2 Chronicles 32:1-33:13, Romans 15:23-16:9, Psalms 25:16-22, Proverbs 20:16-18
Today is the 2nd day of August…I almost said June…no idea…2nd day of August, a brand-new month we’re moving into and the next up forward leads us back into the book of second Chronicles. We have a couple of days left in second Chronicles before concluding the book. And, so, let’s take the next step forward. We’re reading from the New International Version this week. And today second Chronicles chapter 32 verse 1 through 33 verse 13.
Commentary:
Okay. In second Chronicles today we are moving through the story of King Hezekiah, who was a good and faithful and loyal King to God. And we’ve met Hezekiah before back when we were moving through second Kings. And, so, this is not unfamiliar. But the lesson that is embedded in this story as we apply it to our own lives becomes really important. So, the Assyrian Empire has invaded the land under the rule of their king Sennacherib. And Sennacherib sent a message to Jerusalem, and he said, “on what are you basing your confidence that you remain in Jerusalem under siege? When Hezekiah says the Lord, our God will save us from the hand of the king of Assyria he is misleading you to let you die of hunger and thirst. Do you not know what I and my predecessors have done to all the peoples of the other lands? Were the gods of those nations ever able to deliver their land from my hand? Who of all the gods of these nations that my predecessors destroyed has been able to save his people from me? How then can your God deliver you from my hand?” And there’s more to what he had to say but that's…that pretty much encapsulates what’s going on here. And what is that kind of speech? That is called intimidation. It is intended to demoralize. It is taunting. It is intended to weaken resolve. It’s basically a form of psychological warfare. And just take a pause. Let’s kinda take a step back and think about the demoralizing taunting intimidating voices that we have encountered in our lives or perhaps that are a part of our story right now. In so many ways it’s just a junior form of psychological warfare. And what does it do to us? It stops us in our tracks, right, and makes us think with doubt about what we thought we knew. It makes us not so sure. It saps our energy. It can break our will. And the irony is that this type of attack is actually very very effective. It can cause us to question everything and become totally uncertain. Ironically, they’re just words. They’re not things that are happening, they’re words that are intended to show us what will happen even though there is no way anyone can be certain of those things. The king of Assyria had his own certainty. “Has anyone ever been able to stand up to us before? What makes you think your God can stand up to us now?” And, so, even though Sennacherib and his army are not there and cannot actually attack and destroy the city without a siege, even though they’re a distance away, their words bring them close, and the work is being done. The work of warfare is being done psychologically on the people. That happens to us, whether it’s the demoralizing doubt that we face in our lives that we sometimes call an attack, a spiritual attack or whether it’s a demoralizing person in our lives that is sapping our strength and affecting our will and desire to do what is right. These things ruin confidence and introduce fear when they are words that do not have corresponding actions. They may have corresponding actions, but it’s going to look different than the taunt. The taunt is there to tear us down. So, if you’re in Jerusalem and the mighty Assyrian Empire has invaded your land and the king is sent his emissaries to taunt and demoralize you and tell you what is going to happen to you, you may indeed be fearful. But the story as told in second Chronicles, ends very different than Sennacherib the king of the Assyria was predicting. And I quote from second Chronicles. “King Hezekiah and prophet Isaiah, son of Amoz cried out in prayer to heaven about this and the Lord sent an angel who annihilated all the fighting men in the commanders and officers in the camp of the Assyrian king. So, he withdrew to his own land in disgrace and when he went into the temple of his God some of his sons, his own flesh and blood, cut him down with the sword.” That’s a very different ending than the taunts and intimidation that was hurled at the walls of Jerusalem. Let’s remember this when we feel demoralized, when we feel taunted, when we feel intimidated. We can spend all of our energy biting our nails to the quick and fretting and being filled until we’re sick with anxiety or we can do everything that we know to do to be faithful and loyal to the mission that God has asked us to accomplish and we can put our trust, we can cry out to God and allow the voice of truth to speak louder and more clearly than anything that would intimidate us into doubt and denial and failure. And, so, let’s give it some thought today. What are those voices that are really there and do nothing but intimidate us or taunt us into believing lies about the future and lies about ourselves?
Prayer:
Holy Spirit, we invite you to come into that. We have all faced this. Ae all do face this from time to time in all kinds of different ways. And even as we’re considering this now we…those voices, those ways bubble up inside of us and we’re all aware of our own stories. And as we look at those stories, we can see how we’ve been led into fear and intimidation and how we have settled and how we have caved and all kinds of things we can see as we look back over our lives, but we are also realizing that so many of the threats are just words. They’re words. Things can come against us, but they don’t work the way the threats work usually. So, often the threat is there giving us a picture of something so much worse than can even possibly happen and we just settle in cave when you have invited us to be true and loyal and faithful. And, so, Holy Spirit come. Identify the voices that are in our lives, whether they’re the voice of a person or group of people or a set of circumstances or just a set of fears that we’ve carried with us our whole lives. However, that voice of intimidation is speaking to us Holy Spirit, help us to identify this. Show us the root of this and show us that you are in this with us and we can trust you. We ask this in the precious name of Jesus. Amen.
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And that’s it for today. I’m Brian I love you and I’ll be waiting for you here tomorrow.
Community Prayer and Praise:
Hey this is Candace from Oregon. I just listened to Brian giving his talk about Romans 12. Oh, my goodness. You know just one more example of the strengthening again from this ministry. And, so, I thank God and I thank you Brian. I’m about to lose a pastor me and my church. You know we are switching to a new pastor. We don’t know who the new one will be. But the old one we’ve had for many decades, and he has been more than a pastor to us. He’s been a really good pastor, but he’s been a really good friend. And wow! It just really just a huge __ for us, for me and for many and for them. They’re going into a completely different kind of life. So, would you pray with me now? Lord, I pray for Carl and Lori Leak and I ask you Lord to make them…just to pave the way before them as they move from Oregon back to Michigan where they have children and grandchildren. Bless them with sweet surprises Lord and make the December 13th farewell retirement party everything you want it to be Lord to honor you Lord and honor what is taking place here in this ministry and to honor Carl and Lori. Be with my church or Kels church as we seek out this new pastor and bless him and his family as well in Jesus’ name I pray. And thank you for the stability of Daily Audio Bible in my life and in so many others.
Hi, it’s Shannon from Texas and I’m sure people have been calling in for this, but I would like to call in again and ask for prayer for rain, literal and spiritual, a physical and spiritual rain and all of these areas. I’m in Texas and anyone who lives in Texas right now knows that it is a serious drought, and this month has…we’ve got to get some relief for our crops. We have to have rain. And we have authority and dominion over the elements when we understand the Kingdom. So, I’m believing and know that you guys will believe in with me. And, so, it is. Shalom. Love you.
Hey everybody this is Philip My Cup from Michigan. Just calling real quick to give a little update and ask for some prayer. My wife and I had a beautiful baby girl. We’re just so blessed with that. God how perfect. It’s just…what a change in my life to have a…just to be a father. Everybody says it. It changes in your body like a switch and it’s honestly not something I knew until it happened. Its…holy crap am I just blessed with that. And, you know, just giving huge thanks to God for…my wife is recovering so well, the baby’s just amazing. So yeah, thank you for that Lord. Just this evening my father-in-law Sean was in an incident. He was physically assaulted. Just brought my mother-in-law to the hospital to be with him and I’m just asking you guys to lift Sean up in prayer and just to be with my family, you know, as we go through some…my family, my in laws, me, everybody, we try to battle with forgiveness and we try to deal with the healing process of Sean. And we just pray for the medical staff and the police officers, EMS drivers. And I don’t remember your name but the girl that called in about the identity thing. I should mention I’m a little bit far behind on my readings after having the baby. But yeah, I’m gonna follow your suit and ask that we pray for the people that assaulted my father-in-law and just on their behalf we could all repent against their…their wrongdoings and just get the enemy out of the situation. I’d appreciate it. Love all you guys. Love hearing from you. Hope you have a great day.
Good morning Daily Audio Bible family this is Wrapped in His Unfailing Love, Dorothy from Destin. I wanted to share with you something that God gave me. I saw a little girl in my mind’s eye. She was maybe two or three and she was having a fit in the middle of a Walmart let’s say, just tired and couldn’t have what she wanted, and she was just crying and throwing a temper tantrum and her dad came to her and picked her up and put her head on his shoulder and she began to settle down and she walked through the store, and she began to fall asleep. And to me that was just a manifestation of what God does to us when we are in the midst of all our problems, and we don’t know what to do and we’re just wringing our hands. And all he wants us to do is rest in Him. But we have to ask Him. But the Lord waits for you to come to Him so that he could show you His love and compassion for the Lord is faithful, a faithful God. Blessed are those who wait for him to help them. Isaiah 30. So, rest in the shadow of His wings. Rest in His love. And when things are seeming like they’re out of control God knows and He has you. I love you family. Thank you Brian for this wonderful ministry. God bless you all.
Good morning DAB community this is Penny, One Penny Saved from southwest Missouri. And I’m on a walk and just thought I would call in to offer support and hope to those who are struggling with addictions or compulsive addictive behaviors and to keep in mind that I went through years in bondage and the word of God is what will heal you. And of course, addiction and anxiety are Satan’s way to kill and steal and destroy us because it literally rocks world. And I just want to remind you to play God’s word and make sure those beautiful words are going out into the air because Satan hears those too. And first thing in the morning, start off with the word so your mind does not wander. With me it was like while I put on my makeup or got ready for the day, that’s when my mind would wander into places that I have no business being. And if I play the word first thing in the morning my thoughts will be captured and reigned in into the right place, which is of course praising God, listening to DAB, praying for others. I love you guys. Hang in there.