Today I chatted with an atheist. Sitting here at Starbucks, working on my blog devotionals, I noticed he was reading Karen Armstrong’s The Case For God. I appreciated his honesty: He was an ardent atheist, but was concerned that he was becoming close-minded, so he was exploring perspectives on God’s existence. Most of the books…
thinking about Judas
SCRIPTURE: 2 Chronicles 12 OBSERVATION/APPLICATION: The prophet Shemaiah then met with Rehoboam and Judah’s leaders, who had all fled to Jerusalem because of Shishak. Shemaiah told them, “This is what the Lord says: You have abandoned me, so I am abandoning you to Shishak.” [2 Chronicles 12:5] God is not cruel, He gives us what we ask for; reject…
a price to pay
SCRIPTURE: 2 Chronicles 11 OBSERVATION/APPLICATION: This is what the Lord says: Do not fight against your relatives. Go back home, for what has happened is my doing!’” So they obeyed the message of the Lord and did not fight against Jeroboam. [2 Chronicles 11:4] But all the priests and Levites living among the northern tribes of Israel sided with…
a good shepherd?
SCRIPTURE: 2 Chronicles 10 OBSERVATION/APPLICATION: Three days later Jeroboam and all the people returned to hear Rehoboam’s decision, just as the king had ordered. But Rehoboam spoke harshly to them, for he rejected the advice of the older counselors and followed the counsel of his younger advisers. He told the people, “My father laid heavy burdens on…
was Jesus smart?
SCRIPTURE: 2 Chronicles 9 OBSERVATION/APPLICATION: She exclaimed to the king, ‘Everything I heard in my country about your achievements and wisdom is true! I didn’t believe what was said until I arrived here and saw it with my own eyes. In fact, I had not heard the half of your great wisdom! It is far beyond what…
hiding something?
SCRIPTURE: 2 Chronicles 8 OBSERVATION/APPLICATION: Solomon moved his wife, Pharaoh’s daughter, from the City of David to the new palace he had built for her. He said, “My wife must not live in King David’s palace, for the Ark of the Lord has been there, and it is holy ground.” [2 Chronicles 8:11] To me, this seems so bizarre;…
prone to wander
SCRIPTURE: 2 Chronicles 7 OBSERVATION/APPLICATION: I will reject this Temple that I have made holy to honour my name. I will make it an object of mockery and ridicule among the nations. And though this Temple is impressive now, all who pass by will be appalled. They will ask, ‘Why did the Lord do such terrible things…
turn to Jesus for mercy
SCRIPTURE: 2 Chronicles 6 OBSERVATION/APPLICATION: In the future, foreigners who do not belong to your people Israel will hear of you. They will come from distant lands when they hear of your great name and your strong hand and your powerful arm. And when they pray toward this Temple, then hear from heaven where you live, and…
we have seen His glory
SCRIPTURE: 2 Chronicles 5 OBSERVATION/APPLICATION: At that moment a thick cloud filled the Temple of the Lord. The priests could not continue their service because of the cloud, for the glorious presence of the Lord filled the Temple of God. [2 Chronicles 5:13-14] Today we see God’s glory cloud come over Solomon’s temple. Solomon’s dream of building a shelter…
doing the dishes with Jesus
SCRIPTURE: 2 Chronicles 4 OBSERVATION/APPLICATION: Then he cast a great round basin, 15 feet across from rim to rim, called the Sea. It was 7½ feet deep and about 45 feet in circumference. It was encircled just below its rim by two rows of figures that resembled oxen. There were about six oxen per foot all the…