2 Chronicles 15 Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Click here to listen to God's word to you.

Max Lucado: God’s Best Idea

Grace is God’s best idea.  Rather than tell us to change, he creates the change!  Do we clean up so God can accept us?  No, he accepts us and begins cleaning us up.  His dream isn’t just to get you into heaven, but to get heaven into you. Can’t forgive your enemy?  Can’t face tomorrow? Can’t forgive your past?  Christ can.  Forgiven people, forgive people.  Deep sighs of relief happen when grace happens.  We still stumble aplenty, but we despair seldom.  Grace changes everything!  To be saved by grace is to be saved by Christ—not by an idea, doctrine, or church membership, but by Jesus Himself. I have no tips on how to get grace. Truth is, we don’t get grace. But it sure can get us!  If you wonder whether God can do something with the mess of your life, then grace is what you need.

“Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever!  Amen. Ephesians 3:20?

From GRACE

2 Chronicles 15

Asa’s Reform

The Spirit of God came on Azariah son of Oded. 2 He went out to meet Asa and said to him, “Listen to me, Asa and all Judah and Benjamin. The Lord is with you when you are with him. If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you forsake him, he will forsake you. 3 For a long time Israel was without the true God, without a priest to teach and without the law. 4 But in their distress they turned to the Lord, the God of Israel, and sought him, and he was found by them. 5 In those days it was not safe to travel about, for all the inhabitants of the lands were in great turmoil. 6 One nation was being crushed by another and one city by another, because God was troubling them with every kind of distress. 7 But as for you, be strong and do not give up, for your work will be rewarded.”

8 When Asa heard these words and the prophecy of Azariah son of[a] Oded the prophet, he took courage. He removed the detestable idols from the whole land of Judah and Benjamin and from the towns he had captured in the hills of Ephraim. He repaired the altar of the Lord that was in front of the portico of the Lord’s temple.

9 Then he assembled all Judah and Benjamin and the people from Ephraim, Manasseh and Simeon who had settled among them, for large numbers had come over to him from Israel when they saw that the Lord his God was with him.

10 They assembled at Jerusalem in the third month of the fifteenth year of Asa’s reign. 11 At that time they sacrificed to the Lord seven hundred head of cattle and seven thousand sheep and goats from the plunder they had brought back. 12 They entered into a covenant to seek the Lord, the God of their ancestors, with all their heart and soul. 13 All who would not seek the Lord, the God of Israel, were to be put to death, whether small or great, man or woman. 14 They took an oath to the Lord with loud acclamation, with shouting and with trumpets and horns. 15 All Judah rejoiced about the oath because they had sworn it wholeheartedly. They sought God eagerly, and he was found by them. So the Lord gave them rest on every side.

16 King Asa also deposed his grandmother Maakah from her position as queen mother, because she had made a repulsive image for the worship of Asherah. Asa cut it down, broke it up and burned it in the Kidron Valley. 17 Although he did not remove the high places from Israel, Asa’s heart was fully committed to the Lord all his life. 18 He brought into the temple of God the silver and gold and the articles that he and his father had dedicated.

19 There was no more war until the thirty-fifth year of Asa’s reign.


Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Read: Psalm 146

Put Not Your Trust in Princes

Praise the Lord!
Praise the Lord, O my soul!
2 I will praise the Lord as long as I live;
    I will sing praises to my God while I have my being.
3 Put not your trust in princes,
    in a son of man, in whom there is no salvation.
4 When his breath departs, he returns to the earth;
    on that very day his plans perish.
5 Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob,
    whose hope is in the Lord his God,
6 who made heaven and earth,
    the sea, and all that is in them,
who keeps faith forever;
7     who executes justice for the oppressed,
    who gives food to the hungry.
The Lord sets the prisoners free;
8     the Lord opens the eyes of the blind.
The Lord lifts up those who are bowed down;
    the Lord loves the righteous.
9 The Lord watches over the sojourners;
    he upholds the widow and the fatherless,
    but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin.
10 The Lord will reign forever,
    your God, O Zion, to all generations.
Praise the Lord!

Help Yourself

January 4, 2013 — by Bill Crowder

Happy is he who has the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the Lord his God. —Psalm 146:5

Recently, I saw a television ad for a restaurant chain that made a dramatic claim. At those restaurants, the ad said you could “Help Yourself to Happiness.” Wouldn’t it be nice if a helping of potatoes or meat or pasta or dessert would be all that was needed to provide happiness? Unfortunately, no restaurant can fulfill that promise.

Happiness is an elusive thing—as we can see in almost every area of life. Our pursuit of happiness may involve food or a host of other things, but, in the end, happiness continues to escape our grasp.

Why? In large measure it’s because the things we tend to pursue do not touch the deepest needs of our hearts. Our pursuits may provide moments of enjoyment, distraction, or pleasure, but the cry of our hearts goes unheard—the cry for help and hope. That is why the psalmist points us to a better way when he says, “Happy is he who has the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the Lord his God” (Ps. 146:5).

Help yourself? Yes—if we are seeking the happiness found in the Lord. It is only when we entrust ourselves to God and His care that we can find the happiness we seek. Our hope and help are found only in trusting Him.

Father, draw me to Yourself. Remind me that only
in You will I know the real joy and satisfaction that
my heart longs for. Help me to look beyond the
surface things of life to what really matters.
The one who puts God first will have happiness that lasts.


My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
January 4, 2013

Peter said to Him, ’Lord, why can I not follow You now?’ —John 13:37

There are times when you can’t understand why you cannot do what you want to do. When God brings a time of waiting, and appears to be unresponsive, don’t fill it with busyness, just wait. The time of waiting may come to teach you the meaning of sanctification— to be set apart from sin and made holy— or it may come after the process of sanctification has begun to teach you what service means. Never run before God gives you His direction. If you have the slightest doubt, then He is not guiding. Whenever there is doubt— wait.

At first you may see clearly what God’s will is— the severance of a friendship, the breaking off of a business relationship, or something else you feel is distinctly God’s will for you to do. But never act on the impulse of that feeling. If you do, you will cause difficult situations to arise which will take years to untangle. Wait for God’s timing and He will do it without any heartache or disappointment. When it is a question of the providential will of God, wait for God to move.

Peter did not wait for God. He predicted in his own mind where the test would come, and it came where he did not expect it. “I will lay down my life for Your sake.” Peter’s statement was honest but ignorant. “Jesus answered him, ’ . . . the rooster shall not crow till you have denied Me three times’ ” (John 13:38). This was said with a deeper knowledge of Peter than Peter had of himself. He could not follow Jesus because he did not know himself or his own capabilities well enough. Natural devotion may be enough to attract us to Jesus, to make us feel His irresistible charm, but it will never make us disciples. Natural devotion will deny Jesus, always falling short of what it means to truly follow Him.


A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Making a Man Feel Safe - #6780

Friday, January 4, 2013

"Should I call her, Dad?" My then-teenage son used to say that. And like all boys his age, he was unsure of what kind of response he would get from a girl. "Should I call her?" Well, I'll tell you, it seems like just yesterday I was asking that question when I was a teenage boy. I'd stare at the phone for about 45 minutes, wondering if I dared to call. And, man, sometimes no matter how suave, or swave or whatever I tried to be, all of a sudden I'd get on that phone, I'd go, "Hello." Amazing how intimidating a girl could be. There were a couple of girls, though, that I didn't even have to think twice about calling. I just picked up the phone and started talking naturally. Because, you know, it kind of made me feel safe. Same with my son. I actually saw it happening in another generation. It is amazing the power of a woman to make a man feel safe or unsafe.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Making a Man Feel Safe."

Now, our word for today from the Word of God comes from Proverbs 31. I have often talked with my daughter or my wife about that Proverbs 31 woman; the greatest description probably in all the Bible of what a woman can be at her womanliest. Is that a word? Well, it is now. And it says some of these things about her, "She has noble character, she is worth far more than rubies, her children rise up and call her blessed." And then it tells us that her husband is respected at the city gate where he takes his seat among the leaders of the land. What a tremendous description! I mean any woman would like to be worth far more than rubies and have her children call her blessed, and be of noble character.

Well, one of her secrets is given in this chapter; the secret of a woman who has healthy relationships with men, who brings out the best in the men in her life. And it's summed up in these words, Proverbs 31:11 - "Her husband has full confidence in her and lacks nothing of value." I'm going to put that in other words. Her man feels safe with her.

See, men are usually evaluated in our world on the basis of how they perform, their athletic prowess, everybody loves them if they do well, or their macho image, or they're always under control, or they're successful in their career. And most men just continue this performance kind of love right into their relationships with women until a loving, affirming woman lets him know he does not have to perform for her. He does not have to impress her. He's safe with her. He can share his secrets and know they will never be violated. He can be weak around her. He can be frustrated. He can be scared.

Every man needs a woman who will love the little boy inside him. See, the man is very self-assured outside, but so self-conscious on the inside. He doesn't need a woman who's a critic, or a nag, or a predator, or a competitor. Men are very lonely people, because most of their relationships are only on the surface. But God raises up a special breed of women who are able to give a man a harbor; a mother who makes her son feel safe; a wife who makes her husband feel safe; a teacher that makes the boy in her class feel safe; the woman who is not hunting men or chasing men or using men, but who wants to minister acceptance and security to the men in her world. She is, according to Proverbs 31, "a woman who fears the Lord."

See, she's brought her needs to the Lord. She feels safe. So she can gently, consistently provide the safe harbor that a man so desperately needs. That kind of woman a man can call on any time and she will bring out his best. And, you know, this is the kind of woman that Jesus creates when a woman brings her heart to Him. He makes a woman feel safe. He gives a woman love without strings; never-leave-you love. If He was ever going to leave you, He would have when He was dying on the cross for your sin. Most of those who stuck by Jesus when He was dying were women, because they found in Him a love that a woman's heart longs for. No conditions; no end to it. He can give you supernatural love, transforming love.

If you've never experienced the love of Jesus for yourself, you want to get started in a relationship with Him, would you go to our website and find out how to do that? YoursForLife.net.

When you belong to Jesus, He plants in you His supernatural, transforming love because you know now what it is to be eternally loved by God.