“Why are you treating me, your servant, so harshly? Have mercy on me! What did I do to deserve the burden of all these people?
If this is how you intend to treat me, just go ahead and kill me. Do me a favor and spare me this misery!”
Then the lord said to Moses, “Has my arm lost its power?

But Caleb tried to quiet the people as they stood before Moses. “Let’s go at once to take the land,” he said. “We can certainly conquer it!”
But the other men who had explored the land with him disagreed. “We can’t go up against them! They are stronger than we are!

Moses did not ask to lead the people, the Lord chose him for he was the most humble of the people. Yet he still complained to the Lord when the people complained to him then the Lord reassured him.
Caleb knew the Lord walked with him but the other scouts only saw the obstacles.

Lord God, help me to live in your power and purpose and not focus on obstacles in my path.

In Jesus name,
Amen

What a privilege for your officials to stand here day after day, listening to your wisdom! 9Praise the lord your God, who delights in you and has placed you on the throne
he refused to follow the lord completely, as his father, David, had done.
Solomon built such shrines for all his foreign wives to use for burning incense and sacrificing to their gods.

How hard it is to protect yourself from being lead away from God by the temptations of this world. Women separated Solomon from his relentless pursuit of God and he built temples for them to worship their gods. What temples do I have in my life I need to tear down and return to a complete attention on God relationship.

Lord God,

In that wonderful day when the lord gives his people rest from sorrow and fear,
Their cries of distress can be heard all along the road to Horonaim.
A cry of distress echoes through the land of Moab

I need to cry out to the lord, not just cry out in despair.

Lord God,
Help me to give you all my attention to look on the challenges in my life as an opportunity to come to you for advice. Humble me to only listen to you and not my past.
In Jesus name,
Amen

For those who live in a land of deep darkness,
a light will shine.
But the king of Assyria will not understand that he is my tool;
his mind does not work that way.
His plan is simply to destroy,

And the Spirit of the lord will rest on him—
the Spirit of wisdom and understanding,
the Spirit of counsel and might,
the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the lord.
3He will delight in obeying the lord.
He will not judge by appearance
nor make a decision based on hearsay.

Lord God, help me to understand your way, may my mind work according to your way. Release me from my own understanding and allow my way to be your way. Give power to my faith so I may turn wholeheartedly to you. Help me to yield to you as a tool for you to guide. Help me to banish the beliefs I have in my wisdom and trust in you only. May your spirit rest on me. May I delight in obeying you.

In Jesus name,
Amen

Unless your faith is firm,
I cannot make you stand firm.”
“Don’t call everything a conspiracy, like they do,
and don’t live in dread of what frightens them.
13Make the lord of Heaven’s Armies holy in your life.
He is the one you should fear.

I ask God to fix me, help me see my sin, give me power to overcome. How much do I own my sin, my faith.

Lord God,
Help me in my faith so I may have the power from you to overcome. Help me to own my sin so I may expel it in your name.
In Jesus name I pray,
Amen

My people don’t recognize my care for them.”
4Oh, what a sinful nation they are—
loaded down with a burden of guilt.
They are evil people,
corrupt children who have rejected the lord.
What makes you think I want all your sacrifices?”
says the lord.
Get your sins out of my sight.
Give up your evil ways.
17Learn to do good.
Seek justice.
Help the oppressed.
If you will only obey me,
you will have plenty to eat.
20But if you turn away and refuse to listen,
you will be devoured by the sword of your enemies.
I, the lord, have spoken!”

What good is my worship of the Lord if I hide sinful nature in me. I must cleanse myself in order to sincerely praise the Lord. Give up my evil ways, the things I do that this world doesn’t know but I do and God does. If only I will obey, totally, he will set me free.

Lord God,
Thank you for your harsh words that strips my desire to hold onto sin from me. Give me power from what grips me, that separates me from your pure love. Remove the guilt and shame so I may walk more closely to you.
In Jesus name,
Amen

Never before had there been a king like Josiah, who turned to the lord with all his heart and soul and strength,

Why is it so rare for a king to completely destroy all evil in the land. Why is it so hard for me to destroy all of my sin nature.

Lord God,
May I be more like King Josiah and conquer any area of my nature that separate me from you.

In Jesus name,
Amen

Go back to Hezekiah, the leader of my people. Tell him, ‘This is what the lord, the God of your ancestor David, says: I have heard your prayer and seen your tears. I will heal you, and three days from now you will get out of bed and go to the Temple of the lord. 6I will add fifteen years to your life, and I will rescue you and this city from the king of Assyria. I will defend this city for my own honor and for the sake of my servant David.’”
The shadow always moves forward,” Hezekiah replied, “so that would be easy. Make it go ten steps backward instead.”
. You tore your clothing in despair and wept before me in repentance. And I have indeed heard you, says the lord. 20So I will not send the promised disaster until after you have died and been buried in peace.

The Lord God is merciful and will show mercy if we sincerely go to him. I must not run away from doing what is rite. I love this statement it’s not turn from evil but not running away from rite. God’s perspective.

Lord God,
place a path before me where it only leads to doing what is rite, Keep me from running away from doing what is rite.

In Jesus name,
Amen

I know the way you have raged against me.
28And because of your raging against me
and your arrogance, which I have heard for myself,
I will put my hook in your nose
He will not enter this city,
says the lord.
34For my own honor and for the sake of my servant David,
I will defend this city and protect it.”
35That night the angel of the lord went out to the Assyrian camp and killed 185,000 Assyrian soldiers.

arrogance is such a difficult thing to identify and surrender. As I grow stronger in the Lord I gain confidence and if I am not aware of it arrogance can start to grow.

Lord God, may you give me the wisdom I lack in understanding you and protect me from taking credit where you deserve it.

In Jesus name,
Amen

The people of Israel had also secretly done many things that were not pleasing to the lord their God. They built pagan shrines for themselves in all their towns, from the smallest outpost to the largest walled city.
Again and again the lord had sent his prophets and seers to warn both Israel and Judah: “Turn from all your evil ways. Obey my commands and decrees—
But the Israelites would not listen. They were as stubborn as their ancestors who had refused to believe in the lord their God.

I guess I should not be surprised how stubborn the people of Israel were, I am as stubborn as well. I don’t live within the rules that would give me power over the sin I allow in my life. But it seems that they were so blatant, where I just have a few struggles with some emotions, thoughts, actions……….

Lord God,
Again I come to you with regrets about my decisions each day. Help me to be more aware of the fact that I represent you in this world. You are a jealous God, rite fully so. You only want the best for me so may I live a life pleasing to you. Expose my sin so I may turn away from it.
In Jesus name,
Amen