"But Jehosheba…sister of Ahaziah, took Joash the son of Ahaziah, and stole him away from among the king's sons who were being murdered; and they hid him and his nurse in the bedroom, from Athaliah, so that he was not killed." ~ II Kings 11:2 REFERENCE: II Kings 11:1-12 It was a chaotic time in Israel; judgment came because of the sins of Ahab's house. God used Jehu to execute His judgment on Ahab's sons. Having killed them, including Ahaziah, Athaliah's son, she vowed to kill every son in the royal line so she could reign unchallenged. Joash was...
"Now when the king of Israel saw them, he said to Elisha, "My father, shall I kill them? Shall I kill them?" But he answered, "You shall not kill them…" ~ II Kings 6:21-22a REFERENCE: II Kings 6:13-23 The default mode of many believers is that God must kill enemies. You hear them saying, "Die, die," when praying about a person(s) they perceive as an enemy. However, our real enemy is the devil; he always wants us to focus on the people around us, terming them as enemies. Give a dog a bad name, and you can hang it....
“Then it happened, when the musician played, that the hand of the Lord came upon him. And he said, “Thus says the Lord: ‘Make this valley full of ditches.’ For thus says the Lord: ‘You shall not see wind, nor shall you see rain; yet that valley shall be filled with water….” ~ II Kings 3:15-18 REFERENCE: II Kings 3:8-20 The kings of Israel and Judah, Jehoram and Jehoshaphat, allied to fight against the Moabites to crush their rebellion. After a session of military strategy and projection, they concluded that they would make an incursion on Moab through the...
"Now when Abner had returned to Hebron, Joab took him aside in the gate to speak with him privately, and there stabbed him in the stomach, so that he died for the blood of Asahel his brother." ~ II Samuel 3:27 REFERENCE: II Samuel 3:22-30 Joab deceitfully lured Abner from the well of Sirah. He tricked him into thinking King David had information from him, and he caused him to depart from his course, eventually leading to his death. Joab’s quest for revenge and his despicable nature led him to shed the blood of war in a time of...
"Those in the crowd were indignant and scolded him for making so much of a disturbance, but he kept shouting with all his might, “Son of David, have mercy on me now and heal me!” ~ Mark 10:48 TPT REFERENCE: Mark 10: 46-52 Timai (Aramaic) was his name, and it means ‘highly prized’ or ‘honored,' but he was not at a location that befit his name. He was a blind beggar, sitting at the side of the road outside the village, wrapped in his beggar’s cloak. There was nothing that looked honorable at that season of Timai’s life....
“Arise, shine; For your light has come! And the glory of the Lord is risen upon you.” ~ Isaiah 60:1 REFERENCE: Isaiah 60:1-5 Yesterday we began paying close attention to the verse above and its instructions. The first was to ARISE, and the second was SHINE. It is also a command! 'SHINE' is an action; it is a verb. The following describes what it means to SHINE: 1. To emit or reflect light to glow. 2. To distinguish oneself, to excel 3. To be immediately apparent 4. To be eminent, conspicuous. Light has come, and we are to shine. We...
“Arise, shine; For your light has come! And the glory of the LORD is risen upon you.” Isaiah 60:1 REFERENCE: Isaiah 60:1-5 This famous Bible verse forms the lyrics of gospel songs we may have sung at different times without paying attention to what we are saying. Today, we are going to pay attention to the verse and receive the instructions in it. Yes, it is a command! ‘ARISE’ denotes an action. It is a verb. These three dictionary definitions reflect this: 1. To come up from a lower to a higher position 2. To come up or get up...
"So, David sent and inquired about the woman. And someone said, "Is this not Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?". ~ II Samuel 11:3 REFERENCE: II Samuel 11:1-5 God has given us freedom in Christ. He made us free-moral agents to choose and do what we consider to serve our purpose. We have the freedom of expression, acquisition, and association. However, your freedom stops wherever it infringes on another person's rights or stops them from enjoying their freedom. Although we are free, we must respect boundaries. Freedom without boundaries is hazardous. Suppose you can...
"It happened in the spring of the year, at the time when kings go out to battle, that David sent Joab and his servants with him, and all Israel... But David remained at Jerusalem." ~ II Samuel 11:1 REFERENCE: II Samuel 11:1-15 It is usually said, "Don't send a boy to do a man's job." The saying described David's mistake when he sent Joab to fight the battle he should have led as a king. Most of Israel's decisive victories came when David led his men's charge (see II Samuel 10). God had trained his hands for war and his fingers...
"It happened in the spring of the year, at the time when kings go out to battle, that David sent Joab and his servants with him, and all Israel; and they destroyed the people of Ammon and besieged Rabbah. But David remained at Jerusalem." ~ II Samuel 11:1 REFERENCE: II Samuel 11:1-15 Recently, we looked at King David as a man of a noble spirit. Still, some dirty deeds stained his illustrious personage. Although the sweet psalmist of Israel and a man after God's heart, David was human. A look at David's dirty deed reveals the progression of sin...