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timewithgod.blog-city.com — July 2010
2 Kings 11 & 12 -- Taking Ownership Of Your Own Relationship With God
It's hard to believe that the king's mother, upon his death, could be so obsessed with power that she would order the death of all of her grandsons to secure her position as queen! But then Athaliah was the daughter of Jezebel, so she c
It's hard to believe that the king's mother, upon his death, could be so obsessed with power that she would order the death of all of her grandsons to secure her position as queen! But then Athaliah was the daughter of Jezebel, so she came by it quite honestly.
The royal families of Judah and Israel had become enmeshed. God had placed a curse on the descendants of Ahab, and she was unwittingly carrying out that curse, my commentary said. "The long-range consequences of what she tried to do are staggering. This was a Satanic attempt to break the royal Messianic line." But God had promised that a descendant of David would always be on the throne and that the Messiah would come from David, and He kept that promise by using Jehoiada, the high priest, to hide Ahaziah's one remaining son, Joash, in an unused bedroom in the Temple for 7 years. His grandmother was killed by the royal guards when Joash was brought out and assumed the throne.
Joash started out well, repairing the Temple and leading the people to tear down the temple of Baal and kill the priest of Baal, but there was that ominous section of verse 2 in chapter 12: "Joash did what the Lord said was right as long as Jehoiada the priest taught him." My commentary said, "After the death of Jehoiada, the princes of Judah turned their king to idolatry. When Zechariah, a son (or grandson) of the high priest, tried to call the people back to the worship of Jehovah, King Joash ordered him to be stoned to death."
There's a real benefit to having a spiritual mentor to guide us as we grow in Christ. But there is likewise a real danger, too. If we focus ourselves on our mentor rather than on God, we run the very real risk of the same instability that Joash showed - once our mentor is gone, our support is gone and we fall away from God.
It's vitally important that each of us sets it in our heart to discipline ourselves to spend time with God alone, asking God for guidance, and developing our relationship with Him independent of anyone else. If we instead rely on another to open our mail from God and read it to us, we will lack a vital element, just as Joash did, in our relationship with God that could keep us from the same ruinous path that Joash took.
Father, thank You so much for my spiritual mentors. Though I never thought I'd be able to say it, I'm glad that You orchestrated circumstances so that I would have no choice but to discipline myself to spend time with you without them. For at the time, I didn't realize how much I depended on them instead of You. I pray that I can help those I mentor to make that same decision - to own their own relationship with You so that when I'm not around they will be strong and disciplined in their relationship with You.
Your Brother In Christ,
Gary Ford
The royal families of Judah and Israel had become enmeshed. God had placed a curse on the descendants of Ahab, and she was unwittingly carrying out that curse, my commentary said. "The long-range consequences of what she tried to do are staggering. This was a Satanic attempt to break the royal Messianic line." But God had promised that a descendant of David would always be on the throne and that the Messiah would come from David, and He kept that promise by using Jehoiada, the high priest, to hide Ahaziah's one remaining son, Joash, in an unused bedroom in the Temple for 7 years. His grandmother was killed by the royal guards when Joash was brought out and assumed the throne.
Joash started out well, repairing the Temple and leading the people to tear down the temple of Baal and kill the priest of Baal, but there was that ominous section of verse 2 in chapter 12: "Joash did what the Lord said was right as long as Jehoiada the priest taught him." My commentary said, "After the death of Jehoiada, the princes of Judah turned their king to idolatry. When Zechariah, a son (or grandson) of the high priest, tried to call the people back to the worship of Jehovah, King Joash ordered him to be stoned to death."
There's a real benefit to having a spiritual mentor to guide us as we grow in Christ. But there is likewise a real danger, too. If we focus ourselves on our mentor rather than on God, we run the very real risk of the same instability that Joash showed - once our mentor is gone, our support is gone and we fall away from God.
It's vitally important that each of us sets it in our heart to discipline ourselves to spend time with God alone, asking God for guidance, and developing our relationship with Him independent of anyone else. If we instead rely on another to open our mail from God and read it to us, we will lack a vital element, just as Joash did, in our relationship with God that could keep us from the same ruinous path that Joash took.
Father, thank You so much for my spiritual mentors. Though I never thought I'd be able to say it, I'm glad that You orchestrated circumstances so that I would have no choice but to discipline myself to spend time with you without them. For at the time, I didn't realize how much I depended on them instead of You. I pray that I can help those I mentor to make that same decision - to own their own relationship with You so that when I'm not around they will be strong and disciplined in their relationship with You.
Your Brother In Christ,
Gary Ford
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