July 2023

  July 7, 2023
  Daily Reading – 2 Chron. 34-36 / Acts 10:1-22

 

 GOD’S WORD:

2 Chronicles 36:16 But they mocked the messengers of God, and despised his words, and misused his prophets, until the wrath of the LORD arose against his people, till there was no remedy.

 

 GETTING INTO GOD’S WORD:

        I can tell you when time stands still. It is that moment when you are sitting in a room with family or someone you love and the doctor says, “I am sorry, we have done all we can, there is nothing more we can do.” It is as if for a few seconds, everything in the universe just stops. There is a moment of emptiness. Thoughts seem to escape you, dreams are put aside, the air for a moment is silent as words do not seem to come. Some have described that moment as if someone just knocked all the wind out of you. It is a serious declaration of what will be the end, without a miracle from God. A person’s only hope after that, is knowing Christ as Saviour, and His promise of eternal life after physical death. Without Christ, there’s no remedy..

 

        As I read the closing of 2 Chronicles 36, I read the words, “till there was no remedy.” This is it. God has been patient long enough. The people and nation of Israel have turned their back on God one too many times. If He does not bring about judgment, then His promises to them are meaningless. The promise of a wonderful land, protection from enemies, a land of plenty, joy, and peace, all came true while they were obedient and followed His Word. However, just as true was the promise of a price to pay for disobedience. So, for repeatedly rejecting God and His ways, they had come to a place where, “there was no remedy.” Their life, in this land, at this time, was done. 

 

 GETTING GOD’S WORD INTO ME:

        I wonder how long God will let our land go before we face a real judgement. How long will He allow people to live in rebellion before we hear the serious declaration, there is no remedy. The eventual answer for Israel was turning back to God.

 

What will it take to get our attention?

 

 

  July 6, 2023
  Daily Reading – 2 Chron. 31-33 / Acts 9:20-43

 GOD’S WORD:

2 Chronicles 31:10 And Azariah the chief priest of the house of Zadok answered him, and said, Since the people began to bring the offerings into the house of the LORD, we have had enough to eat, and have left plenty: for the LORD hath blessed his people; and that which is left is this great store.

 GETTING INTO GOD’S WORD:

        People today have more stuff than they know what to do with. Instead of getting rid of anything, they pay out good money to rent a place to store stuff, to make room in their house for more stuff. Most people who move to a new home find that after a few years they have boxes of stuff stored in an attic or out in the garage that they never opened after the move. This is stuff they evidently did not need, and have not used, but just cannot find it in their heart to get rid of. People like their stuff. Wouldn’t it be great if we had to rent a place to store some of our stuff, just so we could have room in the house to store all our money? What a dilemma!

      We find in 2 Chronicles 31:10 it says, “…Since the people began to bring the offerings into the house of the LORD, we have had enough to eat, and have left plenty: for the LORD hath blessed his people; and that which is left is this great store.” The Priest had so much given to the work of the Lord that 2 Chronicles 31:11 says, “Then Hezekiah commanded to prepare chambers in the house of the LORD; and they prepared them,” The king had them build rooms in the Lord’s house just to store all that the people had brought. It seemed the more they gave, the more the Lord blessed them. The more the Lord blessed them, the more they gave. Some storeroom dilemmas are good problems to have.

 GETTING GOD’S WORD INTO ME:

        This happens, not when we give to receive more from God, but if we do as it says in the last line of 2 Chronicles 31:21 “… to seek his God, he did it with all his heart, and prospered.” When we seek God and not wealth, God blesses.

Is there room in your heart for Jesus?

  July 5, 2023
  Daily Reading – 2 Chron. 28-30 / Acts 9:1-19

 GOD’S WORD:

2 Chronicles 29:36 And Hezekiah rejoiced, and all the people, that God had prepared the people: for the thing was done suddenly.

 GETTING INTO GOD’S WORD:

        I am amazed at today’s verse. Not even the entire verse. Just the last line. “… for the thing was done suddenly.” If I did not know better, it would sound like this revival took place overnight. However, there was a lot of work that went into this renewal of worshiping of God. In the first part of the chapter, Hezekiah is made King, and decides to lead these people back to worshiping the Lord. He has the temple doors reopened that Ahaz had nailed shut. He then tells the priests and Levites to clean up everything, beginning with their own hearts. Following this cleaning and restoration of the Temple, they began the process of sacrificing animals for the sins of the King, and the past sins of the leaders and the nation. Next, the people began to bring in their sacrifices to be offered up for their own sin. So many, that the priests could not keep up and had to enlist the help of other Levites to flay the animals for the priests to sacrifice. The singers and musicians then assembled, and the people began to sing and praise the Lord. Does that sound like it just suddenly happened? 

        However, if we read the verse again, it does not say all the preparation to worship happened suddenly. What happened suddenly was, God had prepared the hearts of the people for the work to be done and the worship to be given. When God moves on His people, it does not take long to see the evidence of God’s hand in their life. 

 GETTING GOD’S WORD INTO ME:

        When God saves our soul, it happens in an instant. However, the work He does in our lives to make us more like His Son Jesus can take a lifetime. People’s lives at the moment of salvation change suddenly, but the changes in that life can take time. 

Has God suddenly changed you?

  July 4, 2023
  Daily Reading – 2 Chron. 24-27 / Acts 8

 

 GOD’S WORD:

2 Chronicles 25:2 And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, but not with a perfect heart.

 

 GETTING INTO GOD’S WORD:

        A father and four-year-old daughter were heading off in the family car. When they got in the dad said, “Honey, you need to sit down and buckle your seat belt.” To which the daughter replied, “but daddy, when I sit down and can’t see out the window. I want to stand up.” The dutiful father said, “You have to sit down, it’s the law.” Now the daughter began to cry saying,” but daddy, I won’t be able to see everything.” The father, growing impatient said, “Sit down! If you do not, I will take you back in the house and leave you home.” Reluctantly, the girl sat down and buckled in. A few minutes into the trip the father glanced over at his daughter to see her sitting there with her eyes closed smiling just a big as he had ever seen. He asked her, “sweetheart, what has you smiling?” The little girl said, “I may be sitting down on the outside, but I am standing up on the inside.”

 

      In 2 Chron. 25:2 it says of King Amaziah; “And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, but not with a perfect heart.” He performed his religious duties, however, not for the right reasons. His worship rituals were at best a halfhearted obedience. In verses 7-9 he questions God’s wisdom about a battle and complains about how much money was spent on the battle. He is reminded God can take care of both situations. Doing a spiritual duty just to get it done is not worship. It becomes work and is worthless.  

 

 GETTING GOD’S WORD INTO ME:

        Why do we pray, read our bibles, attend church, or serve in ministries? God designed all these things to help draw us closer to Him. Yet, doing them with little focus on God, and intending to just get them done, may not be helping.

 

Has Worship of God become a Spiritual Duty?

 

 

  July 3, 2023
  Daily Reading – 2 Chron. 21-23 / Acts 7:30-60

 

 GOD’S WORD:

2 Chronicles 21:20 Thirty and two years old was he when he began to reign, and he reigned in Jerusalem eight years, and departed without being desired. Howbeit they buried him in the city of David, but not in the sepulchres of the kings.

 

 GETTING INTO GOD’S WORD:

        I have thought in the past, one of the saddest sights to see is a person who has lived so long that they have outlived all their relatives and friends. They come to enjoy a very long life, but they come to this day of departure with no living earthly companions. No one to morn on their day of farewell. However, I have come to think there is one sadder than that. It is someone who has lived a short life, who has many family members, and those who have been brought up with them who are still alive, but at their passing, no one cares that this person is gone. Or worse, they are kind of glad for their departure. How sad. 

 

       Jehoram was given the kingdom of Judah, simply because He was the oldest son of King Jehoshaphat when he died. He started out as king following the wrong people. He married the daughter of wicked King Ahab of Israel. Instead of following his father’s example, 2 Chronicles 21:6 says he did evil like his wife’s father. Even God was displeased with him as King and sent him a message through Elijah the prophet. God says in 2 Chronicles 21:13 that his brothers, who he had killed, were better than he was. Verse 20 of this chapter records the end of his sad life. When it comes to the end of his short forty-year life, and dies from a disease God has given him, it says; “…and departed without being desired.” … Meaning no one cared or regretted his death. They would not even bury him with the former kings.. 

 

 GETTING GOD’S WORD INTO ME:

        When we come to the end of our journey, we do not need to be famous or wealthy. What we do need is to have a testimony that God can use to lead others to himself, through a well lived life for Christ.

 

What will the preacher and God have to work with when you exit this life?