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Today is Thursday May 27, 2010 and we are reading through the Bible in a year. Today's message comes from the reading of the Book of II Chronicles, chapters 21-24. If you would like to read the chapters along with us here online you can Click Here to read them or copy & paste this link onto your browser: http://www.readytofollow.com/bible-may-27

Title: Bible Study: Blending In
As Christians the temptation to blend in with the world is always around us, family, friends, associates, and even people we do not even know contribute, sometimes unknowingly, to trying to get us to all come together as one. It is one thing to be friendly and cordial with people who live in the world, it is another to become or remain friends with them. If you are a Christian, especially one who never grew up in church, you know you have one or two friends who are not. The closer you get to God the further you get from them and there is a reason why that happens. When people decide to dedicate their lives to Christ, they no longer want to blend in with the world, they realize there is something more satisfying and important to life than what the world can give them, God. Now, we can pray for the best and maybe they will see what we see, but it is usually much harder to get a worldly person to convert. Why? When you are living in sin you do not want to hear the truth, you run from it. That is why friends living in sin, who have no intention of living for God, do one of two things, run or get you to run. Sadly, much too often, they are the ones getting the godly to run with them. The flesh is much stronger than the spirit when we allow sin to be around us, even if we are not living in sin ourselves. That is why it is important as Christians that we separate ourselves from worldly people.

Jehoshaphat was one of the most godliest men to reign as king in the Southern Kingdom, his downfall was his friendship with Ahab, the ruthless king of the Northern Kingdom. Jehoshaphat erred in allowing his son Jehoram to marry Ahab's daughter Athaliah, who was also the daughter of wicked Jezebel. Although it did not effect his life, it effected his sons and grandsons. After Jehoshaphat died Jehoram became king and he was as wicked as his father-in-law, Ahab. “Now Jehoshaphat slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David. And Jehoram his son reigned in his stead. ... Now when Jehoram was risen up to the kingdom of his father, he strengthened himself, and slew all his brethren with the sword, and divers also of the princes of Israel. Jehoram was thirty and two years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem. And he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, like as did the house of Ahab: for he had the daughter of Ahab to wife: and he wrought that which was evil in the eyes of the LORD. Howbeit the LORD would not destroy the house of David, because of the covenant that he had made with David, and as he promised to give a light to him and to his sons for ever....Moreover the LORD stirred up against Jehoram the spirit of the Philistines, and of the Arabians, that were near the Ethiopians: And they came up into Judah, and brake into it, and carried away all the substance that was found in the king's house, and his sons also, and his wives; so that there was never a son left him, save Jehoahaz, the youngest of his sons. And after all this the LORD smote him in his bowels with an incurable disease.” - II Chronicles 21:1,4-7,16-18. Jehoram had all his brothers killed and completely turned Jerusalem upside down. God did not destroy all of Jerusalem, but he did bring destruction upon Jehoram and his family, all but one son was killed and he was struck with an incurable disease. You can say, what goes around comes around or you reap what you sow, but everything we do, whether it is godly or wickedly comes back to us and always ends up how we started.

The destruction did not stop there, after Jehoram died his son Ahaziah reigned, only for one year, but he was under the wing of his mother Athaliah, when he was killed, she took over as queen and killed all of the house of Judah. It was only by the courage of one godly woman, Jehoshabeath, Ahaziah's daughter, that hid a little baby and only seed left of David for six years. “But when Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she arose and destroyed all the seed royal of the house of Judah. But Jehoshabeath, the daughter of the king, took Joash the son of Ahaziah, and stole him from among the king's sons that were slain, and put him and his nurse in a bedchamber. So Jehoshabeath, the daughter of king Jehoram, the wife of Jehoiada the priest, (for she was the sister of Ahaziah,) hid him from Athaliah, so that she slew him not. And he was with them hid in the house of God six years: and Athaliah reigned over the land.”- II Chronicles 22:10-12. Jehoshabeath, was used of God to save Joash from assassination. Joash was soon smuggled into the Temple where he was brought up under the care of Jehoshabeath and the high priest and trained and prepared for his destiny as king. Athaliah thought she was in control, but she failed to realize that God was in control. Wicked people only think they have everything under control and think they have the power to do anything they want. What they fail to remember is that God is greater than any evil that can be brought upon by anyone. Even Satan knows he is powerless to God. And no evil thing goes unpunished. Satan knows where he is going when Jesus returns and all the wicked people are going down there with him.

Every person on earth is born either good or evil, good people may get themselves into evil things, but deep down they are good and these are the people who will one day realize that there is more to life than what the world has to offer and Jesus, who truly gives us life, is what life is all about. Wicked or evil people never change and always bring good people down with them as long as they remain in contact with them. Jesus Said, “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness! No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.” - Matthew 6:19-24. We can not have both, we must choose and when we choose Jesus we will never have to worry about what is going to happen. God will take care of us, He will help us separate from friends and even family that are not good for us and either get them to commit to Christ or remove them and send godly people our way. I struggle every day to remove from my heart a man that I love dearly and know is against all God's commands to keep him in my life. It in only through God and His strength that I am separated from him and do not run to him. If I take my eyes off God one second and try to blend with him just a little bit then I will quickly fall away from God and get right back into a world that I know has nothing to offer me. Therefore, I take one day at a time keeping my eyes on God, knowing that I will see the light and one day that man will be out of my heart and a man that God truly has in store is waiting for me. God will give us a way out of every situation and will always be there for those who come to Him. God knows what and who we need in our lives, instead of trying to blend in with the world, it is time to blend in with God. He will give us life and a light to any darkness in our lives. Praise God!

Enjoy the rest of your day/night.
God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina

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