God’s Glory
“And he returned to the man of God, he and all his aides, and came and stood before him; and he said, “Indeed, now I know that there is no God in all the earth, except in Israel; now therefore, please take a gift from your servant.” But he said, “As the Lord lives, before whom I stand, I will receive nothing.” And he urged him to take it, but he refused.”
Do not ever touch God’s glory. The Gospel is for free - It is not for sale! Jesus said:
“Freely you have received, freely give.”
Matthew 10:8
Jesus said of John the Baptist, “There has never been a man born from the womb of a woman as great as John the Baptist.” And he said (John the Baptist) that he was not even worthy to untie the sandal straps of Jesus. Mark 1:7.
You see the prophet Elisha never even came out of his hut to greet the commander of the entire Syrian army, Naaman. He would take no gifts from him and that is why God used Elisha, the prophet, so powerfully - He could not be bought. He could not be intimidated by money or fame, he wasn’t a hireling. He was a son of God. You know that Naaman had bought 6,000 shekels of gold, 10 talents of silver, 10 outfits of clothing to give the man of God as a gift because the Lord had healed Naaman of the dreaded disease, leprosy.
I heard this story of Francis of Assisi: He was asked one day to pray for a baby who was completely deformed, physically deformed from birth but he declined. They asked him, “Why not?” knowing that he was a gentle and a compassionate man. He said, “Because if I pray for him and he is healed then you will worship me and not the healer, Jesus.” They begged him... They said: “Please!”
Reluctantly, he said, “Okay, I will pray for the child” and of course when he prayed in the Name of Jesus Christ the child was healed, instantly and lay there gurgling, quite normal. The people were ecstatic and crying with joy and thanksgiving. After a short while, they turned around looking for the man of God. He was nowhere to be found - He had run for his life out of town, lest he touch the glory of God.
Do not touch God’s glory. He alone is our healer.
Have a wonderful Sunday,
God bless you, and goodbye.