Making A Difference Daily

Today’s Reading – Ezra 3 – 7 (Click on the references to listen to the audio – Click here to view the passage from Blue Letter Bible)

(Second Milers Read – Romans 13 – 16; Psalms 131 – 135; Proverbs 28)

Listen to this morning’s Scripture song – 1 Timothy 1:17

Read the “0528 Evening and Morning” devotion for today, by the late Charles Haddon Spurgeon

Read previous posts from today’s passage – “Leave Them Alone” and “Stop Living in the Past“

“The king’s heart is in the hand of the LORD, as the rivers of water: he turneth it whithersoever he will.” (Proverbs 21:1)

“(2) Thus saith Cyrus king of Persia, The LORD God of heaven hath given me all the kingdoms of the earth; and he hath charged me to build him an house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah.” (Ezra 1:2)

“(1) Then Darius the king made a decree, and search was made in the house of the rolls, where the treasures were laid up in Babylon. … (7) Let the work of this house of God alone; let the governor of the Jews and the elders of the Jews build this house of God in his place.” (Ezra 6:1, 7)

“(21) And the children of Israel, which were come again out of captivity, and all such as had separated themselves unto them from the filthiness of the heathen of the land, to seek the LORD God of Israel, did eat, (22) And kept the feast of unleavened bread seven days with joy: for the LORD had made them joyful, and turned the heart of the king of Assyria unto them, to strengthen their hands in the work of the house of God, the God of Israel.” (Ezra 6:21-22)

“Blessed be the LORD God of our fathers, which hath put such a thing as this in the king’s heart, to beautify the house of the LORD which is in Jerusalem:” (Ezra 7:27)

Here in the Book of Ezra, we have read about three different kings of Persia which were clearly in favor of the people of God returning into their land and rebuilding their city and Temple. In chapter one, we read about the original decree issued by Cyrus, and in the following chapters we see that the people got busy working on the restoration of the house of God. However, in chapter four, we learn that there were enemies of the people of God who opposed the rebuilding of the city of Jerusalem and the Temple, and they petitioned King Artaxerxes (I) and convinced him that these Jews were trouble makers and that the work should stop. This king temporarily halts the project until a further investigation could be made. He later revoked the halting of the project and even gave the people of God whatever they needed to do the will of God (7:27). In chapter 6, we read about Darius who also supported the Israelites as they re-built their Temple, and he even commanded that everyone else in the area leave them alone.

Each of these kings was under the sovereign control of the King of Kings, and though they also had their own free will, God used them to accomplish His purposes. The bottom line is that the Lord is in control. If God’s people are submissive to His will and obedient to His commands, God will provide civil leadership that will be supportive of what the people want to do. The key is really in the hands of God’s people. “If my people … ” (2 Chronicles 7:14) do what they are supposed to do, God will heal the land, including the political leadership. Here in Ezra, God’s people were submissive to God and were trying to obey Him, and God was helping them. The only hiccup during this time was when the people allowed the opposition (and there will always be opposition) to cause them to quit, but as soon as they got back on track and determined to finish the project, God sent decrees from the king to help them accomplish God’s purpose.

Our job as New Testament believers is to just make sure that we are living inside the perfect will of God, doing whatever He has called us to do. Then we can trust that God will do His part. He will provide for us, protect us, and send some people our way who will support and help us. God is still in control today.

Today’s Reading – 2 Kings 20 – 22 (Click on the references to listen to the audio – Click here to view the passage from Blue Letter Bible)

(Second Milers Read – Luke 21 – 22; Psalms 11 – 15; Proverbs 3)

Listen to this morning’s Scripture song – Joshua 1:8

Read the “0503 Evening and Morning” devotion for today, by the late Charles Haddon Spurgeon

Read previous posts from this passage – “He Should Have Quit While He Was Ahead;” and “Have You Found the Book?”

“Thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will bring evil upon this place, and upon the inhabitants thereof, even all the words of the book which the king of Judah hath read: Because they have forsaken me, and have burned incense unto other gods, that they might provoke me to anger with all the works of their hands; therefore my wrath shall be kindled against this place, and shall not be quenched. But to the king of Judah which sent you to enquire of the LORD, thus shall ye say to him, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, As touching the words which thou hast heard; Because thine heart was tender, and thou hast humbled thyself before the LORD, when thou heardest what I spake against this place, and against the inhabitants thereof, that they should become a desolation and a curse, and hast rent thy clothes, and wept before me; I also have heard thee, saith the LORD. Behold therefore, I will gather thee unto thy fathers, and thou shalt be gathered into thy grave in peace; and thine eyes shall not see all the evil which I will bring upon this place. And they brought the king word again.” (2 Kings 22:16-20)

After the Word of God was discovered in the Temple while renovations were being made, King Josiah realized that the southern kingdom of Judah was far away from where she once was, and where she should have been. The king is a great man and desperately wants to get things right with the Lord, so he goes to a woman, named Huldah, a prophetess, who explained to him that judgment was certainly in store for Judah for the sins of her past. However, the good news is that the coming judgment would be postponed until after the days of King Josiah. Why? Because his heart was tender, and he was greatly humbled before God. He was determined to do what was right and lead the people of God to submit to whatever God commanded them to do.

Fast forward a couple of hundred years, way past the time of Josiah, and also past the horrible judgment that was prophesied by the prophetess as well as by others. Jerusalem had been completely destroyed, including the Temple, and the people of God had been living in captivity for seventy years, first in Babylon and then in Persia. God now opens up a window for the people of God to go back into the land of Judah, rebuild the Temple and the City of Jerusalem, and worship and serve the Lord as God had commanded them through Moses. Ezra the priest was leading a remnant of the people of God in worship, and explained to them that God had given them grace for a “little space.”

“And said, O my God, I am ashamed and blush to lift up my face to thee, my God: for our iniquities are increased over our head, and our trespass is grown up unto the heavens. Since the days of our fathers have we been in a great trespass unto this day; and for our iniquities have we, our kings, and our priests, been delivered into the hand of the kings of the lands, to the sword, to captivity, and to a spoil, and to confusion of face, as it is this day. And now for a little space grace hath been shewed from the LORD our God, to leave us a remnant to escape, and to give us a nail in his holy place, that our God may lighten our eyes, and give us a little reviving in our bondage. For we were bondmen; yet our God hath not forsaken us in our bondage, but hath extended mercy unto us in the sight of the kings of Persia, to give us a reviving, to set up the house of our God, and to repair the desolations thereof, and to give us a wall in Judah and in Jerusalem.” (Ezra 9:6-9)

I believe that God will give America a space of grace as well, even though judgment is certainly warranted for our sins as a nation. We have forsaken God; we have tolerated, condoned and even promoted all kinds of vile immorality, and we have murdered the unborn by the millions. Our country certainly has judgment in its future, and it may be that we are experiencing some of that right now through the pandemic and all the hatred and division. But, we can also get that space of grace if we will simply humble ourselves and submit to the will of the Lord.

“If I shut up heaven that there be no rain, or if I command the locusts to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among my people; If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.” (2 Chronicles 7:13-14)

Today’s Passage – 2 Kings 4 – 6 (Click on the references to listen to the audio – Click here to view the passage from Blue Letter Bible)

(Second Milers also read – Luke 9 – 10; Proverbs 27; Psalms 131 – 135

Listen to this morning’s Scripture song – Matthew 6:33

Read the “0427 Evening and Morning” devotion for today, by the late Charles Haddon Spurgeon

Today’s text contains several well-known children’s Sunday School stories. One of which is the story of Naaman, captain of the host of the Syrians, who was said to be “a great man,” “honourable,” and “a mighty man of valour.” We remember learning in Sunday School of the great faith of the little Israelite maid who had the courage and boldness to speak out. 

Naaman might have been a great man, but he had a problem. Naaman was a leper. The little Israelite maid is often the key Sunday School character in this story for her being young, yet having such abounding faith that she spoke up and boldly proclaimed that there was a prophet of God that could heal her master. The other servants and Naaman were quickly ready to listen to this young girl, collecting a good sum of money and gifts as payment, and then Naaman headed out to find this healing prophet at the word of the maiden. What a testimony she must have had to convince him! This alone is a wonderful, inspiring devotional application; but, there also may be something in this simple children’s story you haven’t considered.

I really want to focus on the next portion when Naaman arrives at the prophet’s  door. Elisha sends out a messenger (vs 10) telling Naaman to go wash in the Jordan 7 times and he would be clean, cured from leprosy. In verse 11 we see this is not what Naaman was expecting at all. He says, “Behold, I thought…”. He then turned “and went away in a rage.” This jumps out as a great conviction. How many times do I enquire something of the Lord and then end up upset because HE isn’t working the way in which I expect? “BUT I THOUGHT”… God doesn’t always work like we think or expect and that needs to be okay because HE is God and His ways are perfect.

“As for God, his way is perfect: the word of the LORD is tried: he is a buckler to all those that trust in him.” Ps. 18:30

“My soul, wait thou only upon God; for my expectation is from him.” – Ps. 62:5

“Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.” – Pro. 3:5,6

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD.” – Is 55:8

How many times have I asked God for something, prayed over, was broken over, and then saw an answer but it wasn’t what I “had in my head”? We all have all kinds of great expectations in life and then are disappointed when it wasn’t what we imagined. We must be very careful. So much of the time, what we are given is much better; it just looks different than anticipated. We have great expectations: those we date, spouses, children, employers, government officials, friends, church leadership, and the list goes on. 

Naaman had a different expectation and it almost cost him. 

Thankfully the story doesn’t end there for Naaman. His servants come along and basically say, ‘Come on Naaman, it’s worth a shot. He didn’t ask you to do anything complicated.’ So in verse 14 he goes down into the Jordan as is commanded, and is healed. Here also lies a great doctrinal application. Leprosy is a picture of sin. Naaman, though a mighty man, was not able to fix his sin issue on his own. He HAD TO SUBMIT and do what God said. It really was an issue of faith, just like for us today. Often, like Naaman, people are willing and expecting to jump through all kinds of difficult, crazy religious hoops of works in order to be saved; yet God wants each of us to simply yield and be fully submitted to Him by faith and experience the healing (forgiveness) from sin. We cannot go to God on our own terms but must humbly submit to Him. In Romans Paul warns of Israel’s problem with this as well: 

“For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.” – Romans 10:3

In summary:

#1 Have a good testimony like the little maid and speak out by faith.

#2 Beware of your own “great expectations” and remember that God doesn’t work on our terms or like we always think.

#3 When we are able to submit to God, He is able to work. Yield to the Lord, first by salvation from sin, then for the rest of your life in daily decisions.

“My soul, wait thou only upon God; for my expectation is from him.” – Ps. 62:5

Today’s Passage – 1 Kings 6 – 7 (Click on the references to listen to the audio – Click here to view the passage from Blue Letter Bible)

(Second Milers also read – Mark 7 – 8; Proverbs 18; Psalms 86 – 90)

Listen to this morning’s Scripture song – Psalm 92:1 – 4

Read the “0418 Evening and Morning” devotion for today, by the late Charles Haddon Spurgeon

“38 And in the eleventh year, in the month Bul, which is the eighth month, was the house finished throughout all the parts thereof, and according to all the fashion of it. So was he seven years in building it. 1 But Solomon was building his own house thirteen years, and he finished all his house.” (1 Kings 6:38 – 7:1)

Reading I Kings, chapters 6 and 7, it never ceases to amaze me the intricate detail that the Word of God (King James Version) gives when describing various things throughout the Bible. In these is the construction of the Lord’s House (the Temple) and the house of Solomon (his palaces). When reading these two chapters, two verses really stand out to me, the last verse in chapter 6 and the first verse in chapter 7, and what stood out were the number of years that it took to construct the Lord’s House, which was 7 years and Solomon’s house, which was 13 years.

It’s interesting that the Bible in describing the House of the Lord and the house of Solomon mentions the number of years it took to build each house. It’s also interesting that it took 7 years to build the Lord’s House and 13 years to build Solomon’s house for a total of 20 years. Meaning Solomon started and finished the Lord’s house first and then he built his own house (I Kings 9:10 and II Chronicles 8:1). 

7 and 13 are very important numbers in the Word of God and in the study of numerology. Numerology is the study of numbers and their specific importance in the Bible and how they are used to convey a meaning outside of the numerical value of the actual number being used. However, in order to understand these two numbers and what they mean we must first visit the Law of First Mention. What is the Law of First Mention?  In order to understand a particular word or doctrine you must first find the place in scripture where that word or doctrine is introduced.  So in order to understand the Lord’s placement of these numbers in these two verses we must first go back to where they originated in scripture.

The number 7 is first introduced in the Bible in Genesis 2:2 where it says: “And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made.”  Because of this verse the number 7 is correlated to the Lord’s perfect work ending and because it was complete, He rested. Throughout the entire Bible you’ll be amazed how the number seven correlates to perfection, completion, and rest. For instance, it’s interesting that the word, “Saviour,” in the  King James Bible is exactly 7 letters and word, “Baptist,” also happens to be 7 letters as well. I could go on and on with the use of the number 7 in the book of Revelation. Also, in Psalm 12:6, the word of God is said to be purified 7 times; in Proverbs 8:1, the Bible states that wisdom hath built her 7 pillars.

The number 13 is first introduced in Genesis 14:4: “Twelve years they serve Chedorlaomer and in the thirteenth year they rebelled.” The number 13 correlates with rebellion and wickedness because this is where Sodom and Gomorrah started their rebellion with the other Kings against king Chedorlaomer. 13 is also associated with evil and bad luck. For instance, Friday the 13th, the missing of the 13th floor in buildings, and Dan Marino never winning a super bowl because he wore 13 (Lol!). The second time 13 is mentioned in the Bible also has to do with result of rebellion: “And Ismael his son was thirteen years old, when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin”(Genesis 17:25). Also, in the book of Esther, on the 13th day Haman was to have all the Jews destroyed. (Esther 3:12,13, 8:12, 9:1,17,18)

[A side note Genesis chapter 13, verse 13, has 13 words regarding the rebellion and wickedness of Sodom and Gomorrah and their sin before the Lord.]

I.  The 7 years it took to build the Lord’s House represents perfection, completion, and rest while the 13 years it took to build Solomon’s house represents rebellion, pride, and wickedness. The Lord gave Solomon the wisdom to physically construct His Temple and it was precise and calculated, down to the finest detail all cuts were made away from the house so that there was no hammer or any other tool of iron heard in the while it was in building (I King 6:7). While on the other hand it seems that Solomon was more consumed in achieving glory and status among the other kings on earth when building his house (palace), which took much longer to build and was extravagant and full of excess.  

II.  The numbers 7 and 13 are reminders to the nation of Israel the day they rebelled against God by placing a king to rule over them instead of the Lord. Since before the Exodus out of Egypt the Lord ruled over His people Israel. His rule was perfect, complete, and He gave His people rest when they followed Him. However the influence of the world always weighed heavy on Israel causing them to desire to have earthly kings to reign over them and not God. Therefore the Lord granted them their request because of their rebellion. Their kings would take to themselves the wealth of the entire nation and Israel would become servants to them (I Samual 8:7-22).  

[Some would argue that the same could be said when Israel rebelled yet again by rejected Christ in the New Testament. Because of this they were set aside and Paul would be known as the 13th Apostle to the Gentile Church.]

III.  Finally, Solomon was loved by the Lord and the Lord gave him wisdom above all that ever lived outside of Jesus. With this wisdom the Lord gave the blueprint that Solomon needed to build the Lord’s house. Solomon had a heart for the Lord and a great desire to serve and complete the Lord’s House. He started his reign on the right track and was pleasing to the Lord. Even with some of the faults he had Solomon was used mightily at the beginning, completing the house of God to exact perfection.

However, Solomon used that same God-given wisdom to glorify himself in building his own house and setting up his earthly reign. This fed his discontentment which would eventually lead to his demise. Because Solomon wanted to glorify himself in the eyes of the world he was never content with what he had. He literally had everything and yet having everything was still not enough. 

Solomon had a heart like you and I – a heart to serve the Lord and at the same time a heart to please himself. And because he was not focused on the Lord`s Temple after he had completed it, he became prideful and discontented which lead in a downward spiral to destruction and ultimately caused him to rebel against the very Lord he once served.

Today’s Passage – 2 Samuel 4 – 7 (Click on the references to listen to the audio – Click here to view the passage from Blue Letter Bible)

(Second Milers also read – Matthew 17 – 18; Proverbs 9; Psalms 41 – 45)

Listen to this morning’s Scripture song –  Psalm 34:1 – 4

Read the “0409 Evening and Morning” devotion for today, by the late Charles Haddon Spurgeon.

“And Nathan said to the king, Go, do all that is in thine heart; for the LORD is with thee. And it came to pass that night, that the word of the LORD came unto Nathan, saying, Go and tell my servant David, Thus saith the LORD, Shalt thou build me an house for me to dwell in?” – (2 Samuel 7:3-5)

In 2 Samuel 7, David comes to the prophet Nathan, and informs him of his desire to build a permanent dwelling place for the ark of the covenant: he wanted to build the temple. You will recall that up until this time the corporate worship of God took place in a portable tabernacle that God had designed for them while they wandered the wilderness on their way to the Promised Land. But now it was time to build a permanent structure in the capital city – Jerusalem. It was a good thing that David wanted to do, and it was also good that he went to inquire of the man of God before he did it. The problem here is not with David, but with the prophet Nathan. He gave David the green light to “do all that [was] in [David’s] heart”, before he checked with God. In other words, he spoke on behalf of God, but did not say what God wanted him to say. He spoke prematurely. As it turns out, God had other plans. He did not want David to build the temple. That job was going to go to David’s son, Solomon.

There is a great lesson to be learned here for us. Before we offer our advice on a matter, we ought to check with God first. How we go about doing that is a little bit different today than it was in David and Nathan’s day. In their time God would speak directly to the man of God. Today, however, we have to discern the will of God in the following way:

1  We first go to the Word of God – check to see what the Bible says about what you want to do. Just about every possible scenario is covered by Biblical principle. Let’s say for example that a young lady wanted to know if it was OK to get involved with a young man who is not a dedicated Christian. She could look into the Word and see that it says that she is not to be “unequally yoked” together with an unbeliever. She would also see that the Scripture says that she can not “walk together” with someone whom she is not in agreement with. And there are many other passages of Scripture, which would advise her against what she wants to do. The bottom line is that if the thing we want to do is in violation of sound Biblical principle, we should not do it.

2  We go to God in prayer. We ask God to reveal to us personally His will regarding the matter. I believe that if a person is really concerned about the will of God, He will direct them. When I was praying about where to serve God after Bible college, God revealed to me precisely that He wanted my family to serve Him here in Galloway, NJ.

3  We get advice. The Bible is clear that there is safety in a multitude of counselors. Find some people with godly wisdom that you can go to for counsel regarding your decision, and give them some time to pray first before they give you an answer.

Nathan should have put David on hold until he had a chance to find out what God wanted him to do.