- So Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria came against him and afflicted him instead of strengthening him. 2 Chronicles 28:20 & For he sacrificed to the gods of Damascus that had defeated him and said, “Because the gods of the kings of Syria helped them, I will sacrifice to them that they may help me.” But they were the ruin of him and of all Israel. 2 Chronicles 28:23 – I wanted to share more than one verse today from this passage because this king made this same mistake more than once. If you didn’t read the passage, King Ahaz hardcore turned from following after God and as a result God allowed foreign nations to come in and overpower them…many, many times. What we see here in our verses is how Ahaz chose to handle his enemies. He turned to other nations and other gods only to find them turning on him and being his ruin. Let’s take to heart the mistakes this king made and settle now that when our enemy comes it’s God and only God we’ll turn to for help. This is just one beautiful thing scripture offers us, a chance to see the end results of choices we could make in our story without having to live with the consequences of making them ourselves. Over and over and over again we’re seeing throughout these passages God is the only safe place to lean on in our times of trouble. Praise God we get to learn that lesson this way through scripture and not have to always navigate the regrets and pain of making these wrong choices in our life. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1542
- And Ahaz gathered together the vessels of the house of God and cut in pieces the vessels of the house of God, and he shut up the doors of the house of the Lord, and he made himself altars in every corner of Jerusalem. 25 In every city of Judah he made high places to make offerings to other gods, provoking to anger the Lord, the God of his fathers. 2 Chronicles 28:24-25 – Each chapter we read seems to bring up a new king and that king’s level of faithfulness to the Lord. Ahaz, our next king of Judah, has completely rejected God and has created altars of worship to false gods that he even sacrificed his own sons on. The phrase though that stands out here today is “he shut up the doors of the house of the Lord.” Not only did he choose to not follow the Lord, he made it difficult for others to. Now, I highly doubt anyone reading this has a desire to make it difficult for others to come to Jesus, you would never purposefully be “shutting up the doors” to others coming to be with the Lord. So let’s be watchful on how we may unknowingly be doing this. How welcoming are you to those who are different than you when they are seeking to gather with your church? Is there any grievances or tension with a brother or sister in the Lord that hasn’t been resolved? These sort of questions can cause us to evaluate how open or closed we are making the doors for others to approach Jesus. Are God’s arms open wide but we are standing in the way of them coming to Jesus? Is our pride, comfort, or lack of forgiveness a stumbling block for others to come close to Jesus? Dwell today on how you can be a door opener for all to approach their Savior. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2617
Daily DEVO 