2 Kings 24 bible reading and devotionals.

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MaxLucado.com: Life Stinks

Yes, life stinks.  But it won’t forever!    

As one of my friends likes to say  “Everything will work out in the end.  If it’s not working out, it’s not the end.”

In the meantime, don’t over-react!  Psalm 37:7 reminds us, “Be still in the presence of the Lord, and wait patiently for Him to act.  Don’t worry about evil people who prosper or fret about their wicked schemes.”

Avoid Pollyanna optimism.  But neither do we join the Chicken Little chorus of gloom and doom.  “The sky is falling.”  “The sky is falling!”

Somewhere between Pollyanna and Chicken Little, between denial and blatant panic, stands the  follower of Christ.

Psalm 27:3 says, “My heart shall not fear—though war arise against me, yes, I will be confident!”

Confident in Him.


2 Kings 24

24 During Jehoiakim’s reign, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon invaded the land, and Jehoiakim became his vassal for three years. But then he turned against Nebuchadnezzar and rebelled. 2 The Lord sent Babylonian,[a] Aramean, Moabite and Ammonite raiders against him to destroy Judah, in accordance with the word of the Lord proclaimed by his servants the prophets. 3 Surely these things happened to Judah according to the Lord’s command, in order to remove them from his presence because of the sins of Manasseh and all he had done, 4 including the shedding of innocent blood. For he had filled Jerusalem with innocent blood, and the Lord was not willing to forgive.

5 As for the other events of Jehoiakim’s reign, and all he did, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Judah? 6 Jehoiakim rested with his ancestors. And Jehoiachin his son succeeded him as king.

7 The king of Egypt did not march out from his own country again, because the king of Babylon had taken all his territory, from the Wadi of Egypt to the Euphrates River.

Jehoiachin King of Judah

8 Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem three months. His mother’s name was Nehushta daughter of Elnathan; she was from Jerusalem. 9 He did evil in the eyes of the Lord, just as his father had done.

10 At that time the officers of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon advanced on Jerusalem and laid siege to it, 11 and Nebuchadnezzar himself came up to the city while his officers were besieging it. 12 Jehoiachin king of Judah, his mother, his attendants, his nobles and his officials all surrendered to him.

In the eighth year of the reign of the king of Babylon, he took Jehoiachin prisoner. 13 As the Lord had declared, Nebuchadnezzar removed the treasures from the temple of the Lord and from the royal palace, and cut up the gold articles that Solomon king of Israel had made for the temple of the Lord. 14 He carried all Jerusalem into exile: all the officers and fighting men, and all the skilled workers and artisans—a total of ten thousand. Only the poorest people of the land were left.

15 Nebuchadnezzar took Jehoiachin captive to Babylon. He also took from Jerusalem to Babylon the king’s mother, his wives, his officials and the prominent people of the land. 16 The king of Babylon also deported to Babylon the entire force of seven thousand fighting men, strong and fit for war, and a thousand skilled workers and artisans. 17 He made Mattaniah, Jehoiachin’s uncle, king in his place and changed his name to Zedekiah.

Zedekiah King of Judah

18 Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eleven years. His mother’s name was Hamutal daughter of Jeremiah; she was from Libnah. 19 He did evil in the eyes of the Lord, just as Jehoiakim had done. 20 It was because of the Lord’s anger that all this happened to Jerusalem and Judah, and in the end he thrust them from his presence.



Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Read: 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18

Believers Who Have Died

13 Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope. 14 For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. 15 According to the Lord’s word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16 For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. 18 Therefore encourage one another with these words.

Always

August 6, 2012 — by Joe Stowell

We shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words. —1 Thessalonians. 4:17-18

I love the words always and never. They hold so much hope! I would like to think that I could always be happy and that life would never fail me. But reality says that I won’t always be happy and that the things I hope would never happen just might. So, as good as these words sound, they struggle to live up to their potential—unless you are thinking about the promise of Jesus’ presence.

To a group of troubled disciples who feared facing life on their own Jesus said, “I am with you always” (Matt. 28:20). The writer to the Hebrews reminds us that Jesus said, “‘I will never leave you nor forsake you.’ So we may boldly say: ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not fear’” (Heb. 13:5-6). And the apostle Paul assures believers that after death, “We shall always be with the Lord” (1 Thess. 4:17). How encouraging!

No matter how scary our journey may feel today or how hopeless our future may look, the assurance of His never-failing presence can provide us with the courage and comfort to make it through. And best of all, when this short life is over, we will always be with Him. No wonder Paul encourages us to “comfort one another with these words” (v.18).

Jesus said He’s always with us,
He will never leave our side;
Someday we’ll be in His presence
Where forever we’ll abide. —Sper
Confidence in God’s presence is our comfort.


My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
August 6, 2012

The Cross in Prayer

In that day you will ask in My name . . . —John 16:26

We too often think of the Cross of Christ as something we have to get through, yet we get through for the purpose of getting into it. The Cross represents only one thing for us— complete, entire, absolute identification with the Lord Jesus Christ— and there is nothing in which this identification is more real to us than in prayer.

“Your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him” (Matthew 6:8). Then why should we ask? The point of prayer is not to get answers from God, but to have perfect and complete oneness with Him. If we pray only because we want answers, we will become irritated and angry with God. We receive an answer every time we pray, but it does not always come in the way we expect, and our spiritual irritation shows our refusal to identify ourselves truly with our Lord in prayer. We are not here to prove that God answers prayer, but to be living trophies of God’s grace.

“. . . I do not say to you that I shall pray the Father for you; for the Father Himself loves you . . .” (John 16:26-27). Have you reached such a level of intimacy with God that the only thing that can account for your prayer life is that it has become one with the prayer life of Jesus Christ? Has our Lord exchanged your life with His vital life? If so, then “in that day” you will be so closely identified with Jesus that there will be no distinction.

When prayer seems to be unanswered, beware of trying to place the blame on someone else. That is always a trap of Satan. When you seem to have no answer, there is always a reason— God uses these times to give you deep personal instruction, and it is not for anyone else but you.


A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

The Strongest Men In the World - #6671

Monday, August 6, 2012

When my son was 16 he was quite a "hunk"! I mean, we didn't tell him that, but I think he probably was. He didn't start out that way. But he began lifting weights and he did it regularly. And he loved to report his new "max" to us...you know, the maximum amount he was able to lift - his bench press. And occasionally he'd flex and have us see how particular muscles had grown. I guess I was supposed to go, "Oooo, ahhhh!" I didn't exactly do that, but... Now, there are a number of factors that go into making a man achieve his full strength. Of course, lifting, lots of protein, certain vitamin supplements, sufficient rest, workouts, and a woman. Yeah! Yeah, he needs a woman to be really strong where it really counts.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Strongest Men In the World."

Now, our word for today from the Word of God comes from Proverbs 31:23. It's in that famous passage what's really the Proverbs 31 woman; that's what a lot of people call it. It's about the virtuous woman, and it says, "Her husband is respected at the city gate, where he takes his seat among the elders of the land." Now, in those days, to be at the city gate was the equivalent to being kind of in the top management office today. It means that you're one of the leaders of the community, and that's where her husband is.

This guy is a strong man; he's a winner, but the rest of the passage is about his wife strangely enough. Here are some excerpts: "Her husband has full confidence in her and lacks nothing of value. She brings him good not harm all the days of her life. She opens her arms to the poor and extends her hands to the needy. When it snows, she has no fear for her household." Verse 26 says, "She speaks with wisdom and faithful instruction is on her tongue." This is one strong woman!

Verse 28: "Her children arise and call her blessed. Her husband, he praises her. He says, 'Many women do noble things, but you surpass them all.'" Okay, you get the distinct impression here that the reason this man is such a winner is because of the woman in his life. You know the old saying, "Behind every man is a great woman and an astonished mother-in-law."

Well, I don't know about that, but this man is smart enough to lean heavily on the woman in his life. It says, "He has full confidence in her." It says, "She speaks with wisdom." "He praises her for what she has done for him." How unlike many modern men and their attitude toward the women in their life.

I know men who just can't take advice from a woman. They think a woman's perspective isn't as strong as a man's; that they're weak if they listen to a woman. They kind of think women are superficial. We're logical; they just deal with feelings all the time. Actually truth is usually in the middle. We need the male logic and we need that unique feminine insight to get the real truth.

Sometimes because a man has felt dominated by a woman at some time in his life, he rejects any strength that a woman might offer him. Well, let me tell you, a truly strong man, like the man here in the Bible, is open to a strong, spiritual woman. Not being dominated by her, but being helped by her. I'm proud to say I value my wife's counsel more than any other person on earth. Does that make me weak? I don't think so. I think it makes me strong. A wise man knows that we as men are incomplete. Our logic, our aggressiveness give us only half the story. We need the sensitivity, the radar, the attention to detail, the instinctive insight of a woman.

Listen to your mother, listen to your sister, listen to your wife...the women in your life. One measure of the strength of a man is his openness to the strength of a woman. The men who listen to and respect the women in their life? They're the strongest men in the world.