May 9, 2006 - II Kings 7-9 and John 1:1-28
I went to Henry Blackaby's Bible study this morning. It is always a blessing. One thing he said relates to our reading today. He said that many Christians marginalize God in their lives. That is, we limit God to a small part of our lives, or we limit His influence in our lives. That is a terrible tragedy, considering that He is our life. I pray that God will speak to us today to show us if that is true of us.
Chapter 7 relates the story of the four lepers who wanted to live, so they chose to take a chance and go to the Syrians for food. In the process they found that God had scared them all off, and they had left all of their food for the starving people of Israel. Doesn't this show the power of God to turn things around? The king thought it was a trick, and he would not go out to receive the blessing. Let's not limit God. Let's not miss the blessing.
Chapter 8 tells us how God restored the Shunammite's land after 7 years. She might have thought that was impossible, but it was possible with God. All things are possible with God. We are the ones who limit God's ability to work through our unbelief. Let's decide to trust Him all the way and see what He does.
In chapters 8 and 9 we see how God brought vengeance on Ahab's family. Sometimes, we think God is slack in punishing those who do evil. We want Him to do it our way. That is wrong. We should not limit God to our way. His way is best. He will repay. Let's let Him bring real justice.
In John 1 we see the fullness of Christ. We heard a message on this passage Sunday night in our revival. Christ is the full revelation of God. He is the creator of all. He is the light. He is life. In Him we see all of the grace and peace of God in bodily form, walking in our world. If anything should convince us of the infinite God, it should have been Jesus coming to earth. Let's focus on His greatness, and let Him work His will in us. Let's let Him have all of our attention and all of our love today. Then, we can see what He will do.
Tomorrow, I intend to read II Kings 10-12 and John 1:29-51.
Chapter 7 relates the story of the four lepers who wanted to live, so they chose to take a chance and go to the Syrians for food. In the process they found that God had scared them all off, and they had left all of their food for the starving people of Israel. Doesn't this show the power of God to turn things around? The king thought it was a trick, and he would not go out to receive the blessing. Let's not limit God. Let's not miss the blessing.
Chapter 8 tells us how God restored the Shunammite's land after 7 years. She might have thought that was impossible, but it was possible with God. All things are possible with God. We are the ones who limit God's ability to work through our unbelief. Let's decide to trust Him all the way and see what He does.
In chapters 8 and 9 we see how God brought vengeance on Ahab's family. Sometimes, we think God is slack in punishing those who do evil. We want Him to do it our way. That is wrong. We should not limit God to our way. His way is best. He will repay. Let's let Him bring real justice.
In John 1 we see the fullness of Christ. We heard a message on this passage Sunday night in our revival. Christ is the full revelation of God. He is the creator of all. He is the light. He is life. In Him we see all of the grace and peace of God in bodily form, walking in our world. If anything should convince us of the infinite God, it should have been Jesus coming to earth. Let's focus on His greatness, and let Him work His will in us. Let's let Him have all of our attention and all of our love today. Then, we can see what He will do.
Tomorrow, I intend to read II Kings 10-12 and John 1:29-51.