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The Comfort of Captivity

Daily Reading

Ezra 1-3

Daily Thought

Cyrus of Persia conquered Babylon in 538 BC and offered Israel, whom Babylon held captive, its freedom, “The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and he has charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whoever is among you of all his people… let him go” (Ezra 1:2-3).

The order was certain, Cyrus would free the people and aid the rebuilding of their home and their temple. The acceptance was optional, “whoever among you.” Jerusalem was a 700-mile journey, and the comforts of Babylon would not accompany them. Israel had grown comfortable in captivity and only 42,360 accepted the offer (Ezra 2:64), a fraction of the Jewish population. Josephus, the Jewish-Roman historian of the first century, said it simply, “Many remained in Babylon, not wishing to leave their possessions behind them.” The proverbial captive monkey whose hand is caught in the jar because he refuses to let go of the banana.

We become accustomed to the ways of this world, so much so, that many prefer the chains of sin to the freedom offered in Christ. “For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery” (Galatians 5:1); yet many choose the comfort of captivity.

Daily Prayer

My God, You left the pleasure of heaven itself, You emptied Yourself, You became like me to save me. Thank You for letting go for my sake. Why in the world do I hang on to this world so tightly? I must let go for my sake, as well.

Keep changing my heart, oh God, to delight in You, to love Your ways. Help me hate sin and seek Your goodness and righteousness. May Your Word fill my heart, transform my mind, change my life, and set me free.

Amen

Daily Question

Which is more difficult, doing whatever you want to do or following Christ?

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After the Closing Credits

Daily Reading

2Chronicles 35-36

Daily Thought

Judah repeats evil upon evil and is lost, but through the end, “the Lord, the God of their fathers, sent persistently to them by his messengers, because he had compassion on his people and on his dwelling place” (2Chronicles 36:15). The Hebrew says literally, “God rose up early and sent messengers.” God began his day thinking of his lost people.

I remember certain teachers, when explaining their criteria for grading, would challenge, “You have to really want an ‘F’ to receive an ‘F’ in my class.” These teachers did everything they could to pass us, unless we truly tried to fail. 

“But they kept mocking the messengers of God, despising his words and scoffing at his prophets, until the wrath of the Lord rose against his people, until there was no remedy” (2Chronicles 36:16). God sought to save the lost, but there are those who would not be found, and God “brought up against them the king of the Chaldeans, and they burned the house of God and broke down the wall of Jerusalem and burned all its palaces with fire and destroyed all its precious vessels” (2Chronicles 36:17, 19). 

Thus the Chronicles end. Almost.

Sometimes a movie, at the very end, after the closing credits, adds one more scene, a glimpse of what’s next. There is more to come. All is not lost. 

The Chronicles do this. After Judah failed and the kingdom fell, “the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia” (2Chronicles 36:22), a foreign king, to speak the closing words of the Chronicles, words of hope to the Hebrew nation, “Thus says Cyrus king of Persia, ‘The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and he has charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whoever is among you of all his people, may the Lord his God be with him. Let him go up…’” (2Chronicles 36:23). Cyrus and Chronicles stop mid-sentence. Israel and Judah tried hard to fail, but God would not let them. This same proclamation of Cyrus is repeated to open the next book, Ezra 1:1-3, and the story continues.

“Let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and rebuild the house of the Lord, the God of Israel—he is the God who is in Jerusalem.” ~Ezra 1:3

Daily Prayer

My God, my Lord, and my Savior, I am so glad that You came uninvited into my life. Thank you for crashing my party and rescuing me from myself, because I would have sought my own pleasure to my destruction. Instead, You saved me for Your pleasure, which is life itself, a life everlasting and overflowing.

May I ever find my joy in You. May I begin my day thinking of You, delighting in Your Word, following Your lead, living life to the full. You are good, a righteous King, a loving Lord, Almighty God. I worship You.

Amen

Daily Question

What do you do when it feels like God has abandoned you?

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The Name on the Front

Daily Reading

2Chronicles 32-34

Daily Thought

Sennacherib, king of Assyria, had grown accustomed to winning. He was confident, if not cocky. Trash talk came easy. “Do you not know what I and my fathers have done to all the peoples of other lands? Were the gods of the nations of those lands at all able to deliver their lands out of my hand?” (2Chronicles 32:13). 

“Do you think your God can do any better?” he taunted Judah. 

“Yes,” said Hezekiah. 

Hezekiah knew the army of Sennacherib was strong, stronger than Judah, nevertheless he rallied his people against the Assyrians, “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or dismayed before the king of Assyria and all the horde that is with him, for there are 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” (2Chronicles 32:7-8). 

They have muscle; we have God.

Herb Brooks coached the U.S. Hockey team to gold at the 1980 Olympic Winter Games in Lake Placid, New York. In route to gold, they defeated the best hockey team in the world, the Soviet Union. Before the game, Brooks rallied his team, “Think you can win on talent alone? Gentlemen, you don’t have enough talent to win on talent alone. When you pull on that jersey, you represent yourself and your teammates. And the name on the front (USA) is a lot more important than the name on the back.”

The Lord said, “In Jerusalem shall my name be forever” (2Chronicles 33:4). The name on the front. 

“And the Lord sent an angel, who cut off all the mighty warriors and commanders and officers in the camp of the king of Assyria. So he returned with shame of face to his own land.” ~2Chronicles 32:20-21

Do you believe in miracles? Yes!

Daily Prayer

Lord in heaven, may I wear Your Name with confidence, knowing that there is none like You. You are God Almighty, creator of heaven and earth. I trust You with my life, because all that I am is Yours. You gave me life in the first place.

I know that, for those who love You and follow You, all things will work together for good. No matter what I face, I remember You went to the cross, and out of that saved the world. So I will bear my cross, whatever it is, because I’m excited to discover what You will do with me. I believe in You.

Amen

Daily Question

What battle do you need God to fight this week?

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any god will do

Daily Reading

2Chronicles 28-31

Daily Thought

Ahaz was the next king who “did not do what was right in the eyes of the Lord” (2Chronicles 28:1). He crafted idols to the Baals and sacrificed his own sons in the Valley of the son of Hinnom. He borrowed indiscriminately the gods of the nations around him. Any god will do, “and he sacrificed and made offerings on the high places and on the hills and under every green tree” (2Chronicles 28:4). He even adopted the gods of Damascus after losing a battle to Syria, reasoning, “Because the gods of the kings of Syria helped them, I will sacrifice to them that they may help me” (2Chronicles 28:23).

Any god will do, it seemed, except the one God, the true God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, of David and Solomon, of his own father Jotham, the Lord, the God of Israel. Ahaz broke up the furniture in the Temple of the only and true God, using the wood to make altars to his new gods, “and he shut up the doors of the house of the Lord” (2Chronicles 28:24).

Where any god will do, there is one God who won’t. Isaiah was prophet when Ahaz was king, and proclaimed the words of the one true God, “I am the Lord; that is my name; my glory I give to no other, nor my praise to carved idols” (Isaiah 42:8). God does not play nicely with others. He does not share. “I the Lord your God am a jealous God” (Exodus 20:5). These are not words of petty jealousy, but the deep passion of love, familiar to us in our own wedding vow, “forsaking all others, I keep only unto you.” No flirting with others.

This was the first of the commandments, “I am the Lord your God. You shall have no other gods before me” (Exodus 20:2-3); the greatest commandment, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might” (Deuteronomy 6:5); and the cry of Israel, “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one” (Deuteronomy 6:4). This is how truth works. It is pure, it is holy, it is one. “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). God stands alone.

Daily Prayer

My God, Alpha and Omega, the First and the Last, King of kings and Lord of lords, there is none like You. You and You alone are God, and You are my God, my first love. May my love be full and pure. All of life, a life abundantly full of love and good and justice and grace, is from You. I seek other ways at my own peril, and yet I do. The results are never good. Thank You for allowing me to run home to You again and again, and for greeting me with open arms again and again.

Each day will begin remembering it is Your day, a day You have created and sustained. I commit my life to You, to Your praise and pleasure. What a way to live!

Amen

Daily Question

What are the things that compete most strongly with God for your heart?

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But

Daily Reading

2Chronicles 25-27

Daily Thought

It is sad when you hear something good, then it’s followed by a “but.” Three chapters, three kings in a row, each began well, “but.” King Joash “did what was right in the eyes of the Lord all the days of Jehoiada the priest (2Chronicles 24:2), but then Jehoiada died, “and they abandoned the house of the Lord” (2Chronicles 24:18). King Amaziah, “did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, yet (same as a “but”) not with a whole heart” (2Chronicles 25:2). 

The third one is King Uzziah who “set himself to seek God in the days of Zechariah” (2Chronicles 26:5). Zechariah instructed him in the fear of God, and as long as Uzziah sought the Lord, he prospered. Uzziah’s name means “My strength is the Lord,” and from that strength came success. Enemies were conquered, the army grew strong, the walls of the city were fortified, the land was replenished and the people were well fed. Uzziah’s name became famous among the nations, “but (there’s that word) when he was strong, he grew proud, to his destruction” (2Chronicles 26:16). Uzziah’s strength became himself and his name lost its meaning. 

Humanity’s first sin is pride, to be like God, without first knowing what God is like. Jesus Christ, the King of kings, “being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped; rather, he made himself nothing” (Philippians 2:6-7). Jesus chose the path of humility. He said to his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me” (Matthew 16:24). And when faced with the ultimate cross, Jesus said, “Not my will, but yours, be done” (Luke 22:42). That’s where your “but” belongs.

Daily Prayer

Heavenly Father, may I be a reflection of You in this world, which means may I live like Jesus. In humility, I will serve others, considering them before myself. Keep reminding me that You are my strength. I too easily forget. Restore me, O God, when I fail, but even more, guard my heart when I succeed.

When I reflect on Your wonder and glory, I love better. The terrible temptation of pride is overcome by worship because I remember my Creator. May all that I do lift people’s eyes toward You, that You may be praised by all.

Amen

Daily Question

The greatest commandment is “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself” (Luke 10:27). Do you?

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By All Appearances

Daily Reading

2Chronicles 21-24

Daily Thought

Joash, descendant of King David, became king at seven years of age, and Jehoiada the priest stood by his side, a godly advisor and teacher. Things looked promising when Joash gave orders to restore the temple of the Lord. “And Joash did what was right in the eyes of the Lord”–if only the sentence stopped there, but it continued, “all the days of Jehoiada the priest” (2Chronicles 24:2). By all appearances, Joash was following God’s ways, but that was the problem. It was all appearances. The long life of Jehoiada (130 years) was God’s mercy to Joash and the nation, but when Jehoiada died, so did God’s good counsel, and the king listened to new voices.

Joash’s godliness was borrowed godliness, he had neglected to develop his own, so he was only as good as those who surrounded him. “Now after the death of Jehoiada the princes of Judah came and paid homage to the king. Then the king listened to them. And they abandoned the house of the Lord” (2Chronicles 24:17-18).

Daily Prayer

Heavenly Father, create in me a clean heart and make it strong. Test me, discipline me, and develop in me a passion for You that I may stay focused and stand firm. You are my rock, my fortress, my salvation, and the final source of all that is good. You will be my strength, and I will delight in You so deeply that the fancies of this world will lose their power to tempt. I know, God, that I am weak; therefore, my strength comes from You. 

It is good for me to be around people pursuing godliness. May I set my heart and mind on Your thoughts and Your ways and surround myself with the good and godly. But even better is when it is good for people pursuing godliness to be around me. May my love grow deep and strong, that I might stand for You and with You no matter what comes.

Amen

Daily Question

Do you want others to behave the way you behave? Why or why not?

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The Eyes of God

Daily Reading

2Chronicles 18-20

Daily Thought

Judah and Israel were moving in opposite directions. You can see it in the way God sums of the lives of their kings. Ahab, king of Israel, the husband of wicked Jezebel. “reigned over Israel twenty-two years, and did evil in the sight of the Lord, more than all who were before him” (1Kings 16:29-30). Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, desired a better epitaph. He sought to be righteous.

Jehoshaphat’s reformation of Judah began with the court of law. He appointed judges in the land, in all the cities, with one instruction, “Consider what you do, for you judge not for man but for the Lord. He is with you in giving judgment (2Chronicles 19:6).

I remember watching a movie with my college buddies. They laughed and I laughed. I watched the same movie several years later with my mom. She frowned and I squirmed. Funny how the same movie is different depending on whose eyes you see it through.

“He is with you in giving judgment.” To gaze through the eyes of God is to see sin with more horror, beauty with more wonder, righteousness with more desire. God would be with them, judging alongside them. “Thus Jehoshaphat reigned over Judah, doing what was right in the sight of the Lord” (2Chronicles 20:31-32). A better epitaph.

Daily Prayer

Heavenly Father, righteous and good and holy, may I fill my eyes, my thoughts, my heart with heavenly things. May Your glory be reflected in all I do. Give me discernment to know what is right and what pleases You. When I ask You to give me the desires of my heart, God, I do not mean give me whatever I want. Rather, cause Your desires to become my deepest longing, so that whatever I want will reflect Your character.

Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable, if anything is excellent or praiseworthy, may I fill my thoughts with these, with goodness, with truth, with grace, with faith, with hope, and most of all, with love.

Amen

Daily Question

Who are the ones who have most influenced the way you look at the world? In what way has their influence shaped you?

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From the Heavens

Daily Reading

2Chronicles 13-17

Daily Thought

The Hebrew people were now a divided Kingdom, Israel to the north under Jeroboam its king, Abijah reigning over the southern kingdom of Judah. They were divided and different. Judah was ruled by a man born from God’s chosen line of David; Israel’s king was a rebellious son of Solomon’s servant, illegitimate to the throne. Judah followed the Lord God, whose priests were of God’s chosen line of Aaron and the tribe of Levi. In Israel, “whoever comes for ordination with a young bull or seven rams” became a priest (2Chronicles 13:9) and presented offerings to golden calves made by Jeroboam.

Judah was following God; Israel was not. However, one difference seemed to favor Israel–they had an army of 800,000, twice as many as Judah–and now they were at war. Judah was surrounded by an enemy twice its size, to the right and left, in front and behind, but Israel could not guard the skies, and Judah’s strength came from the heavens. God was on high, and he was Judah’s God–“Behold, God is with us at our head,” warned Abijah. “O sons of Israel, do not fight against the Lord, the God of your fathers, for you cannot succeed” (2Chronicles 13:12). 

Jeroboam fought anyway, did not succeed, and never recovered–“The Lord struck him down, and he died. But Abijah grew mighty” (2Chronicles 13:20-21). Israel and Judah were divided and different, but only one difference mattered, “We keep the charge of the Lord our God,” said Abijah, “but you have forsaken him” (2Chronicles 13:11).

Daily Prayer

My Lord and Savior, You have placed me in a battlefield on earth, in a world that loves neither You nor Your ways. I cannot be a friend to the ways of the world and follow You at the same time. I must make a choice and I choose You, which means I fight the world and the world fights me. No matter, though, because You are with me and will never leave me, so I can stand in Your Name.

Thank You for so great a salvation. You are my strength and my confidence and I trust fully in You. My eyes will stay true, my heart pure, my path straight, so long as I love You, listen to Your Word, and follow Your ways.

Amen

Daily Question

What can you point to in your life that demonstrates your trust in God?

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Forever

Daily Reading

2Chronicles 9-12

Daily Thought

The Chronicles speak to Israel of its glory and its fall. Solomon’s reign was the kingdom of God’s favor, the apex of the nation. In the words of a foreigner, the Queen of Sheba, “Blessed be the Lord your God, who has delighted in you and set you on his throne as king for the Lord your God! Because your God loved Israel and would establish them forever, he has made you king over them, that you may execute justice and righteousness” (2Chronicles 9:8). 

But “forever” faded as the nation disregarded the words of Moses, “Beware lest you say in your heart, ‘My power and the might of my hand have gotten me this wealth.’ You shall remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth, that he may confirm his covenant that he swore to your fathers, as it is this day” (Deuteronomy 8:17-18). 

I grew up in Sacramento. Sacramento summers cook; north of a hundred degrees is normal. The American River, the cool run-off from the Sierra snow, was a popular solution. The flow of the river is mostly calm and mostly shallow, wonderful for rafting, and surprisingly dangerous for drowning. Life jackets are recommended. The victims are most often young and male. “We are old enough, we are strong enough, and we can swim,” say the young men. “Life jackets? We don’t need life jackets.” The danger of the river is not so much the current, but the misplaced confidence of young men who believe they are strong enough.

Solomon’s son Rehoboam inherited Solomon’s throne and his wealth, but not his wisdom. “When the rule of Rehoboam was established and he was strong, he abandoned the law of the Lord, and all Israel with him” (2Chronicles 12:1). Rehoboam thought himself strong enough on his own, so God went along. “Thus says the Lord, ‘You abandoned me, so I have abandoned you” (2Chronicles 12:5) was God’s response, and “Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem. He took away the treasures of the house of the Lord and the treasures of the king’s house. He took away everything” (2Chronicles 12:9). 

The Chronicles were written by a people who forgot God because they thought themselves strong enough, discovered they were not, and were now left wondering if God would ever return and remember them. 

He will, not because they were faithful, but because he is. Forever.

Daily Prayer

My forever faithful Father, You are the Rock, the foundation on which a life will stand firm. May I always remember that, when I am weak, but even more so, when I am strong. Protect me, God, from myself, from becoming full of myself. “I am not strong enough” are not words of the weak, but the wise.

What You say, You do. Your Word is true, right, and good. It shall be my guide in life, my constant companion. May I always seek not the pleasure of this world, but your pleasure, and remember that the world is not friendly toward me because it is not friendly toward You. May my love for Your Word continue to grow.

Amen

Daily Question

When have you discovered God’s faithfulness in spite of your own lack?

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What Kind of Savior

Daily Reading

2Chronicles 6-8

Daily Thought

The construction of God’s Temple was finished, the place of meeting between God and humanity, Creator and creation. But how can a sinful humanity approach a holy God? Solomon understands this concern as he dedicates this place of meeting, “But will God indeed dwell with man on the earth?” (2Chronicles 6:18).

He knew it was going to happen. The people would sin. He would sin. “If they sin against you–for there is no one who does not sin–if they turn their heart repent and plead with you, saying, ‘We have sinned and have acted perversely and wickedly,’ if they repent with all their mind and with all their heart then hear from heaven your dwelling place their prayer and their pleas, and maintain their cause and forgive your people who have sinned against you” (vv 36-38).

The woman had an excuse for not coming to church, “Oh, but you don’t know what I’ve done,” she explained. “I’m not the kind of person God could ever forgive.” In other words, God’s forgiveness has to have a limit. How much will he forgive?

I thought of the Temple. I thought of the cross. The people cried out, “Crucify him” (Mark 15:13). They spit in his face and struck him. And some slapped him, saying, “Prophesy to us, you Christ! Who is it that struck you?” (Matthew 26:67-68). Pilate said to them, “Shall I crucify your King?” The chief priests answered, “We have no king but Caesar” (John 19:15). They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, and twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on his head and put a reed in his right hand. And kneeling before him, they mocked him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” And they spit on him and took the reed and struck him on the head (Matthew 27:28-30). They kept shouting, “Crucify, crucify him!” (Luke 23:21). So they took Jesus, and he went out, bearing his own cross, to the place called The Place of a Skull, which in Aramaic is called Golgotha. There they crucified him (John 19:16-18).

Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34).

“You’re right, I don’t know what you’ve done, what kind of person you are,” I said to this woman. “But here’s what I do know. I know the God I worship. I know what Jesus has done and what kind of Savior he is and what kind of person God forgives and how great is his grace.”

God’s answer came quickly to Solomon, “As soon as Solomon finished his prayer, fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices, and the glory of the Lord filled the temple. They bowed down with their faces to the ground on the pavement and worshiped and gave thanks to the Lord, saying, ‘For he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever’” (2Chronicles 7:1, 3). Our God forgives.

Daily Prayer

Loving Father, Your love endures. I’ve put it to the test! So have others. All of us. And yet Your love lasts forever and forgiveness is always in front of me. So, God, thank You for forgiving me by the blood of Your Son.

God, may I live life with confidence, not in my own strength, but in the absolute certainty that Your Son did everything needed to restore my relationship with You forever. Your love endures forever.

Amen

Daily Question

What have you done that God will not forgive?