Grace and Caution – Matthew 18:10-14 Hook: I never had a sister and I was never given a daughter, but I have been blessed with a wonderful granddaughter. She is a bundle of energy and like her grandpa Gary she has a delightful sense of humor, but she lives in Kansas City and that is a long way from Tucson. When she was four years old, and it was time for her baby brother to be born, I went to Kansas City to babysit her while her mom was giving birth at the hospital. Normally, she is a very independent girl, but at the age of 4 my little granddaughter stubbornly refused to be potty-trained. So after, I changed a smelly diaper, and while her mother was still at the hospital, I decided I should take this diaper outside to the trash can because I didn’t want to stink up the house. And, while I was outside my sweet little granddaughter thought it would be very funny to lock me out of the house. Only it was in January, 32 degrees outside, dark, lightly snowing and I was not dressed for cold weather. Did I mention I am a native Tucsonan and I hate the cold? When I asked her to unlock the front door she just giggled at me through the side window. I didn’t have keys for the house nor did I even have my cell phone to call her daddy. So, I walked over to the next door neighbor’s house, rang the doorbell, and asked them if I could use their phone to call 911. The operator very graciously sent the fire department to the house and one of the younger fire men climbed the fence, and went through an unlocked back window. It was all fun and games for my granddaughter until she saw this stranger climbing in the back window and then she became very frightened. Bursting into tears, she ran out the front door straight into my arms for comfort and protection. Having grandchildren is one of greatest blessings God has ever given me, but children are often a challenge for us, especially when we desire to love them well. Why does God value children? In today’s passage we are learning about valuing children. Scholars believe these verses, also apply to the importance of cherishing new believers, or those who are spiritually disconnected. Most translations start this section of scripture with the subheading “the Parable of the Lost Sheep”. But, when we read these verses in context we will see Jesus is continuing his message on the high worth God places on children (Matthew 18:1-9). Matthew 18:10-14 10) “See to it that you don’t despise one of these little ones, because I tell you that in heaven their angels continually view the face of my Father in heaven. 12) What do you think? If someone has a hundred sheep, and one of them goes astray, won’t he leave the ninety-nine on the hillside and go search for the stray? 13) And if he finds it, truly I tell you he rejoices over that sheep more than over the ninety-nine that did not go astray. 14) In the same way it is not the will of your Father in heaven that one of these little ones perish.” CSB Matthew 18:10 is a transitional verse that could be taught with the passage above or it could go with today’s verses. The Greek word we translate “despise” in English in verse 10, is the compound Greek word “kataphroneo”, which literally means to “think down”. Much is often lost in translation when you are trying to find the perfect English word to describe a thought from another language. In English the word “despise” is a stronger emotion than to simply dislike or hate someone. It implies we are making a moral judgement or expressing a profound aversion for a person. In Greek “kata” is a simple word which means down, but there are 16 different biblical Greek words in my Greek dictionary that can be translated “to think”. So, what is the distinction of “phroneo”? “Phroneo” means to be “minded in a certain way” for example: in speaking of a person we could say, “His thinking was progressive or her thinking was conservative”, this is what it means to be minded in a certain way. Jesus wasn’t cautioning us to not look down on little ones or to not act down, but he was warning us to not think down. Why is this important? The way we think is the biggest contributor to our future behavior. If we want to change our actions the most important thing we have control over is our thinking because behavior follows thinking. All of us were created in God’s image, so it is important we be mindful of this. God is calling us to value all people no matter their status in life. At the time of this teaching children were not highly valued in this society, but Jesus is showing us God looks at them differently. We won’t despise children, if we can remember that their guardian angels are continually viewing their Father in heaven. I am going to continue to use the English word despise in our lesson, but remember that we are not talking about a heart problem like we might think of “despise” in English. Here the Bible is cautioning us of a minded way of thinking where children simple aren’t valued. In the second half of verse 10 Jesus is referencing the unseen world. Sometimes Jesus pulls back the curtains on heaven with his teaching and this is an example of him doing just that. What does Jesus say about the angels who guard children? “Their angels continually view the face of my Father in heaven.” Why would this caution keep us from thinking down on children? These angels are attentive to God’s throne, to his face, to his instructions, and to his will. It would be unwise for us to find ourselves in opposition to the guardian angels who protect these little ones. How could this truth sober us when we are tempted to judge them? When people are tired or whiny we may be frustrated by their behavior, but we should never despise them. We should never think less of someone who is acting out and doesn’t know what to do. Despising children is a line God does not want us to cross. There is more insight we can explore from this phrase, “Their angels continually view my Father in heaven.” We know throughout the scriptures that angels have a different station or calling in God’s big plan. People cannot look on God. Moses was told if he looked on God’s face he would die (Exodus 33:20-23). The disciples on the Mount of Transfiguration bowed their heads to the ground when God the father spoke from a bright cloud (Matthew 17:1-13). Angels are vastly different than us, if they can continually look at the face of the father. If we could see what angels see, we would not need faith to trust God. We won’t despise children, if we can embrace God’s missionary heart. In the verses above specifically in Matthew 18:2 Jesus chose a child to illustrate the importance of humility in the kingdom of heaven. Now in Matthew 18:11 he uses a good shepherd to illustrate just how important the lost are to Jesus. Sheep as animals are notorious for wandering away from their flock in search of a sweet patch of grass. They will wander down onto a cliff without realizing they can’t climbed back out after they have eaten their fill. The good shepherd searches and listens for their cries so he can reach over the edge of the cliff, hook them with his staff and pull them up to safety. When I had the privilege of visiting Israel I was surprised by the lack of vegetation on the hills surrounding Jerusalem. In the month of April the hills and valleys were bare earth, stripped of grass, waiting on the rains. This land appeared to be over grazed by the Bedouin sheep herders who were still roaming the hills Abraham did in the book of Genesis. I learned in Israel that a desert shepherd must constantly chase the grass lands to find food for their sheep, and they often forced to spend the night out in the open to guard them (Luke 2:8). If in our mind we picture the green hills of Ireland when we think of a shepherd’s job, we have not understood what Jesus is describing here. The parable of the good shepherd is a picture of God’s sacrificial protection. Jesus chose this parable because he is not willing that any should perish. If we can embrace God’s heart of mercy we will be, so blessed. He wants all the spiritually disconnected to be rescued. This will lead us to sacrifices of our time, our money, and our preferences. What are some sacrifices we might make to advance God’s kingdom? I have never served on a finance committee writing a church’s budget, but my husband did many times. If he were still alive he would tell us that children and youth ministries are expensive for a church. Yet, what happens when a church refuses to fund ministries to reach children or youth? That church will eventually age out and close its doors. Children and youth ministries are a necessity if a church wants to survive. Embracing the missionary heart of God calls for an intentionality in our planning, if we want to pursue being a multigenerational church. We won’t despise children, if we can remember their guardian angels are continually viewing their Father in heaven and if we can embrace God’s missionary heart. What might change if we applied these two principles? Jesus wants us to be minded in a certain way because how we reason, will influence our behavior toward children. Jesus wants to revolutionize our thinking. Especially, our view of little ones.

Why your brain -- and God -- won't settle for a screen A recent survey found that nearly 40% of teenagers have now turned to an AI chatbot for emotional support or companionship. Not for homework help. Not for trivia. For comfort. For someone — something — to talk to when the day fell apart. I don't think that statistic should surprise us, and I don't think it should just alarm us either. It should make us curious. Because underneath it is a question every counselor eventually has to sit with: what is the human brain actually looking for when it reaches for connection, and can a device ever give it that? What the Brain Is Actually Asking For Attachment isn't a preference. It's architecture. From the moment we're born, our nervous system is scanning for a face — a real one, with a pulse behind it — that can regulate our distress simply by being present to it. This isn't sentiment; it's neurobiology. Dr. Daniel Siegel, a pioneer in interpersonal neurobiology, has spent decades documenting how the brain becomes integrated — coherent, resilient, capable of managing its own states — only through consistent attunement with another mind. Not information. Attunement. Dr. Curt Thompson, whose work sits close to my own clinical framework, puts it plainly in Anatomy of the Soul: we are wired for story, and we only become fully known — fully ourselves — when another attuned mind meets us in that story. Knowing requires a knower. A language model can produce a remarkably fluent simulation of empathy. It cannot know you. There is no mind on the other side of the screen to be attuned in the first place. This is where Jim Wilder's research becomes so useful clinically. Wilder's concept of joy-strength describes how secure identity is built through repeated, embodied, face-to-face exchanges — a look, a tone, a shared moment of delight that tells the brain I see you and I'm glad you exist. That circuitry doesn't fire from text on a screen. It requires a face. A body. Someone who can actually be glad. And Dr. Caroline Leaf's work on neuroplasticity adds the harder edge to this conversation: what we repeatedly attend to physically reshapes neural pathways. Hours spent in disembodied, parasocial exchange — whether with an algorithm-fed feed or an AI companion — aren't neutral. They're training the brain toward a counterfeit of connection, and away from the capacity for the real thing. Dan Allender's work on story and formation rounds this out. We don't just need facts about ourselves; we need someone else to help narrate our story back to us with care. That's a relational act. It cannot be outsourced to a system built to predict the next likely word. So here is the uncomfortable clinical truth: a chatbot can hold your attention. It cannot hold you. If you recognize this pattern in your own life or in someone you love, it may be worth exploring what's underneath it. Learn more about how I work with attachment and trauma → Why This Isn't Just a Psychological Problem This is where I want to be honest about something the mental health field often won't say out loud: this isn't only a wiring problem. It's a worship problem. Scripture doesn't treat divided affection as a minor inefficiency. It treats it as the central danger of the human heart. In Exodus 34:14, God says of Himself, "for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God." That word in Hebrew, qanna, isn't insecurity. It's the same intensity used to describe covenant marriage — the jealousy of a spouse who has given everything and will not quietly accept being replaced by something that costs the other person nothing. James makes the connection explicit: "You adulterous people, don't you know that friendship with the world means enmity against God? … the spirit he caused to dwell in us envies intensely" (James 4:4-5). James isn't only talking about moral compromise. He's naming a pattern as old as the second commandment — that human beings will always attach themselves to something, and left unexamined, that something tends to be whatever demands the least of us and asks nothing back. An idol never asks you to be known. That's exactly why it's easier to love. Deuteronomy 6:5 commands love of God with heart, soul, and strength — the physical, embodied, neurological substrate of a person. Attachment was never meant to be an abstraction. It was designed to be embodied, costly, and mutual, because that is the only kind of attachment that can actually regulate a nervous system or heal a story. And when the noise of a scrolling feed or a synthetic companion has done its damage, Hebrews 13:5 says something a screen never can: "I will never leave you nor forsake you." Consistency isn't a feature update. It's a covenant. What Chaotic Brains Actually Need I've spent sixteen years sitting across from people whose internal worlds are genuinely chaotic — complex trauma, dissociative patterns, attachment wounds laid down before language even existed for them. What I've watched heal those systems, again and again, is never information. It's the slow, unglamorous, repeated experience of being met by someone real who doesn't leave. That's the work. Not a feed that keeps you scrolling. Not a chatbot that never tires of you because it was never capable of tiring in the first place. A consistent, embodied, covenant-minded presence — someone trained to sit inside the chaos without flinching, and to keep showing up the next week, and the next. That's what a neurotheological approach to counseling actually offers: the neuroscience that explains why embodied relationship heals, held together with a Biblical framework that explains why you were built to need it in the first place. God didn't design you for a device. He designed you for Himself first, and for real people second — and the two were always meant to work together, not compete. If your nervous system is exhausted from chasing connection that was never going to reciprocate, that exhaustion isn't a character flaw. It's your design working exactly as it should — telling you the truth about what you actually need.

II Kings 6:8-23 Now the king of Aram was making war against Israel, and he consulted with his servants, saying, “In such and such a place shall be my camp.” But the man of God sent word to the king of Israel, saying, “Be careful that you do not pass this place, because the Arameans are coming down there.” And the king of Israel sent scouts to the place about which the man of God had told him; so he warned him, so that he was on his guard there, more than once or twice. Now the heart of the king of Aram was enraged over this matter, and he called his servants and said to them, “Will you not tell me which of us is for the king of Israel?” One of his servants said, “No, my lord, the king; but Elisha, the prophet who is in Israel, tells the king of Israel the words that you speak in your bedroom.” So he said, “Go and see where he is, so that I may send men and take him.” And it was told to him, saying, “Behold, he is in Dothan.” So he sent horses and chariots and a substantial army there, and they came by night and surrounded the city. Now, when the attendant of the man of God had risen early and gone out, behold, an army with horses and chariots was circling the city. And his servant said to him, “This is hopeless, my master! What are we to do?” And he said, “Do not be afraid, for those who are with us are greater than those who are with them.” Then Elisha prayed and said, “LORD, please, open his eyes so that he may see.” And the LORD opened the servant’s eyes, and he saw; and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha. And when they came down to him, Elisha prayed to the LORD and said, “Please strike this people with blindness.” So He struck them with blindness in accordance with the word of Elisha. Then Elisha said to them, “This is not the way, nor is this the city; follow me, and I will bring you to the man whom you seek.” And he brought them to Samaria. When they had come into Samaria, Elisha said, “LORD, open the eyes of these men, so that they may see.” So the LORD opened their eyes, and they saw; and behold, they were in the midst of Samaria. Then the king of Israel, when he saw them, said to Elisha, “My father, shall I kill them? Shall I kill them?” But he answered, “You shall not kill them. Would you kill those whom you have taken captive with your sword and your bow? Set bread and water before them, so that they may eat and drink, and go to their master.” So he provided a large feast for them, and when they had eaten and drunk, he sent them away, and they went to their master. And the marauding bands of Arameans did not come again into the land of Israel. WHAT STANDS OUT TO YOU AS MOST SIGNIFICANT IN THIS PASSAGE? BACKGROUND One of the most famous scenes in Scripture occurs when Elisha prays, “Lord, open his eyes,” and his servant sees the mountain filled with horses and chariots of fire. Key insights: Horses and chariots represented the most powerful military force of the ancient world. Even in the Old Testament, armies that had chariots and horses were considered superior to just fighting men. Therefore, this passage in II Kings is symbolic of the fact that angelic armies are more powerful than human armies. The heavenly army demonstrates God’s protection of His people. The passage provides a rare glimpse behind the veil into the unseen spiritual realm. Though we may not see the spiritual realm all the time, it does not mean that spiritual activities are not happening all around us. There is protection, there is battle, there is support. The spiritual realm is always at work around us. It connects with other biblical passages about angelic ministry, such as Psalm 34:7 and Hebrews 1:14. Related passages: Psalm 34:7 — “The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear Him.” Hebrews 1:14 — Presents angels as ministering spirits. “Are they not all ministering spirits, sent out to provide service for the sake of those who will inherit salvation?” Ephesians 6:12 — Presents the practical reality of spiritual warfare. “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.” What does this story teach about the difference between visible circumstances and spiritual reality? While the supernatural is a major player in this passage, it is not central to the theme of what we are studying. It's only part of it. In fact, there's something much more going on. EXAMINATION (V.8-10) Now the king of Aram was making war against Israel, and he consulted with his servants, saying, “In such and such a place shall be my camp.” But the man of God sent word to the king of Israel, saying, “Be careful that you do not pass this place, because the Arameans are coming down there.” And the king of Israel sent scouts to the place about which the man of God had told him; so he warned him, so that he was on his guard there, more than once or twice. There are a series of insurmountable problems in this passage. The first one is that Israel was under attack by Aram. The solution was that God told Elisha what Aram was doing, and Elisha warned the king of Israel. Elisha’s ministry was not like that of Elijah. Whereas Elijah confronted kings, Elisha served them, as he did Jehoram, by warning him of Aram’s plans for war. Elisha sought to draw people to the Lord through service and kindness rather than judgment. This foreshadowed Jesus, who did the same. Jesus said he came not to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many. (V.11-12) Now the heart of the king of Aram was enraged over this matter, and he called his servants and said to them, “Will you not tell me which of us is for the king of Israel?” One of his servants said, “No, my lord, the king; but Elisha, the prophet who is in Israel, tells the king of Israel the words that you speak in your bedroom.” King Ben-hadad naturally assumes he has a traitor in his court, informing King Jehoram of his military plans. But a person in his court replies that it is Elisha. Elisha’s fame had spread even to Aram, not doubt because of the miraculous curing of Naaman from leprosy as we saw in a recent study. One commentator suggests this person may have been Naaman himself. But that is debatable, as Naaman could have been leading the army into Israel, though we’re not sure of that. (V.13-14) So he said, “Go and see where he is, so that I may send men and take him.” And it was told to him, saying, “Behold, he is in Dothan.” So he sent horses and chariots and a substantial army there, and they came by night and surrounded the city. The second insurmountable problem was that King Ben-Hadad sent an army to capture Elijah. But God had another plan. It’s interesting that Elisha knows about Ben-hadad’s secret military plans, but didn’t seem to know that he would send an army to capture him! Elisha had warned Jehoram not to go to certain places to avoid Ben-hadad’s army. Yet, Elisha did not leave Dothan before Abram’s army arrived. This implies that Elisha did not know they were coming. But that didn’t matter, as we will see. (V.15-17) Now, when the attendant of the man of God had risen early and gone out, behold, an army with horses and chariots was circling the city. And his servant said to him, “This is hopeless, my master! What are we to do?” And he said, “Do not be afraid, for those who are with us are greater than those who are with them.” Then Elisha prayed and said, “LORD, please, open his eyes so that he may see.” And the LORD opened the servant’s eyes, and he saw; and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha. What does Elisha’s confidence reveal about his understanding of God’s power and protection? The third insurmountable problem was the army that surrounded the city of Dothan. But unbeknownst to Elisha’s servant, there was a solution to the problem all around them. The last time we saw chariots of fire was when Elijah was taken to heaven. This time, a whole army shows up. This miracle also ties Elisha to Jesus. When Jesus was in the garden being arrested, he said he could call upon the Father, who would send 12 legions of angels to save him if necessary (Matthew 26:53). A legion was typically about 5,000 soldiers. So 12 legions would have been an angelic army of 60,000. The angelic army surrounding Elisha was probably something similar. Like Jesus, Elisha never used this army. Elisha’s servant saw the problem they had all around them. But he didn’t see the solution until the Lord opened his eyes. What kind of problems do you face, and do you not see the solution? Our solutions are found in the Lord, who opens our eyes to what is around us. (V.18) And when they came down to him, Elisha prayed to the LORD and said, “Please strike this people with blindness.” So He struck them with blindness in accordance with the word of Elisha. WHY DO YOU SUPPOSE GOD STRUCK THIS ARMY WITH BLINDNESS RATHER THAN USING THE ANGELIC ARMY TO DESTROY THEM? The word used for blindness in this passage is the same word used in Genesis when the angels struck the men of Sodom with blindness so that they were groping around trying to find the door. They literally became blind and could not see. What’s interesting is that even though they were struck blind, they continued looking for the door to break in and assault the angels and Lot. Their desire for sin overrode all other considerations. One scholar notes that this was not literal blindness, but confusion. Otherwise, how could Elisha lead them the 12 miles from Dothan south to Samaria? However, I think this was literal blindness. This miracle of blindness was preceded by the miracle of opening the servant’s eyes so he could see the heavenly army. One had his eyes opened, another had them shut. The theme is consistent. They were literally blinded. (V.19-20) Then Elisha said to them, “This is not the way, nor is this the city; follow me, and I will bring you to the man whom you seek.” And he brought them to Samaria. When they had come into Samaria, Elisha said, “LORD, open the eyes of these men, so that they may see.” So the LORD opened their eyes, and they saw; and behold, they were in the midst of Samaria. The fourth insurmountable problem was for Aram‘s army. Their eyes were opened, and they suddenly knew they were dead men. But God had another plan. Literal blindness is meant because the army of Aram did not know where they were going, and were surprised when they wound up in Samaria and received their sight back. Just like the men of Sodom, the army still marches to find Elisha, for 12 miles, even though they are blind. As mentioned earlier, sin overrides all other considerations. Notice that Elisha uses deception with Aram’s army. He lied to them when he said, “This is not the way, nor is this the city; follow me, and I will bring you to the man whom you seek.” Deception was permitted in times of war for self-defense. The point of such deception is to save lives. So, it is the choosing of the lesser of two evils. We see an example of this in Exodus 1:19-20. After Pharaoh had ordered the killing of the Israelite boys, the midwives let them live and lied to Pharaoh about why. Their lie was to save lives. The result was that God gave the midwives families of their own. When choosing in an impossible situation, they chose the lesser of two evils in order to save lives. And God blessed them. (V.21-23) Then the king of Israel, when he saw them, said to Elisha, “My father, shall I kill them? Shall I kill them?” But he answered, “You shall not kill them. Would you kill those whom you have taken captive with your sword and your bow? Set bread and water before them, so that they may eat and drink, and go to their master.” So he provided a large feast for them, and when they had eaten and drunk, he sent them away, and they went to their master. It was common practice when capturing an army to put them to death. Or when capturing a city, to put all the males to death. But this circumstance is different. The Aramean army was not captured by Israel, but by one man, Elisha. Thus, King Jehoram earnestly asks if he can kill them. He defers to Elisha, whose miraculous power he recognizes. Elisha’s response is a remarkable one: feed them. Which Jehoram does. In this situation, the solution to the marauding bands was kindness. Consider Roman’s 12:20-21, “‘But if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him a drink; for in so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.’ Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” Treating the enemy army to a banquet was the practice when entering into a treaty arrangement or covenant of peace. So, Elisha was hoping to establish peace. (V.23) And the marauding bands of Arameans did not come again into the land of Israel. Elisha's plan worked for a time, though Aram did launch another war with Israel at a later time. HOW MIGHT SHOWING MERCY CREATE OPPORTUNITIES FOR PEACE AND RECONCILIATION? WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED? Israel was under constant threat from Aram, but God was providing a means of protection. Aram’s army meant to capture Elisha, but God saved him. Elisha led Aram’s army captive to Samaria. Elisha rescued Aram’s army from death, the very army that had come against him. INTERPRETATION What it the author's big idea? God's solutions to our problems are often not our solutions. King Ben-hadad of Aram pursued his agenda to attack Israel. But God had other plans. Aram’s army arrived in Dothan to take Elisha captive. But God had other plans. Elisha’s servant saw only death or captivity when he saw the enemy soldiers. But God had other plans. The men of Aram‘s army thought they were dead men. But God had other plans. King Jehoram only saw an opportunity to kill his enemies when Aram’s army arrived in Samaria. But God had other plans. In each case, men had plans or faced insurmountable problems, but God had a solution no one had thought of. What insurmountable problem do you face? God has a plan. When managing Eagle TV in Mongolia our TV station rented a building that was owned by the Kremlin in Russia. When Kremlin representatives came to inspect our facility, they realized that an American-owned TV station was operating in their building, and they did not like that. So they moved to evict us. They gave us three months to get out of the building. Moving a large TV station in just three months is nearly impossible. We began searching for other buildings to move to, but we could not find anything. We searched diligently, looking at all kinds of buildings, but nothing was suited to our needs. Finally, the day came when we were supposed to be evicted from the building. I went to our facilities manager and said, “Is there any other building that we haven’t looked at yet?” He said, “No, we’ve seen everything. There’s nowhere we can go.” We were stuck. We were going to be out on the street that very day, staff, equipment, everything. Effectively, our TV station was about to be shut down. Then, suddenly, that very morning, after a prayer by our Board of Directors, we received a fax from the Kremlin. They had changed their minds! They said we could stay in the building for as long as we wanted. And we had it in writing. We had an insurmountable problem. But God had other plans. APPLICATION Sometimes we have to go through trials before God presents us with his solution. In the case of Elisha and his servant, it took time for Aram‘s army to get to Dothan and surround the city. They had to go through that little bit of a trial before God would present his solution. So too, it is with us. We have to go through trials sometimes before God reveals the solution. The solution may come quickly, or it may take time; either way, God has a solution. We may be facing an insurmountable problem, but God has a plan. Don't rush to find a solution. Wait for God to reveal His plan. This does not mean that God will give us a way out of all of our problems. But it does mean he has a plan for how he’s going to use us to solve that problem or to endure that problem. Very often we have to endure the problem, and that’s part of God‘s plan. I think of the Christians in Nigeria, who are under intense persecution and are regularly being slaughtered. When I pray, I pray for their relief, but their relief is not coming. So I pray that they would stand firm in their faith, no matter what. They face an insurmountable problem. They have to face it. But God still has a plan. Sometimes that plan is to be a witness in the midst of persecution. God's plans are often not something that we are familiar with or prepared for. Embrace them anyway. Elisha’s servant never imagined that he would see angels surrounding their community. But that’s exactly what God had provided for Elisha. King Jehoram of Israel never anticipated that he would not slaughter his enemies. But that’s not the plan that God had provided. Very often, God’s solution is not something that we would normally think of, but he surprises us with it. We should praise and thank God for when he provides a solution to our problems. Elisha’s response to King Jehoram was to declare peace and to feed the enemy. When God provides solutions to our problems, he is declaring peace. He is not against us. We should praise and thank him for the solutions that he provides.

A series on Easter and faith Does faith seem complicated? Or is it that we make it complicated by overthinking it. Faith is simply trusting God enough to do what He says. That may be simple but it’s not easy! In this series we’ll walk through several actions God says we need as we live out our faith in Him.

There is a memory somewhere in you that you did not choose to keep. You kept it anyway. Neuroscientists who study memory consolidation have long observed that the brain does not archive experience the way a filing system stores documents — chronologically, comprehensively, neutrally. It stores what matters emotionally. The hippocampus, working in close partnership with the amygdala, encodes experience based on emotional intensity and relational significance. The stronger the emotional charge attached to an event, the more deeply it is etched into long-term memory. This is not a flaw in the system. It is the design. What this means, practically, is that your earliest retrievable memories are not random survivors of time. They are selected. Your brain, shaped by God's architecture, held onto specific moments because something about those moments felt important — because they carried emotional weight that the nervous system registered as meaningful to your survival, your identity, or your sense of how the world works. The clinical implication of this is significant: the memories that surface first tend to be consistent with the way a person currently views life. Not because memory creates personality, but because the same internal framework that organizes your experience today is the same one that was being formed in those earliest years. Your brain selected those memories because they fit — because they confirmed or crystallized something you were already learning to believe about yourself, about others, about whether the world is safe. Psychologist Kevin Leman calls this creative consistency — the way memory and personality organize themselves around the same core narrative. The memory is not the cause. It is the fingerprint. What the Fingerprint Reveals Psychologists Kevin Leman and Randy Carlson spent years asking people a simple question: What is your earliest childhood memory? Not your happiest. Not your most dramatic. Your earliest — the one that surfaced when you simply sat still and looked back. Their book, Unlocking the Secrets of Your Childhood Memories, is a worthwhile resource for anyone doing this kind of interior work — accessible, clinically grounded, and written from a framework that takes both human formation and faith seriously. What they found, consistently, was that the feeling attached to that memory — not just the event itself, but the emotion the person carried out of it — was a reliable window into how that person navigated adult life. The child who remembered being held in warmth grew into an adult whose life reflected security and connection. The child whose earliest memory was of humiliation, of being counted out, of doors that wouldn't open — carried those themes forward, often without knowing it, into their relationships, their vocational choices, their capacity for intimacy. This is not determinism. The brain is not a prison. Neuroplasticity — the brain's God-given capacity to form new neural pathways in response to new experience — means that no person is simply the sum of their earliest years. Paul understood this before the science did. In Romans 12:2 he calls it the renewing of the mind — a word, anakainosis, that carries the sense of ongoing renovation, not a one-time reset. But renovation requires knowing what you are working with. Your nervous system was never meant to carry this alone. “For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb” (Psalm 139:13) — the same God who wired your brain for protection also wired it for healing, and He didn’t design you to walk that process by yourself. If you’re ready to move from understanding to actual change, I’d be honored to walk with you. Moses at the Bush -- and Later at the Rock Consider Moses. Here is a man whose earliest years were marked by profound displacement and fracture. Drawn from the Nile, raised in Pharaoh's house, then exiled into the wilderness after killing an Egyptian in a moment of rage — Moses arrived at the burning bush in Exodus 3 as a man who had spent forty years trying to outrun his own story. God speaks from the fire. The ground is holy. The call is unmistakable. And Moses' first response — his gut-level, nervous system response before theology can catch up — is Who am I that I should go? (Exodus 3:11). He follows that with What if they do not believe me? (Exodus 4:1), and then I have never been eloquent... I am slow of speech (Exodus 4:10). Five deflections. Not five questions born of pure humility, but five responses that sound exactly like a man whose early experience taught him that he did not belong, that he could not be trusted with something this significant, that the people around him would ultimately reject him. God answers every one of them. He provides the staff, the signs, Aaron's voice. He meets Moses at every point of fear. And Moses goes. Decades pass. The Red Sea parts. Manna falls. The law is given. Moses walks with God in a way few humans ever have. And yet — at Meribah, in Numbers 20, when the people are thirsty and complaining again — Moses strikes the rock in anger rather than speaking to it as God commanded. The old pattern surfaces under pressure. The nervous system remembered something that the renewed mind had not yet fully overwritten. This is not a critique of Moses. It is a portrait of what it means to be human — to carry early formation forward even through genuine transformation, to find that the grain of the wood runs deep even in a man who has seen the face of God. Sanctification is not the eradication of the wound. It is the slow, faithful renovation of what the wound produced. The Father Wound and the God Image There is a thread in this research that refuses to stay comfortably in the clinical line. It moves into something more personally significant. After years of clinical practice, Leman observed that people tend to relate to God the way they related to their fathers — not necessarily the way they were taught to think about God theologically, but the way they feel toward him. Whether he is safe. Whether he is pleased with them. Whether his love is conditional. Whether he is watching to catch them or watching to care for them. That emotional posture is often a direct echo of the early father relationship. This is not a small thing. It means that a person can hold orthodox theology in their head while carrying a distorted image of God in their nervous system. They can know that God is good and still flinch when they approach him. They can affirm his grace intellectually and still live as though they must earn what he has already given. The brain encodes relationship before it encodes doctrine. The felt experience of a father who was unpredictable, withholding, shaming, or absent does not disappear when a person converts or begins attending church. It goes underground. And it shapes the emotional texture of their spiritual life in ways they often cannot name. Jesus understood this. When he teaches his disciples to pray in Matthew 6, he does not begin with a theological proposition. He begins with a relational address: Our Father. That is not incidental. He is intentionally reorienting the nervous system toward a different father image — one that is present, not absent; generous, not withholding; approachable, not fearsome. The Lord's Prayer is not just liturgy. It is relational re-formation. This is also why the Psalmist could write in Psalm 27:10 — When my father and my mother forsake me, then the Lord will take me up — as a statement of lived refuge, not just theological doctrine. The attachment wound has a name. And it has a Healer. The Memory Is Not the Sentence Here is what the research and the Scripture agree on: where you began does not have to be where you remain. The woman who spent years unable to receive her husband's affection — not because she didn't love him, but because a nine-year-old memory stored in her nervous system had taught her body that closeness meant danger — that woman was not sentenced to that pattern. When the memory surfaced and was named, when she could understand what her nervous system had been trying to protect her from, when she could grieve what had been taken from her and receive the truth that the sin done to her was not her fault — something began to shift. This is the clinical and theological task at the heart of genuine transformation: not simply managing behavior, but healing the story the nervous system has been telling — and replacing the lies embedded in early experience with the truth of who God actually is and who he says you are. Forgiveness is not the erasure of what happened. It is the decision to stop letting what happened write the rest of the story. And that decision, made not once but repeatedly — one day at a time, against the pull of the old grain — is both a spiritual discipline and a neurological one. Every time a person chooses to believe the truth over the memory's distortion, they are doing something measurable in their brain. New pathways. New patterns. Slow renovation. This is what Philippians 4:8 is actually asking of you — to deliberately direct your attention toward what is true, honorable, right, and good. Not as a form of denial, but as an act of neurological and spiritual resistance to the lies that were encoded before you had words for them. And in 2 Corinthians 10:5, Paul names the practice directly: taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ. That is not a metaphor. It is a description of what the renewed mind does with the old material — not suppressing it, but refusing to let it have the final word. Your earliest memory is not your verdict. It is your starting point. And the God who wired your brain to remember what matters most is the same God who is working, even now, to make all things new — including the story your nervous system has been telling about him.

II Kings 5:15-27 WHERE WE’VE COME FROM Let’s remember where we’ve come from since our last lesson. Naaman, a trusted general in the Aram army, was afflicted with leprosy. With the support of his king, he sought the help of the prophet Elisha to heal his leprosy. When Elisha told him to dip himself seven times in the Jordan River to be healed, Naaman was furious. His pride, power, and prestige had blocked his way, but when his servants encouraged him to obey the prophet’s words, he dipped himself seven times in the river and was completely healed. Now we come to the point where, in total thankfulness to God, Naaman returns to Elisha to express his gratitude. In the process, he meets Gehazi, and this is where our story picks up. SCRIPTURE Then he returned to the man of God with all his company, and came and stood before him. And he said, “Behold now, I know that there is no God in all the earth, except in Israel; so please accept a gift from your servant now.” But he said, “As surely as the LORD lives, before whom I stand, I will accept nothing.” And he urged him to accept it, but he refused. Then Naaman said, “If not, please let your servant be given two mules’ load of earth; for your servant will no longer offer a burnt offering nor a sacrifice to other gods, but to the LORD. Regarding this matter, may the LORD forgive your servant: when my master goes into the house of Rimmon to worship there, and he leans on my hand, and I bow down in the house of Rimmon, when I bow down in the house of Rimmon, may the LORD please forgive your servant in this matter.” He said to him, “Go in peace.” So he went some distance from him. But Gehazi, the servant of Elisha the man of God, thought, “Behold, my master has spared this Naaman the Aramean, by not accepting from his hand what he brought. As the LORD lives, I will run after him and take something from him.” So Gehazi pursued Naaman. When Naaman saw someone running after him, he came down from the chariot to meet him and said, “Is everything well?” And he said, “Everything is well. My master has sent me, saying, ‘Behold, just now two young men of the sons of the prophets have come to me from the hill country of Ephraim. Please give them a talent of silver and two changes of clothes.’” Naaman said, “Be sure to take two talents.” And he urged him, and tied up two talents of silver in two bags with two changes of clothes, and gave them to two of his servants; and they carried them before him. When he came to the hill, he took them from their hand and deposited them in the house, and he sent the men away, and they departed. But he went in and stood before his master. And Elisha said to him, “Where have you been, Gehazi?” And he said, “Your servant went nowhere.” Then he said to him, “Did my heart not go with you, when the man turned from his chariot to meet you? Is it a time to accept money and to accept clothes, olive groves, vineyards, sheep, oxen, and male and female slaves? Therefore, the leprosy of Naaman shall cling to you and to your descendants forever.” So he went out from his presence, afflicted with leprosy, as white as snow. BACKGROUND Our passage today shows us the danger of greed. Gehazi was a man of covetousness and greed. “The confidential servant of Elisha. Various words are used to denote his relation to his master. He is generally called Elisha’s servant, or personal attendant; he calls himself his master’s servant or slave. He is mentioned by name in three narratives: II Kings 4, 5, and 8. “He is introduced in the story of the wealthy Shunammite who provided in her house special accommodation for Elisha (II Kings 4:8–37). Having failed to determine what she might desire as repayment for her kindness, Elisha asked Gehazi what should be done for her. Gehazi had the insight to recognize her great wish and told Elisha of her secret desire for a son. Elisha promised that this wish would be granted. Later, when the child died, in her grief, she clutched at the prophet’s feet, and Gehazi thrust her away, probably in a desire to protect his master but nevertheless exhibiting a lack of the finer feelings so apparent in Elisha. Gehazi was directed to hasten to Shunem and lay the prophet’s staff on the child. In this narrative, he appears in general as a willing, efficient, and practical man. “In the incident connected with the healing of Naaman (II Kings 5:20–27) the moral character of Gehazi is revealed in its sordid covetousness. Elisha’s integrity in refusing the gifts of Naaman sharply contrasts with the baseness of Gehazi’s action. To him, Elisha’s refusal of the Syrian’s wealth was incomprehensible. The careless repetition of Elisha’s oath, the glibness with which he lied to Naaman, and the coolness with which he subsequently appeared before Elisha indicate that such actions were characteristic of him. His deception of Naaman was in itself worthy of punishment, but his guilt was magnified because his actions gave the Syrians occasion to impugn Yahweh’s servant and thus Yahweh Himself. Although the story told by Gehazi about the fictitious guests who had come unexpectedly to Elisha was credible, the Syrians would undoubtedly have interpreted the request as a measure of covetousness on the part of Elisha. Gehazi’s punishment was immediate and permanent leprosy, extending even to his descendants.” [1] EXAMINATION (V.15) Then he returned to the man of God with all his company, and came and stood before him. And he said, “Behold now, I know that there is no God in all the earth, except in Israel; so please accept a gift from your servant now.” Naaman makes a remarkable confession. The people of Israel at this time were living in rebellion against God. They did not profess Yahweh as the one true God. But here comes this pagan foreigner, recently healed by Elisha of his leprosy, and he makes a profession of faith that Yahweh is the one true God. This is very much like the healing that Jesus did when he ministered. Most people that Jesus healed did not seem to come into a relationship with him. They received their healing and then moved on. A friend of mine, many years ago, who had a ministry of healing, admitted to me that most of the people that he saw healed did not come and be thankful or make a profession of faith in Christ if they were non-believers. Healing does not always result in somebody following the Lord. But in this case, with Naaman, that was not the case. His healing resulted in a total conversion so that he became a disciple of Yahweh. Naaman wants to make a return to the Lord for what he has received. This is another demonstration that his faith was real. It was common for prophets to receive payment for services rendered from time to time. But as we will see, Elisha would accept none of it. (V.16) But he said, “As surely as the LORD lives, before whom I stand, I will accept nothing.” And he urged him to accept it, but he refused. WHY DO YOU THINK ELISHA REFUSED NAAMAN‘S GIFTS? “Contests of politeness are common in the East, where the one party offers to give and even insists on giving, while the other makes a pretense of declining; but here both parties were in earnest, and the gift was absolutely declined.” [2] When my family and I lived in Mongolia, we came back to the US for a visit. I met with a business owner who offered me a position with his company. He wanted me to take over media for his company. He offered me a starting salary of $200,000 a year. I’ve never made any kind of money like that before in my life. He offered me a $1 million signing bonus; that is, he would pay me $1 million upfront just for taking the job. Then he offered me a percentage of the profits of the company when he sold it. In essence, he was offering to turn me into a multi-millionaire overnight. All I had to do was take the job. I thought about it for about two seconds, but I realized that if I had taken the job, I would have to give up my ministry in Mongolia. And that was not something I was willing to do. Why would I give up my ministry for money? Money can be a powerful inducement. But we must walk carefully, being sure that our minds and our eyes are not clouded by the wealth the world offers in lieu of service to God. (V.17) Then Naaman said, “If not, please let your servant be given two mules’ load of earth; for your servant will no longer offer a burnt offering nor a sacrifice to other gods, but to the LORD. Naaman wants to establish holy ground in his homeland. This is likely for the construction of an altar that Naaman would use to worship the Lord. As he recognized that God is the god of Israel, he wanted to take some Israeli land back with him to use in sacrifice to the Lord. The concept of holy ground was not unknown in Israel. Moses removed his sandals because he stood on holy ground where God was. David purchased the land of Mount Moriah to make a sacrifice to save Israel, and that land became holy ground that was eventually used to build the temple. Dirt was often used to create altars to the Lord for sacrifice. Naaman was doing something similar here. (V.18-19) Regarding this matter may the LORD forgive your servant: when my master goes into the house of Rimmon to worship there, and he leans on my hand and I bow down in the house of Rimmon, when I bow down in the house of Rimmon, may the LORD please forgive your servant in this matter.” He said to him, “Go in peace.” So he went some distance from him. WAS NAAMAN COMPROMISING HIS NEWFOUND FAITH BY ASKING THIS QUESTION? “Every land had its own god, who was supreme in it—Baal in Phœnicia, Chemosh in Moab, Moloch in Ammon, Rimmon in Syria, Bel or Bel-Merodach in Babylon, Amun-Ra in Egypt.”1 Naaman was not asking for permission to worship Rimmon; rather, he was asking for permission to assist his master, the king. As a trusted person to the king, he would’ve accompanied the king on official and religious duties, such as in his false worship of a false God. Signifying that the king would rely upon him to bow down signifies that the king was probably older and needed some assistance. Naaman wanted to faithfully serve his king, but he also wanted to faithfully serve the Lord, so he asked for permission to help the king bow down, but he was not bowing down his own heart to a false God, but would worship only the Lord. Elisha’s response to him is to go in peace. In other words, he is forgiven. (V.20) But Gehazi, the servant of Elisha the man of God, thought, “Behold, my master has spared this Naaman the Aramean, by not accepting from his hand what he brought. As the LORD lives, I will run after him and take something from him.” It’s interesting that Gehazi says, “As the Lord lives,” while he intends to deceive Naaman and take something from him. This is irrational. But all sin is irrational. It clouds our thinking. We declare the greatness of God in one breath, then lie with the next. Here we see Gehazi’s greed. But this is not his only character flaw, as we shall see later. (V.21-22) So Gehazi pursued Naaman. When Naaman saw someone running after him, he came down from the chariot to meet him and said, “Is everything well?” And he said, “Everything is well. My master has sent me, saying, ‘Behold, just now two young men of the sons of the prophets have come to me from the hill country of Ephraim. Please give them a talent of silver and two changes of clothes.’” It’s unusual that Naaman should come down from his chariot. In the culture of the day, only an inferior would come down to meet a superior. This demonstrates how much of a changed man Naaman really was. Previously, he was filled with pride, power, and prestige. Now, he humbles himself in gratitude. (V.23) Naaman said, “Be sure to take two talents.” And he urged him, and tied up two talents of silver in two bags with two changes of clothes, and gave them to two of his servants; and they carried them before him. Notice the generosity of Naaman. Completely deceived, he offered Gehazi twice as much as what he asked for. This demonstrates the heart of gratitude that Naaman actually had. He wanted to bless the prophet for what had happened to him. And he demonstrates his generosity by providing more than he has asked to give. On top of that, he provides servants to carry the gift back to Gehazi’s home. Imagine the conversation that Gehazi may have had with Naaman‘s servants on the way back. How much of the lie did he continue to tell during that conversation, I wonder? Two talents of silver would weigh about 100 to 150 pounds. So it was necessary for servants to help Gehazi carry the gift. And the gift was substantial, equal in today’s dollars around $75,000. (V.24-25) When he came to the hill, he took them from their hand and deposited them in the house, and he sent the men away, and they departed. But he went in and stood before his master. And Elisha said to him, “Where have you been, Gehazi?” And he said, “Your servant went nowhere. Gehazi compounds his lie with another one, this time to his master, who had discipled him so well. This is the indication that Gehazi did not collect the profit for the benefit of his master, but for his own personal benefit; he intended to keep it for himself. (V.26-27) Then he said to him, “Did my heart not go with you, when the man turned from his chariot to meet you? Is it a time to accept money and to accept clothes, olive groves, vineyards, sheep, oxen, and male and female slaves? Therefore, the leprosy of Naaman shall cling to you and to your descendants forever.” So he went out from his presence, afflicted with leprosy, as white as snow. WHY DO YOU THINK GEHAZI‘S PUNISHMENT WAS SO SEVERE? In some ways, Gehazi is like Judas Iscariot. Look at the tragedy of Gehazi’s life. “From his life, we can see that Gehazi was compassionless. When the woman whose son died grabbed the feet of Elisha, he wanted to push her away (4:27), even as Judas was offended when Mary poured oil on Jesus’ feet and wiped them with her hair. “This is a waste,” Judas said. “That money could have been used for something better” (John 12:1–6). “Secondly, Gehazi was powerless. He was sent to raise up a woman’s son, but he was impotent (4:31). You know you are losing your effectiveness as a servant when you are no longer able to be used in reviving the spiritually dead, when your witness is ineffective, or absent altogether. “Thirdly, Gehazi was faithless. When the man brought the first fruits, it was he who said, “There’s no way this food will feed all these people” (4:42). “Lastly, Gehazi was covetous. He wanted the silver and the garments, just as Judas sold Jesus Christ for a few pieces of silver. Judas was a follower of Jesus. And yet something happened. Compassionless, powerless, faithless, and overcome with covetousness, he ended up denying the Lord. So did Gehazi.” WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED? Gehazi was a man of flawed character, specifically, falling prey to covetousness and greed. Gehazi carefully thought through a plan to deceive Naaman into giving him wealth. Naaman had become a humble man, generous in spirit, grateful for his healing. Gehazi preyed on Naaman’s generosity. When discovered, Gehazi was punished with Naaman’s affliction—poetic justice. INTERPRETATION What is the author’s big idea? The fruit of covetousness is loss. WHY IS GREED SO OFTEN DIFFICULT TO RECOGNIZE IN OURSELVES? Consider what Gehazi tried to do. Through deception and cunning, he tried to acquire wealth for himself at the expense of his master and Naaman. He coveted what Naaman had. And Naaman had a lot. The gifts that he intended to bring to Israel and the prophet for his healing totaled over $7 million in today’s value. It’s easy to see why Gehazi could’ve been tempted by that wealth. However, he was unlike his master, Elisha. Elisha was not tempted by wealth. He was an example to Gehazi. But Gehazi did not take that example to heart. He ran after Naaman in order to acquire from him what he had hoped to get, wealth. The end result was that Gehazi lost the very thing that he sought. In poetic justice, he received his punishment, the permanent loss of his health. This is similar to Judas Iscariot. Judas acquired 30 pieces of silver for betraying Jesus. It was not a large sum of money, just $400 in today’s value. But in the end, Judas lost the money by throwing it back, and for betraying Jesus to death, he lost his own life. Also, poetic justice. Covetousness and greed never gain us what we’re looking for. But they always cost us. They reveal the depth of our hearts, focused on things rather than on the person of Christ. Our focus should be on the person of Christ, not the wealth of the purse. Remember that Jesus said you cannot serve God and money. Do you sometimes imagine winning the lottery or acquiring a great sum of money? Putting a priority on money and things is a form of idolatry. It puts God in the backseat and our personal desires in the forefront. I once asked a woman if she could have $1 million or her husband. And she answered very frankly that she’d preferred the million dollars. I can’t imagine what her husband felt like when he heard that. In our faith in Christ, we should be focused on the relationship and not the benefits. Benefits may come, but they are not the be-all and end-all of what it means to know Christ as Savior. APPLICATION True Gratitude Leads to Worship and Life Change. After being healed, Naaman returned to Elisha, declaring, “Now I know that there is no God in all the earth except in Israel” (II Kings 5:15). Naaman did not simply appreciate the miracle—he recognized the true God. Genuine encounters with God should move us beyond temporary excitement into worship, obedience, and a transformed life. God’s blessings should draw us closer to Him, not merely make our lives easier. Gratitude should produce worship and spiritual growth. God’s Grace Cannot Be Bought or Manipulated. Elisha refused Naaman’s gifts because he wanted Naaman to understand that God’s healing was an act of grace, not a transaction. But Gehazi secretly pursued money and possessions from Naaman. This contrast reveals two very different hearts: Elisha valued God’s honor, Gehazi valued personal gain. We must guard against using ministry, faith, or spiritual things for selfish profit, recognition, or advantage. God’s grace is freely given and should never be exploited. Hidden Sin Eventually Brings Consequences. Gehazi thought he could deceive both Naaman and Elisha. But God exposed his greed and dishonesty. Gehazi’s punishment was severe because his sin misrepresented God before a new believer. Sin hidden from people is never hidden from God. Greed, dishonesty, and hypocrisy eventually damage both ourselves and our witness before others. [1] MacLeod, M. A. 1979–1988. “Gehazi.” In The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, Revised, edited by Geoffrey W Bromiley, 2:423. Wm. B. Eerdmans. [2] Spence-Jones, H. D. M., ed. 1909. 2 Kings. The Pulpit Commentary. London; New York: Funk & Wagnalls Company.

An ailing five-year-old suffers with chronic illness when a group of kind kindergarten students show genuine love and concern. God never forgets us.

Fairy tales spark our imaginations. Storytellers captivate their listeners. But when God speaks to our hearts, our lives are forever changed.

Why do we love our pets so? Perhaps we see ourselves in them. Their mischievous antics remind us of our fallenness and our potential for love and devotion.

We reflect the character of Christ in the everyday moments of life. We must wait for others, show kindness and patience and let them know they are loved and valued.

Christians cannot compromise their values to get what they want. They must be persons of integrity and faithfulness.