But Joash king of Judah took all the sacred objects … and he sent them to Hazael king of Aram, who then withdrew from Jerusalem.
For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant,
abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless,
unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good,
treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather
than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its
power.
God, as I read how King Joash, (as he was so intent on rebuilding the
temple – sort of, v. 6) sent away the sacred objects, the treasures
from Your temple and the palace, I was reminded of this second verse.
Not that he was abusive or brutal or treacherous, or even disobedient to
his parents or his priest. He may not have been heartless or
slanderous nor uncontrolled; but he (and probably with good intentions)
paid off King Hazael (how long does this guy get to trouble Your
people?!) with Your stuff. Even the palace stuff was Yours; but he
didn’t check with You. It seems he thought financial might, economic
savvy, pretty shineys were the way out of this trouble. I am saddened
that he appears to love the power of money and not You. That he never
sought Your answer. That his answer came from a place which did not
love Your influence in all matters – he had the form of godliness; but
he denied its power as he did not acknowledge You nor Your power. He
did it man’s way. Okay, I’ll stop. It’s just that I see my tendency in
this scenario, to want to handle the daily affairs as a delegator (fix
the temple, do your homework, make good choices) and not as one who is
involved in the process enough to ensure that the matters are resolved
(having milestones for accountability for temple assembling, let’s try
factoring that polynomial this way, what are good choices today?). I
don’t want to solve anything that You do not author or authorize; but I
still do. Help me Holy Spirit to see again and afresh my desperate
dependency and soul-deep need for You, Your power and Your answers to
all things – really all things, moments, interactions, circumstances,
thoughts, plans, reactions, encounters, etc. I cannot do this on my
own, and I don’t want to – grant me vision to see where I am deceived
and choose to bust a godly or goldly move without You. Holy Spirit,
rise up in me with the spiritual discipline to stop the foolishness and
wait for You. Thank You! And thank You that You speak to such a
wayward soul as me.
For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power.
God, as I read how King Joash, (as he was so intent on rebuilding the temple – sort of, v. 6) sent away the sacred objects, the treasures from Your temple and the palace, I was reminded of this second verse. Not that he was abusive or brutal or treacherous, or even disobedient to his parents or his priest. He may not have been heartless or slanderous nor uncontrolled; but he (and probably with good intentions) paid off King Hazael (how long does this guy get to trouble Your people?!) with Your stuff. Even the palace stuff was Yours; but he didn’t check with You. It seems he thought financial might, economic savvy, pretty shineys were the way out of this trouble. I am saddened that he appears to love the power of money and not You. That he never sought Your answer. That his answer came from a place which did not love Your influence in all matters – he had the form of godliness; but he denied its power as he did not acknowledge You nor Your power. He did it man’s way. Okay, I’ll stop. It’s just that I see my tendency in this scenario, to want to handle the daily affairs as a delegator (fix the temple, do your homework, make good choices) and not as one who is involved in the process enough to ensure that the matters are resolved (having milestones for accountability for temple assembling, let’s try factoring that polynomial this way, what are good choices today?). I don’t want to solve anything that You do not author or authorize; but I still do. Help me Holy Spirit to see again and afresh my desperate dependency and soul-deep need for You, Your power and Your answers to all things – really all things, moments, interactions, circumstances, thoughts, plans, reactions, encounters, etc. I cannot do this on my own, and I don’t want to – grant me vision to see where I am deceived and choose to bust a godly or goldly move without You. Holy Spirit, rise up in me with the spiritual discipline to stop the foolishness and wait for You. Thank You! And thank You that You speak to such a wayward soul as me.