Read: 1 Chronicles 4:5-5:17; Acts 25:1-27; Psalm 5:1-12; Proverbs 18:19
I have to admit that I can get lost in the genealogies trying to figure out where everyone came from, especially Judah’s five sons who in chapter 2:3 were Er, Onan, Shelah, Pharez and Zerah. But in chapter 4:1 they are named Pharez, Hezron, Carmi, Hur, and Shobal. I know that God killed Er and Onan because they were so wicked but what happened to Shelah and were they replaced by these other names? Who knows!
Then we have Jabez of whom a whole book was written called the Prayer of Jabez. God singled this man and his prayer out for a reason. His prayer was that God would bless him and enlarge his territory or his scope of influence in the earth and that His presence would be with him and keep him from sin. It is a great prayer and God thought so too because he answered it.
Judah’s family multiplied more than the other tribes so they received the largest territory. Judah’s family became the kingly tribe and their descendants attended to the throne.
Simeon’s family had to take the land of the Edomites and the Amalekites which they did as long as they trusted in the Lord.
Rueben lost his firstborn birthright because he went in to his father’s concubines and laid with them defiling his father’s bed. His birthright was given to Joseph who was Rachel’s first born. When Jacob (Israel) was on his death bed, he blessed Joseph’s sons to stand in both Joseph and Rueben’s place as a tribe of Israel. So Ephraim and Manasseh took the place of Rueben and Joseph. We are still given Rueben’s line up until the days when Jotham was king of Judah and Jeroboam was the king of Israel.
In Acts, Festus went to Jerusalem where the high priest and leaders of the Jews met with him and begged him to send Paul back to them. They planned to kill him on the way, but Festus refused and told them that they had to come to Caesarea for the trial.
Many did come and gave their slander against Paul. Festus asked Paul to give his defense and he said that he hadn’t sinned against the Jewish law, against the temple or against Caesar but he would not go back to Jerusalem. Paul did the only thing that would assure his being kept alive; he appealed to Caesar.
King Agrippa and Bernice came to visit Festus while Paul was being held there awaiting his trip to Rome. Festus told them about Paul and his dilemma. Paul had appealed to Caesar and he had to send a statement of why he was sending him when he didn’t understand himself. He could find nothing that Paul had done worthy of arrest much less death. Agrippa asked to meet Paul so he could help with writing his papers to Caesar.
This reminds me of what the Jews did with Jesus. They manipulated the Romans to kill him and now they wanted to do the same with Paul. The Romans were getting tired of being their pawns.
Lord, we pray that you would enlarge your name upon the earth through your Church. May we be blessed to bless the earth and may we not sin against you.
Sunday, July 7, 2019
Saturday, July 6, 2019
Sat.’s Devo- God’s Providence
Read: 1 Chronicles 2:18-4:4; Acts 24:1-27; Psalm 4:1-8; Proverbs 18:16-18
Today we are still reading about Judah’s line. We start with Caleb’s line who was Judah’s grandson. This is not the Caleb who brought back a good report of the land of Canaan. As we read his genealogy we see how out of one man, Judah came cities and multitudes of families.
Chapter three begins David’s lineage of kings. David had six sons in Hebron where he reigned seven and a half years. He reigned in Jerusalem for 33 years and had 13 more. Amnon was David’s firstborn and the one who everyone thought would be the next king. But he was born in Hebron which was a picture of the old covenant. When David moved to Jerusalem after six years it was a picture of the Church moving from earthly mode to heavenly mode. It happened 6,000 years after the earth was created. We are now living in “Jerusalem mode”. That means that we are seated with Christ in heavenly places while we walk on the earth. David’s forth son born in Jerusalem would be Solomon. He would be his successor. He had to be born in Jerusalem, the city of God. The number four stands for “heavenly rule”. On the forth day, God made the sun to rule the day, and the moon to rule the night.
In Acts, Paul is safely living in Herod’s house awaiting his accusers. I can’t imagine how mad they were to find that he had safely made it to Rome and they had to travel five days to bring their charge. They were fueled by pure hatred.
When they gave their charge they said that Paul had come preaching a doctrine that they didn’t agree with and caused dissection among themselves… like the Romans cared!
When Paul gave his defense he said that all he did was to come to Jerusalem to pay his tithes and he didn’t cause any kind of disturbance or evil. He plead innocent. Then he explained that the real issue of their hatred was the issue of the resurrection of the dead which he believed in.
Felix had heard about Christians and wanted to wait until Lysias, the one who had brought Paul to Caesarea came back from where he had gone. Felix wanted to hear what he had to say about the matter since he saw it first hand. So, Paul was sent back to his safe quarters with visiting privileges. Paul was a Roman citizen so he had a huge advantage over his accusers. They should have thought about that!
Lord, it is so easy to see how you orchestrated Paul’s life and the lives of the patriarchs. Help us to see that you are orchestrating our lives in the same purposeful way. Your plan is the goal and it will prevail all the schemes of the enemy.
Today we are still reading about Judah’s line. We start with Caleb’s line who was Judah’s grandson. This is not the Caleb who brought back a good report of the land of Canaan. As we read his genealogy we see how out of one man, Judah came cities and multitudes of families.
Chapter three begins David’s lineage of kings. David had six sons in Hebron where he reigned seven and a half years. He reigned in Jerusalem for 33 years and had 13 more. Amnon was David’s firstborn and the one who everyone thought would be the next king. But he was born in Hebron which was a picture of the old covenant. When David moved to Jerusalem after six years it was a picture of the Church moving from earthly mode to heavenly mode. It happened 6,000 years after the earth was created. We are now living in “Jerusalem mode”. That means that we are seated with Christ in heavenly places while we walk on the earth. David’s forth son born in Jerusalem would be Solomon. He would be his successor. He had to be born in Jerusalem, the city of God. The number four stands for “heavenly rule”. On the forth day, God made the sun to rule the day, and the moon to rule the night.
In Acts, Paul is safely living in Herod’s house awaiting his accusers. I can’t imagine how mad they were to find that he had safely made it to Rome and they had to travel five days to bring their charge. They were fueled by pure hatred.
When they gave their charge they said that Paul had come preaching a doctrine that they didn’t agree with and caused dissection among themselves… like the Romans cared!
When Paul gave his defense he said that all he did was to come to Jerusalem to pay his tithes and he didn’t cause any kind of disturbance or evil. He plead innocent. Then he explained that the real issue of their hatred was the issue of the resurrection of the dead which he believed in.
Felix had heard about Christians and wanted to wait until Lysias, the one who had brought Paul to Caesarea came back from where he had gone. Felix wanted to hear what he had to say about the matter since he saw it first hand. So, Paul was sent back to his safe quarters with visiting privileges. Paul was a Roman citizen so he had a huge advantage over his accusers. They should have thought about that!
Lord, it is so easy to see how you orchestrated Paul’s life and the lives of the patriarchs. Help us to see that you are orchestrating our lives in the same purposeful way. Your plan is the goal and it will prevail all the schemes of the enemy.
Friday, July 5, 2019
Fri.’s Devo - God’s Plan Trumps Man’s Plan
Read: 1 Chronicles 1:1-2:17; Acts 23:11-35; Psalm 3:1-8; Proverbs 18:14-15
First and Second Chronicles were probably written by Ezra, and the Kings were probably written by Samuel. Ezra sets David and Solomon up as a type of Moses and Joshua and looks forward to the kingdom of the Messiah. He follows the family line of David starting with Adam. Although the first 10 names in the genealogy had many sons and daughters, the first born are the only ones mentioned until it came to Noah’s children: Shem, Ham and Japheth. It is probably because through them all the nations would originate since everyone else died in the flood. Somehow they found wives and had children just like somehow Seth and Cain found a wife and had children. Japheth’s sons brought us Magog where the last battle will be fought and Ham’s sons brought us Hittites, Jebusites, Amorites, Girgashites, Hivites and the Philistines which were all enemies of Shem’s line. Both Ham and Japheth had sons named Canaan which became the name of the land God would sent Shem’s descendent, Moses to take over many years later. Shem was Noah’s first born and from him would come Abraham and eventually the tribes of Israel and many years later, the Messiah. In verse 34, it calls the sons of Isaac: Esau and Israel instead of Esau and Jacob. Esau’s sons became the Edomites and the Amelekites which would also be enemies of Israel’s people.
Another interesting fact was that Judah’s first two sons were so wicked that God killed them. The third was not very mentionable, but Tamar’s sons Perez and Zerah were. They were birthed through trickery and lies. Judah’s line was the one that God would choose to redeem by sending his son through.
In Acts, God told Paul that he was sending him to Rome to give his testimony. Forty men made a vow not to eat or drink till they had killed Paul and told the chief priests and the elders of their vow. They involved them in a plot, but God had another plan for Paul. The Romans saved Paul and sent him that night to Rome protected by 470 armed soldiers. When they arrived at Caesarea, Paul was kept safe in Herod’s palace. I wonder if those men kept their vow and starved to death…I doubt it.
Lord, you are our deliverer and you have a plan that surpasses anything man can imagine.
First and Second Chronicles were probably written by Ezra, and the Kings were probably written by Samuel. Ezra sets David and Solomon up as a type of Moses and Joshua and looks forward to the kingdom of the Messiah. He follows the family line of David starting with Adam. Although the first 10 names in the genealogy had many sons and daughters, the first born are the only ones mentioned until it came to Noah’s children: Shem, Ham and Japheth. It is probably because through them all the nations would originate since everyone else died in the flood. Somehow they found wives and had children just like somehow Seth and Cain found a wife and had children. Japheth’s sons brought us Magog where the last battle will be fought and Ham’s sons brought us Hittites, Jebusites, Amorites, Girgashites, Hivites and the Philistines which were all enemies of Shem’s line. Both Ham and Japheth had sons named Canaan which became the name of the land God would sent Shem’s descendent, Moses to take over many years later. Shem was Noah’s first born and from him would come Abraham and eventually the tribes of Israel and many years later, the Messiah. In verse 34, it calls the sons of Isaac: Esau and Israel instead of Esau and Jacob. Esau’s sons became the Edomites and the Amelekites which would also be enemies of Israel’s people.
Another interesting fact was that Judah’s first two sons were so wicked that God killed them. The third was not very mentionable, but Tamar’s sons Perez and Zerah were. They were birthed through trickery and lies. Judah’s line was the one that God would choose to redeem by sending his son through.
In Acts, God told Paul that he was sending him to Rome to give his testimony. Forty men made a vow not to eat or drink till they had killed Paul and told the chief priests and the elders of their vow. They involved them in a plot, but God had another plan for Paul. The Romans saved Paul and sent him that night to Rome protected by 470 armed soldiers. When they arrived at Caesarea, Paul was kept safe in Herod’s palace. I wonder if those men kept their vow and starved to death…I doubt it.
Lord, you are our deliverer and you have a plan that surpasses anything man can imagine.
Thursday, July 4, 2019
Thurs.’s Devo- God is Faithful to his Word
Read: 2 Kings 23:31-25:30; Acts 22:17-23:10; Psalm 2:1-12; Proverbs 18:13
I want to give us a quick recap: when Hezakiah was on his 15 year extension plan, he had pridefully showed the officers of Babylon every treasure in his kingdom. God promised that because he did this, the Babylonians would come back one day and take it all. All of his sons would be made eunuchs in the Babylonian court. His son, Manasseh had been one of Judah’s most wicked kings and enticed Judah to commit idolatry. God promised to wipe Jerusalem and turn it upside down. But, then Judah was given a most righteous king: Josiah who did away with all the idolatry in the land and brought the people back to the Lord. Josiah was killed by the king of Egypt in Megiddo. Josiah’s son, Jehoahaz reigned but he did not follow the Lord. Jehoahaz only reigned three months, when the king of Egypt took Jehoahaz to Egypt he was put in prison where he died. Next, the king of Babylon made Jehoiakim rule over Judah and be subject to him. He did evil in God’s perspective. After three years, Jehoakim rebelled against the king of Babylon, so God sent the Chaldeans, the Syrians, the Moabites and the Ammonites against Judah to destroy it. The words of the prophets were becoming true.
Jehoiakim died and his son, Jehoiachin ruled. After ruling for 3 months, the king of Babylon came to besiege Jerusalem. After 8 years of the siege, Jehoiachin and his family and his officers surrendered to Nebechadnezzar. They were carried to Babylon along with anything and anyone worth taking. Jehoaichin was enprisoned for 37 years. The rest of the people remained under the rule of a man named Mattaniah which the Babylonians changed to Zedikiah. Zedikiah was evil and rebelled against the king of Babylon. Nebechadnezzar came back and besieged Jerusalem again for 2 years. When they ran out of food, Zedikiah and his men tried to escape. They were captured and Zedikiah was made to watch his sons all murdered then his eyes were taken out. His last memories would be the death of his own sons that he was responsible for letting die. The Babylonians then returned to Jerusalem and burned it down. They left the poor to work in the fields and Gedaliah was made their rulers. The Chaldeans came and killed Gedaliah and the rest of the people were taken to Egypt.
For some reason, after 37 years, Jehoaichin found favor and was released from prison in Babylon and made to rule with the king, Evil-merodach.
In Acts, Paul was warned in a trance to get out of Jerusalem because they would not be able to receive his testimony. He was arrested and bound with the strap of a whip. When Paul questioned the guard about scoring a Roman citizen the guard was afraid. He asked Paul how much he had paid for his citizenship and Paul said, nothing, he was born a citizen. This frightened the citizen-bought guard and he made sure Paul was treated well.
The next day, Paul was brought before the chief priests and all their council. Paul perceived that there were both Sadducees and Pharisees so he brought up the fact that he was arrested over his stance about resurrection. The Sadducees were violently opposed to the doctrine of resurrection and of angels. The Pharisees believed in both so it caused a great dissension and they had to rescue Paul and brought him into the castle.
Lord, help us to see the rewards of following you and shun any idyllic worship we may unknowingly participate in. We pray to be trees of righteousness planted by the rivers of your stream.
I want to give us a quick recap: when Hezakiah was on his 15 year extension plan, he had pridefully showed the officers of Babylon every treasure in his kingdom. God promised that because he did this, the Babylonians would come back one day and take it all. All of his sons would be made eunuchs in the Babylonian court. His son, Manasseh had been one of Judah’s most wicked kings and enticed Judah to commit idolatry. God promised to wipe Jerusalem and turn it upside down. But, then Judah was given a most righteous king: Josiah who did away with all the idolatry in the land and brought the people back to the Lord. Josiah was killed by the king of Egypt in Megiddo. Josiah’s son, Jehoahaz reigned but he did not follow the Lord. Jehoahaz only reigned three months, when the king of Egypt took Jehoahaz to Egypt he was put in prison where he died. Next, the king of Babylon made Jehoiakim rule over Judah and be subject to him. He did evil in God’s perspective. After three years, Jehoakim rebelled against the king of Babylon, so God sent the Chaldeans, the Syrians, the Moabites and the Ammonites against Judah to destroy it. The words of the prophets were becoming true.
Jehoiakim died and his son, Jehoiachin ruled. After ruling for 3 months, the king of Babylon came to besiege Jerusalem. After 8 years of the siege, Jehoiachin and his family and his officers surrendered to Nebechadnezzar. They were carried to Babylon along with anything and anyone worth taking. Jehoaichin was enprisoned for 37 years. The rest of the people remained under the rule of a man named Mattaniah which the Babylonians changed to Zedikiah. Zedikiah was evil and rebelled against the king of Babylon. Nebechadnezzar came back and besieged Jerusalem again for 2 years. When they ran out of food, Zedikiah and his men tried to escape. They were captured and Zedikiah was made to watch his sons all murdered then his eyes were taken out. His last memories would be the death of his own sons that he was responsible for letting die. The Babylonians then returned to Jerusalem and burned it down. They left the poor to work in the fields and Gedaliah was made their rulers. The Chaldeans came and killed Gedaliah and the rest of the people were taken to Egypt.
For some reason, after 37 years, Jehoaichin found favor and was released from prison in Babylon and made to rule with the king, Evil-merodach.
In Acts, Paul was warned in a trance to get out of Jerusalem because they would not be able to receive his testimony. He was arrested and bound with the strap of a whip. When Paul questioned the guard about scoring a Roman citizen the guard was afraid. He asked Paul how much he had paid for his citizenship and Paul said, nothing, he was born a citizen. This frightened the citizen-bought guard and he made sure Paul was treated well.
The next day, Paul was brought before the chief priests and all their council. Paul perceived that there were both Sadducees and Pharisees so he brought up the fact that he was arrested over his stance about resurrection. The Sadducees were violently opposed to the doctrine of resurrection and of angels. The Pharisees believed in both so it caused a great dissension and they had to rescue Paul and brought him into the castle.
Lord, help us to see the rewards of following you and shun any idyllic worship we may unknowingly participate in. We pray to be trees of righteousness planted by the rivers of your stream.
Wednesday, July 3, 2019
Wed.’s Devo - Share Your Story
Read: 2 Kings 22:3-23:30; Acts 21:37-22:16; Psalm 1:1-6; Provers 18:11-12
Two hundred years before in 1 Kings 13:2, an unnamed prophet had prophesied that a king named Josiah from the house of David would offer the bones of the false priests on the Lord’s altar and today was that fulfilled. Josiah became king at the age of 6 and was given a copy of the law. He read it and cleaned house and got all the idol worship out of the temple and burned them in the Kidron Valley. He had all the people meet and listen to the words of the law and agree to follow them. He brought revival like no other king had done. He followed the worship of David in all that David had done and reinstituted the Passover.
They were going through the sepulchers of the false prophets, burning their bones when they came upon one that was very decorated and Josiah asked whose it was. He was told that it was the prophet who had prophesied about him so he told them not to burn his bones.
In Acts, there was so much confusion that the officer who arrested Paul thought he was an Egyptian. When he found out he was a Jew from Tarsus he allowed him to speak to the people. When he began in Hebrew, they stopped yelling to listen. He told them his story how he had been tutored by the famous Gamaliel as a child. Through Gamaliel he had learned the law of Moses and the scriptures. When Jesus’ followers started telling others about Jesus, who they said had risen from the dead and was the Messiah, he was the first to start persecuting them and killing them. Then one day on his way to kill more of them, a great light came down from heaven which blinded him. He was taken to a man’s house by the name of Ananias who was also a great believer in the law. Ananias prayed that he would receive my sight and he instantly was able to see again. He did this in the name of Jesus and told me to repent and be baptized.
There is nothing more powerful than a person’s story of redemption. Paul had a powerful one and so do we. It may not be that demonstrative but it is exactly what it is suppose to be for the people we will meet. God tailors our lives to fit in the place where he puts us in, so we just need to share it.
Lord, help us to be bold in sharing our story with those we meet. It is your story in us.
Two hundred years before in 1 Kings 13:2, an unnamed prophet had prophesied that a king named Josiah from the house of David would offer the bones of the false priests on the Lord’s altar and today was that fulfilled. Josiah became king at the age of 6 and was given a copy of the law. He read it and cleaned house and got all the idol worship out of the temple and burned them in the Kidron Valley. He had all the people meet and listen to the words of the law and agree to follow them. He brought revival like no other king had done. He followed the worship of David in all that David had done and reinstituted the Passover.
They were going through the sepulchers of the false prophets, burning their bones when they came upon one that was very decorated and Josiah asked whose it was. He was told that it was the prophet who had prophesied about him so he told them not to burn his bones.
In Acts, there was so much confusion that the officer who arrested Paul thought he was an Egyptian. When he found out he was a Jew from Tarsus he allowed him to speak to the people. When he began in Hebrew, they stopped yelling to listen. He told them his story how he had been tutored by the famous Gamaliel as a child. Through Gamaliel he had learned the law of Moses and the scriptures. When Jesus’ followers started telling others about Jesus, who they said had risen from the dead and was the Messiah, he was the first to start persecuting them and killing them. Then one day on his way to kill more of them, a great light came down from heaven which blinded him. He was taken to a man’s house by the name of Ananias who was also a great believer in the law. Ananias prayed that he would receive my sight and he instantly was able to see again. He did this in the name of Jesus and told me to repent and be baptized.
There is nothing more powerful than a person’s story of redemption. Paul had a powerful one and so do we. It may not be that demonstrative but it is exactly what it is suppose to be for the people we will meet. God tailors our lives to fit in the place where he puts us in, so we just need to share it.
Lord, help us to be bold in sharing our story with those we meet. It is your story in us.
Tuesday, July 2, 2019
Tues.’s Devo - God’s Way is Always Best
Read: 2 Kings 20:1-22:2; Acts 21:17-36; Psalm 150:1-6; Proverbs 18:9-10
The story of the end of Hezekiah’s days shows us that we can bend God’s heart to change his mind but his plans are always best and it would go better for us if we kept them the way he wanted. Hezekiah was about to die of an infection when Isaiah came to tell him to get his house in order before he died. Hezekiah appealed to the Lord and begged him to change his mind, reminding him all he had done for the Lord.
The Lord did change his mind and sent Isaiah back to him to tell him he could have 15 more years. He must not have liked any of his sons enough to take his place because in the fifteen years he had left, he found a woman and had a son by her and when he died the son was 12. That son was one of the wickedest kings Israel had had. His wickedness surpassed the idol worship of the heathen nations and undid everything his father had done towards righteousness just like Isaiah had predicted. God saw the sin and said that he would bring such evil upon Jerusalem and Judah that it would astound the heathen. He would forsake his remnant and give them over to their enemies.
Manasseh shed innocent blood which is just what American is doing as long as there is abortion. Don’t thing for a moment, that what they do in New York is not affecting the rest of our nation. It is. There were many people in Jerusalem and Judah that still worshipped the Lord during this time but what the head does is how the nation is judged. We need to keep our leaders in prayer that they would fear God and do the right thing.
Amon, Manasseh’s son became king at the age of 12, the same age Manasseh had been when he became king. He only ruled for 2 years until he was murdered by his servants. I guess they didn’t want another reign like his father’s. They made Josiah who was 8 to be the king. I’m guessing he was Manasseh’s son also. Josiah was a good king who feared the Lord.
In Acts, we see that their was so much misunderstanding in shifting from the law to grace. Every time there is something new God wants to do, there is tension, transition and misunderstanding in those who want to hold on to the old and those who want to embrace the new. In Paul’s day it became physically violent. Paul was the pioneer to bring in the new and fight for truth.
Lord, help us to embrace the new thing that you are doing in the earth. We are in a major shift in the spirit and we don’t want to be on the opposing side but the side that is flowing right into the new.
The story of the end of Hezekiah’s days shows us that we can bend God’s heart to change his mind but his plans are always best and it would go better for us if we kept them the way he wanted. Hezekiah was about to die of an infection when Isaiah came to tell him to get his house in order before he died. Hezekiah appealed to the Lord and begged him to change his mind, reminding him all he had done for the Lord.
The Lord did change his mind and sent Isaiah back to him to tell him he could have 15 more years. He must not have liked any of his sons enough to take his place because in the fifteen years he had left, he found a woman and had a son by her and when he died the son was 12. That son was one of the wickedest kings Israel had had. His wickedness surpassed the idol worship of the heathen nations and undid everything his father had done towards righteousness just like Isaiah had predicted. God saw the sin and said that he would bring such evil upon Jerusalem and Judah that it would astound the heathen. He would forsake his remnant and give them over to their enemies.
Manasseh shed innocent blood which is just what American is doing as long as there is abortion. Don’t thing for a moment, that what they do in New York is not affecting the rest of our nation. It is. There were many people in Jerusalem and Judah that still worshipped the Lord during this time but what the head does is how the nation is judged. We need to keep our leaders in prayer that they would fear God and do the right thing.
Amon, Manasseh’s son became king at the age of 12, the same age Manasseh had been when he became king. He only ruled for 2 years until he was murdered by his servants. I guess they didn’t want another reign like his father’s. They made Josiah who was 8 to be the king. I’m guessing he was Manasseh’s son also. Josiah was a good king who feared the Lord.
In Acts, we see that their was so much misunderstanding in shifting from the law to grace. Every time there is something new God wants to do, there is tension, transition and misunderstanding in those who want to hold on to the old and those who want to embrace the new. In Paul’s day it became physically violent. Paul was the pioneer to bring in the new and fight for truth.
Lord, help us to embrace the new thing that you are doing in the earth. We are in a major shift in the spirit and we don’t want to be on the opposing side but the side that is flowing right into the new.
Monday, July 1, 2019
Mon.’s Devo - Trials
Read: 2 Kings 18:13-19:37; Acts 21:1-16; Psalm 149:1-9; Proverbs 18:8
Today we read that the same Assyrian army came up against Judah that had come up against Israel. They had completely conquered Samaria and taken over their land and displaced their people. That was their plan for Jerusalem also. The difference was the king of Judah trusted in the Lord and the king of Israel trusted in idols.
The enemy came in with threats and intimidation. They reminded Judah that no other nation had been able to fight the Assyrians and win. They were taking over the world.
Hezekiah had told his people not to engage in conversation with the Assyrians and he sought Isaiah for advise. The king himself had clothed him and his kingdom in sackcloth and prayer. Isaiah told him not to worry because God would defend his own name. They had defied Him saying that their gods had been stronger than any of Israel’s gods, but they had not met the God of Judah.
Hezekiah took all their threats and laid them before the Lord and he took care of it. God came down with his army and killed 165,000 of their soldiers during the night. The king went home with his tail between his legs and was killed by his own men just as Isaiah had said would happen.
This story is so relative today. When we come against a trial that is huge…like cancer, adultery, divorce or death we can either look at how it affected others and think that is our fate or we can trust in the Lord and let him fight our battle for us. The condition of our heart determines our outcome. It doesn’t always mean that our outcome is the one we want, but we can be assured that it will be the one the Lord wants. His ways and thoughts are much higher.
In Acts, Paul was on his mission to Jerusalem but still visiting his churches on the way. Many of the people with prophetic gifts perceived the persecution awaiting Paul when he got to Jerusalem and tried to dissuade him, but Paul could not be deterred. He was not afraid of being bound, beaten or put in prison for the sake of the gospel of Christ.
Paul was such an example of what the true Christian is suppose to be. We are not suppose to be afraid of trials. They will come. This life is not where we end up. It is our school to prepare us for heaven where all trials will be gone and our reward is waiting.
Lord, help us to fight the good fight and finish our course trusting in you.
Today we read that the same Assyrian army came up against Judah that had come up against Israel. They had completely conquered Samaria and taken over their land and displaced their people. That was their plan for Jerusalem also. The difference was the king of Judah trusted in the Lord and the king of Israel trusted in idols.
The enemy came in with threats and intimidation. They reminded Judah that no other nation had been able to fight the Assyrians and win. They were taking over the world.
Hezekiah had told his people not to engage in conversation with the Assyrians and he sought Isaiah for advise. The king himself had clothed him and his kingdom in sackcloth and prayer. Isaiah told him not to worry because God would defend his own name. They had defied Him saying that their gods had been stronger than any of Israel’s gods, but they had not met the God of Judah.
Hezekiah took all their threats and laid them before the Lord and he took care of it. God came down with his army and killed 165,000 of their soldiers during the night. The king went home with his tail between his legs and was killed by his own men just as Isaiah had said would happen.
This story is so relative today. When we come against a trial that is huge…like cancer, adultery, divorce or death we can either look at how it affected others and think that is our fate or we can trust in the Lord and let him fight our battle for us. The condition of our heart determines our outcome. It doesn’t always mean that our outcome is the one we want, but we can be assured that it will be the one the Lord wants. His ways and thoughts are much higher.
In Acts, Paul was on his mission to Jerusalem but still visiting his churches on the way. Many of the people with prophetic gifts perceived the persecution awaiting Paul when he got to Jerusalem and tried to dissuade him, but Paul could not be deterred. He was not afraid of being bound, beaten or put in prison for the sake of the gospel of Christ.
Paul was such an example of what the true Christian is suppose to be. We are not suppose to be afraid of trials. They will come. This life is not where we end up. It is our school to prepare us for heaven where all trials will be gone and our reward is waiting.
Lord, help us to fight the good fight and finish our course trusting in you.
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