God Is Pleased With Integrity - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him and what came to my heart and mind in 1 Chronicles 29:17,

"I know, my God, that you test the heart and are pleased with integrity."

This is from David's prayer to the Lord following the overwhelming response of the assembly to David's request of their "consecration" to provide for the construction of the temple his son, Solomon, was to build for the Lord.

In his prayer he observed that all that was given by the people for the construction of the temple had come from what the Lord himself had blessed the people of Israel with, "we have given you only what comes from your hand", verse 14. He expressed his joy to the Lord over the heartfelt response of the Israelites, "And now I have seen with joy how willingly your people who are here have given to you", verse 17. Additionally he expressed his humility over this opportunity he and the nation had been given by the Lord to provide for the building of the temple, "But who am I, and who are my people, that we should be able to give as generously as this?" Verse 14.

What catches my eye this morning is the recognition David had that when it comes to our commitment to the Lord, when it comes to our giving to the Lord, when it comes to our devotion to the Lord, the Lord knows and sees it in our hearts. Fake devotion, whether through our giving to him, our involvement in worship services, or simply our living for the Lord - won't do. He knows our hearts and he knows our sincerity. Conversely, when we give ourselves and what we have to the Lord in sincerity, he sees and notes that as well.

As David notes, God is pleased with integrity!

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just respond and let me know.

Something Unavoidable: God Is At Work - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him and what came to my heart and mind in 1 Chronicles 21:14,

"So the Lord sent a plague on Israel, and seventy thousand men of Israel fell dead."

David counted his fighting men, thereby expressing his faith in his army's strength and not in the Lord who had been providing him so many military victories. We are told that God punished Israel for it, verse 7.

Following this punishment, David repented and prayed, "I have sinned greatly by doing this. Now, I beg you, take away the guilt of your servant. I have done a very foolish thing." Verse 8.

In response God gave David three options - none of which was any possibility of avoiding God's impact on the nation for David's actions: three years of famine, three months of military losses or three days of plague in the land. David chose the third option and we are told seventy thousand men of Israel died from it.

I note that God's plague for David's actions followed David's repentance. I suspect the cause for the plague was something beyond that repentance, that the Lord wanted to impact the whole nation with a key lesson: faith is important and carries with it the issues of life and death.

Sometimes the Lord has on his agenda something beyond our repentance. For us today, passages in this regard my include Romans 5:3, "we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope." Or, perhaps Hebrews 12:10-11, "God disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share in his holiness. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it."

These are unavoidable things. God is at work.

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just respond and let me know.

Near-Term and Far-Term Fulfillment of Prophecy - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him and what came to my heart and mind in 1 Chronicles 17:11,

"When your [David's] days are over and you go to be with your ancestors, I [the Lord] will raise up your offspring to succeed you, one of your own sons, and I will establish his kingdom."

David wanted to build a temple for God in Jerusalem, but the Lord decided it would be David's son, Solomon who would build a temple. As the Lord told this to David through the prophet Nathan, the Lord told David that the Lord himself would build a "house" for David.

"I [the Lord] declare to you [David] that the Lord will build a house for you: When your days are over and you go to be with your ancestors, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, one of your own sons, and I will establish his kingdom. He is the one who will build a house for me, and I will establish his throne forever. I will be his father, and he will be my son. I will never take my love away from him, as I took it away from your predecessor. I will set him over my house and my kingdom forever; his throne will be established forever." 1 Chronicles 17:10-14.

Here we see both a near-term and a far-term fulfillment of prophecy. Through Nathan the Lord said he would raise up a son of David and establish his kingdom - this is a reference to Solomon, "one of your own sons." But further, "I will set him over my house and my kingdom forever; his throne will be established forever." This is a reference to David's descendant, Jesus Christ.

Prophecy in the Scriptures often has both a near-term and a far-term fulfillment. Often (not always) we see a near term prophecy that is fulfilled to confirm a broader and bigger prophecy whose fulfillment is yet to come. In this case the far-term is currently under development and headed our way.

Fascinating, isn't it?!

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just respond and let me know.

Our Magnificent Lord! - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him and what came to my heart and mind in 1 Chronicles 16:27,

"Splendor and majesty are before him [the Lord]; strength and joy are in his dwelling place."

I love this verse! What an observation David makes here of the Lord! This verse is a part of the praise David appointed for Asaph and his worship team. Splendor, majesty, strength and joy!

Here is how Merriam-Webster defines these terms:

Splendor: "Great brightness or luster, brilliancy, magnificence and pomp." Synonyms include: grandeur, nobility, resplendence, splendidness, stateliness.

Majesty: "Sovereign power, authority or dignity. Royal bearing or aspect: grandeur." Synonyms include: augustness, kingliness, royalty, stateliness.

Power: "The quality or state of being strong. Capacity for exertion or endurance. Power to resist force: solidity, toughness. Power of resisting attack: impregnability." Synonyms include: energy, firepower, force, might, muscle, potence, vigor.

Joy: "The emotion evoked by well-being, success, or good fortune, or by the prospect of possessing what one desires: delight. A state of happiness or felicity: bliss. A source or cause of delight." Synonyms include: blessedness, bliss, gladness, happiness"

Such is the nature of God's neighborhood! Such is the way it is near him and in his presence! All because these are the observable realities surrounding our magnificent Lord!

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just respond and let me know.

A Choice Is Required - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him and what came to my heart and mind in 1 Chronicles 9:1,

"They were taken captive to Babylon because of their unfaithfulness."

"Unfaithfulness" is defined by Merriam-Webster as "not adhering to vows, allegiance, or duty". It is an indictment of omission. Israel failed to put her trust and faith in God and so the northern ten tribes were destroyed by Assyria and the southern two by the Babylonians, who took the remnant left into a captivity that lasted seventy years.

The unfaithfulness of Israel led them into a rejection of their God and a headlong pursuit of idolatry. As is often the case, when the Lord is not pursued, something else will be that leads to destruction.

This morning it occurs to me that all it takes to find ourselves spending an eternity in hell, is to simply fail to do one very important thing - fail to place our faith and trust in Jesus Christ. We don't even need to pursue idols as Israel did, we don't need to engage in sinful activity - all we need is to fail to put our faith and trust in Jesus Christ. By not choosing to do so brings us eternal judgment. Just sitting there and doing nothing is enough to disqualify us for heaven.

The purpose of this life is to sift mankind. Those who choose God inherit a place in God's family. Those who fail to choose God miss that opportunity.

The line of reasoning, "I'm not so bad" misses the point altogether. Doing nothing is fatal. Each and every one of us needs to act on the gospel invitation - failure to respond in faith and trust by the end of our earthly life brings damnation.

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just respond and let me know.

Why All This History in Chronicles? - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him and what came to my heart and mind in 2 Chronicles 36:20-21,

"He [Nebuchadnezzar] carried into exile to Babylon the remnant [of Judah], who escaped from the sword, and they became servants to him and his successors until the kingdom of Persia came to power. The land enjoyed its sabbath rests; all the time of its desolation it rested, until the seventy years were completed in fulfillment of the word of the Lord spoken by Jeremiah."

This last chapter of 2 Chronicles documents the ignoble end of the rule of Judah's kings just prior to the Lord's judgment of the nation. The northern ten tribes had been destroyed by Assyria over a century earlier (722 BC) and now Judah's demise (586 BC) comes at the hands of Babylon - at the Lord's determination.

The chapter brings us the inevitable result of a people who had turned their back on God to pursue their own imaginings. The lies of false idol worship, the rejection of the one true God of Abraham, Issac and Jacob led to their downfall.

From our perspective, it is easy to see the self-destructive direction Israel had taken, together with the inescapable judgment the Lord brought on her as we read through Israel's history in the books of Judges, Samuel, Kings and Chronicles. It is a history of sin, rebellion, and the wanton embrace of the dark spiritual forces that remain in the world with us yet today.

On the other hand, it is a history of God working with sinful man, expressing his expectations of his covenant people Israel, and his shaping of events in that milieu for his own redemptive purposes-- to bring about the circumstances he desired for the arrival of his Son, Jesus Christ, to reconcile a rebellious world to himself. Every piece of this history is a building block that fits into the precision of God's magnificent plan to reach out to the world he loves so much. This history is the account of God acting on what we read in John 3:16, "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."

Through God's various judgments of Israel and his involvement with other nations, he manipulated the set of events that would result in the perfect timing and circumstances to bring his Son into the world as a sin offering for us all. An offering that brings us a right standing with God if we but embrace him in faith, "Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God..." John 1:12.

And... God is not done with Israel yet!

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just respond and let me know.

The Lord is God of all the Nations of the Earth - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him and what came to my heart and mind in 2 Chronicles 35:21-22,

"'What quarrel is there, king of Judah, between you and me? It is not you I am attacking at this time, but the house with which I am at war. God has told me to hurry; so stop opposing God, who is with me, or he will destroy you.' Josiah, however, would not turn away from him, but disguised himself to engage him in battle. He would not listen to what Necho had said at God's command but went to fight him on the plain of Megiddo."

Josiah was Judah's last good king. He had turned the nation from idolatry, repaired the temple and reestablished the temple worship in Jerusalem. However, following those things, we see Josiah engaging in a military action against the Lord's wishes. It cost Josiah his life.

What is interesting in this account is that we see the Lord's hands in the affairs of nations outside of God's chosen people. Egypt went up to attack Assyria at God's command and Josiah of Judah intervened as a vassal of Assyria. Necho, king of Egypt told Josiah to back off, that the Lord had sent him on this military incursion. The Scripture says, "He [Josiah] would not listen to what Necho had said at God's command but went to fight him on the plain of Megiddo."

Here we see God's involvement in nations outside Israel (Egypt and Assyria), and his actions to bring about his desires for that part of the world.

Some have a mistaken notion that the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is only concerned with Israel and the church. Nothing could be further from the truth. All nations belong to the Lord and all nations are impacted by God's agenda - God is involved with all the nations of the world. This is why Psalm 47 speaks not to just the future, but also to the place God holds among the nations today:

"God has ascended amid shouts of joy,
    the Lord amid the sounding of trumpets.
Sing praises to God, sing praises;
    sing praises to our King, sing praises.
For God is the King of all the earth;
    sing to him a psalm of praise.

God reigns over the nations;
    God is seated on his holy throne.
The nobles of the nations assemble
    as the people of the God of Abraham,
for the kings of the earth belong to God;
    he is greatly exalted." Psalm 47:5-9.

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just respond and let me know.

The Impact of the Scriptures - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him and what came to my heart and mind in 2 Chronicles 34:19,

"When the king [Josiah] heard the words of the Law, he tore his robes.

Josiah was the sixteenth of twenty kings Judah had following the split in Israel after Solomon. He was also the last good king Judah would see. The following four kings were all bad in the sight of God.

Josiah became king when he was eight years old. We are told he began to seek the Lord when he was sixteen years old. At twenty years of age he began to rid the nation of the idol worship his worthless predecessors brought to the nation. When Josiah was twenty-six years old he had the temple purified and arranged for its repair.

When the repairs were being made to the temple, the "Book of the Law of the Lord" was discovered as the nation had previously abandoned the Lord together with his word.

As the Scripture was being read to him, Josiah "tore his robes" in bereavement over what he learned. The nation lived one way and the Lord had expectations that went another way.

I find the Scriptures often have that kind of impact. In our sinful condition, we go our own way. Then, when we take a change of heart toward the Lord, we discover through his word that we need to make some changes.

In Josiah's case, he sent his officials to a prophetess to inquire of the Lord as to what they had found written in the Scriptures. Josiah embraced what the Lord had to say and "The king stood by his pillar and renewed the covenant in the presence of the Lord—to follow the Lord and keep his commands, statutes and decrees with all his heart and all his soul, and to obey the words of the covenant written in this book." Verse 31.

We don't require a prophet or prophetess today to tell us what to do. The Scriptures now contain all we need to know.

May we all pick up our Bibles and respond as King Josiah did in his day!

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just respond and let me know.

An Intolerable Condition Within - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him and what came to my heart and mind in 2 Chronicles 33:1-6,

"Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem fifty-five years. He did evil in the eyes of the Lord, following the detestable practices of the nations the Lord had driven out before the Israelites. He rebuilt the high places his father Hezekiah had demolished; he also erected altars to the Baals and made Asherah poles. He bowed down to all the starry hosts and worshiped them. He built altars in the temple of the Lord, of which the Lord had said, 'My Name will remain in Jerusalem forever.' In both courts of the temple of the Lord, he built altars to all the starry hosts. He sacrificed his children in the fire in the Valley of Ben Hinnom, practiced divination and witchcraft, sought omens, and consulted mediums and spiritists. He did much evil in the eyes of the Lord, arousing his anger."

Look at the evil King Manasseh engaged in! Following his godly father before him, Hezekiah, a very good king, Manasseh turned Judah into a hell-hole of moral depravity.

Such is the nature of our sinful condition. We might have the very best of godly behavior modeled for us (Manasseh did with his father Hezekiah), yet that sinful proclivity percolates in every fiber of our being.

In Romans 8:7 we read, "The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God's law, nor can it do so. Those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please God." This certainly describes what we see with Manasseh. But it isn't just Manasseh. We read in Romans 3:9-18,

"For we have already made the charge that Jews and Gentiles alike are all under the power of sin. As it is written:

'There is no one righteous, not even one;
     there is no one who understands;
    there is no one who seeks God.
All have turned away,
    they have together become worthless;
there is no one who does good,
    not even one.'
'Their throats are open graves;
    their tongues practice deceit.'
'The poison of vipers is on their lips.'
     'Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.'
 'Their feet are swift to shed blood;
     ruin and misery mark their ways,
 and the way of peace they do not know.'
     'There is no fear of God before their eyes.'"

This is all of us! We may not be doing the things King Manasseh did, but we are given over to that deplorable sinful nature nonetheless.

No wonder Jesus told Nicodemus we need to be born again! No simple renovation will help us. No simple turning over a new leaf will help us.

We need rebirth to overcome that sinful condition we are all born into since the fall of Adam and Eve in the garden.

That rebirth is what takes place when we embrace Jesus Christ in our lives through faith.

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just respond and let me know.

Be Strong and Take Confidence in Our God! - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him and what came to my heart and mind in 2 Chronicles 32:14b,

"How then can your god deliver you from my hand?"

These words were spoken by Sennacherib, the King of Assyria against the God of King Hezekiah of Judah.

When word came to Hezekiah that Sennacherib was invading Judah, he encouraged the people by telling them, "Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or discouraged because of the king of Assyria and the vast army with him, for there is a greater power with us than with him. With him is only the arm of flesh, but with us is the Lord our God to help us and to fight our battles." Verses 7-8.

Hearing what Hezekiah had told his people, Sennacherib tried to shake the confidence of the people of Judah by reminding them of all of his conquests, and that the God of Judah could not possibly save them from his hand.

Where Sennacherib had conquered pagan nations whose "gods" could not save them, Judah's God was the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Here is what happened: "King Hezekiah and the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz cried out in prayer to heaven about this. And the Lord sent an angel, who annihilated all the fighting men and the commanders and officers in the camp of the Assyrian king. So he withdrew to his own land in disgrace. And when he went into the temple of his god, some of his sons, his own flesh and blood, cut him down with the sword." Verses 20-21.

Sennacherib had no idea who he had aligned himself against. In his arrogance of not knowing, he attempted to challenge the confidence of God's people.

While we are not facing the same type of context as Hezekiah and the people of Judah in his day, the very same thing takes place today. People who do not know God attempt to shake the confidence of God's people.

Every vestige of God's presence in our nation is under attack. Copies of the commandments of God are removed from courtrooms. Christmas displays in the pubic square are removed, coaches are fired for daring to pray with their students before games, and on and on. Those who are on the attack have no idea who it is they are opposing. One day they will. 

God's people have no cause for fear, no cause for dismay today. Just as in Hezekiah's day, our God stands by our side.

Take heart and be encouraged!

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just respond and let me know.

What Made Hezekiah Incredibly Successful - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him and what came to my heart and mind in 2 Chronicles 31:3-4,

"The king [Hezekiah] contributed from his own possessions for the morning and evening burnt offerings and for the burnt offerings on the Sabbaths, at the New Moons and at the appointed festivals as written in the Law of the Lord. He ordered the people living in Jerusalem to give the portion due the priests and Levites so they could devote themselves to the Law of the Lord."

I note in both these consecutive verses a reference is made to the "Law of the Lord". Hezekiah was instrumental in bringing what was left of the nation back to the Lord by cleansing and consecrating the temple, reestablishing the temple worship, and re-instituting the Law of the Lord in the land. King Hezekiah stands out as a wonderful leader in the history of the nation of Israel.

"The Law of the Lord" refers to what we have in our Bibles. The first five books, the "Pentateuch", written down by Moses (and, no, not some scissors and paste extravaganza envisioned by unbelievers who hold to the J, E, P, D theory of its origin, the "documentary hypothesis" in a ridiculous attempt to discredit Moses' writings) provides direction in the reforms Hezekiah brought to the nation - reforms to put the nation back on course with what the Lord intended for his people.

King Hezekiah took direction from the Bible. 

As believers today, rather than "rolling-our-own" flavor of what we might imagine our Creator may want from us, we need to use the Scriptures for the purposes God revealed them in the first place. We only need to know what our Bibles have to say and give ourselves to what they have to say.

Of course, this means we need to crack them open and read for ourselves what the Lord has to say. I can't think of a better use of our time.

Hezekiah did.

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just respond and let me know.

This Is Why We Pray! - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him and what came to my heart and mind in 2 Chronicles 30:18-20,

"Although most of the many people who came from Ephraim, Manasseh, Issachar and Zebulun had not purified themselves, yet they ate the Passover, contrary to what was written. But Hezekiah prayed for them, saying, 'May the Lord, who is good, pardon everyone who sets their heart on seeking God—the Lord, the God of their ancestors—even if they are not clean according to the rules of the sanctuary.' And the Lord heard Hezekiah and healed the people."

This passage is not one to be overlooked!

Just following Assyria's devastation of the northern ten tribes of Israel, Hezekiah became king of Judah. At the start of his reign he turned the people from idolatry to the Lord. He had the temple cleaned of the ritual filth that the previous idolatry had brought, had it consecrated and restored the temple worship. Hezekiah then sent out messengers throughout Judah and to all those remaining in Israel after the Assyrian destruction to invite everyone to come to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover and worship the Lord.

In our above passage we see that many had not purified themselves first (a ritual cleansing required by the Lord) but celebrated the Passover nonetheless. Where in the past the Lord had brought his judgment on those who ignored the Lord's prescriptions in such issues (such as when King Uzziah entered the temple to burn incense, when only priests were allowed and the Lord subsequently struck him with leprosy, 2 Chronicles 26:16-21), Hezekiah prayed to the Lord to pardon those who had not ceremonially cleansed themselves before eating the Passover.

The Lord answered Hezekiah's prayer and "healed the people"! Here is yet another example of one of the Lord's servants praying to the Lord, and the Lord changing his direction as a result. No other understanding can be gleaned from this passage than that the Lord responds to prayer and will at times take another direction that he might normally have taken.

This is why we pray!

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just respond and let me know.

Priorities Acted Upon In Timely Fashion - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him and what came to my heart and mind in 2 Chronicles 29:3-6,

"In the first month of the first year of his reign, he [King Hezekiah] opened the doors of the temple of the Lord and repaired them. He brought in the priests and the Levites, assembled them in the square on the east side and said: 'Listen to me, Levites! Consecrate yourselves now and consecrate the temple of the Lord, the God of your ancestors. Remove all defilement from the sanctuary.'"

King Hezekiah was Judah's thirteenth king following the dividing of Israel into two kingdoms. He was a good king and was recognized for turning Judah back to the Lord after his father's rebellion.

I note that Hezekiah took this action at the beginning of his reign in Judah. "In the first month of the first year of his reign..." Priorities! Some things in life should precede others, and worship of the Lord rises to the top. The people rejoiced when the temple worship was restored so quickly.

Of course, it brings to my mind the priorities I set for myself personally. Where does the worship of my Savior fit into the things that consume my life? Where does my pursuit of him in prayer and in the Scriptures fit into the things that consume my life? Where does my reverence and devotion for the Lord fit into the things that consume my life?

I suspect this question of myself should be a perennial one that helps me order my life in a way that pleases my Lord as I establish my own priorities - priorities that are acted upon in a timely fashion as Hezekiah did.

I'm quite certain Hezekiah would ask, "What is so important? Why wait?"

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just respond and let me know.

God Responds to Opposition - Ruminating in the Things of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him and what came to my heart and mind in 2 Chronicles 27:5a,

"Therefore the Lord his God delivered him [King Ahaz of Judah] into the hands of the king of Aram. The Arameans defeated him and took many of his people as prisoners and brought them to Damascus."

Ahaz, Judah's twelfth king, earned the Lord's wrath because, "He followed the ways of the kings of Israel..." He practiced pagan idolatry, sacrificed his own children in fiery offerings to non-existent "gods" and a number of other things that brought misery to the entire nation.

God responded.

How is it assumed today that when horrible things happen, God has nothing to do with them? God had his purpose for Judah in Ahaz's day, and when Ahaz took the nation in another direction God responded.

We are told that there is no authority that exists on planet earth that God has not established. "... for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God." Romans 13:1. It sounds to me that God is every bit involved in nations today as he has ever been.

If this be true (and it certainly is!) then might we not expect God to interact with various nations, such as ours? When we turn our collective back on God, why would we not expect God to respond?

Today God is building his kingdom. In that effort God created the nations we have just for that purpose, "From one man he [God] made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands. God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us." Acts 17:26-27

When a nation veers in a direction that is opposed to the building of God's family, his kingdom, why would we not expect him to respond in the very same manner he has in the past to those who opposed him?

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just respond and let me know.

Seeking the Lord - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him and what came to my heart and mind in 2 Chronicles 26:5b,

"As long as he [King Uzziah] sought the Lord, God gave him success."

Uzziah was Judah's tenth king following Israel's split. He is considered one of Judah's eight good kings, but as some of the other "good kings", not consistent throughout his life.

We are told in verse 8, "The Ammonites brought tribute to Uzziah, and his fame spread as far as the border of Egypt, because he had become very powerful." That power led to his eventual fall. We read in verse 16, "But after Uzziah became powerful, his pride led to his downfall. He was unfaithful to the Lord his God, and entered the temple of the Lord to burn incense on the altar of incense.

Burning incense in the temple was assigned by God to the priests of Israel, not the king. His pride led to his destruction. As he stood in the temple with a censer ready to light, he was struck with leprosy and eventually died from it.

"When Azariah the chief priest and all the other priests looked at him, they saw that he had leprosy on his forehead, so they hurried him out. Indeed, he himself was eager to leave, because the Lord had afflicted him. King Uzziah had leprosy until the day he died. He lived in a separate house— leprous, and banned from the temple of the Lord. Jotham his son had charge of the palace and governed the people of the land."

The key to the successes Uzziah had was directly due to his seeking the Lord, and the failure of his life was directly due to his ignoring the Lord's desires.

It is my firm belief that we share in the successes of God's people when we seek him. Conversely, when we cease seeking the Lord, those successes slip from our hands. Jesus taught, "seek first his [God's] kingdom and his righteousness".

The writer of Hebrews tells us, "without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him." Hebrews 11:6.

Success in this life is directly related to our efforts at seeking the Lord.

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just respond and let me know.

The Level of Our Passion for the Lord - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him and what came to my heart and mind in 2 Chronicles 25:,

"He [King Amaziah of Judah] did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, but not wholeheartedly."

An example is provided us that manifested King Amaziah's concern for following the Lord. When he executed the officials who had murdered his father, he did not put their children to death in deference to the Law given Moses.

However, he also did some things that displayed a lack of total commitment to the Lord. He hired a hundred thousand fighting men from the rebellious northern ten tribes of Israel, a move that prompted the Lord to send a prophet with a warning. He also seized the idols of Edom and set them up as his own gods, verse 14.

Amaziah was inconsistent in his devotion to the Lord. Jesus observed that the greatest command was, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment." Matthew 22:37-38. Clearly, Amaziah fell far short in his heart for the Lord.

In his letter to the Laodiceans, Jesus said, "I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth." Revelation 3:15-16.

Perhaps we would do well to take stock from time to time and measure our own devotion to the Lord. From our daily schedules to the allocation of our resources, how does our passion for the Lord measure up?

Our reverence, our devotion, our passion for the Lord should be clear to all. Something to think about...

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just respond and let me know.