1 Chronicles 1 [The Message]

My cousin Alan Demos is a history buff. He absolutely LOVES Ancestry.com. Through it he has discovered (I’m going to do some serious name-dropping here) that we are related to:

• King Edward III
• John More who printed the first edition of the King James Bible
• Richard More and several members of the Mayflower pilgrims who landed at Plymouth Rock
  • Karl King for whom The Music Man was probably written
    • Anne Boleyn, Queen of England
    • Robert the Bruce, King of Scotland

Impressed?!??! Who knows, there were probably some bad guys in my ancestry too. It’s all meaningless because when we accept Christ, we are a new creature and old things are passed away. We have a new name written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.

The ONLY name worth mentioning is the name JESUS! God has made us to sit with Christ in Heavenly Places. [Eph. 2:6]

2 Kings 24, 25 [The Message]

It seems that in life, there are people who always want to be in charge or who want to control things. Others are content with who they are and what they have. The history of the kings of Israel and Judah is a study in control-conquest-contentment characteristics. It seems that the kings who always wanted MORE made up their own rules for living and the ones who were content abode by God’s Laws.

People who always want MORE are like that. They make up their own rules of engagement. As long as they are getting what they want, they justify in their minds that they are OK, they are allowed to conduct themselves like so. Meanwhile, they may be rolling over others doing damage in the meantime. How does this end?

God is the Righteous Judge Who sits in the Heavens and keeps score. He deals out to each man what he deserves.

EXCEPT for those who have accepted Christ and are completely cleansed of every sin by the blood of Jesus. Then, when they are converted, they can use their control and conquest drive to do great things for the Kingdom as evangelists, pastors, missionaries etc.

But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound: [Romans 5:20b]

2 Kings 21-23 [The Message]

King Josiah cut against the idolatrous ways of Manasseh and Amon who preceded him as king. He brought out the book of the Law and was deeply penitent and remorseful when he realized how far the country had departed from God’s ways. Wisely, he used his influence and authority to “Clean House” in the kingdom. He removed everything that displeased God to the best of his ability.

Our house is our heart and mind. Our body merely gives vehicle to what our mind and heart want. Having a clean house in Christian terminology is “purity of heart.”

Jesus said, “Blessed are the pure in heart -they shall see God.”

2 Kings 20 [The Message]

Hezekiah was told his time to depart had come. He didn’t accept it and pleaded with God for a longer life. Sadly, during his extension of life, he made some big blunders. It was costly to his sons who were carried off to Babylon and made eunuchs. Also, his son Manasseh became king and was one of the worst.

We are wise to pray the “Our Father” Lord’s prayer often. It says, “Thy Kingdom come, Thy Will be done.” To say, like Jesus did, “Nevertheless, Thy Will be done.”

Knowing the Word of God is probably the best way to learn to want what God wants. James said, “You ask and don’t receive because you ask amiss, that you may consume it upon your lust.” [James 4:3]

2 Kings 18, 19 [The Message]

King Hezekiah was being taunted and ridiculed by the King of Assyria. They feared for their lives at the sight of the Assyrian army held up outside Jerusalem. Hezekiah laid out the written ultimatum before the Lord and fasted and prayed. God heard his plea and turned his captivity. God sent His Angel one night who slaughtered 185,000 troops of the opposing army. The enemy king fled and was soon executed by his own sons.

Taunting God’s people will not work.

2 Kings 18 [The Messaga]

Eugene Peterson uses a unique phrase in this chapter to describe King Hezekiah’s devotion … “Hold fast.” Cling, cleave, remain faithful, depend, put his whole trust in, remain loyal … these are expressions used for the same phrase in other translations.

What do we hold fast to? Our education, our bank account, our investments, our wit, our intelligence, our family name, our job, our title? None of these entities are as sure as The Rock, Christ Jesus.

With the current shake-up in our banking system, one begins to think through his financial stability. Years ago I conceived a little praise chorus that said this …

My feet are on The Rock, my hands are in the air,

My heart s in His Hands, I do not have a care,

I’ll trust the name of Jesus, on Him I will depend,

And where He leads I’ll follow, He’ll keep me to the end, to the end.

2 Kings 17 [The Message]

What is the root word for protestant?

This chapter states, The children of Israel went along with all the sins that Jeroboam did, never murmured so much as a word of protest. It’s as if God frowned upon His People passively going along with sinful regimes.

Here’s another example of protest: The three Hebrew boys who refused to bow to Nebuchadnezzar’s golden image and were cast into a fiery furnace. They are commended in God’s Word as heroes for protesting the worship of an idol.

The key for us – a gentle but Godly attitude. “And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient,” [2 Tim. 2:24]

A soft answer turneth away wrath: but grievous words stir up anger. The tongue of the wise useth knowledge aright. [Pr. 15]

2 Kings 16 [The Message]

Evil King Ahaz of Judah committed abominations before the Lord. He had his sons pass through the fire … ie. offering them as a sacrifice … and proceeded to strip valuable elements in the Temple furniture for bribes to other nations. He had little respect for what God wanted and came up with his own brand of worship.

It occurs to me that it can also be said that our own bodies, the temple of the Holy Spirit, can also be desecrated and misappropriated by how we neglect them or use them to please our flesh rather than taking good care of them. Of this, I am guilty. Given, I don’t have the energy others do to devote to conditioning, BUT, please pray for me. I need to DO SOMETHING. I need the willpower.

2 Kings 13-15 [The Message]

While absorbing the record of the kings of Judah and Israel documented in the books of Chronicles and Kings, one tastes the quality and effectiveness of leaders as judged by their history. It will be no different now. You can look back over the life of a leader and sum up the job they did.

ADVICE TO LEADERS: If you are in a leadership capacity, don’t depend upon your own skills and strengths to perform your duties. Instead, cling desperately to God’s Word and the direction of His Holy Spirit daily … better yet, a moment by moment reliance upon Him for direction. It will bode well when you stand before The Almighty in judgement.

2 Kings 11,12 [The Message]

It’s amazing how one man’s sin and bad habits can affect a nation. That’s how it was with the evil kings over Israel. Their choice to continue in the sinful ways of Ahab meant trouble for the entire nation.

God’s blessings or curses support the phrase, “You reap what you sow.”