{"id":35578,"date":"2025-04-23T22:00:39","date_gmt":"2025-04-24T05:00:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/?p=35578"},"modified":"2025-04-16T13:52:06","modified_gmt":"2025-04-16T20:52:06","slug":"2-kings-12_13-21","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/2-kings-12_13-21\/","title":{"rendered":"Exercise Financial Self-Discipline"},"content":{"rendered":"

2 Kings 12:13-21 (CLICK HERE FOR\u00a0BIBLE VERSES)<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Hi GAMErs,<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is 2 Kings 12:13-21.\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>\u00a012<\/em><\/strong>:<\/em><\/strong>13<\/em><\/strong>-16 (NIV)\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>
\n13<\/sup>\u00a0<\/em>\u00a0The money brought into the temple was not spent for making silver basins, wick trimmers, sprinkling bowls, trumpets or any other articles of gold or silver for the temple of the\u00a0LORD;\u00a0<\/em>
\n14\u00a0<\/sup><\/em>\u00a0it was paid to the workmen, who used it to repair the temple.\u00a0<\/em>
\n15\u00a0<\/sup><\/em>\u00a0They did not require an accounting from those to whom they gave the money to pay the workers, because they acted with complete honesty.\u00a0<\/em>
\n16\u00a0<\/sup><\/em>\u00a0The money from the guilt offerings and sin offerings was not brought into the temple of the\u00a0LORD; it belonged to the priests.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses\u00a013-16:\u00a0 For years the temple remained in disrepair because the money being brought into the temple was being used on making accessories as opposed to being used for repairs.\u00a0\u00a0 So Joash and the priests change their system of handling money: they forego certain accessories so that they can allocate more money toward repairing the temple (v13-14).\u00a0 At the same time, they make sure that the priests are still provided for (v16).\u00a0 Notice also what it says about those were entrusted with the money to repair the temple:\u00a0 \u201cThey did not require an accounting from those to whom they gave the money to pay the workers, because they acted with complete honesty.\u201d (v15)<\/p>\n

What can we learn from this?<\/p>\n

1. In any organization, whether it\u2019s the church, a business or a home,\u00a0sometimes we need to forego spending on accessories so that we can pay for certain necessities.\u00a0 Healthy organizations exercise financial self-discipline.\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0Are you self-disciplined financially?\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0If you find that you\u2019re spending a lot on accessories such that you don\u2019t have enough for basic necessities, then it\u2019s time to rethink your spending and your budget.<\/p>\n

2.\u00a0Be honest and trustworthy with money.\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0God uses people who are trustworthy, responsible stewards of what they have been given to build His kingdom.<\/p>\n

2 Kings 12:17-21 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n17\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0About this time Hazael king of Aram went up and attacked Gath and captured it. Then he turned to attack Jerusalem.
\n18\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0But Joash king of Judah took all the sacred objects dedicated by his fathers–Jehoshaphat, Jehoram and Ahaziah, the kings of Judah–and the gifts he himself had dedicated and all the gold found in the treasuries of the temple of the\u00a0LORD\u00a0and of the royal palace, and he sent them to Hazael king of Aram, who then withdrew from Jerusalem.
\n19\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0As for the other events of the reign of Joash, and all he did, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Judah?
\n20\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0His officials conspired against him and assassinated him at Beth Millo, on the road down to Silla.
\n21\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0The officials who murdered him were Jozabad son of Shimeath and Jehozabad son of Shomer. He died and was buried with his fathers in the City of David. And Amaziah his son succeeded him as king.
\n<\/em>
\nOn verses 17-21:\u00a0 The Arameans led by King Hazael prepare to attack Judah.\u00a0 To appease the Arameans, King Joash gives them sacred objects, money and gold from the temple.\u00a0 However, this move would only work temporarily.\u00a0 According to\u00a02\u00a0Chronicles 24, the Arameans would come back and attack Judah again, this time wounding Joash severely.\u00a0 Joash\u2019s own officials take advantage of Joash\u2019s weakened state and murder him.<\/p>\n

Why would all this happen to Joash?\u00a0\u00a02\u00a0Chronicles 24 gives some important background, which is that after King Joash\u2019s mentor Jehoiada dies, Joash turns away from the Lord, abandons the temple that he had spent much of his life caring for, and becomes an idol worshiper.\u00a0 Various prophets warn Joash about the direction his life is taking.\u00a0 Even Jehoiada\u2019s own son Zechariah warns Joash, but Joash refuses to listen and murders Jehoiada\u2019s son for speaking against him.\u00a0 Eventually, after Joash is wounded in his fight against the Arameans, Joash\u2019s own officials murder him and his son Amaziah succeeds him as king. Joash had a great start but an awful finish, and it\u2019s because over time he trusted in the Lord less and less until his relationship with the Lord was an empty shell of what it used to be.<\/p>\n

What can we learn from this?\u00a0\u00a0How you finish is more important than how you start.\u00a0 If you want to finish well, it\u2019s about having a closer relationship with the Lord at the end than you did at the beginning.\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0So no matter how old or experienced you get, through every season, keep hanging onto the Lord with passion and desperation.<\/p>\n

Father, please give me wisdom to manage money wisely, that I wouldn\u2019t spend on accessories at the expense of necessities.\u00a0 May I be a responsible, trustworthy steward of the money You have entrusted to me.\u00a0 Thank You also for showing me that how I finish is more important than how I start.\u00a0 Through every season, may I hang onto You and finish well.\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 12:13-21.\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\u00a012:13-16 (NIV)\u00a0
\n13\u00a0\u00a0The money brought into the temple was not spent for making silver basins, wick trimmers, sprinkling bowls, trumpets or any other articles of gold or silver for the temple of the\u00a0LORD;\u00a0
\n14\u00a0\u00a0it was paid to the workmen, who used it to repair the temple.\u00a0
\n15\u00a0\u00a0They did not require an accounting from those to whom they gave the money to pay the workers, because they acted with complete honesty.\u00a0
\n16\u00a0\u00a0The money from the guilt offerings and sin offerings was not brought into the temple of the\u00a0LORD; it belonged to the priests.<\/p>\n

On verses\u00a013-16:\u00a0 For years the temple remained in disrepair because the money being brought into the temple was being used on making accessories as opposed to being used for repairs.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":35580,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-35578","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\/35578","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=35578"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35578\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":35581,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35578\/revisions\/35581"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35580"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35578"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35578"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35578"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}