discouraged, I picture Him carrying His little lamb, close to His heart.
He tends his flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart; he gently leads those that have young. (Isaiah 40:11, Psalm 23)
