Wed.’s Devo - Courage to Do What is Right

Read: 2 Kings 17:1-18:12; Acts 20:1-38; Psalm 148:1-14; Proverbs 18:6-7 In Israel, King Hoshea ruled and was evil, but not as evil as the kings before him. He was attacked by King Shalmaneser of Assyria and forced to pay Assyria tribute which he did at first. He went to King So of Egypt to ask him to help Israel free themselves of Assyria’s hold on them. When Assyria found out, they seized Hoshea and put him in prison. The king of Assyria besieged Samaria for three years until it finally fell. The people of Samaria were exiled to Assyria. This all happened because Israel had continually worshiped idols and sinned against God. These rituals done to worship these gods included child sacrificing, all sorts of perverted sexual practices and sorceries. God had sent his prophets to warn them to repent but they refused to listen. God finally swept them away from his presence and only allowed Judah to remain in the land. When the people of Judah rebelled against the Lord, He had to reject them also. The people of Israel were taken by the Assyrians and assimilated into the earth. People from Babylon, Cuthah, Avva, Hamath and Sephrvaim were sent to Samaria to take their place. Since they didn’t worship the Lord, God sent lions among them. A message was sent to the king of Assyria telling him that since his people he had sent to Israel didn’t know how to worship the Lord, they were being attacked by lions. The king of Assyria responded by sending back one of the exiles to Bethel to teach them the customs of God. The people just added the worship of God to their list of gods. In Judah, Hezekiah was ruling. He ruled for 29 years and did what was pleasing to the Lord. He removed the pagan shrines and cut down the Asherah poles and god rid of all the gods the people had worshipped and trusted in the Lord alone. God was with him when he revolted against the king of Assyria and refused to pay him tribute. He conquered the Philistines around him and recovered land. He was reigning in Judah when the Assyrians came against Samaria and exiled their people to Assyria. In Acts, Paul was glad the riot was over and he was free to go to Macedonia. He stopped in Greece and stayed there for three months encouraging the people. He had to flee for his life and continued his journey to Macedonia. They stopped at Phillippi to celebrate the Passover and then continued to Troas where he joined his friends. Paul stayed a week and the last night he was there he preached till after midnight. A man named Eutychus was sitting on the windowsill when he fell asleep and dropped three stories to this death. Paul went down and embraced him. He awoke and they took him back upstairs where they shared the Lord’s Supper. They talked all night and left the next morning. In Assos, they boarded a ship and sailed hoping to reach Jerusalem by Pentecost. They landed at Miletus and preached. Paul’s message was his testimony of how his life was an offering to the Lord and he wanted to fulfill everything God had destined him to do. It included jail and suffering but he was innocent before God because he had not shied from teaching the truth. He encouraged them to do the same and told them he would probably never see them again. Lord, may our lives be like Paul’s who gave everything for the Kingdom. Lord, may nothing of the world keep us from what You have for us to do for you.

Tues.’s Devo - Spiritual Warfare

Read: 2 Kings 15:1-16:20; Acts 19:13-41; Psalm 147:1-20; Proverbs 18:4-5 Uzziah became the king of Judah. His name means “my strength is Jehovah.” He did what was pleasing to the Lord but he didn’t destroy the pagan shrines. He was struck with leprosy which lasted till he died and had to live in isolation in a separate house. His son Jotham was put in charge of the royal palace and governed the people and continued after he died. In Israel, Zechariah ruled only six months. He did evil and refused to turn from worshipping idols. A man named Shallum rose up and assassinated him in public. His name means “restitution”. Shallum became the next king. Zechariah was Jehu’s fourth generation so the Lord’s prophesy came true. Shallum only lasted a month when Menahem from Tirzah assassinated him and became the next king. He was ruthless and destroyed the town of Tappuah and its countryside because the citizens refused to surrender. He killed the entire population and ripped open the pregnant women. He reigned in Samaria for 10 years. When Assyria attacked, Menahem extorted money from the people to bribe the king of Assyria from attacking them. After him, his son, Pekahiah reigned for 2 years and did evil. He was killed by Pekah who ruled for 20 years. During his ring, he captured town of Assyria and took back much of their land that had been stolen. He was assassinated by Hoshea. Meanwhile in Judah, Jotham, Uzziah’s son was ruling. Jotham pleased the Lord like his father but he also didn’t remove the pagan shrines where the people worshipped idols. He reigned in Jerusalem 16 years and rebuilt the upper gate of the Temple. While he was reigning, God sent King Rezin of Aram and King Pekah of Israel to fight against Judah. When Jotham died, his son, Ahaz became king of Judah. He reigned for 16 years and did not do what was pleasing to the Lord. He worshipped idols and even sacrificed his own son on the fire of Molech. King Reza of Aram came to attack Jerusalem. They surrounded it but couldn’t conquer it. Edom took this time to recapture the town of Elath from Judah and replaced the people with their people. King Ahaz of Judah asked the king of Assyria for help. Ahaz sent him silver and gold from the Temple as payment. The king of Assyria attacked the king of Aram’s capital, took the Arabian people out of the city and killed the king. King Ahaz went to Damascus to meet King Tiglath-pileser of Assyria to thank him and was impressed with his altar to his god. He drew a picture of it and sent a model of it to Uriah the priest. Uriah had this altar built in Jerusalem right next to the brazen altar they had used for years. When the king came home and saw it, he moved the brazen altar to the north side of the new altar and told the priests to start sacrificing on this new and improved altar. He also removed the basin that the priests washed in before and after the sacrifices. They took it from off the backs of the bronze oxen and placed it on a stone pavement. He also changed the entrance that the priests went through and made it like the Assyrians had. This was a picture of what was happening in the hearts of the people. Jesus, the final sacrifice was crucified north of the altar. The Passover lamb was slain on the altar that Ahaz built which was the modern version of religion. When Jesus came to the earth, the religious leaders had replaced the law of God with all their manmade laws. Everything had been modernized. Jesus was the promise of the ages. He is the same yesterday, today and forever. When Ahaz died, his son, Hezekiah became the next king. In Acts, there were a group of Jews that did exorcisms. They started adding the name of Jesus to their incantations, but one time the demon spoke to them and told them that they knew the name of Paul, they didn’t know them. It then attacked them so violently they had to run. When word spread about this, the fear of God fell on the people. Many came out of their New Age occults and started trusting in Jesus. Paul felt led to go to Macedonia on his way to Rome. In Ephesus, there lived a silversmith named Demetrius who made his living crafting images of idols. Paul’s influence was hurting his business so he stirred up a following to oppose Paul and his companions. They all met in the amphitheater and it soon became a riot. They were there to protect the worship of their goddess Artemis that their city was famous for. The mayor finally calmed down the crowd and told them that Paul had not committed a crime or spoken against their goddess so they needed to handle this peacefully through their legal system. He then dismissed the crowd. Lord, it is obvious that the truth stirs up the demons in people. May we learn to fight this fight with spiritual weapons and not our flesh. May we use the Word of God to face our battles and not be afraid.

Mon.’s Devo - The Battles of the Kings

Read: 2 Kings 10:32-12:21; Acts 18:1-22; Psalm 145:1-21; Proverbs 18:1 Jehu’s son, Jehoahaz continued in the sin of Jeroboam which was to worship the golden calves in Bethel and Dan. God allowed King Hazael of Aram and his son Benhadad to defeat them over and over. Jehoahaz finally cried out to the Lord, and God heard him and gave Israel peace. But after a while, Jehoahaz and the people went back to worshipping idols. His army was whittled down to a small amount of men. When Jehoahaz died, his son Jehoash became the king. Jehoash did evil and refused to stop worshipping idols. When he heard that Elishah was dying, he went to visit him and cried over his dying. Elisha had him put his hands on a bow while he put his hands over them. Together they shot an arrow out of his eastern window toward Aram. This was the signify total victory for Israel over the Arameans. Then he told him to take the rest of the arrows and strike them on the ground. He struck the ground three times. Elisha was angry and told him that he should have struck them five or six times because now, they would only be victorious three times. Elisha died, but when a dead man’s body was hastily thrown on top of his tomb, it sprung to life. Elisha had prayed for a double portion of Elijah’s spirit and Elijah had raised one boy from the dead. Elisha had only raised one, so he was due one more. He got it after his death. True to Elisha’s prophecy, Jehoash defeated Ben-hadad three times and recovered the Israelite towns. In Judah, Joash died and his son, Amaziah ruled. Amaziah did what was pleasing to the Lord but he didn’t get rid of the pagan shrines. When he had established his kingdom, he executed the men who had assassinated his father. Then he picked a fight with Israel. King Jehoash of Israel tried to talk him out of it but Amaziah refused to listen. The two armies faced each other and King Jehoash of Israel captured Judah’s king, Amaziah. King Jehoash took out 600 feet of Jerusalem’s wall and stold the gold and silver and all the article from the Temple of the Lord. He also seized the treasures of royal palace and took hostages back to Samaria. When Jehoash died, his son Jeroboam II became king. After Amaziah suffered such a defeat against Israel, his life was in danger from his own men. He fled to Lachish but was found and killed. His sixteen-year old son was crowned king. His name was Uzziah. In Israel, Jeroboam II refused to turn from the sins of idolatry but he did recover land that Jonah had prophesied he would. When he died, his son Zechariah became king. In Acts, Paul spent time in Antioch then went back through Galatia and Phrygia encouraging the churches he had started. A devout Jew named Apollos came to Ephesus and boldly taught repentance. Priscilla and Aquilla drew him aside and taught him about Jesus’ baptism in the Holy Spirit. He took that experience and knowledge with him and began teaching about the Holy Spirit. When Paul laid his hands on the new believers they received the Holy Spirit and spoke in tongues. Paul also performed many mighty miracles. Many were healed of diseases and delivered from demons. Lord, help us to walk in the power of the early disciples and desire the baptism of Jesus which is the baptism in the Holy Spirit.

Sun.’s Devo - The Rise of Joash

Read: 2 Kings 10:32-12:21; Acts 18:1-22; Psalm 145:1-21; Proverbs 18:1 At this time in Israel’s history, they started losing land to King Hazael of Aram. They lost all the land east of the Jordan River that belonged to Reuben, Gad and Manasseh and also all of Gilead. King Jehu died after 28 years of ruling Israel and his son Jehoahaz became king. The scene then turns to Judah which becomes confusing because some of their kings were the same names as the kings of Israel. Athalia, who was the mother of King Ahaziah was Judah’s counterpart to Israel’s Jezebel. When Athalia learned that her son had died, she started killing all of his sons so that she would be the ruler. Ahaziah’s sister hid the youngest son of her brother in the temple with Jehoiada, the high priest. Joash was an infant at the time. The priests raised Joash until he was seven and then Jehoiada devised a plot to seize the throne from Athalia and give it to Joash. He positioned three groups of guards around the Temple. Inside, he brought out Joash, anointed him, placed the crown on his head, and gave him a copy of God’s laws. He pronounced him king and all the people shouted in celebration. When Athaliah heard the noise and saw what had happened, she shouted, “Treason!” She was seized and brought out of the Temple where she was killed. Jehoiada made a covenant before the people that they would follow the Lord and serve Him only. Joash ruled under the leadership of Jehoiada and pleased the Lord until Jehoiada died. He brought financial accountability to the House of God and repaired the Temple. King Hazael of Aram attacked Jerusalem and Joash gave him all the treasures that the previous kings had gained in order to save Jerusalem. Joash’s life ended when his own officers assassinated him. His son, Amaziah reigned in his stead. In Acts, Paul left Athens and went to Corinth. He met an Italian couple named Aquila and Priscilla. Paul worked with them in business because they were all tentmakers. Paul started out preaching in the synagogue but when Silas and Timothy arrived he was free to leave the Jews to them and go preach to the Gentiles. Paul was able to stay in Corinth for a year and a half because God had showed him in a vision that the people in Corinth were hungry for the Word and he would be safe here. When Gallio became the governor, some of the hostile Jews saw this as their opportunity to bring Paul to trial. Gallio threw them out of his courtroom when he realized this was a matter of Jewish law. Paul was free to leave Corinth and spread the Good News to other regions. He took Aquilla and Priscilla with him. They went to Ephesus, Caesarea, Jerusalem and then back to Antioch. When we put You first, all things work together for the good of the kingdom. Use us today, Lord to further your work in the world.

Sat.’s Devo - Jehu Rid’s Israel of Baal Worship

Read: 2 Kings 9:14-10:31; Acts 17:1-34; Psalm 144:1-15; Proverbs 17:27-28 Jehu led a conspiracy against King Joram who was at Ramoth-gilead, fighting King Hazazel of Aram. When King Joram got wounded in the battle, he returned to Jezreel to heal. Jehu had given his men orders not to let anyone leave the city or warn Joram about him. Jehu left for Jezreel to kill Joram. The King of Judah, Ahaziah was there visiting King Joram. The watchmen reported that troops were approaching, which were Jehu and his men. They sent out two horsemen to learn if they were coming in peace. Each time, Jehu told the horsemen to join him and they did. The two kings rode out to meet Jehu to ask him if he was coming in peace. He answered, “How can there be peace as long as the idolatry and witchcraft of your mother, Jezebel, are all around us?” Joram shouted “Treason” to Ahaziah. Jehu shot an arrow in Joram’s heart killing him. He had his officer throw his body into the field that belonged to Naboth. Ahaziah was shot also and died in Megiddo. Jehu then went to Jezreel where Jezebel was waiting on her balcony for him. She called down and accused him of being like Zimri who was a captain of king Baasha. Zimri had conspired against him and took over as king. Jehu didn’t let her intimidate him. He asked if anyone up there was on his side. Two eunuchs poked their heads out and Jehu told them to throw her down. I bet they took pleasure in throwing Jezebel off her balcony. She hit the ground and splattered. Jehu went into the palace and ate a meal. Then he told his men to go and bury Jezebel but her body had been eaten by the dogs and the only thing left was her skull, her feet and her hands. This fulfilled Elijah’s prophecy about her. Jehu then sent letters to Samaria asking for the lives of all of Ahab’s sons. The officials feared Jehu and beheaded the 70 sons of Ahab putting their heads in a basket. Jehu had the baskets put at the entrance of the city gate and left there all night. In the morning he went out and met with the people. He explained why this had to happen and reminded them of the words of Elijah. He continued to get rid of all of Ahab’s relatives, his officials, his personal friends and his priests. Ahab was left without a single survivor. If this is a picture of President Trump then he still has some unfinished business to do. God gave Jehu a faithful partner in Jehonadab who helped him complete his mission in cleaning out the swamp of Ahab’s dynasty. Jehu called a meeting of all the worshippers of Baal and slyly told them that he would worship Baal. He had them come to a sacrifice and gave all the Baal worshippers a special robe. Jehu stationed 80 soldiers outside the temple and when he had finished the sacrifice, he ordered his men to kill every one of them. This is how Jehu destroyed every trace of Baal worship from Israel. He didn’t destroy the gold calves in Bethel and Dan which is sad. His descendants were promised to reign for four generations. Baal worship came from other nations but the golden calves were gods that the Israelites made of their own. I wonder if they don’t represent the gods of the church and not the world’s gods. In Acts, Paul and Silas went to Thessalonica and taught in the synagogue but jealous Jews ganged up against them and stirred up trouble accusing them of treason. The believers sent Paul and Silas to Berea for their safety. The people there were more open-minded to their teaching and many became believers. The trouble-makers of Thessalonica heard that Paul had gone to Berea so they showed up to reek havoc there also. Paul and Silas were then sent to Athens. In Athens, Paul noticed all the idols in the city. He went to the Jewish synagogue and spoke but also had many debates with the philosophers and Epicureans. They had him come to the high council of the city to share their philosophy. He was able to address the council and tell them about Jesus. He had seen a monument built for the “unknown God”. He told them that he was there to tell them who this unknown god was. He was the God who made the universe and everything in it. He had sent his son to show man who he was and then raised him from the dead. When he got to this part he lost some of them but others were intrigued to hear more later. Some of them joined him and became believers. Lord, may we not be ashamed or hold back from telling the whole truth even it we lose some and seem ridiculous to them. Your Kingdom is not of this world and can only be understood through the spirit.

Fri.’s Devo - The Boldness of God’s People

Read: 2 Kings 8:1-9:13; Acts 16:16-40; Psalm 143:1-12; Proverbs 12:26 Elisha told the Shunamite woman to take her son and family and move out of Israel because God had called a famine on the land to punish them. When it was over she came to the king to appeal for her land. She walked into the house of justice just as Gehazi was telling the king “Elisha stories.” He had just finished telling him how he raised the Shunamite’s son back to life. He pointed her out and she repeated the same story. The king gave her all her land and gave her the value of any crops that had been harvested while she was gone. Elisha went to Damascus, the capital of Aram where the king, Ben-hadad was sick. Ben-hadad heard that Elisha was there, so he sent Hazazel with gifts to ask Elisha if he would recover. Elisha said he would recover, and then die. Then he told him that he, Hazazel would do terrible things to the people of Israel because he would be then next king of Aram. In 1 Kings 19:15, God had told Elijah to anoint Hazazel the next king of Aram and Jehu as the next king of Israel, but he never did either of them. Instead, he had anointed Elisha to be the next prophet of Israel and he would follow through with his mission. Hazazel went back and killed the king and became the next king of Aram. Jehoram was the king of Judah, but he had married one of Ahab’s (king of Israel) daughter and did evil. During his reign, the Edomites revolted against Judah and crowned their own king. Judah tried to get them back but lost the battle and Edom gained their independence. Libnah also rebelled against Judah. When he died, his son Azaziah became king. Azaziah only ruled in Jerusalem one year. His mother was Athaliah who worshipped Baal. Azaziah joined with Joram, the king of Israel to war against King Hazazel of Aram at Ramoth-gilead, a city they had wanted to gain back for a long time. King Joram was wounded in the battle and returned to Jezreel to recover. Elisha sent one of his prophets with a flask of oil to Remote-gilead and find Jehu who was an officer at the battle. He was to call him privately and anoint him king over Israel then flee for his life. (This was the other thing Elijah had been told to do.) His mantle was to destroy the family of Ahab and avenger the murder of God’s prophets and all the Lord’s servants who were killed by Jezebel. Then he told him the gruesome death of Jezebel. When Jehu went back to his fellow officers, he tried to shrug it off but ended up telling him that he had just been anointed king of Israel. They blew the horn and announced that he was king. Johnathan Caan, a Hebrew believer wrote a book called The Paradigm where he showed that the kings of Israel coincided with the Presidents of the United States. Ahab and Jezebel represented Bill and Hillary Clinton. Ahaziah was Bush, Jehoram was Obama and Jehu represents Trump. It paints a very interesting picture. In Acts, one day Luke, Paul and their companions were going to the place of prayer when a young fortune teller started following them yelling that they were the servants of God and had come to tell everyone how to be saved. This was true but the way she was doing it was very loud and demonic. They finally commanded the demon to come out of her. When it did, she was no longer able to tell people’s fortunes and her handlers were very upset. They grabbed Paul and Silas and brought them before the marketplace police. They accused them of teaching the people to practice things illegal in Roman culture. A mob formed so the officials ordered them stripped, beaten and thrown into the inner dungeon with their feet chained in stocks. Around midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God while the other prisoners listened. An earthquake shook the prison and all the doors flew open and they chains of every prisoner fell off. The jailer woke up and assumed the prisoners had escaped so he drew his sword to kill himself. Paul stopped him and told him they were all there. The jailer was so overwhelmed he asked how he could be saved. They led him into salvation. The jailer brought them home and nursed them, fed them and all in his household were saved. The next day, the police came to release them but Paul told them that they were Roman citizens and demanded an apology before they would leave the city. Lord, may we have the boldness and tenaciousness of Paul and Silas. May we not cower to the threats of the enemy but stand fearlessly for You.

Thurs.’s Devo - The Signs and Wonders of Elisha

Read: 2 Kings 6:1-7:20; Acts 15:36-16:15; Psalm 142:1-7; Proverbs 17:24-25 The Kings were written by the prophets so we have many stories about them. Elisha had a school of prophets where he taught young students of the Word how to hear God’s voice. The building they were meeting in was too small so they were building a new one. As one of them was cutting down a tree, his axe head fell into the river. He was most upset because he had borrowed the axe. Elijah threw in a stick where the axe head had fallen and the axe head floated to the surface where the man could grab it. No problem is too big for God! Aram and Israel were at war. God would tell Elisha the strategy and position of Aram’s army and he would tell the king of Israel. The king of Aram accused his own army of having a mole who was giving information to Israel, but his soldiers told him it was Elisha. When the king heard that Elisha was in Dothan he sent a great army with many chariots and horses to surround the town. Elisha’s servant went out that morning and seeing the troops he came in panicked and told Elisha. Elisha told him that there were more on their side than on the enemy’s. He prayed that his servant’s eyes would be opened and that he would be able to see in the spirit. When his servant looked again, he saw the army of God and chariots of fire. As the Aramean army approached, Elisha prayed that they would be made blind. God struck them with blindness and Elisha went out to meet them. He told them they were in the wrong city and led them to Samaria. Then he prayed for their eyes to open. When they did, they found themselves in the middle of Israel’s capital. The king of Israel asked Elisha what he should do to them and Elisha told him to feed them and send them home. They left and didn’t return for a while. After a while, Ben-hadad, kind of Aram came and besieged Samaria. The siege lasted so long, the people were starving. One woman came to the king complaining about her friend who wouldn’t give his son for them to cook and eat. She had given her’s the night before. This so upset the king that he put on sackcloth and mourned. He blamed Elisha for all the trouble and came to kill him. Elisha met the king and told him that the Lord said that by this time tomorrow, six quarts of flour would cost only one piece of silver and twelve quarts of barley grain would cost only one piece of silver. The king’s officer commented that what he said was impossible. Elisha told him that because he didn’t believe, he would see it with his eyes but not be able to partake of any of it. There were four lepers who were so hungry, they decided to go surrender to the Arameans hoping they would feed them. When they got to their camp they found it empty of men but full of provisions. They came back and told the king. The people stampeded to the camp, trampling the man who had doubted and everything that Elisha said came to pass. In Acts, Paul and Barnabas disagreed about whether to take John Mark with them. John Mark had abandoned them the first trip, so Paul wouldn’t consider taking him. Their disagreement led to them separating and Paul and Silas going to Syria while Barnabas and John Mark went to Cyprus. Paul met a young disciple in Lystra named Timothy and invited him to join them on their journey. They strengthened the churches as they went but the Holy Spirit kept them from going into Asia. Paul had a vision of a man from Macedonia in Greece pleading them to come there. They went there and met with women who were hungry to hear the gospel. One of them was Lydia from Thyatira. She and her household were baptized and she invited them to stay at her house. We don’t know what happened to Barnabas and John Mark but it just shows us that they were human with the same problems we face. Lord, help us to live our lives filled with your Holy Spirit and walking in love and forgiveness.