Author: David Short

2 Chronicles 7:14

if My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will be merciful to their sins and heal their land.

Personal Challenge

Solomon had just finished building the spectacular temple for God. God visited Him and this verse is part of His conversation with Solomon. God will hear our prayers from heaven and He will be merciful to us in our sins and He will heal our land…IF. We must humble ourselves before Him and our neighbor. We must pray and seek His face. And we must turn from our evil ways. It is His people who must turn to Him. Is it no wonder that a people, a nation that calls themselves Christian, are not seeing His hand at work? Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy!

Mark 12:29-31

Jesus answered him, “The first of all the commandments is: ‘Hear, O Israel, the LORD our God, the LORD is one. And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ This is the first commandment. And the second, like it, is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”

Personal Challenge

The whole expectation of what God wants us to do is in these three verses. If one ever has a doubt or a concern about how to live a truly righteous and godly life, it is here. Jesus summed everything up in two commandments for us to live our lives by. We are to love the Lord our God with all our heart, with all our soul, with all our mind, and with all our strength. And we are to love our neighbor as ourselves. There is nothing in here about how many services we should attend, or how many theological books we should read, or how well we keep the fast. If we do not do those things, and everything else that we do, out of love for God and love of others, then it doesn’t matter. If we jeer at the person who returns from a hiatus from church, then we have failed. If we demand an explanation before we let them back in, then we have failed. If we engage in the gossip mill about another without reaching out to them with encouragement and love, then we have failed. If we pride ourselves on how “godly” our church is at the exclusion of those who disagree with us without focusing on reconciliation and unity then we have failed. Woe to us if we act pharisaical in our piety and not show love to one another. Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy!

2 Chronicles 1:10-12

Mark 12:27

He is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living. You are therefore greatly mistaken.

Encouraging Words

In the passage before this, the leaders of the synagogue were trying to trap Jesus with an argument related to life after death. They were leveraging a disagreement with the different factions in the Jewish leadership. As usual, Jesus did not take the bait, but instead seized upon the opportunity to proclaim that our God is the God of the living, that those who have gone before us, living for God are continuing to live for Him even after their departure from this worldly realm. We can claim these encouraging words and hold on to the promise that we too will be spending eternity with Him. Glory be to God!

1 Chronicles 28:9

“And now, my son Solomon, know the God of your fathers, and serve Him with a whole heart and a willing soul; for the Lord searches all hearts and understands every thought. If you seek Him, He will be found by you; but if you forsake Him, He will forsake you forever.”

Personal Challenge

God seeks us, His blessed creation. He created us to be in fellowship with Him. He does not need us, but He loves us deeply. He desires that we be in unity with Him through His Son. So why are we instructed to seek Him. It is because in our ability to have free will and in our prosperity to sin, we turn away from Him and attempt to elevate ourselves as the god’s of our own lives. We must be constantly reminded that He is the God of our fathers as well as our God. He knows the true depths of our hearts and the breadth of our thoughts. We need to seek Him out of the mire that we get ourselves into in order to find that He has always been there for us. Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy! Love, have mercy!

Mark 10:43-45

Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you shall be your servant. And whoever of you desires to be first shall be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”

Personal Challenge

This passage comes at the conclusion of James and John asking Jesus if they could be seated on His left and right in the kingdom of heaven. How often do we do the same in our relationship with our Lord. We go to all the services for the week and then look to God to bless us. We pontificate on all the “knowledge” that we have acquired expecting people, even God to be in awe of us. We “desire” to be seated at the head of the table for who we perceive that we are. Jesus reminds them, and us, that if we want to be first in line in heaven, seated at the head of the table, then we must be servants to all, submissive to all, in our life here on earth. It is never about us, but about Him and our neighbor. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner!

1 Chronicles 16:34 (1 Chronicles 16:35)

And say, “Save us, O God of our salvation;
And deliver us from the Gentiles
To praise Your holy name,
And boast in Your praises.”

Encouraging Words

David was proclaimed to be a man after God’s own heart. Reading, through his psalms you will see that he treats God like his best friend. He argues with him. He praises Him. He spends lots of time with Him. In that kind of relationship he can easily call out to God for this His protection and salvation all the while proclaiming praises for his God and boasting of his greatness. Glory be to God!

Mark 10:27

But Jesus looked at them and said, “With men it is impossible, but not with God; for with God all things are possible.”

Encouraging Words

There is nothing that can prevent God from doing what He desires. Even the laws of nature must obey Him and bend to his will. If we believe this, then why do we doubt him? We can trust him to lead us through life and making do it possible for us what He asks of us especially if the request is beyond our capability. With God all things are possible. Glory be to God!

2 Kings 6:16 (4 Kingdoms 6:16)

So he answered, “Do not fear, for those who are with us are greater in number than those who are with them.”

Encouraging Word

It is so easy to slip into a state of despondency and fear when life gets rough and it begins to feel like the enemy is closing in on us. But there is no reason to despair if we trust in our God. As Elisha pointed out to his servant, the army of God far out numbers and out powers the army of the enemy who is attacking us. We must pray that our eyes will be opened to see His army and our hearts will be softened to trust in Him. Glory be to God!