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 2 Chronicles 32:9-15

Beware when you are in the epicentre of success (9). It can warp your perspective and cause you to believe your own reviews. It can make your head expand. It may lead you to ‘shoot off at the mouth’, to make grandiose claims, and cause you to be over-confident. There is much danger in that. Just because you’re doing well in ‘Lachish’ it doesn’t necessarily mean that you will win in ‘Jerusalem’. No-one wants to fail, but we probably learn more from failure, disappointment and set-backs than we do from rip-roaring success.

Generations of Christians reading this verse (10) have laughed and shouted back at Sennacherib, ‘’We are basing our confidence on the living God who has never yet let His people down yet and who never will! That’s why we stay put when everything seems to say ‘run.’ That’s why we do these seemingly illogical things. Because we know our God is real, and He is with us, and He will bring us through.’’

Our enemy is a liar (11). Jesus spoke of him as: …not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies. (John 8:44). Just like Sennacherib here, he will lie about God’s Word. He’ll contradict it in your mind. He will do all this to intimidate and weaken you with fear. You poor people – do you think you’re safe in that so-called fortress of Jerusalem? You’re sitting ducks. Do you think Hezekiah will save you? Don’t be stupid – Hezekiah has fed you a pack of lies. When he says, ‘GOD will save us from the power of the king of Assyria,’ he’s lying – you’re all going to end up dead. The Message. It’s interesting isn’t it how, in his lying, the devil will try to tell you God is lying?! He will also attempt to twist things and to get you to imbibe half-truths. He will bait you with the half that is true, in the hope that you will swallow the other half that is false. He catches many ‘fish’ that way. Here, Sennacherib referred to something that had happened (12), but what he said was only partially correct. Hezekiah had not removed God’s altar but in fact he called the people back to it. It was the pagan altars that he’d scrapped.

It is interesting to read the remaining verses of today’s passage in The Message: Do you have any idea what I and my ancestors have done to all the countries around here? Has there been a single god anywhere strong enough to stand up against me? Can you name one god among all the nations that either I or my ancestors have ravaged that so much as lifted a finger against me? So what makes you think you’ll make out any better with your god? Don’t let Hezekiah fool you; don’t let him get by with his barefaced lies; don’t trust him. No god of any country or kingdom ever has been one bit of help against me or my ancestors – what kind of odds does that give your god? The Message. We believers read this with a wry smile. We know that one day soon all mockers, like Sennacherib, will have those insolent looks erased from their faces. Sennacherib made the mistake of thinking that the God of Israel was just another god such as those he’d encountered before. But those idols were all dead. He was about to encounter the living God, and lose! The ‘score’ would be remarkably different this time.

Prayer: Lord enable me to see the truth and hold on to it. Thank you for its liberating power.

 2 Chronicles 32:1-6

After all that Hezekiah had so faithfully done, Sennacherib king of Assyria came and invaded Judah (1a); And then, after this exemplary track record, this: Sennacherib…came… The Message.  These opening words bring us face to face with the fact of unjust suffering. There is so much of it in this old world which, like Humpty Dumpty, has ‘had a great fall.’ It is not what God intended it to be. The reality is that ‘bad things happen to good people.’ Living a godly life is a good thing, but don’t think it is an inoculation against suffering. Don’t fall into the trap of surmising that you’ve had the vaccination and got the certificate and you will be okay. There seems to be an emphasis here on the great faithfulness of Hezekiah. He showed no ordinary godliness of character: so faithfully (underlining mine.) Even so, he ran right into trouble, although he was to come out of it well.

He laid siege to the fortified cities, thinking to conquer them for himself (1b). What someone thinks to do and what they actually succeed in doing may well turn out to be two very different things. The enemy has plans to bring us down but his schemes don’t have to be realised. Our failure and his victory are not inevitable. Satan thought to defeat Jesus in the wilderness. But what he thought to do and what he did were not the same. He was the one who had to head for the exit a defeated foe. It’s true that he made other attempts. After a ‘time out’ in the corner he stood back up to fight. But he could never land the winning punch, try as he might.

Hezekiah saw the situation in its true colours (2). He faced the facts. He didn’t bury his head in the sand; he did not pretend things were rosier than they were. He was a realist. As he looked this scary situation fully in the eye:

• He consulted (3). We’ve already seen that Hezekiah was not afraid to draw on the expertise and wisdom of others. He wasn’t too proud to ask: …and they helped him. This is usually how it works out when a leader reaches out to others around him or her and says the five ‘magic’ words, ‘please will you help me.’ We will get far more good stuff done in collaboration than ever we will in isolation.
• He got to work (4-6). He worked hard and many joined him in this. They did what they could. You could say they prayed to the Lord and ‘kept their powder dry.’ As we are going to clearly see, this is essentially a story of trust in God. But that approach certainly does not preclude rolling up your sleeves and putting in some hard graft. They were going to look to God for victory against overwhelming odds. But they also took practical steps to help themselves and not assist the enemy.

Serving God faithfully is not a cast-iron guarantee that ‘Sennacherib’ will not come along. He regularly does. When you find yourself in such a situation you can trust in the Lord with all your heart. But also, do everything you can (in His mighty strength) to resist.

Prayer: Lord save me from an independent spirit and an impractical spirituality.

 2 Chronicles 31:9-21

Hezekiah was a man who was prepared to consult and ask advice (9, 10). He listened to others, and was aware that he didn’t know it all. This is a good trait in a leader. At the end of the day you don’t have to follow anyone’s counsel, but you can prayerfully weigh it. Why would anyone reject the wisdom of good and godly people? You would need good reasons.

When Hezekiah and his officials came and saw the heaps, they praised the LORD and blessed his people Israel (8). They were correct to first and foremost thank God for the generous giving. It clearly was a work of God to move the people to such generosity. It was right to thank the people, but you would have to say, ‘To God be all the glory.’ The object of looking after the priests and Levites so they could concentrate on their ministries (4) was clearly achieved (10) through this torrent of giving.

In addition to all the other good things we have seen about Hezekiah, we can say that he was a man who sought God and worked hard (21). He did what was good and right and faithful before the LORD his God (20). Much of today’s passage highlights his prudence in storing the surplus, and his wisdom in ensuring there were good people who would get the resources fairly spread around (12-19).

What we do with our surplus is a challenge for us whether as individuals, churches or organisations. I remember hearing one church leader say how in good times in his church, he would ‘squirrel away’ spare funds and put them into an account for less prosperous days, when the church might need to ‘tighten its belt’.  The wisdom of experience told him that church life is seasonal and the graphs are not always going upwards. I need to add that he wasn’t being ‘Scrooge’ – like in his behaviour. This church has a generous heart and allocates significant resources to mission and helping the poor. But on top of that he wanted to wisely prepare for rainy days.

For all of us, we are stewards of God’s property, and we need to look to Him to direct us in the use of His money.

One of the first signs of spiritual awakening is the generosity of those whose hearts God has touched. Nobody had to plead or urge; the giving came from the hearts of people who were right with God. Warren W. Wierbe: With the Word,p.250

Prayer: Lord, teach me to be generous, just as you are.

 2 Chronicles 31:2-8

John Stott tells the story of visiting St. Paul’s Episcopalian church in Darien, Connecticut, U.S.A. It was a congregation that had been affected by the charismatic renewal. On the front of their Sunday bulletin there was the name of the Rector, then the Associate Rector and Assistant Rector. Then there came a line which read: ‘Ministers: the entire congregation.’ As John Stott observed, that is thoroughly Biblical.

We could say that Hezekiah was a good ‘man manager’ (2). He ensured that the priests and Levites were in their proper places and that they had the space and opportunity to serve. What he did with these leaders he surely did with others, putting the right people into the right ‘slots’. Hezekiah organized the groups of priests and Levites for their respective tasks, handing out job descriptions for conducting the services of worship… The Message. It remains a part of the responsibility of leadership to enable people to detect, develop and deploy their gifts. Ephesians 4 tells us that leaders have been given to the church to equip the saints for the work of ministry. We also read there that the body of Christ, the church, builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.’ (Eph.4:16)  I am struck by the phrase: to sing praise at the gates of the LORD’s dwelling (2). (The ‘face’ the church presents to the world ought to be one of thanksgiving. Emotions are contagious and joy is infectious. But we must not be ‘two-faced’. Let’s be like that at the gates because that’s how we are within the walls. We are those ‘gates’ to the world.)

We can also say that Hezekiah was a good example (3). He did not expect others to put their hands in their pockets while he kept his wallet padlocked! No, he was a fine example of godly generosity. Therefore his leadership had credibility. He wasn’t just a speech-maker. He ‘walked the walk’ before his people. That will always give you clout. You will see how Hezekiah’s desire in all of this was to obey the Bible. He didn’t want it to be sitting on a shelf, gathering dust. He hid it in his heart, and walked it in his shoes. Someone said: ‘This Book will keep you from sin; or sin will keep you from this book.’ Another said, ‘Here is the Word of God: know it in your head, stow it in your heart, show it in your life and sow it in the world.’ The thing about Hezekiah was that he clearly showed personal investment in the changes he knew needed to happen.

Hezekiah was a good communicator (4). He was clear in what he wanted; what he was calling for. He was asking for a generous outpouring of gifts so that the spiritual leaders of the nation could be supported in their Bible-centred work: …so they, without distraction or concern, could give themselves totally to The Revelation of GOD. The Message. What a response there was (5-8). They didn’t hold back, turning over a tithe of everything. They also brought in a tithe of their cattle, sheep, and anything else they owned that had been dedicated to GOD. The Message. The gifts came in heaps (6, 8). It was bountiful giving, and it seems Hezekiah and his officials were overwhelmed by it (8). But in all of this, we cannot under estimate the power of Hezekiah’s example. It is vital that leaders should themselves live the very Biblical things they may be asking of everyone else. And even if people can’t see, for example, your generosity, it is still important to be generous. That will almost certainly trigger something in the hearts of others, for we are dealing here with a deeply spiritual issue.

Prayer : Lord God, you love a cheerful giver. So I pray that I, and all of us in your church, will give with great joy and freedom, and with deep trust in you and your abundant provision.

 Psalm 103:13-22

I found a note in my Bible, written on the 28^th August 1993. The Lord placed verse 13 in my mind before I read it later on in the day in my prescribed reading. On that day I had felt quite upset about something. I can’t remember what it was, and I’m not saying it was legitimate. But I thought about how my heart goes out to my daughter, Christel, when she is in a similar situation (She was only two at the time, but it is still the case at the age of 23!). At that particular time it was as though God said to me, ‘I’m like that with you.’

The rock star, Sting, has a song that goes, ‘How fragile we are.’ That point has not escaped God’s notice. He formed  us from dust. He knows our glory, but He also knows how easily we ‘break’. We are like grass  or a flower. We may be beautiful but we are easily and quickly blown away. God knows how frail and fragile we are, even though we flourish for a time. He is aware how temporary  are our earthly lives (14, 15).

In contrast with the transience of our lives, the Lord’s love is an eternal reality (17) and it is experienced by those who fear him (17, 13) i.e. those who revere and worship Him. What’s more, we need not fear for future generations if they continue to honour God and walk with Him (17b, 18). He will do right by them.

As parents feel for their children, GOD feels for those who fear him. He knows us inside and out, keeps in mind that we’re made of mud. Men and women don’t live very long; like wildflowers they spring up and blossom, But a storm snuffs them out just as quickly, leaving nothing to show they were here. God’s love, though, is ever and always, eternally present to all who fear him, Making everything right for them and their children as they follow his Covenant ways and remember to do whatever he said. The Message.

At the heart of this psalm we find this throbbing statement (19). This truly is its pulse; its heartbeat. Not only is God’s love eternal; we can also assert that His throne is immoveable (19). ‘God is still on the throne.’ He will never be off it!

No wonder this psalm that begins with a call to praise (1, 2), ends with an identical (and yet expanded) call . At the end, the exhortation is the same as at the start. It is addressed to my soul. I need to continually remind myself how great and good God is and praise Him.

But it is also a call to all the angels and everyone and everything in the created order to join in the chorus of praise (20-22). It is nothing less than this Sovereign and loving God deserves.

Bless GOD, all you armies of angels, alert to respond to whatever he wills. Bless GOD, all creatures, wherever you are – everything and everyone made by GOD.

And you, O my soul, bless GOD! The Message.

Prayer: Teach me to number my days so that I may gain a heart of wisdom. Help me not to waste this ‘breath’ that is my short life. Let it count for eternity.

 2 Corinthians 1:15-22

‘Man proposes, but God disposes.’

We can make our plans in good faith, but they don’t always work out.

As we saw yesterday, Paul had come under heavy and unfair criticism from some of the Corinthians (who were themselves being influenced by certain infiltrating false apostles who had a vested interest in putting Paul down and lifting themselves up at his expense.) Reading between the lines, one of their accusations was that he was fickle; that he easily broke his promises. ‘He makes a plan to visit,’ they said, ‘then he changes his mind. He calls it off. You don’t know where you are with the man!’ Paul’s answer was to ask a question: Are you going to accuse me of being flip with my promises because it didn’t work out? Do you think I talk out of both sides of my mouth – a glib yes one moment, a glib no the next? Well, you’re wrong. I try to be as true to my word as God is to his. Our word to you wasn’t a careless yes canceled by an indifferent no. How could it be? The Message.

Paul goes on to say two things that I will try to paraphrase: We can’t be accused of lightly saying ‘yes’ and ‘no’ when:

• Our message is a great big ‘YES’ (20). Whatever God has promised gets stamped with the YES of Jesus. The Message. For no matter how many promises God has made, they are ‘’Yes’’ in Christ. (N.I.V.)…for it is he who is the ‘’YES’’ to all God’s promises. (GNB).He is the divine Yes. Every promise of God finds its affirmative in Him… (J.B. Phillips). Jesus is the ‘YES’ to all God’s promises. Every one finds its fulfilment in Him. We also utter our own ‘yes’ (‘’Amen’’) by faith. We add our own signature to the cheque made out by God and already signed by Jesus. So we can draw on all the riches God has for us. (So Paul is saying that there is no arbitrary breaking of promises with God. Just as God is faithful in fulfilling all His promises, so Paul, as a preacher of this positive gospel, may be trusted not to say one thing about his travel itinerary, and then change it without real cause.)
• We’re a great big ‘yes’ (21, 22). God has spoken His ‘yes’ over us; shown that we’re His and that He’s paid for us by giving to us His Holy Spirit: God affirms us, making us a sure thing in Christ, putting his Yes within us. By his Spirit he has stamped us with his eternal pledge – a sure beginning of what he is destined to complete. The Message. Here Paul is saying ‘It’s God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ.Because I’ve been given the Holy Spirit as you have you can be sure that God will cause me to act with integrity.’

Sometimes we can’t understand what another Christian does. But if they are earnestly seeking God, we can trust the Holy Spirit who is in them to guide them (just as He does with us.) We would want to be given the benefit of the doubt, so let’s be generous hearted. Once we start to question the integrity of others or distrust their words, the door is opened to all kinds of problems. Warren W. Wiersbe: The Wiersbe Bible Commentary (New Testament) p.506                   

 Prayer: I want to always remember, dear Lord, that I am no-one else’s judge. There is so much in me to sort out I hardly have time to point the finger at others. Please keep working on me, and help me to work on me too, by the power of your Holy Spirit!

 2 Corinthians 1:12-14

There is something here about:

1. Conscience (12): Thank God for conscience. It is important that you should never violate it. It is possible to sear your conscience by repeatedly stifling it, so that it is no longer soft and sensitive. Conscience is like an internal moral compass. But it is not an infallible guide. It is not always right. It has to be correctly educated. As someone said, it has to be set to the ‘magnetic north’ of Scripture. Anyway, as far as Paul was concerned, he and his colleagues had a clear conscience about how they had behaved generally, and particularly in their dealings with the church in Corinth. Reading between the lines in this letter, Paul was being heavily (and unfairly) criticised. But, he says, we can face the world – and even more importantly, face you with our heads held high. The Message. (However, see 1 Cor.4:4, 5 for a qualifier.)
2. Conduct (12): Paul was quite sure before God that he and his associates had behaved with holiness, sincerity and wisdom, whatever anyone else might allege. But this wasn’t a boast in a proud, egotistical sense. Paul wasn’t, as it were, putting in his thumb, pulling out a plumb and saying, ‘What a good boy am I!’ Oh no. His boast was in the Lord (1 Cor.1:29, 31). He was writing here about qualities that are from God. His life was according to God’s grace. The Christian life is not difficult; it is impossible! No-one can live it out of their own resources. Thankfully we don’t have to. We have the Holy Spirit within us, and he makes holiness possible.
3. Clarity (13, 14): One of the charges levelled against Paul is implicit here. It comes out clearly in The Message: Don’t try to read between the lines or look for hidden meanings in this letter. We’re writing plain, unembellished truth, hoping that you’ll now see the whole picture as well as you’ve seen some of the details. Paul was a plain, straightforward man, and he said what he meant and meant what he said. Even though there are some difficult things in Paul’s writings that some may twist, Paul wanted to be understood; desired to be clear. He wasn’t ‘back tracking’. He did not send ‘secret messages’ or write in code. Christian leaders should prize the ideal of clarity and be as plain as they can be in their oral and written communication. When I was a young boy, perhaps in my early teens, I went to a Sunday night after church meeting in a home in Culcheth, Greater Manchester. We sat in a fairly large room and listened to a tape of a preacher who had spoken at the Filey Convention. Some people  there  that evening had brought the tape back from this well-known Christian event. Even though I was little more than a child at the time, I drank in every word. I knew I was listening to someone whose clarity and simplicity touched me and reached my heart. I have listened to this preacher through the years and have always felt that his transparency of speech is something to at least try to emulate. As he was to say himself, he believed in serving meat, but he also liked to pour on lots of ‘gravy’.

Prayer: Lord God, cause my conscience to be continually trained through feeding on your Word, and help me to never violate my conscience.

 2 Chronicles 30:21- 31:1

Give God the gift of time (21-23): I noted on New Year’s Day what I consider to be a disturbing trend in contemporary church life. Many Christians seem increasingly reluctant to devote significant time to corporate worship events. They clutch their ‘personal’ time tightly to their chests and don’t really want to hear challenges about it. How amazing then, to read about God’s people going to Jerusalem for a seven day meeting, and then deciding to spend another week at ‘church’ on top of that. When the feast and festival…were over, the tables cleared and the floors swept, they all decided to keep going for another seven days! The Message. Furthermore, you find that all this took place within an atmosphere of music, song and great joy. There wasn’t a hint of: ‘Let’s get this over with then we can all go home and watch telly!’ They celebrated exuberantly. The Message. In fact, after the decision was taken to go into ‘extra time’ …they just kept on celebrating, and as joyfully as they began. The Message. Jerusalem was bursting with joy – nothing like this had taken place in Jerusalem since Solomon son of David king of Israel had built and dedicated The Temple (26). The Message. Remember this was all centuries before the coming of Jesus, His death on the cross and mighty resurrection. It was the era of ‘shadows’ when the ‘substance’ still lay far ahead of them. Even so, they had a glorious seven days of worship… The Message. Then they went into ‘time added on.’ (It is important that our singing should be to the LORD. Let’s teach ourselves to sing every day. We also need to remember that even the musical instruments played are the LORD’s (21). It’s all for Him. We must not fall into the trap of wanting church music to be about our tastes and preferences. We then make it a self-centred thing; a contradiction of the very essence of worship. When this happens people end up falling out over musical styles. It is sad, unnecessary and downright wrong.)

Give people the gift of encouragement (22): Hezekiah commended the Levites for the superb way in which they had led the people in the worship of God. Whether it’s musicians playing in worship gatherings, or others serving in often less obvious ways, everyone needs to hear words of encouragement. I believe it is part of leadership’s role to vocalise such words. We need to be quick to say ‘thank you’ and do it often. There is a Biblical way to encourage a person that glorifies God whilst honouring the individual and their gifts. We don’t want to encourage the expansion of someone’s hat size (!!), but there is a way of expressing appreciation that will enlarge hearts and is likely to expand Kingdom contribution.

Give heaven the sound of your prayers (27): There is much teaching in the Bible on the efficacy of prayer. But especially in yesterday’s reading and today’s there is big encouragement to leaders to pray for their people. And God listened, listened as the ascending sound of their prayers entered his holy heaven. The Message. (See also 18-20). Church leaders often confess that they are too busy to pray. I believe it was Martin Luther who said he had so much to do the next day that he would need to rise early in the morning to spend several hours in prayer. He was ‘too busy not to pray.’

Give your world a transformed you! (31:1): They all went home and resumed their everyday lives. The Message. But they didn’t go home from ‘church’ as the same people. They had a ‘smashing’ time (quite literally!) as they dealt radically with sin. Our greatest need is not for long and lively services, but for meetings with Almighty God that change us.

Prayer: Lord, may I never forget that worship is all about you. It’s not about me, as if you should do things my way.