The Word for today:
2 Kings 8, 9
When God tells us he'll do something, he will. God through Elijah had promised wicked King Ahab that because you have sold yourself to do evil in the eyes of the LORD...I am going to bring disaster upon you (1).
That negative promise was fulfilled in gruesome detail. Under the direction of Jehu, Ahab's entire family was annihilated:
When Jehu came to Samaria, he killed all who were left there of Ahab's family; he destroyed them, according to the word of the LORD spoken to Elijah (2).
God always tells the unambiguous truth--no half-truths, no white lies. He doesn't manipulate information to make people feel good or practice deceit to convince his hearers. He is genuine in all that he says; the Bible consists of the words of the holy one, the true one (3). Jesus' 'Yes' meant 'Yes,' and his 'No' meant 'No' (4).
God has made many promises to us:
When he declares Never will I leave you, we may rest assured that he won't. (5)
When he affirms that his arms are always underneath us, we know that he is there to support us. (6)
He promises that nothing can separate us from his love, and it can't. (7)
He assures us that he will forgive our sin when we confess it to him, and he will. (8)
We can overcome any obstacle through his strength. (9)
He will sustain us when we feel weary. (10)
We are safe in his hands. (11)
And when Jesus pledges to come back for us one day, we know that he will. (12)
The Bible uses words differently than we do in our day. We often use words to conceal truth. Politicians and the media seek to spin words to their side's advantage. We even have to sift through the words of friends and acquaintances to see if any personal agenda lurks behind what they're saying.
But the Bible uses words to uncover and reveal truth.
When we read the Bible, we are in the no-spin zone.
(1) 1 Kings 21:20-21; (2) 2 Kings 10:17; (3) Rev. 3:7; (4) Matthew 5:37; (5) Hebrews 13:5; (6) Deuteronomy 33:27; (7) Romans 8:37; (8) 1 John 1:9; (9) Romans 8:38; Philippians 2:13; 4:13; (10) Psalm 55:22; (11) John 10:29 (12) 1 Thessalonians 4:17
It's interesting to watch small children playing together- they have a natural affinity for justice. The cookies need to be the same size, turns must be taken in order and offenders of any minutia of the playground rulebook must be identified and punished! It is good to know our God is just but unlike us- he loves mercy more!
ReplyDeleteps.God bless Jehu- God's hitman! I'm glad that's not my spiritual gift!
hi Vickie--
ReplyDeleteI've often wondered where kids get that from. I should search the scriptures on that but my brain aches now, so I'll just go talk this over with Shelley (my mentee; err, mentor; err, manatee; oh--whatever Vickie meant!)
See you soon!
The third wheel in a church of two,
Franklyn