VIDEO A Fascinating Few: Josiah

Now before [Josiah] there was no king like him, who turned to the Lord with all his heart, with all his soul, and with all his might, according to all the Law of Moses; nor after him did any arise like him. 2 Kings 23:25

No king before Josiah, king of Judah, or after him, was as obedient or faithful. Josiah became king when he was 8 years old. His father and grandfather had been idol-worshiping kings, but Josiah’s 31-year reign was a stark contrast.

When Josiah was 26 years old, he set about to restore the temple in Jerusalem which had fallen into disrepair due to lack of use. During the restoration, the high priest discovered a copy of “the Book of the Law” given through Moses—something Josiah was seemingly unfamiliar with (2 Kings 22:8). When it was read to him, he mourned over how Judah had failed to obey the Lord. He called the people together and renewed the covenant with them after reading them God’s Word. He then undertook a thorough cleansing of Jerusalem and Judah from the vile, pagan, idolatrous practices that had been allowed.

Josiah not only read God’s Word; he put it into practice. Purpose not only to hear the Word but also to do what it says (James 1:23-25).

Beware of reasoning about God’s Word—obey it! Oswald Chambers

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2 Kings 23:15-25:30 – Skip Heitzig

Called and Equipped by God

I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with wisdom . . . and with all kinds of skills. Exodus 31:3

“Your job for the international book expo,” my boss informed me, “is to organize an onsite radio broadcast.” I felt fear because this was new territory for me. God, I’ve never done anything like this, I prayed. Please help me.

God provided resources and people to guide me: experienced technicians and broadcasters, plus reminders during the expo of details I’d overlooked. In retrospect, I know that the broadcast went well because He knew what was needed and prompted me to use the skills He’d already given me.

When God calls us to a task, He also equips us for it. When He assigned Bezalel to work on the tabernacle, Bezalel was already a skilled craftsman. God further equipped him by filling him with His Spirit and with wisdom, understanding, knowledge, and all kinds of skills (Exodus 31:3). God also gave him an assistant in Oholiab, as well as a skilled workforce (v. 6). With His enablement, the team designed and made the tent, its furnishings, and the priests’ garments. These were instrumental in the Israelites’ proper worship of God (vv. 7-11).

Bezalel means “in the shadow [protection] of God.” The craftsman worked on the project of a lifetime under God’s protection, power, and provision. Let’s courageously obey His prompting as we carry out a task to completion. He knows what we need, and how and when to give it.

By:  Karen Huang

Reflect & Pray

What task is God calling you to carry out? In what areas can you pray for His guidance?

Father, thank You for equipping me with all that I need.

Many Languages, One God

Our God is a powerful Redeemer—He transforms our failures into testimonies of His grace Acts 2:1-11

Pentecost is most often associated with the Holy Spirit’s arrival. But it also demonstrates God’s remarkable ability to redeem. 

To understand just how amazing Pentecost was, we need to go all the way back to Genesis 11, when everyone “used the same language” and were “one people” (Genesis 11:1; Genesis 11:6). Their problem wasn’t unity—it was self-idolatry. God had said to fill the earth, but they instead built a city and tower to “make a name” for themselves and prevent being scattered (Genesis 11:4). Only after God confused their languages at Babel did they disperse as He had ordered.

Pentecost offers an amazing contrast. The disciples waited in Jerusalem, as Jesus commanded. (Acts 1:4-5). The crowd was “amazed and astonished” to hear their different languages united in meaning (2:6-7). “We hear them,” they said to one another, “speaking in our own tongues of the mighty deeds of God” (v. 11).

That harmony of praise in Jerusalem redeemed the confusion at Babel. And while the church was also “scattered” after that, believers took persecution as an opportunity to sow seeds for the gospel (Acts 8:1; Acts 8:4; Acts 11:19). Their obedience made it possible for us today to declare “the mighty deeds of God.” And one day people “from every nation and all the tribes, peoples, and languages” will sing of the salvation of God and the Lamb (Revelation 7:9-10).

The Way and the Glory

“Now therefore, I pray thee, if I have found grace in thy sight, shew me now thy way, that I may know thee, that I may find grace in thy sight: and consider that this nation is thy people.” (Exodus 33:13)

“Moses the man of God” (Deuteronomy 33:1) was surely one of the greatest men who ever lived. He was the leader of a great nation, he received the tablets of the law from God, and he compiled and wrote the Pentateuch. It was said that “there arose not a prophet since in Israel like unto Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face” (Deuteronomy 34:10). Yet, “the man Moses was very meek, above all the men which were upon the face of the earth” (Numbers 12:3).

It was such a man as this who made two remarkable requests of God. The first was, as above: “Shew me now thy way.” The second, just a moment later, was: “Shew me thy glory” (Exodus 33:18).

These were not selfish requests. Moses desired the way of the Lord on behalf of his people. God answered this request with the gracious promise: “My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest” (Exodus 33:14).

But then he also asked to see the glory of God. So God placed Moses “in a clift of the rock,” covering him with His hand as His glory passed by, allowing him to see the remnants of His glory, as it were (Exodus 33:22-23), since he could not have endured any more. With such a vision of God’s glory, Moses was then able to lead the Israelite multitude for 40 years in a terrible wilderness, transforming them from a mob of slaves into God’s chosen nation, ready to bring God’s Word, and God’s Son, into the world.

We also can see His way and His glory. Jesus said: “I am the way” (John 14:6). Then He prayed: “Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory” (John 17:24). HMM

“Success” Is A Seductive Mistress

“Success” does indeed have its rewards. Therefore the temptation to parade the accouterments of achievement in front of others in order to garner their admiration is almost irresistible! After all,

“If you‘ve got it, FLAUNT IT!“(But subtly, of course.)

Let’s just admit that it’s hard to be humble when you’re soooo good!

God is not against success. But He is against pride. And the pride that often accompanies our success can indeed be seductive.

Take for example the experiences of:

Uzziah:

“But after Uzziah became powerful, his pride led to his downfall. He was unfaithful to the Lord his God… “(2 Chronicles 26:16)

Rehoboam:

“After Rehoboam‘s position as king was established and he had become strong, he and all Israel with him abandoned the law of the Lord.“(2 Chronicles 12:1)

Jeshurun:

“Jeshurun grew fat… filled with food… heavy and sleek. He abandoned the God who made him and rejected the Rock his Savior.“(Deuteronomy. 32:15)

Because “SUCCESS” IS A SEDUCTIVE MISTRESS we would be wise to heed sage old King Solomon — who himself was seduced by his success — when he prayed:

“Give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread. Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and say, ‘Who is the Lord?‘ Or I may become poor and steal, and so dishonor the name of my God.“(Proverbs 30:8, 9)

QUESTION: How well are you handling your “success” in the eyes of the Lord Jesus?

• Is He pleased as He observes you, His humble, self-sacrificing, and gracious servant? Or:
• Is He grieved by a pride-ridden life that is locked on to spiritual cruise-control?

“Lord, I believe; help Thou mine unbelief.”

Mark 9:14-29

Mark 9:14

From glory upon the mountain to conflict in the valley is a very usual transition.

Mark 9:15

No doubt his face was resplendent with some relics of the glory which had beamed from him upon the holy mount: yet it is remarkable that the people were not terrified, but ran to him and not from him: the glories of Jesus are always attractive.

Mark 9:16-18

Without their Master they could do nothing; they were like soldiers assailed by the enemy in the absence of their commander. His coming

Mark 9:20

Matters often come to their worst before they mend. The devil had great wrath, and put forth all his power, because he perceived that his time was short.

Mark 9:21-23

The Saviour returned the unbelieving “if thou canst” to its right place; the want of power never lies in Jesus, but in our faith.

Mark 9:24

A prayer most fitting for many struggling believers, in whom faith and unbelief are striving for the mastery.

Mark 9:25

Our Lord spake divinely, charging demons as one having authority over them. Let us confide in him, for all power is given unto him in heaven and in earth.

Mark 9:29

God reserves certain blessings, and determines to bestow them only upon those who offer importunate prayer and practise self-denial. Yet where disciples fail, their Master succeeds. We may take the most desperate case to him; we may take our own.

How sad our state by nature is!

Our sin, how deep its stains!

And Satan binds our captive minds

Fast in his slavish chains.

But lo, we hear the Saviour call,

He comes to our relief:

“We would believe thy promise, Lord,

Oh, help our unbelief.”

Stretch out thine arm, victorious King!

Our reigning sins subdue;

Drive the old dragon from his scat,

With all his hellish crew.

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Shall we anger’s deep defilement

Cherish in despite of heaven?

Shall we spurn at reconcilement,

Who so oft have been forgiven?

If offence that folly gave us

Should our faith and patience try,

Like our Lord, who died to save us,

Let us meekly pass it by.

Responding to the Spirit

Quench not the Spirit. Holdfast to that which is good. (1 Thessalonians 5:19-20)

Are we raising a whole generation of young men and women without any sensitivity to the voice of God’s Holy Spirit?

I am on record, and I will be as long as I live, that I would rather lose a leg and hobble along throughout the rest of my life than to lose my sensitivity to God and to His voice and to spiritual things!

Oh, how I want to keep that sensitivity within me—within my soul!

I am thinking about a great throng of men and women raised in Christian homes. They have been brought up in Sunday school. They probably cut their first baby tooth on the edge of a hymn book when the mother was not watching.

Still, to this day, they are not right with God. Some have made a kind of profession but have never been able to delight themselves in the Lord.

The reason? They have lost sensitivity to the message and the voice of God. If the Holy Spirit cannot move something within their beings every day they are not going to be effective Christians—if they are Christians at all!