Good day dear friends.
Here is our study guide for today:
Wednesday: 2 Chronicles 35, 36Ponder the failure of Judah’s last kings, and God’s employing a foreign king, Cyrus, to fulfill the divine purpose; what are your thoughts about these developments?
The farther you get from God the weaker you become. Never are you free, though, from the forces of temptation. We read about the final kings of Judah with sadness. Given their rich history of faith and the blessings that accompanied them, they come to decide they know what is best for them and choose accordingly. Their consequences were their own choice. Alienated from God and pursing false religion, they found themselves unguided, weak, and vunerable. Their main sin was to listen to their own inner voice rather than the voice of God. When our voice overpowers the voice of God we're headed for trouble. Trouble found the kings of Judah. In a strange development, the plight of the Judean kings was precisely what motivated a foreign king, Cyrus, to do what God had wanted all along: Bring God's people back to God.
The final pages of these kings is written with a history of defeat and humiliation. Precious material reminders of faith are confiscated by marauding armies and carried off, as are some of the people. The writer says it was a "sabbath rest of seventy years." That's a nice way of saying, we did nothing for seventy years and a nicer way of saying we were prisoners of a foreign king for seventy years and could do nothing even if we wanted to. And it takes Cyrus, a foreign king, to say to the people, return to God!
How is your history being written? Are you listening and being guided by God to faithfulness and righteousness? Or, are you like one of these final kings of Judah, seeking to please and serve only yourself? If you are, their lessons might just be your lessons as well: Humiliation and defeat in what could have been easy victories. The good news? You can return to God! God stands ready to receive all of us back into His loving arms, to love us, guide us, and bless us. All it takes is a time of silence and reflection about Who God is and what God offers.
PRAYER: Help me, O God, to blot out all the noise and distraction of my world so that I might be open to the joy and wonder of Yours. Let Your voice be that which guides me to great and pleasing decisions today and all days. I ask this in Jesus' Name, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord!
e.v.
Here is our study guide for today:
Wednesday: 2 Chronicles 35, 36Ponder the failure of Judah’s last kings, and God’s employing a foreign king, Cyrus, to fulfill the divine purpose; what are your thoughts about these developments?
The farther you get from God the weaker you become. Never are you free, though, from the forces of temptation. We read about the final kings of Judah with sadness. Given their rich history of faith and the blessings that accompanied them, they come to decide they know what is best for them and choose accordingly. Their consequences were their own choice. Alienated from God and pursing false religion, they found themselves unguided, weak, and vunerable. Their main sin was to listen to their own inner voice rather than the voice of God. When our voice overpowers the voice of God we're headed for trouble. Trouble found the kings of Judah. In a strange development, the plight of the Judean kings was precisely what motivated a foreign king, Cyrus, to do what God had wanted all along: Bring God's people back to God.
The final pages of these kings is written with a history of defeat and humiliation. Precious material reminders of faith are confiscated by marauding armies and carried off, as are some of the people. The writer says it was a "sabbath rest of seventy years." That's a nice way of saying, we did nothing for seventy years and a nicer way of saying we were prisoners of a foreign king for seventy years and could do nothing even if we wanted to. And it takes Cyrus, a foreign king, to say to the people, return to God!
How is your history being written? Are you listening and being guided by God to faithfulness and righteousness? Or, are you like one of these final kings of Judah, seeking to please and serve only yourself? If you are, their lessons might just be your lessons as well: Humiliation and defeat in what could have been easy victories. The good news? You can return to God! God stands ready to receive all of us back into His loving arms, to love us, guide us, and bless us. All it takes is a time of silence and reflection about Who God is and what God offers.
PRAYER: Help me, O God, to blot out all the noise and distraction of my world so that I might be open to the joy and wonder of Yours. Let Your voice be that which guides me to great and pleasing decisions today and all days. I ask this in Jesus' Name, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord!
e.v.
