"The eyes of the LORD search the the whole earth in order to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to Him."
2 Chronicles 16:9
2 Chronicles 16:9
My Take Aways
Something Old:
Each king of Israel was more evil than the one before. Evil unchecked and unrepented grows more intense.
Something New:
1 Kings 17:1
God is referred to as the "living God" by Elijah. I don't remember this anywhere else in the OT.
1 Kings 15:34
Hiel lost his sons because he tried to rebuild Jericho. I had to go back to Joshua and reread the text. Very interesting. (Joshua 6:26)
Something to Do:
Maintain a heart fully committed to the Lord. Allow Him to strengthen and renew me during times of trouble instead of trying to renew myself.
P.S.
I misspoke in the video. I said Jeoshaphat was king of Israel. I meant to say Judah.
fully committed (perfect-Strong's 8003)
strengthen (strong- Strong's 2388)
P.S.
I misspoke in the video. I said Jeoshaphat was king of Israel. I meant to say Judah.
fully committed (perfect-Strong's 8003)
strengthen (strong- Strong's 2388)
23 Comments:
Linda, Happy Happy Birthday.
May God bless you and keep you. May God give you all the faith you need to make your dreams come true. May his love and wisdom always help and guide you on your way. And may his light shine upon you now to bless your special day.
I came across this on youtube just for you. Well, and anyone else who'd like to take a listen.
Happy Birthday
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=38HvHWWPFh8&feature=watch_response
Wendy, I'm glad you caught your mistake. I was going to say that it was Israel who had the bad kings and Judah had mostly good Kings. Smile, I'm paying attention to you. I love your teaching!!
I am continuing to pray for you and your family and others every day. Lately my prayers haven't been as strong as they were at the beginning of the year when I started to pray for you but I do say a prayer for you and others. I still read the first email you sent me in December.
Hi Everybody….
Wendy bless your heart…..My eyes did stop at the verse, I do have it underlined. Thanks for the sharing of using the different bibles…cuz that is exactly what I did for todays reading went to the one I was told by our priest for an easy to read and understanding bible. The footnotes in it help me tremendously. I was looking up one after another last night. Would be too long to include them all…..but it sure opened up a lot for me last night. Thanks Wendy!!
This here reading for Me was a hard one. I’m going to be interested to see what everyone has to say. My nugget wasn’t til the end. I went to my New American bible read the footnotes. This one here sparked my interest:
1 Kings 17:1...Elijah the Tishbite,* from Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab: “As the LORD, the God of Israel, lives, whom I serve, during these years there shall be no dew or rain except at my word.”p
p took me to Sirach 48:3: By God’s word he shut up the heavens and three times brought down fire. 4How awesome are you ELIJAH! Whose glory is equal to yours?
The footnote* to 17:1: Elijah the Tishbite: one of the most important figures in Old Testament history. As his name indicates (“Yahweh is my God”), Elijah was the successful leader in the struggle to preserve the knowledge and worship of Yahweh against the encroaching worship of Ball introduced into Israel by Jezebel, the Tyrian wife of Ahab. The Elijah cycle of narratives include, besides the above struggle, miracle stories, denunciations of kings, and a preparation for the prophet’s role as eschatological forerunner of the “great day of the Lord”, cf Mal 3:23-24; Mt 17:10-13; Lk 1:17.
Mal 3 23-24: Lo, I will send you Elijah,* the prophet, Before the day of the LORD comes, the great and terrible day, 24To turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers, Lest I come and strike the land with doom.
Mt 17:10-13Then the disciples asked him, “Why do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?”* 11He said in reply,* “Elijah will indeed come and restore all things; n 12 but I tell you that Elijah has already come, o and they did not recognize him but did to him whatever they pleased. So also will the Son of Man suffer at their hands,” 13Then the disciples understood that he was speaking to them of John the Baptist.*
Lk 1:17: He will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah* to turn the hearts of fathers toward children and the disobedient to the understanding of the righteous, to prepare a people fit for the Lord.”h
THESE ARE THE DAYS OF ELIJAH….DECLARING THE WAY OF THE LORD!!
Sue…. thanks for the website for the chart on the kings….It was awesome!!
Jules…Was nice seeing you hop back on yesterday.
Jennifer Renee….Was happy to see your day yesterday turn out better.
Linda Ark….HAPPY BIRTHDAY!! No treadmill today. Enjoy!!
Last day of school!! Will have my “senior” home with Me today! Has no exams today. Came home early yesterday and said “I‘m a senior now!!”. I found Him in the photo albums looking at pictures…I asked Him Are you wondering where time has gone??
Make it a Great Day!
Rhonda
Hello All - Thank you for your prayers yesterday for my dad, Fred. Please, please keep them coming today. He is being prepped right now for quadruple bypass surgery. Thank you!!
Kate in VA
Good morning, GIG's,
YES, WENDY, HE IS SO COOL, ISN'T HE? I couldn't agree more. Your teaching was magnificent today. I wrote the exact same quote as my nugget, and I bet most of us did, because it is a glorious statement! What a visual it gives us. Whether I'm teaching, or cooking, or walking the dogs, or praying, or spending time with my husband ;) it is so cool to KNOW that He's watching me and strengthening me!
Linda, a great big Happy Birthday.
Rhonda, have a wonderful first day of summer with your Senior.
Jen Ren, I was thinking about you last night. You've had a lot of fun stuff going on -- the camping trip, your birthday and surprise gifts, going to church with Michelle. Could this week just be a little let-down from all the excitement? I'm feeling that a bit myself after the wedding, and missing my honeymooning daughter. Let's you and I both set our minds on what lies ahead, because we know His plan for us is good, Sister!
Wendy, special prayers for you. You are such a committed servant of God that satan is furious! When you get up in the morning, satan mutters, "Crap, she's up!" Of course the evil one would be attacking you any way he can, this time through your family. Heavenly Father, we pray mighty prayers that You will send defending angels to surround our sister, Wendy and guard her from all attacks. We know that You will strengthen her and infuse her with Your holy Spirit day and night. We know that You are at the ready to be her shield and her reward. We pray this in Jesus'name, Amen.
Peace and Gratitude,
Michelle in New England
SAPing for Fred, dear Kate! Keep us posted if you can.
Michelle in New England
Happy birthday, Linda!
Michelle, you are too funny! :-) I love your wording. I'm always looking ahead to the happy things on my calendar, too.
Jenn, I'll check out your video.
Kate, praying for Fred today.
I must be out in left field, b/c I got totally caught up in four words right at the beginning of today's reading. In 1 Kings 15;22 King Ahab made "everyone, without exception, help" him do the work he had planned.
What would that look like? If all of us, without exception, helped? What if we all did the work that God called us to do without whining or complaining or excuses or worrying or holding back? How would our families, our churches, our towns, our country change?
What has He called us to do? To:
- follow and obey Him with a whole heart
- love others
- help the poor, sick, widowed, orphaned, imprisoned
- share the Good News
- pray for our enemies
- guard our hearts
- guard our lips/words
- think on the things that are good, right, pure, true
- commemorate what He has done for us
- write His words on our hearts
What if we followed His further teaching and obeyed our husbands, pastors, teachers, and government officials like that? (And what if they, too, were that committed?)
KLOVE has worked with Jars of Clay this week to raise money to dig wells for people in Africa. You can read more about it on www.klove.com. Yesterday they talked about how Matt Maher said that this was not optional; how God has called all of us to help those in need. It just made me think. What if we all reached out extravagantly, sacrificially, totally, the way that tomorrow's widow helped Elijah??
Off to get ready for my firemuff ... only a few more days and then school's out!! :-)
(PS - My husband found out yesterday that he can get Bulls tickets for FREE through work, so we're going again tonight - and we get to sit down at the field, just to the side of the pitcher! Why am I surprised at the good things that God does??)
PPS - Rhonda, what is 'sirach?'
Wow,
Wendy, your teaching blessed me this morning, and I, too had marked that verse last year and this year had to put little asterisks by it, to double the emphasis! For some reason, that was a verse that just stuck with me, and often times I have such a feeling of peace knowing His eyes can see everything!! He knows everything and He is Sovereign. His special possession of people has been hand-picked – and yes, trials are evident. But, through them He will be our strength. Eyes are on us too; will we be strong through our trials? Will we be His witness? Yes, - because that is how God will be able to get the most glory. We wake up and say, “Enemy - BEHIND us, remember!” You will not get our feathers ruffled! You will not rob us of our peace today. So, many of us will endure situations. We’ve got all of us praying. We have are Believing sisters surrounding us, holding us up in prayer. We seek God, for wisdom. We walk with him, ears open, ready to hear. Ready to obey the Spirit as he speaks.
Sweet BIRTHDAY GIRL, Linda!!!! Happy, happy day, to YOU!
Welcome back, Jodie…the Spirit was guiding you back to your Bible. PTL.
Sue, bless you sister for your help yesterday!!! The link to the Kings! Thank you!!! Jennifer Renee, I’m with ya honey, this is tough reading! Keeping track of the names and all.
Kate, lifting up a prayer for Fred’s -quad. Bypass today. Thank you Lord, that these surgeries are available.
Michelle, ya know I had to listen to the book on CD’s and when she read the maintenance prayer, I was thinking, aaahh, I’d like to read that on paper! So, yes, it was meant for you to type it out! Thanks!!! “No matter what…You will never allow anything in my path that cannot bring You glory or me and those around me good.” Needed to hear that, twin! My prayers will be with you this week-I can only try to imagine what it’s like, now that it is all over with. I remember when my best friend, my sister, moved away after she got married. I cried and cried and cried, and then when she got MS, it remained difficult for me knowing she was so far away. (not as far as TN, but still a 3 hour drive)
Jacque, What you wrote stood in my mind re: passing our religion down to our kids – we do pray that they would grow to ‘embrace it’ but, more so like you said, we pray that through our religion, they would be renewed daily with their own personal and intimate relationship with the Lord.
Amy, loved your list (I’m such a list gal!) Have fun at game #2!
Ladies, throughout all this warfare reading, my take-away, is that we must remain grounded in the Bible. Daily. We are smack-dab & plopped down in an extremely godless society. Only by God’s mercy, His Word, His Spirit guiding us, and clinging and praying to Jesus daily are we going to survive. We see the many people going the evil route in the readings…we see history repeating itself today, we want to be visible with hears opened, as God eyes search to and fro.
Michelle, Beth’s prayer – “I can smile over the days to come because Your plan for me is good and right, My heart is steadfast, trusting in You, Lord In the end, I will look with triumph on my foes.” Thank you, again!
Hugs and prayers coming your way, Lori
Amy....It is a book in the catholic bible....One I truly enjoy especially chapter 1-43 deals largely with moral instruction; chapters 44,1-50, 24 contain a eulogy of the heroes of Israel and some of the patricrchs. I just love chapter 30. The training of children. Helps me alot in raising our children. Hope this helps. Here is a little about it:
Book of Sirach
or Ecclesiasticus
A book in the Old Testament Apocrypha
General Information
The Book of Sirach, or the Wisdom of Jesus the son of Sirach, is a book in the Apocrypha. It is also known as Ecclesiasticus ("church book") because of its wide use among Greek and Latin Christians in moral instruction. Classified among the wisdom writings, the book was written in Hebrew at Jerusalem c. 180 BC by a learned teacher, Jesus ben Sirach, and was translated into Greek in Egypt with a preface by his grandson not long after 132 BC.
The wisdom teaching of the book is climaxed by a long eulogy of the heroes of Israelite history. Using the sayings form typical of the Book of Proverbs, the author achieves a fusion of scribal piety, with its high regard for the Jewish law, and traditional wisdom.
Norman K Gottwald
-----------------------------------
Sirach or Ecclesiasticus is a book of the Old Testament in those versions of the Bible following the Greek Septuagint (generally Roman Catholic and Orthodox versions). It does not appear in the Hebrew Bible, and it is placed with the Apocrypha in Protestant versions of the Bible. Also known as "The Wisdom of Jesus, the son of Sirach," the book was written some time between 195 and 171 BC by Jesus the son of Sirach (Hebrew Joshua ben Sira). The author is thought to have been a scholar who taught wisdom in an academy in Jerusalem. He is the only author of an apocryphal book to have attached his own name to his work (50:27). About 130 BC, a Greek translation was made from the Hebrew original by a person who claimed in an added preface (ever since part of the book) to be a grandson of the author. Because of the great popularity earned by the book, it was translated subsequently into numerous other languages; the Greek text, however, is the only one to have survived in its entirety.
Sirach mainly consists of a series of loosely related maxims and other sayings of a proverbial nature, much in the manner of the Book of Proverbs. Throughout, the author offers instruction on how to conduct oneself wisely in all areas of life. He identifies wisdom with the divine law (24:23), but his counsels are more concerned with ethics than they are with divine revelation. In addition to its numerous, diverse instructions, Sirach contains several long poems that celebrate wisdom (1:1-20, 24:1-22), praise God and his wonderful works (42:15-43:33), and praise the venerable patriarchs and prophets of Israel (chap. 44-49). Noteworthy is chapter 24, introducing uncreated wisdom speaking as a divine person. Early Christian writers considered it an anticipation or foreshadowing of the Logos, or word of God, in the opening chapter of John's Gospel. Sirach is classified with the Wisdom literature of the Old Testament, which includes the Books of Ecclesiastes, Job, and Proverbs. Some scholars regard it as the final outstanding specimen of that form of literature and the first example of the kind of Jewish thought developed subsequently by the Pharisaic and Sadducean schools.
continue on next
Although highly regarded by early Jewish commentators, who often cited it, Sirach was excluded from the Hebrew canon. The rabbis who closed the canon felt that the period of divine inspiration had ended soon after the time of the Hebrew priest and reformer Ezra (flourished 5th-4th century BC); thus, Sirach, which clearly was written long after Ezra's time, could not have been divinely inspired. Early Christians, however, accepted it along with several other books regarded as spurious by the Jews. Since then, both the Orthodox church and the Roman Catholic church have decreed it to be canonical, and Protestants, following Martin Luther, consider it apocryphal rather than canonical.
Rhonda
Thank you Wendy for your treasured words. Your response to God roving and searching for our hearts reminds me of a song in our church liturgy:
Here I am Lord. Is it I Lord?
I have heard you calling in the night.
I will go, Lord, if you lead me.
I will hold your people in my heart.
Here I am, Lord. It is Jacque, Lord. Please purify and strengthen my heart, Lord, for the work You have planned for me!
Happy LDOS Rhonda! We put out our flag every day through the summer, beginning on the LDOS. It is our symbol of gratitude for a school year well spent and freedom from schedules!
Dear Kate, I am with you in prayer this morning for your dad and his doctors. Sending praise for the healing benefits of medicine and of God!
We are leaving town soon to visit Michael, to shuffle job applications, run errands that he can't do without a car, to take him his bike, a fan, essentials. Still praying for that miracle. He doesn't have internet anymore, so I copied and printed the beautiful Beth Moore prayer for him, with his name inserted. Thank you, so much Michelle, it is perfect! I told him the other day that I pray for him, but he needs to pray too. He replied, "I do." Praise!
Everyone have a blessed day!
Jacque
Good morning,
The verses that caught my attention this morning were with Jehoshaphat. “He sought his father’s God and obeyed his commands instead of following the evil practices of the kingdom of Israel. He was deeply committed to the ways of the Lord.” My desire is to be deeply committed to the Lord and my heart fully committed to him.
Wendy, thank you for looking up the verse in Joshua. I was hoping someone would find that and share.
Sue, thanks for the website on the kings. I have it printed and in my notebook also.
Praying for Fred today.
Have a great day everyone,
Kris
Please continue to pray for Ryan, In the past 6 days, his boby broke out in hives. Please pray for his hives to go away. The doctor still don't know why he doesn't not feel hungry. This is such a trial time for me. God, I'm begging for mercy for him now. Lord, please answer our prayers.
My Something Old: God took care of Elijah when he sent him to hide by Kerith Brook until it dried up.
Something New: Hiel lost two sons when he rebuilt the walls of Jericho, just as the Lord had told Joshua back in the day.
Even after all that God had done for Asa, he lost his faith in Him. When he got a severe disease in his feet, Asa did not seek the Lord's help, but only that of his personal physicians. (2Chorn. 16:12b)
Something to Do: Fully and deeply commit to the ways of the Lord. (2 Chron.17:6)
Spread the Word of God. (2Chron. 17:9)
Seek God for all things in my life. (2Chron. 16:12)
God honors those whos hearts are fully committed to Him. (2Chron.16:9)
Allie...Prayed for Ryan and wisdom for the Doctors
Kate...Prayed for your Dad...let us know...
Rhonda...thanks for the Elijah info...very interesting...that is one of my favorite stories in the bible...God is so strong and powerful...
You all are welcome for the Kings info...the internet can be a very fun place.
I, too, stopped at the 2Ch 16 ;9 verse...just love it...my anticipation is for the future reading about Elijah...like I said before--love that story..Love when God shows His ultimate power and strength over evil...
Have a great day, Blessings, Sue
Good Morning! It is sunny today
in NY - YEAH.
Wendy: I forgot to mention that I am a fellow "word nerd" - started a year ago. It is never too late!
I homeschool my son, so I told him I was going to share all my new found vocabulary words with him in the fall-he gave me a skeptical look.... Most words are from the Bible and Matthew Henry Commentary.
My main Bible is NKJV, but I do refer to many other versions, because sometimes (well often) I just don't understand the KJV, so I relate to that. My sister has the English Standard Version and loves it, but she does refer to the KJV here and there. We attend a small Baptist Church and they only use the KJV, so I bring that copy when I attend.
It also caught my attention in 17:1 referring to the "living God".
I haven't had a chance to read my Matthew Henry yet. It just seemed kind of neat to read that in OT.
Allie, I am PRAYING for those hives to go away.
Rhonda in NY
Kate, praying that your Dad's quadruple bypass will go smoothly. And for God to guide the surgeon's hands as he performs the surgery. My Dad had the same thing done. It was tough for the first month but he's bounced back.
Sue, thank you so much for the Kings link. I had it up on my screen as I was reading today's readings and it helped a lot.
Michelle, thanks for the Beth Moore poem from yesterday. I'm just getting to know her and she has a knack for words.
Allie, praying for Ryan! It sounds like an allergic reaction to something. I pray that the doctors will figure out what is wrong with him. Can you maybe google his symptoms and see what you can find? Maybe that will give his doctors a new path or treatment to take. ((((HUGS))))
Happy Birthday to Linda!
My highlighter went to the same verses about God's eyes searching the whole earth. It reminded me of the passage in 1 Peter 5:8 "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour." Strongs 2666 (666 get it?) "katapeno" 1) to drink down, swallow down 2) to devour
3) to swallow up, destroy
Sisters, while the enemy is in our midst wanting to swallow us, we should take heart that God's eyes are open looking for someone to bless. It says He will give strength to those who are weak and being swallowed by circumstances. He only asks that we have hearts committed to Him.
Hi ladies,
Thank you for the warm welcome back. It is good to hear your voice again Wendy and see you "face to face" - I missed you and your tender teachings.
Michelle - congratulations on your daughter's wedding! I went back and read your post from Monday - it sounds so romantic. It's amazing how God cares about all the little details and reveals His love for us through them. My own wedding was almost 3 years ago and my mom still talks about that day like it was yesterday - it is such a special time in a mother's life. I am so happy for you :)
Mr. Elliot is now 9 months old - I can't even believe it myself. We just got back from a 2 week vacation to visit his grandparents in Newfoundland. Such a wonderful visit. I love the joy Elliot brings to others.
He is a busy little boy - crawling, pulling up on furniture, trying out the stairs. Tiring but I just love how full of life he is. We just had a good report from the doc and are working to eliminate night feeds (he STILL gets up twice a night!). I have been working towards just one this week.
Thank you for prayers. I really appreciate it!
Lord - I lift up all the prayer requests of these wonderful, dedicated ladies and ask that You strengthen them today. Find me too while you are searching out the hearts of the faithful!
Jodie
Hey Everyone, one of those days of getting on here late and no time to read all the comments. Hope you all are having a great day.
Wendy, I wanted to quickly tell you that God spoke right to my heart through you today in ways you can't even imagine. Something you said was a direct answer from Him to me. Thank you!
Hope to have more time soon to "visit." :)
Have a blessed rest of the day everyone.
Brandee, TN
I'm getting on here later than normal too!...One of those busy days...
I had the same verse underlined and astericked Wendy! It spoke volumes to me. I noticed that it gives me a responsibility; an action to care out: To have my heart fully committed to Him. Is that where my heart is? Some days, yes! Other days, not so much.
Forgive me my uncommitted heart Lord; and give to me a desire to love you more everyday.
Morgen
Hello, friends,
Jacque, I hope you had a good day helping Michael. You are such an awesome mom! I, too, was thinking of the song "Here I Am Lord" after hearing Wendy's vlog.
Allie, praying for Ryan and you. Thanks for checking in.
Kate, praying for your dad!! friend of ours had that surgery last month and is doing well!
Lori, we are "plopped down in an extremely godless society." I thank God daily that he brought me into the midst of the God-centered women in this study. I am glad you now have the text of Beth's poem. I xeroxed it out of the book and glued it into my journal for a daily read.
"See" you all in the morning.
Peace and Gratitude,
Michelle in New England
I, too, hit on that same verse (2 Chronicles 16:9). When I had strayed from Him, He was like the Hound of Heaven trying to get my attention, to return to Him. I want so much for Him to find me when He searches.
Something you said, Wendy, really spoke to me and I needed to hear it today and that is that He will help me be what He is looking for. Perfect I am not, but I do desire to do His will.
Thank you for the needed words.
Praying for the needs and requests of you GIGs and thank Him for all of you.
Gaylene
Post a Comment
Home