I am certain you woke up last night wondering how much all the water in the oceans of the world weighs. I was actually sitting on a beach yesterday morning and that question popped into my mind. To my surprise, I found that people have figured that out. Let me give you the short version. There are approximately 315 cubic miles of water that cover the face of the earth. Within one cubic mile, there are 4,168,18,825 cubic meters of water each weighing approximately 2,206 pounds. Multiply that by 315 cubic miles and you get about 1.5 quintillion tons of water on the face of the earth. That is 1.5 followed by 18 zeros. That is immense and unfathomable.

The next sleep-disturbing question that popped into my mind was how many species of animals live in the ocean which led to the question of how many inhabit the entire earth. The answer iseight million, seven hundred thousand species! (Give or take 1.3 million.) That is a new,estimated total number of species on Earth—the most precise calculation ever offered—with 6.5million species found on land and 2.2 million dwelling in the ocean depths. Remember, that isnot the number of animals but the number of species. The new study, published yesterday in the open access journal PLoS Biology, says a staggering 86% of all species on land and 91% of those in the seas have yet to be discovered, described and catalogued. (I have no idea how they determine how many exist that have not been discovered). But again, that is an immense number and not only is the number staggering but the variety of shape, size, physiology, color, etc. is even more staggering. And we have not even discussed the number of plant species nor the innumerable stars and galaxies spinning through space.

What struck me as I looked over an ocean of water that could swallow up anything that challenged it was the immensity of the God who created it all and the courage it took for men to venture out on what seems to be an infinite horizon in tiny boats to face the unknown and see what was on the other side. Both the sea and men who would face it are a revelation of God.

Speaking of that, Paul states, “For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse” (Rom.1:20). The creation reveals the creator. The ocean – vast, mysterious, abundant with life, powerful, refreshing, its depths still unknown – speak of our God. Man, made in his image, ventured out on that vastness with courage and a searching heart. That also marks our creator who searches all things and faced Roman torture with immense courage for our sake.

And that God lives in you. Peter says that we are partakers of the divine nature (2 Peter 1:4). The word translated as “partakers” means participants or partners. What God has possessed for eternity he is sharing with you right now. His Spirit resides in you – the same Spirit that brooded over the waters of creation and brought order to the chaos. Jesus also dwells in your heart. He is the Word of God and he is the one through whom, for whom, and by whom all these things were created.

Satan labors to make us feel small and insignificant. The smaller we see ourselves the less we will ever attempt for the kingdom of God. The smaller we see ourselves, the less likely it is that we will ever venture out on an ocean of possibilities in the name of Jesus. But the same God who spoke 1.5 quintillion tons of ocean water into existence is the God who has searched for you, found you, and made you his child. How can you be small or insignificant when that God lives in you and is making you into the image of his Son? How can you be small or insignificant when that God has ordained a destiny for you, gifted you, and created angels to minister on your behalf? How can you be small and insignificant when the same power that raised Jesus from the dead is at work within you?

When we were children we dreamed of performing great exploits – storming castles, slaying dragons, stepping out on the surface of Mars, playing music no one had ever heard, painting pictures that stopped people in their tracks, and winning the game with last minute heroics. God put those dreams in us. He is amazing and heroic and he has made us to be the same in Christ. For many of us, the devil came and stole those dreams but the dream of doing something great and even heroic for the Kingdom of God still exists in heaven. Reclaim it. Ask the Lord to show it to you. Push out across an open sea once more with cannons blazing because that is who you are and that is who you are because that is who He is. Know who you are and be great for God today! And remember, the devil is a liar!

Sometimes you have books on your shelves because they are great reads and you plan to read them from cover to cover again some day. At other times, you have books that you read once and now they function as reference books. Those books have sections you refer to for reminders or for re-sharpening your thoughts in certain areas of life or faith. One of those books for me is Deliverance from Evil Spirits by Francis MacNutt. He takes a little more academic approach to the subject than most books on deliverance but it is worth the read theologically and practically. He is a former Catholic priest so his perspectives are interesting in that regard but he teaches and ministers healing and deliverance to churches around the world and across the board.

I like what he has to say about evangelism. “The Gospel is not meant merely to teach doctrine, but necessarily includes the power to free, save and to heal. After preaching in thirty countries, I believe that peoples of every culture are willing to hear the message of Christ’s salvation. Whenever we preach that God, in love, sent his son, Jesus Christ, to free the human race from sin and evil, people will respond eagerly. In the days when I taught homiletics in seminary, I thought the preacher’s problem was to figure out how to make the Gospel relevant to the needs of contemporary people. Now, I realize the Gospel is in itself relevant, that it does appeal. But I was not preaching the Gospel fully because I did not fully understand the need for power to heal and free people from evil spirits…Only when we are able to free the oppressed and heal those suffering from the curse of sickness can we really preach Christ’s basic message: The Kingdom of God is at hand and the kingdom of Satan is being destroyed” (p. 66).

I myself have come to believe that a partial gospel is no gospel at all. Biblically, salvation is not just the forgiveness of sin but is closer to the idea of Shalom or peace in the Hebrew language. Shalom includes everything needed for a blessed life: absence of conflict, flourishing relationships, health, prosperity, protection, a sound mind…and more. Jesus promised his followers an “abundant life.” That carries the flavor of Shalom and abundance is more that just the forgiveness of sins. If my sins are forgiven but I am still oppressed and tormented by demons or suffering at the hands of some debilitating disease then the abundant life seems fairly impoverished.

Often we point to the glory of someone enduring sickness or disability while still maintaining their love for God and still praising Him as a purifying and sanctifying grace from heaven. I agree that their ability to endure and praise is a grace from God but we need to be careful not to declare that the sickness or disability itself is a grace or a gift from God.

Illness, pain, tragedy, birth defects, and demons are not from God. They are a result of sin, which has never been God’s will. They are a result of a distorted universe that was also twisted by Adam’s sin. Adam’s sin and the resulting curse was the work of Satan. John tell us that Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil and so we see Jesus break the power of sin, restore our relationship with the Father, heal the sick, remedy disabilities, raise the dead and drive away demons.

Jesus and his followers always preached the kingdom and then demonstrated it or they demonstrated the kingdom and then preached it. They always did both. Power without forgiveness will simply send a healthy man to hell while forgiveness without power leaves a saved man tormented. Paul tried only persuasive words (making the Gospel relevant) when he preached on Mars Hill in Athens. If you check Acts 17, the results were very disappointing. Then he moved on to Corinth where he later confessed, “When I came to you, brothers, I did not come with eloquence or superior wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. I came to you in weakness and fear, and with much trembling. My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your faith might not rest on men’s wisdom, but on God’s power” (I Cor. 2:1-5).

After Mars Hill, Paul reconsidered his strategy and determined that the simple message of grace and forgiveness coupled with a demonstration of God’s grace through power was the way to go. After all, that had been the strategy of Jesus in his own ministry as well as the one he commanded when he sent out the twelve and the seventy-two to preach, heal, and cast out demons. We would do well to follow that pattern whether we are preaching to thousands or to one. Even Paul had to be reminded.

I need reminders to keep it simple and stay on point. I need reminders to pray for boldness to share the gospel but also for an anointing to demonstrate power not just for me but for my church and the church universal. You really can’t improve on Jesus. That’s why I like to look back at books I have often looked at before because the yellow highlighted sections call me back to things I need to be reminded of. I encourage you to go back and look at the yellow highlights and notes scribbled in the margins as well. Blessings today in all you do.

We often talk about the power of words. God spoke and his very words carried the power to create a universe – something out of nothing. He also declares that when his words go forth they always fulfill his purpose. We are made in his image and although that image has been diminished by sin our words still have power. “The tongue has the power of life and death…” (Prov.18:21)

Jesus challenges us. He came as a man, not as God, and by his words the lame walked, the blind gained their sight, the deaf heard, the mute spoke, the dead were raised, and demons were dismissed. Jesus spoke and heaven empowered his words – usually blessings but at least one fig tree felt the sting of a curse and died. Then Jesus said that those who believed in him would do the things that he had done and, in fact, would do even greater things. Our words also carry authority and direct power in the spiritual realm.

In one sense, we have no power and authority other than that which comes from Jesus through the Holy Spirit. Some would say that our words have no power or authority at all unless Jesus agrees with what we say each time we say it. If we command demons then it is really Jesus who is standing next to us and commanding. That picture is like a little boy who sees a bully suddenly run away thinking that he has intimidated the bully when, in fact, big brother had just walked up behind him and the bully was actually afraid of him not the little brother.   There is some truth in that view. We operate in the authority of Jesus not our own, but we carry His authority to be exercised at our discretion.

Just before healing the lame man, Peter said, “Silver or gold I do not have, but what I have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk” (Acts 3:6). Notice that Peter did not say, “I’ll pray and ask Jesus to see whether he will choose to heal you or not.” He said. “What I have, I give you.” What he had or possessed was power and authority to heal. It was delegated by Jesus and empowered by heaven but that power was released at Peter’s discretion. The words of a believer have power because we have delegated authority and are released at our discretion. Sometimes we get a direct word from the Lord to speak something but most of the time we are using our own discretion.

Because of that, James warns that our mouths should be sources of blessings and not curses because our words matter. Jesus tells us to bless even our enemies and Paul commands the church to bless those who persecute us…bless and not curse. God’s people should be constant sources of blessings because blessings release good into the world and the world certainly needs more good.

Think about it. By your words today, you can release health, peace, prosperity, life and healing into a world of darkness. You can direct the very blessings of heaven by your words and at your discretion. I like what John Ortberg has to say about blessing as he quotes
Dallas Willard. “ There are two great words in the Bible…that describe the postures of our soul toward other people. One is to bless. The other is to curse. We are people with wills and in every encounter with other people we will what is good for them or we fail to do so: we will what is bad. We cannot help ourselves. Blessing is not just a word. Blessing is the projection of good into the life of another. We must think it, and feel it, and will it” (Ortberg, Soul Keeping, p.153).

Ortberg goes on to say that true blessing is done by the soul. True blessing that carries weight and authority is not a phrase thrown out when someone sneezes – God bless you! It is something that comes from deep within us with heart and conviction. Then we release the power of heaven for blessing. The power to bless is to be stewarded like the King’s money. It is to be used for the good of people with intentionality not just tossed around in the streets for anyone to pickup. True blessing is an expression of God’s grace which every soul on earth craves.

Blessing can be conveyed not just with words but even with actions and gestures. You know when you have been loved and you know when you have been rejected. You know when you have been affirmed and you know when you have been disrespected. In other words, you know when you have been blessed and cursed by someone else’s soul. Dallas Willard said that we are so sensitive to words and actions because our souls were made to be blessed and cannot survive without it. Broken people reflect broken souls and broken hearts. Jesus made us vessels of blessing to facilitate the healing of both. Lets remember who we are today and what one of our primary directives for living is…bless and not curse. Make a decision today to speak some kind of blessing today into the life of every person you meet and when you say it, mean it. And for starters, let me bless you….

The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make his face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you. The Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. (Numbers 6:24-26)

In those days Hezekiah became ill and was at the point of death. The prophet Isaiah son of Amoz went to him and said, “This is what the Lord says: Put your house in order, because you are going to die; you will not recover.” Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord, “Remember, O Lord, how I have walked before you faithfully and with wholehearted devotion and have done what is good in your eyes.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly. Then the word of the Lord came to Isaiah: “Go and tell Hezekiah, ‘This is what the Lord, the God of your father David, says: I have heard your prayer and seen your tears; I will add fifteen years to your life. And I will deliver you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria. I will defend this city. “ ‘This is the Lord’s sign to you that the Lord will do what he has promised: “I will make the shadow cast by the sun go back the ten steps it has gone down on the stairway of Ahaz.” So the sunlight went back the ten steps it had gone down. (Isa.38:1-8)

This is the final blog in this series on Hezekiah. He is another man in scripture who begins well but then slips toward the end of his life. From the text above, you see that the favor of the Lord was still with him. Again, severe trouble had come to Hezekiah in the form of illness and it seems that his appointed time to die had come from the Lord. When a notable prophet comes to you and says, “Get your house in order, you are going to die,” it is usually time to get your house in order. But Hezekiah cried out and God changed the very word he had sent through the prophet. If Hezekiah had simply accepted his death and not cried out to God, there would have been no extension. Prayer matters even when it seems that something is inevitable.

Can we change the mind of God even when a prophet has declared set times and events? Apparently we can. We never change God’s purposes or his character but we can change his timetable because God has all the time in the world. He owns time. If Hezekiah had not prayed I’m certain he would have died within days or weeks of the prophets announcement but he did pray and God shifted his timetable by 15 years. Not only did he shift the timetable but he also gave Hezekiah a miraculous sign to confirm the words of Isaiah.

What a blessing! But after that blessing a shift occurred. “In those days Hezekiah became ill and was at the point of death. He prayed to the Lord, who answered him and gave him a miraculous sign. But Hezekiah’s heart was proud and he did not respond to the kindness shown him; therefore the Lord’s wrath was on him and on Judah and Jerusalem. Then Hezekiah repented of the pride of his heart, as did the people of Jerusalem; therefore the Lord’s wrath did not come upon them during the days of Hezekiah” (2 Chr. 32:24-36, emphasis added).

The blessings of God can be a reminder of how amazing He is or a stumbling block when we believe that the blessings are evidence of how amazing we are. If you search the accounts of Hezekiah in Isaiah 39 and 2 Kings 20, you will see that envoys from Babylon came to see Hezekiah. These were ambassadors from a powerful nation and a powerful king. Hezekiah was flattered and took them on a tour of his palace. He eagerly displayed all of his riches to them. He didn’t take them on a tour to demonstrate God’s greatness but his own greatness and his own pride became a snare.

God rebuked him for that pride and he repented. However, his pride had set something in motion that would impact his children. Not only were the Babylonians impressed with his riches but they were also impressed with how much they would like to have those riches in their own vaults. In time, Nebuchadnezzar would come and take not only the king’s riches from Jerusalem but also every valuable item from the Temple as well. The sins of the father were certainly visited on the children (Ex.20). Hezekiah lived the final years of his life with that hanging over him but the smallness of his heart was revealed when he expressed gladness that the troubles he released would come on his children rather than on himself.

In all things, we must guard out hearts. The accumulation of God’s goodness and blessings in our lives can lead to pride if we loose perspective. As we evaluate our lives we should always take inventory of what God has done for us rather than taking inventory of what we think we have accomplished in our own strength and with our own amazing abilities. Of course, young men can fall into the same trap but those who have displayed humility and wisdom in their past seem vulnerable in their later years. Solomon succumbed to idolatry. David succumbed to lust. Hezekiah was overtaken by pride. Satan never took his crosshairs off these men and as they became careless in their later years, the enemy pulled the trigger.

In the great days of the Roman Empire, generals who had won great victories were given a “triumph” or a parade in their honor. As the generals rode through the streets of Rome in their lavish chariots, we are told that a lowly, unnamed slave was appointed to ride with them and whisper repeatedly in the ear of the celebrated general that he was only a lowly mortal and not a god.

In our own lives, we need people around us who will remind us that what we have has come from the goodness of God and not because we are so awesome. We need people around us who love God enough and us enough to tell us the truth and we should always invite that truth. We cannot guard our hearts alone. Our hearts are too prone to deception.

Those of us who are wise will invite a few trusted people who are spiritual to speak to us when they sense that something is amiss. The more powerful you are or the more successful you are, people will be less likely to tell you the truth so you must insist on it and when it comes, receive it. The wise man says, “Do not rebuke a mocker or he will hate you; rebuke a wise man and he will love you” (Prov.9:8). If you don’t have those people in your life ask God to provide some. Be blessed.

One of the most memorable events in the life of Hezekiah occurred when Jerusalem was besieged by Assyria and faced almost certain defeat. The Bible says, “In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah’s reign, Sennacherib king of Assyria attacked all the fortified cities of Judah and captured them” (2 Kings 18:13). To understand the gravity of that statement we must remember that at the time of this attack, Assyria was the most dominant power in the Middle East and the Mediterranean. We are told that Sennacherib sent a vast army into Judah to lay siege to all of her fortified cities with Jerusalem being the last. The modern day equivalent would be for Russia to surround the cities of Israel without any resistance or allies to come to Israel’s aid.

The King of Assyria sent a commander to Jerusalem with a message for Hezekiah. Essentially, he told them that resistance would be futile. They had just marches across the Middle East and no nation had been able to stand against them. That was a true report and Hezekiah knew it. He also went on to say that none of the gods of these defeated nations had been able to stand against their gods and the God of Israel would be no different. In fact, the commander claimed that the God of Israel himself has sent Assyria to destroy Judah as they had destroyed Israel (the northern kingdom) just months earlier. The demand was open the gates and surrender immediately or die while Jerusalem was destroyed.

There are a few lessons for us in this account. First of all, Hezekiah was a godly king who had done right in the eyes of the Lord for fourteen years. Yet, trouble showed up on his doorstep – not just trouble but overwhelming, massive, unsolvable trouble. God does not always spare the righteous from trouble but his promise is to deliver them from trouble.

In response to the threat and the demands of the enemy, Hezekiah does three things: He puts on sackcloth and commands his other leaders to do the same, he prays, and he asks for a word of the Lord from the prophet Isaiah. Sackcloth represents godly sorrow for sins and repentance. His first response was to take a personal inventory of any sins that might have brought this calamity on him and the nation and then he called his other leaders to do the same. In essence he called for a national day of repentance and prayer.

Secondly, he took the written message delivered from the King of Assyria into the temple and laid it before the Lord. He prayed, “      “O Lord Almighty, God of Israel, enthroned between the cherubim, you alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth. Give ear, O Lord, and hear; open your eyes, O Lord, and see; listen to all the words Sennacherib has sent to insult the living God. It is true, O Lord, that the Assyrian kings have laid waste all these peoples and their lands. They have thrown their gods into the fire and destroyed them, for they were not gods but only wood and stone, fashioned by human hands. Now, O Lord our God, deliver us from his hand, so that all kingdoms on earth may know that you alone, O Lord, are God” (Isa.37:16-20).

In his prayer, Hezekiah rehearses the greatness of God and confesses that Jehovah is the only true and living God. He doesn’t deny his circumstances or all the victories that Assyria has had but he does defy his circumstances in the name of the Lord. Notice that not only was Hezekiah concerned about his impending defeat but he was also concerned about the name of God. When David faced Goliath, he also declared defeat over the giant because he had slandered and defied the name of Jehovah. A sincere concern for the name of the Lord to be known and held in honor goes a long way in heaven’s courts.

Thirdly, he sends for a word from the Lord through Isaiah, the prophet. He does not take a poll about the odds of victory or call a meeting of his military experts or economic advisors. He ignores the reports of men and seeks the report of God as to whether victory or defeat will be Jerusalem’s lot. Isaiah answers, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: Because you have prayed to me concerning Sennacherib king of Assyria…this is what the Lord says concerning the king of Assyria: “He will not enter this city or shoot an arrow here. He will not come before it with shield or build a siege ramp against it.      By the way that he came he will return; he will not enter this city,” declares the Lord. “I will defend this city and save it, for my sake and for the sake of David my servant!”    Then the angel of the Lord went out and put to death a hundred and eighty-five thousand men in the Assyrian camp. When the people got up the next morning—there were all the dead bodies. So Sennacherib king of Assyria broke camp and withdrew” (Isa.37:33-37).

Even the worst or most powerful of men or no match for God and the power of heaven. God did not keep Hezekiah from trouble but delivered him from trouble because Hezekiah served God and sought God in the crisis. He had faith to listen to the reports of God through his prophet and had genuine concern for the name of God. Scripture says that those who honor God, God will honor (1 Sam.2:30). Hezekiah honored God with his life and prayers and God honored him with deliverance.

There is another biblical theme that also runs through Hezekiah’s life. God often allows his people to be placed in impossible situations that require supernatural deliverance so that after the victory, man will honor God rather than himself. Only God could have delivered Hezekiah and he did. Only God could have delivered Goliath into the hands of a teenager and he did. Only God could provide a child to Abraham and Sara when their bodies were long past the age of childbearing and he did. Only God could have brought down the walls of Jericho for a ragtag army of former slaves and he did. You see the theme and that theme is still likely to play out in the lives of his people today. Too often we take the lesser solutions offered by the world rather than seeking the supernatural solutions of God first with faith and with concern for his name to be exalted through our circumstances. Hezekiah points us in that direction – a direction we would do well to follow when the odds against us seem overwhelming.

As we continue to look at events in the life of Hezekiah, I am drawn to an event that reveals the true heart of God. As I mentioned in my last blog, after being installed as king at the age of 25, Hezekiah’s first order of business was to restore Solomon’s temple and true worship to Israel. “So the service of the temple of the Lord was reestablished. Hezekiah and all the people rejoiced at what God had brought about for his people, because it was done so quickly” (2 Chr.29:35-36). When God’s people have a heart to do something and his hand is with them, amazing things can be accomplished in a short time. How we view God determines to a great extent whether are hearts will be turned towards him in anticipation of love and grace or away from him in anticipation of harsh judgment.

We often have a view of God in the Old Testament as a harsh judge ready to punish every violation of his Law – large or small. Regarding the Law of Moses, many believe that if things were not always done in exact accordance with the letter of that Law, then those things were unacceptable to God and, on a bad day, fire might come out from the altar and destroy whoever made a mistake in protocol no matter how well intentioned. That notion probably first arose from the account of Nadab and Abihu. The Old Testament says, “Aaron’s sons Nadab and Abihu took their censers, put fire in them and added incense; and they offered unauthorized fire before the Lord, contrary to his command. So fire came out from the presence of the Lord and consumed them, and they died before the Lord” (Lev.10:1-2). Yikes! Many have interpreted “unauthorized fire” as a mistake in the protocol or contents of the incense they offered. That understanding presents God as an unbending tyrant who demands perfection in our service to him.

From this account, many have assumed that God would strike down even well meaning people if they missed one point of the Law or stumbled over a recipe for incense. But if we read a few more verses we discover the real issue. “Then the Lord said to Aaron, “You and your sons are not to drink wine or other fermented drink whenever you go into the Tent of Meeting, or you will die. This is a lasting ordinance for the generations to come” (Lev.10:9). The problem was not a failure to interpret and perform every law exactly as it had been commanded, but rather a heart of disdain for the holiness of God because these two men had entered the Holy Place drunk.

In the days of Hezekiah, another violation of the Law of Moses took place. As temple worship had been outlawed by Ahaz, the father of Hezekiah, all the feast days commanded by God had also faded from practice. After restoring the temple and its worship, Hezekiah decided that Israel should once again celebrate Passover. The Passover had very clear and specific commands attached to it. God had commanded Moses to keep the Passover on the tenth day of the first month (Ex.12:2). However, Hezekiah determined to celebrate Passover in the second month with out the people being sufficiently purified. Sounds like risky business but here is what we read in 2 Chronicles. “Although most of the many people who came from Ephraim, Manasseh, Issachar and Zebulun had not purified themselves, yet they ate the Passover, contrary to what was written (emphasis added). But Hezekiah prayed for them, saying, ‘May the Lord, who is good, pardon everyone who sets his heart on seeking God—the Lord, the God of his fathers—even if he is not clean according to the rules of the sanctuary.’ And the Lord heard Hezekiah and healed the people” (2 Chr. 30:18-20).

In our life with God, the condition of the heart – a heart set on seeking God – can make up for a lack of doctrinal correctness. Let me be clear, this is not an invitation to be careless with our beliefs or our teaching just as long as we are sincere. A sincere heart always wants to live in obedience and do all things as God would have us do them. However, sometimes we are serving God to the best of our understanding rather than with perfect understanding. Sometimes we are serving God in the best way that circumstances permit. That was Hezekiah’s dilemma and so he trusted in the heart of God to extend grace where doing everything according to the letter of the Law seemed to keep them from obeying the spirit of the Law which called on them to remember and celebrate what God had done for them in the past.

Our Chinese brothers and sisters typically believe that the Bible teaches immersion as the proper form of water baptism. However, as men and women come to Christ in the “re-education camps” of China, there are no places to immerse anyone so they baptize in showers. Does God accept their “baptism” since their hearts are seeking God? I have heard some church leaders say that their baptism was invalid but I think this passage from the life of Hezekiah confirms that God indeed accepts those baptisms.

In the same vein, David is described in scripture as a man after God’s own heart. Yet, at least twice in his life David violated the Law without a rebuke from the Lord. Once he and his men, starving and on the run from Saul, ate the tabernacle showbread which symbolically sat in the Holy Place and was to be eaten only by priests. Another time he put on priestly garments to lead a procession when the Ark of the Covenant was brought into Jerusalem. David was not a priest. He was from the tribe of Judah while only those from the tribe of Levi could serve in the temple. However, because of circumstance (the showbread) and his passionate heart for the Lord, God extended grace to those violations of the Law. Remember that Jesus often rebuked the Pharisees who were meticulous keepers of the Law because their hearts were far from God.

Again, Hezekiah shows us that God is more concerned about our hearts than demands for doctrinal correctness. That should encourage us when we are concerned that we may not fully know or understand his will on something or when we have acted believing that we have heard from God and then later determined that we had not. Our primary goal should be to seek God with all of our hearts and if we do, his grace will cover us while we are still learning his ways. God is and never has been an angry God just waiting for us to violate one word of the Law. Rather, the Law was given to teach us right from wrong and to lead us to Christ while, all along, God has simply been trying to draw us into a loving relationship with him. Hezekiah reminds us of that truth once again.

As I was browsing through some chapters in Isaiah, I was reminded of the degree to which Hezekiah is  highlighted in the Old Testament. He is given space in 2 Kings 18-20, 2 Chronicles 29-32 and also in the book of Isaiah, chapters 36-39. That is a significant amount when most of the kings of Israel received only a half column or a chapter to tell their stories. So why Hezekiah?

Hezekiah was installed as king over Judah when he was twenty-five years old. If you are not familiar with Old Testament history, shortly after Solomon’s death a civil had broken out in Israel and the nation was divided. The northern part of the nation was called Israel with Samaria as the capital and the southern part was called Judah with Jerusalem as the capital. Sometimes these two political entities were enemies and at other times they were allies. The kings of Israel built their own altars and high places for worship so that their people would not go to Jerusalem and for the most part fell quickly into idolatry.

Although Judah possessed Jerusalem and the temple, it too fell into idolatry. Ahaz was king prior to Hezekiah. He had no regard for the God of Israel. He worshipped idols and had even sacrificed some of his own sons in the fires of the pagan god Molech. In summary, the text says, “Ahaz gathered together the furnishings from the temple of God and took them away. He shut the doors of the Lord’s temple and set up altars at every street corner in Jerusalem. In every town in Judah he built high places to burn sacrifices to other gods and provoked the Lord, the
God of his fathers, to anger” (2 Chr. 28:24-25).   Hezekiah was his son.

If we ever think that a son is destined to follow in the footsteps of a perverse father, Hezekiah is proof to the contrary. At the death of Ahaz, Hezekiah was installed as king. The text in 2 Chronicles says immediately, “He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, just as his father David had done.” David is called his father here because he reflected the character of his ancestor David rather than his biological father Ahaz. God tends to assign family trees based on the heart of a person rather than his biology. For instance, we are all sons and daughters of Abraham if we have the faith of Abraham. We too are children of David if we love God as David dud and we are children of God if we have a heart that resonates with our Heavenly Father.

It is amazing to think that within two hundred years of David and Solomon’s rule and the building of the great temple by Solomon that the center of Jewish life and culture would be closed, the priests dismissed, and the temple consigned to a state of neglect and decay. That suggests that Ahaz was not just indifferent to God or religion but actually hated the things of God which strongly suggests a demonic presence in him. His hate for the things of God and his exaltation of the demonic set Judah up for the heavy hand of God’s judgments. Ahaz only ruled for sixteen years and yet brought Judah to the brink of destruction through this godless administration. But God is full of grace for his people and had done a work in the heart of young Hezekiah. My guess his that his mother had something to do with that and probably hated the pagan God’s of Ahaz. After all, she had lost some sons to the fires of those gods.

After becoming king, his immediate responses was to reopen the temple doors, repair and sanctify the temple, restore the priesthood, and restore worship to the God of Abraham. Isaac and Jacob. He also destroyed the high places of idolatrous worship. What followed was years of peace and prosperity for Judah while Israel, the northern kingdom, was destroyed by Assyria because of idolatry with most of the population being carried off into slavery.

We are going to consider several events in the life of Hezekiah in my next few blogs but one thing we see in the opening accounts of his life is the difference that one man can make for a nation for either good or bad. Although the people of Judah had no real political influence in who became king, there must have been many praying in the shelter of their homes for God to raise up a godly king so that God’s name would be honored again in Judah and his blessings restored.

From this account of Hezekiah’s beginnings we see that judgment does not always come when it is deserved. Regarding a nation, if godly leaders are in the pipeline because of the prayers of godly people, then God can restrain judgment because he longs to extend mercy and blessings whenever his people give him the opportunity through personal repentance and prayers for godliness to rule once again in a nation. In the life of an individual, the same principles apply even when that life is presently in shambles.

Jesus taught his disciples to pray and never give up (Lk.18:1) because God’s responses are not based solely on the present but also on the future and the future of God’s people rests not on present circumstances but faith and prayer for the future. So…if you are discouraged take heart and pray for the future. Even while many of the Jews were in exile in Babylon, God had the prophet Jeremiah send them a letter in which he stated, “ For I know the plans I have for you…plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future” (Jer.29:11). That is always God’s heart for his people or for nations. So, if you are discouraged or afraid…take heart and pray.

In his book, Soul Keeping, John Ortberg points out how rarely the word easy is used in scripture. By my count, it us used less than twenty-five times in the entire Bible. Jesus used it when he said, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Ortberg goes on to point out that when Jesus used the word, it was a soul word, not a circumstance word or an assignment word. He says, “Aim at having easy circumstances, and life will be hard all around. Aim at having an easy soul, and your capacity for tackling hard assignments will actually grow. The soul was not made for an easy life. The soul was made for an easy yoke” (p.126).

As you look at the life of Jesus, he apparently knew the secrets of a soul at ease or at rest. Regardless of his circumstances or the demands of the crowd he never seemed to be in a hurry and rarely, if ever, let someone else determine his agenda. The secret of his soul-at-ease seems to have been his intimate connection with the Father, which simplified his life and decision making considerably. His statements such as, “I only do what I see the Father doing,” tell us that Jesus moved at the pace ordained by his Father rather than by the world. He sought the applause of only one rather than the multitude. He evaluated his life by one set of heavenly standards rather than the shifting standards of culture. He discovered that his Father’s agenda for his life was more focused and simpler than the agenda the world hands us. Love God. Love one another. Give attention to those I highlight for you or to whom I direct you. Don’t worry much about the rest.

I know my first response to my own words about Jesus is that we live in a different world and just don’t have the luxury of setting our own agendas. To some degree that is true but the tension of life impacts us more when we internalize the demands the world places on us and give those demands legitimacy. A soul connected to God and his purposes is the key to ease.

From a practical perspective we can notice that Jesus has some consistent practices in his life that kept him connected to the Father and that kept his soul healthy. We might want to emulate what Jesus did so here is a bullet point list for my left-brained friends. You can add some other patterns you see in the life of Jesus.

• Jesus prayed a lot and on many occasions prayed for extended periods.
• He enjoyed solitude on a regular basis.
• He spent time outdoors enjoying God’s (and his own) creation.
• He developed a circle of close friends with whom he could share his life and his heart.
• He stored up the Word of God in his heart.
• He took long walks – sometimes on water.
• He engaged in deep, spiritual discussions with friends and sometimes strangers.
• He laughed and sometimes hung out with non-religious people.
• He thought a lot about the kingdom of Heaven.
• He worshipped often in synagogues with other believers.
• He frequently talked to others about God’s love.
• On occasion, he played with children.

Think about doing some intentional things to find ease for your soul and may your soul be at rest today.

There seems to be a lot of discouragement in the Christian community these days. In the past few months we have lost cultural and legislative ground as the Supreme Court redefined marriage after thousands of years of cultural and legal precedent that marriage is a union between a man and a woman. Washington and the courts have declared homosexuality to be a civil right and Christians are now under the gun if they do not serve homosexuals or honor homosexual marriage in their businesses.   The “war on Christianity” is ramping up all around the world and very few public voices are pushing back against the tide.

The question is simply do we stand up or give in? Do we stand up against the giants in the land or simply decide that they are too big for us so we must hide or at least keep a low profile. I’m talking to way too many Christians who feel hopeless about the situation and their only prayer is “come quickly Lord Jesus.” That’s not a bad prayer. In fact, it is a biblical prayer that was offered in the Book of Revelation. We all long for Jesus to come and set things right on the earth but just remember that when he returns those who have not yet named Jesus as Lord may be eternally lost. Those individuals may be some who are near and dear to you.

Secondly, those of us who feel so discouraged in the United States about the current state of the church need to look outside of the U.S. to see what God is doing in the world. Millions are coming to Jesus in unprecedented numbers in Africa, Asia and South America. God is saving, healing, and even raising the dead in numbers never seen before. When Jesus said that those who believe in him would do even greater things than he had done was speaking of this day. We can take heart in the fact that God is pushing back darkness all over the world and can still push back the darkness in America.

One of the things that seems confusing to many, however, is that some voices in the church are declaring that America is going down like the Titanic with no rescue in sight. They are declaring that we live in a post-Christian world that will now simply get worse and worse without remedy until the Lord returns. Others are declaring that God is going to release awakening or revival in the U.S. and everything will be glorious again. So which is it? I believe both may represent potential futures. I know that is not satisfying but remember that many prophecies and promises in scripture are conditional.

In Deuteronomy 28-30, God promised both peace and prosperity or oppression and hardship depending on Israel’s response to him. He declared that if Israel followed his commandments and loved him, then they would be blessed, prosperous, and at peace. If they rejected his ways then war, drought, and financial disasters would follow. Both futures were prophesied and Israel was given the responsibility to determine which it would be.

Faith also determines outcomes. God had deeded and promised Canaan to his people if they would trust him enough to enter into the land and take it from the tribes living there. One generation chose unbelief, chose never to face the giants, and never received the promise. Another generation entered by faith and took the land – giants and all. Jesus said, “May it be done to you according to your faith.” What God’s people have faith for is a determining factor in just about everything – even in America’s future.

America is not lost. If the nation “goes to hell in a hand basket” it will be because God’s church never took possession of the hand basket. Remember, our struggle is not against flesh and blood but against spiritual powers that are pulling the strings of presidents, judges, and congressmen. But Jesus said that the gates (authority) of hell would not prevail against his church. When David stood facing Goliath, in the eyes of the onlookers, David had no chance. But by faith he prophesied the outcome based on how he viewed his God. He declared to Saul, “The Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine” (1Sam.17:37). David then prophesied once again when he stood before his massive enemy. David shouted to the Philistine, “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This day the Lord will hand you over to me, and I’ll strike you down and cut off your head. Today I will give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel. All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the Lord saves; for the battle is the Lord’s, and he will give all of you into our hands (1 Sam. 17:45-47). Then David did just what he declared he would do by the power of God.

We face a swaggering, boastful giant with multiple heads. But we serve the same God that David served and should now be declaring victory for the church (i.e. the righteousness of God and exaltation of Christ) in America in the name and power of the Lord as we pray and speak. By faith we should declare God’s sovereignty and victory instead of declaring doom and defeat over God’s people. We must bless the church and not curse it with predictions of failure. We have not been given a spirit of fear but of power, love and a sound mind (2 Tim.1:7). The fear that we feel is not from the Lord and we must reject that spirit. We should not fear the enemy, he should fear us because Jesus is King of Kings and Lord of Lords, has all authority in heaven and on earth, and is willing to exercise that authority when his people ask, declare, and stand in faith.

America will be retaken for Christ in the courts of heaven before we see it manifested in the courts of men. That will happen when we offer up bold prayers of faith and declare God’s victory over evil in this nation and do so until we see that victory with our own eyes. Don’t be afraid; be bold. Remember that Jesus said, “I have overcome the world,” and in him we too are more than conquerors. Be bold and confident today. Pray boldly, speak with confidence, and live like one who has the eternal, all powerful God dwelling in your heart!

Have you ever thought about your soul? What is it exactly? The common definition of soul is something that is a combination of our emotions, thoughts, and will (decision making functions). Dallas Willard, who writes extensively on spiritual disciplines and soul-care, defines it differently. He suggests, “What is running your life at any given moment is your soul. Not external circumstances, not your thoughts, not your intentions, not even your feelings but your soul. The soul is that aspect of your whole being that correlates, integrates, and enlivens everything going on in the various dimensions of the self. The soul is the life center of human beings.”

If you think about it, the usual definition almost attaches soul to our physical processes of feeling, thinking, and decision-making. But if our body is destroyed, our soul goes on apart from any physical connection. The soul then is a spiritual aspect of who we are that coordinates these other facets of the human experience. It doesn’t control those aspects but coordinates them. In the beginning, God’s intention was that a healthy soul connected to him would rule over or direct our thought life, our emotions, and all of our decisions. However, sin corrupted that process and our corrupted minds and emotions began to rule our souls. When we come to Jesus, he begins the process of restoring God’s intended order to our internal world.

John Ortberg suggests that we must move from being self-focused to being soul-focused. We tend to be self-focused where how I feel, what I do, my goals, my happiness, etc. are what life is all about. We read self-help books, go to therapy to explore our thoughts and our needs, and build relationships on the basis of how the other person might benefit or even complete me.

Soul-focus simply pays attention to my connection with God knowing that when my soul is healthy, everything else takes care of itself. When my soul is healthy my internal world will be divinely ordered and nothing (or very little) will block the flow of the Holy Spirit in my life. Then I will be like a tree planted by streams of water that flourishes and bears fruit in every season. The key is for my soul to be centered in my relationship with the Father. An uncentered soul is restless and constantly dissatisfied.

In his book, Soul Keeping (p.100-103), he lists several indicators of an uncentered soul. You might check these out.

• A soul without a center has difficulty making decisions. When our souls are not centered in God, even as believers we may have a great deal of internal debate about whether our decision should serve God or serve our flesh.

• A soul without a center feels constantly vulnerable to people or circumstances. In those moments we feel as if people, what they think of us, or our circumstances determine our well-being rather than God and his provision being the determination of that.

• A soul without a center lacks patience. Think express lane at HEB. When you feel your blood pressure rising because the woman who is paying out in front of you is fumbling for her coupons in a purse the size of Texas that she could have retrieved while she was waiting in line, shift your thoughts from self-focused to soul-focused and ask, “What is God wanting me to do or learn from this moment?” Your chosen focus changes everything.

• A soul without center is easily thrown. Does every little crisis or disappointment in your life cause a spinout? Are you derailed emotionally all day long when things don’t go your way? Did you experience a little road rage on your way to work this morning? Your soul may not be centered.

• A soul without a center finds its identity in externals. Does your car, your clothes, your house, your title, or the people you are seen with define you? Are you constantly thinking about image or the way others perceive you? Think about how much that dynamic steals your peace. The enemy comes to steal. If those concerns constantly steal your peace, then those concerns are probably from the enemy.

I have been challenged lately to think more about my soul than my self. My soul will never find rest until it rests in God. The key is finding that rest now, not just in eternity. Blessing in Him!