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1 Chronicles 1-9

4/15/2015

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Today we began reading through the book of 1 Chronicles. Today’s reading, at least for myself, was a struggle to get through. The reading was 9 chapters of genealogies and family ties. And as the reading continues through this and the next book, there will continue to be a struggle as the material will be very familiar to us having just read through Samuel and Kings. Chronicles then is a history of Israel/Judah monarchy, much like the books of Samuel through Kings. The fact that Chronicles comes right after 2 Kings, however, is unfortunate. For many there hardly seems to be any sense in reading the long books of Samuel/Kings and then continuing right along and reading “the same thing” in Chronicles. But Chronicles is not merely a repetition of Samuel/Kings; rather, it tells Israel’s story very differently.

In the Hebrew text, Chronicles is at the end of the Old Testament or the very last book of writing, because Chronicles is a retelling of Israel’s monarchy in light of the return from Babylonian exile in 539 BC. Its message is a strong theological statement that claims, despite experiencing God’s punishment through exile, that the God of Israel’s ancestors (those living before the exile) is still with God’s people after the exile. Whatever else may have changed, Yahweh is still Israel’s God. By recording Israel’s history differently from what we read in Samuel/Kings, Chronicles makes a theological point. For example, when compared to Samuel/Kings, Chronicles has its own unique theology that includes things like: a diminishment of David’s sins, an emphasis on unity among the Israelites, an emphasis on the temple and on Solomon’s role in building it, and a theology of “immediate retribution” (not being held responsible for the sins of the ancestors but only for one’s own actions).

Today, 1 Chronicles begins with nine chapters of names in order to connect postexilic Israel to its pre-exilic glory days. For postexilic Israelites, the genealogy made a vital point: it traced Israel’s history from the postexilic period all the way back to Adam. Chronicles is a postexilic rewriting of Israel’s entire history to remind the Israelites that they are still the people of God—regardless of all that has happened, and regardless of how much they deserved every bit of misery they had received.

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set a fire

4/10/2015

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The quote today in the devotional for the daily walk Bible speaks volumes of our faith. “Get on fire for God, and people will watch you burn”. This is a line for what the reading today taught us. The reading today began in chapter 9 with a man running for God to anoint a new King. Then that new King gets on fire for God and kills an entire family and a few idolatrous others kings. King Jehu was definitely on fire for God with His zeal. Then the new king in Judah gets on fire for God and institutes religious reform and reestablishes Yahweh worship. But the sad thing is both of the Kings with zeal for God follow what He wants but do it without heart transformation because neither of them stripped away the idols in place. Yes Jehu strips Baal out of Israel but he does not remove the golden calf and idol worship of God. Joash brings religious reform but never takes down the high places (idol temples) and eventually gets killed by idol worshippers. The reading today reminded me of a song that talks about being set on fire for God. But this songs shows us how to get set on fire for God and actually have it be a heart transformation. The song is, “Set a Fire” by Building 429 and here are the lyrics. Read the lyrics and then meditate on how they are telling us true transformation brings about a zeal for God that actually changes lives completely.

I want a faith that's so alive
 It can be seen
 I want a hope I cannot hide
 Even when I'm weak
 I want a love that speaks the truth
 Of what I believe
 I want You, You're all I need

 Set a fire in me
 Bring me to my knees
 Like a rushing wind
 Consume this heart again
 Set a fire

 Turn a spark inside of me
 To a holy flame
 Melt away all my fear
 It fills me with strength
 Come and bring this heart to life
 'Cause I'm not ashamed
 I want You, You're all I need
 Yeah, I want You, Jesus
 You're all I need!

 Set a fire in me
 Bring me to my knees
 Like a rushing wind
 Consume this heart again
 Set a fire

 Oh, let Your love be a wave of mercy
 Come in me, open up my eyes
 Oh, fill my heart with a passion burning
 Come in me, open up my eyes!

 Set a fire in me
 Bring me to my knees
 Like a rushing wind
 Consume this heart again
 Set a fire!
 Oh, set a fire in me
 Bring me to my knees
 Like a rushing wind
 Consume this heart again
 Set a fire!
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100 Days

4/9/2015

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Congratulations! If you have stayed focused and determined to read God’s Word this year with us, you have read the Bible for 100 days. This is an important milestone because not many followers of Jesus can say they have read His words for this long of a period of time consistently. The amount that is read is not important. So whether you are still in Leviticus or are ahead of the schedule somewhere in 2 Kings or 1 Chronicles, a job well done. If it has been a challenge to read the Word daily, focus on smaller amounts and just read a few verses each day, even only if it is for 5 minutes. Imagine reading 5 verses every day for 100 days…that would mean 500 verses would be read. And I know that a lot can be learned and much transformation can happen with 500 verses. Here is an example. In 2 Kings 4:29 Elisha gives some instructions to his servant, “Tuck your cloak into your belt, take my staff in your hand and run. Do not greet anyone you meet, and if anyone greets you, do not answer”. Elisha is giving instructions for his servant to run as fast as he can to the dead boy and use the staff, which has the power of God, to give the dead boy life. How many times do we run quickly and not get distracted to tell spiritually dead people the Words of God and bring them spiritual life?

So on this 100th day either thank God for the transformation that He has brought you as you have read His Word, or strive to begin reading more and saturating yourself in God’s Word.

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2 Kings 2

4/8/2015

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2 Kings 2:15, “The Spirit of Elijah is resting on Elisha”. As we read through the Old Testament sometimes we forget, in the church today, we have a major advantage in our lives that 99.9% of the people in Israel did not. We, post Jesus and Pentecost (Acts 2), have the Holy Spirit in our lives each minute of each day. This verse shows us that God deemed it necessary for Elijah to have the control and power of the Spirit in his life. The Holy Spirit then goes from Elijah and is transferred over to Elisha for the work of God. Joshua, David, Joseph, Noah, and even most of, if not all of, the Prophets did not have the gift we have today of the Holy Spirit.

Now you might be asking, wait a second, the Holy Spirit was resting on Elijah and he did some amazing miracles with that power for God, does that mean I can perform the same miracles for God today? Or maybe it is more of question in that, if I cannot perform the same miracles as Elijah does that mean I do not have the Holy Spirit in my life? The answers to both of those questions could be yes and no. See, God had a plan and mission for Elijah and a purpose for sending the Spirit on Elijah. God also has a plan for you and me today and also has a purpose for sending the Spirit to live in us too. The question then is, what is the purpose of God? I know one of the purposes for God in sending the Holy Spirit into our lives to live, which is “to make disciples, baptizing them….and teaching them…” (Matthew 28). If God has a purpose for you to perform a miracle like Elijah did, well then, with the power of the Spirit God will perform the miracle through you. But if God has other purposes for your life, then the Holy Spirit will give you power to preform those purposes. The real question that one has to ask is…are you listening to and tapping into the Holy Spirit living inside you as a child of the King?

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Jealousy

4/7/2015

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Jealousy, it is a killer. Jealousy is a killer not only to the person who wants what the other has but it is also a killer for the person who has what is wanted. Yesterday in the reading we read the story of Ahab and his jealousy for Naboth’s vineyard. Come on King Ahab, you have everything you could have ever wanted. You are the King over the people of God. You have more stuff, gold, and possessions than could be asked for. You even have a wife (evil as she was) who cares for you and wants you to be happy. Yet in your jealousy you take from Naboth, who has much less than you do, and let him be killed in the process. So not only was Ahab’s jealousy killing him emotionally and mentally, it also was part of his spiritual death. And this jealousy that ate at Ahab’s soul led to the physical death of Naboth. Worst of all, they were both children of God so they both were experiencing blessings and Ahab was jealous of what God had given to Naboth.



The same is true for us. When we are jealous of our neighbor’s nice car or our friend’s better job or even our cousin’s big house, the jealousy eats away at our soul and leads to emotional, mental, spiritual, and even physical death. And in our jealousy we want the other person removed so we can have what they have. Simply put we want the other person to die so we can have what they have. Now, we would never say that we want them dead but when we are jealous and want it more than they seem to, we are saying we want them to be removed from having that particular thing and given to us. And it gets even worse when we are jealous of our brothers and sisters in Christ. They have a better spiritual gift, or experienced a bigger blessing from God, or are pastor of a bigger church, or got to go on that particular mission trip. We are jealous over what God has given them and forgotten all about what God has given us. And we have no room to be jealous ever, because our Savior, Jesus Christ gave up everything for us to come and give His life for our jealousy of others.

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1 Kings 12-19

4/6/2015

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A few thoughts from the Bible reading this past weekend (I will share some thoughts on today’s reading tomorrow, because if you’re like me with the holiday I am a day behind).

-I find it interesting in that all of the bad kings from 1 Kings 12-19 are bad because they either lead the people to worship images of God (golden calf) or lead the people strait into idol worship of Baal. The only king in all of those chapters who is mentioned as good and pleasing to God is Asa, who is like his great-great grandfather David, in that he worships God alone. This tells me and should be very clear from other Scriptures as well, idolatry is the root of every other single sin we commit. When we commit any sin, it is root in the worship of an idol rather than the worship of God. That means if you want to not sin and struggle with temptation, worship God alone, all the time.

-How many of us have felt like Elijah; exasperated, frustrated, exhausted, all alone, and at the end of your rope? Why does Elijah feel like this? Elijah feels like this because he is only focused on his part in the plan of God. He has lost the big picture of what God is doing, who God is saving, and how God is working in the lives of others besides Elijah’s own. I am convinced this is true for us also. When we focus on our own life and own problems and own needs and even our own way of serving God, we will become exasperated, frustrated, exhausted, all alone, and at the end of your rope. That mean we need to keep our view of how God is working very broad and notice how God is using others and what He is doing in other’s lives.

-“Nothing in my hand I bring, simply to the cross I cling”. This is what Elijah would have said and also King Asa. Anyone who worships God alone and knows that it all rests on Him will have this line as the theme of their life.

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The fall of solomon

4/3/2015

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It is good Friday or as I like to call it, the best Friday ever. I think it is good then, knowing the sacrifice of Christ, that today we read about the idolatry and fall of Solomon. Solomon follows his own flesh and desires, not God’s heart. Solomon’s life is then characterized by the actions of his flesh. People whose lifestyle is characterized by the flesh will not inherit the kingdom of God, for a life so characterized indicates that saving faith is not present in them (Gal. 5:19-21). Believers then, or those who possess saving faith, should “make no provision for the flesh to gratify its desires” (Romans 13:14). Jesus came and died as an atonement for our sins, so that unlike Solomon, we can have the power to put the flesh to death in our bodies. On this day, more than ever we need to remember this atonement and the power it give us. Do not follow Solomon’s example.

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The hint

4/2/2015

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I love how the writer of 1 Kings drops hints of things to come. In the Bible reading today we read about Solomon building and then dedicating the Temple to Yahweh. But the first line of chapter 7 should jump out to us as a hint of things to come. The writer of 1 Kings describes in chapter 6 that it took 7 years to build the temple in all its glory. This Temple to God was considered one of the great wonders of the ancient world. Yet the first line in chapter 7 indicates that it took Solomon 13 years to build his palace. This means the Solomon spent almost twice as long building his own house rather than the house of God. This is a hint for us of things to come as we will see in the reading tomorrow how Solomon follows his own heart and become a full-fleg idolater. But this hint shows us that even as Solomon built the temple he was already becoming an idolater in his heart. That means how much we invest in ourselves rather than in God is an indicator of our heart to us. So you want to know if you are an idolater already? Ask yourself some of these statements.

-I was out late last night so I need to sleep in and catch up on rest.

-I have an event Sunday, so I might have to miss worship.

-My car/house requires a lot of money so I cannot give to church right now.

-I work long hours so I cannot help at church with activities.

-I will see what is left at the end of my paycheck for tithing

-I am exhausted because I am always “doing” things at church

-The worship (singing and teaching) at my church is not the way I like it.

-I cannot tell others about Jesus because they might say/think something about me.

-That church down the street is not doing things the way they should be.

-The pastor was wrong during the sermon, he needs to change.

-There is hope in this country yet.

-I have to follow the rules, and that person is not following them so he is wrong.

-This person/activity/choice is going to save me today and make this day worth something.

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Solomon's kingdom

4/1/2015

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On 3/25, I posted a map of how the Promise Land was divided up between the 12 Tribes. I thought today it would be good, as we begin to read of King Solomon, it would help to see the extent of his kingdom. Here is a map of how big Israel expands under Solomon and in comparison how the land is Israel today.
Picture
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