About this Blog Seek the LORD your God and you will find him, if you search after him with all your heart and with all your soul.
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By Anushka, on 26th January 2012 Isn’t 1 Chronicles just a repeat of the Books of Kings?
- 1 Kings and 2 Kings are history books, mainly reciting the facts of the kings of Israel and Judah, and associated prophets.
- 1 Chronicles is in the form of a journal of events, and adds supplementary information and detail to that information provided in Kings.
- 1 Chronicles only deals with the southern kingdom of Judah, where the line of David is continued.
- The genealogy at the beginning of the book reminds the people of Judah of their heritage with the Lord, and that they alone are God’s witnesses.
What else is in the book?
- The first 9 chapters are taken up with genealogies, from Adam through to King Saul.
- Many stories seen in earlier books do appear, but with a more spiritual emphasis, including much of the life of King David.
- The temple and temple ritual are a more prominent subject than the lives and wars of the kings.
- There are frequent references to the ark of the Lord and the priests and Levites.
- The preparations for the building of the temple made by David are detailed.
What are the main stories in the book?
- Chapter 10 – Death of Saul.
- Chapters 11-12 – David becomes king.
- Chapter 13 – The ark is transported on a cart to Kiriath-Jearim resulting in the death of Uzzah.
- Chapter 15 – The ark is brought to Jerusalem.
- Chapter 17 – God makes promises to David that he will have a son who will have an everlasting kingdom.
- Chapter 21 – David sins by carrying out a census of the people.
- Chapter 22 – David makes preparations for the temple to be built.
- Chapter 28 – Solomon is given instructions on the building of the temple.
What can we learn?
- The incident of Uzzah’s death upon the incorrect transportation of the ark teaches us that we must respect God and do things the way he wants us to.
- We have the promise of the future kingdom of God reiterated for us again, and we know that we await the Son whose throne will be established for ever.
Next time: Bitesize Book of 2 Chronicles!
By Anushka, on 15th January 2012 At this time of year its easy to feel down. The daylight hours are short, and its probably still dark when you get up and go to work, and when you leave work to come home as well. In the UK this year its been a wet and windy winter so far. Whenever you try and go for a walk outside often the weather sends you back indoors only a few minutes later.
The holiday season is over, and many people will be facing the Christmas bills coming through the door, and the winter utility bills. Most people feel a bit short of cash, and it can feel like winter is going to drag on for ages still because we have the rest of January and February to go.
If you have problems in general in life it may be easier to feel overwhelmed at this time of year, and the lack of sunlight can be shown to have a negative effect on those who suffer from depression and seasonal affective disorder.
So how can we cheer ourselves up? First, a few practical things:
- Spend some time with people you love
- Indulge in humor – watch a funny TV program, or read a cartoon book, or find some jokes on the internet
- Cook yourself some warming stews and casseroles, a bit of comfort food
- Make the most of rainy or cold afternoons by curling up with a good book or film
Next, a few spiritual things:
- Don’t forget to say your prayers and remember that you have a Father in heaven who is always there to listen
- Count your blessings – try and focus on all the good things you have in life – food to eat, shelter from the weather, clothes to keep warm, and central heating if you are lucky enough to have it
- Try and do something nice for someone else – it may make you forget about yourself for a while
- Remember that all things come from God – even the rain and the wind have a purpose, and before too long spring will be on the way
- Find some comforting Bible passages and try and read them every day to remind you of the comfort you have in your faith
“Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls . For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” (Matthew 11 : 28-30)
By Anushka, on 7th January 2012 I expect most of you are back into your normal routine. Adults are back to work, children are back to school, and life continues as it did before. The holiday season is now behind us. We always start a new year with fresh ideas and thoughts about what we are going to achieve during the next twelve months. Do you ever write down your new year’s resolutions, and then review them at the end of the year to see how you did? I think most people’s resolutions rarely see the month out and by the end of the year they can’t even remember what they were!
Perhaps we go about our resolutions the wrong way. Often we jump in at the deep end and try to make dramatic changes at once, which then we find impossible to keep up with, instead of trying to slowly introduce new habits. Apparently it takes a whole six weeks for a new habit to become part of your normal behavior.
What about spiritual resolutions? I think many people resolve that they will read the Bible every day, and start again on January 1st. I’m sure many people also resolve to be better people and to help others. But why do we always leave these resolutions to the new year? Surely we can try to be a better Christian starting on any day we choose?
Lets remember what Paul says:
“If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” (2 Corinthians 5:17)
When you choose to follow Jesus you are part of the new creation! This means that we are part of God’s covenant of grace and forgiveness, and if we choose to walk towards God’s kingdom every day, we can start fresh every single day. We don’t have to wait for the new year. So if you haven’t made any spiritual resolutions, you can do it today, or tomorrow, or next month – it doesn’t matter. Every step we take brings up closer to the kingdom.
As for the next twelve months, let us pray that this year will see the return of Christ to the earth to sort out the many problems we have, and set up that glorious kingdom.
In the meantime, if you do want to start off a new spiritual habit, why not sign up for the Bible Reading bookmarks on the Bible Quiz site:
Why not make this the year that you finally make regular Bible reading a habit!
May God bless you this year, whatever your spiritual resolutions may be.
By Anushka, on 12th December 2011 It’s that time of year again, Christmas is just around the corner and all around us everyone is involved in presents, and food, and decorations and family fun! Let’s not forget though that Jesus is the reason for the season, and as a little reminder I’m going to share with you all a fun poem that a friend of mine has written.
Hopeless Santa!
I woke up one night,
Turned on the light,
Cause I’d heard a mighty noise.
There was a man on the roof,
With his beard aloof,
Holding a sack of toys!
He fell with a shout,
Knocked himself out,
Landed spread on the snow!
I crept out of the house,
Quiet as a mouse,
The wind started to blow.
As I shivered,
His belly quivered,
He had obviously been in the wars.
He had a red hat
And was rather fat,
It was Santa Claus!
He stood with a frown,
As I brushed him down
He toddled towards our door.
My parents were cross,
My brother at a loss,
As Santa tramped mud on the floor!
“Woof!” the dog cried,
Clearly terrified,
He bit Santa’s big toe.
Hopping around,
Tearing things to the ground,
He’s going to get an ASBO!
He fled from the place
At an alarming pace,
Obviously scared of the dog.
He leapt on his sleigh
And flew away,
Disappearing into the fog.
“Wow!” my bro said
Twisting a finger to his head,
“Cor, that man can fly!”
My mother moaned,
My father groaned,
“Santa, what a hopeless guy!”
Now in the midst of this rhyming banter
There’s a message about dear old Santa.
Although he’s the source of joy and mirth
He’s not very good at saving the earth.
Its lucky with Jesus everything’s okay,
He will set up his kingdom, save the day.
So enjoy Christmas, relax by the fire,
But above all else remember the Messiah!
(c) Joe Barham
May God bless all our readers over the festive season!
By Anushka, on 28th November 2011 I have talked in the past about how we can find God. The key things that help us draw closer to God in my opinion are:
- to listen to what He has to say, i.e by reading His word the Bible;
- to talk to Him through prayer;
- to spend time with other people who believe the same things as you.
In my opinion prayer can be the most difficult of the above three things. I suppose its because it can feel one sided rather than like having a normal conversation with two inputs.
If you find prayer difficult and want to know the best way to pray you are not alone. In fact the disciples of Jesus asked him this very question. In response Jesus gave them what we now call the Lord’s Prayer:
“Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.” (Matthew 6 vs 9-13)
However a mere repetition of this prayer once a day is probably not what Jesus had in mind. What he was showing the disciples was the kind of things they should pray for in order of priority.
Based on this I would therefore suggest that it may be useful to follow this structure for a prayer:
- Praise God
- Ask that the kingdom of God on earth will come very soon i.e. The second coming of Jesus
- Thank God for your everyday blessings
- Ask for forgiveness of your sins
- Ask God to guide your actions in the coming day to do things which are pleasing in his sight
Note that nowhere in this prayer is there a section for asking for what you want! I don’t think this means that we shouldn’t ask God for anything but I do think it means that our requests are less important than the above points, and that we should recognize that fact. We are acknowledging that any answer to our requests will be in accordance with God’s will.
God does want us to discuss our problems with him. Of course he knows what we are about to say before we ask but he wants us to personally set our lives before him:
“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.” (Matthew 7 vs 7-8)
If you pray regularly you will find that when you look back over your life you can see His hand at work guiding you, and that gives us the faith to know that He will always be guiding us whatever we do:
The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD forever. (Psalm 23)
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