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A Beginning

Daily Reading

2Kings 6-8

Daily Thought

Blaise Pascal, 17th-Century French philosopher, proposed that at the very least belief in God is a good bet. God cannot be proved or disproved rationally, he argued, but if God is real, there is great gain in believing in him and great loss in not. If God is not real, then neither matters. It is more reasonable, therefore, to believe, since it is the only course that provides an advantage. This is not a strong faith, but it is a beginning.

Listen in as four lepers employ similar reasoning to their situation. Ben-hadad, the king of Syria, has led his entire army and laid siege to Samaria and a great famine ensued. Four lepers, starving outside the gates of the city of Samaria, reasoned, “If we say, ‘Let us enter the city,’ the famine is in the city, and we shall die there. And if we sit here, we die also. So now come, let us go over to the camp of the Syrians. If they spare our lives we shall live, and if they kill us we shall but die” (2Kings 7:4). Like Pascal’s good bet, there was only one choice with an advantage, so they took a chance and went to the Syrian camp and discovered a mighty work of God. The Lord had caused the army of the Syrians to hear “the sound of chariots and of horses, the sound of a great army” (2Kings 7:6), and the Syrians fled and left behind food and drink, silver and gold, clothing, horses, and tents. The siege of Israel was ended. God had saved them and left for the lepers a feast!

It was not a strong faith, but it was a beginning. The lepers saw the might of God and it began a work in their hearts. For a time they feasted on God’s goodness, but then realized, “We are not doing right. This day is a day of good news” (2Kings 7:9). It must be shared. They called to the gatekeepers, and the gatekeepers called to the king and his household, and the king cried out to the city the siege is over, and now the whole city feasted.

“The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his field. It is the smallest of all seeds, but when it has grown it is larger than all the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.” ~Matthew 13:31-32

You don’t light a fire. You light a match and the match starts the fire. 

Daily Prayer

My God, Your grace calls me to You. It is good and it satisfying. May I taste of Your goodness and share it with others. You have given me life, a life so abundant that I dare not keep silent.

Lord God, in You I find life. I know why I am here and what I am to do. Your love is great, and though I first came hesitantly, I now follow fully. You are everything to me, and I give You my heart, my soul, my mind, and my strength. May my life overflow and may Your glory be evident in all that I do.

Amen

Daily Question

In your opinion, what is the best reason to follow Jesus?

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The Deadlier Disease

Daily Reading

2Kings 4-5

Daily Thought

Naaman was commander of the army of Aram and showed up at the door of the prophet Elisha with power–horses and chariots, silver and gold. He also showed up with leprosy. Naaman thought himself a great man and should be treated as such. God, however, is not impressed with power and Elisha, the prophet of God, instead treated the leper, not the great man, “Go, wash yourself in the river.” Naaman went away angry. Naaman was a hero and expected a hero’s cure, something flashy in keeping with his stature. “Behold, I thought that he would surely come out to me and stand and call upon the name of the Lord his God, and wave his hand over the place and cure the leper” (2Kings 5:11). 

Naaman thought his problem was leprosy. Elisha treated a deadlier disease called pride.

A Roman centurion, a great man and mighty warrior, showed up at the door of Jesus with his servant who was paralyzed and suffering. Said the centurion, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof, but only say the word, and my servant will be healed” (Matthew 8:8). God is not impressed with power, but delights in humility and faith. Jesus said, “Go; let it be done for you as you have believed.” And the servant was healed at that very moment (Matthew 8:13).

I come to God to fix my problems, my illnesses, my finances, my enemies. Instead, God treats the deadlier disease, my pride, my greed, my lust. That’s the miracle. 

Daily Prayer

Heavenly Father, why do I try to impress You with what I can do? As if I can bring anything to You that You need. You created all things, You own the cattle on a thousand hills. It’s not because You have any need that You delight in my company. You simply delight in my company. I don’t understand that, but I’m thrilled.

God, thank you for healing my heart. I bring nothing to You except my faith, my devotion, my obedience, and my love.

Amen

Daily Question

How do you know what you should pray for?

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Under God

Daily Reading

2Kings 1-3

Daily Thought

Elijah, the classic prophet of God, was nearing the end of his mission. “Do you know,” Elijah said to Elisha, “that today the Lord will take away your master from over you?” (2Kings 2:3). Elisha would be his successor.

Have fun keeping the names straight.

Three times Elijah said to Elisha, “Stay put,” to test him, and three times Elisha did not stay put, but followed. Elisha had set his mind, “As the Lord lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you” (2Kings 2:2, 4, 6). At the very end, fifty sons of the prophets watched Elijah part the Jordan River, then walk across on dry land with Elisha. Some time later, the fifty watched Elisha, like Elijah, part the Jordan River and return alone. The same miracle. The mantle of the prophet had passed to the next generation. 

Two miracles followed. The first was simple and basic. The water of Jericho was bad, literally “evil.” Spend time in a third-world country and you know what evil water can do to you. It could not be drunk and it would not nourish crops. Symbolically, Elisha threw salt in the water, but what healed the evil was “the word that Elisha spoke” (2Kings 2:22). Elisha wore the mantle of the prophet Elijah.

The second miracle was of an odd sort. Elisha came out of Bethel, and “some small boys jeered at him, saying, ‘Go up, you baldhead! Go up, you baldhead!’” (2Kings 2:23). Small boys may be better translated young men, and there was at least 42 of the them. “Go up, you baldhead!” would be an insult today, and it was meant to be then. “Go up” means “Keep on going,” and so this gang of youth was telling Elisha he was not welcome in Bethel. “Get out of town, Baldy!” They wanted nothing to do with a prophet. They wanted nothing to do with the word of the Lord.

You cast away God at your peril.

“Can the liberties of a nation be sure when we remove their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are a gift from God?” ~Thomas Jefferson, 1782

“God governs in the affairs of man. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without his notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without His aid?” ~Benjamin Franklin, Constitutional Convention of 1787

“Whereas it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly implore His protection and favor.” ~George Washington, October 3, 1789

“In God We Trust” ~still the National Motto of the United States of America–but it must be more than a motto.

Elisha cursed them and two female bears tore into the boys. His name is Elisha, heir of the prophet Elijah, and he speaks the word of God. Listen to him.

Daily Prayer

My Lord and Creator, I believe fully in You, loving You with all of my being. I will stand for You and confess You before men. You are King of kings and Lord of lords. I pray, God, that I will be a bright light, that my faith will not be hidden, but will shine in the darkness. That by all my actions people will know that You are God.

May I live the way all should live, under God, knowing and proclaiming that you are the source of all of life and all that is good. God, I pray that the land in which I live will acknowledge You and trust in You. I pray that we will be a good people under a great God.

Amen

Daily Question

What are some ways to keep the Word of God central to your family?

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Ties and Lies

Daily Reading

1Kings 21-22

Daily Thought

Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, and Ahab, king of Israel, went to war together against the Syrians. Before the battle, however, Jehoshaphat insisted on hearing from God, so Ahab called his 400 prophets, prophets who always told him what he wanted to hear, and they spoke as they always spoke, “Go up, for the Lord will give it into the hand of the king” (1Kings 22:6).

I coached my son’s T-ball team. The parents in charge decided not to keep score in this league. Every game would end in a tie. It will make the kids happy, they said. We played a game and we tied (they said). On the way home in the car, my son frowned, “We lost 8-3.” He knew the score. Every kid knew the score. Of every game. (So did the parents.) 

“So, why did they tell us we tied?” my son frowned. You know what made him sad? The lie, not the score.

Jehoshaphat knew the score. He knew the king’s prophets wanted the king happy. “Is there not here another prophet of the Lord of whom we may inquire?” 

“Micaiah,” Ahab admitted, “but I hate him, for he never prophesies good concerning me, but evil.” (1Kings 22:7-8). 

He was correct–“The Lord has declared disaster for you,” declared Micaiah (1Kings 22:23). 

When you hear the truth and it is not to your liking, you have two choices: change the truth or change your plans. Ahab preferred to change the truth, but he knew the score. Disaster! Still he decided to fight, “I will disguise myself and go into battle” (1Kings 22:30). Ahab believed the word of the Lord enough to disguise himself, but not enough to change his plans. 

“At evening he died.” ~1Kings 22:35 

Daily Prayer

My Lord and Savior, the Truth is I am a sinner and I need a Savior. I need You. You are the Way, the Truth, and the Life. The world does not like the truth, preferring darkness over light, preferring to hear what they want to hear. We would rather hear that I’m okay and you’re okay, that everything will work out in the end. But it won’t. Telling the Truth is dangerous. You told it anyway, and You were crucified.

But death could not stop the Truth. You rose again, and offered salvation to all who follow You. The Truth sets me free from the power of sin and death. May I love Your Truth, stand for the Truth, desire Truth and share Truth.  I know the score. I am a sinner and I deserve death. I need a Savior. That is the Truth.

Amen

Daily Question

When is it okay, if ever, to change the truth so you can say what others want to hear?

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Limping Along

Daily Reading

1Kings 18-20

Daily Thought

The prophet Elijah chides the people of Israel, “How long will you go limping between two different opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him” (1Kings 18:21). The people had no answer. Many simply saw no difference. Why could not the Lord be God, and Baal, also? Two paths up the same mountain. Why must I choose? After all, Ahab and Jezebel preferred Baal and they were king and queen of Israel. It might be a sin to worship Baal, but life seemed easier if you go along with the people in charge. Sin always comes with benefits, but it ultimately destroys.

One foggy night at sea the captain of a ship saw what looked like the lights of another ship heading toward him. He signaled the ship, “Change your course ten degrees to the south.” The reply, “No. You change your course ten degrees north.” “I am a captain in this navy,” he insisted, “so you change course ten degrees south.” Answered the light, “I am a seaman first class. Change your course north.” Infuriated, the captain blustered, “I am a battleship. Change your course immediately!” The final response came, “I am a lighthouse. Your call, captain.” 

It was time to decide so Elijah clarified the choices. Two altars, two choices, one altar to Baal, the other to God. Each altar would be prepared for sacrifice with wood but God or Baal must ignite his own altar. 450 prophets placed a bull on the Baal altar and cried out for a flame. From morning until noon they pleaded, but they knew inside they were calling to nobody. For three minutes or three hours or three days they could beg, but nothing comes from nothing and there is no god in Baal. 

Elijah, then, prepared his bull, adding dramatic touches, such as drenching the altar and the wood with water. He spoke to God, but only once, because his God was there. Then the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt offering and the wood and the stones and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench (1Kings 18:38).

Your call, Israel.

Daily Prayer

My God, I am glad to boast in You. The Truth You declare, I will speak with confidence. When You say something will happen, I know it is as true as if it had already occurred. What you say will happen, happens. I trust in You and You alone.

I stand by this, that I know the God of Creation, who exercises justice and kindness and righteousness on this earth. That I know Jesus Christ, my Savior and Lord. That I know the Truth and the Truth has set me free to live a life of wonder and worship.

Amen

Daily Question

Can people tell who is in charge of your life? How?

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A Clean Heart

Daily Reading

1Kings 15-17

Daily Thought

While Asa reigned forty-one years as king of Judah and did right in the eyes of the Lord, six kings ruled over Israel to the north: Nadab, Baasha, Elah, Zimri, Omri, and Ahab. The reigns of the kings lasted from 7 days (Zimri) to 24 years (Baasha), but no matter, each life was summed up by a phrase summing up their relation to God. Each of these kings did evil in the eyes of the Lord. (It doesn’t actually say Elah did evil. He was too drunk and too dead within two years to cause too much trouble.)

That each king of Israel did evil was shared by one other trait, they walked in the sinful way of Jeroboam. Jeroboam slipped off the path toward idolatry and each successive king strayed farther, until Omri did more evil than all who were before him (1Kings 16:25), and Ahab did more evil still (v 30). Judah’s king Asa, on the other hand, did as David his father had done. “David did what was right in the eyes of the Lord and did not turn aside from anything that he commanded him all the days of his life, except in the matter of Uriah the Hittite” (1Kings 15:5).

Except for the matter of Uriah? Are you kidding me?! That’s quite an exception. David had sex with Uriah’s wife, then murdered Uriah–THAT’S NO SMALL SIN! 

God, however, weighs not the act, but the afterward. David ends up right in God’s sight and Jeroboam wrong because when confronted, Jeroboam did not repent and David did–“For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight” (A Psalm of David 51:3-4). As towering as David’s sin, God’s grace soars above, and David is forgiven, renewed, and restored.

Create in me a clean heart, O God,
and renew a right spirit within me.
Restore to me the joy of your salvation. ~Psalm 51:10, 12

Daily Prayer

My God, blessed is he whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the one whose sin the Lord does not count against him and in whose spirit is no deceit.

Thank You, God, for Your grace.

Amen

Daily Question

When have you experienced God’s grace toward you?

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Force, Fear, or Faith

Daily Reading

1Kings 12-14

Daily Thought

There are three ways to rule.

By faith. Rehoboam sought advice from the wise old men who had counseled his father, Solomon, while he had been king, “How do you advise me to answer this people?” And they said to him, “If you will be a servant to this people today and serve them, and speak good words to them when you answer them, then they will be your servants forever” (1Kings 12:6-7).

By force. “But he abandoned the counsel that the old men gave him” (1Kings 12:8). Rehoboam preferred strength, and said to his people, “My little finger is thicker than my father’s thighs. And now, whereas my father laid on you a heavy yoke, I will add to your yoke. My father disciplined you with whips, but I will discipline you with scorpions” (1Kings 12:10-11). Little wonder many rebelled and turned to Jeroboam.

By fear. Anointed by God, Jeroboam nevertheless was afraid that “if this people go up to offer sacrifices in the temple of the Lord at Jerusalem, then the heart of this people will turn again to their lord, to Rehoboam king of Judah, and they will kill me and return to Rehoboam king of Judah” (1Kings 12:27). The Temple was in the south at Jerusalem, so Jeroboam made religion convenient to the north. Rather than travel to the Temple, he brought God to the people in the likeness of two golden calves, placed close to home in Bethel and Dan. Pleasing the people, he set up altars throughout the land and chose priests from any tribe, not God’s chosen tribe of Levi. By convenience and accommodation, faith was made weak.

There are three ways to rule, by force, by fear, or by faith. Only one unites. When you rule by faith, you trust God and serve his people by following God’s will. Israel could have been one nation under God, but Rehoboam ruled by force and Jeroboam  by fear, “and there was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam continually” (1Kings 14:30).

Daily Prayer

God, may You always be first place in my life. May You be my first love, my full devotion. With all my heart, soul, mind, and strength, may my love never waver or cease. May I seek Your Word, Your ways, Your will.

Protect me from the weakness of fear, and guard me against finding strength in position or popularity or power. May I, instead, at all times seek Your pleasure.

Amen

Daily Question

Why is serving others one of the most important qualities of a leader?

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Devoted or Divided

Daily Reading

1Kings 10-11

Daily Thought

The Queen of Sheba visited the kingdom of Solomon. When the Queen of Sheba says something like, “Behold, the half was not told me. Your wisdom and prosperity surpass the report that I heard” (1Kings 10:7), you know you’re rich. You have all you need and more. It was not just the wealth, but the women. Many foreign women. God said, “You shall not enter into marriage with them, for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods” (1Kings 11:1). He did and they did. Having everything you want is not always best.

Remember the nursery rhyme, Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall; Humpty Dumpty had a great fall. All the kings horses and all the kings men–“Solomon gathered together chariots and horsemen. He had 1,400 chariots and 12,000 horsemen, whom he stationed in the chariot cities and with the king in Jerusalem (1Kings 10:26)–they couldn’t put Solomon together again. Solomon’s father, David, had been fully devoted. Solomon was fully divided. The kingdom would be divided as well, Israel to the north, Judah to the south, a united nation no more.

If Satan cannot ruin you with failure, he will try to ruin you with success. He is partial to neither.

Daily Prayer

God of Love, I only know what love is because of You. My kind of love leans toward selfishness. What is in it for me? But You, the God of all creation, considered me, the one You created, better than Yourself. Even while I had my back turned to You, You died for me. Your love is sacrificial. It is good. It is life.

God, I have one first love and that is You. Above all else and all others. What is amazing is I am able to love others better because I love You fully. Thank You for loving me first.

Amen

Daily Question

Does your walk with God get challenged more when you are prospering or when you are struggling?

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Built to Last

Daily Reading

1Kings 8-9

Daily Thought

An Episcopal church in Manhattan, The Church of the Holy Communion, opened its doors in 1844 as a place of worship and a help to the needy. It had a good run, but by mid-20th century, neglect began taking its toll. In 1983, The Church of the Holy Communion was converted into the Limelight Nightclub, the once reverent spot into a house of decadence. Yet, it would sink lower still. In the Spring of 2010, the Church turned Nightclub was reborn as the Limelight Marketplace, with 35 upscale boutiques and restaurants, complete with stained-glass windows. What had become of the house of worship?

God warned Solomon there could come a time when, “Everyone passing by the Temple will be astonished and will hiss, and they will say, ‘Why has the Lord done thus to this land and to this house?’ Then they will say, ‘Because they abandoned the Lord their God who brought their fathers out of the land of Egypt and laid hold on other gods and worshiped them and served them’” (1Kings 9:8-9).

The first Temple, 960-586BC, Solomon’s, was destroyed by the Babylonians. The second, 516BC-70AD, by the Romans. Why then exert the effort, take the time, pay the price to build a house for God? Not because God needs the Temple, but because the Temple and its people need God. These temples lasted a long time, but they did not last forever. No building of man can.

“Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?” (1Corinthians 3:16). That “you” is plural, not singular. The Christian life is community. Do not go it alone. This is the Church, the people of God. You are that house. Built to last, because the Church is not a building of man, but the handiwork of God.

Daily Prayer

Heavenly Father, You are holy and righteous. I am not. You made me in Your image, so deep inside I have always known what I should be like. But, on my own, I wouldn’t do anything to change. Thank You for seeking me and inviting me to follow You. Thank You for Your Son, Jesus Christ, who is the way, the truth, and the life.

Jesus said, “Follow Me.” God, I commit to following You with all that I am. Help me keep that promise. Do not allow me to chase after empty religion, but may my religion be the kind of religion that You embrace, that I will keep myself pure, unpolluted by the world, and that I will look after and serve the poor, the marginalized, the orphans and widows. You are, and shall always be my first love. With all of my heart, with all of my mind, with all of my strength, I will love You, follow You, and serve You.

Amen

Daily Question

What difference does it make to realize you are a temple of God?

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It Was Good

Happy Birthday, Aunt Katie!!!

Daily Reading

1Kings 6-7

Daily Thought

I gaze at a sunrise because I am overwhelmed by its beauty and must stop and take it in. I watch hummingbirds because they are fascinating and fun. Delight rises within me as they flitter about. I peer into the intricacies of a rose and marvel at God, thanking Him for creating this world with such wonder. Creation could function, I suppose, without beauty, but that is not the character of our Creator. God is an artist and as he finished each day of creation, he admired his handiwork and “saw that it was good” (Genesis 1:4, 10, 12, 18, 21, 25). It more than works, it marvels! Creation is beautiful and all beauty points to God.

When God created the heavens and the earth, he made a home for us, but more importantly, a temple for the Almighty, where heaven and earth meet. Six days of creation, then God rested, which means his work was done, but rest also means “to take residence,” and that is what God did–“Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool” (Isaiah 66:1). This world is his temple and we met him there.

Until we sinned and were cast out of the Garden of Eden.

Then God chose a people, the nation of Israel, and began preparing them for a new place to meet–“Now the word of the Lord came to Solomon, ‘Concerning this house that you are building, if you will walk in my statutes and obey my rules and keep all my commandments and walk in them, then I will establish my word with you, which I spoke to David your father. And I will dwell among the children of Israel and will not forsake my people Israel’” (1Kings 6:11-13). King Solomon would build a Temple on earth for a nation to meet her God.

The Temple was constructed of stone and overlaid in cedar and cypress and olivewood, then covered with gold. Grand columns were erected and there were engravings of cherubim and palm trees and open flowers and gold chains. You could almost hear the echo of Genesis 1 as Solomon would pause at the end of a day and admire the handiwork. He saw that it was good. 

We see good because we are made in the image of the God who created all that is good. God’s image is the mark of humanity. I cannot share the beauty of a sunset with my dog. It has no appeal to her–she was not made in God’s image, but I was. Solomon was a creative artist because God is a creative artist, and so are you and me in our own unique God-given ways. We are creative and our good works point to God because God is the almighty Creator and we reflect who he is.

Daily Prayer

Creator God, I am amazed at Your works, and when I realize I am Your workmanship, I hold my breath. What do You have in mind for me? God, may I make it easy for You to mold me into the person You had in mind when You created me. I submit to Your will because it is good. 

Thank You for noticing me! And delighting in me!! May people see what You have done in me and give You praise.

Amen

Daily Question

What are the things in creation that most turn your thoughts toward God?