2 KINGS 10 - 12

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God does some clean up work in Israel, and He does it through the hand of a few ordinary people! Here are some thoughts from today's bible stories...

1) God uses Jehu to rid the land of the worship of Baal! A few years before and prior to his death, King Ahab wickedly promoted the worship of Baal throughout the land of Israel. God had Ahab and his evil wife, Jezebel, killed for their blatant defiance of God and their active promotion of the worship of Baal. Through an ordinary citizen by the name of Jehu, God uses him to destroy any and all remnants of Ahab's family, friends, servants, and acquaintances. Jehu travel incessantly throughout the land of Israel doing God's work by ridding the land of the influence of wicked Ahab. Unfortunately, Jehu was do busy in the work of the Lord that he forgot the Lord of the work! He never truly developed an intimate relationship with God and was thus insensitive to the ongoing false worship that was still taking place with the golden calves.

There are many Christians like this today! They are busy in the work of the Lord - so much so, that they forget to develop and have no time for an intimate relationship with the Lord! As a result, they are insensitive to God's will and what is on His heart. They also become insensitive to sin and tend to overlook the habitual sin in their own lives.

What about you? Are your spending time with the Lord that is specifically orchestrated to develop intimacy between Him and you? Do you have a love for the Lord but overlook the habitual sins of your life and find excuses for them?

2) A child leads Judah back to God! Fortunately, the queen's own step-daughter did the right thing - she saved one of the children of King Jehoram who had covenant rights to the throne! His name was Joash. As a child, he grew up hidden from Queen Athaliah with only a few Godly priests and leaders knowing about the child and his whereabouts. As a child, they schooled him up in the law of the Lord and once he turned the age of 7 or 8 they pronounced him the new King! As a result of his Godly upbringing, he did great things to purge Israel and Judah from their sinful ways!

How we bring children up makes a HUGE impact on future generations! If Joash would have continued living under the auspices of his family, he would have surely become another sad statistic in the lineage of wicked kings. Instead, God spared him from a wicked family and brought him up in the Temple under the leadership and training of Godly priests and leaders.

The influence of Godly parenting is enormous! It not only impacts the child but future generations as well.

That's all for now...Have a great day in Lord!