Month: April 2022

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Give God Praise!

Praising God

1Chron 14-16 King David instructs the Levites on the proper carrying of the Ark to its new place in Jerusalem lest they incur the wrath of God again for mishandling it. In addition, David writes a psalm of praise that is to be sung and remembered on this auspicious occasion. In this way, David was teaching the people to honor God through the use of praise music. Today we sing some of these at different times in our services.

 At the beginning of these chapters is a notable verse: “David realized [that is to discern or to know] that the Lord had established him as king over Israel and that his kingdom was highly exalted, for the sake of His people Israel.” [1Chron 14:2] David “knew,” that is he had wisdom from on high to understand God’s plan for his life. Do we realize or know or discern that God has placed you or me where He has to accomplish His work?

David took time to praise God. Do we take the time to do that? 

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Resurrection Day!

The women came to the tomb to anoint the body of Jesus but the angel they met asked them why they were looking for the living among the dead. He is not here, he is risen just as he said.

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Braveheart

God's Mighty Men
Remember the movie Braveheart? Men joined a mighty warrior to free his land of the oppressor. In some ways, 1Chron. 10-13 tell a similar story. David is the Braveheart character freeing his nation of the rebels that were godless. The chronicler tells of those who snuck into the land of the Philistines and took the body of King Saul after his defeat and buried it with honors. Others captured the city of Jerusalem and anointed David as the new king in Hebron. As a result, David became greater and greater, for the Lord of hosts was with him. [1Chron. 11:9] The chronicler continues to tell of the exploits of these mighty men of valor who supported David to build his kingdom, and the Lord blessed them. Three, in particular, stood out as men who went to Bethlehem and got a flask of water for David, but he poured it out because they had risked their lives to give him this precious gift. [1Chron. 11:15-19]  David grew greater and greater as the leader of His people and the Spirit of God anointed some with a perfect or brave heart. God has called us as His followers to be the Braveheart characters and bring the gospel to those who do not know Him? Will you be among the anointed ones of God? Will you be one of the mighty men of valor?
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Family Records

Family History

1Chronicles 1-3 Some people love digging into the past to find those who came before us.  The Chronicler loved doing that as well, but his purpose was to give those returning from the Babylonian captivity a foundation that they had not had for seventy years!  Would that we be such diligent people!  In many ways, this record must have been quite comforting to these returnees as they looked about the destroyed city of Jerusalem and the destroyed Temple—the only vestiges of their past.  Today we watch the destruction of Ukraine and our hearts ache for those who leaving as they recall the Holocaust nearly 75 yrs. ago.  They ask why we have not lived up to the slogan “Never Again!” Could it be that the Israelite returnees thought the same?

Today take time to recall some of your past and give God the glory even though some of the history is not pleasant. God’s heart hurts too for some of the past but remember this: He will one day wipe away every tear from our eyes. [Rev. 21:4]

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God is the Heart Healer

bandages only cover the outside

2Kings 23-25 God’s Broken Heart

Josiah began the cleansing process of the temple and the idolatry but after his death, his own sons reverted back to evil. Truth: You can clean up the outside but it is the heart that must be cleansed and changed for true healing to happen. The words of Jeremiah come back to our ears: “O people of Jerusalem, purify your hearts from evil so that you may yet be delivered. How long will you continue to harbor wicked schemes within you?” [Jer. 4:14]

Today pray for our families, our nation, our leaders, and our churches. May our hearts be cleansed before God. God will not bless without this heart change. Truly as Jeremiah said: “the heart is deceitful and desperately wicked, who can know it?”[Jer. 17:9] God knows and God sees. May this be our prayer for today: Psa 51:10 “Create for me a pure heart, O God. Renew a resolute spirit within me.” 

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How do we explain this?

Responses reveal the heart

2Kings 21-22 The Hearts of Men

You may be an honorable parent, but there is no guarantee that your offspring will follow in your footsteps—unless God intervenes in their lives and touches their hearts. For example, Hezekiah was an honorable man, but his son Manasseh was the worst king of all Judah! Manasseh’s son was even more evil than he, yet his grandson was the most righteous king of Israel! How do we explain this? And what are we to learn?

First, Daniel knew and experienced this truth: “God changes times and seasons, deposing some kings and establishing others.” [Dan 2:21] Secondly, God allows men to reap what they sow. Manasseh is an example of sowing to the wind: “They sow the wind, and so they will reap the whirlwind! [Hos 8:7] Yet, despite this, Josiah “did what the Lord approved and followed in his ancestor David’s footsteps; he did not deviate to the right or the left.” [2Ki 22:2]

Indeed the words of Moses are true: You must teach the words of the Lord to your children and speak of them as you sit in your house, as you walk along the road, as you lie down, and as you get up. [Deut 6:6-7] You must pray diligently for those who will follow you. Pray for soft hearts. Pray that as they listen to God’s Word, they will obey the words they have heard.

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How to Handle a Bully

Bullies are all around us.

2Kings 18-21 – Prov. 30:15 King Hezekiah went down in history as a wise and obedient king, but he had one flaw, as we all do, which is not trusting God when the bullies of the world, a.k.a. Satan, comes calling. Thinking that he could satisfy Sennacherib with a bribe to leave Jerusalem, Hezekiah took the gold from the Temple and sent it to him. You can never win with a bribe to the enemy, for they are just like the Proverb’s saying: “The leech has two daughters, “Give, “Give.” [Proverbs 30:15]. Satan asks for one thing and then another and then another! He is never satisfied until he has us in his grip, and that is why we must say NO the first time he comes calling. Hezekiah succumbed the first time but then, to his credit, when Sennacherib came calling the second time, he went in and sat before the Lord seeking His solution.

Hezekiah is so like “me.” My bully is the cooky jar. One cooky is not enough, but then the sweet tooth resurrects itself, and my taste buds want more and more. Today, when your bully comes calling, say NO the first time and stay steadfast, always abounding in the work of the Lord. [1Cor:15:58]

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Blessings vs. Curses

Obey God only

2Kings 15-17 Obedience 101

God blessed His children by removing them from Egypt and placing them in the land of Israel. Moses reminded them to obey only God but they chose to ignore that command—over and over and over. Finally, God disciplined them by allowing evil nations to overtake them and remove them from the Promised Land to a land they did not know. There they would serve the wicked kings who had strange languages and customs. The priests did not lead the people to God but away from God as did the kings. My heart hurts when I read these passages because it is a reminder of looking in the mirror at my own sin and how God removed His blessings when I did not obey Him.

It is as if I am reading the books of Deuteronomy and Leviticus all over again! Obey Me says God and they say yes we will obey but they do not. Truly God is to be revered: Isa 42:8 “I am the Lord, that is My name; I will not give My glory to another, Nor My praise to graven images.“

Are you being blessed? Then know that God is pleased with your choices.

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The Sin of Pride

Be humble not prideful

 The Sin of Pride

One glaring fact arises from 1Kings 11-14, which is pride. God’s grace is given, but the recipient is ungrateful and even goes beyond to not offering thanks for victories. King Amaziah is an example of this very pointed fact. God had blessed him in achieving what no other king had done in defeating the Edomites. Instead of giving God credit, he tarnished the victory by taking the Edomite gods home. Later, in his pride, he challenged his neighbor to a fight. The king of Israel reminded him of this principle: Pro 16:18 Pride goes before destruction, And a haughty spirit before stumbling, but he would not back down. 

God allowed the king of Israel to defeat Amaziah, took him prisoner, and tarnished the Temple by taking the rest of the gold, etc., home to Samaria. We are so slow to learn what is clear: if we take God’s glory for our own, He will bring us down. Isa 42:8 “I am the Lord, that is My name; I will not give my glory to another, Nor My praise to graven images.”

How often do we forget these principles? How often do we usurp God’s glory and take it for ourselves? God exalts the humble, not the prideful. 

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Faithfulness is rewarded

Will you trust God

2Kings 7-10 God devotes two chapters to the Shunammite woman as a lesson in obedience and faithfulness. 

First, a Shunammite woman desires to honor the ‘man of God,” by providing a place for him to rest when he passes that way. He finds out she is barren and prophesies that she will have a child in a year. She has the child, but at some point, the child dies and she seeks to find Elisha for help. Although unaware he comes and restores the child to life. Sometime later he comes to her with what seems an illogical command to leave her home as there will be a famine. We might ask; why should she obey when there is no logical reason? Yet, she obeys because she has seen the evidence of his being a true prophet of God. Upon her return she finds her land confiscated and seeks to have it restored to her. In some miraculous way, Elisha’s servant tells the backdrop to the story to the king. Amazed at this story, he does what she requests! 

God has placed this story to teach us about faithfulness whether we understand the logic or not. Sometimes, God asks us to do or go and there seems to be no logical reason why yet when we obey, God reveals His purpose and we are rewarded with increased faith and sometimes even material blessings! 

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