Daily D – 2 Chronicles 28:1-4

by | Aug 20, 2024 | Daily D | 0 comments

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2 Chronicles 28:1-4  Ahaz was twenty years old when he became king, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. He did not do what was right in the Lord’s sight like his ancestor David, for he walked in the ways of the kings of Israel and made cast images of the Baals. He burned incense in Ben Hinnom Valley and burned his children in the fire, imitating the detestable practices of the nations the Lord had dispossessed before the Israelites. He sacrificed and burned incense on the high places, on the hills, and under every green tree. (CSB)

King Ahaz was an ABG Leader. He would try anything to get ahead, Anything But God. He knew Israel’s history. He knew the stories of God’s amazing grace, wonder-working power, dramatic deliverance, and daily provision. He knew it and pretended it didn’t happen. 

Ahaz didn’t want to serve an all-powerful God; he wanted to become so powerful that nothing and no one could oppose him. He chose evil to accrue power. 

Let’s play like we are babies playing Peek-a-Boo. Babies love this game. They are learning what is predictable and dependable in their brand-new understanding. They laugh with delight when what is hidden from them for a moment is replaced by the face they love so much. 

Predictability teaches us so many things. For example, do stupid things and get stupid results. Do the hard right thing and get God-honoring results that bless and serve others. 

What do you think happens with Ahaz? Things went from bad to worse because of his endless bad decisions. He inevitably came to a turning point. He had an opportunity to ask God for help, to undo all of his foolishness. What happened next? Verse 22 tells us:

“At the time of his distress, King Ahaz himself became more unfaithful to the Lord.”

Ahaz doubled down in his rebellion against God and all his goodness. Forrest Gump’s mom was right. Stupid is as stupid does. 

Ahaz did not begin well or end well. He was buried, but not with the honorable kings who lived before him. What a wasted life!

Let’s predict what happens next for us. When we choose to look for God’s goodness, we find it and delight in it again and again. When we trust God to be God, to provide and protect, we experience his goodness with joy. That goodness overflows to those we are closest to where we live, work, and play. 

There is the option of the Ahaz Way, the ABG School of Leadership. It is the way of foolproof failure. You are guaranteed to lose.

I will choose to look for God and to delight in his smile.

Our Father, I look to you alone for what I need and what I want. Shape all of my desires by your grace and kindness. Empower me to express your overflowing goodness whenever I’m pressed. Amen.

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Daily D – Isaiah 65:1-2

Isaiah 65:1, 2
The Lord says, “I was ready to respond, but no one asked for help.
I was ready to be found, but no one was looking for me.
I said, ‘Here I am, here I am!’
to a nation that did not call on my name.
All day long I opened my arms to a rebellious people.
But they follow their own evil paths
and their own crooked schemes.”

Daily D – Psalm 131

Psalm 131
Lord, my heart is not proud;
my eyes are not haughty.
I don’t concern myself with matters too great
or too awesome for me to grasp.
Instead, I have calmed and quieted myself,
like a weaned child who no longer cries for its mother’s milk.
Yes, like a weaned child is my soul within me.
O Israel, put your hope in the Lord—
now and always.

Daily D – Isaiah 55:8-13

Isaiah 55:8-13
“My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the LORD.
“And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine.
For just as the heavens are higher than the earth,
so my ways are higher than your ways
and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.

“The rain and snow come down from the heavens
and stay on the ground to water the earth.
They cause the grain to grow,
producing seed for the farmer
and bread for the hungry.
It is the same with my word.
I send it out, and it always produces fruit.
It will accomplish all I want it to,
and it will prosper everywhere I send it.
You will live in joy and peace.
The mountains and hills will burst into song,
and the trees of the field will clap their hands!
Where once there were thorns, cypress trees will grow.
Where nettles grew, myrtles will sprout up.
These events will bring great honor to the LORD’s name;
they will be an everlasting sign of his power and love.”

Daily D – Isaiah 50:4-5

Isaiah 50:4, 5 “The Sovereign Lord has given me his words of wisdom,
so that I know how to comfort the weary.
Morning by morning he wakens me
and opens my understanding to his will.
The Sovereign Lord has spoken to me,
and I have listened.
I have not rebelled or turned away.”

Daily D – Isaiah 48:17-18

Isaiah 48:17, 18 This is what the Lord says—
your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel:
“I am the LORD your God,
who teaches you what is good for you
and leads you along the paths you should follow.
Oh, that you had listened to my commands!
Then you would have had peace flowing like a gentle river
and righteousness rolling over you like waves in the sea.”