Month: April 2023

Scripture 2 Kings 20:5 “Return and tell Hezekiah the leader of My people, ‘Thus says the LORD, the God of David your father: “I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears; surely I will heal you. On the third day you shall go up to the house of the LORD.

Observation: Our God knows what we are going through at all times He hears and sees us and cares for us. God listens to our prayers and if we humble ourselves and ask in His will He will answer. Like a loving Father He wants to give us good gifts, but also will not give us anything that will hurt us. He is a loving and compassion God and he is always looking out for us.

Application: Since God hears and sees me at all time I need to be doing what pleases Him as He looks on at my life. God deserves to be first in all that I do and before I do something I need to think it through to make sure God would approve. When I pray to my Lord I need to make sure it is in line with His will and I need to humble myself, because I don’t deserve any blessings for my Master.

Prayer: Dear Lord I want to finish well and glorify you each day. My decision making is normally self centered and I need your grace and wisdom to discern at times to know what to ask. Help direct my path to please you and show me how and what it is you desire of me.

Scripture 2 Kings 19:15 Then Hezekiah prayed before the LORD, and said: “O LORD God of Israel, the One who dwells between the cherubim, You are God, You alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth.

Observation: I believe we forget who God really is. We pray to Him and ask for things without considering the person that He is. He is the creator of all things, including ourselves and needs nothing from us, yet He loves us for some reason. We serve half heartily at times, pray as we are doing something else, give a small portion of our time and treasures to his kingdom and yet He owns it all and can destroy it in a moment. He is God our master and we need to treat Him as such, it is an honor to be able to go into his presence in prayer and to honor Him with the time he has given us.

Application: I take my Lord for granted so many times. My mind is focused on the things of this world instead of him. God needs to be my top priority all of the time and I need to trust Him with everything I have or better yet what He has given me. I need to come to him humbly each day and listen to his guidance for the day and I need to live in a way that will please him.

Prayer: My Lord, my Master and my love. Help me stay focused on your majesty and may I treat you better than I have. That you are the only reason I’m here and that you deserve everything that I have. I love you and want to honor you with this life. Help me serve you.

Scripture 2 Kings 18:5 He trusted in the LORD God of Israel, so that after him was none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor who were before him.

Observation: This week’s message on Heaven is about trust. How the only person that we can trust is God and how God used Proverbs 3:5,6 to focus on Him. God is the only one deserving of our complete trust. God has given us direction and commands that we need to be following and if we do so God will guide us and we need to trust in that and nothing else. We have all been burned by trusting someone and God’s word tells us not to, people are as trustworthy as we are. God is the only one that can be fully trusted.

Application: I can depend on someone doing something for me if he says he will, but I should not be surprised at the times those promises are broken. I need to trust full in the Lord for all things and when things go wrong, which they will, I need to focus on God and see where he leads me. No matter what happens on this Earth my home is with my Lord in Heaven forever and that I can trust.

Prayer: Dear Lord I trust you help me trust you completely. You are worthy of all of my love, praise and trust may I put my hope in you and you only. I freely give you this life may it be a living sacrifice, Holy and pleasing to you.

Scripture 2 Kings 17:13 Yet the LORD testified against Israel and against Judah, by all of His prophets, every seer, 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.”

Observation: How many times does the Lord need to warn us to repent from our evil ways and to follow Him. The next verse tells how the people hardened their hearts and did not obey and paid the penalty. They or we can’t say we weren’t warned. God wants good for us, but we must turn from our evil ways and do what He ask and what He asks is for our own good. He want us to love him even a portion of how He loves us. We are determined however to sin and disobey and as God’s word says there will be punishment for such actions even as a loving father disciplines his children God will discipline us to keep us on the path of righteousness. He wants us with Him forever and we need to be on the path that leads to Him.

Application: God has made it clear what He desires of me and I have no right to do anything but what He wants. To be in His will is to be on the right path to eternal life. I don’t want to just make it into Heaven I want to come in first in this race. Each day I need to run harder doing what my Lord wants of me and to be the man He calls me to be. I want my Lord to be proud to receive me into his Kingdom.

Prayer: My Lord help me run this race and be obedient to all your warnings. May I stay on the path you have for me and not stray. May I not only be disciplined, but guided each day and that I will be holy to you.

Scripture 2 Kings 16:7 So Ahaz sent messengers to Tiglath-Pileser king of Assyria, saying, “I am your servant and your son. Come up and save me from the hand of the king of Syria and from the hand of the king of Israel, who rise up against me.”

Observation: Instead of going to God in prayer we sometimes look to others to get us out of a jam. Instead of being faithful with the provisions God has given us we might borrow money from someone or in this scripture instead of going to God for guidance the king hired others to fight for him. We are to fellowship with other believers and love them, but God is our provider and father and we need to seek Him. God wants us to come to Him and to trust Him through every situation and when He desires He will put someone in our path to help and as long as we stay close to God He will let us know who.

Application: To trust God in whatever situation I might find myself in. To seek His counsel always and to keep in His word so that I may know what to do in each situation. If things aren’t going my way seek God and be patient to wait on Him, He might have a lesson for me to learn or a new path to take.

Prayer: My Lord I seek your face and ask that you draw close to me. Please guide me this day to do what is from you and that I will honor you with each decision I make. May I always stay on the path and be in your word so that I may know what you desire of your servant.

Scripture 2 Kings 15:9 And he did evil in the sight of the LORD, as his fathers had done; he did not depart from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who had made Israel sin.

Observation: All through the book of Kings we notice some kings either follow God and do good or others stray from God and do evil. You would think these kings would look back on history and figure out they need to be following God, because they need His blessings and guidance. But some people don’t want anyone over them not even God and want to do it their way. So many of them did evil in the sight of the Lord almost as if they were daring God to do something about it. God may not have struck them down right then and there, but you know where they are now and are deeply regretting their decisions.

Application: I’m not much better than some of those kings. I want to do things my way and I want to benefit from my actions. That is what is called doing evil. If I don’t put God first and do what He calls me to do that is evil. I need to seek God’s guidance in all that I do and then do it. He has given me His word and He does direct me in the path He want me to take, but it’s still a choice and I need to choose God.

Prayer: My Lord help get me beyond myself and focused on you. I’m here only as a servant and I need to be serving. Humble me before you and may I do good in your eyes. I love you may the way I live my life prove that.

Scripture 2 Kings 14:3 And he did what was right in the sight of the LORD, yet not like his father David; he did everything as his father Joash had done.

Observation: We can set an example for our children and others whether good or bad. Sometimes if we are disliked by others they will do the opposite of what we do and if we are respected people want to emulate us. We need to be a positive role models for others and stay close to our Lord. It’s important not to be a hypocrite and that we do want we say we are going to do and not say one thing and do another. If we follow our God with all of our heart, mind and soul it will show and lead others to Him.

Application: I have been having a difficult time controlling my temper and keeping my mind pure. I always think of things in the most negative way and it is difficult to hide it from others. Today I made it clear that I wasn’t happy with my Sysco delivery and acted like a child in front of them and my employees. I can’t seem to go even a couple of minutes without thinking of something negative and I need to work harder in becoming the loving man God desires of me. I need to keep God closer in my heart so I don’t sin the way I have been. I need and want to be an example for others that will draw them closer to God and not further away.

Prayer: Dear Lord help me please to be a kinder person. Show me how to show your love to others by the way I treat them. May others want to follow the example I set, because it is your example of how to live this life. Give me the discipline to live a godly life in glory and honor to you.