Sale! 99 cents Kindle of our book, “God’s Intriguing Questions: 40 Old Testament Devotions Revealing God’s Nature”
Larry and I (co-authors) are very excited about one of our latest books because the kindle version is 99 cents through Sunday, May 31, 2020.. So we wanted to give you a taste of our book.
God’s intriguing Questions: 40 Old Testament Devotions Revealing God’s Nature is a devotional book examining the questions God asked in the Old Testament. The follow up “twin” on the New Testament is also available: God’s Intriguing Questions: 60 New Testament Devotions Revealing Jesus’s Nature.
In this devotional from the book on the Old Testament, it is based on 2 Kings 19:25, God asks,
“Have you not heard that I determined it long ago?”
A powerful army led by the Assyrian king Sennacherib is ready to attack Jerusalem. Sennacherib sends a letter to the King of Judah, Hezekiah, containing an arrogant recounting of all the cities the Assyrians have conquered. He writes,“Behold, you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands, devoting them to destruction. And shall you be delivered?” (2 Kings 19:10-11).
Instead of being paralyzed by fear, King Hezekiah immediately goes to the house of the Lord and spreads the letter before the Lord. He prays,
Truly, O Lord, the kings of Assyria have laid waste the nations and their lands and have cast their gods into the fire, for they were not gods, but the work of men’s hands, wood and stone. Therefore they were destroyed. So now, O Lord our God, save us, please, from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you, O Lord, are God alone. (2 Kings 19:17-19)
Hezekiah doesn’t downplay the danger as if he’s in some sort of spiritual denial. Sometimes we ignore the danger and call it faith. Hezekiah fully spells out the threat. God responds saying he has heard the prayer and talks about the Assyrians as if he is talking to Sennacherib directly, “Have you [Sennacherib] not heard that I determined it long ago? I planned from days of old what now I bring to pass, that you should turn fortified cities into heaps of ruins” (2 Kings 19:25).
God boasts of his own victorious sovereignty—being in control of what the Assyrians are doing and the victory he will bring for the Israelites. TWEET THAT!
The hearts of Hezekiah and all the Israelites are strengthened. In the end, the angel of the Lord strikes down 185,000 Assyrians causing them to withdraw in defeat. We must remember the Assyrians are still known in history as the most wicked and heartless people of all time.
Do we spread out an enemy’s message and rehearse our helplessness? Or do we spread the message before the Lord and cry out for his help? TWEET THAT!
Recently, my (Kathy) friend Amelia recounted her husband’s many incidents of insensitivity. Then Amelia mentioned how a friend had spontaneously sent her a big box of Christmas decorations—her favorite holiday. “Kathy, it meant so much to me she had thought of me.”
“Amelia, do you see how God is providing what you lack from your husband? God is sovereignly motivating your friend’s sensitivity.”
She immediately softened and surrendered to God, rejecting the lie only her husband could meet her needs.
Satan is like King Sennacherib recounting his victories. As the father of lies, he always gives his own version putting him in victorious control.
But if we will pay attention, God recounts his own victories and control over our worse enemy, that father of lies. Even if the provision comes through the hand of another person, it is still prompted and controlled by God. He cries out, “Can you understand I determined your help from long ago and am in control of everything, even the hard things? I have not forsaken you.”
Our book includes two self-exploratory questions and a short prayer at the end of each devotion. For this devotion, here they are:
1. Can you recount God’s sovereign kindness even if it was delivered through the hand of another?
2. When has God asked you, “Can’t you see I’m in control even in this?”
Almighty God of the universe, I praise you for your sovereign unending control. Thank you for helping me to remember the times you have sovereignly worked in my life.
I hope you were blessed by this devotion from our book. Again, for a limited time (through Sunday, May 31, 2020) it is available for 99cents Kindle. You can learn more about the book here