What Are You Doing With Your Life?

1 Chronicles 3:1-4 -  These were the sons of David born to him in Hebron: The firstborn was Amnon the son of Ahinoam of Jezreel; the second, Daniel the son of Abigail of Carmel;  the third, Absalom the son of Maacah daughter of Talmai king of Geshur; the fourth, Adonijah the son of Haggith;  the fifth, Shephatiah the son of Abital; and the sixth, Ithream, by his wife Eglah.  These six were born to David in Hebron, where he reigned seven years and six months. David reigned in Jerusalem thirty-three years…

 

The third chapter of 1 Chronicles begins the long list of names that proves the line of David finally produced a Messiah.   Nineteen sons are eventually listed in the first nine verses….each wife listed with her sons. And tagged on to the list ….is a statement that David had more children by his concubines…but none were important enough to be listed as his heirs.

 

It is also interesting to see that the oldest child of David did not become king when David became too old to rule the kingdom.  He passed the honor to the fourth son born to him…once he reestablished the capital of Israel in Jerusalem.  Solomon….whose heart was most like his father…was given the honor …breaking the traditions that called for the eldest in a family to receive the highest honor and blessings.

 

Perhaps this is a reminder that the order of our birth… is not as important as what we do with our life.  Solomon was the one son of David who asked for wisdom…instead of glory and wealth and power.  And God honored that request…and made Solomon one of the greatest kings of Israel.

 

Makes me wonder if I am doing enough with my own life….am I aligned with God’s will and purpose….do my actions and thoughts each day help build a better world and lead others to the truths of the Bible?  If I am honest…I have to say I simply am not there yet…hard as I might try. That selfish nature born into my flesh wins more than the love God has planted in my heart…and satan tricks me daily. I guess I had better try a little harder….to make my life count for something. 

 

Father…thank you for the reminder that my life needs to count.  Help me this morning to search out your will and purpose …so that I can make the days I have left on this earth mean more than the days that I have used up being self-centered and lazy.  Give me a new passion to work harder  for you…calling on you for strength when the old nature tries to trick me into giving up.  Amen.

What Would God Write about Your Reputation?

1 Chronicles 2:3-7 -  The sons of Judah: Er, Onan and Shelah. These three were born to him by a Canaanite woman, the daughter of Shua. Er, Judah's firstborn, was wicked in the LORD's sight; so the LORD put him to death.  Tamar, Judah's daughter-in-law, bore him Perez and Zerah. Judah had five sons in all.  The sons of Perez: Hezron and Hamul. 6 The sons of Zerah: Zimri, Ethan, Heman, Calcol and Darda--five in all.  The son of Carmi: Achar, who brought trouble on Israel by violating the ban on taking devoted things.

 

The long list of names continues…giving the names of many sons… the women that married them…and a few of the daughters that were born to these couples.  The writer of this genealogy…whom many scholars believe to be Ezra…stops only twice to mention two men who had made God very mad.  Their reputations of evil mentioned…perhaps as examples of personalities not to imitate.

 

Er was an evil man….much like the many kings we read about in Kings.  We are not given any details about Er’s death…he is only mentioned in the Bible 7 other times… 4 times in Genesis… once in Numbers...one other time in 1 Chronicles…and the final time in Luke. As the husband of Tamar….he introduced the evil of other gods to some of the Israelites and God was so mad he allowed him to be killed.

 

Achar was not much better…he also had a reputation for being rebellious…not following a ban put on the spoils of a war.  Achar…called Achan in the Joshua 7 text….took and hid much of the loot God told the army to leave. His sin  was exposed in an inquiry…but God allowed him to be put to death for his sins….probably by stoning.

 

It seems that they were such bad examples that God saw fit to include a tidbit of their stories in the long list of names. Perhaps as a reminder of the separation we experience when we go our own way…and exclude God from our lives.  Perhaps as a reminder to guard our reputations a little more closely from things that might influence others the wrong way. 

 

I am thinking of the discussion the disciples had with Jesus about this very problem. In Matthew 18….Jesus’ own words were recorded in verses 6-7…. “ But if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a large millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea.  "Woe to the world because of the things that cause people to sin! Such things must come, but woe to the man through whom they come!” Pretty serious words…that speak strongly to my heart this morning.  I need to examine my ways…to make sure that nothing I have said or done….causes anyone else to sin.

 

Father…I thank you for allowing these two men to be included in your list of important names.  I thank you for the reminder that my reputation speaks what I believe about you…and I should guard it from evil of all kinds.  Help me father to search my heart for things that might not speak love to those around me…so you can help me purge it from my life…before I cause anyone else to sin with my thoughts…actions…or writings.  Amen.

How Well Do You Know God?

1 Chronicles 1:1-7….and 27   -   Adam, Seth, Enosh,  Cainan, Mahalalel, Jared,  Enoch, Methuselah, Lamech,  Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth.  The sons of Japheth were Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech, and Tiras.  The sons of Gomer were Ashkenaz, Diphath, and Togarmah.  The sons of Javan were Elishah, Tarshishah, Kittim, and Rodanim…..

… and Abram, who is Abraham.

 

From Adam …the first man…..to Methuselah….the oldest….to Noah…the faithful boat builder…to Abraham…. the chosen of God to seed a special nation…each name is listed …each name important to God. Most of the names that God knew…the ones that are connected with important stories and lessons for us to learn…right beside the names we have never heard before.

 

Our human brain…bored from the similarity and seemingly unimportant list of names… wants to skim over this chapter…the first of 9 chapters beginning 1 Chronicles that record the genealogies of all the people God loved. But God has hidden some great truths in these chapters…so I will try to take more time…and search each list for the tidbit of wisdom that will help me understand God’s love even more.

 

He starts with Adam…who was created in God’s own image...who messed up bad in that wonderful garden God made for him to live….who was banished for his sin…the sin that introduced death to the world. He picked one righteous man who had somehow managed to escape satan’s tricks…and ask him to build an ark…to save a select few people and pairs of animals to replenish the Earth after he had purged the world of evil. God realized then that the only way he would ever truly save the world from satan’s evil…was to raise up a nation of people through Abram….and supernaturally send the seed for his own son into the womb of a young obedient girl…so she could raise God’s own son… with God’s laws and stand aside while he died on a cross…shedding his blood to save us all once and for all from our own sins.

 

God knew each of them by name…each one important to the final big picture he took centuries to weld together to save man.  God was interested in every name listed in 1 Chronicles…and he is interested in each name that is given a new social security number today. He is interested in me…and wants the best for me…just like John recorded for us in John 10:3… “ The watchman opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.”

 

Gods knows me…every hair on my head…he has even collected every tear I have cried….but do I really know him?  Have I really trusted this man that knew me even before I was born with every part of my life?   If I am honest…I have to admit that I have not….I have to admit that this list of names…and the centuries of faith they represent…show me how very lacking my own faith in God really is.  I have a ton of praying and studying… and listening to what God wants me to do with the blessings he had given me…before I can even begin to comprehend what his gift of salvation really means in my life. 

 

Father…I thank you for this list of names in your great Bible.  Thank you for reminding me that you know me better than I know myself…and that you think I am important.  Thank you for being so patient with me while I continue to search my heart for how to love you the most that I am able.  Help me to learn more about you…so that I can begin to understand your great love for me. Show me how to find the purpose for which you created me ….then anoint my life to do what you need me to do for you.  Speak your great purpose to me …just like you spoke to Jeremiah in Jeremiah 1:5  "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations."   Amen.

True Independence Requires A Humble Heart..... And Prayer

2 Kings 25:1-4 -  So in the ninth year of Zedekiah's reign, on the tenth day of the tenth month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon marched against Jerusalem with his whole army. He encamped outside the city and built siege works all around it.  The city was kept under siege until the eleventh year of King Zedekiah.  By the ninth day of the [fourth] month the famine in the city had become so severe that there was no food for the people to eat.  Then the city wall was broken through, and the whole army fled at night through the gate between the two walls near the king's garden, though the Babylonians were surrounding the city. They fled toward the Arabah….

 

Nebuchadnezzar had surrounded the city…trapped them…the city of Jerusalem was so strong he could not just tear down the walls and take them away.  The people survived for a while…on the food they had gathered and stored.  But the day came when the enemy broke through the fortified walls …and began to take the city.

 

The king …the army that swore to protect him…and many of the public officials fled through secret passageways…but their escape was not kept confidential. So the Babylonia army chased them…finally catching up with them and taking them away to Babylon…with all but the poorest of Judeans…who were left to farm the land.  God had said he would punish them for not following his ways…they huddled in fright for a time…then tried to run…but as Matthew Henry’s commentary put it.... “ those deceive themselves who think to escape God's judgments.” 

 

It is an ominous reminder to me…on the exact day that American declared her independence and freedom to build a nation ‘under God’….that God’s punishment will not escape us…if we continue to break his laws and live any way we please.  If we have any chance of maintaining the freedom God gave us on the 4^th so long ago…we must heed the great words of God…given to Solomon in 2 Chronicles 7:14-15… “if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.  Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayers offered in this place.”

 

God was speaking of the prayers offered in the temple Solomon had built…but the temple of God is now the heart of every one who had accepted his love into their heart.  WE  MUST BEGIN TO SEARCH THE HEART WE INVITED HIM TO LIVE…AND RECOGNIZE THE SIN THAT HAS TAKEN RESIDENCE THERE….AND HUMBLE OURSELVES…AND PRAY THAT GOD REMOVE IT…BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE!  I can’t think of a better way to celebrate our freedom in America…than by humbling our hearts…and rededicating our lives to God’s service.

 

Father…I thank you for the great men and women who birthed the idea of a nation based on your love and mercy.  I thank you that you blessed them with the vision…and gave them the wisdom and resources they needed to make it a reality.  Thank you for the many people who have shed their precious blood over the years to maintain that freedom for me.  But mostly…I thank you for the reminder this morning that my freedom is based on the condition of my heart.  Show me how to truly humble myself and pray…and seek your face above all that I do.   Help me to search my heart and seek out the sin in my life…and remove it completely from my existence….so that you can continue to bless me and teach me how to be even closer to you…and model for others just how amazing your endless love can be. Amen.

God Can Turn Negatives Into Positives

2 Kings 24:14-17  -  He carried into exile all Jerusalem: all the officers and fighting men, and all the craftsmen and artisans--a total of ten thousand. Only the poorest people of the land were left.  Nebuchadnezzar took Jehoiachin captive to Babylon. He also took from Jerusalem to Babylon the king's mother, his wives, his officials and the leading men of the land.  The king of Babylon also deported to Babylon the entire force of seven thousand fighting men, strong and fit for war, and a thousand craftsmen and artisans.  He made Mattaniah, Jehoiachin's uncle, king in his place and changed his name to Zedekiah.

 

God had said he would allow it…and his promise to Josiah to wait till he had died was complete.  And so the neighboring kingdoms began to seize and capture the people of Judah. The main enemy was the king from Babylon…selectively taking the best of Judah to reestablish itself in Babylon.  He took the king….his family….the strongest military men…and the most skilled craftsmen to strengthen his own land….leaving the poor…a band of lesser skilled tradesmen…and a newly appointed king to rule what was left of Judah.

 

Even though this was a definite negative in the life of the Israelites…God used the time to actually strengthen the people of Judah.  The captives in Babylon were allowed to live together….maintaining the culture and religious practices that tied them to God.  And the ones who were left in Judah had to step up and rebuild the kingdom to survive. They honed their weaknesses into stronger abilities.....found purpose in things that other people had always done for them…and allowed God to infuse into them the leadership skills they needed to keep Judah at least a speck on the map.

 

It is a reminder to me to never let the negatives in our lives completely break our spirit.  God can use the negatives in our lives to rebuild us into the servants he needs to carry out his work…and sometimes that retraining he needs to do in our lives takes a bit of time.  We just need to claim a few Bible verses to help us wait…while God tweaks us into what he needs us to be to do his work.  Maybe 1 Thessalonians 5:18…. “give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus’ … or Psalms 46:10…. “He says, "Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth” …can give us all the confidence we need to wait on God’s timing.  Then perhaps if we claim Philippians 4:13 … “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me”… we can rise above any negativity that God allows in our life.

 

Father…thank you for the stories from your word that remind me that you are always in control.  Help me to see that even when the world around me seems negative and hopeless…that you might be training me for something you need me to do. Help me cling to the promises of your word…and wait on your timing…and give thanks in all that happens.  Prove to me that I can truly do anything that you have given me the strength to do…because you have a greater plan than what I might see with just my human eyes and heart. Amen.

Do Your Feet Have Faith?

2 Kings 23:4-5  -  The king ordered Hilkiah the high priest, the priests next in rank and the doorkeepers to remove from the temple of the LORD all the articles made for Baal and Asherah and all the starry hosts. He burned them outside Jerusalem in the fields of the Kidron Valley and took the ashes to Bethel.  He did away with the pagan priests appointed by the kings of Judah to burn incense on the high places of the towns of Judah and on those around Jerusalem--those who burned incense to Baal, to the sun and moon, to the constellations and to all the starry hosts.

 

Josiah had just finished reading the entire book of the law to the priests….the prophets…all the people of Judah.  He called them all to the temple…and read to them every word that was written down.  And after they had listened to the words God gave to Moses on the mountain…they renewed their love for God…by making a promise …to keep the laws that were read to them all.

 

It was a pivotal point in Josiah’s faith….for he had absorbed the words so deeply into his heart that they lit a fire in his soul. …to reform not just the appearance of the temple…but the way his people worshiped God in it. The feet he put to the passionate faith in his heart…began to purge the land of Judah from any evidence that anyone had ever worshiped anyone else but God….even to the point of burning the idols of other Gods….turning them into ash.

 

Josiah modeled for us the deepest level of faith…that James spoke of in the new testament.  He used real examples of the Bible…like Rahab…who turned her life of harlotry into the life of a princess by helping the spies Joshua sent to search out the new land. His words from James 2:14-17…  ring so strong in my heart… “ What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him?  Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food.  If one of you says to him, "Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it?  In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.” 

 

It is a reminder for me this morning to deepen my own faith to a level that not only sees the needs of others...but goes out to share the love of God with them.  And I can’t stop there…I must help them find the resources and supplies they need to change their lives.  Like Josiah…as God reveals the things I am doing that displease him…I need to remove them….and replace them with the things he requires of me to do his will.  My faith will become so strong that I am able to put feet to my love…and not just change my life…but become a vessel for others to change as well.

 

Father… I thank you for the love that you showed Josiah …that taught him how to search for you...and purge the things form his life that kept him from the purest worship of you.  Instill in me the same sense of humility and reverence for who you are….so I can transform my selfish heart into a heart that thinks of others first.  Put feet to my love…so that I can share who you are with others…and share the great blessing you have given me. Stretch my understanding of the faith you gave me …to include all the people you place around me. Amen.

Rend Your Heart In Humility

2 Kings 22:8-11  -  Hilkiah the high priest said to Shaphan the secretary, "I have found the Book of the Law in the temple of the LORD." He gave it to Shaphan, who read it.  Then Shaphan the secretary went to the king and reported to him: "Your officials have paid out the money that was in the temple of the LORD and have entrusted it to the workers and supervisors at the temple."  Then Shaphan the secretary informed the king, "Hilkiah the priest has given me a book." And Shaphan read from it in the presence of the king.  When the king heard the words of the Book of the Law, he tore his robes.

 

He became king when he was only 8 years old…and at 8 he was already following God.  We aren’t told who taught him how to love God…the passage only mentioned that he walked in the ways of his ancestor…king David.  One article I read said his mother Jedidah…was a descendant of Caleb…the faith filled spy that wanted to follow God’s orders to take the Promised Land from the giants.  She must have known about God and held to a little of the faith of her family…enough for Josiah to rise above the evil steeped in his fathers….and try to do what was right in God’s eyes.

 

Josiah was 18 when he decided to repair the temple and Hilkiah high priest found the book of laws God had given Moses.  The king was so mortified at all the laws they had broken that he tore his royal robes….and immediately sent the priest to the temple to pray for direction….to pray for how to make the gross sins of his people right once more.  And God saw the humility and heart of this young man…and held back his wrath till after he had died.  

 

It is a message to me to not be afraid to take a stand for the truth contained in the Bible. It is never too late to read it and soak up the message God might have for change in your life. It is never too late recognize your short comings… rend your heart in humility….and begin to fix what God might have told you is wrong in your life.

 

Father….thank you for the Bible you gave us with the rules for living a full life in your presence.  Give me an ever deepening understanding of the anointed words you had written and recorded to guide my life.  Help me uncover the truth contained in your word to help me live the way you intended. Teach me to be ever humble…rending my heart anew each morning as you convict me of the things that are wrong in your sight. Amen.