RTW June 23
The Possibilities
My Takeaways
Something to Old
2 Chronicles 28:1-15
God allows us to be defeated to draw us back to Him. (2 Chronicles 28:5)
God will only allow us to go so far. (2 Chronicles 28:9)
God expects us to show mercy to our enemies. (2 Chronicles 28:14-15)
Something New
2 Kings 15:34
Jotham did was was pleasing in the LORD’s sight.
2 Kings 15:35
But he did not …
Is it possible to please and disappoint God at the same time?
Something to Do
Focus on the pleasing and emphasize the disappointments.
My Takeaways: God is Always Faithful and Just
Something Old: Isaiah 7:14, “All right then, the Lord himself will give you the sign. Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son and will call him Emmanuel (which means ‘God is with us’).” Many scholars believe that this is a “double prophecy,” referring to the situation King Ahaz was facing, and in the book of Matthew, to the coming Messiah-the ultimate deliverer. The reasoning behind this thought is that in the original Hebrew of Isaiah 7:14 the word for virgin was almah which meant a young woman of childbearing age who had not yet given birth and who might or might not be a virgin, however the Greek translation, which we see in the New Testament rendered almah as parthenos, a word which means virgin.
Something New: Here’s an interesting fact that I discovered today. The book of Isaiah has 66 chapters, just like the Bible, with two divisions falling exactly between chapters 39 and 40, which would be Malachi and Matthew. Kind of cool don’t you think? So in todays reading even though things looked bad as Jerusalem was under attack, God kept His promises. He preserve a remnant of His people despite their sins. “God is with us” still holds true today. The enemy may surround me and try to destroy me, but I can trust that God is there, protecting me, providing for me, and purposefully working all things for my good and His glory. Jesus Christ not only came to save me from my sins, He came to save me from myself. I can’t allow trouble, fear, or failure to take away this wonderful news — “God is with us” what great news to know.
Something To Do: Don’t let anything keep me from hearing and obeying God. He is always faithful and just.