Please read the Bible before proceeding for this is the the Word of GOD!


Naaman was the captain of the King of Syria, and by grace of God he was
a honorable. Naaman was also a leper. Now the Syrians had
gone out and brought a captive out of the land of Syria, a young maid
who waited on the wife of Naaman.


The maid knew of Naaman's disease and suggested to Naaman's wife that
she knew of a prophet of God that might be able to heal him. She
spoke of Elisha. The king of Syria heard word of what the maid
had suggested and decided to send a letter to the king of Israel.
Naaman and his servants departed with horses and chariots with gold,
silver, and raiment.


They along with the letter arrived with the king of Israel, and when
the king of Israel read the letter asking for assistance in helping
Naaman recover from leprosy, the king ripped his coat off and exclaimed
"Am I God, to kill and make alive that this man doth send unto me to
recover a man of his leprosy? where fore consider, I pray you and see
how he seeketh a quarrel against me!" ( In other words he thought
that the king of Syria was mocking him, insinuating that he was a god
that could heal the sick, and therefore must be a trick to start a
battle.)


When Elisha heard that the King of Israel was perturbed by this, he
went unto the king and asked why he was so upset. He told the
king that Naaman might seek his healing from God through the prophet of
Israel (Elisha).


Naaman then traveled with his horses and chariots to Elisha's
home. Elisha then sent a messenger down to Naaman and told him to
go wash in the Jordan seven times and that he will be healed.


Now Naaman thought that Elisha was going to come down and greet Naaman,
and perform a glorious healing by placing his hand on him and calling
on the name of the Lord. Then Naaman asked "Why must I wash in the
Jordan, aren't there other rivers that are more beautiful and better
than the Jordan?" as he left in a rage. Naaman's servants
asked him, "If Elisha asked you to do something great wouldn't you do
it? Then why don't you simply wash and be clean?"


Naaman then went down to the Jordan and dipped seven times and he was
healed. He then returned to Elisha and claimed that he now believe in
only one God the God of Israel, and not upon any other gods. He
offered Elisha gold, silver, and raiment, but Elisha refused the
offering.


Naaman proclaimed that when he returns and he goes with his master to
worship other gods in the house of Rimmon that God pardon him for he
may be going through the motions of worshiping these gods, but that in
his heart he only worships God of all.


Do you want a positive change in your life? Do you want to be
delivered from your wicked habits, addictions, and sinful
conditions? Do you really? Lets follow the principals that
God has presented in this scripture.


Lets take a look at 7 principals.

1. Recognize your desperate need.



• Some are sick and don't know
  it. (Some individuals have no clue that they are sick or
  don't really see their sin.)



• Some are sick and won't admit it. (Some people refuse to
  acknowledge that they are sick or sinful and like to live
  in their sin and don't want to know the fact that it is bad. A
  good explanation of this is people who get 3rd and 4th opinions
  from doctors until the 5th doctor says, you are okay, nothing is
  wrong with you. )



• Some are sick and think that they can cure themselves.
  (Some people think that they can cure themselves of illnesses,
  sicknesses, addictions or bad habits. One of the purposes
  of the 10 commandments is to show us that by human nature we can
  NOT abide by them no matter how hard we try. There is
  nothing we can do as human beings that can deliver us from
  sin. Even if you lead a "somewhat" good life, and pay taxes and
  pick up litter, and hold the door open for little old ladies, we
  are all prone to sin.)



• Some are sick and have no hope. (This is my favorite. This is
  the point of your life when God brings you to your knees, "the
  bottom of the barrel", not to chastise you, but to show you that
  you need something in your life not of this world. You need to
  accept Christ as your savior for one and we need to surrender and
  submit our lives unto God, we need to place all our trust and
  dependence on God and ONLY God.



2. Be willing to accept guidance from anywhere God chooses to give
   it. (In the story of Naaman the suggestion had come from the
   little maid. It is so divine how God has arranged the incidents
   in our lives to happen for blessings unto others.)
   
   Keep these in mind.



• He will often send someone you
  don't respect.



• He will often send someone you don't like.



• He will often say what you don't want to hear.



• But when your heart is prepared you will listen to anyone that
  God sends and accept what is told. (If you don't listen, he will
  make you more desperate, so that you will listen.)



3. Abandon your public illusion of perfection. ( We need to let
   go of our public image, and illusion that we all lead a life of
   perfection. This means release your PRIDE. Naaman was upset
   that Elisha didn't come down to meet him to perform a glorious healing
   ceremony, but that Elish told him to go wash in the Jordan.
   Naaman was prideful and wanted to wash in a more beautiful river, but
   it wasn't until he put his pride aside and simply washed in the Jordan
   by obeying God, then was healed.



4. Understand that God is teaching lessons to others through your
   trouble. (God used Naaman's illness to teach everyone from
   Naaman's wife, to the king of Israel, to Naaman's servants, including
   Naaman. God works through you to bless others, sometimes bad things
   happen but we need to put aside the thinking of "why me?" and look at
   the big picture, God is trying to get your attention, and we need to
   listen.



5. Quit thinking of yourself as deserving of some special
   privilege. ( Romans 3:23 For all have sinned, and come short of
   the Glory of God. Some people ask why do bad things happen to
   good people, and the answer is "there are no good people".)



6. Accept God's terms unconditionally. (We need to abandon our personal
   ideas and expectations and listen to what God wants us to do on His
   terms.)



7. Follow God for life.



• Worship Him forever.



• Worship Him only.