Naked deceptions...

About a week ago one morning I woke up from a dream. I rarely dream when I sleep. On occasions that I have dreamt in my sleep, when I wake up I wouldn't recall what I had dreamt.  This particular morning I woke up and remembered my dream - I was standing stark naked in broad daylight.  Unless you were a nudist, for any grown up man or woman standing stark naked in the broad daylight is an unnerving experience. Especially when you are someone who relies on his clothes to hide the "abs of flab" and all other bodily imperfections.  When I woke up I shared this dream with my wife and as we were talking she quipped - "isn't that how every human being is in the sight of God, standing stark naked! He may be saying something to you."  When I heard her say that, it felt like a jab, but I couldn't stop thinking about it. Aren't we standing stark naked in the sight of God, with all our imperfections and shortcomings, that we hide from our spouses, children, friends, our near and dear ones, and the world. We present to others what we want them to see about us.  The true person that we are, we cover it up well. We are good at deceptions!

Paul wrote, the absence of fear of God in our lives leads us to become full of every kind of wickedness, sin, greed, hate, envy, murder, fighting, deception, malicious behavior, and gossip.  They (the ungodly) are backstabbers, haters of God, insolent, proud, and boastful.  They are forever inventing new ways of sinning and are disobedient to their parents.  They refuse to understand, break their promises, and are heartless and unforgiving. (Romans 1:28-31).  Man does absolute wickedness in the cover of darkness, behind closed doors, hidden away from all prying eyes.

But are we really deceiving anyone with our smartness at this game of cover up we play or are we deceiving ourselves?  In Revelations, chapter one, Apostle John writes of his vision of Christ.  "When I turned to see who was speaking to me, I saw seven gold lampstands.  And in the middle of the lampstands was the Son of Man.  He was wearing a long robe with a gold sash across his chest.  His head and his hair were white like wool, as white as snow.  And his eyes were bright like flames of fire.  His feet were as bright as bronze refined in a furnace, and his voice thundered like mighty ocean waves.  He held seven stars in his right hand, and a sharp two-edged sword came from his mouth.  His face was bright as the sun in all its brilliance."

When a lamp is lit in a dark room, it's light brightens up the darkness in the room disclosing/exposing its contents. And so when the omnipresent LORD, described in John's vision, with eyes bright as flaming fire, feet as bright as bronze refined in a furnace, a face as bright as the sun in all its brilliance, is presently looking at us, what we conduct in the secret is absolutely, fully exposed in his line of sight. The Bible says, "the eyes of the LORD search the whole earth in order to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him." (2Chronicles16:9).

In the book of Zechariah, chapter one, we read of another vision, a vision prophet Zechariah had on February 15, 519 B.C., "In a vision during the night, I saw a man sitting on a red horse that was standing among some myrtle trees in a small valley.  Behind him were red, brown, and white horses, each with its own rider.  I asked the angel who was talking with me, "My lord, what are all those horses for?"  "I will show you," the angel replied.  So the man standing among the myrtle trees explained, "They are the ones the LORD has sent out to patrol the earth." The Bible in 2Kings 6:17, talks of the vision of prophet Elisha's servant as the Aramaen king and his troops were closing in to capture Elisha, "Then Elisha prayed, "O LORD, open his eyes and let him see!"  The LORD opened his servant's eyes, and when he looked up, he saw that the hillside around Elisha was filled with horses and chariots of fire."  God's heavenly host is everywhere, his eyes are upon us at all times!

Our pursuit to gratify our insatiable lust takes form in the innermost depths, the dark corners of our heart and mind, unseen and unknown to anyone else, but they are totally, fully exposed in the brightness of the eyes of the omnipotent, omnipresent, and omniscient LORD.  His eyes, bright like flames of fire search out the darkest corners of our hearts and minds, hid from human eyes, to see if we are fully committed to him.  For if we are not, be mindful of what the LORD says in Revelations 16:15, "Take note:  I will come as unexpectedly as a thief! Blessed are all who are watching for me, who keep their robes ready so they will not need to walk naked and ashamed."

Lord have mercy upon us. As David prayed, search me O God and know my heart. Test me and know my thoughts.  Point out within me anything that displeases you. And lead me in the paths of everlasting life.  May your grace lead us home!

Love

Love is patient and kind.  Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude.  Love does not demand its own way.  Love is not irritable, and it keeps no record of when it has been wronged.  It is never glad about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out.  Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.  (1 Corinthians 13:4-7)

The Promised Son - Isaac, a life of challenges!

One recent night after our family prayer, I was spending time by myself in prayer and bible reading. I can't recall why, but I ended up in Genesis chapter 26, which talks about the life of Isaac and the challenges he faced.  Now, Isaac was the promised child that Abraham and Sarah waited for 25 years, following which, at 90 years of age Sarah conceived Isaac. Abraham was a 100 years old at Isaac's birth.

When Isaac was a young boy, God tested Abraham's faith and obedience, by asking him to sacrifice Isaac.  As Abraham was going through with the sacrifice, God's angel intervened and stopped Abraham.  All through this ordeal Isaac was old enough to know exactly what was happening to him. For the Bible says in Genesis 22:6-8,  "Abraham placed the wood for the burnt offering on Isaac's shoulders, while he himself carried the knife and the fire.  As the two of them went on together, Isaac said, "Father?" "Yes, my son," Abraham replied.  "We have the wood and the fire," said the boy, "but where is the lamb for the sacrifice?"  "God will provide a lamb, my son," Abraham answered. And they both went together."

Isaac carried the firewood, not knowing he was going to be sacrificed, on Mount Moriah.  Once they arrived there and the altar was prepared, Isaac was bound by his father and laid on top of the altar.  And with his father's hand raised with a knife to strike him, could you imagine the emotions experienced by the little boy who faced death unexpectedly at the hand of one whom he trusted, loved and depended for protection.  He was also a witness to God's mercy and provision! Just at the moment Abraham was ready to bring the knife into his son's body, the angel of the LORD stopped Abraham. The LORD then provided a ram in Isaac's place.

He married his first cousin Rebekah at the age of forty.  Rebekah did not bear him a child for 20 years of their marriage. Isaac pleaded with the LORD to give Rebekah a child. (Genesis 25:21). The LORD answered his prayer.  Later in life, we read in Genesis 26 that a severe famine struck the land where Isaac lived with his household and had to move to the land of Gerar in southern Palestine.  The LORD appeared to him there and said, "Do not go to Egypt.  Do as I say, and stay here in this land.  If you do, I will be with you and bless you.  I will give all this land to you and your descendants, just as I solemnly promised Abraham, your father. I will cause your descendants to become as numerous as the stars, and I will give them all these lands.  And through your descendants all the nations of the earth will be blessed.  I will do this because Abraham listened to me and obeyed all my requirements, commands, regulations, and laws. So Isaac stayed in Gerar."

While there, the men of the land inquired about Rebekah, and fearing for his life that the Philistines might harm him to take her as she was beautiful, he lied to them that Rebekah was his sister.  He lived in fear in the land the LORD promised him until the day King Abimelech of the Philistines discovered Isaac's lie and subsequently issued an order of protection for Isaac and his household.  Even after things settled down for Isaac in the new city of Gerar, trouble seemed to continue to follow him as he grew more richer and powerful than anyone else in that land.

The local Philistines out of their jealousy for the success of Isaac started filling up all of Isaacs wells with dirt.  Could you imagine the impact on his household and its operations when their only source of water is taken away?  How could his large household including all the servants and livestock survive in that land without water? This happened again and again as he dug newer wells.  Finally, even King Abimelech asked Isaac to leave the country. Mind you God had appeared to Isaac personally advising him to not go to Egypt, but to settle in Gerar, when he left his hometown with his household due to the great famine.  Isaac then moved with his household to the Gerar Valley.  As he settled there and reopened the wells that his father, Abraham, had dug in his time, the local shepherds came and laid claim to those wells.  As these troubles mounted, Isaac moved again with his household to Beersheba.

Here in Beersheba God appeared a second time on the night of his arrival.  "I am the God of your father, Abraham,"  he said.  "Do not be afraid, for I am with you and will  bless you.  I will give you many descendants, and they will become a great nation.  I will do this because of my promise to Abraham, my servant."

In his old age, we read, his oldest son Esau's wives made life miserable for Isaac and Rebekah. As I finished reading the chapter the question in my mind was 'Why does the "Promised Son" Isaac have so many challenges and difficulties in life?'  As a young boy, he almost died at the hands of his father; as a married man he had no children for 20 years of his marriage; faced a great famine and the resulting move with a very large  household and possessions couldn't have been any harder; in the land of the Philistines, even with God's personal promises, he lived in fear for his life; dealt with the jealousy driven actions of the locals destroying vital assets needed for his household's survival; and towards his old age mistreated by his daughters-in-law. Why did Abraham's promise child endure so many challenges in life?

As I sat thinking of Isaac's life, the Holy Spirit dawned it on me that it is only when facing great challenges your mettle is tested.  A nation that was to come through the descendants of Isaac can have the most populous army in the world, but unless and until they'd been tried and tested in actual battles their ability and true character will not be developed.  In order for faith to mature, challenges have to be faced, God's faithfulness has to be experienced.

After Isaac settled down in Beersheba, we read, "One day Isaac had visitors from Gerar.  King Abimelech arrived with his adviser, Ahuzzath, and also Phicol, his army commander.  "Why have you come?" Isaac asked them .  "This is obviously no friendly visit, since you sent me from your land in a most unfriendly way."  They replied, "We can plainly see that the LORD is with you.  So we decided we should have a treaty, a covenant between us.  Swear that you will not harm us, just as we did not harm you.  We have always treated you well, and we sent you away from us in peace.  And now look how the LORD has blessed you!" They signed a peace treaty amongst them.  Many hundreds of years later God's promise was still true for the children of Israel, the descendants of Isaac, as spoken through prophet Isaiah.  In Isaiah 54:16-17, it is written, "If a nation comes to fight you, it will not be because I sent them to punish you.  Your enemies will always be defeated because I am on your side."

Apostle Paul who knew first hand what pain and suffering was wrote in Romans 5:3-6 "We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they are good for us -- they help us learn to endure.  And endurance develops strength of character in us, and character strengthens our confident expectation of salvation.  And this expectation will not disappoint us.  For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with love.  When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners." There will be challenges in the lives of God fearing men and women.  God's children have to persevere in the face of challenges.  God will certainly come to his children's rescue, for it's his glory at stake!

Today, the descendants of Abraham and Isaac, the children of Jacob, the nation of Israel, though a tiny nation, its "tough as nails" attitude allows it to exist among neighbors who desire to wipe it of the map!  Even with God's promise upon you, there comes temporary setbacks, but ultimate success is yours, for it is God's glory at stake.

Chris Tomlin - White Flag

Abram to Abraham - Father of Faith

When God promised Abraham that he would become the father of many nations, Abraham believed him.  God had also said, "Your descendants will be as numerous as the stars," even though such a promise seemed utterly impossible!  And Abraham's faith did not weaken even though he knew that he was too old to be a father, at the age of one hundred and that Sarah, his wife, had never been able to have children.
- Romans 4:16-19

As I read the chapter and came across these verses, I had been thinking of a friend and praying for his family as he has been going through the toughest time in his life.  As I was reading over these scriptures, I couldn't help but think, it was the faith and obedience of Abraham more so than Sarah's that gave Abraham a son through his wife, and made Sarah a mother.  When the name Abraham is mentioned in the Bible, the word faith is somewhere close by. The Bible calls him the "Father of Faith," but it does not refer to Sarah as, "the Mother of Faith." She is known by many names, as the daughter of Terah (Genesis 20:12), a half sister of Abraham, wife of Abraham, mother of Isaac and mother of many nations, but not as a woman who had extraordinary faith in the God who called and separated Abram and his household from his father's family residing in the Ur of the Chaldees (ancient Mesopotamia) to make a nation out of his descendants.

The Bible states that when God told Abraham something, "he believed." In Genesis 15 we read when God appeared to Abraham in a vision and told him that he was going to bless him. Abraham asked God what good would all the blessing in the world mean to him when he did not have even a son to pass it down to. His servant Eliezer was going to inherit all of Abraham's wealth absent an heir.  We read then, "The LORD said to him, 'No, your servant will not be your heir, for you will have a son of your own to inherit every thing I am giving you.'"  Then the LORD brought Abram (this was his name before God changed it to Abraham) outside beneath the night sky and told him, "Look up into the heavens and count the stars if you can.  Your descendants will be like that--too many to count!" And Abram believed the LORD, and the LORD declared him righteous because of his faith.  (Genesis 15:4-6)

Abram believed God though he knew that Sarai was barren. (Genesis 11:30).  Ten years into the promise, Sarah, as she had not yet conceived, offered her maid servant Hagar to Abraham to sleep with and father a child who would be adopted as their son. Then in the 24th year after God first promised a son to Abram and Sarai, God appeared to Abram and Sarai twice and renewed his promise.  During the first visitation from God, he changed their names to Abraham and Sarah. The name "Abram" meant "exalted father" and the name "Abraham" meant "father of many."  The name "Sarai" meant "my princess" and the name "Sarah" meant "princess." Aside from renewing His covenant with Abraham, God asked Abraham to circumcise all the males in his household including his servants and himself as part of their agreement to obey the terms of God's covenant with Abraham. God told that anyone who refused to be circumcised will be cut off from the covenant family for violating the covenant.

We read that on that very day that God spoke to Abraham, Abraham took his son Ishmael (through the maid servant Hagar) and every other male in his household and circumcised them, cutting off their foreskins, exactly as God had told him. Abraham was 99 years old at the time.

After Abraham's obedience to God's covenant, God visited Abraham a second time the same year and told him, "About this time next year I will return, and your wife Sarah will have a son." Sarah was within earshot of this conversation and overheard all that was said. We read, "Now Sarah was listening to this conversation from the tent nearby.  And since Abraham and Sarah were both very old, and Sarah was long past the age of having children, she laughed silently to herself.  'How could a worn out woman like me have a baby?' she thought. 'And when my master--my husband--is also so old?'"  Then the LORD said to Abraham, "Why did Sarah laugh? Why did she say, 'Can an old woman like me have a baby?'  Is anything too hard for the LORD? About a year from now, just as I told you, I will return, and Sarah will have a son.  Sarah was afraid, so she denied that she had laughed.  But he said, "That is not true.  You did laugh." (Genesis 18:10-15)

My intentions are not to play up Abraham's faith and play down Sarah's faith, for as we read the sections of Genesis which talks about them, time and again we see Abram/Abraham's faith wavered in fear for his life, as when he first left his father's household upon God calling him out and was traveling through the Pharaoh's land, he lied to the Pharaoh that Sarai was his sister (though technically correct as a half-sister, she was his wife at that point); he agreed with Sarai when he slept with her maid, Hagar, for an heir after 10 years of not having a child through Sarai though God had promised him a son through Sarai; he lied again in front of King Abimelech that Sarai, now Sarah following God's visitation and changing their names, was his sister for fear for his life.  But even as his faith wavered from time to time, the depth of his faith in his God is shown in his prompt obedience to God's commands for separation, consecration, and sacrifice, that culminated in his actions of obedience when God asked for Isaac as a sacrifice. His faith resulted in God's promise bearing a fruit in the barren womb of Sarah.

My dear friend, take courage from Abraham and Sarah's life story.  Your faith will bear fruit over the barren situations in your family life for God is passionate about his relationship with you.  God bless you and yours!!!!

PS: Another blog on Abraham, click here.

Stand in the "Favor of the LORD"

Study the Word of God for there in are the principles for life!

This is a continuation of my blog from few days ago about the "Favor of the LORD." In the previous blog we looked at the life of a seven year old boy King of Judah - Joash, who lost his way from the presence of God after the death of his earthly mentor.  I mentioned how important it was for us to build a relationship with God, a personal relationship, one that would be based on our experience.  A relationship that is based on a personal prayer life with regular scripture reading and meditation on the word of God with the help of his Holy Spirit.  Absent of which, we are doomed for failure.

Here today I write about another boy King of Judah, King Josiah.  We read of him in 2 Chronicles, chapters 34 thru 35.  Following the death of his father, King Amon, Josiah, the eight year son of Amon, ascended the throne of his father in Jerusalem (Judah) and ruled for 31 years. Unlike his father, "he did that which was pleasing in the LORD's sight and followed the example of his ancestor David.  He did not turn aside from doing what was right."  (2Chronicles 34:2).

At age 16, in his eighth year of reign, "while he was still young, Josiah began to seek the God of his ancestor David. Then in the twelfth year of his reign, at age 20, he began to purify Judah and Jerusalem, destroying all the pagan shrines, the Asherah poles, and the carved idols and cast images." And while in the eighteenth year of his reign, the 26 year old Josiah ordered the restoration of the LORD's temple that had again been neglected by his ancestors. Keep in mind that Josiah is a descendant of Joash about whom I blogged previously. There were about eight generations from King Joash to King Josiah. Some good and some evil.

While the temple was being rebuilt, Hilkiah, the high priest, discovered the Book of the Law of the LORD as it had been given by Moses. He had it brought to King Josiah and read to him. Upon hearing the Law of the LORD, and realizing how far his people had departed from the ways of his God over the years, the Bible says, "he tore his clothes in despair" (2Chronicles 34:19) over the punishment written in the Book of the Law of the LORD.  He ordered his advisers to seek the prophet of the LORD in his land, a woman by the name of Hulda.

The prophet confirmed the LORD's punishment over his people, but also informed him, "The LORD, the God of Israel, has spoken! Go and tell the man who sent you, 'This is what the LORD says: I will certainly destroy this city and its people.  All the curses written in the scroll you have read will come true.  For the people of Judah have abandoned me and worshiped pagan gods, and I am very angry with them for everything they have done.  My anger will be poured out against this place, and nothing will be able to stop it.' "But go to the king o f Judah who sent you to seek the LORD and tell him: 'This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says concerning the message you have just heard: You were sorry and humbled yourself before God when you heard what I said against this city and its people.  You humbled yourself and tore your clothing in despair and wept before me in repentance.  So I have indeed heard you, says the LORD.  I will not spend the promised disaster against this city and its people until after you have died and been buried in peace.  You will not see the disaster I am going to bring on this place."

Upon receiving this message the king gathered all his people and read the entire Book of the Law of the LORD to the people and together with them  in the presence of the LORD they pledged to obey the LORD by keeping all his commands, regulations and laws with all their heart and soul.  He restored all the laws of Moses, and the worship order as per the written instructions by King David and Solomon.

Josiah was a king who was passionate about everything about his God. We read in chapter 35 about the celebration of the Passover by the 26 year old young King and the Bible records, "Never since the time of the prophet Samuel had there been such a Passover. None of the Kings of Israel had ever kept a Passover as Josiah did, involving all the priests and Levites, all the people of Jerusalem, and people from all over Judah and Israel."

Then in the 31st year of his reign, a 39 year old Josiah and his army, confronted and tried to block Pharaoh Neco of Egypt who was marching north to assist the Assyrian king in his battle against Babylon. Though Neco sent his ambassadors to assure Josiah that he had no intentions against Judah, "What do you want with me, king of Judah? I have no quarrel with you today! I only want to fight the nation with which I am at war.  And God has told me to hurry! Do not interfere with God, who is with me, or he will destroy you." Josiah was suspicious of  Neco's motives and engaged him in war at the valley of Megiddo.

We read, "But Josiah refused to listen to Neco, to whom God had indeed spoken and he would not turn back.  Instead, he led his army into battle on the plain of Megiddo.  He laid aside his royal robes so the enemy would not recognize him.  But the enemy archers hit King Josiah with their arrows and wounded him."  (2Chronicles 35:21-22).  Josiah was injured gravely and died.  When we step out of God's plans, even our very best planned efforts meet with failure.

I wonder how come Josiah, a godly man, did not seek out the counsel of the LORD through his prophet as he did when he found the Book of the Law of the  LORD  and realized that the people of Judah had completely fallen off the ways of the  LORD .  All I can think of is our tendency to not seek the  LORD  when we seem to understand our challenges and think we are in control.  It is only when matters are totally out of our control, do we prostrate ourselves in God's presence for his intervention.  When we have a common cold, we don't pray for a healing, we take a Tylenol cold pill and sleep it off, but if we are diagnosed with cancer, we go into fasting and prayer.  We announce it to our prayer circles, summon the prayer warriors to battle the devil!  But, what about standing in the favor of the  LORD  for even that which seems to be trivial.  When we are not standing within the favor of the  LORD , even godly people meet with failure.

Though I should point out that even in failure, Josiah met with an honorable death on the battle field defending his people, unlike his predecessor Joash who was assassinated by his own people as he lay in his bed from his injuries from the war with the Arameans. (2Chronicles 24:25).  Josiah's death was mourned by the entire grief stricken nation of Judah. "The prophet Jeremiah composed funeral songs for Josiah, songs about his death.  These songs of sorrow have become a tradition and are recorded in the Book of Laments." (2Chronicles 35:25)

As I have been dealing with my own health issues, I admit scared at times, I came across Isaiah's prayer for Jerusalem in Isaiah, chapter 62.  In verse 6 and 7, he says, "O Jerusalem, I have posted watchmen on your walls, they will pray to the LORD day and night, for the fulfillment of his promise. Take no rest, all you who pray.  Give the LORD no rest until he makes Jerusalem the object of praise throughout the earth." Apostle Paul also points out in Ephesians 6:18, "Pray at all times and on every occasion in the power of the Holy Spirit.  Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all Christians every where."  In the Old Testament times, God had his prophets to advise and admonish his people, and today he has given us his Holy Spirit through the death and resurrection of his son Jesus Christ.  Seek the counsel of the Holy Spirit in everything you do, even in matters that may seem trivial. May God bless you!

Jesus Culture - I need you more

The "Favor of the LORD"

As we go through the Bible, time and again we read about "the favor of the LORD." How when one has the favor of the LORD, there is success even in the most unimaginable of circumstances. We see it in the life of the shepherd boy David who defeated the Israelite's foe, Goliath, a much bigger, stronger, well armed, battle hardened, blood thirsty, fearless enemy. I'd been reading the book of 2 Chronicles, chapters 22-24, and the life of King Joash of Judah, a descendant of King David.  The lesson here is - be careful in your christian walk; our careless, callous attitude towards God's goodness that he showers upon us faithfully will result in our losing his favor. And when his favor is no longer upon us, there will be failures and ultimately destruction for certain.

Joash was an infant boy when his father King Ahaziah of Judah met with an untimely end for he did what was evil in the sight of the LORD. King Ahaziah's mother, Queen Athaliah, seized the opportunity to establish her rule by ordering the killing of anyone who was from the bloodline of Judah who may challenge the throne. Here's a woman, a mother, who would stop at nothing, ordering the deaths of her relatives including her own children and grandchildren to seize power.  But, there was a covenant promise from God to David that he would keep the throne of Judah in David's royal line. God had told David, "Your dynasty and your kingdom will continue for all time before me, and your throne will be secure forever." (2 Samuel 7:16)

Jehosheba, the sister of Ahaziah, wife of the priest Jehoida, stole the infant Joash away, and hid the child and his nurse in a bedroom in the palace, away from the rest of the family awaiting execution.  Take a moment to pause here and think - where does Jehosheba get the courage to hide the infant at the risk of losing her own life, as the palace is under Athaliah's control with her supporters carrying out her wishes, executing everyone from Judah's bloodline. This was not even her own child! Can you imagine how difficult it would be to hide the infant without his cries reaching others?  Jehosheba and the priest Jehoida, her husband, hid the child for six years in the temple and took care of him.  They risked their lives to protect the baby boy because God's favor was upon the bloodline of David, God's favor was upon the little boy Joash.

In chapter 23 we read that towards the seventh year of Queen Athaliah's reign, Jehoida the priest decides to do something about the throne. He gathers enough courage to approach five army commanders and makes a pact with them to depose Athaliah and put the seven year old boy Joash on the throne as their king. With God's favor, he was able to remind the five commanders of God's promise to David and convince them to pledge their loyalty to Joash. Again, I want you to pause for a moment and think. Here are five battle hardened, grown up men of war, with above average intelligence (as you would need to have to be a leader or commander of an army) pledge their allegiance to a boy and put him on the throne.  They will then be his servants!  This was during one of the most turbulent times in Judah's history, that saw three different rulers in the span of eight years, and here are five army commanders who put aside any selfish ambition they may have had and pledged their allegiance to a seven year old boy King.  Yet it happened for God's promise to David and his favor upon the bloodline of David.  They overthrew the Queen, killed her and crowned the little boy Joash as the king of Judah.  If it wasn't for God's favor that was upon the boy, what else would move the hearts of five grown up men, battle hardened leaders of the army, to put a seven year old boy on the throne of Judah. Jehoida the priest was the guardian of the boy.

Joash grew up under the tutelage of Jehoida the priest who taught him in the ways of the God of Israel, Jehovah, and Joash did what was pleasing to the LORD.  Joash ruled for 33 years. During this time he rebuilt Solomon's temple that was in disrepair and partially demolished during Athaliah's reign.  Following Jehoida's death at the age of 130, Joash was led astray from the ways of Jehovah, and he led the people of Judah in to sin, worshiping idols and the Asherah poles.  God sent his servant Zechariah, the son of Jehoida, to warn Joash. But, Joash's response was to have Zechariah stoned to death.  He had Zechariah, the son of his mentor Jehoida, the one who had risked his life to put Joash on the throne of Judah, the one who stood by him for 40 years, to death. What a way to repay a lifetime's service!

God abandoned Joash and helped his enemies to defeat him.  Ultimately, Joash was assassinated as he lay in his bed, by his own men. The God who protected the life of the infant boy from the murderous hands of his wicked grandmother Athaliah, let go of his hand when the little boy grew up and abandoned his God. The infant, who survived to become the boy king of Judah, for whom people risked their lives, to whom powerful commanders pledged their loyalty, and a nation pledged its allegiance for thirty three years, met with less than a glorious end when he abandoned the God who had been faithful to him.

Following the death of Jehoida the priest, Joash lost his focus, his calling and ultimately his life. Why? One has to have a relationship with God, built on one's own experience of God's goodness, that will anchor our lives when we pass through the turbulent times.  As a christian, we have to anchor ourselves in the Word of God, through regular personal reading and meditation on the Word. We have to have a prayer life and through our personal prayer life we build our relationship with God. Listening to all the great messages, immersing yourself in christian music, reading all the good books published out there, is all good, but unless and until you develop a very intimate and personal relationship with God, you run the risk of being led astray by those who have the next grand sounding philosophy or ideas.  I pray that we won't lose God's favor upon our lives. God bless you!

Hillsong - With Everything