HEART & SOUL
Today’s Reading: 2 Chronicles 15
Click scripture link to read online or HERE to listen online (then click the symbol of the audio speaker above the scripture portion).
In the Museum of the Ancient Agora in Athens Greece, you can see four fragments of sculptures, probably from the Temple of Ares dating from 435-420 BC. Today’s reading would have taken place hundreds of years before these were carved. King Asa of Judah ordered the removal of all the idols which some had been worshiping (2 Chronicles 15:8).
GOOGLE MAPS – To see where the photo was taken, click HERE.
Key Verse: 2 Chronicles 15:7
But you, be strong and do not let your hands be weak, for your work shall be rewarded!
God has made us in His image. Therefore, the choice is ours as to whether we serve Him or not. God will not turn us into puppets or robots. At the beginning of our reading, it’s obvious that our decisions about our lives will determine God’s decisions whether or not to bless us or leave us alone to the consequences of His absence from our lives. Verse two tells us that while we are with Him, He is with us, and that if we seek Him, He will be found by us, and if we forsake Him, He will forsake us. God lets us take the lead in our own lives.
King Asa took action, and God responded as a result. First, Asa removed the idols. Second, he restored the altar of the Lord. Third, he made a sacrificial offering to the Lord. Fourth, he even removed his own mother from being honoured as the Queen, because she had made an obscene image of a goddess which was worshiped in neighbouring countries. He cut it down, crushed it, and burned it at the brook just between Jerusalem and the Mount of Olives. Because of Asa’s decisions to honour the Lord, God responded by blessing Judah with peace.
PRAYER FOR TODAY:
Lord God, I have decided to take action in my life to serve You with all my heart, mind, soul and strength. I love You! I pray now for Your peace to fill my being at all times. Thank You for hearing and answering my prayer with Your “Yes.” I’m experiencing Your peace now as I pray. In the Name of the Prince of Peace, the Lord Jesus, Amen!!!
100 PERSONAL WORDS:
There is a powerful statement of God’s response to our move toward Him found in Romans 10:1-15. The Apostle Paul quotes from his Hebrew Bible the words of the Prophet Joel, “Whoever calls on the Name of the Lord shall be saved” (Joel 2:32a). I’ve just taken the time to read chapter two of Joel (click here).
For over 60 years I’ve been telling everybody who will listen to me that I refuse to make it complicated to be saved. It’s so very simple…just call on the Lord. The 100 Huntley Street telecast has produced a very powerful TV documentary on the life of Michael “Bull” Roberts, a career criminal who did just that while lying on a hotel room floor. The Lord responded to this man who had suffered terrible abuse as a child and was declared criminally insane at 16. When he cried out to God, he experienced true love for the first time in his life. I encourage everyone who reads this blog to check out this story by watching this interview on 100 Huntley Street (click here and you will find the interview about 43 minutes into the hour).
Yours, because as a 16-year-old I called on the Name of the Lord and was “saved,”
David
Remains of grandeur at the east end of the Roman Agora (marketplace) in Athens that once lead to the Temple of Ares. The Bible teaches that the one true God dwells in our hearts since Jesus came and not in temples made with hands. It was in Athens, surrounded by magnificent temples, that the Apostle Paul said “God, who made the world and everything in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands” (Acts 17:24).
Looking over the fence into the Roman Ancient Agora where the Temple of Ares was located. Just next door to the Agora is Mars Hill (or Areopagus, “Hill Of Ares”), where Paul delivered his message to the Athenians (Acts 17:22-31).
Thank You, Father, for those who share Your Word. Bless each one, in Jesus’s name, amen
Amen
Praying David’s prayer, this morning. “Whoever calls on the Name of the Lord shall be saved,” indeed! Thank you Heavenly Father, for your great mercy and love over us. Thank You Jesus, for dying on the cross that we might be saved and forgiven. What you did for us is beyond comprehension and we are ever so grateful that You are the guiding light of our lives. Wishing all saints a blessed day in the Lord. Amen.
And it shall come to pass, that whoever calls on the name of the Lord, shall be saved. Joel 2:32 NKJV
Call Upon the Name of the Lord
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ywNW6UyzQ2U
Amen !!
Amen Beverlee!
Thank you for sharing that precious worship song
Call upon the Name of the Lord.
To God be the Glory for paying the price for
all our sins, in Jesus’ Holy Name, Amen!
Thank you Jesus for evermore!
“…call on the Lord.” These words are meaningless to those who are strangers to the bible.We need to speak in ‘their language’,not Christianese ! Sermon after sermon goes on without explaining to the newcomers what the words mean.That is why Jesus sat with the sinners so they could ‘understand’.We only speak to other believers so that when one church grows another shrinks by the same numbers.The ‘whole church’ has to change this.May God bless
Our World Forgot
The world forgot what is right
For we were supposed to teach them,
By sharing with them the light
But we could not reach them.
Not long ago we ‘were’ them
Until we found the light He gives;
The One the world would condemn,
Then died to show He lives.
They don’t want to know our ways
For they think their ways suit them best,
But we know how it dismays
When one begins the quest.
We must begin to reach out
Or we may loose them all to sin,
So we must defeat the doubt,
To plant the seed within.
Using words at their command
Will allow His word to imbed,
Thus they can then understand
Why He rose from the dead.
GW(Bill) Marshall/26 July, 2015
I am confused by what you have said Bill. You are disagreeing with what is quoted in the Bible in Joel, by the apostle Paul, and by David Mainse quoting them and me quoting him.
“The Apostle Paul quotes from his Hebrew Bible the words of the Prophet Joel, “Whoever calls on the Name of the Lord shall be saved” (Joel 2:32a). I’ve just taken the time to read chapter two of Joel (click here).”
I have said these words to people who don’t know the Bible as we do, as Christians do. Many Pastors and Christians alike have said to people dying who fail to know Jesus, call on the name of the Lord and you will be saved. It is true. You only have to call out to Jesus as your last dying breath and you will be saved.
That gives people hope and takes away their fear before they die.
Lovely worship song, Beverlee and eye opening poem William. Thanks. My friend, Christiana, has messaged me from the train as she is now on her way to Quebec to find “her last place of residence”. I believe she is having 2nd thoughts. I pray that God will guide her, open her eyes clearly, and open the door that He chooses, in Jesus Name. Amen. My daughter sends a message from Alberta. She tells me to put ice in the humidifier to help with the heat! Of course, they are facing record heat there (40)s. Keep cool everyone.
“Prayer Map of Canada” for the 28th day:
1.Pray for New Canadians, that they will have opportunity to hear and respond to the Gospel and place their faith in Jesus Christ. (John 5:24)
2. Pray for God’s kingdom to come in the life of someone you know today. (Matt. 6: 9-13)