The Word: 2 Kings 6: 1 – 3 (KJV)

1 And the sons of the prophets said unto Elisha, Behold now, the place where we dwell with thee is too strait for us. ² Let us go, we pray thee, unto Jordan, and take thence every man a beam, and let us make us a place there, where we may dwell. And he answered, Go ye. ³ And one said, Be content, I pray thee, and go with thy servants. And he answered, I will go.

Dig Deeper:

⁴ So he went with them. And when they came to Jordan, they cut down wood. ⁵ But as one was felling a beam, the axe head fell into the water: and he cried, and said, Alas, master! for it was borrowed. ⁶ And the man of God said, Where fell it? And he shewed him the place. And he cut down a stick, and cast it in thither; and the iron did swim.

Think about it

CARRYING GOD ALONG….
On Vision and goals…..
One of the smartest things you can do in 2018 is to carry God along…..
Even if you don’t have the wisest and smartest goals, if you carry God along, the year will still end up as a success.

There was the story of a rich old man. He had only one son. But this son was laid back and not quite smart enough for his dad. The rich man was concerned that his son may not be able to exhibit the wisdom required to continue managing the vast business empire when he passes away. So when the rich man died, he left an unusual will for his son. The son was only to take a single piece of inheritance and everything else was to be given to the chief servant. The rich man’s thoughts was that if the son could sit down and think thru to make the right decision in what single inheritance he was to take, then he might finally be ready for the next level. The son was confused, he consulted elders on what to do. On the day the will was read. He chose a single inheritance. He chose the chief servant. The rationale is that if he owns the chief servant, then he owns everything that belongs to the chief servant.

Smart believers carry God along….. 
When you carry the presence of God, you literarily own everything else. 

When Moses was given the option of what to choose from, he chose God’s presence.

Exodus 33: 13 – 15

¹³ Now therefore, I pray thee, if I have found grace in thy sight, shew me now thy way, that I may know thee, that I may find grace in thy sight: and consider that this nation is thy people. ¹⁴ And he said, My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest. ¹⁵ And he said unto him, If thy presence go not with me, carry us not up hence.

Psalm 114: 3-5 explains to us that the sea, Jordan, mountains are driven back at the presence of the Lord. You may not have taken note of some of the things we have been sharing from the beginning of the year but please take note of this: One of the smartest things you can do this year is:  to carry God along with you….

In our text today, the sons of the prophets were making plans for enlargement just like many of us will be making plans for this year. They wanted to go and cut trees to build a bigger place….(And it’s OK to dream big. It’s not wrong to have lofty plans) But one of them a wise son of the prophet requested that Elisha went with them:  

³ And one said, Be content, I pray thee, and go with thy servants.

Elisha was not the one to cut the timber, so why do they need him there? The wise son of the prophet preempted trouble even though there was no trouble at the time. That was a very brilliant thing to do it proved later. The axe they borrowed fell into the Jordan. But thank God Elisha was with them. He brought out the axe through the miraculous. 2018 is your year of Next level. You will move from one level of prosperity to another. You will not suffer any loss IJN.

Nuggets: 
If you carry God along, your year is guaranteed.

Our memory verse for January 2018
Habakkuk 2: 2

² And the Lord answered me, and said, Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it.

Let’s take a few moment to learn our memory verse for this month by heart. It can be memorised in 2 lines:
Line 1:  And the Lord answered me, and said, Write the vision,
Line 2: and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it.

Once you say it a few times it will stick.

Prayer focus: Our prayers for the next level project: 
Lord help me to carry you along this year……
On Grace:
Masterlife Workbook: The Church is embarking on weeks of discipleship workbook study: Masterlife now on the 2nd workbook: The Disciple’s personality