July 22

2 Chronicles 6:12-8:10, Romans 7:14-8:8, Psalm 18:1-15, Proverbs 19:24-25 

Pray: In the reading from 2 Chronicles today God responds to the prayer of Solomon by saying in verse 14 “If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.” What a beautiful promise from the mouth of God. Lord, may we be humble, may we pray, seeking your face and turning from our sin today seeking your forgiveness for ourselves and our country.

Read: First, we read of a cloud coming down as the temple furnishings were complete and now in chapter seven of 2 Chronicles we read that a fire came down and consumed the sacrifices and offerings that were offered to God. But what is equally significant is the response of the people, it says “When all the people of Israel saw the fire come down and the glory of the Lord on the temple, they bowed down on the pavement and worshiped and gave thanks to the Lord, saying 'For he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever.'” True worshipers worship God in a humble way and see a greater display of His glory because of it.

Edify: Romans 8 is said to be one of the greatest chapters in the entire Bible. After Paul confronts the dualistic nature of our life of sin and life in the Spirit he begins chapter 8 by saying, “Therefore”. You might say, because of all of that we have previously read, remember this, YOU ARE NOT CONDEMNED! The definition of the word condemned in the dictionary is "to express complete disapproval of, typically in public; censure, or to be put to death." We are no longer publicly ashamed. We are not stuck in our guilt. For what the law could not do in that it was weak in the flesh, GOD DID! How did He do it? How did He make us who are sinful no longer ashamed of this cold, hard truth, by sending His son down to earth to be like us and put an end to the reign of sin and then Paul says what was condemned was not us, but sin itself as it was nailed to the cross for the glory of God!

Practice: I was recently discussing with a friend that one of the hardest things in the Christian walk is to receive correction. Proverbs tells us “reprove a man of understanding and he will gain knowledge.” Today let us look for an opportunity to listen to instruction from someone else and really hear them and try and make the necessary changes.