My New Blog Site

Here's my new blog site: http://whatisthegiftofgod.blogspot.com/ check me out here and please follow if you want!

2 Chronicles 23&24

Chr23

Big bad Jehoiada, chief priest, decides after 7 years to take back the kingdom for the Lord. He devises this plan to take over the Lord's temple, and guess what!, it works. Athaliah, comes to the temple, screaming treason, but is grabbed up by Jehoiada's loyal followers. Jehoiada then proceeds to tear down the house of Baal, and the kingdom seems to be in relative peace.

Chr 24
Joash, the little guy saved back in chapter 22, is now 7, and he becomes king. The word says that he did what was right in sight of the Lord as long as Jehoiada was alive. Joash proceeds to order the temple repaired, but has some trouble from the Levites in doing so. Finally he is able to raise money for the repairs and repairs the temple.

Jehoiada dies and no sooner than he is put in the ground, Joash and the people of Israel turn away from the Lord. They start to serve the Asherim and other idols. Jehoiada's son, Zechariah, speaks out against this movement and tells them that God will judge them for these actions. Joash and the people kill Zechariah. Because of this action, God sends the Arameans to conquer Judah and Jerusalem. Joash dies and the chapter ends.

What I see in all this: There are certain people who follow the Lord and others who follow people. Joash followed Jehoiada, while Jehoiada followed the Lord. This is shown by how quickly Joash turns from the Lord when Jehoiada dies. I am reminded of two scriptures:

1 John 2:27
As for you, the anointing which you received from Him abides in you, and you have no need for anyone to teach you; but as His anointing teaches you about all things, and is true and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you abide in Him.
If you believe in the truth of Jesus Christ, you are given the holy spirit, and by him you have no need to be taught by any other person.

Romans 14:22
The faith which you have, have as your own conviction before God. Happy is he who does not condemn himself in what he approves.
Your faith in God is only between God and you.

I pray that the Lord would continually remind me of this truth and that I would desire to seek him in his word each day.

2 Chronicles 21&22

I have been having trouble for the past while retaining what I read in the morning. I seriously desire to meditate on what I am reading in the morning all day like Joshua:
Joshua 1:8
"This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have success."
So I am trying better to retain what I've read by writing down here on my blog. Hopefully some of you will find it interesting. Please comment on whatever you feel would encourage me (as in Hebrews 3:13).

2 Chronicles 21
After two generations of good kings who sought the Lord and did good in the sight of the Lord, now arises Jehoram who did evil in the sight of the Lord (21:6). This dude was so far from the family tree that he actually murdered all his brothers. People revolted around him and others were led astray by the high country pagans. It seems to me that Jehoram had no clue how to rule. God speaks to him through Elijah and basically says he's gonna die in the midst of a great calamity.

I don't see this side of God today, or my eyes are just not open to it; but God actually punishes people on earth, even before they die, for their miss deeds. That makes total sense to me. Like I said, I don't know if he still does this, but I do know that every day I am alive, God has shown me patience in not killing me in my sleep (Lamentations 3:22-23).

Just for good measure, the chronicler writes that God was faithful in punishing Jehoram to exactly what he said he would do.

2 Chronicles 22
Ahaziah succeeded Jehoram. He was a wicked king, holding his mother's counsel, who taught him to do wicked things (22:3). He also allied Judah with Israel, which was not a good thing at the time because Israel walked wickedly as well.

Jehu, a man anointed by God to execute judgment on Israel and Judah, killed Ahaziah. Athaliah, Ahaziah's mother, then pulled a power move. She killed all of the royal children so that she rule over Judah, but one child, Joash the son of Ahaziah, was saved unknown to Athaliah (22:11).

One lesson I am reminded of through all this is summed up best in psalm 1:
"How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, Nor stand in the path of sinners, Nor sit in the seat of scoffers!"

I pray that my delight is in the Law of the Lord and in seeking his face above all else!

pmpurser.us

Check out the online gospel track I put together at pmpurser.us. Click on the link to http://crescentcay.com/shdwst/index.htm and then click the upper left icon, wait to load, and then click it again. This track was fun going over and a good way to remind myself of the Love God has for us.

Salvation is from the Jews!

Jesus said, "You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews" (John 4:22).

"For they are not all Israel who are descended from Israel; nor are they all children because they are Abraham's descendants, but: " THROUGH ISAAC YOUR DESCENDANTS WILL BE NAMED." That is, it is not the children of the flesh who are children of God, but the children of the promise are regarded as descendants. (Romans 6:6-9)"

Is this talking about spy's inside of Israel. No! It shows that just because some were born to Israel does not give them a right to enter the kingdom of heaven.

"If the first piece of dough is holy, the lump is also; and if the root is holy, the branches are too. But if some of the branches were broken off, and you, being a wild olive, were grafted in among them and became partaker with them of the rich root of the olive tree, do not be arrogant toward the branches; but if you are arrogant, remember that it is not you who supports the root, but the root supports you. You will say then, "Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in." Quite right, they were broken off for their unbelief, but you stand by your faith. Do not be conceited, but fear; for if God did not spare the natural branches, He will not spare you, either. Behold then the kindness and severity of God; to those who fell, severity, but to you, God's kindness, if you continue in His kindness; otherwise you also will be cut off. And they also, if they do not continue in their unbelief, will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again. For if you were cut off from what is by nature a wild olive tree, and were grafted contrary to nature into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these who are the natural branches be grafted into their own olive tree?" (Romans 11:16-24).

Is this talking about olive trees? No! It's talking about the descendants of Israel, of the flesh, and those who have been grafted are... those who believe in Christ. These Christians are brought into the olive tree, that is the true Israel, including those who had gone before that believed God and were credited with Righteousness (Romans 4:3).

So what does this mean for me as a Christian? 1 Timothy 3:16-17 says that this scripture should be able to train me in righteousness and equip me for good works. Let's go back to Romans.

"²⁵For I do not want you, brethren, to be uninformed of this mystery--so that you will not be wise in your own estimation--that a partial hardening has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in;and so all Israel will be saved; just as it is written, "THE DELIVERER WILL COME FROM ZION, HE WILL REMOVE UNGODLINESS FROM JACOB." ²⁷"THIS IS MY COVENANT WITH THEM, WHEN I TAKE AWAY THEIR SINS."²⁸From the standpoint of the gospel they are enemies for your sake, but from the standpoint of God's choice they are beloved for the sake of the fathers;for the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. For just as you once were disobedient to God, but now have been shown mercy because of their disobedience. ³¹so these also now have been disobedient, that because of the mercy shown to you they also may now be shown mercy. ³²For God has shut up all in disobedience so that He may show mercy to all. ³³Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways! ³⁴For WHO HAS KNOWN THE MIND OF THE LORD, OR WHO BECAME HIS COUNSELOR? ³⁵Or WHO HAS FIRST GIVEN TO HIM THAT IT MIGHT BE PAID BACK TO HIM AGAIN? ³⁶For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things To Him be the glory forever. Amen" (Romans 11:25-36).

Following the example and instruction from Paul in this passage, I think that we should keep our focus on 2 things:

1 God' mercy/Our Thankfulness
2 God's Wisdom

And do as Paul called the Philippians to do: "Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice!Let your gentle spirit be known to all men. The Lord is near. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 4:4-7).

For you who are reading this, you should be a Berean: "Now these were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so" (Acts 17:10-11).

Family Life

I have been meditating on several verses lately that have to with Family life. A couple weeks ago a friend of mine shared Matt 25:13-30.

13 “Therefore stay alert, because you do not know the day or the hour. 14 For it is like a man going on a journey, who summoned his slaves and entrusted his property to them. 15 To one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. 16 The one who had received five talents went off right away and put his money to work270 and gained five more. 17 In the same way, the one who had two gained two more. 18 But the one who had received one talent went out and dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money in it. 19 After a long time, the master of those slaves came and settled his accounts with them. 20 The one who had received the five talents came and brought five more, saying, ‘Sir, you entrusted me with five talents. See, I have gained five more.’ 21 His master answered, ‘Well done, good and faithful slave! You have been faithful in a few things. I will put you in charge of many things. Enter into the joy of your master.’ 22 The one with the two talents also came and said, ‘Sir, you entrusted two talents to me. See, I have gained two more.’ 23 His master answered, ‘Well done, good and faithful slave! You have been faithful with a few things. I will put you in charge of many things. Enter into the joy of your master.’ 24 Then the one who had received the one talent came and said, ‘Sir, I knew that you were a hard man, harvesting where you did not sow, and gathering where you did not scatter seed, 25 so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. See, you have what is yours.’ 26 But his master answered, ‘Evil and lazy slave! So you knew that I harvest where I didn’t sow and gather where I didn’t scatter? 27 Then you should have deposited my money with the bankers, and on my return I would have received my money back with interest! 28 Therefore take the talent from him and give it to the one who has ten. 29 For the one who has will be given more, and he will have more than enough. But the one who does not have, even what he has will be taken from him. 30 And throw that worthless slave into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth’”

At first I thought nothing of it, but as the days passed by, I began to notice this dissatisfaction with where I was in life. Life is busy. I want my focus to be on teaching and leading my family, but constantly, I am taken away to find work to provide for these. I am working on the apartment for Rachel or taking the dogs for a walk. My devotions are to these external menial tasks (which need to be done), but I am either not finding time to spend time in the morning with Piper or I am finding time to spend with my wife in word; but I consistently say the wrong thing or am not caring enough, and so our time in the word is not spent in the word, but rather spent discussing how I am not doing it right.

Clearly, I need to spend more time with my family, and Praise the Lord! He has revealed that to me through verses like Proverbs 16:8 - "Better is a little with righteousness Than great income with injustice." - which shows me that my satisfaction should be found in God's righteousness and not in the many things that I acquire to my person if they do come with righteousness.

The above verses in Matthew, the parable of talents, shows me that I have been given some things from the Lord (i.e. children - psalm 127:3 & a wife - proverbs 19:14). These, I will be called to give an answer for at the returning of our Lord, and I DO NOT want to be called "you evil and lazy slave" at his returning. I want to give everything I can to my children and my wife. I want to show Christ to them. Ephesians 5 says that I should love my wife as Christ loved the church, giving himself for her. I want to be this to my wife.

In closing, I want to offer encouragement to you men who have wives. Don't give up speaking the word to your wife, no matter how hateful she is towards you. Seek gentleness (2 timothy 2:24-25) and respect her as a fellow heir and the weaker vessel (1 peter 3:7). Show her the gospel through your actions!

Shalom

Power of God

I am somewhat nostalgic right now. I just got on Facebook for the first time in a while and saw all kinds of new events taking place in my old friends' lives. It seems that life is moving quicker and quicker and it's hard to keep up, I guess. I thank the Lord that it is moving though. Praise God for taking me from that which I was and turning me into that which I am becoming. I pray continually that the Lord would bring new revelations to me that may renew my mind in Him (rom 12:2).

I long and am burdened for others to know him, but my flesh is not strong enough change anything. It's only by God's spirit, the Holy Spirit, that others can be changed. I've been meditating on 1 Thessalonians 5:19. If I consider the power of the spirit to come by the word of God (Eph 6:17), then to quench the spirit in some instances may just be me trying to speak words of wisdom (not coming from the word, 1 cor 1:18-29) as opposed to encouraging others with the word of God, which is truth (john 17:17).

My encouragement to myself and you today is to NOT quench the spirit! It's the power of God (rom 1:16, 1 cor 2:5).