Lessons From Kings

Posted on 2 Aug 2022 by Kathie Whitestone Thompson

What a chapter.
Most of it is way over my head in learning but I do get a couple of things pretty well, I think.

Two years.
Two years Jerusalem was under siege by the king of Babylon.
It was a successful tactic. Nebuchadnezzar starved them out.
Henious.
But before you get too violent toward Neb, know this — had Israel/Judah repented of her idolatry, captivity would not have happened.

Lesson: repent of all idolatry immediately. Idolatry will surely put the worshipper in chains and eventually bring eternal death.

If you want a glimpse of how brutal this got check out what happened to king Zedekiah, particularly in verses 6 and 7. But prior to that, you will read he fled the City and oh when they caught him.

Then there is verse 12. See what you think.

¹²But the commander of the guard left behind some of the poor people of the land to be vineyard-workers and farmers. source

Do you wonder why? I do.
Did he leave them as a tiny bit of compassion or were they so insignificant (he thought) that they could be of no help or harm to Babylon?

And then as we read on there is Gedaliah.
A voice of reason.
Hear what he said.

²⁴And Gedaliah swore to them and their men and said to them, “Do not be afraid of the servants of the Chaldeans; live in the land and serve the king of Babylon, and it will go well for you.” source

Was he saying, perhaps not but if not he should have?
Repent. Trust GOD, take the punishment we have earned, live in the land, obey the king (as long as we are not commanded to worship him) and things will go well with us.

Guess what?
There’s a BUT in the next verse.
A big one!

²⁵But in midautumn of that year, Ishmael son of Nethaniah and grandson of Elishama, who was a member of the royal family, went to Mizpah with ten men and killed Gedaliah. He also killed all the Judeans and Babylonians who were with him at Mizpah. source

Lesson: Truth is not popular.
Speak it anyway.
Yes. It might get you to Heaven swiftly but isn’t it true of a real Christian – to live is Christ and to die is gain?

Love, Kathie

No Fooling!

Posted on 1 Apr 2022 by Kathie Whitestone Thompson

FOR A LARGER VIEWING SCREEN, CLICK THE TITLE OF THIS POST ABOVE

Good Morning or evening as the case may be; I have a portion of Scripture for you to read.
It’s instructive.
It’s penned by Paul to the people of Philippi, yet not just any people of Philippi but brothers and sisters he so dearly loved.
Brothers and sisters that he confidently saw the LORD working in them and he encouraged them to continue so and to be assured that The LORD would continue to work in them until the Day of the LORD’s return for them. (verse 6 of Philippians 1)

I hope you will read all of it but if you are rushing to get on with tasks clamoring for your attention — give yourself to these few.

²⁷Above all, you must live as citizens of heaven, conducting yourselves in a manner worthy of the Good News about Christ. Then, whether I come and see you again or only hear about you, I will know that you are standing together with one spirit and one purpose, fighting together for the faith, which is the Good News.
²⁸Don’t be intimidated in any way by your enemies. This will be a sign to them that they are going to be destroyed, but that you are going to be saved, even by God himself.
²⁹For you have been given not only the privilege of trusting in Christ but also the privilege of suffering for him.
³⁰We are in this struggle together. You have seen my struggle in the past, and you know that I am still in the midst of it.
source

Good Use

Posted on 20 Jan 2022 by Kathie Whitestone Thompson

People who have researched more than I say the Epistles penned by Paul contain 43 different prayers he personally prayed.

If you are interested in a PDF listing these prayers here’s a LINK to a printable copy.
I printed a copy for myself. I have a large appreciation, obviously, for internet pages; but in my humble opinion, there’s no substitute for paper and ink.

AND if you want those prayers in a topical listing, click HERE.

I make NO claim to any of the materials at either URL address and I hope they will be helpful to you as you put them to good use.

Father GOD, I pray for each and every Reader here that their love will overflow still more and more in real knowledge of Your Word and in all discernment of all things touching their lives. I pray we will discover the excellent things You have for us; that we all will be sincere and blameless for the day of Christ Jesus; that we will be filled with the fruit of righteousness. We know our righteousness comes only through Your Holy Son Jesus the Christ and all this O, Father, we pray for Your Glory and Praise to Your Holy Name.

Don’t be One of Them

Posted on 13 Jan 2022 by Kathie Whitestone Thompson

Matthew 4

So much! Where do I even begin and just think I see only a tiny portion of what is there!

Over and over in this chapter, I see an enlightening glimpse of the love JESUS has for us.
Just think of it! The GOD of the Universe, The Creator of it all HUMBLED Himself becoming a MAN to die on an execution stake! See Philippians 2:8.

Why?
Because that was the ONLY way to SAVE us from our sins, hell, death, and the grave.

This gets me!

Verses 3 – 10

The SCUMBAG of the Universe shows up. (And scumbag is way beyond non-descriptive of his evilness.)

³The Tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, order these stones to become bread.” source

The GOD of the Universe lowered Himself, allowed Himself to take on a human body with its limitations, moreover even to hear the voice of and even interact with that vile scumbag, even to be in his loathsome presence and put up with the proud arrogance of this personification of evil.
WHY?
Why would He do that?
Only one reason!
It had to be done in order to save wretched people like you and me!

O the love of GOD for us!!!

And as you read the chapter, please take note of verse 17. JESUS proclaimed the same message as did John.

¹⁷From that time on, Yeshua began proclaiming, “Turn from your sins to God, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near!” source

What does this mean the Kingdom of Heaven is near?

My simple understanding of it today is when any human hears Holy Spirit speaking; when He confirms to a human – you are undone, you are a sinner in need of the Savior. Turn FROM your sins and TURN TO ME.

When a person knows that they know, and they don’t even know how they know, they just know they know. And what do they know? They know they need to be forgiven and JESUS is the only One who can forgive them, THEN The Kingdom of Heaven has come near them in that moment.
They do not need to let that Holy Opportunity pass them by!

Don’t be one of them!