2 Kings 14

Wow, the kings and relatives with J names has confused me more. I had to look up the reign of kings in Kings to get somewhat straight again. This chapter reminds me of the need to make mistakes to learn consequences. Unfortunately the mistake Amaziah makes is a big one.

Amaziah trusts in God and goes into battle with the Edomites and took Sela. What we don’t see in 2 Kings here is that after the slaughter of the Edomites, Amaziah took the gods of the people of Sier, set them up to be his gods and burned incense to them. This can be found in 2 Chronicles 25:14. This action angers God (of course). Then Amaziah sent the messengers to the king of Israel, challenging him to meet face to face. King Amaziah was prideful of his wins and has scorned God. King Jehoash of Israel tried to warn Amaziah not to try and be ambitious and to stay at home.

This is the part as a person might say “Take my advice...” and the other is thinking “I make my own rules.” Amaziah pursued the war against Jehoash’s advice and ended up being captured. He didn’t listen, didn’t seek counsel with men of God before this, didn’t think well before making his decision. His mind was already made up, and it cost him.

I remember growing up pushing against the rules, wanting to make my own mistakes. And I value the lessons I learned from them. In a current bible study on Wisdom:God’s Vision for Life by Jeff Cavins, and we have learned valuable steps in decision making. First is to talk with God. James 1:5 reminds us "But if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God who gives to all generously and ungrudgingly, and he will be given it."

The next step is gathering important data. Look for everything you can find on the topic (Proverbs 13:16), as well as study God's word. Then talk to knowledgeable people (Proverbs 24:6, 11:14). The next big thing is to ask yourself "what will this decision cost me?" Think about how much time it will take, how much it would cost or save you, what resources you would need to obtain it, and what gifts you have that you could use. 

A big thing to consider is how might this decision affect your vocation. How could this decision affect your career or occupation? Another question is how does your experience play into this decision (Proverbs 26:11). How does your family background affect this decision? Could this decision affect your reputation and witness? Remember, "a good name is more desirable than riches, and high esteem, than gold and silver (Proverbs 22:1)." Also, make sure you don't wait for perfection. There may be a right time for things, but there will never be a perfect time if you keep watching from the sidelines. (Ecclesiastes 11:4) Finally, act on the decision. 

The biggest thing to remember is even if you end up making the wrong decision, if you kept God but your side through the decision making God will always be with you. The key to this long message is don’t be like Amaziah. Think about the decision before you make it. Trust in God. 

2 Kings 13

S: 2 Kings 13:14 Elisha was suffering from the sickness of which he was to die.

O: Elisha was blessed by God to heal people, but even men of miracles are not immune to death.

A: It’s hard to think that such a healer could succumb to an illness. This is another reminder that God has a timeline set out for us, and it was Elisha’s time to return home. This shows us that Elisha was a man like each of us, and struggled in the end with his illness. Not all godly men die peacefully in their sleep at night. Some do have to fight battles. 

When my husband lost his grandmother, who was 100 at the time, he couldn’t understand why “your God” would take such a wonderful woman away and leave really bad people on earth. I have spoken before of his unbelief. I was not in the current faith I am now to be able to show him things like this in the Bible. We are all meant to die one day. It is never an easy thing to go through. But instead of the tragedy of her death, we should have celebrated that she had 100 years on this earth, that she got to meet her great grand daughter, that Granny thrived! 

Elisha was able to touch many lives while on earth. That is to be celebrated, and not the point that he died. Even after death, we read that he touched someone’s life! In verse 21, another dead man was put in Elisha’s grave, and when his body touched Elisha’s, the man came back to life!

Losing a person you are close to is not easy. There are many tragic loses we see too often. But if we can find comfort in knowing that they are in God’s arms in heaven, it might bring a small relief. I pray God can bring comfort to you if you have lost someone, that you know one day you will dance for joy with them again.

2 Kings 12 Corrupt Systems

S: 2 Kings 12:10 The priest Jehoiada then took a chest, bored a hole in its lid, and set it beside the stele, on the right as one entered the temple of the Lord.

O: Joash has instructed the priests to use the money they collected from the people to help tend to the repairs of the temple, but they had not. So he gave the people a way to give to the church more directly.

A: Giving money for the intention of a job being completed is hard. I’ve learned the hard way not to pay up front for a service, because it may not be completed correctly. For these people, money was collected from the priests for the census and assessment, as well as freely given from the heart. The priests didn’t use the money as instructed for the temple, instead they kept if for themselves. 

There are still lots of corrupt systems going on now, in which money is given (or taken) for supposed good purposes, but then squandered or kept for other personal gains. So Jehoiada institutes a collection box for people to be able to drop off their donations and taxes, so people could be assured it was going to the churches needs. 

We sometimes are our own corrupt systems. Instead of putting money where we need it, we thought it on silly pleasures or irrelevant things. For a long time, I got a Starbucks coffee quite often. Until I really sat down and calculated how much I was spending there (and thought about how many calories I was taking in on just coffee drinks), I was willingly blind to the fact that I was wasting money. And then couldn’t understand why we didn’t have enough to our needs. I wasn’t the only free spender in our house, but I was the one in charge of keeping track so it was my job to get it straight. And I did. I prayed to God for him to make me see where my faults were, where we could cut back, so we could give to where we should and put away for our needs. 
Now, I make my own coffee at home daily. I only get Starbucks when I have a gift card. This is just one of the examples of checking our own system to make sure we aren’t being as the priests were. Once I sat down and really looked at our budget and spendings, I found several other places. And by checking ourselves to where we should be, we are able to save more money each month and get our debt down. By putting my finances in God’s hands, we were able to focus on what we are growing and not where we lost it. We are repairing our temple as needed now.

K: Lord, your wisdom is more than all the gold on this earth. I seek your wisdom so I may have a better understanding of our place here, to see how you intend to use us for your greater good. Let me be a light for you, Lord. 

2 Kings 11

I became a little confused trying to remember the lines and heritage at this point of the kings. Because there was an Ahaziah, son of Ahab, king of Israel at the beginning of 2 Kings. This Ahaziah had no son, so his brother Joram took over as king of Israel. Ahab was married to Jezebel. They had Ahaziah, Joram, and Athaliah. And probably more, but these are the ones mentioned at the moment.

At the time of Joram being king of Israel, Jehoram (son of Jehoshaphat) was king of Judah. Ahab’s (from Israel) sister was Jehoram’s wife. Jehoram had a son, who they named Azahiah. In Chapter 8 it says this Ahaziah’s mother name was Athaliah. I think Ahaziah, son of Jehoram, mother Athaliah was the daughter of Jezebel. It makes sense when she tried to control the kingdom after Ahaziah died.

S: 2 Kings 11:17 Then Jehoiada made a covenant between the Lord as one party and the king and the people as the other, by which they would be the Lord’s people.

O: Jehoiada was trying to restore God’s people to Him. 

A: Jehoiada made an oath in the house of the Lord. God was ready to have His people back and the line of David to flourish. The covenant brought God’s people back in line. They recommitted themselves to honor God.

Each week at Mass, we have the opportunity to recommit ourselves to God. For us, as we receive the Eucharist every Sunday, it is an external and internal commitment to choose Jesus (Not that we are allowed to walk out of church and forget for a whole week, then get grace again). God wants us to choose him. He is always there, waiting with open arms for us to realize we are not full until we have Him in our lives.

K: Lord, thank you for the covenants you made with your people. Thank you for allowing us to recommit ourselves to you. Thank you for the ability to pray to you in public. I pray that I continue to follow the path you have guided me to, and I have faith that this path will lead me to you.

2 Kings 10

2 Kings 10:16 Come with me and see my zeal for the Lord.

I’m going a different way with this today. Yes Jehu was passionate about completing God’s tasks. But a bit over passionate about completing the task rather than doing a task for God. This statement could totally be taken to show how excited he was to do God’s work. I see it as pride in Jehu, pride of his own zeal. 

Matthew 6:3 reminds us to keep our deeds to the Lord in secret, and not be boastful of them. Killing hundreds of people is not something that could be kept secret, but to actually call someone to come watch you kill others in the name of God is opposite of what God intended. Yes God’s word of Ahab’s descendants being cleared from earth was carried out. But I wonder if all that power from the killings got to Jehu. We find out that he himself did not step away from the sins of his own family, and was not observing God’s law wholeheartedly. 

It was easier for Jehu to be angry against someone else’s sins and punish them for it than to look at his own sins. Doing away with another family paid him richly in that it put him on the throne. Beyond that, if it didn’t appease him, Jehu didn’t do it.

We mustn’t stop fighting for God just because it won’t glorify ourselves. We aren’t meant to glorify ourselves anyway. We aren’t here to call out others sins and call out how we helped them, while sweeping our own under the rug. God wants us to see inside ourselves, and seek good for ourselves and others. Be just as ambitious to help ourselves as we are to help others see God. God wants us to be zealous for Him, but not to let our passion for glory outdo our work.  

Do you trust me?

Worry is a big issue. By definition, it means to allow one's mind to dwell on difficulty or troubles. Worry affect people of all ages. For a mother, a new worry starts when she finds out she is pregnant. Pregnancy is a big loss of control. Basically, God is saying, "Do you trust me?" What a BIG thought! Do I trust God with this new person being knit in my womb? Do I trust with every morning of morning sickness that this is for the best? Before I felt the first movements, did I trust God? When the baby was quiet, did I trust God?

Proverbs 3:5 says, "Trust in the Lord with your whole heart, and do not lean on your own understanding."

Trust is not always easy. It wasn't easy for me. I let fear control me. Fear of when the 20 week scan showed that her bones weren't quite the right proportion. Fear let me believe I needed to have the amniocentesis, even though there was a potential for it to hurt her. Then my fear gutted me as I saw them needle on the ultrasound machine getting so close to her, as it was obtaining amniotic fluid. It was 10 years ago, and I remember clear as day my baby backing up in the womb, away from the needle. From that moment, I swore I wouldn't ever let anything hurt her. Out of fear.

Then we have the child, and we worry about what to feed them, when they will walk, when they will speak, etc. We fret at night if they cry. We run ourselves ragged without a second thought to trust in God. Is the house baby proofed? Did the sitter take CPR? Had I trusted in God the many, many nights of walking my second baby because of his colic? No. I know now that even if I had trusted Him, the colic may not have been easier, but I could have handled it better. We worry over schools, riding bikes, dangers of crossing the street, grades, dangers of every day. Again, God is asking, "Do you trust me?" Do we trust Him with our child's life? The very life HE knit together for us? With this child that HE knew before we ever did?

Psalm 56:3 says, "When I am afraid, I put my trust in you."

When kids go to college, that is another BIG loss of control. The first 18 years of their life, your child has been yours. Yours to protect, yours to feed, yours to monitor their choices.  Now they are their own person, moving to another place. I'm not here yet, and won't be for a while. Instead of being afraid for this change, I have learned how to trust in God in small, daily things.  I pray daily that He will protect my child in their endeavors. And I am teaching them to trust in God. I have several years until that next step happens, and I hope that in the mean time, I can continue to grow so that my trust in God will be bigger than my fear. I pray for those whose children are preparing for college. I pray that they feel God's arms around them, and that they can be reassured that they raised some great kids. And God will always be with them.

2 Kings 9

S: 2 Kings 9:3b Thus says the Lord: I appoint you king over Israel.

O: Though Israel has forgotten God, He has not forgotten His people.

A: God chooses who he wants to rule over his people. In my readings, I’ve seen that the rulers were appointed to either bless an obedient nation or curse a disobedient nation. At this time, he was fulfilling what he told Elijah in 1 Kings 19:16-18 (“Then you shall appoint Jehu, son of Nimshi, king of Israel, and Elisha, son of Shaphat, as prophet to succeed you...) It was Elisha to deliver the appointment of king as Elijah had already passed. But God’s word remained true. And it came to pass just as God said.

God will never forget his people. Even when we choose to turn away from Him, God is waiting with open arms for us to realize what a mess we made and come back. There are so many distractions in our world today, things that may have been put in place to see if we are paying attention. People who are preaching false teachings, news stories trying to divert our attention away from what matters. We are so grateful to have God still want to take us back after all the things we have done and let ourselves get lost in. 

K:Lord thank you for always being there, being willing to take us back in your love. I know I have made choices in my life that were not what you asked, and I am sorry. I pray that I keep my eyes on the path you have designed for me, and that I do not disappoint you again.

2 Kings 8

S: 2 Kings 8:12 Elisha replied, “Because I know the evil that you will inflict upon the Israelites.”

O: As a prophet, Elisha can get visions from God. Elisha was able to see the destruction Hazael would inflict on Israel as their king. He never mentioned how Hazael would become king.

A: Predestination or free will? This is a tough fight to get in. Elisha saw what was in Hazael’s future. I believe he saw what was ahead for Hazael if Hazael kept on the “path” he was on. Perhaps Elisha was trying to warn Hazael to give him a chance to change his heart. 

I believe God knows our every move. I believe he sees where we will be in our future. But I also believe that future is based on where we are now. And that the free will He gave me could change what He sees for me. We are responsible for every choice we make. If someone chooses to follow a corrupt heart, God did not make him do that. Jesus did come to save us all. I believe people get to choose if they want to be saved by God’s love. 

I am not God. I have no idea what He really has planned for me, for us. No one truly knows. And we won’t know until our judgement day. In the mean time, I’m trusting that God will be by my side throughout it all. And that with His love, I will continue to make the right choices and stay on this path. 

K: Lord, you know the path I am on, and I pray you will stay by my side the entire way. I pray you continue to open and close doors as you see fit for the better of our family. I pray that through my actions, my children can feel your love.