Hard lessons from the Father

In the book of 2 Kings, chapter 13, we start with Jehoahaz, who ruled Israel for seventeen years.  He was a wicked man and the Lord was unhappy with Israel because of it.  He allowed Syria to continuously conquer them.

Then, one day, the Israelite king prayed for the Lord's help.  And He did.  But the Israeli people continued their wicked ways and then He allowed Syria to destroy much of their army.

Why was it that the Lord helped Israel, after they pleaded for help, when they continued their evil ways?  Like an earthly father, the Lord God helped even when he knew they may not have learned their lesson.

Repairing the Temple

In the 12th chapter of 2 Kings, the king Jehoash ruled in Jerusalem for forty years.  He always did what was right in the eyes of the Lord.

The other temples of idols, however, continued to thrive as others made sacrifices.

One day, Jehoash ordered the priests to take all of the money and save it, for the Temple was in need of repairs.  They said they would.  But they did not.  Twenty-three long years went by and then he noticed repairs still had not been done.  He told the priests to take no more money and use what they had to have repairs done.  The priests agreed.  Again, they made no such repairs.

One of the king's secretaries noticed a collection of money at the Temple.  He collected it without the priests knowing and paid workers to repair the Temple.  The workers were honest people and were not asked for an accounting of their work.

My journey in Christ

I've been wanting to write this for quite some time.  Aside from the Bible, I read other Christian books and listen to podcasts from other Christians.  One thing I am torn by is that so many come to Christ with huge questions in their hearts and find the answers through Him.

Me?  Although not absolute, there has never really been a time (I'm sure there were but those times were either short or insignificant) when I didn't doubt God's existence.  I assumed God was real because the Bible said so.

I grew up in a Lutheran church in northwestern Minnesota.  I was confirmed, like my other classmates.

In the early 1990's, I attended Bemidji State University.  It was during my third year (I went to college for 5 years, with a double major and a minor, with tons of student loan debt for my troubles) that a friend of mine introduced me to a Christian group.  Let's call it the IV group--I won't embarrass the group by naming it by name).  This friend, prior to me joining the IV group, had me go through a series of Bible studies.  No problem.  I loved learning about God and Jesus.  Then, when it was done, she said I was born again.

I was confused.  If I was born again, did that mean I wasn't a Christian before?  I surely didn't think so.  Even when I attended the next IV group meeting (every Thursday night. they met) they made a big deal about those just coming to Christ.  Again, I had believed before, so what was the big deal?

My first year with the IV group went fine.  I loved the fellowship, the singing, the Bible studies.  I am still friends with a handful even to this day.  But in my fourth year of college (2nd year with the IV group) that all changed.  There were times I went to the Thursday night fellowship and I was completely ignored.  Seriously.  Even my friends noticed the same thing.

You see, I could have easily blamed God and Christ Jesus for what I experienced--oh, by the way, I suddenly quit going by December or January.  But I didn't stop believing.  It certainly wasn't Jesus's fault that the leaders weren't acting Christ-like.  I blamed them.

Over the years, I've moved to a small town where my wife hailed from and have been a constant member of a local Lutheran church.  Again, I never questioned God's existence.  I did question what He had in store for me.  Then, I met some people who did question God.  I honestly didn't have an answer.  I sought those answers through Christians like Joyce Meyers and Ravi Zacharias--there are others too.

Remember that not all Christians are alike.  Not all are good.  I don't know what caused the leaders in the IV group my second year to behave the way they did.  I forgive them.  I pray that they learned to grow in their own faith.  They may never know the impact they had on me.

Again, none of it was God's fault.

Taste and see

Psalm 34 is very uplifting.  Verse after verse, it spells out the Lord's love for us.  He helps those who are afflicted, whose who suffer.  No one is alone.

Verse 4: "I sought the Lord, and He answered me and delivered me from all my fears."

Verse 6: "This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him and saved him out of all his troubles."

In verse 8, it is written that we should "taste and see that the Lord is good!"

The Lord appears before the righteous and hears their cry.  He is against those who do evil deeds.  And all who seek refuge will find it in God, the Lord Almighty!

A mother's revenge comes back against her

In the 11th chapter, from the book of 2 Kings, we find Athaliah.  She was the mother of Abaziah, who had died.  In revenge, she vowed to kill the rest of the royal family.

She accomplished this task, save for one: Joash.  His aunt, along with a servant, hid him for six long years while Athaliah reigned over the land in all of her wickedness.

In the seventh year, however, Joash came out from hiding and was anointed king in Judah.  He made a covenant with God.  When his mother saw him, she cried out.  He sent servants to take her out of the Lord's house and put her to death.

Then, in accordance with the will of God, he destroyed the house of Baal and had all of the Baal priests put to death.

Joyous proclaiming of your love for the Lord

In the opening verses of Psalms 33, we shout for the Lord, we sing praises to him, we create melodies all in His Holy Name.

Then, we see the Lord's awesome power.  A simple word from Him and great creations were made.  We should all stand in complete awe of His works.

The most interesting line is in verse 10: ". . . he frustrates the plans of the peoples."  One may think that He should grant us what we want.  But He, our Heavenly Father, knows best.  We may have plans for our lives, but God's Plan and ours may not be the same.  Trust in Him.  And sing His praises when you discover those plans.

Jehu's reign of slaughter continued

Jehu continued his slaughtering conquest in the book of 2 Kings, chapter 10.

First, he sought the 70 sons of the Ahab in Samaria.  He contacted the guardians of the sons to gather the best of their people.  These were, of course, Ahab's sons.  Jehu's servants then had them beheaded and their heads put in baskets.

Next, he went to Judah and gathered the relatives of the previous king whom he had slaughtered.  He then had them tossed in a pit and killed.

Lastly, he assembled all of the worshipers of Baal, including the Baal prophets.  He brought them into the house of Baal, then surrounded the house with his armed servants.  Then, all of them were put to the sword.

Once this was complete, and all of the other false worshipers were destroyed, God was pleased with Jehu for his accomplishments.  He reigned over Israel for 28 years.