Celebrating in Worship2 Chronicles 35:1-19After the Book of the Law was found, Josiah led the nation in a great Passover celebration.The Passover was an annual reminder of the time when God brought the Israelites out of Egyptian slavery to begin their journey into the freedom of living in the Promised Land.Each of us needs to reserve time to remember God’s work in our lives.  When we remember and ...  Read More

Read and Obey2 Chronicles 34:31 - The king stood by his pillar and renewed the covenant in the presence of the LORD--to follow the LORD and keep his commands, regulations, and decrees with all his heart and all his soul, and to obey the words of the covenant written in this book.During the temple repair, Hilkiah the priest, found a copy of the Book of the Law.This was probably the five books writt...  Read More

Teamwork2 Chronicles 34:8 (NIV) - In the eighteenth year of Josiah's reign, to purify the land and the temple, he sent Shaphan son of Azaliah and Maaseiah the ruler of the city, with Joah son of Joahaz, the recorder, to repair the temple of the LORD his God.2 Chronicles 34:8-13 records the efforts of Josiah to repair the temple.Josiah could not do this by himself.The repairs required teamwork.Team...  Read More

Purging Our Lives2 Chronicles 34:3 (NIV) “…In his twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem of high places, Asherah poles, carved idols and cast images.”There are things in our lives that compete with our allegiance to God.God calls these idols.These may be material possessions. They may also be intangible things such as opinions, goals, and relationships.Tim Keller said, “When anything i...  Read More

Seeking God2 Chronicles 34:3a (NIV) - In the eighth year of his reign, while he was still young, he began to seek the God of his father David.What are you seeking?Scripture teaches that we are to seek God.Josiah began to seek God when he was young.We were created by God and for God. Therefore, we are to seek him above everything.When we seek God, we find blessings beyond what this world offers.I e...  Read More

Doing Right in God’s Eyes2 Chronicles 34:1-2 (NIV) - 1  Josiah was eight years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem thirty-one years. 2  He did what was right in the eyes of the LORD and walked in the ways of his father David, not turning aside to the right or to the left.People watch us. People interact with us.They may be part of a religious group, political group, business group...  Read More

Forward in FaithPhilippians 3:13 (NIV) - Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead...In this verse Paul describes himself as runner who is straining toward the finish line.A runner wins a race by looking forward not backward.As we enter the new year let’s look forward to God’s work in our lives ...  Read More

Pressing OnPhilippians 3:13-14 (NIV) – “13  Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14  I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus”.It is good to reflect on the past.It is not good to live in the past.As we approach the new year, let’s p...  Read More

Returning from ChristmasLuke 2:20 (NIV) - The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.Like the shepherds, each one of us must return from Christmas to the routines of life.I encourage us to return, like the shepherds, with a sense of worship.Let the reality of Christ pervade everything we do.Let us live every...  Read More

God’s FaithfulnessMatthew 1:22-23 (NIV) -22  All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: 23 "The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel"--which means, "God with us."Matthew quoted from the prophet Isaiah.Isaiah wrote this approximately seven hundred years before Christ’s birth.God was faithful to his word then.God is f...  Read More

The Baby is a KingThe baby in the manger came to be King.That infant was the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.He would grow to be a man, a perfect man, who would preach again and again about thekingdom He came to establish.Usually, the story ends with the king being the mighty conqueror.One of the ironies of the biblical story is that the King had to die first.Paul David Tripp said, “This is grace:...  Read More

Supernaturally SavedThe virgin birth is a reminder to us that our salvation is supernatural.In John 1:13, John tells us that, as believers, we are “those who were born, not of natural descent, or of the will of the flesh, or the will of man, but of God.”Salvation does not come from human effort, nor is it a human accomplishment.The virgin birth points to the helplessness of humans to even take the...  Read More