IN WHOM ARE YOU BASING YOUR CONFIDENCE?

Image result for cLIP ART OF SOMEONE WHO IS CONFIDENTOnly the Kingdom of Judah has survived.  Israel, the Northern Kingdom has fallen and is in Assyrian captivity. The time period is about 715 BC.  In 2 Kings 18, Hezekiah is the king of Judah and Scripture records that he trusts in the Lord, the God of Israel.  He is a stand-out among the kings of Judah.  

Assyria is not content with taking Israel captive and now turns its attention to King Hezekiah and Judah to complete his power grab. Hezekiah has wearied of paying all the gold and silver to Assyria to NOT fight against them, and he has drained his coffers of gold and silver.  The field commander of Assyria's  massive army comes to Hezekiah and inquires of him, "On what are you basing this confidence of yours?"  He scoffs at their attention and worship of Jehovah.  The field commander taunts him, "The Lord himself told me to march against this country and destroy it."  Be reminded:  THE ENEMY IS A LIAR, THIEF, AND MURDERER! 

With the press of evil and the chaos it can cause, there is a very valid question we MUST address, "In whom is your confidence?"  With the answer to the question, we either gear up in battle mode with Ephesians 6, our spiritual armor, or we begin to plot and plan with an assessment of our own resources.  We do have a choice!  At the present, circumstances are pressing my husband and me, and we have chosen to gear up in our spiritual armor, and declare, "Father, we will trust in you with all our hearts.  We will not lean on our flimsy and flawed understanding.  In all our ways, we will trust YOU to guide us and YOU promised YOU would make our paths straight."  Proverbs 3:5-6 Graves' translation.   Forever learning!  In process, STILL!  #IHAVETHREESONS

 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

THOSE SEEING CAN BECOME BLIND

Image
John 9 is the story of the healing of the blind beggar.  Not only is it a marvelous story of the miraculous healing of the man as he is given his sight, but a sad story of the religious of whom Jesus said, "For judgment, I have come into this world, so that the blind will see, and those who see will become blind ." The religious have seen the miracle, even though it has taken place on a Sabbath, and they interview the man and his parents for their stories and understanding. I find it so thrilling that the healed man speaks so articulately and logically with the religious in their "interview" with him.  His statement, " Now that is remarkable!  You don't know where HE comes from, yet HE opened my eyes.  We know that God does not listen to sinners.  He listens to the godly man who does His will.  Nobody has ever heard of opening the eyes of a man born blind. If this man were not from God, He could do nothing." What truth he has spoken to the religious wh...
Read more

REHEARSALS

Image
  I wonder how much time do I give to rehearsing God's goodness and how He has intervened in my life to "save" me from myself?  How alike the Israelites I can be, complaining about what goes wrong, how it affects me, and what I lack.  As a Christ follower, I have the Indwelling Holy Spirit to give me remembrance NOT of my complaining and grumbling, but of a recall of God's faithfulness to me.  It is recorded in Psalms 78 and 106 that " They forgot what He had done, the wonder He had shown them", "They did not remember His power--the day He redeemed them from the oppressor...", "They did not remember Your many kindnesses, and they rebelled by the sea, the Red Sea.", "But they soon forgot what He had done and did not wait for His counsel.", and "They forgot the God who saved them, who had done great things in Egypt...". Contrast with me, God's remembrance: Ps. 106:44-46, "But He took note of their distress...
Read more

A DONKEY SPEAKS!

Image
    Numbers has been full of repetitive accounts of the Israelites and their disobedience.  They have now made several laps around Mt. Sinai, many of the original people have died off, or been killed for their arrogant and presumptuous actions against the LORD, Moses, and Aaron. The overriding truth of the accounts is the merciful grace of the LORD! Moses is in his last days of leadership.  The forty years are coming to an end and they are moving toward a second attempt to enter the Promise Land.  They have been victorious in taking land, and they are moving further into the interior of the land of Moab.  The king and the residents of Moab are "filled with dread because of the Israelites.  The king of Moab, Balak, sends messages to Balaam, who is a sorcerer and is able to to place curses or blessings on others.  King Balak wants to know how to defeat "this horde" that is licking up everything around them.  Of course, he is desirous th...
Read more