May 17, 2016

“Out of suffering have emerged the strongest souls; the most massive characters are seared with scars.” ― Kahlil Gibran 

2 KINGS 18-19

Hezekiah becomes King and because of his obedience God defeats the Assyrians...

1In the third year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel, Hezekiah son of Ahaz king of Judah began to reign. 2He was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem twenty-nine years. His mother’s name was Abijah^a daughter of Zechariah. 3He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, just as his father David had done. 4He removed the high places, smashed the sacred stones and cut down the Asherah poles. He broke into pieces the bronze snake Moses had made, for up to that time the Israelites had been burning incense to it. (It was called Nehushtan.^b )

5Hezekiah trusted in the Lord, the God of Israel. There was no one like him among all the kings of Judah, either before him or after him. 6He held fast to the Lordand did not stop following him; he kept the commands the Lord had given Moses. 7And the Lord was with him; he was successful in whatever he undertook. He rebelled against the king of Assyria and did not serve him. 8From watchtower to fortified city, he defeated the Philistines, as far as Gaza and its territory.

JOHN 6:22-44

Jesus sees through the people's motivation...

22The next day the crowd that had stayed on the far shore saw that the disciples had taken the only boat, and they realized Jesus had not gone with them. 23Several boats from Tiberias landed near the place where the Lord had blessed the bread and the people had eaten. 24So when the crowd saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they got into the boats and went across to Capernaum to look for him. 25They found him on the other side of the lake and asked, “Rabbi, when did you get here?”

26Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, you want to be with me because I fed you, not because you understood the miraculous signs. 27But don’t be so concerned about perishable things like food. Spend your energy seeking the eternal life that the Son of Man^f can give you. For God the Father has given me the seal of his approval.”

28They replied, “We want to perform God’s works, too. What should we do?”

29Jesus told them, “This is the only work God wants from you: Believe in the one he has sent.”

JOURNAL 

The people want a King and their concern is for fulfillment of physical needs not spiritual. Jesus continually has to reinforce that his Kingdom is a spiritual one. This is one of the toughest things to reconcile in living. Our lives are physical lives, with physical needs, wants and desires. Yet Jesus speaks of the spiritual. His promises are in the spiritual realm. While he does act in the physical our ultimate hope is in the spiritual. 

This would be the only thing that would explain his resolve and ultimately the resolve of the disciples and those who willingly suffered physically for spiritual reasons. The joy of the spiritual became greater than the needs of the physical. 

3All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is our merciful Father and the source of all comfort. 4He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When they are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us. 5For the more we suffer for Christ, the more God will shower us with his comfort through Christ. - 2 Corinthians 1:3-5