THERE IS DEATH IN THE POT!

 ‘So they poured out for the men to eat. And it came to pass, as they were eating of the pottage, that they cried out, and said, O thou man of God, there is death in the pot. And they could not eat thereof. ‘

2 Kings 4:40 (KJV)

Kate speaks, 16^th May 2012

The above portion is from the story of Elisha and the sons of the prophet in 2 Kings Chapter four, and it tells us of a time when there was famine in the land of Israel. Elisha had just come back to Gilgal, and the sons of prophets were sited before him. He told some of them to put the large pot on fire and make some soup for all to take.

One of them went to the field to get some herbs, and found wild herbs and brought in some, putting them in the pot to boil. Bible records that he didn’t know what they were. The Bible also records that they poured out the meal for the men to take, and while they were taking, they cried out that there was death in the pot. They could not eat it anymore.

There is death in the pot oh Man of God! These men cried out like we do today, to God, to His servants, to brothers and sisters, to our family members, to friends, shouting our incapacities and barriers in life, hoping for a solution in one way or another.

There is death in the pot when you are in a place or position that you can’t take it anymore. Your financial life is just dead and all you see is darkness and no light at the end of the tunnel? Your church or ministry has been stagnant for years and nothing seems to work and you are just seeing no hope? Your marriage has been characterized by conflict one after another and nothing seems to work between you and your spouse? That sickness has been around for years and you are losing every last bit of hope in ever recovering? You have been waiting for that uplift in business to expand but nothing is forth coming? And your promotion that you have been waiting and hoping has taken ages to come forth and you just want to quit? This spouse you have been trusting God to bring forth has taken so long, you are wondering if God forgot you urgently want to get married and you just want to go out there and pick anyone just to settle down. What is this that seems dead in your situation? Have you been trusting God for a baby, yet for all these years your wait seems like is not coming to an end?

Are you looking at your situation and seeing death? A dead end, no hope, no clear path of direction and you are wondering how, when and in which way will this be possible?

Many of us reach times in our lives when we look at situations and say, for this one, I give up. Things are tight, be it relationships, finances, ministries, situations one and another, and we reach a point where we have no answers, and are at the verge of quitting and giving up totally on it.

A meal that was prepared in good faith turned out to be death. The sons of the prophets cried out loud and said there was death in the pot. This meant they could not take it anymore, their only way out was to stop taking it, as it could kill them. There was poison in the meal.

Elisha the prophet of God told them to bring the salt, and he cast it into the pot and told them to now take the soup. No more harm was found therein.

Instead of throwing away the whole meal, Elisha through the salt made the meal whole and they were able to take it. Bible says that you are the salt of the world. The salt here can also represent the word of God. The word is alive and sharper than any two edged sword, it pierces to the dividing asunder of situations. Instead of quitting, employ the word of God in that situation. The word will go deep and heal the situation. The word will heal your marriage. The word will heal your finances, do not give up. The word will heal your body, employ it. Elisha did not throw away the pot and its contents, but performed a miracle in the same pot. Do not run away form your situation, let God deal with it there and then for the glory of His name.

‘Therefore Sarah laughed within herself, saying, After I am waxed old shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?’ (KJV) Gen 18:12

Sarah in Gen 18:12 laughed when she heard that she would conceive and beget a son, because her womb was as good as dead. The situation in her womb was dead, she was past the age of bearing children, and so she laughed off when she heard that she would get a child. She had already given up on ever giving birth, as there was death in her womb!

But the word that was spoken went to her ears and to her womb, reviving it and making it alive! That same word worked in her womb and at the same time the following year, she got a son as per the word of the Lord. The word was spoken by the angel, Sarah heard it, and since it was her womb that was dead, the word made alive the dead womb and her reproductive system, such that she became alive once again!

Many of us run away and look for shortcuts to situations, but God’s will is for Him to be glorified in those situations.

It was not okey for the man born blind to settle to remaining blind the rest of his life, furthermore he was born that way. (John 9:1-3) It was the will of God that the name of the Lord be glorified through that condition. Jesus found the man and healed him for the glory of God. The condition was from birth, thus we could easily brand it impossible to change, but God changed it through the miracle.

Some times we are in situations that are dead because we entered in to them either innocently, or ignorantly, or we just found ourselves in them. Whatever the case, do not run away, face it using the word of God, and you will see what God can do for the glory of His name. Do not leave that business unless it’s God who has told you to: speak the word of God- life to it and see what happens. You will glorify God.

And you think you are so much into debt that you have no value left? Speak life to your finances and see the transformation that comes along. You stop being a borrower and become a lender according to the word of God. That sickness is not unto death, its there so that the glory of God can be made manifest. Speak the word, its life unto our being!

The word is alive, He is Jesus and when we speak the word we invite life into anything and everything that is the issue. Be it a dead marriage, a dying business, a lost hope, a painful past, mention it. He is more than able to restore, rebuild and reconcile. The word is the restorer of hope, the resurrection of the dead, The King of kings, The Great I AM, and is more than able to heal, restore, resurrect, revive, mention it.

Yes there is death in the pot, but do not throw away the pot. Do not run away from the situation, face it using the word.

When Jesus went to the pool called Bethesda, He found a man that had been there for thirty eight years, waiting for the water to be stirred by the angel of the Lord, so that he may go in and be healed. (Read John 5:1ff). When he found him He asked him if he wanted to be whole, and the man replied and told him that he did not have anyone to lead him into the pool anytime the water was stirred by the angel. This man had been so long near the pool that he had lost hope, and didn’t realize that the healer was standing right next to him, and that his pain was finally coming to an end. He had been in that condition for thirty eight years!

When Jesus heard what the man said, He realized that he had lost hope, as he was relying on what man could come to help him do. Jesus then told him to pick up his mat and go. Immediately the man heard that word form Jesus, the word went through his ears, and body, healing him of his infirmity and he rose up, picked up his mat and left. Jesus spoke to the lame man, and since Jesus is the healer, the healing was transmitted through the word “pick up your mat and go”. What was a dead situation became a life situation, and God was glorified through that!

You will realize that anytime that Jesus did a miracle, He spoke or did something first. He told the lame man: pick up your mat and go. He told his disciples: what do you have here? Bring it to me (regarding the five fish and a loaf of bread for the feeding of the five thousand). He asked the blind men who were sited by the roadside shouting ‘have mercy on us!’: “what do you want me to do for you”? And immediately they said ‘that we may see’, He touched them and healed them.

Anytime Jesus did something for someone, there was communication of faith and action of the same. The woman who had bled for twelve years said if only I may touch the hem of His garments. She silently went and touched, and after confessing her faith, Jesus told her to go her way as her faith had made her well. What was a dead situation was made alive through her confession and action.

When she touched Jesus – the healer, the healing went through her hands and effected her faith, through the words that she had spoken before, that ‘if only I may touch his garments’

 (Read 1 Samuel Chapter 17) “And all the men of Israel, when they saw the man, fled from him, and were sore afraid” Verse 24

The Israelite soldiers, who were camping at Sucoh against the Philistines, were faced with a death situation, called Goliath. He could come out and threaten them, abusing them every time, and the soldiers could draw back and run away in fear, retreating in their camps.

Verse 16 says that for forty days Goliath presented himself before the philistines every morning and evening! The situation was just dead. Goliath is described to have been six cubits tall, and the kind of weaponry he had worn was stunning! For the Israelites, it was a death situation and they kept drawing back in fear, for forty whole days. When David came into the picture, he carried with himself just a few stones and a sling, and he faced Goliath- the death situation with the word of God.

He shouted the word to Goliath, telling him that he is coming to him in the name of the Lord God of Israel: ‘Then said David to the Philistine, Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to thee in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied.’ (KJV) Verse 45

‘This day will the LORD deliver thee into mine hand; and I will smite thee, and take thine head from thee; and I will give the carcases of the host of the Philistines this day unto the fowls of the air, and to the wild beasts of the earth; that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel.’ Verse 46

And all this assembly shall know that the LORD saveth not with sword and spear: for the battle is the LORD’S, and he will give you into our hands. (KJV) Verse 47

By this the word he spoke out to Goliath became flesh and from his mouth it empowered the stone that went straight to Goliath’s forehead, finishing his strength, then the same word went and entered the sword that Goliath was holding, and using that same sword, David slaughtered Goliath. The situation was dead and Israel was sore afraid for long, but using the word of the Lord, the situation came alive! Victory came alive and the fear turned into shouts of joy and song. Bible says that as the Philistines saw that their champion was now fallen, they all turned and ran away, while the Israelite soldiers came out of their tents and chased them slaughtering many of them.

What had been a death situation in Israel turned to life and joy, as God of the Israelites fought for them through David. It took a young boy David, who knew the word and the God of the word to reverse the situation. He spoke the word to the situation and everything changed.

What is this situation that has been bothering you for long now and you are losing it on hope? What is it that has been making you run away in fear anytime you advance forth? Many of you have projects that you started long ago, but to date you have not advanced because something comes up and bars you from advancing, and you always retreat back. Face it with the word this time. Advance and go for it. Nothing is too great for God to handle. God actions in our situations through His word and when we employ it in our lives and situations, we are employing the power of God to work for us.

It is not normal for a small stone to kill a mighty man like Goliath; it only took a stone that was thrown in liaison with the word. Our man efforts need to be accompanied with the word of God, for them to bear fruit. Add action to your faith.

Today go for it, speak the word to that dead situation as you hand it over to God, and see the victory of God, with situations changing to victory for the glory of God in our generation!