Today: Psalms 104:1-18; 2 Corinthians 2:12-17; 2 Corinthians 3:1-6; 2 Chronicles 33:21-25; 2 Chronicles 34; 2 Chronicles 35:1-19
Psalms 104
“The LORD wraps Himself in light as with a garment; He stretches out the heavens like a tent and lays the beams of His upper chambers on their waters. He makes the clouds His chariot and rides on the wings of the wind. He makes winds His messengers, flames of fire His servants.” Psalm 104:2-4
Psalm 104 is filled with breathtaking images of nature. When God makes a big move, the entire earth responds. ALL of creation is subject to its Creator. Every time Moses went up to the mountain to meet with God there were earthquakes, storms, and whirlwinds.
It is no different today. Before, during, and after God’s great workings, moves and shifts, the earth heats up, shakes and howls.
God is always there, speaking through His creation even in calm, peaceful ways. Often in the morning as I sit under my pear tree praying, a soft breeze will stir up from emptiness. I always smile and whisper “breath of God.” I worship as He murmurs to me in the wind. Other times, when the air is perfectly still, the large chime hanging from the pear branches will begin to softly sing. Breath of God!!
2 Corinthians 2-3
“For we are to God the pleasing aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. To the one we are an aroma that brings death; to the other, an aroma that brings death…” 2 Corinthians 2:15-16
No wonder non-Christians treat us like we stink! Their hatred of us often seems irrational, but way deep down inside, their spirits know they are perishing.
We Christians are not better than anyone else. The only difference is that we understand our own sinfulness and have found hope of salvation in Jesus Christ. We have tasted the Word of God and found it to be true.
This Word of God is much deeper than any other words on earth. God’s Word creates life from emptiness. Jesus Christ is God’s Word in human Form. The Holy Spirt, who surrounds and inhabits us, is God’s Word in spirit form. The Bible is His Word in written form.
All of these elements are a unified whole, the one and only beautiful TRUTH. How do I know this?
“Such confidence we have through Christ before God. Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God. He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant–not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.” 2 Corinthians 3:4-6
2 Chronicles 33-35 – Josiah
Josiah was another good king. He became king of Judah at 6 years old following two bad kings. Since the long history of all the kings of Judah is condensed into to short books, we can forget that we are actually reading out centuries of time. When the book of law was found in the temple and brought to Josiah, it was unfamiliar to them. WE read about it just the chapter before when Hezekiah was king. But by Josiah’s reign, it had been forgotten and collecting dust for decades.
We see this pattern over and over again in Chronicles. A good king comes to power, dusts off the books of law and leads the people back to God. Then the bad kings come and the Israelites fall back into wickedness and forget about God.
The same pattern has happened to the Christian church. We can’t see it easily because we are stuck within our own 75 or so years of life. But if you consider the past 2000 years, the pattern is the same. We are nearing the end of a period where much of the church has fallen into wickedness and forgotten about God. But He is moving, stirring us up, raising up His prophets to help usher in a new season of revival. It is called the “great awakening” because the church has been spiritually asleep. God is waking us up, hallelujah! What a glorious time to be alive!
