2 Chronicles 33:10 – “The LORD confronted Manasseh and his people, but they paid no attention.”

As I read, prayed, and pondered the Word of God today, I was reminded of our humanity.   We sometimes seek counsel and help from sources other than God.   We may even believe God is doing the alignment.   The result will be lack, delay, disappointment, disillusionment, and ultimately defeat.    During trials, we tend to look for solutions that make sense to us.   Sometimes, simple trust and obedience do not make sense to the human mind.

King Hezekiah’s son Manasseh became a kid king (12 years old).   He did evil in the sight of God, rebuilt the high places, set up altars to Baal, made Asherah poles, worshipped the stars, and even corrupted God’s temple with false altars. (We are God’s temple).

In 2 Chronicles 33:10, it is stated, “The LORD confronted Manasseh and his people, but they paid no attention.”   How often do we ignore the confrontation of the Spirit because it doesn’t match what we want?   GOD sent the Assyrian King against them.

The picture of pain is incredible.   They put hooks on his nose, bound him in bronze chains, and deported him to Babylon.   In v. 12, we read, “In his pain, Manasseh asked the LORD his God for mercy AND truly humbled himself before the God of his ancestors.”   The key is that he genuinely humbled himself.

Victories do not guarantee ease, as King after King realized.   Winning a victory does not ensure, insulate, or isolate from attacks.   Repentance brings restoration.   God may and likely will open the doors of darkness to bring us to light.

In verse 13, we see a powerful revelation and reminder. “When he prayed to the LORD, the LORD responded to him and answered favorably his cry for mercy. The LORD brought him back to Jerusalem to his kingdom. Then (catch this), Manasseh realized that the Lord is the true God.

From then on, he acted faithfully.   Sometimes, God has to withdraw His protection to bring us to the truth.

The question in my heart is, “What is it that we are trusting for our fulfillment?”   If we tie God’s purposes and our assignments to anything but Him alone, we may be near a place of deception where we are creating idols of the heart and mind.   We may be subverting God’s plan.   He needs nothing to fulfill His purposes.   

If our hope is lodged in some event to come, we might want to ask, “AM I truly trusting God or that thing, person, or event?”   One leads to victory, the other to disappointment and defeat.

My heart is being challenged regarding having unrestricted confidence in Him. Only trust Him! Only Him!

May His blessings flood your life today!

2 Chronicles 26:3-5, 16 – “Uzziah was sixteen years old when he began to reign, and he reigned for fifty-two years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jecholiah, who was from Jerusalem. ⁴ He did what the Lord approved, just as his father Amaziah had done. ⁵ He followed God during the lifetime of Zechariah, who taught him how to honor God. As long as he followed the Lord, God caused him to succeed… ¹⁶ But once he became powerful, his pride destroyed him. He disobeyed the Lord his God. He entered the Lord’s temple to offer incense on the incense altar.”

I spent a restless night, and as I awoke, I was drawn to the reality of 2 Chronicles 26, specifically about King Uzziah.   He became king at 16 and reigned for 52 years.   He followed the LORD, and (v.5) says, “As long as he followed the LORD, God caused him to succeed.”   He became famous and received much support. Life was good.    Then, in verse 16, we read, “But once he became powerful, his pride destroyed him.”

I heard in my heart, “Pride is seldom a problem when we are weak, facing problems, and need help.”    Pride grows when we achieve victories and accomplishments, and think we did it ourselves.   Pride is dependent only on the self.   Humility depends on God. Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.  King Saul fell when he stopped seeing himself as small.   It is a repeated event in life, the Bible, and human history.

Pride is a spiritual cancer that blocks a true view of self, others, and God. It deceives the heart and mind, elevating the self to the center. It fills the heart with entitlement – I deserve it because of who I am. You owe me because… (insert anything there).

Spiritual victories can become seed beds for Pride.   Pride trusts the flesh and forgets the beginning.   Pridefulness is a painfully lonely life. It trusts no one, depends on no one, inordinately loves itself, and is selfish. Pride demands to be served; humility serves.

A heart filled with pride is spiritually blind, indifferent, hard, and harsh. It is intolerant and unfeeling of the needs of others. The self is the center, and it dethrones God in the heart.  Pride, human selfish Pride, will not inherit the kingdom.

It would behoove us to reread and meditate on the Beatitudes.   We have nothing we did not receive from God.   Therefore, it is not us but Him and His Grace. He must increase, but I must decrease.

Let’s be grateful and bold but not prideful and arrogant. Pride destroys, love and humility restore!

May your day be filled with His presence and, in humility, receive His matchless grace!

2 Chronicles 7:3 – “When all the Israelites saw the fire come down and the Lord’s splendor over the temple, they got on their knees with their faces downward toward the pavement. They worshiped and gave thanks to the Lord, saying, “Certainly he is good; certainly his loyal love endures!”

Today is May 3, 2025.    Time has extended far beyond what I thought possible in the late 60s and 70s.  I could not comprehend a new millennium, looking forward from the 2000s.    Yet we are here, and the signs of the times everywhere reveal the fulfillment of the biblical description of ‘The Last Days.’

This generation has not seen the FIRE of God.    Many of those who have are growing weary, and some are seeking to blend and assimilate into the modern culture that has infected the church.  What is the answer?

I believe it is prayer, total surrender, and persistence, but something more leaped off the page in 2 Chronicles 7:3. “When all the Israelites saw the fire come down and the LORD’S splendor over the temple, they got down on their knees with their faces downward to the pavement.”

The awesome presence of God is needed today!   We don’t need more or new programs. We need the FIRE of God!   The conditions God identified to Solomon (vv. 12-15) are prevalent today.   The conditions of Noah’s day are visible today.   The conditions Paul, Peter, and James identified as characteristics of the Last Days are visible today.   What do we do? What did we need?

We need intercessory prayer, repentance, restoration, renewal, and revival that can only come through God’s FIRE!    We need the FIRE that purges out the dross.  We need the FIRE that awes!  We need the FIRE that transforms!   In verses 12-15, God gave the solution, the remedy, and the pathway to victory.

“IF…that’s the key, the catalyst or the entryway – IF my people…”   It is not a change by the unbelievers that sets the revival and restoration in motion; that is secondary.    It is God’s people, those who profess Him, who do several things: they humble themselves, not being humbled, but humbling themselves.   Then, in that state of humility, surrender with Prayer to God.  

• Praying with a Seeking Heart. 
• Seeking to please God. Seeking to manifest Christ in everything.
• Seeking to have the Living Christ manifest in every detail of life.

It’s not just praying a prayer but praying out of a particular condition that brings God’s result.   In that state, we are to repudiate (renounce, reject, and turn from) our sinful practices and our lack of diligence and commitment.   It is then that God gives His promise of forgiveness, healing, and restoration.   It is in that condition that we can expect the FIRE to fall.

In Acts 1, they were in one place, both physically and spiritually, actively praying and seeking God.   In Acts 2, the FIRE fell.   Without the FIRE, we will fluctuate between hot and cold, from enthusiastic to passive. Jesus promised to baptize us with the Holy Spirit and FIRE!

My heart is crying for the FIRE of God to be manifested today.  The world won’t change without God’s people experiencing the transforming FIRE of God.   We will not be viewed as different and have no real appeal to the troubled unless we have the FIRE of God.   The harvest won’t come unless we have the FIRE of God.   Devils won’t bow unless we have the FIRE; they don’t fear or respect religion; they fear the FIRE of God.

How do we get the FIRE?   Reread what I’ve written, and you will see the doorway.   Practice it, and you’ll experience the FIRE Falling from Heaven. In that state of being consumed by the FIRE, we will be transformed and become visible examples of John 14:12, walking in the Isaiah 61 anointing.   The world and the kingdom await the FIRE in us! Victory is ours!

Let this be a day of the FIRE of God manifest in our lives and world. Have a great day, and keep looking up; Jesus is coming soon!

2 Chronicles 1:7-12 – “That night God appeared to Solomon and said to him, “Tell me what I should give you.” ⁸ Solomon replied to God, “You demonstrated great loyalty to my father David and have made me king in his place. ⁹ Now, Lord God, may your promise to my father David be realized, for you have made me king over a great nation as numerous as the dust of the earth. ¹⁰ Now give me wisdom and discernment so I can effectively lead this nation. Otherwise no one is able to make judicial decisions for this great nation of yours.”  ¹¹ God said to Solomon, “Because you desire this, and did not ask for riches, wealth, and honor, or for vengeance on your enemies, and because you did not ask for long life, but requested wisdom and discernment so you can make judicial decisions for my people over whom I have made you king, ¹² you are granted wisdom and discernment. Furthermore I am giving you riches, wealth, and honor surpassing that of any king before or after you.”

As I read, prayed, and meditated on the Word of God today, the Word ‘Servant’ kept echoing in my heart and mind.  2 Chronicles 1:7-12 provides an example of the heart God desires in leaders and all people.  God came to Solomon in a dream, saying, “Tell me what I should give you.”   How would we have responded?   Solomon asked for wisdom and discernment to enable him to lead the nation.

God responded, saying, “Because you desire this, and did not ask for riches, wealth, and honor, or for vengeance on your enemies, and because you did not ask for long life, but requested wisdom and discernment so that you can make judicial decisions for My people I’m giving it to you AND MORE… I’m giving you what you didn’t ask for.”

The heart of a servant opens the windows of heaven for the one truly serving.   It is the heart of Jesus!   In Philippians 2:1-11, this servant’s heart is exemplified and illustrated.  Loving one another in unity is the heart of God.   Philippians 2:4, Paul tells them to let the servant’s heart be their dominant character trait.   He then emphasized using Jesus as the example in verse 5.

Our attitude toward others should be the same as Jesus’s toward us and the Father.   He emptied Himself.  (How we need to learn that arduous task.)  He served.  He humbled Himself in obedience.  (We will all humble ourselves or be humbled.)  As a result of His obedience, Jesus was exalted to the place that at His name, every knee will bow and confess that He is LORD!

The one with a servant’s heart will experience the presence, power, and provision of Jesus in ways that surpass human expectations.

Luke 6:38 is applicable here.  It applies to every aspect of life.   Service is giving.   “Give, and it shall be given to you.”   IT, that wonderful and terrible little word, holds the key to life.   The IT that we give is the IT that we live and receive.   It is the seed of our harvest and the key to the heart.   True servants of God (Doulos) live to give and give to live.  Their giving is an expression of their living.  It is not a chore but a source of joy.  The advancement and supply of others bring joy to their hearts.

Lord, grant us the heart of a Doulos today.  Let us know the joy of serving!  Thank you!  I encourage you to follow your heart today and rejoice in its Victory Day!

Have a fantastic day, and trust God to give you more than you ask and more than you expect!