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The story of Naaman in 2 Kings 5 is one of the clearest biblical examples of how pride, insecurity, and unmet expectations can stand in the way of healing. Naaman was a great and honorable man, respected by kings and used by God for military victory. Yet in the middle of all his success, he carried a disease he could not fix.

This powerful passage reveals that healing is not only about what God removes from our lives. It is often about what God reveals in our hearts.

Naaman’s story shows us how pride, false humility, and self-reliance can quietly block what God is ready and willing to do.

Who Was Naaman in the Bible

Naaman was the commander of the army of the king of Syria. Scripture describes him as great, honorable, and a mighty man of valor. God had even used him to bring victory to Syria.

Yet in the same sentence, Scripture also reveals his hidden struggle.

Naaman was a leper.

This contrast matters. On the outside, Naaman looked successful, respected, and strong. On the inside, he carried a condition that no amount of honor, power, or achievement could heal.

This tension reflects a reality many believers experience today. A person can appear strong in one area of life while quietly suffering in another.

When Strength on the Outside Hides Brokenness on the Inside

Naaman’s condition illustrates a common spiritual struggle. People often measure their lives by what is going well while privately being tormented by what is not.

Success in one area does not heal pain in another.

Scripture shows that Naaman’s leprosy was not just a physical issue. It represented something deeper. It exposed the reality that even the strongest people still have places of vulnerability.

This is where pride and insecurity often take root. When people feel broken in one area, they may overcompensate in others. What looks like confidence can actually be protection. What looks like pride can actually be fear of exposure.

How Expectations Can Block God’s Work

When Naaman was told to go to the prophet Elisha, he came with gifts, status, and expectations. He had already decided how his healing should happen.

Naaman expected Elisha to come out personally, call on God publicly, and perform a dramatic act of healing.

Instead, Elisha sent a messenger with simple instructions.

Go and wash in the Jordan River seven times.

This moment reveals a key spiritual principle. Pride often shows up in how we expect God to move. When God does not meet those expectations, offense and frustration can follow.

Naaman became angry not because God refused to heal him, but because God did not heal him the way he wanted.

Why Simple Obedience Confronts Pride

Naaman was willing to do something great. He was willing to do something impressive. He was even willing to do something difficult.

What offended him was being asked to do something simple.

Simple obedience removes self-glory. It removes performance. It removes control. It places full trust in God instead of in personal strength or reputation.

God did not ask Naaman to prove himself. God asked him to humble himself.

This is where pride and grace collide. Pride wants credit. Grace requires surrender.

The Gospel Foreshadowed in Naaman’s Healing

Naaman’s washing in the Jordan is a powerful picture of the gospel. He was not healed by his status, his gifts, or his achievements. He was healed by obedience to the word of God.

Scripture later echoes this principle in the New Testament. Believers are washed and cleansed by the word of God.

Healing begins with humility. Transformation begins with surrender.

Naaman’s flesh was restored like that of a little child. This reflects the childlike faith Jesus later spoke about. Healing came when Naaman laid down control and trusted God’s instruction.

The Role of Wise Voices in Spiritual Breakthrough

Naaman’s servants played a critical role in his healing. They gently confronted him and pointed out that he would have done something great if asked. Why not do the simple thing instead.

This shows that God often uses others to help us see what pride hides.

Wise voices can reveal blind spots. Humble hearts listen. Breakthrough often follows.

Gehazi and the Danger of Hidden Sin

The second half of 2 Kings 5 shifts focus to Gehazi, Elisha’s servant. While Naaman struggled with visible brokenness, Gehazi struggled with hidden sin.

Gehazi appeared faithful on the outside. He served the prophet and witnessed miracles. Yet greed and dishonesty were growing in his heart.

When Gehazi secretly pursued Naaman for personal gain, his hidden sin was exposed. The leprosy that left Naaman came upon Gehazi.

This contrast teaches a sobering truth. What is hidden in the heart will eventually be seen in life.

God cares about the inner condition long before outward consequences appear.

How Pride and Insecurity Are Often Connected

Naaman’s anger was not true arrogance. It was rooted in insecurity and fear of vulnerability. Many people protect wounded areas with strength, control, or defensiveness.

Scripture reveals that pride is not always loud. Sometimes it is quiet resistance to surrender.

True humility is not weakness. It is trust. It is the willingness to let God work in ways that remove personal control.

What Naaman’s Story Teaches Believers Today

The story of Naaman teaches that healing is often deeper than the symptom. God addresses the heart because the heart determines lasting transformation.

Believers are invited to ask hard questions.

Am I trying to control how God works
Am I offended when God’s way feels too simple
Am I willing to surrender my expectations
Am I allowing God to search my heart

Healing flows where humility leads.

God’s Goal Is Wholeness, Not Just Relief

God did not only heal Naaman’s skin. He healed his understanding, his faith, and his relationship with the true God.

Naaman left with more than physical healing. He left with spiritual transformation.

This is God’s pattern. He does not only remove pain. He restores purpose. He does not only fix problems. He transforms hearts.

True healing makes us whole.

A Prayer for Heart-Level Healing

Lord, search my heart. Show me anything that stands in the way of your work in my life. Help me to surrender control, release pride, and walk in humble obedience. Cleanse me by your word and make me whole. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Chapters

00:00 Exploring the Human Heart: Pride and Insecurity
03:00 Naaman’s Journey: A Study of 2 Kings 5
05:46 The Complexity of Naaman: Greatness and Leprosy
08:57 The Young Girl’s Insight: Compassion in Captivity
12:03 The Role of Expectations: Naaman’s Anger and Disappointment
15:09 The Path to Healing: Humility and Obedience
17:47 The Gospel Foreshadowed: Naaman’s Cleansing
21:06 Elisha’s Heart: Compassion Over Glory
24:04 Gehazi’s Greed: A Contrast to Naaman’s Transformation
26:51 The Consequences of Hidden Pride
29:48 The Call to Self-Reflection and Healing

Full Transcript

This transcript is auto-generated and not perfect. We hope it blesses you.

Jaime Luce (00:08.418)
Welcome to the Jaime Luce podcast. I hope you’re ready for some Bible study today, because I’m ready to dig into the word with you. We’re going to talk about, well, I guess some psychology today. We’re going to talk about some pride. We’re going to talk about false humility, things that, you know, insecurity, things that plague the human heart and how good God is.

to know what we need and to know how to minister to us, even when we don’t know what we need. And by saying all that, you probably have no idea where I’m going today, but we are going to be in 2 Kings chapter 5. We’re going to be talking about Naaman, Naaman and Elisha. Naaman is the leper. And if you are familiar with the story, you may have heard, I don’t know. I don’t know that I’ve ever heard this this way.

until the Holy Spirit spoke this to me. I’m sure somebody has seen this and said some things about this, but this was really eye-opening for me, reading this particular passage. And I really feel that God has a very special message for people today.

I know I’m repeating myself, but often, you know, we’ll have situations happen and for whatever reason, we are disappointed in the outcome, especially if we think that we had an expectation of God to do something a certain way. And it can, if we’re not careful,

It can be the very thing, how we feel, how we interpret that can be the very thing the enemy uses to rob us of what God is actually wanting to do for us. can think something’s over before it’s over. So I really hope that you will listen with yourself in mind. This might bring to mind somebody else in your life, but my hope today is that you will

Jaime Luce (02:29.954)
You will truly let this be a searchlight into your own heart, into your own spirit today and allow the Holy Spirit to speak to you. Maybe you’ll see things in you that you realize that’s not what I thought that was. Or I didn’t see that until you said it and now I see it. Because when the light bulb goes on,

We are able to look at things from God’s perspective and embrace what God has for us because it’s always good. It’s never disappointing what God has for us. So if you’ve got your Bibles, open them with me today to 2 Kings chapter 5. And there’s a lot of scripture here, but like I said, it’s the bread of life. I’ll keep saying it.

My words can do nothing for you, but boy what the word of God can do for you. And it did a lot for me today and my hope is it will do the same for you. If you’re a note taker, you’re gonna take a lot of notes today. So just get ready, okay? Let’s just read this particular story and then we’re gonna go back.

dissect it. No, you know, maybe I won’t do that. Maybe I’ll take us Piece by piece here. Let’s just start and we’ll see how it goes. Okay now Naaman Commander of the army of the king of Syria So we’re gonna get a list right off the bat. I want you to take note of the Characteristics and the information that we are being told about this man

Each thing is a window into who he is, into how he feels, into what he thinks, into what’s important to him. And that’s important to the story. Knowing as much as we can know about this person, especially since it’s so detailed and given to us in this format. I think there’s a reason that we see this exactly the way that we do in scripture.

Jaime Luce (04:53.152)
It says, now Naaman commander of the army of the king of Syria was a great and honorable man. Okay. A great and honorable man. So we have a commander. We have a great and honorable man in the eyes of his master. So the person he serves, the king of Syria thinks that this man is a very great and honorable man, the king.

The King thinks this man is very great and honorable. And because of him, I want you to get this, because of him, the Lord, now this is Syria. This is not Israel, the King of Syria. Because of, let’s go back.

Now Naaman commander of the army of the king of Syria was a great and honorable man in the eyes of his master because by him, the Lord, the Lord, it’s capitalized, not just little case L, this is uppercase L Lord. It’s all in caps. The Lord had given victory to Syria because of this man Naaman.

The Lord, our Lord, the only Lord, Lord of Lords, King of Kings. Okay. Our Lord had given victory to Syria.

He was also a mighty man of valor. I mean, we’re talking about a resume that just keeps getting better. Everything about this man, we’re saying this is one great man. He’s a commander, he’s great, he’s honorable to the king, and because of him, God gave victory to Syria.

Jaime Luce (06:59.266)
He’s a mighty man of valor, but, he’s a leper.

A lep-

This is a real conundrum. This is, you know, on every respect this man is it all, has it all, is considered that by those around him. This is not a false report of this man. This is not a conjecture. This is not some person’s opinion. This is exactly who this man is.

is and at the same time that he is so great, he’s also a leper. Now I want us to think about our lives for a moment.

Jaime Luce (07:58.678)
Have you ever felt like, why is it that over here I have all this in order and all this is great and I’m doing so well over here, but over here it’s a mess and I can’t seem to get it together? I mean, have you ever felt the, what that does inside of you? Because when you’ve got it all together over here and it’s not altogether over here, what’s on your mind the most?

What eats at your soul the most? Are you overflowing with all the great things that you think that are handled right? Or are you constantly repeating those things to yourself because you’re a leper? And you’re trying with all that you know and all the evidence that’s in front of you, aside from the fact of the evidence of being a leper, you’re hoping that with all of this good report,

that you won’t feel so bad about being a leper because you have all these good things. I mean, can you see what I’m saying here? Can you relate to what I’m saying? That we tend to be full of concern in our inner man about what we’re getting wrong, what isn’t right. I mean, we tend to…

take inventory at a new year. This is still the first month of 2026. And we can look back and take an inventory of all of last year, over the last five years, 10 years, whatever. And we can look at that. In fact, I’ve heard this said that when people are dying,

They are thinking back over their life and instead of being filled with peace about all that they’ve done or all that they’ve accomplished or the things that they love, many times what’s so troublesome to their souls are the things they didn’t get right, are the things they didn’t get done, are the

Jaime Luce (10:26.136)
They’re like a plague in the thoughts. And what is leprosy? It’s a plague in the skin, inside the body. It’s a plague.

And there is no cure for leprosy. So this man basically has no hope. There is no cure for this problem. How do I quit beating myself up on the inside and receiving the grace that God is giving me? How do I quit running over all of these things in my mind?

instead of being able to set my mind in a place of gratitude for all the good things and all the wonderful things that are clearly said about me, believed about me, recorded about me, that are me. But at the same time that those are me, this is me too.

This is me too. You ever been there? You ever felt that? You ever felt like, yeah, I killed it over here. It was great. And then you go home and you’re dying there. You’re not killing it at home. You could be doing great at work. Ministry can be great. But the relationship with your kids, not doing so great. You can be doing great in all your relationships.

killing at work and you find out there’s sickness in your body. Not killing it there.

Jaime Luce (12:03.982)
It’s a problem. It’s a heavy thing. It’s a weight that we carry. And this is Naaman. This is Naaman the leper. Great man, but he’s a leper.

Let’s look at some more. And the Syrians had gone out on raids and had brought back captive a young girl from the land of Israel. She waited on Naaman’s wife. Then she said to her mistress, If only my master were with the prophet who is in Samaria, for he would heal him of his leprosy. Now this is quite a

verse here because the insight we see into this girl gives us more insight into the truth about this account of Naaman. This girl was taken captive, not a good mindset to have, but she has nothing but goodwill that she is hoping for Naaman, which means he must be a good master in his home. He must treat her right.

He must truly be an honorable man, a great and honorable man, that she is concerned about his welfare. You can have to serve somebody, be a slave to somebody, and do what you’re expected to do and have hatred in your heart. You can serve and not be serving unto the Lord. You can serve with an end, a means to, it’s a means to an end.

You can serve because somehow in the end you are planning to benefit from this. You can serve with bitterness and malice and hatred and serve. So on the one hand, it looks like you’re doing the right thing, but on the other hand, what’s the condition of the heart? What’s going on on the inside?

Jaime Luce (14:14.114)
this young girl captive. There was a raid in Israel and she was taken captive and yet she wants her master healed. This is a beautiful picture of this girl, of her heart and of the heart of the man she’s serving. You know, at first glance, I’ll be really honest with you.

At first glance, when I read through this, and I’ve read this story a million times, but this particular time, I read through it, and I just thought I saw pride everywhere. I just really thought I saw pride and arrogance everywhere. And I knew the Lord was not letting me record. He was not ready for that. And with good reason. And I knew he was saying, go back, read it again, go back, read it again.

And I really feel like we need to do this with ourselves so many times. Go back, look again.

Go back and look at that situation with different eyes. Go back and look a little deeper, little, get a little bit more focus in there. Maybe try to get rid of your preconceived ideas and look again. Look, what are some possibilities that you may have missed? Because if you want to truly be healed, you want help from the Lord?

You need to actually know what to ask for. Now, sometimes, and scripture says this, we don’t know what to pray for as we are. And thank God for being able to pray in tongues. You pray by the Spirit and the Holy Spirit knows what to pray for you. But sometimes a healing isn’t complete if you don’t understand why and what was healed that brought you to freedom. Not just knowing God did it.

Jaime Luce (16:17.262)
but what it was so that you don’t go back into that thing again. I remember, I may have shared this many, years ago, but I remember singing in a choir with a lady at church. We were just choir members. And at the time there were reports going out that people were being miraculously set free from weight. Weight was just coming off of them. They were just supernaturally losing weight.

And there was a conversation going on about that at practice. And she says to me, I just wish God would do that to me. Why doesn’t he do that for us? why, why? Cause she had some weight to lose and she was saying, why doesn’t God just deliver me from this weight? That’s what I want. And I kind of chuckled and I said back to her, well, probably because he knows we’d simply keep doing what we were doing before and put the weight right back on.

For some people maybe there’s a medical reason and something was wrong and now the weight has come off and got healed their body But for most of us if we don’t change the habits that took us into that problem Why would God deliver it without? Deliver you from it without you knowing and understanding that so that you don’t do that or go that way again That’s not really a deliverance. I mean, it’s like setting the mousetrap

setting you free but putting a fresh piece of cheese on there for you. It doesn’t make any sense. You need to understand. And many times we think we know our heart and we don’t. That’s why King David said in the Psalms, search my heart, God, see if there is any wicked way in me. He knew I can’t know what’s in my heart the way God can. I can think I know and understand, but I need him to come turn the searchlight on.

inside of me and show me what’s there. What’s there? And this precious little girl has a beautiful heart. And guess what? Naaman’s got a pretty good heart too. He’s got a pretty good heart too. So let’s continue reading. Well, let’s repeat that verse. If only my master were with the prophet who is in Samaria, for he would heal him of his leprosy. And Naaman went in and told this to his master, the king, saying,

Jaime Luce (18:46.018)
Thus and thus says the girl who’s from the land of Israel. Then the king of Syria said, go now and I will send a letter to the king of Israel. So he departed and took with him 10 talents of silver, 6,000 shekels of gold and 10 changes of clothing. Then he brought the letter to the king of Israel, which said, this is what the king of Syria wrote in the letter.

Now be advised when this letter comes to you that I have sent Naaman my servant to you that you may heal him of his leprosy. And it happened when the king of Israel read the letter that he tore his clothes, he rent his clothes, he tore them and said, am I God to kill and make alive that this man sends a man to me to heal him of his leprosy?

Therefore, please consider and see how he seeks a quarrel with me. I mean, he’s trying to say, Naaman, listen, do you understand? He’s expecting the impossible from me. I’m not God, how can I, I’m not a healer. And you have to understand, my hands are tied. This is impossible for me. And he wants to come against me. He wants to pick a fight with me. So we go to war. I mean, he rents his clothes. This is so troublesome to him that this has happened and been sent to him.

And it happened when the king of Israel read the letter. I’m sorry, go to, we read that, go to verse eight. So it was when Elisha, the man of God heard that the king of Israel had tore his clothes, that he sent to the king saying, why have you torn your clothes? Please let him come to me. And he shall know.

There is a prophet in Israel. Now we have to understand these kings were not living right, not doing right. He didn’t think about sending them to the prophet. The prophet had to reach out to him and the prophet kept tabs on the king’s stuff. They knew kind of what was going on. News got to him because prophets were used by God to speak things to the kings.

Jaime Luce (21:06.338)
They were to give them warnings, they were give them instructions, and if they would listen, it would bring them victory. But we had so many kings that would not listen and would not hear the warnings and would suffer the grave consequences because of it. Hi, my name is Jaime Luce. I wanted to share with you some information about a brand new book entitled, You Don’t Need Money, You Just Need God. It’s a playbook for miraculous provision.

And I want to share it with you because it solves the problem we are all facing right now. The economy is going crazy. Gas prices are soaring. There’s wars and rumors of wars. We’ve got everything hitting us all at once with interest rates rising. You need to know what to do. And so many times we think we need the money, but you don’t need money. I’m telling you, the answer is you need God. And that’s exactly what we want to teach you through this book. We’ll give you practical ways to know what to do and how to do it.

so that you get answers now. can find my book on Amazon. You can also go to jaimeluce.com. can also find this book at youdon’tneedmoneyyoujustneedgod.com. This book is available today. Verse nine. Okay, we’re getting ready to see

some behavior from Naaman. And again, I want you to think about yourself. Think about your own behavior. When things don’t go the way that you’re hoping they go. Or if you had an expectation that something was going to go just this way and if it goes that way, then it’ll be good. We don’t realize we’re trying to control the situation by ordering that in our mind. But this is

what we’re getting ready to read. verse 10.

Jaime Luce (23:06.08)
And Elisha sent a messenger to him saying, go and wash in the Jordan seven times and your flesh shall be restored to you and you shall be clean. Now this scripture and the rest of this part of the story

is such a great foreshadow of the gospel, of the gospel. Go and wash so that you may be cleansed, okay? A picture of salvation, a picture of baptism. In fact, in Ephesians 5, 25 and 26, Paul says, husbands, love your wives just

as Christ also loved the church and gave himself for her that he might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word. Now he just received the word to go wash and they

Received the Word of God at this point in time be since Jesus had not come yet There was no Bible for them to read the way we read it other than the canon of scripture This was the Word of God it came through the prophet and he tells him go wash in the Jordan and be cleansed Now this is also a very This particular instruction

is going to accomplish many, many things. Because what’s to happen inside in the cleansing of Naaman is not going to just be in his physical body. This is about his heart. God always cares about the heart, the real issue. He always goes to the heart of the matter. We always think it’s one thing and we think that one thing is glaring. God fix that, do that.

Jaime Luce (25:30.71)
And God is saying, think that’s the problem, that’s just a symptom. I need to deal with the real issue of the heart. you know, Naaman could have felt many things. I wrote this down because I really thought about what men and women feel when they’re dealing with this kind of circumstance. Here he is, he’s known as a great man, very honorable man, honored.

He’s not only honorable, but that means he’s very honored. People show him great respect. All of these accolades that he carries and his position in the entire kingdom of Syria is quite great. And he serves the king everywhere the king needs him to serve and in whatever capacity he needs him to serve in, including being a valiant warrior. And if you think about this, this is a man

authority. Being a mighty man of valor and in his position he is a great man of authority and he’s conflicted because he’s a leper. He probably because of the leprosy as well as feeling all the the things that could feel good about the things that are said about him

Many times we say, but I know myself. I know what I think. I know what I feel. I know what this is doing to me. There are other things going on that we’re feeling. For instance, he could have felt shame for having leprosy and having no way to deal with it, having no way to change it, no way to really cover it, to stop people from seeing it. So he had no way to even pretend that it’s not there to cover it up.

He could feel very insecure on the inside. How many people do we know who have false, it looks like pride, it’s actually false pride, it’s not really pride, it’s insecurity. They project this proud persona because they are protecting how delicate the insecure area is. They boast.

Jaime Luce (27:47.454)
they make much of themselves to others because they’re afraid you’re going to see that they’re actually not They’re afraid of what’s on the inside. They’re very insecure many times We run into people that there are people who are truly arrogant, but those who are truly arrogant usually are very few in number most people who are arrogant tend to be arrogant because they’re actually highly insecure people on the inside and

that is a protective mechanism so that you don’t see it and they don’t feel vulnerable and they don’t feel exposed. Then there could be a need in him driving him. I mean, this insecurity, this problem of the inside could be what drives him to be such a great, mighty man of valor. Like, he has to prove something. He has to prove that he’s better. He has to prove he’s not afraid. He has to prove…

And maybe not to anybody else, maybe he’s trying to prove it to himself.

in order to prove greatness and some kind of power and some kind of control over this disease and this sickness. It just forces a false sense of pride and an embarrassment on the inside that can be embarrassed. And when people are embarrassed, some people will be bashful and shy and show their embarrassment. Others will get angry. They get angry that they’re embarrassed. They feel mistreated.

they feel exposed and that fight or flight comes on and they want to fight in order to protect themselves. And so it’s they can project this, don’t fire me, I quit. That anger comes out. And here’s the thing about Naaman, because all of these things were true that were said about him. So, okay, let’s read, I want you to read his response.

Jaime Luce (29:48.994)
And then I’m gonna give you this little last bit about him that’s really important to know. Let’s go back to 10. And Elisha sent a messenger to him saying, go and wash in the Jordan seven times and your flesh shall be restored to you and you shall be clean. But Naaman became furious and went away and said, indeed, I said to myself, he will surely come out to me.

and stand and call on the name of the Lord his God and wave his hand over the place and heal the leprosy. Can you see how he had orchestrated this plan of what he thought this was going to look like? And because he’s an honorable man, because the king sent him with a letter, because he came with this entourage and these gifts to give and

and he’s presenting himself to this man. He thinks that Elijah, or mean Elisha, is going to come out in great display, call on God and do a magic trip, but waving his hand over him and heal him. And he’s angry because it didn’t go the way he thought it would go.

And this is a trap. Be so careful. Don’t get angry when it doesn’t go the way you want it to go. There’s an opportunity right now to say, Lord, I want to step into your plan. But if I have to have it my way, I will probably go away and not get my healing or not get my answer or my miracle or my breakthrough, whatever.

Jaime Luce (31:41.324)
This is the other characteristic though about Naaman. Let’s read it. Verse 12, are not the Abana and the Farpar, the rivers of Damascus better than all the waters of Israel? So he’s trying to stay protective. know, don’t I deserve at least to go wash in some clean water? Could I not wash in them and be clean? Now this is very important. Can I not wash in them and be clean?

Now I told you this is a foreshadowing of the gospel of Jesus Christ. And people think, can’t I serve whatever God I want and get salvation? Can’t I pick, don’t all roads lead to God? We see this all over the place. Everybody thinks that they can do it without Jesus. They think as long as I’m a good person, as long as I believe some kind of religion, as long as I’m faithful, a faithful Buddhist or a Hinduist or a…

an Islamist, guess, or they just think that if you say God, that all gods are the same and we’re all serving the same God. No. Scripture tells us clearly that Jesus is the door. You can only come in by him. No other God, no other God is God. He’s God alone, God alone and Jesus alone.

is the way to the Father. That’s what scripture says. Jesus said it himself. He’s the only way. He is the only way to the Father. And this is a picture, a parallel of that. Could I not wash in them and be clean? Can’t I do it my way? Can’t I do it in a way that pleases me? Can’t I control this?

and orchestrate this the way I want to live my life and do it, that removes surrender, that removes humility. And we have to humble ourselves before our mighty God. We cannot come with pride or even false pride. We can’t come assuming we get to remain in control. We surrender control. And again, so he turned and went away in rage.

Jaime Luce (34:06.05)
I mean, he’s gonna forfeit a healing. He expected that Elisha would come out himself and not send somebody in his stead. He felt he deserved, because of his position, to at least see the grand poobah, that he gets to be seen by the man himself. Now, he doesn’t know that Elisha does this regularly. We just read last week about the Shunammite woman, and he spoke to her through his servant Gehazi.

back and forth until she came and clung to his feet and made sure he came with him, came with her. But we see here, this is his regular practice, that his word came through a messenger. That’s a good thing for us to understand. So many times God speaks a word to us and he’s speaking it through a faithful messenger. Are you willing to hear it? Are you willing to hear the word of God?

Now we do have to be so careful who we allow to speak into our lives. But if this is a man of God, you know, if this is the one God has chosen to speak a messenger sent by God to you with a message, you should listen. You’re going to have to humble yourself maybe. What if it’s somebody you don’t like? What if you don’t like that person, but they have a real word from God for you? What if it comes through your spouse?

and God is speaking the truth to you through your spouse, but you don’t want to hear it because it confronts something on the inside. It’s confronting something in the inner man.

Now listen to what his servants say and then look at his response because this is also the character of Naaman. And his servants came near and spoke to him and said, my father, if the prophet had told you to do something great, something hard, to do something to prove yourself, would you not have done it?

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See, they know Naaman. They know his character. They know he does great things. He’s not afraid. He’s bold. He’s courageous. He’s fearless. He is honorable. He’s faithful. He is a mighty man of valor. So if he had been asked to do some thing, wouldn’t he have done it? Yes. Now, why would God not ask him to do something like that? Because then he thinks he’s earned it.

This is the difference between a works mentality and grace. Work says, I can do it. I have in me the ability to do the hard thing so that God will do for me what I want him to do for me. Instead of understanding that God said, there’s nothing you could do. Your righteousness is as filthy rags. It is my gift of mercy over your life and grace that I impart to you.

the gift that I bestow on you simply because I love you. And if you have said yes to my son, he paid the price you couldn’t pay. His blood has covered that filthy fake righteousness. And I see his complete righteousness instead of what you have to offer. Can you see the gospel here? It’s beautiful.

But let’s look at Neyman. So these things about his character were true.

Would you not have done it? How much more than when he says to you, wash and be clean. It’s not this hard, great thing. It’s an easy thing that confronts pride. That confronts self-reliance. That confronts insecurity. Because to humble yourself,

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He has to humble himself to say, okay, I will simply do whatever you tell me to do. And I recognize there’s nothing I can do to do this other than to obey your instructions. I have no thing that I can add to this that makes me great. That gives me any credit. I lay it down. It’s just so simple.

It’s works versus the gospel of grace. Wash and be clean. We’re asked to come to the throne room of grace.

and make our petitions known. And then it is literally by God’s gift that he gives us the answers. The only reason we get salvation is because we come and we bring our sin and we let him wash us like I read so that he being Jesus can sanctify and cleanse her, the church, us Christian believers with the washing

of water by the word. This word, this instruction was meant to heal this man. It was already in Elisha’s heart. He had already said, send him to me so he can know there’s a God in Israel. The plan all along was to heal this man. He’s in need. Don’t worry. I’ll take care of it. This is what our great father does.

If we will come to him, says, don’t worry about it. I’ll take care of it. But the process we have to go through is to humble ourselves, be washed and cleansed. And according to Ephesians, be sanctified, allow him to scrub us, show us what’s in there, that he can make us new, more like his son.

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and receive the healing that we so desperately long for.

Let’s look at his response. Verse 14. So he went down and dipped seven times in the Jordan. Now, before I finish that scripture, I want you to see what this showed us about Naaman. This obedience, him understanding my servants are right. They are confronting something in me. His servants, those below him had the wisdom to say,

Can’t you see that he’s just asking you to do a simple thing? Can you just go dip in the water and wash and get clean?” And Neyman recognized with wisdom and humility that his servants were right, that he was acting that moment in pride and maybe out of a little embarrassment and anger. But instead,

He recognized, I need to humble myself. They’re right. That’s wisdom. That wisdom is someone who is willing to hear and hear truth and act on truth, regardless of what you feel about it, regardless of what you feel about that truth. Wisdom is that thing that calls out in the streets. And will we listen? Will we do it?

So he did, and he dipped seven times in the Jordan, according to the saying of the man of God. And his flesh was restored like the flesh of a little child. And he was clean, like a little child. It could have sound like a baby, is said a little child. I think again, we’re seeing the gospel. You have to come to Jesus as a child, a little child.

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That’s why he said, suffer the little children to come unto me for such is the kingdom of heaven. Why? Because it’s at that point that that childlike faith where that light bulb goes on and you believe him. You believe. You believe. this is such a beautiful picture of the gospel. It’s such a beautiful picture of the gospel. And he was clean. He was freed.

from that insecurity and false pride. He was made free from self-reliance and the pressure to stay great. He was made whole. He was made whole. Do you want to be made whole today?

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Let’s continue reading. And he returned to the man of God, he and all his aides, his whole entourage, and he came and stood before him and he said, indeed, now I know that there is no God in all the earth except in Israel. So exactly what Elisha said, he would show this man.

by this man’s obedience, his humility, his willingness, all of these things we’ve talked about, because he was willing to do that, confront himself and do what he needed to do. He understood and received the greatest gift. Indeed, now I know there is no God in all the earth except in Israel. Now, therefore, please take…

a gift from your servant. Now here the story greatly shifts. It greatly shifts. But he said, this is Elisha, as the Lord lives before whom I stand, I will receive nothing. And he urged him to take it, but he refused. Now later he tells his servant,

Is it a time to receive money and to receive clothing, olive groves and vineyard sheep and oxen, male and female servants? He was saying, I didn’t do anything. This wasn’t for my glory. This is the time for this. God had an agenda. I’m the prophet of God. I do what God tells me because God had an agenda. God wanted to save this man. He wanted to bring salvation to this man.

healing and hope to this man, to have his eyes opened and truth to be known by this really honorable great man.

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He said that, I don’t get gifts for that. don’t take this. I didn’t do it. God did it. I don’t get the glory. God gets the glory. The whole point was so that this man would know there is no other God but God, not so that there would be this great prophet. was, Elisha wasn’t concerned about his name being great. He wasn’t concerned. I love Elisha. The more I have read, like I said, I’ve read through these things.

many, many, many times. And I never saw this characteristic about Elisha till I have gone through this year in the New Testament, I mean, the Old Testament again this time. I have not seen this characteristic and it is glaring, jumping off the pages at me this time. And every time that Elisha is needed, he is so compassionate. What can I do for you? What do you need? He’s so compassionate.

He wants to help every single, they come to him, please help. Okay, come with us. Okay. He’s so helpful. He’s such a precious man, this prophet. And he’s a very strong man. He’s a man of authority. He’s not mushy by any means. He’s powerful, but he is so compassionate. So has God’s heart to minister to people.

And he knows it’s not me. I’m not concerned about my name. I’m not concerned about my fame. I’m not concerned about getting rich and what I get in this earth. I’m here so that I can bring glory to God. He wanted a double anointing so he could do more for God to see God do the miraculous. It wasn’t because of personal agenda. This man gave his life for God.

It’s beautiful. It’s beautiful. The heart of Elisha, the heart of Naaman. It’s beautiful. Verse 17. So Naaman said, then if not, please let your servant be given two mule loads of earth. This is very precious for your servant will no longer offer neither burnt offering or sacrifice to other gods, but to the Lord. He has come to the understanding that

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This God is truly the God of all the earth. And he is God in Israel. And he’s wanting to take back with him the ground, the soil of Israel, so that he can offer and give sacrifice to God. Because he’s going back to Syria. And he’s, I want this God, I serve this God. He just wants to take the dirt back with him. Let me show you, there’s…

Where we get this from is Exodus 20, 24. Go with me to in your Bibles to Exodus 20, 24. Going there with you. So I will give you a moment because it’s going to take me a moment. Exodus 20.

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Okay. It says, the altar of earth you shall make for me and you shall sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and your peace offerings, your sheep and your oxen. In every place where I record my name, I will come to you and I will bless you. An altar of earth.

And this is what Naaman is wanting to do. He wants to take back the earth so he can give glory and praise and sacrifice to God. Verse 18, yet in this thing may the Lord pardon your servant. When my master goes into the temple of Ramon to worship there and he leans on my hand and I bow down in the temple of Ramon.

When I bow down in the temple of Ramon, may the Lord please pardon your servant in this thing. He’s saying my job requires me to take my king where he wants to go and he serves this God and I have to go with him. He leans on me. He obviously needed help getting up and down and kneeling. And so he leans on him to help him do that, which means he is bowing down.

And he’s saying, God, please see my heart. I don’t want to serve Ramon. I’m not serving him. I’m not bowing to him. I’m just serving my King. Please pardon my job. He’s concerned already about what’s in front of him and what that could mean. And he doesn’t want to offend this God that he truly knows now is God. I mean, this man truly is an honorable man, a great and honorable man who has truly had an encounter with God and has changed his heart and his life.

Verse 19, then he said to him, go in peace. This is Elisha speaking to him, go in peace. So he departed from him a short distance. Now we’re gonna finish this up because we’re gonna see the difference. Naaman had some issues on the inside, but his issues manifested on the outside, the leprosy. Okay, this was the conundrum for him. And so he’s got this leprosy on the outside of his body.

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Now the story is switching and we’re going to see Gehazi and on the outside everything looks great. He serves Elisha, he’s his number one servant. He’s been with him through all of these miracles that Elisha has done. He’s been a part of them. He has served in the ministry. He has position. This man seems to have it all on the outside, has cared about people. We know that he…

He cared about the Shunammite woman. He had great insight. He knew what she had need of and that she didn’t have a son. He was willing to run and be part of what was going on. But what we see, the truth is this man had something else going on in his heart that no one’s could see but God. And this man wasn’t dealing with that on the inside of himself. He wasn’t looking at it. He wasn’t dealing with it. So let’s look at that. Verse 20.

But Gehazi the servant of Elisha, the man of God said, look, my master, I mean, this is what he’s thinking. Look, my master has spared Naaman the Syrian. So he’s already giving credit to Elisha and not God. While not receiving from his hands what he brought. So he’s, he’s thinking he didn’t take the offering that was meant for him. He didn’t take the gift that was meant for him. But as the Lord lives.

I mean, this is pretty serious. As the Lord lives, Lord in all caps, I will run after him and take something from him. He’s thinking, I’m not missing this opportunity. I’m going to go get me some. I’m going to go take some of this gift. This, I want this free stuff. This man came prepared to give it and I’m going to take it. He’s, he’s complete. The greed in his heart and the arrogance and the pride.

that Gehazi has thinking that God’s gonna allow such a thing, not recognizing the true power that God has given this prophet because this prophet has already said, God shows me things. When he talked about the Shunammite woman, he says, God has hidden it from me. He normally knows, he normally knows what’s going on. He understands what’s happening already. It’s like, and you’re not at all living with the fear of God?

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You’re living with the man of God and you don’t have any fear of God. That’s a lot of pride. That’s real pride. That’s real greed to think that I would ignore, ignore everything that I should know about ministry and God and this prophet and how this whole thing works to go get money and stuff to, he didn’t realize he was getting ready to trade.

everything that God had provided for him for this temporary little bit of money in clothes. Let’s keep reading verse 20. So Gehazi pursued Naaman. When Naaman saw him running after him, he got down from the chariot to meet him and said, is all well? He’s concerned. I mean, he just left the prophet and everything is wonderful.

He’s worried about this man now. Is everything okay? Because he knew why would you be running after me? Why would you be coming? Something must be wrong. And he said, all is well. My master has sent me. He lies. He lies. My master has sent me saying, indeed, just now two men, I mean, completely makes up a story. This is really awful. Just now two young men, the sons of the prophets have come to me from the mountains of Ephraim.

Please give them a talent of silver and two changes of garments. So he’s not just lying about the fact that no one sent him. He came straight to come get this stuff. But he’s also telling the story saying, it’s not for me. It’s not for the prophet and it’s not for me. He knows he can’t say it’s for the prophet. But he’s saying, it’s not for me, it’s for these men. We need it. The prophet is sending me because it’s for these men that have come. It’s not for us. He’s trying to cover up because Elijah says, no way, I’m not taking nothing.

But it’s not for us, it’s for them. mean, incredible lies. So Naaman said, please take two talents. And he urged him and bound two talents of silver in two bags with two changes of garments and handed them to two of his servants. And they carried it for him on ahead of him. I mean, he’s like, let me help you and we’ll carry it. You don’t even have to try to carry all this yourself. This is a lot of stuff.

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When he came to the citadel, he took them from their hand and stored them away in his house. Then he let them in go and they departed. Now he went in and stood before his master. Elisha said to him, where did you go, Gehazi? And he said, your servant did not go anywhere, another lie. Then he said to him,

Did not my heart go with you when the man turned back from his chariot to meet you? Is it time to receive money and to receive clothing, olive groves and vineyards, sheep and oxen, male and female servants? Therefore, this dirt, this gunk that was on the inside of

of Gehazi that no one knew that is now being confronted in him.

Therefore, the leprosy of Naaman shall cling to you. Now everyone’s going to see it on the outside. Now you don’t get to hide it anymore. Now your pride turns to shame. This arrogance, now you’re the embarrassed one. The whole script has been flipped and your descendants

This leprosy will cling to you and your descendants.” And he went out from his presence, leprous as white as snow.

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This is a very instructive story. It’s a very confronting story. is a, boy, is it an encouraging piece of scripture, but it’s a warning. If we don’t confront what’s inside of us, if we’re not willing to look, if we’re not allowing God to touch those areas, eventually they will be seen on the outside.

and there will be no hiding it from anyone. There will come a point when it’s too late, and the damage will have been done.

My prayer today is that in this, you will have courage to look at your own heart and to see it with truth, the decisions you’re making, the reactions you have to certain people and certain things, why you do what you do, so that we can allow the Holy Spirit. Because it’s not like you can change anything about yourself.

Naaman was powerless to change it about himself, but he was able to wash and be cleansed. And so are we. We bring those things to God and we say, God, without you, can’t do anything about this. But with you, all things are possible. Cleanse me, wash me with your word. That’s the part we play. We don’t go to the Jordan to get cleansed. We dive into the waters of the word.

We allow this word to wash over us and sanctify us and cleanse us. We allow the Holy Spirit to speak truth to us that we say, you’re right, you’re right. That is the truth. And to gain wisdom and to know when we see in other people, maybe we’re way too judgmental of other people. Maybe we’re judging them because we think we know better.

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And we’ve got a lot of self-righteousness inside of ourselves thinking, I would never do that.

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Folks, we’ve got to be so careful. It is by the same judgment that you judge others that you will be judged. If you’re judging that thing, it’s gonna come back. It’s probably in you. You probably hate it so much because it’s in you. And you’re not recognizing it’s in you. Me too, me too, me too. All of these lessons are for me too. We have to be so willing to look at the truth of our hearts.

that we can truly be converted and know that it is God’s precious gift to us. There’s nothing we can do to earn it. There’s nothing that we can do on our own to change it. But the gift of God is salvation and the gift of God is healing, making us whole.

Take this study today and kind of do some homework, know? Take some notes, journal down, spend time with the Holy Spirit, pray and ask him to turn on the searchlight of your heart and let him show you what’s in there so that you can be cleansed and made whole. He’s a good God and he has a delight to bless you. It is his delight.

to cleanse you and make you clean, to make you whole. He wants, just like Elisha wanted this man to know there is one God and boy is he good. That’s what God wants us to know too. I’m a good God. I’m a good father. I love you. I’ll help you. I’ll tell you what you need to do so that you can be cleansed and made whole. Let me pray for you.

Father, I’m so grateful for your word. I don’t know where we would be if we didn’t have your word. I need this washing. We all need this washing. Sanctify us, Father. Turn the bright light of your Holy Spirit on in our hearts, Lord, and let us see what we need to see. Help us, O God, by your grace. Empower us by your might, Lord, to sanctify us and make us clean and whole before you, holy, because you are holy.

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so we can be freed. Lord, as each one does, I pray that your beautiful love washes over them, that they feel the warmth of your presence and they know the power of your healing. Make us into the image of your son, Lord Jesus, that we are able to walk and give that gift to others who need it as well, pointing them to you, our Father. And we ask these things in Jesus’ name.

Amen.

Well, my hope is you’ll do the homework and my hope is that you will allow the Holy Spirit to do a great work in you. If you were encouraged today, if this was a blessing to you, you can give us a thumbs up. We appreciate that. Give us a great rating if you’re listening to this by podcast. If you’d like to get a hold of any previous episodes, you can do that by going to my website at Jaimelewes.com. Of course, if you’re watching this on YouTube, everything’s there on my channel, JaimeLews. And if you

Want to be able to send any correspondence to me you have some prayer requests or praise reports i’d love to hear them i’d love to pray with you and agree with you You can send those to me by mail at Jaime loose.com. That’s the email address mail at Jaime loose.com That’s j a i e. It was my pleasure to be with you I hope that you’re doing well. I will continue to hold you in my prayers and we’ll see you next week. Bye