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Wholehearted Effort Results in Abundant Blessings - Coggle Diagram
Wholehearted Effort Results in Abundant Blessings
Elisha instructed King Jehoash to take a certain action to illustrate how Israel would defeat Syria (2Ki 13:15-18)
:book:
15
E·liʹsha then said to him: “Take a bow and arrows.” So he took a bow and arrows.
16
Then he said to the king of Israel: “Put your hand to the bow.” So he put his hand to it, after which E·liʹsha laid his hands on the king’s hands.
17
Then he said: “Open the window toward the east.” So he opened it. E·liʹsha said: “Shoot!” So he shot. He now said: “Jehovah’s arrow of victory, the arrow of victory over Syria! You will strike down Syria at Aʹphek until you finish it off.”
18
He continued: “Take the arrows,” and he took them. Then he said to the king of Israel: “Strike the ground.” So he struck the ground three times and stopped.
Elisha gave instructions :arrow_right: Jehoash
Jehoash followed those instructions
vs 17—This was a prophecy
"Jehovah's arrow of victory, the arrow of victory over Syria!"—Jehovah would be with Jehoash
Israel would win
Put self in Jehoash's place
Just heard prophecy
You'd be involved in
Jehovah's promise to help you
Know how it would turn out
How excited/how would you feel at that moment?
But how does Jehoash react?
vs 18: "...he struck the ground 3 times and stopped."
He followed instructions... But where :<3:?
:forbidden: allow prophecy to affect his zeal
Affected how carried out assignment
Zeal
How determined he was
:forbidden: :eyes: himself working w/ Jehovah
How did Jehoash's attitude and effort effect his success?
:book:
19
At that the man of the true God grew indignant at him and said: “You should have struck the ground five or six times! Then you would have struck down Syria until you finished it off, but now you will strike down Syria only three times.”
Why know Jehoash wasn't wholesouled?
:frame_with_picture: He had plenty of arrows
Because Jehoash was not wholehearted, his success was limited (2Ki 13:19; w10 4/15 26 ¶11)
Because Jehoash held back, Jehovah held back from blessing him fully
Jehoash had some victories
but his effort and lack of zeal kept from seeing Jehovah's full blessing on his work
He followed instructions, but going through motions
Seems he wasn't focused sp'ly
Jehovah abundantly blesses his servants who seek him earnestly (Heb 11:6; w13 11/1 11 ¶5-6)
:book:
Heb 11:6
—Moreover, without faith it is impossible to please God well, for whoever approaches God must believe that he is and that he becomes the rewarder of those earnestly seeking him.
Reference work for Bible translators: the Greek word rendered “earnestly seeking” ...implies coming to God “in worship.”
Another reference work: Greek verb ...suggests intensity and concentrated effort.
Jehovah rewards those whose faith moves them to worship him with wholehearted love and zeal.
Our faith affects how we worship Jehovah; our love for Him & our zeal
Where Jehoash :forbidden: sp focus (just going through motions; not thinking about how working w/ Jehovah in this), ...our focus helps us keep zeal burning
Practical things can do to keep our sp focus? And remember we're working with Jehovah?
:thinking_face: about our share in Bible prophecy
Which prophecies do I share in when in :briefcase:?
Take stand for truth @ work/school/relatives?
How does what I do help fulfill prphecy?
Do I :eyes: myself working w/ Jehovah?
This turns up :fire: on our zeal
How does He bless us?
Future promises
Now: Joy
Satisfying work
Helps us stay content & not look back or compare
ASK YOURSELF, ‘How do I demonstrate wholehearted effort in such aspects of my worship as Bible reading, meeting attendance, and the field ministry?’
Am I following instructions?
or putting my :<3: into it?
When put hearts and effort into worship, it affect
Lingering in meditation
Mtg prep / determination to be here phy whenever possible; participating
Effort we put into ministry
Preparing :<3:
Showing personal interest
Returning to water seeds
As put :<3: into worship, we'll experience Jehovah's blessings personally (joy, zeal, satisfaction)
To worship Jehovah, certain things we do
What's connection between how we feel about those things (that part of worship), and blessings we can expect?
