Monday Morning Cover to Cover

I am posting early for Monday morning cause I have a job this week overseeing a kid's Chess Camp. So, leave a comment and check back in a few days to hear a chess story that I believe can change your life. Really.

Okay, no one reads long posts, so you can stop here and come back on Wednesday. I cannot NOT post (double negative for emphasis!) for I have been so needy this week yet so measured and marked by God's word. Or maybe, pick ONE of the headings in all caps and read that one. And as always, thanks for stopping by.

For those who dropped by for Monday Morning Cover to Cover, leave a comment about one thing or more that lingers in your heart as you connected with your God this week. Reading chronologically has helped me so much to see the story unfold event by event. Even the psalms that were written in response to the wars fought---it so comes alive for me. I now know what prompted the chilling command of Psalm 46: "Be still and know that I am God." For those of you attempting to stay with this chronological reading journey, I say to you that your God is waiting for you and listening to the cries of your heart. Link us up to your blog if you posted about your readings this week through the lives of so many kings who resolved to follow God but wouldn't repent.

RESOLVE AND REPENTANCE BRINGS REST
Resolve alone does not bring rest---A life of Resolve and Repentance bring rest. "Watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them slip from your heart as long as you live." (Deut. 4:9) But Israel did forget; all of her kings let TRUTH slip from their hearts. Do we let the truth slip from us as we awaken to this new day? What is the truth that rules our hearts? What are our ruling passions?

HE IS THE GOD OF OUR VALLEYS AND OUR MOUNTAINS - Ahab turned over his wife and his children to Ben-hadaad but he puts the skids on when Ben asks for his palace and gold - 1Kings 20:3---YIKES! You can tell what ruled Ahab's heart. His $$$. Was it not God’s Hand that just let Ahab kill and conquer 127,000? Deut 33:27 Was it not God’s Hand that has led you to the place you are this day? Your enemy can't win in your valley unless you sell out for better land or a better idea. The Arameans thought God was the God of the hills and not the God of the valleys. I Kings 20:28 They thought they could win the battle in the valley. But, whatever valley you walk through today, God is with you. Instead of relying on God, Ahab frees Ben, a man God determined to die I Kings 20:41. Ahab came up with another idea---build a vegetable garden next to his palace, but Naboth refused to sell the land. I Kings 21:4. What rules my heart when I sulk and don't eat and fight my own battles---when I don't get my way? I just did that at a lunch I didn’t like! Ahab had resolve but little repentance in his walk.

DON'T MAKE ALLIANCES WITH EVIL - Jehu warned Jehoshaphat: “Should you help the wicked and make alliances with those who hate the LORD? 2CHRON 19:2 There is, however, some good in you, for you have rid the land of idols and have set your heart on seeking God. Whoa. You mean there’s more to life than getting rid of idols and setting our hearts to seek God?? Yes, J turned himself and his people back to the LORD. "Act with courage." 2Chron 19:11

BE STILL BEFORE YOUR GOD, THE BATTLE IS HIS, NOT YOURS - Meanwhile, “A vast army is coming against J!! 2Chron 20:2. You've got my attention. What does someone who has turned back to God say?? "Alarmed, Jehoshaphat RESOLVED TO INQUIRE OF THE LORD and proclaimed a fast. If calamity comes upon us, we will stand in your presence and cry out to you. We’re POWERLESS. WE DO NOT KNOW WHAT TO DO BUT OUR EYES ARE ON YOU.” 20:12 And God replied through people: “Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army. FOR THE BATTLE IS NOT YOURS, BUT GOD’S. 20:15 You will not have to fight this battle. Your God is with you.” 20:17 And I love it!! They all fell face down in worship. 20:19 “Have faith in the LORD your God and you will be upheld,” 20:20. When the men of Judah came to the place that overlooks the desert and looked toward the vast army, they saw only dead bodies lying on the ground; no one had escaped. 20:24. And someone wrote a song called Psalm 46: God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, BE STILL, and know that I am God. The LORD Almighty is with us. Yet J. turned right back to make another alliance with the wicked---a business deal to secure a fleet of ships. Resolve alone (2Chron 20:3) to inquire of God concerning facing a calamity or clinching a business deal like the fleet of ships….resolve alone does give us rest in the Shadow of the Almighty. Repentance brings rest. Isaiah 30:15 15 This is what the Sovereign LORD says: "In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength, but you would have none of it. Unwilling. Because you want your fleet of ships. What do I want today more than I want the rest God offers?

THE ANGELS ARE LIFTING ALL OF US UP IN THEIR HANDS EVEN IN OUR SIN
Then someone writes this beautiful song Psalm 91. He who dwells in the Shelter of the Most High will rest in the Shadow of the Almighty. God is my refuge and I trust Him, not fleets of ships. Under His wings I find refuge. I do not fear the terror of night nor flying arrows of day. Jehoshaphat saw 1,000 fall at his side and 10,000 at his right hand but he would not “let go” of those ships. Meanwhile, God commands His angels concerning Jehoshaphat and concerning you “to guard you in all your ways” even bad business deals. The angels are lifting us all up in their hands in all our demanding deals. “Because he loves me,” says the Lord, “I will rescue him.” (90:14). You’ll call on Him and He will answer. I will be with you in your trouble. (90:14)

WHERE ARE YOU GOD??
WHERE NOW IS THE GOD OF ELIJAH AND DAVID AND JOHN?? 2 Kings 2 – Elisha wouldn’t leave Elijah’s side. Find someone that you don’t want to leave their side. Suddenly a chariot of fire and horses of fire appeared and separated Elijah and Elisha. 2:11. Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind. I cannot fathom this! Elisha picks up Elijah’s cloak and struck the water with it. “Where now is the LORD, the God of Elijah?” he asked. And that scene just so grips me. Elisha found God through this man of God.

WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO DO WITH PEACE?
SPEAK THE WORDS GOD GIVES YOU - Take a cloak, a belt, a flask of oil. Go pour oil on Jehu and appoint him as king. 2 Kings 9:1 Jehu’s first task as a king. Destroy the house of Ahab your master…Jehu didn’t shrink back, in fact Jehu killed Joram, Ahaziah, the house of Ahab, 42 relatives of Ahaziah, all the ministers of Baal plus he had Jezebel splattered for her idolatry and asked for the 70 heads of the sons of Ahab and got it! WHEW! Did he go in peace? NO!!!!! “What do you have to do with peace? Fall in behind me.” 2Kings 9:18“How can there be peace?” Jehu replies, “as long as all the idolatry and witchcraft of Joram's mother abounds?” 2Kings 10:16 - “See my zeal for the Lord.” Y’all, I am speechless when I read what Jehu did when oil was poured upon his head. Talk about zeal for his Lord! He was willing to die to disrupt the peace. Jehu didn't listen to the "favorable words" I Kings 22:13,14 Micaiah the prophet would speak only what God told him to say, unlike the other 400 prophets. Not for Jehu…he only did what God told him to do---go to war and destroy the house of Ahab. Do we overlook evil in our families, in our lives or do we STAND and deal with the plank in our own eyes and evil surrounding us? “Turn back to God…act with courage.” I would say Jehu did. Wonder how we can turn back to our God and ACT with courage this night? 2Chron 19:11 I know what mine is…and by His grace ONLY can I do it. Powerless! 2Chron 20:12. I’m sobbing as I write this. But, I’m standing and crying out to my God that verse: I don’t know what to do, but my eyes are on God! Pray for me to take courage.

THERE ARE PLACES OF COURAGE IN ALL OUR HEARTS AND WHAT ELSE IS OUR GOD SAYING? Oh dear…Jehu has more courage in places in his heart than many kings, and the LORD says “you have done well in accomplishing what is right in my eyes and you have done to the house of Ahab all that was in my heart” 2Kings 10:30 YET God says:“You, Jehu, were not careful to walk in the law of the Lord with all your heart.” So what does that mean for me this night? My first thought is what do I need to do…but WAIT this isn’t about changing my behavior, it’s about repenting of directions that are not of God and only my God can reveal that. No guilt. No condemnation. No witch hunt for sin. May God pour oil on our heads. What rules my heart this night? What is our ruling passion?