Fri.’s Devo - The All-Powerful God

Read: 2 Chronicles 32: 1-33:13; Romans 15:23-16:9; Psalm 25:16-22; Proverbs 20:16-18 King Sennacherib of Assyria came to invade Judah. They conquered the towns on the way to Jerusalem. Hezekiah fortified Jerusalem preparing the wall and building another wall around it. He cut off the flow of water so the Assyrian army would have no water for their horses and themselves. Hezekiah encouraged his men that their army might be large, but they were mere humans. When the Assyrians got there they used intimidation and mockery. They taunted that no other nation was able to stand against them ever, so why would they think they could defeat them. They taunted God as if he was a mere statue made of wood. King Hezekiah cried out to the Lord in prayer and God sent an angel who destroyed the whole Assyrian army. Sennacherib went home disgraced and was killed by his own sons in temple to his god. God showed himself strong for Hezekiah. His fame caused him to became proud. Hezekiah became deathly ill and cried out again to the Lord. God healed him but he did not respond appropriately to the kindness of the Lord. He died 15 years later and his son Manasseh became king. He was only 12 and must have had terrible advisors. He rebuilt all the high places that his father had torn down. He reinstitute the worship of Baal and Asherah. He totally abandoned the Lord and was more evil than any king before him. God sent many prophets to warn him to repent but he refused to turn. Finally God sent the Assyrian army. They put a ring through his nose and bound him in chains and led him to Bablyon. There he repented and God brought him back to Jerusalem. In Romans, Paul is not afraid to talk about money. He tells the Roman church that they need to pay for his journey there. Then he talks about the believers at the church at Macedonia and Achaia. They are very poor but they took up an offering for the church at Jerusalem because they felt they owed them a debt for sending them Paul with the Good News. Paul asks for prayer for safety for himself because of the enemies of the truth in Judah. He also wants prayer that the church in Jerusalem would accept the gift he was bringing them from the other churches. He was sending a group ahead of himself and he names them by name and tells them about each of them so they will honor them and see them as a treasure. Lord, thank you that you sent the Good News to us and you see us as a treasure. Thank you that we don’t have to worry about the enemies we face because your army can defeat them with one angel.