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May 8, 2025 Daily Reading- Read the Bible in 1 Year
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Thank you for joining me as we learn about the connection between Passover, First Fruits, Shavuot (pronounced shav-oo-oat) and Pentecost. As part of understanding and observing the festivals that God has appointed for us to observe, we count the Omer (pronounced oh-mare) today and then have our daily Bible reading session!
Here is the link for a downloadable devotional if you would like to count the Omer for yourself. It has been put out by the Messianic Jewish Congregation Shoresh David in Florida: https://www.shoreshdavid.org/download/counting-the-omer-booklet/
Today's reading covers 2 Kings chapters 1, 3:1-3, and 2 Kings Chapter 2. Today we will read about King Ahaziah of Israel getting hurt and sending his men to ask the idol Baal if he would get well. God's Angel spoke to Elijah and told him that the king would die as a result of his disobedience. We will see the king become angry with this news and send an army captain with 50 men three times to bring Elijah to him. The men were disrespectful twice and God sent fire to consume those men. Then we will read about the third army captain who was respectful of Elijah and asked him to come, being merciful to him and his men. God's angel then told Elijah not to be afraid, but to go ahead and go with that captain. In our daily application we will discuss the importance of speaking respectfully to people, whether we are having a conflict with them or especially when it comes to trying to bring people to the Lord. No one will respond favorably if we just yell at them and tell them they are wrong. We are called to be ministers of reconciliation. Today I share how God has been teaching me this lesson in my own life and I will encourage you to see God teach you this lesson in your life, as well.
If you would like to join me LIVE for the daily reading you can register to attend on my site, here: https://www.inthefamilywaycoaching.com/schedule
Registration for the live event is a tiered pricing event, so you are not required to pay to attend, only if you feel led. If you feel led to support this event with either a paid live registration or a monthly membership then I will give back to YOU by sending you a printed copy of the monthly calendar on sugar cane paper along with a set of stickers for the month to keep track of your daily commitment to read the Bible with me every day.
Monthly memberships to support this event can be purchased on my site, here: https://www.inthefamilywaycoaching.com/offering_packages Please note, while this FREE online event is a family friendly event and the Bible we are using is suitable for ages 7 and up, you must be 18 or older to support this event by purchasing any monthly membership or by registering for the live event, whether registration for the live event is done with or without supporting the event with a paid registration.
If you enjoyed today's reading and feel like God has lit YOUR light today, please click the LIGHT button (it looks like a HEART or LIKE button) and consider subscribing to or following my channel, if you have not done so already.
If you know someone who might be interested in reading the Bible with me this year please SHARE today's reading with them! It's never too late to join in! Let's help this event grow and together we can spread the word about reading God's Word!
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Transcript
Introduction and Tradition
00:00:03
Speaker
Hi there, everybody. Welcome to Thursday, May 8th, 2025. You are here with Robin at In The Family Way Coaching. We are here for our daily counting of the Omer and our daily Bible reading.
00:00:16
Speaker
We are going through the Bible this year using the Day by Day Kids Bible written by Karen Henley, and we are having a fantastic time doing it. God has been so faithful to show us daily application in our lives every single day, and I promise today will be no different.
00:00:33
Speaker
So thank you for joining me today, whether you are listening along on your favorite podcasting app or whether you are following along on video. I'm just so glad you're here.
00:00:44
Speaker
If you are following along on your daily commitment calendar, it's time to get that out, get your sticker or however you are marking it off, because you're about to hear the Bible today. Thank you.
Daily Devotional Resource
00:01:00
Speaker
If you would like to follow along with me for our daily counting of the Omer, just repeat after me.
00:01:09
Speaker
Blessed are you, o Lord our God, King of the universe, who has set us apart by your commandments and has commanded us to count the Omer.
00:01:27
Speaker
Today is the fourth day of the fourth week and day 25. I have counted the Omer.
00:01:42
Speaker
As always, I will have the link for that in the description below if you are interested in downloading your own copy of the daily devotional put out by ShoreshDavid.org, which is a Messianic Jewish congregation out of Florida.
00:01:56
Speaker
I love reading their little daily devotional that they have on there.
King Ahaziah and Elijah's Prophecy
00:02:01
Speaker
Well, we are picking up in our story today with ah hearing about Elijah and Elisha.
00:02:13
Speaker
Those names sound very similar, but they are not the same. One is spelled with a J and one is spelled with an S H. Elijah and then Elisha.
00:02:25
Speaker
And today we have a little bit of a longer reading.
00:02:31
Speaker
And I don't want to give you any hints today. Yesterday we were ah following through on our story, but today this is ah it's not a continuation per se.
00:02:43
Speaker
It's part of the same story, but it's not immediately right after. Yesterday we saw that King Jehoshaphat made a deal with King Ahaziah and they built ships.
00:02:58
Speaker
and And that is where we left off yesterday that God got rid of what they built. And the ships crashed and they couldn't sail anywhere.
Elijah and Elisha's Miracles
00:03:09
Speaker
Today's section comes to us from 2 Kings chapter 1 and chapter 3 verses 1 through 3 as well as 2 Kings chapter 2.
00:03:20
Speaker
Our first section is entitled, Orders from the King.
00:03:26
Speaker
Now in Israel, King Ahaziah fell and got hurt. So he sent some of his men to the idol of Baal. He said, Ask Baal if I'll get well.
00:03:40
Speaker
But God's angel went to Elijah. He said, Go out and meet the king's men. These are the words God's angel told Elijah to say.
00:03:52
Speaker
Is there no God in is Israel? Is that why you're going to see Baal? The king will never get out of bed and he will die there. So Elijah went out and met the men and he gave them God's message.
00:04:08
Speaker
The men went back to the king. Why did you come back? asked King Ahaziah. A man met us, they said, and this man told us to come back. He said, you won't get out of bed.
00:04:21
Speaker
You will die there. What was this man like? asked the king. He wore clothes made of animal skin, they said, and he had a belt on.
00:04:33
Speaker
It was Elijah, said the king. Then he sent an army captain and 50 men to get Elijah.
00:04:45
Speaker
Elijah was sitting on a hill and the army captain said, the king orders you to come down. If I'm a prophet, then let fire come down from heaven, said Elijah.
00:04:58
Speaker
Let it burn you up with your 50 men. Then fire came down from God and it burned up the captain and his 50 men.
00:05:10
Speaker
So the king sent another captain and he sent 50 more men with him. The captain said, the king orders you to come down right now.
00:05:22
Speaker
If I am a prophet, let fire come down from heaven, said Elijah, and let it burn you up with your 50 men. Then fire came down from God again.
00:05:34
Speaker
It burned up the captain and his 50 men.
Elijah's Ascension to Heaven
00:05:39
Speaker
So the king sent another captain. He sent 50 more men with him.
00:05:47
Speaker
This captain went to Elijah. He fell down in front of Elijah. Please think of my life, he said. Think of the lives of these 50 men.
00:06:01
Speaker
We are your servants. Fire killed the first two captains. It killed all their men. Please be kind to us.
Elisha's Early Miracles
00:06:13
Speaker
Then God's angel came to Elijah.
00:06:17
Speaker
He said, Go with this captain. Don't be afraid. So Elijah went with the captain to see King Isaiah.
00:06:28
Speaker
Elijah told the king what God said. Why did you want to ask Baal if you live? Isn't there a God in Israel? Because you did this, you will never get out of bed.
00:06:42
Speaker
You will die. King Ahaziah died. He did not have a son, so his brother Joram became the next king.
00:06:54
Speaker
Joram was also a bad king. He did not stop sinning.
00:07:01
Speaker
Second Kings, Chapter Two. A chariot and horses of fire.
00:07:08
Speaker
God was going to take Elijah to heaven. Elijah and Elisha were leaving a town. You stay here, said Elijah.
00:07:19
Speaker
God is sending me to Bethel. I won't leave you, said Elisha. So they went to Bethel together. The prophets that lived in Bethel went to Elisha.
00:07:33
Speaker
God is taking Elijah to heaven today, they said. Did you know that? Yes, said Elisha, but don't talk about it. Then Elijah told Elisha, you stay here.
00:07:48
Speaker
God is sending me to Jericho. I won't leave you, said Elisha. So they went to Jericho together, and the prophets that lived in Jericho went to Elisha.
00:08:02
Speaker
God is taking Elijah to heaven today. Did you know that? Yes, said Elisha, but don't talk about it.
00:08:13
Speaker
Then Elijah told Elisha, you stay here. God is sending me to the Jordan River. I won't leave you, said Elisha.
00:08:25
Speaker
So they walked on together. Soon they came to the Jordan River. Fifty prophets followed them. They stood back a little way to watch.
00:08:39
Speaker
Elijah took his coat off. He rolled it up. Then he hit the water with it. The water moved back. Some of it went to the left, down the river, and some of it went to the right, up the river.
00:08:56
Speaker
Elijah and Elisha walked across the river on dry ground.
00:09:03
Speaker
Then Elijah said, I'm going soon. Is there something I can do for you first? I want to have your spirit, said Elisha.
00:09:15
Speaker
I want two times as much as you have. You've asked something hard, said Elisha. But if you see me go, you'll have it.
00:09:26
Speaker
If you don't see me go, you won't have it.
00:09:32
Speaker
They walked along and they talked. And all of a sudden, horses of fire appeared. They pulled a chariot of fire. It went between Elijah and Elisha.
00:09:47
Speaker
Then a wind came, turning around and around. And it took Elijah up to heaven.
00:09:56
Speaker
Elisha saw it. He cried, My father! Israel's horses and chariots!
00:10:04
Speaker
Elisha didn't see Elijah anymore. He tore his own coat apart. Then he picked up Elijah's coat. It had fallen from Elijah.
00:10:18
Speaker
Elisha walked back to the Jordan River. He hit the water with Elijah's coat. He said, Where is Elijah's God? And the water moved apart for him.
00:10:32
Speaker
Elisha walked across on the dry ground. The prophets from Jericho were watching. Elijah's spirit is upon Elisha now, they said.
00:10:43
Speaker
They went to Elisha and bowed down. We have 50 men, they said. Let's get them to look for Elijah. And maybe God's spirit took him to a mountain or to a valley.
00:10:55
Speaker
No, said Elisha. But the prophets kept asking him and at last Elisha said, all right, send the men to look. So they sent the 50 men to look for Elisha.
00:11:09
Speaker
They looked for three days. They did not find him anywhere. So they went back to Elisha and Jericho. I told you not to go, said Elisha.
00:11:21
Speaker
Now the men of Jericho went to Elisha. Our town is built in a good place, they said, but our water is bad and the land won't grow crops. Bring me some salt in a new bowl, said Elisha.
00:11:37
Speaker
So they brought it to him. And Elisha went to the spring where the water from the town came from. He said these words from God. I have made this water good.
00:11:50
Speaker
It won't ever be bad again. Now it will make crops grow.
00:11:57
Speaker
And from then on, the water of Jericho was good.
The Art of Respectful Communication
00:12:02
Speaker
Elisha left Jericho. He walked toward Bethel. And as he walked along, boys came out of the town. They made fun of Elisha. Go on, you bald head, they called.
00:12:16
Speaker
Go on, you bald head.
00:12:20
Speaker
Elisha turned and looked at them. He promised that something bad would happen to them. Then two bears came out of the woods and the bears hurt 42 of those boys.
00:12:37
Speaker
Elisha went on to Carmel Mountain and then he went back to Samaria.
00:12:43
Speaker
That is the end of our reading today.
00:12:48
Speaker
Wow, today we saw Elijah being taken up to heaven in a wind. He did not suffer physical death. God took him to heaven. That is amazing.
00:13:03
Speaker
We had a lot of amazing things in our story today. King Ahaziah got hurt and he went to Baal asking to see if he was going to be healed.
00:13:16
Speaker
Can you believe it? Well, we did say that Israel's kings were bad and no matter what, they just turned away from God. No matter what, they just couldn't seem to bring their faith to God instead of into an idol that was false and not even real.
00:13:30
Speaker
And so here we see that he receives his punishment. He was to die as a result of it.
00:13:38
Speaker
But our daily application is going to be found in how the men approached Elijah. There is a saying and it says, you get more bees with honey than you do with vinegar.
00:13:54
Speaker
And we've spoken a little bit recently about ah speaking nicely to people and thinking nicely about people. And how we speak to people makes a difference in how they're going to respond.
00:14:10
Speaker
The first two sets of army captains with the 50 men, they were rude. They were demanding. This was God's prophet and they were not showing respect to God by not showing respect to his prophet.
00:14:25
Speaker
And so in order to be protected, God did send down fire from heaven to protect Elijah. But when the third army captain came, he was respectful and he was kind and he asked for kindness from Elijah in return and God's spirit, God's angel, which we know again, that's who?
00:14:50
Speaker
That's right. Jesus. It was Jesus who was there with him. He told him not to be afraid and to go.
00:15:00
Speaker
this is an especially important lesson for us if we are wanting people to uh come to know the lord i've also it's it's really interesting how god works everything together to show ah Just to work the same lesson in, he brings multiple avenues.
00:15:19
Speaker
I've been listening to a speaker by the name of Jamie Winship, who I spoke about before, who has the book Living Fearless, and it's about finding your identity in God by telling the truth and exchanging the lies that Satan tells us of who we are and exchanging it for the truth of who God says we are.
00:15:41
Speaker
Well, he has other things to speak about as well. And one of the things that he speaks about is how to be a minister of reconciliation. We are meant to bring unity in the world.
00:15:53
Speaker
And we're not going to bring unity in the world by going up and barking at people and telling them how awful they are. He has a ah great class that is part of his living fearless program that he, after you learn how to tell the truth and accept your identity and then be who God created you to be, it's a whole process of transformation.
00:16:19
Speaker
And he has a great, he he does a lot of great podcasts where he talks about these things. And he talks about the fact that we are not meant to be separate. And by ah telling people you're wrong, you need to do things this way.
00:16:34
Speaker
That creates separation. When we go respectfully to people and we talk with them respectfully, we get much better results.
00:16:47
Speaker
Nobody likes to have anybody else come up and say, what you're doing is wrong. You need to do this. And what's interesting is there's actually, we've noticed this in the world as well, and we've made this observation.
00:17:01
Speaker
When I was taking my classes on how to be a health and wellness coach, I needed to take ah classes on motivational interviewing, as well as ah learning about the trans-theoretical model of change and such like that. and one of the first lessons that they teach in the beginning of the motivational interviewing book is that we are almost programmed to be oppositional.
00:17:30
Speaker
If somebody comes and tries to say, you need to do things this way. it' If people changed just by us telling them, you're doing this wrong, you need to do it this way, then people would be changing.
00:17:44
Speaker
But the fact is, is that that's not the way people make change. And so I immediately made that connection with, uh, evangelism and in helping people come to know the Lord. If we just sit there and throw at people, you're a sinner and you're going to go to hell and you're doing things wrong.
00:18:04
Speaker
That is not a great motivation to come to Christ. Christ didn't do that with us. He brings us with love and he brings us, he draws us into himself. And so while that may be a fact, it's not the way to win people for the Lord.
00:18:23
Speaker
And when the When the army captain was respectful, Elijah and God were respectful in return, in kind in return.
00:18:34
Speaker
And so this is a big lesson for us today that no matter what we're dealing with in our conversation, dealing with people at work, dealing with our spouses, dealing with bringing people to the Lord, speaking respectfully and being thoughtful of others is the best way to communicate, thinking well of people.
00:18:57
Speaker
I, I, God put this on me and was crazy. I had such a difficult day yesterday um, um And so he was teaching me through yesterday and through what I've been hearing Jamie Winship speak about with ah just telling people you're wrong, create separation, is that how you solve, how you try to solve an issue that you have, a problem that you have, or a conflict that you have with somebody makes a big difference.
00:19:28
Speaker
and just going up and say, you're doing this all wrong. That's not going to win anything. And like I did that yesterday. I said, this is a mess over here. You have this going on and you have this going on and it resolved absolutely nothing.
00:19:45
Speaker
So today God gave me some some thought about it and how to ah speak better and how to present things better. And now I don't feel confrontational because part of the fruit of the spirit is peace.
00:20:00
Speaker
and we are ministers of reconciliation. And you're not going to be able to reconcile by going up and saying, this is all wrong.
00:20:10
Speaker
I knew that, but in my frustration yesterday, i couldn't figure that out. But every day I believe that God's puts me exactly where I'm supposed to be because he's teaching me things and he's bringing me people for me to talk to and to have experiences so that I can learn from them.
00:20:27
Speaker
And lo and behold, then we have this lesson here today. So I wanted to give God the glory ah for showing you and for showing me so that I could tell you and show you this is how God is so amazing that he works these daily applications into our lives every single day.
00:20:46
Speaker
If our eyes are open to what we are experiencing, then God is so faithful to show us. And he was so gentle with me. And, um,
00:20:58
Speaker
to show me that this was how to resolve it. Yesterday just seemed like a day of conflict for me.
Personal Growth in Communication
00:21:03
Speaker
I was irritated with my husband about something. And then today when I came at it from a different viewpoint, because the issue had was not reconciled yet, I still needed to have the conversation again.
00:21:15
Speaker
But instead of saying, what you're doing is wrong, which it was, don't get me wrong. He really was doing something wrong. I came about it differently. And I said, you're asking me to do something that I'm not comfortable doing.
00:21:31
Speaker
And he said, I know, but this is the way I want to do it. And then all of a sudden, when I looked at the calendar, and was able to propose a different day to do something which would fall but before the day.
00:21:45
Speaker
that was causing me discomfort, which would have been a past due date, so that we could take care of the issue within the time period and it wouldn't be out of compliance.
00:22:00
Speaker
So when I came about it with God's mindset, with with doing things God's way and trying to be more respectful, lo and behold, God opened my eyes and there was a much better reconciliatory solution.
00:22:17
Speaker
And we talked through plans to do it. And instead of meeting like this and arguing and him saying, no, I don't wanna do this. And me saying, you need to do this. And him saying, I don't want to. And I'm saying, but you need to do so because instead of this, we now had this.
00:22:35
Speaker
And it was God's way, so of course it worked. It was so much better. So I wanted to be encouraging to everybody to ask God to show you how to be a minister of reconciliation and how to speak respectfully to people when we are attempting to have conflict resolution.
00:22:57
Speaker
And that is our daily application today.
00:23:01
Speaker
So thank you for listening along. Thank you for following with our daily reading. I'm so glad that you are here and that, and I am seeing additional subscribers and followers to this event.
00:23:15
Speaker
And I am so thankful that God is, lighting the world with everybody. Thank you so much for lighting your lights. I see them out there. And we are making more light for other people to be drawn to God as well.
00:23:29
Speaker
So thank you for doing that. I really appreciate that. Thank you for clicking that light button. I see lights going up all over the place. I see views. You guys are coming to me and telling me that it was just what you needed to hear at just the right time.
00:23:45
Speaker
So that is God, the way he is working things through. So I am so so thankful to him. His word is not void. It never comes back empty.
00:23:56
Speaker
He is sending his word out. And I am so excited to see good that he is working into it. So thank you so much for being here.
00:24:07
Speaker
I really appreciate knowing that ah that for the purpose to which God is using me is beneficial. I love that.
00:24:17
Speaker
So if once again, you feel that God has lit your light today and given you something to work with in your life with this daily application, please remember to click that light button again.
00:24:28
Speaker
We know it looks like a heart. We know it looks like a thumbs up, but it's really a light. We are the light of the world and you, our guys are doing a fantastic job lighting those lights and not keeping them under a bushel.
00:24:42
Speaker
Thank you for setting them up high on a hill. Thank you for sharing this event with people so that they too can see God's love and God's light and learn how to apply God's word to their life every single day.
00:24:57
Speaker
I hope you have a fantastic rest of the day today and I will be here for everybody again tomorrow.