Tag: Almighty God

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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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God Sees

Daily Reading

Habakkuk 1-3; Zephaniah 1-3

Daily Thought

The prophet Habakkuk cries out to a righteous God, “You who are of purer eyes than to see evil and cannot look at wrong, why do you idly look at traitors and remain silent?” (Habakkuk 1:13). The powerful Chaldeans are wicked people and they are attacking us. God, do you not see the evil in this world?

Mr. Dubose was the mean neighbor in the white house three houses down from my childhood home. One day, playing kickball in the street, the ball went astray and hit the rear tire of his corvette. Mr. Dubose held the ball out for me to retrieve, but as I approached, he reared back and fired it into my chest knocking me over. This was Goliath versus David, the Chaldeans versus Israel, Mr. Dubose versus 7-year-old me. Except I have a dad and my dad came out and had a “talk” with Mr. Dubose. My dad was a Marine in World War II and fought in the battle of Okinawa. I had never seen my dad fight (and never would), but as I watched him talk with our neighbor, I gained a sense of what he was capable.

God responds to Habakkuk in chapter 2, “Woe to him who heaps up what is not his own” (v 6), “Woe to him who gets evil gain for his house” (v 9), “Woe to him who builds a town with blood” (v 12), “Woe to him who makes his neighbors drink” (v 15), “Woe to him who says to a wooden thing, Awake; to a silent stone, Arise!” (v 19). God may be unseen, but he sees all. He sees all the plunder, the pride, the warfare, the debauchery, the idolatry, so he has a “talk” with the Chaldeans, but these woes are more than a warning to an evil people, they are words of assurance to God’s children. Habakkuk can rest in God. 

Yet I will quietly wait for the day of trouble
to come upon people who invade us. ~Habakkuk 3:16

Mr. Dubose did not change. He remained the mean old man in the white house, but he did not frighten me anymore because I knew my dad was here, he was capable, and he cares. 

On that day it shall be said to Jerusalem:
“Fear not, O Zion;
let not your hands grow weak.
The Lord your God is in your midst,
a mighty one who will save;
he will rejoice over you with gladness;
he will quiet you by his love.  ~Zephaniah 3:16-17

Daily Prayer

My God, Yours is the Name above all names. There is authority in Your Name, and in Your Name I find life. Your Name is holy and good, righteous and powerful. I know this and I am learning to trust You. And as I learn to trust You, I find rest. If you are for me, who can be against me? I am glad You are here, You are almighty, and You love me. 

What foe shall I fear when God is my friend.

Amen

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King Canute

Daily Reading

Ezekiel 25-27

Daily Thought

God now prophecies, not against Judah, but against the nations surrounding her, for they took pleasure in her pain, yet shared her guilt. The climactic judgment is against Tyre, for she prided herself most of all. 

“O Tyre, you have said,
‘I am perfect in beauty.’
Your borders are in the heart of the seas;
your builders made perfect your beauty.” ~Ezekiel 27:3-4

There is a story told of the wisdom of King Canute of England. When entering a room, the flattery began. “Your highness, there is nothing you cannot do,” someone would smile. “Great Canute, you are the monarch of all,” another would sing. “Nothing in this world dares to disobey you.  The world bows before you, and gives you honor.” The king answered. “In that case, bring me my chair, and we will go down to the sea.  Put it right at the water’s edge.”

“Sea,” cried Canute, “I command you to come no further! Waves, stop your rolling!  Surf, stop your pounding! Do not dare touch my feet!” He waited a moment, quietly, and a tiny wave rushed up the sand and lapped at his feet.  Another wave swept forward and curled around the king’s feet. The tide came in, just as it always did. The water rose higher and higher. It came up around the king’s chair, and wet not only his feet, but also his robe.

“Well, my friends,” Canute said, “it seems I do not have quite so much power as you would have me believe. My men, there is only one King who is all-powerful; and it is he who rules the sea, and holds the ocean in the hollow of his hand. It is he whom you ought to praise and serve above all others.”

“Therefore thus says the Lord God: Behold, I am against you, O Tyre, and will bring up many nations against you, as the sea brings up its waves” (Ezekiel 26:3). Tyre, a seafaring port on the coast of Phoenicia, boasted of her ship building and sea trade. But a ship serves the sea and the sea serves at the pleasure of God.

And he awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. And they were filled with great fear and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?” ~Mark 4:39, 41

Daily Prayer

God, You are God and I am not. That’s one of the smartest things I can say. “I did it my way,” one of the dumbest. I am not in charge and the universe does not revolve around me. Sometimes I act like it does. I am sorry.

Almighty God, You are the center of my universe, my King of kings, my Lord and Savior. To live for Your pleasure is to live life to its fullest because it is what I was created to do.

Amen