OT DAY 545 - Making A Covenant with God, Another Bad Guy Finished (Please click here for English podcast)

Silence

1.   Put on your “brakes” and stop for a moment of silence

2.   Wait for God. Breathe deep for God's peace and feel His presence. Exhale your worries.

Praise and Thanksgiving

1.   Think through your day, all the times that made you smile

2.   Thank God for all those moments, and for all those people

3.   Open your heart to praise the Lord

       Shout for joy in the Lord, O you righteous!
           Praise befits the upright.

        Give thanks to the Lord with the lyre;

           make melody to him with the harp of ten strings!

        Sing to him a new song;
            play skillfully on the strings, with loud shouts.

        

                                     Psalm 33:1-3

Confession and Repentance (Subjective Shifting Devotion Method http://bishopsilas.blogspot.ca/2009/08/count-down-5-subject-shifting-devotion.html)

1.  Pray for the Holy Spirit to work in you:

     “Dear Holy Spirit, shine your light into the places of darkness in my life. Show me my sins, everything that blocks me from encountering God. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.”

2.  Through the Holy Spirit, examine yourself for a short silence and then pray:

     "Dear Lord Jesus, thank you for dying on the cross for our sins and being victorious over death and sin. I confess my sin to you(pause, to tell Jesus what the Holy Spirit has shown you). Forgive my sins by your blood and help me follow you. Holy Spirit, fill me that I may be able to receive your gift to love God and His people. In Jesus Name I pray, Amen."

The Word (2 Kings 11:1-4, 15-21)

English(ESV): https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=列+王+紀+下+11&version=ESV

Now when Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she arose and destroyed all the royal family. 2 But Jehosheba, the daughter of King Joram, sister of Ahaziah, took Joash the son of Ahaziah and stole him away from among the king's sons who were being put to death, and she put[a] him and his nurse in a bedroom. Thus they[b] hid him from Athaliah, so that he was not put to death. 3 And he remained with her six years, hidden in the house of the Lord, while Athaliah reigned over the land. 4 But in the seventh year Jehoiada sent and brought the captains of the Carites and of the guards, and had them come to him in the house of the Lord. And he made a covenant with them and put them under oath in the house of the Lord, and he showed them the king's son.

15 Then Jehoiada the priest commanded the captains who were set over the army, “Bring her out between the ranks, and put to death with the sword anyone who follows her.” For the priest said, “Let her not be put to death in the house of the Lord.”16 So they laid hands on her; and she went through the horses' entrance to the king's house, and there she was put to death.

17 And Jehoiada made a covenant between the Lord and the king and people, that they should be the Lord's people, and also between the king and the people.18 Then all the people of the land went to the house of Baal and tore it down; his altars and his images they broke in pieces, and they killed Mattan the priest of Baal before the altars. And the priest posted watchmen over the house of the Lord.19 And he took the captains, the Carites, the guards, and all the people of the land, and they brought the king down from the house of the Lord, marching through the gate of the guards to the king's house. And he took his seat on the throne of the kings. 20 So all the people of the land rejoiced, and the city was quiet after Athaliah had been put to death with the sword at the king's house.

21  Jehoash was seven years old when he began to reign.

                                                 2 Kings 11:1-4, 15-21

Let's have a time to be still and give the Holy Spirit space to speak through the passage we have just read. Offer this time up to Jesus as you listen to him, while listening to "Gabriel's Oboe"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jmax47l2hLU

    My Listening

           Do you know the importance of a covenant with God? Nowadays, people do not want any covenant or commitment, no matter to God or other people. We are becoming less and less committed and self-centred people.

           You can see the power of making a covenant with God, the king and the people. God acted and another bad guy died! 

           

     Let's see how Professor John Goldingay tells us: 

     (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Goldingay) : 

              In this story the first covenant is a solemn obligation Jehoiada extracts from the groups of palace guards when he takes them into his confidence about the coup he is about to attempt.
              Johoiada's subsequent broader covenant was distinctive in involving God, king, and people, and by implication it involved all three parties in all possible combinations. 
    

John Goldingay. 1 and 2 Kings for Everyone. Louisville,KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2011, p.146.

      How committed you are to God will show how God will protect and act to take away those things and people you are not able to take away.

      Are you willing to commit yourself to God now? 

    Dear Lord Jesus,
    Help us to be willing to make a firm commitment to you. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.

Reflect on these questions:

   1. Do you understand more about how important your commitment to God is after reading today's message? 

2. How can you make a covenant to God now so that you can experience the great power when God act for you?

    3. What have you got from Jesus today?

10,000 Reasons

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DXDGE_lRI0E

四十天的"破. 立"靈修:

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Welcome to use my first blog: Read one chapter of Bible a day 

     http://bishopsilas.blogspot.ca/2009/08/day-1-i-am-blind.html

Today is our 281 days non stop Morning Prayer Monday through Friday 6:30a.m. to 7:30a.m. Saturday 8a.m. to 9:45a.m., Sunday 7:30a.m. to 8:30a.m.

The offering of our First Fruit every morning have changed lots of things: unity, lifestyle, character …and many more!

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