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"The Habit of Enjoying Adversity" by Oswald Chambers
…that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body.[2 Corinthians 4:10]We have to develop godly habits to express what God’s grace has done in us. It is not just a question of being saved from hell, but of being saved so that “the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body.” And it is adversity that makes us exhibit His life in our mortal flesh. Is my life exhibiting the essence of the sweetness of the Son of God, or just the basic irritation of “myself” that I would have apart from Him? The only thing that will enable me to enjoy adversity is the acute sense of eagerness of allowing the life of the Son of God to evidence itself in me. No matter how difficult something may be, I must say, “Lord, I am delighted to obey You in this.” Instantly, the Son of God will move to the forefront of my life, and will manifest in my body that which glorifies Him.
You must not debate. The moment you obey the light of God, His Son shines through you in that very adversity; but if you debate with God, you grieve His Spirit (see Ephesians 4:30). You must keep yourself in the proper condition to allow the life of the Son of God to be manifested in you, and you cannot keep yourself fit if you give way to self-pity. Our circumstances are the means God uses to exhibit just how wonderfully perfect and extraordinarily pure His Son is. Discovering a new way of manifesting the Son of God should make our heart beat with renewed excitement. It is one thing to choose adversity, and quite another to enter into adversity through the orchestrating of our circumstances by God’s sovereignty. And if God puts you into adversity, He is adequately sufficient to “supply all your need” (Philippians 4:19).
Keep your soul properly conditioned to manifest the life of the Son of God. Never live on your memories of past experiences, but let the Word of God always be living and active in you.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
It is in the middle that human choices are made; the beginning and the end remain with God. The decrees of God are birth and death, and in between those limits man makes his own distress or joy.[Shade of His Hand, 1223 L]Bible in One Year: 2 Kings 19-21; John 4:1-30
2 Kings 19:1 On hearing it, King Hizkiyahu tore his clothes, covered himself with sackcloth and entered the house of Adonai. 2 He sent Elyakim, who was in charge of the household, Shevnah the general secretary and the leading cohanim, covered with sackcloth, to Yesha‘yahu the prophet, the son of Amotz. 3 They said to him, “This is what Hizkiyahu says: ‘Today is a day of trouble, rebuke and disgrace. Children are ready to be born, but there is no strength to bring them to birth. 4 Maybe Adonai your God will hear all the words of Rav-Shakeh, whom his master the king of Ashur has sent to taunt the living God, and will rebuke the message which Adonai your God has heard. So pray for the remnant that is left.”
5 When King Hizkiyahu’s servants came to Yesha‘yahu, 6 he said to them, “Tell your master that this is what Adonai says: ‘Don’t be afraid of the words you heard the servants of the king of Ashur use to insult me. 7 I will put a spirit in him that will make him hear a rumor and return to his own land; then I will cause him to die by the sword in his own land.’”
8 Rav-Shakeh returned and, having heard that the king of Ashur had left Lakhish, found him making war with Livnah. 9 Then, on hearing it said that Tirhakah king of Ethiopia was on his way to fight him, the king of Ashur sent messengers to Hizkiyahu, telling them, 10 “This is what you are to say to Hizkiyahu king of Y’hudah: ‘Don’t let your God in whom you trust deceive you by saying, “Yerushalayim will not be handed over to the power of the king of Ashur.” 11 You have heard what the kings of Ashur have done to all lands — they have completely destroyed them. So how will you be delivered? 12 Have the gods of the nations delivered them? No, my ancestors destroyed them — Gozan, Haran, Retzef and the people of ‘Eden who were in Tel’asar. 13 Where is the king of Hamat? the king of Arpad? the king of the city of S’farvayim, of Hena and ‘Ivah?’”
14 Hizkiyahu took the letter from the messengers’ hands and read it. Then Hizkiyahu went up to the house of Adonai and spread it out before Adonai. 15 Hizkiyahu prayed as follows in the presence of Adonai: “Adonai God of Isra’el, who dwells above the k’ruvim! You alone are God of all the kingdoms on earth. You made heaven and earth. 16 Turn your ear, Adonai, and hear! Open your eyes, Adonai, and see! Hear the words that Sancheriv sent to taunt the living God. 17 It is true, Adonai, that the kings of Ashur have laid waste the nations and their lands 18 and have thrown their gods into the fire. For those were non-gods, merely the product of people’s hands, wood and stone; this is why they could destroy them. 19 Now therefore, Adonai our God, please save us from his power — so that all the kingdoms on earth will know that you are Adonai, God — you only.”
20 Then Yesha‘yahu the son of Amotz sent this message to Hizkiyahu: “Adonai the God of Isra’el says: ‘You prayed to me against Sancheriv king of Ashur, and I have heard you.’ 21 Here is Adonai’s answer concerning him:
‘The virgin daughter of Tziyon
despises you; she laughs you to scorn.
The daughter of Yerushalayim
shakes her head at you.
22 Whom have you taunted and insulted?
Against whom have you raised your voice
and haughtily lifted your eyes?
The Holy One of Isra’el!
23 “‘Through your messengers you taunted Adonai.
You said, “With my many chariots
I have ascended the mountain heights
even in the far reaches of the L’vanon.
I cut down its tall cedars
and its best cypresses.
I reached its remotest corners
and its best forests.
24 I dug [wells] in foreign lands,
and I drank the water.
The soles of my [soldiers’] feet
dried up all the rivers of Egypt.”
25 “‘Haven’t you heard? Long ago I made it;
in antiquity I produced it;
and now I am making it happen:
you are turning fortified cities
into heaps of ruins;
26 while their inhabitants, shorn of power,
are disheartened and ashamed,
weak as grass, frail as plants,
like grass on the rooftops
or grain scorched by the east wind.
27 “‘But I know when you sit, when you leave,
when you enter — and when you rage against me.
28 And because of your rage against me,
because of your pride that has reached my ears,
I am putting my hook in your nose
and my bridle on your lips;
and I will make you return
by the way on which you came.
29 “‘This will be the sign for you: this year, you will eat the grain that grows of itself; the second year, you will eat what grows from that; but in the third year, you will sow, reap, plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
30 “‘Meanwhile, the remnant
of the house of Y’hudah that has escaped
will again take root downward
and bear fruit upward;
31 for a remnant will go out from Yerushalayim,
those escaping will go out from Mount Tziyon.
The zeal of Adonai-Tzva’ot
will accomplish this.’
32 “Therefore this is what Adonai says concerning the king of Ashur:
‘He will not come to this city
or even shoot an arrow there;
he will not confront it with a shield
or erect earthworks against it.
33 By the way he came he will return;
he will not come to this city,’
says Adonai. 34 ‘For I will defend this city and save it, both for my own sake and for my servant David’s sake.’”
35 That night the angel of Adonai went out and struck down 185,000 men in the camp of Ashur. Early the next morning, there they were, all of them, corpses — dead. 36 So Sancheriv king of Ashur left, went and returned to live in Ninveh.
37 One day, as he was worshipping in the temple of Nisrokh his god, [his sons] Adramelekh and Shar’etzer struck him with the sword and escaped into the land of Ararat. So his son Esar-Hadon took his place as king.
20:1 Around this time, Hizkiyahu became ill to the point of death. Yesha‘yahu the prophet, the son of Amotz, came and said to him, “Here is what Adonai says: ‘Put your house in order, because you are going to die; you will not live.’” 2 Hizkiyahu turned his face toward the wall and prayed to Adonai: 3 “I plead with you, Adonai, remember now how I have lived before you truly and wholeheartedly, and how I have done what you see as good.” And he cried bitter tears.
4 Before Yesha‘yahu had left the city’s middle courtyard, the word of Adonai came to him: 5 “Go back, and tell Hizkiyahu the prince of my people, that this is what Adonai, the God of David your ancestor, says: ‘I have heard your prayer and seen your tears, and I will heal you. On the third day, you are to go up to the house of Adonai. 6 I will add fifteen years to your life. Also I will rescue you and this city from the power of the king of Ashur; I will defend this city for my own sake and for my servant David’s sake.’” 7 Then Yesha‘yahu said, “Prepare a fig-plaster.” They brought it and laid it on the inflammation, so that he would recover.
8 Hizkiyahu said to Yesha‘yahu, “What sign will there be that Adonai will heal me and that I will be able to go up to the house of Adonai on the third day?” 9 Yesha‘yahu said, “Here is the sign for you from Adonai that Adonai will do what he said: do you want the shadow [of the sundial] to go forward ten intervals or backward ten intervals? 10 Hizkiyahu answered, “It’s easy for the shadow to go down ten intervals. No, let the shadow return backward ten intervals.” 11 Yesha‘yahu called out to Adonai, and he brought the shadow on the sundial of Achaz ten intervals backward after it had gone down that far.
12 B’rodakh-Bal’adan the son of Bal’adan, king of Bavel, heard that Hizkiyahu had been ill, so he sent a letter and a gift to him. 13 Hizkiyahu listened to [the messengers] and showed them the building where he kept his treasures, including the silver, gold, spices and precious oils; also the building where he kept his armor; and everything in his treasury — there was nothing in his palace or in his entire domain that Hizkiyahu did not show them. 14 Then Yesha‘yahu the prophet came to King Hizkiyahu and asked him, “What did these men say? Where did they come from?” Hizkiyahu answered, “They came from a distant country, Bavel.” 15 Yesha‘yahu asked, “What have they seen in your palace?” “They have seen everything in my palace,” said Hizkiyahu. “There isn’t a thing among my treasures that I haven’t shown them.” 16 Yesha‘yahu said to Hizkiyahu, “Hear what Adonai says: 17 ‘The day will come when everything in your palace, along with everything your ancestors stored up until today, will be carried off to Bavel. Nothing will be left,’ says Adonai. 18 ‘They will carry off some of your descendants, your own offspring; and they will be made eunuchs serving in the palace of the king of Bavel.’” 19 Hizkiyahu said to Yesha‘yahu, “The word of Adonai which you have just told me is good.” He thought, “Isn’t it, though, if peace and truth continue at least through my lifetime?”
20 Other activities of Hizkiyahu, his power and how he built the pool and aqueduct to bring water into the city are recorded in the Annals of the Kings of Y’hudah. 21 Then Hizkiyahu slept with his ancestors, and M’nasheh his son took his place as king.
21:1 M’nasheh was twelve years old when he began his reign, and he ruled for fifty-five years in Yerushalayim. His mother’s name was Heftzibah. 2 He did what was evil from Adonai’s perspective, following the disgusting practices of the nations whom Adonai had expelled ahead of the people of Isra’el. 3 For he rebuilt the high places Hizkiyahu his father had destroyed; he erected altars for Ba‘al and made an asherah, as had Ach’av king of Isra’el; and he worshipped all the army of heaven and served them. 4 He erected altars in the house of Adonai, about which Adonai had said, “In Yerushalayim I will put my name.” 5 He erected altars for all the army of heaven in the two courtyards of the house of Adonai. 6 He made his son pass through the fire [as a sacrifice]. He practiced soothsaying and divination and appointed mediums and persons who used spirit guides. He did much that was evil from Adonai’s perspective, thus provoking him to anger. 7 He set the carved image for the asherah he had made in the house concerning which Adonai had told David and Shlomo his son, “In this house and in Yerushalayim, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Isra’el, I will put my name forever. 8 Also I will not have the feet of Isra’el wander any longer out of the land which I gave their ancestors — if only they will take heed to obey every order I have given them and live in accordance with all the Torah that my servant Moshe ordered them to obey.” 9 But they did not take heed; and M’nasheh misled them into doing even worse things than the nations Adonai had destroyed ahead of the people of Isra’el.
10 Adonai spoke this message through his servants the prophets: 11 “Because M’nasheh king of Y’hudah has done these disgusting things; because he has done things more wicked than anything the Emori, who were there before him, did; also because with his idols he made Y’hudah sin; 12 therefore here is what Adonai the God of Isra’el, says: ‘I am going to bring such calamity on Yerushalayim and Y’hudah that the ears of all who hear of it will tingle. 13 I will measure Yerushalayim with the same measuring cord that I used over Shomron, the same plumbline as for the house of Ach’av. I will scour Yerushalayim clean just as one scours a plate, scouring it and then turning it upside down. 14 I will abandon the remnant of my heritage, delivering them into the power of their enemies — they will become prey and plunder for all their enemies; 15 because they have done what is evil from my perspective and have provoked me to anger from the day their ancestors came out of Egypt to this very day.’”
16 Moreover, M’nasheh shed so much innocent blood that he flooded Yerushalayim from one end to the other — this in addition to his sin through which he caused Y’hudah to sin by doing what is evil from Adonai’s perspective.
17 Other activities of M’nasheh, all his accomplishments and the sin he committed are recorded in the Annals of the Kings of Y’hudah. 18 Then M’nasheh slept with his ancestors and was buried in the garden of his own house, the Garden of ‘Uza; and Amon his son took his place as king.
19 Amon was twenty-two years old when he began his reign, and he ruled for two years in Yerushalayim. His mother’s name was Meshulemet the daughter of Harutz from Yotvah. 20 He did what was evil from Adonai’s perspective, as had M’nasheh his father. 21 He followed entirely the manner of life of his father, serving the idols that his father served and worshipping them. 22 He abandoned Adonai, the God of his ancestors, and did not live in Adonai’s way.
23 Amon’s servants conspired against him and put the king to death in his own palace. 24 But the people of the land put to death all those who had been part of the conspiracy against King Amon. Then the people of the land made Yoshiyahu his son king in place of him.
25 Other activities of Amon and all he acomplished are recorded in the Annals of the Kings of Y’hudah. 26 Amon was buried in his tomb in the Garden of Uza, and Yoshiyahu his son took his place as king.
John 4:1 When Yeshua learned that the P’rushim had heard he was making and immersing more talmidim than Yochanan 2 (although it was not Yeshua himself who immersed but his talmidim), 3 Yeshua left Y’hudah and set out again for the Galil. 4 This meant that he had to pass through Shomron.
5 He came to a town in Shomron called Sh’khem, near the field Ya‘akov had given to his son Yosef. 6 Ya‘akov’s Well was there; so Yeshua, exhausted from his travel, sat down by the well; it was about noon. 7 A woman from Shomron came to draw some water; and Yeshua said to her, “Give me a drink of water.” 8 (His talmidim had gone into town to buy food.) 9 The woman from Shomron said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask for water from me, a woman of Shomron?” (For Jews don’t associate with people from Shomron.) 10 Yeshua answered her, “If you knew God’s gift, that is, who it is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink of water,’ then you would have asked him; and he would have given you living water.”
11 She said to him, “Sir, you don’t have a bucket, and the well is deep; so where do you get this ‘living water’? 12 You aren’t greater than our father Ya‘akov, are you? He gave us this well and drank from it, and so did his sons and his cattle.” 13 Yeshua answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will get thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks the water I will give him will never be thirsty again! On the contrary, the water I give him will become a spring of water inside him, welling up into eternal life!”
15 “Sir, give me this water,” the woman said to him, “so that I won’t have to be thirsty and keep coming here to draw water.” 16 He said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come back.” 17 She answered, “I don’t have a husband.” Yeshua said to her, “You’re right, you don’t have a husband! 18 You’ve had five husbands in the past, and you’re not married to the man you’re living with now! You’ve spoken the truth!”
19 “Sir, I can see that you are a prophet,” the woman replied. 20 “Our fathers worshipped on this mountain, but you people say that the place where one has to worship is in Yerushalayim.” 21 Yeshua said, “Lady, believe me, the time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Yerushalayim. 22 You people don’t know what you are worshipping; we worship what we do know, because salvation comes from the Jews. 23 But the time is coming — indeed, it’s here now — when the true worshippers will worship the Father spiritually and truly, for these are the kind of people the Father wants worshipping him. 24 God is spirit; and worshippers must worship him spiritually and truly.”
25 The woman replied, “I know that Mashiach is coming” (that is, “the one who has been anointed”). “When he comes, he will tell us everything.” 26 Yeshua said to her, “I, the person speaking to you, am he.”
27 Just then, his talmidim arrived. They were amazed that he was talking with a woman; but none of them said, “What do you want?” or, “Why are you talking with her?” 28 So the woman left her water-jar, went back to the town and said to the people there, 29 “Come, see a man who told me everything I’ve ever done. Could it be that this is the Messiah?” 30 They left the town and began coming toward him
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My Utmost for His Highest for Saturday, 13 May 2017 - "The Habit Of A Good Conscience" by Oswald Chambers
A conscience void of offence toward God, and toward men.[Acts 24:16]
God’s commands are given to the life of His Son in us, consequently to the human nature in which His Son has been formed, His commands are difficult, but immediately we obey they become divinely easy.
Conscience is that faculty in me which attaches itself to the highest that I know, and tells me what the highest I know demands that I do. It is the eye of the soul which looks out either towards God or towards what it regards as the highest, and therefore conscience records differently in different people. If I am in the habit of steadily facing myself with God, my conscience will always introduce God’s perfect law and indicate what I should do. The point is, will I obey? I have to make an effort to keep my conscience so sensitive that I walk without offence. I should be living in such perfect sympathy with God’s Son, that in every circumstance the spirit of my mind is renewed, and I “make out” (moffatt) at once “what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.” God always educates us down to the scruple. Is my ear so keen to hear the tiniest whisper of the Spirit that I know what I should do? “Grieve not the Holy Spirit.” He does not come with a voice like thunder; His voice is so gentle that it is easy to ignore it. The one thing that keeps the conscience sensitive to Him is the continual habit of being open to God on the inside. When there is any debate, quit. “Why shouldn’t I do this?” You are on the wrong track. There is no debate possible when conscience speaks. At your peril, you allow one thing to obscure your inner communion with God. Drop it, whatever it is, and see that you keep your inner vision clear.
Bible in One Year: 2 Kings 17-18; John 3:19-38
2 Kings 17:1 It was in the twelfth year of Achaz king of Y’hudah that Hoshea the son of Elah began his reign over Isra’el in Shomron; he ruled for nine years. 2 He did what was evil from Adonai’s perspective, although he wasn’t as bad as the kings of Isra’el who had preceded him.
3 Shalman’eser king of Ashur advanced against Hoshea, and Hoshea became his vassal and paid him tribute. 4 But the king of Ashur found that Hoshea was conspiring [against him] — he had sent messengers to So the king of Egypt and not paid his tribute to the king of Ashur, as he had previously done every year. For this the king of Ashur imprisoned him, putting him in chains. 5 Then the king of Ashur invaded all the land, advanced on Shomron and put it under siege for three years. 6 In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Ashur captured Shomron. He carried Isra’el away captive to Ashur, resettling them in Halach, in Havor on the Gozan River and in the cities of the Medes.
7 This came about because the people of Isra’el had sinned against Adonai their God, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt, out from under the domination of Pharaoh king of Egypt. They feared other gods 8 and lived by the customs of the nations that Adonai had expelled ahead of the people of Isra’el and by those of the kings of Isra’el. 9 The people of Isra’el secretly did things that were not right, according to Adonai their God. They built high places for themselves wherever they lived, from the watchtower to the fortified city. 10 They set up standing-stones and sacred poles for themselves on any high hill and under any green tree. 11 Then they would make offerings on all the high places, like the nations Adonai had expelled ahead of them, and would do wicked things to provoke the anger of Adonai; 12 moreover, they served idols, something Adonai had expressly told them not to do. 13 Adonai had warned Isra’el and Y’hudah in advance through every prophet and seer, “Turn from your evil ways; and obey my mitzvot and regulations, in accordance with the entire Torah which I ordered your ancestors to keep and which I sent to you through my servants the prophets.” 14 Nevertheless, they refused to listen but made themselves as stubborn as their ancestors, who did not put their trust in Adonai their God. 15 Thus they rejected his laws; his covenant, which he had made with their ancestors; and the solemn warnings he had given them. Instead they pursued worthless things and became worthless themselves, imitating the nations around them, whom Adonai had ordered them not to emulate. 16 They abandoned all the mitzvot of Adonai their God. They made cast metal images for themselves, two calves. They made an asherah. They worshipped the whole army of heaven. They served Ba‘al. 17 They had their sons and daughters pass through fire [as a sacrifice]. They used divination and magic spells. And they gave themselves over to do what was evil from Adonai’s perspective, thereby provoking him; 18 so that Adonai, by now very angry with Isra’el, removed them from his sight. None was left except the tribe of Y’hudah alone. 19 (However, neither did Y’hudah obey the mitzvot of Adonai their God; rather they lived according to the customs of Isra’el.)
20 Yes, Adonai came to despise all the descendants of Isra’el. He caused them trouble and handed them over to plunderers, until finally he threw them out of his sight. 21 He tore Isra’el away from the house of David. They made Yarov‘am the son of N’vat king; and Yarov‘am drew Isra’el away from following Adonai and made them commit a great sin. 22 The people of Isra’el followed the example of all the sins that Yarov‘am had committed and did not turn away from them, 23 until Adonai removed Isra’el out of his sight, as he had said he would through all his servants the prophets. Thus Isra’el was carried away captive from their own land to Ashur, and it remains so to this day.
24 The king of Ashur brought people from Bavel, Kutah, ‘Ava, Hamat and S’farvayim and settled them in the cities of Shomron in place of the people of Isra’el; they took possession of Shomron and lived in its cities. 25 When they first came to live there, they did not fear Adonai. Therefore Adonai sent lions among them, which killed some of them. 26 So they said to the king of Ashur, “The nations you carried away and settled in the cities of Shomron are not familiar with the rules for worshipping the God of the land. Therefore he has sent lions among them; and they are there, killing them; because they’re not familiar with the rules for worshipping the God of the land.” 27 In response, the king of Ashur gave this order: “Take back one of the cohanim you brought from there. Have him go and live there, and have him teach them the rules for worshipping the God of the land.” 28 So one of the cohanim they had carried away captive from Shomron came and lived in Beit-El, and he taught them how they should fear Adonai.
29 Nevertheless, every nation made gods of their own and put them in the temples on the high places which the Shomronim had made, every nation in the cities where they lived. 30 Thus the people from Bavel made Sukkot-B’not, those from Kutah made Nergal, those from Hamat made Ashima, 31 the ‘Avim made Nivchaz and Tartak, and the S’farvim burned up their children in the fire as sacrifices to Adramelekh and ‘Anamelekh the gods of S’farvayim. 32 So they feared Adonai, while at the same time they appointed for themselves priests from among themselves to preside at the high places, and they would sacrifice for them in the temples on the high places. 33 They both feared Adonai and served their own gods in the manner customary among the nations from which they had been taken away. 34 To this day they continue to follow their former [pagan] customs. They do not fear Adonai. They do not follow the regulations, rulings, Torah or mitzvah which Adonai ordered the descendants of Ya‘akov, to whom he gave the name Isra’el, 35 with whom Adonai had made a covenant and charged them, “Do not fear other gods or bow down to them, serve them or sacrifice to them. 36 On the contrary, you are to fear Adonai, who brought you out of the land of Egypt with great power and an outstretched arm. Worship him, and sacrifice to him. 37 You are to observe forever the laws, rulings, Torah and mitzvah which he wrote for you. You are not to fear other gods, 38 and you are not to forget the covenant I made with you. No, you must not fear other gods 39 but must fear Adonai your God; then he will rescue you from the power of all your enemies.” 40 However, they didn’t listen, but followed their old [pagan] practices. 41 So these nations mixed fearing Adonai with serving their carved idols; likewise their children; and to this day, their descendants do the same as their ancestors did.
18:1 It was in the third year of Hoshea the son of Elah, king of Isra’el, that Hizkiyahu the son of Achaz, king of Y’hudah, began his reign. 2 He was twenty-five years old when he began his reign, and he ruled for twenty-nine years in Yerushalayim. His mother’s name was Avi the daughter of Z’kharyah. 3 He did what was right from Adonai’s perspective, following the example of everything David his ancestor had done. 4 He removed the high places, smashed the standing-stones, cut down the asherah and broke in pieces the bronze serpent that Moshe had made; because in those days the people of Isra’el were making offerings to it, calling it N’chushtan.* 5 He put his trust in Adonai the God of Isra’el; after him there was no one like him among all the kings of Y’hudah, nor had there been among those before him. 6 For he clung to Adonai and did not leave off following him, but obeyed his mitzvot, which Adonai had given Moshe. 7 So Adonai was with him. Wherever he went out to battle, he did well. He rebelled against the king of Ashur and refused to be his vassal. 8 He drove the P’lishtim back to ‘Azah and laid waste to their territory from the watchtower to the fortified city.
9 It was in the fourth year of King Hizkiyahu, which was the seventh year of Hoshea son of Elah, king of Isra’el, that Shalman’eser king of Ashur advanced against Shomron and laid siege to it. 10 At the end of three years they captured it — that is, Shomron was captured in the sixth year of Hizkiyahu, which was the ninth year of Hoshea king of Isra’el. 11 The king of Ashur carried Isra’el away captive to Ashur and settled them in Halach, in Havor on the Gozan River and in the cities of the Medes. 12 This happened because they did not heed the voice of Adonai their God, but violated his covenant, everything that Moshe the servant of Adonai had ordered them to do, and would neither hear it nor do it.
13 In the fourteenth year of King Hizkiyahu, Sancheriv king of Ashur advanced against all the fortified cities of Y’hudah and captured them. 14 Hizkiyahu king of Y’hudah sent this message to the king of Ashur at Lakhish: “I have done wrong. If you will go away from me, I will pay whatever penalty you impose on me.” The king of Ashur imposed on Hizkiyahu a penalty of ten tons of silver and a ton of gold. 15 Hizkiyahu gave him all the silver that could be found in the house of Adonai and in the treasuries of the royal palace. 16 It was at that time that Hizkiyahu stripped the gold from the doors of the sanctuary of Adonai and from the doorposts which Hizkiyahu king of Y’hudah himself had overlaid, and gave it to the king of Ashur.
17 From Lakhish the king of Ashur sent Tartan, Rav-Saris and Rav-Shakeh to King Hizkiyahu in Yerushalayim with a large army. They advanced and came to Yerushalayim. Upon arrival, they came and positioned themselves by the aqueduct from the Upper Pool, which is by the road to the Launderers’ Field. 18 They summoned the king, but those answering the call were Elyakim the son of Hilkiyahu, who was in charge of the household, Shevnah the general secretary and Yo’ach the son of Asaf the foreign minister. 19 Rav-Shakeh addressed them: “Tell Hizkiyahu: ‘Here is what the great king, the king of Ashur, says: “What makes you so confident? 20 Do you think that mere spoken words constitute strategy and strength for battle? In whom, then, are you trusting when you rebel against me like this? 21 Now look! Relying on Egypt is like using a broken stick as a staff — when you lean on it, it punctures your hand. That’s what Pharaoh king of Egypt is like for anyone who puts his trust in him. 22 But if you tell me, ‘We trust in Adonai our God,’ then isn’t he the one whose high places and altars Hizkiyahu has removed, telling Y’hudah and Yerushalayim, ‘You must worship before this altar in Yerushalayim’? 23 All right, then, make a wager with my lord the king of Ashur: I will give you two thousand horses if you can find enough riders for them. 24 How then can you repulse even one of my master’s lowest-ranked army officers? Yet you are relying on Egypt for chariots and riders! 25 Do you think I have come up to this place to destroy it without Adonai’s approval? Adonai said to me, ‘Attack this land, and destroy it’!”’”
26 Elyakim the son of Hilkiyahu, Shevnah and Yo’ach said to Rav-Shakeh, “Please speak to your servants in Aramaic, since we understand it; don’t speak with us in Hebrew while the people on the wall are listening.” 27 But Rav-Shakeh answered them, “Did my master send me to deliver my message just to your master and yourselves? Didn’t he send me to address the men sitting on the wall, who, like you, are going to eat their own dung and drink their own urine?” 28 Then Rav-Shakeh stood up and, speaking loudly in Hebrew, said: “Hear what the great king, the king of Ashur, says! 29 This is what the king says: ‘Don’t let Hizkiyahu deceive you, because he won’t be able to save you from the power of the king of Ashur. 30 And don’t let Hizkiyahu make you trust in Adonai by saying, “Adonai will surely save us; this city will not be given over to the king of Ashur.” 31 Don’t listen to Hizkiyahu.’ For this is what the king of Ashur says: ‘Make peace with me, surrender to me. Then every one of you can eat from his vine and fig tree and drink the water in his own cistern; 32 until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, a land with grain and wine, a land with bread and vineyards, a land with olive trees and honey; so that you can live and not die. So don’t listen to Hizkiyahu; he is only deluding you when he says, “Adonai will save us.” 33 Has any god of any nation ever saved his land from the power of the king of Ashur? 34 Where are the gods of Hamat and Arpad? Where are the gods of S’farvayim, Hena and ‘Ivah? Did they save Shomron from my power? 35 Where is the god of any country that has saved its country from my power, so that Adonai might be able to save Yerushalayim from my power?’” 36 But the people kept still and didn’t answer him so much as a word; for the king’s order was, “Don’t answer him.”
37 Then Elyakim the son of Hilkiyah, who was in charge of the household, Shevnah the general secretary and Yo’ach the son of Asaf the foreign minister went to Hizkiyahu with their clothes torn and reported to him what Rav-Shakeh had said.
John 3:19 “Now this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, but people loved the darkness rather than the light. Why? Because their actions were wicked. 20 For everyone who does evil things hates the light and avoids it, so that his actions won’t be exposed. 21 But everyone who does what is true comes to the light, so that all may see that his actions are accomplished through God.”
22 After this, Yeshua and his talmidim went out into the countryside of Y’hudah, where he stayed awhile with them and immersed people. 23 Yochanan too was immersing at Einayim, near Shalem, because there was plenty of water there; and people kept coming to be immersed. 24 (This was before Yochanan’s imprisonment.)
25 A discussion arose between some of Yochanan’s talmidim and a Judean about ceremonial washing; 26 and they came to Yochanan and said to him, “Rabbi, you know the man who was with you on the other side of the Yarden, the one you spoke about? Well, here he is, immersing; and everyone is going to him!” 27 Yochanan answered, “No one can receive anything unless it has been given to him from Heaven. 28 You yourselves can confirm that I did not say I was the Messiah, but that I have been sent ahead of him. 29 The bridegroom is the one who has the bride; but the bridegroom’s friend, who stands and listens to him, is overjoyed at the sound of the bridegroom’s voice. So this joy of mine is now complete. 30 He must become more important, while I become less important.
31 “He who comes from above is above all. He who is from the earth is from the earth and talks from an earthly point of view; he who comes from heaven is above all. 32 He testifies about what he has actually seen and heard, yet no one accepts what he says! 33 Whoever does accept what he says puts his seal on the fact that God is true, 34 because the one whom God sent speaks God’s words. For God does not give him the Spirit in limited degree — 35 the Father loves the Son and has put everything in his hands. 36 Whoever trusts in the Son has eternal life. But whoever disobeys the Son will not see that life but remains subject to God’s wrath.”-------
If You Will Ask
Reflections on the Power of Prayer
Discover how, through the power of prayer, you get to know God himself in a new way and enter into a new dimension of communion with your heavenly Father.
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My Utmost for His Highest © 1927 in the U.K. by Oswald Chambers Publications Association, Ltd. © 1935 by Dodd, Mead & Company, Inc. Copyright renewed 1963 by Oswald Chambers Publications Association, Ltd. All rights reserved. United States publication rights are held by Discovery House, which is affiliated with Our Daily Bread Ministries.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Special offers are valid only for orders placed online and may not be combined with any other offers or coupons.
------
A conscience void of offence toward God, and toward men.[Acts 24:16]God’s commands are given to the life of His Son in us, consequently to the human nature in which His Son has been formed, His commands are difficult, but immediately we obey they become divinely easy.
Conscience is that faculty in me which attaches itself to the highest that I know, and tells me what the highest I know demands that I do. It is the eye of the soul which looks out either towards God or towards what it regards as the highest, and therefore conscience records differently in different people. If I am in the habit of steadily facing myself with God, my conscience will always introduce God’s perfect law and indicate what I should do. The point is, will I obey? I have to make an effort to keep my conscience so sensitive that I walk without offence. I should be living in such perfect sympathy with God’s Son, that in every circumstance the spirit of my mind is renewed, and I “make out” (moffatt) at once “what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.” God always educates us down to the scruple. Is my ear so keen to hear the tiniest whisper of the Spirit that I know what I should do? “Grieve not the Holy Spirit.” He does not come with a voice like thunder; His voice is so gentle that it is easy to ignore it. The one thing that keeps the conscience sensitive to Him is the continual habit of being open to God on the inside. When there is any debate, quit. “Why shouldn’t I do this?” You are on the wrong track. There is no debate possible when conscience speaks. At your peril, you allow one thing to obscure your inner communion with God. Drop it, whatever it is, and see that you keep your inner vision clear.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
God engineers circumstances to see what we will do. Will we be the children of our Father in heaven, or will we go back again to the meaner, common-sense attitude? Will we stake all and stand true to Him? “Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.” The crown of life means I shall see that my Lord has got the victory after all, even in me.[The Highest Good—The Pilgrim’s Song Book, 530 L]Bible in One Year: 2 Kings 17-18; John 3:19-38
2 Kings 17:1 It was in the twelfth year of Achaz king of Y’hudah that Hoshea the son of Elah began his reign over Isra’el in Shomron; he ruled for nine years. 2 He did what was evil from Adonai’s perspective, although he wasn’t as bad as the kings of Isra’el who had preceded him.
3 Shalman’eser king of Ashur advanced against Hoshea, and Hoshea became his vassal and paid him tribute. 4 But the king of Ashur found that Hoshea was conspiring [against him] — he had sent messengers to So the king of Egypt and not paid his tribute to the king of Ashur, as he had previously done every year. For this the king of Ashur imprisoned him, putting him in chains. 5 Then the king of Ashur invaded all the land, advanced on Shomron and put it under siege for three years. 6 In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Ashur captured Shomron. He carried Isra’el away captive to Ashur, resettling them in Halach, in Havor on the Gozan River and in the cities of the Medes.
7 This came about because the people of Isra’el had sinned against Adonai their God, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt, out from under the domination of Pharaoh king of Egypt. They feared other gods 8 and lived by the customs of the nations that Adonai had expelled ahead of the people of Isra’el and by those of the kings of Isra’el. 9 The people of Isra’el secretly did things that were not right, according to Adonai their God. They built high places for themselves wherever they lived, from the watchtower to the fortified city. 10 They set up standing-stones and sacred poles for themselves on any high hill and under any green tree. 11 Then they would make offerings on all the high places, like the nations Adonai had expelled ahead of them, and would do wicked things to provoke the anger of Adonai; 12 moreover, they served idols, something Adonai had expressly told them not to do. 13 Adonai had warned Isra’el and Y’hudah in advance through every prophet and seer, “Turn from your evil ways; and obey my mitzvot and regulations, in accordance with the entire Torah which I ordered your ancestors to keep and which I sent to you through my servants the prophets.” 14 Nevertheless, they refused to listen but made themselves as stubborn as their ancestors, who did not put their trust in Adonai their God. 15 Thus they rejected his laws; his covenant, which he had made with their ancestors; and the solemn warnings he had given them. Instead they pursued worthless things and became worthless themselves, imitating the nations around them, whom Adonai had ordered them not to emulate. 16 They abandoned all the mitzvot of Adonai their God. They made cast metal images for themselves, two calves. They made an asherah. They worshipped the whole army of heaven. They served Ba‘al. 17 They had their sons and daughters pass through fire [as a sacrifice]. They used divination and magic spells. And they gave themselves over to do what was evil from Adonai’s perspective, thereby provoking him; 18 so that Adonai, by now very angry with Isra’el, removed them from his sight. None was left except the tribe of Y’hudah alone. 19 (However, neither did Y’hudah obey the mitzvot of Adonai their God; rather they lived according to the customs of Isra’el.)
20 Yes, Adonai came to despise all the descendants of Isra’el. He caused them trouble and handed them over to plunderers, until finally he threw them out of his sight. 21 He tore Isra’el away from the house of David. They made Yarov‘am the son of N’vat king; and Yarov‘am drew Isra’el away from following Adonai and made them commit a great sin. 22 The people of Isra’el followed the example of all the sins that Yarov‘am had committed and did not turn away from them, 23 until Adonai removed Isra’el out of his sight, as he had said he would through all his servants the prophets. Thus Isra’el was carried away captive from their own land to Ashur, and it remains so to this day.
24 The king of Ashur brought people from Bavel, Kutah, ‘Ava, Hamat and S’farvayim and settled them in the cities of Shomron in place of the people of Isra’el; they took possession of Shomron and lived in its cities. 25 When they first came to live there, they did not fear Adonai. Therefore Adonai sent lions among them, which killed some of them. 26 So they said to the king of Ashur, “The nations you carried away and settled in the cities of Shomron are not familiar with the rules for worshipping the God of the land. Therefore he has sent lions among them; and they are there, killing them; because they’re not familiar with the rules for worshipping the God of the land.” 27 In response, the king of Ashur gave this order: “Take back one of the cohanim you brought from there. Have him go and live there, and have him teach them the rules for worshipping the God of the land.” 28 So one of the cohanim they had carried away captive from Shomron came and lived in Beit-El, and he taught them how they should fear Adonai.
29 Nevertheless, every nation made gods of their own and put them in the temples on the high places which the Shomronim had made, every nation in the cities where they lived. 30 Thus the people from Bavel made Sukkot-B’not, those from Kutah made Nergal, those from Hamat made Ashima, 31 the ‘Avim made Nivchaz and Tartak, and the S’farvim burned up their children in the fire as sacrifices to Adramelekh and ‘Anamelekh the gods of S’farvayim. 32 So they feared Adonai, while at the same time they appointed for themselves priests from among themselves to preside at the high places, and they would sacrifice for them in the temples on the high places. 33 They both feared Adonai and served their own gods in the manner customary among the nations from which they had been taken away. 34 To this day they continue to follow their former [pagan] customs. They do not fear Adonai. They do not follow the regulations, rulings, Torah or mitzvah which Adonai ordered the descendants of Ya‘akov, to whom he gave the name Isra’el, 35 with whom Adonai had made a covenant and charged them, “Do not fear other gods or bow down to them, serve them or sacrifice to them. 36 On the contrary, you are to fear Adonai, who brought you out of the land of Egypt with great power and an outstretched arm. Worship him, and sacrifice to him. 37 You are to observe forever the laws, rulings, Torah and mitzvah which he wrote for you. You are not to fear other gods, 38 and you are not to forget the covenant I made with you. No, you must not fear other gods 39 but must fear Adonai your God; then he will rescue you from the power of all your enemies.” 40 However, they didn’t listen, but followed their old [pagan] practices. 41 So these nations mixed fearing Adonai with serving their carved idols; likewise their children; and to this day, their descendants do the same as their ancestors did.
18:1 It was in the third year of Hoshea the son of Elah, king of Isra’el, that Hizkiyahu the son of Achaz, king of Y’hudah, began his reign. 2 He was twenty-five years old when he began his reign, and he ruled for twenty-nine years in Yerushalayim. His mother’s name was Avi the daughter of Z’kharyah. 3 He did what was right from Adonai’s perspective, following the example of everything David his ancestor had done. 4 He removed the high places, smashed the standing-stones, cut down the asherah and broke in pieces the bronze serpent that Moshe had made; because in those days the people of Isra’el were making offerings to it, calling it N’chushtan.* 5 He put his trust in Adonai the God of Isra’el; after him there was no one like him among all the kings of Y’hudah, nor had there been among those before him. 6 For he clung to Adonai and did not leave off following him, but obeyed his mitzvot, which Adonai had given Moshe. 7 So Adonai was with him. Wherever he went out to battle, he did well. He rebelled against the king of Ashur and refused to be his vassal. 8 He drove the P’lishtim back to ‘Azah and laid waste to their territory from the watchtower to the fortified city.
9 It was in the fourth year of King Hizkiyahu, which was the seventh year of Hoshea son of Elah, king of Isra’el, that Shalman’eser king of Ashur advanced against Shomron and laid siege to it. 10 At the end of three years they captured it — that is, Shomron was captured in the sixth year of Hizkiyahu, which was the ninth year of Hoshea king of Isra’el. 11 The king of Ashur carried Isra’el away captive to Ashur and settled them in Halach, in Havor on the Gozan River and in the cities of the Medes. 12 This happened because they did not heed the voice of Adonai their God, but violated his covenant, everything that Moshe the servant of Adonai had ordered them to do, and would neither hear it nor do it.
13 In the fourteenth year of King Hizkiyahu, Sancheriv king of Ashur advanced against all the fortified cities of Y’hudah and captured them. 14 Hizkiyahu king of Y’hudah sent this message to the king of Ashur at Lakhish: “I have done wrong. If you will go away from me, I will pay whatever penalty you impose on me.” The king of Ashur imposed on Hizkiyahu a penalty of ten tons of silver and a ton of gold. 15 Hizkiyahu gave him all the silver that could be found in the house of Adonai and in the treasuries of the royal palace. 16 It was at that time that Hizkiyahu stripped the gold from the doors of the sanctuary of Adonai and from the doorposts which Hizkiyahu king of Y’hudah himself had overlaid, and gave it to the king of Ashur.
17 From Lakhish the king of Ashur sent Tartan, Rav-Saris and Rav-Shakeh to King Hizkiyahu in Yerushalayim with a large army. They advanced and came to Yerushalayim. Upon arrival, they came and positioned themselves by the aqueduct from the Upper Pool, which is by the road to the Launderers’ Field. 18 They summoned the king, but those answering the call were Elyakim the son of Hilkiyahu, who was in charge of the household, Shevnah the general secretary and Yo’ach the son of Asaf the foreign minister. 19 Rav-Shakeh addressed them: “Tell Hizkiyahu: ‘Here is what the great king, the king of Ashur, says: “What makes you so confident? 20 Do you think that mere spoken words constitute strategy and strength for battle? In whom, then, are you trusting when you rebel against me like this? 21 Now look! Relying on Egypt is like using a broken stick as a staff — when you lean on it, it punctures your hand. That’s what Pharaoh king of Egypt is like for anyone who puts his trust in him. 22 But if you tell me, ‘We trust in Adonai our God,’ then isn’t he the one whose high places and altars Hizkiyahu has removed, telling Y’hudah and Yerushalayim, ‘You must worship before this altar in Yerushalayim’? 23 All right, then, make a wager with my lord the king of Ashur: I will give you two thousand horses if you can find enough riders for them. 24 How then can you repulse even one of my master’s lowest-ranked army officers? Yet you are relying on Egypt for chariots and riders! 25 Do you think I have come up to this place to destroy it without Adonai’s approval? Adonai said to me, ‘Attack this land, and destroy it’!”’”
26 Elyakim the son of Hilkiyahu, Shevnah and Yo’ach said to Rav-Shakeh, “Please speak to your servants in Aramaic, since we understand it; don’t speak with us in Hebrew while the people on the wall are listening.” 27 But Rav-Shakeh answered them, “Did my master send me to deliver my message just to your master and yourselves? Didn’t he send me to address the men sitting on the wall, who, like you, are going to eat their own dung and drink their own urine?” 28 Then Rav-Shakeh stood up and, speaking loudly in Hebrew, said: “Hear what the great king, the king of Ashur, says! 29 This is what the king says: ‘Don’t let Hizkiyahu deceive you, because he won’t be able to save you from the power of the king of Ashur. 30 And don’t let Hizkiyahu make you trust in Adonai by saying, “Adonai will surely save us; this city will not be given over to the king of Ashur.” 31 Don’t listen to Hizkiyahu.’ For this is what the king of Ashur says: ‘Make peace with me, surrender to me. Then every one of you can eat from his vine and fig tree and drink the water in his own cistern; 32 until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, a land with grain and wine, a land with bread and vineyards, a land with olive trees and honey; so that you can live and not die. So don’t listen to Hizkiyahu; he is only deluding you when he says, “Adonai will save us.” 33 Has any god of any nation ever saved his land from the power of the king of Ashur? 34 Where are the gods of Hamat and Arpad? Where are the gods of S’farvayim, Hena and ‘Ivah? Did they save Shomron from my power? 35 Where is the god of any country that has saved its country from my power, so that Adonai might be able to save Yerushalayim from my power?’” 36 But the people kept still and didn’t answer him so much as a word; for the king’s order was, “Don’t answer him.”
37 Then Elyakim the son of Hilkiyah, who was in charge of the household, Shevnah the general secretary and Yo’ach the son of Asaf the foreign minister went to Hizkiyahu with their clothes torn and reported to him what Rav-Shakeh had said.
John 3:19 “Now this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, but people loved the darkness rather than the light. Why? Because their actions were wicked. 20 For everyone who does evil things hates the light and avoids it, so that his actions won’t be exposed. 21 But everyone who does what is true comes to the light, so that all may see that his actions are accomplished through God.”
22 After this, Yeshua and his talmidim went out into the countryside of Y’hudah, where he stayed awhile with them and immersed people. 23 Yochanan too was immersing at Einayim, near Shalem, because there was plenty of water there; and people kept coming to be immersed. 24 (This was before Yochanan’s imprisonment.)
25 A discussion arose between some of Yochanan’s talmidim and a Judean about ceremonial washing; 26 and they came to Yochanan and said to him, “Rabbi, you know the man who was with you on the other side of the Yarden, the one you spoke about? Well, here he is, immersing; and everyone is going to him!” 27 Yochanan answered, “No one can receive anything unless it has been given to him from Heaven. 28 You yourselves can confirm that I did not say I was the Messiah, but that I have been sent ahead of him. 29 The bridegroom is the one who has the bride; but the bridegroom’s friend, who stands and listens to him, is overjoyed at the sound of the bridegroom’s voice. So this joy of mine is now complete. 30 He must become more important, while I become less important.
31 “He who comes from above is above all. He who is from the earth is from the earth and talks from an earthly point of view; he who comes from heaven is above all. 32 He testifies about what he has actually seen and heard, yet no one accepts what he says! 33 Whoever does accept what he says puts his seal on the fact that God is true, 34 because the one whom God sent speaks God’s words. For God does not give him the Spirit in limited degree — 35 the Father loves the Son and has put everything in his hands. 36 Whoever trusts in the Son has eternal life. But whoever disobeys the Son will not see that life but remains subject to God’s wrath.”-------
If You Will AskReflections on the Power of Prayer
Discover how, through the power of prayer, you get to know God himself in a new way and enter into a new dimension of communion with your heavenly Father.
BUY NOW
My Utmost for His Highest © 1927 in the U.K. by Oswald Chambers Publications Association, Ltd. © 1935 by Dodd, Mead & Company, Inc. Copyright renewed 1963 by Oswald Chambers Publications Association, Ltd. All rights reserved. United States publication rights are held by Discovery House, which is affiliated with Our Daily Bread Ministries.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Special offers are valid only for orders placed online and may not be combined with any other offers or coupons.
------
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