2 Chron 32:18
And they shouted it with a loud voice in the language of the Judah to the people of Jerusalem who were on the wall, to frighten and terrify them, in order that they might take the city. ESV
- They were working to create fear, so they could take or rob the city. Fear is a weapon. Don’t let the enemy rob or control you through fear; 2 Tim 1:7. Take your focus off the problem and on to God. 2 Chron 32:6-8.
2 Chron 32:6-7
6 And he set combat commanders over the people and gathered them together to him in the square at the gate of the city and spoke encouragingly to them, saying,
7 Be strong and courageous. “Do not be afraid or dismayed before the king of Assyria and all the horde that is with him, for there are more with us than with him. ESV
- As a leader, it is your job to encourage the people around you. James 3:1.
- His encouragement brought their focus from the problem to the answer. He brought the focus on to the fact that God is with them and is larger than their problem. Ex 16:3; 1 Thess 3:2.
- This is the same line quoted by Elijah in 2 Kings 6:16.
- Paul turns our focus in Rom 8:31; “If God is for who can be against us?” John also says this in 1 John 4:4: “He who is in us is greater then he who is in the world.”
- What problem has been trying to intimidate you? What has been trying to discourage you? He who is in you is greater than anything against you. He has a great plan for you. Turn to Him. He is the rock that isn’t shaken. Our God is greater then our problem. Thank you, God.
2 Chron 10:6
Then King Rehoboam took counsel with the old men, who had stood before Solomon his father while he was yet alive, saying, “How do you advise me to answer the people?” ESV
- Solomon the wisest man in all the world didn’t rest on his wisdom alone. He gathered others around him that would give him wise counsel. The wise know they need advice. It is the fools who want to do things all on their own and think they need no advice. Prov 1:5, Ecc 4:10
2 Chron 7:11
Thus Solomon finished the house of the Lord and the king’s house. All that Solomon had planned to do in the house of the Lord and in his own house he successfully accomplished. ESV
- Are you planning? In order to accomplish a goal, you have to have one. It has to be defined so that it can bring focus in direction. Hab 2:2; Prov 29:18 tells us where there is no vision the people cast off restrain. Vision or goals have to be defined and plan to bring focus and restraint.
1 Chron 26:31
Of the Hebronites, Jerijah was chief of the Hebronites of whatever genealogy or fathers’ houses. (In the fortieth year of David’s reign search was made and men of great ability among them were at Jazer in Gilead.)
- When they searched for men of Great ability, this is who they found. If the search was to be in the USA for great men, would you be what they were looking for or what they were sifting through? How come? Why would they stop at you or go passed you? What makes a man that they would stop at?
- To be a man, we need to be able to take responsibility for our actions
- We need to do whatever we do as unto the Lord. Col 3:23
- Do you do what you do with all your heart, or just enough to get buy?
- Great men work hard when no one is looking, not as to please men but for God. Col 3:22
- When Paul describes leaders in Timothy and Titus, it has more to do with their character then their skills. 1 Tim 3:1-7
- Proverbs talks about those that will serve before kings and not before obscure men. Prov 22:29 those who excel or are skilled in their work.
- If you want to be serve before the great if you need to make the most of the gifts you have.
- What are you doing to grow and improve the gifts that you have?
- Jesus tells the parable of the stewards and they were expected to grow what they had been given. Matt 25:20-30
John 1:12
12 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: NKJV
- Rom 8:29 note the order of which it says things. It says that those who received or chose Him, he gave the right to become children of God, not the ones he had choosen received Him. Predestination is based on foreknowledge, not the other way around. God loves every one and wants them all to get saved 1 Tim 2:3-4. God never made a person that he didn’t love. God, help me to show the world the love that you showed me.
1 Chron 22:19
19 Now set your heart and your soul to seek the Lord your God. Therefore arise and build the sanctuary of the Lord God, to bring the ark of the covenant of the Lord and the holy articles of God into the house that is to be built for the name of the Lord .” NKJV
- Setting your heart is a choice. We are told to set our heart to seek the Lord. David commanded Solomon to set his heart. The downfall of Solomon’s son is told to us in 2 Chron 12:14. He did evil, because he didn’t set his heart to seek the Lord. He never set it in the wrong direction. It seems to find that all on its own. Have we set the direction of hearts on purpose or are we just ridding the tide and seeing where it takes us?
Prov 15:31-32
31 The ear that hears the rebukes of life Will abide among the wise. 32 He who disdains instruction despises his own soul, But he who heeds rebuke gets understanding. NKJV
It is so easy to get irritated and defensive when being corrected, but we are told here that those who receive rebuke will be at home among the wise. Those who don’t despise themselves. That isn’t what comes naturally by any means, but it is how God says it works. I always want to be someone who receives correction well.
1 Chron 5:20
20 They were helped in fighting them, and God handed the Hagrites and all their allies over to them, because they cried out to him during the battle. He answered their prayers, because they trusted in him. NIV
- They were great warriors as it states in verse 18, but their victory didn’t come from their strength. It says that they trusted in the Lord and cried out to Him, and He answered their prayers. See the Contrast to those in verse 25. Am I trying to go through life’s problems in my own strength, or have I put my trust in God crying out for His help? God, I need your help. I want you to to be the rock that I put my trust in. Ps 62:2;
