#50525

God, thank You for giving me the courage and discipline to pursue You and keep away from evil. Because of Your work in my life, I know that You are greater than anything that fights me. You have overcome the world, and You live in me! Strengthen me and help me to continue to eradicate the character traits that is not in Your nature. In Jesus' name, Amen.

DAILY BIBLE READING: 1 KINGS 19-20 LUKE 23: 1-25 ELIJAH FLEES JEZEBEL he was afraid, and he arose and ran for his life and came to Beersheba, which belongs to Judah, and left his servant there. a day’s journey into the wilderness and came and sat down under a broom tree. he asked that he might die, saying, “It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life, for I am no better than my fathers.” 5And he lay down and slept under a broom tree. And behold, an angel touched him and said to him, “Arise and eat. for the journey is too great for you.” And he arose and ate and drank, and went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb, the mount of God. THE LORD SPEAKS TO ELIJAH he came to a cave and lodged in it., “What are you doing here, Elijah?” “I have been very jealous for the Lord, the God of hosts. For the people of Israel have forsaken your covenant, and I, even I only, am left, and they seek my life, to take it away.” “Go out and stand on the mount before the Lord.” And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore the mountains and broke in pieces the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. And after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. 12And after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire the sound of a low whisper. 13And when Elijah heard it, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” “Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus." THE CALL OF ELISHA he departed from there and found Elisha who was plowing. Elijah passed by him and cast his cloak upon him. e returned from following him and took the yoke of oxen and sacrificed them and boiled their flesh with the yokes of the oxen and gave it to the people, and they ate. Then he arose and went after Elijah and assisted him. AHAB'S WARS WITH SYRIA AHAB DEFEATS BEN-HADAD AHAB DEFEATS BEN-HADAD AGAIN A PROPHET CONDEMNS BEN-HADAD'S RELEASE And he said to him, “Thus says the Lord, ‘Because you have let go out of your hand the man whom I had devoted to destruction, therefore your life shall be for his life, and your people for his people.’” 43And the king of Israel went to his house vexed and sullen and came to Samaria. JESUS BEFORE PILATE Pilate asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” And he answered him, “You have said so.” JESUS BEFORE HEROD When Herod saw Jesus, he was very glad, for he had long desired to see him, because he had heard about him, and he was hoping to see some sign done by him. 9So he questioned him at some length, but he made no answer. Herod and Pilate became friends with each other that very day, for before this they had been at enmity with each other. Pilate then called together the chief priests and the rulers and the people, 14and said to them, “You brought me this man as one who was misleading the people. And after examining him before you, behold, I did not find this man guilty of any of your charges against him. 15Neither did Herod, I will therefore punish and release him.” PILATE DELIVERS JESUS TO BE CRUCIFIED they were urgent, demanding with loud cries that he should be crucified. And their voices prevailed. 24So Pilate decided that their demand should be granted. 25He released the man who had been thrown into prison for insurrection and murder, for whom they asked, but he delivered Jesus over to their will. THE CRUCIFIXION seized one Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country, and laid on him the cross, to carry it behind Jesus. Jesus said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. 29For behold, the days are coming when they will say, ‘Blessed are the barren and the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed!’ 30Then they will begin to say to the mountains, ‘Fall on us,’ and to the hills, ‘Cover us.’ 31For if they do these things when the wood is green, what will happen when it is dry?”

2 CHRONICLES 33:10-17 MANASSEH'S REPENTANCE The Lord spoke to Manasseh and to his people, but they paid no attention. Therefore the Lord brought upon them the commanders of the army of the king of Assyria, And when he was in distress, he entreated the favor of the Lord his God and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers. 13He prayed to him, and God was moved, heard his plea and brought him again to Jerusalem into his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the Lord was God. Afterward he built an outer wall for the city of David, He also put commanders of the army in all the fortified cities in Judah. took away the foreign gods and the idol from the house of the Lord, He also restored the altar of the Lord and offered on it sacrifices, commanded Judah to serve the Lord, the God of Israel. the people still sacrificed at the high places, but only to the Lord their God. INSIGHT The fifty-five-year reign of Manasseh, king of Judah, is summarized in 2 Kings 21:2: “He did evil in the eyes of the Lord.” Manasseh “rebuilt the high places” and set up “an Asherah pole” (21:3), a sacred pole that honored the pagan goddess Asherah. In addition, he shed “much innocent blood” and led his people to follow his wrongdoing (v. 16). His life is further described in 2 Chronicles 33. He defiled the temple by setting up “altars to the Baals” and “bowed down to all the starry hosts” (v. 3). He even sacrificed his own children (v. 6). But after being taken captive to Babylon, Manasseh humbly prayed to God, was returned to his throne in Jerusalem, and ended his reign seeking to right his many wrongs (vv. 10-17). Likewise, we can humbly turn to Him for a fresh start. By: Alyson Kieda

GOD OF THE FRESH START “The Merchant of Death is Dead!” That was the headline for an obituary that may have caused Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, to make a course correction in his life. But the newspaper made a mistake—Alfred was very much alive. It was his brother Ludvig who had died. When Alfred realized he’d be remembered for a dangerous invention that claimed many lives, he decided to donate most of his significant wealth to establishing an award for those who had benefited humanity. It became known as the Nobel Prize. More than two thousand years earlier, another powerful man had a change of heart. Manasseh, king of Judah, rebelled against God. As a result, he was taken captive to Babylon. But “in his distress he sought the favor of the Lord,” and “when he prayed,” God “brought him back to Jerusalem and to his kingdom” (2 Chronicles 33:12-13). Manasseh spent the rest of his rule in peace, serving God and doing his best to undo the wrongs he’d done before. “The Lord was moved” by Manasseh’s prayer (v. 13). God responds to humility. When we realize we need to make a change in the way we’re living and turn to Him, He never turns us away. He meets us with grace we don’t deserve and renews us with the self-giving love He poured out at the cross. New beginnings begin with Him. By: James Banks

Reflect & Pray Where in your life do you need to have a change of heart? How will you turn to God today?

Forgiving Father, thank You that You’ll never turn me away. Please help me to turn to You with all my heart in all I do today. In Jesus name, Amen.

BEATITUDES “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” What does Jesus mean when He talks about blessings? The word BLESSED in Greek is makarios, and it's difficult to translate into English. Many translators used the word BLESSED or HAPPY as this was the closest to the meaning they could get. There is an eternal JOY on the inside that the world cannot give you. This means no matter what happens in my day, I have a joy that cannot be taken away. These Beatitudes are an invitation into a completely counter-cultural value system that no circumstance or happening can take our JOY away. It's by living with these new instructions that Jesus gives, that he is inviting us to live a truly flourishing life. The first group that Jesus says is blessed are the poor in spirit. What does He mean to be poor in spirit? In verse 3 the word that is used in the original New Testament Greek is a word that means 'poverty, to cower, to cringe like a beggar'. In classical Greek usage, it was used the same way, as someone who crouches, who bends, who wretchedly begs for money or for worth. And if you take this meaning of the word and you combine it with 'in spirit', 'poverty in spirit', what it is saying is: those who are poor in spirit are those who are blessed, are those who will have the kingdom of heaven. You could translate it like this, ‘Blessed are those who are so desperately poor in their spiritual resources that they realise that they must have help from outside sources. Theirs is the kingdom of heaven'.