Agape Devotions

Catch up on readings day. Starting on Book of Ezra - 18th September Bible Project video introduction on Ezra-Nehemiah https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MkETkRv9tG8

Catch up on readings day. Next book to read will be the Book of Ezra.  https://www.esv.org/resources/esv-global-study-bible/introduction-to-ezra/

READ: 2 Chronicles 35-36 REFLECT: King Josiah soon realised the trouble Judah was in. They had abandoned the LORD again and the wrath of the LORD was imminent. However, because Josiah humbled himself, the day of the LORD would be delayed . In addition to finding the book of the covenant and embarking on another cleansing of the nation there was something else Josiah is famous for.  Josiah was also famous for conducting an amazing Passover. The Passover you may remember was an event where Israel remembers the LORD’s act of deliverance (Ex 12). Israel was in slavery in Egypt. The LORD told them to sacrifice a lamb and smear its blood over the lintels of their doorframes and eat the cooked sacrifices in haste. That night they would be delivered. During the evening an angel passed through Egypt and killed every firstborn in the city. Human and animal. Every house that was not protected by the blood experienced death. Old and young. Many people died that night. The Egyptians knew it wa...

READ : 2 Chronicles 33-34 Verses chosen for meditation: 2 Chronicles 33:2, 12-13 2 And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, according to the abominations of the nations whom the Lord drove out before the people of Israel. 12 And when he was in distress, he entreated the favor of the Lord his God and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers. 13 He prayed to him, and God was moved by his entreaty and heard his plea and brought him again to Jerusalem into his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the Lord was God. REFLECT Manasseh’s atrocities in this chapter put him at the top of the podium for the evilest of kings. He undid all his father’s good work, tearing down what Hezekiah built, and built idol temples that Hezekiah tore down. This was a man with an audacity of parading his sin, brazenly and unashamed. He did not set up idols in obscure parts, but desecrated God’s sanctuary by setting up idol worship in the very house of God, insulting God direc...

READ : 2 Chronicles 31-32.    Verses chosen for meditation: 2 Chronicles 31:1. 31  Now when all this was finished, all Israel who were present went out to the cities of Judah and  broke in pieces the  pillars and cut down  the Asherim and broke down the high places and the altars throughout all Judah and Benjamin, and in Ephraim and Manasseh, until they had destroyed them all. Then all the people of Israel returned to their cities, every man to his possession.   REFLECT Chronicles 30:26 recorded that the people of Judah and some of the God-fearing and repentant people of the northern tribes had gathered in Jerusalem and celebrated a Passover for the first time in years. These people repented, and prayed, and worshiped God with a sincerity and fervency that they had never experienced. This fervency and spiritual awakening do not seem to fade away but resulted in further reforms such as the restoration of the Temple services. So, th...

Read 2 Chronicles 29-30 Verse for meditation: 2 Chronicles 30:26 ESV So there was great joy in Jerusalem, for since the time of Solomon the son of David king of Israel there had been nothing like this in Jerusalem. Reflect Suggest you spend a time of worship, just enjoying His presence, and wondering what it would feel or be like to experience joy in this present day or a future time. What does it really take to have joy? What is joy? Is there any similarity between the time of Solomon and that of Hezekiah? What can we learn from these times? Relate Reading through the passage, it's easy to be caught up in its flurry of activities. For a lot seemed to be happening. A lot of names were even mentioned. And the way things looked, the priests were given another chance to put things right, to do what they were supposed to do, but had somehow stopped doing. Then, because of the sudden sheer volume of work, the Levites were also called in to help. The temple had been sorely wanting in the...

  TEXT FOR REFLECTION 8 The men of Israel took captive 200,000 of their relatives, women, sons, and daughters. They also took much spoil from them and brought the spoil to Samaria. 9 But a prophet of the Lord was there, whose name was Oded, and he went out to meet the army that came to Samaria and said to them, “Behold, because the Lord, the God of your fathers, was angry with Judah, he gave them into your hand, but you have killed them in a rage that has reached up to heaven. 10 And now you intend to subjugate the people of Judah and Jerusalem, male and female, as your slaves. Have you not sins of your own against the Lord your God? 11 Now hear me, and send back the captives from your relatives whom you have taken, for the fierce wrath of the Lord is upon you.” V 8-11 REFLECTION When King Ahaz was king over Judah, he led his nation into grossly abominable acts of idolatry. He offered sacrifices and made offerings on every hill and mound and under every tree. Can you imagine w...