Daily Devotional
January 29 - February 4, 2010
January 29
II Kings 17
"And they rejected His statutes and His covenant which He made with their fathers, and His warnings with which He warned them …" (v15-16). After generations of stubborn sin, the Israelites were so far from God that they had no protection. Samaria, their northern capital, fell to the Assyrians. The Israelites had adopted the worst of pagan practices: sexual perversions and idolatry, witchcraft, and child sacrifice (v9-18). The covenant was broken, and northern Israel never recovered.
But God, in His mercy, offers living water even to Samaritans (John 4), and to all who break His covenants.
January 30
II Kings 18
"Make your peace with me and come out to me, and eat each of his vine and each of his fig tree" (v31). Hezekiah, king of Judah, was trying to resist the mighty Assyrian empire which had already overrun northern Israel. But the Assyrian envoys were persuasive; they came to threaten Judah and also to tempt her people. Rather than being destroyed by a siege or battle, they promised, simply surrender, and you will find peace.
We are tempted by the same argument: Surrender, and life will be easier or better. But King Hezekiah "clung to the Lord" (v6).
January 31
II Kings 19-20
"O Lord, the God of Israel, enthroned above the cherubim, Thou art the God, Thou alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth. Thou hast made heaven and earth" (19:15). If King Hezekiah really believed this, he had nothing to fear. The Assyrian empire had "devastated the nations and their lands" (v17), but those other nations served lifeless idols. Judah still served the One God, Creator of heaven and earth. No empire could defeat God Himself.
King Hezekiah risked the kingdom by choosing to believe God. God is alive, and all His promises are true.
February 1
Psalm 75
"For not from the east, nor from the west, nor from the desert comes exaltation, but God is the Judge" (v6-7). Like the ancient Israelites, we are tempted to hope in some powerful person or organization. We feel pushed this way and that by human forces: an unpredictable boss, a chaotic economy, changing governments. But God says that He has set the pillars of the earth (v3), and He "puts down one and exalts another" (v7).
The choices of men and women matter, but God is "the beginning and the end." His love is our real security.
February 2
Acts 23
"Take courage, for as you have solemnly witnessed to My cause at Jerusalem, so you must witness at Rome also" (v11). Paul needed encouragement, since being judged by the Jewish Council and arrested by Romans was a frightening experience. Paul could not prepare to defend himself before each court, but in a sense his life was preparation. His "good conscience" (v1) - honesty, integrity, purity and courage - and the power of the Spirit were sufficient in each situation.
Special strategies or methods are for a moment, but good character and the Spirit's power enable us to face anything.
February 3
Acts 24
"But this I admit to you, that according to the Way which they call a sect I do serve the God of our fathers …" (v14). Paul had done nothing wrong (v12-13) according to Jewish or Roman law. However, he was quick to admit the one fact that was true - Paul was a Jesus-follower. And he believed (as many Pharisees did) "that there shall certainly be a resurrection of both the righteous and the wicked" (v15).
This truth might lead to more trouble, but sharing the gospel (as a free man or prisoner) was the whole purpose of Paul's life.
February 4
II Kings 21
"And he built altars in the house of the Lord, of which the Lord had said, 'In Jerusalem I will put My name'" (v5). King Manasseh of Judah was more wicked than the Amorites (v11). He sacrificed his son to idols and practiced witchcraft (v6). The "altars" he set up in Solomon's Temple were fertility goddesses(v7). This was the very Temple where God had promised to dwell in a special relationship with His people.
God does not allow us to combine faith in Him with faith in any other ritual, person, or idea. He wants our hearts to be completely His.
