Grace And Mercy

Would you rather listen than read? Listen here.

Reading Through The Bible

The first time I ever read through the Bible, it took me at least seven years to finish. Yes, seven years! I carried my Women’s Devotional Bible with me everywhere and still got nowhere fast.

I will never forget, I had just had my first baby girl, and I was getting her carrier out of the backseat with my hands overloaded. As I lifted her out, I dropped my Bible in a deep puddle of water. My heart sank. I had read so much of that Bible and wanted to finish that specific Bible.

I picked everything up and went into my friend’s house to inspect the damage, and could hardly believe what I saw. The water had damaged everything in the Bible up to where I was reading. Everything I still had to read looked brand new.

A few years down the road, all I had left to read was the book of Revelation. I came home one afternoon with a large black and white great dane looking at me with his nervous eyes. As I walked into the kitchen, all I saw before me were pages and pages of my Bible all across the kitchen.

I could put nothing out of reach of our dog, and that day he found my precious possession and devoured it. It became a running joke in our house that our dog loved to feast on the Word. But guess what? Again, he had damaged everything except the book of Revelation.

God is good. Even in the little things, He knows what is important to us and makes a way. The lessons learned here are to read faster and keep the Bible in a safer place.

Join Us

Reading through the Bible this year has been eye opening. This is the third time for me to read it through, but reading it, while intending to teach on it, has brought incredible light to my reading. The amazing group that has joined me in reading has brought a lot of insight into the reading as well.

Remember, that group is always open if you want to join in. We are about to start the prophets, a great place to jump in. Click here for more information.

God’s Perspective

I mentioned last week that the author of 1 and 2 Samuel and 1 and 2 Kings wrote from man’s perspective, but the author of 1 and 2 Chronicles wrote from God’s perspective. When I read, knowing this, I read the scriptures a little differently and ask why was this important to God?

2 Chronicles 33 is one of these scriptures. To get a better understanding, I encourage you to read the entire story in 2 Chronicles 33:1-20. For the sake of time, I will give you the highlights.

Knowing that Chronicles is from God’s viewpoint, we have to ask ourselves what does God include in 2 Chronicles that 2 Kings left out. In 2 Kings, the author only tells of the horrible things King Manasseh did. We only get to read about his evil practices. In 2 Chronicles, we also get to see his repentance.

Chapter 33 of 2 Chronicles begins with all the detestable things Manasseh did. Instead of tearing down the high places, he rebuilds them. He rebuilt altars to Baal and Asherah poles. He even made an image and put it in God’s temple. As if mocking God.

“But Manasseh led Judah and the people of Jerusalem astray, so that they did more evil than the nations the Lord had destroyed before the Israelites.”

2 Chronicles 33:9 NIV

God’s Warning

The corruption of King Manasseh led the people away from God and made them worse than the nations the Lord had once destroyed. The Lord sent prophets to Manasseh to warn him about his behavior, but he would not listen. He wanted to make a name for himself and would do whatever it took to accomplish that.

When God warns us, and we do not listen, consequences will follow. God does not fail at His promises. God sent the Assyrian army to take Manasseh prisoner. They put a hook in his nose, bound him in bronze shackles and took him to Babylon. Suddenly, Manasseh reconsiders God.

“In his distress, he sought the favor of the Lord his God and humbled himself greatly before the God of his ancestors. And when he prayed to him, the Lord was moved by his entreaty and listened to his plea; so he brought him back to Jerusalem and to his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the Lord is God.”

2 Chronicles 33:12-13 NIV

Grace And Mercy

Manasseh, in this awful situation, called out to God and God showed grace and mercy and rescued him. The act of humility was not temporary just to get rescued, but caused a complete transformation in his heart.

The Babylonians released Manasseh, and he returned to Jerusalem where he removed all the altars to false gods, and he removed the image from the temple. He restored the altar of the Lord, and he rebuilt the outer wall of Jerusalem.

This entire section of repentance is missing from his story in 2 Kings, but God did not want us to miss it. He wants us to see His grace and mercy. If God extended grace and mercy to someone as evil as Manasseh, He will extend it to each of us. Doesn’t this make you fall more in love with God?

Questions To Ask When You Read

Many times when reading, you get to a spot and wonder, why is this here? Why do I have to read another name on this long list of genealogy? Or why did God allow this to happen? I know I did this my first time through when I was reading cover to cover with no commentaries or study notes. To help me better understand, when I read, I pray first, then I ask myself these four questions.

What does this story teach us about God?

He can change the lives of the most vile people and change them to serve Him wholeheartedly. All we have to do is call out. Pray to Him. Ask Him for His help. He listens and is ready to answer. God extends grace and mercy. What exactly does that mean? Here is a great definition from Christianity.com

“Mercy is the act of withholding deserved punishment, while grace is the act of endowing unmerited favor. In His mercy, God does not give us the punishment we deserve, namely hell; while in His grace, God gives us the gift we do not deserve, namely heaven.”

How does this story pertain to us today?

God shows each of us this same grace and mercy. God is the same today as He was yesterday (Hebrews 13:8). We just have to ask. Is there something you have struggled with that you know God has asked you to abstain from? Do you struggle with an addiction, or is there something you know you should do and are not doing it? God is waiting for you to ask for His help and guidance. He wants to extend His grace and mercy to you as well.

God is waiting for you to ask for His help and seek His guidance. He wants to extend His grace and mercy to each one of us. #grace #mercy Click To Tweet

What ‘aha’ moments do we get?

I judge a sermon by two things. Did I feel a sense of conviction, an area I need to fix in my life? Or did I have an ‘aha’ moment? Did I learn something new?

Throughout the books of 1 and 2 Kings and 1 and 2 Chronicles, the word love keeps jumping out at me. Many of us, and I have to, read the old testament and thought how awful it is with all the horrors of war and so much more. Even in this story, the king of Babylon abducted Manasseh with a hook in his nose and shackles. How could this show God’s love?

In his despair, Manasseh cried out to God. He went through this horrible situation and found God.

“Then Manasseh knew that the Lord is God.”

1 Chronicle 33:13 NIV

God could have left him in his evil desires, but he didn’t. He allowed him to go through a horrible situation to experience grace and mercy. By Manasseh’s choice, he sought God and God responded. Now that is true love. I hate the thought that God would allow bad things to happen, but if it rescues us from the gates of hell and brings us into eternity with Him, is that not pure love?

How does this point me to Jesus?

Jesus is the ultimate picture of grace and mercy. He came to live on earth fully as a man as well as fully God. He experienced everything we experience. Then He made the ultimate sacrifice by dying on the cross so that we could all live free of death and have eternal life with Him. He went into the grave and rose three days later. He now invites us to join Him.

Have you accepted Jesus as your savior? If so, praise God. If not, I invite you to pray this prayer with me.

“Lord, thank you for coming to live on earth and experience the same struggles I have faced. Thank you for choosing to go to the cross and die for me. I accept your forgiveness for all of my sins. I believe that after you were in the grave for three days; you rose from death to life and now sit in Heaven. Thank you for loving me just as I am. In Jesus’ name. Amen.”

If this is the first time you have prayed this prayer, Heaven is celebrating! And I want to celebrate with you too. Contact me here.

“I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.”

Luke 15:7 NIV

“I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.” Luke 15:7 NIV Click To Tweet

I want to celebrate with you too.