God is moving – Be Still…

John 6:44 – God Moves

“For no one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them to me, and at the last day I will raise them up.” (John 6:44)

Not only is this a great memory verse, but it is also packed with truths we don’t often reflect on. What did Jesus mean when he said it? Who was he talking to? Those are the kinds of questions that get answered when we look at the context or bigger picture. Always ask, “what can I learn from where this single verse got plucked?”

Context: In this case, there is a lot going on in Chapter 6 of John’s gospel. So many stories of Jesus, including the feeding of the 5,000 with a few fish and loaves of bread, and the memorable episode of Jesus walking on the water. By verse 44, Jesus is responding to a group of people in the crowd who were questioning his reference to himself and eternal life. How could just a “normal” person make such claims? Jesus’ statement to them is bold and very direct. We can glean truth from these words. Continue reading “John 6:44 – God Moves”

2 Chronicles 30:10-27 – Celebrate God!

Read 2 Chronicles 30:10-27

What a celebration! I was holding my breath when Hezekiah made some ‘adjustments” to the rules in place regarding the Passover. But the LORD listened to Hezekiah’s prayer, and there was no punishment. Instead, people were healed, and many people celebrated Passover once more.

Hezekiah made a way for God’s name to be honored. Allegiance to God was restored because people remembered God’s rescue from slavery and provision in the wilderness. It’s important we never forget Jesus’s rescue mission for us.

2 Chronicles 3:1-17 – That’s a LOT of Gold!

Read 2 Chronicles 3:1-17

What a majestic place! We can only imagine what the Lord’s temple looked like from these descriptions. Even more details can be found in 1 Kings 6 and 7. It seems the Chronicler wants to impress his readers with the sheer description, all the way down to golden nails weighing over one pound each! I understand the Chronicler is known to have exaggerated for effect.

Yet the description of the temple exudes opulence. Any structure covered in that much gold with jewels had to be amazing. I can’t even think of a place I’ve visited that would look anything like this. Have you?

1 Chronicles 15:1-29 – Celebrate God!

Read 1 Chronicles 15:1-29

David made sure he handled the movement of the Ark differently this time. He had learned from his mistakes and was sure to receive God’s counsel about the proper way to move the Ark the second time.

It was quite the event. I recently had this story come up for my orphanage Sunday School class, but we read the account in 2 Samuel 6. While similar, the differences are striking. There are three that stood out to me: (1) both accounts of moving the Ark are recorded together by Samuel; (2) the Chronicles account focuses much more on the worship and celebration; and (3) the Samuel text goes into more detail about Michal’s contempt and consequence.

Ezra 5:6-17 – A Spy’s Report

Read Ezra 5:6-17

The saga of the temple’s construction continues. We met Tattenai, the provincial governor, in our last reading. Apparently, he is so troubled by seeing this temple rebuilt that he started interrogating the workers to find out who was in charge. After all, this is a building project he believes is under his jurisdiction, shouldn’t he be able to question it?

This governor seems to be more like an undercover spy looking for a scoop. He took the intel he received from the construction leaders and sent a letter to King Darius. I wonder what Tattenai is afraid of. Perhaps he’ll lose the favor of King Darius should there be a rebellion. Of course, it will take a while for Jerusalem to be rebuilt to its glory and power of the past.