The Occasion of Victory

2 Chronicles 13:18 (NIV) The Israelites were subdued on that occasion, and the people of Judah were victorious because they relied on the Lord, the God of their ancestors.

There were many kings that Israel and Judah had in the years of their residing in the Promised Land. All of Israel’s kings were evil (the ten northern tribes). There wasn’t a godly king among them in all their history. Judah didn’t fare too well either, with only eight out of the twenty kings in their his

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Priestly Service

1 Peter 2:9 (NIV) But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood...

During the time of the temple and the animal sacrifices that were made for the sins of the people, there were priests who were designated by birth to handle all of that as well as all the requirements of the law of God. The only way into the priesthood was to be a descendant of Aaron, the first to be chosen as high priest by God. While there were other Levites who worked around the temple doing other dutie

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The Road to the Valley of Berakah

2 Chronicles 20:25-26 (NIV) So Jehoshaphat and his men went to carry off their plunder, and they found among them a great amount of equipment and clothing and also articles of value—more than they could take away. There was so much plunder that it took three days to collect it. On the fourth day they assembled in the Valley of Berakah, where they praised the Lord. This is why it is called the Valley of Berakah to this day.

Three armies had joined together to try to destroy

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When You Don’t Know What to Do

2 Chronicles 20:12 (NIV) “Our God, will you not judge them? For we have no power to face this vast army that is attacking us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you.”

King Jehoshaphat and the people of Judah were literally between a rock and a hard place as three nations joined together to come against them. The armies that had amassed against the people of God were too powerful for the army of Judah. They had no chance of survival and King Jehoshaphat knew it.

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Tribute From Your Enemies

2 Chronicles 17:10-11 (NIV) The fear of the Lord fell on all the kingdoms of the lands surrounding Judah, so that they did not go to war against Jehoshaphat. Some Philistines brought Jehoshaphat gifts and silver as tribute, and the Arabs brought him flocks: seven thousand seven hundred rams and seven thousand seven hundred goats.

In the history of the world, the people of God have always had enemies. That’s because the enemy of our souls turns people’s heart against God and

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Mind Your Elders

2 Chronicles 10:13-14 (NIV) The king answered them harshly. Rejecting the advice of the elders, he followed the advice of the young men and said, “My father made your yoke heavy; I will make it even heavier. My father scourged you with whips; I will scourge you with scorpions.”

After King Solomon died, his son Rehoboam became king in his place. The people of the ten northern tribes went to speak with King Rehoboam, represented by a man named Jeroboam, in the hope of getting

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An Undying Love

Ephesians 6:24 (NIV) Grace to all who love our Lord Jesus Christ with an undying love.

In closing out the powerful Book of Ephesians, the Apostle Paul ends it with the verse above, which turns things around from what we usually think of concerning our Lord Jesus. What I mean is that when you think about a love that is undying, you immediately think of the love of God, but here, Paul is sending grace to all who love Jesus that way.

It's hard to imagine any human being, with

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Giving What the Lord Has Given

King David wanted to build a temple for the Lord, but the Lord told Him that it would be his son, Solomon, who would build the temple. Even though David would not be the one to build it, he made sure to provide all the materials that would be needed to accomplish the task. As part of that, He asked the leaders of the families, the officers and commanders and the officials of his kingdom to give towards this building project. But to start things off, David himself gave larg

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Give Them Something to Eat

Matthew 14:15-16 (NIV) As evening approached, the disciples came to him and said, “This is a remote place, and it’s already getting late. Send the crowds away, so they can go to the villages and buy themselves some food.” Jesus replied, “They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat.”

We all know the famous story about Jesus feeding the five thousand, not counting the women and children that were there. We, of course, focus on the miraculous power of Jesus to

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Whose Mind Do You Have?

1 Corinthians 2:15-16 (NLT) Those who are spiritual can evaluate all things, but they themselves cannot be evaluated by others. For, “Who can know the Lord’s thoughts? Who knows enough to teach him?” But we understand these things, for we have the mind of Christ.

There are many times when we read something in the Word of God and we don’t quite understand it. Then instead of looking into it, we just move on. But this verse (like everything in the Word) is worth looking into

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What We Say and What God Says

1 Chronicles 17:2-4 (NIV) Nathan replied to David, “Whatever you have in mind, do it, for God is with you.” But that night the word of God came to Nathan, saying: “Go and tell my servant David, ‘This is what the Lord says: You are not the one to build me a house to dwell in.’”

David loved the Lord with all his heart and being grateful for all that the Lord had done, he wanted to build a temple worthy of His name. He told the Prophet Nathan what he had in mind to do and Nath

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One Plus God

Matthew 19:25-26 (NIV) When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished and asked, “Who then can be saved?” Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

A rich young man approached Jesus one day to ask Him what he needed to do to gain eternal life. Jesus responded by telling Him to keep the commandments. Then He outlined some of the commandments for him. After that, the young man told Jesus that he had kept a

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Time With Abba

Matthew 6:6 (NIV) “But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.”

One of the things that Jesus did while He was here on earth was to teach us how to pray. He taught us the Lord’s Prayer, which gives us a template of what to pray for (who to pray to, how to approach Him, what to pray for, etc.). He also taught us the importance of private time with God the Fathe

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The Difference Between Fearing and Being Afraid of God

1 Chronicles 13:12 (NIV) David was afraid of God that day and asked, “How can I ever bring the ark of God to me?”

King Saul had died in battle and now David was declared the king of Israel. Because he loved and sought the Lord, He wanted to bring the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem, which had been in the house of a man named Abinadab for twenty years. In his enthusiasm, he forgot to inquire of the Lord as to how it should be handled in bringing it. Since the people had for

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Who Do You Follow?

1 Corinthians 3:3-5 (NIV) You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere humans? For when one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” are you not mere human beings? What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe—as the Lord has assigned to each his task.

In life, there are people who lead and people who follow. Most people are follo

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