It's Day 36 and we're in 2 Kings 5.
If you struggle with the feeling that you need to hurry through the reading, it can be helpful to lay aside a certain length of time for the reading. "I'm going to spend the next ten minutes reading the Bible. If I get done early, I'll go back and re-read it. If I don't get it done, that's fine. Now I can relax and not try to hurry through so I can get on with the other things I need to get done today. I'm going to be here for ten minutes."
Where God Spoke To Me:
- Verse 11 - Sometimes we don't just want God to move - we want Him to do things the way that we want Him to do it. Of course, He has the right to do it however He wants.
If you want to read the chapter online, here's a link.
If you have a question or comment, email me at butcher@ymail.com.
Your Questions and Comments:
- 2 Kings 4:1-7. "I heard in a sermon once that 'Christians will be surprised to know of all the things that God wanted to give us that we didn't receive because we simply didn't ask.' Is supported by James 4:2? Even if this statement isn't scriptural, I think of children (even adult children) who could obtain so much from older-and-wiser parents, but just never ask. Or take the time to listen or see or learn. Like with our Heavenly Father, we so often don't take the time (actually stepping on my own toes here)." - I do think there is something to that. Not in the sense that God is just waiting to make us all millionaires if we just prayed for more but I think often churches have low expectations on what God is going to do in their midst or an individual lacks the faith to ask for the overwhelming answer to their prayer. God is often willing to do more than we ask for.
- Jeremiah 18. "How should we best interpret this passage? Only in the context of idolatrous Israel or as God relates to each individual, molding us for His service? Does God still mold nations? Does He still harden the hearts of rulers, as He did Pharoah's or was that a one-off used to fulfill His divine purpose for the Hebrews?" - The statements have a particular significance to what was Israel was going through in that moment. But that truth of God's molding is true in many other contexts as well. He obviously is working in individual lives and we believe that He is also working in the larger world among the nations as well. He is guiding history toward the prophesied conclusions that we read about in Revelation, so I believe He is working among nations and rulers.
- Luke 13. "In regard to the synagogue leader who criticized Jesus for healing the woman who'd been bent double for 18 years, this is a voice coming from someone who has never suffered."
