2 Chronicles 1:1-2:18
Lord, we need Your
wisdom (2 Chronicles 1:10). We need Jesus - He is Your wisdom (1
Corinthians 1:30). Without Jesus, we're fools. We may think that we're
wise - but we're not. Jesus makes us wise. True wisdom comes from Him.
When we build our lives on Jesus, we are truly wise (Matthew 7:24-27).
Lord, give us Your wisdom - the wisdom that knows the most important
thing: Jesus is our Saviour.
2 Chronicles 3:1-5:1
Lord,
You call us to work for You, to "work in the Temple of the Lord" (2
Chronicles 4:11; 2 Chronicles 5:1). This is no ordinary work. It's
spiritual work. It is "most holy" (2 Chronicles 3:8,10; 2 Chronicles
4:22). Real work come for You emerges from true worship of You. Before
we can be Your workers, we must be your worshippers. Teach us, Lord, to
worship You. As we worship You, may we receive from You the strength
that we need to work for You.
2 Chronicles 5:2-6:42
Without
Your blessing, Lord, our worship is empty. We need Your blessing. We
pray for Your blessing. May "the glory of the Lord fill the House of
God" (2 Chronicles 5:14). This is our prayer. We pray for the preachers.
We pray for the people. May each and every one of us be blessed by You.
May we be "clothed with Your salvation." May we "rejoice in Your
goodness" (2 Chronicles 6:41).
2 Chronicles 7:1-22
Lord,
You're calling us to pray - and You're giving us Your promise of
blessing (2 Chronicles 7:14). We ask, "Where is the blessing?" You turn
our question around. You say to us, "Where is the prayer?" This is
challenging, Lord. Help us to keep on praying - and to keep on believing
that there will be blessing, Your blessing - the forgiveness of our sin
and the healing of our land (2 Chronicles 7:14).
2 Chronicles 8:1-9:31
Lord,
we look at Solomon - and we see ourselves. There is strength (2
Chronicles 8:16) - and there is weakness (2 Chronicles 8:11; 2
Chronicles 9:12). We want to love You more, but the world keeps on
pulling us back - away from you and into sin. We come to You, Lord. We
come in our weakness. We ask for Your strength. May our comfort and
convenience never become more important to us than our consecration and
commitment to You.
2 Chronicles 10:1-11:23
Lord,
we see division among Your people: "Israel has been in rebellion
against the house of David to this day" (2 Chronicles 10:19). You are
not pleased. You say, "Do not go up to fight against your brothers" (2
Chronicles 11:4). This is not just ancient history. It's our problem.
It's a big problem. We still need to hear the words of Jesus - "a house
... divided against itself cannot stand" (Mark
3:25). There are to be "no divisions" among us (1 Corinthians 1:10). We
are "all one in Christ Jesus" (Galatians 3:28). Lord, help us, in our
praying and our living, to echo the prayer of Jesus: "May they be
brought to complete unity to let the world know that You sent Me and
have loved them even as You have loved Me" (John 17:21,23).
2 Chronicles 12:1-13:22
Lord,
You're calling us to make our choice - What kind of life will we live?
Will it be "He did evil because he had not set his heart on seeking the
Lord" (2 Chronicles 12:14)? or Will it be "As for us, the Lord is our
God and we have not forsaken Him" (2 Chronicles 13:10)? When, Lord,
unbelief and disobedience are threatening to take over our lives, help
us to hear Your Word of warning: "Do not fight against the Lord ... you
will not succeed" - and help us to speak the words of faith: "God is
with us; He is our Leader" (2 Chronicles 13:12).
2 Chronicles 14:1-16:14
Lord,
we see so much of ourselves in Asa. He started well - "Asa did what was
good and right in the eyes of the Lord his God" (2 Chronicles 14:2). He
ended badly - "He did not rely on the Lord his God ... even in his
disease he did not seek the Lord" (2 Chronicles 16:7-9,12). Help us,
Lord, to hear and heed the words of Jesus: "No-one who puts his hand to
the plough and looks back is fit for the Kingdom of God" (Luke 9:62);
"He who endures to the end will be saved" (Mark 13:13). Help us to "go
on" with You and for You (Hebrews 6:1).
2 Chronicles 17:1-18:34
Lord,
we read of "the first ways of ... David" (2 Chronicles 17:3). He had
started off so well - "the Spirit of the Lord came upon David in power"
(1 Samuel 16:13). Sadly, he took his eyes off You - and he fell away
from You (2 Samuel 11:2-5). What about us, Lord? Have we "lost our first
love" (Revelation 2:4)? You're calling us back to Yourself. Help us to
return to You - "Spirit of the living God, fall afresh on me. Break me,
melt me, mould me, fill me."
2 Chronicles 19:1-20:37
Lord,
we see two sides of Jehoshaphat (2 Chronicles 19:2-3) - two sides of
ourselves! There is the godly side - "O Lord ... our eyes are upon You"
(2 Chronicles 20:12). There is the sinful side - "Jehoshaphat ... made
an alliance with Ahaziah ... who was guilty of wickedness" (2 Chronicles
20:35). Lord, You know our weakness. Help us to come to You, in our
weakness. Help us to receive new strength, Your strength, the strength
that we need to live a more godly life, a life that brings glory to You
and blessing to us.
2 Chronicles 21:1-23:21
Lord,
we live in difficult times. Many are choosing to do what is "evil in
the sight of the Lord" (2 Chronicles 21:6). Help us to make another
choice, a better choice. Help us to choose to "be the Lord's people" (2
Chronicles 23:16) - "O happy day! that fixed my choice on Thee, my
Saviour and my God ... 'Tis done, the great transaction's done! I am my
Lord's, and He is mine! ... High heaven that heard the solemn vow, that
vow renewed shall daily hear... "
2 Chronicles 24:1-25:28
Lord,
we read the words - "He turned away from the Lord" (2 Chronicles
25:27), and our hearts are sad. Is this only the story of other people?
Is it not also our own story? You're calling us to stop turning away
from You. You're calling us to start turning to You. Help us to walk
with You in the light of Your Word - "Be watchful, stand firm in your
faith, be courageous, be strong" (1 Corinthians 16:13).
2 Chronicles 26:1-28:27
Help
us, Lord, to learn from the failure of King Uzziah. He began well - "He
did what was right in the eyes of the Lord ... He set himself to seek
God" (2 Chronicles 26:4-5). He lost his way - "When he was strong, he
grew proud, and he was false to the Lord his God" ( 2 Chronicles 26:16).
Help us, Lord to become better people - not bitter people!
2 Chronicles 29:1-36
Lord,
You're calling us to be holy (2 Chronicles 29:5) - and You're calling
us to be joyful (2 Chronicles 29:30). It's not to be holiness without
joy. It's not to be joy without holiness. It's to be holiness and joy.
Lord, make us holy - and make us joyful.
2 Chronicles 30:1-31:10
You
call us, Lord, to return to You. You promise to welcome us (2
Chronicles 30:9). Where does our returning come from? Where does our
rejoicing come from? They both come from You. You put it into our hearts
- to return to You (2 Chronicles 30:12). What joy there is for us when
we return to You - "The good Lord pardons every one who sets his heart
to seek God" (2 Chronicles 30:18-19).
2 Chronicles 31:11-32:33
You
call us, Lord, to seek You - and You also call us to serve You (2
Chronicles 31:20-21). Where does our seeking and serving come from? It
comes from Your salvation. We read the words, "The Lord saved Hezekiah" (
2 Chronicles 32::22) - and we think of our salvation. We rejoice in
Your precious promise - "All the ends of the earth, turn to Me and be
saved" (Isaiah 45:22). We rejoice in our gracious Saviour - Jesus
Christ, "the Saviour of the world" (John 4:42).
2 Chronicles 33:1-34:13
Very
quickly, Lord, good work can be undone (2 Chronicles 33:1-3). Bad work
can be undone - if we will make a new beginning with You (2 Chronicles
34:1-4). Help us, Lord, to make a new beginning with You - and a new
beginning for You.
2 Chronicles 34:14-35:19
We
read, Lord, about the reign of King Josiah. There was spiritual revival
(2 Chronicles 34:33). Where did this spiritual revival come from? - It
came from You. It came from the rediscovery of Your Word. Where was Your
Word found? - It was found "in the House of the Lord" (2 Chronicles
34:15). Beyond the written Word, there is Jesus Christ, the living Word
of God. When Your Word is preached to us, help us to listen for the
voice of Jesus Christ, the true and living Word of God. Open up our
hearts to Your Word. Open up our hearts to Your Spirit. Let "rivers of
living water" flow out from our hearts to others (John 7:37-39).
2 Chronicles 35:20-36:23
Lord,
we've read good things about King Josiah (2 Chronicles 34:15,33) - but
it wasn't all good: "He did not listen to the words of Neco from the
mouth of God ... " (2 Chronicles 35:22-24). After Josiah's time, there
was terrible spiritual decline (2 Chronicles 36:1-2 / 2 Kings 23:31-32; 2
Chronicles 36:,5,9,11-12). We think of today's world. We wonder, "Is
there any hope for the future?" Help us to
draw encouragement from this: "The Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus,
king of Persia ... to build Him a house at Jerusalem" (2 Chronicles
36:22-23). - and help us to say to our neighbours, "Let us go to the
House of the Lord" (Psalm 122:1). Help us, Lord, to keep on believing
that the time of Your blessing may not be far away.
No comments:
Post a Comment