Double portion
Ephesians 6:10-19
We are in a spiritual battleground. Be awake and ready with the armour of God to fight against evil. God is looking for a group of people who are willing to fight for the Lord in this spiritual battle.
As we see in the book of Judges, around 300 people were with Gideon to fight against their enemy. Initially, 32,000 people gathered, but during the course, around 31,700 people left the battleground and he was left out with only 300 people. God is looking at the quality of the people. He is least bothered about the quantity.
V:10:- “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power.”
To fight a good battle, we must be strong in the Lord and His mighty power. Without His mighty/supernatural power, we will not be able to succeed in our spiritual war. Here are a few good examples from the Bible:
1. Luke 4:1-14:
We see the life of Jesus Christ, who is a great example for us. In verse 1 it says “Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, left Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness,”. Before Jesus started His ministry, He went and spent time fasting & praying. As a sign, Jesus received the Holy Spirit soon after being baptised. But Jesus felt that until and unless we receive the power of the Holy Spirit, ministering would be difficult. If we want to do a higher level of ministry or get involved in the spiritual battle, we need to have the power of the Holy Spirit.
In verse 14, “Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit”. If we have to reach the people, we need the power of the Spirit working in us. Jesus did a supernatural ministry in the 3.5 years time frame. Let us reach the people who are in darkness, under evil’s control, and let’s get them out of that pit.
2. I Kings 18:19-21
Another great example we can see is the life & calling of Elisha to the ministry. In verse 20, the words of Elijah, saying “remember what I have done for you”. We need to remember what God has done in our lives. Let us not forget any of His blessings, rather be thankful and serve Him with our whole heart. When it comes to Verse 21, Elisha testifies before his family and even the whole city that he is now going to serve the Lord. He burnt and made a sacrifice before his people and went behind Elijah to serve the Lord.
We see Elisha following Elijah from Bethel to Jericho and then to Jordan to receive the double portion of the Holy Spirit. He was just not happy with the power he had in him, but wanted to receive the double portion of the Holy Spirit. Even though he had to listen to many discouraging words from others, he kept moving. The world will try to stop you from growing spiritually, but keep on moving. Don’t stop yourself. Elisha had only one vision before Elijah was taken up to heaven; he had to receive the double portion of His Spirit.
Let us focus on the Lord and move forward. At Jericho we see there were 50 other disciples of the prophets who stood back and were watching Elisha’s move. We may be alone at times, but it’s our fight. We have to fight it alone.
In Mathew 20:6, we see the labourers standing almost a whole day without any work. Now they were left out with the last one hour of the day to work. Let us not waste our time standing and watching worldly things, be vigilant and prayerful. Even, don’t blame anyone who is not supporting us, but take a stand & move on.
Finally, Elisha & Elijah reached Jordan, where Elisha had to be a lot more alert. He kept his eyes open even after having so much of a painful situation. Let’s look at the Lord and live our Christian life. If we even blink our eyes at any point, we may miss the opportunity. We live in an end time. The second coming of Jesus is very soon. Finally, Elisha got the double portion of Elijah’s spirit.
When he reached Jericho, we could see people from that village approaching him for the deliverance. Now they understood that he was filled with the Holy Spirit, because he had come back from Jordan. Jericho is a beautiful place “but the water of the land is bad and the ground barren”. Elisha prayed and poured salt in the water and sprinkled it over the land. The curse is broken and the land gets delivered. Our anointing can break the curse of the land that we live in.
So, be thirsty for the double portion of the Holy Spirit and live for the Lord.
May God bless you all with these words.
Br. Shojo John