Prosperity Through Service and Love of Lord

2 Chronicles Chp 31

I often think of my own prosperity and comfort as I am fully aware of the financial blessings God has provided and entrusted to me.  Yet I need to remind myself of the purpose of prosperity - it is not my own comfort; instead it is for God's glory.

⁵ As soon as the order went out, the Israelites generously gave the firstfruits of their grain, new wine, olive oil and honey and all that the fields produced. They brought a great amount, a tithe of everything. ⁶ The people of Israel and Judah who lived in the towns of Judah also brought a tithe of their herds and flocks and a tithe of the holy things dedicated to the LORD their God, and they piled them in heaps.

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“Since the people began to bring their contributions to the temple of the LORD, we have had enough to eat and plenty to spare, because the LORD has blessed his people, and this great amount is left over.” 

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²⁰ This is what Hezekiah did throughout Judah, doing what was good and right and faithful before the LORD his God. ²¹

In everything that he undertook in the service of God’s temple and in obedience to the law and the commands, he sought his God and worked wholeheartedly. And so he prospered. 

I must think not of my own comfort but of God first and His glory.

My Prayer: Lord, you are great and your love of me and of all your children is great - love abounds.  I am amazed at how you have blessed me beyond imagination - all through your grace and love as I am not deserving.  This is your fruit alone!  When I think of my own comfort and of my own blessings forgive me and help me understand that I am a steward of the blessings you have provided in your trust of me.  Help me glorify you with how I use these blessings and to give generously and wholeheartedly to you - according to your will and for your glory.

Sin Separates Us From God But He Can Restore

2 Chronicles Chp 28

Sin indeed separates us from God and our response to our own sin and the consequences is what makes the difference.

¹ Ahaz was twenty years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem sixteen years. Unlike David his father, he did not do what was right in the eyes of the LORD. ² He followed the ways of the kings of Israel and also made idols for worshiping the Baals. ³ He burned sacrifices in the Valley of Ben Hinnom and sacrificed his children in the fire, engaging in the detestable practices of the nations the LORD had driven out before the Israelites. ⁴ He offered sacrifices and burned incense at the high places, on the hilltops and under every spreading tree. 

 ⁵ Therefore the LORD his God delivered him into the hands of the king of Aram. The Arameans defeated him and took many of his people as prisoners and brought them to Damascus.

Instead of repenting from sin, Ahaz tries to fix sin with sin!

¹⁶ At that time King Ahaz sent to the kings^[a] of Assyria for help. ¹⁷ The Edomites had again come and attacked Judah and carried away prisoners, ¹⁸ while the Philistines had raided towns in the foothills and in the Negev of Judah. They captured and occupied Beth Shemesh, Aijalon and Gederoth, as well as Soko, Timnah and Gimzo, with their surrounding villages. ¹⁹ The LORD had humbled Judah because of Ahaz king of Israel,^[b] for he had promoted wickedness in Judah and had been most unfaithful to the LORD. ²⁰ Tiglath-Pileser^[c] king of Assyria came to him, but he gave him trouble instead of help. ²¹ Ahaz took some of the things from the temple of the LORD and from the royal palace and from the officials and presented them to the king of Assyria, but that did not help him. 

 ²² In his time of trouble King Ahaz became even more unfaithful to the LORD. ²³ He offered sacrifices to the gods of Damascus, who had defeated him; for he thought, “Since the gods of the kings of Aram have helped them, I will sacrifice to them so they will help me.” But they were his downfall and the downfall of all Israel.

 ²⁴ Ahaz gathered together the furnishings from the temple of God and cut them in pieces. He shut the doors of the LORD’s temple and set up altars at every street corner in Jerusalem. ²⁵ In every town in Judah he built high places to burn sacrifices to other gods and aroused the anger of the LORD, the God of his ancestors.

What we need to recognize that of course we are sinful as humans, and that is our nature as we cannot help this.  What is critical is our response to sin.  Ahaz, instead of repenting and asking God to help, then trusting and asking for purification of his sin so that he can grow even closer to God, he sins even more.

My Prayer: Lord, your love and grace abounds and even though I sin every day you still love me and that is the most amazing gift...that You love me.  Forgive me as I have been lazy and neglectful or my relationship with you.  I do want to desire, love, trust and follow you more than I do - so please rid and purify me of my sin.  Help me draw closer to you, lean on you so that you can further transform my heart and my life for Your glory.

God Wants Us to Worship Publicly and ALL THE TIME

2 Chronicles Chp 27

I often hear why we must worship publicly - corporately, if you will - on Sunday. 

God of course wants us to work together - because we are a body:

¹⁵ Now if the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. ¹⁶ And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. ¹⁷ If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? ¹⁸ But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. ¹⁹ If they were all one part, where would the body be? ²⁰ As it is, there are many parts, but one body. 

 ²¹ The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” And the head cannot say to the feet, “I don’t need you!” ²² On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, ²³ and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, ²⁴ while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has put the body together, giving greater honor to the parts that lacked it, ²⁵ so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. ²⁶ If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.

 ²⁷ Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. (1 Corinthians 12:15-27)

Secondly, we should wear our faith on our sleeves for all to see as a witness to the greatness of God.

6 As the ark of the LORD was entering the City of David, Michal daughter of Saul watched from a window. And when she saw King David leaping and dancing before the LORD, she despised him in her heart. (2 Samuel 6:16)

Although Michal despised David, this of course is no reason why David - and all of us of course - should not be worshiping God with such fervor - particularly as this shows others that there is a God who can be loved so much!

Now...on to Chronicles chapter 27 where it says:

¹ Jotham was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem sixteen years. His mother’s name was Jerusha daughter of Zadok. ² He did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, just as his father Uzziah had done, but unlike him he did not enter the temple of the LORD. The people, however, continued their corrupt practices. ³ Jotham rebuilt the Upper Gate of the temple of the LORD and did extensive work on the wall at the hill of Ophel. ⁴ He built towns in the hill country of Judah and forts and towers in the wooded areas. 

We should go to church corporately - worship with our heart on our sleeves as this will allow us to bear witness to others.  We can bear witness in many ways - for example we can create sanctuary for others to experience Jesus through love, comforting, being welcomed, etc.  Jotham failed to do this and look - his people failed to worship and "continued their corrupt practices".

My Prayer: Lord, you are awesome and I want to proclaim your greatness to all - yet my worship is weak, particularly my ability to spread your good news to others. Forgive me for my weakness and my fear in this regard.  Help me and give me strength so that I can worship anytime, anywhere and with anyone.

I am Prideful...and Repentant

2 Chronicles Chp 26

King Uzziah of Judah did what was right in the eyes of the Lord...for most of his reign but then turned away - prideful:

¹⁶ But after Uzziah became powerful, his pride led to his downfall. He was unfaithful to the LORD his God, and entered the temple of the LORD to burn incense on the altar of incense. ¹⁷ Azariah the priest with eighty other courageous priests of the LORD followed him in. ¹⁸ They confronted King Uzziah and said, “It is not right for you, Uzziah, to burn incense to the LORD. That is for the priests, the descendants of Aaron, who have been consecrated to burn incense. Leave the sanctuary, for you have been unfaithful; and you will not be honored by the LORD God.” 

 ¹⁹ Uzziah, who had a censer in his hand ready to burn incense, became angry. While he was raging at the priests in their presence before the incense altar in the LORD’s temple, leprosy^[c] broke out on his forehead. ²⁰ When Azariah the chief priest and all the other priests looked at him, they saw that he had leprosy on his forehead, so they hurried him out. Indeed, he himself was eager to leave, because the LORD had afflicted him.

I am more prideful than I care to think.  I believe I am better than others in many ways and my behavior bears this out as I talk as if I know and this is not so - Lord forgive me!

My Prayer: Lord, you are great and it is ONLY you that is great.  For I say or I think that I am great and it is not so and I desperately seek your forgiveness for this and also seek to be purified of this pride.  Help me remain humble and in fear of you, in reverence of you and help me stay close to you - by coming to you, worshipping you, praying to you, listening to you, trusting you, and obeying you.

We Must Fear God - It Is Grace Alone That We Don't Suffer Severely

2 Chronicles Chp 21

Jehoram, Jehoshaphat's 1st born son becomes king and he quickly defies the Lord.

He followed the ways of the kings of Israel, as the house of Ahab had done, for he married a daughter of Ahab. He did evil in the eyes of the LORD.  ^{(verse 6)}

 Yet God is gracious is He not?
 

⁷ Nevertheless, because of the covenant the LORD had made with David, the LORD was not willing to destroy the house of David. He had promised to maintain a lamp for him and his descendants forever. 

God is like that of course with us...we disobey.  And who are we to say that we are not sinful.  My sin, anger, worry, greed, lust, is not as God intends.  And it is through God's grace alone that we are not punished.

And here we see ultimately, God's judgement come down hard on Jehoram.

¹⁶ The LORD aroused against Jehoram the hostility of the Philistines and of the Arabs who lived near the Cushites. ¹⁷ They attacked Judah, invaded it and carried off all the goods found in the king’s palace, together with his sons and wives. Not a son was left to him except Ahaziah,the youngest.

 ¹⁸ After all this, the LORD afflicted Jehoram with an incurable disease of the bowels. ¹⁹ In the course of time, at the end of the second year, his bowels came out because of the disease, and he died in great pain. His people made no funeral fire in his honor, as they had for his predecessors.(verses 16-19)

We need to both fear God and love Him.  We need to fear Him so that we can remain humble before Him (and others) and to respect His greatness and His power.  We also need to love Him because His grace is abundant and available for all of us - all the time.  How great is that!

My Prayer: Lord, your grace and love abound!  Praise God for how great and loving you are - and to me as I am not deserving.  Please God forgive me of my sin, anger, pride, greed, etc.  I want to purified of this sin so please help me - transform my heart and my life Lord.  Help me seek you out and to repent with an eye of living my life solely for you, to love and to follow you with everything I have.

STAY Close to the Lord By Coming Back to Him Every Time - NO SHAME!

2 Chronicles Chp 20

We are often told to draw closely to the Lord, implying we do this once.  However, we must STAY close to the Lord, implying this is both a process and a cycle for as we sin we must seek repentance and His love again and again.

Witness Jehoshaphat who does draw close to the Lord but like all of us strays.

³¹ So Jehoshaphat reigned over Judah. He was thirty-five years old when he became king of Judah, and he reigned in Jerusalem twenty-five years. His mother’s name was Azubah daughter of Shilhi. ³² He followed the ways of his father Asa and did not stray from them; he did what was right in the eyes of the LORD.

Notice that Jehoshaphat followed the ways of his father...it does not say he followed the Lord!

And whoa to those who don't!

³⁵ Later, Jehoshaphat king of Judah made an alliance with Ahaziah king of Israel, whose ways were wicked. ³⁶ He agreed with him to construct a fleet of trading ships.^[f] After these were built at Ezion Geber, ³⁷ Eliezer son of Dodavahu of Mareshah prophesied against Jehoshaphat, saying, “Because you have made an alliance with Ahaziah, the LORD will destroy what you have made.” The ships were wrecked and were not able to set sail to trade.

My Prayer: Lord, you are perfect and your ways are perfect.  Yet I know I am not and my sin separates myself from you.  Purify me of my sin and transform heart as I am deeply sorry for my sin and truly seek you. Help me repent from my sin, seek your ways and your will and to love, trust and obey you with all of my heart.

Will I Listen to Wise Counsel....Even I Don't Like What is Said?

2 Chronicles Chp 18

⁷ The king of Israel answered Jehoshaphat, “There is still one prophet through whom we can inquire of the LORD, but I hate him because he never prophesies anything good about me, but always bad. He is Micaiah son of Imlah.”

First of all, a prophet is one known to speak truth - from God of course.  Yet the king of Israel hates Michiah.   The first key point for me is am I seeking truth or what is good for me (in a selfish way)?  If I were to amplify this key point, I need to both surround myself with those speaking truth and accept the truth they speak.

My Prayer: Lord, you ARE truth, you are the WAY, and you are the LIGHT.  There is no God like you and you are everything to me.  Forgive me for seeking other idols when I do, whether it is other ways to spend my time or my own will, or earthy matters, please, please forgive me.  Help me truly focus on you, seek you out, love you, obey you, trust you.  Help me surround myself with those who speak truth, invite this truth into my heart and live this truth.

Our God Is Our Shield

2 Chronicles Chp 17

While there is no guarantee that God will shield us from all harm, all we can do follow him and ask for his grace and mercy.

For Jehoshaphat, God came through.

³ The LORD was with Jehoshaphat because he followed the ways of his father David before him. He did not consult the Baals ⁴ but sought the God of his father and followed his commands rather than the practices of Israel.

It was more than just a personal devotion - it was a devotion that was so powerful it extended all throughout Judah:

⁷ In the third year of his reign he sent his officials Ben-Hail, Obadiah, Zechariah, Nethanel and Micaiah to teach in the towns of Judah. ⁸ With them were certain Levites—Shemaiah, Nethaniah, Zebadiah, Asahel, Shemiramoth, Jehonathan, Adonijah, Tobijah and Tob-Adonijah—and the priests Elishama and Jehoram. ⁹ They taught throughout Judah, taking with them the Book of the Law of the LORD; they went around to all the towns of Judah and taught the people. 

With such a following, God's grace fell on the people of Judah:

¹⁰ The fear of the LORD fell on all the kingdoms of the lands surrounding Judah, so that they did not go to war against Jehoshaphat.

My Prayer: Lord, you ARE my shield.  Your power and might is great and you have shielded me from destructive forces in all areas of my life.  Yet I continue to sin and for this I am truly sorry and I seek your forgiveness. I want to spread your good news and your power to others yet my own behavior is not a witness to others.  Help me and purify me.  Help me so that I can do as Jehoshaphat does and spread your good news.