Bible Text: 2 Kings 6:8\u201323 | Pre\u00ada\u00adcher: Mat\u00adthi\u00adas Alt\u00adwegg | Series: Like you and me | Eli\u00adsha and his ser\u00advant expe\u00adri\u00adence a sto\u00adry of see\u00ading or not see\u00ading in the face of an ene\u00admy army. Through a pray\u00ader of Eli\u00adsha, Gehazi\u2019s visi\u00adon was unlo\u00adcked to the invi\u00adsi\u00adble spi\u00adri\u00adtu\u00adal rea\u00adli\u00adty. As a result, he lost all fear becau\u00adse he saw the armies of God, which are far supe\u00adri\u00ador to the world\u00adly dangers.<\/p>\n
We were alre\u00ada\u00addy taught in our car dri\u00adving les\u00adsons that we dri\u00adve whe\u00adre we look. If we look at the tree in the bend, the\u00adre is gre\u00adat dan\u00adger of a col\u00adli\u00adsi\u00adon. The\u00adr\u00ade\u00adfo\u00adre, in life with God, it is not only important to hear, but also to look. We can learn a lot from Eli\u00adsha and his ser\u00advant for our times. Like you and me \u2013 that is our the\u00adme for the year. We can expe\u00adri\u00adence the same as the\u00adse two gen\u00adtle\u00admen did back then. \tWhat impres\u00adses you about this sto\u00adry? Do you belie\u00adve in a life free of fear? Bible Text: 2 Kings 6:8\u201323 | Pre\u00ada\u00adcher: Mat\u00adthi\u00adas Alt\u00adwegg | Series: Like you and me | Eli\u00adsha and his ser\u00advant expe\u00adri\u00adence a sto\u00adry of see\u00ading or not see\u00ading in the face of an ene\u00admy army. Through a pray\u00ader of Eli\u00adsha, Gehazi\u2019s visi\u00adon was unlo\u00adcked to the invi\u00adsi\u00adble spi\u00adri\u00adtu\u00adal rea\u00adli\u00adty. As a result, he lost all fear becau\u00adse he could see the\u2026<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","wpfc_preacher":[23],"wpfc_sermon_series":[63],"wpfc_sermon_topics":[],"wpfc_bible_book":[],"wpfc_service_type":[12],"class_list":{"0":"wpfc_preacher-matthias-altwegg","1":"wpfc_sermon_series-wie-du-und-ich","2":"wpfc-sermon-single","3":"post-2782","4":"wpfc_sermon","5":"type-wpfc_sermon","6":"status-publish","7":"hentry","10":"wpfc_service_type-gottesdienst"},"acf":[],"sermons_blog_filters_topics":"\t\t\t\t
\nThe pier\u00adcing gaze
\nThe king of Aram waged war against Isra\u00adel. As a cun\u00adning war stra\u00adte\u00adgist, he makes plans of attack. But each time they are foi\u00adled, so that the King of Aram suspects a \u00abmole\u00bb in his ranks. Cryp\u00adto AG<\/span> sends its regards. He con\u00adducts an inter\u00adnal inves\u00adti\u00adga\u00adti\u00adon. But one of his army com\u00adman\u00adders knows: \u00abIt is not one of us, my lord and king. Eli\u00adsha, the pro\u00adphet in Isra\u00adel, tells the king of Isra\u00adel every word you speak in your bed\u00adroom\u00bb (2 Kings 6:12 NL<\/span>). Imme\u00addia\u00adte\u00adly he sent out scouts to loca\u00adte Elisha\u2019s posi\u00adti\u00adon. Soon it was clear that Eli\u00adsha was in Dotan.
\nEli\u00adsha was a pro\u00adphet. They are also cal\u00adled see\u00adrs of God. Eli\u00adsha had the gift of pene\u00adt\u00adra\u00adting the wall of visi\u00adble rea\u00adli\u00adty. The\u00adre is a gaze that sees more. Paul prays for the Ephe\u00adsi\u00adans pre\u00adcis\u00ade\u00adly for this gaze: \u00abLet him open to you the eyes of the heart, that you may see what hope God gave you when he cal\u00adled you, what a rich and won\u00adderful inhe\u00adri\u00adtance he has in store for tho\u00adse who belong to his holy peo\u00adp\u00adle, and with what an over\u00adwhel\u00admingly gre\u00adat power he is at work among us who belie\u00adve\u00bb (Ephe\u00adsi\u00adans 1:18f NG\u00dc<\/span>). The eyes of the heart can see things that our eyes in the head know not\u00adhing about.
\nBut the\u00adse eyes can only be ope\u00adned by God. When they have been ope\u00adned, we see not only the attacks of enemies and dan\u00adgers of life, but hope, a won\u00adderful inhe\u00adri\u00adtance and an over\u00adwhel\u00admingly gre\u00adat power. All resour\u00adces that must be given and initia\u00adli\u00adsed by God.
\nThe invi\u00adting view
\nBut it\u2019s stu\u00adpid that the king of Aram knows about it and wants to get to Elisa\u2019s throat. The attack against Dotan is laun\u00adched, the first paratro\u00ado\u00adpers have been drop\u00adped, the inf\u00adan\u00adtry is moving in, the artil\u00adlery is in posi\u00adti\u00adon. The noo\u00adse is tightening.
\n\u00abWhen the prophet\u2019s ser\u00advant got up the next mor\u00adning and step\u00adped out of the house, the city was sur\u00adroun\u00added by tro\u00adops, hor\u00adses and cha\u00adri\u00adots. \u00abMy lord, what shall we do?\u00bb he cal\u00adled out to Eli\u00adsha\u00bb (v.15 NL<\/span>). Ever\u00ady\u00adwhe\u00adre Geha\u00adzi, the name of Elisha\u2019s ser\u00advant, loo\u00adked, only enemies!
\nThat\u2019s how we feel right now: whe\u00adther we\u2019\u00adre chat\u00adting with the neigh\u00adbour at a safe distance, rea\u00adding the news\u00adpa\u00adper, swit\u00adching on the TV<\/span>, cli\u00adcking away on push mes\u00adsa\u00adges on the mobi\u00adle pho\u00adne, the ene\u00admy is ever\u00ady\u00adwhe\u00adre. From the moment we get up to the moment we go to bed, he cat\u00adches our eyes. It may not be the King of Aram, but at least it is a \u00abcrown\u00bb. Coro\u00adna has us sur\u00adroun\u00added. It does some\u00adthing to us. Worries and fears want to weigh us down. Not only that: experts say that babies have two fears from the start: the fear of fal\u00adling and the fear of loud noi\u00adses. An anxie\u00adty stu\u00addy was con\u00adduc\u00adted with five hundred adults of dif\u00adfe\u00adrent ages, back\u00adgrounds and life\u00adstyl\u00ades. The results show\u00aded that the sub\u00adjects shared 7000 dif\u00adfe\u00adrent fears. In my opi\u00adni\u00adon, this num\u00adber is too high. But the ten\u00adden\u00adcy is cor\u00adrect. The\u00adre is hard\u00adly any\u00adthing that peo\u00adp\u00adle are not afraid of.
\nThen Eli\u00adsha makes a won\u00adderful encou\u00adra\u00adge\u00adment to his ser\u00advant: \u00abDo not be afraid! For the\u00adre are more on our side than on theirs\u00bb (v.16 NL<\/span>). I hear Geha\u00adzi say: \u00abDon\u2019t be afraid! Rea\u00adli\u00adty speaks a dif\u00adfe\u00adrent lan\u00adguage, you see that too, don\u2019t you?\u00bb Elisha\u2019s words of encou\u00adra\u00adge\u00adment are much more than expe\u00addi\u00adent opti\u00admism, howe\u00adver, for he sees more than Geha\u00adzi. In a pray\u00ader he asks God to open Gehazi\u2019s eyes as well: \u00abLord, open his eyes and let him see. So the Lord ope\u00adned the servant\u2019s eyes, and when he loo\u00adked up, he saw that the hill coun\u00adtry around Eli\u00adsha was full of fiery hor\u00adses and cha\u00adri\u00adots\u00bb (v.17 NL<\/span>). Eli\u00adsha invi\u00adtes Geha\u00adzi to a new look. The mira\u00adcle hap\u00adpens and Geha\u00adzi sees fiery hor\u00adses and cha\u00adri\u00adots all around. The adjec\u00adti\u00adve \u00abfiery\u00bb shows that it is a divi\u00adne force. Geha\u00adzi gets a clear view of the hea\u00adven\u00adly invi\u00adsi\u00adble world, which is home to a much stron\u00adger reality.
\nDo not be afraid! For the\u00adre are more on our side than on theirs! We have to con\u00adscious\u00adly seek the view for this rea\u00adli\u00adty. My mot\u00adto, for exam\u00adp\u00adle, is that I always read the Bible first thing in the mor\u00adning befo\u00adre I turn on my mobi\u00adle pho\u00adne or read the news\u00adpa\u00adper. I con\u00adscious\u00adly switch off the tele\u00advi\u00adsi\u00adon again after the day\u2019s news. We are all forced to be at home more than usu\u00adal. This offers us gre\u00adat oppor\u00adtu\u00adni\u00adties to train our view of spi\u00adri\u00adtu\u00adal rea\u00adli\u00adty. Let us use this time to seek God. This can hap\u00adpen in an exten\u00added pray\u00ader walk or through regu\u00adlar pray\u00ader times. I have heard of peo\u00adp\u00adle who sim\u00adply did the pray\u00ader times of the Ufschtoh week at home. I also espe\u00adci\u00adal\u00adly enjoy Sun\u00adday mor\u00adnings. The ser\u00admon is in the box and I can take a lot of time with God with a cup of cof\u00adfee befo\u00adre I go to the office at 9:00 am. How do you orga\u00adni\u00adse your days? It\u2019s not about impres\u00adsing God, it\u2019s about trai\u00adning to look at a very dif\u00adfe\u00adrent and much more real rea\u00adli\u00adty than the visi\u00adble one.
\nEspe\u00adci\u00adal\u00adly in the cur\u00adrent time, when the ene\u00admy sur\u00adrounds us, this view of God\u2019s rea\u00adli\u00adty is emin\u00adent\u00adly important. Eli\u00adsha hel\u00adped his neigh\u00adbour to get this view as well. Many peo\u00adp\u00adle around us are very inse\u00adcu\u00adre, frigh\u00adten\u00aded and very open to divi\u00adne things. We can be an Eli\u00adsha to them. Just as he hel\u00adped Geha\u00adzi to live with open heart eyes, we can help our fel\u00adlow human beings. We can do this in pray\u00ader or in direct con\u00adver\u00adsa\u00adti\u00adon. Let us use the chan\u00adce that the pre\u00adsent ever\u00ady\u00adday life offers us and invi\u00adte other peo\u00adp\u00adle for a new look at rea\u00adli\u00adty. Many peo\u00adp\u00adle are very open right now to the tran\u00ads\u00adcen\u00addent, to things that are denied to our purely earth\u00adly gaze. Be an Eli\u00adsha for others! Per\u00adhaps you are also like Geha\u00adzi and do not yet know any\u00adthing about the hea\u00adven\u00adly places. Then find an \u00abEli\u00adsha\u00bb to pray with you, or pray the pray\u00ader I will say at the end. Whe\u00adther you are Geha\u00adzi or Eli\u00adsha, God is say\u00ading to you: \u00abI will bless you and you will be a blessing!
\nThe pre\u00adven\u00adted gaze
\n\u00abWhen the Ara\u00adme\u00adan army advan\u00adced against them, Eli\u00adsha pray\u00aded to the Lord, \u00abMake them all blind.\u00bb And the Lord did as Eli\u00adsha asked\u00bb (v.18 NL<\/span>). Eli\u00adsha asks that the Ara\u00adme\u00adans lose their natu\u00adral sen\u00adse of sight. This mis\u00addi\u00adrec\u00adted them to a fal\u00adse city and ser\u00adved them up on a plat\u00adter befo\u00adre the sword of the king of Isra\u00adel. \u00abWhen the king of Isra\u00adel saw them, he cried out to Eli\u00adsha, \u00abMy father, shall I kill them?\u00bb \u00bb (V.21 NL<\/span>). Eli\u00adsha for\u00adba\u00adde his king to kill them and ins\u00adtead gave them bread to eat and water to drink. Tog\u00ade\u00adther they threw a gre\u00adat feast. After\u00adwards, the king sent the army back to their king. From then on, the Ara\u00adme\u00adan rai\u00adders left the land of Isra\u00adel in peace. The wide visi\u00adon Eli\u00adsha had allo\u00adwed him to be a bles\u00adsing even to the enemies.
\nNow we have gone through all the levels of visi\u00adon: natu\u00adral visi\u00adon, super\u00adna\u00adtu\u00adral visi\u00adon and no visi\u00adon at all. I like the super\u00adna\u00adtu\u00adral see\u00ading the best. It helps us to see the real rea\u00adli\u00adty. We are bles\u00adsed and can be a blessing.
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\nUlti\u00adm\u00adate\u00adly, the point is to keep our eyes fixed on Jesus: \u00ab[\u2026] Let us per\u00adse\u00adve\u00adre in the race to the end for which we were desti\u00adned. We do this by kee\u00adping our eyes fixed on Jesus, on whom our faith depends from begin\u00adning to end\u00bb (Hebrews 12:1f NL<\/span>). Lite\u00adral\u00adly, the con\u00adclu\u00adsi\u00adon is: \u00abJesus, the source of our faith and the one who leads it to the goal\u00bb. Jesus is the source of faith. When we put our trust in him, he opens the eyes of our hearts so that we gain insight into the hea\u00adven\u00adly world. He also ulti\u00adm\u00adate\u00adly leads us to the goal \u2013 it is total com\u00admu\u00adni\u00adon with God, in which we see Him as He is, unhin\u00adde\u00adred in His incom\u00adpre\u00adhen\u00adsi\u00adble beau\u00adty (1 John 3:2). That alo\u00adne will be glo\u00adry! Only through Jesus do we get a glim\u00adpse of the hea\u00adven\u00adly places, he is the pee\u00adpho\u00adle into the other, ulti\u00adm\u00adate\u00adly much more real world. None of us should fore\u00adgo this view that Jesus wants to open up for us.
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\nPos\u00adsi\u00adble ques\u00adti\u00adons for the small groups
\nRead the Bible text: 2 Kings 6:8\u201323<\/p>\n
\n\tIs Jesus alre\u00ada\u00addy the source of your faith? Do you know the glim\u00adpse of the hea\u00adven\u00adly places?
\n\tWhat frigh\u00adtens you? How did Geha\u00adsi deal with it? How could you use the \u00abGeha\u00adsi effect\u00bb spe\u00adci\u00adfi\u00adcal\u00adly for yourself?
\n\tWhat are you loo\u00adking at in this extra\u00ador\u00addi\u00adna\u00adry time? What helps you to keep your eyes fixed on the hea\u00adven\u00adly reality?
\n\tCrea\u00adte a new habit that helps you shift your gaze from the visi\u00adble to the invi\u00adsi\u00adble world. What could it be?<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"