Daily Manna (Coffee with Jesus)

There was once a woman who came to our church with her three young boys.  She was a relative of a family who were faithful members and attenders.  At first, all seemed well.  Her husband come later and gave his life to Jesus, too.  This family was loved well because that’s what our church did best—love and accept each other well.

Being a church around hundred in attendance; we also knew each other well.  We loved and supported each other through challenging times and in good times of celebrations of marriages, births, graduations, and our milestones in life.  We were truly family.  Others saw the love of Christ in our church which spread to our workplaces and they began to come, too.  As the church grew in number, however, evil reared its ugly head to cause a batte of division that no one saw coming. 

The woman who openly and emotionally showed her love for Jesus in very demonstrative ways began to become close to the pastor, not in a relationship but with manipulation that gave her more control than necessary in leadership.  She would then infiltrate every group from young to old with her influence.  I was in youth group at the time as a growing leader, mentored by our current devoted youth leader.  I had grown up in the church and was a strong believer in Jesus. I began to notice how the woman influenced the kids in our once strong, tight-knit group of teens who loved each other well with undertones of exclusion and division.  Something’s wrong, I thought but being inexperienced I couldn’t quite put my finger on it; but I knew this woman was the one causing the divisions among the group who held each other in high esteem to a group that was being torn apart by undertones of gossip. 

The woman was popular among those she complimented highly; but was feared by those who discerned trouble and saw what was happening among God’s people who once loved each other well.  The pastor defended her because she told him how underappreciated he was by the church who supported him.  Without going into any more details behind the scenes where evil does its best work; all this led to our church spitting painfully into two factions. One Sunday morning, the pastor left a letter in the lobby telling of all the people he was taking with him.  He and his new flock led by the woman also took furniture and some supplies from our church to start their new church a few miles away.

This was a devasting blow to my family.  It affected my life personally in many ways as a teen getting ready to graduate high school. Interestingly enough, the woman rarely tried to influence me, in fact she avoided me.  My parents and grandparents, all who chose to stay behind and not go with the pastor, and even fringe attenders were also devasted and very confused by these actions. What happened left those left behind in despair with much confusion. How could this happen?  Why did it happen?  God, what’s nest?

What I once knew as our church, a loving, supportive and nurturing group of people who loved God and who personally formed and shaped my life to believe, trust, and obey Jesus alone was now a smaller group, weakened by gossip and slander. At first, we felt like casualties of the battle between good and evil.  We needed to heal and God provided but the scars remained to remind us to always and continually to “guard our hearts” and stay alert always.  Although, weak God’s strength in us prevailed.  Peace, that had eluded us before now came from the departure of who was driven by evil.  God was still in charge. He had not given up His authority.  God even taught us to pray for our “enemies” and forgive them. 

A few years later, the rogue church plant and our church would meet as one in Christ, giving all glory to God. Only God can turn our battles with evil, meant for harm for His Body of believers, into something for our good while declaring His glory! The woman departed eventually.  God brought healing to families in the churches that were also torn apart.  As a church, we learned that we had become complacent. God used the schemes of evil to teach us more about how God works along with a “higher” education about how our real Enemy, not of flesh and blood, works among gullible people whose hearts are tuned to self. “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”, says Paul who convicts us to return to our first love, God, who sent His Son to save us.  We learned that what seems wrong should be not be dismissed or ignored; but prayed over, asking for God’s spirit of discernment—which He will provide.

But when evil is left unchecked, as in the case of Israel in our reading today; God intervenes in ways the people could not have imagined or dreamed of—and when He did there was much rejoicing when evil was overcome by God in Victory.  Yes, God will always have the final say. 

This is the story of God through Jehoiada who “showed his strength.”  Jehoiada who trusted God became the priest who protected Joash in infancy and then brought him out to be the new King of Judah at just the right time.  Joash was seven years old. Then Evil reared its ugly head through a woman called Athaliah who thought she was in charge.  I’m not making this stuff up!  Read on!

2 Chronicles 23

In the seventh year Jehoiada showed his strength. He made a covenant with the commanders of units of a hundred: Azariah son of Jeroham, Ishmael son of Jehohanan, Azariah son of Obed, Maaseiah son of Adaiah, and Elishaphat son of Zikri. ² They went throughout Judah and gathered the Levites and the heads of Israelite families from all the towns. When they came to Jerusalem, ³ the whole assembly made a covenant with the king at the temple of God.

Jehoiada said to them, “The king’s son shall reign, as the Lord promised concerning the descendants of David. ⁴ Now this is what you are to do: A third of you priests and Levites who are going on duty on the Sabbath are to keep watch at the doors, ⁵ a third of you at the royal palace and a third at the Foundation Gate, and all the others are to be in the courtyards of the temple of the Lord. ⁶ No one is to enter the temple of the Lord except the priests and Levites on duty; they may enter because they are consecrated, but all the others are to observe the Lord’s command not to enter. ⁷ The Levites are to station themselves around the king, each with weapon in hand. Anyone who enters the temple is to be put to death. Stay close to the king wherever he goes.”

⁸ The Levites and all the men of Judah did just as Jehoiada the priest ordered. Each one took his men—those who were going on duty on the Sabbath and those who were going off duty—for Jehoiada the priest had not released any of the divisions. ⁹ Then he gave the commanders of units of a hundred the spears and the large and small shields that had belonged to King David and that were in the temple of God. ¹⁰ He stationed all the men, each with his weapon in his hand, around the king—near the altar and the temple, from the south side to the north side of the temple.

¹¹ Jehoiada and his sons brought out the king’s son and put the crown on him; they presented him with a copy of the covenant and proclaimed him king. They anointed him and shouted, “Long live the king!”

¹² When Athaliah heard the noise of the people running and cheering the king, she went to them at the temple of the Lord. ¹³ She looked, and there was the king, standing by his pillar at the entrance. The officers and the trumpeters were beside the king, and all the people of the land were rejoicing and blowing trumpets, and musicians with their instruments were leading the praises. Then Athaliah tore her robes and shouted, “Treason! Treason!”

¹⁴ Jehoiada the priest sent out the commanders of units of a hundred, who were in charge of the troops, and said to them: “Bring her out between the ranks and put to the sword anyone who follows her.” For the priest had said, “Do not put her to death at the temple of the Lord.” ¹⁵ So they seized her as she reached the entrance of the Horse Gate on the palace grounds, and there they put her to death.

¹⁶ Jehoiada then made a covenant that he, the people and the king would be the Lord’s people. ¹⁷ All the people went to the temple of Baal and tore it down. They smashed the altars and idols and killed Mattan the priest of Baal in front of the altars.

¹⁸ Then Jehoiada placed the oversight of the temple of the Lord in the hands of the Levitical priests, to whom David had made assignments in the temple, to present the burnt offerings of the Lord as written in the Law of Moses, with rejoicing and singing, as David had ordered. ¹⁹ He also stationed gatekeepers at the gates of the Lord’s temple so that no one who was in any way unclean might enter.

²⁰ He took with him the commanders of hundreds, the nobles, the rulers of the people and all the people of the land and brought the king down from the temple of the Lord. They went into the palace through the Upper Gate and seated the king on the royal throne. ²¹ All the people of the land rejoiced, and the city was calm, because Athaliah had been slain with the sword.

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

Background information: Here is what’s at stake.  Jehoiada, Jehoshabeath and the boy’s nurse had the patience to wait for God’s timing to bring Joash out of hiding.  The prophet Isaiah writes; “Whoever believes will not act hastily” (Isaiah 28:16). Wait for God’s order to move!

God is and always will be in control with authority over all He has created.  In His gracious providence, the Lord watched over the child, Joash, as well as the three people who knew who he was and where he was.  If Queen Athaliah had known what they were doing, she would have killed them along with the prince! God knows that!

Do we really realize that God actually knows (more than we do) what we are going through, at any given moment, and is already working on our behalf? The more we realize this truth results in less worry and greater our trust our God who knows!  Wow, can we truly wrap our minds around who God is? “Oh what peace we often forfeit, O what needless pain we bear, all because we do not carry everything to God in prayer!” is the hymn of my childhood that comes to mind right now.  Truly, what a friend we have in Jesus!

What a glorious day when everybody was in place, Jehoiada brought out the closely guarded seven-year-old king and presented him to the people. Jehoiada put the crown on Joash’s head and gave him a copy of the law of God that he was to obey.  The high priest anointed him, and the people joyfully welcomed him as their ruler. “Long live the king” is literally “Let the king live!”  The people knew the Enemy could take his life!

Here’s a beautiful parallel of thought that declares the sovereignty of God;

God’s covenant promise to put one of David’s descendants on the throne of Judah was fulfilled yet again! God never fails!  This parallels God’s timing in sending his Son to earth to redeem us; “But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law,” Galatians 4:4  God knows when.

Israel was a theocracy, and God was their King. The king ruled as God’s chosen representative, and the people obeyed the king as they would obey God.  That’s why it was necessary that both the people and the king affirm their allegiance to one another and to the Lord.  God made this covenant with Israel at Mount Sinai as their ancestors swore allegiance to the Lord and His Word. (Exodus 18-24). The Psalmist writes a song for this moment;

“He has revealed his word to Jacob, his laws and decrees to Israel. He has done this for no other nation; they do not know his laws. Praise the Lord.” Psalm 147:19-20

God put Jehoiada in the right place at the right time—isn’t that just like God who knows?  This man of great faith was given great strength, wisdom, and knowledge as he obeyed God. With diligence, he hid the infant Joash until God told him to bring him out to be anointed as king.  We are minded of Moses’ sister, Miriam who stood watch over her infant brother, placed in the river of protection until God provided a secure way out of being killed so Moses could later lead God’s people out of bondage. God knows and His timing is perfect in every way.

And remember how many times Jesus, God’s One and Only Son was protected from murder until the time was right for the Promise of God to redeem the world to be fulfilled in Jesus!

There is no one like our God.  Trust God, He knows what He is doing!

Lord,

What a path you took us on today to help us understand how much You know, love, and care for us!  The Truth is—YOU know what you are doing and when it is best to do it.  You are God—we are not. We must trust and obey You for there truly is no other way to Truth but to trust and obey!  Help us, Lord when we doubt and fall. Pick us up and place us back on higher ground thinking and behaving with the guidance of your Holy Spirit.

In Jesus Name, Amen

The phrase, “the sins of the father are visited upon the children,” is a proverb meaning that a parent’s bad actions or mistakes can cause suffering for their children. The saying originates from biblical passages in Exodus and Deuteronomy, where God states that he will punish the iniquity of parents on their children, but in the context of idolatry and other severe evil transgressions.  Sin habits must be removed.

As humans, God has given each one of us the freedom to choose who we believe and how we will respond as we live our lives.  When our choices of bad behaviors turn on us and we fall; we want to blame someone else.  But in reality, we can’t just blame mom and dad for our own sins that bring us down even if they committed the same sins themselves.  We can’t even blame the devil with the excuse; “The devil made me do it!” Each person is created in the image of God with the choice to love, trust and obey God or not, and continue the cycle of sin. 

“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 

This is God’s Plan that breaks the cycle of sin within us when we believe in Jesus who paid the debt for our sin once and for all.  This is a demonstration of the love and power of God who can do more for and in us than we can do for ourselves.  Trust Him!

So, we learn that the cycle of sin in a family can be broken by our Merciful Father who is ready to help, heal the brokenness caused by sin, forgive, and even remove and forget our sins when repented in Jesus Name.  I’ve seen it with my own eyes in my own family and in the families of those we have ministered to and taught in public schools over the years.  Jesus changes everything and breaks every chain of the sin cycle!

When we fall humbly to our knees seeking God to forgive—He does! When we ask for His wisdom and power to transform who we were to a person who trusts Him—He will!  But it is up to us to make the first move to Him with a heart that desires to leave the cycle of sin that is going nowhere.  We must reach up and grab the Hand of the Master who rescues us and gives us purpose and meaning and takes us everywhere we truly want to be!  With expectant Hope, our God takes us on new adventures of righteousness with Him!

The sins of the father are visited on their sons and daughters in the divided kingdom of Israel. Jehoram was succeeded by his son Ahaziah, who was also part of the Ahab clan—his mother, Athaliah, was Ahab’s daughter. Ahaziah joined with his uncle, King Joram, to take Ramoth Gilead from Hazael, king of Aram, and there Joram was wounded. Sins of violence seem to be in control of Israel and Judah.

Ah, but on the horizon is coming a new king in Judah, born from the line of David, who will bring God’s people back to Him. His name is Joash. Read on…this is good!

2 Chronicles 22

Ahaziah King of Judah

The people of Jerusalem made Ahaziah, Jehoram’s youngest son, king in his place, since the raiders, who came with the Arabs into the camp, had killed all the older sons. So Ahaziah son of Jehoram king of Judah began to reign.

² Ahaziah was twenty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem one year. His mother’s name was Athaliah, a granddaughter of Omri.

³ He too followed the ways of the house of Ahab, for his mother encouraged him to act wickedly. ⁴ He did evil in the eyes of the Lord, as the house of Ahab had done, for after his father’s death they became his advisers, to his undoing. ⁵ He also followed their counsel when he went with Joram son of Ahab king of Israel to wage war against Hazael king of Aram at Ramoth Gilead. The Arameans wounded Joram; ⁶ so he returned to Jezreel to recover from the wounds they had inflicted on him at Ramoth in his battle with Hazael king of Aram.

Then Ahaziah son of Jehoram king of Judah went down to Jezreel to see Joram son of Ahab because he had been wounded.

⁷ Through Ahaziah’s visit to Joram, God brought about Ahaziah’s downfall. When Ahaziah arrived, he went out with Joram to meet Jehu son of Nimshi, whom the Lord had anointed to destroy the house of Ahab. ⁸ While Jehu was executing judgment on the house of Ahab, he found the officials of Judah and the sons of Ahaziah’s relatives, who had been attending Ahaziah, and he killed them. ⁹ He then went in search of Ahaziah, and his men captured him while he was hiding in Samaria. He was brought to Jehu and put to death. They buried him, for they said, “He was a son of Jehoshaphat, who sought the Lord with all his heart.” So there was no one in the house of Ahaziah powerful enough to retain the kingdom.

Athaliah and Joash

¹⁰ When Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she proceeded to destroy the whole royal family of the house of Judah. ¹¹ But Jehosheba, the daughter of King Jehoram, took Joash son of Ahaziah and stole him away from among the royal princes who were about to be murdered and put him and his nurse in a bedroom. Because Jehosheba, the daughter of King Jehoram and wife of the priest Jehoiada, was Ahaziah’s sister, she hid the child from Athaliah so she could not kill him. ¹² He remained hidden with them at the temple of God for six years while Athaliah ruled the land.

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

“Humanly speaking, were it not for the courageous service of the high priest, Jehoiada, and his wife Jehoshabeath, the Davidic dynasty would have come to an end. The future of God’s promises to David, that involved his great plan of salvation, was wrapped in a little baby boy named Joash.

Studying this time in Judah’s history gives us the feeling that we are reading the morning paper or watching the news on television. We meet two leaders—Jehu, former army commander and now ruler of the northern kingdom of Israel, and Jehoiada, high priest at the temple in Jerusalem in the southern kingdom. As we watch these two men, we recognize the fact that the same forces for good and for evil were at work in their world that are at work in our world today.”  –Warren Wiersbe, Wiersbe Study Bible

Good and evil—still both at work.  

God who is Good, leads to eternal life. 

Evil, with the same old tricks of distraction, deception, and destruction, cycles through each generation to lead us to eternal death in hell.

Who do you choose this day?  Pause. Reflect. This is a holy moment of daily deciding whom we will love, trust, and obey with all our hearts, minds, and souls.  Our behaviors reflect who we truly love, believe, and serve wholeheartedly.

Just to clarify…Old habits of sinful behaviors that hold us back and chain us to the walls of unbelief can be broken to set us free to humbly walk with God who created us just because He loved us!  Believing in Jesus sets us free to talk with God the Father who listens AND responds with all that is good for us for God is Good. Only God is Good.

Redeemed, set free believers are changed from the inside out as they come to depend on the One who washes dirty feet as a demonstration of His compassion for us and as an example of a new life of serving in us.  Jesus, who laid down His life to pay for our sins in full—did what He said God told Him to do—removed our sins from God’s ledger. Gone, wiped clean, to be remembered no more!  So, why trust anyone else in the world? There is no one like our God who created the world and everything in it!

Lord,

Evil then evil now—but greater are you in us than he who is evil that is in the world trying to destroy our faith!  Cleanse our hearts, renew our minds, refresh our souls, keep us alert to evil’s schemes, and continually restore the joy of your salvation at work within the redeemed who choose You!  I’m yours.  I’m listening.

In Jesus Name, Amen

For most of us these days, the phrase, “you reap what you sow” might only be understood by farmers.  This phrase also comes froman ancient proverb of which many stories have been told with the moral of “future consequences are inevitably shaped by present actions.”  Aesop’s Fable of the Grasshopper and the Ants is a great example.  The ants vigorously gathered food and stored it for winter so they would survive.  The grasshopper taunted them as he sat lazily nearby not doing anything about saving for later.  He just played his fiddle and danced the summer away.  When winter came, the grasshopper ended up cold and hungry.  He went to the ants and begged for food. The ants reply delivered the moral of the fable; “What in the world were you doing all last summer?”

“I didn’t have time to store up any food,” whined the Grasshopper; “I was so busy making music and dancing that before I knew it the summer was gone.”

The Ants shrugged their shoulders in disgust. “Making music, were you?” they cried. “Very well; now dance!” And they turned their backs on the Grasshopper and went on with their work.  (Source: Library of Congress) 

In other words, we reap what we sow and must live with the consequence of our behavior.

Jesus puts a twist on sowing and reaping while teaching his disciples on the road to Samaria but after he offered salvation to the Samaritan women at the well. (John 4) Jesus stayed at back to rest at the town well, Jacob’s well to be exact, for a divine appointment with a particular woman while his disciples went to town to buy food. Upon their return with food, they were appalled at seeing Jesus with her; because Jews were customarily enemies of Samaritans.  Upon the offer of food, and seeing another “teachable moment for His ragtag learners, Jesus shares;

“My food, said Jesus, is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work. Don’t you have a saying, It’s still four months until harvest? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest. Even now the one who reaps draws a wage and harvests a crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together. Thus, the saying ‘One sows and another reaps’ is true. I sent you to reap what you have not worked for. Others have done the hard work, and you have reaped the benefits of their labor.”—Jesus, John 4:34-38

Jesus did not look on the Father’s will as a heavy burden or a distasteful task. He viewed His work as the very nourishment of His soul. Doing the Father’s will fed Him and satisfied Him inwardly. “I delight to do Your will, O my God, and Your law is within my heart” sings the Psalmist was the heart of the Singer! (Psalm 40:8).

Later in John 4 we learn that the Samaritan woman was now doing the Father’s will and finding excitement and enrichment in it!  She went back to town and told everyone who would listen; “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah?” They came out of the town and made their way toward him.” John 4:29-30

We have the choice to sow seeds of goodness or weeds of evil. Jesus teaches us to give. Evil teaches us to take. Jesus offers The Way to help others have eternal life while the Enemy seeks to lead us to eternal death in hell.  Our choice.  Do we sow seeds or weeds to the world in need of a Savior?  It depends on who we love with all our hearts, minds, and souls.  Our behaviors will reflect the depth of our belief.

King Jehoshaphat trained his son Jehoramto succeed him as king.  Jehoshaphat did “what was right in the eyes of the Lord.” However, Jehoram chose evil.

Jehoram will reap what he sows.

2 Chronicles 21

Then Jehoshaphat rested with his ancestors and was buried with them in the City of David. And Jehoram his son succeeded him as king. ² Jehoram’s brothers, the sons of Jehoshaphat, were Azariah, Jehiel, Zechariah, Azariahu, Michael and Shephatiah. All these were sons of Jehoshaphat king of Israel. ³ Their father had given them many gifts of silver and gold and articles of value, as well as fortified cities in Judah, but he had given the kingdom to Jehoram because he was his firstborn son.

Jehoram King of Judah

⁴ When Jehoram established himself firmly over his father’s kingdom, he put all his brothers to the sword along with some of the officials of Israel. ⁵ Jehoram was thirty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eight years. ⁶ He followed the ways of the kings of Israel, as the house of Ahab had done, for he married a daughter of Ahab. He did evil in the eyes of the Lord. ⁷ Nevertheless, because of the covenant the Lord had made with David, the Lord was not willing to destroy the house of David. He had promised to maintain a lamp for him and his descendants forever.

⁸ In the time of Jehoram, Edom rebelled against Judah and set up its own king. ⁹ So Jehoram went there with his officers and all his chariots. The Edomites surrounded him and his chariot commanders, but he rose up and broke through by night. ¹⁰ To this day Edom has been in rebellion against Judah.

Libnah revolted at the same time, because Jehoram had forsaken the Lord, the God of his ancestors. ¹¹ He had also built high places on the hills of Judah and had caused the people of Jerusalem to prostitute themselves and had led Judah astray.

¹² Jehoram received a letter from Elijah the prophet, which said:

“This is what the Lord, the God of your father David, says: ‘You have not followed the ways of your father Jehoshaphat or of Asa king of Judah. ¹³ But you have followed the ways of the kings of Israel, and you have led Judah and the people of Jerusalem to prostitute themselves, just as the house of Ahab did. You have also murdered your own brothers, members of your own family, men who were better than you. ¹⁴ So now the Lord is about to strike your people, your sons, your wives and everything that is yours, with a heavy blow. ¹⁵ You yourself will be very ill with a lingering disease of the bowels, until the disease causes your bowels to come out.’”

¹⁶ The Lord aroused against Jehoram the hostility of the Philistines and of the Arabs who lived near the Cushites. ¹⁷ They attacked Judah, invaded it and carried off all the goods found in the king’s palace, together with his sons and wives. Not a son was left to him except Ahaziah, the youngest.

¹⁸ After all this, the Lord afflicted Jehoram with an incurable disease of the bowels. ¹⁹ In the course of time, at the end of the second year, his bowels came out because of the disease, and he died in great pain. His people made no funeral fire in his honor, as they had for his predecessors.

²⁰ Jehoram was thirty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eight years. He passed away, to no one’s regret, and was buried in the City of David, but not in the tombs of the kings.

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

Jehoram rejected all that his father Jehoshaphat had stood for and believed with all his heart.  Jehoram sowed weeds of evil in ways that brought disaster to his own family and choked the lives of the people who lived in the kingdom of Judah.  God spared Judah, as promised, because from Judah the Messiah would come to save us.  But He allowed Jehoram to die a painful death for murdering his brothers, worshipping idols, along with other detestable evil deeds.  Jehoram’s evil work was so disgustable that when he died—he was given no honor in death as a king.  Everyone was glad to see him go!

God intervenes to end the evil Jehoram was sowing among God’s people. God cause him to reap what he had sown as a murderer, idolator, and leader of evil among God’s people. The enemy would invade and loot the kingdom of Judah and take Jehoram’s treasures as well as his wives and sons. Then, the king would be afflicted with an incurable bowel disease that would give him great pain and ultimately take his life. Elijah, the great prophet predicted it as truth from God and it happened just as God said it would. Writing this letter to the king of Judah may have been one of Elijah’s last prophetic actions.  And no kingly honor was given to a dishonarable king.

We reap what we sow.  Later, another convert of Jesus who becomes a sower of the Good News reaps a harvest of blessings.  Paul was a missionary who planted churches all over the known world but only where God sent him.  He wanted to know Christ so he could be like Him and love like Him and share all the suffering Christ did for us!  With this heart for Jesus; Paul taught the church then to “imitate Christ” in all they think, say, and do.  This truth delivered though Paul by God’s Holy Spirit is for us today.  Paul,the passionate pastor, teaches;

“Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” Galatian 6:7-9

Don’t give up because God certainly never gives up on us!

Lord,

Wow, this passage took a turn that I did not expect to happen—but isn’t that just like you to teach what I needed for today.  May we all pause to reflect on our habitual lifestyles. Are we sowing seeds of Life or weeds of destruction. Lord, help us.  Cleanse our hearts; remove the weeds.  Renew our minds with Truth. Refresh and fill our souls with your tender mercies that teach us to be merciful.  Restore the joy of your salvation at work within us like an ever flowing fountain of your love, mercy, and grace!  I’m yours. I’m listening. Help me to trust and obey as I seek to know you more.

In Jesus Name, Amen

Watching toddlers in safe environments is interesting and amusing to see. But as parents; it can be frustrating.  At first, toddlers going from crawling and scooting across the floor will pull up to the sofa, and reach out for a hand to help them. They depend on that hand to secure the new way to get around.  They will then take a few steps while gripping the hand of the one they trust the most—mom or dad.  In the days ahead, toddlers will grow from wobbly dependence to more independent determined steps, planting on foot in front of the other. With this accomplishment; they confidently feel as if they have walked on their own forever.  You can see it on their faces!

Then a day comes when they let go of the hand that steadied them altogether. Confident toddlers take their eyes off the parent who encouraged them then hurry to the toy that now entices them.  They pump their hands and try to run to the object of their desire with their loved one warning, “Be careful, you might fall!”  But the warning is ignored because their eyes see what they want and must have—the object and control.  Then they fall.  A surprised look comes over their faces as they tumble to the floor as if to say, “what just happened here, I thought I had this.” Mom, dad, sister, or brother then rushes to their aid to pick them up and get them going and growing again. 

Asa, king of Judah, lived his life “doing good in the eyes of the Lord,” serving God’s people by trusting God’s wisdom in his leadership for most of his reign.  But a day came, when he took his eyes of the Lord and instead aligned himself with an enemy. God had blessed King Asa and His people with “rest” from war for decades because of Asa’s trust in Him in decision making. But when King Asa let go of the grip of God’s wisdom, took his eyes off God to look around to see how he could solve a threat all on his own; he fell.  His uncommitted heart was the cause of his fall.

King Asa had sought the Lord when in danger of warring nations around him who had armies larger and mightier than Judah’s and conquered them with God’s help. God supports those whose hearts are completely His.  But when Asa placed his confidence only in himself his walk with God became as wobbly as a toddler. Asa aligned himself with all the wrong people who did not believe in God and the outcome affected His walk with God greatly.

2 Chronicles 16

Asa’s Last Years

In the thirty-sixth year of Asa’s reign Baasha king of Israel went up against Judah and fortified Ramah to prevent anyone from leaving or entering the territory of Asa king of Judah.

² Asa then took the silver and gold out of the treasuries of the Lord’s temple and of his own palace and sent it to Ben-Hadad king of Aram, who was ruling in Damascus. ³ “Let there be a treaty between me and you,” he said, “as there was between my father and your father. See, I am sending you silver and gold. Now break your treaty with Baasha king of Israel so he will withdraw from me.”

⁴ Ben-Hadad agreed with King Asa and sent the commanders of his forces against the towns of Israel. They conquered Ijon, Dan, Abel Maim and all the store cities of Naphtali. ⁵ When Baasha heard this, he stopped building Ramah and abandoned his work. ⁶ Then King Asa brought all the men of Judah, and they carried away from Ramah the stones and timber Baasha had been using. With them he built up Geba and Mizpah.

⁷ At that time Hanani the seer came to Asa king of Judah and said to him: “Because you relied on the king of Aram and not on the Lord your God, the army of the king of Aram has escaped from your hand. ⁸ Were not the Cushites and Libyans a mighty army with great numbers of chariots and horsemen? Yet when you relied on the Lord, he delivered them into your hand. ⁹ For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him. You have done a foolish thing, and from now on you will be at war.”

¹⁰ Asa was angry with the seer because of this; he was so enraged that he put him in prison. At the same time Asa brutally oppressed some of the people.

¹¹ The events of Asa’s reign, from beginning to end, are written in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel. ¹² In the thirty-ninth year of his reign Asa was afflicted with a disease in his feet. Though his disease was severe, even in his illness he did not seek help from the Lord, but only from the physicians. ¹³ Then in the forty-first year of his reign Asa died and rested with his ancestors. ¹⁴ They buried him in the tomb that he had cut out for himself in the City of David. They laid him on a bier covered with spices and various blended perfumes, and they made a huge fire in his honor.

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

Micah, the prophet declares these words from God;

“He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” Micah 6:8

Our walk gets as wobbly as a toddler when we let go of the Hand that steadies our walk. God helps us as a parent helps his child to walk.  Pray, asking for God to help us in our walk; God helps by providing spiritual mentors who, by His help, are mastering their humble walk.  No one has arrived in perfection of the walk. However, there will be those who have learned the lessons we might be dealing with today.  We must also look for those who need our help in life stuff we learned yesterday!  Believers, as “join heirs with Christ,” we are brothers and sisters in Christ who come running to lovingly pick each other up after and falling. We guide each other’s hands back into the hand of our Father once more with an even stronger grip! 

This learning to walk humbly with God is not for the faint of heart and comes with a cost—surrender to Jesus.  We must let go of looking around to all the wrong people to help us!  Follow Jesus, the Master of the Walk! Walking humbly was taught and demonstrated perfectly by the One who saved us from our sins!  “Imitate Christ” Paul passionately and urgently writes;

“Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.

In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:

Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.
And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross!

Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
    and gave him the name that is above every name,
that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
    in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,
    to the glory of God the Father.

Jesus proclaimed, “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Mark 10:45

Jesus demonstratedwalking humbly with God the night before the cross;

“It was just before the Passover Festival. Jesus knew that the hour had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.

The evening meal was in progress, and the devil had already prompted Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, to betray Jesus. Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist.After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him.

He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?”

Jesus replied, “You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand.”

“No,” said Peter, “you shall never wash my feet.”

Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no part with me.”

“Then, Lord,” Simon Peter replied, “not just my feet but my hands and my head as well!”

Jesus answered, “Those who have had a bath need only to wash their feet; their whole body is clean. And you are clean, though not every one of you.” For he knew who was going to betray him, and that was why he said not every one was clean.

When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. “Do you understand what I have done for you?” he asked them. “You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. ¹⁵ I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. ¹⁶ Very truly I tell you, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.”—Jesus, John 13:1-17

Jesus is the God who washes dirty feet—even the feet of His betrayer, Judas!  Jesus then says— “do what I do.”  It wasn’t about the feet or the dirty water; it was about bending down to serve each other with His love deeply embedded in our hearts.

We serve from knowing God’s love resulting in more love for each other.

Jesus said the first and greatest commandment is “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” Matthew 22:37 The second is like it—love each other, later adding, as I have loved you.

Our passage today says that God is looking for the committed who love and trust Him! For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him. God is looking for those who seek Him with a desire to walk humbly with Him!  God stands ready to bless, protect, and provide!

Asa’s fundamental problem was not Judah’s lack of defenses but the king’s lack of faith. Unlike David, whose heart had been sincere before the Lord; Asa’s heart was divided—one day trusting God and the next day trusting in the arm of flesh. A perfect heart isn’t a sinless heart but a heart wholly yielded to the Lord and fully trusting Him. King Asa revealed the wickedness of his heart by becoming angry at the prophet’s message and put him in prison.  Asa fell back to the walk of a toddler and fell. It is not lost on us that a disease of the feet eventually took Asa’s life!  Yikes.  But, he actually had a heart condition.

Trust God; He knows what He is doing!

Lord,

Thank you for reaching out to hold my hand as I learn to walk humbly with you.  I have not arrived nor have I attained perfection in all my steps; but I trust you to mold and shape me with each wobbly but firm step.  Only You, the Master of the walk can make my steps right. Thank you, Jesus for not only redeeming us of our sins but showing us how to walk humbly with our Father.

In Jesus Name, Amen

More than one general has won a battle but afterwards lost the war because of pride or carelessness, and God didn’t want King Asa to fall into that trap.  Many kings, presidents, and other leaders come to power with good intentions; but “the highway to hell is paved with good intentions.”  This old saying, not a Biblical quote, can mean that good intentions are worthless on their own and don’t guarantee positive outcomes. It can also be interpreted that either that good intentions without action are useless, or that actions taken with good intentions can still have disastrous unintended consequences. What helps one group of people might hurt another group. 

We need help.  We need wisdom. We need the Lord.  Seek God first!

All the prophets and God-called leaders through the Bible had one song to sing with many verses—Seek God.  On of God’s spokesperson, Jeremiah shouts God’s words proclaiming this timeless Truth; Seek and you will find Me!  God isn’t hiding, He waiting for us!

“You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” Jeremiah 29:13

Other seers, prophets, and priests advised Israel’s leaders to seek God first;

• “But if from there you will seek the LORD your God, you will find him if you seek him with all your heart and with all your soul”. Deuteronomy 4:29
• “Seek the LORD while he may be found; call upon him while he is near”. Isaiah 55:6
• “The wicked, through the pride of his countenance, will not seek after God: God is not in all his thoughts”. Psalm 10:4
• “”You have said, ‘Seek my face.’ My heart says to you, ‘Your face, Lord, do I seek'”. Psalm 27:8
• “Seek the LORD and his strength; seek his face continually”. 1 Chronicles 16:11

Then Jesus, Son of God, came to earth from heaven to remind the world of the reason to seek God first with His message of hope: “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well”. Matthew 6:33 He message included: God knows what you need—seek Him who knows all our needs.

On the night before the cross of redemption—Jesus’ mission on earth to save us from our sins—Jesus prayed, seeking God first.  “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.”—Jesus, Luke 22:42

Seeking God is surrendering to God. True seeking comes from a surrendered heart to God.  Not my will but Yours, Lord.

2 Chronicles 15

Asa’s Reform

The Spirit of God came on Azariah son of Oded. ² He went out to meet Asa and said to him, “Listen to me, Asa and all Judah and Benjamin. The Lord is with you when you are with him. If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you forsake him, he will forsake you. ³ For a long time Israel was without the true God, without a priest to teach and without the law. ⁴ But in their distress they turned to the Lord, the God of Israel, and sought him, and he was found by them. ⁵ In those days it was not safe to travel about, for all the inhabitants of the lands were in great turmoil. ⁶ One nation was being crushed by another and one city by another, because God was troubling them with every kind of distress. ⁷ But as for you, be strong and do not give up, for your work will be rewarded.”

⁸ When Asa heard these words and the prophecy of Azariah son of Oded the prophet, he took courage. He removed the detestable idols from the whole land of Judah and Benjamin and from the towns he had captured in the hills of Ephraim. He repaired the altar of the Lord that was in front of the portico of the Lord’s temple.

⁹ Then he assembled all Judah and Benjamin and the people from Ephraim, Manasseh and Simeon who had settled among them, for large numbers had come over to him from Israel when they saw that the Lord his God was with him.

¹⁰ They assembled at Jerusalem in the third month of the fifteenth year of Asa’s reign. ¹¹ At that time they sacrificed to the Lord seven hundred head of cattle and seven thousand sheep and goats from the plunder they had brought back. ¹² They entered into a covenant to seek the Lord, the God of their ancestors, with all their heart and soul. ¹³ All who would not seek the Lord, the God of Israel, were to be put to death, whether small or great, man or woman. ¹⁴ They took an oath to the Lord with loud acclamation, with shouting and with trumpets and horns. ¹⁵ All Judah rejoiced about the oath because they had sworn it wholeheartedly. They sought God eagerly, and he was found by them. So the Lord gave them rest on every side.

¹⁶ King Asa also deposed his grandmother Maakah from her position as queen mother, because she had made a repulsive image for the worship of Asherah. Asa cut it down, broke it up and burned it in the Kidron Valley. ¹⁷ Although he did not remove the high places from Israel, Asa’s heart was fully committed to the Lord all his life. ¹⁸ He brought into the temple of God the silver and gold and the articles that he and his father had dedicated.

¹⁹ There was no more war until the thirty-fifth year of Asa’s reign.

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

The Lord sent the prophet Azariah to meet Asa and the victorious army and give them a message of encouragement and warning from God.  Azariah’s message was the same as that of King Asa: seek the Lord, obey Him, trust Him, and be strong in Him. (See also 2 Chronicles 14:11; Deuteronomy 4:29).

THE MESSAGE: “The Lord is with you when you are with him. If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you forsake him, he will forsake you. 

ASA’S RESPONSE TO GOD:  Asa then led all of Israel to seek God with him. “They sought God eagerly, and he was found by them.” Asa’s seeking God with surrender to God led to revival and reform: “large numbers had come over to him from Israel when they saw that the Lord his God was with him.”

THE PEOPLE’S RESPONSE:  They sought the Lord with sacrifice and surrender. “They entered into a covenant to seek the Lord, the God of their ancestors, with all their heart and soul. 

GOD’S RESPONSE TO SEEKERS:  Seeking God with all our hearts, minds, and souls in a humbled posture of surrender to God’s will leads to heavenly outcomes: “So, the Lord gave them rest on every side.” Don’t you love that?Peace came to rest on His people.

“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

In our world of wars, rumors of wars, inflation, taxes and tariffs, sliding scales of economies, slavery of our young with evil atrocities meant to distract and deceive us from God—we must still seek Him first—daily!

The real Enemy thinks he has one more chance to defeat our Lord by winning our souls. His desire is to win a war that has already been won!  But we should realize that God has not and will not ever give up His authority. Jesus, His Son was, is and always will be the Victor! His Holy Spirit lives in us in power to help us 24/7!

Read the “revealing truth” in the revelation Jesus gave to his beloved disciple John for yourselves!  The revelation is the last Song and Verse of the Singer who proclaims—God wins!  It is also Jesus’ last warning to his churches to seek and surrender to God with sincere hearts for there are things to come that will be unimaginable and magnificent for believers in Him. Sing the Song of the Redeemer!

AND…Jesus is coming back to claim all who sought God with surrendered hearts, minds, and souls—all the “whoevers” who never gave up in believing! Our resurrected Jesus on that third day became our Hope of eternal life!  Jesus did for us what no one can do for themselves—Pay the debt of sin we owe! Jesus paid it all!

As we study God’s Word while seeking His wisdom; we learn that at significant times throughout Jewish history, leaders and the people renew their commitment to the Lord, which is a lesson for the church to follow today. “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” Paul reminds us. Daily surrender with repentance is the way to hear God.

Asa didn’t reorganize the priesthood or remodel the temple, nor did he import new worship ideas from the pagan nations around him. He simply led the people to seek God with Him with sincere hearts in rededication to the covenant that God had already given them.

Pause to reflect on what surrender to God means.  Take all the time you need as will I.

Lord,

It is in surrender that we hear you best.  Without surrender we only hear the feedback of ourselves along with the voices of the world who speak loudly but do not really know you. Help us to be still, undistracted, and surrender fully, so that we may get to know who You are more fully.  May rest with peace come as we give ourselves to you as an offering. May your perfect and pleasing will be done.

In Jesus Name, Amen

How great it is to be known as someone who did what was right in the eyes of God— because of their love and awe for God!  Historically, kings come and go; conquer and command; build up or tear down; but the line that leaps for the page is their description of their character.  The king “did what was good and right in the eyes of the Lord his God.” This is truly one of the greatest one-line summations of a life lived well–trusting and obeying God because they honored God by loving Him back.

Isn’t that the goal of a life lived with, to and for God?  I’ve read, studied, meditated on every phrase in every story of how humanity relates to God and each other from Genesis to Revelation and the bottom line seems to be this: We love God because He first loved us. What God desires most is for us to love Him back.  “For the eyes of the Lord roam throughout the earth, so that He may strongly support those whose heart is completely His.” (2 Chronicles 16:9) King Asa was that guy! God supported him because of his heart for God.

2 Chronicles 14

And Abijah rested with his ancestors and was buried in the City of David. Asa his son succeeded him as king, and in his days the country was at peace for ten years.

Asa King of Judah

² Asa did what was good and right in the eyes of the Lord his God. ³ He removed the foreign altars and the high places, smashed the sacred stones and cut down the Asherah poles. ⁴ He commanded Judah to seek the Lord, the God of their ancestors, and to obey his laws and commands. ⁵ He removed the high places and incense altars in every town in Judah, and the kingdom was at peace under him. ⁶ He built up the fortified cities of Judah, since the land was at peace. No one was at war with him during those years, for the Lord gave him rest.

⁷ “Let us build up these towns,” he said to Judah, “and put walls around them, with towers, gates and bars. The land is still ours, because we have sought the Lord our God; we sought him and he has given us rest on every side.” So they built and prospered.

⁸ Asa had an army of three hundred thousand men from Judah, equipped with large shields and with spears, and two hundred and eighty thousand from Benjamin, armed with small shields and with bows. All these were brave fighting men.

⁹ Zerah the Cushite marched out against them with an army of thousands upon thousands and three hundred chariots, and came as far as Mareshah. ¹⁰ Asa went out to meet him, and they took up battle positions in the Valley of Zephathah near Mareshah.

¹¹ Then Asa called to the Lord his God and said, “Lord, there is no one like you to help the powerless against the mighty. Help us, Lord our God, for we rely on you, and in your name we have come against this vast army. Lord, you are our God; do not let mere mortals prevail against you.”

¹² The Lord struck down the Cushites before Asa and Judah. The Cushites fled, ¹³ and Asa and his army pursued them as far as Gerar. Such a great number of Cushites fell that they could not recover; they were crushed before the Lord and his forces. The men of Judah carried off a large amount of plunder. ¹⁴ They destroyed all the villages around Gerar, for the terror of the Lord had fallen on them. They looted all these villages, since there was much plunder there. ¹⁵ They also attacked the camps of the herders and carried off droves of sheep and goats and camels. Then they returned to Jerusalem.

WHAT DO WE LEARN? —HOW DO WE RESPOND?

The greatest way to respond to our God was explained by Jesus who was asked what God most desires from us:

“Jesus replied: Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.”  Jesus followed up with “This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”—Jesus, Matthew 22:38-40

Later Jesus, the night before he went to the cross to complete His mission to save the world of sin by paying the debt we all owed, he said to his disciples and followers: “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” John 13:34-35

God’s Love is perfect, divine, and holy and drives out all fear of everything else trying to distract us from His love.  We are not perfect but we are perfectly forgiven by God who gave His Son, Jesus to redeem us from our sins. When we repent of our sins to Jesus, we say yes to God who pours His Love into our hearts! God also immediately fills our being with His Holy Spirit who guides us to truth with His power to speak Truth with His love abiding in us. God’s Love is amazing.  The beauty of God’s love is that the more we get to know Him the more of His love flows through us!  The song playing in the background of my mind this morning is the beautiful testimony of God’s love sung by Philips, Craig and Dean— “Your Grace Still Amazes Me” https://youtu.be/LNVKv7whIzM?si=eFcod5dj3jtSv3Xr

• Lord,

Thank you for Your Story of Love through King Asa who loved you back. Thank you for your Daily Manna of Love that fills my heart, mind, and soul as I love you back and strive to love others.  Your Love fills all the empty places, sustains me on challenging days, encourages me, reminds me I am loved when I feel unlovable, and your love saved me.  Your amazing love, truly how can it be—until we live it ourselves.  Thank you, thank you, thank you for your love, mercy, and grace that still amazes me.

In Jesus Name, Amen