Chronicles, chapter 36, 14-23, The Fall of Judah; The Decree of Cyrus In those days, all the princes of Judah, the priests, and the people added infidelity to infidelity, practicing all the abominations of the nations and polluting the LORD’s temple which he had consecrated in Jerusalem. Early and often did the LORD, the God of their fathers, send his messengers to them, for he had compassion on his people and his dwelling place. But they mocked the messengers of God, despised his warnings, and scoffed at his prophets, until the anger of the LORD against his people was so inflamed that there was no remedy. Their enemies burnt the house of God, tore down the walls of Jerusalem, set all its palaces afire, and destroyed all its precious objects. Those who escaped the sword were carried captive to Babylon, where they became servants of the king of the Chaldeans and his sons until the kingdom of the Persians came to power. All this was to fulfill the word of the LORD spoken by Jeremiah: “Until the land has retrieved its lost sabbaths, during all the time it lies waste it shall have rest while seventy years are fulfilled.” In the first year of Cyrus, king of Persia, in order to fulfill the word of the LORD spoken by Jeremiah, the LORD inspired King Cyrus of Persia to issue this proclamation throughout his kingdom, both by word of mouth and in writing: “Thus says Cyrus, king of Persia: All the kingdoms of the earth the LORD, the God of heaven, has given to me, and he has also charged me to build him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whoever, therefore, among you belongs to any part of his people, let him go up, and may his God be with him!”
Hi Kemar. I am, thank you for checking up. I'm sorry it's been a while since I last shared. I hope you are well.
1 Chronicles 29:14-20 “But who am I, and who are my people, that we should be able to give as generously as this? Everything comes from you, and we have given you only what comes from your hand. We are foreigners and strangers in your sight, as were all our ancestors. Our days on earth are like a shadow, without hope. Lord our God, all this abundance that we have provided for building you a temple for your Holy Name comes from your hand, and all of it belongs to you. I know, my God, that you test the heart and are pleased with integrity. All these things I have given willingly and with honest intent. And now I have seen with joy how willingly your people who are here have given to you. Lord, the God of our fathers Abraham, Isaac and Israel, keep these desires and thoughts in the hearts of your people forever, and keep their hearts loyal to you. And give my son Solomon the wholehearted devotion to keep your commands, statutes and decrees and to do everything to build the palatial structure for which I have provided.” Then David said to the whole assembly, “Praise the Lord your God.” So they all praised the Lord , the God of their fathers; they bowed down, prostrating themselves before the Lord and the king.
Great to hear, and no pressure! Was just wondering how you were doing haha! I'm have been doing well myself recently, taking baby steps each time.
Galatians 5 13-26 13 You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesha]">[a]; rather, serve one another humbly in love. 14 For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”b]">[b] 15 If you bite and devour each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other. 16 So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whateverc]">[c] you want. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. 19 The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21 and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. 24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. 26 Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.
Psalm 22:26, 30-31 26 The meek will eat and be satisfied; those who seek the Lord will praise him— may your hearts live forever! 30 Posterity shall serve him; it shall be told of the Lord to the coming generation; 31 they shall come and proclaim his righteousness to a people yet unborn, that he has done it.
I read this today and thought it was relevant for us: 1 Corinthians 10:13 No testing has overtaken you that is not common to everyone. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tested beyond your strength, but with the testing he will also provide the way out so that you may be able to endure it. A reminder that we are not alone in our struggles and that God supplies us with the tools to overcome temptation.
My pride has been getting the best of me recently. God does not owe me an answer to every question -- some answers are too complex and we do not have the scope to understand His ways. We must just continue trusting God, and accept that rebelliousness can incur His discipline, a discipline that may be inescapable. These verses humble me. Isaiah 55:8-9 8 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. 9 “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. Deuteronomy 29:29 29 The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, so that we may follow all the words of this law.
I've found this verse to be very motivating in my NoFap journey, and I though it might help others Micah 6:8 (NIV) He has shown you, o mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.
Matt 28:2-9 (Knox) And suddenly there was a great trembling of the earth, because an angel of the Lord came to the place, descending from heaven, and rolled away the stone and sat over it;✻ 3 his face shone like lightning, and his garments were white as snow;4 so that the guards trembled for fear of him, and were like dead men. 5 But the angel said openly to the women, You need not be afraid; I know well that you have come to look for Jesus of Nazareth, the man who was crucified. 6 He is not here; he has risen, as he told you. Come and see the place where the Lord was buried. 7 You must go in haste, and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead; and now he is going on before you into Galilee, where you shall have sight of him. That is my message to you.8 Whereupon they left the tomb, in fear and in great rejoicing, and ran to tell the news to his disciples.✻9 And while they were on their way, all at once Jesus met them and said, All hail. With that, they came near to him, and clung to his feet, and worshipped him. HAPPY EASTER BROTHERS! May your day be flooded with the bright light of the risen Lord. Crux Sancta sit mihi lux!
In our home, we call this Resurrection Day! We remember the power of the risen Christ every day, but today is a little bit special. There are other days we celebrate the cross. Today, we celebrate the empty tomb! They represent a cosmic one-two punch the likes of which have never been seen before! Take heed, Christian: There is no resurrection without a very real death first. Take heart, Christian: There is no death for a disciple that is not surely followed by a resurrection into new, undying life!
2 Chronicles 6:12, 14, 18, 21, 29-30, 37-40 NIV Then Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord in front of the whole assembly of Israel and spread out his hands. He said: “Lord, the God of Israel, there is no God like you in heaven or on earth—you who keep your covenant of love with your servants who continue wholeheartedly in your way. “But will God really dwell on earth with humans? The heavens, even the highest heavens, cannot contain you. How much less this temple I have built! Hear the supplications of your servant and of your people Israel when they pray toward this place. Hear from heaven, your dwelling place; and when you hear, forgive... ...and when a prayer or plea is made by anyone among your people Israel—being aware of their afflictions and pains, and spreading out their hands toward this temple— then hear from heaven, your dwelling place. Forgive, and deal with everyone according to all they do, since you know their hearts (for you alone know the human heart), and if they have a change of heart in the land where they are held captive, and repent and plead with you in the land of their captivity and say, ‘We have sinned, we have done wrong and acted wickedly’; and if they turn back to you with all their heart and soul in the land of their captivity where they were taken, and pray toward the land you gave their ancestors, toward the city you have chosen and toward the temple I have built for your Name; then from heaven, your dwelling place, hear their prayer and their pleas, and uphold their cause. And forgive your people, who have sinned against you. “Now, my God, may your eyes be open and your ears attentive to the prayers offered in this place. https://bible.com/bible/111/2ch.6.12-40.NIV
1 Thessalonians 2:17-20, 3:4-13 But, brothers and sisters, when we were orphaned by being separated from you for a short time (in person, not in thought), out of our intense longing we made every effort to see you. For we wanted to come to you—certainly I, Paul, did, again and again—but Satan blocked our way. For what is our hope, our joy, or the crown in which we will glory in the presence of our Lord Jesus when he comes? Is it not you? Indeed, you are our glory and joy. In fact, when we were with you, we kept telling you that we would be persecuted. And it turned out that way, as you well know. For this reason, when I could stand it no longer, I sent to find out about your faith. I was afraid that in some way the tempter had tempted you and that our labors might have been in vain. But Timothy has just now come to us from you and has brought good news about your faith and love. He has told us that you always have pleasant memories of us and that you long to see us, just as we also long to see you. Therefore, brothers and sisters, in all our distress and persecution we were encouraged about you because of your faith. For now we really live, since you are standing firm in the Lord. How can we thank God enough for you in return for all the joy we have in the presence of our God because of you? Night and day we pray most earnestly that we may see you again and supply what is lacking in your faith. Now may our God and Father himself and our Lord Jesus clear the way for us to come to you. May the Lord make your love increase and overflow for each other and for everyone else, just as ours does for you. May he strengthen your hearts so that you will be blameless and holy in the presence of our God and Father when our Lord Jesus comes with all his holy ones.
James 1:12 (Knox) 12 "Blessed is he who endures under trials. When he has proved his worth, he will win that crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him." Be encouraged! Our struggle against this sin is a blessed one! May God bless you all today!
Psalm 30:4-5 Sing the praises of the Lord, you his faithful people; praise his holy name. For his anger lasts only a moment, but his favor lasts a lifetime; weeping may stay for the night, but rejoicing comes in the morning.
Not a problem! Thank you too. I love the book of James. I learned again that Satan really wants to pull us out of the Word. Because of God's mercy he brought me back to encouraging passages like 2 Chronicles 6 as well as 1 Thessalonians 3. I want to share these wise lyrics by Shai Linne from his song Cosmic Powers because they planted good seed in my thoughts: He (Satan) makes the bait seem sweet but always hides the hook And his top priority is that we deny The Book Tactic One: The Bible- keep you from reading it And if you're reading it, he'll try to keep you from believing it If you're believing it, he'll try to keep you from obedience Or speaking it, he's got temptations for every season kid Satan is the Tempter- he wants to abuse ya After you sin, the Tempter becomes your Accuser And Christians in the public eye- here's an important principle You become more vulnerable the more you're visible I mean come on, if Peter and David can fall Doesn't that need to be a wake up call for us all? These powers are lethal, we're feeble, not equal So Jesus said pray that God would deliver us from evil
