God is doing a NEW thing! He’s outpouring His Spirit onto
all peoples of the earth who receive Him with a sincere heart. What an
incredible time it is to be living for the one and true God. Yes, the world is
dark. But the Church is glorious!
I believe that we’re in the Last Days. We’ve recently
celebrated the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ on this past
Christmas. God has greatly provided for my family this holiday. He answered
every one of my prayers! I’m so blessed by Him. But something dawned on me this
season… Jesus Christ was the promised Messiah that was spoken into existence by
the prophets in Ancient times. Thousands of years later, Jesus Christ was born
into the world and then He died and rose again. Today, we read about this great
history in our Bibles. Friends, this has already been fulfilled thousands of
years ago! So this means we’re closer today than ever before to the return of
our Savior!
The Bible is an incredible book! As I read through 2
Kings, I began to see how God chose Israel and set His people apart so that the
world could come to know Him through them. Meaning, these people were to be a
holy people who didn’t live like anyone else in the world. They were to be
blessed, divinely protected and provided for. They were also designed to be
victorious and successful in all of their endeavors. Why? Because these people
were a reflection of the Lord. Their lives had to be like God’s. They were to
be the light in the world so that other people would want to be like them too!
I believe that we serve the same God as them and have the
same high calling on our lives. We serve the same God and He’s the same today
as He was back then. He doesn’t change. Sure, we may be living under a new
covenant (grace and not the Law) but God is still God. He deserves honor, our
praise, our love and our faithfulness.
So I view the Bible as a book for believers. God is
speaking to HIS people. We can’t even understand it or make use of it if we’re
not saved. So therefore, the Bible becomes a tool for those that believe.
My husband says that discipline is a form of love. God
loves us so He disciplines us because we’re His children. We get out of line at
times, so our Father corrects us so that we may avoid suffering and evil. God
doesn’t tolerate evil because He is holy. Therefore, He requires holiness from
His people. Christ in us makes us holy. We cannot be holy apart from Him. We
must yield ourselves to the Holy Spirit so that we can walk according to God’s
Way. We must also renew our minds to the Word so that we can transform our
lives and resemble Jesus’.
In 2 Kings, I sadly read that very few kings served the
Lord faithfully. A bunch of them did evil in the sight of God, therefore,
leading others astray and causing judgment to fall onto them. (The gospel says
that it’s a horrible thing to cause others to stumble and forsake God).
I had sparkles in my eyes as I flipped through each
chapter. I thought, “God, you saved the best for last!” We were chosen to live
on this earth at this glorious time under grace. But grace isn’t a license to
sin but rather an empowerment to do right. God has mercy on us. So why trample
over the blood of Jesus as if He died in vain? We should be totally convicted
(not condemned) to live a life pleasing to God because of His grace and mercy
that He lavishes so dearly on us.
So let’s consider it a far worse thing to rebel against
God in these times because we’re reaching the end and Christ has come to redeem
us from the curse of the Law.
Lessons:
“He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord and
followed completely the ways of his father David, not turning aside to the
right or to the left.” 2 Kings 22:2 NIV
God honors our faithfulness. It obviously pleases Him to
walk in obedience. So let’s do what the Bible tells us and pay NO attention to
those influenced by Satan who encourages us to forsake holiness because they
think it’s not possible or necessary.
“The king of Assyria deported Israel to Assyria and
settled them in Halah, in Gozan on the Harbor River and in towns of the Medes.
This happened because they had not obeyed the Lord their God, but had violated
His covenant—all that Moses the servant of the Lord commanded. They neither
listened to the commands no carried them out.” 2 Kings 18:11-12 NIV
There are consequences for our disobedience. Unfortunately
for the Israelites, they were punished. Gracefully, today we aren’t punished.
However, we do forfeit our blessings. It doesn’t bring any glory to God when we
live outside His Will. Our light becomes dimmed and our Christian walk becomes
less effective by the people of the world.
However, obedience results in favor from God. So we can
conclude that God does honor our efforts, willingness and faithfulness.
“He held fast to the Lord and did not stop following him; he
kept the commands the Lord had given Moses. And the Lord was with him; he was
successful in whatever he undertook. He rebelled against the king of Assyria
and did not serve him.” 2 Kings 18:6-7 NIV
Obey the law but not when it comes against the Word. Christians
honor the laws of the land so that we can glorify God by being respectful and
loving to others.
Altogether, obeying God’s Word will make you successful in
all of your ways and bless God! Obey God no matter what.
“They worshipped the Lord, but they also served their own
gods in accordance with the customs of the nations from which they had been
brought.” 2 Kings 17:33 NIV
Don’t worship God the way you see fit or what others say!
Do as God says. No one can satisfy the needs of someone without doing the exact
things that they want. As for God, He is perfectly holy. We can’t go into His
presence any kind of way nor can we bring Him anything less than acceptable in
His sight. He says to worship Him in spirit and in truth!
Don’t do what people of the world are doing. Don’t even do
what other Christians are doing! Do what Jesus did. Listen to the Holy Spirit
and walk in His direction. Act on the Word and seek God daily for everything! This
is true worship. At the end of this life as we know it, we want to hear Him say,
“Well done, My good and faithful servant.” We don’t want to give the Lord
excuses because He won’t tolerate them. We want to have made our lives counted.
We will want to have lived in such a way that glorified God.
Choose God’s Way according to HIS Word! Worship Him
truthfully. Worship the Lord your God with all of your heart, soul, and mind.
Author Jennifer Quetant— www.biblejourneymovement.com
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