365 Reflections

Let me speak candidly. Sometimes I wonder if it's more dangerous to start off on the right foot in life and experience God's gracious blessing in the beginning but then always be tempted to leave it behind for the vain things of this world and die in shame. I wonder if it might be preferable to front-load your life with the emptiness of sin and then come around to the Lord's ways having understood both mentally and historically the emptiness and destructive nature of evil.  I think about this as we move from King Hezekiah to his son, King Manasseh - a Father and son with opposite trajectories of faith in God.  The downfall of Hezekiah is eclipsed very quickly toward the end of 2 Chronciles by the rise of his completely immoral and pagan son, Manasseh.  2 Chronicles 33:1–3 (ESV) Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to reign, and he reigned fifty-five years in Jerusalem. 2 And he did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, according to the abominations of the nations...

The kings of Israel's final years seem to resemble in their own spiritual life the reality of the Nation's spiritual life. That is, the older they get, the more tempted they are to develop a proud heart and neglect the worship and purposes of God. This theme repeats in even the great Kings of Judah - such as in the latter part of Hezekiah's life.  2 Chronicles 32:24–25 (ESV) In those days Hezekiah became sick and was at the point of death, and he prayed to the LORD, and he answered him and gave him a sign. 2 5 But Hezekiah did not make return according to the benefit done to him , for his heart was proud . Therefore wrath came upon him and Judah and Jerusalem. Hezekiah had been tremendously helped and saved by God. He was also wonderfully used of Him. He reestablished proper worship and the celebration of Passover. He had called out to God for deliverance from Assyria and God answered him miraculously. He literally brought Israel back from certain doom. He fulfilled God...

Hey readers! My book is finally out! I believe it will give you the tools you need to get moving in the right direction. Don't let worry, fear, and comparison call the shots in your life,  Get a copy and get MOVING WITH GOD! If you’re going to be serious about matters of faith, get ready to experience times of frustration. For faith will be tested in many diverse ways if it is to be proved. Hezekiah is a righteous king in Judah, leading the people back to God from the pagan ways of the foreign nations. He led them back to unity and back to the Passover celebration. He also caused the nation to prosper and grow strong. And you would think that those efforts would be rewarded with peaceful prosperity in perpetuity. Nope.  Look at the very next chapter: 2 Chronicles 32:1 (ESV) After these things and these acts of faithfulness, Sennacherib king of Assyria came and invaded Judah and encamped against the fortified cities, thinking to win them for himself. Sometimes great renewals of...

Hey readers! My book is finally out! I believe it will give you the tools you need to get moving in the right direction. Don't let worry, fear, and comparison call the shots in your life,  Get a copy and get MOVING WITH GOD! Dieting seems to be an American obsession. Someone is always inventing a new and improved way to help people lose weight without losing the opportunity to eat. Or someone is inventing a crazy extreme form of dieting that makes for serious discomfort and pain. We long to eat in a way that most benefits our lives. Where does this desire come from? The Lord.  Remember that the Lord put the man in a garden - a place for food to be grown and enjoyed. We are made to eat and enjoy the blessing of God in our world. But sin has distorted that pleasure in our hearts and lives and made us turn to food for things it was never meant to provide - comfort, fulfillment and escape. Food is for nourishment and enjoyment in the presence of God.  Israel was given a meal ...

Hey readers! My book is finally out! I believe it will give you the tools you need to get moving in the right direction. Don't let worry, fear, and comparison call the shots in your life,  Get a copy and get MOVING WITH GOD! 2 Chronicles 30:1–4 (ESV) Hezekiah sent to all Israel and Judah, and wrote letters also to Ephraim and Manasseh, that they should come to the house of the LORD at Jerusalem to keep the Passover to the LORD, the God of Israel. 2 For the king and his princes and all the assembly in Jerusalem had taken counsel to keep the Passover in the second month— 3 for they could not keep it at that time because the priests had not consecrated themselves in sufficient number, nor had the people assembled in Jerusalem— 4 and the plan seemed right to the king and all the assembly. Hezekiah turns from cleansing the temple and priests to celebrating the Passover. Way back when we began looking at 1 Chronicles we talked about how these two books were instruction manuals for retur...

Hey readers! My book is finally out! I believe it will give you the tools you need to get moving in the right direction. Don't let worry, fear, and comparison call the shots in your life,  Get a copy and get MOVING WITH GOD! In case you think it is a necessary requirement for godly parents to produce godly children, I'd like to turn your attention to the life of Hezekiah. While his father Ahaz was perhaps one of the worst kings in Judah's history, ending his reign by shutting down the temple after giving it's gold to foreign nations for protection, Hezekiah was unlike his father in every single way.  2 Chronicles 29:3–5 (ESV) In the first year of his reign, in the first month, he opened the doors of the house of the LORD and repaired them. 4 He brought in the priests and the Levites and assembled them in the square on the east 5 and said to them, “Hear me, Levites! Now consecrate yourselves, and consecrate the house of the LORD, the God of your fathers, and carry out th...

God has no grandchildren. That's a common refrain of preachers. The idea is that every person is accountable to God for themselves. And that no person can bank on the righteousness of their parents to enter the kingdom of heaven. Consider the lineage of kings from Jotham through Hezekiah in 2 Chronicles. Jotham was a righteous king with a wicked son named Ahaz. Ahaz was a wicked king who had a righteous son named Hezekiah. The reality is, faith is as righteousness is, a personal issue.  And so we turn the page to Ahaz's story. A story that shows the love of God at work in His judgment and discipline of those who are His. 2 Chronicles 28:1–4 (ESV) Ahaz was twenty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. And he did not do what was right in the eyes of the LORD, as his father David had done, 2 but he walked in the ways of the kings of Israel. He even made metal images for the Baals, 3 and he made offerings in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom and...