- Coffee Hour @ Chicklit Power...
Happy Monday Manna,
I hope you all had a great weekend. This week’s writing is based on a sermon from Dr. Rod Collins that really touched my heart and I’m sure that most of you can relate this sermon to past or present events that have taken or are taking place in your life. I encourage you to grab your Bible as we uncover the abundance of God’s blessings.
“No eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him” (1 Corinthians 2:9). This scripture has direct application to each and every one of us who are believers in Christ Jesus. Our obedience and faithfulness to God is rewarded through an abundance of blessings. We’re all extremely blessed and God loves to continue to bless.
As we make our way through the book of 2 Chronicles and Isaiah we will find that King Hezekiah’s life was blessed and the nation of Israel made an epic comeback through sanctification and consecration to the Lord.
King Hezekiah, who began ruling over Israel at the ripe age of 25, made a covenant with the Lord that he would reinstate temple worship throughout the land of Israel. Before this took place he gathered together the Levites and commanded them to sanctify themselves before they could begin reinstating temple worship. King Hezekiah’s reasoning for temple worship reinstatement was simple: the nation of Israel had fallen away from Yahweh through various forms of pagan worship rituals, thus subjecting the nation of Israel to attack. “Therefore the wrath of the Lord fell upon Judah and Jerusalem; He has given them up to trouble, to desolation, to jeering as you see with your eyes. Now it is in my heart to make a covenant with the Lord God of Israel, that his fierce wrath may turn away from us” (2 Chronicles 29: 8, 10).
Soon after the sanctification of the temple was completed, the nation of Israel provided burnt and thanksgiving offerings in such an abundance, that the King summoned more Levites to help with the assistance in preparation. What an amazing sight this would have been; to see the towering heaps of oxen, sheep, honey, grain, wine, and oil that were the first fruits of the children of Israel. The temple doors were open, the worship team had been assembled, and the sweet aroma of animal fat was offered to the Lord! What a comeback! Israel’s consecration to Yahweh would bring them victory against the brutal Assyrian army that would soon threaten the nation.
Soon after (701 BC) the much-feared Assyrian army took siege over the city of Jerusalem. Sennacherib, the Assyrian King, sent a letter to King Hezekiah slandering the name of the Lord and King Hezekiah went to the temple and prayed. The Lord protected Israel through providing an angel to kill 185,000 Assyrian soldiers. One angel! God had delivered his people once again from the hand of their enemy; their faithfulness was rewarded through constant blessings and protection.
Our faithfulness to God will be rewarded, in this life or the next. 1 Corinthians 2:9 should always remind us that the God of angel armies is on our side. God will continue to bless the ones He loves and I pray that God will continue to reveal Himself to each and every one of us on a daily basis. God bless you!
In His Love,
Garrett Castro
No comments:
Post a Comment