Take Root Downward, and Bear Fruit Upward - Day 166 Through the Bible

A tiny butterfly extracting the nectar from a butterfly bush blossom at the cabin

My Lessons and Applications From Today's Readings

What To Do in a Day of Trouble, Rebuke and Blasphemy - 2 Kings 19 - The most powerful army of the time is coming against godly King Hezekiah and Judah to make them vassals of Assyria.  Messengers rebuke the authority of Hezekiah before the people and warn them not to depend on their God to deliver them - that no other gods have saved all of the other nations that have fallen to them.    Hezekiah, upon being told of the speech of the messengers...humbles himself before the LORD, tearing his clothes and covering himself with sackcloth...goes into the house of the LORD...while sending the leaders to the (Spirit-filled) prophet Isaiah to pray for the remnant of God's people that are left.  When a follow-up letter arrives from the Assyrian king, Hezekiah...reads it...goes up to the house of the LORD...spreads it before the LORD...prays...for God's glory and honor to triumph over the blasphemy...to assert that the gods of the other nations were wood and stone, not the God of the universe...to plead with God to save Judah...THAT all the kingdoms of the earth would know that God alone is the only true God.  God hears and answers.  AN angel of the Lord kills 185,000 of the troops in 1 day.  The army flees; the Assyrian king is murdered by his own sons as he worships in the temple of his false god.

My Lessons and Applications:  Do we follow this good example of King Hezekiah in days of trouble and panic?  When others break covenants with us made before God, do we humble ourselves before God and appeal to Him first, for the Spirit-filled prayers of His people, to save us that He might be glorified?  Do we literally spread out before Him the compellings of court, the letter of rebuke?  Do we plead the covenantal promises of God, for His glory and honor?  Do we wait for Him to work in His time, in His way...trusting in Him, leaving the consequences to Him?

From A Blessing to A Curse - 2 Kings 20 and 21 - The story, the pattern is heart-breaking and angering to just read day after day giving us insight to the unimaginable and amazing grace, mercy and patience of Holy God.  After all his trust and faithfulness in God, after God's subsequent blessings, after God granting him 15 more years to live after Hezekiah cries to him in illness, the great and good king does a very foolish, arrogant thing.  When the Babylonians commiserate with the sickly king with a letter and present, Hezekiah shows them all the wealth of Judah - in his house, in the dominion.  Isaiah prophesies that because Hezekiah did this, all treasures will be carried away by Babylon, and many of his sons will be eunuchs in the Babylonia courts. The words of King Hezekiah, called the greatest king, are among the most awful in the Bible to me:  "Will there not be peace and truth at least in my days?"  There is no concern for his progeny, for the future of God's kingdom.  This lack of fatherly concern follows with one of his sons becoming one of the most evil of all kings to rule God's chosen people.

My Lessons and Applications:  Do I parade, flaunt the blessings God has given me before others to impress them?  A great expository minister once said in a sermon I heard, "Physical beauty and great material possessions can become curses.  Teach your children this." Are my thoughts only about my present and future happiness, my life or about the well-being, the godliness of my children, grandchildren and generations to come, about honoring God more than pleasing myself?  What about our life as a nation - fiscally, morally, politically?  Are we only concerned about getting by today, making it more comfortable for ourselves, while leaving a legacy of debt - a nation bankrupt financially, spiritually, and morally for future generations?  Do my lifestyle and decisions honor God or myself?

The Filling and Uniting of the Spirit - Acts 2 - Shavuot  (The Day of Pentecost, Festival of the Weeks, Latter Firstfruits) is the celebration of the harvests in the Jewish nation.  It was also the time when the Ten Commandments were given through Moses - the giving of the law - of Torah. Just as Christ was the sacrificial Lamb of the New Covenant - the Passover Lamb - during the Jewish Passover, rose from the grave during the Jewish Feast of the First Fruits, now His harvest of believers is brought in during the Festival of the Harvest.  The Promised Helper, the giving of the Holy Spirit, comes upon all believers present, enabling them to speak in the established languages which were represented there - without prior knowledge of the languages.  Note the repetition of (the importance of) the following:  "they were all of one accord...in one place...they were all filled...the multitude came together at the sound...devout men from every nation under heaven.  Peter then preaches to them from the prophet Joel: "...And on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days; and they shall prophesy...I will show signs...wonders...before the coming of the great and awesome day of the LORD.  And it shall come to pass, that whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved." 

My Lessons and Applications:  This sermon by Peter, Holy-Spirit filled, brought 3000 converts to Christ.  The outpouring of the Holy Spirit continues on all new believers throughout Acts and this New Covenant period.  Our anointing is to empower us as we go out into the world to gather His harvest. In Luke 24:49 Jesus had warned the disciples to wait until He had ascended, and they were empowered from on high.  Jesus said, "Peace be to you.  As the Father has sent Me, so I also send you. (John 20:21)  We are united with Christ through the Holy Spirit in the bond of peace.  Ephesians 4: 1-6 "...walk worthy of the vocation to which you are called...endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; One Lord, one faith, one baptism, One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all."  May we "take root downward" through our study of God's Word together "and bear fruit upward" for Him - to His glory. (2 Kings 19:30)