{"id":4782,"date":"2019-09-04T20:00:57","date_gmt":"2019-09-05T03:00:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/?p=4782"},"modified":"2019-09-01T21:12:30","modified_gmt":"2019-09-02T04:12:30","slug":"2chronicles_17_1-19","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/2chronicles_17_1-19\/","title":{"rendered":"Focus on the Giver, Not the Gifts"},"content":{"rendered":"

2 Chronicles 17:1-19\u00a0\u00a0Click here for Bible Verses<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Hi GAMErs,<\/p>\n

\n

Today\u2019s passage is 2 Chronicles 17:1-19.\u00a0\u00a0Let\u2019s go!<\/p>\n

2 Chronicles 17:3-4 (ESV)\u00a0<\/strong>
\n3\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0The\u00a0LORD\u00a0was with Jehoshaphat, because he walked in the earlier ways of his father David. He did not seek the Baals,
\n4\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0but sought the God of his father and walked in his commandments, and not according to the practices of Israel.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 1-4:\u00a0\u00a0Jehoshaphat takes over from his father Asa as king of Judah.\u00a0\u00a0Notice why the Lord was with Jehoshaphat: \u201cbecause he walked in the earlier ways of his father David.\u00a0\u00a0He did not seek the Baals, but sought the God of his father\u201d (v3-4).\u00a0\u00a0The fact that verse 3 mentions \u201cthe earlier ways of his father\u201d suggests that his father was not faithful to the Lord all his life, but only in his earlier years.\u00a0\u00a0Jehoshaphat had the wisdom and discernment to sift through the lives of those who came before him, learning and applying the good things he saw in them while avoiding their mistakes and bad habits.\u00a0\u00a0Likewise,\u00a0if you want to maximize God\u2019s power and anointing on your life, learn and apply the good things you see from those who came before you, while at the same time consciously avoiding their mistakes or bad habits.<\/strong><\/p>\n

2 Chronicles 17:5-6 (NIV)\u00a0<\/strong>
\n5\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0The\u00a0LORD\u00a0established the kingdom under his control; and all Judah brought gifts to Jehoshaphat, so that he had great wealth and honor.
\n6\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0His heart was devoted to the ways of the\u00a0LORD; furthermore, he removed the high places and the Asherah poles from Judah.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 5-6:\u00a0\u00a0No matter how many gifts, wealth and honor Jehoshaphat received, Jehoshaphat\u2019s heart remained devoted to the Lord.\u00a0\u00a0What can we learn from this?\u00a0\u00a0Enjoy the gifts God gives, but always keep your heart centered on the Giver.<\/strong><\/p>\n

2 Chronicles 17:7-9 (NIV)\u00a0<\/strong>
\n7\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0In the third year of his reign he sent his officials Ben-Hail, Obadiah, Zechariah, Nethanel and Micaiah to teach in the towns of Judah.
\n8\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0With them were certain Levites–Shemaiah, Nethaniah, Zebadiah, Asahel, Shemiramoth, Jehonathan, Adonijah, Tobijah and Tob-Adonijah–and the priests Elishama and Jehoram.
\n9\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0They taught throughout Judah, taking with them the Book of the Law of the\u00a0LORD; they went around to all the towns of Judah and taught the people.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 7-9:\u00a0\u00a0To help the Israelites know God better and love God more, Jehoshaphat sends officials, Levites and priests throughout the towns of Judah to teach the law of the Lord.\u00a0\u00a0What can we learn from this?\u00a0\u00a0A big part of discipleship is learning the word of God.\u00a0\u00a0If you want to know God better and love God more, be a serious student of God\u2019s Word.<\/strong><\/p>\n

2 Chronicles 17:10-13 (ESV)\u00a0<\/strong>
\n10\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0And the fear of the\u00a0LORD\u00a0fell upon all the kingdoms of the lands that were around Judah, and they made no war against Jehoshaphat.
\n11\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Some of the Philistines brought Jehoshaphat presents and silver for tribute, and the Arabians also brought him 7,700 rams and 7,700 goats.
\n12\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0And Jehoshaphat grew steadily greater. He built in Judah fortresses and store cities,
\n13\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0and he had large supplies in the cities of Judah. He had soldiers, mighty men of valor, in Jerusalem.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 10-19:\u00a0\u00a0As Jehoshaphat keeps his heart centered on the Lord, as he seeks God\u2019s kingdom first, God adds to him other blessings, like the favour and friendship of neighboring nations (v10-11) as well as increasing numbers of fortresses, store cities, supplies and soldiers (v12-13).\u00a0\u00a0What can we learn from this?\u00a0\u00a0When you seek God\u2019s kingdom first above all else, He adds everything else you need and expands your territory.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Heavenly Father, may my heart not be fixated on the gifts I have, but on You, the One who gives every good gift (James\u00a01:17).\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Thank You that, like Jehoshaphat, when I seek Your kingdom first, You will add everything I need and expand my territory.\u00a0\u00a0In Jesus\u2019 name, AMEN!<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hi GAMErs,<\/p>\n

2 Chronicles 17:3-4 (ESV)\u00a0
\n3\u00a0\u00a0The\u00a0LORD\u00a0was with Jehoshaphat, because he walked in the earlier ways of his father David. He did not seek the Baals,\u00a0
\n4\u00a0\u00a0but sought the God of his father and walked in his commandments, and not according to the practices of Israel.<\/p>\n

On verses 1-4:\u00a0\u00a0Jehoshaphat takes over from his father Asa as king of Judah.\u00a0\u00a0Notice why the Lord was with Jehoshaphat: \u201cbecause he walked in the earlier ways of his father David.\u00a0\u00a0He did not seek the Baals, but sought the God of his father\u201d (v3-4).\u00a0\u00a0The fact that verse 3 mentions \u201cthe earlier ways of his father\u201d suggests that his father was not faithful to the Lord all his life, but only in his earlier years.\u00a0\u00a0Jehoshaphat had the wisdom and discernment to sift through the lives of those who came before him, learning and applying the good things he saw in them while avoiding their mistakes and bad habits.\u00a0\u00a0Likewise,\u00a0if you want to maximize God\u2019s power and anointing on your life, learn and apply the good things you see from those who came before you, while at the same time consciously avoiding their mistakes or bad habits.<\/p>\n

2 Chronicles 17:5-6 (NIV)\u00a0
\n5\u00a0\u00a0The\u00a0LORD\u00a0established the kingdom under his control; and all Judah brought gifts to Jehoshaphat, so that he had great wealth and honor.\u00a0
\n6\u00a0\u00a0His heart was devoted to the ways of the\u00a0LORD; furthermore, he removed the high places and the Asherah poles from Judah.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4783,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4782","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\/4782","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=4782"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4782\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4785,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4782\/revisions\/4785"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4783"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4782"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4782"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4782"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}