2 Chronicles 27 Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

(Has God spoken to you lately if not click to listen to God's teaching?)

Max Lucado Daily: Something Better

When my daughter, Jenna, was little I often took her to a park near our home. One day as she played in a sandbox, I bought her ice-cream, but when I turned to give it to her, her mouth was full of sand. Where I had intended to put a delicacy, she had put dirt. Did I love her with dirt in her mouth?  Absolutely. Was I going to allow her to keep the dirt in her mouth? No way!  I loved her where she was, but I refused to leave her there.  Why?  Because I love her.

God does the same for us.  “Spit out the dirt, honey,” our Father urges. “I’ve got something better for you.” “I can eat dirt if I want to!” we pout and proclaim.  We can.  But if we do, the loss is ours.  God has a better offer.  He wants us to be just like Jesus!

“Create in me a pure heart, God, and make my spirit right again.” (Psalm 51:10 NCV).

From Just Like Jesus

2 Chronicles 27

Jotham King of Judah

27 Jotham was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem sixteen years. His mother’s name was Jerusha daughter of Zadok. 2 He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, just as his father Uzziah had done, but unlike him he did not enter the temple of the Lord. The people, however, continued their corrupt practices. 3 Jotham rebuilt the Upper Gate of the temple of the Lord and did extensive work on the wall at the hill of Ophel. 4 He built towns in the hill country of Judah and forts and towers in the wooded areas.

5 Jotham waged war against the king of the Ammonites and conquered them. That year the Ammonites paid him a hundred talents[a] of silver, ten thousand cors[b] of wheat and ten thousand cors[c] of barley. The Ammonites brought him the same amount also in the second and third years.

6 Jotham grew powerful because he walked steadfastly before the Lord his God.

7 The other events in Jotham’s reign, including all his wars and the other things he did, are written in the book of the kings of Israel and Judah. 8 He was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem sixteen years. 9 Jotham rested with his ancestors and was buried in the City of David. And Ahaz his son succeeded him as king.


Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Read: Romans 12:14-21

14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. 15 Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. 16 Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly.[a] Never be wise in your own sight. 17 Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. 18 If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. 19 Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it[b] to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” 20 To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” 21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

The Lesson

February 5, 2013 — by Cindy Hess Kasper

Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. —Romans 12:21

One summer I was at a gathering of old high school acquaintances when someone behind me tapped me on my shoulder. As my eyes drifted over the woman’s name tag, my mind drifted back in time. I remembered a tightly folded note that had been shoved through the slot on my locker. It had contained cruel words of rejection that had shamed me and crushed my spirit. I remember thinking, Somebody needs to teach you a lesson on how to treat people! Although I felt as if I were reliving my adolescent pain, I mustered up my best fake smile; and insincere words began coming out of my mouth.

We began to converse. A sad story of a difficult upbringing and of an unhappy marriage began to pour out of her. As it did, the words “root of bitterness” from Hebrews 12:15 popped into my head. That’s what I’m feeling, I thought. After all these years, I still had a deep root of bitterness hidden within me, twisting around and strangling my heart.

Then these words came to my mind: “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good” (Rom. 12:21).

We talked. We even shared some tears. Neither of us mentioned the long-ago incident. God taught someone a lesson that afternoon—a lesson of forgiveness and of letting go of bitterness. He taught it to me.

Dear Lord, please help me not to harbor resentment
and bitterness in my heart. Through the power
of the Holy Spirit, enable me to let go of my
bitterness and forgive those who have hurt me.
Revenge imprisons us; forgiveness sets us free.


My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
February 5, 2013

Are You Ready To Be Poured Out As an Offering? (1)

If I am being poured out as a drink offering on the sacrifice and service of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all—Philippians 2:17

Are you willing to sacrifice yourself for the work of another believer—to pour out your life sacrificially for the ministry and faith of others? Or do you say, “I am not willing to be poured out right now, and I don’t want God to tell me how to serve Him. I want to choose the place of my own sacrifice. And I want to have certain people watching me and saying, ’Well done.’ ”

It is one thing to follow God’s way of service if you are regarded as a hero, but quite another thing if the road marked out for you by God requires becoming a “doormat” under other people’s feet. God’s purpose may be to teach you to say, “I know how to be abased . . .” (Philippians 4:12). Are you ready to be sacrificed like that? Are you ready to be less than a mere drop in the bucket—to be so totally insignificant that no one remembers you even if they think of those you served? Are you willing to give and be poured out until you are used up and exhausted—not seeking to be ministered to, but to minister? Some saints cannot do menial work while maintaining a saintly attitude, because they feel such service is beneath their dignity.


A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

When You're Stuck Where You Don't Want to Be - #6802

Tuesday, February 5, 2013

The last place I wanted to be was New Zealand, but I was stuck there. Now, I have nothing against New Zealand. In fact, it's one of the most beautiful countries I've ever seen. But I had spent two weeks there in ministry and it was time to be home. I wanted to see my family and I had a lot of important appointments at home.

Most of the planes that flew out of New Zealand at that time were DC10s. Guess when I was in New Zealand? Well, it was a time that they grounded all the DC10s! That's while I was there, and all of a sudden there was almost no way to leave that beautiful nation. I wasn't going anywhere, and I wasn't particularly happy about it.

In the middle of all my frustration I remembered a prayer that I had been praying for months. I had been saying, "Lord, you know what I need? I need some time with no interruptions and no people around, where I can sit down with my Bible and a legal pad and kind of get Your view on my ministry and on my life." Wouldn't you know, I had my time ten thousand miles from home. So, instead of griping and grumbling about the plane I couldn't catch, I decided I would be grateful for that home someone arranged for me to stay in. And for a couple of days, waiting for a flight, there I was just the Lord and me and that note pad and my Bible. I had one of the greatest creative bursts I think I've ever had in my life; it affected every part of my life. I still wanted to be home, but I did learn something about being "stuck."

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "When You're Stuck Where You Don't Want to Be."

Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Jeremiah beginning at chapter 29, verse 11. The Israelites are now in captivity; they are in Babylon. They are not where they want to be. This is what God says, "This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says to all those I carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon, 'Build houses and settle down. Plant gardens and eat what they produce. Marry and have sons and daughters. Find wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage so that they too may have sons and daughters. Increase in number there; do not decrease. Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.'"

Okay, here they are in a place they don't want to be. Maybe you are too. You know what God's message is? "Go for it there; dig in and make the best of it. Accomplish a lot while you're there." When Paul was in a prison, he wanted to be with the Christians that he had ministered to. Instead he wrote letters that minister to us today.

The great author, John Bunyan was stuck in a place he didn't want to be. He didn't want to be in prison, but it's there that he wrote Pilgrim's Progress. When my wife had hepatitis she was stuck where she didn't want to be - in a bedroom, in bed for seven months recovering. I guess you could just get depressed there, or you could do what she did. She sought the prosperity of the place where she was like Jeremiah says. I went into her room and she had a ministry on the phone. I saw her with language tapes to learn French. She had a ministry of correspondence; a ministry of intercession she'd never had before to that extent. And she said, "The Lord is cleansing my schedule." And she was setting up whole new priorities.

Today God may have assigned you to a place you don't want to be - a hospital room, you're without a job, you're living with some difficult person, maybe you're stuck being single. You're on hold when you really want to be in high gear.

If you're stuck where you don't want to be? Well, God's approach is to act as if you'll be there for a long time. Quit wishing you were somewhere else or someone else. Make something of the place where you are. There are people there who need Christ. Don't look past them because you don't like where you are. There are people there who feel stuck, too, and they could best be helped by a person who's found some joy and meaning in that place. There are things to build where you are. Wherever you are, be all there, as Jim Elliott said.

You may not be where you want to be, but it is where your loving Father wants you to be right now. So, go for it!