Archive for July 2024
5 Inspiring Ways to Honor God This Summer
by Dr. Josh Moody Summer is here. For some, that means an opportunity to take a vacation. For others, it means heat and stifling conditions in insufficiently air-conditioned workplaces. Family time away can be a wonderful blessing – or feel like more effort than a stay-cation where you remain home but take an occasional day…
Read MoreJuly 26-31, 2024
In keeping with the Bible reading plan we are using, the last days of each month are designated as “free days.” July 26-31 then are intended to allow you to catch up on reading you may have missed or to study passages more in depth that intrigued you during the first 25 days of the month.…
Read More2 Chronicles 34-36: With God, Failure Is Never the End of the Story
2 Chronicles 34-36, Psalm 150, Luke 12:49-59, 2 Thessalonians 3:14-18 2 Chronicles 34-36: The story finally ends on a note of strange hope—Cyrus proclaiming the rebuilding of the temple (36:22-23). But in the meantime, we must wade through the good, the bad, and the ugly in terms of further kings. Josiah was a good king…
Read More2 Chronicles 30-33: The Consequences of Ruler-ship, for Good or Ill
2 Chronicles 30-33, Psalm 149, Luke 12:38-48, 2 Thessalonians 3:6-13 2 Chronicles 30-33: By the end of these chapters we feel like asking, “How long, O Lord?” (Psalm 13). But to begin with, we read more of the good king Hezekiah. He institutes a Passover feast (2 Chron. 30). He sends letters throughout the country…
Read More2 Chronicles 28-29: Two Kings
2 Chronicles 28-29, Psalm 148, Luke 12:22-34, 2 Thessalonians 3:1-5 2 Chronicles 28-29: Ahaz, at a mere twenty years of age, begins his reign, but it starts badly and continues worse (28:1). He did not do what was right in the eyes of the LORD. In fact, he deliberately pursues idolatry in an extreme form:…
Read More2 Chronicles 25-27: Doing What Is Right Before the Lord
2 Chronicles 25-27, Psalm 147, Luke 12:13-21, 2 Thessalonians 2:13-17 2 Chronicles 25-27: More of the same lesson—he who honors God, God will honor—and it begins with Amaziah who did what was right before the Lord but not with a whole heart (25:2). He held something back from total commitment to God and suffered the…
Read More2 Chronicles 22-24: Whom Do You Copy?
2 Chronicles 22-24, Psalm 146, Luke 12:1-12, 2 Thessalonians 2:6-12 2 Chronicles 22-24: In these chapters we learn of the importance of influence—mentors, forebears, examples, models. Ahaziah was made king, but he copied the ways of his mother and of the counselors who encouraged him to follow the ways of Ahab (22:3-5)—that is doing evil…
Read More2 Chronicles 20-21: Two Ways to Live
2 Chronicles 20-21, Psalm 145, Luke 11:37-54, 2 Thessalonians 2:1-5 2 Chronicles 20-21: Jehoshaphat continues to show his godly wisdom. When faced with insurmountable problems (20:1-2) and naturally afraid, he “set his face to seek the LORD” (20:3). When we come across circumstances, enemies, situations or problems that we cannot solve or seem to rise…
Read More2 Chronicles 17-19: Reform!
2 Chronicles 17-19, Psalm 144, Luke 11:29-36, 2 Thessalonians 1 2 Chronicles 17-19: There is much to learn from the reign of Jehoshaphat! Consider: The Lord was with Jehoshaphat, because he walked in the earlier ways of his father David (17:3). God’s blessing/presence/support/approval is on Jehoshaphat because he is following the wise and godly pattern…
Read More2 Chronicles 13-16: A Key Spiritual Lesson
2 Chronicles 13-16, Psalm 143, Luke 11:14-28, 1 Thessalonians 5:12-28 2 Chronicles 13-16: The history of these chapters proceeds along fairly familiar lines to those who have been following the sacred history of these times, but in particular the chronicler takes pains to point out an especially significant spiritual lesson. Namely, that when we rely…
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