Bible Reading: 2080731

Ezra 6-Nehemiah

 

“And the children of Israel, which were come again out of captivity, and all such as had separated themselves unto them from the filthiness of the heathen of the land, to seek the LORD God of Israel, did eat, And kept the feast of unleavened bread seven days with joy: for the LORD had made them joyful, and turned the heart of the king of Assyria unto them, to strengthen their hands in the work of the house of God, the God of Israel.” Ezra 6:21-11

 

                Even in God’s judgment, He showed mercy unto His people. His purpose in sending the Jews into captivity is so that they would completely turn back to Him and not just for a short time, but of their own accord.

 

“This Ezra went up from Babylon; and he was a ready scribe in the law of Moses, which the LORD God of Israel had given: and the king granted him all his request, according to the hand of the LORD his God upon him.” Ezra 7:6

 

Lord, I know that You have no reason why You should endure me any longer. But again I ask Your forgiveness for my foolishness and sin, and ask You to make me a ready scribe like Ezra was and put Your hand upon me that I may do Thy work. Lord, thank You for Thy tender mercies that are shown moment by moment to me.

 

“For Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the law of the LORD, and to do it, and to teach in Israel statutes and judgments.” Ezra 7:10

 

                Need I say more…? Lord help me to prepare and to keep my heart with all diligence to seek after Thee, that I may do as Thou hast commanded Thy servant.

 

“And thou, Ezra, after the wisdom of thy God, that is in thine hand, set magistrates and judges, which may judge all the people that are beyond the river, all such as know the laws of thy God; and teach ye them that know them not.” Ezra 7:25

 

                Lord, this is a wonderful verse! “teach ye them that know them not.” Lord, help me not only to be a ready scribe but one who teaches them that know not the word of God to follow and to fear Thee.

 

“For we were bondmen; yet our God hath not forsaken us in our bondage, but hath extended mercy unto us in the sight of the kings of Persia, to give us a reviving, to set up the house of our God, and to repair the desolations thereof, and to give us a wall in Judah and in Jerusalem.” Ezra 9:9

 

                Lord, I just cannot get over Thy mercy and how that even when Thy hand of chastening must be upon Thy children and Thy people, the love and care that is given unto them. Thank You O Lord for Thy tender mercies.

 

“Remember, I beseech thee, the word that thou commandedst thy servant Moses, saying, If ye transgress, I will scatter you abroad among the nations: But if ye turn unto me, and keep my commandments, and do them; though there were of you cast out unto the uttermost part of the heaven, yet will I gather them from thence, and will bring them unto the place that I have chosen to set my name there.” Nehemiah 1:8-9

 

                Again, Lord, there are your tender mercies. That Thou wouldst forgive the sin of Thy people if they were to turn back to Thee. Lord, forgive my sin and transgression that I may follow after Thee with a pure heart.

Bible Reading: 2080722

II Chronicles 34-Ezra 5

“Because thine heart was tender, and thou didst humble thyself before God, when thou heardest his words against this place, and against the inhabitants thereof, and humbledst thyself before me, and didst rend thy clothes, and weep before me; I have even heard thee also, saith the LORD.” II Chronicles 34:27

Lord, help me to be tender unto Thy word that I might humble myself before Thee. Help the desire of my heart for Thy word and to weep over the statutes that Thou has written. Most of all, help me to weep for the lost so that Your word would compel me to action to reach them at all cost, even pain, ridicule, shame, and death.

Bible Reading: 2080721

II Chronicles 26-33

“And he sought God in the days of Zechariah, who had understanding in the visions of God: and as long as he sought the LORD, God made him to prosper.” II Chronicles 26:5

Lord, thanks for the reminder.

“And he made in Jerusalem engines, invented by cunning men, to be on the towers and upon the bulwarks, to shoot arrows and great stones withal. And his name spread far abroad; for he was marvelously helped, till he was strong. But when he was strong, his heart was lifted up to his destruction: for he transgressed against the LORD his God, and went into the temple of the LORD to burn incense upon the altar of incense.” II Chronicles 26:15-16

The all too common tale. I am sure that I have never endured the punishment Uzziah endured for his pride but how many times have I been lifted up in my own eyes and transgressed the Lord? Lord, I pray that you would help me to be a humble man and to follow wholly after Thee.

“Be strong and courageous, be not afraid nor dismayed for the king of Assyria, nor for all the multitude that is with him: for there be more with us than with him: With him is an arm of flesh; but with us is the LORD our God to help us, and to fight our battles. And the people rested themselves upon the words of Hezekiah king of Judah.” II Chronicles 32:7-8

Lord, I honestly do not understand why it is that if men could trust you in the face of certain death and take heart that You would see them through, that people like me cannot even think on You enough to consider the fact that you have called us to reach the world with the gospel. Death and persecution are a concept that American dream has led us to believe does not have to be a part of service to God. Lord, I fear both death and pain. I am a shallow, self centered Christian that in reality knows nothing of faith in Thee. Lord, I have no idea what or how to ask you other than to say, You know what I need, let Thy will be done.

Bible Reading: 2080717

II Chronicles 18-25

“Jehoram was thirty and two years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem. And he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, like as did the house of Ahab: for he had the daughter of Ahab to wife: and he wrought that which was evil in the eyes of the LORD.” II Chronicles 21:5-6

Lord, I thank Thee that I have a wife that fears and loves Thee. I thank You for her because she encourages me and helps me to follow after Thee. Help me never to be unappreciative of her and to hold her in the highest esteem, because I very well could have married someone who did not love Thee as Jehoram did; and though it may have been in his heart to rebel against Thee, having the daughter of Ahab as his wife did not help.

Bible Reading: 2080716

II Chronicles 10-17

“And now ye think to withstand the kingdom of the LORD in the hand of the sons of David; and ye be a great multitude, and there are with you golden calves, which Jeroboam made you for gods. Have ye not cast out the priests of the LORD, the sons of Aaron, and the Levites, and have made you priests after the manner of the nations of other lands? so that whosoever cometh to consecrate himself with a young bullock and seven rams, the same may be a priest of them that are no gods. But as for us, the LORD is our God, and we have not forsaken him; and the priests, which minister unto the LORD, are the sons of Aaron, and the Levites wait upon their business: “ II Chronicles 13:8-10

Lord, even though Abijah’s father, had caused Israel to divide, and turned from God, because Abijah humbled himself and followed after Thee, You caused him to victorious amidst overwhelming odds. He was out numbered and out maneuvered, but because he followed Thee, he defeated Jeroboam. Lord, help me to humble myself and to defeat the flesh and sin in my life for Thy name’s sake.

“And Asa had an army of men that bore targets and spears, out of Judah three hundred thousand; and out of Benjamin, that bore shields and drew bows, two hundred and fourscore thousand: all these were mighty men of valor. And there came out against them Zerah the Ethiopian with a host of a thousand thousand, and three hundred chariots; and came unto Mareshah. Then Asa went out against him, and they set the battle in array in the valley of Zephathah at Mareshah. And Asa cried unto the LORD his God, and said, LORD, it is nothing with thee to help, whether with many, or with them that have no power: help us, O LORD our God; for we rest on thee, and in thy name we go against this multitude. O LORD, thou art our God; let not man prevail against thee. So the LORD smote the Ethiopians before Asa, and before Judah; and the Ethiopians fled.” II Chronicles 14:8-12

Again, in the face of unthinkable odds, the battle was won through trusting in God alone. Asa followed after God, used his time wisely and prepared for times of war and when the time came, he cried to God and won the battle.

“And they offered unto the LORD the same time, of the spoil which they had brought, seven hundred oxen and seven thousand sheep. And they entered into a covenant to seek the LORD God of their fathers with all their heart and with all their soul; That whosoever would not seek the LORD God of Israel should be put to death, whether small or great, whether man or woman.” II Chronicles 15:11-13

They entered into a covenant to seek the LORD God of their fathers with all their heart and soul. Lord, I am ashamed of the sin of my heart and life. For all the times I do not seek after Thee I beg your forgiveness. Lord I desire to be wholly dedicated to Thee. Help me to follow Thee today and to remember The throughout the day.

For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him. Herein thou hast done foolishly: therefore from henceforth thou shalt have wars. II Chronicles 16:9

Lord, Thou hast shown Thyself strong in my life but I know that I have not had a perfect heart toward Thee. I pray that You would fill me with Thy word so that I might not sin against Thee and that my heart would be perfect.

Bible Reading: 2080715

II Chronicles 2-9

“And said, O LORD God of Israel, there is no God like thee in the heaven, nor in the earth; which keepest covenant, and showest mercy unto thy servants, that walk before thee with all their hearts:” II Chronicles 6:14

Lord, you have shown me from Thy word that the people in whom Thou delighted throughout the Bible had one thing in common; they followed Thee with their whole heart. They never turned from following after Thee as the one true God and though they made mistakes, they humbled themselves before Thee because they knew that Thou art merciful. Lord, help me to follow after Thee and to continually turn from my sin and when I fail, help me never to be so prideful as to not seek your mercy and forgiveness but to humble myself. Thank you Lord for Thy mercy.

“And if thy people Israel be put to the worse before the enemy, because they have sinned against thee; and shall return and confess thy name, and pray and make supplication before thee in this house; Then hear thou from the heavens, and forgive the sin of thy people Israel, and bring them again unto the land which thou gavest to them and to their fathers.” II Chronicles 6:24-25

Dear God, this entire chapter is Solomon begging of You to “Then hear Thou from the heavens.” This hearing is dependent on one thing in every verse of this chapter…returning, confessing, praying and making supplication before Thee. Lord, help me to be a humble man. Lord, so often I think that I am the exception and that for some reason that I am above everyone or below them. Sometimes I doubt Thy love for me and think that there is no reason to pray and humble myself because You will not hear but such thoughts a gestures are foolish to think that such a loving and caring God would forsake one of His own. Lord, fill me with Thy word that I may know Thee and worship Thee in Spirit and in Truth.

“Moreover concerning the stranger, which is not of thy people Israel, but is come from a far country for thy great name's sake, and thy mighty hand, and thy stretched out arm; if they come and pray in this house; Then hear thou from the heavens, even from thy dwelling place, and do according to all that the stranger calleth to thee for; that all people of the earth may know thy name, and fear thee, as doth thy people Israel, and may know that this house which I have built is called by thy name.” II Chronicles 6:32:33

O’ Heavenly Father, I praise Thee that though I was a stranger, I came to Thee and Thou did according to all that I called Thee for! Lord, I was not of Thy people but You allowed a gentile dog like me to feast at Thy table and to be numbered amongst Thy Children. Thank You for Thy mercy and loving kindness. Help me to love Thee and to serve Thee with my whole heart, life, and strength.