I am a list maker…even in retirement from my secular work. For me, what doesn’t get listed, doesn’t get done. It is also very rewarding for me to check that item off the list when it is accomplished. The list has a progression of priorities. One task cannot happen until another task is completed. And so life goes with my lists guiding my behavior and productivity.
As I journal each morning in my conversational prayer with God, the Father, His Spirit guides me to make another list that helps me to mature and grow in Him. I am convicted of some of those “fruits of the Spirit” that I have not tended to or cultivated, have ignored or left undone. His Holy Spirit redirects my thoughts and helps me form a list of tasks that will help me improve my behavior. “Keep a close check on yourself”, writes Paul to Timothy. For me, that means to make a spiritual checklist that keeps me in close contact with the will and purpose of our Father, God and helps me to grow closer to Him.
We can do nothing of significance without God. I am convinced that He guides us to all things that are good for our growth and aid our learning about Him and how He works. Paul also gives Timothy sound advice about how to treat those whom God has called to lead with character traits with another list of how to lead. This list still applies to us today. The theme of this episode seems to be; Know God, Know Yourself, Know The Message, Know Your Audience. Our deeds, good and bad, will be evident. Be driven by God’s love in us.
1 Timothy 5, The Message
17-18 Give a bonus to leaders who do a good job, especially the ones who work hard at preaching and teaching. Scripture tells us, “Don’t muzzle a working ox” and “A worker deserves his pay.”
19 Don’t listen to a complaint against a leader that isn’t backed up by two or three responsible witnesses.
20 If anyone falls into sin, call that person on the carpet. Those who are inclined that way will know right off they can’t get by with it.
21-23 God and Jesus and angels all back me up in these instructions. Carry them out without favoritism, without taking sides. Don’t appoint people to church leadership positions too hastily. If a person is involved in some serious sins, you don’t want to become an unwitting accomplice. In any event, keep a close check on yourself. And don’t worry too much about what the critics will say. Go ahead and drink a little wine, for instance; it’s good for your digestion, good medicine for what ails you.
24-25 The sins of some people are blatant and march them right into court. The sins of others don’t show up until much later. The same with good deeds. Some you see right off, but none are hidden forever.
LEADERSHIP PRINCIPLE #6: Keep a Close Check on Yourself
Leadership Characteristics –
–Fully rely on God. Trust Him with all you are and all you have. We are His. All we have is His.
–Ask God “if there is anything offensive to you, cleanse me.” as the Psalmist prayed.
–Repent with a heart and mind not wanting to return to the old life.
–Look full into the face of Jesus, our Master, Lord and Savior with laser focus so we know what direction to take next.
–“Keep a close check on yourself.” Avoid, “he did it, I can, too” or “my sin is not as bad as his sin” or “everybody’s doing it” mentality.
–Ask God for wisdom, insight and understanding.
–Allow God’s transformation to continue in our lives.
–Ask God to make your lists of to BE and to DO. HE will prioritize your lists in ways you cannot imagine! Where He guides, He provides help all along the journey.
–Do all in a Spirit of love for God and others.
–Care enough to confront others with God’s love and concern for their spiritual well-being and growth.
WarningThe things on our spiritual check list can never be crossed off because we’ll be working on them our whole lives. By listing we are reminding ourselves of what we need to work on to “keep a close check” on our lives. It is only by The Atonement of Jesus Christ can we accomplish anything of eternal significance.
Dear Heavenly Father, You have convinced me that we must do spiritual “business” with You each day to improve our being in You. Thank you for helping us on this journey. Thank you for Your Holy Spirit that points out things in our behavior that could cause us to crash…before crashing. Thank you for always being with us, guiding and directing, loving and protecting and challenging us to grow and bear Fruit. Continue to transform me. Transform your church. Transform the world through your church. In Jesus Name, Amen
Life is not fair. Those who know me well know that I am not a pessimist. I am the opposite—I tend to think that somehow unfairness that leads to heartache can be and must be turned around with love, kindness, and understanding. But there are some days that I must accept that life here on our imperfect planet earth is not fair. “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world,” says Jesus our Savior. But too many of us skip over the “you will have trouble” part to thinking of Jesus as our Fixer of all the things that we don’t like about this world and how others treat us. This thinking seems a bit shallow of us, isn’t it?
“Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.” James 1:2-4, NLT (Bold emphasis mine.)
God inspired James, most say the brother of Jesus who believed after the resurrection, wrote these words of wisdom. WHEN troubles come; not if. ALLOW these troubles, unfair or not for that is not the issue. Rather allow troubles to be used by God to grow our faith, trust, and love for God!
Want to be more like Jesus? How did Jesus handle the unfairness of life? Did He not live with unfair accusations, betrayals, whippings with spikes that torn his skin from the bone, and then be nailed to a cross designated for criminals to publicly die upon in humiliation ? Jesus was without sin, committed no crime, but yet He willing allowed His Body to be used by God, His Father, to pay the debt for our sins. Did he once cry out to God, unfair! Jesus, in the garden, prayed passionately for another way to accomplish what God wanted, but then thought of us and what God commanded and resigned Himself to finish his prayer—“Not my will; but Yours be done.”
Paul, blinded briefly which stopped his mission to kill new believers, was led by the hand to be transformed completely by Jesus who changed everything about Saul/Paul in this scary experience. Paul with a new heart began a new mission to lead people to Christ. But in his new calling in a troubled world; he faced beatings, imprisonment, along with constant mocking from unbelievers and former friends.
Life was not fair for Paul. But unfairness, betrayal, and all troubles didn’t stop his mission—God used it for His glory and many lost were saved in Jesus Name! Inspired by God’s Holy Spirit, active, alive, and working in Paul to mature his faith; he passionately wrote;
“But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith. I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead.
Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.” Philippians 3:7-12
Paul’s letter to the Philippians—dubbed by theologians as the “joy in all circumstances,” and the most positive book of the Bible. Paul wrote this letter to the church while in chains, sitting in a jail cell.
“In this world you will have troubles…” Life is not fair—but that is not the issue for Paul—knowing Jesus is his complete focus.
In our continuing saga of God’s story of the rebuilding of the Temple by his returning once exiled people, the opposition to God’s direction raises their game by writing a “tattletale” letter to the highest power available to them—King Darius. Since the mail system crawled at a snail’s pace, (making our USPS look amazing in speed), God’s people continued the work in the wait. Why, because God also gave His people “cheerleaders” to encourage them!
Never underestimate the power of the faithful preaching of God’s Word. Haggai began his ministry of the word 520 B.C. (Haggai. 1:1), and five of his messages are recorded in the book that bears his name. A month or two later, he was joined by a young man named Zechariah, a priest whom God had called to be a prophet (Zechariah 1:1). These two men delivered God’s Word to the leaders and the remnant. Even though the opposition fought unfairly; God’s people kept on doing what God told them to be and do.
Ezra 5
Tattenai’s Letter to Darius
Now Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the prophet, a descendant of Iddo, prophesied to the Jews in Judah and Jerusalem in the name of the God of Israel, who was over them. 2 Then Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and Joshua son of Jozadak set to work to rebuild the house of God in Jerusalem. And the prophets of God were with them, supporting them.
3 At that time Tattenai, governor of Trans-Euphrates, and Shethar-Bozenai and their associates went to them and asked, “Who authorized you to rebuild this temple and to finish it?”4 They also asked, “What are the names of those who are constructing this building?” 5 But the eye of their God was watching over the elders of the Jews, and they were not stopped until a report could go to Darius and his written reply be received.
6 This is a copy of the letter that Tattenai, governor of Trans-Euphrates, and Shethar-Bozenai and their associates, the officials of Trans-Euphrates, sent to King Darius. 7 The report they sent him read as follows:
To King Darius:
Cordial greetings.
8 The king should know that we went to the district of Judah, to the temple of the great God. The people are building it with large stones and placing the timbers in the walls. The work is being carried on with diligence and is making rapid progress under their direction.
9 We questioned the elders and asked them, “Who authorized you to rebuild this temple and to finish it?” 10 We also asked them their names, so that we could write down the names of their leaders for your information.
11 This is the answer they gave us:
“We are the servants of the God of heaven and earth, and we are rebuildingthe temple that was built many years ago, one that a great king of Israel built and finished. 12 But because our ancestors angered the God of heaven, he gave them into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar the Chaldean, king of Babylon, who destroyed this temple and deported the people to Babylon.
13 “However, in the first year of Cyrus king of Babylon, King Cyrus issued a decree to rebuild this house of God.14 He even removed from the temple of Babylon the gold and silver articles of the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the temple in Jerusalem and brought to the temple in Babylon. Then King Cyrus gave them to a man named Sheshbazzar, whom he had appointed governor, 15 and he told him, ‘Take these articles and go and deposit them in the temple in Jerusalem. And rebuild the house of God on its site.’
16 “So this Sheshbazzar came and laid the foundations of the house of God in Jerusalem. From that day to the present it has been under construction but is not yet finished.”
17 Now if it pleases the king, let a search be made in the royal archives of Babylon to see if King Cyrus did in fact issue a decree to rebuild this house of God in Jerusalem. Then let the king send us his decision in this matter.
Notice how the Jewish workers framed their answers to glorify the Lord! They didn’t try to cover up the sins of the nation and they openly acknowledged that they were “the servants of the God of heaven and earth.” Both in their words and their demeanor, they presented a clear witness to this important Persian official.
How will the king answer? Another cliffhanger!Stay tuned, God’s story of rebuilding and restoration continues!
Lord,
Thank you for Your Word that not only teaches us with corrections in our thinking and behaving; your Holy Spirit also reminds us of your love and care and opens our eyes to see and know you more! You are truth that is higher and greater than the momentary troubles of this world. Use all the challenges I face to grow me to be more and more like you in all your ways. I know you are not finished with me yet for I have not arrived at getting this completely right! Thank you for not giving up on me!
FACT: When people gather as a group seeking God, ready to do His will; God is there.
ALSO FACT: When people gather as a group seeking God, ready to do His will; the Enemy of God is there in opposition to God.
As believing followers of Jesus Christ who is Head of His Church; It is imperative to be alert and aware of the evil who slithers into our gatherings. We need to be educated. God’s Word teaches us the difference between God and the enemy of God.
KNOW THE ENEMY. To know the enemy is to recognize quickly his age-old tricks used to destroy our faith. With God’s words of wisdom and His power living in us we are more than able to form strategic ways to defeat him in our lives before “the devil takes a foothold” in the doors of our hearts! Our enemy is God’s enemy, called Satan or the Devil. He is not the flesh and blood people we face each day but an evil spirit who seeks to destroy all our relationships, beginning with our relationship with God.
Satan’s Backstory: He was an angel of God but then decided he wanted to be God so he formed an army of demons to support him in his cause. But God being God alone, holy, and perfect in all His ways, kicked this opposition out of heaven and into the dark recesses of earth. The Enemy’s tools were, are, and always will be hate, pride, ego, envy, jealousy, arrogance, deception, slander, mocking, irreverence (all characteristics opposite of God) to distract, deceive, deconstruct progress, confuse the congregants by pitting one against the other over small irrelevant details in committee meetings, with the sole purpose to destroy our faith in God. Our true enemy is not each other but the evil one. He will tempt us through our own egos and measures of our self-worth in an aggressive attempt to work in and through us, in the lives of those we love within our family, among our friends—including the Body of Christ. Jesus calls him, “the father of lies”! Shouldn’t we? Jesus was tempted by him; don’t think for a nanosecond we who follow Jesus will not be tempted by the same prince of this world!
His sole desire is to deceive, to deconstruct progress with distractions, to halt what God has given His people to be and do for His glory and their good. But his powers are limited. We have the power to resist him. When we call on the Name of Jesus—our enemy flees. The enemy hates believers on their knees calling on the Name of Jesus. You see, Satan knows and fears the Son of God!
From the writings of Billy Graham, we learn;
Three times Christ designated Satan as the prince of this world. The Bible is clear that either the world’s inhabitants are under the influence of this world with its cunning, deception, and spell; or they are in Christ and under the direction of the Spirit of God. There is no neutral ground. The lines are drawn by the Bible.
The Bible teaches that worldliness is a force, a spirit, an atmosphere of the cosmos that is in opposition and in contradiction to all that is godly and Christian. Its goal is selfish pleasure, material success, and the pride of life. It is ambitious and self-centered. God is not necessarily denied; He is just ignored and forgotten.
Paul wrote to the Ephesians reminding them that in times past they had walked according the course of the world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that works in the children of disobedience (Ephesians 2:2-3).
Now the words “course of this world” carry the meaning of current or flow. There is an undertow, a subtle current, which runs against and in contradiction to the will and the way of God. Satan employs every device at his command to harass, tempt, thwart, and hurt the people of God.
Paul reminds us, “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age” (Ephesians 6:12). The Christian is not left defenseless in this conflict. God provides the power to give us victory over Satan. Paul said, “We are more than conquerors through Him who loved us” (Romans 8:37). This is why Jesus proclaimed: “I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly” John 10:10). –Billy Graham, Find Peace with God.
WHY all this talk concerning our “clear and present danger”? Why tell the truth of all that our Enemy daily dishes out to us?
Because of the appalling statistics of George Barna who surveyed the Body of Christ in our country. With other executive denomination leaders, I was privileged to attend a special meeting where Barna revealed “The State of the Church” in the United States. With tears in his eyes, this prophet of our time reported the results of survey. The one finding that caught us all “off guard” was the revelation that, according to believers surveyed; MOST did not believe that Satan even existed! WHAT!?! What a devasting finding—among others!
According to Barna Group research regarding the State of the Church, roughly 60% of American Christians believe Satan is not a living entity but merely a symbol of evil. Only about 27% of adults (and 35-40% of Christians) are convinced that Satan is a real force.
Key Findings from Barna Research on Satan’s Existence:
Widespread Disbelief: Approximately 6 in 10 (59-60%) American Christians agree (either strongly or somewhat) that Satan is a symbol of evil rather than a living being.
Low Conviction: Only 27% of all adults and roughly 40% of born-again Christians strongly believe that Satan is a real entity.
Uncertainty: About 8% of Christians are unsure about the existence of Satan.
Contradictory Beliefs: Despite not believing in a literal Satan, 64% of Christians believe that a person can be under the influence of spiritual forces like demons or evil spirits.
WE MUST KNOW OUR REAL ENEMY who plagues us! I am not trying to lift him up but bring him down in Jesus Name!
Satan is the bully in our lives who constantly pecks our purposes as a child of God. How do we deal with this bully? I’m going to again refer to a spiritual mentor in my past, the honorable and trusted pastor of pastors, Billy Graham. He writes;
When it comes to bullying in a spiritual sense, the ultimate bully is Satan. God has taught us how to defend ourselves against him—never listen to the devil. This was Eve’s problem at the beginning of time on Earth—she “listened” to the serpent (the devil).
Satan will do everything he can to discourage and defeat us. He attacks us where we are weakest. He wants to keep us from serving God and living according to His ways. “Resist [the devil],” the Bible says, and be steadfast in the faith (1 Peter 5:9).
Spiritual training is necessary to build us up in our minds, like physical exercise makes our muscles stronger. Christ has provided everything we need to arm ourselves against Satan’s attacks. He communicates with us through His Word and brings a sensitivity to the working of His Spirit within.
God has promised to be with us when we face any trouble; we must remember that He is bigger than every problem! Most of all, we must never forget that because of Jesus’ death and resurrection, Satan has already been defeated—and someday the battle will be over.
The same book—the Bible—that tells of God’s love, also warns us of the devil who desires to come between God and His people; he is ever wanting to ensnare the souls of mankind. Remember, the closer we stay to Jesus, the farther away we are from the devil. –Billy Graham, Excerpts from “Find Peace with God Today.”
The enemies of the exiles work to rebuild what the Enemy hates—a place to gather to worship God. Is it surprising that they suddenly have opposition? Let’s see how they dealt with their bully who created more bullies. There is much more to this story.
Ezra 4
Opposition to the Rebuilding
When the enemies of Judah and Benjamin heard that the exiles were building a temple for the Lord, the God of Israel, 2 they came to Zerubbabel and to the heads of the families and said, “Let us help you buildbecause, like you, we seek your God and have been sacrificing to him since the time of Esarhaddon king of Assyria, who brought us here.”
3 But Zerubbabel, Joshua and the rest of the heads of the families of Israel answered, “You have no part with us in building a temple to our God. We alone will build it for the Lord, the God of Israel, as King Cyrus, the king of Persia, commanded us.”
4 Then the peoples around them set out to discourage the people of Judah and make them afraid to go on building. 5 They bribed officials to work against them and frustrate their plans during the entire reign of Cyrus king of Persia and down to the reign of Darius king of Persia.
Later Opposition Under Xerxes and Artaxerxes
6 At the beginning of the reign of Xerxes, they lodged an accusation against the people of Judah and Jerusalem.
7 And in the days of Artaxerxes king of Persia, Bishlam, Mithredath, Tabeel and the rest of his associates wrote a letter to Artaxerxes. The letter was written in Aramaic script and in the Aramaic language.
8 Rehum the commanding officer and Shimshai the secretary wrote a letter against Jerusalem to Artaxerxes the king as follows:
9 Rehum the commanding officer and Shimshai the secretary, together with the rest of their associates—the judges, officials and administrators over the people from Persia, Uruk and Babylon, the Elamites of Susa, 10 and the other people whom the great and honorable Ashurbanipal deported and settled in the city of Samaria and elsewhere in Trans-Euphrates.
11 (This is a copy of the letter they sent him.)
To King Artaxerxes,
From your servants in Trans-Euphrates:
12 The king should know that the people who came up to us from you have gone to Jerusalem and are rebuilding that rebellious and wicked city. They are restoring the walls and repairing the foundations.
13 Furthermore, the king should know that if this city is built and its walls are restored, no more taxes, tribute or duty will be paid, and eventually the royal revenues will suffer. 14 Now since we are under obligation to the palace and it is not proper for us tosee the king dishonored, we are sending this message to inform the king, 15 so that a search may be made in the archives of your predecessors. In these records you will find that this city is a rebellious city, troublesome to kings and provinces, a place with a long history of sedition. That is why this city was destroyed. 16 We inform the king that if this city is built and its walls are restored, you will be left with nothing in Trans-Euphrates.
17 The king sent this reply:
To Rehum the commanding officer, Shimshai the secretary and the rest of their associates living in Samaria and elsewhere in Trans-Euphrates:
Greetings.
18 The letter you sent us has been read and translated in my presence. 19 I issued an order and a search was made, and it was found that this city has a long history of revolt against kings and has been a place of rebellion and sedition. 20 Jerusalem has had powerful kings ruling over the whole of Trans-Euphrates, and taxes, tribute and duty were paid to them. 21 Now issue an order to these men to stop work, so that this city will not be rebuilt until I so order. 22 Be careful not to neglect this matter. Why let this threat grow, to the detriment of the royal interests?
23 As soon as the copy of the letter of King Artaxerxes was read to Rehum and Shimshai the secretary and their associates, they went immediately to the Jews in Jerusalem and compelled them by force to stop.
24 Thus the work on the house of God in Jerusalem came to a standstill until the second year of the reign of Darius king of Persia.
Cliffhanger: It’s not over—stay tuned!
Lord,
Thank you for sending me to research the true enemy to know his tricks and tempts so that I can call him for who he is—your original enemy. Thank you for reminding us there is no neutral ground. We either choose you who is Life or we choose Satan who is death. I choose you, Savior and Lord, for you chose and loved my first. There is no one like you who gives, helps, guides, protects, provides, and is always loving, faithful, compassionate, forgiving and kind. I trust you with my life for you are Life!
It is a bittersweet time when we mourn the passing of a dear loved one who believed. We remember our loved one with tears of weeping for we have lost a part of our lives, a person who contributed to our story. On the other hand, we rejoice with smiling tears of hope knowing our loved one is finally home enjoying all the benefits of heaven. Our past collides with future with mixed emotions that overwhelm us.
The exiles are back home. The older ones remember how it was before they were ripped from their homes, their way of life, and their ways of worshiping the Lord. They look over the rubble and ruins of the Temple area that included the Altar where sins were atoned with burnt offerings of sacrifice…and they weep with mixed emotions. The younger ones’ memories do not go as deep. They are more hopeful and less mournful for they have been given the provisions to rebuild and restore what was taken from the Israelites almost a century earlier. God’s people have mixed emotions. Both are viable and understandable. God accepts both in worship to Him.
Ezra 3
Rebuilding the Altar
When the seventh month came and the Israelites had settled in their towns, the people assembled together as one in Jerusalem. 2 Then Joshua son of Jozadak and his fellow priests and Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and his associates began to build the altar of the God of Israel to sacrifice burnt offerings on it, in accordance with what is written in the Law of Moses the man of God. 3 Despite their fear of the peoples around them, they built the altar on its foundation and sacrificed burnt offerings on it to the Lord, both the morning and evening sacrifices. 4 Then in accordance with what is written, they celebrated the Festival of Tabernacles with the required number of burnt offerings prescribed for each day. 5 After that, they presented the regular burnt offerings, the New Moon sacrifices and the sacrifices for all the appointed sacred festivals of the Lord, as well as those brought as freewill offerings to the Lord. 6 On the first day of the seventh month they began to offer burnt offerings to the Lord, though the foundation of the Lord’s temple had not yet been laid.
Rebuilding the Temple
7 Then they gave money to the masons and carpenters, and gave food and drink and olive oil to the people of Sidon and Tyre, so that they would bring cedar logs by sea from Lebanon to Joppa, as authorized by Cyrus king of Persia.
8 In the second month of the second year after their arrival at the house of God in Jerusalem, Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, Joshua son of Jozadak and the rest of the people (the priests and the Levites and all who had returned from the captivity to Jerusalem) began the work. They appointed Levites twenty years old and older to supervise the building of the house of the Lord. 9 Joshua and his sons and brothers and Kadmiel and his sons (descendants of Hodaviah) and the sons of Henadad and their sons and brothers—all Levites—joined together in supervising those working on the house of God.
10 When the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the Lord, the priests in their vestments and with trumpets, and the Levites (the sons of Asaph) with cymbals, took their places to praise the Lord, as prescribed by David king of Israel. 11 With praise and thanksgiving they sang to the Lord:
“He is good; his love toward Israel endures forever.”
And all the people gave a great shout of praise to the Lord, because the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid.12 But many of the older priests and Levites and family heads, who had seen the former temple, wept aloud when they saw the foundation of this temple being laid, while many others shouted for joy. 13 No one could distinguish the sound of the shouts of joy from the sound of weeping, because the people made so much noise. And the sound was heard far away.
WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?
It is not our place, authority, or work to judge the emotions of God’s people—or anyone else for that matter. God speaks to hearts seeking Him sincerely and openly with healing, comfort, and forgiveness. God comes to repentant hearts and helps those whose hearts are fully committed to Him to rebuild and restore their relationship with Him. It was God who arranged for the captive release to come home with funds from the unbelieving King of Persia to rebuild and restore so they could worship God once more “in accordance with what is written by God to Moses.” God’s people have come home to Him as they recited King David’s psalm of praise as they worshiped and thanked God for bringing them home;“He is good; his love toward Israel endures forever.”
Some shouted praises to God. Some wept tears of what was but is now with joy and daring hope at merely seeing the foundation once more! Both emotions were heard by God as holy and honest. Be holy, humble, and honest before the Lord. He already knows our hearts!
Gratitude comes from having the right perspective. Holy gratitude is sbeing able to look at what you have and being thankful for that, rather than longing for what you don’t have. When they had finished laying the foundation of the temple of the Lord, great rejoicing took place. They praised the Lord with shouting as others wept with joy. They recognized what God had done for them in the past and would do for them in the future. Hope was renewed and God’s glory seen in the foundation alone. All these mixed emotions are of gratitude for God’s everlasting faithfulness!
When was the last time we paused to behold the foundation of our faith, Jesus, with grateful tears of joy and shouts of praise?
A believer’s firm foundation is Jesus. We must allow our whole being to be built upon Jesus who is the foundation of our faith. Jesus is our solid, unmoving rock upon whom we stand firmly when the storms come, the winds of change blow, and the torrential rains come a tumbling down all around us. Jesus is the Rock we cling to with knowing His Holy Spirit living in us gives the power to grow our faith through it all! No one or no circumstance can separate us from His love and faithfulness.
Be confident that the LORD, our Rock and firm Foundation will hold us through anything and everything this world throws at us. Let us assuredly and confidently say, “Thy will be done” knowing God’s plan for all His children is a wonderful and perfect future with Him in eternity forever! (Jeremiah 29:11)
How do I know? The Bible tells me so! And I’ve seen it with my own eyes! There are over 100 verses that back up God’s Truth of an unfailing love, new fresh mercies, with unending grace foundation that stands firm forever. Here are but a few from Jesus, Himself, His disciples, and God’s prophets—
Matthew 7:24-27 ESV “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.”—Jesus
Isaiah 28:16 ESV Therefore thus says the Lord God, “Behold, I am the one who has laid as a foundation in Zion, a stone, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone, of a sure foundation: ‘Whoever believes will not be in haste.’
1 Corinthians 3:11 ESV For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. —Paul
Luke 6:48 ESV He is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when a flood arose, the stream broke against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built. —Jesus
Matthew 16:18 ESV And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. –Jesus
2 Timothy 2:19 NIV Nevertheless, God’s solid foundation stands firm, sealed with this inscription: “The Lord knows those who are his,” and, “Everyone who confesses the name of the Lord must turn away from wickedness.”—Paul
Ezra 3:11 ESV And they sang responsively, praising and giving thanks to the Lord, “For he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever toward Israel.” And all the people shouted with a great shout when they praised the Lord, because the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid.
Jesus Christ is our Firm Foundation today for all who believe and call on His Name.
Believe, repent and stand firm on the rock of our salvation, and be saved for eternity.
Lord,
Thank you for rebuilding and restoring our lives on the foundation of you, dear Jesus who died in our place for our sins’ payment in full. There is no other rock like you in which to stand. You are my confidence and hope! Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Established churches of my past used to have a “homecoming” celebration once every few years. It was a special time to invite back all who had moved away to settled in other places of the world to come back to their home church for a reunion. A ton of food would be prepared with tables set up inside and sometimes outside under tents. Many would come back home for this event to renew old friendships and be with family who still attended the church. It was a time of encouragement and building each other up as we sang and testified of God’s great love and care. The services, before lunch and after lunch, included much singing from various groups as well as congregational singing. After the day was done, a count was taken to remember and give thanks to God, “until we meet again.”
It is with these memories of my past that help me try to imagine the captives coming home to Jerusalem and Judah, “each to their own town, from the evil land of Babylon who enslaved them for almost a century. But this is more than a visit back to the place they once called home; this is truly returning home to rebuild, renew, and restore what they once had but did not appreciate before the exile.
Ezra 2
The List of the Exiles Who Returned
Now these are the people of the province who came up from the captivity of the exiles, whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had taken captive to Babylon (they returned to Jerusalem and Judah, each to their own town, 2 in company with Zerubbabel, Joshua, Nehemiah, Seraiah, Reelaiah, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispar, Bigvai, Rehum and Baanah):
The list of the men of the people of Israel:
3 the descendants of Parosh
2,172
4 of Shephatiah
372
5 of Arah
775
6 of Pahath-Moab (through the line of Jeshua and Joab)
the descendants of Jedaiah (through the family of Jeshua)
973
37 of Immer
1,052
38 of Pashhur
1,247
39 of Harim
1,017
40 The Levites:
the descendants of Jeshua and Kadmiel (of the line of Hodaviah)
74
41 The musicians:
the descendants of Asaph
128
42 The gatekeepers of the temple:
the descendants of
Shallum, Ater, Talmon,
Akkub, Hatita and Shobai
139
43 The temple servants:
the descendants of
Ziha, Hasupha, Tabbaoth,
44 Keros, Siaha, Padon,
45 Lebanah, Hagabah, Akkub,
46 Hagab, Shalmai, Hanan,
47 Giddel, Gahar, Reaiah,
48 Rezin, Nekoda, Gazzam,
49 Uzza, Paseah, Besai,
50 Asnah, Meunim, Nephusim,
51 Bakbuk, Hakupha, Harhur,
52 Bazluth, Mehida, Harsha,
53 Barkos, Sisera, Temah,
54 Neziah and Hatipha
55 The descendants of the servants of Solomon:
the descendants of
Sotai, Hassophereth, Peruda,
56 Jaala, Darkon, Giddel,
57 Shephatiah, Hattil,
Pokereth-Hazzebaim and Ami
58 The temple servants and the descendants of the servants of Solomon
392
59 The following cameup from the towns of Tel Melah, Tel Harsha, Kerub, Addon and Immer, but they could not show that their families were descended from Israel:
60 The descendants of
Delaiah, Tobiah and Nekoda
652
61 And from among the priests:
The descendants of
Hobaiah, Hakkoz and Barzillai (a man who had married a daughter of Barzillai the Gileadite and was called by that name).
62 These searched for their family records, but they could not find them and so were excluded from the priesthood as unclean. 63 The governor ordered them not to eat any of the most sacred food until there was a priest ministering with the Urim and Thummim.
64 The whole company numbered 42,360, 65 besides their 7,337 male and female slaves; and they also had 200 male and female singers. 66 They had 736 horses, 245 mules, 67 435 camels and 6,720 donkeys.
68 When they arrived at the house of the Lord in Jerusalem, some of the heads of the families gave freewill offerings toward the rebuilding of the house of God on its site.69 According to their ability they gave to the treasury for this work 61,000 darics of gold, 5,000 minas of silver and 100 priestly garments.
70 The priests, the Levites, the musicians, the gatekeepers and the temple servants settled in their own towns, along with some of the other people, and the rest of the Israelites settled in their towns.
WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?
God used an unbeliever, Cyrus who was king of Persha to order the return of the once exiled back to their hometowns. But being set free wasn’t enough; God also put upon the heart of this ruler to send funds with them so they could rebuild upon returning! There is no one like our God!
God also chose leaders from among the returning remnant of His people in the rebuilding and restoring. Warren Wiersbe helps us to understand the bigger picture of the process of this “homecoming” by referring to the words of Nehemiah who we will study after the book of Ezra. Sometimes we have a tendency to only read what is before us without reference and parallels to others telling of this tremendous homecoming arranged by God Himself! Wiersbe comments;
“From the parallel list in Nehemiah 7:7, we must add the name of Nahamani, bringing the total to twelve men, one for each of the tribes. The “Nehemiah” in Ezra 2:2 is not the man who rebuilt the walls of Jerusalem, because he didn’t come on the scene until 444 B.C. And the “Mordecai” listed isn’t the Mordecai of the Book of Esther. “Jeshua” is Joshua the high priest, who is mentioned twenty-three times in Ezra and Nehemiah. He was an important part of the leadership of the remnant and served at the side of Zerubbabel, the governor. Everything in God’s work rises and falls with leadership. When God wants to accomplish something, He calls dedicated men and women to challenge His people and lead the way.” –Wiersbe Study Bible
This list of names in Scripture and in many other passages, Matthew for example, may not be important to us reading today; but this recording and count meant everything to a Jewish family. The list was not only a history but a legal and binding way to decide who belonged with inherited rights. Most people today are more concerned about the behavior of their descendants than the bloodline of their ancestors—unless an inheritance is involved. Then it might get dicey when money and valuable things might be had. But that wasn’t true of the Old Testament Jews. Genealogy decided if you were in or out. It also decided who would lead the tribe and God’s Temple work.
The Homecoming Count was important because the Jews returning to Judah couldn’t reclaim their family property unless they could prove their lineage and the priests and Levites must certify their ancestry, otherwise they couldn’t serve in the temple or share in the benefits of that service.
What do we say after a long trip of driving home in our comfortable vehicles? “FINALLY, WE’RE HOME!”
What if we traveled by foot for about four months to get back home? Ezra wrote nothing about the long trip (900 miles) or what the Jews experienced during those four difficult months. Oh, how the remnant of people who survived the exile into slavery and bondage by the evil King Nebuchadnezzar must have shouted for joy with tears running down their faces when home came into view on their journey!
Oh, what joy, relief, with pure release of emotions when they returned home—the land God had promised all those centuries earlier to their ancestors. Now, they are back home. Home to God. Home to the familiar. Home of their faith before their faith had diminished. Home to rebuild, renew, restore and build new!
The emotions are similar when we decide to come back home to God after years of rebellion against Him. We repent when we finally see Jesus for who He really is—our Savior and Redeemer. As we repent, the tears of emotion fall, the baggage we have been carrying for so long is put down, for we have finally come home. Because of God’s love for the world—every person who believes in His Son is included. Our rights to be in God’s family does not depend on our hereditary—only on our repentance with a sincere heart.
Friends, Come home.
Lord,
Thank you for the thoughts you have given to us through Your Story of working in and through your people. You still do this work in and through us! What a day that will be, when we see you in all your glory, but for now we are grateful to experiences glimpses of your glory right now, here on earth, that encourages our walk and builds our faith.
Cleanse our hearts, renew our mind, refresh our souls, and continuing restore the joy and peace of you in us and us abiding in you. To you be the glory! Great things you have done and are still doing!
“For Ezra had devoted himself to the study and observance of the Law of the LORD, and to teaching its decrees and laws in Israel” Ezra 7:10
“Ezra was God’s prophet, the second of three key leaders to leave Babylon for the reconstruction of Jerusalem. Zerubbabel was first, then Ezra, and then Nehemiah. Zerubbabel reconstructed the temple, Nehemiah rebuilt the walls, and Ezra restored the worship.
Any person who has tackled the task of presenting the Bible to people will find a friend in Ezra. He was a student. He was an interpreter. In fact, the clearest Old Testament reference to exposition is attributed to Ezra. He was the head of the Levites who “read from the Book of the Law of God, making it clear and giving the meaning so that the people understood what was being read” (Nehemiah 8:8).
Don’t you appreciate that last phrase, “making it clear . . . so that the people understood . . .”? Don’t you appreciate the person who can take the Word and reveal it for your life? Perhaps you can do that. If so, stay faithful. There is no higher task.
Perhaps you have a teacher like that. If so, be grateful. There is no greater friend.” –Max Lucado, Introduction to Ezra, Encouraging Word Bible
“If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” 2 Chronicles 7:14
Even though people are unfaithful to God; God is faithful to His Word. For the nation of Israel, for at least forty years, the prophet Jeremiah had warned the leaders of Judah that the Babylonian exile was inevitable (see Jer. 20:4–6; 21:7–10). Jeremiah begged and pleaded with the Israelites to repent of their sins and surrender to Babylon. Only then could they save the city of Jerusalem and the temple from ruin. But the leaders didn’t listen; in fact, they called Jeremiah a traitor—and the holy city and the temple were destroyed in 587–586 B.C. Jeremiah wept; but God knew what would happen next.
God had not given up His authority or His love for His people during their exile due to disobedience to God. “This is what the Lord says: ‘When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill my good promise to bring you back to this place. For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.’” Jeremiah 29:10-11.
Ezra 1
Cyrus Helps the Exiles to Return
In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, in order to fulfill the word of the Lord spoken by Jeremiah, the Lord moved the heart of Cyrus king of Persia to make a proclamation throughout his realm and also to put it in writing:
2 “This is what Cyrus king of Persia says:
“‘The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and he has appointed me to build a temple for him at Jerusalem in Judah.3 Any of his people among you may go up to Jerusalem in Judah and build the temple of the Lord, the God of Israel, the God who is in Jerusalem, and may their God be with them.4 And in any locality where survivors may now be living, the people are to provide them with silver and gold, with goods and livestock, and with freewill offerings for the temple of God in Jerusalem.’”
5 Then the family heads of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests and Levites—everyone whose heart God had moved—prepared to go up and build the house of the Lord in Jerusalem. 6 All their neighbors assisted them with articles of silver and gold, with goods and livestock, and with valuable gifts, in addition to all the freewill offerings.
7 Moreover, King Cyrus brought out the articles belonging to the temple of the Lord, which Nebuchadnezzar had carried away from Jerusalem and had placed in the temple of his god. 8 Cyrus king of Persia had them brought by Mithredath the treasurer, who counted them out to Sheshbazzar the prince of Judah.
9 This was the inventory:
gold dishes
30
silver dishes
1,000
silver pans
29
10 gold bowls
30
matching silver bowls
410
other articles
1,000
11 In all, there were 5,400 articles of gold and of silver. Sheshbazzar brought all these along with the exiles when they came up from Babylon to Jerusalem.
WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?
God moved the heart of the king of Persia, an unbeliever, to rescue the hardened hearts of His people who were held in captivity in Babylonia. There was a remnant of people who still believed—even in captivity. God is amazing! God does what only God can do—rescue us from our own selfish rebellion against him. The remnant is rescued to go home and rebuild all that they had given up in rebellion against God—with the bonus of offerings given from their neighbors! Our God’s compassion for us; they fail not and His mercy is astounding. Lamentations 3:22-23 records this truth of His character that does not change. We learn that God’s deep mercy, lovingkindness, and tender care for people are endless, don’t run out, and are renewed every single morning, offering constant hope and a reason to trust Him even in suffering. Are you encouraged by these words this morning? I am!
What Cyrus did twenty-five centuries ago reminds us today of some important spiritual truths. God is faithful to His covenant. In spite of their sins, these exiles were God’s chosen people and children of the covenant He had made with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (Genesis 12:1–3). The nation had broken the covenant, but the Lord had remained faithful to His Word.
“Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion; therefore, I will wait for him.” Lamentations 3:21-24
Lord,
You are my everything. I give myself back to you as an offering. All I am, warts and all, I give You to use for your glory. Even today, may your glory be seen in me. You are my portion—all I need to live eternal life to the full.
The final four evil kings of Judah who reigned after Josiah chose sin. Their eyes were no longer on God but on evil. Though God sent prophets to tell them what will happen; they turned away from God and His words of warning. This resulted in captivity.
Babylon conquered Jerusalem and looted and burned the temple. They carried God’s people into exile. But in the end, Judah returned from exile in Babylon, ready to rebuild. God used the exile to cause the people to repent. God even used a pagan king to rebuild Jerusalem’s temple! There is no one like our God!
2 Chronicles 36
And the people of the land took Jehoahaz son of Josiah and made him king in Jerusalem in place of his father.
Jehoahaz King of Judah
2 Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem three months. 3 The king of Egypt dethroned him in Jerusalem and imposed on Judah a levy of a hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold. 4 The king of Egypt made Eliakim, a brother of Jehoahaz, king over Judah and Jerusalem and changed Eliakim’s name to Jehoiakim. But Necho took Eliakim’s brother Jehoahaz and carried him off to Egypt.
Jehoiakim King of Judah
5 Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eleven years. He did evil in the eyes of the Lord his God.6 Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon attacked him and bound him with bronze shackles to take him to Babylon.7 Nebuchadnezzar also took to Babylon articles from the temple of the Lord and put them in his temple there.
8 The other events of Jehoiakim’s reign, the detestable things he did and all that was found against him, are written in the book of the kings of Israel and Judah. And Jehoiachin his son succeeded him as king.
Jehoiachin King of Judah
9 Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem three months and ten days. He did evil in the eyes of the Lord. 10 In the spring, King Nebuchadnezzar sent for him and brought him to Babylon, together with articles of value from the temple of the Lord, and he made Jehoiachin’s uncle, Zedekiah, king over Judah and Jerusalem.
Zedekiah King of Judah
11 Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eleven years. 12 He did evil in the eyes of the Lord his God and did not humble himself before Jeremiah the prophet, who spoke the word of the Lord. 13 He also rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him take an oath in God’s name. He became stiff-necked and hardened his heart and would not turn to the Lord, the God of Israel. 14 Furthermore, all the leaders of the priests and the people became more and more unfaithful, following all the detestable practices of the nations and defiling the temple of the Lord, which he had consecrated in Jerusalem.
The Fall of Jerusalem
15 The Lord, the God of their ancestors, sent word to them through his messengers again and again, because he had pity on his people and on his dwelling place. 16 But they mocked God’s messengers, despised his words and scoffed at his prophets until the wrath of the Lord was aroused against his people and there was no remedy. 17 He brought up against them the king of the Babylonians, who killed their young men with the sword in the sanctuary, and did not spare young men or young women, the elderly or the infirm. God gave them all into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar.18 He carried to Babylon all the articles from the temple of God, both large and small, and the treasures of the Lord’s temple and the treasures of the king and his officials. 19 They set fire to God’s temple and broke down the wall of Jerusalem; they burned all the palaces and destroyed everything of value there.
20 He carried into exile to Babylon the remnant, who escaped from the sword, and they became servants to him and his successors until the kingdom of Persia came to power. 21 The land enjoyed its sabbath rests; all the time of its desolation it rested, until the seventy years were completed in fulfillment of the word of the Lord spoken by Jeremiah.
22 In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, in order to fulfill the word of the Lord spoken by Jeremiah, the Lord moved the heart of Cyrus king of Persia to make a proclamation throughout his realm and also to put it in writing:
23 “This is what Cyrus king of Persia says:
“‘The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and he has appointed me to build a temple for him at Jerusalem in Judah. Any of his people among you may go up, and may the Lord their God be with them.’”
WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW WILL WE RESPOND? WE HAVE TWO CHOICES.
We have been given the free will from God, our Creator to choose Him or to choose evil. The choice of evil leads us to succumb to the Prince of Darkness who is evil defined. We become his slave as a captive of evil. The Enemy shows us the way to do all things evil and detestable to God as he filsl our being daily with hate. Hate produces within us all the traits of evil that are in direct opposition to God such as;
Hearts filled with hate with intent to hurt, maim, and kill others who get in our way, including our own children!
Minds that are distracted, discontented, confused and deceived so that we seek the worship any manmade god or idol that is not God who created us.
Souls become depleted of peace, joy, strength and wisdom causing us to become fearful because we are empty of the goodness of God.
Our choice of evil removes us from the protection of God. Our choice to ignore, revolt, mock and walk in the opposite direction of God draws as farther away from God’s blessings of His provision, guidance, and help in times of trouble. It is we who moved; not God. Our God is faithful, however, even when we are not. He sees and knows our hearts, minds, and souls in need of Him. God’s love does not change even though we cease to love. God does not give up on us. It is not his desire that anyone perish without Him.
The Good News is that we have a choice to return to God who welcomes us immediately. His compassions do not fail. God is the only One who is truly Good all because of His unfailing, unchanging love, His unending mercies offered daily, and his grace that trumps our sins when we repent of them. God’s Grace wins every time because God has not given up on us and will never give up His authority and sovereignty of the world He created for us to live. If that were not enough, God gave us His Son, His one and only Son, Jesus as a sacrifice for our sins—while we were still living in sin! Romans 5:8 The work to pay our debt of sin has been accomplished! There is no one like our God!
It’s time to choose! We make a ton of daily decisions in our lives. In every detail of those decisions we can choose to ask the wisdom of God or hurriedly go our own way and just hope for the best outcome.
Is there a way we might prepare for all these decisions so that better outcomes could might be had? Why, yes, we can! Paul, inspired always by God’s Holy Spirit, writes;
“So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.” Romans 12:1-2, MSG
Do you feel as if you are in exile because of your choices? Sometimes our outcomes are not what we expected. We think why does this seem worse than God’s best? But remember, God’s not finished with us yet. We don’t see the whole picture as He does from His view of things. Our God uses our “disasters” to develop our character. Do not spend all your time seeking relief but reflect on what God wants to teach you. Ask him to show you what is truly important. “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” Romans 8:28, KJV
I’m standing on this promise, even now, along with all the promises of God!
Lord,
Thank you for your blessed assurance that fills our hearts, minds, and souls today. Cleanse our hearts, renew our minds, refresh our souls, and restore daily the joy of your salvation at work within us—all for our good and your glory!
Over seasonal holidays families and friends all over the world gather to remember the precious relationships they have with each other. Some will bring thoughtful gifts to bring joy to those we love and cherish. Joy comes from our giving because it delights our hearts to see others happy and grateful for gifts given to them. Meals are served and laughter is heard. Sacrifices of time and expense are made to travel from one place to another because of ongoing relationships built to last with these people we love. We are committed to them all because of our relationship with them. Memories are made while relationships are grown stronger because of our love for each one. Whatever the cost, most are willing pay just to be near our loved ones to celebrate and remember. While some might be disagreeable, the love remains. Love never fails.
Guess what! God loves to see His created come together to celebrate and remember our relationship with Him—the most important relationship of all!
2 Chronicles 35
Josiah Celebrates the Passover
Josiah celebrated the Passover to the Lord in Jerusalem, and the Passover lamb was slaughtered on the fourteenth day of the first month.2 He appointed the priests to their duties and encouraged them in the service of the Lord’s temple. 3 He said to the Levites, who instructed all Israel and who had been consecrated to the Lord: “Put the sacred ark in the temple that Solomon son of David king of Israel built. It is not to be carried about on your shoulders. Now serve the Lord your God and his people Israel. 4 Prepare yourselves by families in your divisions, according to the instructions written by David king of Israel and by his son Solomon.
5 “Stand in the holy place with a group of Levites for each subdivision of the families of your fellow Israelites, the lay people. 6 Slaughter the Passover lambs, consecrate yourselves and prepare the lambs for your fellow Israelites, doing what the Lord commanded through Moses.”
7 Josiah provided for all the lay people who were there a total of thirty thousand lambs and goats for the Passover offerings, and also three thousand cattle—all from the king’s own possessions.
8 His officials also contributed voluntarily to the people and the priests and Levites. Hilkiah, Zechariah and Jehiel, the officials in charge of God’s temple, gave the priests twenty-six hundred Passover offerings and three hundred cattle. 9 Also Konaniah along with Shemaiah and Nethanel, his brothers, and Hashabiah, Jeiel and Jozabad, the leaders of the Levites, provided five thousand Passover offerings and five hundred head of cattle for the Levites.
10 The service was arranged and the priests stood in their places with the Levites in their divisions as the king had ordered. 11 The Passover lambs were slaughtered, and the priests splashed against the altar the blood handed to them, while the Levites skinned the animals. 12 They set aside the burnt offerings to give them to the subdivisions of the families of the people to offer to the Lord, as it is written in the Book of Moses. They did the same with the cattle. 13 They roasted the Passover animals over the fire as prescribed, and boiled the holy offerings in pots, caldrons and pans and served them quickly to all the people. 14 After this, they made preparations for themselves and for the priests, because the priests, the descendants of Aaron, were sacrificing the burnt offerings and the fat portions until nightfall. So the Levites made preparations for themselves and for the Aaronic priests.
15 The musicians, the descendants of Asaph, were in the places prescribed by David, Asaph, Heman and Jeduthun the king’s seer. The gatekeepers at each gate did not need to leave their posts, because their fellow Levites made the preparations for them.
16 So at that time the entire service of the Lord was carried out for the celebration of the Passover and the offering of burnt offerings on the altar of the Lord, as King Josiah had ordered. 17 The Israelites who were present celebrated the Passover at that time and observed the Festival of Unleavened Bread for seven days. 18 The Passover had not been observed like this in Israel since the days of the prophet Samuel; and none of the kings of Israel had ever celebrated such a Passover as did Josiah, with the priests, the Levites and all Judah and Israel who were there with the people of Jerusalem. 19 This Passover was celebrated in the eighteenth year of Josiah’s reign.
The Death of Josiah
20 After all this, when Josiah had set the temple in order, Necho king of Egypt went up to fight at Carchemish on the Euphrates, and Josiah marched out to meet him in battle. 21 But Necho sent messengers to him, saying, “What quarrel is there, king of Judah, between you and me? It is not you I am attacking at this time, but the house with which I am at war. God has told me to hurry; so stop opposing God, who is with me, or he will destroy you.”
22 Josiah, however, would not turn away from him, but disguised himself to engage him in battle. He would not listen to what Necho had said at God’s command but went to fight him on the plain of Megiddo.
23 Archers shot King Josiah, and he told his officers, “Take me away; I am badly wounded.” 24 So they took him out of his chariot, put him in his other chariot and brought him to Jerusalem, where he died. He was buried in the tombs of his ancestors, and all Judah and Jerusalem mourned for him.
25 Jeremiah composed laments for Josiah, and to this day all the male and female singers commemorate Josiah in the laments. These became a tradition in Israel and are written in the Laments.
26 The other events of Josiah’s reign and his acts of devotion in accordance with what is written in the Law of the Lord— 27 all the events, from beginning to end, are written in the book of the kings of Israel and Judah.
WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?
It was in Josiah’s reign that the Law of God given to Moses was recovered from the ruins of Temple and read aloud. This important book of instruction with specific directions from God to His people solidified His relationship with them as it taught the people how to relate to Him and to each other. This treasure was from God and was made known once again to His people! The Word of God led Josiah and all who were within listening distance to renew their relationship with God in obedience to His Law.
The Passover was a designated celebration with very specific instructions. To “remember the Passover” was not just a Jewish date on the calendar; it was a time of sacrifice, commitment, with holy reverence and respect for God who rescued the entire nation of Israel who centuries earlier were held captive and bonded as slaves by the Pharoah of Egypt. However, Passover, an event to celebrate the relationship God’s people had with Him had been neglected and forgotten. It is the young King Josiah who will reinstate their relationship with God that the Passover signifies for all the people of his kingdom. Upon discovering the Mosaic Law which gave instructions for celebrating the Passover; he ordered that the Passover be celebrated on the plains of Megiddo, for the sole purpose to lead God’s people in recommitting their lives to God.
For Josiah, God was hisGod. David’s faith was Josiah’s faith. He had found the God of David and made Him his own. Josiah acquired his own relationship with God by the model David had given as a man who “ran after the heart of God.” Passover now had new meaning for Josiah. It was a celebration not only of rescue but relationship!
LET’S RECAP: Of all the celebrations on the Jewish calendar; the feast of Passover was especially significant. For one thing, Passover reminded the Israelite people of their national origin at the exodus when the Lord delivered them from Egyptian bondage. This was a glorious manifestation of God’s grace and power. He took them to Himself as His own people and entered into a covenant relationship with them at Mount Sinai. They were God’s chosen people, God’s covenant people, a people to bring glory to His name.
The Last Supper, as we call it today, was a Passover celebration served by Jesus to His Disciples on the eve of His arrest by religious leaders who no longer had a relationship with God. Jesus knew what He must face; but because of God’s love in Him, He carried on with the mission be the Passover Lamb of God. His act of sacrifice ushered in a new covenant relationship offered freely to all believers, Jews and non Jews alike!
Jesus was sent to earth to seek and to save the lost who had little to no relationship with God. Jesus also came in power from God to miraculously heal “so that others would see the glory of God” at work. With authority from God because Jesus was God in the flesh; He forgave those seeking God by faith. Because he was born Son of Man by a virgin and raised by a man of faith; he was tempted by evil but did not sin. As Son of God, this made him the “lamb without blemish,” the perfect sacrifice for our sins.
Jesus grew from toddler to adult with the guidance of faithful parents and by God, His Father in heaven. He moved about the neighborhood of humanity to demonstrate the love of God to the world for this kind of love had all been forgotten. For three years, he mentored followers with the Way back to God with Truth, developing relationships with the promise of eternal life for all who believed! These disciples and followers of Jesus would then be given authority to carry on His redemptive work in His Name upon His departure from this world back to heaven from where He originated. And we carry on the same work today in His Name for His glory so others will know! (Matthew 28:20)
After three years of building relationships, our Passover Lamb of God would be the final rescue from the bondage of sin. Jesus’ willing obedience to lay His life done for us provided the Way to a new relationship with God. It was this once and for all sacrifice on the cross that paid the price of our sins in full—just as the prophets foretold centuries earlier. With our sins gone, nothing stands between God and us as believers in relationship with Him! Our new relationship with God begins as soon as we say YES, I believe! The gift of God’s Son, Jesus is freely given so that we may believe and love Him back in an intimate growing relationship with the God of all! More Good News, our growing, maturing relationship with God affects all other relationships we have! Less judgement; more love happens!
“Do this in remembrance of Me,” says Jesus to all believing followers. (Luke 22:19; 1 Corinthians 11:24) Jesus Christ was the ultimate sacrifice for the salvation of all the world who believe and restored our relationship with God! The Last Supper, Jesus’ final meal on earth with his disciples was a Passover Seder, linking the Old Testament celebration of God to the New Testament celebration of a new holy, personal relationship with God.
God/Jesus/Holy Spirt was/is/and always will be God in Three Persons—Holy Trinity of relationship.
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.” John 3:16-17
Lord,
Thank you for these awesome thoughts and powerful teaching from your Holy Spirit through Your Word to us. Our relationship with you is the most revered and precious lifegiving relationship we will ever have. We must protect it at all costs! So, cleanse our hearts, renew our minds, refresh our souls, and continually restore the joy of your salvation work within us. I love you, Lord with all my heart, mind, and soul. Help me to spread this Good News of relationship that is forever to everyone!
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” John 1:1-5
“I am the way, and the truth, and the life.No one comes to the Father except through me.”—Jesus, John 14:6
This is the season where I cook and bake all the favorites things that our family enjoys. After many years of doing this, I mostly rely on my own muscle memory. Most times I don’t even pull out the age-old recipes to read them because I mostly remember what they say…at least I thought I did. When one of the recipes failed, I had to search the cabinet for my old book that held all the recipes from the generations before me to see what went wrong. There was one ingredient I left out. That one ingredient made all the difference!
I’m glad I still had the recipes that taught me from a young age how to cook and bake! If I totally rely only on my own diminishing memory bank, I will leave important ingredients out, substitute an ingredient for another, or add ingredients that do not belong which leads to an epic fail that results in little sad faces who want to devour the original recipe!
In the beginning was the Word…What if the Word in written form was lost to us for a few generations? As believers today, we have many Bibles on our shelves, by the couch, on our phones and in our computers—all readily available to us! But what if all that was taken from us and hidden away for centuries? Worse yet, what if we decided we could live without the Word so we no longer read or referred to the Word as truth to guide us?
Would we remember all the ingredients considered right and true according to our Lord? Would we just rely on the few verses we memorized as children? What if important directions that give life and show us the path to truth were left out? After a few generations, what if what you thought was right in the eyes of the Lord, the recipe for living life, became a diluted, hazy, darkened form of the original?
Human memory fails us. We must read the Word daily to stay close to the Standard that God the Word has given to us. Jesus, Son of God, who is God, is the Standard by which we live a life pleasing to God. Jesus, the Word made flesh, is the treasure that we seek! These wonderful words of life are found in this treasure that fulfills and proves the words God gave to the prophets.
From Genesis to Revelation—Truth is bound and delivered by the Son of God in the flesh. We become a part of the story of God when we accept His offer of redemption.
Josiah ruled for thirty-one years (640–609 B.C.) and walked in the ways of the Lord because David was his model. Josiah had heard of the Law, but didn’t know that the written Law God gave to Moses still existed. Josiah was working from the standard of living that his forefather King David had provided, the one who loved, trusted, and obeyed God. David wrote many songs about the Word, “your word is a lamp unto my feet”, for example, but young Josiah did not have the written Laws of God to learn and follow for himself. This treasure had been put aside and stored in the broken down Temple. But then God…
2 Chronicles 34
Josiah’s Reforms
Josiah was eight years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem thirty-one years. 2 He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord and followed the ways of his father David, not turning aside to the right or to the left.
3 In the eighth year of his reign, while he was still young, he began to seek the God of his father David.In his twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem of high places, Asherah poles and idols. 4 Under his direction the altars of the Baals were torn down; he cut to pieces the incense altars that were above them, and smashed the Asherah poles and the idols. These he broke to pieces and scattered over the graves of those who had sacrificed to them. 5 He burned the bones of the priests on their altars, and so he purged Judah and Jerusalem. 6 In the towns of Manasseh, Ephraim and Simeon, as far as Naphtali, and in the ruins around them, 7 he tore down the altars and the Asherah poles and crushed the idols to powder and cut to pieces all the incense altars throughout Israel. Then he went back to Jerusalem.
8 In the eighteenth year of Josiah’s reign, to purify the land and the temple, he sent Shaphan son of Azaliah and Maaseiah the ruler of the city, with Joah son of Joahaz, the recorder, to repair the temple of the Lord his God.
9 They went to Hilkiah the high priest and gave him the money that had been brought into the temple of God, which the Levites who were the gatekeepers had collected from the people of Manasseh, Ephraim and the entire remnant of Israel and from all the people of Judah and Benjamin and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. 10 Then they entrusted it to the men appointed to supervise the work on the Lord’s temple. These men paid the workers who repaired and restored the temple.11 They also gave money to the carpenters and builders to purchase dressed stone, and timber for joists and beams for the buildings that the kings of Judah had allowed to fall into ruin.
12 The workers labored faithfully. Over them to direct them were Jahath and Obadiah, Levites descended from Merari, and Zechariah and Meshullam, descended from Kohath. The Levites—all who were skilled in playing musical instruments— 13 had charge of the laborers and supervised all the workers from job to job. Some of the Levites were secretaries, scribes and gatekeepers.
The Book of the Law Found
14 While they were bringing out the money that had been taken into the temple of the Lord, Hilkiah the priest found the Book of the Law of the Lord that had been given through Moses.15 Hilkiah said to Shaphan the secretary, “I have found the Book of the Law in the temple of the Lord.” He gave it to Shaphan.
16 Then Shaphan took the book to the king and reported to him: “Your officials are doing everything that has been committed to them. 17 They have paid out the money that was in the temple of the Lord and have entrusted it to the supervisors and workers.” 18 Then Shaphan the secretary informed the king, “Hilkiah the priest has given me a book.” And Shaphan read from it in the presence of the king.
19 When the king heard the words of the Law, he tore his robes.20 He gave these orders to Hilkiah, Ahikam son of Shaphan, Abdon son of Micah, Shaphan the secretary and Asaiah the king’s attendant: 21 “Go and inquire of the Lord for me and for the remnant in Israel and Judah about what is written in this book that has been found. Great is the Lord’s anger that is poured out on us because those who have gone before us have not kept the word of the Lord; they have not acted in accordance with all that is written in this book.”
22 Hilkiah and those the king had sent with him went to speak to the prophet Huldah, who was the wife of Shallum son of Tokhath, the son of Hasrah, keeper of the wardrobe. She lived in Jerusalem, in the New Quarter.
23 She said to them, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: Tell the man who sent you to me, 24 ‘This is what the Lord says: I am going to bring disaster on this place and its people—all the curses written in the book that has been read in the presence of the king of Judah. 25 Because they have forsaken me and burned incense to other gods and aroused my anger by all that their hands have made, my anger will be poured out on this place and will not be quenched.’ 26 Tell the king of Judah, who sent you to inquire of the Lord, ‘This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says concerning the words you heard: 27 Because your heart was responsive and you humbled yourself before God when you heard what he spoke against this place and its people, and because you humbled yourself before me and tore your robes and wept in my presence, I have heard you, declares the Lord.28 Now I will gather you to your ancestors, and you will be buried in peace. Your eyes will not see all the disaster I am going to bring on this place and on those who live here.’”
So they took her answer back to the king.
29 Then the king called together all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem. 30 He went up to the temple of the Lord with the people of Judah, the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the priests and the Levites—all the people from the least to the greatest. He read in their hearing all the words of the Book of the Covenant, which had been found in the temple of the Lord. 31 The king stood by his pillar and renewed the covenant in the presence of the Lord—to follow the Lord and keep his commands, statutes and decrees with all his heart and all his soul, and to obey the words of the covenant written in this book.
32 Then he had everyone in Jerusalem and Benjamin pledge themselves to it; the people of Jerusalem did this in accordance with the covenant of God, the God of their ancestors.
33 Josiah removed all the detestable idols from all the territory belonging to the Israelites, and he had all who were present in Israel serve the Lord their God. As long as he lived, they did not fail to follow the Lord, the God of their ancestors.
WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?
The fate of a nation rises and falls with its leadership, and young King Josiah provided aggressive spiritual leadership for the people. He had been seeking the Lord for four years, and now he was prepared to cleanse the land of all that was not God by removing all the idols and their places of worship.
Josiah’s eighteenth year as king was indeed his best year yet! As a twenty-six-year-old; he ordered the extreme repair makeover of the temple. In the demo of repairing the Temple the Book of the Law, given to Moses, was discovered. As he read it; he was convicted of the sins he and God’s people had committed so he made a covenant with the Lord. His reforms now had greater meaning. Josiah then hosted a great celebration of Passover, that we will read about tomorrow (35:1–19).
How we respond to God’s Word is a good indication of our spiritual appetiteand the strength of our desire to please the Lord.
Josiah’s actions prompt us to ask ourselves two crucial questions:
How badly do we want to hear God’s Word and read it for ourselves?
What is our response to God’s Word?
David, shepherd boy to becoming king and now the model for Josiah’s life was one who sought the heart of God. In his seeking, God gave David His Word to rely on for life!
Psalm 19 reflects David delight of God’s Word. Notice how David describes God’s Word in verse 10:
More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb.
David writes this amid trials and uncertainty and attacks from wicked people, David—a man after God’s own heart, focused first and foremost on one primary thought—David’s heart delighted in God’s Word. When David faced Goliath, he did so because he knew God’s Word. He wasn’t recklessly fearless. He was fearless because he knew God and His Word. He knew that God is the sovereign ruler of all things. He knew that God promised that he would preserve his people. God’s Word contains the unfailing promises of God!
David loved and cherished God’s Word! Read all of Psalm 119 for proof of this statement of faith. David repeatedly proclaims how much he loves God’s Word. Here are a few important verses;
“I will speak of your statutes before kings and will not be put to shame, for I delight in your commands because I love them.” Psalm 119:46-47
“The law from your mouth is more precious to me than thousands of pieces of silver and gold.” v. 72
“Never take your word of truth from my mouth, for I have put my hope in your laws.” Psalm 119:43
“I am your servant; give me discernment that I may understand your statutes.” vs. 125
“Streams of tears flow from my eyes, for your law is not obeyed.” vs. 136
These proclamations by David reveal his heart, his love for, and his respect for God’s Word. Remember, it is God’s Word that also equips us for service. After Jesus returned to heaven, His called disciple, Paul, mentors Timothy with these words for life;
“All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness,so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” 2 Timothy 3:16-17 Paul’s life had been radically changed by Jesus, the Word made flesh, and now Paul was passing this life-changing truth to Timothy.
If we want to be a man or woman “after God’s own heart,” we must be a lover of His Word. This is how we will do “everything He wants us to do.” Trust and obey for there’s no other way…we sing today, but do we really believe what we sing?
Lord,
We worship you alone. We learn, grow, and mature in our faith by trusting and obeying your Word. May Your Holy Spirit guide us to all Truth by your Word read. May Your Holy Spirit then give us discernment with wisdom to live your Word. Help us to demonstrate Truth to the world who is lost without it. May our hunger and desire for Your Word never cease until we see you face to face who is the Word.
First, imagine a middle schooler becoming a king! Would you like to be ruled by your middle schooler? Manasseh, age 12, is given all kinds of power and authority only because of the position. He is not king because he has proven himself by showing the wisdom of a king; but merely because his father has passed the crown to him as the oldest son, next in line for the throne!
Manasseh was born the son of the great King Hezekiah who loved the Lord God and love the people he served. King Hezekiah restored and built new all that was broken in the kingdom of Judah. Guided by God he tore down all the altars of Baal, ceasing the worship of anything or anyone but God. He rebuilt the Temple of God and restored the ministry of the Levitical priests to God’s people.
But now, his middle school age son has come to inherited power and undoes all the good that King Hezekiah did who “did evil in the eyes of the Lord”. The new king destroyed all that is father had done for the glory of God. He became known as the most evil king Judah has ever seen—the opposite of what his father was known as king.
But God…
2 Chronicles 33
Manasseh King of Judah
Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem fifty-five years. 2 He did evil in the eyes of the Lord, following the detestable practices of the nations the Lord had driven out before the Israelites.3 He rebuilt the high places his father Hezekiah had demolished; he also erected altars to the Baals and made Asherah poles. He bowed down to all the starry hosts and worshiped them. 4 He built altars in the temple of the Lord, of which the Lord had said, “My Name will remain in Jerusalem forever.” 5 In both courts of the temple of the Lord, he built altars to all the starry hosts. 6 He sacrificed his children in the fire in the Valley of Ben Hinnom, practiced divination and witchcraft, sought omens, and consulted mediums and spiritists. He did much evil in the eyes of the Lord, arousing his anger.
7 He took the image he had made and put it in God’s temple, of which God had said to David and to his son Solomon, “In this temple and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, I will put my Name forever. 8 I will not again make the feet of the Israelites leave the land I assigned to your ancestors, if only they will be careful to do everything I commanded them concerning all the laws, decrees and regulations given through Moses.” 9 But Manasseh led Judah and the people of Jerusalem astray, so that they did more evil than the nations the Lord had destroyed before the Israelites.
10 The Lord spoke to Manasseh and his people, but they paid no attention. 11 So the Lord brought against them the army commanders of the king of Assyria, who took Manasseh prisoner, put a hook in his nose, bound him with bronze shackles and took him to Babylon.12 In his distress he sought the favor of the Lord his God and humbled himself greatly before the God of his ancestors.13 And when he prayed to him, the Lord was moved by his entreaty and listened to his plea; so he brought him back to Jerusalem and to his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the Lord is God.
14 Afterward he rebuilt the outer wall of the City of David, west of the Gihon spring in the valley, as far as the entrance of the Fish Gate and encircling the hill of Ophel; he also made it much higher. He stationed military commanders in all the fortified cities in Judah.
15 He got rid of the foreign gods and removed the image from the temple of the Lord, as well as all the altars he had built on the temple hill and in Jerusalem; and he threw them out of the city. 16 Then he restored the altar of the Lord and sacrificed fellowship offerings and thank offerings on it, and told Judah to serve the Lord, the God of Israel.17 The people, however, continued to sacrifice at the high places, but only to the Lord their God.
18 The other events of Manasseh’s reign, including his prayer to his God and the words the seers spoke to him in the name of the Lord, the God of Israel, are written in the annals of the kings of Israel.[a]19 His prayer and how God was moved by his entreaty, as well as all his sins and unfaithfulness, and the sites where he built high places and set up Asherah poles and idols before he humbled himself—all these are written in the records of the seers. 20 Manasseh rested with his ancestors and was buried in his palace. And Amon his son succeeded him as king.
Amon King of Judah
21 Amon was twenty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem two years. 22 He did evil in the eyes of the Lord, as his father Manasseh had done. Amon worshiped and offered sacrifices to all the idols Manasseh had made. 23 But unlike his father Manasseh, he did not humble himself before the Lord; Amon increased his guilt.
24 Amon’s officials conspired against him and assassinated him in his palace. 25 Then the people of the land killed all who had plotted against King Amon, and they made Josiah his son king in his place.
WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?
For fifty-five years, this man of evil reigned in Judah! From age 12 to 67, King Manasseh reigned. That godly King Hezekiah should have such a wicked son is another one of those puzzles in biblical history. If Manasseh was born in 709 B.C., then he was seven years old when his father was healed and when the miracle of the shadow occurred. He was eight years old when the 185,000 Assyrian soldiers were slain by God’s Hand to protect the kingdom of Judah while his father, King Hezekiah reigned! But apparently these miracles during his father’s tenure made little impression on young Manasseh! Until that one day when God…
Many Bible scholars think that Manasseh reigned with his father for perhaps ten years (697–687), from ages twelve to twenty-two, so he lived in close relationship with a godly father. But the remarkable thing is that Manasseh became the most wicked king in Judah’s history, so much so that he is blamed for the fall of the southern kingdom! (See also, 2 Kings 24:3; Jeremiah 15:4)
Why was God’s glory of wisdom lost on him? We don’t know but what we are privileged to know is that the evil pride that overtook this young king was soon dealt with by God who humbled Manasseh. God used the enemy Assyrians to bring him to his knees. The enemy of Judah shackled him, put a ring in his nose and led the king off to Babylon! But God—intervened when the Manasseh sought the Lord in humility.
Remember the promise of God spoken earlier in our study of the Chronicles?
“If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” 2 Chronicles 7:14
This experience was greatly humiliating for this wicked king, but God used it to chasten him, break his pride, and bring him to his knees. Manasseh prayed for forgiveness, and the Lord kept His promise and forgave him. Even more, God moved the Assyrians to free Manasseh and allow him to return to Jerusalem to rule over the people. THIS is Amazing Grace!
Manasseh humbled himself, but the Lord first humbled him. True repentance is a work of God in the heart and a willing response of the heart to the Lord.
With a cleansed heart, renewed mind and refreshed soul by God’s mercy, King Manasseh returned home with the goal to undo all the evil he had done. He fortified Jerusalem and other cities in Judah, removed all the idols from the temple, as well as the altars in Jerusalem he had set up to false gods. After cleansing the temple, he then repaired the altar of the Lord that had been neglected. He also offered peace and thanksgiving offerings to the Lord who had rescued him. He commanded the people of Judah to serve God, and he set the example. But they did not listen to him—and neither did his young son, Amon. The young son, Amon had been too influenced by his father’s sins to appreciate his new life of obedience to God. Whereas Manasseh humbled himself before the Lord, his son Amon refused to do so; and the longer he sinned, the harder his heart became. The Enemy of God destroys its own for evil leads to death. Amon is assassinated by his own court of officials.
In our own world, we can sometimes think that evil is winning but then God steps in. Our God who sees and knows all because He never fails. In the middle of the storms, He is there. In the worst of times to us; God has not given up His authority or turned to look away. God is using all that happens around, in and to us to show us His glory is consistently at work. God is patient, kind, compassionate and merciful. All these traits of God’s character are wrapped in His infinite, relentless love for us!
Our response to His merciful love is to fall to our knees and seek the Lord with honest humbled words of trust with an obedient heart. In the seeking we must surrender our pride; for it is our pride that blocks us from His glorious work within us that longs to unshackle us and set us free!
Pray the prayer of Manasseh—Surrender all the troubles and pain that have you bound up in worry and anxiety right now. Whatever it is, disease, addictions, kids in trouble, cash flow, debts, or job loss and bow to God who still has the authority and power to transform life. Prayer: “Lord, have mercy on me and my family. Teach me to see your way through the storm.” God answers prayers of humbled surrender with healing, forgiveness and restoration in ways we never dreamed possible. With God all things are possible. With God, troubles are seen from a new perspective. With God, peace comes to replace anxious thoughts. With God, love drives our fear and displaces worry.
“If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” 2 Chronicles 7:14
I sought the Lord and He heard and He answered. May this statement be our testimony and our song of redemption forever and ever, Amen!
Lord,
Thank you for giving us the privilege to come to you with all that is on our minds, knowing you know and are already at work on our behalf. What amazing love, mercy, and grace you provide daily in miraculous, glorious ways—so others will know you and see your glory at work and come to you, too. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
“Dear friends,do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world.
You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. They are from the world and therefore speak from the viewpoint of the world, and the world listens to them. We are from God, and whoever knows God listens to us; but whoever is not from God does not listen to us. This is how we recognize the Spirit of truth and the spirit of falsehood.” 1 John 4:1-6, NIV
Know God.
Know the Enemy.
To know is to be prepared for invasions by the Enemy who seeks to distract, deceive, deconstruct our lives with the intent to destroy our faith, hope, love and assurance in God alone.
Know that God wins against the Enemy. Greater is HE than the Enemy.
Lately God has been moving in powerful, miraculous, in astonishing ways in the church that we have been attending and contributing to these past few years. We can try to explain but most times the extreme growth in numbers and in the found learning and growing in Christ is all God and cannot be explained in human terms. Yes, our pastor is compassionate, caring, and speaks Jesus! The staff agrees that their mission from God is to build a community of believers who come from all walks of life. All nations are welcome. All generations are encouraged. All economies are included. We are the Body of Christ who seek Jesus as King, the Lord of our lives as well as the Savior of our souls for eternity. Though we have not arrived at perfection; we know full well we need forgiveness—accepted from God and extended to others. These are the benefits of God moving in our midst; but it is God who is on the move and we are along for the ride of our lives as we believe, follow, trust, and obey God. Going from a population of around five hundred people about three years ago to over a thousand 1000 who outgrew a rented facility, moved to a remodeled abandoned grocery store which became immediately crowded with suddenly to 2500 people seeking Jesus to last Sunday with over 100 baptisms with 2900 people seeking Jesus—unexplainable in human terms. Only God! Over 500 people in the last year represents changed lives from death to new life in Jesus. But what is completely refreshing is that discipleship of these new believers is of paramount importance and God has given our pastor and many other leaders to ability to engage hundreds in the teaching of what is means to follow Jesus—not the leaders—but Jesus!
People are drawn to Jesus because of obedient leaders. Our pastor is a teacher of Jesus’ words. He reveres and respects the Word of God to all. He prays before teaching all in attendance, asking the Holy Spirit to convict him and us with Truth as the Spirit corrects all of us with Truth. He prays for those to be comforted who seek peace. He closes this pray in Jesus Name for all of us, including himself to be compelled to trust and obey God’s Word to us. Our pastor’s humility before the Lord, knowing it is not about him, but all about God speaking to us and acting within us, knowing the Holy Spirit is doing all the heavy lifting is refreshing in this world of not knowing who to trust—even in some churches who speak mostly what the world wants to hear.
But in all of God’s goodness to rescue us and set us free from our sins and teach us how to walk humbly with Him; the Enemy lies in wait to invade, looking for the weaknesses in our faith. The Enemy will use marginal believers who know enough of God to be dangerous! The enemy will invade the thoughts of pride filled people and use them to criticize and even slander those whose hearts are committed and in whom God is giving success. God’s church from pastor to staff to volunteers to attenders is not without attacks from those who do not truly believe in what God is doing. They might know of God but do not let go of self to really KNOW GOD.
Remember with grateful hearts of praise: Our war is not with flesh and blood even though we might feel like it when they are in our face with hateful words. No, our war is with the one Jesus calls Liar, Deceiver and later Destroyer. This battle has already been won by Jesus, Himself, when he rose from the grave! He is our final Victory over the Enemy.
Just ask Hezekiah! The Enemy of God hates believers on their knees calling on God in Jesus’ Name to help them in the invasion of evil. Look at the words Hezekiah used to encourage all with, “there is a greater power with us than with him”.
We can be encouraged by our Overcomer, says John, beloved disciple of Jesus, for “greater is HE that is in us than he that is in the world!” Oh, how I love God’s Word that never contradicts but always speaks Truth!
2 Chronicles 32
Sennacherib Threatens Jerusalem
After all that Hezekiah had so faithfully done, Sennacherib king of Assyria came and invaded Judah. He laid siege to the fortified cities, thinking to conquer them for himself. 2 When Hezekiah saw that Sennacherib had come and that he intended to wage war against Jerusalem, 3 he consulted with his officials and military staff about blocking off the water from the springs outside the city, and they helped him. 4 They gathered a large group of people who blocked all the springs and the stream that flowed through the land. “Why should the kings of Assyria come and find plenty of water?” they said. 5 Then he worked hard repairing all the broken sections of the wall and building towers on it. He built another wall outside that one and reinforced the terraces of the City of David. He also made large numbers of weapons and shields.
6 He appointed military officers over the people and assembled them before him in the square at the city gate and encouraged them with these words: 7 “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or discouraged because of the king of Assyria and the vast army with him, for there is a greater power with us than with him. 8 With him is only the arm of flesh, but with us is the Lord our God to help us and to fight our battles.” And the people gained confidence from what Hezekiah the king of Judah said.
9 Later, when Sennacherib king of Assyria and all his forces were laying siege to Lachish, he sent his officers to Jerusalem with this message for Hezekiah king of Judah and for all the people of Judah who were there:
10 “This is what Sennacherib king of Assyria says: On what are you basing your confidence, that you remain in Jerusalem under siege?11 When Hezekiah says,‘The Lord our God will save us from the hand of the king of Assyria,’ he is misleading you, to let you die of hunger and thirst. 12 Did not Hezekiah himself remove this god’s high places and altars, saying to Judah and Jerusalem, ‘You must worship before one altar and burn sacrifices on it’?
13 “Do you not know what I and my predecessors have done to all the peoples of the other lands? Were the gods of those nations ever able to deliver their land from my hand? 14 Who of all the gods of these nations that my predecessors destroyed has been able to save his people from me? How then can your god deliver you from my hand? 15 Now do not let Hezekiah deceive you and mislead you like this. Do not believe him, for no god of any nation or kingdom has been able to deliver his people from my hand or the hand of my predecessors. How much less will your god deliver you from my hand!”
16 Sennacherib’s officers spoke further against the Lord God and against his servant Hezekiah.17 The king also wrote letters ridiculing the Lord, the God of Israel, and saying this against him: “Just as the gods of the peoples of the other lands did not rescue their people from my hand, so the god of Hezekiah will not rescue his people from my hand.” 18 Then they called out in Hebrew to the people of Jerusalem who were on the wall, to terrify them and make them afraid in order to capture the city. 19 They spoke about the God of Jerusalem as they did about the gods of the other peoples of the world—the work of human hands.
20 King Hezekiah and the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz cried out in prayer to heaven about this. 21 And the Lord sent an angel, who annihilated all the fighting men and the commanders and officers in the camp of the Assyrian king. So he withdrew to his own land in disgrace. And when he went into the temple of his god, some of his sons, his own flesh and blood, cut him down with the sword.
22 So the Lord saved Hezekiah and the people of Jerusalem from the hand of Sennacherib king of Assyria and from the hand of all others. He took care of them on every side. 23 Many brought offerings to Jerusalem for the Lord and valuable gifts for Hezekiah king of Judah. From then on he was highly regarded by all the nations.
Hezekiah’s Pride, Success and Death
24 In those days Hezekiah became ill and was at the point of death. He prayed to the Lord, who answered him and gave him a miraculous sign.25 But Hezekiah’s heart was proud and he did not respond to the kindness shown him; therefore the Lord’s wrath was on him and on Judah and Jerusalem. 26 Then Hezekiah repented of the pride of his heart, as did the people of Jerusalem; therefore the Lord’s wrath did not come on them during the days of Hezekiah.
27 Hezekiah had very great wealth and honor, and he made treasuries for his silver and gold and for his precious stones, spices, shields and all kinds of valuables. 28 He also made buildings to store the harvest of grain, new wine and olive oil; and he made stalls for various kinds of cattle, and pens for the flocks. 29 He built villages and acquired great numbers of flocks and herds, for God had given him very great riches.
30 It was Hezekiah who blocked the upper outlet of the Gihon spring and channeled the water down to the west side of the City of David. He succeeded in everything he undertook. 31 But when envoys were sent by the rulers of Babylon to ask him about the miraculous sign that had occurred in the land, God left him to test him and to know everything that was in his heart.
32 The other events of Hezekiah’s reign and his acts of devotion are written in the vision of the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel. 33 Hezekiah rested with his ancestors and was buried on the hill where the tombs of David’s descendants are. All Judah and the people of Jerusalem honored him when he died. And Manasseh his son succeeded him as king.
WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?
KNOW GOD; God’s Word teaches us to be still, let go, and learn from Him.
KNOW THE ENEMY; Jesus who fought and won tells us how to guard our hearts, minds and souls who love Him with extreme, powerful help of His Holy Spirit.
BE A DISCIPLE (one who learns) of JESUS who is the Overcomer. God never fails. Cling the One who gives Hope of eternal life. Surrendering to God daily improves our listening and learning from Him. (Romans12:1-2)
“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”—Jesus, John 16:33
Lord,
Cleanse our hearts, renew our minds, transform our behaviors so we will be more like you every day. Refresh our souls with your new mercies each day. Continually restore the joy of you in us and us in you—the work of your hands, to help us overcome the enemy. Help us all to judge less and love more—like you love us.
I am a list maker…even in retirement from my secular work. For me, what doesn’t get listed, doesn’t get done. It is also very rewarding for me to check that item off the list when it is accomplished. The list has a progression of priorities. One task cannot happen until another task is completed. And so life goes with my lists guiding my behavior and productivity.
LEADERSHIP PRINCIPLE #6: Keep a Close Check on Yourself
Daily Manna (Coffee with Jesus) 