Maranatha Grace Church

Brothers and Sisters,

²⁴ Ahaz gathered together the furnishings from the temple of God and cut them in pieces. He shut the doors of the Lord’s temple and set up altars at every street corner in Jerusalem. ²⁵ In every town in Judah he built high places to burn sacrifices to other gods and aroused the anger of the Lord, the God of his ancestors.

²⁷ Ahaz rested with his ancestors and was buried in the city of Jerusalem, but he was not placed in the tombs of the kings of Israel. And Hezekiah his son succeeded him as king. (2 Chronicles 28)

Hezekiah was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem twenty-nine years. His mother’s name was Abijah daughter of Zechariah. ² He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, just as his father David had done. ( 2 Chronicles 29)

The Bible doesn't tell us how Hezekiah, the son of a very wicked king, Ahaz, became such a godly king. But we can conjecture that the influence of his mom, Abijah, was the reason for the change. A mother has a very special role in shaping the character of her sons.

Please read 2 Chronicles 28 - 30. And Listen.

May the Lord richly bless you!

Brothers and Sisters,

³ Uzziah was sixteen years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem fifty-two years. His mother’s name was Jekoliah; she was from Jerusalem. ⁴ He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, just as his father Amaziah had done. ⁵ He sought God during the days of Zechariah, who instructed him in the fear of God. As long as he sought the Lord, God gave him success.

¹⁶ But after Uzziah became powerful, his pride led to his downfall. He was unfaithful to the Lord his God, and entered the temple of the Lord to burn incense on the altar of incense. (2 Chronicles 26:3 -5, 16)

The more successful we are the more we should pray. It is very easy to fall into the temptation of pride when everything is going well for us.  "God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble." (James 4:6)

Please read 2 Chronicles 25 - 27. And Listen.

May the Lord richly bless you! 

Brothers and Sisters,

The word of God is true forevermore, "Do not be misled: "Bad company corrupts good character." (1 Corinthians 15:33) 

³ Ahaziah too followed the ways of the house of Ahab, for his mother encouraged him to act wickedly. ⁴ He did evil in the eyes of the Lord, as the house of Ahab had done, for after his father’s death they became his advisers, to his undoing. ( 2 Chronicles 22)

Joash was seven years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem forty years. His mother’s name was Zibiah; she was from Beersheba. ² Joash did what was right in the eyes of the Lord all the years of Jehoiada the priest. ( 2 Chronicles 23)

Bad advisors, bad king; good advisors, good king! May you choose godly men and women to help you in your spiritual journey.

Please read 2 Chronicles 22 - 24. And Listen.

May the Lord richly bless you!

Brothers and Sisters,

Are you afraid of  the pandemic that is going on around the country? Fear is a normal natural experience, but it is a very negative spiritual experience. Satan uses fear to enslave human beings.  It is the opposite of love. "Perfect love banishes fear," we read in 1 John 4:18. Since fear is a natural response to a potential harmful event, whether we want it or not some situations will tend to make us fearful. But that does not mean that we should give in to our fears. We can follow the example of King Jehoshaphat who faced a very difficult situation of a big invading army, "Alarmed, Jehoshaphat resolved to inquire of the Lord, and he proclaimed a fast for all Judah" (2 Chronicles 20:3). We must seek the Lord and call on his name when we are afraid. 

Please read 2 Chronicles 19 - 21. And Listen.

May the Lord richly bless you!

Brothers and Sisters,

Please read 2 Chronicles 14 - 18. And Listen.

May the Lord richly bless you!

Brothers and Sisters,

God loves unity, but a division can also be God's doing. 

² But this word of the Lord came to Shemaiah the man of God: ³ “Say to Rehoboam son of Solomon king of Judah and to all Israel in Judah and Benjamin, ⁴ ‘This is what the Lord says: Do not go up to fight against your fellow Israelites. Go home, every one of you, for this is my doing.’” So they obeyed the words of the Lord and turned back from marching against Jeroboam. (2 Chronicles 11)

Please read 2 Chronicles 11 - 13. And Listen. 

May the Lord richly bless you!

Brothers and Sisters,

⁹ Then she gave the king 120 talents^[e] of gold, large quantities of spices, and precious stones. There had never been such spices as those the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon.

¹² King Solomon gave the queen of Sheba all she desired and asked for; he gave her more than she had brought to him. Then she left and returned with her retinue to her own country. ( 2 Chronicles 9) 

Some people give only to poor people. Is this the only way to give? In his book, "Thou Shall Prosper, Ten Commandments for Making Money, " Rabbi Daniel Lapin writes: " Friendship is forged and maintained by the dynamic creating and discharging of obligation on a continuous basis. Friends who abandon these rituals that constantly form and discharge mutual obligation soon discover friendship fading. Constantly creating and discharging obligations nurtures and sustains a friendship. Succeeding in genuine relationship building will eventually increase your income. Just as important, it will immediately start improving your entire life."(p. 66-68)

Please read 2 Chronicles 8 - 10. And Listen.

May the Lord richly bless you!

Brothers and Sisters,

The Bible tells us that God is love. This is the fundamental truth every human being must keep in their heart and in their mind, "God is love."

When Solomon finished praying, fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices, and the glory of the Lord filled the temple. ² The priests could not enter the temple of the Lord because the glory of the Lord filled it. ³ When all the Israelites saw the fire coming down and the glory of the Lord above the temple, they knelt on the pavement with their faces to the ground, and they worshiped and gave thanks to the Lord, saying,

“He is good;
    his love endures forever.” (2 Chronicles 7)

Please read 2 Chronicles 5 - 7. And Listen.

May the Lord richly bless you!

Brothers and Sisters,

Good leaders are gifts from God to a people that he loves.

¹¹ Hiram king of Tyre replied by letter to Solomon: “Because the Lord loves his people, he has made you their king.” ¹² And Hiram added:

“Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, who made heaven and earth! He has given King David a wise son, endowed with intelligence and discernment, who will build a temple for the Lord and a palace for himself. ( 2 Chronicles 2)

Please read 2 Chronicles 2 - 4. And Listen.

May the Lord richly bless you!

Brothers and Sisters,

I wonder if more people in leadership (pastors, parents, political leaders, etc ...) pray the prayer of Solomon what would happen. Would God grant them their request? I suppose that it won't hurt if I choose myself to be the first subject of that experiment. Three days, twenty one days, or forty days of  praying that prayer would not be too high a price to pay in order to gain something so valuable, "wisdom and knowledge."

 That night God appeared to Solomon and said to him, “Ask for whatever you want me to give you.”

⁸ Solomon answered God, “You have shown great kindness to David my father and have made me king in his place. ⁹ Now, Lord God, let your promise to my father David be confirmed, for you have made me king over a people who are as numerous as the dust of the earth. ¹⁰ Give me wisdom and knowledge, that I may lead this people, for who is able to govern this great people of yours?”

¹¹ God said to Solomon, “Since this is your heart’s desire and you have not asked for wealth, possessions or honor, nor for the death of your enemies, and since you have not asked for a long life but for wisdom and knowledge to govern my people over whom I have made you king, ¹² therefore wisdom and knowledge will be given you. And I will also give you wealth, possessions and honor, such as no king who was before you ever had and none after you will have.”

Please read 1 Chronicles 28 - 2 Chronicles 1. And Listen. 

May the Lord richly bless you!

Brothers and Sisters,

Please read 1 Chronicles 23 - 27. And Listen.

May the Lord richly bless you!

Brothers and Sisters,

Does your offering to the Lord costs you something? Do you give your best or do you give your leftovers?

²⁴ But King David replied to Araunah, “No, I insist on paying the full price. I will not take for the Lord what is yours, or sacrifice a burnt offering that costs me nothing.”

²⁵ So David paid Araunah six hundred shekels of gold for the site. ²⁶ David built an altar to the Lord there and sacrificed burnt offerings and fellowship offerings. He called on the Lord, and the Lord answered him with fire from heaven on the altar of burnt offering. ( 1 Chronicles 21)

When you give to the Lord your best, he gives you his best. 

Please read 1 Chronicles 20 - 22. And Listen.

May the Lord richly bless you!

Brothers and Sisters,

Please take a minute to consider how you can support God's work, for God is with you. 

After David was settled in his palace, he said to Nathan the prophet, “Here I am, living in a house of cedar, while the ark of the covenant of the Lord is under a tent.”  ² Nathan replied to David, “Whatever you have in mind, do it, for God is with you.” (1 Chronicles 17)

A lot of people are facing for the first time the idea of their own mortality due to the Covid-19 pandemic; they are thinking about death and eternity. This situation presents the church with a good opportunity to reach out to them with the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Please support your local church with your tithes and offerings so the work of the Lord can continue. 

Please read 1 Chronicles 17 - 19. And Listen.

May the Lord richly bless you!

Brothers and Sisters,

And David knew that the Lord had established him as king over Israel and that his kingdom had been highly exalted for the sake of his people Israel. (1 Chronicles 14:2). David knew why he was blessed, that kept him humble. Do you know why God is blessing you? For the sake of whom is the Lord is blessing you? Are you generous like David who recognized that everything he is and everything he had come from God? 

Please read 1 Chronicles 14 - 16. And Listen.

May the Lord richly bless you!

Brothers and Sisters,

Every story in the Bible is significant and important, but when a story is recorded twice in the Bible, it demands our particular attention. The death of Uzzah recorded in 2 Samuel 6:7 and in 1 Chronicles 13:10 tells us that we must serve God according to his word, not according to our thinking or our own desire. People can be sincerely wrong, but their sincerity will not keep them from being judged. The word of God clearly said that the ark must be carried on the shoulders of the Levites (Exodus 25:14), but strangely they decided to carry it on a pretty new cart with a disastrous outcome.   

⁹ When they came to the threshing floor of Kidon, Uzzah reached out his hand to steady the ark, because the oxen stumbled. ¹⁰ The Lord’s anger burned against Uzzah, and he struck him down because he had put his hand on the ark. So he died there before God.

Had they carried the ark the way  it was supposed to be carried, Uzzah would not have had the need to steady it and died as a result. 

Please read 1 Chronicles 11 - 13. And Listen.

May the Lord richly bless you!