"Price For Double Portion Series Three"

Pastor Gabriel Agbo

[Bible Text 1]

"Then Elijah said to Elisha, 'stay here, for the lord has told me to go to Jericho'. But Elisha replied again, 'As surely as the lord lives and you yourself live, I will never leave you.' So they went on together to Jericho. Then the group of prophets from Jericho came to Elisha and asked him, "Did you know that the Lord is going to take your master away from you today?' 'Quiet!' he answered again. 'Of course I know it." (2Kings 2:4 -5)

After Gilgal and Bethel levels, the next stage we must pass through in our pursue of double portion is the Jericho level. Elijah told his servant Elisha to stay in Bethel, so that he (Elijah) would move on to Jericho. But the indefatigable Elisha refused. He was determined to follow his master to the end. He was determined to reach his set goal -receiving the double portion of Elijah's spirit. He wanted to be greater than all the other sons of the prophets. He wanted something unusual, something extraordinary. And he was ready to pay the price. You must go the extra miles if you really want to be greater than your contemporaries.

“If you want to be greater than your fellows in education, you must study harder, longer and wider than them. If you want to be promoted on your job, you must be ready to work harder and better than other employees. And for spiritual growth, you must be prepared to pray, study and live a clean life. There is always a price to pay for a higher level in life. Are you ready for it?”

So when God takes you to Bethel, it's like He'll be saying "Ok. You have the faith for it now. You have the dream for it now. You believe that I can act on your behalf. You need to take action. Let's start moving into increase. Now it's time to move on to Jericho."

Jericho: Jericho is a whole new realm. It is the level three and it represents the spiritual place of warfare. At this stage there will be a lot of opposition, criticisms and satanic plans to stop your advancement. The sons of prophets tried to taunt Elisha with the departure of Elijah. But Elisha persisted.

It was also at Jericho that God pulled down great walls and gates that stood against the children of Israel, as they marched into the promised land- "now the gates of Jericho were tightly shut because the people were afraid of the Israelites. No one was allowed to go in or out. But the lord said to Joshua, 'I have given you Jericho, its king, and all its mighty warriors." (Joshua 6:1-2)

Jericho stood against Israel's advancement, but the Lord quickly added that he had already give Jericho and her king into their hands. I don't know the oppositions you are facing right now against that dream, against those of your efforts to move forward. I want you to know that the same God of Joshua is still our God. He can still pull down those high walls of opposition. He can still pull down your enemy's strongholds.

Jericho is a place of warfare and you must make up your mind that you're not going to give up. Don't think the Devil will sit down and watch you advance into extraordinary breakthrough, there will always be a fierce battle. Don't be frightened for the Lord of battles is with you. Stop panicking! May be you're at a place of warfare now and every devil of hell is against you, I want to declare to you that what is coming next is Jordan!

Jordan: Do you know what the Jordan (river) is? The Jordan is level four and it's the spiritual place of new vision. The Jordan is the anointing. It's the river where Jesus was baptized and the heavens opened and the Holy Ghost descended upon Him like a dove. Now, when the river Jordan is crossed, that's when we step into the land of promise.

When you've gone through the process (Gilgal, Bethel, Jericho), you're ready to move on to the Jordan. When you've come up out of the fire, the furnace of affliction, it's the Jordan that lives ahead. It's the new vision! Heaven will open and release the increase, the double portion.

Now, something awesome happened after Elijah and Elisha crossed the Jordan together. When Elijah was taken up into the glory of heaven in a whirlwind, his mantle fell on the ground and Elisha picked it up - the double portion of the spirit of Elijah. He knew it was a double portion, the answer to his prayers, the moment that he struck the water of the Jordan with the mantle those waters parted. He walked through the Jordan on dry ground. When God is ready to take your life and your ministry to a new level, you will go through the whole process just like Elisha did - Gilgal, Bethel, Jericho and Jordan river.

Dear friend, the first step is to enter into a personal and intimate relationship with Jesus Christ. If you would like to begin this relationship, then accept Jesus Christ into your life and your life truly will never remain the same again.

God bless you.