Tag: 2 Chronicles

Tapping into God’s Power

In today’s #DailyBibleReading, I read in 2 Kings about Elijah and Elisha and the amazing power of God that filled them and fought their battles for them. In 2 Kings 1, the king kept sending out men to confront Elijah and each time they arrived Elijah would say: “If I am a man of God, let fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty.” Then, poof, fire came down and consumed the king’s men.

Then a while later two pretty amazing things happened through another prophet, Elisha:

  1. The water of the city was contaminated and people were complaining to Elisha about it. He through a little salt in the water and, poof, the water was clean.
  2. Elisha finishes with the water and starts heading out of town, and some boys start heckling him about his bald head. Elisha cursed the boys and out of the woods come a couple of angry mama bears, and they tore the boys apart. Pretty gruesome. It makes me wonder if Elisha fully knew the power he was tapped into. Did he realize just cursing at some mean kids would unleash the fury of nature? I wonder if he was in shock as these bears came barreling down the hill?

Then in my #BibleReadingPlan, I moved into Matthew 10, and Jesus called his 12 disciples and gave them access to God’s power. He gave them the power to cast out demons, raise the dead, and heal diseases. Can you imagine what they felt like? Just think: you’ve been in awe of watching Jesus do these things and then he turns to you, and he says,”OK, now it is your turn. I’m giving you my powers.”

The power also came with a warning – Jesus told the disciples that they needed to be wise because once this power was unleashed, they were also going to have enemies. And these enemies weren’t just 10-year-old boys teasing them about their hair or lack of it, these enemies would be grown men – men in power – who would beat them and drag them to court and try to kill them.

I love what Jesus tells them next – when they were in court, facing an angry crowd and death – they were to be peaceful and still. God would give them the words. The spirit of God would speak through their mouths. It reminds me of a passage from a few days ago in 2 Chronicles 20:15-17 when Judah was going into battle and God said:

  • Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed at this great horde, for the battle is not yours but God’s.
  • Tomorrow go down against them.
  • You will not need to fight in this battle. Stand firm, hold your position, and see the salvation of the Lord on your behalf, O Judah and Jerusalem.
  • Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed. Tomorrow go out against them, and the Lord will be with you.

Can you imagine being a disciple and being told you were going to have access to this kind of power, but that access to that power also came with a whole lot of responsibility? These were just ordinary guys who had been living their ordinary lives and Jesus called them to follow Him. They followed and experienced unbelievable things. It had to be surreal. And then even more surreal when he turned to this group of men and said, OK, now it’s your turn to have access to this amazing power. I think I’d be in shock and probably scared to death.

But the crazy, amazing, hard-to-believe thing is this . . . I do have access to that power.

Maybe God isn’t calling me to raise anyone from the dead, but he is calling me to be loving. To be kind. To be patient. To have self-control. To flee from temptation. To honor my husband. To share the gospel. And while those things might seem minuscule compared to casing out a demon, I can’t do them by myself. I can only do them by tapping into God’s power by daily reading my Bible, praying, and meditating on His word.

Pretty amazing. This God who called Elijah, Elisha, Matthew, Peter, and John also called me. Ordinary me. Just a mom and wife in middle America.

Some days He might be calling me to go into active battle.

Some days He might be calling me to stand calm and trust Him in the middle of a storm.

Every day, He is calling me to follow Him.

 

 

 

 

 

Life Lessons from the Kings of Judah

#BibleReadingPlan #2Chronicles

The Kings of Israel and Judah fascinate me. These kings had every opportunity to follow God and do good. Some chose to follow God . . . some chose to go the opposite direction, with devastating results.

For example: Kings Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah. A great-grandfather, grandfather, father, and son who each reigned over Judah. All descendants of King David.

King Uzziah: Became king at age 16 and started off seeking God and God blessed him. He became very powerful and famous. But he also became very proud. His pride led to his downfall and God gave him leprosy as his punishment.

King Jotham: When his dad got leprosy, Jotham was put in charge and became king at age 25. He did what was pleasing to God, just like his father Uzziah, but Jotham didn’t let his pride go to his head. He also became very powerful, but he was careful to live in obedience to God. But even though he was obedient to God, the people under him continued in their corrupt ways.

King Ahaz: I’m not sure what killed Jotham, but if my math is correct, he died at age 41 and his son, Ahaz, became king at age 20. Ahaz went the complete opposite direction of his father and grandfather. He worshiped idols. He sacrificed his own son to Baal. He encouraged the people of Judah to sin. He destroyed items for the Lord’s Temple and shut the temple doors.

King Hezekiah: What would you expect of Hezekiah, having a dad like Ahaz who had even sacrificed his brother to an idol? But Hezekiah didn’t follow in his father’s footsteps. He followed the Lord. He reopened the Temple. He commanded the people of Judah to turn back to God and God gave the people of Judah the heart to obey. He was successful and powerful, but with time he also became proud. But instead of having his pride become his downfall like it had his great-grandfather, he recognized the pride, humbled himself, and repented.

If you keep reading on in 2 Chronicles you’ll see the pattern continue to repeat itself. Unfortunately with all the good Hezekiah did, his son, Manasseh, was an evil king. And the pattern goes on and on.

Life Lessons from Judah’s History

  • Godly Mentors Make an Impact: Uzziah had a mentor – the high priest Zechariah. We don’t know much about Zechariah, but he taught Uzziah to fear God.

Uzziah sought God during the days of Zechariah, who taught him to fear God. And as long as the king sought guidance from the LORD, God gave him success.” 2 Chronicles 26:5 

  • Mothers Matter: We also don’t know much about these mothers, but one interesting note is that the evil king Ahaz had a wife name Abijah who was the mother of the godly king, Hezekiah. She was also the daughter of the high priest Zechariah. I wonder if this was a godly woman – married to an evil man – who was determined to do everything in her power to teach her son about God in spite of the evil around them.
  • Destiny Isn’t Determined by Parents: While parents have influence on a child, the child’s relationship with God is his or her choice. Whether your parents love God or hate him . . . your relationship with God is all your own. Christian parents may have atheist children and atheist children may have Christian children.
  • God Forgives and Leads: Whenever the king sought God or humbled himself before God, God led and God forgave. He also gave the kings who sought him victory in battle, wealth, and success.

When I read the list of kings and chronology in the Bible sometimes it is easy for me to skim through the names and forget these were real people. But they were. Humans with baggage and history and choices. Parents. Husbands and wives. Leaders and followers. Lovers of God and haters of God.

Regardless of the circumstances they were born into they had choices to make.

Just like me.