Year 5, Day 31: Romans 8

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Discipleship Focus: Calling

• Calling asks whether or not God has called the person to the particular work at this point in their life.

I’m going to go a bit outside of the tradition perspective on calling today.  Normally we talk about calling with respect to a particular task or work.  But today I want to talk about calling with respect to grace in general.  Before we can ever get to what God is calling me to do, I really need to understand that God is calling me to Him in the first place.

This is such an important point to remember.  Yes, God calls us to do certain things in our life.  But God’s ultimate calling is to approach Him.  God’s ultimate calling is to have us get our identity in Him.  God’s ultimate calling is for us to take a position where we submit to Him as king, thus giving up our own personal agendas.

God calls us out of our sinfulness.  The only reason we can be righteous at all is because He calls us to be righteous and paved the way for us to be righteous with the blood of His own Son.  The only reason we can be righteous is because He has called us to receive His Spirit.  Everything we do for God and in God’s name starts here.  It all starts with the call of God beckoning us to be righteous.

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Year 5, Day 30: Romans 7

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Discipleship Focus: Guidance

• Guidance: God grants us His guidance.  Sometimes this guidance is God leading us away from temptation.  Sometimes this guidance is helping us to follow in a direction for which He has chosen.  Our default position should be to wait for God’s guidance and then follow when it comes.

I think that this is an interesting chapter with which we can deal with the topic of guidance.  After all, in this chapter Paul tells us that the Law is unnecessary for the person who is in Christ.  Yet on the other hand, the Law is righteous.  So what is the real truth of the Law?

Here’s Paul’s point.  When we are obeying God, we are walking in God’s ways.  We are receiving and listening to the Holy Spirit within us.  We are being guided by God and following Him.  In this situation, things are working out well as our relationship with God is fruitful and meaningful.

However, this is not the only possibility.  We are all sinful.  We all follow the passions of our own hearts.  As we turn to our own passion, we need guidance to turn back to God.  The Law reminds us of our sinfulness.  The Law reminds us of how to obey God.  The Law helps to put us back on the right path and remind us of our need for Jesus Christ.

So we can see that God has richly set His guidance before us.  We have His Holy Spirit to follow.  But when we do not desire to follow the Spirit, we have the Law to remind us that we have instead chosen to follow the desires of our own heart.  In either case, God has lavished us with opportunities for guidance.

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Year 5, Day 29: Romans 6

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Discipleship Focus: King

• King: This is the pinnacle of the Kingdom Triangle.  When we look towards God’s position in the universe, we acknowledge that He is an omnipotent king.  Authority comes from Him.  Power comes through His authority.  He is looking for representatives for His kingdom.

I had a hard time choosing the topic today.  Not because I didn’t know where to go but because I saw three options.*  Ultimately, I settled on the idea of King.  Let’s look at what Paul is saying in Romans 6 about how we relate to God as King.

Paul makes it really clear in this passage that we are not free.  We submit to something in our life.  The question is, to whom or to what do we submit?  Do I submit to the perspective of the world?  Do I submit to the value systems of the culture around me?  Or do I submit to God as king over my life, giving Him the sovereignty to rule over my life as I follow Him and His ways?

Paul makes it very clear in verse 16 that we are slaves.  We are either slaves to righteousness or slaves to sin.  I am either submitting to the world and its empty promises or I am submitting to the one true king.  I think it is important to make this distinction clearly, because it is really easy to say one thing but live the lifestyle of the other.  I think it is important to stop and pause and make sure that I am living as if God is king over my life.

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* The three options I was choosing between were:

1. King: Who am I submitting to, God or some other power in my life?
2. Obedience: Am I truly willing to be obedient – which as Paul says leads to righteousness?  Or do I talk a good talk but I am really not obedient to God but rather obedient to my own will?
3. Identity: What is my identity?  Do I consider myself a person who is free to do whatever they want and be whatever I want to be?  Or is my identity coming from God as I submit to Him as His slave in righteousness?

Year 5, Day 28: Romans 5

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Discipleship Focus: Forgiveness

• Forgiveness: Forgiveness is when our sins are absolved by God.  We do not deserve this forgiveness, but God grants it to us anyway.  We cannot earn forgiveness, but God gives it to us anyway.  As we are forgiven by God, He also asks us to forgive others.  In fact, Jesus Himself teaches us to pray for our forgiveness in the Lord’s Prayer when He says, “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.”

I cannot help but to read this chapter and think about forgiveness.  For me, there is such a profound depth of forgiveness when Paul says: just as sin came into the world through the trespass of one man, so through one man God’s grace came into the world.  We’re all sinful.  It was a part of Adam; it’s a part of us.  God didn’t have to save us.

But God did.  God sent His Son to deal with our problem.  God forgave us so that we could be in relationship with Him.  We deserve nothing; He gives us everything.  We should be condemned; in Him we find life.

That’s forgiveness.  That’s grace, love, and mercy.  That’s the God that I serve.

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Year 5, Day 27: Romans 4

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Discipleship Focus: Calling

• Calling asks whether or not God has called the person to the particular work at this point in their life.

Today I’m going to continue the trend of looking at a very deep theological passage from a slightly different perspective.  In Romans 4 Paul does the vast majority of his theological work on salvation by grace rather than salvation by works.  It is in this chapter that we understand that righteousness is credited to us by God’s grace rather than due to us by God because of our work.  God allows us to be counted as righteous before we can ever do anything to earn it.

But let’s take a step back.  God calls us into righteousness.  God wants us to come to Him.  He wants us to find Him.  He wants us to know grace rather than wrath.  The reason He extends grace first is because He desires it for us in our life.

Regardless of whatever else God may be calling you into, know that God is calling you into righteousness first and foremost.  Before God wants you to do anything else He wants you to know His grace.  Before He sets any other plan before you He wants you to be wrapped in righteousness.  Righteousness is so much more than a state of existence.  It is a calling.

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Year 5, Day 26: Romans 3

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Discipleship Focus: Provision

• Provision: God gives us what we truly need.  God knows our needs better than we can know them.  We learn to trust God to provide for us.

As I look at the idea of provision, I get it.  Everything good comes from God.  The food that I eat comes from God.  The house over my head comes from God.  The job that I have has come directly from the hand of God.  Everything I have is a direct result of God’s provision for me in my life.

However, I think sometimes we get so caught up in the provision of worldly stuff that we forget where provision begins.  Paul tells us that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.  Paul tells us that nobody is righteous.  He tells us that nobody understands.  He tells us that nobody seeks God under their own power.  The truth is that left to ourselves, we all deserve condemnation.

But in the face of that verdict God provided an answer.  God sent His Son to die for our sake.  God sent His Son as a sacrifice that I couldn’t make.  That’s where God’s provision truly began.  God’s plan of salvation was Jesus Christ all along.  Without the foundation of Christ, I wouldn’t even be able to see God’s provision in other things.

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Year 5, Day 25: Romans 2

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Discipleship Focus: Challenge

• Challenge: God does not merely wish us to be in relationship with Him as we are.  He challenges us to grow, stretch, and transform as we take on the mantle of being His representatives to this world.

If you ever want to feel challenge in your life, read the last half of Romans 2.  You cannot escape Paul’s words without feeling the conviction of the Holy Spirit upon you.  Paul’s accusation against those who follow God is spot on as much as we’d rather deny it.  As Brennan Manning beautifully says:

“The Greatest Single Cause of Atheism in the world today is Christians, who acknowledge Jesus with their lips but who walk out the door and deny Him with their lifestyle.  That is what the world finds simply unbelievable.”

This is really what Paul is talking about.  We have no ability to judge one another.  But we should take every opportunity to judge ourselves!  Only God can determine whether another person’s soul will rest eternally with Him or not.  But I have every invitation to look into my own life and discern where I am following my own desires and not living in obedience to His will.  I should be examining my life for sin as God defines it.

The world is absolutely looking.  The world is absolutely looking to see where I am hypocritical.  Let’s face it; they really don’t have to look that hard to see the evidence of sin in my life.  So my task is to look where they look, see the sin, and rise up to the challenge of wrestling against it and removing it from my life.  That’s the challenge of Romans 2.  Am I willing to actually obey God, recognize my sin, confess it, and repent?

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Year 5, Day 24: Romans 1

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Discipleship Focus: Approval, Appetite, Ambition

• Approval: We all need to feel as though we are accepted.  When we seek the approval of God, our Up is in the right place.  But when we seek the approval of other people besides God, we open the door to pursuing false gods and risk putting someone or something other than God in our Up position.
• Appetite: We all have needs that need to be filled.  When we allow ourselves to be filled with the people and things that God brings into our life, we will be satisfied because our In will be in proper focus.  But when we try to fill ourselves with our own desires we end up frustrated by an insatiable hunger.
• Ambition: We all need a goal to which we can strive.  When our ambition comes from God, we find fulfillment in our obedience into that for which we have been equipped because our Out is in proper focus.  But when our ambition comes from ourselves, we find ourselves chasing after our own dreams and trying to find fulfillment in accomplishments of our own making.

As I listened to Paul unpack his theology in this opening chapter, I couldn’t help but think in terms of Approval, Appetite, and Ambition.  Look at how Paul unpacks what he says in the second half of the chapter.  It all begins with our desire to not see how God has revealed Himself to us.  His invisible attributes have been shown to us throughout all creation.

This leads us into our own ambition.  We think to be wise, but God knows we are still fools.  We happily exchange the desire and will of God for our own agendas and the glory of the world around us.  Therefore God gives us over to our own sinfulness.

Of course, this leads us into our appetite.  When God gives us over, we fall into our own lusts.  We start to obey our hearts.  We do what seems right in our own eyes.  We do what seems fun.  We do what we want.

Why do we do this?  Paul tells us why in the last verse in this chapter.  We do it for the approval of others who do these things.  We do it so that we can approve of others who do the same thing.  We do it for approval.

We should be seeking God’s approval.  We should be seeking God’s will instead of filling our own appetite.  We should be ambitious towards the heart of God and not ourselves.

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Year 5, Day 23: 2 Kings 25

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Discipleship Focus: Identity

• Identity: Our true identity comes from the Father.  Only when our identity comes from God can we be obedient in ways that satisfy our person to our core.

Much of what I have to say today is inspired by my blog post that I made three years ago.  You can follow the link at the top if you would like to read it.  I would encourage you to do so.

Today we get to watch God’s chosen people lose everything.  The king’s sons are all slaughtered just before the king’s eyes are put out.  The walls of Jerusalem are torn down.  The temple is ransacked and burned.  The impressive people – that is, anyone with a useful skill – is deported to Babylon.  Anything of any importance is either destroyed or taken.  God allows this to happen to His chosen people because of their disobedience.  We talked about that yesterday.

All of this makes me wonder the same thought that I had three years ago.  God lets go of everything that the Hebrew people had gained over the last millennia (or 5 centuries if you only want to count back as far as David).  God lets His temple get burned.  God lets His special city be broken.  Is there any clearer message to humanity that the stuff of the world isn’t nearly as important to God as our relationship with Him?  God is willing to let all the stuff go away to give the people a chance to return to Him spiritually.

So, am I?  Am I willing to give up the world for a chance to know God and invite other to know Him, too?  Is my identity rooted in God or in the stuff around?

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Year 5, Day 22: 2 Kings 24

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Discipleship Focus: Obedience

• Obedience: Genuine and satisfying obedience comes out of our identity.  Our true identity comes only from our Father.

I was a little stuck on what to write for today.  In the end, I settled on obedience.  And I may just write about it tomorrow.  We’ll have to see.

So why do I focus on obedience when we are studying the fall of the Hebrew people?  It’s quite simple, actually.  The Hebrew nations fall because they are not obedient.  They fall because they did not listen to God and heed His voice.  Their lack of desire to be obedient to anything but their own whims is at the heart of this chapter.  The end comes because of a lack of obedience.

In this light, I also need to lift up the character of God.  Notice that this chapter is about the faithfulness of God, too.  God promises destruction as a result of a lack of obedience.  This chapter is about God keeping His Word.  God is powerful enough to keep His promises.

So I’m left asking.  If I believe God is powerful enough to put His own people into exile, why am I not obedient?  Why do I still pursue my own desires?  Am I like the Hebrew people who hear the Word of God but think that God won’t actually punish me for my disobedience?  I need to always remember that while God is absolutely gracious and forgiving, He is also a God who allows us to dwell in the consequences of our sin when necessary and appropriate.

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Year 5, Day 21: 2 Kings 23

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Discipleship Focus: Bearing Fruit

• Bear Fruit: We bear fruit after we grow.  Bearing fruit is ultimately the goal of abiding and the goal of being called into the Kingdom of God.  However, while bearing fruit is our calling, it is not the end.  We bear fruit so that we can then prune, abide, grow, and bear more fruit in another season.  Bearing fruit is not the end, but rather only a portion of the whole rhythm of life into which God has called us.

What a neat story that we have before us!  And what’s sad is that this great king comes so close to the end of the reign of the kings. Even the great reforms of Josiah would not be enough to stave off the rebellion of the people.

However, this should not detract us from our learning from Josiah.  Look at what Josiah does.  He bears fruit.  He bears fruit all over the place!  He takes what God has given to him, abides in the presence of the Lord, and then actually goes out and impacts the world before him!

In the last chapter we saw Josiah go before the Lord.  In the last chapter we saw Josiah listen to the Word and allow himself to be convicted.  In this chapter we see him go through season after season of bearing fruit.  Although we aren’t explicitly told about them, I am sure that there were periods of rest and planning before getting ready to bear more fruit in the various stages that we see occurring.

What can we learn from Josiah?  Rest.  Abide in God’s Word.  Study, learn, focus.  And then put it to good use.  Bear the fruit that God has asked you to bear.  Bear the fruit that God has invited you to bear.

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Year 5, Day 20: 2 Kings 22

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Discipleship Focus: King

• King: This is the pinnacle of the Kingdom Triangle.  When we look towards God’s position in the universe, we acknowledge that He is an omnipotent king.  Authority comes from Him.  Power comes through His authority.  He is looking for representatives for His kingdom.

I love the stories about Josiah.  He is such an incredible breath of fresh air over the normal king of Israel and Judah.  He is humble.  He is obedient.  He hears the word and repents without having t be told to do so!  He hears the Word of the Lord and is so open to the conviction of the Holy Spirit that explanation isn’t even necessary!  What a breath of fresh air indeed.

So I have to ask why.  I mean, we’re all essentially in the same boat.  We are all fallen and fall short of the glory of God.  Every single one of us has the obstacle of sin between us and God.  So why do some kings respond like Josiah while other kings respond like the majority who just ignore God?  Perhaps more importantly, why do some average folks like you and me respond one way while other average folks respond another way to God?  If none of us are righteous on our own, then what is the difference between those who respond and those who don’t?

I think the difference is that those who respond have come to a place of understanding that they aren’t the center of their own life.  Those who respond to God are in a place of understanding that God and God’s ways are better than our own agendas.  Sure, we might fall and stumble once and a while.  But fundamentally those who do respond to God understand this truth.

God is King.  He is the ruler of the universe.  His agenda is best for my life.  His ways are higher than my ways.  Josiah responds to God because he already understands and accepts this reality.  Want to respond to God like Josiah does?  Let yourself go.  Follow God as though He actually is the center of your life.  Then you’ll respond to God like Josiah.

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Year 5, Day 19: 2 Kings 21

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Discipleship Focus: Imitation

• Imitation: This is the second over-arching step of the discipleship process.  First we gain information, then we imitate our spiritual mentor.  Imitation leads to innovation of spirituality in our own life.

I find the list of kings from Hezekiah (yesterday’s reading) to Josiah (tomorrow’s reading) to be one of the most significant group of kings in this whole book.  In fact, other than David and Solomon, I think we can learn more from the study of this set of kings than from any other set in the book.

Let’s pick up where we left off yesterday.  Hezekiah was living his life largely for himself.  Then he got sick and Isaiah told him that he wasn’t going to recover.  Hezekiah repented and began the process of changing his life around.  It was during that time that he made sure that copies of the Law were to be found in Jerusalem.  It was at that time that an heir was produced to him.  While Hezekiah has a rough start, he ends well.

Then we get to Manasseh.  2 Kings has nothing good to say about Manasseh, but read 2 Chronicles 33 before putting any major conclusion upon Manasseh.  Here again we see a king who in his younger years follows his own heart and his own desires.  I can’t help but wonder if Manasseh learned to follow his own heart while he was young and Hezekiah was still undergoing the process of reform.  Could Manasseh have learned his evil ways from Hezekiah before he really got into the life changing of God?  Certainly!  But even here, it would appear that Manasseh eventually did imitate his father as repentance seems to find Manasseh – at least according to 2 Chronicles 33.

Then we hit Amon.  Amon abandons God and does not repent.  Here it appears that Amon imitates his father Manasseh during his rebellious years.  But Amon never imitates the repentance of Manasseh his father or Hezekiah his grandfather.  Amon pursues the world, imitating the mistakes of his father that he probably learned while he was growing up.

Tomorrow we’ll get to read about Josiah, who is an incredibly godly king.  Clearly Josiah does not imitate his father.  But I can’t help but wonder if Josiah doesn’t learn from Manasseh his grandfather, as Josiah would have been born after Amon his father was an adult.  I can’t help but wonder if Josiah learned from Manasseh’s repentance, heard the stories of Hezekiah’s repentance, and then saw all of the mistakes of Amon his father’s rule.

In the end, I think so much of this chapter is all about imitation.  What traits and habits are we passing on to our children?  What are we encouraging them to imitate in the places of our life where we do not follow God’s calling?  What are we teaching to our children when we think nobody is looking?

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Year 5, Day 18: 2 Kings 20

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Discipleship Focus: Obedience, Prophet

• Obedience: Genuine and satisfying obedience comes out of our identity.  Our true identity comes only from our Father.
• Prophet: A prophet is one of the fivefold ministry categories that is used throughout the Bible and especially lifted up in Ephesians 4:11.  The prophet is primarily concerned with whether or not the people are hearing the voice of God.  The prophet is also concerned about whether or not the people are responding to God’s voice.

I think this is one of my favorite chapters into the relationship of a prophet to the Lord.  Put yourself in Isaiah’s shoes.  God tells Isaiah to go to the king and tell him that he will not recover.  So Isaiah is obedient and does so.  Then, when Hezekiah repents and before Isaiah can even get home, God tells Isaiah to turn around and tell Hezekiah that his repentance was heard and God is going to extend his life.  This is what it often feels like to be a prophet.

Prophets bring God’s Word to their contemporaries.  As God’s Word goes out and affects people, prophets must be able to be malleable to the changes in the people.  A prophet may be declaring judgment one day and then have to go back to the same people and declare grace and peace because the message of judgment was heard!  Imagine how difficult it must have been to go to Hezekiah and deliver one message and then as soon as the circumstances change to then go back and deliver nearly the exact opposite message.  And remember, Isaiah wasn’t necessarily privy to Hezekiah’s repentance.

Isaiah could have balked in his humanity.  Isaiah could have gotten upset at having to go say the opposite of what he had just said.  Isaiah could have challenged God for making him feel like a hypocrite.  But Isaiah does none of those things.  Isaiah is obedient.  Isaiah does the will of God.  Isaiah follows God’s leading.  This is an incredibly story to lift up what it looks like to be a true prophet of God.  This is what it looks like to set aside one’s own desire for approval and instead submit obediently to the call of God.

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Year 5, Day 17: 2 Kings 19

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Discipleship Focus: Forgiveness

• Forgiveness: Forgiveness is when our sins are absolved by God.  We do not deserve this forgiveness, but God grants it to us anyway.  We cannot earn forgiveness, but God gives it to us anyway.  As we are forgiven by God, He also asks us to forgive others.  In fact, Jesus Himself teaches us to pray for our forgiveness in the Lord’s Prayer when He says, “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.”

God is a forgiving God.  It is one of the most important characteristics of His nature as without His forgiveness, there could be no positive relationship with Him.  Our ability to relate to Him depends solely upon His desire and ability to forgive us in the first place.

I don’t believe this dynamic is any more clear than Hezekiah’s action here in this chapter.  Everything that he has tried to do to appease Sennacherib, King of Assyria, has failed.  Now he turns and goes before God.

But here’s the thing.  Hezekiah has already stripped God’s temple bare.  So when he goes before God in the temple, he is given a visible reminder of just how much he messed up.  He is responsible for the temple being vacant and deprived of glory.  He is responsible for the threadbare – literally! – appearance.  Hezekiah has to go into a place that should represent the splendor and majesty of God and confess that he is to blame.

And God hears him.  God hears him and God forgives him.  God hears him and forgives him and slays the Assyrians with a single blow.  The next day the Hebrew people in Jerusalem wake up and find the Assyrian army dead at their doorstep.  There can be no doubt that this was an act of God.  There can be no doubt that God is a loving and forgiving God, willing to be in relationship with the truly repentant.

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Year 5, Day 16: 2 Kings 18

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Discipleship Focus: Forgiveness

• Forgiveness: Forgiveness is when our sins are absolved by God.  We do not deserve this forgiveness, but God grants it to us anyway.  We cannot earn forgiveness, but God gives it to us anyway.  As we are forgiven by God, He also asks us to forgive others.  In fact, Jesus Himself teaches us to pray for our forgiveness in the Lord’s Prayer when He says, “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.”

God is really and truly an amazing God.  I can’t begin to say how many times I have done things that God could have used as justification to write me off.  He hasn’t.

That’s the part of 2 Kings that I love about God and Hezekiah.  Yes, Hezekiah is a very faithful king.  Hezekiah follows in the ways of David, loving God with his whole being.  Hezekiah goes so far as to destroy the Asherah poles and return the whole country to a focus upon God.  Hezekiah seems to do much right for God.  But Hezekiah is not perfect.

Hezekiah has a large moment of stumbling.  The King of Assyria comes and threatens Hezekiah.  Hezekiah believes that he can buy off the king of Assyria and tries to give the king wealth.  In fact, Hezekiah even robs the temple of its beauty in order to pay off the king of Assyria.  Not only does Hezekiah not rely upon God for salvation, Hezekiah takes what is the Lord’s and gives it to another person.  He wavers in the face of challenge.

But God does not abandon Hezekiah.  God certainly could have, given what Hezekiah did here in this story!  Thankfully God is a forgiving God.  God is a God of second chances.  God knows that we do occasionally waver and He forgives while allowing us the time and space to repent and change.  After all, God does not ask us for perfection.  Rather, God asks us for repentance knowing that we will not be able to deliver perfection.  He is indeed a loving and forgiving God, even when we act like Hezekiah and take what is ultimately His and give it away to someone else.

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Year 5, Day 15: 2 Kings 17

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Discipleship Focus: Up

• Up: Up is the word we use for what we worship.  If we are following God’s will, God will occupy the Up position.  Our life, our identity, our mission, our family on mission is all derived from Up.  This is why God needs to be in our Up position.

Today we read about the northern kingdom’s captivity.  Assyria has enough of these Hebrew people.  They take them into bondage and lead them away from their homeland.  What’s somewhat disturbing is that this is God’s will.  God desires that the Assyrians be the means through which the Hebrew people fall into bondage.

But why do they fall into bondage?  If they are God’s chosen people, why do they end up in bondage only a few hundred years after the glorious reign of the likes of David?

The Bible is clear on this point.  They went into bondage because they lusted after the gods of other nations.  They worshipped foreign gods.  They even offered their children as sacrifices to those foreign gods.  They set up foreign gods in their own houses.  They erected places to worship foreign gods in the land that was supposed to be devoted to the one God.

In a nutshell, their Up wasn’t God.

Israel goes into captivity because their Up is somewhere it shouldn’t be.  Israel goes into captivity because their hearts are focused elsewhere than upon God.  They go into captivity because the essence of their life is derived from the world rather than God.

That’s a scary conclusion to draw, isn’t it?

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Year 5, Day 14: 2 Kings 16

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Discipleship Focus: King

• King: This is the pinnacle of the Kingdom Triangle.  When we look towards God’s position in the universe, we acknowledge that He is an omnipotent king.  Authority comes from Him.  Power comes through His authority.  He is looking for representatives for His kingdom.

Today we meet Ahaz, king of the Jews.  Today Ahaz seems to embrace Assyria.  He seems to welcome their presence.  Of course, he also is on record as sacrificing his own son in Canaanite worship of the Ba’als.  So not really a great chapter with respect to spiritual leadership.

I find this to be an interesting chapter in lieu of yesterday’s chapter.  Yesterday I nailed Pekah for fighting against Assyria.  Today I nail Ahaz for seemingly embracing Assyria.  But there is a very important difference.  God brought Assyria against Israel and Pekah fought against God’s will.  God didn’t bring Assyria against Judah yet Ahaz embraces them.  In both cases we have the kings acting contrary to God’s will even though their actions are polar opposites of one another.

So what can we take from these back to back stories?  Is this a case of damned if I do and damned if I don’t?  Is this a case of being unable to please God because embracing Assyria is wrong while fighting against Assyria is likewise wrong?

No.  Actually it is the opposite.  What both kings do is cease to be humble before God.  They act out of their own impulse and desire.  Neither pauses to humble themselves before their true King: God.  That is the lesson for today.  We need to remember that God is king.  He knows what is best for each of our lives.  We each need to stop, humble ourselves before God, and seek His will.

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Year 5, Day 13: 2 Kings 15

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Discipleship Focus: Ambition, Appetite, Approval

• Approval: We all need to feel as though we are accepted.  When we seek the approval of God, our Up is in the right place.  But when we seek the approval of other people besides God, we open the door to pursuing false gods and risk putting someone or something other than God in our Up position.
• Appetite: We all have needs that need to be filled.  When we allow ourselves to be filled with the people and things that God brings into our life, we will be satisfied because our In will be in proper focus.  But when we try to fill ourselves with our own desires we end up frustrated by an insatiable hunger.
• Ambition: We all need a goal to which we can strive.  When our ambition comes from God, we find fulfillment in our obedience into that for which we have been equipped because our Out is in proper focus.  But when our ambition comes from ourselves, we find ourselves chasing after our own dreams and trying to find fulfillment in accomplishments of our own making.

I don’t feel like I have a bead on a single thread through this passage.  But what I do pick up on is this string of Israelite kings.  We get one king after another.  And as we’ve entered the death throes of the kingdom of Israel, it shouldn’t surprise anyone that they go from one king to another king to another king in rapid succession.  It shouldn’t surprise us to see political coup after political coup.

But the more important question is why does this happen?  I believe it is happening because the kings of Israel chase after the world and the world’s ways instead of God’s ways.

• When they are seeking human approval instead of God’s approval, it makes sense that God’s protection won’t cover them when those who do not approve of them come to usurp their power. 
• When they are seeking to feed their own appetite for wealth, power, and other things it should make sense that God isn’t there to protect them against others who are looking to satisfy their own human appetite for those same things.
• When they are seeking their own ambition rather than leading people into the ways of God, it shouldn’t surprise us when God doesn’t protect them from other people who are likewise seeking their own ambitious ways.

It shouldn’t surprise us to see kings rise and fall once God is abandoned in Israel.  Likewise, it shouldn’t surprise us to see it in our own culture, either.  When a culture no longer pursues the consistent things of God, we should expect cultural fads to come and go.  In this circumstance we should expect to see a culture whose trends change as often as the wind.  That’s what we see in the death throes of Israel as their kingdom is coming to an end.

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Year 5, Day 12: 2 Kings 14

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Discipleship Focus: Ambition

• Ambition: We all need a goal to which we can strive.  When our ambition comes from God, we find fulfillment in our obedience into that for which we have been equipped because our Out is in proper focus.  But when our ambition comes from ourselves, we find ourselves chasing after our own dreams and trying to find fulfillment in accomplishments of our own making.

In this chapter we see a great contrast between godly ambition and personal –or ungodly – ambition.  We should want what God desires for our life.  We should cast away our personal ambitions that are not in line with God.

Amaziah takes the throne in Judah.  Once he has secured the power, he brings judgment upon those who killed his father.  But he spares their children because of his obedience to the Lord.  This appears to be godly ambition.

Amaziah also conquers the Edomites.  We don’t know that this was done by God’s request, but we also don’t see anywhere that Amaziah is condemned for the act, either.  So it is possible that this act falls into the camp of godly ambition as well.  But it is equally possible that it is personal – or ungodly – ambition.  What I think we have here is actually a turning point where we see Amaziah upon the fulcrum of choice.  Which way does he fall?

Amaziah goes too far.  Amaziah gets caught up in his personal ambition rather than being content with what God desires for his life.  Amaziah tries to invade Israel and pays a heavy price.  He is defeated.  The Israelites conquer Judah the whole way back to Jerusalem.  They tear down a portion of the wall around Jerusalem.  The temple of God is raided because of Amaziah’s ambition.

When we step out in God’s will, we live a godly ambition under a godly protection.  But when we step out in our own ambition we only go with our own power.  We usually have to suffer the consequences of our own personal ambition.  Ambition is good, but only when it matches up with God’s ambition for our life.

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Year 5, Day 11: 2 Kings 13

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Discipleship Focus: Father

• Father: This is the pinnacle of the Covenant Triangle.  God is the Father.  He is the creator.  He is love.  Our relationship with the Father is rooted in His love for us.  We get our identity through Him.  When the Father is in our life, obedience becomes clear.

When we talk about as Father, one of the original feelings that is evoked is one of love.  After all, that is what a father should be.  A father should be a person who loves you and demonstrates love to you by helping you grow, leading you through your mistakes, and celebrating your victories with you.  So when we look to God as Father, we see love.

However, we also see many characteristics that support love.  Today, we hear about two kings of Israel that walk in the evil ways of their kingly heritage.  We hear about how they lift up the worship of Ba’al and keep the Asherah poles of worship and sacrifice.  Yet we also hear about a fairly lengthy reign for each of them.

What does this tell us?  This tells us that the Father had incredible patience as He tried to display His love to Israel.  He gave each of those kings over a decade and a half to recognize His love and guidance and provision.  I imagine if I were God I would have given up long before this, which is a good reason as to why I am not God!  But God is patient.  He doesn’t give up on us quickly.  He does extend Himself to us generation after generation regardless of whether one generation accepts Him or rebels against Him. 

He is Father.  He is loving and patient.

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Year 5, Day 10: 2 Kings 12

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Discipleship Focus: Calling, Competency

• Calling asks whether or not God has called the person to the particular work at this point in their life.
• Competency: Being able to accomplish what one is called to do.

One of my favorite parts of this story is the turn of events in the middle of the chapter.  We are told that there is a plan to repair the temple and the priests are put in charge of the repairs.  And then we are told that nothing happens.  We don’t know why the repairs don’t get done; see my blog post from three years back to hear a couple of theories.

But then we are told that the king comes in and appoints construction workers – think general contractors – to oversee the project.  Almost immediately the repairs are begun and they are finished in good order.

This teaches us a really good lesson in human affairs: put people in charge over tasks about which they are both called and competent.

The priests were not trained in making repairs.  They didn’t know how to do most of the repairs and they wouldn’t know how much it would cost.  The priests were trained in things like sacrifice and maintaining the religious order in the temple.  When they were put in charge of the physical building, the repairs don’t get done.  The wrong people are in charge!  That doesn’t make the priests bad, it just means they were put in charge of something about which they were neither called nor competent!

How many times do we do this in life?  Or even, how many times do we do this in church?  We assume that just because someone is good in teaching theology that they could also be on a property team or a finance committee.  Or we assume that just because someone is a great greeter that they would make a good spiritual leader for a church council or board of elders.  No, we should all stop thinking that way.  Let people do what God has called them to do.  And let’s give people permission to have places of both lack of calling and lack of competency and therefore set other people up in those areas to allow them to not participate in those areas.

When the priests were allowed to just be priests and called and competent contractors were called upon to do the work, the work got done!  What an incredible lesson about allowing people to just do the task that God has called them to do.

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Year 5, Day 9: 2 Kings 11

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Discipleship Focus: In

• In: This is the word we use to express our relationships with our spiritual family.  These are often the people who hold us spiritually accountable.  They are the ones to whom we typically go for discussion and discernment.  These are the ones with whom we learn to share leadership.  They are the ones with whom we become family on mission.

I am struck by the example of three people in 2 Kings 11.  Let’s look first at the Queen Mother: Athaliah.  Her is a woman who takes it upon herself to kill all of her nieces and nephews.  Why would she do this?  Well, her son was dead.  She was the Queen Mother and found herself in power in lieu of another male heir.  From the perspective of wanting to keep one’s power she was eliminating the competition to her staying in power.  This is much like King Herod’s killing the babies when Jesus was born.  It’s a horribly gruesome act done under the misguided belief that a ruling person has the right to do whatever they want to stay in power.  It’s the natural outcome when a person has no checks and balances.  This is the kind of thinking that happens when a person has no In.

On the other hand, we have Jehoiada and Jehosheba as examples.  Here are people who do the right thing in the face of evil.  Jehosheba hides Joash away and keeps him safe.  We also have Jehoiada the priest who works with the captains of the guard.  Together they make a pact and anoint Joash king.  They protect the true king from the vengeful rule of Athaliah.  Together they discern.  Together they act.  They have the ability to come to a good decision because none of them act completely alone.  They share leadership and share the burden.  That’s what life is like when we have an In.

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Year 5, Day 8: 2 Kings 10

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Discipleship Focus:

• Ambition: We all need a goal to which we can strive.  When our ambition comes from God, we find fulfillment in our obedience into that for which we have been equipped because our Out is in proper focus.  But when our ambition comes from ourselves, we find ourselves chasing after our own dreams and trying to find fulfillment in accomplishments of our own making.

I find this chapter challenging – as I found yesterday’s chapter challenging.  As with yesterday, we find that God’s will is done.  God blots out Ahab’s house completely and totally.  It is a gruesome process, but God’s prophetic message for Ahab is fulfilled through Ahab.

But here’s the question with which I find myself wrestling.  Was Jehu called to do this or was he doing it out of his own ambition?  Certainly God’s will was accomplished.  But was it accomplished by a submitted servant acting out of his calling or was it accomplished by a human being seeking his own ambition to rule and it just so happened that his goals aligned with God’s will?  Those are two vastly different concepts.  It is one thing to submit to God and do His will.  It is another thing for God’s will to be done by chance just because it happens to coincide with a person’s ambition.

So let’s look at Jehu in the end.  If Jehu was submitted to God, I have got to believe God would get the praise and the glory.  You will notice that God doesn’t get the praise and the glory.  Jehu fights against Ahab’s house and comes out victorious.  But in the end Jehu seeks his own glory, not God’s glory.  In the end Jehu turns to the golden idols in Dan and Bethel instead of God.

I don’t know Jehu’s heart.  I am not in a position to judge him – only God can do that.  But I can see the fruit of his labor.  God is not glorified through Jehu’s action.  God is not the focus of Jehu’s purging of Ahab’s family.  It is a good lesson to learn.  Am I ambitious in what God wants for me or am I ambitious in what I want and try to get it to coincide with God’s plan for my life?

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Year 5, Day 7: 2 Kings 9

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Discipleship Focus: King

• King: This is the pinnacle of the Kingdom Triangle.  When we look towards God’s position in the universe, we acknowledge that He is an omnipotent king.  Authority comes from Him.  Power comes through His authority.  He is looking for representatives for His kingdom.

I spend a significant amount of time in my blog post from three years ago talking about how it is that a just God can work through the bloody and deceitful actions of Jehu.  Because on the surface it seems like if God uses Jehu than either Jehu must be declared just or God must be declared unjust.  After all, how can a just God work through an unjust servant, right?

Having said that, I need to remember that I am an unjust servant of God.  I am a sinner and deserving of condemnation.  I may receive righteousness, but that is because of God’s grace, not because I deserve it.  So Immediately I can see that the earlier assertion is a fallacy.  The truth is that God is in the habit of using sinners – unjust people – all the time.  The fact that God can work good through the hands of sinners is amazing!  And it is no reason to call God unjust.  It is every reason to call God miraculous.

Which leads me to a greater understanding of the Kingship of God today.  God is so much the King of the universe that not only can He use evil people to bring about His good, but He can do so and still remain good while doing it!  That is how much God is King over the universe.  When we interact with the world around us, we take on the characteristics of the world with which we interact.  Sometimes that is a conscious decision and sometimes it is an unconscious one.  But God does not.  God does not take on the characteristics of an unjust and evil world when He interacts with it.  Rather, because He is king the world takes on His characteristics whenever He is present.

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