2 Kings 13:1-14:29; Acts 18:23-19:12; Psalm 146:1-10; Proverbs 18:2-3 What do you want the final description of your life to be? In the short biographies of the kings of Israel and Judah we are introduced to a great variety of people. Some, like Jehoash, “did what was right in the eyes of the Lord.” Others like Jeroboam “did evil in the eyes of the Lord and did not turn away from any of the sins…”...  Read More

2 Kings 10:32-12:21; Acts 18:1-22; Psalm 145:1-21; Proverbs 18:1 Joash is made king at the whopping age of seven. Obviously, at that age, his rule was mediated by others, specifically Jehoiada the priest. Without these leaders in his life, Joash probably would have functioned like someone running for elementary school president where he is demanding soda out of drinking fountains and pizza every d...  Read More

2 Kings 9:14-10:31; Acts 17:1-34; Psalm 144:1-15; Proverbs 17:27-28 2 Kings 9 & 10 is an extremely bloody set of chapters. We see Jehu clean house in Judah and Israel too; hopefully, restoring the nations back to God. For this to occur, the nations essentially have to get a restart. We see this idea of a restart happen multiple times in the Bible; yet they never stick. We have God restart with Noa...  Read More

2 Kings 8:1-9:13; Acts 16:16-40; Psalm 143:1-12; Proverbs 17:26 Today’s readings brought my attention to two things. First, we witness Elisha predicting things about future events which all come true. God has proven again and again that in his omniscience he knows the future. I often tell our students there are about 3,000 prophecies in the Bible that have already come true. We serve this same God...  Read More

2 Kings 6:1-7:20; Acts 15:36-16:15; Psalm 142:1-7; Proverbs 17:24-25 Many of us wear glasses or contacts. We need assistance to see accurately. The same idea is true for us spiritually. We need assistance to see things from God’s perspective.In 2 Kings 6 Elisha and his servant find themselves surrounded by an army focused on their capture. When the servant only sees the physical reality of their s...  Read More

2 Kings 4:18-5:27; Acts 15:1-35; Psalm 141:1-10; Proverbs 17:23 How desperate is our need for God? Today we view two people who recognize that they are unable to help themselves and need God to intervene in their lives.The first is the Shunammite woman. Her son has died and she knows her only hope is God. She does not allow anything to keep her from Elijah, God's prophet. Similarly, Naaman travels...  Read More

2 Kings 3:1-4:17; Acts 14:8-28; Psalm 140:1-13; Proverbs 17:22 One of my seminary professors, Jim Allman, used to say, “What God has done in the past is a model and a promise of what He will do in the future, though He is too creative to do the same thing the same way twice.”God’s miraculous powers and his creativity are displayed in the historical books of the Bible. We see numerous miraculous he...  Read More

2 Kings 1:1-2:25; Acts 13:42-14:7; Psalm 139:1-24; Proverbs 17:19-21 Difficulty is a certainty in life. Our readings in 1 Kings and Acts describe many of the things we might face in life.Difficulty is a certainty in life. Our readings in 1 Kings and Acts describe many of the things we might face in life.We may face opposition, persecution, loss of loved ones, and uncertainty, but God's character g...  Read More

1 Kings 22:1-53; Acts 13:16-41; Psalm 138:1-8; Proverbs 17:17-18 In our reading today God uses “a deceiving [or lying] spirit” (2 Kings 22:20-23) to draw the murderous King Ahab into a fatal battle with the king of Aram (or Syria).  And yet the Bible is clear that God is truth itself (Deuteronomy 32:4) and it is impossible for him to lie (Hebrews 6:18).  Walter Kaiser, in a helpful book Hard Sayin...  Read More

1 Kings 20:1-21:29; Acts 12:24-13:15; Psalm 137:1-9; Proverbs 17:16 It is never too late. God's grace ensures that, if we are alive, we can still turn to him in repentance and find forgiveness.Further, no matter the longstanding sinful patterns in our lives, we can change. Our past does not ensure our future.After chapters about the wickedness of Ahab comes a shocking transformation. After involvi...  Read More

1 Kings 19:1-21; Acts 12:1-23; Psalm 136:1-26; Proverbs 17:14-15 Our actions yesterday are no guarantee of how we will respond today. If you remember Elijah standing up against the prophets of Baal in our reading, he boldly trusted in God. Yet, today we see him running out of fear from something which seems far less scary. When he responds in fear, he begins to believe irrational things (that he i...  Read More

1 Kings 18:1-46; Acts 11:1-30; Psalm 135:1-21; Proverbs 17:12-13 God is greater. It does not matter what our circumstances are or what our feelings are saying, God is greater than our present situation. Obadiah is a man of God who has done amazing things to protect God's people, yet he becomes overwhelmed by fear at the possibility of being murdered by Ahab. Shortly after, Elijah is pitted in a co...  Read More