Archive for the ‘2 Chronicles’ Category

Day 193: 2 Chronicles 33:10-35:19; Acts 8:26-9:9 — drastic measures to make drastic changes

Monday, July 12th, 2010

My dad used to say that it takes drastic measures to make drastic changes. So it was for those in the readings for today. Manasseh, son of Hezekiah, became more evil than those before him. God moved him into a position from which he could see things more clearly. Repent or die. Although so evil and abusive, the pleas and repentance of Manasseh were heard by God and he was returned to Judah. A short book in the Apocrypha, the Prayer of Manasseh reflects a broken and contrite heart. I still wonder how Manasseh, son of Hezekiah, came to be evil in the first place.

Josiah was blessed with a good heart and good advisers at a early age. In his zeal to restore loyalty to the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, he reached north into Syrian territory to destroy the pagan shrines and brought back the tribute money from those peoples to refurnish the temple. He ground to dust the idols, burned the bones of pagan priests, and turned the Place of Burning, Topheth, into that infamous of all New Testament places Gehenna, valley of the sons of Hinnom, the ever burning, foul, city dump. Then of all things, they find the Torah in the Temple! As a teacher of mine in school said, “What a place to lose the Bible, in the church (building)!”

How do you deal with a raging inferno like Saul?! Jesus struck him down, dead in his tracks, made him to be led, not the leader of this band on their way to Damascus. He was blind three days. His story continues later.

How can you stop a world that is hell bound? What great, extreme drastic measures could it take to change an entire world?

Now the passage of the Scripture that he was reading was this: “Like a sheep he was led to the slaughter and like a lamb before its shearer is silent, so he opens not his mouth. In his humiliation justice was denied him. Who can describe his generation? For his life is taken away from the earth.” (Acts 8:32-33 ESV)

What will it take for you to break down the lurking shadows of evil in you? the places of unfaithfulness? What do you need today to make this a day of praise and victory for God Almighty in you?

Prayer: Holy, Righteous Father: Today help me to remove every idol from my life, to refurnish my heart, my mind, and my body so that I am holy to You, a place of constant praise and renewal by Your Spirit. Thank You, in Jesus name.

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Day 190: 2 Chronicles 26:1-29:2; Acts 7:17-41 — Stupid People Tricks

Friday, July 9th, 2010

It’s amazing the lengths we will go to in order to do things our own way. Sometimes we rebel against authority figures from our past for the wrongs they committed against us. Sometimes we are convinced we are right in spite of mounds of evidence to the contrary. Sometimes we are just plain stoopid.

Ahaz (2 Chronicles 28) was one of those kings who just wouldn’t learn. He tried over and over to make things work out in his favor but never looked to the one source of true security. “Hey Ahaz! Giving gifts to the idols didn’t work for you. How about giving some of God’s stuff to the other king.” When that didn’t work, he tried giving gifts to the idols again.

Maybe if Stephen had been around to convince him, he would have changed his ways. Or maybe not. Those that heard Stephen’s impassioned retelling of the history of Israel (Acts 7) didn’t react appropriately. Just as the Israelites in the wilderness witnessed the wonders of God firsthand yet capriciously turned from Him toward a golden calf, the Jews rejected Stephen’s message and stoned him in the end (oops! hope I didn’t spoil anyone for tomorrow’s reading). So he probably wouldn’t have been able to convince Ahaz to repent either.

The question is, would he be able to convince you?

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Posted in 2 Chronicles, Acts, Repentance | 3 Comments »

Day 189: 2 Chronicles 25:14-16 — “America Bless God!”

Thursday, July 8th, 2010

I was driving by a house in my neighborhood and I saw a sign. It said, “God Bless America.” I don’t have a problem with the sign or its message. Yet, it seems that we are always asking for God to bless us but we don’t spend a lot of time remembering that God has already blessed us many times over. I began to think, we should change the sign and say, “America Bless God.” Why? Well Amaziah in 2 Chronicles 25:14-16 was blessed by God to defeat the Edomites. As soon as the battle was over, Amaziah brought in the gods of a foreign country, set them up, and began to worship them. This angered our God and He sent Amaziah a messenger but Amaziah refused to listen to the prophet’s counsel from God. Maybe this is a stretch but isn’t this what we do in America? God has blessed us as a nation over and over and then we refuse to listen to His counsel from His Word. Paul says “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort…” (2 Corinthians 1:3). “Blessed” used by Paul comes from the word εὐλογητός (eulogētos) which if you look closely at this Greek word, you will see it is the etymology for the word “eulogy.” It means to speak well of someone, to bless, or to praise. This word is used in other biblical passages, for example, Genesis 14:20; Luke 1:68; Romans 1:25; 2 Corinthians 11:31; Ephesians 1:3; 1 Peter 1:3. Each of these examples shows that God is to be blessed. So, I say it is time we start blessing or praising our God and put some signs up that say, “America Bless God!” Maybe if Amaziah would have learned this, he might have continued to be blessed by God instead of ending up being cursed by God.

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Posted in 2 Chronicles, God | 5 Comments »

Day 188: 2 Chronicles 20:24-23:15 — The Battle That Wasn’t

Wednesday, July 7th, 2010

Start reading in 2 Chronicles 20:24 and you will find the results of a battle the Nation won without fighting. They won by trusting. Led by their King, Jehoshaphat, the nation went to the battle as instructed by God. But there was no fight, at least for them. All they had to do was pick up the spoils of war.

God had promised that He would fight this battle and He did. The enemy was totally defeated, at least the earthly, physical enemy. Jehoshaphat is highly praised for his response and leadership of the people following this victory of God. Yet, the record indicates there was something lacking on the part of the people and their king.

The high places were not removed. This good king did not make the people remove them. This people who were protected and blessed by God did not respond to his goodness. The king would make a grave error by making an alliance with the king of Israel (the northern kingdom). The scriptures call it a “wicked” act.

Why can man not see the blessings of God and follow Him for a lifetime? God will fight the battles if we will let Him and He will bless us. He will not force us to be faithful but does provide the strength if we will just reach out and grab hold of it. Read and take to heart Revelation 2:10

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Day 187: 2 Chronicles 18:1-19:3 — The Divine Lie?

Tuesday, July 6th, 2010

I have a headache and do not feel like writing this morning.  So, I am going to present everyone with an excerpt from the New Interpreter’s Bible on 2 Chronicles 18:1-19:3 written by Leslie Allen. ”Should one lie if lying leads to a good end? This question makes us uneasy. Doubtless we would become even more uneasy at the suggestion that God might give false messages to prophets, to lure the recipient to his or her death. Yet, that is what we find in these chapters… Does the New Testament contain any parallels to the chronicler’s presentation of God’s punitive providence in 2 Chronicles 18:1-19? A close parallel may be presented in 2 Thessalonians 2:11: A fate reserved for those who refuse to love the truth and be saved is that “God sends them a powerful delusion, leading them to believe what is false” (NRSV; similarly NIV). If chapters 18–19 pose a problem, it is a biblical problem. “Can one trust God? Maybe, but only at the price of obedience and a genuine love for the truth, no matter how unpleasant that truth may be. Without these ingredients in one’s response to God, the divine lie remains a distinct and terrifying possibility.” This is an interesting issue what do you think?

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Day 186: 2 Chronicles 15:1-17:19; Acts 4:23-5:11 — Fear or Faith? Which rules me?

Monday, July 5th, 2010

Asa and Ananias and Sapphira usually do not come to mind as being related, but the readings today certainly link them together. They start well but end trying do it “my way.”

Two other groups find real life as their faith overcomes all odds.

Asa brings much needed reforms to Judah, yet a threat from Baasha and human judgment takes over. Why? An old man tells Asa that if he does well he will be accepted and protected by the God of all the earth. It is easy to get rid of a few weak pagan prophets and places, yet those Israelite kings can be ruthless and murderous, and the Syrians — well I can see Syrians, I can see their power, and I can pay them to help me. When threatened by what he really feared, Asa resorts to what he really understands, and fails. Asa resorted to human judgment and power based on fear. How ironic that in his fear of threats against his power he falls. Fear opposes faith.

The early Christian husband and wife team start out with such a great promise — odd I really never thought of them as Christians, but they were, sharing the same great forgiveness and grace as all of those new believers. What brought them to lie? It appears that they wanted to be accepted, to look good to the church, and especially to the apostles, not to be rejected. Fear again steps in to cloud judgment. We cannot do what everyone else does. we cannot give it all away, but everyone else sacrifices so much and we will look badly. In one of the great passages often used to teach theology of the Holy Spirit, that He is of the Godhead, we miss the horrible irony: fear of rejection resulted in ultimate rejection by God. Fear opposes faith.

Having been released from prison the apostles and the church receive a renewed sense of boldness and strength to live and teach the Gospel. Their lives have already been given to the Lord Jesus; nothing remains that can be taken. So they move forward with the plan of God. Jehoshaphat believes the teaching from Moses, sends teachers back into Judah. His fervor brings refugees from Israel to the powerful draw of God’s wisdom and the covenant.

What do I fear? Shall I trade the power of God’s love and promise for what I “know will work”, what I can see? what I can do? Shall I trust Him who faced His own fear to die for me?

Faith overcomes the world. 1 Jn. 5:4.

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Day 183: 2 Chronicles 6:12-8:18 and Acts 2:27-3:11 — All Sin

Friday, July 2nd, 2010

We are given accounts throughout the scriptures where men acknowledge what God already knows — all men sin. In Solomon’s dedication of the Temple, he asks God in 2 Chronicles 6:36-39 that when they (the Israelites) sin against God that if they have a change of heart, repent, and acknowledge to God through prayer that they have sinned that God hear their prayer and pleas and forgive them. During this request, Solomon acknowledges that all men sin, “…for there is no one who does not sin…” In Romans 3:23, Paul states a similar fact that all men sin and fall short of the glory of God.

The New Testament reading in Acts for this day continues this thought and carries it a step further. In Acts 2:37, the people in Jerusalem who heard Peter’s message were “cut to the heart” and asked what they could possibly do to be saved from their sin – crucifying the Son of God. Peter tells them the pure fact — “Repent and be baptized…in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins.” You see, the Jewish people were familiar with the teachings of Solomon and the acknowledgment of sins. What they did not understand was the new covenant brought to them by God’s Son, Jesus Christ, that their sins could be forgiven forever, through Him.

FOREVER — we still struggle with that concept today. I, as a man, still want to remember my sins even though God remembers them no more through the blood of Jesus. What I have to do is daily strive to look forward and not look back except as historical perspective. Easier said than done. This is a continual process. Satan wants me to look back and have doubt that my sins are actually forgiven. God wants me to look forward, knowing through faith that my sins are forgiven. Who am I going to believe – God!!!!!!!!!

Posted in 2 Chronicles, Acts, Forgiveness, Sin | 1 Comment »