2 Chronicles 26:1-28:27; Romans 13:1-14; Psalm 23:1-6; Proverbs 20:11Why was he stopped? The policemen knew a black man had committed a crime, but they wrongly stopped an upstanding black man who happened to be in the area at the wrong time. This scenario occurs across America more often than we like to think. Paul says the “authorities that exist have been established by God” (Romans 13:1). This ...  Read More

2 Chronicles 24:1-25:28; Romans 12:1-21; Psalm 22:19-31; Proverbs 20:8-10Community is essential for spiritual maturity. In 2 Chronicles 24, we see the role that relationships played in Joash being able to rule wisely. “Joash did what was right in the eyes of the Lord all the years of Jehoiada the priest.” Then when Jehoiada died there was a massive spiritual vacuum in his life. He soon found himse...  Read More

2 Chronicles 21:1-23:21; Romans 11:13-36; Psalm 22:1-18; Proverbs 20:7God is faithful. We see that recounted again and again throughout the Bible, and hopefully, can testify about the same in our own lives as well. God’s faithfulness to Israel is repeated again and again. Despite their constant rebellion, idolatry, and sin, “nevertheless, because of the covenant the Lord had made with David, the L...  Read More

2 Chronicles 19:1-20:37; Romans 10:14-11:12; Psalm 21:1-13; Proverbs 20:4-6If my kids ask me if it is time to go to bed my answer is almost always yes. There is never a bad time for kids to go to bed.The same is true of praising God. There is never a wrong time to praise him. Jehoshaphat leads the nation in praising God for the victory he was going to bring before it even happened. He was able to ...  Read More

2 Chronicles 17:1-18:34; Romans 9:25-10:13; Psalm 20:1-9; Proverbs 20:2-3Finish well. We continually see this call throughout the Bible that we need to persevere to the end. We saw this warning in the life of Asa yesterday and now in his son, Jehoshaphat. Notice 17:3 which says, “In his early years he walked in the ways his father David had followed.” The phrase “in his early years” is a warning s...  Read More

2 Chronicles 14:1-16:14; Romans 9:1-24; Psalm 19:1-14; Proverbs 20:1When I (Tom) was in Bible college I was terribly frustrated I did not have as much time to work with my church’s youth group as I would have liked. It was all I could do to work 20 hours a week and take five classes a semester. When I came upon King Asa’s story, I felt like God showed me his plan for the next four years of my life...  Read More

2 Chronicles 11:1-13:22; Romans 8:26-39; Psalm 18:37-50; Proverbs 19:27-29The world is broken. This is one of the most verifiable claims that can be made. We can look at history and it is marred by disasters and wars. 2 Chronicles 13 describes the civil war of Israel and the slaughtering of brothers. We can also see the fractures as we look around our world today, whether scanning the news or look...  Read More

2 Chronicles 8:11-10:19; Romans 8:9-25; Psalm 18:16-36; Proverbs 19:26Are you an influencer of others or are you being influenced by the world around you? We are always either pushing against the darkness or allowing it to draw us away from God. In Solomon’s interactions in 2 Chronicles we see both of these realities. He marries a princess of Egypt who even he recognizes does not have a relationsh...  Read More

2 Chronicles 6:12-8:10; Romans 7:14-8:8; Psalm 18:1-15; Proverbs 19:24-25God is very different from us─“there is no God like you in heaven or on earth.” Notice the attributes ascribed to him in 2 Chronicles and Psalm 18. Solomon describes God as always faithful to his promises. Even in the face of the rebellion of Israel and Judah, God remembered what he had promised and brought about the fulfillm...  Read More

2 Chronicles 4:1-6:11; Romans 7:1-13; Psalm 17:1-15; Proverbs 19:22-23God’s desire has always been to dwell with his people. He made a garden to walk with Adam & Eve, he showed his presence through fire and cloud during the Exodus, and in 2 Chronicles 6 he dwells amongst his people in the temple. When the temple is completed, he physically reveals his presence in the form of the cloud in the same ...  Read More

2 Chronicles 1:1-3:17; Romans 6:1-23; Psalm 16:1-11; Proverbs 19:20-21In Romans 6 Paul uses baptism to illustrate the radical change that has occurred in our lives through faith in Jesus.  Baptism is a picture of two deaths and two resurrections. It is a picture of the Savior’s death and resurrection.  But it is also a picture of our death and resurrection. We died to a life outside of Christ. We ...  Read More

1 Chronicles 28:1-29:30; Romans 5:6-21; Psalm 15:1-5; Proverbs 19:18-19In a conversation with my wife recently, she discussed the fact that every person has core beliefs about themselves. We all heard certain things to be true, whether they are or not. Some of us may view ourselves as stupid, ugly, incompetent, unlovable, even though these things are not true. Others of us may believe that we are ...  Read More