Happy Birthday, Jesus! EVERY DAY is your day! You gave your ALL for us. We are so humbled and honored to represent YOU on the earth as modern-day disciples.
Your instructions are in your word, the Bible. Our comforter and guide, The Holy Spirit., is our constant companion. We want for nothing because it is all in YOU!
God, we thank you for your sweet Son who you sent to show us the way to the abundant, victorious life you promised us here on the earth and eternal life with you forever more. Jesus, our Savior, our Lord, and our Master, we LOVE you… May your name forever be honored and blessed. Amen!
I never knew the Bible could be so good! Overall, it makes for good reading to build our confidence and trust in God. It also gives us an opportunity to know and have a deeper love and appreciation of our God. How can you say that you TRULY love God if you do not know who He is? We can have surface love, surface faith, but the abundant, victorious life God has promised us is found in the SPIRIT. It is the deeper things of God that you cannot find on the surface.
The Holy Spirit will show up as YOU start to read the Bible. That is the other significance of reading the Bible. So, as I am reading this fascinating story of how King Sennacherib of Assyria is trying to overthrow Jerusalem and Judah along with the other fenced cities in the land. King Hezekiah has prepared his people though. He strategically fortified the land as best he could. He then spoke to his people about how God will fight our battles. After you have done your part and did things the way God has asked, he says, then God will step in and do his part. However, there is always Satan who will come along and try to convince you to doubt God. He tells you God is not going to do anything for you. The same happens in this story.
After Hezekiah has encouraged his people, in II Chronicles 32: 8, King Sennacherib sends his servants to discredit everything Hezekiah tells them. Sennacherib’s servants tell the people Hezekiah is setting them up to die by thirst and famine. Further, he asks who are they putting their trust in, the Lord God? Then they start to undermine Hezekiah’s leadership by “reminding them” Hezekiah took away their high places and alters. Moreover, they could only worship one alter and burn incense upon it (v. 11-12).
Next, Sennacherib uses intimidation. He reminds them of what he and his army have done to other people and their land and how their gods were not able to stop them (v. 13-14). He goes on to say in versus 15 to not let Hezekiah deceive or persuade them. They ramped it up by telling them not to believe Hezekiah. That no other gods have been able to stop them and our God was no different.
It turns a little comical for me because in their arrogance they go on and on. The Bible says that they wrote letters to the people to rail against God and Hezekiah. They then cried and used loud speech in the Jewish language to affright and trouble them that they would take the city (v. 18).
This, my friend, is one of the best examples of psychological warfare I have seen! It worked to a certain degree because it caused Hezekiah and the prophet Isaiah to pray and cry to heaven (v. 20). God heard them and EVERYTHING that Sennacherib and his servants were saying, too. The Bible says in versus 21 God sent and angel to cut off the mighty men of valor, leaders, captains in the camp of Sennacherib. When Sennacherib returned to his land, his people, and his god, he was slain with the sword. Holy wisdom tells us psychological warfare does not work in the face of our Lord! Love & Blessings!
King Hezekiah loved God. Yet, his father, Ahaz was an evil king during his reign. These men are descendants of King David, a man after God’s own heart. We see this theme throughout the Old Testament that just because you may have heirs, descendants, relatives, etc., who loved and served God does not mean everyone in the family believes and thinks the same way. The same is true even in families today which is a reminder each of us has to work out our own soul salvation.
Hezekiah reestablished Jerusalem and Judah back to God. He set the people back and a right path. During his father’s reign, they had strayed once again (II Chronicles 29, 6-10). However, we also see that God is so gracious and merciful. God was eager to take His people back when they humble themselves before Him (II Chronicles 30: 9).
As you read on in II Chronicles 32, King Sennacherib encamped around the fenced cities including Jerusalem and Judah to win them for himself (V.1). Does this sound familiar with what Putin wants to do with Ukrainian. As we read further, Hezekiah became strategic. He cut off the fountains and water supply in the land. He fortified all of the walls that were broken. Furthermore, he built them up to the towers and increased their production of making darts and shields in abundance. He then spoke to his people and reminded them to be strong and courageous and not be afraid of their multitudes.
Does this not sound so familiar to Putin, Russia’s president versus Zelenskyy, Ukraine’s president? Hezekiah went on to tell his people they fight with the arm of flesh we have the Lord God to help us and to fight our battles! Wow! What confidence did Hezekiah have in our God! We, too, should have the same confidence! If we are serving God with our HEART, we should have the same confidence. We do not have to figure out how God will fight our battles. We just have to have confidence and trust He will get us through ANY situation… Praise God! Love & Blessings!
Redemption and restoration is always possible with God. II Chronicles 28 we get a taste of how evil King Ahaz was. He is so evil he sacrifices some of his own children by fire among other things. His heart is stone cold hard against God. Israel and Judah pay a hefty price for this rebellion. However, we see a beautiful example in II Chronicles 29 that children do not have to follow the bad example of the parent.
Hezekiah, Ahaz’s son, reigned once he died. Hezekiah realized his father’s practices were wrong and speedily went in to correct them. In his first year of reigning he opens up the doors of the house of the Lord and starts making repairs (v. 3). He restores the dignity of the priests and the Levites and acknowledges the wrongs of his father. He knew the wrath of the Lord was upon them so He made a covenant with God asking for restoration. Love & Blessings!
What is the importance of knowing God’s word? I am convinced that if more Christians knew God’s word, the Bible, for themselves some of the things that may be happening contrary to what we think should happen would not be too alarming. If it happened in the Bible, know that it possibly can happen to you, too.
II Chronicles is chocked full of examples of what happened to Leadership when they obeyed God and when they did not. Some started out in the right direction for God and then went astray. The same can happen to us. We have seen this in leaders of ancient times and leaders of modern times. This is why it is so important for us to know the Word for ourselves. Pastors and ministers can cover but so much because the Bible has so many stories and meaning that I don’t think we can ever exhaust it all.
I discovered this little blurb in II Chronicles 24: 20- 21. The spirit of the God sent Zechariah to the people because once again, they went astray. He said, “Thus saith God, Why transgress ye the commandments of the Lord, that ye cannot prosper? Because ye have forsaken the Lord, he hath also forsaken you.” Now today, we would probably question this man and think who is he to talk to us that way. Yet, he was being obedient to God because God sent him!
Needless to say, the people got mad at him. The Bible says, “…they conspired against him and stoned him…” The people obeyed the king’s commandment of this stoning instead of God. I laughed when I read this because the same still happens today. We don’t stone people in the U.S., and it still maybe happening in other parts of the world, but we do cut people off, ignore them, aw shucks, they crucified Jesus, right!? LOL! Paul said in the New Testament, count it not strange when these persecutions happen to us. Again, the importance of knowing the world of God and allowing the Holy Spirit to lead you into all truth. Love & Blessings!
So we have talked about David’s descendants and how they started out with a passion for God. We also talked about the frailty and humanity of these kings. Although they loved God, they seemed to get off track which is a cautionary tale for us. Again, things are written in the Bible not for us to do the same. How unwise that would be. But they are there, if at all possible, to keep us away from the pitfalls. And yes, Jesus, paid it all, but there are still carnage and consequences of our sins.
II Chronicles 21 talks about the new king in town. Yes, another descendant from David named, Jehoram, Jehoshaphat’s son. The Bible describes him as evil (v. 6). It goes on to say God would not destroy the house of David because of the covenant He made with him. However, it does not mean that God will not send punishment and allow consequences for our sins. In this case God sends a great plague with great sickness and disease. So once again, we are seeing a plague among the people. It is one of the reasons I believe God sent COVID to the world to remind the people that He is still in control and we are still utterly dependent upon Him. This plague is described as making the people so sick that their bowels fell out and it happened day by day (v. 15).
Additionally, it describes how God stirred up the spirit of the Philistines and the Arabians and came into the land and stole their substance in the king’s house and his family and killed all of the sons except the youngest (v 17). The king eventually dies of the plague that overtook most of the people. The people dislike him so that he was not even buried with his forefathers.
Wow! There are many lessons to glean from here. What is evident is God will not destroy the complete legacy of the chosen one He has made a covenant with, but He will deal with them and cause their enemies to come against them as well. This gives us time to pause. If we turn from God, meaning our hearts turn from God, will he deal with us the same? That is something to ponder. Love & Blessings
Recently, I had the thrill of visiting the Creation Museum! Often, in school we hear about evolution or how man evolved from the ape. Not knowing any better as a child, I never questioned what was being taught in school. I never reconciled it from what I was being taught in church. As a child, in my mind, I kept it separate.
Isn’t it funny how we so easily take on the beliefs of this world and culture. We don’t question it and assume it must be true because a person of authority said it like a teacher or a preacher, even a celebrity. However, here lies the rub of knowing Jesus Christ for yourself. Not because of what your mother, grandmother, Sunday school teacher of whomever told you, but because YOU had an encounter with Him for yourself.
The beauty of this is once you have had an encounter, you will never forget it. Satan will try to kill, steal and destroy that encounter, but just like the Saints in the Bible, you are forever changed. It is where our intimacy with HIM starts! Invariably, we must protect, cherish, and treasure that encounter. How, you might ask? Consistently, throughout the day by feeding our faith every day. When I visited The Creation Museum, I was doing just that! To see pictures of this fabulous museum click Photo Gallery>Creation Museum on this website… Enjoy!
Oftentimes when you hear the word fear, we think it is something we should be afraid of. In God’s word we see the word fear many times in scripture. In my belief, the loving God we serve does not wants us to be afraid of Him. However, I do believe God wants our respect of who He is… The God of the universe! The one and only living God! The Bible tells us in His word repetitively He is a jealous God (Exodus 20:5, 34:14, Deuteronomy 4:24, 5-9, 5:15 ). He clearly makes no bones about that. God wants no other person, place, or thing to come before Him!
So, there is a deep respect we should have for God. II Chronicles 17 describes Jehoshaphat’s reign. He walked with God and that pleased God. It is the same for us. If we walk with God, it will please Him, too. Jehoshaphat heart was lifted up in the ways of the Lord (v.6). He had his princes to go out and teach the people about God’s law. Verse 10 says the fear of the Lord fell upon all the kingdoms of the land and no one made war against Jehoshaphat! Jehoshaphat was held in high esteem, but he knew where his blessings came from.
This still applies today. We should have a deep reverence for the Lord. It should not be done in the fear that He is going to “get us” if we do not have reverence. Conversely, it should be done out of our deep love and appreciation of who He is and what He does for us. I don’t think we can ever thank God enough. I will be so ever grateful and thankful for the things He has done for me in my personal life. I felt the spirit of the Lord leading me and guiding me through situations. It was not always easy. In many instances it was contrary to how the world was doing things, but it was God’s way and that is what counted. Yes, here I am today with a fear of the Lord that respects and reverence Him with my whole heart. Love & Blessings
What’s it all about? Take a closer look at the image above. Look at all of the wonderful beautiful benefits and gifts we have as Christians! Emphatically, we have eternal life with our Father God and spared the fire and brimstone of the lake of fire with Satan.
We have the promises of God that will give abundant and victorious life right now on the Earth. Amazingly, that is the abundant blessings, big and small, we see and experience every day. Lovingly, God gives us His grace to get through some of the most difficult times with His peace that surpasses all understanding here on Earth. Hence, we have unspeakable joy that can not be explained. Thankfully, God’s mercies are ever new each and every day.
God has asked us to show compassion and love one to another. Indeed, that is usually shown by our forgiveness to others. Markedly, we are to live by the word of God which is our truth in life. Consistently, the word gives us courage and strength to walk in the ways Jesus, our wonderful Savior, who showed us the way here on the Earth. Moreover, it is faith in what He has done for us that will save our souls. We believe in this act and we spread the gospel, the good news, of Jesus is Lord!
To show our love and appreciation for the freedom He has given us, we live and walk in the Spirt. We willingly yield our lives over to God for Him to use us for His glory. We praise and magnify His name each and every day through devotion, prayer and the sharing of our faith to others. This is the hope in our salvation we have in all that Jesus has done for us on the cross above… Amen. Love & Blessings!
