The Lord sees in your heart

Finishing up chapter 32 from the book of 2 Chronicles, let's start from verse 24.  King Hezekiah became ill.  He prayed and the Lord healed him.

Afterward, Hezekiah did not respond well to the Lord's kindness and awesome power of healing, so God became angry.  Immediately, Hezekiah and his people repented.  They humbled themselves.

God forgave them.

In the final verses of the chapter, something remarkable took place when ambassadors from Babylon came to see him.  The Lord withdrew from Hezekiah to test him and see what was in his heart.  It is not known in this book what happened, but more than likely the events are written out somewhere else in the Bible.

One thing to keep in mind when facing challenges: keep kindness and love in your heart.  Be humble.  Do not be prideful.  No matter what, God always sees what is in your heart.  Place others before you.  And by not being selfish, the Lord will give you gifts beyond your wildest imagination.

Under God's protection

Psalm 61 may be short, with 8 verses, but it is packed and inspirational.

It starts out with the psalmist crying out to the Lord, from the ends of the earth.  Our hearts are overwhelmed.  The Lord leads us to the rock of safety.  No enemies will be able to reach us.

We are all under God's protection.  So give your life over to Him and He will protect you.

Always.

Because we are blessed with His mighty protection, we sign praises to the Lord.

Ignore the mocking of false gods and their followers

Continuing on in the book of 2 Chronicles, chapter 32, king of Judah, Hezekiah, found himself being invaded by the king of Assyria and his grand army.  They broke down many of their walls and were headed toward Jerusalem.

Hezekiah consulted with his advisors and they decided to dam up the waters leading out of the city.  Then, they repaired much of the damage done by their enemies.  He also urged his people not to be afraid.  Despite their enemy having a large army, they are still only men.  With God on their side, He will always aid in their battles.

The king of Assyria mocked Hezekiah's people.  They also mocked God and put their own idols up on pedestals.

Hezekiah and his prophet Isaiah cried out to God, and in verse 21, something amazing happened: the Lord sent an angel (just one!) and completely destroyed the entire Assyrian army, along with its commanders and officers.  That's the power of God in action!

The Assyrian king went home in disgrace, and upon arriving home a few of his sons killed him.

If you're not hearing God, you're not listening

Do you hear God?  When you pray to Him, do you get an answer, whether or not it's the one you're expecting?

Keep in mind, the answer may come in a variety of forms.  Many times, I've asked God for guidance and wisdom, and as soon as the question forms in my mind the answer appears.  God answered it.  It may not be a booming voice from the Heaven for all to hear, but then again in my mind it is.

Answers may also be delayed and come in the form of lessons I've lived through.  In January 2011, my wife and I were in a dire financial situation.  Within a day of each other, we had a van towed away by a repo man and our home foreclosed upon.  By the next month, we worked through both by getting the van back and our home back.  We prayed.  Oh, God, did we pray!

And he answered . . . by not only taking those possessions away from us for a brief time, it strengthened our relationship (both with each other and to God) and gave awareness to our plight to both her parents and mine.  They helped to get us back on track.  And it was a good thing too, because in April, my wife was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia.  She spent most of 2011 in Rochester, MN, at the Mayo Clinic.  She received a stem cell transplant on September 1, 2011.  Although she regained her health by remaining cancer free, she experienced other complications.  Money was raised through a benefit.  The money lasted until December of that year, right at the time she was allowed to go back home.

God answered our prayers.

On January 16, 2020, she passed away and went to the Lord.  He welcomed her into His glorious arms as she was embraced by the Love of Jesus and the Lord.  For months prior to her passing, we prayed.  I prayed.

He answered, "Not yet."

When she did pass, it was the perfect time.  It was after the holidays, it was before many school events that would've torn people away from town, and it was far before the COVID-19 pandemic that the world is experiencing right now.

Remember, God answers your prayers.  Are you listening?

Restore us, O Lord

In Psalm 60, the psalmist stated that God has rejected us, has been angry with us.  But he pleads with God to restore us.

The land has been destroyed.  But we ask God to heal it.

We have walked down the path of evil, and are quite unworthy of His blessing.  But we plead with God to restore us, to save us.

God will trample our foes.

These are trying times, no matter your point of view.  This psalm once again reminds us that if we put our faith into God, praying to Him, He will restore us.

Give, and He will bless you with much more

In the book of 2 Chronicles, chapter 31, the festivities of Passover concluded (this occurred in chapter 30), and all of the people smashed and cut down all of the pagan shrines from across their land.

Then Hezekiah, king of Judah, organized all of the priests and Levites, offered offerings at the gates of the Temple of the Lord, and gave thanks to God.  Hezekiah made personal contributions of animals to be sacrifices at all of the daily offerings, weekly Sabbath festivals, monthly celebrations, and annual festivities, all prescribed by the Lord's Law.

He then required the people of Israel to tithe and to devote themselves fully to the Lord.

The people responded generously, and the amount given grew so great that when Hezekiah saw it he thanked the Lord for the blessed increase.  They had more than enough to eat, with plenty left over.  Gifts were given back to those who served, according to their daily duties at the Temple.

In the end, Hezekiah followed God, worshiped Him, along with his people, and they were successful because of it.

In these trying times, it may your first instinct to horde everything you have, demanding more, and not offer to help others in need.  But in reading this chapter, God will provide, if you put your complete trust and faith in our Lord.  Trust in Him completely.

And you too will be successful.

Come together and celebrate the Lord

In the book of 2 Chronicles, chapter 30, Hezekiah, king of Judah, invited everyone to celebrate Passover in Jerusalem, to celebrate all that the Lord had done for them.

At that time, Passover was a month after it usually was, but it was necessary to purify all of the priests and allow everyone to gather together for the grand celebration.

Runners went all across the land, welcoming everyone together.  Hezekiah wanted all to not be like their ancestors who abandoned God.  The celebration was to proclaim their love and worship God, who was gracious and merciful.

The celebration was one that had not been seen since the days of Solomon.  It lasted many days.  It was a joyous occasion.

God the Rescuer

In Psalm 59, one word is repeated over and over: rescue.

And of the many titles one can place on God, this Psalm gives him the moniker of the Rescuer.

The first two verses asks God to both rescue and protect us from our enemies, criminals, murders.  Our enemies are fierce, laying in wait for us, preparing their attack.

But God will punish our enemies and rescue us from their attacks.

Their attacks can come in a variety of forms, from the physical to verbal.  An interesting verse, twelve, says, "let them be captured by their pride."  Their own arrogance will be their downfall.

In the final verse, seventeen, God is our refuge and He shows us His unfailing love.

Cleaning out the junk

In the book of 2 Chronicles, chapter 29, we come upon the new king of Judah, Hezekiah.

During his very first month of his reign, he reopened the Temple of the Lord and ordered them to be repaired.  Then, he gathered all of the Levites, for they were the keepers of the Temple.  He ordered them to remove all items unholy from the Temple, all pagan symbols and idols, and offered burnt offerings to the Lord.

They knew that the Lord's wrath was upon them for what their ancestors had done, and Hezekiah wanted to right this wrong.  He made a covenant with the Lord.

They immediately began work on the Temple, restoring it back to its original condition.  They worked so hard that it was completed in sixteen days.  They then offered sacrifices in the name of the Lord.  But the number of people coming to the Temple were so great that the relatives to the Levites had to help out.

The people rejoiced in what the Lord had done for them.

No matter your past, you can always turn to the Lord by cleansing your spirit.  Ask God to place your life in His hands, to accept Jesus into your heart and soul, and clean out the junk of the past.  Get rid of it and find the glory of God.

Don't be messing with the Lord

In the book of 2 Chronicles, chapter 28, a few lessons can be gleaned from it.

In the first part, we have the new king of Judah, Ahaz, who did not follow in his ancestor's footsteps by doing what was right in the Lord.  He worshiped many of the pagan idols that had been wiped out before.  Because of this, the Lord allowed his armies to be defeated, killing hundreds of thousands of his best warriors, and a great amount of plunder was taken back to Israel.

But as these armies of Israel returned home, the prophet Oded confronted them, telling them that they had gone too far, not given enough mercy, and ordered them to return the prisoners and plunder.  This was the will of God.  He was angry with them.  So they did as the Lord commanded.  They even gave them clothing, sandals, food, drink, and even donkeys for those too weak to walk.  They gave grace.

Back in Judah, king Ahaz asked the king of Assyria for help.  But instead of helping, Assyria plundered the Lord's Temple, the royal palace, and the homes of his officials.  Even in times of trouble, Ahaz was not humble toward God.  He continued to reject the Lord, and because of it he was not buried with his ancestors upon his death.

As those in Israel saw the err of their ways, king Ahaz did not.  Be humble before the Lord.  Do not reject him.  God will grant you the grace the Israelites did if you see where you have strayed.

God provides justice

Rulers may not judge their people fairly.  They may have a twisted meaning to the word justice (or, in other words, passing judgement).

In Psalm 58, the theme revolves around justice.

In the verses, it talks about how people were born sinners, liars, while ignoring those who may try to lead them on the correct path.

But God can break the fangs off any snake, crush a lion's jaws, and make them all disappear like water into dry, thirsty soil.  God is the only one to provide swift justice.  Those who worship the Lord rejoice in His ways.  They will have the finest reward as He judges those with his divine justice.

Do what is right in God (don't bow down to peer pressure)

In the book of 2 Chronicles, chapter 27, we discuss Jotham, the king of Judah.

Unlike his predecessors, he reigned for only sixteen years, a relatively short period of time.  The chapter is also short, in nine verses, but the message in those nine verses speaks volumes.

First, Jotham did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, just like his father Uzziah.  But unlike his father, he never entered the Lord's Temple.  Around him though, his people continued in their evil, corrupt ways.

Jotham conquered the Ammonites, and rebuilt many walls and constructed many towns.  He became very powerful and was careful to live in obedience to God.  He never bowed down to peer pressure nor did he become arrogant with his power, like his father.

In the end, he lived a fruitful life, regardless of those around him.

Remember the lessons learned from Jotham as you go through life.  Don't let peer pressure to do what is not right in the eyes of the Lord get to you.