The Double Portion Life: A Study of the Life and Ministry of Elisha Paperback - 2014

Have you ever found your spiritual life in the doldrums where your excitement, joy, and zeal for God has waned or you have found yourself in a spiritual depression? That is a very common experience for many Christians. Despite their best intentions and desires, the day to day grind of lifeIn this book, Steve Biddison examines how his personal study of the life and ministry of the prophet Elisha helped pull him out of a deep spiritual depression.Whether you are facing depression or you are you find yourself, figuratively speaking, on the bench spiritually and you are ready to get into the game, then this book might just be what you need to learn to experience double portion living in both your life and your ministry. From the Introduction: Jesus promised us that He came not only to save the world, but to provide a way for His followers to live a victorious, fulfilled, and abundant life. Out of our victorious and abundant life, He has called us to be a light and a witness to our world. No, let me rephrase that. I believe that He provides that fulfilled life WHEN we minister to our world. I know the times in my life that I have felt the most fulfilled spiritually and emotionally were those times that I was doing something for the kingdom of God. However, those times that I was on the bench while the spiritual game of life was being played around me correspond with the darkest, most unfulfilled times in my life. Might I also admit that those times were times of deep depression.I went through one of those deep, spiritual depressions when by all appearances others as well as God had completely forgotten about me. I honestly believed I was never going to get out of those spiritual doldrums because those normal things we are all taught to do (read our Bible, pray, go to church, etc), I was doing at a very consistent level. However, those feelings of waste, depression, uselessness, and unworthiness continued to bombard me from every side. It was not until I began to read again the stories of Elisha and his ministry that God began to show me some great truths or life lessons that I began to not only get out of my spiritual doldrums, but my heart began to experience a double portion of gratefulness to God and a double portion of my love for Him. As a result of my heart experiencing double portion blessing, I want to share with others what God showed me. If you find yourself in a rut spiritually, or suffering from spiritual depression, then this book is definitely for you. However, it is not just for those who are in a spiritual drought. This is also a great resource for everyone who is in some kind of ministry. Although the life lessons explained in this book is what God used to draw me back into the joy of the Lord, this book is not a story of how God took me out of depression into a more victorious life. It is, however, a book that follows the life and ministry of Elisha, while showing some specific life lessons that every Christian should follow on their path of living for our Lord Jesus.As you read the pages of this book, whether it is just you as an individual or you are reading it together as a small group, my prayer is that each time you read a chapter, God will surround you with His grace, fill you with His love, and capture your heart.