by Suellen | Project 2013: Read The Bible
By Suellen Estes
II KIngs 22-23
Each man is accountable for himself. That’s obvious when we see each man who comes into power as king of Judah.
Hezekiah turns the nation back to the Lord, and sees great miracles from his God. However, his son, Manasseh, leads a disgusting regime.
You might say that Manasseh was an earlier version of a universalist. He had every kind of religion and every kind of horrible practice was encouraged. Putting children through the fire, making sacrifices to every outlandish god, astrology, witchcraft, divination, spiritualism…you name it, he had it.
Remember the adage we started with: the Old Testament is the New Testament concealed, and the New Testament is the Old Testament revealed. If we don’t look back at these passages with the eyes of a New Testament believer – in other words, with the eyes of the Holy Spirit, we miss a lot.
There is only one true God. We are either worshipping Him in truth, or we are not. When we look back at these chapters in history, we see that God’s plan of a special people who will bring the Deliverer to the world is being diluted and compromised by the cocky, self-centered ones who come into power. They think that they are too smart for God.
Well, they aren’t as smart as they think, and they are digging a hole for their nation.
Thankfully, Josiah arrives on the scene. At eight years old, he has a desire to return the nation to holiness. He tears down all of the shrines to other gods, and reinstitutes the Passover, which has not been celebrated for many years. (How does he know what to do? He reads the Book of the Covenant. How do we know what to do? We read the Book of the Covenant ).
Unfortunately, the nation has gone too far, and their time of contending with God has come to an end. So the Pharoah of Egypt kills Josiah. And when Josiah’s son becomes king, the Pharoah imprisons him so that he can not rule, and replaces him with another evil man – Jehoiakim.
These are sad days in the life of Judah. Their time is about up. God has sent prophet after prophet to try to keep these people on the right track, but they just will not honor and follow the one true God.
I pray that we will heed the lessons of those days. I pray that our nation – and indeed, our world – will return to the one true God.
John 4:31-54
It seems that everyday Jesus is introducing something new to His disciples.
For several centuries, the Samaritans have been considered second-class citizens. Their ancestors had intermarried with other cultures, so that they were considered unclean people by the Jews.
Jesus is about to draw the big line through the ages – the line which will change the covenant. He will cut a new covenant between God and man – a covenant which will allow the Spirit of God to live on the inside of man – the way it was with Adam. When that happens, God’s covenant of mercy will be to all people everywhere.
After all of those years of being told to stay clear of other cultures, these people can’t understand Jesus. He seems like He is breaking the law. His followers love Him and believe Him, but they are confused by Him many times. There are many things they will not understand until He sends back the Holy Spirit to them.
In the meantime, Jesus talks with the Samaritan woman at the well and she runs into town to tell many others. They beg the Savior to stay with them for a while, so He stays two more days, and many come to believe in Him.
After the resurrection of Jesus and the Day of Pentecost, when He sends His Spirit to His disciples, all of these actions will be understood. They will understand that the covenant is no longer just for the Jews, but for all who believe in Him throughout the world. Right now, there’s confusion.
These disciples could have decided that Jesus was in error – as did many Pharisees of the day. But instead, they put these things on the shelf until they could understand them.
Today, the Holy Spirit is here and available to all who desire to walk with Him. He will come to live on the inside of all believers in Jesus, and He will bring understanding to all confusion. Just ask Him to teach you, and He will.
Lord, today, I pray that the eyes of our understanding will be enlightened so that we will know You better and understand more of Your plan.
by Suellen | Project 2013: Read The Bible
II Kings 7-9
These times in history seem far removed from what we think about today. The societies were much less sophisticated, and most people seem to be just be seeking survival. Very dark times, indeed.
In fact, it seems that the only people who are truly committed to the Lord are the prophets and a few kings.
These times are similar to the dark ages of the Christian church. Roughly from the 6th century to the 15th century, the Christian church went into great darkness. There was a lot of corruption in the church, and lots of heretical teachings which took away the true power of God. In fact, the lay people were not allowed to read the scriptural texts for themselves; they had to have the priests tell them what they said.
People were taught that they had to go through the priest to reach God, and much advantage was taken of the people – large sums of money to “pay” for their sins.
In the 16th century, Martin Luther, a German monk was reading the scriptures when he realized that people are saved by faith and not by works. He wrote 95 Theses stating arguments against the Catholic Church and nailed them to the door of the monastery at Wittenburg. Of course, he came under great persecution, but Luther set a fire in the hearts of men which led to the Protestant Reformation.
Throughout the Dark Ages, God still had people who truly believed him and kept the fire in their hearts, even though it wasn’t reflected in society as a whole. It was the same during these days of Jewish history in II Kings. It seemed that only the prophets were believers, but God spoke to Elijah and said, “There are 7,000 who have not bowed their knee to Baal.”
We are to learn lessons from these scriptures. First we are to see how easy it is for each succeeding king to go with the flow of culture and leave God out of the story. (That’s a warning to us). Then next it is easy to see that God is a rewarder of those who truly seek Him – even in the darkest of times. Right in the middle of the darkness, we see miracles and His hand working on behalf of those who honor Him and believe Him.
We also see that, even though they seemed far removed from Him, God still had His hand on his covenant people. Our God never forsakes a covenant He has made.
He does the same with us.
John 1:1-28
John’s gospel is my favorite. The three gospels we have read so far are called the “synoptic” gospels. They are similar in that they all cover the natural accounts of what Jesus did and said as He ministered on the earth. They recount His miracles and His teachings. Yet they make very little mention of what these things might mean.
John’s gospel is different. He shares an understanding of the deeper revelation of just who Jesus is.
John starts by saying that Jesus was the Word – and all things which came into being came through Him. This may be hard to understand, but if you and I will ask our teacher, the Holy Spirit, He will help clarify the concepts we are going to learn.
This concept reflects back to the beginning of the Bible when we see that God said this and that to create (or recreate) the world. He literally spoke the world into existence. Jesus was the One who spoke the Word. The Word of God is the most powerful thing on the earth. It has the power to create!
Then, too, when Gabriel came to Mary and spoke the Word to her, saying that she would give birth to the Son of God, she said “Be it done to me according to your Word.”(Luke 1:38). The Word spoken to Mary became flesh within her womb and Jesus was born into the earth.
I can hear the Star Wars music going off in your ears right now, but hang in there. This is good – and this is true!
Then Jesus is called the “light.” He came to shine in darkness. As the light, Jesus came to set off the light bulb within each of us. That ah-ha moment, when we realize that He really is the Son of God …that God really does love us …and that God really did send Jesus to die for our sins.
So all the healings and all the teachings Jesus did were to turn on the light in the hearts of people to let them know that God is on their side – if they will get on His.
Yet The gospel says that “He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to be called the children of God.”(v.11-12) “Those who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God”(v.13).
This second birth – the born again experience – is truly the greatest occasion of anyone’s life.
We’ll be reading more about this as we continue with the book of John. In the meantime, meditate on these things as you go about your day. When you truly grasp what is being said here, your life will be changed forever.
by Suellen | Project 2013: Read The Bible
II Samuel 11-13
Never let your guard down, and never get lazy, or you’ll get into trouble. That’s the root of the lowest point in David’s life.
After all of those years of running from Saul, and still honoring him, and after all those years of fighting with his men, David takes a rest. He takes a rest from fighting, but it seems that he also takes a rest from his honor. He must have taken a rest from attention to his God.
Not only does he violate Uriah’s wife, but he has the man killed. Unbelievable evil coming from our man, David.
Yet, he recovers his honesty and decency when Nathan the prophet brings David the word from the Lord.
So often, when people are caught in violations, they harden their hearts against any kind of repentance. They deny any wrong doing.
Not David. When Nathan says to him, “You are the man,”(12:7) David snaps to his senses and takes responsibility. He says, “I have sinned against the Lord,”(12:13) and begins fasting and praying.
So David recovers – even from that horrible sin – but sin runs rampant through his house. His sons are out of control as one rapes a sister and then gets killed by another.
Shame comes to the house of David. Shame and sorrow.
When David opens the gate of his house to the devil by committing his sin, demonic forces try to take over. His sin is adultery and murder; his sons’ sins are incest and murder. Not things which we would expect from David’s house.
David’s repentance closes the gate for himself, but the sons continue on their lawless paths.
I want to have a holy life – not only for myself and for my God, but for my children and grandchildren. I want them to have lives free from the heartache that comes with sin. I will keep that gate closed to Satan and his imps.
How about you?
Luke 16
Jesus continues to pound away at the deceitfulness of riches. There are other passages which show that our Father wants to bless us with finances, but the true blessing of God adds no sorrow. Worshiping Mammon brings great sorrow.
When men worship their money instead of God, they become very self-centered and proud. Instead of allowing the Lord to lead them in the handling of their finances, they lavish themselves with their riches. Or sometimes, they hoard the finances, worshiping their treasure.
People whose hearts are allowed to go in that direction are in for a big surprise. They may think that they are on top of things, but not so. This life on earth is only a dot compared to eternity. To live selfishly here is a big mistake. It only leads to sorrow in the end.
Consider the beggar, Lazarus, in the parable. His poor condition is not what allows him into heaven; there is no glory in being poor. His heart must be right before God. He must have tried to live according to God’s plan as much as possible. His life after death is the greater.
At the end of this parable, Jesus makes a very poignant statement. He says, “If they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they listen if someone rises from the dead.”(v.37)
What is He saying? He is saying that if the Jews don’t believe the Word they have from God, they won’t believe another Word from Him. The same applies today. If we don’t believe the Word which we have in hand, we can’t believe other Words which may be spoken to us from God.
The Word, the Bible, is the basis for everything we believe. If we hear something else, another gospel, and we can’t see it in the Word, then it isn’t so. We must reject it.
My prayer is that we – and others of our generation – will rise up to be keepers of the truth. We will not only listen to the Word, but we will believe it and hold that higher than any other word we hear.
by Suellen | Project 2013: Read The Bible
II Samuel 1-2
Turmoil! After Saul and Jonathan are killed in battle, David returns to Hebron with his men – and becomes king over Judah. At the same time, Abner, the son of Saul’s commander makes Saul’s son, Ish-bosheth, the king over Israel.
And they fight. And they fight.
In all of this, however, David still shows his character. First, he calls for a fast and mourning over Saul and Jonathan. Even though Saul had made himself his enemy, David honors him as God’s anointed. Such humility.
Then after the mourning, though he knows that God has anointed him king, David inquires of the Lord if it is time to go up. He doesn’t run ahead of God. He waits on the Lord’s direction.
David never loses his faith in God and his desire to walk with him. All of the confusion and hardship that have been in his life don’t deter or discourage him. He knows that God has a plan, and he is following it – with patience.
Don’t you want patience like that? I do!
Luke 14:1-24
Busyness and distractions. These can be the greatest hindrances to our walk with God.
In our modern society, life runs at an incredible pace. We have obligations everywhere. Everyone is working hard and playing as hard as they can afford to.
Children are involved in sports, arts, music, and lots of other activities. The parents are always in a rush getting them there, and assisting the programs along…after working all day.
So who has time for God?
We need to take time!
The most important part of life is that connection with our Maker and following His plan. The time we take to worship, pray, read His Word, and follow His instructions has to come first.
So it’s important to carve out time that’s only His. We can be mindful of Him as we go about our days, but we need to take some time just for our Father. We need to listen to Him and heed what He is saying.
Sometimes that means losing an hour’s sleep or dropping an activity, but it’s all worth it.
I want to partake of His banquet, don’t you?
by Suellen | Project 2013: Read The Bible
I Samuel 27-29
David’s journey continues with discernment and intrigue, and God’s hand is upon him so that he is protected. This man has to have tremendous courage to go into the land of the Philistines and seek protection from his king. It has become obvious that Saul will not relent in his commitment to kill David.
This reminds me of stories I have heard from missionaries in foreign lands. Sometimes deception is necessary for their protection when they are among adversarial governments. This is what David encounters here.
In the meantime, Saul’s condition goes from bad to worse. When people turn from God, they are worse off than those who have never known Him. He is tormented to the point where he turns to a witch for his answers. He no longer hears from God.
There is always room for repentance, but I have known people over the years who begin a walk with God and then stop. They become like sitting ducks for the devil and his imps. There is a mark on their heads, with no ability to combat the onslaught. Very sad, indeed.
I say, Lord, I want to be on fire and stay on fire! I want every day of my life to be lived with You and for You!
I know you say that, too.
Luke 13:1-22
When Jesus came to the earth, God planted His Son, the seed – the holy seed – into the earth so that His Kingdom could spring forth. That’s why the kingdom is like a mustard seed…It’s also like leaven. As Christians grow in numbers and authority, the kingdom grows and spreads – as leaven does in three pecks of meal.
These illustrations help us to understand the power of the Kingdom, and God’s plan for its increase. He didn’t send a Kingdom with force, as many of the Jews had expected. He sent a Kingdom – hidden in the hearts of men. As they go into the world, they take this hidden Kingdom with them and quietly spread it to those around them, affecting all of His creation.
That’s the plan. Now we have to get in on it. We have to decide that we will be part of the expansion of His Kingdom.
All around us there are those who have never heard the truth about this Kingdom. They may have heard bits and pieces – and often distorted accounts of it. If we will think of ourselves as the leaven which needs to spread, or the seed bag which needs to plant more seed, we will be part of what our Father desires for our lives.
Freely we have received. Freely we must give. That’s the plan – the Divine plan, bringing the love of God to all those around us.
Oh, I so want to fulfill my part of it!
