“If I have found favor in your sight, O king, and if it please the king, let my life be granted me for my wish, and my people for my request. For we have been sold, I and my people, to be destroyed, to be killed, and to be annihilated. If we had been sold merely as slaves, men and women, I would have been silent, for our affliction is not to be compared with the loss to the king.” Esther 7:3,4  Did King Ahasuerus’ love for Esther compel him to act to save the Jews? God orchestrated Esther’s life so that in this moment the king of Persia, who had all he desired by worldly standards, found that his desire for his queen was the greatest desire of his life.

Who loves you wholeheartedly? Who will run to rescue you regardless of the cost because of their love for you? God loves you so much that Jesus Christ died on the cross for your sins. Hope for the future is found in the love of God that was expressed on the cross of Calvary. This love is the greatest love you can ever know. This love of God gave hope to the people of Israel all throughout Persia. Can you imagine how the sorrow and grief fled from the Jews the moment they heard the decree written by Mordecai? Will you let the Love of God impact your life?

When Nehemiah heard that fellow Jews were being taken advantage of by their brothers his anger was kindled. When the ways of the world promoted self entitlement and gain at all times it was necessary for Nehemiah to remind the people what was important. What was of utmost importance? Has culture today become too focused on what we perceive our entitlements to be? The people of Israel needed to truly love the Lord their God with all of their heart, mind, soul, and strength. Were the people wholly devoted to God? If they fully clung to God the hold that their worldly possessions had upon their lives would be broken and they would start to love their neighbors because of the inward love they have for God.

Nehemiah was a catalyst that God used to turn the hearts of the people back to Himself. As Nehemiah lived out the truths that he challenged the people of Israel to follow, he was giving the greatest example he could give the people of what it was to live life fully devoted to following God. What do the actions of the leaders you know say about them? The actions portrayed in our day to day life will be a clearer expression of our relationship with God. What is true leadership? When a leader remains a shepherd to the people and seeks their welfare over his that is the seed of true leadership. Jesus Christ was the progenitor of leadership as He brought mankind back into fellowship with God by dying upon the cross of Calvary. Jesus didn’t come to gain anything but He gave everything to us.

Many men of renown rise up to lead Judah faithfully as they set their hearts towards God. You have the wisdom of Solomon who builds the Temple in Jerusalem. Jehoshaphat set his heart on following God and despite his failures he continually sought God. Joash set his heart toward God and rebuilt the Temple after his fathers defiling it with idols. You have Amaziah, Uzziah, and Jotham who despite their inherent weakness still strove to honor and follow God. Hezekiah reigned over Judah and restored the Temple, the Passover celebration and the idols were torn down. The passionate devotion of Josiah ends the reign of the good kings of Judah as he saw the sinfulness surrounding him and wept bitterly. All of these men ruled Judah as they sought to follow God with all of their heart, mind, soul, and strength.

We will never be truly faithful. The men of renown found in 2 Chronicles had great moments of faithfulness but in the end they were all limited by their sinful nature. As I look back on these great leaders of Judah who were good men but still failed I feel a hopelessness for mankind. What hope can be found in the failure of Judah. It is necessary that we see our own inability because it is only in that moment that we can truly know and trust in what Jesus Christ did on the cross. The story of Judah points to a need for a deliverer through the repeated failure of men. The deliver Jesus Christ has come into this great story God to meet the need we have.

In the midst of our striving after idols we will only seek after God when we are so removed from the things we cling to allowing us to truly see that our only hope is in God alone. In 2 Chronicles 33:10 Manasseh and the people of Judah pay no attention to God? They were so filled with their idols that they had no room in their hears for God. Can God’s love be expressed through His anger?  Did God love Manasseh so much that he sent the armies of Assyria to remove him from Judah and all he held dear to heart so that his heart would again seek out the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob? As Manasseh was captive in Babylon his heart turned back to God. Manasseh was brought back to Jerusalem by God and he sought to remove the idols that he had brought into Israel. An amazing transformation occurred in the heart of Manasseh from a man who would not listen to God to a man who acknowledged that the Lord was God.

How does our stubbornness play into our dependance upon God? How long are you willing to live in whatever way you want before you will acknowledge that the Lord, He is God? Do not harden your heart and cling to the idols and ways of the world. You will never find satisfaction apart from God. Remove the things of this life that are cluttering your heart and let God fill your heart, mind, soul and strength the way only He can. Let go of this world and cling to the Lord your God.

Do you wonder how you are to seek to love God? Do you think you have gone too far into the pits of idolatry to ever see the hopeful light of God’s love? In 2 Chronicles 35 you can find hope that will be refreshing water for your weary soul. When Josiah became king over Judah he was only eight years old. By the age of sixteen Josiah was seeking the God of his father David and by the age of twenty four he was radically purging the evil from within Judah. As Josiah sought to know God he became aware of how far Judah strayed from God. When we see the black and white truth of God’s word illuminating the deeds of our life we will meet a crisis point where we need to choose to seek God or our selfish sinfulness.

Josiah choose to seek God and was blessed because of his tender heart, ‘ “Because your heart was tender and you humbled yourself before God when you heard His words against this place and against its inhabitants, and because you humbled yourself before Me, tore your clothes and wept before Me, I truly have heard you,” declares the Lord. Behold, I will gather you to your fathers and you shall be gathered to your grave in peace, so your eyes will not see all the evil which I will bring on this place and on its inhabitants.” ‘ 2 Chronicles 34:27,28  God honored how Josiah set his heart toward Him when he saw the sinfulness around him. Sin has consequences and Judah would reap the reward for their actions in seeking the gods of the land in their idolatry. Today we live in a world full of gods that promise hope and fulfillment but they are only snares that lead to death. What do you worship? When we as Josiah realize our sinfulness, humble our hearts,and set our heart, mind, soul and strength toward God alone we will be spared from the coming wrath. The wrath that is coming upon this world is an eternity in hell but by God’s grace Jesus Christ took that burden of our sin upon himself when He died on the cross. We can just as Josiah find rest in our days and be taken to our fathers in peace. Where will you find your hope? Look to Jesus Christ who died on the cross for your sins for your hope.

The Levites were set apart by God to be used in His service when the first born males of Israel were redeemed in Numbers chapter 3. When the camp of the Israelites was arranged around the Tabernacle the Levites were set between the people of Israel and God’s anger. The Levites then take up positions to defend the seven year old Joash from harm in 2 Chronicles.How is Jesus Christ foreshadowed in these stories? Jesus Christ redeemed me from my sinfulness and blessed me with a renewed life. Jesus Christ is my advocate with God the Father in heaven. Jesus Christ has won the battle over sin and death when He died on the cross for my sins. The hope for tomorrow is found in Jesus Christ alone as we cling to His provision and promise.

The history of the kingdom of Judah given in 2 Chronicles is more encouraging than the history of the kingdom of Israel. In 2 Chronicles 13 and 14 the kingdom of Judah clings to God and seeks their strength from Him. God is fulfilling His promise that He made to Solomon; the kingdom of Judah remained faithful to God and were blessed by Him while the kingdom of Israel was sent off in captivity.

“Lord, there is no one besides You to help in the battle between the powerful and those who have no strength; so help us, O Lord our God, for we trust in You, and in Your name have come against this multitude. O Lord, You are God; let not man prevail against You.” 2 Chronicles 14:11  There is such a heart of dependance and trust displayed by Asa when Judah is facing the greater forces of Ethiopians. How does the kingdom of Judah get from this moment of faithfulness and trust in God to the moment found in 2 Kings 25 where they are sent off into exile in Babylon? How do they lose their dependance on God? What can be gleaned from these stories of faithfulness and failure of these kingdoms to apply to out lives today?

The critical path to failure starts when our sinful nature is given ground to grow within our hearts, our minds, our souls, and our strength. Can God abide with sin? If God does not have your fully devoted heart, mind, soul, and strength there is an idol laying hold upon you life. As this lust for sin takes away our desire for knowing God and clinging to Him the progression of falling away from God is set in motion. Where is your faith today? If you find yourself falling away from God pray that He renews and restores your heart, mind, soul, and strength as he removes the idols that are embedded in your life. The hope that Jesus Christ gives to us is truly enough to carry us through the difficulties of this world as we await for the future home He is preparing for us in heaven.

In 2 Chronicles 6:12-42 Solomon offers a prayer of dedication to God for the Temple. As you read through this prayer of Solomon remember that he has been blessed with a wisdom from God that no man can rival. Solomon pleads with God to remember the promises He has made with the people of Israel. Solomon knew that the most important key to survival was God alone. The emphasis of Solomon’s prayer is on God’s unwavering faithfulness and on the wavering devotion of Israel. Solomon asks God to remain faithful as the Israelites at times love Him wholeheartedly and at other times when they wallow in sin.

The most wise man to ever live pleads, “When they sin against You (for there is no man who does not sin) and You are angry with them and deliver them to an enemy, so that they take them away captive to a land far off or near, if they take thought in the land where they are taken captive, and repent and make supplication to You in the land of their captivity saying, ‘We have sinned, we have committed iniquity and have acted wickedly’; if they return to You with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their captivity, where they have been taken captive, and pray toward their land which You have given to their fathers and the city which You have chosen, and towards the house which I have built  for Your name, then hear from heaven, from Your dwelling place, their prayer and supplications, and maintain their cause and forgive Your people who have sinned against You.” 2 Chronicles 6:36-39

Do you see the hope that we can find in these four verses? All men sin that is a fact. We will always waiver in the degree to which we are devoted to God. We will fail but our hope is found in God’s faithfulness. The faithfulness of God in its purity was expressed over two thousand years ago when Jesus Christ dwelled with mankind and died on the cross for our sins. Remember the next time you see your faith and devotion to God wavering that He never moves and will remain faithful to you as you turn away from the idols that have stollen your gaze.

The Levites who where set aside for service to God are transitioned from service in the Tabernacle to service in the Temple in 1 Chronicles 23 and 24. What was it like for the men who served within the Tabernacle to enter the Temple of the Lord for the first time? What would they have felt as they entered into service in God’s new dwelling place among the people of Israel? It becomes easy to casually read through scripture and elude the emotions that are involved in the events that are portrayed. Think about it: God was dwelling in a magnificence Temple in the City of David! When awe and wonder of God is lost in the midst of the daily grind of life we are losing a key component to our existence which will lead to hopelessness.

How often do we limit our relationship with God? We let the mundane nuances of life saturate our lives to the point where we lose the awesome wonder of Jesus Christ’s beautiful gift of grace and mercy expressed through the cross. As I read through 1 Chronicles 23 and 24 I initially read it like I would read a dictionary or doctoral thesis but as the emotions involved for all these descendants of Levi the scenery with the two chapters came to life. Looking at the Bible so callously and casually is like trying to take a picture of a garden on a cloudy night; you will not appreciate the true beauty before you. Taking time to look at the emotion and beauty that God expresses throughout all Scripture will be the sunrise on the picture of that garden when the light erupts into the scene adding definition and beauty to everything. Take time to dwell in the illuminating light that is found in Jesus Christ as you reflect on Him throughout Scripture.

In the midst of God passing judgement upon Israel by sending the angel of the Lord upon Israel we are given a glimpse of the heart of David through his response. “Is it not I who commanded to count the people? Indeed, I am the one who has sinned and done very wickedly, but these sheep, what have they done? O Lord my God, please let Your hand be against me and my father’s household, but not against Your people that they should be plagued.” 1 Chronicles 21:17  David looked upon the people of Israel as sheep that God had given him be shepherd over. The sin was committed by David alone and he desired that God place the burden upon him alone for his actions to spare the sheep that we under his care. The responsibility that David claims is an encouragement and exhortation to all leaders to stand up and take responsibility for past actions and to seek out God as the plans for the future are made. What sheep are under your care? What choice do you make that will have an effect on those sheep for good or bad?

“When your days are fulfilled that you must go to be with your fathers, that I will set up one of your descendants after you, who will be of your sons; and I will established his kingdom. He shall build for me a house, and I will establish his throne forever. I will be his father and he shall be My son; and I will not take My lovingkindness away from him, as I took it from him who was before you. But I will settle him in My house and in my kingdom forever, and his throne shall be established forever.”  1 Chronicles 17:11-14  This promise God made to David foreshadows the coming of Jesus Christ the Son of God. David could not have fathomed what God had planned to redeem man from the bond of sin when he heard that one of his descendant would reign forever. “Who am I, O Lord God, and what is my house that you have brought me this far? This was a small thing in Your eyes, O God; but You have spoken of Your servant’s house for a great while to come, and have regarded me according to the standards of a man of high degree, O Lord God. What more can David still say to You concerning the honor bestowed on Your servant? For you know your servant. O Lord, for Your servant’s sake, and according to Your own heart, You have wrought all this greatness, to make known all these great things.” 1 Chronicles 17:16-19

Do you see the connection between God’s dwelling with Israel, His promise to David, and our hope for tomorrow. Jesus Christ came to dwell among the sinful men and women He needed nothing from. God’s nature didn’t change from how He chose to dwell among the Israelites and how Jesus Christ came to dwell on earth. Jesus Christ then died on the cross for the people he came to dwell with. Words are useless to describe the beauty found in the love that Jesus Christ expressed to us. I wonder just as David as to why God would choose us. In disbelief I cry out in speechless thankfulness because I was chosen as a cherished treasure by God almighty.