Honest and Good Heart

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King James Bible Study[Mark 8:34  And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.]

Date: Tuesday, August 03, 2021
Chapters: II Chronicles 33-35
Message: Honest and Good Heart

Hello My Friend,

As I was reading the chapters for today I thought about the parable that Jesus spoke regarding the seed of the sower, the seed being the Word of God, and how people respond to it based on soil that the seed landed on, [Luke 8:10,12-15  And he said, Unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God: but to others in parables; that seeing they might not see, and hearing they might not understand.  12  Those by the way side are they that hear; then cometh the devil, and taketh away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved.  13  They on the rock are they, which, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, which for a while believe, and in time of temptation fall away.  14  And that which fell among thorns are they, which, when they have heard, go forth, and are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to perfection.  15  But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience.]

Notice how Jesus explains why He spoke in parables to begin with, believe it or not, God only gives His Word to those who have their hearts open to God. If we truly, honestly, and sincerely believe in God with all of our heart, God will give us understanding of His Word, and that is only how we come to know who Christ is. I will tell you this, each and every soul that God creates is born with the knowledge of God in them before they are even born. It does not matter who we are or what family we came from, we are responsible for our own heart. Remember how Godly Hezekiah was? Well, his son, Manasseh, was the complete opposite. When he became king he literally turned the entire nation into an abomination to God, even sacrificed his own children.

[2 Chronicles 33:3,6-7,9  For he built again the high places which Hezekiah his father had broken down, and he reared up altars for Baalim, and made groves, and worshipped all the host of heaven, and served them.  6  And he caused his children to pass through the fire in the valley of the son of Hinnom: also he observed times, and used enchantments, and used witchcraft, and dealt with a familiar spirit, and with wizards: he wrought much evil in the sight of the LORD, to provoke him to anger.  7  And he set a carved image, the idol which he had made, in the house of God, of which God had said to David and to Solomon his son, In this house, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen before all the tribes of Israel, will I put my name for ever: 9  So Manasseh made Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to err, and to do worse than the heathen, whom the LORD had destroyed before the children of Israel.]

[also he observed times,] This reminds me of what I am dealing with right now. We may not realize this, but our soul was designed to feed off of spiritual food, but sadly, it is not always God’s spirit that it latches on to. I will be honest and tell you that there was a time when I was intrigued with witchcraft, and even had tarot cards. I believe that the only reason why God allowed me to even learn of these things was to teach others just how evil it actually is. Let me tell you how deceptive the devil is in that he will corrupt your mind into believing that those evil spirits are God Himself. Ever hear of a Christian witch? That is someone who is saved, or says they are saved, and practices witchcraft with the belief that God gave them their gift. When the soul is lost, especially when we are facing affliction, it is so easy to fall into the trap those seducing spirits, but if you have an honest heart for God, then you will discover the evil spirits and repent of ever having thought like that very quickly. Manasseh found that out when God sent judgment upon him.

[2 Chronicles 33:10-13,15  And the LORD spake to Manasseh, and to his people: but they would not hearken.  11  Wherefore the LORD brought upon them the captains of the host of the king of Assyria, which took Manasseh among the thorns, and bound him with fetters, and carried him to Babylon.  12  And when he was in affliction, he besought the LORD his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers,  13  And prayed unto him: and he was intreated of him, and heard his supplication, and brought him again to Jerusalem into his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the LORD he was God. 15  And he took away the strange gods, and the idol out of the house of the LORD, and all the altars that he had built in the mount of the house of the LORD, and in Jerusalem, and cast them out of the city.]

[And prayed unto him: and he was intreated of him,] [Intreat; to pray that a present evil may be removed, or an expected one averted.] This is proof that the most vilest sinner can be saved and why we need to continue to pray for the lost. You see, most people do believe in God, but affliction can actually produce one of two outcomes, a believer or an unbeliever. It all starts with the heart and our willingness to see that even though God allows the evil, He is the way out. No one ends up in hell because God wanted them there, He does not want one soul in hell, they end up there because of their own hard or fearful heart. Now, we go on to Amon, Manasseh’s son, he was fully aware of what Manasseh went through and his conversion, but he brought the nation right back where it was, but unlike his father who repented, he never did, in fact, he got worse.

[2 Chronicles 33:21-25  Amon was two and twenty years old when he began to reign, and reigned two years in Jerusalem.  22  But he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, as did Manasseh his father: for Amon sacrificed unto all the carved images which Manasseh his father had made, and served them;  23  And humbled not himself before the LORD, as Manasseh his father had humbled himself; but Amon trespassed more and more. 24  And his servants conspired against him, and slew him in his own house.  25  But the people of the land slew all them that had conspired against king Amon; and the people of the land made Josiah his son king in his stead.]

[but Amon trespassed more and more.] These are the true reprobates, the ones who are pure evil and have no hope of salvation. This is proof that we are responsible for our own soul, should we learn of Christ and reject Him, that would be to our own fault for ending up in hell, [Matthew 10:32-33  Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven.  33  But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven.]

It is only by the grace of God, through the Holy Spirit that lives inside of every saved, born again Christian, that we are able to stand up to the evils of Satan. With the power of Christ in us, we can turn any nation around, but it takes one; a Godly leader, and two; the willing hearts of that nation, to do it. At the age of sixteen, Josiah did more to turn the nation of Israel back to God since David was king. First, he got his own heart right, by the time he was twenty he began purging the entire land of Israel from all the abominations that caused Israel to sin against God. At the age of twenty-seven, eighteen years later after his reign began, he had the temple repaired once again, and as they were cleaning up they found something none of them had seen before.

[2 Chronicles 34:3-6  For in the eighth year of his reign, while he was yet young, he began to seek after the God of David his father: and in the twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem from the high places, and the groves, and the carved images, and the molten images.  4  And they brake down the altars of Baalim in his presence; and the images, that were on high above them, he cut down; and the groves, and the carved images, and the molten images, he brake in pieces, and made dust of them, and strowed it upon the graves of them that had sacrificed unto them.  5  And he burnt the bones of the priests upon their altars, and cleansed Judah and Jerusalem.  6  And so did he in the cities of Manasseh, and Ephraim, and Simeon, even unto Naphtali, with their mattocks round about.]

[and in the twelfth year he began to purge] So, here is this young man, only twenty years old, removing the images, groves, and idols from not only Judah and Jerusalem, but the rest of the nation as well. At this point, none of them, even the priests, had no knowledge of the Law, but their hearts were willing and when the time was right, God would reveal the Law to them. Now, think about this, before Josiah became king, the nation went fifty-five years without the Law in their possession, add that to the eighteen years that Josiah reigned and that would be seventy-three years. That is two generations that went without the Word of God, all those who did seek God during that time did so with their heart. So, imagine what they thought when they found it.

[2 Chronicles 34:8,14-15,18-19  Now in the eighteenth year of his reign, when he had purged the land, and the house, he sent Shaphan the son of Azaliah, and Maaseiah the governor of the city, and Joah the son of Joahaz the recorder, to repair the house of the LORD his God. 14  And when they brought out the money that was brought into the house of the LORD, Hilkiah the priest found a book of the law of the LORD given by Moses.  15  And Hilkiah answered and said to Shaphan the scribe, I have found the book of the law in the house of the LORD. And Hilkiah delivered the book to Shaphan. 18  Then Shaphan the scribe told the king, saying, Hilkiah the priest hath given me a book. And Shaphan read it before the king.  19  And it came to pass, when the king had heard the words of the law, that he rent his clothes.]

[that he rent his clothes.] This is how we all react the first time we start reading the Bible learning of God’s judgments. To be honest, we learn of Judgment Day well before we read the Bible, and that scares a lot of people. I know it scared me, but what we end up hearing is hearsay and not actually what God’s Word says. Then what happens to true believers is that they start going to church to understand it more, which is what Josiah did. Well, he sought a prophet, which actually ended up being a prophetess, who confirmed that what they read about God judging Israel was true and would come to pass.

[2 Chronicles 34:25-28  Because they have forsaken me, and have burned incense unto other gods, that they might provoke me to anger with all the works of their hands; therefore my wrath shall be poured out upon this place, and shall not be quenched.  26  And as for the king of Judah, who sent you to enquire of the LORD, so shall ye say unto him, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel concerning the words which thou hast heard;  27  Because thine heart was tender, and thou didst humble thyself before God, when thou heardest his words against this place, and against the inhabitants thereof, and humbledst thyself before me, and didst rend thy clothes, and weep before me; I have even heard thee also, saith the LORD.  28  Behold, I will gather thee to thy fathers, and thou shalt be gathered to thy grave in peace, neither shall thine eyes see all the evil that I will bring upon this place, and upon the inhabitants of the same. So they brought the king word again.]

[Because thine heart was tender,] While the judgment still stood, God promised that Josiah, and anyone else living who stood by Him, would not face the judgment. We who are saved and born again know that Christ will return, and judgment is coming to the entire world, God promises us the same peace to our graves as long as we are faithful to Him. And even if we are to be blessed to be raptured out of here before our grave, we would not have to see the evil either as we will be safe in the clouds while it all takes place, [1 Thessalonians 4:16-17  For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:  17  Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.]

Once Josiah and all the people found out that judgment was about to come, a huge revival took place. Josiah, knowing that he would not have faced any of it could have just left things alone, but he chose to follow the Word of God. Josiah went through all of Israel and purged it from everything that encouraged idol worship. He even gathered the remnants of Israel (the northern kingdom had already been taken over and the Jews scattered or taken to Syria) for a true Passover. In fact, the first Passover in centuries.

[2 Chronicles 35:1-2,16-18  Moreover Josiah kept a passover unto the LORD in Jerusalem: and they killed the passover on the fourteenth day of the first month.  2  And he set the priests in their charges, and encouraged them to the service of the house of the LORD, 16  So all the service of the LORD was prepared the same day, to keep the passover, and to offer burnt offerings upon the altar of the LORD, according to the commandment of king Josiah.  17  And the children of Israel that were present kept the passover at that time, and the feast of unleavened bread seven days.  18  And there was no passover like to that kept in Israel from the days of Samuel the prophet; neither did all the kings of Israel keep such a passover as Josiah kept, and the priests, and the Levites, and all Judah and Israel that were present, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.]

[and encouraged them to the service of the house of the LORD,] You know, those who are faithfully serving God ought to be encouraging others who are saved to be doing the same thing, not tearing each other down. I swear, those who call themselves Christians are more judgmental than the world. Instead of fighting with each other, it is time that we fight for Jesus! Stand up for Him! We cannot stop the judgment, but the only way we can see lost souls turn their heart to Jesus is to give Him all of our heart first, [Romans 14:8,11-13  For whether we live, we live unto the Lord; and whether we die, we die unto the Lord: whether we live therefore, or die, we are the Lord’s. 11  For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.  12  So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God.  13  Let us not therefore judge one another any more: but judge this rather, that no man put a stumblingblock or an occasion to fall in his brother’s way.]

Jesus Christ Magnified: [2 Chronicles 33:13  And prayed unto him: and he was intreated of him, and heard his supplication, and brought him again to Jerusalem into his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the LORD he was God.]

Today’s Prayer: God, Thank You for sending Your Son to save me from the judgment that is about to come, and for the great sacrifice that led to my permanent salvation. I believe and know that I must have fully trusted Your Son as my Saviour to do be saved. I know that I can never do anything to merit salvation as it has already been bought and paid for by Jesus, but I also know that I can live the rest of my life the best I can in obedience to Your Word so that I can be a testimony of who my true Lord and Saviour is. Lord, Lead me and guide me, let the Holy Spirit work in me so that I am a faithful and true witness, never let me be intimidated by those expose me to evil spirits, give me the wisdom and discernment of Your Word that I might be able to teach the Gospel in a way that all can understand and know Christ as well. While we cannot change Your mind to the coming judgment, we can be faithful witnesses to lead a few more to Christ before He returns. I ask these things in Your name, Jesus, Amen.

God Bless You, I am praying for you,

Christina

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