God's plan continues...would you be a part of it?

Background:I am moving on to Ezra. Israel has seen its share of kings and leaders, those that led them to the Lord and those that led them away too. The 2 Israelites kingdoms Jerusalem and Samaria, lost their inheritance, to the Babylonians until Cyprus the king of Persia came into ruling in Persia and the Persian empire was strong "1 In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, in order to fulfill the word of the LORD spoken by Jeremiah, the LORD moved the heart of Cyrus king of Persia to make a proclamation throughout his realm and to put it in writing:
2 "This is what Cyrus king of Persia says:" 'The LORD, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and he has appointed me to build a temple for him at Jerusalem in Judah. 3 Anyone of his people among you—may his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem in Judah and build the temple of the LORD, the God of Israel, the God who is in Jerusalem. 4 And the people of any place where survivors may now be living are to provide him with silver and gold, with goods and livestock, and with freewill offerings for the temple of God in Jerusalem.' "

When there was no king available to head the Israelites, God moved the heart of a Persian king to do what the Israelites were required to do. He gathered them to build the the temple of God in Jerusalem. God would love His children to participate in His plan for us, for the new Jerusalem. We have a choice to either get in on the plan, because ultimately God's plan continues. When we participate in God's plan, we get a chance to see our Father in action and see how beautifully He orchestrates everything together and works them all out for good.

When nobody thought it would ever work, no king stood up like David did, Israel(both kingdoms Judah and Jerusalem) lost its inheritance to the kings of Babylon and were living as servants to them and not knowing what would happen, even through the ages when people thought Israel as a separate country was a myth from the Bible, God's plan continued to work even through God moving the heart of a Persian king and Israel as a nation was born again on the May 14 1948.

There is nothing impossible for my God. He is able , no matter how disheartening situations may get. No matter how far one may be lost, my God is able to save in His most amazing manner, and no one is ever unreachable from His love. More than that, God has a plan and it cannot be thwarted. His big plan continues on. Our individual plans are the ones that either can get aligned to God's plan or lose out on the big picture, only to find that what we have been fretting for was absolutely worthless. God wants His amazing plan unfolded in my life and yours.

Conclusion: Remember the time when Jesus entered Jerusalem with much fanfare and rejoicing and the Pharisees wanted the disciples to shut up. "I tell you," he replied, "if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out."Luke 19:39-41. God is not hampered by human failure and negligence, His bigger plan continues, with the open invitation to see His glorious design unfold as the New Jerusalem will be unveiled. Its not our pride but our humility that God would like us, His only created beings to participate as co-heirs of this New Rule. Yet if we think it's because of "me" God's plan moves, Jesus's words reminds us "Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father.' For I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham."Luke 3:7-9 God is omnipotent and able, He cares for us and wants us to be part of that magnificent plan He has for the whole mankind, so that we know Him and know the truth about the real plan that is working constantly and when we allow that plan of God in our life, we'll get to see God's power of His kingdom at work in our life too. Whether we realise it or not, Jesus told us, that the Kingdom of God is already here and whether we want to be a part of it, or just stand looking at it as if it wont work and looks foolish, it is our choice. God's plan continues...would you like to be a part of it?

When God moves man...

Background: In Israel, kings came and kings went, some were good, some weren't. Samaria lost its land and stand before the Lord, due to their disobedience as they chose to worship gods rather than the One True Living God who had brought them up out of Egypt. They chose death, rather than life. Jerusalem on the other hand, stood strong a little while longer, but soon saw kings who would lead them down the same road, Samaria had taken, into forfeiting their inheritance and land God has promised them. The book of 1st and 2nd Kings, 1st and 2nd Chronicles, give a detailed history of Israel, their acquiring their promised land and then forfeiting it "15 The LORD, the God of their fathers, sent word to them through his messengers again and again, because he had pity on his people and on his dwelling place. 16 But they mocked God's messengers, despised his words and scoffed at his prophets until the wrath of the LORD was aroused against his people and there was no remedy. "

Lessons: While reading of the way Israel had lost its glorious walk with the Lord and its glorious inheritance, I noticed some very important things about how and why God works in our lives

1. Man's heart constantly seeks to do evil, knowingly and unknowingly-God had seen this behaviour in man, from the beginning of creation-Genesis 6:5 "The LORD saw how great man's wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time."-Evil begat evil and it went on.
2. God seeks to move man, to enable them to do the good works He has planned for us-Ephesians 2:10 "For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." and also in Philippians 2:13 "for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose." Among all the accounts of kings I read through in 1 st & 2nd Kings and 1st &2nd Chronicles, I found God had seen and known how satan had diluted our minds with evil and God wanted to bring us back to the original image in which we were created, to do good.
3. The choice is with us-Every time, God moved man, He left the choice with man, to either go God's way or go your own selfish way. I call man's own way as selfish because, rarely now does man think of someone else when they are working towards something. I will earn this degree I will get a good job, have a good house, have lots of money, I will take care of my kids. Rarely do we think, I will pay for that man on that road, to go to college, have a good life, it doesn't matter what happens to me!!! I don't and I dont think others do too, unless, their hearts have been moved by God. The choice still remains with us, to be moved and be movers of lives into the Kingdom of God, or just get by life with the minimum we think we can do.

Conclusion-What if Noah, had not listened to God's voice about the flood that day? What if Abraham had not been moved by God's promise of his own land and generations to come? What if you and I heard God's voice regarding our lives and were moved?

Cleanup and See God Work

Sometimes our lives pile up with incidents, hurts, words accumulated from so many years of life on earth and people we come across. If we had had encouragers to meet, all our lives, we would all be achievers of amazing feats, but its not always that way in reality. Words that we hear from people around us, looks that we get from them, sometimes, (in case of elders or parents or government) actions that they take, impact our lives as well. They choke our growth in the Lord and we are blinded from seeing God's work or experiencing His power in our lives. Those thoughts, those, decisions made by someone else long ago, even seem to try to take control of the very decisions we make. For example, if a child is constantly told he's not good at singing, that child will never even attempt singing(by his own decision, becuase he was told to believe he could not), even though he/she may have the most amazing voice.

Here's another king of Judah named Josiah(2 Kings 22-23 ,2 Chronicles 34-35) , he did some major cleanup in Jerusalem, because he desired to follow God. The kings that had preceded him(Manasseh and Amon), had turned away from the little good that Hezekiah had done for Jerusalem. The Word of God records the following about Josiah "2 Kings 23:25Neither before nor after Josiah was there a king like him who turned to the LORD as he did—with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his strength, in accordance with all the Law of Moses."

Lessons I learnt

• Begin seeking the Lord-v3 In the eighth year of his reign, while he was still young, he began to seek the God of his father David.
• Started purging all the idols from the temple of God- v3 In his twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem of high places, Asherah poles, carved idols and cast images. In our hearts we might have set up someone as an idol(meaning-any person or thing regarded with blind admiration, adoration, or devotion)Someone or something we are devoted to, and that idol is taking up space, instead of God and this is destroying our life, whether we know it or not. We need to ask God to help us identify these idols and remove them. This does not mean, we become disrespectful to the ones who are in authority over us. We can ask God to guide our supervisors, that they may make the right decisions, especially when the decisions are going to affect us and we realise that. Sometimes this idol could be ourselves too.
• Started purifying it, by building the temple of the Lord-v8 In the eighteenth year of Josiah's reign, to purify the land and the temple, he sent Shaphan son of Azaliah and Maaseiah the ruler of the city, with Joah son of Joahaz, the recorder, to repair the temple of the LORD his God. Merely removing the idol is not enough, we've got to set our life with the right stuff, it need to be built. Like, a strong word of correction is good, but we also need to give words of encouragement that the person may be built up in the right direction.
• Humbled himself to receive God's Word-v14 In the process of cleansing and building, they found the book of law and it was read to King Josiah, he immediately tore his robes realising how terribly, far they had moved from the Law of God and sought God's direction immediately
• He opened way , through his humility and obedience, for God's Work in Jerusalem and his life-"27 Because your heart was responsive and you humbled yourself before the LORD when you heard what I have spoken against this place and its people, that they would become accursed and laid waste, and because you tore your robes and wept in my presence, I have heard you, declares the LORD. " Its not that God does not hear our cries, the Word of God says, in Isaiah 59:1-3 "1 Surely the arm of the LORD is not too short to save, nor his ear too dull to hear. 2 But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear.
• Renewed God's Covenant-"3 The king stood by the pillar and renewed the covenant in the presence of the LORD -to follow the LORD and keep his commands, regulations and decrees with all his heart and all his soul, thus confirming the words of the covenant written in this book. Then all the people pledged themselves to the covenant. "

Conclusion: "33 Josiah removed all the detestable idols from all the territory belonging to the Israelites, and he had all who were present in Israel serve the LORD their God. As long as he lived, they did not fail to follow the LORD, the God of their fathers." Josiah, had caused such a change in the people during his reign, that in spite of, wayward rulers who had misguided them, led them astray and made them worship idols, the people stuck to following God. Oh.. if there were more kings who would have stuck onto Josiah's commitment, Israel could have seen the power of God like in times of Abraham, Isaac, Moses and all.

I strongly think, the way God works His plan for our lives is, in partnership with us. It is possible for God to work without us, but He made us in His image to have fellowship, friendship and partnership. Remember, before Jesus came, there had to be done something, so we could be prepared for His arrival-John the baptist preached" Matthew 3:3 This is he who was spoken of through the prophet Isaiah: "A voice of one calling in the desert, 'Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.' "

Purpose of Prophecy

Today, as we were having breakfast, an advertisement came up on the TV regarding some event which included Prophecy and end time events and stuff. My husband said,"It doesn't make sense if people prophesy, and know whats to happen, but do nothing about it."
My mind quickly ran back in reference to Hezekiah, isn't that what went wrong with Hezekiah, I thought to myself. Hezekiah passed away and his son Manasseh came to throne, and he did exactly the opposite of what his father had done. (2 Kings 21:1-3).
I remembered what went wrong in Hezekiah's story. The Bible says in (2 King 20:16-19) "16 Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, "Hear the word of the LORD : 17 The time will surely come when everything in your palace, and all that your fathers have stored up until this day, will be carried off to Babylon. Nothing will be left, says the LORD. 18 And some of your descendants, your own flesh and blood, that will be born to you, will be taken away, and they will become eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon."
19 "The word of the LORD you have spoken is good," Hezekiah replied. For he thought, "Will there not be peace and security in my lifetime?"

Lessons I learnt

• Hezekiah did nothing about the Word of God that came through Isaiah the prophet-The Bible actually notes down, that Hezekiah was satisfied that the horrible event that was going to happen was not going to come about during his lifetime and he did nothing about it, since it didn't affect him.

Conclusion:The gift of prophecy is a powerful thing. It gives a person an edge over the others to know in advance. If the people in India and Indonesia had known a Tsunami was coming, they would have moved away from the sea. It is a powerful thing, especially with weather to be able to know when, how, what is going to happen. We have the book of Revelation in the Word of God, constantly warning us of the impending judgment waiting upon the earth. We've got a lot of people to be moved into the "safe zone", into the strong shelter(Proverbs 18:10), the fortress(Proverbs 14:26) and refuge(Psalm 9:9). We as believers know the way to the shelter. Are we working at sharing the route map to our Heavenly Father, with an urgency? Or are we not so worried about it, since its not going to affect us much??? On the other hand, maybe we have been trying to usher people into the right direction, through our life, through our prayers, through our actions...but we also, cannot deny the fact, that there will be some who think all that we say is a hoax. To such I'd say, I wish we'd learn a lesson from Katrina, everyone was warned, everyone was given a choice, some accepted a helping hand, others did not. To the believer who is continuing in that prayer for salvation for their loved ones I say-Don't give up. Lets continue to pray with urgency for our loved ones who have not yet heeded God's voice of prophecy, that God would continue to send them His people, His messengers until they are convinced and safe in the blood of Jesus. Their price has already been paid by our Lord, they need to know it asap. Great things can happen, as men and women of God learn to develop camel knees, in prayer.

What am I doing with my blessings?

Without much ado, I move on from this victory Hezekiah received from God, over the tyranny of the Assyrian king. I skip over the incident of healing that God worked out for Hezekiah, when he was almost on the verge of death. God healed him and extended 15yrs of his life. As a proof of this miracle that God would do for him, God moved the shadow 10 steps behind, on Hezekiah's request.
I now move on to one very disappointing episode from Hezekiah's life. Hearing about his illness, envoys from Babylon sent their regards and gifts for him. Hezekiah received those messengers from Babylon and showed him everything he had, from his storehouses full of gold and silver, tohis armory with all battle equipment. He showed them everything in his palace. The word of the Lord then came to Hezekiah "16 Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, "Hear the word of the LORD : 17 The time will surely come when everything in your palace, and all that your fathers have stored up until this day, will be carried off to Babylon. Nothing will be left, says the LORD. 18 And some of your descendants, your own flesh and blood, that will be born to you, will be taken away, and they will become eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon."

Notice Hezekiah's reply 19 "The word of the LORD you have spoken is good," Hezekiah replied. For he thought, "Will there not be peace and security in my lifetime?"

Though Hezekiah lived an amazingly close life with the Lord, obeying the Lord and was even blessed, was miraculously healed and had an extension from an almost ended life, to 15more years, he was a selfish believer. As long as all goes well during the time i live, I am ok!!!

Lesson I learnt

• A good believer not only lives a blessed life, but "is " a blessing to others-Abraham,Isaac, Jacob and Joseph, they all followed the Lord God, but they also were blessings to their descendants. Am I seeking to be blessed, not just for myself, but that I can extend God's blessings in my life to others?

Conclusion:It was clear to me, that Hezekiah loved his life more than loving others. He did right in following God and he did receive God's blessings for his faithfulness and devotion, but his name does not receive mention when God identifies Himself as the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Or when God says "For my son David's sake I will do this.....". Remember the time, when David was so very grateful for all the blessings God would give his descendants. Hezekiah was happy with the blessing being just for him.

As I read this part of Hezekiah's life, I was reminded of a time in my life, when I wanted to get by on God's blessings, atleast I would be blessed, atleast I could live well and my living well was all that mattered to show others of God's love for "me". Well I learnt, in order for them to see or experience God's love, I had to share my blessings, it wasn't enough for others to see what I was being blessed with, rather what I was doing with those blessings!!!

"1If I speak in the tongues[a] of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames,[b] but have not love, I gain nothing." 1 Corinthians 13:1-3

God is ready to fight your battle

Background:Hezekiah has been recently threatened by the Assyrian king, to either give in to him and surrender or fight and die. Hezekiah has decided to fight, rather than to give in. Isaiah, God's prophet sent a reply to Hezekiah's request "6 Isaiah said to them, "Tell your master, 'This is what the LORD says: Do not be afraid of what you have heard—those words with which the underlings of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me. 7 Listen! I am going to put such a spirit in him that when he hears a certain report, he will return to his own country, and there I will have him cut down with the sword.' "
Soon after this word had come from God, through Isaiah, the Assyrian commander had to withdraw from Jerusalem(Judah) because the Assyrian king had gone away for another battle to Lachish. Instead of going on to fight his enemy, Assyrian king Sennacherib sends a letter to Hezekiah threatening him and discouraging him from believing God for his victory.(2 Kings 19:10-13)
Hezekiah didn't budge from him faith but goes with that letter straight to God and says a beautiful prayer "14 Hezekiah received the letter from the messengers and read it. Then he went up to the temple of the LORD and spread it out before the LORD. 15 And Hezekiah prayed to the LORD : "O LORD, God of Israel, enthroned between the cherubim, you alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth. 16 Give ear, O LORD, and hear; open your eyes, O LORD, and see; listen to the words Sennacherib has sent to insult the living God.
17 "It is true, O LORD, that the Assyrian kings have laid waste these nations and their lands. 18 They have thrown their gods into the fire and destroyed them, for they were not gods but only wood and stone, fashioned by men's hands. 19 Now, O LORD our God, deliver us from his hand, so that all kingdoms on earth may know that you alone, O LORD, are God."

Lessons I learnt

1. In despair turn to God-Hezekiah turned to God when the Assyrian commander came to threaten him with words. More often than not, the enemy works in our lives with negative words and negative suggestions, or luring temptations. The way to turn away from them is to turn to God.


2. God always has an answer for any situation, in His Word-The moment Hezekiah sent his men to ask Isaiah for the Lord's Word, they got their answer. God has our answers ready, if only we turn and go to His Word. There is one special request I have made to God and He sure did answer my situation through His Word. It made me glad.


3. Enemy will not let go easily-In our walk with God, sometimes when we've heard the Word of God and found an answer for our situation, things don't seem like they're changing the way God said it would, oreading about the way the Assyrian king did not immediately go away, but in fact sent him a letter, discouraging him to believe in God, trying to cause doubt in Hezekiah, thats the 1st attack our enemy the satan tries to put in our heart, when we have and we know God has directly given in our heart His Word.


4. Take it to the Lord in prayer-Thats what Hezekiah did with the threat letter he received from Assyrian king Sennacherib. He took it to God and prayed a simple prayer, surrendering all to God. Thats what we must do when the enemy sends waves of doubt and fear, and tries to say, God's Word won't work. This is the time we have to wait in order to see God's word at work in our lives. It's the only time the enemy can make his last attempt to defeat us. Hezekiah trusted God's Word over the enemy's word and he saw glorious victory in a battle he didnt even have to fight. "35 That night the angel of the LORD went out and put to death a hundred and eighty-five thousand men in the Assyrian camp. When the people got up the next morning—there were all the dead bodies! 36 So Sennacherib king of Assyria broke camp and withdrew. He returned to Nineveh and stayed there. "

Conclusion: The essence of it all, I realise, is to stand. Ephesians 6:10-15 "10Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. 12For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.". God didn't want us to fight alone, He just requires of us, to wear His armor, His protection from the enemy, and "stand". God didn't say to wear all that armor and fight, but to "stand". So while we're standing who's fighting? God is.

Believe that you may See

Lessons from 2 Kings 18-19. Be blessed in reading through this.

I have been reading through Hezekiah's life and seeing how God was working in it. During his reign in Judah, he had seen the Israelites, being captured by the king of Assyria and being deported from Samaria to Assyria. He also watched as the new settlers, the Babyblonians came to Samaria and the changes were uncomfortable.
He was more tensed during this time, as he had received a threat from the Assyrian king, to either comply with him and become his vassal or lose his kingdom, like the other kings . Hezekiah wasn't willing to give up yet. He had trusted the Lord wholeheartedly like David (the only one compared in likeness of his faith to David).
There by the city aqueduct the Assyrian commander in chief, had come and was giving a speech to the Israelites (the remnant in Judah). People watched as he spoke in their own language, they understood it all, as he described what a loser Hezekiah is to stand up against the king of Assyria. How other kings like him had been dethroned by the Assyrian king and how foolish it was for these remnant Israelites to depend upon their God. He even dared compare their God to the gods who didn't help the other kingdoms which had fallen before the Assyrians.

Facts are facts and we cannot deny them, so the Israelites had nothing to say to him. They did good in that they didn't speak or try to argue. Up until that time, whatever the Assyrian commander said had been right, and Hezekiah knew, the ONLY way to prove it all wrong would be to win a battle against them and prove to them Y-H is the ONLY true God. In my life too, sometimes reality stares into my face and screams "I am the truth, this is what you've got and you can't do anything but to give in. Where is your God?" The only way out, I know, is the unseen, powerful power of the resurrection of God working within me(Ephesians 1:19-21), which requires my believing before seeing, rather than the way the world would like to have it. I guess thats what Hezekiah might have felt.

At the wall that day, in Judah (Jerusalem) v36 ..the people remained silent and said nothing in reply, because the king(Hezekiah ) had commanded, "Do not answer him." That makes sense to me, I know I have tried a debate with the enemy, through words, through my experiences of faith earlier, but it only left me without words and more with doubts. Faith must be renewed and every situation requires its own level of faith, yesterday's faith cannot win today's battles. Maybe thats what God was teaching the Israelites from Egypt and gave them Manna to be collected each day and not on a weekly basis. Hezekiah, had to renew his faith, right then if he wanted to prove those enemy's facts wrong.

Hezekiah could have given in, but he didn't want to, he had experiences of triumph with God(2 Kings 18:5-8) and knew God could come through for him, no matter what came up in life. It is true, he was very afraid, watching his guards by the city wall, his messengers updated him on the speech they had heard. He was very disturbed, devastated and tore his robes and went into the temple. He didn't go in the fancy, he didn't remain in the cloud, he was being human, man with grief in that situation. In those days they didn't have the Bible to read the Word of God and find out God's will, so he called his administrator and secretary and sent them to talk to a man of God Isaiah, so they would know God's plan for them, now.

The word from God, through Isaiah, came almost immediately(2 Kings 19:5,6). It is amazing the way God work. Ever ready for the children who would call Him in their times of trouble.I have seen in my trying situations, God truly is an ever present help. When my circumstances are desperate, and when I open the Word of God in desperation, in total dependence, as if -if I don't get a Word from God, I don't know what I'm going to do- I have found Him. In my desperations I have found my God waiting with a Word for me, just for me and so apt and so powerful that all doubts and fears must leave and again I believe, that for me believing is seeing and I believe hard in order that I may see.

Conclusion: God waits for His children, looking out for them, every turn of their life. Waiting to see when they will turn to Him and seek His presence, His friendship, His love. Will they try to go on life through their own feeble strength. He knows the enemy is powerful, He has made him and He knows whats needed to overtake Him. The only thing between His hand and ours is whether we are willing to extend our hands towards God. He doesn't need to be defended from the enemy, and He knows, we need help because, the enemy is out to destroy us and He wouldn't be able to intervene in our lives, until we reach out to Him, the clause of free will. No matter what you're going through, no matter what the enemy is shouting by your wall, no matter what his facts say, that is not the TRUTH. For God is the ONLY WAY, the ONLY TRUTH and the ONLY LIFE. Believe that you may See Him at work in your life.

Studying Enemy Strategy-II

How does the enemy attack?
When you stand and resist the enemy-

1. he will try to attack, your basis of confidence even your faith-"19 The field commander said to them, "Tell Hezekiah: " 'This is what the great king, the king of Assyria, says: On what are you basing this confidence of yours? 20 You say you have strategy and military strength—but you speak only empty words. On whom are you depending, that you rebel against me?" For those who have no clue what they're depending on or who have not enough knowledge of their Saviour, may lack in confidence, but for us the children of God , we have a wonderful God who has opened all knowledge of the Kingdom of God to us. He has called us friend. "John 15:15 "I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you." God has opened His heart and His plan in His wonderful book the Bible, and nothing about Him is hidden, so that we may know Him and become confident in Him. God has opened heaven's knowledge to us, through His Son Lord Jesus Christ, that all may be made plain to us and it is not difficult that we dont understand, but that we might know and understand the height and breadth and depth of our Saviour Lord Jesus' love for us. Now more so, that we may have confidence in our God's Love for us, no matter what the enemy may say.
2. he will attack your actions of faith-"v22 And if you say to me, "We are depending on the LORD our God"-isn't he the one whose high places and altars Hezekiah removed, saying to Judah and Jerusalem, "You must worship before this altar in Jerusalem"? " Hezekiah had earlier broken down the bronze snake which Moses had made, because people had idolized that snake and were burning incense to it!!! Those who did not understand Hezekiah's motive behind that, would not be able to fight this argument placed by the enemy. If we are doing things we don't know why we're doing, that could become a point of attack for the enemy. For e.g if we're fasting every Friday, and come to the point where we're just doing it without any plan or any knowledge (like automatic) then that fast becomes a 'thing' that you do on a Friday and you're supposed to do every Friday...is that fast a time, you deliberately spend with the Lord to know Him better? what would happen to you if you were to shift it to a Monday, would it still mean the same to you? We cannot idolise the "fast" but our main reason for fasting should be for knowing our God, fasting as submission to our Lord, not because everybody does it, not because fasting is good for health, not because it is convenient...but because it gives me an opportunity to come closer to God. Fast anyday every day, as the Lord leads you, to fast and pray for some loved one, or for yourself to overcome habits..making sure you can counter an attack for your actions of faith.
3. he brings in a good-looking bargain- v23 " 'Come now, make a bargain with my master, the king of Assyria: I will give you two thousand horses—if you can put riders on them! 24 How can you repulse one officer of the least of my master's officials, even though you are depending on Egypt for chariots and horsemen [f] ? Hey this sounds like a good idea, I get horses, all I have to do is give some men. That sounds like a really good deal, but how much do we know about the dealer? In my Christian walk too, I have come across times, when I have fallen for this bargain For e.g. if I spend my time watching TV rather than reading the Word of God I will have more knowledge and insight in the ways to operate in this world???? Well great as it may sound, most of the right and basic winning principles to live successfully are already mentioned in this many hundreds of years old book ,the Bible and it holds true, beyond the barriers of the socio-economic condition of the world at any given time. When Jesus was given this bargain of getting riches and stuff, in exchange for bowing to satan, Jesus countered it with the Word of God. Thats our way to counter this bargain-attack too.
4. he talks in your language-"26 Then Eliakim son of Hilkiah, and Shebna and Joah said to the field commander, "Please speak to your servants in Aramaic, since we understand it. Don't speak to us in Hebrew in the hearing of the people on the wall." ........28 Then the commander stood and called out in Hebrew" Something unique and special to a man is his language. In India we've got many different languages, and I happened to learn a new one, and I've seen people's face light up and almost an immediate bonding form, when I spoke in a South Indian language and they know I am from North India. It touches their heart. So also, satan knows what is closest to you(he has agents that keep track of what you're upto), what can really move you and will speak to you in that language. If you are an emotional person, he will work in your life through emotions(probably people trying to manipulate your stand through emotions). If you're a person who is intellectual(he will get you into fantastic debates at the end of which you would be so confused, you wouldn't know right from wrong). So bring everything to God, for He judges the motives of every mind and every heart and He is able to direct your steps.

Studying Enemy Strategy-I

This post has blessed me and opened my eyes to see clearly and I know it will bless you too. While reading through Israel's journey through spiritual darkness, with kings that didn't follow the Lord wholeheartedly, worshipping all other gods and forgetting God's covenant, I've come to the point where Israel (one division of the entire Israelite tribe) was taken captive after a 3 day siege by the Assyrian king. The Israelites lost their promised land and were deported to Assyria and the Assyrian king brought in other people babylonians and others to resettle Samaria. In the meanwhile, Judah was under the rule of king Hezekiah. For the first time after a long time, the Bible now describes Hezekiah as a man who did like his ancestor David "3 He did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, just as his father David had done.". He saw what had happened to the Israelites for being a traitor to the Assyrian king, but that didn't stop him from rebelling against him. I now focussed on the way the Assyrian king behaved with Hezekiah. Hezekiah was a god-fearing man, he trusted God and God gave him victory in all he undertook.

Let me show you the lessons I learnt
What is the enemy like?

1. The enemy wants to take it all-Assyrian king was not satisfied by having the entire Samaria as his newly captured state, but he wanted more. He wanted to take over Judah as well. So it is with our enemy the devil, if you think he will let other people be, just because a few have already traded themselves with him. No. We the children of God, who want to live for the Lord are his nightmare. He knows he cannot defeat us, but he will not stop trying. So we've got to keep our guards up, the Sword of the Word of God sharpened at all times.
2. You are deceived if you think you can make a fair trade with the enemy-After capturing Israel out of Hoshea's hands, the Assyrian king turned to Hezekiah, to take over Judah too. Sennacherib the Assyrian king attacked Judah and captured it, but Hezekiah begged him to leave and that he would give him all he wants (2 Kings 18:13-16). Hezekiah gave Sennacherib everything even to the point of, stripping the gold with which he had decorated the temple of God. It might have given him temporary relief from the attack, but that wasn't going to be for long. Sometimes when we knowingly let go of our stand on some "harmless" things, like backbiting, lying, tolerating evil, we're making trades with the enemy. It might give you temporary relief, but soon we might get trapped. I fall many times, but the key is to get up, ask for pardon and move on never to return to that trade again.
3. Give the enemy a little space and he'll want to stake a claim-When Hezekiah paid Sennacherib with gold from the temple and everything he could find within his jurisdiction, that didn't stop the Assyrian king from sending his commander in chief to make another trade with Hezekiah, to the point of making him his vassal as well (like king Hoshea of Israel was). He wanted to claim the entire land little by little. He wasn't going to stop at the point where he got all that gold. He wanted the people in the land as well and more. So the Bible says to counter this attack "Resist the devil and he will flee from you". Resistance needs something within you which will counter what's trying to happen to you. Without Jesus we would have no resistance, but now for us we have this assurance ,"1 John 4:4 You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.. So stand and resist.

there are more lessons than I could probably try to fit into this one post...therefore to be cont'd

Live Life Like You Mean It

Background:There are times when we don't want to, but keep slipping back into feelings, circumstances, habits, we've been trying to get rid off. Then there are times, when you're meant to stand apart, stand out, be different from the rest, but we get mingled, our thoughts get mingled with whats not even ours. God wants us to stand out, like he wanted the Israelites to stand apart from the rest of the nations around it, but they wanted to be just like them.Thats the lesson that came to me while reading 1 Kings 17

Lessons I learnt

1. When disobedience piles up, it destroys the foundation-v16And they forsook all the commandments of the Lord their God and made for themselves molten images, even two calves, and made an Asherah and worshiped all the [starry] hosts of the heavens and served Baal.So Israel was carried away from their own land to Assyria to this day."On Christ the solid Rock I stand" is one of the faith inspiring songs, but when our lives have disobedience creeping in, it slowly, digs away from under us, the Rock, our foundation moves away and with it, all the blessings we had received. This, I think, happens slowly and can be avoided if we remove the disobediences with repentance and obedience. Well the Israelites didn't do that, they didn't want to go back to their foundation, they wanted to go a different way and they did, they were overtaken by the Assyrian king and sent into exile into Assyrian country. They forfeited their land of blessing, their land of promise.


2. How to prevent losing one's foundation, how to overcome the sin of disobedience?-Its not much of a mystery, getting rid of sin from our lives, its all out there in the Word of God clearly stated, so that all may know and be saved and thereby be blessed. "v13Yet the Lord warned Israel and Judah through all the prophets and all the seers, saying, Turn from your evil ways and keep My commandments and My statutes, according to all the Law which I commanded your fathers and which I sent to you by My servants the prophets." The Israelites came to such a state because they let sin remain, even if some of them(the kings) had good intentions partially of following God it didn't bring any good fruit, because sin wasn't totally gone. God, in his warning signals had given them a way out of all this mess. (1) To turn away from the evil ways (2) To follow God's statutes and laws. Thats the sure shot way for overcoming any sin in our life. In my experience, its not enough to just turn away from sin, but to move towards the Word of God and follow God's Word. Thats the way to victory over any sin and sinful habit.


3. What we follow is what we'll become: "v15They despised and rejected His statutes and His covenant which He made with their fathers and His warnings to them, and they followed vanity (false gods--falsehood, emptiness, and futility) and [they themselves and their prayers] became false (empty and futile).". What they were following is what they became, they became useless, like the gods they followed. I don't think there has ever been a Christian missionary, who had followed Christ wholeheartedly and had not seen the fruit their life could bring. Truly without Christ in our lives, every part of it, we cannot bear anything fruitful.


4. What example have we set for others to follow?- I love the way LLL mentioned in her blog , "The only Jesus some people will see is the Jesus in you". When the Assyrian king relocated some people from babylon and other places to dwell in Samaria, the newcomers didnt know how to worship the Living God and were being destroyed. The king then sent one of the captive priests of Israel back to Samaria to teach them how to serve the Lord. Now these new people did learn to follow the Living God, but you know what happened next??? "v29But every nationality still made gods of their own and put them in the shrines of the high places which the Samaritans had made, every nationality in the city in which they dwelt.-v32So they feared the Lord, yet appointed from among themselves, whether high or low, priests of the high places, who sacrificed for them in the shrines of the high places.
   33They feared the Lord, yet served their own gods, as did the nations from among whom they had been carried away." What have we here? They were doing what the Israelites had done, they didn't see any difference between their gods and the Living God. The Israelites never demonstrated their worship of the Living God being special in any way!!! Are we like that, do we try to be as common as the others. Well we were never meant to be. We were meant to be "salt" (no substitute) and "light"(no substitute). How could we have thought we were meant to blend in and disappear, have u ever seen salt like that, which blends in and u don't even know its there, I haven't. Have u seen light that was switched on and it disappeared in the darkness? For without the salt, the food wouldn't have any taste at all. So lets set the right example, if u say your God is a Living God, then LIVE LIKE U MEAN IT.

Conclusion: The reason we are a special people, a holy nation, a royal priesthood, is because of our Living God, lets not be the common, the usual, the normal, the same, but be different, be holy, be righteous, be truthful, be faithful, be the light and salt of the earth, just as our God wants us to be. If we say Jesus is our Lord and God then let's live like we mean it. We are all that Jesus meant us to be and we will do all that Jesus wants us to do.

God's wonderful ways, even through dark times

Background:The Israelites now exiled from Samaria, by the Assyrian king, have been resettled in Assyria. The king brought other people, the babylonians, the 24 The king of Assyria brought people from Babylon, Cuthah, Avva, Hamath and Sepharvaim and settled them in the towns of Samaria to replace the Israelites. They took over Samaria and lived in its towns.(2 Kings 17:24) . When these new settlers came in, for the first time, 25 When they first lived there, they did not worship the LORD; so he sent lions among them and they killed some of the people. 26 It was reported to the king of Assyria: "The people you deported and resettled in the towns of Samaria do not know what the god of that country requires. He has sent lions among them, which are killing them off, because the people do not know what he requires." (2 Kings 17:25-26) The king of Assyria then sent one of the priests taken captive from Israel, to go to Samaria and train the people on how to worship the LORD. Had God rejected His people the Israelites?

Lessons:

1. God is faithful to His promise, no matter how long ago He made it, it still holds true-You know, God had promised that land to Abraham, about 300-400 yrs ago. Even though the people, His people, Israelites, were exiled-God remained there. It was the land He had promised to the faithful man Abraham, whom He had addressed as friend. God defended His promise. Abraham's descendants had mingled with other people and had lost their first love, the faith of Abraham Isaac and Jacob, but God remained faithful.
2. God's plan is higher than our plan, and His thoughts higher than our thoughts-I've been thinking recently, even more so, looking at the stubbornness of the Israelites to return to God, that in all this, what we are enjoying now, the presence of our Loving Lord Jesus, His power of the cross, was initially a plan for the Jews, but the Lord opened up the banquet for all (wedding banquet in Matthew). Wow, His plan for the entire mankind. Oh the beauty of the gospel waiting to come full round, as summed up by Paul in Romans 11."11Again I ask: Did they stumble so as to fall beyond recovery? Not at all! Rather, because of their transgression, salvation has come to the Gentiles to make Israel envious. 12But if their transgression means riches for the world, and their loss means riches for the Gentiles, how much greater riches will their fullness bring!" For the first time, an Israelite priet went on a mission to train new people, the ways of the Living God.

Conclusion: If it weren't for this stubbornness, God's mercy wouldn't have been known to the gentiles. In all,God's plan always works together for the good of those who love Him. God didn't leave His people, even though they left Him. God did not forget His promise, even though they forgot Him. For now, even though Israel was exiled, we know they will be reunited with God, in our current future. I am in awe of it all. It is because of God's amazing grace, that we are able to experience the Love, the Power, the Life with the One and Only Living God, the God of Israel.

Pauls says "25Lest you be self-opinionated (wise in your own conceits), I do not want you to miss this hidden truth and mystery, brethren: a hardening (insensibility) has [temporarily] befallen a part of Israel [to last] until the [c]full number of the ingathering of the Gentiles has come in,
26And so all Israel will be saved. As it is written, The Deliverer will come from Zion, He will banish ungodliness from Jacob.(F)"(AMP)

All this so that we, the gentiles could know the mercy and Love of our Living God, it is beautiful and I am without words to express my gratitude to God.

A God of Covenant

The Israelites had received from God, a choice, an option, to go one way or another, God's way or their own way. They made their choice, God never forced them to make a choice but, let them see for themselves the consequences of the choice. I'd say God urged them, to choose life, that they might live. For example: When a child is playing with a sharp knife and is stubborn and resistant in turning over the knife to their parents, the parent knows, if it be snatched from them it would hurt them bad, the only way to get it out of their hands is to give them the choice to open their hands and give it back. The consequences of holding onto that knife, would be harming the child anyway, sooner or later. It might look like fun for the kid for the time being but in the long run it would cause hurt.
In the light of what I have presented, you now have a choice to make every day, every moment of your life too.

Background: I read through the next few chapters after Amaziah and his son Uzziah had gone, from 2Kings 15-19 and here's the gist of it all. The Israelites had gone as wayward as they wanted to go. Keep in mind the covenant God made with Abraham and confirmed through His promise to David and join with me in this exploration of truth. Here's how the 2 Kings 17 describes Israel's stand with God: The covenant of Abraham included, God blessings, and Abraham's obedience of faith in God, all that God expected of Abraham was faith in God, love for God because God knew that was the only way mankind would truly reach the spiritual, social, economical, physical potential God had originally created man to be. However, 2 Kings 17 says, the Israelites turned away from that covenant, they did evil, secretly disobeying God..to the point that, they were exiled from the promised land. They were relocated from Samaria to Assyria by the Assyrian king. They were treated badly by the king of Assyria, until Hezekiah came up as king in Judah. This king Hezekiah was a good king, 3 He did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, just as his father David had done (2 Kings 18:3)

Lessons I learnt

God never forced them(the Israelites) to trust Him or follow Him or love Him. Now you might think, why did God let them be exiled, why did God let them be defeated by a foreign king? I asked this question too. What came to my mind was the covenant and a God who believes in free will.
covenant:means covenant means "a written agreement between two or more parties to perform some action"
Now knowing this, its easier to understand that, the covenant between Abraham and God was based on Abraham's faith and God's promise of a complete or fulfilling life. Covenant was to result in an action, on the basis of the components(faith from Abraham's part and life from God's part) provided by the parties in the covenant.
Since the faith in God part of the covenant wasn't being activated, God's desire to activate the abundant life part wasn't able to take effect.
The Israelites,"v11 They did wicked things that provoked the LORD to anger." If I were to read this verse without the light of knowing covenant, I would have been disappointed, that God was angry at them, but now I think, God was not angry at them, God was angry at the way they had been decieved in disobedience, thinking that was the best life they were living. Satisfying ONLY their physical and material cravings. I don't think there's anything successful about a life with ONLY those two aspects being met. They might seem successful in the eyes of the world, for now, for the time being. 200yrs from now, will they be remembered????? Will they have done anything that could impact and change lives??? NO I don't think so.
The Israelites weren't ready to let go of the knife they were holding. The knife of disobedience, the knife of worshipping other gods(which weren't even god), the knife of self-destruction which would not only destroy them but also their following generations, because thats what they were teaching their kids, to hold onto that knife. The sad thing was, they weren't looking at their life from God's point of view.

God knows what man is all about, what can make man complete and the choice to find "that success" A life that impacts lives, a life that gives its all into the hands of God, becuase they love God and would want God to bring out the best in them, for they themselves know not whats best about them and for them. They discover the immense power that the covenant holds, to bring about all the blessings, be it spiritual, physical, social, financial or anything else. Look at all the examples of people who kept the covenant of God, their part in the covenant, the part of faith and love for God. Weren't they blessed beyond measure, weren't they successful in ALL areas of their lives, not just the 2 that man has been thinking of all this while.

Conclusion: At the end of my reading from 2 Kings 15-19, I have come to meet a man Hezekiah. "5 Hezekiah trusted in the LORD, the God of Israel. There was no one like him among all the kings of Judah, either before him or after him. 6 He held fast to the LORD and did not cease to follow him; he kept the commands the LORD had given Moses. 7 And the LORD was with him; he was successful in whatever he undertook" Oh would I ever so love to be like him. He activated the covenant by his faith, when he invited God back into His life and called out to His covenant partner for the promise that was made so many 100s of years ago. That power worked and brought him out of the generational rut of disobedience everyone was stuck in. He was successful.

Its our choice now, either to continue holding onto that knife ever so dearly( not knowing the dangers of it all) or to hand it over to the LIVING God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and see the covenant in action in our life.

There is a plan for Successful Life

Background: Amaziah, passed away, he ran and hid in Lachish, but the enemies found him and killed him. His son Uzziah (also Azariah) began reign. The Word of God says this about him "3 Uzziah was sixteen years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem fifty-two years. His mother's name was Jecoliah; she was from Jerusalem. 4 He did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, just as his father Amaziah had done. 5 He sought God during the days of Zechariah, who instructed him in the fear [a] of God. As long as he sought the LORD, God gave him success."(2 Chronicles 26:3-5)
He won many battles against the nations around "God helped him against the Philistines and against the Arabs who lived in Gur Baal and against the Meunites. " Then it happened. "16 But after Uzziah became powerful, his pride led to his downfall. He was unfaithful to the LORD his God,

Lessons:

1. Our children are watching and learning from us:This boy Uzziah, did see his dad's work and it helped him to do right things too. He followed God and as long as he sought the Lord, he found success.
2. Seeking God first, brings in all the blessings-As long as Uzziah kept seeking God, he remained successful in all things about his life. (a) He was powerful-"v7 God helped him against the Philistines and against the Arabs who lived in Gur Baal and against the Meunites." (b) He became rich-"v8 The Ammonites brought tribute to Uzziah, and his fame spread as far as the border of Egypt, because he had become very powerful (c) He got engineering wisdom- "v15 In Jerusalem he made machines designed by skillful men for use on the towers and on the corner defenses to shoot arrows and hurl large stones. His fame spread far and wide, for he was greatly helped until he became powerful." This man had it all and then he made the mistake his father did. Pride.
3. Don't forget God's calling and your place in it-When all the wealth and power and fame came about, Uzziah, forgot his place. He thought he now was at par with God, and that he had the approval of God to do anything. He went in to the temple to burn incense to the Lord, which was not his duty. God struck him with leprosy, with which he died. He forgot he was a king, he wasn't from Aaron's household and he raged at the priests of God.

Conclusion: When Uzziah remained in his place as a king and sought God for his works, he was blessed, physically (ability to fight wars), spiritually(sought God), socially(people around the kingdom even upto Egypt heard of his deeds), financially(he had huge livestock, farms that he had hired hands to help him).He was doing well in the place God had put him in. But when he moved out of it and went to do someone else's business, he became a failure. He lived the rest of his life as a leprous man, in seclusion from the temple of God until he died.

I learnt that we all in our own lives have a specific duty to perform, some to be kings, some to be preachers, but for all to shine out for our Heavenly Father that people may glorify His Name when they see our good works. Sometimes we forget what we ought to do, because we stop seeking God's desire for our lives and we end up doing someone else's work or not doing anything at all.

Jesus our Lord prayed for us saying "25"Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me. 26I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them." God does not intend for us to walk blindly through this life, guessing our ways, but has a definite way of letting us know His plan and His will. He doesn hide His wonderful plan from us but His plan is seen only when we seek Him to fulfil His call for our lives.(John 15:14-16) Let's seek our Living God, fulfil the works God has ordained for us to do and live the Successful Life, a life that shines out for our God and Father in Heaven.

God Bless.

Don't Stop Running the Good Race

Background: 2 Kings 14:1-21, talks about a story from the life of a king named Ahaziah. He did what was right and followed God, though not wholeheartedly. He did some nice things during his reign, but made one grave mistake. I take details of his life from 2 Chronicles 25( since it has a detailed account of his works).

Lessons from the mistakes of king Amaziah

1. A good start of reign- "3 After the kingdom was firmly in his control, he executed the officials who had murdered his father the king. 4 Yet he did not put their sons to death, but acted in accordance with what is written in the Law," He tried to keep the law of God.
2. Followed or listened to God's prophet-"7 But a man of God came to him and said, "O king, these troops from Israel must not march with you, for the Lord is not with Israel--not with any of the people of Ephraim. 8 Even if you go and fight courageously in battle, God will overthrow you before the enemy, for God has the power to help or to overthrow." When Amaziah was planning for the battle at Edom, he has hired some Israelites to be in his army, but a word came through a prophet of God saying he shouldn't take them with him else he'd lose.
3. Diluted motivation for obeying God-No doubt he listened to the man of God, but now his motive had been diluted by greed. He weighed the question about how he could get the money back, which he had paid to get those Israelite soldier, "9 Amaziah asked the man of God, "But what about the hundred talents I paid for these Israelite troops?" The man of God replied, "The Lord can give you much more than that." and Amaziah sent the Israelite troops back, not because, now he was being obedient, he was being obedient, because he was waiting to get something in response. His motivation so easily swayed right away from obedience to reward zone membership!!!
4. Pride and foolishness- I think the easy win, got to his head and "14 When Amaziah returned from slaughtering the Edomites, he brought back the gods of the people of Seir. He set them up as his own gods, bowed down to them and burned sacrifices to them." Can you see that? He forgot who had given him victory and immediately turned to gods who weren't even gods.Moreover, in his arrogance and defiance, he threatened the man of God who had guided him through good counsel from God.

Conclusion: He started well, he kept the law laid long ago, but he fell right at the very first commandment, "Thou shalt have no other gods before me" . He allowed pride to take the best of him. Sometimes we stop at one big move of God and want to make camp there, making that moment a shrine, rather than knowing the God who did it. This man was so blinded by the achievement he had found through God he forgot God was behind it all the while, in spite of having heard from God's prophet. I asked myself, do I love God the way I do, for something I need from Him, or because He is God and He loved me first and I am simply reciprocating His love for me?? How about you? Let's not give up the motivation of Jesus our Lord's love for me.

Galatians 5:7 "You were running a good race. Who cut in on you and kept you from obeying the truth?"