Daily D – 2 Chronicles 33:15-16 | Matthew 3:8

by David Bowman | Aug 3, 2022 | Daily D | 0 comments

2 Chronicles 33:15, 16 He got rid of the foreign gods and removed the image from the temple of the Lord, as well as all the altars he had built on the temple hill and in Jerusalem; and he threw them out of the city. Then he restored the altar of the Lord and sacrificed fellowship offerings and thank offerings on it, and told Judah to serve the Lord, the God of Israel.

Matthew 3:8 “Produce fruit in keeping with repentance.”

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The evidence proving a person has made a transformational change includes a resolute break from the choices and patterns that once characterized his or her lifestyle. As John the Baptist put it, “Produce fruit in keeping with repentance.”

Manasseh had a lot of repenting to do. He had a lot of fruit to produce to overcome all the evil he had created and led others to participate in. Read 2 Chronicles 33. If you are loyal to God, you will hate what you see here. Turn to 2 Kings 21:16 and read these damning words:

Moreover, Manasseh also shed so much innocent blood that he filled Jerusalem from end to end—besides the sin that he had caused Judah to commit, so that they did evil in the eyes of the Lord.

Manasseh was warned. Verse 10 says, “The LORD spoke to Manasseh and his people, but they ignored all his warnings,” (New Living Translation).

Verse 11 tells us Manasseh was taken prisoner. A hook was placed in his nose. He was bound with bronze shackles and exiled to Babylon. Verse 12 tells us what happened next:

In his distress he sought the favor of the Lord his God
and humbled himself greatly before the God of his ancestors.

This is where we would rightly expect to hear Johnny Mathis and Deniece Williams sing, Too Much, Too Little, Too Late. Instead, we find God’s heart on full display in verse 13:

And when he prayed to him, the Lord was moved by his entreaty and listened to his plea; so he brought him back to Jerusalem and to his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the Lord is God.

If God can transform Manasseh, he can transform you. Verses 15 and above tell us how Manasseh proved his repentance. Some keywords from these verses are removed, restored, sacrificed, and serve.

Repentance leads us to remove the sinful patterns of our lives. Repentance restores broken trust and wounded relationships. Repentance sacrifices the self-centered behaviors of the past in exchange for a special future of God’s good gifts. Repentance leads to service that honors God and blesses others.

Manasseh finished well.

George Eliot is credited with saying, “It’s never too late to be what you might have been.” Manasseh demonstrates this truth. Will you? How well will you finish? Since most of us do not know our expiration date, today is a good day to become what we might have been.

Today is a good day for personal transformation by God’s grace and in his mercy. Pray like Manasseh. Repent like Manasseh. Change your lifestyle like Manasseh. Finish well like Manasseh. Tomorrow may well be too late. Today is God’s perfect timing.

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I will live a transformed life by God’s grace and in his mercy.

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Our Father, I want to be all you ever hoped I would be. Deliver me from the sin habits of my past. Restore me. Rebuild the broken places. Lead me into selfless service. 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.”