Zephaniah Three

2 Kings 2

1 And it came to pass, when the Lord was about to take up Elijah into heaven by a whirlwind, that Elijah went with Elisha from Gilgal.

2 Then Elijah said to Elisha, “Stay here, please, for the Lord has sent me on to Bethel.”
But Elisha said, “ As the Lord lives, and as your soul lives, I will not leave you!” So they went down to Bethel.

3 Now the sons of the prophets who were at Bethel came out to Elisha, and said to him, “Do you know that the Lord will take away your master from over you today?”
And he said, “Yes, I know; keep silent!”

4 Then Elijah said to him, “Elisha, stay here, please, for the Lord has sent me on to Jericho.”
But he said, “ As the Lord lives, and as your soul lives, I will not leave you!” So they came to Jericho.

5 Now the sons of the prophets who were at Jericho came to Elisha and said to him, “Do you know that the Lord will take away your master from over you today?”
So he answered, “Yes, I know; keep silent!”

6 Then Elijah said to him, “Stay here, please, for the Lord has sent me on to the Jordan.”
But he said, “ As the Lord lives, and as your soul lives, I will not leave you!” So the two of them went on. 7 And fifty men of the sons of the prophets went and stood facing them at a distance, while the two of them stood by the Jordan. 8 Now Elijah took his mantle, rolled it up, and struck the water; and it was divided this way and that, so that the two of them crossed over on dry ground.

9 And so it was, when they had crossed over, that Elijah said to Elisha, “Ask! What may I do for you, before I am taken away from you?”
Elisha said, “Please let a double portion of your spirit be upon me.”

10 So he said, “You have asked a hard thing. Nevertheless, if you see me when I am taken from you, it shall be so for you; but if not, it shall not be so. ” 11 Then it happened, as they continued on and talked, that suddenly a chariot of fire appeared with horses of fire, and separated the two of them; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven.

12 And Elisha saw it, and he cried out, “My father, my father, the chariot of Israel and its horsemen!” So he saw him no more. And he took hold of his own clothes and tore them into two pieces. 13 He also took up the mantle of Elijah that had fallen from him, and went back and stood by the bank of the Jordan. 14 Then he took the mantle of Elijah that had fallen from him, and struck the water, and said, “Where is the Lord God of Elijah?” And when he also had struck the water, it was divided this way and that; and Elisha crossed over.

15 Now when the sons of the prophets who were from Jericho saw him, they said, “The spirit of Elijah rests on Elisha.” And they came to meet him, and bowed to the ground before him.

My thoughts:

Elijah was an example of Jesus being taken up ALIVE by heaven's chariots of fire.

Elijah had a wonderful anointing but since Elisha asked and SAW Elijah go up, Elisha got a double portion of the same anointing. He knew this when he slapped the Jordan with the new coat:

"WHERE IS THE GOD OF ELIJAH?"

And the waters parted so he walked over on dry land. EVIDENCE! GOD was WITH HIM! Elisha did some amazing things! His first task was healing bitter water with salt.

God has given me cloud shows since I was small as you can see most recently I have posted a few shots of the sky that God has granted me to take shots of. Its not every day but often there is a story in the clouds that God opens up for me.

Remember Jesus told his disciples

John 14
“Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father. 13 And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.

So it was about 9 years ago that God opened up a picture screen in the sky while I swam in the lake with my friends. They did not see what I did. They did notice the clouds open up in a rectangle but they were not granted to see the SHOW.

Let me tell you what I saw. The clouds cleared out to open up a near square of no clouds that was surrounded by clouds to be perfectly rectangular such as a movie screen.

In the movie screen, to the bottom left was a man of clouds holding a baby in his right arm folded upon His chest as if comforting the baby and keeping this child of His close to His heart. The sun was the light behind this man of clouds and shone brightly as if the very heart of him was LIGHT. The baby, was me, and He held me close as He began to ascend up through the blank picture screen. Some dark clouds had formed to the right side of the picture screen. They stretched out horizontally and literally looked like the humblest form of a worshipper bowing to pay homage to a KING. As Jesus carried me in His arms, He arose on the left side of the screen... Midway through is when the dark clouds changed from their normal shape to the humbled and prostrated position that was clearly two men shaped bodies bowed with hands outstretched and heads pointing down to the ground in respect for our KING, the Christ, Who was rising in front of them. The amazing part was that the light that was His heart shined so brightly and arose perfectly within the screen as His body did. He imprinted it upon me that I was the ONE He was carrying up and out and that just as those dark clouds bowed most humbly to Him, they were bowing also to me because I was so close to His heart.

The dark bodies stayed stretched in worship as Jesus ascended to and through the top of the screen.

The vision ended.

By far, that was the BEST cloud show I ever had. I have had many. Just recently I have snapped photo of a few... to share with you. But this was more than a show...it was a prophecy like unto Elijah and Elisha and Jesus and me... I watched Him go up and DOUBLE PORTION is not just His promise, but it is my heart's desire as well.

So, I saw JESUS ascend!!!

Who cares, eh?

Well, look back to Elisha... He had to see his master, Elijah, ascend and be taken up in order to receive the DOUBLE PORTION...

John 14
“Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father. 13 And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.

Jesus promised that he who believes in Him shall do the works that He did and greater works even because He ascends to His Father. Its even better...Read the PINK letter edition... Matthew Mark Luke John... Think PINK. Redso! Readso! Red sow!

So, in Acts the apostles were united in the upper room in one accord and a great rushing wind came and tongues as a cloven fire appeared upon their heads and they all spoke with other tongues...

This is the boldness. The promise that Jesus Christ spoke of to make us able to do GREATER works that HE did.

Elisha DID get a double portion of Elijah's spirit.

I saw Jesus ascend. I have asked for a DOUBLE PORTION of Jesus's Spirit.

Greater works than He did, shall I do.

Read the gospels to see just a few of the works that Jesus Christ DID. Multitudes followed Him and He fed 5000 with 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish with 12 barrels of leftovers. He blessed the fish and bread He had and thanked God for it. He then broke it and fed 5ooo. There were more left-overs than He originally started with...

Greater works than THESE? He cast out error! He healed the sick! He turned water to wine... He cursed the fruitless fig tree and it withered. He did ALL that He saw the Father doing.

I saw Him ascend...now I am compelled to say:

WHERE IS THE GOD OF LORD JESUS???

I have asked for a double portion of His Holy Spirit. Ask. Jesus takes from what is His and answers us for asking...that God Himself is glorified.

Let me tear my clothes and take Jesus coat and slap the waters that they part and I walk across on dry land... The God of Lord Jesus is as alive today as when Elisha received a double portion of Elijah's spirit. I ask for a double portion of Jesus's HOLY SPIRIT. The God of Lord Jesus is alive today as He was when He resurrected from the dead, ascended to the Father, and spent 40 days on earth in His flesh covered body eating and drinking and teaching the disciples with His final commands. Then He went up in the clouds. He rides upon the clouds. Darkness are canopies around Him. The clouds are His footsteps... The clouds are His MOVIE THEATRE! Look up... He will come back in like manner as He left. In the clouds.

Elisha raised the dead. Jesus did MORE than Elisha. Elisha did more than Elijah. I'm believing God that I will do more than My LORD Jesus. Not because I am a LORD...because HE IS LORD! I am only a believer. I believe truth!

If you look on long enough, He'll make a believer outta YOU!

A cloudy day is not necessarily all drear. Look up for your very own chariot may draw near! I promised to find you a chariot of fire when you think you're down for the count. God'll Do IT!