December 21

2 Chronicles 25 Amaziah began his reign by properly executing his father’s murderers. However, he quickly went downhill from there. He first disobeyed the Lord by numbering the men of Israel in order to determine the strength of the army. Then based upon the census, he hired soldiers from Ephraim to fight for him. Both acts were forbidden by the Lord. As a result, the Lord rebuked him through the prophet. But he had already spent 100 talents hiring the Ephraimites. The Lord told him to let it go; He could provide much more. Amaziah reluctantly obeyed. The Lord forgave Amaziah. However, Amaziah had to live with the consequences of his sin. He lost the 100 talents, and the Ephraimites attacked his territory while he was fighting the Edomites. God had already been abundantly merciful to Amaziah, but Amaziah presumed on the mercy of the Lord. Amaziah then spiraled into even greater sin. What do I see about the glory of the Lord? He is merciful. He gave Amaziah much opportunity to repent, but eventually Amaziah’s refusal to repent led to Amaziah’s discipline and eventual death. The justice of the Lord is thus played out in the acts of men. How is his glory seen here? He is shown as both merciful and just. That is my Jesus. He is ever compassionate and merciful. However, one day an end comes where He ceases to wait for our obedience. He is just. I also see that I can freely let go of what I think is a great sum of money. He is able give it all back to me if He desires. Indeed we serve a glorious King. Speak His glory to someone today! --Pastor john * Proverbs 21 David probably stopped to ponder his actions. He must have justified himself many times. Each time that he took another wife, he surely justified himself. After all many others had multiple wives, why shouldn’t he? He once had vowed to kill a man for snubbing him and his troops after they had spent endless hours protecting him. Fortunately the man’s wife and the Lord intervened. The man died. David was more than willing to take the beautiful widow as his wife. But this new circumstance was a little different. This widow’s husband was intensely loyal to David. David had coveted her before her husband died. David had yielded to that temptation and seduced her while her husband was on the battlefield fighting for David’s cause. David arranged to have him put in a battle situation where he would surely die, and he was killed. How could a man after God’s own heart justify such a course of action? The deception of our own hearts is ever deep. David must have thought, “I am king; I have the right to do as I please.” Kings throughout history have often taken the wives of other men and forced themselves upon them. Perhaps he reasoned even that it was his Divine right. After all had he not be faithful to “touch not the anointed of the Lord” for more than a decade? Had he not done everything possible to wait upon the Lord to bring him the rule of kingship over Israel? Did not more than a decade of running in the desert leading what many considered to be an army of thieves finally warrant some kind of perks? Didn’t he deserve this? And why should one night with the man’s wife matter to the man. After all she had promised that she would never tell him. No one would ever know. The complication of the whole matter was that she had become pregnant. No problem, bring the man home to enjoy marital conjugation with the woman, and everyone would think the child was the man’s. But the man had an unusual sense of honor. He refused to enjoy a night with his wife while his companions were on the field of battle. Do you suppose he knew what had happened? How could David ever justify this? For the good of the image of the office of the king, this matter must be discretely taken care of. He was the commander-in-chief. He would simply place the man in a unit where he would likely be killed. It was after all his prerogative. After all, he was King! Even a man after God’s own heart can make his perverted ways seem right in his own eyes. If David could fall prey to it, so can I. Even Solomon, a man blessed with wisdom and riches beyond any other, could fall prey to it, so can I. What are we to do? There is only one solution. I must throw myself upon the grace of our Lord imploring Him to constantly weigh my heart and show it to me. I can never be satisfied with the condition of my heart yesterday. The question is, “Where is my heart today?” Yes, I may have had a great interaction with the Spirit of the Lord and His word yesterday, but what about today? The glory of our Lord Jesus is that He will weigh our heart today and share with us the results, but we must pursue Him. Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today! --Pastor john * Revelation 12 In the fall of my sophomore year in high school, I weighed all of 135 pounds and that was stretching it a bit. I went out for football. We had 6 strings on the team. I was on the sixth. The coach used to have the sixth string run against the first string. We would run the plays which the upcoming opponent would probably be running. Our first string had a guy on it who was about 235 pounds and made all-state tackle. He was pure muscle. One particular practice I had the opportunity to be on defense against him and to be the one who he was privileged to block. They were practicing a screen pass, which meant not only was he blocking me, but he had would be hitting me at a full run. My demise was sudden, airborne and painful. As I collected myself from various parts of the field, I remember the head coach, who couldn't even call my name without looking on the name tag on my helmet, say, "Now protect yourself, Chaffin." My thought was, "Give me a Smith & Wesson, and I will protect myself." I was a nameless player in an inglorious effort against an impossible foe. Sometimes in this world it seems as though we are nameless players in an inglorious effort against impossible foes. Satan has always opposed the work of God. He sought to destroy Jesus. He thought he had destroyed Jesus when he had Him nailed to the cross. Ah but God raised Him up on the third day, and then He ascended to the right hand of the Father in heaven. But Satan remains in opposition to us. He seeks to make us feel like we are nameless players in an inglorious effort against an impossible foe. But our Lamb is an attack Lamb. Our Lamb has overcome on our behalf! We enter into that victory as we trust in the effectiveness of His blood, speak His glory and remain faithful to the death. We are not nameless players. Jesus knows our names-even shedding His blood for us. It is not an inglorious effort. No one else may know our effort, but He knows, and He's the only one who counts. The foe is doomed. His time is short. He is not impossible. One day Satan's demise will be eternally sudden, airborne and painful. Death may come for us, but that is only the beginning of our victory. We overcome by the blood of the Lamb and the testimony of our mouths. Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today! --Pastor John