obedience – Be Still…

2 Chronicles 34:14-33 – What a Find!

Read 2 Chronicles 34:14-33

There is so much we can glean from today’s passage, which is very similar to King Josiah’s history in 2 Kings 22. The key piece fueling this story is that a scroll containing God’s law, originally given by God to Moses, has been found. The king is overcome with the news, especially when he has heard the contents of the scroll.

King Josiah humbly acknowledges, seeks God, obeys God, leads others to return to God. He does all these things despite the fact he knows God’s anger is still burning under the surface, promising to bring judgment after Josiah’s lifetime. Hence, there’s a lot going on here to reflect on. Continue reading “2 Chronicles 34:14-33 – What a Find!”

1 Chronicles 29:10-20 – Prayer of Praise

Read 1 Chronicles 29:10-20

Everything belongs to God. “Everything in the heavens and on earth is yours, O Lord, and this is your kingdom. We adore you as the one who is over all things.” I love how David acknowledges God’s majesty in his prayer of praise. The richness of our own prayer life magnifies when we focus on God’s mighty power.

King David sets a great example for the assembly by praying to the LORD like this. David’s praise of God’s goodness flows right into his gratitude for all that God has done and will continue to do. David speaks of our lives as being here for only a moment. In God’s timing, that is most certainly true. Our lives are but a blip on God’s timeline, and yet he loves us so much.

Christmas 🙏 Luke 2:1-7 – Obedience

Read Luke 2:1-7

The Christmas story never gets old. I know people that play Christmas music year round just because of the hope it brings. There is something indescribably special about the miracle of Christ’s incarnation. Knowing that God loved us that much to send his son into this world can leave you speechless if you let it. All our hopes and dreams can be met by that darling infant King.

But the Christmas story is more than the hope and promise of salvation. We shouldn’t be surprised that there are multiple layers of blessing and wisdom we can glean from this story. The lesson we’ll focus on today is Obedience.

Ecclesiastes 8:2-8 – Obedience

Read Ecclesiastes 8:2-8

Who do you obey? Solomon was the third of Israel’s kings, and he would counsel us to obey the king. Does that tell us that people were unruly and not respectful in his day? When I read these words, I thought immediately of King Jesus because that’s who I obey. I don’t think Solomon was referring to God here, however.

For now, I’m going to focus my reflection on obedience to our reigning king, Jesus. He is certainly “backed by great power.” God’s power is without limit. Solomon speaks of death, too, and that segues nicely when we think of the power that raised Jesus from the dead.

Ezra 10 – A Fresh Start

Read Ezra 10

The book of Ezra closes with a plan of cleansing agreed to by the people. Our last reading identified the problem, and we saw Ezra’s response was to earnestly pray. Today’s reading picks up right there with many other people joining Ezra in his lament.

Were you surprised at how easily the people agreed with Ezra? The plan was put in place to remove the pagan spouses from the land to cleanse the land of foreigners who would not share in the devotion to the LORD, respecting his laws and decrees. The purpose of this cleansing was to remove the “poison” of unbelief from spreading.