{"id":35497,"date":"2025-04-14T22:00:31","date_gmt":"2025-04-15T05:00:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/?p=35497"},"modified":"2025-04-08T13:41:03","modified_gmt":"2025-04-08T20:41:03","slug":"2-kings-8_16-29","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/2-kings-8_16-29\/","title":{"rendered":"God Is At His Best Even When You\u2019re At Your Worst"},"content":{"rendered":"

2 Kings\u00a0 8:16-29 (CLICK HERE FOR\u00a0BIBLE VERSES)<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Hi GAMErs,<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is 2 Kings 8:16-29.\u00a0 As usual,\u00a0I encourage you to open your Bible and read the passage yourself first.\u00a0 See what you can glean with the Holy Spirit\u2019s help. Then read the GAME sharing below.\u00a0 Let’s go!<\/p>\n

2<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0Kings<\/em><\/strong>\u00a08<\/em><\/strong>:<\/em><\/strong>16<\/em><\/strong>-18 (NIV)\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>
\n16<\/sup>\u00a0<\/em>\u00a0In the fifth year of Joram son of Ahab king of Israel, when Jehoshaphat was king of Judah, Jehoram son of Jehoshaphat began his reign as king of Judah.\u00a0<\/em>
\n17\u00a0<\/sup><\/em>\u00a0He was thirty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eight years.\u00a0<\/em>
\n18\u00a0<\/sup><\/em>\u00a0He walked in the ways of the\u00a0<\/em>kings\u00a0of Israel, as the house of Ahab had done, for he married a daughter of Ahab. He did evil in the eyes of the\u00a0LORD.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses\u00a016-18:\u00a0 Jehoram succeeds his father Jehoshaphat as the king of Judah.\u00a0 But instead of being a humble, wise, God-fearing king like his father Jehoshaphat was, Jehoram is said to have \u201cwalked in the ways of the\u00a0kings\u00a0of Israel, as the house of Ahab had done\u201d (v18).\u00a0 In other words, like Ahab, Jehoram worshiped other gods.\u00a0 Why is it that despite being raised by a God-loving father, Jehoram still ended up walking in ways that were not pleasing to God?\u00a0 The only reason the author of\u00a02\u00a0Kings\u00a0gives is that \u201che married a daughter of Ahab\u201d (v18).<\/p>\n

What can we learn from this?\u00a0\u00a0If you marry someone who does not follow the Lord, prepare to be affected greatly by them.\u00a0 Christian, don\u2019t settle for partnering with someone who does not follow the Lord. Find someone who sincerely loves Jesus and wants to put God first.\u00a0 For if that person really does love God and puts God first, that person will love you better than any idol worshiper you can find, for truly the best lovers of God are also the best lovers of people too.<\/strong><\/p>\n

2 Kings 8:19-24 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n19\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Nevertheless, for the sake of his servant David, the\u00a0LORD\u00a0was not willing to destroy Judah. He had promised to maintain a lamp for David and his descendants forever.
\n20\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0In the time of Jehoram, Edom rebelled against Judah and set up its own king.
\n21\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0So Jehoram went to Zair with all his chariots. The Edomites surrounded him and his chariot commanders, but he rose up and broke through by night; his army, however, fled back home.
\n22\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0To this day Edom has been in rebellion against Judah. Libnah revolted at the same time.
\n23\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0As for the other events of Jehoram’s reign, and all he did, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Judah?
\n24\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Jehoram rested with his fathers and was buried with them in the City of David. And Ahaziah his son succeeded him as king.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 19-24:\u00a0 Despite Jehoram living life in rebellion against God, God did not allow the nation of Judah (over which Jehoram was king) to be extinguished.\u00a0 Why is that?\u00a0 Verse 19 gives us the reason: \u201cfor the sake of his servant David, the\u00a0LORD\u00a0was not willing to destroy Judah. He had promised to maintain a lamp for David and his descendants forever.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0Praise God that even in those times when we are at our worst, God remains at His best, faithful to His promises, hanging on to us even when we feel like there\u2019s nothing left to hang on to.<\/strong>\u00a0 So if you\u2019re not at your best today, you can pray: \u201cGod, please hang on to me today.\u201d\u00a0 And He will.\u00a0 Thank You Lord for Your faithfulness.<\/p>\n

2 Kings 8:25-29 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n25\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0In the twelfth year of Joram son of Ahab king of Israel, Ahaziah son of Jehoram king of Judah began to reign.
\n26\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Ahaziah was twenty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem one year. His mother’s name was Athaliah, a granddaughter of Omri king of Israel.
\n27\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0He walked in the ways of the house of Ahab and did evil in the eyes of the\u00a0LORD, as the house of Ahab had done, for he was related by marriage to Ahab’s family.
\n28\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Ahaziah went with Joram son of Ahab to war against Hazael king of Aram at Ramoth Gilead. The Arameans wounded Joram;
\n29\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0so King Joram returned to Jezreel to recover from the wounds the Arameans had inflicted on him at Ramoth in his battle with Hazael king of Aram. Then Ahaziah son of Jehoram king of Judah went down to Jezreel to see Joram son of Ahab, because he had been wounded.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 25-29:\u00a0 Ahaziah replaces his father Jehoram as king of Judah.\u00a0 Like his father, Ahaziah did evil in God\u2019s eyes, walking in the ways of Ahab king of Israel and worshiping idols.\u00a0 Why?\u00a0 Once again, the reason that\u00a02\u00a0Kings\u00a0gives is that \u201che was related by marriage to Ahab\u2019s family.\u201d (v27)\u00a0\u00a01 and 2 Kings might sound like a broken record when you hear this lesson repeated so often, but once again the lesson is: it matters whom you marry.<\/strong>\u00a0 I\u2019m not the one making this up.\u00a0 Over and over the Bible warns that it matters whom you marry.\u00a0 Yoke yourself to a non-believer and the chances are good that you\u2019ll become one yourself.\u00a0\u00a0Yoke yourself to an idol worshipper and chances are good you\u2019ll become one yourself.\u00a0 Yoke yourself to someone who genuinely and wisely loves God and loves people, and the chances are good that you\u2019ll become like them too.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Father, Your Word gives us so many cautionary tales about relationships that we are really without excuse when we choose partners foolishly.\u00a0 Thank You that nonetheless You remain wise and faithful, even when we are foolish and faithless.\u00a0 Thank You for always being at Your best, even when we\u2019re at our worst.\u00a0 You alone are worthy of worship.\u00a0 Hang onto me today.\u00a0 In Jesus\u2019 name, AMEN!<\/em><\/p>\n

copyright \u00a9 2022 Justin Lim. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hi GAMErs,<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is 2 Kings 8:16-29.\u00a0 As usual,\u00a0I encourage you to open your Bible and read the passage yourself first.\u00a0 See what you can glean with the Holy Spirit\u2019s help. Then read the GAME sharing below.\u00a0 Let’s go!\u00a0<\/p>\n

2\u00a0Kings\u00a08:16-18 (NIV)\u00a0
\n16\u00a0\u00a0In the fifth year of Joram son of Ahab king of Israel, when Jehoshaphat was king of Judah, Jehoram son of Jehoshaphat began his reign as king of Judah.\u00a0
\n17\u00a0\u00a0He was thirty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eight years.\u00a0
\n18\u00a0\u00a0He walked in the ways of the\u00a0kings\u00a0of Israel, as the house of Ahab had done, for he married a daughter of Ahab. He did evil in the eyes of the\u00a0LORD.\u00a0<\/p>\n

On verses\u00a016-18:\u00a0 Jehoram succeeds his father Jehoshaphat as the king of Judah.\u00a0 But instead of being a humble, wise, God-fearing king like his father Jehoshaphat was, Jehoram is said to have \u201cwalked in the ways of the\u00a0kings\u00a0of Israel, as the house of Ahab had done\u201d (v18).\u00a0 In other words, like Ahab, Jehoram worshiped other gods.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":35499,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-35497","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gametime-sharing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35497","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35497"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35497\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":35500,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35497\/revisions\/35500"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35499"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35497"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35497"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35497"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}